#genuinely i used to have nightmares like this but the real thing is somehow so much worse
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nothing feels real. its like some fucked up dream i can't wake up from, like if i could wake up i could call her and talk to her. but it's not a dream and i'm never going to see my mother again.
#genuinely i used to have nightmares like this but the real thing is somehow so much worse#she was my best friend#its probably sad to have your mom be your best friend but its the truth#now i have to just. keep going? ehat the fuck#this isnt even abt anything im just talking rn#vent#i was there when she died. i held her hand. she hadnt been awake in over a week#what if i forget her voice?? or what it felt like to hug her??#she was supposed to have more time#we were all supposed to have more time#she was going to turn 55 this year#fukc
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I Want You to Stay (01) | JJK
Pairing:Â Jungkook x (f.) Reader
Genre/Tags: boss!JK x assistant!reader; idiot strangers to lovers; slow slow burn; k-drama feels; angst, drama, fluff, smut
Chapter (Series) Warnings: foul/explicit language; alcohol consumption & passing out, unhealthy coping mechanisms; family drama; minor injuries; power dynamics (JK starts off as a jerk); work-related anxiety, feelings of helplessness, insecurities; childhood traumatic experiences, nightmares; sexual harassment, prior incidence of domestic violence (PLS PLS BE CAREFUL WHEN READING); arts and business/property devt talk thatâs probably inaccurate; commitment issues & emotionally constipated characters; cold and detached JK; explicit sexual content (specific warnings stated per chapter) (18+)
Chapter Word count:Â 12k
Series Masterlist
Status: Ongoing
Series summary: Working for Jungkook isnât the same as working for Hoseok. For starters, Jungkook doesnât smile, he doesnât appreciate you, and he gives you too much work. It doesnât help that heâs incredibly handsome and has women at his beck and call. But as the tension grows, it becomes impossible to resist him. Youâve dedicated yourself to your job for 8 years so when you finally decide to put yourself first, he asks you to reconsider. And while you know that leaving is difficult, you learn that when it comes to Jungkook, staying is always so much harder.
Playlist đ¶: on the way home
A/N: Happy 2024, everyone! đ Dropping this tonight as a welcome to the new year and the start of the wild journey that is this story. It's a different JK that I'm used to writing. It's also a different arrangement for me as the story is still being written, so just a heads up that updates won't be as regular compared to before, but they'll definitely come (pls don't come at me hehe đ)! This is also a painfully slow build-up with lots of details and office talk so please be patient! I donât know how this will turn out and be revived but I hope you enjoy! đ
Also my biggest thanks to @wonwoonlight as always đ„°
Jung Hoseokâs smile is like a ray of sunshine - warm on cool mornings, radiant on sunny afternoons. Itâs light and infectious, but more than anything, itâs genuine. Thereâs comfort in the way his entire face beams and how the rest of his body follows; thereâs this sense of openness that makes it easy to be around him, that makes it easy to work for him.
It was 10 years ago when you first encountered that smile - bright and encouraging as he welcomed you and the rest of the interns to his familyâs company. It slowly dissolved the anxiety you were feeling over being 1 of 12 chosen students to work for one of the leading real estate and property development corporations in the country. Youâd see it again two years later as an employee, and you recall how he perked up at the sight of you, having remembered those eight weeks you spent preparing the conference room for their meetings and serving the executives their coffee.Â
You wouldnât have expected that five years after that, youâd be seeing that smile everyday as his executive assistant, and it was one of the things that made the job bearable. Despite the long hours and the amount of work you had to do and events you had to accompany him to, working for Hoseok always felt worth it. Despite the insane amount of pressure he was put under and the stress he had to endure, Hoseok somehow always managed to smile.Â
He was serious when he had to be, but there was joy in how he did things. He allowed himself moments of calm, of time to check in on his support team for a few laughs. Heâd spare himself a few minutes a day to sway to the soft music he plays in his office, heâd preside over meetings with vigor, and heâd start and end every interaction with anyone with that smile - the same smile that assures you that all your hard work is appreciated and which encourages you to keep learning.
Itâs that same smile that he has on right now, as he hands you a custom-made cake with âyou worked hardâ written on it. He says the words as your eyes turn to him in surprise.Â
âThank you for all that youâve done,â Hoseok says. âI know you were new to the role just like I was but you made everything so easy for me. Iâm gonna have to get used to being without your brilliance, Ms. Cho. I hope you never doubt yourself ever again.â
Your astonished face turns into a pout, as it dawns on you that itâs Friday, the first unofficial day of you no longer being Hoseokâs executive assistant, given his appointment as President not long ago. Yet despite the big change heâll be experiencing starting next week, heâs the one affirming and comforting you, something thatâs rare for someone of his stature and something youâll definitely miss.Â
âYou know I donât cry, but I just might,â you respond, earning you a chuckle. âBut really, I⊠I canât thank you enough for taking a chance on me. I know my credentials werenât like the others butââ
âMs. Cho,â he interjects. âThe only credentials those other applicants had were the universities they went to, but none of them matched your level of skill and dedication to the role. I can assure you that none of them wouldâve managed the past three years like you did. I should be thanking you for dealing with all the craziness with me.â
âYouâre a good boss, itâs that simple,â you return the compliment now. âYou were patient with me and challenged me to be better without putting me down. That does a lot for a personâs confidence, you know?â
âI know that now,â he smiles again. âBut really, I donât think I couldâve asked for a more competent right-hand woman. Jungkookâs lucky heâs taking my position with the most capable assistant to help him out.â
At the mention of the manâs name, your face sours, something that Hoseok picks up, earning you another laugh.Â
âNot a fan of him, I see,â he eyes you curiously.
âI donât mean any disrespect, Mr. Jung, but your cousin is not you,â you explain. âI may have only seen him a handful of times but those are enough to let me know that he does not smile.â
âYes, I do confirm that,â Hoseok chuckles. âJungkookâs quite the perfectionist and very much a workaholic. But heâs brilliant and creative and youâll learn a lot from him, too. Heâs being primed to co-lead the company with me and he needs a strong support for that and I think thatâs you. His father thinks thatâs you, and for the CEO to think so means a lot, ___. Uncle has seen how you work and was adamant that you remain in this role, especially with his son assuming the Vice President position.â
You know that Hoseok means to reassure you, but you suppose your insecurities over having this role and even being in this company wonât ever really go away. You didnât graduate from a prestigious university in Seoul like most employees here did, and in this society, that usually means everything. Youâre thankful for the trust that youâve been given and you agree that you worked hard for it, too, but it will always be overwhelming; even then, it sometimes still feels undeserved.Â
At your silence, Hoseok speaks again. â___, as your former boss and as your friend, Iâm here to back you up. Jungkookâs family but if he, for some reason, acts like a hard-headed jerk, you let me know, okay?â
He turns serious now, as he silently asks for you to promise him that youâll speak out if you need to. Hoseok knows what you went through under Mrs. Byun, the former manager who abused her power over you until her own slip-up caused her downfall years later, and he doesnât want you to go through that again.Â
âOkay. But I didnât mean to imply that heâs a jerk just because he doesnât smile,â you clarify. âI guess I meant to say that⊠Iâll miss working for you. Thatâs all. We somehow always got a laugh in, no matter how stressful things were. Iâll miss being with A-yeong, too.â
âI know you also meant to say that Iâm the best boss youâve ever had,â Hoseok chuckles, though you donât miss the sadness in his eyes, too. âBut Iâll just be two floors above you. Youâll still see me everywhere. And A-yeongâs gonna miss you, too, thatâs why she canât let you go without having dinner out, that Iâm apparently not invited to.â
âWeâre just gonna gossip about you, donât worry,â you tease, appreciative of the fact that his wife has been kind to you all these years, apologizing to you on his behalf during the rare times heâs cranky, and gifting you little things from their trips abroad. âBut thank you again, Hoseok,â you continue, dropping the formalities when you mean to speak to him as a friend, because thatâs what he is, and itâs a rarity in this industry where those in power tend to take advantage of those below them. âYouâve treated me well, and Iâll never forget that.âÂ
âThank you, ___,â he smiles once more. âIâll finish setting up my new office now. Iâll see you there in 30 minutes, okay? I know Jungkook officially starts on Monday but he wanted to get all the administrative stuff out of the way as soon as possible and since my old room is being sanitized, heâll be staying at mine the whole morning. HR has everything he needs to sign so please get those documents from them before heading to my office.â
âOh, so heâs coming today?â You ask, unable to hide the mix of surprise and disappointment in your voice. Youâre clearly uninformed about this. âDidnât he just arrive last night?â
âYes, he did. I thought heâd at least spend today resting but no, he called me an hour ago to say heâll drop by this morning so he can get straight to business on his first day,â Hoseok explains, shaking his head at the thought of his cousin wanting to get straight to work. âI know itâs short notice so you donât need to brief him or anything yet. Youâve been buried in organizing all my files this past week after all.âÂ
âOkay, but Iâve got everything organized for him already anyway in case he wants to start,â you say, having prepared all the documents heâd need to ease into his role more smoothly, knowing itâs your job to help him with that.Â
âOf course you have,â Hoseok chuckles, impressed as always with how on top you are of everything. âIâll see you in half an hour.â
You sulk in your seat once heâs out of view, whining internally because much as your files are ready for your new boss, youâre the one who isnât. Youâd held off on mentally preparing yourself for meeting the Jeon Jungkook, second son of the current CEO of Jeon Corporation and the new Vice President, thinking youâd have the entire weekend for that, so youâre caught off guard at having to face him today. Itâs one thing to move on from no longer having Jung Hoseok as your boss - that itself took you months to process and accept; itâs another to have to get used to assisting someone else, someone you know is completely different in attitude and approach to his work.
Jungkook used to be an executive in the Singapore office, the Southeast Asian headquarters of the company. In your three years as Hoseokâs assistant, youâd only seen Jungkook a few times, such as when heâd fly to Seoul for an official visit or a family gathering but you never interacted, as you didnât really have a reason to, especially since you were always busy with making sure the event was running smoothly.Â
But youâd definitely noticed him, partly because the female staff always talked about him when he was around, and partly because next to his parents and his cousins, who are all personable in their own ways, Jungkook sticks out like a sore thumb. Youâre not exaggerating when you say that youâve never seen him smile - not for the pictures and not when heâs talking to the other executives and employees, a contrast to his fatherâs infectious charm and his motherâs youthful energy.
Youâve gotten used to Hoseokâs passion balanced with his thoughtfulness and joy - you always enjoyed the videos that A-yeong would show you of their weekends doing ballroom dancing because itâs what he loved to do with her. Youâre unsure how youâll manage assisting someone whoâs the complete opposite. Youâve heard of Jungkookâs abilities though; his father always spoke of them with pride. Creative and innovative, heâd say of his son, but he always lived in his head, too, and perhaps thatâs why even if he can socialize with others, he prefers not to, given that youâd always seen him at the bar after said events, drinking on his own.
You didnât think those times that youâd one day be having him as your boss. You didnât expect the appointments to come this soon, nor did you expect to still be in the company by the time they happened. But here you are, about to meet him and hoping to the heavens that whatever preconceived notions you have of him based on what very little you know would be proven wrong.Â
Wanting to calm yourself down before meeting him, you head to the management support teamâs office for a cup of tea in the pantry, but youâre stopped by Do-hyun, one of the project assistants.Â
She hugs you like she always does, even if you rarely ever return it, and she whines like you expect her to, given her unusually pouty face.Â
âItâs only been an hour but I already miss Mr. Jung,â she laments. âWhy did they appoint him as President so soon? They couldâve waited for another year or so, or at least let him take us with him!â
You find yourself being the reasonable one this time, as you pull her away from you so you could talk to her properly.Â
âWe always knew he was going to be President, Do-hyun. But then the Board decided to make Ji-woo head of the Singapore office after their uncle stepped down, and that meant Hoseok had to take his sisterâs place,â you explain, knowing how generational corporations like this work, with family members rotating in the executive positions. âAnd much as heâd like to take us with him, the position already comes with its own team. Heâs just two floors above us, though. Iâm sure he wouldnât mind if we popped in every once in a while to say hi.â
âNo, Iâm bitter,â she pouts again, earning her a laugh from you.
âWell, at least the new Vice President isnât a stranger,â Manager Lee chimes in.Â
âI heard the CEOâs son doesnât smile,â Do-hyun counters. âHow do we go from assisting someone who literally gives all of us the energy to work each day, to someone who doesnât think thereâs anything worth being happy about? I also heard heâs a workaholic, so what if he demands that we canât leave the office until he does? And that heâs kind of a fuck boy, so what if he has a scandal that we have toââÂ
âYah! Those are just hearsay, and we donât listen to those,â you warn her, not wanting the team to start on a bad note because of some rumors about your new boss that may or may not be true.Â
And if those are, itâs your job to make sure that those are handled properly and that thereâs no friction between the management support team and the Vice President. The thought suddenly hits you and you feel nauseous. Youâve never had these worries with Hoseok because he always prioritized the team - he made sure that tasks were properly delegated, that you all took your well-deserved break, that you werenât burnt out, that you all knew he got your back the way you all got his.Â
But then again, itâs natural to be anxious about change, especially when what you had was already the best it couldâve been. And much as you were the one worrying about this earlier, youâre now the one who has to reassure the team, especially the younger members, that things are going to be okay.Â
âYouâll meet him soon, and Iâll make sure heâs properly oriented with everything before he sits down with you all,â you say. âLetâs just be optimistic about this, okay? Manager Lee has been here a while and he can guide all of us when it comes to adapting to changes like this.â
The rest of the team nods, voicing their agreement about being open and welcoming to your new boss.Â
âOkay, good. Now let me get my tea before I combust,â you chuckle, heading towards the adjacent room.Â
Youâre busy taking breaths in between sips of your hot drink when you see a familiar face in the room through the glass window, prompting you to head back outside.
âMr. Ri,â you greet, causing the man before you to turn towards you. âWhat are you doing here? Does Mr. Jeon need anything?âÂ
Knowing youâre referring to the elder Jeon, Mr. Ri shakes his head.Â
âIâm here as Jungkookâs chauffeur and bodyguard, actually. His father appointed me, wanting people he trusts to help his son,â he clarifies. âIâve just driven him from his penthouse.â
âOh,â you say, unable to control the way your face falls a little. âSo, heâs here.â
âHe is. He said he wanted to get things done today so he doesnât waste his time when he starts next week. Heâs at Hoseokâs office right now. I believe heâs supposed to sign some documents?â
âOh shit,â you blurt out, immediately setting down your half-finished tea and rushing out the door to speed-walk to your desk, ignoring Mr. Riâs demand for you to slow down.Â
With what little you know of your new boss, he seems like the type to not excuse tardiness, so you take your files, head to HR to retrieve some documents, and then proceed to Hoseokâs office. You try to catch your breath as you head towards the door, which opens before you get to knock, revealing Bitna, the Presidentâs assistant, who greets you with a sweet smile.Â
âHi, ___. I was just about to call you,â she says. âCEO Jeon is inside as well. Just walk in, theyâre waiting for you.â
You cross the small hallway as the door gently closes, and you stop in your tracks the moment you hear Jungkookâs voice.
âI still prefer my old assistant,â he says, obviously displeased. âHe was very organized, highly educated, and well-traveled. While this Ms. Cho didnât even study in a top university in Seoul. And Hoseok says she doesnât know any other foreign languages when thatâs one of my requirements.â
âSon, youâre being too harsh,â CEO Jeon chides. âMs. Cho is a top performing employee, very hardworking and dedicated. Sheâs worked here for eight years and she imbibes all our values; she knows the company culture and knows the ins and outs of things with how sheâs been exposed to them. Ask your cousin; Hoseok speaks highly of her.â
â___ is great, Kook. Sheâs incredibly organized and highly analytical and observant. She doesnât need a Seoul education to be good at what we need her to be good at,â Hoseok argues.Â
âI still want my old assistant. Itâs more convenient that way. Lucas already knows how I work and what I require of him,â Jungkook insists. âIâm just saying that I need things to be efficient and she and I canât be adjusting to each other when there are multiple projects that Iâd much rather give my attention to.â
âAnd Iâm saying that Ms. Cho probably knows more than you do when it comes to these projects,â the elder Jeon counters. âPlus, your old assistant would have to adjust to life in Seoul and thatâs harder. Itâs just not practical, especially since youâre due to start in a few days. You have other things to worry about. ___ is there to make your life easier. Give her that chance to do her job.â
âBut Iââ
âGood morning, gentlemen,â you greet, not wanting to hear whatever unfounded things that Jungkook has to say, even if you have your own preconceived notions about him which, you remind yourself, are partly founded. Barely five minutes in and you already canât stand his judgmental and entitled ass.Â
You walk towards the middle of the room where theyâre congregated on the couches, with the elder Mr. Jeon and Hoseok smiling at you while Jungkook merely glances at you, his jaw clenched, perhaps irritated at the fact that youâd overheard him completely misjudge and undermine your abilities without even knowing who you are.
âGood morning, Ms. Cho,â CEO Jeon says. âI know youâve seen him a few times but Iâd like you to officially meet my son and the new Vice President, Jungkook.â
Jungkook turns to you with a disinterested look but he doesnât meet your eyes. You bow as a sign of respect, even if itâs the last thing you think he deserves. Â
âMy pleasure, Mr. Jeon,â you respond. âI was told that youâd like to proceed with administrative matters this morning. I have all the documents with me and I can explain each one to you before you sign them. Iâve also consolidated all the things you need to know prior to your meetings next week,â you add, handing him an iPad. âThis has the resumes of each member of your management support team, including their professional and development goals. Mine are there as well, so you can read about my credentials and achievements in this company the past eight years, which I think have tremendously helped me in performing my duties satisfactorily. Thereâs also a folder of team profiles of each of the departments youâre overseeing. Youâll also find closure reports of completed projects from the past five years, progress reports of ongoing projects, and approved and working proposals of upcoming ones. Iâve included summaries and key figures for each of them. You may read them prior to your meetings, and if thereâs anything missing that youâd like me to include, I can have them ready by the end of the day.â
âHmm,â Jungkook hums, as he scrolls through all the folders youâve prepared for him.
