#i even heard a comedian talk about it a while back

[clouds-of-wings]

When I started looking for a therapist, I thought finding one who's certified for general health insurance and who has slots open would be hard, finding one with a private practice would be easy. I was wrong about that. Finding one with a private practice is hard. Finding one who's certified and not booked out is impossible.

[kyaroscuro]

All About You

Maybe it's all about you when your youth is filled with each other's names and your heart has never changed. That's what Juyeon finds out when he falls in love with his best friend.

pairing : bff!juyeon x gn!reader (+bf to ex!sunwoo) genre : fluff, bestfriends to lovers, slow burn, slight angst but happy ending warnings : swearing/cursing, sex jokes, implied sex, mention of burnout, alcohol consumption, heartbreak, pet names (sweetheart, good girl, pretty, baby) notes : it's been a long road but i'm happy to introduce y'all to my baby! i've been (and still am) obsessed with juyeon since the zeneration 2 concert and i guess i've had a lot to write about him... i hope you'll find out the few references i've managed to sneak in! enjoy ✧.* shout out to my dear @winterchimez for proofreading and helping me during the whole writing process, you were a great help <3 words count : 13745

No one ever told you how relationships work. So when you fell in love with your best friend Juyeon at 16, you felt a little helpless. Should he be the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Was it wrong to lean on him when he welcomed you into his arms for a movie night? Eventually those feelings faded as you both started dating, and you wondered if it was even true love. Maybe the 16-year-old teenager you were was just attracted to the idea of being close to another soul, mentally and physically.

Maybe yes.

The only thing you know right now at 24, is that the feelings you had for Juyeon back then were nothing compared to the ones you have for Sunwoo today. The attention and love he gives you makes everyone jealous. Even Juyeon himself.

If he wanted to take you out to dinner, you would turn him down because you already had plans with Sunwoo. Arcade, karaoke, late night walks, picnics, fancy restaurants or fast food, you’re always together. Sometimes when you feel like staying in, Juyeon would show up, hoping to watch a movie like the good old days. But he’s met with Sunwoo at the door and doesn’t have the energy to see you being all lovey-dovey.

He knows better than to be a third wheel. As much as he understands the time you spend with your boyfriend, he can’t help but feel jealous and left out. You’re not trying to make him feel that way, you just needed Sunwoo’s presence.

The two of you met in your 3rd year of thesis. He was actually the student under your supervision for his end-of-studies internship. You obviously spent six months seeing each other and working together – in the lab, the library, cafes and even at home. You both grew closer in no time, and that’s only fair given the fact that Sunwoo is a living comedian. You don’t think you would have made it through the whole editing process without his support.

The funniest thing he had ever done was that he was proofreading your work while you did the same for his. Sure enough, you both graduated with the help from one another and a couple of kisses were shared.

From Juyeon’s point of view, those six months felt like an eternity. He had a girlfriend at the time and couldn’t really go out with you. You were both busy for different reasons, but still tried to see each other once a week. But when you did see each other, you always talked about Sunwoo and he talked about his girlfriend. That’s what your lives were made of, but it was a little heartbreaking that you were best friends who only talked about your partners.

“How’s the job hunt going?” He asked at one of your meetings.

“Great actually, I felt like giving up, but I didn’t endure those three years to throw it all away, did I? Sunwoo helped me a lot, he’s my lifesaver.”

Juyeon felt like throwing up, as if his heart had been stepped on the moment he heard those words, and he didn’t know why.

“What about you?” You asked him, cutting his train of thought.

Oh, he knew you were talking about his own job, which he quit a few months ago (more like he’s on a break because he’s burned out). But it’s not like he has to tell you; he doesn’t have the guts to anyway. He thinks you would be sad and angry with him, when all you really want is for him to be happy. And he’s also upset that he’s had to give up on his dream job because it was affecting his health. Thankfully, his boss has been kind enough to give him a chance to rest up for now. Maybe all he needs to keep going is your reassurance?

“We broke up.” He says quietly, looking down at his hands.

“I’m so sorry Juyo, aren’t you too sad?” You say as you reach out to him.

“To be honest, I am.” He admits, looking up at you, a small smile forms on his lips. “It was a mutual agreement, but I feel like I screwed it up. She said I needed to think about my own needs and wants.”

“And what do you want?”

“To spend time with you.” He says straightforwardly.

Your cheeks flushed at his sudden comment. Has he always been so honest?

“I’m free tomorrow if you’re fine with that? Sunwoo is going out with his band.” You say, eager to spend more time with him. “Oh, and Juyo; you should know that I will always make time for you. You’re a big part of my life and I care about you more than anyone else so please do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything. I’m just one call away.”

“I know that but I always seem to bother you.” He says, a little ashamed to think so.

“You don’t. What makes you think that?” You frown at his words, wondering if he actually meant them. “You have no idea how much I look forward to our weekly meetings! It keeps me going during the week, I swear, ask Sunwoo he only hears about you.”

“Oh,” he responded, feeling delighted with your words.

“Yes Juyo, I miss you a lot.” You gasped shyly, suddenly very focused on your hot cup.

“I miss you even more.” He looks for your eyes with a hint of fondness that you don’t notice, even when you raise your head to tell him,

“So tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he smiles, pleased to see you smile back with the same touch of affection.

When you think about it, you don’t understand how it is possible to break up with Lee Juyeon. You didn’t really know the girl he was dating, you never met her, you only saw her face in a picture once. But you do know your best friend, and he’s not the type to break someone’s heart. He would fight for the person he loves, even if it doesn’t work out. Juyeon is love personified. So how can you reject him?

Woo ☼ (3)

Sweetheart I miss you

When are you coming back home

I have a present for you

What kind of present?

Me ;)

OMW

Juyo <3 (1)

Thanks for today, I can’t wait for tomorrow. Pick you up at 10?

Will be pretty and ready!

Always pretty but ready? I’m looking forward to it

As soon as you read his message, your heart began to thump real loud and your cheeks immediately flushed red. Who are you and what have you done to Juyeon? When did he become so flirty? Or maybe he has always been like this and you never cared before. But why do you even care now? 

When you were 16, you remember vividly how he kissed your hand goodbye because he was a gentleman and you were a darling. Everyone at school made fun of you for being so old-fashioned, but little did they know that you liked it. Eventually, when you turned 17, he dropped the act and started kissing your forehead instead. It was a hundred per cent worse. Your cheeks turned pink every time you thought about it and people were calling you out for being highkey on PDA and asking you to spare the singles.

Maybe then he was always this flirty.

It didn’t matter much to you because it was puppy love. The first man you ever loved. Until Sunwoo came into the picture.

“How was your date sweetheart?” You laugh into the kiss he greets you with.

“Pretty good, I think I’m developing feelings, I don’t know, he’s just so sweet and- Ouch Sunwoo!” You yelped, surprised by his sudden, somewhat erotic gesture.

“What?” He giggles innocently.

“You didn’t have to pin me against the wall, did you?” You ask rhetorically, knowing full well what his answer will be.

“I did,” his sparkling eyes turn to onyx, his tongue runs over his lips and his gaze travels up and down your body as he answers.

“Yeah?” You whisper, aroused by his deep voice.

“Yes.”

His plump lips are all over yours in an instant, taking your breath away. To deepen the kiss and emphasise his need to be closer, he grabs your legs so you can wrap them around his waist and welcome him in. Your arms wrap around his neck as you yield, kissing him back with passion and love. He doesn’t let go until you’re both out of breath, and then he kisses you again and again like a madman. Eventually, you’re so lost in the pleasure of his kisses that when you feel him nipping at your neck, you push him away, panting.

“I understand that Juyeon is your best friend,” he says with a heavy voice. “But you can’t joke about dating another man.”

He doesn’t give you a chance to answer as he runs his tongue over your lips before kissing you lazily. You stick out your tongue, waiting for him to resume his kiss. He chuckles at your behaviour but kisses you nonetheless.

“Good girl hm, are you hungry?” He utters with lustful and honey dripping eyes.

“Let’s take this into the bedroom then.” At his promise to take you to heaven, you nod eagerly, excited to see what he has planned for you.

You don’t quite remember what happened after that, too lost in lust and love. You felt the kisses on your forehead and the caresses in your hair before he left the bed.

Suddenly, nothing. All you felt was emptiness.

You turn to check your phone when you yelp in pain because your back hurts. Your man was a beast last night.

Wait.

9:30am?

You hurriedly get out of bed, taking in your dishevelled appearance and the hickeys Sunwoo had the courtesy to leave on your body. You’re ashamed to go out like this, because you know that you have little to no time to cover them up.

More importantly, Juyeon will notice them. It’s not that you cared about exposing your sex life, you have a lot of fun with Sunwoo and he’s the greatest in and out of bed. But for Juyeon to see you in such a vulnerable way? It does something to you and you can’t figure out why.

You never talked about your sex life with Juyeon although you are best friends; you two are kind of secretive. Sure, there were times when you complained that your exes were terrible kissers or that dates were horrible. But when it comes to any form of intimacy, it was out of the books. You both never joked about kinks, never asked about turn-ons. Yet, you shared your very first kiss with Juyeon when you were 16.

It was a bit messy and hilarious because you had no idea what you were doing. You remember how when he dropped you off after school or after a playdate, he had this cute habit of kissing your hand goodbye. It was also at that age when you started going to parties – a party between friends, no alcohol, maybe just some cheap beer that tasted like grass. But that was fun and it was also the time when you were introduced to love, through couples and kisses.

Love has always been a foreign language to you. You know for a fact that love is what your parents share with each other, through physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, gifts but also through struggles.

But you also know that the person you’re closest to doing those things is Juyeon. You both were always cuddling, fighting over movies or places to eat. You both would also cheer, support and reassure each other.

You both would always have each other on your minds, sending texts, calling or buying sweet things. It’s only fair that you thought you were in love with him, isn’t it?

And that faithful night, at your birthday party, he thought it would be a great idea to carry you and run around in circles until he lost his balance and fell with you laying on top of him. You didn’t know what was going through his mind, but you saw flames in his starry eyes, and then he pecked at your lips. He brushed it off by pulling you up and wishing you a happy birthday but your heart was racing and so was his.

“Sorry Ju, I woke up late, I didn’t want to keep you waiting,” you pout as you reached his car, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

“Thank god your prettiness makes up for lost time,” he jokingly hugs you, his hands laying a little low on your waist. “But you have to take responsibility for making me wait.”

“Juyeon! It’s been 5 minutes you can’t blame me for the delay!” You wriggle into his embrace and put your head in the crook of his neck, a little embarrassed but wanting to be close to him.

