#for real this time. probably. I’m not gonna add anymore. probably

[juniperhillpatient]

I can never make it as a professional writer because I logically know editing is often supposed to mean deleting parts but it always inevitably ends with me adding parts instead like i just can’t help myself if I see a part that could be expanded on or a detail that would add to the story or get an idea for an insightful flashback well it simply must happen 😭

[skzstannie]

“They hate me”

SKZ Drabble

Ot8 x insecure! 9th member! Reader

TW: none?? If you see something, lmk

Hi everyone! This is my first work on here, and I’m excited for more to come! I’d like to start off by saying this in no way represents SKZ/Yunho in real life; they are simply face claims for the characters.

Please comment or interact in some way so I know how you guys liked it!

“Yunho,” you sobbed, curling into his side from your spot on the couch, “they hate me.”

“Sweetheart, they don’t hate you. I can assure whatever you could’ve done could not make them hate you.” He tries to sooth your shaking form by running his hand through your hair, but you abruptly sit up.

“How do you know that? I was messing up all the choreo last night, and Chan had to re-record my lines for the new song 7 times.” You hold up seven fingers to add a bit of emphasis. “And 7 times is a lot. And then to top it off, I threw up in the practice room because of how anxious I was feeling about it all,” you finish.

“Why does any of that warrant them hating you? So what, you made a few mistakes. I’m sure they’ve all messed up the choreography before, too.” He brings you back into his side by wrapping his long arm around your shoulder. “As for you getting sick, how are you supposed to control that?”

“You should’ve seen them, though. They all had steam coming out of their ears. I don’t even think the 7th recording was any good, but Chan just couldn’t stand to deal with me anymore so he sent me out of the booth. Lee Know looked like he was gonna rip his hair out if he had to correct me one more time, and I could feel the looks from everyone during the whole dance practice.”

“Did you ask them about these things before you left? Or did you just leave yourself to deal with these awful assumptions about the people who love you endlessly?”

“I left right after I got sick, never even told them where I was going,” you huff.

Once you’ve said it out loud, you realize how royally stupid you’ve been, and you immediately jump out of Yunho’s arms to find your phone. “Shit, have you gotten any calls or messages from the guys? I’ve probably worried them sick.” You wrestle around with the contents of your bumbag til you found your, evidently dead, phone. You fumble with your charger before hurrying to the kitchen to plug it in.

“No, I haven’t. Nobody really knows about… us, or this thing going on between us, so I wouldn’t have expected them to.” He gets up from the couch and walks to stand behind you, peering over your shoulder at your phone.

“Come on, come on, turn on you stupid thing.” You repeatedly press the power button, only getting the low battery symbol in return. Your heart’s beating out of your chest with anxiety as your phone finally starts to boot up. “I’m literally an awful person. They’ve probably just about raided the whole city trying to find me.”

“Maybe not, they might still be calm and figured you just needed a night to collect yourself.”

With that, your phone comes alive, and immediately you’re overwhelmed by the buzzing of missed calls and unanswered text messages.

17 missed calls from Channie ���🏻❤️

11 missed calls from Leebit 🐰

20 messages from BinBin 😘

15 missed FaceTime calls from Hyune 🫶🏻🫶🏻

11 messages from Jisung 🐿️

37 messages from Sunshine ☀️

24 messages from Menace 🙃���

13 messages from Innie 🦊

“Oh my gosh,” you gasp. The longer you stare, the more messages flood your lock screen.

“It’s alright, don’t panic. Just give Chan a call, I’m sure they’ll understand.” He rests his chin on your shoulder and hugs you from behind, trying to provide you comfort. “Or they’ll come around eventually, anyway,” he mumbles under his breath.

You’re quick to find Chan’s contact, and you immediately press the ‘call’ button. You put it on speaker phone, not wanting to be alone in this conversation. “You don’t have to say anything; I just feel more comfortable this way,” you explain, not wanting to unnecessarily drag Yunho into this conversation.

“Y/n! We’ve been calling you all night and looking for you everywhere! Where the heck are you? We’re coming to get you right now,” you hear Chan fidgeting with keys before he yells to Hyunjin, telling him to come to the car.

You sigh before relenting and apologizing for being so irresponsible. “I’m so sorry I worried you guys like that, just another thing I’ve messed up.”

“I don’t know what you’re on about, but we’ll talk about it more when you’re home safe. Now, where are you?” You hear the desperation in his tone. He just wants to know you’re safe.

You realize the slight predicament you’ve come to, and glance up at Yunho, but he just shrugs his shoulders at you.

“I’m, uh, at Yunho’s?” It comes out as more of a question, and you hear a squeal from the other side of the phone.

“What the heck are you doing with Yunho?” Hyunjin screeches, seemingly grabbing the phone from Chan’s grasp.

“That’s enough, Hyunjin. We’ll be right there.” He promptly hangs up, leaving you to anxiously await their arrival.

“Why Hyunjin now? Why not literally anyone else?” Yunho slightly panics, pacing around the kitchen in circles.

“What’s wrong between you and Hyunjin?” You raise an eyebrow, suddenly interested in this new information.

“We don’t really have any bad blood, per sé, or at least I don’t think we do. He’s always giving me dirty looks and I don’t really know why.”

While you wait for Chan and Hyunjin to arrive, you explain to him not to worry about Hyunjin.

You and Hyunjin have always been the closest out of all the members since the very beginning, and he quickly became extremely protective of you. You told him about some of your past traumas, and he made it his personal mission in life to never let anything bad happen to you again. This apparently entails him giving every male you’ve ever interacted with dirty looks.

Speaking about this makes you feel even guiltier knowing Hyunjin has probably been out of his mind since last night, hence why Chan wanted him to go with.

You hear a pounding on the door that breaks up your story time, and you rush over to open it, leaving Yunho hiding in the kitchen.

Chan bursts through the door, with a fiery looking Hyunjin right behind him.

Chan gathers you in his arms, holding you so tight you think all your ribs might crack. You wrap your arms around him, too, holding him with all your might.

When Hyunjin storms in, all he sees is red. “Where is he, huh?” He goes straight for the kitchen, and you tense in Chan’s arms.

“Hyunjin, he did nothing wrong. I came to him last night. Please just, take a deep breath.” You know it’s wrong to try to console him, after all, you’re the reason he’s like this in the first place.

“Why weren’t you answering our calls or messages? Did he take your phone? Did he have you trapped somewhere?” He rants, his hands clenching in tight fists.

You unintentionally gasp, thinking about how horrible this must sound to Yunho knowing he could hear every word. “Hyunjin!” You yelp, “nothing bad happened to me here! My phone was dead, and I was a crying mess all night and didn’t even look to charge it.” You exasperate, pulling away from Chan to go comfort him.

He meets you halfway, meeting you just in front of the coffee table in the living room. He puts his hands on your shoulders, closely inspecting every inch of your skin. You grab his hands and wrap them around yourself in a hug, squeezing him tightly.

“I’m fine, I promise. I’m sorry for disappearing like that. It was really dumb of me. I just needed somewhere to clear my head, and Yunho was the first person I thought of.” You rest your head on his shoulder, loving the feeling of the way he was soothingly rubbing your back.

“Why’d you come all the way here? The guys and I were right with you in the practice room; you know we’ll listen to you any day.” He pulls away slightly, enough to bring one of his hands to your cheek, wiping a stray tear away.

“Because I was scared you guys were upset with me.” You mumble, shying away from his gaze.

“What on earth made you think that? We were so worried about you all day yesterday, wondering why you weren’t acting yourself. And then when you ran off, we had no idea where to look. Had no idea what was wrong.” Chan joined the hug, pressing his face warmly into the back of your hoodie.

“I thought because I was messing up so much yesterday, you all hated me. I saw the looks everyone was giving me. You’re trying to tell me they weren’t looks of annoyance?” You question. Pulling away from them both so you could better have the conversation.

“They weren’t looks of annoyance, well, maybe Seungmin’s was, but you know how he is. They were looks of concern, we couldn’t figure out what was going through that pretty head of yours. We were not upset with you. We’re all aware everyone has bad days, you were bound to have one eventually.” Chan explains, feeling sorry that you’ve had these awful thoughts since last night.

“I’m really sorry I worried you guys. Next time I’ll talk to you before I rush to conclusions.” You give them a shy smile before, once again, you’re pulled into a hug and squished between the 2 of them.

“It’s ok, we forgive you. Now, let’s get you home before the rest of the guys drive over here themselves.” Chan grabs your hand and starts to lead you to the door, but Hyunjin stops you guys.

“I still wanna know why, of all places, you came and spent the night at Yunho’s,” he raises an eyebrow at you, crossing his arms. You hear a cough from the kitchen, and you call Yunho out to the living room to officially introduce him as your boyfriend.

“I’ll tell you two, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else.” You wait for them to give you a nod, squinting your eyes at Hyunjin until he gives in with a huff. “Yunho and I are dating.”

Yunho finally reveals himself from the kitchen and you wrap your arms around his arm. He gives them a tight-lipped smile, not entirely sure how they’re going to take it.

Their eyes get really big, surely not expecting that kind of news. “Why’d you never tell us?” Chan pouts, looking between the two of you. Hyunjin stays silent.

“Because I wasn’t sure how you guys would take it. It’s only been a couple of weeks.” Chan nods his head in understanding before stating that it’s time for you guys to head home.

You give Yunho a hug, and he kisses you on the cheek before you follow Chan out the front door.

You don’t miss, however, the way Hyunjin stays behind for a moment.

“Don’t hurt my best friend.” He says with a stoic expression on his face. He gives Yunho another once over before leaving the house, closing the door behind him.

[krewekreep]

Baby Daddy Red Flags: Bleach Edition (😜🤍)

This one…this one for the sluts! 😭💕 I’m an old anime bitch like lemme get it out my system! (We gonna tag this #ToxicTalk lmaoo, this is a safe space)

(If you wanna know who we share 😒, I’ll add an asterisk or whatever. ((They still mine first 😂💝🫡)) (will update and repost with new additions, semi-live post)

***ICHIGO: Lemme get my baby daddy out the way. Biggest issues would be his availability before and after the kid. Probably got pregnant in a makeup sex situation anyway. Ichigo doesn’t seem to type to breakup but will say let’s break. Based on how selfless he is it also can be seen coming from him not being able to save his mom—so he may have a savior complex. It may seem valiant at first like “oh wow you became friends with Chad helping him with bullies? You became closer to Orihime (😒) after helping her grieve her brother? You’re such a good person!” Til you realize seniority is in place and when his friends call he drops whatever he is doing to go help. It’s been time, money, etc and increasingly his selflessness comes off as codependent. Like he can’t stop trying to make up for something that wasn’t his fault.

He will also randomly reserve to right to become reclusive. Not necessarily secretive but less energetic, talkative, or engaged. (You def realize your baby got some functional depression going on. Iykyk). Might not annoy you but the random times he doesn’t want to be touched or seemingly avoids you does hurt…but he sincerely comes back letting you know he was in a weird space etc.

Ichigo’s biggest yes or no is if you’ll be able to sometimes come second or third (likely til you marry and/or have kids with him.) His father and sisters are absolutely #1, his friends are #2, and his oath to the Soul Society and humanity at large is a consequence of him protecting the first two so that’s of course #3. See where I’m going? Even on your best days you might be upset he runs off to Rukia’s or Orihime’s aid. That he has to “save the world,”to save you too. Jealous types might really become frustrated with Ichigo. And tbh I don’t see him breaking out of his ways. He won’t see a need to because there’s real results of his good deeds in his life. He knows he’s saved lives, so he knows he can continue to—so will you be able to handle the fact his duty and mindset will be self sacrificing? I don’t know I think I’d tie him down with a baby and move on.

**KENPACHI: I fully accept and am attracted to his animalistic tendencies. I absolutely can admit that about myself 😭 but…realistically you’d def have to tell him he’s too rough during sessions. He’s grown up wayward, defensive, survival mode, stomach touching his back— during a time so seemingly historical and old who knows how bad the conditions of poverty were—most kids died if they simply weren’t rich and able to eat. Or turned to crime at extremely young ages or exploited….That’s just global history in real life. And the soul society is that much more complex and arduous. Kenpachi will be a man of few words but immense action. If you want someone who will open up even eventually that is not Kenpachi Zaraki. You will highly likely never know of his past because he will never say he is excruciatingly doing everything to never have to. And no, he won’t communicate ever if anything terrible is on his mind. Although kenpachi is coded as barbaric he really is just that protective—he’s as angry as he will be based solely upon someone’s proximity to him emotionally. You and Yaru will be so exclusively held in a regard he won’t even understand. Just the black hole of his awareness he’ll surpass anything to save y’all. He won’t speak on why Lady Unohana isn’t around anymore (new anime, manga lore). But again, when he ends up rough too many nights in a row you distance yourself from him. He can’t admit to you he disassociates and goes back to bad times. He can’t tell you your comfort and warmth makes him remember the times he needed it before—he doesn’t mean to hurt you but he lives for a fight. But he wants to stop making everything and everyone something to “conquer.” He’ll be a real deal handful and it will solely up to you to either tell him you can’t be with him until he figure shit out or you’ll stick beside him and work through it together. (In this case Yaru is the “kid” yall share, I see him being weary of birthing a child and being a dad in such a “visceral” way. Will have total abandonment trauma and just can’t see him getting over it completely to bring new life into a world he already sees the worst in tbh.) but in terms of “baby momma” treatment? Or your prioritized and protected best believe. 💕 he also will force you to learn combat cause you should be able to take care yourself too. Which might either be hot or burdensome. You’re gonna know how to fight. And tbh he might try to bring it into the bedroom on some weird let’s play fight shit so watch yourself. That’s a BIG MAN! 😭😂💕 “HA! Now that you know how do a few things why don’t you test it on me?” Big cheeky sneaky ass grin girl don’t fall for it!