In your periphery, you can see the other two men holding in smiles as you seemingly render the younger man speechless, but while he assesses all that youâve provided to him, youâre given time to observe the man seated before you. Other than his slightly longer hair, not much has changed from when you saw Jungkook in last yearâs gala.Â
As he drags his tongue across the inside of his cheek with his scrunched eyebrows in judgment, youâre reminded that this is the first time youâve seen him up close. And even from his angle, you can tell.Â
Heâs unfairly handsome.Â
Heâs got dark expressive eyes, soft-looking pink lips, and a sharp jawline that complement his lean figure. You understand why the staff are enamored by him even from afar and - if the rumors about him are true - why women would shoot their shot with him at clubs, in hopes theyâd be the lucky one heâd choose to be with for the night.
The illusion breaks, though, as he turns to you with a hardened gaze.Â
âIâm sure Iâll find something thatâs missing,â he states.
âIf theyâre relevant and necessary, I can have the files ready by today,â you respond, knowing full well that youâve included every possible document that would be of use to him.Â
âIâll be the judge of whatâs relevant and necessary, Ms. Cho,â he counters.Â
âOf course, Mr. Jeon,â you say, conceding. âWhatever it is, then Iâll make sure to have them ready for you as soon as possible.â
Jungkook hums in response, turning his attention to the HR documents this time, breezing through the text and ignoring your brief explanations of the contents before signing at the bottom of the pages. You inform him of sections heâs missed, and he groans at having been corrected but you donât mind. Heâs the one who chose to do all this now and in here, in front of his father and his cousin.
Once heâs done, he hands you the signed files and holds your gaze. âIs there anything else, Ms. Cho?â
âI suppose that is all, Mr. Jeon. Unless there are other things you want to assess, or people you want to ensure are qualified to assist you with your functions,â you say.Â
Jungkook huffs in displeasure. You can sense the tension build, as irritation paints his face. Itâs at that moment that his father chimes in, suggesting that you introduce him to his team.
âYou can maybe also orient him on the current projects and partnerships,â the older man says.Â
âThat can wait. Iâve had enough of engaging for today,â Jungkook responds, his voice cold, detached.Â
âIn that case, let me lead you to your floor, Mr. Jeon.â
You step back and wait for him to walk ahead, before you excuse yourself from the older men. You donât miss the sorry looks on their faces, and you give them a smile as if to say that itâs fine, that Jungkookâs someone you can handle, and his obvious displeasure towards having you as his assistant doesnât faze you. It doesnât change the fact that you wish he wasnât your boss though, or at least, that he wasnât such a jerk like what heâs being right now.
Walking behind him as you both head towards the elevator, you see the way he carries himself - hands in the pockets of his sleek black trousers, his eyes focused straight ahead, nothing like Hoseok who was always gesticulating as he spoke to you every time you walked side-by-side from one place to another.   Â
Jungkook stands in front of the doors, seemingly waiting for you to press the buttons and you do it before he could even express his annoyance. You stand in front this time, then make sure you hold the doors open for him to exit, and you resume your spot behind him as you walk down the hallway.Â
âOn the left are two small meeting rooms and one conference room,â you start, thankful that thereâs not much to tour him around on this floor, given that everything is exclusive to the Vice President. âOn the right is a seating room, and up ahead is an archive room. Down theââ
âIâve been here before, Ms. Cho,â Jungkook interjects as he looks at you blankly. âThis is my familyâs building; Iâm very much aware of how the floors look like.â
Not rattled by his disruption, you nod and smile, wanting to show him that whatever intimidation or humiliation heâs trying to make you feel isnât gonna work on you. You know if you show any sign of frustration, that will just give him a reason to have you replaced and despite your clear dislike for the man, you need this job, especially this position that allows you to pay your rent in a safe part of town and send money to your family every month. At this point, thatâs the only thing that will keep you going.
Approaching the management support office, you walk faster and make sure to enter the room before he does, signaling the team with your eyes that their new boss is coming, your silently frantic gaze telling them to be on their best behavior because their usual antics wonât work on Jungkook the way they did with Hoseok.Â
Once Jungkook appears, everyone bows and greets him, and you can sense them holding their breaths as they look up, taking him all in. You see him eye each person, and you can tell heâs already assessing them individually. You take it upon yourself to introduce each one, stating their name, where they studied and what course they took, describing their primary role in the team and their specific strengths. You see him follow your words, nodding and humming as you go, and you think heâs processing the information and making sure he remembers them.Â
There are no pleasantries; Jungkook just goes straight to the point.Â
âIâm sure you have concerns about having a new boss and the changes that come along with it. But Iâm here to tell you now that you should get over whatever those are, as Iâd like the adjustment period to be as short as possible,â he starts. âMy cousin is brilliant at his job and so am I, but we work very differently, so whatever you got used to doing with and for him, donât expect the same with me. I demand excellence and efficiency from each one of you because thatâs what I commit myself to and thatâs the only way that this team will be able to do its job. Am I clear?â
âYes, sir,â the team answers in unison.Â
âWe commit to those as well, Mr. Jeon,â Manager Lee says. âAs the head of your support team, I will make sure that all our deliverables are of high quality and that things will run smoothly so that we may properly do our job of assisting you.â
âThatâs good, and thatâs what I expect,â Jungkook says, nodding at everyone before walking out the door to head to his office, with you trailing him from behind.Â
âIs my room still being sanitized?â He turns to you.Â
âYes, sir.â
âWhy did it need to be sanitized? And why today?â
âItâs protocol, sir. We also had a sendoff for Mr. Jung yesterday so the room smelled of food. And he instructed for this to be done today so that I donât need to come here tomorrow, as he doesnât like any of his staff working during the weekend,â you reply. âThis should be finished this afternoon. Iâve also purchased the oil for your diffusers. The room will be ready for you by Monday.â
Jungkook merely hums and looks around, specifically at your designated area with your desk and shelves at the back, then takes a call before turning to you again to say that heâs heading out to meet his friends.
âIs there anything else you need, Mr. Jeon?â You ask, thankful that you donât have to deal with him for the rest of the day.
âNo.â
âOkay then, sir. Iâll meet you at your apartment at 6:30 AM on Monday. Is that time alright?â
âSure,â he responds, then turns around and starts walking out. âJust keep your phone on. I work during the weekend.â
Heâs gone before you can even respond, and you rush to the support office once youâve heard the elevator ding that indicates that heâs gone. When you get there, youâre greeted with everyoneâs frowns, with Do-hyun close to tears.
âI donât like him, ___. He looks so unapproachable and too serious!â She complains. âI miss Mr. Jung. Is there an opening in his team? Should I just resign?â
âAish!â You reprimand her. âDonât speak like that. And donât let those few minutes determine everything for you.â
âWell, those few minutes are enough to tell me that I donât like him. No matter how good-looking he is,â Chin-sun says.
âHe is, right!â Do-hyun chirps now, a complete 180 from seconds ago. âIâve seen him around but I didnât think heâd be even more handsome up close! It just sucks that heâs a grinch and that makes all the difference. Maybe thatâs why he doesnât have a girlfriend! Heâs probably too snobby andââ
âYah! You really need to stop it with those rumors,â you scold her this time. âThatâs your boss. His personal life is none of our business. Where do you even hear these things?â
âEvery washroom in this building, basically. Staff are always gossiping there, you know?â Do-hyun responds.Â
âAnd since when do we listen to gossip,â you scowl at her. âSure, heâs not our favorite person right now but we donât have the right to make claims about aspects of his life. And where are people even getting those ideas!â
âPeople talk, I guess,â she shrugs. âAnd heâs often spotted in clubs with those Kim brothers so maybe they see things. Iâm not saying theyâre all accurate⊠just that rumors often have some truth to them, you know?â
âNo, I donât, and we shouldnât be sticking our noses in places where they shouldnât be,â you say.
âFine, but itâs just a heads up,â Do-hyun says, turning serious now. âYouâre his executive assistant, and you have no choice but to stick your nose in places because personal and professional lines are often blurred in your situation, and thatâs just how our worldâs set up.â
âSheâs right,â Chin-sun chimes in. âI mean, you need to know his personal schedule, go to his apartment, do errands if you need to, maybe buy a box of condoms if he runs out⊠You just got lucky that Mr. Jungâs pretty chill and has a wife whoâs even nicer than he is. Your only problem was that he was damn scared of everything that moved and wasn't human.â
Youâd laugh at the last statement if you could, but you know theyâre both right. Hoseok wasnât perfect, and neither was his marriage, but it never reached a point where you had to be put in a compromising position because you were his assistant who, by nature of your work, had to be privy to some of his personal matters. The most involved you were was when he and A-yeong had an argument and they used you as their messenger, but even that was more of a miscommunication issue than anything serious. They apologized to you after and promised to never put you in that kind of situation again.
But with Jungkook as a single man, youâre unsure what personal business youâd end up being involved in. You just wish it wasnât something that would test your principles and cause you to lose your job. Regardless, whatever that would be isnât something you can even really talk about with others.
âWell, I donât wanna think about any of that right now,â you sigh, knowing youâve got enough to worry about, such as how youâre going to start surviving everyday assisting a man who clearly doesnât want you around.Â
But if heâs gonna be a hard-head about it, then youâre just going to have to match him. You got to where you are because youâre determined to prove yourself constantly, and youâll just show him that he needs you, and he doesnât really have a choice unless he wants to argue with his father.Â
You try to encourage your team once more and give Do-hyun that rare hug in comfort before going back to your desk, intent on finishing all the presentations for your briefing with Jungkook next week. You begin setting up his room by mid-afternoon, using a photo of his Singapore office as a basis since you were told that he prefers a certain style for his furniture and decor. Youâre no stylist but over an hour after you finish, you think you did pretty good. You were so into designing the space that you didnât notice the time fly by; before you know it, itâs 6PM, because you can hear A-yeong right outside calling for you.
âHi,â she chirps, hugging you in greeting. âAre you ready?â
âIâll just pack my things,â you say, walking to your desk.Â
A-yeong takes a peek at the room and praises your efforts. âThis looks so different from how it used to be. And thatâs good because those cousins have such different tastes. But I think Jungkook will like this. Heâs into the masculine and moody vibe, so good job, ___.â
You know that despite her kindness, she wouldnât lie, and you could only hope that sheâs right. You think it looks nice, but itâs what he thinks that matters; youâll just have to wait until Monday to find out.Â
As youâre about to leave, Hoseok appears in the hallway and asks how you are. Your scowl pretty much gives you away.
âIâm sorry about Jungkook, ___. Heâs stubborn and a hot-head sometimes but he isnât always like that, and this isnât me making excuses for him,â your former boss says.Â
âWhy, what did he do?â A-yeong asks worriedly.Â
âBasically implied that Iâm not qualified for this role, among other things,â you respond. âBut itâs okay. Not like I havenât heard that before.â
âAnd you know thatâs not true,â Hoseok comforts you. âHeâs not good with change, thatâs all, and you know how these appointments were all pretty short notice and heâs just been frustrated ever since. But whatever it is he said, donât take them to heart. Heâll get a word from me, and heâll definitely get one from his father.â
You want to say that itâs not easy to just disregard what Jungkook said; heâs your boss after all, and all that matters is what he thinks about you. But youâre not one to air out these feelings to Hoseok now that youâve experienced a bit of what itâs like, so you just shake your head and ask the older man to let it go.
âHeâs probably just tired,â you make an excuse this time, not wanting to discuss further with Hoseok. âAnd he had that assistant for over five years. I can understand wanting that familiarity and convenience. Iâm just gonna have to adjust; there are a lot of things going on right now and heâll need to focus on the projects, not his compatibility with his assistant.â
âBut that matters though,â Hoseok insists. âI got things done because we worked well together. Heâs gonna have to meet you in the middle with this one. And Iâll make sure that he does.â
âI know you said you want to look out for me but I donât think itâs a good idea if you intervene this time, Mr. Jung,â you say, letting him know youâre serious and you mean business. âIâll be okay, donât worry about me.â
You give him a comforting smile, and you hope itâs enough to quell Hoseokâs own worries and it works this time. He returns it before letting you and his wife go, and itâs the Thai dinner and incredible desserts that somehow make up for your not-so-great day.Â
You think the weekend will give you the peace you need to face your dreaded week - you do your errands and chores on Saturday and go to the market and watch a movie by yourself in the cinema the next day.Â
All it took was a text from Jungkook that Sunday evening, asking for copies of certain policies and disapproved proposals from the last five years, that just had to ruin it, as you spend the entire evening consolidating the files, making you already wish it was Friday.
Jungkookâs apartment building is one of the Jeon properties that you havenât been to yet, as itâs one of the newer massive residential structures that they built three years ago. You enter the sleek-looking lobby then submit your documents at the reception in exchange for your own access, and you internally marvel at how luxurious everything looks.Â
You get to the 42nd floor, and it seems that there are only two units here. You walk towards the one on the right, choosing to be on the safe side by ringing the doorbell. Itâs Monday, after all, and itâs your first time here; you donât want to just enter without him permitting you to do so.Â
Youâre about to press the button again after a minute of no response, when the door opens and you take a moment to process the sight before you.Â
There, standing just a few feet away, is Jungkook with nothing but a pair of black gym shorts on, his taut chest glistening in sweat, and his entire right arm covered in black and colored ink. His hair is damp and ruffled, and itâs probably due to the boxing heâd just done, as evidenced by the wraps on his knuckles and the way heâs panting heavily.Â
You get your senses back and look away, not wanting to look affected by his half-naked form, even if youâre the one who has to catch her breath this time because much as you dislike the man, you canât deny that his body is something that definitely deserves to be praised.Â
âYouâre here,â he speaks first, surprise laced in his voice as he takes in your obviously flustered form.
âI asked if 6:30 AM was a good time to come, Mr. Jeon,â you answer, glancing at him before looking at whatever you could behind him. âPerhaps I misheard your confirmation. I can wait downstairs if youâre not yet done with your exercise. My apologies for coming in early.â
You donât actually have anything to be sorry for; he did confirm the time, and heâs the one who decided that working out at this hour was a good idea, knowing that his assistantâs scheduled to come. You wouldâve appreciated it if he says you donât need to apologize, but he doesnât.
âItâs fine, I just finished,â he huffs.Â
He leaves the door open for you to enter then heads straight to the large room on the right, which looks to be an indoor gym. You allow yourself a few seconds to look at his retreating form, quietly gasping as his broad shoulders and slender waist blind you a little, then scolding yourself for doing so. You stay rooted by the kitchen and look around the spacious penthouse as you wait for him to return. He exits the gym wearing a loose white shirt now, combing his hair with his fingers as he drinks a bottle of water.
âSo, Mr. Jeon, uh, I would prepare Mr. Jungâs outfits for the week and then help his house staff make his breakfast. I run down his schedule as he eats. Are you okay with the same arrangement?âÂ
âSure. I just donât have any staff with me so youâre on your own. Iâm fine with anything though. Iâm not usually hungry in the morning,â he says before walking to the other side of the apartment.
You follow him, careful not to enter spaces youâre not given permission to, which is why you stand by his bedroom door before asking to come in.Â
âHow will you prepare my clothes from there?â He huffs. âOf course you can enter. Just be done before I finish taking a shower.â
You nod shyly and then head to the walk-in closet that thankfully has a separate door from the bathroom. Heâs already unpacked his clothes, although not everything has been organized. You spot a few suits that are ready to wear, and you fix those first, taking note of asking him if there are things he wants dry cleaned or pressed.Â
You leave his bedroom in time, hearing him slide open the door as you make it out, and proceed to make his breakfast. Thereâs really not much you can create with what little he has, so you make do with eggs and toast and whatever spread you find in his cupboard.
Jungkook walks into the kitchen not long after, the dark gray suit looking immaculate on him as you expected. Spotting his crooked necktie, you immediately walk up to him to fix it, unaware of how he holds his breath with how close you are. Noticing his body stiffen, you step back right away, apologizing for not asking permission first.Â
He looks away and says itâs fine, then sits on the spot at the dining table where youâve set up his meal. He stares at it for a good few seconds, prompting you to explain yourself.
âThatâs⊠thatâs all I could make with what you have, Mr. Jeon,â you say. âI can arrange for online groceries for you, as well as dry clean and pressing for your clothes andââ
âIâm having someone come in to clean my place and do all of that,â he says, as he takes a bite of his food. âSo, whatâs my week like?â
You start to enumerate the conference and lunch meetings heâll be having this week, including who theyâll be with and their purpose. Theyâre mostly with the department leads to discuss updates on processes and current projects, and youâre thankful that Hoseok involved you as much as he did, given that Jungkookâs questions are more specific than you expected.Â
Sure, heâs a Jeon and obviously works in the same company, but the Southeast Asian projects are different from the ones being implemented in South Korea, and while he used to oversee overall compliance to design standards, heâll now be in-charge of setting those very standards this time. As Vice President, heâll be involved in crafting policies; heâs also free to manage his own construction projects, and thatâs what the support team is for. Given his much more expansive role this time, there are more departments and projects to oversee, and definitely more executive decisions to make.Â
You suppose itâs why his questions donât stop, even after heâs cleaned up and you both find yourselves in the backseat of the car and on the way to the office. He looks through the iPad with all the files you gave him, and you see the notes heâs made on them as you turn to him to answer his queries. Even if you know that heâs also still assessing you - perhaps on your knowledge and attention to detail - you canât help but admire his thoroughness. You may have also cursed him in frustration for making you work on a Sunday, but he seems to have done way more than you, given that he went through all the documents over the weekend. You suddenly donât feel too annoyed.Â
But of course, he has to ruin it again.