“I can, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” he whistles, taking you out of his arms to observe the love bites on your fair skin. “Maybe you’d be on time if you hadn’t had so much fun last night.”

“Y-Yeah, I walked into a trap,” you stammered, speechless.

“The kind of trap you can’t refuse, I bet.”

And he opens the passenger door before giving you his hand to help you get in. You look at his hand and then straight into his eyes to understand where that confidence comes from, but he just smiles and nods.

“Come on, we have much to do before the carriage turns into a pumpkin.” He smiles and fights with the wind to tuck a wild strand of hair behind your ear.

Spending time with Juyeon is one of the things you adore the most in the world. You were so used to spending your days with him when you were teenagers that you almost forgot what it was like. The princess treatment, the cafe dates, the shopping and giving opinions on outfits, the restaurants. Now that you’re all grown up, reliving those moments feels a little bit odd but great. After all, you’re the same people who dance to the music in every corner shop and laugh at every silly move you make.

Going out with Juyeon is also all about treats and gifts. You have this implicit rule that when you’re out and about, you’re encouraged to pay in turns – be it at the restaurants, bars or for desserts. And of course, he pleases you more often than you please him, but you tend to buy more things related to him – matching items or clothes that reflect his style.

“Look at this cute bracelet! We should get it to celebrate our 10 years offriendship,” you beamed, slipping the bracelet around his wrist without a word of protest to see how it looks.

“But it’s paired with a promise ring?” He comments, in case you haven’t noticed and had a change of heart.

“Then we can get the ring in another 10 years,” you giggle and squeeze his hand to reassure him that this is what you want.

Happy with your little joke, you went to the cashier to buy the bracelets. But it sparked something within Juyeon’s heart. He may be slow to understand, but you don’t have to tell him twice. You consider him to be your significant other. That’s what a promise ring means.

After all, you wanted to commit yourself to him for the rest of your life. You’re his best friend and that should be normal. It is normal to stick by each other’s side. But why is his heart missing a beat?

If you ask Juyeon about his relationship with you, he would describe it as “enchanting”. You’re the most important thing to him. Ever since he bumped into you in 3rd grade, you two have been inseparable. But there’s something that’s always bothered him.

In the beginning, he thought it was because you were the only one that he was really close to. He didn’t look at you any differently. But every time you smiled, he felt a twist in his stomach. Then he made it his goal to make you blush and to kiss your hand. It was thrilling to see you all flustered by his own actions.

He grew up and unfortunately that feeling never went away. In the end, he thought that maybe it was just the hormones. A 16-year-old boy needs to get to know his body and its needs. That’s what he did. Eventually the feelings vanished, but the uncomfortable feeling stayed. Even when he was with his ex.

He’s well aware that you are in a relationship with Sunwoo and that the two of you are in love. He’s never been happier for you. After all the people who have taken advantage of you, you deserve someone positive. Someone who will be there for you and will make you feel loved and truly fall in love. Like Sunwoo.

And yet, he doesn’t know why he’s so attracted to you. He needs to explore his feelings. At least to understand them. Even if it costs him.

“How about a drink?” He asks as the sun is about to go down.

“No, you need to drive safely.” You flinched, clearly against the idea of losing him in such a stupid way.

“What about my place? You know I have this amazing balcony overlooking the sea.” He offers in return with a smirk.

“Deal,” you say with gleaming eyes.

You love Juyeon’s apartment; it has a soft and romantic atmosphere and it’s even more beautiful when the sun goes down. The many plants he has turn a warm orange with the colours of the sky and you swear, it’s so beautiful, like a haven of peace.

“Red or white?” He asks, holding the two bottles out for you.

“Anything’s fine, choose for me please Juyo,” you sing-song, happy to share this moment with him.

While you are setting up his balcony table with candles and wine glasses, he returns with a red bottle and appetisers. He gestures for you to sit on the bean bag and pour the wine like a real chef. You whistle, impressed by his newfound skill. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be Juyeon if he didn’t do a little dance to make you laugh before handing you your glass.

Now that he’s seated, you allow yourself to take in your surroundings. It’s quiet, but you can hear the faint music coming from the living room speakers. Juyeon has never liked the silence, so he always needs to have some kind of background music to feel comfortable. He says it calms him down, especially when he’s nervous, and you have to agree with that.

But does that mean that he was nervous right now?

He never needed music with you, as he always said your voice was his own melody – the harmony he couldn’t get enough of. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, pulling you out of your reverie.

You nod, knowing exactly what he means, and reach out to take his hand. He intertwines your fingers and, in the pink-orange hues of the sky you catch yourself blushing. You risk a glance to see him starring absent-mindedly into space and you seize the opportunity to stare him down.

His bangs, usually on his forehead are pushed back, giving him a more mature and sexy look. His eyes, in a beautiful crescent shape, shine with the intensity of the stars. His pretty nose sits up on his face, like a trophy ready to be claimed. And his lips. They’re curled into a gentle smile.

Without a care in the world, he runs his tongue over them and opens them as if he wanted to speak. But no sound comes out, except for the tongue he’s now biting. Suddenly, as if he was aware that you are looking at him, he turns to meet your gaze. Truth be told, you weren’t very discreet. His dark eyes hold yours, then move to your lips, and you see the faint beginnings of a smirk on his lips before he bursts into laughter. 

“Like what you see?” He points out, all smug.

That fucker.

You slapped him playfully before you realised you were biting your lips. Yet, he still looks at you as if you were the one who hung the stars in the sky and shone in their place.

All of a sudden, his eyes turn mischievous and you find yourself in his arms as he leads you into the living room. He turns up the music, grabs the camera, puts on a pair of framed glasses and starts dancing. You joined him, because there is no world in which you wouldn’t follow Juyeon. You dance like you’re in a club, grab the wine bottle and shout the lyrics at the top of your lungs. Juyeon films you through the mirror and you play along, you’re the model, he’s the artist. Until he puts the camera in a corner to film the both of you and starts to dance an old choreo that you both did. You smile broadly and the night goes by like this. In between drinking and dancing.

At some point, you find yourselves taking a stroll, jumping and dancing around poles. Oh, but you’re not drunk! Juyeon took out his camera and kept filming you, laughing. The man was hyping you up, the street was your runway! And even though it was a little embarrassing, you had a lot of fun. Trust Juyeon to make you feel the best!

Around midnight, you were eating ice cream in the nearest park when your phone screen lit up with a call.

Woo ☼.

Oh, no. You forgot to inform him you were going out with yesterday’s activities.

“Babyyyyy,” he whines, sounding tired, “where you aaaat.”

“At Juyeon’s, we-“ You’re cut off as Juyeon steals your phone, brushing against your hands a little too long.

“Sorry,” he hiccups, “is it all right if we keep each other company for the night? I can’t drive right now.” Juyeon tries to apologise but is cut short by Sunwoo.

“Had a fun night I see?”

You can feel his anger rising from the way his voice drops an octave. Sunwoo has always been jealous of Juyeon. When you got together, he was very insecure at first, knowing that you had a male best friend and seeing you spend so much time with him. It took some time, but the trust you’ve built up has overcome that awful feeling.

You still have to reassure him sometimes, and that’s okay because Juyeon is your best friend and Sunwoo is your boyfriend. You love them both in different ways. You talked about it with Juyeon and later he got jealous because you spent all your time with Sunwoo on your trip to comfort him. It wasn’t easy, but they learnt to trust you. Along the way, you may have convinced yourself that everything would be fine.

“Sunny, baby, I’m sorry I didn’t inform you. I will sleep at Juyeon’s and be back first thing in the morning before you wake up,” you say in a soft voice, trying to soothe him.

“I’m sorry too,” he voices out, letting out a breath lost in his own emotions, “I panicked when I didn’t see you at home. But I’m glad you’re all right.”

“I know,” you sighed, glancing at Juyeon, “I’m in good hands, I promise.”

“Hurry back, I miss my goodnight kiss already.” He replies, seemingly content with the current arrangement.

“Will be there in no time,” you giggled.

“I love you,” he answers, a smile blooming in his voice.

“I love you too.”

He hangs up just as he called, smiley, which makes you beam in return. However, when you turn to face Juyeon he’s anything but smiling. In his frowning eyes you decipher a sombre mood. Something in complete contrast to the joy you shared tonight. You reach out to grab his hand, but he pulls it back before you can do so.

“We should head back, it’s getting late.” He says firmly.

Your heart breaks at his words. Without giving him a chance, you cupped his face, forcing him to look at you. The hurt look in his eyes makes your heart swell. You scan him to see if he wants to answer, but he avoids you. You’re so close and yet so far away. You feel like throwing up, because your best friend never acted like this around you. He never once avoided you nor stopped talking to you. Thus, you did the only thing you can think of.

You hugged him, as tightly as you can.

You feel his heart pounding and wonder if it’s from the unknown emotions he’s carrying or from your physical touch. You put your hand on his broad chest to feel his heartbeat and plant a kiss on it to reassure him. It stirs something in Juyeon and he hugs you back so tightly you think you’ll lose your breath. He holds you in his arms for what seems like an eternity, your head nestled in the crook of his neck. But you don’t complain, you felt safe.

You stay there, in the warm embrace that contrasts with the cool of the night, squeezing him a little tighter when you hear passers-by whistling lovingly at you. When he lets go, you can see the faint pink colour that tints his cheeks, brought out by the street lights. But little did you know that you have the same colours on your face, if not stronger?

“You okay?” You ask as you rub small circles on his back.

“Yes I am,” he lies openly in a husky voice, “I’m okay.”

Juyeon is fucked. Completely screwed. He’s absolutely, unquestionably and sincerely in love with you.

He has been for quite some time, now that he thinks about it. But he never admitted it. That damned twist in his gut that never left his mind, he knows where it comes from now.

In order to cope with his newfound feelings he lets you use the bathroom first while he changes the sheets and tidies up the living room. He’s floating, not sure if he will ever get a wink of sleep. Especially if you both sleep in the same bed. Because to you, he’s just your best friend, the one you’ve slept with countless times. No strings attached.

He can’t imagine you in his arms, nor can he look forward to waking up by your side. You’re not his.

“Juyo?” Your tired voice echoes from the corridor. “C-Can I get some clothes?”

Oh. That doesn’t mean anything. You have always shared clothes. Then why was he so excited to see you in them? Right, because he’s madly in love with you and knows you will look ravishing in his big shirt. Also because sharing clothes is such an intimate thing couples do. If he lends you his current pyjamas because they have his scent on them, you couldn’t blame him. He’s just a man.

“Are you coming?” You inquire, walking towards him.

It’s worse than anything he’d ever imagined. The shirt is definitely too big for you going down one shoulder, showing the beginning of your chest and reaching halfway up your thighs. What’s more, your pretty thighs are covered by the shorts that rises up when you sit next to him. He looks away, embarrassed to be staring at you.