BYAKUYA: This is the guy who will match your freak everywhere but in public. No PDA—actually don’t even look at him or try to talk to him in public…be professional. He will be joking with others and you’ll get upset saying “Hey! You let the other members of the society tease you?” And in private he’ll admit it’s just to keep up appearances and he hates it all. 😭 I think his biggest issue will be coming off fake or disingenuous or you’ll have a hard time sincerely seeing him cause he’ll be so different depending on where y’all are. People wouldn’t know he’s like a mom boyfriend who makes sure you eat, sleep, and keep up with yourself. Yes, he will absolutely unintentionally say something insulting like “This doesn’t suit you. Find something else.” And yes he will be very clearly on guard when in public. People will openly wonder why you’re with him tbh. Which will frustrate the both of you of which neither of you ever bring up to the other. Byakuya has lost a love before—he won’t talk about it ever. You MIGHT get something out of Rukia about it cause it was her sister but I doubt she’ll go super intimate about THEIR relationship cause she respects both his and her sister’s privacy. So you might be stuck on an eavesdropping side quest with Renji that amounts to nothing cause he’ll sense yall. He’ll be amused and somewhat touched you wanted to watch him work though. He’s usually the one keeping check or track of things so he’ll never say he likes that you peep on him and mind his business. You care about him and he knows he’s a bit unfair not allowing any PDA. But he so openly loved on Rukia’s sister he couldn’t help the shameful self imposed embarrassment once he had to walk the halls alone…Byakuya will be a very intentional, quiet lover. I doubt he’ll moan very much tbh unless he’s exhausted and allowing you to take care of him. Sometimes he’ll absolutely disappear all day into work. Other times he’ll be sure to direct his underlings to wait on you in his stead. He’s more manageable if you can accept his sometimes snarky, distant, super private ways. As a father he’ll be annoyingly big on exceptionalism and them being smart and talented. You’ll have to be sure he isn’t burdening your kid when you aren’t around. And you’ll have to be sure he doesn’t inadvertently impart his insensitive habits too. Likewise, you’ll ABSOLUTELY have to “deal or no deal” him about giving affection to your kid in public. You will absolutely have to go off and tell him it’s y’all or his image. And yeah now he’s holding both yall hands albeit defeated. 💕😭

AIZEN: Shit…girl (im black my “girl…” is gender neutral don’t be annoying 💕) you already know what it is. Yandare, selfish, self righteous, MEAN, EVIL…but fine and rich as fuck. 😔🫤 it will be a doozy to be with this one. You literally have to know and accept what you getting into bestie. I can’t even warn you, you know! 😭 but seriously if your an aizen bias you accept him as is 😭 psycho ass. So I wanna just write how’d he be as a baby daddy. Now not to get…too mature…but if you happened to be someone captured/kidnapped by him and pregnant…baby you is a victim! BUT ITS FANFIC SOOO if you were the captured baby momma that’s in his realm with him…well girl you in the realm lord you stuck. “Can I go to the human world?” “For what?” “Uh, sun?” “Humph what do you need sun for…” He’ll look down at your crying child and be like “Ugh okay whatever but Grimmjow is your chaperone.” And you won’t care cause Grimmjow lets you run off and live life. Which Aizen knows but the minute you aren’t overtly scared and submissive to him he’ll lose his weird sense of “power.” You’re man crazy bestie. He’s definitely someone you won’t talk back to until you’re a parent and equally going to advocate for your kid. He’ll realize and laugh to himself “Their not really submissive at all…little minx…” and hold you in completely new regard. “So you took me as is because you wanted to?” He’ll start thinking shit that confuses him and decide to randomly kill a grunt to distract himself like no he’s not gonna reflect into a better person. 😂 you’ll have everything you want cause you can’t go nowhere 😭. Mind you yes the sex is mind blowing so you sadly do take what positives are there…his eyes don’t fall sexually to anyone but you. His body doesn’t respond certain ways to anyone but you. And as you stand next to him more and more he’s leaning into you and your baby’s energy rather than tryna to overtake yall with his. Just don’t speak about the change and it’ll be fine. The minute you tease or openly acknowledge his becoming softer and less controlling you’ll ruin all the progress you made. Let him feel like he’s in control or whatever.

New Additions (1):

Hitsugaya: (adult of course) Hitsu will be a blend of Byakuya and Ichigo. The best aspects of him will be how attentive and actionable he is about his love for you. But — he will shy away from PDA and sometimes have moments of separated solitude. Unlike Byakuya, he will absolutely open up to PDA, just will never be the initiator of it. Maybe grab your hand at the end of the day to hurry back home or stare at you as long as he can while he observes your dutiful working. He’ll be shy always which keeps your love feeling young and refreshed. You’ll always be able to make him blush and unlike Ichigo, he’ll warm up to you imposing yourself on his alone time. He’ll be big on love making and planning when to have a child so it will be less spontaneous. He’ll have the baby registry and wishlists prepared, printed, and passed out to members of the Soul Society. He’ll enjoy trips to the human world to acquire new toys and trinkets for your baby.

As a baby daddy he’s almost too protective. You wonder what he’s been through as he’ll have a firm grip of your hips as you cradle your child. He’ll have a habit of looking at your baby and then between the both of you stunned at how he can see the perfect blend of your features on your child’s face. He’ll be very close to a simp honestly (which I’m a fan of) and be at your beck & call no matter the hour. Definitely the dad to tell you don’t worry about tending to the little one, keep resting cause he knows how tired you get. He’s honestly the perfect idea of a new father as he’ll be bumbling a bit but with so much to prove. I realize I kinda didn’t write red flags cause I truly see Hitsu adjusting to parenthood and a long term relationship the best. Only thing I can think is that he’ll be overtly willing to sacrifice himself for your family’s safety. So any massive issue in the Soul Society will make your heart sink a little because while he’s capable he’s been in enough life threatening predicaments to cause ample, appropriate worry. He’ll be hard to break out of working I think until your child starts schooling which could be frustrating cause he’ll overcompensate parenting in lieu of his work commitments. Overall, I think he’d be the baby daddy with the least to really worry about.

Renji: Oh lord— all tea, all shade this man will STRUGGLE. « What do you mean the baby is hungry AGAIN ? You just breastfed! WAIT DO NOT PULL YOUR TIT OUT IN PUBLIC WOMAN ! » He’ll have a hard time adjusting to your freedom as a breastfeeding mom for sure (if you choose to). Work ? What’s work? One thing you can count on is that he will absolutely commit to being a family man and even a stay at home dad. He’ll take all his PTO or even « quit » (basically will say don’t call me to help unless the Soul Society is about to die.) He will wait on you hand & foot because he can’t imagine how much your body and mind has gone through and the strength it takes to be so tired but smile and laugh with him and your kiddo. But, he may end up a bit controlling about you leaving the house without him. He’ll either become a sad puppy or an angry old man. « Baby…what do you mean you want me to stay home ? 😓🥺 » or «  Woman, what did I tell you about going out without me ? What if a crazy person tried to rob you ? » You laugh at him always being some level of dramatic but it may get annoying how clingy and worried he’ll become. You’ll have to remind him you lived this long for a reason…and plan to live longer, so he can chill out sometimes cause his worried nature worries you…you might benefit from guilt tripping him into apologizing and giving you a breather on leaving the house. But just know someone is watching over you. Renji would be a great cook or a terrible cook who improves over time. He might be great at catching the baby right when they poop or…end up shat on rushing to a sink. I really see him either being weirdly good at being a dad or definitely suffering from the learning curve.

Your baby will definitely be conceived in a wild love making, (maybe rough, passionate sex) session. And you’ll catch him blushing when he holds your baby and looks at you remembering the night you had. You’ll be the type to walk in on them sleeping crazily on the sofa, his arm instinctively holding your baby firm. He’ll be grateful to not have to jump up to go to work honestly. His biggest red flags will be being overbearing, needy, and likely requiring a lot of overt reassurance. (Which isn’t necessarily a red flag given he just will want to be a really good dad and partner.) Otherwise he’ll become a stubborn dad who will try (and fail) to « put his foot down. » Which will likely result in him sleeping on the sofa…💕

[alltimecharlo]

Girl Mack where she’s always been a bit of a tomboy/butch so she’s never really gotten male attention before.

so she honestly has no idea Will is flirting with her, maybe no idea she’s actually gone on like 50 dates with him and he just thinks she wants to take it really slow and isn’t a totally oblivious moron

awh cute, love this anon!! fic under the cut 🩵☺️

Mack doesn’t think it’s a date.

She doesn’t. Honestly. It’s just Will. Will who texts her constantly, even when they’ve been at the rink together all morning. Will who sends her weird little memes at midnight, who always saves her a seat on the plane, who insists she tries bites of whatever he’s ordered like she’s ever said no to food in her life.

It’s Will, who smiles like it’s personal every time he looks at her, but Mack’s never been good at reading that kind of thing. Guys don’t look at her that way. Not usually. Or ever, really.

She’s always been too — something.

Too broad-shouldered. Too sharp-edged. Too into skates and sticks and backwards snapbacks. She used to wear eyeliner in junior but it always sweated off under her cage and nobody noticed except her mom, who said she looked tired anyway.

So she doesn’t think it’s a date, because dates happen to girls who are a little easier, who wear cropped tops and know how to smile just right when someone makes a joke. Mack’s good at chirps and zone entries. She can flip a puck onto the blade of her stick and toss it into the net blind. She cannot — for the life of her — tell if a guy’s hitting on her.

Which is why she says yes when Will texts her on a Thursday night, Hey wanna get burgers?

She replies, Sure.

He adds, Pick you up at 6?

She thinks it’s weird, because they usually just meet places. But whatever. She doesn’t mind the ride.

She throws on jeans and a hoodie over top. Pulls her hair back into a low bun and debates putting on mascara before deciding against it. They’re just gonna eat. It’s not like he’ll notice.

(He always notices. She doesn’t know that yet.)

Will shows up at her apartment wearing a soft-looking green sweater and a grin that should probably be illegal. He smells like laundry detergent and something warmer underneath it, like citrus and whatever cologne he wears sometimes after practice. It’s… nice. It’s kind of a lot, actually.

“Hey,” he says, and his eyes sweep over her for a second — not in a weird way, just like he’s checking if she’s okay. “You look good.”

She laughs. “I look like I’ve worn this exact outfit three times this week.”

“And yet you still look good,” Will says, and opens the passenger door for her.

Mack stares at it. “What are you doing?”

“Holding the door open?”

She blinks. “I have arms.”

He grins. “I noticed.”

She slides into the seat, vaguely confused, and mutters a thanks under her breath.

The burger place is one of those fancy casual joints, with milkshakes in mason jars and truffle fries in little tin pails. Will orders for both of them because he ‘already knows what she’ll get,’ and, annoyingly, he’s right. Bacon cheddar, extra pickles, no tomato.

Mack frowns across the table. “How’d you know that?”

“You’ve gotten the same order the last four times we’ve been here.”

They’ve been here four times?

“You sure you’re not the one stalking me?” she jokes, sipping from his milkshake without asking, because she always does and he never minds.

Will just smiles. “Wouldn’t have to stalk you if you just said yes to a real date.”

She snorts. “Yeah, okay.”

Will raises his brows. “What do you mean, yeah okay?”

“You wouldn’t actually want to go on a date with me.”

He’s quiet for a second. Long enough that Mack looks up, fry halfway to her mouth.

“Why not?” he asks, and he’s not smiling anymore.

She shrugs, a little uncomfortable. “Because I’m not, like, a — I don’t know. The kind of girl people date.”

“You’re the kind of girl I date.”

That makes her freeze.

Will leans in, slow and steady, like he’s trying not to spook a scared animal. “Mack. What do you think we’ve been doing for the past few weeks?”

She blinks.

“Seriously. We’ve been to dinner. To the beach. You came with me to that Bauer shoot and I took you to that concert after.”

“You had tickets,” she says weakly.

“Yeah. For a date.”

“I thought you just didn’t want to go alone!”

Will laughs, sudden and loud, then covers his face with both hands. “Oh my God. You are actually—this is insane. You’ve been on, like, six dates with me.”

She opens her mouth. Closes it again.

“You thought I just liked… feeding you burgers and buying you concert merch?”

She shrinks in her seat. “I mean. Kind of?”

Will reaches across the table and takes her hand. Just wraps his fingers around hers like it’s easy. Like he’s done it a hundred times.

(He’s thought about it more than a hundred times.)

“Mack. You’re beautiful,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re funny, you’re kind of mean, you’re good at stupid Mario Kart shortcuts and you listen when I talk about stupid stuff. I like being with you. I want to be with you. And I thought — I thought you were taking things slow.”

Mack swallows, staring down at their hands. Her skin’s rougher than his. Callused in all the places he’s smooth. But he’s holding on anyway.

“I didn’t know you meant it like that,” she says quietly.

“I did,” Will murmurs. “Still do.”

She looks up at him. And he’s smiling. Soft, a little sheepish, but sure.

“Is this… is this still a date?” she asks, because she doesn’t want to get it wrong again.

Will squeezes her fingers. “Only if you want it to be.”

And Mack—well, she’s never been good at this stuff. But she knows what she wants.

So she says, “Yeah. I want it to be.”

Will beams, and for the first time in her life, Mack feels like maybe she is the kind of girl people fall for.

♡

[fluentmoviequoter]

Wrong Kind of Love

Pairing: Jason Todd x fem!reader

Summary: After finding evidence that your boyfriend cheated on you, you dump him and put his belongings in a cardboard box. Within a week, your jaded outlook on love is similarly packed away.

Warnings: angst, breakup, mention/discussion of cheating, fake phone number, fluff, comfort

Word Count: 2.8k+ words

Based on Cardboard Box by FLO (clean version)!

Picture from Pinterest

“Hello, baby,” your boyfriend greets. He sighs as he pulls a charcoal gray domino mask from his face. “It’s crazy out there.”

He doesn’t look up or notice you standing against the kitchen counter with your arms crossed or the pink fabric hanging from your finger. He doesn’t behold you.

“I've got a confession,” you begin. He hums, so you continue, “I don’t think I want you anymore.”

At that, his head snaps up, his eyes searching rapidly for yours. Taking a step toward you, he asks, “What-“

You raise your hand and the clothing in it before you interrupt, “There’s no room for questions.” The moment his eyes dip to your fingers, you throw the shorts you found at him and add, “I saw her panties on the bathroom floor."

“No, babe, listen, I can explain,” he tries, stepping a foot closer.

“I’ve been putting up with this for far too long,” you snap.

He stops, lifting his chin in what you know will soon become defiance. He’s going to argue – again – and find a way to make this seem like your fault – again.

“You’re not even letting me explain myself,” he argues. “Look, I don’t have to, you’re right, I messed up, but at least give me a chance to change.”

“You ain’t gonna change, boy.”

“You’re seriously going to walk away?” he challenges. He steps back and laughs before he says, “You and I both know we’ll get past this.”

“What’s the point in stringing me along?” you inquire, lifting your brows.

With a scoff, he moves back and begins removing his boots. He's been drifting from you since he started patrolling Gotham with Signal and the We Are Robin team. Part of you hoped having something to do, a mission, would help him grow up and settle down, but it did the opposite; it gave him a reason to go out and an excuse to chase more adrenaline highs.

He looks toward the kitchen and calls, “We can pick this up when you calm down.”

“No,” you answer definitively. “We’re done for real.”

He stands, his boot laces undone as he looks at you. “What are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is that we’re done, broken up, there is no more we or us, and I want you out.”

“It’s not that easy! I have things to do, this city is relying on me!”

“You’re not as special as you think,” you reply. “Apparently we have that in common.”

“I’m supposed to train today, I can’t deal with your jealousy.”

“You’ll never be lucky enough to see it.”

“Whatever. I’ll be back later.”

He storms toward the door, and you watch as he slams it behind him. You have limited time and a lot to do, so you open your closet and pull out the item you bought for this moment.

Sitting on the arm of the couch, you wait for your ex to return. He’s probably deluding himself into thinking he’ll return to an apology, maybe even planning a makeout session to help you forget about the infidelity. You’ve got an even better surprise in mind for him. The sound of a key hitting the doorknob draws your attention from the floor and makes you smile. You stand and approach the door, and your smile widens as you pull it open.

“One second,” you request. “I’ma put your stuff in a cardboard box.”

“What did you do?!” he demands as he steps in after you.

From the corner of your eye, you can see his chest heaving and tell from the wideness of his eyes that his heart rate is elevated.

“I’m changing the locks,” you answer. “I knew your heart would stop when you couldn't get in."

“Can we just talk about this?”