âI need these annotated versions of the project and departmental documents ready before my meetings with the respective teams,â Jungkook says, his voice low and stern. âAnd I expect progress reports to be as detailed as possible, so make sure to check them first before they get to me. The ones you gave need revisions. I believe youâre trained enough to know immediately that these are lacking.â
âYes, sir,â you respond, noting his instructions on your notebook while internally yelling, given that youâre unsure of the need for them before the meetings.Â
Surely, he could give you some time to work on them, but with a meeting with one team in the afternoon and seven more the rest of the week, and on top of the other things you need to do for him, you already know youâll be cramming to get everything done.Â
You try to manage your breathing. Somehow, your habit of pressing your nails against your palm when you're stressed has miraculously come back today. It was something you developed while working under Mrs. Byun, which you eventually got over after working for Hoseok. You feel the anxiety build up, especially as you look at the half crescent marks on your skin, and itâs times like this that you wish your best friends were based in Seoul instead of Busan, so youâd at least have people to comfort you when things are a little tough.Â
Itâs not to say that work wasnât overwhelming before. It definitely was, but Hoseok always found a way to make everything bearable and he was always reasonable with what he demanded of you. Now youâre stuck with a man who already makes you feel like your hard work isnât enough.Â
You make it to the office with no other words said and a thick tension in the air. It follows you to the elevator and into Jungkookâs room, where he dismisses you so he can prepare for the first meeting of the day. You rush to your desk and get on with your tasks, making sure to work on the annotated project file that he needs by the afternoon.Â
Itâs an hour later when you find yourself in the conference room for the meeting with the management support team. You prepped them just 10 minutes earlier, and while you tried to hide your frustration, your unusual lack of energy told them enough that it wasnât exactly a good start of the day.Â
They come in one by one, and you take the time to prepare Jungkookâs coffee, remembering from his former assistantâs notes how he wants it. Heâd put it off earlier, given that he prefers to drink his protein shake after his workout, so this is the first time youâre doing it for him.
His eyes flit from the coffee in front of him to you as you place it on the table.
âTwo espresso shots and half teaspoon each of milk and sugar,â you state, wanting to confirm that you got it right.
He merely takes a sip, places it down again, and then starts the meeting.Â
How bold of you to assume that heâd thank you or even acknowledge it, as if heâd shown you even the tiniest amount of gratitude for anything you've done for him since Friday. Which he hasnât.Â
You let it go and proceed to sit next to him, your eyes and ears ready for what you already predict is gonna be a long meeting.Â
It ends over three hours later. As you expected, he had a lot of questions. He made sure that each member had time to explain their current tasks and how they will monitor the projects assigned to them. You didnât miss the way heâd acknowledged them with âgoodâ and âwell done,â and thanked them after they finished. He only nodded at you after your turn, with his eyes barely meeting yours, and for all the confidence you built over the past three years, you canât process how itâs his non-acknowledgment thatâs just going to undo all that. And quite frankly, youâre unsure if thatâs on him or if thatâs on you.Â
Half of the meeting was spent discussing the big project that he wants to take on as Vice President. Thereâs a property they recently acquired - a non-operational arts center that he wants to revive by adding a performance hall, small theaters, a grand library, function rooms, and a permanent exhibition presenting the buildings that his family had developed over the years to showcase their architectural designs.Â
You saw the excitement in your team membersâ faces. Hoseok took over with several unfinished projects so you all had to focus on those. Aside from Manager Lee, this is the first time that youâre all handling something new and different. Even you felt the excitement creep in, a welcome emotion given how your dayâs been going, but that shattered once he said that he wants it done by June of next year in time for an International Media Festival happening in August. The 12-month period heâs giving is too short with everything he wants to do, and you saw that the team felt the same.Â
You go to them after Jungkook leaves for a lunch meeting, and their sighs and pouty faces tell you enough. Mr. Lee does his job of encouraging the team, and you add that youâre all gonna be supporting each other through it all. Sure, youâd have to match Jungkookâs ambition and thoroughness, but you should all take it as a challenge.Â
Youâre clearly not convinced yourself as the words come out of your mouth, but you donât have time to debrief with them, as you still have that meeting with the design department that you have to prepare for. You take two biscuits and a cup of tea, and you decide that this is enough to last you throughout lunch, given that youâll be spending the entirety of it working on the files.Â
You donât realize that an hour and a half have passed until you hear footsteps and see Jungkookâs form appear in the hallway. You stand to greet him, with him asking if youâre done with the annotated documents.Â
âIâll send it in five minutes, sir,â you say, hoping heâll at least give you that.Â
âOkay,â he responds. âCome to my office after youâve sent it.â
âYes, sir,â you say, quickly finishing the last two pages once he closes the door.Â
You rush to get everything done and click send, then you head to his office and prepare yourself for more questions. Itâs quiet inside as you watch him behind the desk, with his legs crossed and his eyebrows furrowed as he reads the document. You answer one of his questions and itâs at that moment when your very empty stomach decides to make itself known.
You freeze on your spot, as the grumbling sound starts low, getting louder for a few beats before it temporarily stops. Your eyes widen in embarrassment, and you press your belly so hard with your fingers in hopes that that would do anything, even if youâre too far gone at this point. Your only hope is that it was all in your head, but Jungkookâs eyes flitting to you tells you otherwise. The only other sound in his room is the air purifier, but itâs not remotely loud enough to drown out your intense hunger.Â
It goes again, and all you can do is look away; humiliating yourself was definitely not the plan for your first day as Jeon Jungkookâs assistant.
âDo you need to step away, Ms. Cho?â He asks, not meeting your eyes.Â
âOh, itâs not⊠uh,â a bowel emergency or something, you want to say. âI just had a busy lunch break.âÂ
You settle for that, a hint that youâd spent its entirety doing something in such a short notice. Hoseok would always be apologetic whenever he had you do something during your break; he always made up for it with a nice meal as thanks. You doubt youâd get anything close to that from this man.
Jungkook hums and surprisingly doesnât ask for anything else. He dismisses you and orders you to go ahead and prepare the conference room for the next meeting, and you do just that, dropping by the pantry for a muffin that you eat in four bites, in hopes that it would be enough to shut your stomach for the next three hours.Â
Right as you exit, Jungkook picks up his phone to make a call. And then another one.
âMr. Ri, please pick up the pastries that Ms. Cho ordered at the food hall,â he instructs his chauffeur. âSheâs too busy right now.â
âWill do, Mr. Jeon.â
Taking minutes of a meeting when youâre starving is not a good thing. You know this because youâve done this so many times, like during monthly executive meetings and the quarterly board meetings that have you spread out thin. Itâs also not rare to miss out on lunch because thereâs a report to finish or a site to visit; during events, you go on a day with having barely eaten anything.Â
But just because youâre used to it, it doesnât mean that your body has fully adapted, because here you are, eyeing the croissants in front of you, your mouth watering at the gloss and softness of the pastry. Theyâre so tempting and also out of reach, given that you need to be entirely focused on the discussion that youâre documenting, and munching on something is out of the question. You donât even know where this is from and you think maybe the design department called for snacks but itâs really not helping your concentration.
You hope the way youâre nibbling your lips doesnât give you away, but Yoongi from across the table picks it up, as you get a notification of his message.
[From: Min Yoongi] you didnât have lunch, did you?Â
You ignore the prompt on your laptop and respond to him with a look instead. You know your pouty lips will give him his answer, and he merely shakes his head at the confirmation.Â
You do your best to shut out the sight and scent of the food before you, absorbing instead the discussion so you can note this down properly with just minimal edits needed. You have a lot of documents to work on for the next few days after all, and thatâs on top of the file reorganization that Jungkook asked you to do.Â
It works after you hang on by a thread for two and a half hours, a little earlier than you expected to finish. All you want is to sneak out that croissant and maybe some tarts, too, but your heart breaks when you look up and find the boxes empty.Â
You let out a sigh, relieved that your boss didnât hear you because heâs already on the phone and heading out the door. But itâs that same time that a plate of food appears in front of you, and it feels like the gates of heaven have opened. Youâre not surprised anymore to find out who itâs from.
âEat,â Yoongi says from next to you. âI could see your hands shaking from across the table.â
âWhat about you?â You ask, your lips in a pout once more.Â
âYou know I donât eat these things,â he shrugs.
He doesnât, and you know this, too. You also know he called dibs on these earlier, seeing as his staff were quick to get them, and heâd saved these so he could give them to you.Â
âTen years later and youâre still trying to make sure I eat, huh?â You say, nudging him with your hips to tease.
âIf I donât, who would?â He responds, walking out of the conference room with you. âYou have a bad habit of not doing that.â
âWell, duty calls. What can I do?âÂ
âTake care of yourself even if itâs hard,â he replies.Â
âSays the man who rarely does it himself,â you chuckle.Â
âYou know, the best advice I give are the ones I donât actually follow, so disregard the fact that I donât even do what I say because they apparently work,â he says. âBut I mean it, ___. Eat this now.â
âThanks, Yoongi,â you smile, taking a piece of pastry and eating it in two bites.Â
Your puffed out cheeks cause him to laugh, and despite still being hungry after this, you suppose itâs enough to not make you faint at this moment.Â
âAnd eat a proper dinner, okay?â He follows up.
âIâll be off late, so Iâll just grab something from the convenience store,â you say. âThatâs as proper as I can afford tonight.â
âAish, fine,â he shakes his head. âBut let me get you coffee at least. Those tarts wonât taste as good without one.â
âThat would be life-saving,â you dramatically say. âWhat did I do to deserve a friend like you?â
âDonât know. I mean, Iâm not that great,â he shrugs.Â
You playfully roll your eyes. âIâll save the compliments once I have the coffee.â
âYeah, yeah, whatever,â he feigns annoyance, gesturing for you to get back to your desk then walking the other direction.Â
You take your seat and clean up the document, deciding that youâll just review the meeting minutes tomorrow so you can get on with other pressing matters. Itâs 20 minutes later when Yoongi returns, a tall cup of coffee on one hand and a banana loaf on the other.
âThis is all they have left,â he says. âI hope it can last you until tonight.â
âIt will,â you smile. âThank you again. No one looks out for me here as much as you do. And that means a lot, more than you know. I donât think I wouldâve survived all these years without you.â
âWow, all because of coffee and snacks,â he laughs, teasing.Â
âItâs a fair trade. You feed me during my greatest need, I boost your ego,â you tease back.Â
âYeah, whatever,â Yoongi huffs in submission, but you know he enjoys it.Â
Youâre thankful that after everything thatâs happened, youâre still able to maintain the friendship that you created when you were a mere intern and he was just starting out his career.Â
âAnyway, Iâm quickly meeting Jungkook and I need the portfolio of the contemporary arts institution joint project from 2019. It was VP-led so I assume itâs still here? Unless itâs in the archive room,â he continues.
âItâs within five years so it should be here,â you say, turning to the shelf behind you to confirm.Â
You spot what you need and make the attempt to pull it out but your fingers barely even touch the rack.
âNeed help?â Yoongi asks.
âAnd what help could you give, huh?â You tease again, earning you a playful groan.
âYou brat.â
You laugh and pull out the small stool you keep for times like this.Â
âJust make sure I donât fall and embarrass myself further today,â you say, climbing up the steps then pulling out the heavy folder.Â
You feel Yoongiâs arm move from where it was near your waist to over your head, as he lightens the load. You both try to balance it and laugh at your distorted faces in the process, and itâs moments of relief like this one that youâre glad youâre afforded after a long day like today.Â
From inside the room, Jungkook sees you through the window, your eyes crinkling as you laugh along with Yoongi, head of the design department and one of his very few friends in the company. It catches him off guard, as he realizes that since meeting you last Friday, heâs never seen you laugh, much less smile or even have an expression that isnât agitated or serious.
He knows that thatâs probably on him. Heâd spoken ill of you after all, something he regretted once he saw the frustration on your face when you made it known that you were in the room with them and had definitely heard everything he said. But heâd been tired and HR confirmed that he could bring Lucas over as his assistant; CEO Jeon was the one who vetoed that decision.Â
Jungkook had already mentally prepared himself for the ease of his transition, knowing that heâd be assisted by someone who knows how he works and the quality of outputs he expects, only to come here and be told by his father that the current staff will stay, and that you - someone heâd only heard of as Hoseokâs assistant - will be the one assisting him from now on. Your resume didnât even impress him.
Jungkook doesnât like change and when he has to undergo it, he needs as much of what was familiar and convenient to remain; thatâs the only bit of control he can have and he hates not being in control of things. You just happened to unluckily be at the receiving end of his anger.
But unlike what he expected, you stood up to him in the subtle ways you could. Heâs been so used to people just following him, partly because his way is always the best but also because he commands that respect, and he knows his capabilities enough to know that he deserves it as well. So when you answered back, he felt rattled and just a little bit uneasy. He was unable to backtrack after, but he didnât really plan to.
That doesnât mean that he didnât plan on being a bit of a jerk today, too. Heâd been exhausted working over the weekend after going through all the files you gave him that he snoozed his alarm so many times and ended up doing his workout later than he intended. When you rang the doorbell and stood by his door with your skirt and satin top, he suddenly felt lightheaded.
He mentally smacked himself once the thought that your pastel colored outfit brought out your eyes more than the monochrome ensemble from last week floated in his head. He just hated that not only are you thorough with your work, you have to be beautiful, too. Heâd never admit to anyone that both of those things make him nervous, and itâs the only reason why he thinks he needs to establish his authority so that he doesnât get rattled the next time you counter him.
Thatâs why he demanded more work, which he didnât intend to take up so much of your time, like your lunch break. Heâd seen how your hands shook while you were taking notes during the meeting, prompting him to end the meeting early so you can have something to eat of what heâd bought but heâd left before he could find out if there was anything left for you.Â
Maybe there wasnât enough, as he also witnessed Yoongi hand you what seemed like food with coffee that the man also got for you just minutes ago. The smile you gave him was bright and sincere. Jungkook doesnât think heâd ever see that directed at him, considering how heâd been to you on his first day, but maybe thatâs also good; that could be his defense. Maybe itâd help quell that initial attraction that he doesnât want and cannot allow at all to grow.
It doesnât mean it doesnât agitate him to see you a bit too close with his friend, because with the way you seem so comfortable and with the way that Yoongi sports that rare smile, it almost feels like thereâs something there.
Jungkook is the son of the CEO, and having personal relationships within the company isnât exactly advisable, but heâd gone to university with Yoongi and their introverted personalities instantly clicked. The older man is perhaps the only non-relative company employee that Jungkook kept in touch with when he was in Singapore, not that he even really talked much to his family outside of work anyway.
But in all the years of their friendship, his friend never mentioned any relationship - nor the makings of one - with another staff member. Jungkook hates how his curiosity is slowly getting to him. Maybe a few more moments would tell him more, but something about the scene happening outside his room is making him nervous and uneasy, so he decides to step in.
âHey, Yoon,â he says as he opens the door. âCan we discuss now? I have to meet my parents for dinner in an hour.â
Your bubble with Yoongi bursts at the sound of Jungkookâs voice, and you immediately return to your seat. Your friend nods at you then enters the room, leaving you the peace and quiet you need to plop down on the floor for a quick snack of your loaf before going back to work, glancing inside every once in a while to see how the two are going, and perhaps confirm the friendship that you didnât expect the two would have.
âThis building is a good starting point,â Yoongi agrees with Jungkook. âIf this is the general feel you want for the Arts Center, I can look into other projects and designs and come up with ideas. Iâll just ask ___ for the files I need.â
âYou two seem close,â Jungkook says too quickly.Â
Leaning back against the chair, Yoongi processes the question that he didnât expect heâd hear. More than that, he tries to read whatâs underneath it, knowing that his friendâs tone of voice and feigned stoic expression mean something more.
âYou could say that,â Yoongi replies. âShe did say that no oneâs looked out for her here as much as I have. And that she wouldnât have survived all these years without me.â
âSo youâre actually friends?â
âYes.â
âWere you more?â
Yoongi chuckles, the question giving him the answer heâs looking for. Jungkook may often be too serious but he can be transparent sometimes, too.
âDoes it matter?â The older man asks.
âJust donât want to be surprised, thatâs all,â Jungkook shrugs. âIf thereâs an employee relationship happening under my nose, I should at least know.â
âIt happens here a lot,â Yoongi responds. âI mean, it gives people something to gossip about but itâs how things are - work sucks sometimes and we want someone to hold at the end of a terrible day.â
Feeling like he wonât get an answer to a question that Jungkook doesnât know why he felt the need to ask in the first place, he just shakes his head to concede.Â
But itâs what prompts Yoongi to reply.Â
âWe met when she was just an intern,â he says. âWe used to take the same bus then found out we both came from Daegu. Then she was employed and we were both on the logistics team before I was reassigned and she got the EA role.â
Jungkook merely hums, taking in the information.
âI also asked her out before,â Yoongi continues, earning him a surprised look from the younger man. âYou just canât help what you feel sometimes, you know? But she turned me down, said she didnât want to lead me on because she didnât feel anything more. She also doesnât like being involved with a co-worker, so yeah.â
âHow are you still friends?â
âAsks the guy whoâs still friends with his ex,â Yoongi laughs.