“I will sleep on the couch, don’t worry about me.”

“No way,” you retorted with little energy left, “your bed is big enough for both of us.”

He’s been acting strange today. First he was feeling all overconfident, then flirtatious, followed by anger, and now shyness and embarrassment. You take a piece of the blanket lying on his lap and you stretch your legs out on the sofa, letting your head fall on his shoulder. Sleep can wait, Juyeon can’t.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Don’t lie to me.” You ask, breathing softly into his ear.

“No,” he shudders, with a faraway look in his eyes, “I’m not okay and I don’t know how to get through this.”

“What’s wrong Juyo? Do you want to talk about it?” You pause to gauge his reaction. “Is it about your ex?”

“More or less,” he breathes out. “The breakup wasn’t that bad, like I said, it was a mutual decision. It’s just- when you started dating Sunwoo I was so happy for you, happy that you found someone who was worthy of your love and loved you the right way. And I thought I would be happy if I found that special someone, I longed for it. But I ended up in different relationships throughout the year, never lasting more than two months. And that’s ok, maybe they weren’t the right person for me, maybe it wasn’t the right time, maybe this, maybe that. I really thought I was going to be happy and I ended up getting my heart broken every time. As much as I believe now that I don’t deserve to be loved. I think I went into my last relationship in that state of mind, and I think she felt it too. Hard not to, is it? We had long talks and great times together; I think I really liked her. And I know she liked me back, I’m just not ready to be in an exclusive relationship right now.”

And everything he said is true, he’s more than happy for you and he thought he would be happy. But he can’t be happy in a relationship that isn’t with you.

“There’s also something I’ve never told you,” he continues, sniggering at the absurdity of his reasoning. “Something I should have told you a long time ago, it doesn’t make me proud, and it sort of reflects why my love life was so messed up. I can’t say it’s the only reason, but it played a big part in my mental health.”

You want to cry so badly, he has endured it all alone and it must have weighed heavily on him. At this point, you’re just waiting to speak and respond but every word that comes out of his beautiful mouth leaves you speechless. You’re such a bad friend that you’ve never noticed the way his eyes get dark and gloomy, or how he cancels your plans at the last minute because he’s got something else planned. When in fact it was sadness overload. Sure everyone has their own coping mechanisms, you wish you could have been there for him, but here you were Juyeon letting you in and you’re here to stay.

“It’s been two months since I was diagnosed with burnout and stopped working. It started off as something mild when I came home more exhausted than usual. I thought I wasn’t getting enough sleep but then I started to feel mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. It was hard to concentrate on my daily tasks and you know how much I love my job? I felt like I was going to die because I couldn’t even have fun doing what I love. Going out with you, my friends or my ex felt great, but I wasn’t as invested as I used to be.” He pauses to catch his breath and swallow back the tears.

“Don’t get me wrong, today was absolutely perfect and I was hyped, I still am. Today felt like going back to when we were sixteen and I loved it. I’m actually starting to feel better. The break up helped a lot because it was taking a toll on my mental health. I know I said I liked her and I did, but I couldn’t help but feel unwanted. Even when she was riding me,” he chuckles, trying to lighten the mood.

“And it hurts that I didn’t have the guts to talk to you about it because I was afraid of how you would react. Like, hello, I’m taking a break from work because I feel like shit? And I would really like to get your approval so that I can move on. Because you mean everything to me,” he ends shyly.

“Juyeon,” you say in a soft and caring voice, “you mean the world to me too.”

You continued. “You mean the whole world to me and I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me the most. I could come up with something, but it wouldn’t make up for what you’ve been through. You are strong, stronger than anyone. It’s so hard to keep your head above water that I’m proud of you for speaking up and even stopping work. Because focusing on your health is the most important thing. Situation and money may go but I will always stay. I’m so proud of you, proud of who you are and who you’re becoming. You’ll never stop growing and I’ll be there every step of the way, watching you blossom and be happy.”

“And I know you feel like you’ll never be happy,” you resumed, holding his hand. “The only thing I can say is, as hard as it seems, everything you live makes you stronger. Even more beautiful. There’s someone in this world waiting patiently for you, to love you properly, to make you feel loved and wanted. You’re an exceptional person, Juyeon. By that I mean you go above and beyond the call of duty, you give your total support and care, you show up when something’s wrong and I bet you’re an even more protective lover. We did everything together, cried, laughed, smiled, loved. My youth was filled with you and I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t happy because you were and are always by my side.”

“Today was the best time I’ve had in weeks, and that’s because I am with you. We danced, a lot. And you know how dancing has always been our escape,” you paused as you saw the first hint of a smile creep across his face as you continued. “I saw your smile, it was genuine and you were so beautiful. It may have been hard, you’ve been hard on yourself, but today the man I saw was happy. I’m happy because you’re happy, and I’m sad when you’re sad. We are one Juyeon, and I want you to know that I’m here for you, always.”

Long before you have finished speaking, he has taken you in his arms. His embrace is not heavy, but you can feel the weight on his shoulders lighten. You have so many feelings for him, they all blend together and you don’t seem to feel the butterflies in your stomach or the fire he has lit in your heart.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he confesses.

“And what would I be without you?”

Your head rests on his chest and he’s suddenly afraid you can hear his heart beating. You’re so beautiful, your tired eyes fighting sleep and your lashes fluttering. His shirt slipped off your shoulder as he held you in his arms and the permanent smile on your face makes him completely weak. He could kiss you right now. If only you were single.

“Let’s go to sleep, hm?” He caresses your face, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Together?” You cracked yet another smile.

“Together,” he grins from ear to ear.

Your arms find their way around his neck and you bend your head to make an implicit request. His hands go around your waist and below your knees before he stands up and carries you bridal style. You both laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but also blushed at the romantic gesture. He sets you down on (what his brain calls) your side of the bed and plants a kiss on your forehead.

He then goes through his nightly routine before coming back to you, wrapped in the covers, fast asleep. His heart is about to explode. Now that he is aware of his feelings, he is overwhelmed by the love he has been repressing. He slides in next to you and holds back from embracing you. And if you happen to get close and make your way into his arms, he’ll be delighted to hold you tight.

“Sleep well Starlight, I love you,” he mumbles, kissing your hair.

“I love you more Juyo.”

Waking up the next morning wasn’t as awkward as Juyeon might have thought after the pseudo-confession you heard. He woke up first when he felt you shift in his arms. Because yes, you ended up in his arms, face against his torso. He tried not to make a big deal out of it, calming his breathing and enjoying the warmth of your body. Absentmindedly, his hand caresses your tangled hair, smoothing it and slowly waking you from your slumber.

“Good morning Starlight,” he says, honey dripping from his hoarse voice. “Slept well?”

“Like a baby, you?” You yawned, looking up from his chest.

“Even better than a baby.” He doesn’t want to let you go, once you’re out of his bedroom he’ll have to go back to his little miserable life without your starlight to light it up.

“Shall we take you home? Your boyfriend might get impatient,” he laughs, remembering the events of the previous night.

“Well, he’ll have to wait until I’m full from breakfast! I know someone who makes pancakes to die for,” you winked as you get out of his clothes and disappear into the bathroom.

You know you said you’d be back before he wakes up, and you want to. You miss him. But being in Juyeon’s arms, feeling the regular beat of his heart, makes you feel at home. You don’t want to end what you both have now.

You eat breakfast in relatively silence, except when Juyeon tries to flip the pancakes in the frying pan only to have one stick to the wall. And you watch him adoringly from where you sit, trying to make up for his silliness.

In the end, you leave his apartment in no time at all, dreading your return to your own home. Even though you know that Sunwoo is patiently waiting for you. The last two days you spent with Juyeon were out of time, it was an enchanted interlude and the return to real life suddenly seems very difficult.

He drops you off in front of the building, not without kissing you on the cheek and saying goodbye for the last time. You try not to think of it as a date night as you head for the front door but he’s quick to say “We’re not done yet, you’ll see me more often now” he chimed as he watches you smile and gets in.

The smile doesn’t leave your face until you turn the key in the lock and come face to face with Sunwoo, smiling from head to toe. He takes you in his arms and spins you around before planting kisses all over your face.

“Sunny,” you giggled, “please.”

“But I missed you,” you press a kiss to his lips as he answers, and you feel him smile through it.

“I’m sorry I overreacted, you know I get scared easily, but I shouldn’t take it out on you when you haven’t done anything,” he apologised, bowing his head.

“No, it’s my fault too,” you shake your head. “We had a crazy night and when I woke up you were gone. I was also late and didn’t want to keep him waiting.”

“You know that I’m jealous of Juyeon, right? He might be your best friend, but he might see you as more than that. You can’t say you didn’t want him to wait, because what, you’re willing to make me wait like yesterday but not him? It’s unfair, because you always end up prioritising him.” He bellows, frustrated.

“Sunwoo please,” you begged. “Sunwoo, listen to me, please.” He takes a step back, feeling his anger rising.

“To say what? That you needed to be with him? That he needs you? Bullshit, look me in the eye and tell me he doesn’t have feelings for you!” He shouts in a pissed off rage.

He goes back into the living room and you follow him to see him pacing back and forth. You can tell he’s furious. He always gets angry when you mention Juyeon and it pisses you off. You can’t even spend a day with your best friend because he gets jealous? You’ve been together long enough to think he’s finally understood that he’s the one you love. But as displeased as you are, you’ll never stop telling him and reminding him that you love him. Because couples fight, because he’s insecure and because you care.

“You might as well develop feelings for him!” He spits vociferously.

“He broke up with his girlfriend and lost his job,” you drop, tired of this pointless battle. “So yes, he needed me. And yes, I needed to be with him. I feel like an absolutely shitty friend because I’ve been sitting in his company for weeks and I didn’t even notice that his heart was being broken to pieces. You can shout at me as much as you want Sunwoo, but you’re the one I love. Juyeon may need me again in the future and I’ll be there for him, but at the end of the day I love you and only you.”

“You’re lying. T-There’s no way he…“ He tries to take your hand but you step back, annoyed.

“Have I ever lie to you, Sunwoo?”

The sheepish and upset look on his face is enough to tell you that he’s blaming himself. So you lead him over to the sofa and tell him everything, from the break-up to his exhaustion, which means burnout, but leave out the private details. It’s a lot to take in, and you wonder if he’ll ever believe you. Why would you lie about something so important?