You spin quickly, dropping a t-shirt he left behind in the cardboard box on the floor. “No! You don’t get to talk to me anymore. I meant it when we said I was done. I’m packing your things so you can get out of my house and out of my life. And I hope she was worth my wasted time.”

“What?” he asks, sounding like he’s been deflated.

“Can she do it like I do?” you ask, not meaning to bait him but not caring that it’s a distasteful question. “You need someone to put you back in line, and she isn’t going to do it. No one will, not until you grow up.”

“Please,” he pleads. “Give me one more chance. This has to be stressing you out as much as me. So, if we just-“

“Stressing? Do you hear a stutter in my words?” you repeat. “I see it as a blessing. Take your stuff and you can go stay at hers.”

You turn around to finish packing his things, though there isn’t much. Your home was relatively free of him, and you’re unsure how that escaped you for so long. It should’ve been a sign that there wasn’t much of him in your life, and what little there was turned out to be an eyesore and a danger.

When you hear him sniffle, you’re surprised to see a tear run over his cheek. You lift the box and pass it to him, but he lets it drop to the floor as another tear follows in the same path.

“You may be cryin’, but boy, I’m not,” you point out. “You need to go.”

“This isn’t… What do you think you’re going to do now?”

You bark a laugh because you did not anticipate his choice of words. “I’m going to do what’s best for me.”

“There isn’t better than me,” he states, puffing up his chest. “Not in Gotham.”

Nodding, you squat to move his discarded domino mask into the box. Instead, you twirl it in your fingers as you stand.

“Besides, this isn’t all of my stuff,” he adds as if trying to test your patience.

“Oh, right. Well, I put your jeans next to the dreams that you sold me, so we both know you’re not getting those back,” you respond, pulling your phone from your pocket and looking at the screen rather than him. “And I put your gold chains down the drain and your Rolly.”

“I swear to-“

“Relax,” you interrupt, “you should know you didn’t leave anything like that here. But…” You raise your phone to show him the screen, and as you press the arrow to send your pre-typed message, add, “I might just drop a text to your homies.”

The muscles in his jaw twitch, and he tips his head to the side quickly. “Two can play that game. My mom is going to call you in a minute,” he says as he types. “Try explaining this to her.”

You hold your phone, wait a few seconds, then frown. “Never liked your momma, so I guess she’s blocked,” you muse. “Get out.”

“No, no,” he refuses, shaking his head rapidly as he moves toward your couch. "I don’t know who you texted or what kind of crazy power trip finding those clothes put you on, but you don’t get to kick me out.”

“Yet she did,” someone replies from the window.

You look over immediately, and your jaw drops at the sight.

“You texted him?!” your ex exclaims, pushing himself up to stand. He looks at you in disgust, but your attention is elsewhere. Turning quickly, he raises his hands and says, “I’m so sorry, Red Hood, we just had a little argument, but we’re okay.”

Red Hood moves from the open window, placing one foot on your floor before he stands to his full, intimidating height. He towers over your ex and is broader and more muscular than him, but when his helmet swings to face you, something seems to soften beneath his leather jacket.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you reply softly.

“Want him out?”

You nod, and Red Hood places his hands on his hips. “You heard her the last time. Grab your box and get out.”

“But-“

“Did that sound like a question?” Red Hood snaps. “If you want to cogitate on what happened to your relationship, go home to do it.”

Your ex steps back, then tightens his jaw and turns toward you. Without hesitation, Red Hood moves to the side, nearly running into the smaller man before him. Between you, he completely blocks your view of the cheating scum standing across the room from you.

“Give me one good reason,” Hood threatens lowly.

With his box falling from his arms, your ex scrambles out of your apartment, and Red Hood locks the door behind him. He looks toward you, and you set aside the domino mask in your hand. You stare at each other, and you feel oddly exposed with your face visible to him.

“You need to change those locks,” he says.

“I already did,” you answer. “Thank you. I- I’m not sure why I have your number, I just texted one I found in his We Are Robin notebook.”

“He’s in We Are Robin?”

You nod, and Hood clicks his tongue. He raises his hand to the side of his helmet, and you can tell he’s speaking, but you can’t hear anything.

“Not anymore,” he announces as his hand drops. “Did you put everything of his in that box?”

“I might’ve traded the panties I found in the bathroom for something I could pawn.”

Red Hood laughs – actually, genuinely laughs - and leans forward from its force. As he straightens, he nods. “As you should. Will you be alright?”

“I’ll be much better now. Thank you again.”

Red Hood moves to the window he came in through, and you call out to him before he can leave. He twists on the windowsill, sitting as he had when he first arrived and defended your honor.

“How’d you get here so fast?” you inquire.

“I was passing by and heard the argument. When I saw the text…” He shrugs and concludes, “Put two and two together.”

“And what’d you get?” you ask, smiling.

“That’s a leading question.”

“You’re smart,” you muse. “Well, regardless, I really appreciate what you did.”

“No problem. If he bothers you again, you have my number.”

“I do. I’m sure karma is showing him what she can be right about now.”

“If he’s talking to any of the bats, she certainly is.”

“This city needs vigilantes, clearly, so if you want him to keep helping, I’ll understand,” you offer.

Red Hood extends his leg again, moving toward you more invitingly than he had with your ex.

“If I can’t trust someone to treat a woman with  a little respect in her own home, and to leave after she dumps him, I can’t trust him in the field.”

“That makes sense,” you whisper, looking at the red hood.

“Besides, I would’ve fired him for being that callow with interpersonal relationships.”

“Well, I must be pretty callow myself if it took me that long to see him for who he really is,” you complain. Then you ask, “Did I use that word correctly?”

“You did,” he answers, “And looking for the best in people, wanting a relationship to work, doesn’t make you callow. It makes you human.”

You nod and walk beside him as he approaches the window once more.

“Can I expect any more birds in my window tonight?” you ask.

“No,” he assures you. “But I’ll be around.”

“I’ll remember that. Thanks, Red Hood.”

“You can call me Jay,” he offers.

With a bright smile and stronger feelings than you ever remember having toward your ex, you say, “Goodnight, Jay,” and offer your name in return. Even if it’s just a secret shared between friends for a single night.

“Yo,” Jason greets when the line connects.

“You had Oracle fire one of the We Are Robin members?” Bruce asks. “That’s a public group.”

“Which gets its equipment and training from Signal, who listens to Oracle, who I told to fire one of them, yes,” Jason replies. “Is that all?”

“Why?”

“Why do I want to know if that’s all? Because I have better things to do than be lectured from a distance. And if you’re about to expatiate about how this isn’t a lecture, I have to go.”

“What made him unworthy of being part of that team?” Bruce inquires.

“He’s a terrible person. Got dumped and he refused to leave her house. Then, after I showed up, he acted like he was going to get in her face.”

“Why were you there?”

“She texted me. Said she found the number in his We Are Robin notebook.”

“I warned you about giving out the vigilante numbers.”

“We all blocked him. Was that all?”

Bruce sighs and answers, “Yes, that was all.”

Jason ends the call before Bruce can say bye, and his finger hovers over your number before the sound of shattering glass captures his attention.

Three sharp knocks against your door make you groan.

“I already told you to go away,” you call.

“Did you?”

At the sound of a different voice from earlier, and one that excites you to hear, you jump over the back of the couch and rush to the door. Pulling it open, you smile at Red Hood – Jay, you remind yourself - and invite him in.

“He came back?” he asks.

“Idiot tried to use the old key. Again. Can I get you anything?”

“It’s your house,” he reminds you. “You’re not a waitress.”

“No, but… you know, you do so much.”

“There is one thing,” he says after a moment.

You nod, and he falls silent.

“Are you really over him?” he asks.

“I don’t think I was ever really into him enough,” you admit. “Part of me knew it was wrong, but at some point I got scared of the possibility that what we had was as good as it was going to get for me.”

“Why would you think that?”

Shrugging, you offer, “I’m getting older, never felt the spark I used to think existed, or maybe I just got jaded.”

Jay nods, then drops his chin toward you. “Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then, right?”

Smiling, you agree, “You get it.”

“Usually, the response to something like that is ‘You read Austen?’”

“The first time we met you used cogitate in a sentence, so I’m not exactly surprised. And to answer the original question, I am completely over him. The last week has been… I feel great.”

“Good, good,” he murmurs.

“That was a leading question,” you point out. “I don’t know where you were trying to lead me, but just take me there, Jay.”

He lifts his head slightly, and then the helmet hisses as its seal is broken. Jay removes it and sets it aside, exposing his high cheekbones accentuated by a domino mask and a white streak of hair that draws your eyes upward. Before you can comment on how unfairly attractive he is, Jay raises his hands to your face and holds you. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, and a moment in his touch reveals that you’re not jaded; you just weren’t being loved the right way.

Melting into his touch, you say, “Oh.”

Jay chuckles, his voice undisturbed with the absence of the helmet. Just when you thought he couldn’t get any more attractive.

You open your eyes, and Jay closes the distance between you. His chest presses against yours as his thumbs trace your face as if committing it to memory. Then, his lips are on yours. To Gotham, Red Hood is gruff, violent, rough around the edges, and dangerous. Yet, at this moment, in your living room, he is the total opposite. Each little touch and the connections of your bodies alight with feeling and hope, and a voice screams in your head and heart that this is the right love for you.

“Oh,” he repeats, smiling at you.

“Thanks for answering my text that night,” you whisper as you pull back.

“I was waiting outside,” Jay confesses. “I was passing by, but I heard him snap at you and saw your face and I couldn’t leave until I knew you were okay.”

“I’m better than okay now.”

“Even if I can’t tell you who I am, just yet?”

You raise your hand to Jay’s face, and for a brief moment he recoils from the touch, but then he leans into it and his eyes close behind the mask.

“If this moment is all I ever get, I’ll be better for it.”

“Friday night,” he says against your palm. “I’ll be back on Friday night with more.”

“More?” you question.

Jay steps out of your touch, replaces his helmet, squeezes your hand, and climbs into the window. “You’ll see. But you won’t be needing a cardboard box for this one.”

[quibbs126]

I drew all of these today, first for the Sunstreaker design and then I got through all of them because I’m really not sure how to spend a Tuesday afternoon now

Like side tangent, I am not sure what to do with my time on my off days anymore. So I have my classes end by 12:20 every day, and on Tuesdays and Fridays in particular, I have nothing else to do for the rest of the day (the others have something or other going on, usually work). I would like to spend that time doing actual schoolwork, like I have an assignment due by tonight, but I didn’t know what to do immediately after coming back to my dorm, so I decided to keep drawing, and now it’s around 5 or so and my day’s gonna be over in a few hours, so I should get working on my schoolwork

I feel like I wasted the day, but what am I supposed to do the whole day? I’m not sure anymore, because I have way more free time than last semester

But anyways, back on to the actual art

So I started off today trying to draw a Sunstreaker design more based off of TFA, since I thought that’d be cool. But I really didn’t know what I was doing with it, so eventually I just decided to draw his g1 design instead, so I at least somewhat know what I’m doing

I also had some of his toy designs as well, so I took from that too. This goes for all the characters by the way, particularly with the tires

But yeah after finishing Sunstreaker, I figured might as well draw Sideswipe too. And then after that I decided to do Bluestreak and Cliffjumper, for reasons I don’t really know. Like okay, I knew after Sideswipe I wanted to do more with my poses, and so I had the mental image for Cliffjumper’s pose, but for whatever reason I ended up drawing Bluestreak before that

But anyways yeah. Character and posing practice this is

I think Sideswipe turned out the worst in all honesty. I just didn’t know as much what I wanted to do with him, and his helmet was confusing for me to draw. Probably shouldn’t have tried drawing him from an upwards perspective

But other than him I think the others turned out pretty good. No real notes on Sunstreaker. Bluestreak I feel is off in some way, but it’s also in a way I like. Cliffjumper’s probably second worst, but not as bad. I think it’s mostly the head, and I think it came out wonky like that because I drew it last and the original rectangle was not at that angle

I was going to elaborate more, but I really only have thoughts about Cliffjumper and how I like him small and violent, but I don’t want him only associated with Bumblebee. And also generally that Sunstreaker should be in more things

So I guess we stop here? Not really much to say on my end. But I don’t really know what to add on here

I just think some of these guys are neat, and also I needed something to draw today

I still need to work more on more dynamic poses, as well as bettering the anatomy in general, but we’re getting there

[xoxochb]

⋆·˚ ༘ * all I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

warnings: kissing, many nsfw implications, this also might be cringe, I’m sorry 😭

pairing: jason grace x daughter of aphrodite

was it unusual for a child of aphrodite to be scared of being in love? perhaps. but your situation was different because you fell in love with a boy and he shattered your heart, killed it, there was no life left it in anymore (or so you thought)

you told yourself you wouldn’t date again after him because you didn’t want to get hurt the same way you did before

but unfortunately that son of zeus was a little too perfect, very chivalrous might you add. people may ask: isn’t this a good thing? he’s a kind boy that is totally in love with you (you don’t know this though)! no. you can afford to get your heart broken again

then why are you on your way to his cabin as we speak? there is no answer for that. it’s the middle of the night- additionally in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm. it may be your mother guiding y out there, or maybe you decided this yourself, there’s no direct answer for that question

when your hand makes contact with the door of cabin one your heart starts to race. was this even a good idea? probably not, but you’re gonna do it anyways

distracted with your worrisome thoughts you don’t hear the door open until your eyes meet the same blue ones you’ve grown to love

“hi- sorry, did I wake you?”

oh my gods your a mess

“no, you’re fine” jason thinks for a moment before speaking again “come inside” (the second after you step inside lightning strikes in the sky)

“I’m soaked. do you mind if I take my sweatshirt off?” you ask

“not at all”

once you got confirmation you slip it over your head and throw it over a nearby chair to dry

“I’m sorry for coming here so late, but can we talk?” you run your hair through your damp hair to calm it

“yeah, sure. why don’t we sit down?” he suggests

you agree and both take seats side by side on his bed

jason gives you a moment to get comfortable before speaking “what did you want to talk about?”

“I really don’t want to keep you up too long (spoiler warning: you do!) so I’m just going to tell you” you sigh before continuing “last year I was dating this boy, he was amazing, I loved him, and I really thought he loved me, but after we had been dating for six months I found him with one of my sisters in my cabin. after I ended things with him I told myself that I would never date again because I didn’t want to get my heart broken like I did before, but I met you, and you’ve been so kind to me and I really like you. I’m sorry if this is weird for you because I don’t even know if you like me back and if you don’t that means I’ll get my heart broken again, but I just needed to tell you this because you won’t leave my mind and it’s-”

your cut off with a kiss. this isn’t real right? definitely not, you’re in cabin ten trying to fall asleep with your silly (or not so) fantasies

nope, it’s very real. you didn’t realize you were even kissing back until you feel an arm wrap around your waist. the more time that passed, the deeper and more passionate the kisses got and eventually came to clothes discarded on the floor and occasional shocks of electricity (and you thank the gods jason was a son of zeus because of this reason, especially in this moment)

and you must say- this was much better than your fantasies

[livingdeadmlm]

Could you drop some headcannons of the vdl boys on how they would be like when being topped by someone younger that them? Like someone in his mid twenties topping Arthur and etc

I can absolutely do this 😝 the ones highlighted in blue are ones where the reader is a little younger cause they themselves are already like in their 20’s

Dutch

It’s an ego blow to him but he’d be a liar if he wasn’t enjoying it to its fullest

He does like younger folks but when things got steamy and you flipped him around he was sorta scared

He didn’t mentally prepare to have someone half his age fold him in half but hey he’s here now and he’s leaving angry red scratches down your back

Sure you might be topping but Dutch always finds a way to get things to go how he wants them too

Don’t get this freak in missionary his hand will be around your neck

Hosea

Hey he’s not a bag of bones but he’s not exactly made of muscle either so take it easy on him

He also didn’t expect to even pick someone up at his age anymore, let alone some young man who seems to be obsessed with him in ways he’s never felt before

It's not like he has much time to have sex or please himself, and that adds to the fact that it's a younger man who's after him

Charles

I don't think he really minds tbh?