âChaerin and I are civil, thereâs a difference. And we havenât spoken in years.â
âYou loved her, though,â Yoongi counters. âI never got to that point.â
âThis isnât about me,â Jungkook huffs.Â
Knowing itâs a topic that his friend doesnât like talking about, Yoongi relents. âI moved on. That was years ago,â he says. âAnd it seemed like she needed someone. I mean, sheâs not from here and her friends arenât here, either. She appreciated the friendship even if she said she didnât think she deserved it. I guess that made me really get over her, you know? Thatâs all she wanted and needed from me; it was better than not having her around.â
âHow brave,â Jungkook remarks.Â
âYou mean mature?â Yoongi corrects. âYes, thatâs what I am, and itâs the best I could be for her. Especially since sheâs got a boss who makes her miss lunch because somehow, thereâs just so much to do for your first day on the job.â
âDonât remind me,â Jungkook groans.Â
âI will. Only so you could feel bad.â
âI already do. Thatâs why IâŠâ
âBought the pastries,â Yoongi finishes. âI mean, I didnât order them.â
âWas any even left for her?â Jungkook sighs, remembering how he was internally screaming for you to just get from the box and heâd been the jerk to not offer you some even if it was technically for you.
âSort of. I put some aside for myself so I could give them to her.â
âYou sure you donât like her anymore?â Jungkook cocks an eyebrow, an attempt to hide his uneasiness over something he doesnât understand. He finds you attractive, thatâs it. He doesnât know why his mind searches for more answers.
âYou donât have to like someone romantically to be nice to them, you know?â Yoongi responds. âAnd she needed it. Heavens know the support sheâd need now that she has to deal with your rude ass.â
Jungkook sighs, but the remark is a welcome one because he did tell Yoongi not to treat him differently just because heâs the Vice President now. He also partly agrees. But he sees the effort; his friend wouldnât call him out for how he does things, so the most he would do is offer help to you. And Jungkook could maybe take advantage of that, as Yoongi stands up to leave.
âHey, could you, uh, grab dinner for her at the food hall? And not say itâs from me?â
âThe food hallâs closed,â Yoongi says.
âThe cafe down the street, then?â
âYou canât be fucking serious,â the older man groans.Â
But Yoongi knows his friend, knows the distance he creates from the people around him, knows his need to have control over everything, including his feelings, and knows the walls he builds because itâs easier to keep others out rather than do the hard task of letting them into a space thatâs become comfortable because heâs been the only one inside for so long.
So Yoongi does as heâs asked. He takes the money then heads to the cafe to order pork cutlets and curry. He returns and sets them on your desk to your surprise, and you ask what itâs for.
âJust thought you deserve more than just convenience store instant noodles and gimbap given the day youâve had,â he says.Â
âHey, those are delicious,â you pout, but wanting to melt at how good the rice bowl smells. âBut thank you, again. I owe you a lot, Yoongi. I mean it.â
âJust make sure to eat on time so I donât have to buy your dinner again,â he teases. âI mean it. You have to stay healthy, okay?â
âOkay,â you smile brightly. âGet home safe tonight.â
Jungkook glances out the window and holds back a smile himself at how innocent and genuinely happy you look. Thereâs this joy that you seem to enjoy to yourself and he sees that, he understands that. And somehow thatâs enough to lessen the guilt for now.Â
He still doesnât know if heâll ever see that smile directed at him or if heâd ever want that because of how disarming it is. But seeing it from afar is enough; itâs trivial and short enough to let him bask in it without having to climb out of his walls. Heâll watch you from behind, he thinks. He just wishes he doesnât push you away in the process.
Series Masterlist
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#jungkook fic#jungkook x reader#jungkook angst#jungkook fluff#jungkook smut#jungkook x you#jungkook fanfic#jeon jungkook#bts jungkook#jungkook fanfiction#jungkook series#boss jungkook#boss au#workmates au
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#1 Chain x Isekai! Reader - You Play Their Games
Part 1 includes Hyrule, Wind, and Time Part 1 (you are here) âż Part 2 âż Part 3
When you first met the chain, it had quickly come to everyoneâs attention that you already knew them. At first, they thought perhaps you had somehow heard tales of them, passed down through the generations. But you knew things about their adventures they hadnât told anyone. You knew the names of people and places that surely wouldnât have survived the thousands of years the stories would have taken to reach you.
You tried your best to explain to them how you knew what you did. Thankfully, you had your Switch, which made explaining what a video game was to them a bit easier.
Hyrule
He wasnât sure what to think. On one hand, it was upsetting. His adventures were being used to entertain people? His Hyrule was a nightmare to live in, with monsters everywhere. When he had defeated Ganon, it had been a huge deal. To find out it was a game for children was a bit insulting if he was being honest.
On the other hand, his⊠âgamesâ seemed to be your favorite? You had explained to him that his adventures were the first games ever created, and without them, the rest of the franchise wouldnât exist. He couldnât help but feel a bit of pride in this fact. He had grown up hearing of the Hero of Legend, and even now, traveling with the group, with Legend, it was impossible not to feel like he had to live up to that legacy. But to hear that without him, the others wouldnât exist? (At least in your universe their stories would never have been created.) It was like the roles had been reversed. The Hero of Legend. The Hero of Time. All of them had to live up to the legacy that was⊠Hyrule.
He felt a bit guilty. A bit fascinated. A bit resentful. A bit proud. He wasnât sure what to think. He decided to watch you play his game. Just for a bit, he told himself. Just to see what had started it all.
â§Ë°ËâË°Ëâ§
âOkay, so, I normally use a guide to help me find the dungeons,â you explained to Hyrule as you booted up a new save file. He was sitting next to you, watching the screen intently. âIâm not sure how far Iâll get without the internet, especially when I have to get through the maze later on.â
Hyrule had no idea what you were talking about. He decided to ignore whatever you just said and instead focus on the game in your hands.
âIs that supposed to be me?â he pointed at the screen, to the mass of pixels in the center vaguely resembling a person wearing a green dress and hat.
âYeah, sorry. Your gamesâ graphics arenât great,â you moved the joystick, making the game Link walk around in a circle. âBut thatâs just because theyâre older. I think my dad was a teenager when this was made.â
There was a moment of silence before you spoke again.
âI miss him.â
Hyrule nodded in understanding. It couldnât be easy, traveling with the group in a world so unlike your own. How were they going to get you home? Before he could try to comfort you, you turned your attention back to the game, moving the character into a small doorway as you talked.
âHeâs the one that first got me into the games. He and I used to play this game on the old NES he had. We even tried to make a map of the different screens so that we would stop getting lost.â
Hyrule closed his eyes, leaning his head against your shoulder as you continued to ramble on about the game. It didnât sit right with him that his adventure was reduced to entertainment. But you seemed so happy. Surely, it couldnât be that bad.
Wind
(Pretend his games are on the Switch lol)
He's the least bothered by this. Like, sure, it's a bit weird that his adventures are games, but it's also so cool! It's like you went on his adventure, too! Even though youâve never met his friends in real life, you seem to show such genuine care about them when playing his game.
He WILL demand to see every Legend of Zelda game you have, not just his own. It lets him experience the rest of the chain's adventures, which he really enjoys. (He likes watching you play Ocarina of Time the most. You have a hunch it has something to do with Wind growing up hearing stories about Time, then being expected to carry on that legacy. Or maybe he just likes to watch you fail at the Water Temple).
Despite his fascination with the othersâ games, Wind is also REALLY proud that you like his the most. He had fun on his adventures with Tetra, and heâs glad he gets to share that with you. Heâs also glad he can shove it in the others faces that heâs the favorite.
â§Ë°ËâË°Ëâ§
You giggled as the cutscene played on the screen. Wind, who was sitting next to you, gave you an inquisitive look. He was watching the cutscene too, and didnât see what was so funny. Upon seeing his face, you laughed even more.
âSorry, sorry,â you apologized through giggles, âyour facial expressions get me every time.â You gestured to the screen. The game Wind had been placed in a barrel, about to be launched from the pirate boat. His expression changed from wide-eyed terror to a determined glare. âIt looks like you went through the five stages of grief in three seconds.â
âI HAD TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE.â Wind puffed out his chest. If he wasnât a twig-thin pre-teen, it may have made him look manlier.
âIâm sure being yeeted off a boat in a barrel was quite the ordeal. Still doesnât make your faces any less amusing.â You smiled, playfully poking his cheek. He stuck out his tongue at you.
âIâm sure itâs just the art style of the game.â He rolled his eyes. Surely, his facial expressions couldnât be that amusing. âTetra doesnât look that funny in real life. Neither does Aryll. Everyone on your âSwitchâ has weird little feet that donât go with the rest of their body. I wouldnât trust it to copy my face.â
âAh, my mistake,â you ruffled his hair. âSurely, no screen can properly capture this adorable visage.â
âHEy!â
âBut no, seriously.â you smiled and turned your attention back to the screen, âyour funny faces used to crack me up all the time as a kid! Me and my brother tried to copy them, but we could never get them quite right.â
âSo, am I your brotherâs favorite Link, too?â Wind smirked.
âHey! I never said you were my favorite. I said your games were my favorite!â You playfully hit his shoulder. âI canât just choose my favorite of you guys! That wouldnât be fair.â
âOh!â Wind cried out and grabbed his chest, âMy pride!â He fell over dramatically, as if dying from the grievous injury to his ego. You laughed at the display.
âSee, this is what I mean. I don't get this kind of entertainment from the others! Legendâs too grouchy and the captain's worried about messing up his hair.â Wind bolted upright at your comment. Cupping his hands over his mouth in a makeshift megaphone, he yelled across the campsite.
âHEAR THAT LEGEND? Y/N LIKES ME BETTER THAN YOU!â
âSHUT UP! I STILL HAVE MORE GAMES THAN YOU!â
Time
Time is silent the entire time you explain his games. Only two of his adventures seem to have made it to your world. Heâs not sure if he should be horrified that his time in Termina is the last story you had of him, or grateful you didnât see the aftermath of that adventure. (You donât seem to know much about the Fierce Deity mask besides it âmakes boss fights easierâ.)
It takes him a while to trust you. He isn't sure how you view the chain now, and he can't risk you thinking they're still a game. There are real stakes. He tries to put you in the back of the group or somewhere you can't possibly mess anything up. Once you prove to him that you genuinely care about the group, though, he relaxes quite a bit. (That's a story for another time tho).
He doesnât get too worked up over the fact you viewed his adventures as games. He can see how much you care for the chain when interacting with them, so itâs not like you still view them as playthings. From talking to his successors, heâs also grown used to being reduced to a story. He knows that fighting Ganondorf was terrifying, especially considering he was so young when he had to do it. However, to Wind, Twilight, and the others that came after? He was the Hero of Time. The Possessor of the Triforce of Courage. A legendary hero. Not a scared kid.
He watches you play occasionally, usually just a quick glance at the screen when he walks past wherever you were sitting. Wind seemed particularly interested in your device, so you had been showing him almost every game you had. Time mostly seems detached from the events depicted. Maybe itâs how long has passed between his childhood time traveling shenanigans and his present. More likely, he had simply lived through those adventures so many times himself that he couldnât bring himself to get worked up about watching them again. You couldnât quite tell.
â§Ë°ËâË°Ëâ§
âUgh! I hate this stupid dungeon!â you groaned, pressing your face closer to the screen of your Switch. Wind was sprawled out next to you, head resting in your lap as he napped. Clearly, you had been at this for a while. Your frustration had also grabbed Timeâs attention, and he made his way over to you.
âIs that the Water Temple?â he asked, sitting down on the other side of you. âI remember that place being a bit tedious to get through.â
âYeah. Iâve been here for almost an hour. I can never get these platforms in the right order.â You furrowed your eyebrows, trying yet again to complete the stupid puzzle. Time watched you move his teen self around the level, pushing down his discomfort. He was slightly amused at how frustrated you were getting. (Heâs still a little brat at heart.)
Finally, he decided to be helpful.
âHere,â he held out his hand, and you gave him the Switch. âItâs really obvious once you see the solution.â Time moved the joysticks gently, guiding his game counterpart around the level. He moved the platforms, solving the puzzle in only a few seconds.
âOh come on!â You stuck out your tongue at the game, and Time couldnât help but chuckle. He handed the game back to you, and you continued to play, passing through the last few levels before the final boss fight. Time continued to watch, occasionally offering commentary on the puzzles, although it was more to make fun of you than to help you.
Honestly, both of you lost track of time, and before you realized, the final battle was over. Ganondorf was defeated. As the credits rolled, Time was unusually quiet, and for a moment you thought he had fallen asleep. You glanced over, only to find his eyes glued to the screen.
âMay I?â He whispered, holding out both of his hands. You placed the Switch in his hands, and he gingerly held the device as the final cutscene played. On the screen, Navi flew up and away. Time turned the device over and placed it on the ground when the words âPresented by Nintendoâ appeared.Â
âTime, Iâm sorry,â you began, gingerly touching his shoulder. He looked lost in thought.
âDonât be. I think I needed to see that.â He smiled sadly. âI didnât really understand it back then. I thought she had just flown away. I didnât really get to⊠mourn.â
You wrapped your arms around him, and Time gently accepted the hug. Once he was sure you werenât going anywhere, Link tightened his arms around you.
#why did this get to sad???#linked universe#linked universe x reader#linked universe + reader#lu hyrule#lu legend#lu time#lu x isekai!reader#linked universe x isekai!reader#lu wind#lu hyrule x reader#Hyrule x reader#lu time x reader#Time x reader#lu wind + reader#Wind + reader
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a leah x reader blurb where leah has a nightmare, she wakes you, and sheâs genuinely upset. you comfort her, when she tells you about itâs the most ridiculous thing youâve heard, youâre struggling not to laugh because leahs genuinely upset.
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The night is dark, and your room is soaked in the kind of silence that only 3 a.m. can produce. Until, of course, Leah startles you awake. Sheâs sitting bolt upright, clutching the duvet like itâs the last line of defence in a war. You blink the sleep away, registering the panic in her eyes. Sheâs not like this oftenâusually steady and unruffled, even when Arsenal loses, even when the media is chewing on her career like a dog with a bone. So, seeing her like this sets something off in you. Instinct. Worry.
But itâs just as youâre about to ask if sheâs alright, if sheâs hurt, that she blurts out, âI dreamt I was being chased by a swarm of beesâ
A pause, because the stupidity of it lingers in the air like a stubborn fly. Sheâs gripping your wrist now, like itâs your fault somehow, and youâre doing your best to look concernedâsympathetic evenâbut your lips twitch involuntarily. Sheâs genuinely upset, eyes wide, breath coming in shallow little bursts, and all you can think about is how ridiculous it is for a full-grown woman, a defender no less, to be traumatised by a nightmare involving bees. Not even killer beesâjust normal, garden-variety buzzing things.
You clear your throat, trying to keep your voice steady. âHow many bees, exactly?â you ask, because it seems like the appropriate level of absurd detail that might diffuse the situation.
âAll of them,â she says, dead serious. âTrillionsâ
You picture her, Arsenal captain, England star, sprinting from an exaggerated cloud of cartoonish bees, legs pumping like something out of an old Looney Tunes episode. Itâs the kind of mental image thatâs almost too much to bear, and you have to bite down on the inside of your cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. Sheâs still gripping your wrist, holding on for dear life, and itâs genuinely endearing in a strange way. You havenât seen her like this since she got that dodgy pre-season haircut, and even then, she was half-laughing at herself.
âYou know theyâre not real, right?â you say, keeping your voice gentle but thereâs a hint of a smirk curling your lips despite your best efforts.
âI know,â she huffs, flopping back against the pillows in exasperation. âItâs just⊠They were everywhere, and I couldnât get away. They had this horrible, droning soundâŠâ She trails off, her hand finding its way to your arm again, her fingers curling against your skin. Thereâs a brief silence where you canât decide whether to laugh or apologise for the universeâs cruelty in allowing such an absurd nightmare to exist.
âItâs probably karma,â you say after a moment, because if thereâs one thing youâve learned from years of being with Leah, itâs that she appreciates brutal honesty, even in the wee hours of the morning. âYou did laugh at that poor bloke at the pub last week. The one who swallowed the wasp that died in his pintâ
You feel her glare more than you see it. But then, finally, a begrudging smile breaks through, and she exhales a shaky laugh that tells you the worst of itâs over. Sheâs fine, really. Just had a bit of a fright. She leans against you, her forehead resting on your shoulder, and you can feel her settling, breathing slower.
âHonestly,â you murmur, running a hand through her hair, âif a swarm of bees is all it takes to scare you, I think the rest of us are in troubleâ
She pinches your side in retaliation, but itâs more affectionate than anything else. You press a kiss to her temple, and somehow, without even trying, youâve turned her nightmare into a joke the two of you will recycle for weeks.
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The Weirdest Fucking Movies I've Ever seen Pt. 1
Okay so I sort of champion myself as a lover of weird movies. And it's funny because regardless of how many I've seen, every time I watch a weird movie I genuinely feel as if it is the weirdest movie I've ever seen in my life.
So, I decided to make a list which compiles all of said weird movies and then a description of why I find each so uniquely weird. If you find any of these descriptions or titles intriguing, I recommend you seek these movies out, because a weird movie = a good life ya know so yeah
If you have more weird movies please please recommend them im hungry for new crazy cinema bebesssss
Eraserhead (1977) - genuinely makes no sense.
Coherence (2013) - trippy scientifically interesting thriller
Some Velvet Morning (2013) - abusive cat n mouse relationship
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - emotional violence
Greener Grass (2019) - let's shame suburbia!
Trash Humpers (2009) - people fucking the trash...?
Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) - mental illness be so sad and trippy
Gummo (1997) - literal photo album of a dysfunctional town
Slaughtered Vomit Dolls (2006) - bulimia PSA in disguise
Black Bear (2020) - art seeps into the "real" world
Begotten (1990) - god kills himself
Trouble Every Day (2001) - eating people presented as...a turn on?