You love Sunwoo, you really do. But you can’t help but be a little irritated by his behaviour. You feel terrible for even thinking and feeling this way, but Juyeon is your best friend! What was wrong with that? What doesn’t he understand about the word “best friend”? You sighed as you take him in your arms and stroke his back, both to calm him down and to ease your own mind. You hold each other for a while, for as long as your hearts desire, but your minds wander to Juyeon. You miss him and you wonder what he’s up to, when you’ll see each other again. Another sigh escapes your lips and Sunwoo looks at you questioningly.

“Movie?” You ask, trying to divert your attention from Juyeon.

“It’s 11,” he chuckles, finally at peace.

“Yeah, so? We can order pizzas and spend the day at home?” You kiss his hand with doe eyes.

“Sounds like a fabulous idea,” he quickly grabs his phone to place an order, “same as usual?”

“I’m feeling adventurous today, so pick whatever you like!”

You hear your own phone buzzing as he focuses on the app again. And obviously it’s the boy of all the arguments, the one who’s been on your mind since you got home and who seems to be distracting you a lot.

Juyo <3 (1)

I miss ya, whatcha doing?

Thinking about u

That ain’t possible

Whyyyy

Because I’m thinking about you

“Who are you talking to with that smiley face?” Sunwoo asks, tilting his head.

“Changmin, he’s talking about the person he met and he seems so in love.”

It's a half-hearted lie, because Changmin told you about the person he recently met, but also because if you say Juyeon's name right now, civil war will break out.

Juyo <3

Oh yeah, prove it?

Seconds later, your phone rings with an incoming call from Juyeon.

Juyo <3

JUYEON YOU CAN’T DO THIS

YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME

Aw pretty’s scared by a sudden phone call?

Actually…

You take a second to answer, pondering if it’s a good idea to tell him about your couple’s conflict. Especially when he’s the one causing it.

Juyo <3 (1)

Am I disturbing you?

You always turn my world upside down

Same goes for you Starlight ;)

So?

I had a fight with Sunwoo

Nothing bad, we already made up

But it’s becoming a recurring thing, and I hate it

Have you talked about it?

That it’s getting hard for you?

Yes and no

We always talk about it, set limits and make up but weeks later it’s as if the conversation never happened

As much as I love him I’m tired Ju

No, you don’t have the right to say you’re tired, because that would mean you’re ready to give up on your relationship for a few fights?

I’m afraid that’s not a valid reason

And I know you’re not the type to give up on someone you love

So take matters into your own hands, spend the day with him and make out ffs

Yeah, haha, you’re right

We’ll eat pizzas and watch a film, that’ll definitely help

And I’ll see if he’s nice enough to make out with him

I can be good for you instead ;)

Yah! You’re losing points Lee Juyeon!

I’m only aiming for the 10s sorry!

Right in the bull’s eye

Which is my heart yes

GTG JUYO

TTYL I LOVE YOU

<3

And I love you more <3

You saw his message through the notification, which you cowardly rejected, but that didn’t stop you from smiling. The conversation had to end quickly, as you were venturing into uncharted territory that doesn't leave you impassive. Besides, Sunwoo was getting suspicious of your big smile.

And he’s right, because what the hell was that? You’re such a coward whose heart beats a hundred miles an hour. He’s definitely winning points, but you’ll never admit it, and to what end? Your heart doesn’t know yet.

On the contrary, Juyeon’s heart beats wildly at your bravery. He doesn’t want to flirt despite his growing feelings, but you leave the door open too wide for him not to come in.

You’re still his best friend, so if you ever need advice or a listening ear, he’ll be there. Like that horrible joke about making out, he hated it. But he knew that it would make you laugh and feel better, because he knows you better than anyone else.

So why can’t he read your feelings? You're not usually so cryptic for no reason, he's sure of that. Yet the changes in your heart can be seen gradually: your sweet words, as well as the ambiguous ones, all carry a special and deep meaning. You’re a book Juyeon is dying to read, but you’re not descriptive enough for him to decipher just yet.

Sunwoo used to read you easily, but he’s not sure of anything anymore. He knows that you love him, that your love language consists of words of affirmation and that you never stop reminding him of it. And yet his insecurities always get the best of him and you end up fighting. The truth is, he’s afraid. You’ve always spent a lot of time with Juyeon and that’s fair, you’ve known each other for almost ten years. But shouldn’t you make up for that time with your one-year boyfriend?

He knows he can’t restrict you or your outings, that would be a dick move and he’s not a dick. You have lots of boy friends and he’s okay with that, but Juyeon? Juyeon annoys him. He seems too perfect to be true:  his looks, his gentle and romantic nature. He’s in a one-sided competition because Juyeon couldn’t care less. Or so he thought until now.

Halfway through the film, you're cuddled up in his arms, laughing, when his phone vibrates. Why on earth is Juyeon texting him?

Juyeon (1)

I just wanted to apologise for yesterday. This is not a valid reason, but I wanted to keep my best friend to myself for a while. I’m sorry if that hurt you.

Apology accepted. We’re adults and you’re defo not the one to blame but I appreciate it.

Thanks man

It cost Juyeon a lot to send that message. But in his place, he would have been furious if the situation had happened to him. So he toned it down, to ease the tension and make you feel better. But he’d do it again any time; anything to spend time with you.

And that’s exactly what happened in the weeks that followed.

You spent the whole week with Sunwoo after your meeting with Juyeon, going with him to his band rehearsals, shopping for clothes, accessories or window shopping, going on dates to the cinema, the park and restaurants. You did everything with him.

But that didn’t stop you from texting Juyeon every day. Sometimes he was the one who initiated the conversation, and other times you had to spam him to ask his opinion on the latest clothes you bought or because you missed him. Your weekly outings have also become two or three times a week, and you often meet up on his balcony for a night of dancing and drinks.

Everything is done with respect for your relationship, but you feel his hands on you longer than necessary, always within limits and sometimes in places that make you blush. For an example, he would place them on your hips, and you would be a fool to say that his little touches did not make your heart flutter. When he opens the door for you, when he orders for you without asking and never makes a mistake, or even when he gives you presents that you’ve looked at with envy. He’s so observant and attentive that causes butterflies in your stomach. The more time you spend with him, the more you can’t deny the attraction you feel.

He makes you feel like you are 16 again.

He kisses your forehead, cheek or hand when he drops you off. He holds your hand so you don’t get lost in the crowd. Even if it’s just an excuse, you let him because deep down you want him to.

And you hated yourself for it. You feel so guilty about Sunwoo. Yes, Juyeon may be a little more enterprising than usual, but he hasn’t changed his ways. You’re the one who reacts to harmless words and lazy touches. But your heart hasn’t changed. You love Sunwoo. Those feelings for Juyeon aren’t real. It is an attraction that arises because you spend all your time together, because he’s handsome and cares for you.

You’re not… in love with him.

Isn’t that right?

“Sweetheart, I bought fried chicken on the way home!” Sunwoo says one day after his rehearsal.

“Oh Sunny, you don’t know how much I’ve been craving it,” you clap, looking forward to devouring it. “Thank you.”

“Can I get a hug for being the most awesome boyfriend ever?” He asks sweetly.

“Oh you do,” you giggle, jumping into his arms.

“I love you,” he kisses your nose.

“Me too,” you reply, tiptoeing to kiss his forehead.

“Sunnyyyy,” you call out his name on a Friday afternoon. “Can I go out for the night with Kev, Minnie, Chani and Ju?”

“Sure! Don’t come back too late hm? And be careful.”

“Yes! I’ve got the four horsemen of the apocalypse to look after me and myself!” You laughed.

“Have fun Sweetheart, I love you,” he whispers, kissing your forehead.

“Me toooo Sunny,” you smiled.

And yet, as he does his best to be there for you, to shower you with love and care, you notice that your interactions are gradually diminishing. He’s not the problem but you are. Just like yesterday, you’ve been exchanging messages and at the end of all your conversations you have this cute habit of saying I love you. Except this time, you haven’t replied. You liked his message and replied with a heart.

But that’s not the only case, because you catch yourself not saying “I love you” back when you talk to him. Yet you’re still physically and intimately close. It’s as if you’re giving yourself to him in order to compensate for the emotional changes that you’re going through. And then what? You won’t even be able to kiss him? Hold his hand? Be intimate? You felt terrible, and this has been going on for months.

Perhaps the best (or worst) thing to do is to talk to him about it.

“Sunny? Can we talk?” You say out of the blue one morning.

“Yes baby, tell me?” He replies as he comes out of the bathroom, shirtless.

“Get dressed first,” you giggle.

“Why, don’t you like what you see?” He pouts, crossing his arms to emphasise his torso and you look away, ashamed to be turned on when you’re about to break his heart.

“Oh I do, but you’re distracting me from the point!”

“Sorry, sorry,” he laughs as he pulls on a t-shirt, “is it better now?”

“Yes, thank you,” you sigh.

“Are you okay?” He asks suddenly, sensing your discomfort. “You know you can tell me anything, I’m here for you.”

“Sunwoo, I-“ you take his hand in yours for support. “You need to know that I love you, it has never changed and it will never change, the feelings I have for you are very much real and I cherish them as much as I cherish you.”

“You’re not breaking up, are you? Because I won’t let you.” His eyes are shining now and you want to go back in time. You want to erase everything that has happened in the last two and a half months, the growing romantic feelings and the hurt.

“Sunwoo, I’m not breaking up with you, you’re the person I care about the most in the world, I would never let you down. And I hate myself for what I’m about to say.” You take a deep breath and as you do you know he’s figured it out and tears start to roll down his sweet face.

“I- fell in love with Juyeon,” you drop your head in shame.

You don't have the courage to look up and see the disappointment on his face, but you force yourself to. And when you finally did, his reaction catches you by surprise. It was obviously pain and sorrow, but also resilience?

“May I ask, how?” His voice is low, almost a murmur, but his eyes search yours for the truth.

“I- don’t know, it just happened.”

“Come on, you don’t just fall in love with another man by accident,” he laughs sarcastically.

“And yet I did!” You raise your voice in annoyance. “I didn’t choose it Sunwoo. And I would go back in time if I could!”

He takes a minute to consider your words, to decide whether or not you’re telling the truth. You didn’t expect this conversation to be easy, but he doesn’t make it any easier for you. You expected him to be in denial, to yell at you and cry. Instead he went straight towards the acceptance stage and he had this heartless look on his face. You knew you deserved it because he’s right; you don’t fall in love with another man by chance.

“Does he know? That you-“ he struggles to find the words, but you let him, because it has been hard for you too. You’re in love with your best friend, and you’ve probably been in love with him since you were 16. “That you love him?”

“No, oh god no!” You panic, finally thinking of the consequences, “I wanted to tell you first because I love you and I owe you the truth.”

“But you intend to tell him?” He worries and suddenly you feel like you’re talking to your best friend, the same conversation you had before you started dating Sunwoo.