Again the letting go of control is what he really likes and takes a lot of trust from him to even let you be on top and to see him so vulnerable

Javier

It sorta plays into two different dynamics he can enjoy

Being taken care of and at your mercy letting his thoughts go OR

Sure you’re the one inside of him but it’s not like you’re really in control here, bosses you around but very lovingly

John

Oh man, good luck having this guy admit he likes it

If you like some light fighting before sex, he's your guy.

You can start real slow, kissing him softly, but suddenly you two are wrestling so he feels like you've "earned it"

Sean

He’s exactly where he wants to be

He loves not having to do the work

He jokes like he’s triple your age about you breaking his back or something or how he’s gonna hurt his hip

Fold this fool in half and all the talk is stopped for a little bit

Lenny

Okay technically you’re not half his age either BUT not being the absolute youngest in the gang was something he held highly once you joined

So it’s an ego bruiser when it feels so natural to let you take control and be on top

It’s why you two get along so well, being so close in age. When it’s a good job he’ll take it and claim “well I’m the oldest, I’ll take the job to keep you safe.”

And you laugh cause you know the second there’s privacy things like that go out the window and you’re taking care of him

Arthur

It’s not even that you’re stronger then Arthur, you just caught him off guard and well he was enjoying the attention enough to not fight you about it

He probably writes in his journal about what and how it happened and when it happens again that’s all he writes lmao

‘Saw (name) last night, don’t quite know how but it happened once again’

Kieran

He likes being taken care of, but won't admit it. Not because he's embarrassed, but just because he doesn't feel like it needs to be said

He figures how his eyes water and legs slightly shake after you get that he really likes it

Poke fun at how docile he is with you and he gets shy

[angelmarymae]

“Please ask me anything Yellowjackets related”

Oh, you may regret that, as a hyperfixated fan who desperately needs someone to yap with:

Hi! I’m lin, I like Yellowjackets a lot, and your post popped up on my dash so now im here!! Feel free to answer all of these or none of these, no pressure to respond:

1) who r ur favorite teen timeline characters? adult timeline characters?

2) opinions on Shauna. because, well. it’s Shauna.

3) opinions on LottieNat vs MistyNat vs TravNat— I’ve seen an equal amount of each and im curious lmao

4) opinion on transfem / nonbinary Travis? Popular headcanon I’ve seen and I love the thought of ‘the shrooms made him gay’

5) what’s a story / plot line that you wish they did more with?

6) favorite / least favorite character death ?

Again you don’t have to answer any of these but I’m a chronic yapper and the hyperfixation is hyperfixating and in my defense, you said to ask.

sorry for rambling, but not enough to not send this. Hope you’re having a great day, random person

- Lin

<3

Linnn thank you for your questions and don’t apologize for rambling! We’re in the same funky hyperfixation boat, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to wake up to so many questions in my inbox!!

Let’s get into it :p

1. Fav characters (teen/adult timeline)

For the teen timeline, I’ve said it before: it’s Lottie. Always my perfect angel, my complex girl with a tiny disorder, my cutesy axe murderer. On a serious note, I love her character on so many levels, and Courtney is so incredibly talented. My love for her only grew in S3—oh dear…

Also, a close favorite is definitely Mari (what a shame).

Now for the adult timeline… that’s a little tricky. My gut instinct is to go with Misty, because let’s be real, she’s carrying the story, both with her comedy and her genius. My girl is singlehandedly moving the plot forward … Her development is amazing to watch 2.

However, I really really enjoyed adult Taissa in season 1, back when she still had the politician/divorce era going on. And I could never forget Van. She adds so much to the adult timeline. I think making her a survivor is one of the best things the writers ever did tbh. While I do have some criticisms about her storyline, I’m actually in love with Lauren, so I won’t say any more.

2. Opinion on Shauna

I meaaaan. Oh man. I really can’t defend her anymore… but I still love her. Could never hate her. At this point she could kill all the girls in cold blood and I’d be like…. Remember when she literally looked at us and asked why we couldn’t hear her baby cry? Yeah, that’ll do it for me every time.

She’s traumatized, probably deep in PPD that maybe never left. She really gets on my nerves in the adult timeline specifically, but hey. Could never forget what happened to her. She’s also super interesting from a character standpoint!

3. LottieNat vs MistyNat vs TravNat

Oh Natalie, my lovable, shippable baby.

I’ll be quick with this:

LottieNat – Surprisingly, I’m not really into it. Maybe in the adult timeline, but meh. (sorry majority of the fandom)

MistyNat – Good, good soup. Adult timeline, season 1, really confirmed this for me. So much potential.

TravNat – Yes. Their relationship makes me cry. Teen timeline has so much angst for them, which I eat up. They truly deserve each other.

4. Transfem/nb Travis

“The shrooms made him gay” I’m crying.

I mean, hey.. everyone can headcanon what they want. I don’t really see it, simply because I think his masculinity was such a big part of his plotline.

However, he is a pretty princess, so please go ahead.

5. Storyline/plot point I wish was explored more

Pff, sadly there are a lot, and S3 just made it worse. But I’m gonna go with my favorite and I think the fandom agrees:

Taissa’s entire storyline.

I’ve been rewatching with my sister, and it hit me again how amazing her setup was in season 1. She was truly my favorite to watch. She had all these things going for her: the senator plot, sleepwalking, creepy sacrifices, divorce era, and Sammy. They really set it all up and then… well, they just made her revolve around Van.

I was happy to see she was still leaning into the “sacrifice for Van” thing in season 3, but mhhhhh Other Tai was handled so poorly. That scene where she talks to Other Tai? It was so corny when it could’ve been so interesting 😭

6. Favorite/least favorite death

Okay. Least favorite, this one’s widely agreed on, Lottie and Nat.

The adult timeline deaths were really, really weak. Both characters had so much more to offer, and it was a huge mistake to write off these insanely talented actresses.

Natalie’s death felt so meaningless. like, an accident?? A fucking overdose?? That’s actually sick.

And Lottie… it felt like they only killed her off so the other adults had something to do. The reactions were lacking, and while Callie being her murderer was a good idea, the scene should’ve been way longer. At least Lottie seemed at peace in the end. My poor Angel.

Now maybe this contradicts everything I’ve ever said, but my favorite death as of late is Van’s. Not because I wanted her to die, obviously, but because the scene was so aesthetically perfect and just… ugh.. it fit.

Yes, Van would get stabbed and bleed out slowly on the floor after saving the love of her life and a friend, because she couldn’t kill Melissa while Radiohead plays.

Of course Van would survive the plane crash, fire, wolves, possibly cancer—and die because she’s too kind.

I’ve been meaning to talk about her plane scene too!! So much to analyze..

(Yellowjackets, release the monologue before Tai eats her heart, omg.)

Okay, that’s it! I took my time with this and had so much fun answering the questions!!!

Could talk about Yellowjackets for hours—but hey, didn’t wanna annoy anyone reading all this and tried to stay on topic lmao.

Feel free to add your own thoughts. Thanks again, Lin <3

[jungmeowz]

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈ secret letters to you - OT7

001; Kim Sunoo the Childhood Best Friend

synops: seven boys who have all had a crush on you, and mayhaps one or two of them are still in love with you, and who knows? But at one point all of them liked you, just in different timelines. sum: seven anonymous letters arrived at your mailbox with seven different boys names, but there's ONE secret confession letter that's fresh and newly written. Who wrote the letter?

genre: fluff, angst(?)

pairing: ot7 x reader

inspo: lowkey based on en-drama and to all the boys i've loved before

word count: 3.5k+ (not proof-read)

a/n: im sorry for the delay... i've been super busy and just trying to get my life together (its not going so well so yeah...)

I’ve known Sunoo ever since we were kids, so I guess maybe it can rule out at least one of the letters but still? My childhood best friend liking me? I mean it’s like a typical cliche but still… but it was still a shocker to me. So out of these eight letters, you’re telling me one of them is written by Sunoo, my childhood best friend.

Sunoo and I have been through everything together, we have shared and created so many memories together, from our first time trying ice cream to our first time underestimating high school. He’s seen me at my worst and at my best, but I've also seen him at his worst and best. We’ve seen each other's weaknesses and strongest perks, but after all that’s what makes us best friends. But I’ve never once thought of him that way, and I’ve never exactly developed romantic feelings for him either. So now that I’m aware of his feelings, I essentially feel bad for never being able to return his feelings, or ever consider those romantic feelings.

“So Kim Sunoo… isn’t he like your childhood best friend?” Aerai questioned. “You know, it’s no surprise if he liked you, I mean it's a typical cliche,” my brother noted. “Yeah perhaps, but the real question is, does he still like me?” I wondered. “I mean if he did, how would you feel about it?” Aerai asked. “Well, I don’t know. I mean I’ve never looked at him that way, nor have I ever developed romantic feelings for him, but even thinking about him like that, it’s a bit weird to me,” I answered.

After answering Aerai’s question, I started to think more about Sunoo and how things would change if we did date, or if I developed romantic feelings for him, and well after briefly thinking about the situation, it still seemed weird to me, and I don’t know how I would feel about the transition of a best friend to a boyfriend, but maybe I’m also scared of jeopardizing our friendship if we ever did cross that line. But he wasn’t the only one that liked me, so either way things would still be complicated as ever. 

“Yeah, I don’t think you don’t like him, because if you’re saying it’s weird and you’ve never thought about it, there’s probably no feelings,” Aerai said. “Okay, well let’s try to figure out which letter he wrote,” I said. “And if we do, how will we confirm it’s him?” Aerai asked. “Well, there’s only one way and that’s asking him, or maybe trying to make moves on him and see,” my brother answered. “First off, no. I’m not gonna make moves on my best friend because that’s weird, and what if he doesn’t even like me anymore… Majority of these confessions seem like past tense and they’re dated kinda far back,” I replied.

After finishing replying to my brother's comment, I looked at him and he shrugged in his defense and put his hands up as a surrender not wanting to add fuel to the fire. “It’s a suggestion, you didn’t need to take it personally,” my brother said. “Well okay, let’s take a look at the letters,” Aerai said. “Well maybe it could be May 23rd 2021, it mentions the word “kids” so maybe it could be Sunoo?” I questioned. “Well what about the one that's dated in 2020? I feel like maybe the older the year is, maybe it could be him?” Aerai replied. “You make a fair point, and I thought about it, but that letter says ‘sidelines’, so I’m wondering if maybe that one could be Heeseung? I mean like, I’m always cheering for Heeseung on the sidelines when he’s playing basketball? So that could be it?” I wondered. “But that doesn’t make any sense, didn’t you meet Heeseung in like 2022” Aerai asked. “Shit you’re right, that’s also roughly the time I met the other guys as well,” I replied. 

Honestly there were so many things I needed to consider about these letters, but my brain had no capacity to understand and comprehend these letters as these dates were throwing me off. It didn’t help that my memory isn’t the best either. I felt like every time I kept reading these letters I ended up being more confused and lost. 

“Well, I definitely don’t think it’s one of the most recent dated letters…“ Aerai trailed off. “Yeah, I agree. I don’t think the recently dated letters would be Sunoo’s,” I replied. “Okay, so then let's just assume it’s either the oldest dated letter, or the letter that mentions ‘kids’,” Aerai said. “Well one of them says they would rather stay friends, and then the other one is expecting me to feel the same way,” I said. 

After making that comment, the thought didn’t occur to me that maybe potentially one of the boys could still like me, and I would need to face that later on. It doesn’t help that I’m no good at responding to people's feelings either. “Wait, do you by any chance like someone at the moment?” My brother asked. My face turned red when the thought of Heeseung appeared in my mind, and then I immediately brushed it off. “No, it’s not like that really,” I quietly said. “You’re lying, you’re just like me! Your ears get red when you get embarrassed or shy,” My brother laughed. “Wait, you’re telling me this whole time you liked someone and you didn’t even tell me?” Aerai frowned. “It’s not that big of a deal, don’t worry about it,” I replied. “Well then, if it’s not a big deal then tell me who it is,” Aerai smirked as she crossed her arms. “It’s Hee..Heeseung,” I stuttered. “I knew it! You’re always going to his basketball games, I thought it was because of Jongseong or Riki, but no, it’s because of Heeseung,” Aerai smiled. “Shut up,” I blushed. “Poor Yunnie, you always dragged him to these basketball games even though he would much rather stay at home and build legos” Aerai snickered. “What? He was always eager to come with me though,” I said. “Yeah, and it’s probably because he gets to spend more time with you,” My brother snickered. 

My best friend and brother weren’t wrong, but the thought never occurred to me that Jaeyun would want to only come just to spend time with me. I sincerely thought he wanted to go these games because he wanted too and support his friends, but after receiving the confession letters and coming to the conclusion all of them liked me at one point, it would make sense why Jaeyun would come with me to these basketball games and give up some nights to build legos just to accompany me on the bleachers to support the team. 

“That’s not the point, we’re here to identify which letter Sunoo wrote!” I exclaimed. “Well we have a movie night hangout tonight at Sunoo’s. Maybe you should head over there early and talk to him privately,” Aerai suggested. I groaned and put my hands on my cheek in distress, “Ugh, what am I suppose to say? Uhm hey which letter did you write?”I panicked. “You can, or you can snoop around his room and try to find something. The letters seemed typed out, so obviously there’s probably a written letter or diary!” Aerai said. “So invasion of privacy…” I whispered. “Okay, let’s not do that. If I was a guy, I wouldn't like it if my crush was snooping around my room to find my confession letter. Just be bold and ask him, but don’t expect him to be honest with you,” My brother said. I darted my eyes at my brother and heavily sighed, he looked at me and shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him. “Did anyone ever tell you how unhelpful you are?” I commented. “Yeah.. you’re not really helping your sister right now. Well, I have to head home and get ready for the movie night. You should head over there early and maybe talk to Sunoo about it,” Aerai suggested. “I could… and I know I should. I just don’t know how to bring it up still,” I sighed. 

Aerai got up from the couch and put her hand on my shoulder and then patted it as an attempt to give me reassurance of the whole situation. She gave me a warm smile and then waved off and left the house. I slumped back onto the couch in defeat, frowning at the situation. My brother looked at me and then decided to plop down next to me. “So Heeseung huh,” he said as he nudged my shoulder. “Don’t even, that's the least of my concerns right now. I don’t even care if Heeseung  likes me back, or used to like me. It’s not going to happen,” I replied. “Since when did you even start liking him,” he asked. “Since the day we met, I mean have you looked at him… he’s just so cute, but when he steps onto the court he’s like the coolest guy ever,” I said. “So you’re telling me you’ve only liked Heeseung out of everyone from that group?” he questioned..