Baise-Moi (2000) - punk feminist murderous women are sick and society sux
Palindromes (2004) - one character is played by a ton of different actors of different ages, races, and sexes
964 Pinocchio (1991) - so much vomit, even more cyberpunk lobotomy sex machine madness
Meet the Feebles (1989) - the muppets give each other STDs and commit mass murder
In the Realm of the Senses (1976) - a torrid, pornographic affair used to escape the horrors of a war-torn world
Enter the Void (2009) - going to the past, present, and future, POV shots that include blinking, going inside the body, taboo themes with a psychedelic style
Love (2015) - horny pseudo-porno about a misogynistic asshole who somehow pulls hot, sexually adventurous women
Climax (2018) - LSD fueled nightmare
Pink Flamingos (1972) - a competition to be the "filthiest person alive" (spoiler alert: the cool drag queen wins)
Vivarium (2019) - Suburbia is still creepy, guys
Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015) - can we please stop having erotomania like celebrities aren't into u babe :(
No No Nooky TV (1987) - Computers being cool and saying "boobs" and "clit"
The Piano Teacher (2001) - unsafe nonconsensual bdsm and sexual repression is...no. please no.
The Night Porter (1974) - stockholm syndrome and wild bdsm stuff with postwar themes
Belle de Jour (1967) - more bdsm themes
Titane (2021) - woman fucks a car and gets pregnant
Daisies (1966) - two girls cut up pickles and destroy the patriarchy
Creep 1 and 2 (2014, 2017) - murder has never been this funny
Garbanzo Gas (2007) - a human cow gets an all-expenses paid trip to a motel before it hits the slaughterhouse
Melancholie der Engel (2009) - ew.
In Our Garden (2002) - old men dicks + weirdest dialogue I've ever heard in my life
The Rehearsal (TV series) (2022) - this is the ultimate weirdest thing ever and I don't know how else to categorize it.
Trigger Warnings (all of these movies are weird/fucked up but some of them contain actual fucked up stuff that like. happened in real life. so below are the triggers for that kind of stuff. All of these films are genuine films, not the gore stuff the internet produces, but some of them because of the country/time period/transgressiveness include content that is inappropriate and/or ethically unacceptable, so I've included those movies below)
Baise-Moi - unsimulated sex scenes which includes SA scenes that actors consented to but characters did not. this proves a feminist point but is still incredibly upsetting and stayed with me for a while as there are close ups and its awful.
In the Realm of the Senses - Please look into this one more before you watch it, I'm not going to describe things in detail because it makes me so uncomfortable but there are some scenes that involve young actors that should not ethically have been in the situations they were put in. The movie is exceptionally well made and from what I know globally respected so I don't know why they had to ruin it for me but whatever.
Pink Flamingos - One infamous scene involves an actual chicken death. It was the early 70s (long time ago and no PETA) and they apparently ate the chicken afterward, so I felt less immoral about this one but still gross.
Melancholie der Engel - okay please genuinely never watch this movie unless you're super into traumatizing yourself and are very desensitized I guess. There's a ton of actual animal abuse in very very graphic/unnecessarily disturbing shock type situations. There's other bad unsimulated stuff but this is the worst of it from what I know.
Love and Meet the Feebles contain scenes that are transphobic and/or racist, which is gross. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls was made by a very bad person. A bunch of the movies also have unsimulated sex stuff, I don't know if that makes anyone uncomfortable but if it does I'm just putting it out there.
#weird movies#disturbing movies#obscure movies#movie#cult movies#vintage movies#film#classic film#cinema#surreal#surrealism#art house#experimental#harmony korine#gaspar noe#extreme#riot grrrl#punk rock
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Nico is the definition of âstrict parents/teachers/authority figures only make sneaky kids/teenagersâ. Nico is a teenage degenerate. Heâs finally living his best life without the worry of being cruelly punished.
Nico has complete disregard for the camp rules. (And rules overall in general). He does whatever he wants whenever he wants. Part of it is because he doesnât really consider himself to be a camper because he never truly feels like he belongs there. Part of it is because camp halfblood has the cushiest and weakest punishments compared to every other school heâs ever been to. (1930s Italian military school was the harshest and Westover wasnât all that nice either).
Genuinely he does not care about getting caught. And when he does get caught itâs no big deal. Heâs great at lying on the fly and coming up with actual good believable cover stories because of his upbringing. Heâs used to having to lie to authority figures for his own and Biancaâs safety. He usually gets away with stuff. But even when he doesnât itâs no big deal.
Oh he has to scoop poop out of the Pegasus stables because he was caught hanging out outside after curfew? No problem, scooping poop is a walk in the park compared to the punishments dealt to him in childhood for lesser defiances. Heâll just make the skeletons scoop the poop anyway.
Oh he doesnât get any desert and has to wash the dishes because he sat at his friends table at dinner instead of the Hades table? No problem, the dishes arenât that bad and he could make the skeletons do it anyway.
Even if he has to do it himself with Chiron there watching him thatâs still not that bad of a punishment compared to the literal physical and psychological torture he got for punishment as a kid.
Also back in that day nobody knew the dangers of drinking and smoking so Nico probably has a very normalized view on it and possibly drinks and smokes on occasion. (It wasnât discovered until the 1960s that that stuff could be dangerous). Probably a lot of adults around him as a kid smoked and drank a good bit all the time and Nico just grew up thinking that was always normal. He grew up in the age where parents were giving their kids spoonfuls Brandy (alcohol) when they were sick to make them sleep. And Nicoâs generation of kids grew up to give their own kids brandy when theyâre sick and just told them it was cough medicine.
Nico has been caught stealing from Dionysusâs cellar several times. He claims the stuff helps him sleep it makes the nightmares seem less real (it kinda does at first but he eventually build up a tolerance and keeps stealing it but he wonât ever tell anyone that). Heâs also been caught stuff that is clearly not from Dionysusâs cellar nobody knows how he got it (walks into any store with alcohol discretely slips a couple bottles into his giant jacket pockets and walks out all smooth and calm like.
(Shoplifts a bunch of other stuff too heâs never been caught lifting stuff from stores).
He somehow scores several packs of cigarettes every time he goes to the mortal world. Nobody knows how heâs getting them. (Heâs using his dream powers to put the clerks to sleep and unlocking the thing himself and grabbing a whole bunch to shove in his jacket pockets and dips.)
Nico is giving himself eyebrow and lip piercings with sewing needles and ice. Nico is getting tattoos and drawing with markers all over his body until he can get said tattoos. He is swearing like a sailor (as long as there arenât any adults or small children around). Heâs a great actor. That âpolite and distinguished gentlemanâ act that he was taught growing up? 99% of it is just an act.
Heâs a classic teenage dirtbag and I wish more people would acknowledge that.
#Nico di Angelo#Chiron#Dionysus#PJO#Percy Jackson and the Olympians#Heroes of Olympus#HoO#ToA#Trials of Apollo#camp halfblood
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On Mental Health and Cosmic Embarrassment
I don't usually make a post in the aftermath of one of my spirals, so I bet most people see some of the vent posts I make, and assume I am just off my meds or something. I am on them but I might not be on the right ones. This is a thing that happens to me sometimes. I have psychotic episodes, where it feels like the things I am saying are completely inconsequential and I genuinely believe no one cares what I'm saying or, worst of all, that it cannot scare anyone that cares about me. I get too tired to fight my intrusive thoughts and I just ride them out. Most of my thoughts are not ones I enjoy having. I have trouble parsing what is real sometimes. For most of my life, out of a kind of primal shame and terror of being perceived or judged, I beat myself into believing that I just roleplayed as a crazy person online because I wanted attention for it, but it finally clicked for me at some point in my 20s that I was, and am, genuinely very mentally ill, maybe in ways that make me not-entirely-functional in the culture I inhabit. Also, I want attention for it.
Life is very embarrassing. I think embarrassment, shame, et al. is probably the most cosmic feeling of them all, because being embarrassed, for me anyway, leads invariably to my OCD extrapolating the embarrassment, no matter how slight, into its natural extreme, becoming a full-blown existential meltdown and often manifesting in some self-punishment. Or a lot of self-punishment. Instead of saying "everyone wants attention, it's not a big deal", my brain will overwhelm me with shame and make me vow to be quieter about the whole thing next time. Good emotions are meant to be expressed, I tell myself, and Bad ones are not. I think it's very unhealthy for people to not express their negative emotions openly. Or maybe I'm psychotic. I mean, I am psychotic. But maybe right now, too.
Ultimately this feeling peaks with the realization - again - that I'm a eukaryote. I live on a spinning ball of stardust in the aftermath of what had to have been a colossal disaster and waste of time. But it happened, and so now there's a bunch of stuff floating around, and some of that stuff started moving for reasons I don't personally understand and the implications of which scare me. And the moving stuff that moved faster got to stay moving longer. And so a chain reaction escalated, and eventually there were very large moving things whose survival adaptations had evolved in such a way that they could conceptualize and communicate complex information about the world around them, but they were also able to conceptualize themselves. This gave them a lot of grief. They wanted very badly for there to be an answer to why they were able to do that. Surely it served some purpose. But we never found one, and here we are.
I don't have a god to turn to. I have tried - earnestly, sincerely, and desperately - to reach out; I never hear back. I don't want to be an atheist, it's heartbreaking. Honestly. I want someone to be up there, or out there. Knowing there isn't, is just... cruel. It's horrifying and it wrenches my heart. Look at us, look how much we're suffering, where the fuck did you go, what the fuck is your problem? Help us!
In spite of everything, I am still not sure what I believe.
Don't you ever just cry about the world? Like, broadly? Don't you ever just have to take off your glasses and wipe the brine from them because you caught a glimpse of what people, as a species, could be capable of? And I get angry at myself, too. What am I doing about it? What even can I do? I can barely hold down a job. I am barely an adult. I am often mired in this feeling. It permeates everything. I'm living in a tragedy - not just my own, but millions and millions of others'. This is a nightmare. It's a nightmare and I'm an embarrassment, and my brain doesn't work right, and I'm living in a terrible reality that is shared by everyone, and yet somehow equally isolating and alienating to all of us. Does it have to be that way? Aren't we all lonely?
When I am spiraling I really do think that the end is near, either for me, or for everyone, or for both. To be fair, my confidence about humanity's future is not promising even when I am at my most sane. But in this kind of emotional place, the stakes are too high for me to care that what I say might come off as upsetting. It is completely overwhelming. I see my life up to this point, and I see how long I've been alive and realize I'm very Not Normal and I look and sound different than everyone around me and I'm an embarrassment. It's embarrassing to exist. It's embarrassing to be transgender, too. It's really, really embarrassing to be mentally ill and fully aware of it all the time. It's shameful. I am ashamed of how my family likely sees me. How my peers see me. I'm just a walking disaster. I feel like this bars me from leading a happy life or finding some success in art - It doesn't seem like you're allowed to be quite this much of a problem and "get away with it", does it? There's a bit of social sanitizing at work there - you are only allowed to be a certain level of messed up and if you pass that you're sort of a pariah. I don't think I've ever done anything pariah-worthy, but I can only see things from the inside of my own head, and there's a lot of unwanted noise in here.
I painted this when I lived in Oregon. I don't know how. I could not do art like this again if asked.
I'm not in a good place, generally-speaking. It could be worse - and it was for a long time- but it's still just not great. The main reason is that I am very homesick. I grew attached to the Pacific Northwest in a way I've never really grown attached to any other place. It had a quality that exists nowhere else. It resonated with me immediately and I knew right away from the moment I first set foot there that it was my home. I grew to be a part of it, and it's the only place I felt I somewhat-belonged... I have been away from Oregon for 2 whole years as of next month. I feel like I'm a fish out of water, or a sapling in the wrong soil. I can't and won't say that the place I live currently is a bad place, but it isn't my place, and the disconnect has been maybe the nastiest shock to my system in all my life. Finding the place I loved, and living for over 12 years there, only to be wrenched away from it so suddenly, left a shock on me that I think has yet to surface in my work. I'm excited to see what form it takes when it does. Location is very important to my mental wellbeing, more than I think it is for most people. Maybe I am a plant. It's also very important for my art. I've struggled to find inspiration since I moved here. That said, I've had the very precious opportunity to just work on myself - on my transition, as well as my personal issues. I think I'm getting better, gradually, in some way. I have a job now, at least. So it's not entirely bad. I even grew sunflowers last summer.
Around this time I got banned from twitter, but I don't feel any shame about the reason why because I believe in my message. But it forced me to be a lot less active online for a long time. It also made me lose a lot of support. That's been something I've grappled with a lot these last 2 years - that people really don't like people like me, for reasons that are mostly not our fault. I will likely always be something of an outsider for being who I am now, but I was one before anyway. It's still worth it. I like the person I'm becoming. I feel like only recently did I allow myself to feel this self-love. I was too embarrassed of myself. It took a lot of patience and a lot of de-tangling my self-worth from a lot of trauma. So it's likely I would have needed to go through all of this regardless of where I was.
I still slip up. It's an uphill climb and it's slippery. I like to be transparent about these things. It's a relief - feeling like I need to hide things is my default state and it's lovely to just let go of stuff so I don't need to keep it in my head all the time. I have a lot of hangups still. I get discouraged about my art still - I fear I'll never build myself back up to where I was before, and that there will never be a time when I can really pay the bills with it. Or worse-still, that it just isn't special enough to last. That it isn't remarkable enough to survive after I'm gone. But I think a lot of people who make stuff feel that way, and it's not our fault. There's some relief in that. I'm happy to have even a few people that care about me and my work, and something I've been trying really hard to remember in recent years is to take time to appreciate them. I'm not actually alone. I have a lot of people that love me. I'm not an outsider. I'm very lucky to know the people I do, and I hold a deep regret for all the connections I've let go of because I was just too sick. Deep down I really do wish I could love everyone. I have no ill will towards anyone, not really.
I still don't know what I'm doing. I am just doing my best, I think. I'm really, really tired. I don't want to get any older. I'm scared of the passage of time. My memory is so bad, it feels like time is taken from me without me realizing. I am 33 years old. I do not have 33 years worth of memories. There are huge leaps. Gaps where suddenly I was just older and in more pain. Being adrift in time like this is horrific - one day I will blink, and the present moment may be completely forgotten. It can't go this fast. It just can't. Something has to be wrong. I don't want to die, I don't want to miss out on so much life or be unable to remember it. I don't want to find myself on my deathbed someday way sooner than I think and be unable to string together any kind of coherent thread from my memories. What is it all for? It has to mean something right? Why am I doing anything?
I think I finally understand that love is why. I don't know much more than that. Love is real, and it's the answer. If you find love, don't take it for granted, ever. No love is perfect. Take it with all its flaws. You don't have time to bargain with it. Love like you'll never love again, love like it's your last day alive, love like it will keep you alive forever, because it will. Every year closer to death you get, you will feel the regret of all the times you did not follow your heart. Life is short. I'm finding this out entirely too late. It goes by so fast, and what you have at the end are people and memories of being loved. To be loved is to live forever. It's the thing that connects us to everything else. It's the source and the answer to everything. It makes more sense the older I get. It used to sound cheesy, but I believe it with more sincerity every day.
youtube
I'll be okay, okay
I once promised someone that I would stop self-harming. They are no longer in my life, but I kept the promise anyway. There are no new scars on my arms, or bruises on my head or face. I'm keeping this promise for myself, now.
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Some momentary GhostSoap Softness
The debriefing with Alejandro about their mission to take back their base had just finished, but Johnny was going to be surprised if he remembered any of it. The only thing currently taking up his entire mind was the fact that Ghost had shown his face. Not just to Johnny, but to everyone in the room.
When that skull mask was off, neither Ghost nor Johnny were able to keep their eyes off each other. Ghost had been staring at him, probably waiting for an expression of disgust. When Johnny got past the initial surprise of what was unfolding before him, he had only a few seconds to take his face in.
He was covered in scars. An unholy amount of them. Many around areas that would be beaten. Jaw. Lips. Nose. Eyebrows. He had a large scar trailing up his cheek and cutting through his lips. Some of his hair appeared to be missing too from scars on his head, but most of it was still there, and it looked disheveled and oily from being in that mask so long.
When he put the lighter balaclava on, Johnny blinked a few times and looked down at the mask in his own hand. What he had just seen felt like a daydream. It didnât feel real. When Alejandro dismissed the team, Ghost team, Johnny found himself frozen in place. It was too much for his brain to process.
After a few seconds, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to the side and saw Ghost beside him. His eyes bore into his soul.
âLetâs have a chat, shall we?â
Johnny nodded and followed him to a more secluded area of the base. This was the first real time that they had to relax, to de-stress since being hunted by Shadows. Johnnyâs arm was aching, stinging, burning. But it was bandaged up. Johnny leaned against the wall and looked up at Ghost, who seemed tense still.
âThank you, Ghost.â
âFor?â
âFor?? For guiding me through a city, for saving my life, for all that shite⊠if it werenât for you Iâd be a gonerâŠâ
âWe saved each other, Johnny. Not even I couldâve handled all those shadows alone.â
âAnd you nearly bet against me~â
Ghost said nothing to the snarky comment. He was looking down at Johnny with searching eyes.
âWhat did you think? Am I ugly?â
He asked the question so forwardly but somehow Johnny knew it was a genuine question. He looked into his chocolate eyes and shook his head.
âNot in the slightest, Simon.â
Ghost seemed slightly surprised about the use of his first name, but the surprise ended quickly. His hands reached up to the mask again.
âI took it off as a necessity to put this mask on⊠but I want you to see me.â
Once again the mask was removed. Now that it was just them, the tension in their direct eye contact was insane.
âI see you, Simon. It wasnât just a dream.â
âA dream⊠funny. If anything, Iâm a nightmare.â
âLucky I donât get scared of nightmares.â
Ghost moved closer, pulling something out of his pocket. A small twist top palette of black greasepaint. He unscrewed it and dipped two of his fingers into it.
âYou need to survive this mission, Johnny.â His voice was quiet. He reached up and started applying the greasepaint around Johnnyâs eyes. Johnnyâs heart was beating in his throat at the closeness, the trust that Ghost so clearly had in him making him giddy.