“No Sunwoo, it was never a question of telling him or not. Yes, I love Juyeon romantically, but you’re my boyfriend. And I’m not trying to fool myself by saying that I still love you, I love you. And I love Juyeon too, but I’m not going to do anything with it.”

“You’re silly,” he chuckles affectionately. “Within the two months since our fight, I’ve watched you for a long time baby. I observed your body movements, your facial expressions and your words, hoping that it was all temporary and that we’d come out of it stronger together. But all I saw was love, but towards someone else. You came home giddy, eyes full of stars. Sometimes even in a frenzy of exaltation from which I found it hard to pull you out, because knowing that you were happy made me happy. So I won’t say that I knew it, but I sensed it. And I know that you love me, I have never doubted it and I don’t doubt it now. But you love him silly. Perhaps even more than you love me. I’m not mad at you, I saw you falling for him, I just ignored the signs. And I know you didn’t choose it, nor did you want to break my heart. Your love for him is stronger and I can hear it. Thank you for telling me, it must have cost you a lot.”

You start to cry, because what else can you do but cry? You love him and it hurts you to hear him say that you love someone stronger. But he’s right. No matter how much you try to deny it, you love Juyeon unconditionally.

“Why,” you cry out.

“Why what baby,” he takes you in his arms, guiding your head in the crook of his neck and your tears start to soak his t-shirt.

“I’m pretty sure I broke your heart and stomped on it, so why aren’t you mad at me? Why are you taking it so well? I don’t understand. I feel like shit and you’re too perfect?”

“You have no idea of the pain, anger and emptiness I feel right now, I’m far from perfect,” his voice falters as he tries to hold back his tears, “but I can’t take it out on you, even though you deserve it, because you didn’t want it? Also because I didn’t speak when I realised you were drifting away. I know you blame yourself, and yes, I am heartbroken, I can’t wait to cry but I don’t want to make you sadder than you already are.”

“I don’t deserve you Sunny, I’m sorry, I love you to the moon and back,” you smile shyly.

“And I love you just as much, thank you for the love that doesn’t make me feel lonely,” he smiles back as he rubs your back in slow motions. “Can I kiss you? One last time?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

When his lips touch yours, it has never felt better. The kiss is a little salty because you have both been crying, but also sweet. It is your last kiss and you devour each other’s lips as if it were the first, not wanting to part. You quickly run out of air, but he presses his lips to yours to convey his feelings one last time and you smile, knowingly, as you kiss him back.

“You should go to him,” he says, lips swollen and eyes puffy.

“Yes, to be with my best friend. And you should call Eric for the same reason,” you sobbed, and he giggles.

“Coward,” he laughs, “but I will.”

“And Sunwoo,” you start again. “I would never do anything without your approval.”

“Thank you,” he replies, touched and aware of the feelings you will always have for him. “For everything, but especially for being with me.”

“I should be the one thanking you, my lifesaver,” you kissed his cheek as you take his hand in yours. “Let’s remain good friends, in the future.”

“Absolutely, if I ever get over you,” he laughs in a reassuring way.

You know that the joke is just his way of breaking the tension, so you laugh it off, saying that he should, and you imitated a knife at your throat as a warning, which makes him laugh heartily. Then, your heart sinks at the sound of you no longer being the recipient. Yes you fell in love with someone else, and it will be just as hard to get over him. But you have Juyeon, and he’s your rock.

Juyo <3

Juyo can I come over?

Sure, is something wrong?

These three words are enough to turn your heart upside down. He’s always been thoughtful, and now that you’ve accepted your feelings, you feel butterflies swirling in your tummy.

Juyo <3

Sunwoo and I broke up

I’ll pick you up in 5

Yes pls, drive safely

He pulls up in the parking lot exactly 5 minutes after his message, just like he said. You rush down the stairs, too eager to melt into his arms to wait for the lift. He doesn’t have time to get out of the car before you throw yourself on him, crying. Tears of separation and heartbreak, and tears of joy when you see him again because you know you love him.

“I’m here,” he whispers in a panicked voice, probably not expecting you so soon and in such a state. “I’m right here, let it out.”

And you do, the feelings you’ve been burying for 2 months are just waiting to be expressed. You cry until your body aches from lack of air and your eyes are dry. Finally, you shiver and regret having gone out so quickly without covering up. But Juyeon is just as quick to pull the jacket he was wearing over your shoulders and you hum happily as his scent washes over you.

“Let’s go home?” He caresses your hair tenderly.

You’re amazed that he doesn’t ask any questions, he just stands by you and supports you through this difficult ordeal that he knows only too well. And the truth is, he’s even sad for you. No matter how much he loves you, you’re the definition of love to him. For you to break up with Sunwoo, for whatever reason, doesn’t make any sense. It’s not his place to ask if you don’t tell him first, so he just holds your hand on the way back, and when he has to let go to change gear, he makes sure he puts it back on your thigh.

This makes you blush like a tomato, how dare he put his big hand on your thigh, almost completely covering it whole. You’re pretty sure your feelings are written all over your face, but he mistakes your blushing for embarrassment, when in fact it’s just romantic stimulation. You look up to see if his hand placement has any effect on him, only to find that he is blushing as well. Being as dense as he is, you mistook his shyness for embarrassment.

You two definitely make quite the pair.

“Make yourself at home Starlight,” he says as he opens the front door, never stopping to hold your hand.

You step inside as he tells you to and try to take off your shoes, planning to curl up on the sofa under the blanket while you wait for him and his hugs. But he had other ideas as he grabs your wrist to pull you closer, pinning you between him and the newly closed front door. Your surprise translates into a gasp that becomes a choke as he drops to one knee. Your heart pounds in your chest at the way he looks at you, worshipping you. Without warning, he bends down to untie your shoelaces, still smiling and even a little mischievous.

“What?” He smiles proudly. “Can’t I look after my Starlight?”

You open your mouth to speak but no sound comes out, too surprised by his playful tone.

“Cat got your tongue?” He sticks out his tongue as he stands up.

“Yes, you got it!” You slap him gently as a reward for nervousness.

“Not in my mouth though…” He whispers so quietly you almost don’t hear it, and that earns him another slap, only he steps back to avoid your blow and you stumble and fall on top of him.

“I guess it will be easier to carry you now,” he chuckles, kissing your forehead.

He puts his arms under your knees and around your waist and you squeal as he lifts you up, bridal style. This man will be the death of you. Oh, how you would kiss him if you weren’t so heartbroken and hadn’t just broken up. And he would kiss you just as much. You’re both madly in love and it shows.

He wraps you in a blanket as he lays you down on the sofa before kissing your forehead for the umpteenth time. Then he goes into the kitchen and fetches your favourite foods, drinks and desserts, which he sets out on the coffee table. You were surprised by the homemade dishes, as if he’d made them with a special purpose in mind. But he doesn’t say a word or make a comment, he just slips under your blanket when he’s done and hugs you, breathing in your scent.

You stay in each other’s arms for a while, not saying a word, just enjoying your hearts beating in unison. It feels heavenly, relaxing and you can almost feel yourself coming back to life. If Sunwoo was your lifesaver, Juyeon is your guardian angel. He is always looking out for you and giving you his utmost special care, just like right now, for no particular reason (even if there is one now).

He doesn’t pry, he just waits for you to speak while he grabs the remote to put on the latest show you’ve started together and feeds you. You’re quite grateful for the little comments he makes during the show, distracting you from the truth: the burning love you have for him that consumes you. In the end, you tell him that you still love Sunwoo, but that your recent incessant arguments have taken their toll on you.

That, against all odds, you’ve spilt up properly. And that it will be a while before you move on, but that the door is not closed. You made sure to emphasise this part, because what if there’s a small chance that Sunwoo was right and Juyeon is a fool in love with you? You’re not ready yet, but when the time comes, you want to confess your love to him and live out the childhood romance you’ve always dreamed of, until death do you part.

The next few of weeks passed in a blur, and you have basically settled into Juyeon’s apartment – going back and forth to your house to pick up your things and put them in his closets. Your shoes sits nicely in the new shoe rack he bought for you to go out together, and your toothbrush sits proudly next to Juyeon’s. You even have matching ones. Oh, and Juyeon can finally happily say that you’ve got your side of the bed, with your cute belongings on the bedside table and a picture of the two of you at 16 in a frame.

In fact, you slowly become a domestic couple-like going grocery shopping together and going on so-called dates. Life with Juyeon is easy. Whether you go out at dawn or dusk, he’s always with you, matching your pace and holding your hand from the streetlights to the dancing starlight. When you saw your hands touching and your steps overlapping, it reminds you of your first encounter and the fluttering of your heart. How you shyly looked at him, only to see him already looking at you lovingly, red on his cheeks. That cold winter you spent together was actually the warmest moment of Juyeon’s life, and that day might have been the day you hid a present for each other in your sleeve.

Even more slowly, your relationship with Juyeon develops as the months go by. It was hard not for it to blossom, considering the fact that you live together and that you absolutely do everything together, but it’s happening. Juyeon has started to walk around bare chest when he gets out of the shower and sometimes! He even goes to bed naked, with just his pyjama pants hanging low on his hips.

Of course, you get to snuggle up against his warm chest and cuddle to sleep. When it comes to sleeping, you don’t even try to fall asleep on your own side of the bed anymore because you always wake up in each other’s arms. You have definitely grown closer and closer in just a few months.

Your touches with one another have become more sensual and romantic and your words more flirtatious. You wear his clothes more often than usual, sometimes getting out of bed in just his t-shirt and underwear, awakening certain feelings within him. From time to time, he dares to put his hands under your (his) t-shirt and kiss your forehead tenderly, for lack of being able to kiss your lips sensually and make you his, right when you wake up.

“All pretty for me hm?” He said the first time you went to sleep in this garment. “You know I’m just a man.”

And if you sat on his hips to cuddle him afterwards, maybe the message got through. Maybe a little too much, given that a few minutes later he pretended to be in a hurry and the water ran for a long time. He’s just a man.

Yes, your man.

Another time, when you were out shopping at the mall, people addressed you as a couple and you didn’t mind, oh no. Perhaps it was the smiley eye contact you made, or the way he held you in his arms and you leaned into him, almost as if you were going to kiss, that gave it away. At least, that’s what gave Sunwoo, who was watching you nearby, the courage to send you a message.

Woo ☼ (1)

Hi, hello! I saw you at the mall with Juyeon, can we talk? I’m with Changmin, we can ditch them together?

Hi Sunny!!! Sure we can, the cafe nearby?

Juyeon was a little reluctant to leave you alone with Sunwoo due to the countless nights you spent crying and the difficulty you had opening up (not to mention your blossoming love for Juyeon) but he quickly gave up because he knew you wanted it and he was happy to spend time with Changmin. Juyeon is the love of your life and you can’t pretend that he isn’t anymore.