For a moment, I sat there wondering if I should confess to my brother about my feelings and thoughts about the boys. Besides Lee Heeseung, there was also another guy I had feelings for, Sim Jaeyun, the next door neighbor. At one point I really did like him, I liked him for quite a while, but I told myself to give up on liking him just because I never thought he would feel the same way. He seemed like the type who wasn’t interested in dating or relationships. He never mentioned having crushes or liking anyone, he always minded his own business focusing on school, and building legos, but to know in the end he did like me, I couldn’t help but think how things would’ve turned out if we knew we both liked each other at one point and maybe confess. 

“Well… I mean Jaeyun… But I don’t anymore. I gave up years ago, it seems like he was never interested in love and such,” I trailed off. “Oh, so you liked the golden retriever boy,” my brother said. “I mean not anymore, he’s cute and adorable when he builds he’s super focused on building his legos, and he’s always been there for me, but there’s no way he feels the same way about me now. I think one of the letters from him is probably the letter that he wishes to just be friends,” I shrugged. “And what if it’s not? What will you do?” he asked. “I don’t know, re-think about it?” I replied. “So just Heeseung and Jaeyun?” he hummed. “I mean liking Sunghoon would be weird, that’s like your best friend, and that would just kinda be a sin in my book and maybe in your book, liking Jongseong is no question asked because that's your roommate, and Jungwon and Riki are like my bro’s. I can’t look at them like that, and well Sunoo.. we’re just best friends and I would like to keep it like that,” I answered. “I mean I don’t mind Sunghoon liking you, it’s his life. I shouldn’t stop him from liking someone and stop him from how he feels, like it or not, emotions are hard to deal with, and forcing someone not to like someone isn’t right either,” he replies. “Well it doesn’t matter. I still think it’s weird. Besides, Sunghoon is such a huge flirt, I could never, we’re like total opposites,” I shrugged. “Hey, you never know, opposites attract sometimes,” he joked. 

I looked at my brother and rolled my eyes at him, I proceeded to get up and drag myself off the couch and walk towards my room and plopped down onto my bed. I pulled out the letters again and decided to re-read them again, and after re-reading them multiple times, I threw the letters aside and screamed into my pillow with frustration. It’s not like I was expecting any of them to like me to be honest, because literally why would anyone like me? I’m a hot mess, but that’s just me. 

After screaming and laying in bed staring off into space looking at my ceiling, I looked at the time and realized it was almost time to head over to Sunoo’s house for movie night. I braced myself and decided it was time to get ready, as I slipped on a pair of sweats and a hoodie, I grabbed the letters and shoved them into my bag and left the house and headed over to Sunoo’s house.  

It didn't take long to head over to Sunoo’s house. I knocked on his door and he opened it and smiled at me and gave me a hug. There was a part of me that felt weirded out hugging him, just because of those confession letters I read, but I tried to brush it off and proceeded to hug him back. As he let me in, he greeted me and told me to head upstairs first as he still needed to finish some things up.

I nodded and headed over into his room, as I walked towards his bed and sat down, I took a look around his room and couldn’t help but let Aerai’s suggestion get to me. Should I look around or is this an invasion of privacy? But at this point curiosity got the better of me and I decided to snoop around his desk looking for papers or anything that could be letter related. 

Eventually after a couple minutes of rummaging, I got distracted and didn’t realize Sunoo had entered his room. I felt my body freeze as I could feel him staring at me, I was caught red-handed. “What are you doing?” Sunoo asked. “Nothing, I just thought your desk needed some cleaning, jeez Sunoo. Keep your desk clean,” I lied. “My desk is clean, what were you doing snooping around?” he asked. “I can explain?” I answered in surrender. “I’m not mad, it just seems unlike you,” he said. 

My hands were shaking, it was nice to know that Sunoo wasn’t mad that I had just lied to him while snooping around his room. My mind went blank and I didn’t know how to respond to him. There were two options, it was either to tell the truth or continue to lie to him, but with barely time to think and the extended awkward silence forming, I shut my eyes and trusted my gut, and blurted out everything from the top of my head. 

“Sunoo, did you ever like me? I got home today. These eight confession letters were handed to me from my brother and they’re all dated differently and I don’t know… One of these letters seemed like it was written from you but then again I don’t know, because I only talk to you and the other boys, so then it makes sense, but then again who would like me I don’t know what I'm saying. I just, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snoop around I just really wanted to confirm it, and I didn’t know how and I wasn’t going to ask you because I was scared you were going to lie but now that my mind is blank, and I’m out here babbling like a complete mess, I feel like I just messed things up,” I ranted. “Okay, first of all, breathe, and calm down, I’m not mad. Please one thing at a time, because you literally talked so fast that I lost track of what you said,” Sunoo replied. I hesitated for a second, but there was no point going back because if I asked once already, I might as well ask again and repeat myself. “Did you ever write a confession letter to me?” I asked. “...What makes you say that?” he answered. “Because of this,” I replied as I pulled out the letters out of my bag. 

Sunoo took the letters out of my hand and read the letters and his eyes widened as his face and ears turned super red and then he looked at me. “Where did you find this?” he asked. “My brother told me it was mailed to me?” I answered. “Who on earth would mail this to you?” he said. “I don’t know! But that’s not the point right now. Did you or did you not like me, and did you write one of these letters,” I asked. “Okay fine. At one point I did like you, but that was years ago! I don’t like you anymore, and yes I did write a confession letter, but this was suppose to be a secret. It was never meant to be leaked or anything. I don’t know who the hell leaked my letter, but I don’t like you like that anymore. I look at you as my best friend, and I hope you’re not weirded out or have feelings for me because I’m sorry..” he panicked. “Which one did you write…?” I trailed off. “I wrote the October 13th 2020,” he confessed. “I’m sorry I never noticed your feelings Sunoo,” I apologized. “Please don’t be. It was a long time ago, and besides I’m over it and it was for the best anyways. Like the letter said, I'd rather keep this friendship than lose you,” he smiled. “I know but still. I feel like I still hurt you in some way,” I said. “It’s really okay y/n,” Sunoo smiled. 

I was really thankful to know that Sunoo didn’t have feelings for me anymore, because now that was one less thing to worry about. I still felt bad that he did like me years ago, but I’m glad that he’s over it. “It’s a relief you’re over me, because I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t,” I said. “Well that’s a relief then? Glad we’re on the same page,” he said. “So… Do you know by chance who wrote the other letters?” I asked. “It’s true that all of us liked you at one point, and we did keep it a secret, but we never showed each other our confession letters. So I’m not sure which letter belongs to who,” he answered. “And here I thought you could help me,” I frowned. “As much as I want to help, It’s not my job to reveal their feelings. This is something you’re going to have to solve on your own, as much as I love you, I can’t intervene in this because it’s not my feelings. I mean you figured out mine, but you should give the others a chance to speak like you’re doing with me,” he defended. “But I’m scared. There’s someone out there right now who still likes me currently, and I’m scared. What if I don’t like them back? What if it’s someone I hoped it would be, but isn’t?” I sighed. “I know, but whatever happens, it’s meant to happen. Just know that we all care about you,” Sunoo comforted. “Can I get a hint at least?” I asked. “Fine, someone who has the letter N in their name is still in love with you,” he answered. “Kim Sunoo, that is the most useless hint ever. All of their names have N, aside from Riki! But he even goes by Ni-Ki sometimes!” I whined. “Well you eliminated me! You asked for a hint, and I gave you one,” he laughed. “This is why I favor Aerai over you,” I joked. “How dare you, and here I thought I was being nice,” he gasped. “Yeah whatever,” I scoffed. “The utter disrespect,” he laughed.

A part of me was really curious in wanting to ask why Sunoo liked me, I mean it’s obvious that I lacked self-confidence considering the fact I just don’t understand who could like me, but after receiving confession letters, it definitely sparked my curiosity. “Quick question though.. Why did you like me? I mean it says in the letter but still?” I asked. “I mean listen, I liked you because you were always so forward about things, I mean yes, you were a bit strong headed and stubborn, and sometimes annoying and shy but it’s cute and that’s what I liked about you. I think you’re different from the other girls in a way, you’re very unique,” he answered honestly. 

After hearing Sunoo’s answer, I could feel my face turn sour, it was so weird to hear that come out of his mouth. I knew he was being honest with his feelings with me, but I don’t know, for some reason it just didn’t sound right to me. “I kinda just gagged, hearing my best friend talk about me and admiring me. That was kinda disgusting. Why did I even ask?” I joked. “You’re absolutely such a dork,” he rolled his eyes. “Yeah well you liked this dork at one point,” I retorted. “Yeah, not anymore because you’re such a prick,” he laughed. “Insults? Okay keep it coming, we’ll see who gets the last laugh,” I smiled. 

With that conversation out of the way, I felt relieved knowing Sunoo didn’t feel the same way anymore, but there was still an unheavy feeling because there were still seven letters to figure out with basically no clues. Which meant I still had no idea where to start, and Sunoo’s hint didn’t exactly help me either and so I was stuck at a dead end. I guess the next person I could go to is Sim Jaeyun, he’s the second longest person I’ve known, but the thought of confronting him about these letters was a bit scary considering at one point I did like him, but there was no going back after receiving these letters, I had to face it.

002; Sim Jaeyun - The Next Door Neighbor

from me to you; secret letters to you - masterlist

° ᡣ𐭩 . ° ᴇɴʜʏᴘᴇɴ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ ° ᡣ𐭩 . °

[arlequinelunaire]

Verthandi in the Middle Ch. 1.1

SV Next>

CW: The first couple of chapters involve a serial killer.

_ _ _

Because I’m the one who gets stuck with the serial killer, aren’t I?

…Okay, guess I should back up. Long story short, short-ish anyway, I go by Vera Norin, well down here I do. I’m one of the three owners, okay, one of the only three employees of the Wyrd Sisters Agency in Stockholm. Says a lot that my older sister Ruth told us we’d all have equal say, but then named the agency after herself. Er, after one of her alternate names.

Put simply, we control fate. No, we don’t just see your fate like a fortune teller, and unlike them we’re the real thing. Control it. Wanna go from rags to riches with us as your fairy godmothers, send someone you don’t like from riches to rags, or avoid your appointed death? Arranged all that and more thousands of times, and big sister Ruth even gets to control the past. Because of course she gets everything.

Er, guess I’m not being much of a saleswoman here, am I? Hey, I’m still the best of my sisters in that department, probably. Like Ruth would just tell you a bunch of flowery mythic-mystic bullshit before getting to anything important, while my little sister Svea would just prefix everything with ‘SUPER-’, ‘AWESOME-’, and ‘EPIC-’ and add a whole bunch of exclamation marks and a digi-cyber-guitar solo. Wait no, not epic, nobody says epic that way anymore, unless they start doing that again in the future when it’s retro. Huh, you’d think Svea of all people would know the actual meaning of the word ‘epic’, given we were there when the old sagas were being written. Then again, the past is Ruth’s domain- oh shit, I’m giving too much away, aren’t I?

Right, I take it you’re thinking if we’ve got power over fate itself, why are we letting mere humans have a say with this agency? Er, fellow mere humans, I mean. Simple, come the 21st century, someone as stuck in the past as Ruth has finally learned about democracy, and not just the barely-counts Ancient Greek kind. If we’re gonna hold this much power over people’s lives, the least we can do is actually give those people a say in things. That’s part of why I’m sharing this with all of you. Not that there aren’t conditions and restrictions of course, we’re still judge and jury, been doing this for millennia- ah, for years after all. Though I assure you, Ruth’s just as strict with us as she is with you, way more so. She’s had thousands of years to hammer into us “You can’t do that”, “Such is unbefitting of us”, “No using your power for your own gain” and on and on.

Okay, what’s this about me getting assigned a serial killer then? It started when a bunch of teens, you know the type, pimply, dour-faced, arms perpetually crossed, would’ve worn baseball caps backwards in past decades, lurched their way right into our office. “Wait, this is the place? Thought a ‘fate-writing’ place would be all dark and spooky, y’know all haunted castle. But this looks like where my parents work,” one of them whined.

“Fate-weaving, kid,” I muttered. Actually, we were still renting this basic white walled, brown carpeted office, and this kid reminding me of that got him on my nerves even more. Granted, freedom to decorate would give Ruth full reign to make everything all lacey and doily-draped and Svea to put spikes everywhere and drown it all in black paint. I shuddered at the thought. But speaking of her, “Svea, you know these guys?” I called out, since they were about high school age. Not that there’s only one high school in Stockholm, but eh, no harm in asking.

“Awesome, you guys saw my flyers!” Svea’s voice rang out all through the room. Which at least showed I was right, even if my ears throbbed. She ran up to them dressed in the exact opposite attire your standard office would demand. With her black hair uneven, leather coat clearly too big for her, knee-high combat boots ringed with spikes, it showed restraint that she didn’t enter the room to a guitar riff. Of course, I showed up to work in my usual anorak and jeans, and Ruth normally arrives in full Victorian garb, so we’re hardly any better. “Alright, so what can Verth and I do for you guys? Anything fate-related, that’s us!” Svea said with an ear-to-ear smile and both thumbs up.

“…Yeah, knew the loudmouth to be behind this. The handwriting on that ad was so bad, couldn’t be anyone but her,” one teen said, rolling his eyes. Huh, since when did stroppy teens care so much about handwriting? Oh yeah, as an excuse to bully Svea they do, though it looked like that remark only got a twitch out of her, on the surface anyway.

“So, if you people really can control fate,” another of the teens began as a smirk crept across his face, with me facepalming at what he said next, “Prove it by making the hottest girl in class fall desperately in love with me.”

“Not happening,” I wasted zero time in telling him. There was no way I’d risk Ruth coming into the room and hearing that one of her biggest rules was in danger of breaking. “We can weave what a person does or what happens to them into their fate, but not how they feel about it. Emotions are a person’s own domain.” It’s a testament to how much Ruth drilled those words into us that I could repeat them on the spot.

“Pfft, sounds to me like you can’t ‘weave fates’ after all,” that teen had to say, his smirk somehow even wider. “Or that hearing about hot girls reminds you how plain and drab you are, anorak,” he snickered like he thought I couldn’t hear, I then winced as Svea snickered with him. The little shit was so lucky that I was in a professional service environment right now and so couldn’t just deck him. Though any more talk like that, and he may find fate has decreed for him quite a few fists to the face. Or worse, decreed for him a life in retail.

“Hey, we can still do a whole bunch of stuff. Like with my domain, I get to decide who lives and who dies-” Svea began, before I put my hand right over her mouth.

“Oh no, you’re not putting that power in these losers’ hands,” I hissed in her ear. And on top of… the obvious, did she have to use the term ‘domain’? I then turned to the brats and told them, “How about sticking to your own fates, okay?”

But then one of them, an even more morbid type who’d been slinking in the shadows so far, had to ask, “What if you fated someone who really deserved it to die? Like a serial killer.”