âI will, Ghost.â
âYou need to. For me.â
Johnny nodded, let Ghost finish the application of paint on his face, then watched as he put his own mask back on and left with clenched fists. Only then did he let out the breath he had been unknowingly holding.
#cod mw2#ghostsoap#ghost call of duty#ghost x soap#soap cod#soapghost#ghost fanfiction#johnny mactavish#cod modern warfare#call of duty
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I have a JJK x Naruto Crossover I think you'd like
So it's in the Naruto world, but curses and cursed energy exist as a separate thing from chakra. Jujutsu schools are scattered across the Nations, working together to keep the curses from destroying the world.
Shinobi and sorcerers really do not like each other. The shinobi hate how uncertain they are of the sorcerers loyalty as sorcerers consider themselves to be loyal to each other rather than any of the countries they are in. They often refuse to let sorcerers into the villages. The only reason they haven't all been killed is because although chackra can't kill a curse they can see them and seal them like bijuu. Sorcerers hate shinobi because while they're sacrificing their lives to protect the world the shinobi are actively creating more curses with their warfare and preventing the sorcerers from killing the curses in the villages. Also shinobi sometimes use sealed curses as weapons, which is stupid and bad.
Sidenote real fast, Hoshigaki Kisame isn't part of the Akatsuki here because Gojo was like, "hmm. I need a teacher to teach my students shinobi things so they don't get assassinated. I think this weird shark guy would be great!" So Kisame is living his best life getting to be a nice, loyal guy and is one of the only shinobi that sorcerers tolerate.
The main plot of this AU is related to the bijuu. You know how in Naruto the bijuu have the ability to sense malice and sometimes go out of their way to kill evil humans? Well in this AU what they are actually sensing is cursed energy and their job is to disperse large build ups of cursed energy to keep the formation of cursed spirits down. They are deeply venerated and respected by sorcerers for this. So guess who was absolutely furious when the shinobi started sealing them?
The only reason the sorcerers haven't gone to war over the whole thing is because without the bijuu, they're being stretched thinner and thinner as they try to keep the cursed spirit population down. Death rates among sorcerers have easily doubled or tripled, as, even if there's still very few special grades, there's just so many of the weaker ones.
This whole thing makes Geto even worse than in canon.
So in the midst of all this tension, Team Seven runs into Gojo's first year students on some kind of mission involving missing nin creating curses on purpose. Between Naruto's naruto-ness and Itadori's friendliness, they actually manage to work together and are a little friendly by the end of it.
And then it somehow comes out that Naruto is the ninetales jinchuuriki and the jjk kids lose their shit. Even Sukuna's upset, he just found out about the whole thing and his belief in humanity somehow dropped further into the negatives than it already was.
Like, they are genuinely ready to kill Naruto over this, and team seven is so confused because they were friendly a second ago, and then both their teachers show up and everything gets worse.
And the thing is, most shinobi don't know about the bujuu-sorcerer connection. The general run of the mill shinobi barely knows anything about sorcerers, and team seven actually learned more than their teachers ever told them on this mission. And it would be so confusing and stressful for them to realize that the monster that they all fear is a respected colleague to these people, and the bijuus loss is genuinely killing the sorcerers.
Just the idea that the monster sealed inside of him isn't a monster, that it was sealed wrongfully, would break Naruto a little bit.
I don't know where this would end up going. Having Kenjaku and Madara/Obito pulling shit at the same time would be a nightmare. I just really like the idea of sorcerers and shinobi having to deal with each other, and of the ninja having to think about the fact that sealing a living being and using them as a battery and weapon for a century is really fucked up, and it's no wonder they try to kill you every time they get out.
This is absolutely delightful and I need 100k of it stat
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for the drabbles me n you 71 (jokes....unless..)
but seriously rosekiller 60âi think it fits their vibe perfectly
i seriously considered writing a silly drabble for u and me.. greatest ship of our generation etc etc
but anyways !! here u have some rosekiller darling <3
60. "Before you decide to murder me, let me explain..."
If you asked Barty how he ended up pinned to the ground, right next to an open and half-dug grave, and with a scalpel to his neck, he wouldn't know what to tell you.
He knows it started with the disinheritance. Or maybe it was a bit later, when Regulus had told him he couldn't keep hiding in his dorm room, because his neighbour was starting to get suspicious, and he couldn't afford to be kicked out, now that he had also stopped being a trust fund baby. Not like he behaves any less spoiled.
Barty is convinced that it had nothing to do with the risk of getting discovered, and everything to do with that brainless rugby player who has started coming over. Regulus keeps insisting that it's just for uni, because they have a project together, or something, but Barty has caught that stupid jock ogling his best friend more times than he can count.
And there's also that one time he climbed Regulus' dorm window a bit earlier than he had said he would, and had seen the rugby dude lifting his shirt for some unknown reason and Regulus touch his abs with a ridiculous amount of awe. Like it was the first he was seeing a human body.
Barty still wishes he had recorded it. Regulus keeps trying to gaslight him about it but he knows what he saw. Unfortunately. He still has nightmares.
The point is that Regulus needed him out of there, and Barty also had jumped at the chance of getting away. It was fun, at first, interrupting their alone time and being the target of all those murderous glares Daveâor whatever his name isâkept sending his way. But it was beginning to grow old. The fear of Regulus poisoning his food or choking him in his sleep was getting a bit too realâhe gets so cranky when he's horny but doesn't get any.
It's not like it's Barty's fault. He used to take care of that for Reg, because he's a great friend like that, but, well, after that one incident of Barty eating Regulus out and Regulus moaning that stupid jock's name, he refuses to lend him a hand anymore. Literally.
Not being able to rely on Regulus' dorm room, Barty needed money, and he needed it fast. So, technically, it had started with the disinheritance. Because like everything else in Barty's life that goes wrong, of course his father is somehow to blame.
Although, and watching the angel straddling his hips and who's about to slit his throat open, Barty isn't sure he'd say this is going exactly wrong.
"As much as I'm enjoying this, blondie," Barty starts, voice a little strained. "I think the scalpel and the whole threatening my life is a little unnecessary. We can have a conversation like grown upsâ"
The angel presses the tool against Barty's skin a bit harder, abit deeper, and he has to bite his tongue to repress a groan when he feels the first drops of blood trickle down his neck.
Is this doing it for him? Really? It's not the weirdest thing that has managed to turn him on, but it's about to get very awkward if he pops a boner all of a sudden.
"Or not," Barty rushes to add, chuckling hoarsely. "We can totally talk like this. The dirt is actually pretty comfortable, and it's such a lovely night. I'd dare to say it's even kinda romantic."
The angel tilts his head to the side, brown emotionless eyes blinking down at him. "Are you flirting with me?"
Blondie's voice is empty, lacking any form of inflexion, but so smooth and so soft it's genuinely doing things to Barty.
"Depends. Is it working?"
He blinks at Barty again. Somehow, the gesture looks more condescending this time. The angel cuts him a bit more, and Barty hisses.
"What do you think?"
"I'm taking that as a maybe," Barty retorts, managing a little smirk.
Barty really has no survival instinct. He might actually die tonight, and yet his brain doesn't seem to be able to get with the program.
Not like Barty can blame it. If his killer looks this pretty, then he has no complaints. Or not as many as he should, at least.
"You were nosing around my grave," the angel states, squinting his eyes slightly. "Why."
"Your grave? I don't know if that's right, blondie, you look quite alive to meâ"
The angel exhales loudly through his nose, and then moves the blade to the side of Barty's throat, as if getting ready to properly cut.
"Wait, wait," he exclaims, attempting to grab blondie's wrist and then remembering both of his hands are being crashed by his own back. "Before you murder me, let me explain..."
He pauses, leaves the sentence hanging and stares up at the angel with what he hopes are convincing puppy eyes. They've never worked on Regulus, but then again, he's a heartless man who only gets moved by his Prada slippers, so it doesn't really count.
Blondie doesn't say anything, just continues watching him with the most deadpan expression Barty has ever seen in his life. But his throat is only bleeding just a little, and he's still alive, so he'll take it as a win.
"I didn't know it was your grave, blondie," he assures him, and it feels a bit weird, not having to lie to defend himself. Most of the time, he's done whatever they're accusing him of and worse. "Really. Maybe you should put some sort of sign, something that actually stakes your claim, so people like me don't get confusedâ"
"You shouldn't be digging up graves anyway," the angel cuts him off with a pointed look.
Barty arches an eyebrow. "I'm not sure how I feel about a bloke who's literally threatening me with a scalpel judging what I decide to do with my free time."
"You said you were gonna explain and I'm not listening to any explanations." The angel rolls his eyes so hard Barty is momentarily concerned. "My hand is getting sore."
"You know how it'd feel less sore? If you dropped that cute little knife, or at least put it away from my faceâ"
"You have thirty seconds to talk before I cut your neck open."
"Okay, okay!" Barty sighs, closing his eyes for a moment. "It really was nothing personal, blondie. I just needed a body, a recent one, with all its organs intact, so I could sell them for an insane amount of money and pay for a room in the uni accommodation."
The angel finally looses the grip on the scalpel, the pressure becoming bearable. "You're digging up graves because you're broke?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Barty confirms with a shrug. "It's easy money. And I have experience digging up graves." He stops for a second and then he adds, "don't ask."
"I wasn't going to."
"So? Truce?"
Blondie gives another one of his slow blinks. "Not yet. How good are you with dismemberments?"
Barty doesn't miss a beat. "As in, having enough stomach to watch them or doing them myself?"
"Both."
"Quite good, I'd say. If I have the right tools, that is."
"I can provide them."
"Can you? Really?" Barty questions with a lazy smile. "Why would a cute, murderous thing like you need someone who knows how to dismember bodies for?"
"That's none of your business," the angel replies, raising his chin. "It's just for a little project I'm working on."
A project that includes referring to random graves as yours? That needs dead bodies' limbs?
Oh, this guy is absolutely batshit insane.
Barty wants him so ridiculously bad he's starting to get dizzy.
"You can have the organs," blondie adds, after Barty takes a little too long to answer. What can he say, he's a little busy fantasising about bending the angel in half and having his way with him. "They're of no use to me. I only need the limbs. And a head."
"Tempting," Barty admits, nodding. "But the question is, can you afford to hire my services?"
The angel finally puts the scalpel in his jacket's pocket, sitting up slightly and crossing his arms over his chest oncee the blade is away. "Afford? An amateur grave-digger's fee can't be that high, especially when you're this desperate. I'm sure I have enough money toâ"
"Woah, woah, no one said anything about money, blondie. That's what selling organs illegally is for," Barty chuckles, squirming until he can free his hands from behind him. Still, he's gentle enough to not jostle the angel in his lap too much.
"Then?"
"A kiss?" Barty bats his lashes for good measure.
Blondie glares at him for a few long seconds, and when Barty is about to laugh it off, assure the other boy he was just joking and simply agree to his insane business proposal, the angel leans down.
Barty is sure that blondie only intended it for it to be a peck, but he's nothing if not an opportunist, and the moment the other boy's lips touch his, he rushes to deepen the kiss. Surprisingly, the angel allows it, opening up his mouth all sweetly when Barty licks at the seam teasingly, and tangling their tongues together.
He lets Barty explore a little, shuddering when he hums lowly into his eager mouth, but then he pulls away, the back of his hand coming up and rubbing furiously at his lips.
It's too dark to tell, but Barty could almost swear the angel is a bit flustered.
"Happy?" he grumbles, slightly muffled.
"Very much so," Barty says, not bothering to hide his shit-eating grin. "That's only the payment for a limb, though, blondie. So, if you need more..."
"It's Evan," the other boy correct him with a huff, finally putting his hand away from his lips. "And don't push it. I have to see how good you are first."
"Barty," he introduces himself in response, offering a handshake that Evan accepts, if a little begrudgingly. "I can assure you, I won't disappoint."
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Diabolik Lovers CHAOS LINEAGE ăŒ Subaru [Euphoria Ending]
ăŒ The scene starts in the Church
Subaru: Uu...Gaah...!
Yui: Subaru-kun!? Please, let go of my hand! Don't try to save me...!
Subaru: Fuck off! Not in a million years!
Yui: You can't, you'll get caught up as well...!
Subaru: Still, I just can't let go of...Uu...Guh...!
Yui: ( Ah, his wounds are aching...He's trying to protect me, even in his current state. )
( I appreciate the sentiment...but! )
Let me go, Subaru-kun! In your current state...!
Subaru: As if I can watch you die in front of me! I promised that I'd keep you save no matter what, remember!?
Yui: And I want to protect you too! I don't want to let you die...!!
Subaru: Shut up! You better not think I'm gonna let you kick the bucket either!
Yui: ...
Subaru: ...
Yui: Fufu...
Subaru: ...Hehe.
Yui: ăŒăŒ Hey, Subaru-kun. We're very similar, aren't we?
We both refuse to give the other up. Even in a situation like this.
Subaru: Yeah, you're right.
Yui: In that case, we might as well go togetherăŒăŒ
Subaru: ...
Hah, you big idiot. But I guess dyin' alongside you wouldn't be that bad.
We'll be together, as we die, and in the afterlife as well.
Let's just allow the wind to swallow us up. Rest assured. I definitely won't let go of you.
Yui: Yeah, I'll be fine. Nothing scares me when we're together.
Subaru: Yeah. Come on, look at me. I'll kiss you until the bitter end.
Yui: Okay...
Subaru: ...Nn...
Yui: Nn...
( Such a sweet kiss. The type of kiss which I love so much, making me forget all about my fears or worries. )
( If this is how I'll approach my end, there's nothing to be afraid of... )
*Flash*
Yui: ...!?
Subaru: What was that light just now...!?
*Rumble rumble*
Subaru: Oi, is it just me or is this Church fallin' apart...!?
Yui: Yeah, but how odd. The strong gust of wind and the rubble are all disappearing. Like they're fading into particles of light...
Subaru: Yeah, it's almost as if this World itself is breaking down...!
Don't worry! Just hang onto me tight, 'kay? ...Kuh!
*WOOSH*
ăŒ The scene shifts to the mysterious Chamber
Yui: ...Huh...?
( Where are we...? We were at that Church, and then... )
Subaru: Nn...? Oi, are you alright?
Yui: Yeah, I'm fine! How about you?
Subaru: I somehow turned out alright as well...Where are we...?
The Castle at Eden...?
Yui: Does that mean we safely made it out of that World?
Subaru: Probably.
Yui: Ah, everyone else is here too! They seem to be unconscious too...
But how did this happen? Someone needed to be sacrificied for that World to be destroyed, no?
Subaru: Yeah...But seems like that World fell apart for god knows what reason.
*Woosh*
Socrates: The experiment was a succes.
Subaru: This light, and voice...Socrates, is that you!?
Socrates: At that critical moment of life or death, Adam and Eve most definitely embraced the love for each other.
I witnessed it all with my very own eyes. True love, worthy of the new World.
Subaru: The fuck...!?
Yui: ( I don't quite get it, but I guess this means his experiment has come to an end? )
Socrates: The hint I gave in regards to how you could destroy that World played a big part in everything, no?
Subaru: Haah!? You've gotta be fuckin' with us! How was that bullshit 'bout one person havin' to die supposed to help us!?
Socrates: I am not referring to that. The real clue as to how to break that World was hidden in the legend.
Subaru: The legend? The thing 'bout kissin' Eve in the Church?
Yui: But I wasn't woken up through a kiss...
Socrates: The true meaning behind the story of Sleeping Beauty lies in the fact that awakening must happen through genuine love.
If Adam and Eve can prove that their love is real and seal it with a kiss, the cage will crumble and an end will come to the everlasting nightmare.
Everyone will wake up, and a new Supreme Overlord...In other words, Adam will be born.
Yui: So, the fact we kissed at the Church...
Subaru: Was exactly that...?
Socrates: Now I have seen it all. I will accept losing a dear friend for a love this strong.
I am satisfiedăŒăŒ
ăŒ Socrates disappears
Subaru: Oi, what the fuck!? Don't just have your say and then dip on us!?
Yui: I wonder who that guy was in the end? Also, this 'friend' he spoke of...
Karlheinz: ...I witnessed all of it as well, my dear friend Socrates. It was a formidable experiment.
Subaru: You bastard...What rock did you crawl out from under!?
Yui: Karlheinz-san. Then this 'dear friend' Socrates mentioned...
Karlheinz: He was referring to me, Eve.
Still, I did not think you would have grown this much, Subaru.
Subaru: ...Che.
Karlheinz: You are now more than worthy to inherit my powers.
Both my friend and I have lost track of just how long we have waited for Adam and Eve to find true love.
For that exact moment where we discover genuine love through the appearance of two people capable of creating a new WorldăŒăŒ
Eve and yourself did an excellent job proving your true love for one another. I could not wish for any more.
Now, accept these powers of mineăŒăŒ
Subaru: I don't want them!
Karlheinz: ...Why not?
Subaru: I'll use my own strength to live alongside her!
*Rustle*
Yui: ( Ah...He's holding me tight. )
Subaru: My name's Subaru and she's Yui. We're not 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
I'll stay with her, both in life and death, because that's my own choice.
I don't give a damn 'bout what you have to think of that!
Yui: Me too...I am with Subaru-kun as myself, not as Eve.
Now and forever.
Karlheinz: ...I see. So you will reject every aspect of our experiment, rendering it null and void?
Very well. You did most definitely show us your genuine love after all.
I shall give you two my blessing! As you chose love over powerăŒăŒ
ăŒ Karlheinz vanishes
Yui: ( Ah, he disappeared...But now we've finally been freed from that cage. )
We can go back at last!
Subaru: Yeah. Let's get outta here already.
Yui: Yup!