“Hi Sweetheart, I saw you left your shopping bags with your man,” he laughs and you kick him under the table so as not to draw attention to yourself.

“Stop that Kim Sunwoo!” You whine.

“Stop what? Calling you sweetheart or calling him your man?”

“Both!” You laugh embarrassed and shy.

“How are you?” He changes the subject after one last laugh and you’re happy to see that he hasn’t changed, he’s still as playful and lively as ever.

“I’m fine, nothing has really changed since our last messages. I told you I got my dream job, so Juyeon and I are treating ourselves with my first salary. Oh, and Juyeon has also found a new job he’s really enjoying. Hence, the reason why we’re out shopping.” You went on to rave about your everyday life, happy to share this new chapter with him, whom you still love very much, just not romantically anymore.

“You must love him a lot,” he says softly, almost as if he were muttering to himself. “It’s cute, you’re cute, I’m happy for you.” And you don’t answer, curious to hear what he’s going to say next.

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot over the past six months,” he begins. “Thank you for always reaching out to me and not ghosting me despite the break-up, it meant a lot to me. Being away from you has been hard. I will not lie. But it also taught me that I was too dependent on you and it felt great to spend time by myself and with our friends. I got news from them and saw that you were doing well, as anyone going through a break-up would be. And it made me realise that, if you were fine, I should be fine, even if it was just a facade, that somehow the sadness would pass.”

You nod to let him know you’re listening and that you’re on the same wavelength as him.

“And it did,” he whispers almost happily, as if the weight he was carrying close to his heart has been lifted. “I thought I would love you for the rest of my life, but then I met someone.” You gasp at his words and tear up a little.

“It came as a blessing, without me even looking for it, and I can say that I’m happy now. So when I saw you so happy on Juyeon’s arm, looking at him lovingly like he hung the stars in the sky I thought: “Ah, you’re really on cloud nine with him”. I shouldn’t hold you back from your happiness. You have my blessing, not that you need it but date him, kiss him, make love and live happily ever after.” To emphasise his words, he squeezes your hand which he has started to hold somewhere in his monologue, and kisses it.

You swear you didn’t want to cry, and Juyeon will probably be worried to see your swollen eyes, but how can you remain impassive in the face of so much love? It’s true, you held back and would have kissed Juyeon if it wasn’t for Sunwoo. But now you’ll both be happy.

You chatted for quite a while, enjoying your reunion as friends, learning more about the person he had met and ranting about your life with Juyeon, when he appeared before you with Changmin, impatient to get you back. You missed him. How did you manage to live without Juyeon so far? Ecstatic, you jump into his arms and bid your goodbyes promising to meet again soon. As you walk away, Juyeon’s phone beeps and he just shrugs at the message in his inbox with a smile. Then he ruffles your hair, earning a pout from you that he kisses away at the corner of your lips. You wonder what the message was, but the kiss is definitely more important.

Sunwoo (1)

I’ve seen the way you look at each other, it’s full of love. Give it a shot!

Yes, there will be many more kisses now.

And here you are today, on Juyeon’s couch, enjoying your home date for the tenth anniversary of your friendship, with Sunwoo’s blessing in the back of your mind. You spent the day cooking together, sweet and savoury, having fun with the shapes of the cakes and pizzas (hearts and dicks like the children you are), playing games, dancing and listening to music in a good-natured atmosphere.

Today’s a day to celebrate your friendship. Yes friendship, when all you want to do is kiss him senseless. Maybe confessing today is not such a bad idea. Especially when you see him coming out of the shower in all his glory, beads of water running down his naked torso, hair tousled and wet, tongue running over his lips sensuously as he looks you straight in the eye, ready to pounce on you. Oh, and, his cinnamoroll pyjama pants, low on his hips and revealing the Apollo belt of his abs, make you smile as much as it turns you on.

Juyeon takes his place between your legs, smiling, his hot muscular back resting on your chest as he lays his head back on your shoulder, dampening your matching melody pyjamas. He chuckles as he turns his head to see you gawping. His big veiny hand that had been squeezing your thigh flies to your cheek, turning your flushed face towards him so he can kiss the pout at the corner of your lips. His beautiful lips linger a little longer on your neck, but you welcome his touch with open arms and lean into his embrace.

His eyes are full of stars when he rises from your embrace to grab the remote and turn on your series. But he remains seated between your legs, unconsciously resting a hand on your knee to preserve the intimacy you’re so immersed in. You help him on with his t-shirt, not without kissing his shoulder first, making him shiver. And your hands take the opportunity to wander down his torso to his waist, making him smirk as well. You become more and more adventurous, he loves it and can’t wait to run his lips all over your body, discovering all of it.

You place a kiss on the crown on his hair and when you notice that it’s already dry, an idea crosses your mind. Juyeon’s focus is back on the show, so much so that he can barely feel your hands playing with his hair. You give him a rather pleasant massage, moving down to the small of his chest, across his neck and up into his hair, twisting it between your fingers.

“How does it feel?” You murmured in a hushed tone.

“Heavenly,” he moans.

The tension is palpable as you continue your services, your hearts beating wildly, almost as one. He takes one of your hands in his to kiss it, the attention making you blush, before replacing it in his hair and nodding for you to continue. So you undertake one of the most romantic acts of love in your eyes, braiding his hair. Strand by strand, your fingers caress the edges of his face. The braids come undone as quickly as they are made, but he smiles broadly as he touches them, feeling butterflies in his stomach and his heart beating erratically.

“I could see our everyday life like this,” you whisper in his ear. “Together.”

Juyeon, who had been purring at your display of affection, becomes still when he hears your words. He slowly turns to face you with the most charming smile and tenderly takes your hand to place it on his chest, where his heart burns with love. The fire in his eyes burns inexorably, lighting up his already sunny face, unable to leave him. You’re captivated by this intensity and he doesn’t look away, also in love with your sparkling eyes, even when he reaches out to grab a little box that has always been right in front of your eyes. Yes, his love has always been on display. You were just too slow to catch on.

But you get it now. You’re two fools in love.

“You know how our youth is filled with each other’s names?” He says, voice a little hoarse and heart beating fast under your palm. “Well, my heart has never changed, I’ve always wanted to be with you. You are my breath of fresh air, the warmth that keeps me going through the winter, and the words I’m about to tell you will never melt away. My everything is all about you, it has always been about you.” He pauses to take a deep breath and kisses the palm of your hand, which he then links with his own, intertwining your fingers.

“I love you,” he sighs with love and happiness. “I love you so much that I was reading my destiny inside your eyes without even knowing it.” The flame of love he has carried all these years dances in his eyes, making him irresistible and captivating. Your heart is pounding in your chest as you wait for his question, palpitations he feels through your bound hands.

“Would you be mine?” His gaze, dropping to your lips then back to your eyes, is determined as he opens the velvet box to reveal two rings. Not just any rings, the matching promise rings to the bracelets you bought months ago. The ones on your wrists that you’ve never taken off.

As if on cue, as a sign of future commitment, he kisses your left ring finger and places the ring on your right with such tenderness that you almost cry. No, you’re pretty sure tears are rolling down your face because he puts his thumb under your eyes to gently wipe away the tears and kisses the salty drops that have run down your cheeks, close to your lips. With that, you mirror his actions by kissing the ring, his left ring finger and placing it on his right finger with a dazzling smile, as an unspeakable promise – that you’ll spend the rest of your lives together.

“I have always been yours. I love you Juyeon, so much that I’m going crazy.”

Even now, after confessing his feelings and hearing yours, he remains respectful and lets you make the first move with a victorious smile. You grin, feeling the cool material of the ring on your cheek as he cups your face in his hand, reminding you that this is all real and that he loves you.

And he does.

So you finally lean in, closing the gap between you to rest your lips on his. It was meant to be a soft and quick peck, but he captures your body and deepens the kiss, years of longing and wanting not to be wasted, leaving you breathless. His lips search yours every time you pull away, not wanting to let go, intoxicated by your lips and this new closeness. If you spend the rest of the evening making out and exploring each other, no one will say a word. Not even your neighbours.

Ah, you’ve never been in love and wanted to be with anyone as much as you do with him, and this since you were 16.

[literaila]

verity what would you think about writing another peter x reader in which peter becomes a photographer and has to take pictures of reader and he develops a thing for her and he thinks that reader just flirts with him for fun and he's totally okay with that because he's a fool for her but after teasing peter and messing with him for a good amount of time she asks him out ? maybe inspired by "suck it and see" by arctic monkeys? thank you !!

chemistry

tasm!peter x fem!reader

a/n: the science jokes are real with this one

*

peter needed to get over himself. that much was clear.

honestly, he had the ability to rip out his eyes and throw them down the garbage disposal, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that he might have to. just to get some sanity back.

it wasn’t really his fault he was staring at you. no, it wasn’t his fault at all.

he was getting paid to stare at you. you had hired him to do this. to take pictures of you when you looked like this—partially glowing from the light, wearing a devious smile like you might be trying to crack his lens—and not get called a pervert for it.

his movements were automatic now. he’d done this enough—admired strangers and tried to pull the best out of them—but it was never quite like this. with every click of a button, and the perfectly adjusted flash, peter felt himself getting a bit hazy.

it would be his luck to faint while taking pictures of a pretty girl.

a pretty girl who’s head was tilted at him, eyes questioning, because she’d just said something and he was too busy scolding himself to notice

get yourself together.

“hmm?” peter asked, moving a step closer to you. “sorry i missed it.”

you smile like he’s said something funny. “should i try something else?” you say, “i’m not used to posing.”

“you’re doing great. you’re a natural.”

maybe a little too great. you blink at him, eyes darting away and sigh. even then, if peter took a photo, he’s sure it would come out perfectly. he probably wouldn’t need to edit any of these, even.

but he also probably would. just to stare at you some more.

“well, you’re the expert.”

but peter frowns. “are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“just—“ you shake your head. “will you tell me a joke, or something? i feel… awkward. i have no idea what i’m doing.”

“tell you a joke?” peter repeats, slightly amused.

“or just talk to me. anything.”

“sure,” he says, easily, nodding his head a bit too much. maybe it’s because you sort of whispered it, and peter sort of felt it on every single on of his nerve endings. “i, um,” he raises his brows. “i think i just forgot every joke i’ve ever heard.”

you laugh with your head tilted back and he snaps a shot. “just tell me about you, then.”

“me?”

“yes, peter parker, the photographer… and? part time comedian? full time alcoholic? father of six?”

peter frowns. “how old do you think i am?“

“old enough to be a professional photographer.”