Now that had me thinking. Obviously there’s been debate after debate on if killing someone can ever be justified, even the oh so brutal Viking Age still had Althing meetings over this sort of thing. On the other hand, like I’d shed the slightest tear over the death of a serial killer. On the other other hand, I was in no mood to become a bunch of snotty teens’ own assassin for hire, let alone foist that on Svea.

So I wussed out and went the rehabilitation route, how Scandinavian-justice-system of me. “How about we just fate it so that they never succeed in killing anyone again?” I offered. Naturally, I said that before knowing who and how bad this serial killer even was. Of course, Svea promptly frowned right at me.

“Fine. Just as long as, y’know, you actually do something involving fate already,” the first teen said. “Oh right, and that you don’t charge too much, we’ve been here long enough.”

Long enough? Since when’s a few minutes ‘long enough’? Not that I can’t sympathise with being strapped for cash, as Ruth won’t let us fate-weave ourselves rich since we ‘can’t use fate-weaving for own advantage’. But at the same time, who the Hel’s this kid to tell us how to run our business? Still, a compromise came to mind as I smirked back at him, “Our price is the satisfaction we get when you all concede that we really do control fate. How’s that?”

“Deal,” the teens said in unison, their faces still sour. Hey, I’d be happy to get this whole thing over with too. The one in the shadows then kept scrolling on their phone until they went, “Yeah, this guy looks like the right candidate.”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t have an actual killer in mind till just now?” I asked them, mouth agape. Just when I thought these teens couldn’t annoy me more. And they flat out ignored what I just said and held the phone up to my face. “Anastasios, surname unknown, the ‘Scarecrow’ killer,” I read. So named for his scrawny, nigh skeletal looks and the way he ties up his victims. Main stalking ground is… all the way down in Athens? These kids were absolutely sure they didn’t pick this guy at random? Then again, a serial killer’s a serial killer, and I like to think I’m more principled about death than Svea. “You got it, this guy’s killing days are done for. Check the news for any more reports on him if you don’t believe us,” I said with a smirk of my own. “Oh, and when that happens, make sure you tell all your friends just how wrong you were about us. Now scram.” Not the best thing to tell your customers, but Ruth wasn’t around, so as if I cared at this point.

“You mean you’re not gonna let us see your actual fate-writing, weaving, whatever process?” one of them had to blurt out.

This again. “Look, a nuclear plant isn’t gonna let you hang around radiation, we’re not gonna let clients hang around the destiny threads. They’re the whole of a person’s time on this Earth, maximum caution required. Now scram,” I said as I shoved them one by one out the door. Hel, ‘scram’ was me holding back, my first instinct was to tell them ‘Fuck off’. Then again, scram is what you say to kids, too Sesame Street reminiscent, while fuck off is what you say to adults, and I didn’t fancy treating them like that.

Then the second I’d dusted my hands of them, I turned around to see Ruth as prim and proper as a 19th century nanny staring right back me into my soul. Oh come on, I didn’t even hear her come in. Well, that’s typical for her, why announce your presence when you could make your sisters fear you’re always watching? “Vera,” she said looking down at me, like that word was all she needed to say.

“Hey, it’s just us three now, you do know you can use my real name?” I said first, then actually replied to what she’d implied with, “And I’m doing my job. I kept putting up with those kids till we reached an agreement, and now we’re gonna change fate per their request. What more do you want?”

“For you to start treating our customers with respect, to begin with. It would not do for our business to be saddled with a bad reputation,” Ruth said as she loomed closer over me. She then placed a hand on Svea’s shoulder as she kept chewing me out, “And in addition, you insulted the very customers your little sister invited. Think about how she must feel, after she put in all the hard work of advertising.”

I was about to point out to Ruth that, had she not shown up at the last minute, she would’ve heard these kids insulting Svea too. But as the future’s not my domain, I’d failed to foresee that Svea would betray me. “Oh yes, Verth was really mean, and to me too. She kept telling me no when I had any idea about how to give our clients what they wanted,” Svea said as she ‘cried’ at Ruth.

“Because Svea wanted to let teenagers order a guy’s death,” I hissed. Don’t know why I did, because if Ruth didn’t ignore me, she probably would’ve manufactured some excuse to defend Svea. Anything for the ‘baby’ of the family. So I then said, “Hey, we’re the only fate-weaving business on Midgard, in all the Realms even,” …as far as I knew, “We’re the last people who need to be worried about customers leaving for the competition.”

Ruth sighed down at me. “We know that, but they do not. To those more superstitious, any charlatan with cards and a crystal ball could be just as valid as we. To those more skeptical, we could be yet more quacks. We cannot afford to drive away clients, Vera. And even if we could, such behaviour would still be utterly unprofessional,” she said through gritted teeth. Then she softened her voice and used my real name, “Verthandi, as the past is not your domain, I don’t know how well you remember this. But in the Eddas, in all the Sagas too, any time our names were said, it was in fear or hatred, and that was when they chose to acknowledge us at all. The last thing I want is for that same fear and hatred to follow us into the 21st century. And that is why manners matter,” she huffed as her voice shot back up to its normal volume.

“…I know,” is all I said to her about our, well, past infamy. I seethed at her thinking all those things said about us didn’t still hurt me. I mean I get it, if you hear someone else controls your fate, it makes sense you’d be resentful of them. But I never asked to be shat on just for doing my job.

Though now she mentions it, if restoring our rep’s so important, doesn’t us using aliases defeat the whole point? Especially when they’re so paper-thin anyway, though I was at least grateful not to get stuck with the proposed ‘Bertha’.

Oh, and since Ruth had just ‘wrecked’ me, Svea of course had to stick her tongue out and pull down an eyelid at me. Yeah, that’s ‘manners’. And how is Svea going ‘killing is totally awesome’ not as harmful to our reputation as me saying a swear word to some kids? “Let’s just weave this fate already,” I settled on.

Guess it’s no use still trying to hide who we are, huh? Even Ruth’s gone and used my real name. Right, I’m Verthandi, Norn of Present Time. And if you’ve so much as squinted at a Norse mythology book, I take it you’ve figured out Ruth’s Urth of the Past and Svea’s Skuld of the Future. Told you our aliases were flimsy. We’re the Nornir and we’re, er, hard to describe, and that’s coming from one of them. We’re not goddesses, let’s make that clear, even if we do have to hang out with them. Urth tells us we’re Jotnar, which gets translated as ‘giants’ despite her only being six foot four, Skuld being a shrimp, and me being average as always. Yeah, you can argue the exact difference between Jotnar and Gods is pretty flimsy, but trust me, you really don’t want to compare the two to their faces.

Of course, my domain being the Present and not the Past means my memory’s kinda hazy, so I only have Urth’s word for it that I even am a Jotun. Hel, I don’t even know my own parents, think I heard Dad’s someone called Mogthrasir? He’s a real deadbeat, whoever he is. But I guess Urth’s telling the truth, like what would she have to gain from saying we’re Jotnar specifically?

Anyway, the fate-weaving. The three of us walked over to a corridor as bland and unfurnished as the foyer, till we came to a door no mortals could see. Or at least, they better not see, if all the runes we scribbled on it are working right. Our local fate-weaving room… how to even describe it? Have you heard of a tesseract, you know, a four-dimensional cube? Picture a whole cavern of four-dimensional spiderwebs, where each dewdrop reflects a moment from someone’s life, from big things like birth, graduation, and death, to the smaller stuff like that one time traffic was real bad, or it rained when the forecast said it’d be sunny. These webs of fate are also this room’s sole light source, with a person’s past shining white, their future shrouded in hazy black, and their present a smushed pallet. Or so it looks like to me anyway, if my sisters see their domains differently they’ve told me squat. Though I think Skuld wouldn’t want her domain to be any other colour than black, like her soul~.

While we didn’t have any super strong leads, knowing some basic information on this killer did help in tracking down his specific thread of fate. As Skuld and I approached the threads, our hands as usual morphed themselves into instruments akin to a spider’s pincers. Yet another reason we don’t humans watch us fate-weave, they’d be sent screaming seeing us turn semi-arachnid. Still, it’d help a lot if I could actually use an opposable thumb for all the tricky, obnoxiously precise bits.

I got to plucking out all the murders the Scarecrow killer ever would’ve committed from this point; I suppose I should’ve felt disturbed seeing them but well, I’m thousands of years old. I may not have the best memory, but the seriously bleak things from the past are all too good at sticking in the mind. Meanwhile, Skuld got the even more laborious job of lengthening all the threads of his future victims, now their fated deaths had changed. And all the while, Urth just… stood in the corner. Watching us do all the work.

“We are tampering with the web of fate enough,” Urth told me as soon as I glared at her, “Were I to get involved and rewrite the fates of his past victims, we don’t know how drastically we would complicate the web.” Which yeah, was exactly the response I expected. Again, alive for thousands upon thousands of years, I can’t fathom how many times she’s told me that. Although, makes sense we couldn’t show those kids we’re the real thing if the killer never even got to kill in the first place. “Not to mention-”

“The gods of the dead don’t like us taking those who’ve already died back from them, I know,” I said. Though it wasn’t like those three could afford to lose a soul or two, especially Odin. I then dusted my hands and said, “Anyway, we’ve got all these fates sorted. Let’s hope our next client asks us for something more pleasant.” And has more money to throw around.

“Oh no, we are not done yet,” Urth said as she looked right at me again. “You’re to watch over this Scarecrow to see how he reacts to having his capacity to kill taken away.”

“What? Why?” I asked, as I instantly assumed she was having me do this out of spite. “We know he’s not gonna kill any more, so what’s the point?”

“Yeah, and how come Verth gets to meet a serial killer and not me?” Skuld had to ask.

“Because Verthandi, you should know by now that the consequences for reweaving fate are nothing you should ignore. And seeing the reweaved in person is to remind you that these are fates of people we deal with, not dolls,” Urth told me, then turned to Skuld and said, “Skuld dear, I will absolutely not let you meet a serial killer. It simply isn’t healthy for you.”

“Why isn’t it?” I actually found myself coming to Skuld’s defence for once. “We can’t weave ourselves into his or anyone’s fate, but even then he still can’t kill her. Can’t kill the future after all. Not to mention some gods she’s met are way worse than serial killers,” I felt the need to keep my voice low for that line.

“Yeah, so lemme meet the killer. Why does Verth get all the fun?” Skuld kept whining.

“Verthandi, this is your little sister you are talking about!” Urth snapped at me. She then steadied herself with a deep breath and said, “Besides, while he may not be able to kill her, there are still plenty of awful things, physical and mental, he could still try on her.” Then she turned around and went, “Skuld, why don’t you and I go out for ice-cream instead? Maybe we can bring your hoverboard to the park?”

Oh, so suddenly those ‘awful things’ are okay when I’m the one in the crosshairs, are they? Yeah, Skuld’s stuck in permanent adolescence, but she’s still been in existence since, like, forever. Though I could immediately imagine Urth replying to that with ‘as have you’.

But if I said all that, it turned out Skuld wouldn’t have my back anyway, as she instantly said, “Ooh, ice cream!”

By the way, if you wonder why we make Skuld go to school even though she’s an immortal, well, one part that permanent adolescence, her being future potential embodied, but also Urth’s whole ‘gotta know the people’ thing. Everything I’d heard about school just made me glad Skuld got stuck with the Future and not me.

With me left with nothing but to groan, I followed Urth out into the scrubby patch that passed for our backyard. There, she picked up a rune-adorned old clay jug of water and held it aloft in the air. Everything shook as a massive, twisting root came down from out of the sky to drink from it. That’s our other job, attending the World Tree Yggdrasill. Well, ‘Yggdrasill’ is just what it’s called now, after Odin hanged himself from it. Its real name is… huh, I don’t think I even know. Maybe Urth does, but if she did she’d probably find some excuse not to tell me.

Anyway, even a root this size was still a minor root for Yggdrasill, nowhere near the three big ones, but it’d do for my assignment. “Ah, the Norns, what can I do for you today?” the tree’s personal squirrel chirped as he scurried his way down the branch, his alien green eyes letting you know this wasn’t your standard red squirrel. Well, that and the little reporter's hat and jacket he was wearing. And the voice thing.

“Nornir,” Urth had to correct, as if the fuzzball at all cared.

“I just need a lift to Athens, Ratatosk. That’s all,” I told him quick. I was about to tell him not to dump me on the outskirts, but knowing my luck that would probably be where the killer’s hiding.

“Why, you three already bombing in Stockholm?” he had to say. Him being the only one amused, and then having to dodge a can thrown by Skuld, he followed with, “Okay okay, your ride to Athens is ready. All aboard.”

I then took hold of the end of the root, and with that was pulled through creation all the way from Europe’s north to its south. Nothing I hadn’t done a bunch before, but I could only imagine how terrifying the experience would be for a regular human, especially for their arm.

And now you know all about how I got assigned to babysit a former serial killer. Here’s hoping he won’t be too much of a headache to deal with in person, I could use less of those in my life.

[1427]

When the Levee Breaks (pt. 1)

Daryl Dixon x OFC

The one in which a stripper that used to know Merle and Daryl shows up at the Atlanta camp. Daryl’s feelings are complicated but mostly he hates her. Right?

Chapt. Setting: Atlanta camp

Chapt. Warnings: degrading and sexist language, season 1 Daryl, he’s not nice in this, probably won’t be for a while. 

Word count: 1600 

A/N : (aka authors warning) this is written in Daryl’s POV soOo idk. Probably not everyone’s bag. Maybe it’s no one’s bag. These first three chapters are kinda rough and I’m sorry but I can only proofread my own stuff so many times before I either post it or delete it forever.

masterlist

17+ mdni for the whole story

After stringin’ a few squirrels for dinner I figure I should get back to camp. ‘m breakin’ through the tree line, and that’s when I see her.  Beatle. Beatle, for the first time in… shit, who knows? Definitely years, I’m not exactly sure how many. Beatle, just fuckin’ sittin’ at my fire. Like somehow she knew it was mine and showed up just to take it from me. Just sittin’. Smile on her face like she belongs there. She doesn’t. She doesn’t belong at this camp, with these people. Shit, Beatle doesn’t even belong alive if I’m bein’ honest. 

No one in this fuckin’ camp can hunt worth a damn.  They’re gonna expect me to feed ‘em, ain’t they? Eventually. Eventually the food’ll run out and it’ll just be me feedin’ fuckin’ everyone. M’not doin’ it. I’m not doin’ shit for ‘em anymore. Why should I? Left my brother on that roof to rot. Naw, I’ll hunt for my damn self. Don’t even know why I’m still fuckin’ here. Should be out findin’ Merle. Honestly, don’t even know why I’m not.

Even before the dead started walkin’. I figured her days were numbered since the first fuckin’ time I met ‘er. Drunk as hell, eyes glassy, loud annoying voice barkin’ like a damn dog. Just yap yap yappin at Merle and me, tits half hangin’ outta her bikini top. Ones cinched in the string like she’d just forgotten to take ‘em out from her last time around the bar. A dumb drunk bitch, Beatle. Stupid fuckin’ stripper name. Who’s dick gets hard over a stripper named Beatle? 

I watch her, just for a second, checkin’ to see if maybe it’s not really her. But it is. ‘Course it fuckin’ is. 