Monologue The miniature World fell apart, and we finally got back to our everyday lives. All of us made it back safe and sound, without anyone having to be sacrificed. Of course, this includes Subaru-kun as well. This event proved to us, that we both absolutely need each other. One of us cannot be removed from the picture, even if that is nothing but self-satisfaction. If we truly want the other to smile, then we simply cannot leave their smile. I believe that is difficult, as easy as it may sound. However, I refuse to leave Subaru-kun's side, no matter what happens. I'll live and die alongside himăŒăŒ That is different from what Karlheinz-san and his friend had in mind for us, but we shall continue to walk down this path, which we carved for ourselves.
ăŒ The scene shifts to Subaru's room at the Sakamaki manor
Yui: Subaru-kun, you're still not getting up? Reiji-san's telling you to get out of bed already.
Subaru: Don't listen to what that guy has to say. Who cares if I stay like this a bit longer?
Yui: But you'll be late for school if you don't get up soon.
Subaru: I can just skip, right? More importantly, you should join me over here.
*Rustle*
Yui: Wah...!
Subaru: Hah, now he'll get on your case as well.
Yui: Geez, Subaru-kun.
( But somehow I'm okay with getting scolded if it's together with Subaru-kun. )
Subaru: Oi, look at me. ...Nn.
Yui: Nnh...!
You can't, Subaru-kun! If we kiss now, who knows when Reiji-san might walk in to wake us...
Subaru: Then let's give him a show. We'll make it very clear that we're too busy for school today.
Yui: Gosh...
Subaru: Who cares? We made it out of that place alive.
Let me feel you even more. I want to confirm that you're actually here with me.
Yui: Subaru-kun...
Subaru: Nn...
Yui: ...Phew...
( No fair...I can't say no when he says such things. )
Subaru: I love you. Forever, and ever.
ăŒăŒ THE END ăŒăŒ
#diabolik lovers#dialovers#subaru sakamaki#chaos lineage#diabolik lovers translation#clsubarueuphoria
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Pulled Strings
Summary: Jake Seresin is feeling stressed so he gets out his violin and begins to play. The only problem? He's not alone in the barracks today and some of his teammates are shocked to learn of his hidden talent.
This story came from the knowledge that Glen Powell was trained on the violin. Is it filled with unnecessary angst? Yes. Does it paint Hangman in a good light because it's the only way I know how to write him? Also Yes. Sorry about that.
Jake Seresin was used to stress, you didn't become one of the Navy's Top Aviators without being accustomed to it, but this mission was starting to become a bit much for even him. First it was the long suffering rivalry with Rooster. Jake didn't particularly hate Bradshaw, he just never understood him, or his proclivity to over-thinking. Sure, Hangman tended to stray a little far over the line of cocky, but he had faith in his abilities like every pilot attempting the skills they did on a daily basis should. Rooster's naivety was annoying for its sheer unsoundness. He was clearly talented, he wouldn't be where he was if he wasn't, so this faux, 'I don't know if I can go that fast or fly like Maverick' was just getting frustrating at this point.
Hangman knew he crossed a line when he brought up Rooster's father, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't even mean for it to land so wrong. He didn't mean to make it sound like he blamed Maverick, or that Nick Bradshaw's death was anything but a tragic accident. He only meant to light a fire under Rooster, to show Bradley and by extension Maverick that the mustached man was never going to be ready to fly if he didn't stop thinking and living in the past. Bradley did the team no favors, he did himself no favors, staying in his head instead of in the sky.
Since the altercation, Jake had apologized. Maverick took it with a genuine look, his eyes lost in a past that Hangman knew he was fortunate to not understand but had callously brought up anyway. It probably would have felt better if Mav had taken a swing, but the older Captain just patted Jake's shoulder and told him to go get ready for his flight later in the day.
Of course then the dark haired pilot went up to run a hop with Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote.
Jake's initial plan was to reach out to Bradley for his apology as they hung around the ready room but before he could get the words, Coyote was in G-lock and Jake's heart seemed to stop. Javy was Jake's best friend, his only real family if he was honest with himself, and the thought of losing him that day made the ramifications of this suicide mission a lot more sickeningly clear. Hangman had shakily collapsed next to the radio once Coyote finally answered but then the bird strike happened and everything seemed to get even more clouded with emotions. Jake would never survive something bad happening to Javy but he in no way thought he would feel the same way about the others, not until he kept hearing Phoenix's voice calling that they were on fire, of Bob's panicked cries that they needed to eject, of Maverick screaming they couldn't save the jet. All three voices, combining with Mav's calls for Javy to pull up, were terrifying enough to cement into Jake's nightly rote of nightmares for the time being. Another strain from an impossible mission.
Hangman went to the hospital after Phoenix and Bob were picked up like all the others but somehow, once everyone was deemed more or less in one piece, it seemed only he and Rooster remained in the waiting room, both men needing to see their teammates with their own two eyes. Jake mustered his apology there and Bradshaw, reeling from the close call of almost losing Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote in the same afternoon, had only begrudging nodded.
Things weren't fixed, they never would be, but a truce was created. And, the asshole part of Hangman also wished he could point out to some of the others who still looked at him with disappointed looks, Rooster was now flying faster and giving Jake a run for his money in terms of being wingman. Especially now that it was basically written in stone that Maverick was flying; he had demolished the course the other day after the funeral.
It was a scary concept, a foreign concept, but Jake was suddenly finding himself thinking he might not be the one flying this mission. He had the speed, that much was never in doubt, and his target locks were getting better- still not the best, but certainly no worse than the others. No, Jake's deficiency was that he had no team; the others trusted him about as far as they could throw him, and he could tell from day one that Maverick held pride in pilots that could work together, not solo showboats. Hangman had overshot his landing field in this whole predicament and it was really throwing the blond Texan off kilter.
Jake wasn't used to failure, he didn't allow for it. He didn't have to worry about facing his parent's wrath for failure anymore, that bridge collapsed and burned the day he left for the academy, but there was so much expectations Jake had placed on himself because of them, so much need to prove that he was worth the time, the effort, the love that was never given.
Yet as the hours to shipping out crept closer and closer, Hangman seemed to find his place was being filled by someone else and the looming shadow of not being good enough was getting ready to block out his sun.
Hence the stress.
His normal stress reliever was running but the typical North Island sun was hidden in rainclouds this afternoon. The team was able to have their standard lecture but hops had all been scratched, leading Jake to feel restless as he paced his small housing. Normally rain wouldn't deter a run completely for the hot shot pilot, he actually found it quite peaceful, but he doubted Maverick or Cyclone would be as accepting and the chance of a reprimand for risking illness so close to shipping out dissuaded the blond. His next thought was the gym but Jake didn't have the stomach to run into any of the others, they were on better ground but not enough that anyone went out of their way to include Hangman, except Javy of course. Coyote had texted earlier to say that he and some of the other pilots had taken the short respite the weather had afforded them to get off campus, and from the lack of noise around him, Jake assumed he was the only one left in their housing block, which offered a unique opportunity. Hangman headed over to closet, pulling out the guitar case that was one of the few personal items he allowed himself. Opening it carefully, Jake reached for not a guitar but a violin, the mismatched instrument case his attempt at not allowing others to know his hidden talent. Playing the guitar was expected from a Texan, but a violin? Not something normally entertained from a cocky Naval Aviator.
Jake took our his bow and made sure to grab some rosin, greasing it gently and properly like he was shown so many years ago. When everything was ready he brought the instrument to brace against his neck and began to play, the notes coming easily as he moved through some scales and uncomplicated melodies. Immediately, Jake's shoulders un-tensed, the power of music always calming him, and he closed his eyes and pretended he wasn't back at Top Gun and training for a deadly mission but rather back home, in Midland Texas, playing in the orchestra room with Ms. Elliot, one of his most beloved teachers, as she watched him with a pride reserved usually for parents that Jake had never experienced before.
Quickly, Jake was transitioning to harder pieces, the melancholy of both the rain and his own disappointment in his performance thus far these past few weeks making him long for sadder and more drawn out music. He naturally went to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, skipping to the second movement so he could relish in the hauntingly dramatic opening melody.
Next he switched to Bach. Jake was not normally one for changing composers so quickly but he allowed it today, his fingers just playing with no real thought, his bow slicing across the strings as he integrated the two musicians a few times as the pilot sounded out his feelings. It was emotional for the blond, his own inadequacies coming out through the notes and Jake wasn't surprised when a tear, and then two, slowly trailed down his cheeks. He didn't try to wipe them, couldn't stop now that he was so engrossed in the music anyway, until he thought he heard a knock on his door.
"Bagman!" a familiarly angry voice called, "hey Bagman!"
Jake's fingers stuttered, his bow coming across jagged and letting out a screech that made goose bumps prickle on his skin. For a moment the blond stood there unmoving, shocked at the interruption to a point he didn't really know how to proceed. His guest, however, seemed undeterred.
"BAGMAN OPEN UP!" The voice called again and Jake finally recovered enough to put his violin down. He could sense the blush rising on his cheeks, the natural embarrassment of being caught, although he knew he had nothing to be ashamed of. He felt unsettled, not liking to ever be caught unaware, and Hangman couldn't help but curse himself for not ensuring that he truly was alone on base before he started playing. Hoping he could act it off as the radio, Jake put his violin back in its case carefully, but when he recognized Phoenix's knock for a third time, because of course it had to be the fiery female pilot that loved to give him shit on a good day that caught him, he jumped and slammed the case shut.
Striding over, Jake took one last second to wipe any remnants of the tears the music caused him away before swinging open the door. He schooled his mask in place and tried to look annoyed, hoping to throw Phoenix away quickly, but he was met with not only the dark haired woman but her WSO behind as well. The addition of Bob shouldn't have been surprising, they seemed to be attached at the hip these days, but it still made Jake's haunches rise, now seemingly caught by both of them.
They were all silent for a moment before Natasha gave a long suffering sigh, "finally" she drawled.
Jake narrowed his eyes, "What?" he questioned, his tone a touch too emotional to play off his normal Hangman persona, "What do you want?"
"I want" Natasha grumbled out in clear annoyance, "for you to lower that classical music crap you're blasting. We can hear it down the whole barrack."
In what should have been a relieving moment, since Phoenix wrongfully assumed Hangman was listening to classical music and not playing it, Jake couldn't help but scoff in an indignation he didn't quite understand. His temper flashed, "right" he sneered, his trademark cold smirk growing, "can't upset precious Phoenix, god forbid someone does something she doesn't like."
Her dark eyes flashed as her nostrils flared, "Rich coming from you, but I shouldn't be surprised that you would have no decency for any of the rest of us. Thinking you own the place like you always do."
"It was just music-"
"It was loud-"
"We were trying to catch up on some sleep" Bob stepped in, playing mediator to the two high tempered pilots, "been a little difficult since the bird strike." Phoenix immediately shot her back-seater a traitorous look, no doubt hating for the man to expose a weakness so easily to Hangman of all people. Jake, however, stepped back with a shaky nod, understanding more than anyone the debilitation of night terrors. "Fine" he spoke up, curt but not mean. "I'll keep it down."
Bob looked grateful, a smile rising on his lips, "thank you" he replied back and then when his partner stayed silent, he cleared his throat. He lifted an eyebrow towards Natasha and when the woman caught it she rolled her eyes, "thank you" she murmured, before turning away and moving to go back to her own room. Bob looked to follow before his eyes caught something left on Jake's bed. "Wait?" the bespectacled man spoke up questioningly and Jake followed his gaze to see the bow he had failed to put away in his haste, "is that yours?" Bob continued.
"Yeah?" Jake couldn't stop the defensiveness in his tone, "so what?"
"You were playing before?" Bob looked weirdly delighted, his excitement making Phoenix turn back around, "you weren't listening to music, you were playing it."
"Look Baby on Board-"
But Jake's words were cut off as Natasha stalked back over, "That wasn't Bagman" she explained with all the certainty in the world, "that was a recording." She turned to her partner, "like we said before Bob, it was like a professional."
Somehow such a off-handed compliment from Phoenix of all people made Jake's stomach flip and his cheeks reddened. He held back the urge to run a anxious hand along the back of his neck. When he looked up he saw Bob's knowing stare on him, "Violin?" the WSO asked softly, smiling when he saw Hangman's small nod in return, "it was beautiful."
"Hang on" Phoenix pushed back forward, now heading into Jake's room uninvited. "That couldn't have been you, you don't have a violin."
"I do actually" the blond moved back to his guitar case, "it's here." Somehow if he kept his eyes downcast, he could ignore the burning blush of embarrassment at exposing himself like this. When Hangman undid the buckles and showed the small string instrument to the duo in front of him, Bob gave a acknowledging hum but Phoenix's brow furrowed. "So you really play?" the shock was slowly leaving Nat's tone, replaced by a lift that made Jake worry. "Yeah" he nodded, green eyes watching as the woman kneeled down next to his instrument, "I do."
"Okay" her fingers ghosted over the strings carefully, "so play us something."
"Excuse me?"
"Play us something" she looked up at him, face challenging. "If it really was you" she goaded, "you should have no problem."
Hangman rolled his eyes at the dare, "I'm not some street monkey" he reasoned.
"Are you scared?" her dark eyes were bright with mirth as she took a seat on Jake's bed as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Jake would be lying if he said it didn't send his heart into a somersault at the sight. His feelings for Phoenix had always seemed to simmer within him, but time and angry barbs between them had cauterized Hangman's hopes of anything ever happening. To see her now, sitting in his room, waiting for him to expose such a hidden and beloved part of his soul, was preposterously frightening. "Come on" Phoenix urged, though her voice lost a lot of its edge and seemed more curious. "Your audience is waiting."
As Bob moved to take his desk chair, Jake picked up his bow and sighed, relaxing his shoulders to get into position. Jake knew he could play the piece he had been working on before but something about seeing Natasha sitting there in front of him, her right foot tapping against her left in her impatience, made him think of another song. He started the first few notes, the look of recognition crossing Phoenix's face as the popular sound of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' filled the tiny room. Jake knew Natasha had grown up in California, but something about the East Coast crooner that was Sinatra and his mantra of 'My Way' always made the blond think of the fiery female pilot. Natasha Trace was a force to be reckon with on a good day, an immoveable stone on a bad. She was unforgiving in her quest to get what she wanted and yet her drive helped encourage everyone around her to want to be at her level. She was a brilliant pilot to watch and even better to fly with, and even though Hangman left her on that first day, he only did it because he knew she could handle herself up there in the skies. Her getting in the way of his shot was an unfortunate circumstance and though Jake could have easily defended his actions and explained the situation, he knew he would always be delegated to Phoenix's enemy rather than her friend. Hangman knew his place despite how much it killed him.
As the song came to a close, Jake finally opened his eyes to see the twin looks of awe on his teammates' faces. When he put down his bow, the blond pilot prepared for the teasing but Bob began with a round of applause that Natasha joined. "That was great" the bespectacled WSO announced, "really great."
"Thank you" Hangman turned to put his instrument back down, properly this time, avoiding Phoenix's look. The woman scooted to the edge of the bed however, to watch him, "he's right" she finally spoke up, "it was great."
Jake's cheeks flushed with barely hidden pride, "told you I could play" he countered, meeting her eyes.
She smirked, her expression playful, "guess it's par for the course for a rich kid like you. Must of had a whole bunch of hobbies to impress mommy and daddy."
Jake's face fell as he thought about his childhood. Yes his family was wealthy, but they were poor in everything else that mattered: love, affection, conversations, attention. He tried to hide his shudder when he thought of his Father's reaction to him choosing to study a girly instrument instead of spending more time with a pigskin. "Yeah" he finally gasped, his face pale from unease of the memories, "something like that."
Sensing she messed up, Phoenix leaned closer, allowing a hand to catch Jake's arm, "hey" she called, until she finally managed to get him to look at her again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"It's fine." He closed the buckles on the guitar case and stood up from the floor. "Alright" he clapped his hands together, "concert is over now, you guys can go and get back to your naps or something."
Natasha sighed, "Bagman-"
"I said go" he nodded towards the door, "I don't think I need to show you the way."
Bob stood first, looking a little crestfallen, "well thanks" he murmured, heading out into the hallway. He didn't wait for Natasha, which was good as the short woman still hadn't moved from Jake's bed. Hangman crossed his arms defensively, "what Phoenix?" he shot out, his tone cold.
"Nothing" she shook her head before getting to her feet. She crossed the room and headed for the door, only stopping as her fingers gripped the door frame. As though debating with herself, Natasha waited a moment, then finally turned back around to look at Jake, "I guess we aren't always what we seem right?" she asked him, their eyes meeting.
"I guess not" he replied back, not exactly knowing what she meant but understanding enough to know that it went beyond the violin.
She nodded, "See you around Bagman" she called heading after Bob.
"Sweet dreams Phoenix" he whispered back, before shutting his door. He didn't go back to playing, honest in his hope that Phoenix and also Bob were able to catch up on sleep, but he felt he didn't exactly need to. The stress and uncertainty of what this mission would bring was still there but Jake felt lighter. He could only do what he could, could only prepare as best he could and have faith that the best possible outcome would unfold. He had to, because any alternative would break the blond beyond repair.
Also here is a link to the most beautiful cover of my way on a violin. Iâm obsessed with it â€ïžđ
youtube
#top gun maverick#glen powell#jake seresin#top gun hangman#jake hangman seresin#top gun#natasha phoenix trace#top gun fanfiction#hannix fic#hannix#Jake Seresin is a musician because Glen Powell is#Youtube
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maid's worst nightmare - ch 41
thank you to everyone who's keeping up with this longass, slow to update story!! i'll keep updating the pinned post on my blog just in case some of y'all prefer to wait a while to read several chapters at once, i know they short đ
previous chapters
@sovereign-of-succ
(i'm assuming you still want tagged in these?)
Your mind shouldâve been reeling over the fact that you just insulted a king to his face only for him to turn around and tell you he liked it. It shouldâve also still been reeling about how the same king had completely and utterly rearranged your guts just earlier.
But it wasnât.