“i don’t know if i would call myself a professional…” he winces, smiling a bit and feeling embarrassed for himself. flushed and completely ashamed because he’s usually better at this.

he can calm a clients nerves in five minutes. he can make people laugh and get the candid shot that he knows they’re looking for. he can turn an awkward social interaction into getting drinks after a shoot.

but there’s something about you and your smile, and the easy way you talk, like the words just fall out of your mouth and into place.

“i saw your prints,” you correct, shaking your head at him, “why do you think i hired you?”

“free eye candy?”

and then you actually laugh, chest releasing, and peter watches as your eyes squint at him like you’ve finally realized who you’re talking to.

it’s second nature when he presses the button.

“oh, yeah. i just googled ‘hottest male photographer in queens’ and yours was the first that came up.”

“i knew that ad would pay off eventually.”

“really, though. i’ve only got you for another twenty minutes so you’ve gotta tell me something good.”

peter frowns and moves to your left, changing the zoom on his camera and dimming the light. “i didn’t know you were paying for a gossip session.”

“okay, so you don’t like to talk about yourself. what else?”

he catches you as you adjust your hair, the light shining on the side of your face, gleaming off of you like something out of a sci-fi film.

peter shakes his head—his head is feeling a bit off. “um… i want to get a cat.”

you smile, completely darling and enough to knock a breath out of his chest. “i’ll add caring to the list. why haven’t you?”

“well, my apartment doesn’t really allow it…” he pauses for a moment playing with some settings. the two of you are dancing in circles, like a pendulum, when you move, he moves. “and also i’m not sure that i’d remember to feed it.”

“most animals make sure you remember. when i was a kid my dog would jump on whoever was closest when it was time for dinner.”

peter almost winces, and then catches himself. “i also think i’d poison it with my energy. it’d forget how to move its tail.”

“well, i’ve been around you for almost an hour and a half now and i can safely say that i still have control over all of my limbs.”

“good to know…” peter mutters while frowning at his screen. there’s nothing wrong with his camera, or with you, just with his hands. and his heart.

“everything okay?”

he shakes his head, then nods, clearing his throat. “yeah—yeah. i’m just messing with the settings.”

“are you getting anything good? useable?”

“they’re all good,” he says—to himself and out loud like a complete idiot. and then he looks up, awkwardly laughing. “like i said, you’re a natural.”

“even if you’re lying,” you tease, undeterred by his awkwardness, “i’m sure you’ll fix it all before i see.”

“i’m not lying, but yeah.”

when you smile, he smiles back.

“okay,” you say, moving. “what else? got any friends or family? any plans after this?”

“which question am i supposed to answer?”

“all of them, peter.”

he chuckles. “it’s mostly just me and my aunt. and a couple of long lost cousins. as for friends, i’ve kept in touch with some people from college. oh, and me and the john down the street who makes me a sandwich everyday are close.”

you lift your head, revealing the skin of your neck and jaw to peter. and a fetish he didn’t know he had. “and after this?”

“i’ll probably just go home and edit these, actually.”

“it’s friday.”

he shrugs. squinting at you before the next shot. he’s not even really looking.

“nothing fun?” you ask him. “surely you’ll be sick of my face after this.”

“that’d be hard.”

he watches a sheepish smile reveal itself on your face before it’s gone. you look away. “you’re young, peter. you should be having fun.”

“what are you doing after this?” peter asks, as a challenge.

your brows lift. “this seems like a line.”

he laughs. “not like that.”

you shrug and blink when the flash goes off. “i’ll figure out something. are there any good bars nearby?”

peter pauses, dropping his camera. “are we back to the alcoholic thing.”

“no,” you laugh, “we’re way past that. i just think that your flash is giving me a bit of an adrenaline rush. i could use a calm me down.”

“you okay?”

“i’m kidding, peter. keep going, you’re almost a free man.”

so he does.

you continue to prod him with personal questions, attacking him with your smile and your unsurprisingly sharp wit. you throw his words right back to him, and peter knows, in his deepest of thoughts, that he’s going to be hearing your voice later on.

that when he’s looking back on these pictures, he’s going to see a timeline of your allure, and of his own demise.

he’s already loving and dreading it.

he finishes up by making you laugh from your nose, loud and unprecedented, and so genuinely rewarding that peter has to refrain from clapping himself on the back.

you smile at him as you slip on your jacket, still talking to him, acting too smooth to be just polite.

peter also has to refrain himself from trying to shake your head as he walks you to the door. he tries not to stare any longer, knowing what kind of night he has in store.

“when should i be seeing the pictures?” you ask him, lingering when you finally get to the door.

“sometime next week. i’ll email you a preview with a few different editing styles that you can pick from and then i’ll finish the album.”

“email?”

he scoffs, opening the door for you. “i’ll have you know that not everyone is as young and hip as you. do you know how many grandparents want photos with their family?”

“it just doesn’t seem like you, peter. i’d thought you’d train a carrier pigeon.”

he shakes his head at you, trying to hide his smile.

“but, seriously, thank you so much,” you say to him, voice full and easy, and honest. he can feel your heart and smell your perfume. “i know i’m a lot. especially when i’m nervous.”

“i’m just glad you didn’t ask me about my social security number.”

you reflectively smack yourself on the forehead. “i knew i forgot something.”

peter laughs, letting you slip past him trying to avoid your touch. he doesn’t, and if benjamin franklin was there, he might’ve discovered a whole different type of electricity.

“i’ll talk to you soon,” peter says, and your close enough that it’s almost a whisper. “just let me know if there’s any issues with the pictures, or you have any questions. you’ve got my number.”

“i do.”

his body feels physically repelled from inside the studio, but he forces himself to take a step in anyway. “have a good weekend.”

“you too.”

and then you turn to go, and peter can’t help but stare. he hopes that the tint on the shop windows is enough to keep you from noticing.

but before he can close the door—and mind that it took him an outrageously stupid amount of time—you’re turning back around.

“wait, peter,” you say, voice breathless and jagged. like peters hands as they rush to push open the door again.

it’s embarrassing how quickly he manages to do it.

“yes?”

you smile, like you know exactly what he’s thinking. peter will have that smile branded into his brain.

“do you wanna come with me to get that drink?” you ask him, softly, and wide, with a smile that bursts blood vessels.

peter really needs to get over himself.

*

[pseudophan]

Hi! I am very very new to the Dan and Phil world. A friend of a friend had a spare ticket to their Oslo show and I went along. This was my very first Dan and Phil experience. I had heard their names, but went in completely blind after all who doesn't love a theatre trip to a foreign country. I had a wonderful time, even if I didn't really understand a lot of the backstory it was so much fun, and i thought i sort of had it worked out. I have come home and binged their content now, but the more I watch, the more confused I am. I watched the Anthony Padilla Dan interview tonight and that was the point where I thought I need help. I was advised head here, pick someone nice and avoid twitter so here I am. When I was watching the show in Oslo, it seemed to me that it was the most married unmarried couple ever, having fun together on stage, poking fun at all the crazy that they had faced together over the years, however the more I indulge in their content the more I am confused as to what is real or not. Is the whole stage couple thing just an act? Were they together but now not? Have I misunderstood the whole show? That Anthony interview Dan seemed to be saying he was very single and ready to find a man, so I am very very lost. Google was no help. I don't want to over step but after watching them perform on stage, they seemed completely infatuated and in love with each other and in recent videos i watched. It is all very confusing. Whatever they are, they know how to put on a show. They have a new fan in me, albeit a slightly confused one. Hope you don't think I am overstepping.

first of all, that's an insane introduction to dan and phil and i love it. i was also at the oslo show! it was a good one

as for your question, well you see the thing is dan howell is chronically full of shit. that time period was a bit weird and he was a bit annoying and he had this "single and ready to mingle" bit going, god knows why cause it wasn't very believable, but.. idk, i think perhaps it was a mix of just that fitting his brand of "comedian" better and him desperately wanting to get away from the Dan And Phil label, but because he couldn't ever fully commit to it it just fell flat imo. like you can't be on youtube and on stage claiming you're single and wanna fuck around while also appearing in your boyfriend's videos acting married as fuck, it just doesn't work. and please no one start up that godforsaken open relationship debate again cause it's just not relevant, he wasn't selling open relationship he was selling single lol, at least in that anthony interview

but like all that said i don't really think he was trying to sell it to the phannies or any of his most hardcore fans, and i think that's exactly why he was willing to appear in phil's videos still showing a completely different, much more real, side of himself. the whole Single Dan On The Prowl thing was for himself and for random people who happened to be watching, more casual members of the audience

there's a looot more to be said about dan and the way he wants to be viewed, he talks about it himself a bit in the new show but you probably don't remember it that well if you saw it as an outsider like it's hardly the most memorable part of.. all of that haha, but basically to answer your question: dan's just kinda like that sometimes. you get used to it. or maybe you won't have to since he seems ready to finally maybe potentially possibly drop some of the pretence and just.... be. or he'll change his mind again and be back to bullshitting in a few months you honestly never know with that guy

but yeah dan in that era... grain of salt is all. it's just a persona and a desperate plea to be viewed as something, anything other than Dan From Dan And Phil. it's just kind of hard to get away from that when the other half of your double act is also your life partner, you know?

[teenytinytippy]

Some cute Hypmic headcanons I thought of at 3 A.M

(Spoilers ahead for some characters!!!)

Ichiro

Used to kiss his younger bros goodnight when they were little kids. Now he does it now and then when he thinks they're asleep (Sabs caught him in the act, though).

King of Bisexuality.

Jiro

Had a small crush on a tomboy he met at the orphanage. They used to play football together. One day, she got adopted, and he never saw her again.

Saburo

Has a little music box given to him by his mother when he was a baby. It's the only clear memory he has of her, so he holds it dear. It's also the source of his fondness for classical music. Nobody knows where he hides it, though.

Samatoki

Used to do Nemu's hair after their mother passed. As a result of this, he's very good at styling hair.

Also used to sing to his sister, mostly to calm her down during his father's violent outbursts. He sometimes hums to himself while thinking of her.

Jyuto

Had a gay awakening when he was a teenager. An upperclassman approached him so cunningly and lifted his chin with his hand while questioning him about something, similar to how Jyuto questions guys now. He still thinks about that boy from time to time.

Rio

Went to the U.S. when he was 3 years old and stayed there with his father's family for three years. His father is Irish-American.

Ramuda

He's intersex, as are most of the clones created after him. Some of them, however, appeared to be fully male.

Likes collecting fashion dolls from time to time, and has four custom ones: one of each Fling Posse member and another of the former owner of Empty Candy, Hanabi Maijou.

Has convinced his teammates to cuddle with him in bed.