Shane’s the first person I see that’s not doin’ anything, going through some clothes in a duffel bag in the back of a van, figure he might know, “Where the fuck did she come from?” Pointing toward Beatle, her back to us, fifty yards away. Stupid purple hair blowing all over the damn place. 

Shane looks to see who I’m pointing at, but who the fuck else is new at camp? His eyes finally land on Beatle before looking back at me like he’s trying to fight the smile on his damn face, “Why? You interested?”

I’m tryin’ not to lose my shit that she’s even fuckin’ here. “Nah…” I shake my head, “I know ‘er.”

Shane looks up, surprised maybe, and then not. Looking from Beatle back to me again, eyeing us up. “Yeah, makes sense.” 

I squint back at ‘im, “S’that supposed ta mean?” 

He shrugs, making a face, before smiling again, folding another shirt into his pack, “Just that you look like you might know eachother.” He doesn’t say more but I know what he’s not sayin. “Is all.” He adds on the end just to reiterate. 

He means we’re both fuckin redneck trash to anyone who looks at us. I look back over at her, startin’ to get real mad at this jarhead dickhead. Not for her or nothin’. Even if he’s right, he don’t gotta say it. Or maybe it was the way he said it. Or the way he didn’t say it. Like a fuckin’ pussy. 

A part of me feels like standin’ up for myself. Hell, a part of me feels like stickin’ up for Beatle. But, shit, it’s not even worth it.

I cough up a lougie and spit it close to his foot. “So where’d she come from?” I’m fuckin’ repeating myself. I hate fuckin’ repeating myself. 

“Think she just wandered in. Must’ve been lost in the woods or something. Ask Rick. He seems to know everything.”

Can’t keep myself from crackin’ at his petty comment. Always so fuckin’ loud with his contempt, makin’ the situation obvious to anyone with eyes. Messy. 

I decide I���m gonna ask ‘er. She’s gonna see me eventually. Better I approach her first, right? Don’t need to get football tackled in the middle of doin’ somethin’ else when she sees me for the first time. So I pull out a cigarette and start walkin’ over.

She’s talkin’ to Andrea. She fuckin’ would. Both of them loud dumb bitches. Talking about all the dumb shit they miss since everything’s turned to shit. Not talkin’ about people or nothin’ important. Just bullshit like getting your damn nails done, and eating fuckin’ ice cream. 

“Where’d you fuckin’ come from?” Sayin it louder than I meant. More aggressive than I thought my voice would sound. Usually fuckin’ is, though.  The laughing between Andrea and Beatle stops and they look over at me, just standing there waitin’ for it to register. Waitin’ for Beatles reaction. Starin’ ‘er the fuck down like she doesn’t fuckin’ belong here. She doesn’t. 

Beatles eyes light up, getting up from her chair and runnin’ over to me like she’s never been more excited to see someone in her whole damn life. I try to brace myself, but she still rocks me backward as she jumps on me, “Daryl!” Should have stopped her, could have moved just right out of the way. But nah, I let her. 

I don’t hug her back though, just push her off and let her own feet catch her. Dumb bitch doesn’t know personal boundaries. Her voice so close to my ear, “Damn, don’t look so happy to see me.”

Happy to see her? I’m not. Didn’t think I could be so unhappy to see a familiar face in my whole fuckin’ life. But she wasn’t letting that stop her, never fuckin’ did. “I was lost, found this camp. They said I could stay.” She explains, her voice high and happy and annoying as it ever was. At least she’s not drunk. 

Everyone around the fire had gone back to what they were doing. Not watchin’ us anymore. They could probably see as well as Shane that it was obvious how we knew eachother. Well, maybe not exactly how. But they probably had a good idea. 

I dunno what to say to her explanation, so I don’t say nothin’. And she just stands next to me, too close, clearly not gettin’ the hint that I didn’t really wanna talk to her. Just wanted to know why she was here. Now I know. She wasn’t gettin’ that she could and should just go back to her conversation with Andrea about ice skating, or cocktails, or what the fuck ever. 

“What about you?” Her voice quieter for fuckin’ once. 

I shake my head, blowing smoke out, “Merle and me, met up with everyone...” I don’t feel like explaining it, so I don’t. 

Beatle’s lookin’ up at me, her big eyes all wide and excited like a dumbass deer too stupid to move out of traffic, “Merle’s here?” 

This coil of disgust, I feel it snaring it’s way through my abdomen. Yeah, that’s the feeling Beatle usually gives me. Back like it never fuckin’ left. “Nah, not anymore. Sorry to dry your cunt.” 

Beatle says “Ew” fast. Like she’s so disgusted by my vocabulary. Like she isn’t just as crude, the things I heard that little mouth of hers say. 

“He’s not…” she means dead.

“Nah, hes not dead.” Usually this is where I talk something nice about Merle, about how he’s a tough sunuvabitch or some other shit. But not to Beatle. Beatle already knows, and for some reason talking about Merle with her makes me.. fuck… whatever. 

Glancing over, it looks like Beatle’s finally got the hint that I don’t wanna talk to her. She probably really was excited to see me, and I almost feel bad for a second. Before she puts her grubby fuckin’ hand in my face and asks if she can have a cigarette. Needy fuckin’ bitch. 

I laugh right in her face. At the gall of her. That at the end of it all, of everything; she was still trying to get some fuckin’ handout. “Naw.”

“Oh, come on, Daryl, please? I haven’t had one in days!” As if I give a shit what she has or hasn’t had. Hasn’t seen me in years and wants to ask for favors? 

I keep draggin’ on my cigarette, blowin’ the smoke out, and m’not smiling anymore, “I said naw. I don’t see your tits out, why would I give you anything?” Fuck repeating myself.

“You wanna see my tits?” She says it like it’s actually a question. Like she really fuckin’ believes that I’m askin’. 

“You’re a dumb bitch, Beatle, y’know tha’?” I shake my head at her, laughin’ at her again. She’s fuckin’ ridiculous.  Taking another drag I realize the cig is trash, and I almost throw the butt into the fire but decide to hand it to her instead. 

She takes it, with needy fingers like I knew she fuckin’ would. Trying to hide my smile at how fuckin’ pathetic she always seems to be.  Watching her take my trash like it’s fuckin’ gold. She drags it once, I can smell the filter burning and she throws it in the fire. “Next time maybe you’ll share one with me?” Her voice is so sweet it makes me sick. Like I didn’t just call her a dumb bitch to her face. 

Saccharine and fake, that’s how she’s always been. All her cute little movements and motions, all just tryin’ to work me up so I’ll share my smokes or listen to her dumbass whine about anything and everything. Annoying.

“Prolly not.” And I’m already walking away from the fire. From Beatle. Going back to my tent and praying to god, Jesus Christ, don’t let her follow. 

Chewin’ on what she said. Lost, huh? See? Didn’t even belong alive. 

pt 2

[belit0]

The slow-burn is EATING ME ALIVEEEE. Can we get a confession either from Raizen to Fuyumi , or the vice versa , pretty please ? They HAVE TO talk things out after that kiss...

AND HERE I COME WITH THE CONFESSION!!!!!!!!!!!!

@shiori01 u gonna love it

Sunday afternoon 4:30 PM - Uchiha estate - kitchen

-You’re quiet today.-

Raizen shrugs. -Just tired.-

-From prom? That was two days ago, sweetheart.-

-Still recovering.- He says it with practiced flatness, but he fumbles the orange peel and it splits messily.

His ears are red.

Ivy doesn’t say anything at first.

She moves about the kitchen, pours tea, checks the oven.

Then, lightly:

-Fuyumi’s sweet.

Raizen’s hand pauses mid-peel. -She is.-

-Very pretty too.

A faint noise escapes him—like a small choking sound he tries to mask with a cough.

-I mean, if I were your age, I probably would’ve kissed her too.

He drops the orange.

-Mom.

-What? I’m just saying.

He mutters something too low to hear, face steadily turning the color of a ripe tomato.

-Your dad said you talked with him.

-Yeah. More like, interrogation. Before I even said anything. He was just... standing there, in his office, and I swear he was smirking like he’d been waiting for it to happen.-

Ivy smiles knowingly. -He was. You should’ve heard him the week before—“I give the boy two more days before he loses all composure.”

Raizen groans, covering his face with one hand.

-I didn’t lose composure. I was composed. It was… a composed kiss.

-Mmm. Did Fuyumi say that, or are you self-declaring now?

He drags both hands down his face. -It just happened, okay? We were dancing, and it was loud, and she was just—there. And I felt like I had to do something or I’d regret it forever.-

-So you kissed her.

-She met me halfway.- He adds quickly. -Like, exactly halfway. No more, no less. Perfect symmetry.-

Ivy’s eyes sparkle. -Is that the Uchiha definition of romance? “Perfect symmetry”?

He groans again, but his voice softens.

-She didn’t pull away. She smiled after. Real small. But it felt... huge.-

Ivy reaches over and gently nudges his chin up so she can look at him.

-You did something brave. You opened your heart, even if just a little. That’s not something to run from, Raizen.-

-I’m not running.- He sighs. -I’m just... adjusting.-

-To what?-

He hesitates. -To the fact that every time I think about it, my stomach flips and I feel like I’m floating and dying at the same time.-

She smiles warmly. -Sounds about right.-

He leans on the counter, eyes far away now.

-Mom... should I... like, text her first?

-Text her,- Ivy says, without hesitation. -Text her before one of your brothers gets ahold of your phone and writes something stupid like “wanna kiss again?” with a hundred winky faces.-

Raizen groans again. -I hate this house.-

-You love this house,- Ivy laughs. -Especially when it smells like cinnamon and you’re not getting interrogated by your dad.-

He gives a small, crooked smile. -He did interrogate me. In his own weird way. Like I had drawn up a battle plan.-

-Did you?

-No! I mean—kinda. I was hoping. But I didn’t think she’d—ugh. Never mind.-

-Raizen.

-Hm?

-I’m proud of you. Not because you kissed her. Because you’re learning how to be real with someone. That’s harder than it sounds.

He lowers his head, still blushing, but not hiding anymore.

-Thanks, Mom.

Sunday night 6:09 PM — Raizen’s room.

He sits on his bed, phone in hand, headphones plugged in, but no music playing.

Fingers hover over the screen.

He types, deletes, types again.

Finally:

Raizen [sent at 6:12 PM]

if ur wondering someone def did trip on the gym floor wires no casualties tho mostly pride

It was a callback to Friday night, when she’d eyed the mess of cables around the prom DJ setup and muttered, “Someone’s going down.”

He throws the phone across the bed and pretends not to check it every ten seconds.

Fuyumi [read at 9:41 PM] [reply: 9:45 PM]

i knew it i’ve seen war. this isn’t new

Raizen [sent instantly at 9:45 PM]

survivor’s instinct.

He doesn’t send anything else.

Doesn’t need to.

The way she answered—dry, dramatic, in that same deadpan tone she always used when making fun of chaos—meant everything was okay.

She wasn’t pulling away.

She was still her.

And for the first time in two days, he breathes.

Monday — Lunchtime 12:21 PM — Stairwell behind the gym.

It’s their spot.

Always has been.

A patch of cracked concrete steps in the sun, out of sight, out of earshot.

Fuyumi’s already there, back against the railing, legs stretched out, picking at her lunch.

Raizen hesitates at the door for a second, heart thudding, then heads down.

She doesn’t look up when he sits next to her, but she shifts enough to make space. That alone calms him.

For a while, they eat in silence.

Then, abruptly:

-So… prom was fine?

Fuyumi’s mouth tugs into a faint smirk. -You were there too. You tell me.-

-Yeah, I was. I just—wasn’t sure if, you know… after…- He gestures vaguely at the air. -That it might be weird now.-

She shrugs, pulling her sleeves over her hands. -Not weird unless you make it.-

-I’m trying not to.

Pause.

-You’re not great at this,- she says gently, but without cruelty.

Raizen groans quietly, leans forward, elbows on his knees.

-I know. I just… I like you. I mean—that kind of like. Not the… other kind of like. Not that there’s another kind, but—fuck. Okay. What I’m trying to say is -I meant it. The kiss. I wanted to. I want to. Like you.

She looks at him now, eyes steady.

He’s red in the face, hands fidgeting, eyes anywhere but her.

And yet, still holding his ground.

-Good,- she says simply, but blushing. -Because I like you too.-

-Oh.

Beat.

-Okay, okay... Cool.- Raizen leans back, heart still racing, but something in him loosens.

He presses his shoulder lightly against hers.

They sit like that for a while—two kids, awkward and flushed and figuring it out, beneath a patch of spring sun and wind-blown cherry blossoms stuck to the steps.

[peachjagiya]

Hello hello - I’m fairly new to all things BTS, took me a few months to kind of catch up on the most important things but it’s impossible to watch everything - I’ll need more months for sure 😉

BUT I wanted to ask you and your followers about something. It seems like Jungkook changed quite a bit, especially in 2023. Sometimes when I see footage of 2022, he seems like a different person to me. I’m solo era especially he seems less carefree, less smiley, more grumpy or on edge or just way more / even more guarded. Like he’s annoyed mode easily or fed up with a lot of things. I’m not saying his character changed, I don’t know him, and of course people change, grow, evolve. And we can’t forget that he probably was under a lot of stress and pressure to do well with his own music. And add onto that the constant observation, public opinion, paparazzi etc. I get it. But if you compare footage (I know that is also not 100% authentic or the big picture) he seems more at ease, more content and just happier in 2022 or up to 2022. I wonder what caused that switch and as a Pisces I can’t help but worry too. I really hope that - no matter how much he may not like it - his time in the military helps him to reflect on everything, take care of himself, prioritize his health and also just come back in 2025 and be able to enjoy everything a bit more, without the seemingly heavy load on his shoulders sometimes!

(And since that is a Taekook account, I also want to mention my impression that his behavior around Tae simultaneously changed similarly. He seemed a lot more guarded, less open, less smiley and way less touchy around Tae, at least in public. Could be due to him somehow wanting to fiercely protect and shield him and then more. Or he did change a lot, also towards Tae. Who knows. We’ll see in 2025, maybe :))

So yeah I’m interested in all your thoughts, especially those who were around for the years and how it was in real time! And if it was something that the fandom noticed? Cause the switch up in appearance and behavior (not good or bad, just observation) is quite noticeable. And don’t get me wrong, I’m always here for artists just doing themselves and wanting to break free from label and fandom expectations etc. but that always comes with worry too cause it indicates that the artist maybe reached a limit re certain topics or in general etc.

Ps: I know he is not 22 anymore, I know he’s a grown up and he can do what he wants or needs to in order to cope with this lifestyle, fame, pressure and the possible hide & seek of a relationship on top. 🤍

Pps: it truly comes from a place of curiosity and love. I hope that came across 🙏🏼

My own perspective on it is that the reason we talk so much about the importance of Solo Era is that it was the first time when group obligation wound down significantly enough for them to begin making decisions about how their time was spent. And more importantly, level out to more authentic versions of themselves.

You also have to bear in mind the dynamics. He's the maknae amongst his members, right? He has a silly relationship with Jin, a soft big brother thing with Hobi, a hero worship of Namjoon. But in Solo Era, he's just Jungkook without the other people to bounce off. It's gonna change how he comes across.