Junior barely avoided a banana that Morton dropped, but Ludwig hit it hard and went spinning out; at the same time, Junior let fly a red shell, and Morton wasnât quite able to dodge the homing device, allowing the youngest koopa to fly out in front.
Bowser genuinely hadnât minded, and had calmed you down so naturally that you were almost alarmed. Heâd been surprisingly good to you so far, like you couldnât do any wrong⊠and you were starting to wonder what would happen when you did inevitably fuck up. Hopefully he hadnât put you on such a pedestal as to have it come crashing down when you proved fallibleâŠ
The moment the boys crashed through some item boxes, both Morton and Ludwig threw them - Morton chucked a banana forward at the same time Ludwig threw a red shell. The shell skidded under the banana and straight for Junior, but Junior was ready; at the last moment, he sent a green shell flying backwards, shattering the threat to his lead.
Youâd just have to wait and see, you supposed; things were just getting started between you two, and even the healthiest of couples probably argued sometimes. The test would be how you two reconciled, depending on the infraction.
Morton flew through an item block, now behind not only Junior but Ludwig as well. No sooner did the little star appear in his hand than he used it - his speed picked up fairly dramatically on top of his new glowing status, and he quickly began to close the gap between himself and his eldest brother. Ludwig barely had time to move before Morton came barreling past him.
Unfortunately, that chosen moment was right on a sharp turn, and Morton was going much too fast to be able to handle the corner. Even more unfortunately, it had been a turn onto the stretch of road that ran through the lava field without guardrails; he went careening off the edge toward the boiling lava below, Ludwig quickly overtaking him with what seemed to be a laugh.
âMorton!â you cried, and you could even feel Bowser tense behind you, but just like before he held you fast in his lap.
âRemember what I said,â he rumbled quietly, although the vague strain of his voice was easy enough for you to hear.
âHowâ?!â
Literally as you asked that question, a lakitu came rising up with a fishing pole in hand. Morton was somehow on the end of the line, obviously fuming as his kart got plopped back onto the road a little unceremoniously. He took off the second he could, but he was now well behind both of his brothers.
âSee? Thereâs never real danger.â Bowser gently rubbed his chin on your head again, purring quietly.
You let out a little whimper as you pressed yourself as close to Bowser as you could. âDoesnât mean itâs not terrifying⊠you canât tell me you didnât worry briefly, too.â
âOf course I did!â he scoffed. âBut theyâre my kids. Well as I know the game, donât mean I wonât still worry âbout âem.â
At least he was man enough to admit it, you supposed. And he had a point - they were his kids, not yours, yet here you are worrying like a distraught mother. Bowser had seemed like the type to just let his kids do whatever without worrying too much, so you were actually sort of glad to realize that wasnât the case, and that maybe he just knew how to let the kids make their own mistakes. Based on his flinch, you knew heâd be willing to do what was needed for them if necessary, but if he knew it wasnâtâŠ
âAre there ever any times you do step in?â you asked softly as you watched Junior use âbadâ items to routinely block the shells coming at him.
Somehow, Ludwig and Morton werenât getting lucky with items anymore.
âAll the time⊠or at least, I used to. My kids is pretty good at knowing their limits now, though. We been through enough rigamarole they know when to ask for help, or when I might go off on âem. I mean, Junior still learninâ, but he is the youngest,â he murmured.
You nodded, gently squeezing his hand with both of yours. That sounded fair enough, and still allowed the kids to make their own mistakes if they thought they could handle something.
Bowser chuffed above you and used both of his arms to gently squeeze you against him.
Down on the tracks, it was little surprise to see Junior sail over the finish line first, both of his little fists in the air from the obvious win. Ludwig came second, several seconds behind him and pouting, which meant poor Morton came last with a scowl on his face the whole way. You felt a little for him - heâd gotten a star, after all, and still came in last place! But then heâd also tried to drift around that sharp cornerâŠ
âLetâs go meet âem,â Bowser grunted, suddenly shifting you into his arms.
âAhââ You barely had time to realize what was happening before he was taking the steps down two at a time, though he managed to keep from jostling you too much.
As he entered the hallway that led to the stairs down, he hummed quietly, thoughtfully. âYâknow, I think once we get back to our room-â Your eyes snapped wide at his use of the phrase âour roomâ â-I think itâs about time you tell me your name, huh, darlinâ?â
If you werenât so blindsided by how his room was now yâallâs room, you mightâve sighed and tried to downplay it or put it off. But you were once again reeling for the umpteenth time that day at something incredibly unexpected that all you could do was nod and give him a weak response.
âY-yeah⊠Iâll explain thenâŠâ
âGood! But first, we gotta congratulate the boys on a decent race. Iâm sure Morton could use a big hug after that humiliatinâ defeat,â Bowser chuckled softly.
Yeah, honestly, after watching him almost fall into lava, you were pretty eager to hug the poor kid. Plus Ludwig would probably like a hug, and Junior⊠well, maybe even heâd want one! But you werenât totally sure just yet. At any rate, you were happy for a change of subject.
âYeah. But youâre gonna have to put me down for that, you know,â you smiled a bit.
Bowser scoffed, but you could see the playful smile on his maw. âWeâll see about that.â
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In my opinion, the Hotel Transylvania films were underwhelming, cliché and too juvenile, they simply weren't for me. I didn't find the characters that interesting and so I didn't care about their relationships, the character I liked most was Ericka because of her potential as a goofy villain.
While I know it's a kid's movie, I dislike when vampires can opt out of drinking blood using blood substitutes. Its my opinion that vampires should be scary, and if they don't have to feed from living things then what's the point?
Do you like vampire-themed media in general, and do you like any mature vampire-media? I'm currently into Vampire: The masquerade which is an rpg taking place in a dark, gothic-punk version of the real world where supernatural beings live in secrecy.
I think they were good films, especially HT and HT3. They had alot of untapped potential I think. Transformania in particular did NOT measure up to what it could have been, and HT2 had it's problems too. But I liked the cartoony Addams Family approach and family dynamics. I wouldn't necessarily call them "Juvenile," particularly since there's a tendency to brush off animation - particularly cartoon animation, as being for kids and somehow not as valuable a medium. (You're also talking about something made by a person who was used to doing family cartoons like Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack, and loved cartoony animation. So it's not surprising it takes a more family friendly spin on monsters.) Along with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, it helped bring cartoony stylization back to modern animation, which it deserves respect for.
I'd say there's something for everybody in the films. Heartfelt moments, funny moments, angst, surpeising depth at times, even some adult humor. But they're definitely not for those that believe vampires should be scary or evil as the big point is the "Monsters are just like us" racism/discrimination allegory. Then again, particularly as a queer neurodivergent and someone brought up on films like Iron Giant, Monsters Inc, Megamind, Shrek etc. I've always liked films that humanize characters we're expected to hate and be scared of and show them in a different light. And I personally found the introduction of blood substitutes and animals as vampire food sources an interesting way of doing that. Particularly now I know how vampire mythos can intersect with blood libel and the HT Drac fam's jewish coding.
(Here's another read more:)
Now, I DO agree Ericka is one of the best characters, and has been at the center of my obsession. Not only is she a fun goofy villain, but she's genuinely an interesting, loveable character too with an interesting backstory who deserves FAR more love than she got. A beautiful mix of feral chaos and charming elegance, who can be just as nuts as the guys, and definitely not the norm for a woman character. Particularly a love interest. And like many in the fandom, I feel she would have made a BEAUTIFUL vampire. But characters like Johnny, Mavis, Dennis, Drac etc are also fun to watch and play with for me.
In terms of other vampire media, I actually have gotten into some of them, particularly with my recent HT obsession! Dracula Dead and Loving it is a recent watch I liked. It has the tongue-in-cheek humor of HT but being more like the book and other Dracula adaptations, it's darker and more adult. Rocky Horror Picture Show's vampire adjacent and is pretty fun, particularly the music. As is Little Shop of Horrors (both versions of the musical film AND the OG black and white one.) And I've been meaning to watch the Van Helsing film. I've also read Dracula Daily and plan to do so again this year. While not exactly SUPER mature depending on how you define that, I've also played some of the Monster Prom, Camp, Roadtrip series which includes vampire characters. Alot of my "horror" stuff tends to be more like Nightmare before Christmas, Ghostbusters, Monster House, Corpse Bride, Gremlins, Addams Family (both Live action films and the TV series, plus I plan to watch the animated film some point,) Blithe Spirit, Bendy and the like. More family friendly type stuff.
Coraline (and Laika in general,) Bendy, Poltergeist (OG), The Twilight Zone (OG and one of the new series') and sometimes Doctor Who are probably the most hard horror things I've really gotten into. I've kind of dipped into FNAF on occasion, Quite a few of my friends are into Undertale, and have meant to watch Supernatural as well. But never fully got to watching either of those.
#ericka van helsing#hotel transylvania#hotel transylvania 3#vampires#vampire#vampire media#horror#horror media#animation#asks#ask#chinesegal#hotel transformania#hotel transylvania transformania#transformania
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Okay, I know this post will read only one man and his dog, but I really need to write down all my thoughts on season 4, and just keep it structured. If you're interested in discussing it - you're always welcome!
HUGE SPOILERS BELOW, CHAPTER 1/2
Word count: 1,057
Includes: Vicky Neuman, Zoe, Kimiko, Frenchie, Hughie, Hughie's mum
1. Victoria Neuman + Zoe
First of all, I really need to appreciate this intro cuz, excuse my goddamn french, Vicky Newman is HER. Vicky Neuman is absolutely HER, I'm really looking forward to her character development. I honestly don't think she's a villain, she's just an antagonist, but a very good one. She is not a bad person in any particular way, she has an Idea in her, she has a Meaning, she has Reasons and Motivation. More Neuman please, especially in GEN V. Thanks.
Like Vicky, her daughter is also a scary ass Supe, but unlike Vicky, who's a bloodbender, Zoe's powers hardly can be used for anything good. Some headcanons here:
While Vicky thought that she was the monster because of her âterribleâ abilities, she, by injecting her already grown-up daughter CompV, somehow created a real monster. She stupidly turned her child into a freak, who will be very difficult to accept by society, because her... superpower is something that u often see in nightmares. And itâs unlikely that the typical "donât judge a book by its cover" slogans will be enough to accept that someone can pierce your mouth while kissing you with their four...tentacles? Whatever they are. I personally find them cute, btw, but in The Boys Universe, I'm not sure ppl will accept Zoe. Zoe, forgive your mom. She's not thinking rationally when she's worried about you.
It is also very much worth thinking abt her willingness to kill without any questions asked. That was definitely not her first murder. Vicky could use her power, as a politician perhaps, and bring victims to Zoe so that she could kill them and get used to it.
2. Kimiko
These are just very beautiful shots that I want to share with yall. First - Zoe tore off Kimiko's hand, it just grew back :D I love this scene for its absolute absurdity. God bless Karen Fukuhara. + Demonstrated that Annie can fly, also a good introduction to new abilities! Well done!
Secondly, I ADORE Frenchie's reaction here, it just shows so much love he has for her: Kimiko's face literally peeled away, she REATTACHED IT, and Frenchie, her platonic soulmate, at first was confused af, and then he UNIRONICALLY SMILED to his girl being literally unkillable. I feel you, Serge, I love her too!
Kimiko is very balanced. Information about her comes up every season, and each time there is enough information left to theorize but be satisfied. She's small and cute, like a mouse. She loves girly stuff like doing hair, wearing jewelry, and dressing up. Sheâs all about having fun and smiles a lot. Her gentle, kind personality totally contrasts with her powers of mega strength and near-immortality from regeneration. She was raised to defend and attack, but her empathetic nature is well shown in the smallest details.
For example, new information: Kimiko gets wasted super fast. I adore her.
3. Frenchie
Next to Kimiko, literally being her soulmate (i fuckin' can't believe that we're so lucky that in addition to the chaos of dicks and murders, we also have the genuine, platonic love between a man and a woman AT FIRST SIGHT), is Frenchie. We've already seen he's bi; this isn't the first rodeo, but now he shows it ON THE SCREEN, HURRAY, COMRADES. I'm very proud of him, he's my baby đ„č we finally, with the help of his new love interest, found out about all the murders he committed when he worked for Little Nina and even before that. Frenchie is a very balanced character, just like Kimiko, you learn a little about his life in each season, and each time enough to build theories and be satisfied. I wanna know how to write like that.
My favorite things about Frenchie are his wild love affairs and his doglike loyalty. He's got an unbelievable knack for forming strong platonic (with Cherie also sexual, but you get the point) bonds with women, who end up adoring him. Probably because he has a heart of gold and doesn't act like a jerk. He also sincerely tries to be better. C'mon now, he's doing his best! All the love for my boy.
4. Hughie
Hughie loses the only person who has been with him his whole life. His father was a great, excellent parent. But itâs time for Hughie to stand on his own two feet and become at least a little bit the main character - which means, eh, i guess rest in peace, Mr Campbell?... If this doesn't happen, I'll be overjoyed. Although besides pushing Hughie to mature, the coma plot also provides a chance for us to learn about his mother. His dad is in a coma - won't she come? Here we learn a lot of interesting things about our babyboy.
Hughie's emotional outburst when he sees his mum for the first time since he was just a kid is very realistic and I love everything in here, including the cast choice. Because Hughie is a spitting image of his mother. This kind of attention to details makes me wanna chew Kripke's brains off.
Hughie is very similar to his mother: in speech, in movements, in facial expressions. For some reason I really like this. He, like his mother, has tenderness and a steely core, they are both very stubborn. Although he also has a note of âcowardiceâ from his father, his desire to push forward and that decision in the first episode to go help Butcher and take revenge on Reggie were just visible sides of his motherâs character.
Not gonna say that was the original idea, but I think Hughie saw Butcher in his mother. Because 'I'm not made to be a father'. And he realized that Butcher was almost just like she was. At least it seems to me that way. That being like Butcher is... normal. Ppl do fear being parents. And this is currently the best representation of postpartum depression, very realistic shit, Kripke, I'll stuff your brains into a Thanksgiving turkey. With all love and respect.
If you've made it this far, congratulations, you're a survivor! If suddenly s/o wants to be tagged in the second part of this review (well, sort of), write in the comments and Iâll tag you!
#frenchie the boys#the boys frenchie#the boys amazon#the boys tv#the boys hughie#kimiko the boys#the boys#hughie campbell#kimiko miyashiro#frenchie#victoria neuman#the boys season 4
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Batshit things that happen in Doctor Who, series 14:
RTD: it's gonna be a fun, light-hearted series, with no lore obligations like the 60th
The series:
- racism
- sentient phone things tracking people and slugs eating them in alphabetical order
- Keeping Up With the Birdgertons but make it really murderous
- butterfly gets stepped on and then healed with what is presumably regeneration energy
- fairy circle gets stepped on and the Doctor outright just vanishes for like 60 years
- more racism
- The One Who Waits
- old woman stalks Ruby
- old woman turns out to be Ruby
- character hyped up for a year and a half has five minutes of screentime and runs away screaming
- new companion arrives early
- Doctor stands on a landmine for 40 minutes
- âthoughts and prayersâ
- yet more racism
- Mrs Flood
- racist rich bitch sic's an AI bubble onto discount Harry Styles
- Maestro tries to enact a nuclear winter
- the Beatles are shit at music and the world sucks to live in
- DND is not only canon but well-liked by a character, so much so he got his name from it
- Ruby outright dies and then gets brought back
- Carol of the Bells is practically part of the soundtrack
- did I mention racism
- monster made of boogies and nightmares
- âweâre gonna cosplay this planet to deathâ
- Doctor gets shot, repeatedly
- Colin Birdgerton is kinda...
- unapologetic queer joy and identity
- âfind meâ
- Sutekh
- like, actual, real, genuine, God of Death Sutekh
- âwhat survives of us is loveâ
- the racism's bad, guys
- Bridgerton orchestra plays Bad Guy and Poker Face, the latter of which is played during a fight scene
- Doctor lipsyncs to Kylie Minogue
- no, you're not fucking safe, stop thinking you are
- ongoing Ruby's mum drama
- Lulubelle is apparently forgotten
- Susan tease
- remember Cherry? Yeah, well, she's irrelevant now, and possibly dead
- feel free to add more
- Kate and Morris make a joke about Elon Musk being a megalomaniac alien
- âyour birdinessâ
- Ruby apparently thinks it's a good idea to join the Welsh Tories and support a guy who has a hard-on for nuclear warfare
- the peak of Maestro's villainy is having someone charge ÂŁ500 for a coffee
- there's always a Twist at the end... Literally
- Maestro gets defeated by the Beatles
- UNIT apparently employs child labour and has a 13 year old working as their scientific advisor
- âoh, good name. You should marry Ruby, then youâd be Mundy Sundayâ
- Moffat's back
- the entirety of Space Babies
- Time Lord Victorious tease
- mavity reference
- same actress in every episode
- a piano teacher and Kate Stewart somehow don't pick up on âH. Arbingerâ
- the casting department's eerily accurate historical castings apparently does not extend to the Beatles
- âhoney, Iâm a much bigger bang than you bargained forâ
- UNIT fucks about with time technology despite swearing not to
- religion + war = profit
- RTD's sledgehammer subtlety strikes again
- Doctor has grandkids, but not kids
- Doctor gets engaged to a guy he met an hour and a half ago
- ânobody grows up wrongâ
- 3 and a half minute musical number
- Fourteen goes off soul-searching so Fifteen isn't born depressed, then the writers immediately start trying to give Fifteen depression
- Doctor holds the body of a dead guy for stability for 35-ish minutes
- more additions are very welcome
#doctor who#doctor who spoilers#bbc doctor who#this show is so fucking weird and i love it more than anything#fifteen and ruby have truly experienced The Horrorsâą#jokes aside this has been an awesome series#thank you ncuti and millie#special thank you to jonathan groff
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