But it's not just Jungkook. The company thumb came off them all and it shows. Namjoon seemed more chilled out than he used to be without expectations of leadership. Hobi and Jimin seemed a bit more serious sometimes.

Tae didn't spend much of Solo Era fitting into his soft squishy wide-eyed company assigned role either. He definitely let more of his acerbic wit, intelligence and ethos come to the front.

It just seems like Jungkook might also have let himself be more real. Can you imagine previous years JK standing up for himself and being open about his real thoughts and principles the way he was in 2023/4?

Also worth considering that it's a period of having to strike out on their own with military service impending. It wouldn't surprise me if that was on their minds, as you said.

I guess I just consider pre-2023 to be the more constructed character in a way so I'm happy for him to be more serious.

All that said, we still had some of his most intensely silly moments over 2023! Army Magic WAOOW, skipping along on set, dying at food and practicing his smiles stick in my head:

As for Taekook, the cameras were off a lot more so it feels difficult to compare levels of physical affection from group times to solo times because we simply don't have the dizzying amount of content. And you're right - maybe there's a protectiveness. To be very delulu about it, what if finding they still worked in solo era was a crystallisation of what they already had? What if this freedom and getting to spend time together unbothered by obligation made it all the more precious?

What we did see felt like two matured people very comfortable with each other: A live where JK is basically twirling his hair and kicking his feet; Dreamiere where JK is giddy and shy; Inkigayo where Tae is dutifully calming JK before his performance; Suchwita where JK is happy to say Tae looks good without makeup; AYS Jeju where JK is skipping along to a restaurant and being silly as he usually is. A picture from Hawaii where JK is holding on to Tae's neck as they get ready to skydive and pulling a silly face behind Tae.

As ever, bear in mind I got here in early 2023. Other people have better knowledge.

Thanks anon. 💜

[12boogaloo]

Okay, I cant take it anymore. The brain rot is REAL

Been on a writing hiatus since 2019 or 2020 (I honestly don’t remember so don’t @ me)

And what gets me to finally start writing again?

You guessed it ladies, gents, and serpents!

Fucking TROLLS 3

Let’s get this bread or die trying y’all 😈

~•~

So first things first: I didn’t come up with the AU’s I’m using here! They were created by TheMiraculousMat and Keebsification on here and AO3

The AU’s in question are The Eldest and The Youngest and Out The Train Wreck

I just love it when people see John Dory and think “hmmm yes this grown man can fit so much eldest daughter energy in him” cuz SAME

So I thought: what if I just… put em together? OTT! JD and E&Y! JD have a grip on my soul and I’m filling a formal complaint in the form of fanfiction for not just 1, but 2 other pieces of fanfiction!!! Cuz why not

I’m gonna post the notes I’ve had about this idea for the past 2 week, at least the first part.

Well… it’s half notes, half chapter really…

Maybe. MAYBE. I’ll clean it up and post it on AO3. Maybe… probably lets be real

Anyway. Y’all can call me Boog and this is Project: Hyperfixation Won

Actual story name pending…

~•~

Part 1: Author’s Actual Notes because they are a nerd

Got an idea

Gonna scratch the itch

Half brain rot dump and half story here

Combination of the Eldest and Youngest JD and the Train Wreck JD

I also head canon that trolls have tails and claws and fangs

They’re lil creatures

Basically the same stuff happens in TW with the manager and John being Branch’s father.

Branch grows up knowing JD is his dad while everyone else thinks they’re brothers.

He and Luka are dating. He’s basically Branch’s other dad.

Luka gets taken and John thinks he died. He keeps his glove to remember him.

The fight still happens. John still leaves but promises Branch that he’ll come back.

He goes to the Neverglades for the next four years.

When he gets a letter about Rosiepuff and Branch he immediately heads back to the tree to take care of him.

Pretty much all of E&Y happens but with the change of Branch knowing JD is his dad.

Makes the trauma of him leaving worse in a way which adds to the angst of the first parts delicious, but it also makes their bond really solid later on.

John forgot that everyone in the village knew them as brothers until Poppy asks him if John is Branch’s daddy out of the blue. He panics and says “no” on instinct and they both decide to just go with it. Easier than explaining it to everyone.

She still doesn’t know. Nobody does.

John still loses his arm trying to save Creek(nasty ass).

One morbid silver lining John felt was that at least it wasn’t the hand he wore Luka’s glove on. Small miracles. Lol I’m sorry

Branch doesn’t remember Luka anymore, at least not really. He sorta remembers a burgundy haired troll that he thought was important but couldn’t remember anything else about them so he didn’t think too much about it.

John doesn’t really like talking about him and Branch hasn’t ever asked so he doesn’t bring it up.

He starts dating Hickory and he does tell him about Luka. He admits that while he definitely is falling for Hickory, a part of him will always belong to Luka and their relationship will always be really important to him.

Hickory is more than okay with that and even tells him that he would’ve loved to have met the man that made his sweetheart so happy and kept him safe before it was his turn. (John just about cried when he said that same buddy and agreed that they’d probably get along pretty well.)(He shows Hickory pictures of him and Luka one day and they laugh over the fact that John clearly has a type.)(And, based on Hickory’s own light blush, same.)(He immediately said Luka was ‘real cute’ and John still laughs at him for it.)

He also tells him about Bold and how Branch came to be. (Hickory spent solid hours comforting him afterwards and spent an equal amount of time thinking of ways he could get Dickory to help him torture the bastard if he ever saw him.)(He decides in that moment that he’d do anything to protect his boyfriend and his son. Anything.) (He’s also even more grateful to Luka when he hears about how he protected his love the day they met. He really wishes he could thank him…)

Branch makes jokes about not calling Hickory his stepdad till they get married, which makes John flush bright blue. (Hickory just laughs and winks, the traitor.)(Hickory secretly really wants Branch to call him ‘Pops’ and he’s so obvious about it.)(Branch finds it hilarious and doesn’t on purpose. He’d actually love to call him that, he’s just being an ass.)(You’d think he wouldn’t ever want to but no. For some reason, it’s only thinking of Hickory as ‘Papa’ specifically that makes him feel wrong. Like that’s not available to him. I wonder why.)

After saving Floyd, the boys all start spending more time together as a family. Floyd and Clay move into the bunker with John and Branch. Bruce still lives on Vacay Island but he tries to visit at least once a week, even bringing his wife and kids with him if he can.

They still love doing shows together and will do a big one every two weeks at least.

A few months later, they’re getting ready to hangout together after a performance in PopVillage. Hickory isn’t with them, he was actually watching with Tiny in the crowd, so he can’t see them.(Lil dude is really attached to his “Uncle Cowboy” and “Uncle Johnny” it’s adorable.)(And yes Guy is close by, Tiny is still very very grounded.)

Poppy wants to introduce them to a former stage manager that she’s worked with before that had come to see the show from TrollCity. Branch has met him once before and thought the guy was weird and a little creepy but nothing else made him feel suspicious so he kinda just ignored it. He figured if Poppy trusted him, it was fine. (Obviously he still kept an eye on the old bastard, cause your boy isn’t paranoid for nothing. And you never know.)

They all agree to meet and when they get backstage… it’s him.

Bold.

The bros old manager. The man who hurt their eldest unimaginably.

JD basically shuts down as his younger brothers immediately shield him from view.

They need to get out of here without causing a scene. Fast.

“Poppy, I think we need to go…” Floyd mumbles, his usually soft features twisting in both anger and slight fear as he stared the old troll down.

Poppy looks at them in confusion, “Wha- but you guys said you wanted to see everything we set up!!” She looks between the brothers and the older manager, Branch joining her as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry, kids, I don’t think we can do that…” Bruce doesn’t take his eyes off of the old man as he steps back, closer to Clay and Floyd who were holding John Dory’s arms and hands to keep him steady in their safety bubble, their tails wrapped around his waist. “Not when he’s here.”

Poppy blinks in confusion. “What do you mean? Have you met Mr. Bold before?” She asks.

The old bastard chuckles. “Don’t worry, Miss Poppy.” Poppy huffs a bit at being called ‘miss’. (She’s Queen, dammit. Only Hickory calls her ‘miss’ and it’s always as a joke.) “I was the boys’ manager back in the day! It’s just been a while since we’ve seen each other.” He looks over each brother, clearly trying to get a look at John Dory and noticeably souring when he’s blocked. Then he smirks, taking a few steps closer, his wooden cane thunking against the floor. John flinches with each tap, tap, tap. “You’ve all grown up so much.”

Bruce holds his ground, crossing his arms and rolling his shoulders, his bigger body blocking most of JD from view. Clay was growling behind him, both him and Floyd curling closer to John and their ears pressed back in irritation. Bruce gives a humorless chuckle. “Heh. Yeah, we’ve grown up, Bold. We grew up and you’re fucking old now.”

Poppy gasps. “B-Bruce, that’s not nice!” She turns to Bold and smiles nervously. “I’m so sorry-“

The man waves her off. “Don’t fret. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. He’s right after all.” He looks at them again all smugly, leaning on his cane. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”

Floyd scoffs. “Not long enough.” He growls, baring his teeth. His claws start coming out and he’s thankful he’s holding John’s prosthetic arm as he feels them scratch the metal.

“Woah, okay, what the hell is up with you guys?” Branch finally steps in. That was so unlike Floyd to say something like that. He’s never seen the older troll that angry before, he’s never seen any of his uncles that angry before.

Bruce huffs. “What’s up is that we’re leaving. Now.” He goes to turn around to start steering his brothers out of the room when he hears Bold chuckle, making them all freeze.

“You all really have changed so much,” He says, his tail swaying side-to-side behind him. John looks up and they manage to lock eyes, Bold smiling sickly as John stares in horror. “Especially you, Johnny Baby.”

John feels sick. He feels like he’s gonna pass out. He feels his legs start giving out as Clay and Floyd rush to hold him up. He feels his body going completely limp and his vision blurs and his chest hurts and he can’t breATHE-

Bruce tackles the old troll, immediately landing brutal hits to the bastards face. He screams between punches, “DON’T TALK TO MY BROTHER!” Bold tries to hit him back, only managing to smack Bruce in the side once with his cane before continuing to get pummeled.

Branch and Poppy jump in frantically to pull him off of the man and the three of them stumble back. Bruce shoves them off and glares at Bold again. He was lying on the ground, groaning and clutching his nose, there were scratches and bruises on his face and he was covered in his own glittery copper blood. “Stay. The FUCK. Away. From John.” Bruce pants and shakes out his hands, flexing his exposed claws. He spits on the ground. “Bastard.” He turns back to his brothers. “Cmon, let’s get out of here.” He lifts JD up bridal style and Clay and Floyd follow him as he starts rushing to the door.

“Wait, hold on!” Branch runs after them, leaving Poppy standing in confused horror at what just happened.

~•~

That’s what I’ll give for now lol

I have like wayyy more written out but I’m mean so 😈

Anyway

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

Lmk what y’all think ig

Check out the folks that created these AU’s plz @matmiraculous and Keebsification (idk their tumblr so plz don’t yell at me) both on AO3 where I found them

Later yall

[curator-on-ao3]

@deadheaddaisy tagged me to participate in Day 1 — to share a favorite line from a fic I’ve written. Thank you so much for tagging me, @deadheaddaisy! ❤️

To start with, I’m sorry, but I still laugh to this day as Test Pilot Christopher Pike, the morning after his first date with Cadet Una Chin-Riley, dances around his quarters alone with the paper airplane she gave him:

It’s as if he’s still a little tipsy even though the alcohol isn’t in his system anymore, stepping over to his desk in his underpants, pinching the bottom fold of the paper airplane and holding on as he dances, spins, whirls around his quarters, steers the plane to the sound of his own joy-borne sound effects: “Woosh! Woosh! Zooooom!”

He has to get ready for his shift.

“I,” Chris stops, stands still, speaks faux-solemnly to himself, “am a trained professional.”

Then he whispers one last, “Zoom,” to the paper airplane, the greatest paper airplane ever made, as he steers it back onto his desk.

Ah, young love. (Linky.)

Also, I must admit, I’m deeply proud of the overall language from another Pikeuna fic, this one where Una has amnesia:

“Why are you scanning me?” Una takes the cylinder from the woman made of white.

“That’s good! That’s good!” The woman made of white picks up an identical cylinder from a tray. “What else do you understand?”

Irritation rises in Una’s chest.

“I understand that this is a room and you are a woman made of white and that man,” Una motions toward him, “is bossy but also nice and he has a rectangle with a waterfall inside that can sometimes talk.”

The man’s pink-lipped frown deepens. But the woman made of white’s head tilts like a bird interested in a worm. Her white sleeve bends as she holds up a cylinder. “What’s this?”

Una’s irritation intensifies. “A scanner, the information-gathering component of a medical tricorder, a diagnostic device for assessing a patient’s condition and potentially determining a diagnosis.”

The nice-but-bossy man holds out his rectangle. “Una, what’s this?”

A sound of aggravation escapes. Why don’t these people listen the first time? “It’s a rectangle with a waterfall inside.”

The man and woman look at each other.

“We’re gonna scan your brain.” The woman made of white steps to one of the reddish-brown beds and pats it. “Will you come over here, please?”

(Linky)

And, while I’m yammering with more than one favorite and more than one line, I’m gonna add one last one, this time from a Christine Chapel/Christopher Pike fic set in The Motion Picture era when Christine has rescued Pike from Talos IV and is his caregiver for an experimental therapy that helps him regain a lot (but not all) of his former health. Of course, there are eventual horses:

He uses his arms to help himself up. He walks a few steps — he’s getting steadier — and stands by the head of one of the smaller horses.

“Hi.” His hand trembles as it outstretches, his fingers finding the horse’s ear, rubbing, grateful huffs and whinnies as he keeps rubbing, gentle adoration toward this horse he’s just met. “You’re so … real.”

Christine’s chest lightens with happiness.

Maybe she should have tried to sneak him in here earlier.

Maybe waiting was better, giving him a therapy to look forward to and, as it turns out, consolation after a setback.

Chris turns toward Christine and his eyes sparkle.

Not for her.

Well, not only for her. His eyes sparkle for the horse, probably for the barn full of horses because he loves horses and he loves her, but he doesn’t need her. He wants to be with her, chooses to be with her, but if something broke their thin membrane of safety — nothing is going to happen, but just in case — then he would be sad, but he would be okay because his eyes sparkle for things other than her.

It’s better to be wanted than needed.

Needed is pressure.

Wanted is … love?

And the words slide out, easy, her breath puffs of steam in the cool air. “Hey, horse-guy, I love you.”

And he smiles his Chris-smile and he keeps rubbing the horse’s ear, his eyes sparkling, and he says, “Hey, took-you-long-enough-to-say-it-back, I love you, too.”

(Linky)

I’ll stop now, having shared both too much and not enough, and I’ll tag: @grissomesque, @lorcaswhisky, @emilie786, @elephant-in-the-pride-parade, @starrybouquet, @divinemissem13, @the-lady-general, @enterprise-come-in, @emilie786, @caladeniablue, @coffee-in-that-nebula, @cicaklah, @cnroth, @fiadorable, @pc-corner, and anyone else who wants to play (with my usual apologies for my tag anxiety most likely resulting in me forgetting too many people).