Gentaro

Is on the Autism spectrum while his twin brother is not.

Is interested in FlingPoly fanfiction.

Ramuda gave him a boudoir doll as a present once.

Dice

Got a nosebleed after seeing Ramuda in a peculiarly cute outfit. The image stayed in his head for quite a long time. (Inspired by what Dice's new stage actor said in the cross talk, after seeing Ramuda's stage actor in costume for the first time)

He sometimes purrs unvoluntarily. Gentaro and Ramuda tease him for it.

Jakurai

Has sung Yotsutsuji to sleep on some occasions. He also did that to Hifumi and Doppo one night.

He was very popular with the girls back in the day, and word got out that he had a huge crush on someone. Hitoya even teased him for it. Little did he know that Jakurai's crush was Hitoya himself.

Hifumi

Was very effeminate growing up. He especially liked to play with his sister's necklaces and other jewelry.

Doppo

Cried when Jakurai sang them to sleep that one night.

He stims by drawing circles on the floor with his finger, something he has done since pre-school when he was alone. When he's angry or frustrated, he does it with his middle finger.

Sasara

Had a funny, contagious laugh when he was a baby or so his mother would say. Everyone who heard him in passing would smile or laugh as well. Maybe he was a comedian from the very start, after all.

Rosho

Learned to talk before he learned to walk and could say very complicated words and phrases for a toddler.

Rei

He can whine his hips pretty well.

Ichiro is the one who resembles him the most in his youth.

Sometimes, he sees himself and his wife/baby mama in Rosho and Sasara. He would never admit that to them, though.

Kuko

Can dabke and taught his teammates and also Ichiro how to dabke.

In the rare times when he feels like crying, he either meditates alone or next to someone he absolutely trusts, which, as of right now, includes his father Shakku, Hitoya, and Jyushi. The latter two were confused when it happened but felt more at ease and honored after Shakku explained this to them.

Jyushi

Sometimes does nail art on Kuko's nails.

He fluctuates between masc and femme styles on the daily. Kuko once mistook him for a young woman passing by when he came to the temple to greet him.

Hitoya

Was a big fat baby who grew into a skinny child.

Is actually swole.

Will become a father of girls (and the best father anyone could have).

Otome

In her teenage years, she would use poetry as a means to vent her frustrations. She would also go on to dedicate poems to her ex-husband and, later on, her first son Dice.

Was absolutely smitten with Dice in his first years, insisting on doing the motherly affairs by herself, much to the maid's dismay.

Really wanted a daughter and was seriously thinking about giving Dice a little sister before everything went down with her marriage.

Ichijuku

She and her sister would often wear matching bows to school in her younger years.

Lets Nemu adorn her hair with ribbons and flowers during their outings. She secretly loves the look, even if it looks messy.

Nemu

Was a premature child.

Is not good at styling her hair since it's something her mother and brother used to do for her. Sometimes, she unknowingly self-soothes by stroking it.

Was interested in ballet at some point in her childhood.

Queen of Bisexuality.

Honobono

Is a pretty good dancer and gymnast. She used to do ballet and acrobatics in her youth.

Was the type of girl who would absolutely destroy her dolls while playing with them.

Yotsutsuji

Sleeps in a fetal position.

Is pretty quiet when sneaking in. He even startled Jakurai once.

[landofzero-archive]

Perplex - Prank Intersection 1

Season: Spring

(Location: Starmony Dorm (Ibara, Mitsuru, Midori, Tsumugi's Room))

Rinne: “—That’s why you’ve all gotta see it! The top idol, Ibara Saegusa’s, adorable sleeping face will finally be revealed!

Now, let’s get a peek! A happy morning’s come, ‘venomous snake’-kun♪”

Rinne: “…… Wh- huh?”

Yuuta: “Is that a mannequin!? That’s not the Vice Prez at all, Rinne-senpai!”

Rinne: “OI OI OI, what the heck’s going on? You for real confirmed that Vice Prez was snoozin’ in his room, didn’t ya?”

Kuro: “Yeah. Actually, there’s been some strange noises for a while now.”

Yuuta: “Maybe…… The sound we heard was from the mannequin?

Eh, this……!?”

(Location: CosPro Office)

(We return to several days ago)

Ibara: —A variety show’s prank project?

I just looked into the program myself, and it certainly seems to be considerably well known amongst the general public.

If we could secure the right to appear on the show, it would be quite profitable for the agency.

Oh my, I truly am honored that Anzu-san has brought a project as wonderful as this to Cospro! 

“I’ve brought it to other agencies as well, so you don’t need to say all that,” you say?

I understand that. It’s a prank project, so the more participants there are, the more variety there’ll be.

Idols, talents, comedians…… It’s not a niche that can only be occupied by idol agencies.

If CosPro can take some of the few slots available to idols, then there’s no reason not to take them.

If it’s a prank project, 2wink or Crazy:B would be suitable, and looking at their schedules……

Hm? What is it, Anzu-san? “You’re not going to be appearing?”, you say?

Obviously. Or rather, why did you think I would be appearing?

“Because pranks are covert operations” huh? Ahaha, I’m so glad you have that image of it too, Anzu-san♪

…… However, I regrettably dislike variety shows.

Adam is also not marketing itself on the variety path, so it doesn’t align with our branding.

Well, recently His excellency has been doing variety work of his own accord, but……

At the very least, I have no intention of going out of my way to appear on variety shows.

—It seemed like I had fun on Bogie Time? Well, that was a special case.

After all, if you’re going to make use of strategy, then it should be in a place where money and power are exchanged! There’s no need for me to take part in such an absurd farce, don’t you think?

In any case, I will contact you again once the cast has been decided, Anzu-san.

Now then, please excuse me so I may get back to work!

(Location: CosPro Conference area)

(Several hours later)

Yuuta: Thank you for your hard work. I was pretty surprised when the Vice Prez suddenly called me up.

And I was the only one who was called. It seems like there’s been no contact with Aniki……

Ibara: Hinata-kun is unable to make it due to scheduling conflicts, so I thought I would ask you to take on this project.

Yuuta: Project…… So you mean it’s alright to talk about work?

Ibara: Yes. Anzu-san abruptly approached me with a prank project job.

This is currently a very popular variety show. If you appear on it, you’ll certainly attract attention from the public.

It seems like you’ve been focusing on your solo activities lately, so isn’t this a wonderful fit?

Yuuta: Uwah, this show is broadcast during golden time (1) isn’t it!?

Are you really sure I can take this job?

Ibara: If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have called you. If you don’t want to, that’s fine, but……

Yuuta: Nono, in what world would I not take it? Actually, I’d even want to ask you to let me do it!

Anyway, it's a prank project, huh~. As someone who loves pranking, I’m really excited about it♪

So, what kind of prank do they want me to do?

Ibara: According to the project proposal, the performers are free to decide what they’ll do to their heart’s content.

Yuuta: Free to decide? So you mean I can think up everything that’ll happen myself?

Ibara: Of course, there may be instances where it’s difficult to pull off due to budget constraints, but the general idea is that you may choose who to prank.

If you tell them the details, they’ll make all the preparations accordingly.

Yuuta: As expected from a popular golden time show! So generous~♪

If that happens, there’ll be so many things I can do. What should I do? My dreams are getting bigger before I know it……☆

Ibara: Please do your best to put everything together. The budget is theirs, so it’s not my place to stop that dream.

For the time being, I’ll contact the other party since you will also be appearing in the project.

Yuuta: Roger that. Please take care of me~!

TL Notes:

Golden Time; ゴールデンタイム : the Japanese term for television prime time. In the Japanese televesion context, it would be from 7pm to 10pm.

Directory | Next

[rolfedewolfefan16]

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

 VILLAIN ROLFE AU OFFICIAL STORY

Chapter 3:  Rolfe felt anxiety brewing up inside him as he walked to the entrance. A mixture of uncertainty and excitement swam inside his stomach. As he stepped inside, he spotted red and white walls covered in posters and empty picture frames, tables displayed in orderly rows, a large, narrow room with a couple arcade machines and, in front of him, a big stage with two smaller ones at its sides. The place smelled of a musty carpet and wood clippings. There was a loud banging sound as well as the sound of running water.

“Excuse me?” Rolfe called out, placing the poster and paper bag on a table.

“I’m here for the auditions,” he explained, walking closer to the main stage.

“Huh?” He heard a voice exclaim. The noise stopped. It was coming from the left stage. A figure came out of a curtain.

“Oh, uh, hi there! Name’s Billy Bob Brockali! Who might you be?” A brown bear with yellow and red striped overalls said. He stretched out a paw to greet Rolfe.

“Who is it, Billy Bob!?” a high pitched voice squawked.

“Some guy who came in!” Billy Bob said. A big, red bird came from out of a barrel and waddled towards them. Two green, crooked eyes examined Rolfe in bewilderment. This creeped him out a bit.

“ ‘cuse me, sir. This right here is my friend, Looney Bird!” Billy Bob said.

“My name is Rolfe DeWolfe. I heard you were holding auditions for a side part and that's me! I’m your guy!” Rolfe said, spreading his arms out. Billy Bob chuckled.

“That’s great but that will only be determined if you show off what you can do,” he explained.

“Go ahead and take a seat, the other members should be here soon,” And with that, Billy Bob went back to his stage and began to mix various liquids together…

It took a while but Rolfe finally heard an old engine churning from outside and soon the vehicle came to a stop.

“You have to stop smoking while driving, Beach Bear,” A voice coughed. A cacophony of wheezing followed after. 

“Sorry Dook,” another voice spoke. It was laid back with a bit of rasp and it progressively got lower as it spoke.

“Dagnabbit! Stupid van here is gonna blow up one of these days,"a deep voice complained.

“Hey, don't talk about my baby like that!” The laid back voice spoke.

“Quit your complaining, boys. Billy Bob is waiting for us inside,” a young female voice announced. Rolfe caught a glimpse of the odd crew walking up to the door before walking in.

“Hey hey, Billy Bob!” a white polar bear with a Hawaiian shirt and blue shorts greeted. The bear met eyes with Rolfe.

“Sup, who are you?” he asked, taking off his shades and eyeing him.

“My name’s Rolfe. Rolfe DeWolfe. I’m auditioning for the side part,” Rolfe said.

“And what exactly are you planning on doing, son,” A gorilla in a golden vest asked.

“Well I’m a ventriloquist. I also happen to be an uprising comedian! I can dance, I can sing, I can even speak different languages too. I promise I’ll do well!” Rolfe blabbered. The gorilla laughed. 

“Well if you're certain about it, fire away!” The gorilla grinned, patting his shoulder.

“How rude, we didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Beach Bear, I own the band’s van and I’m the guitarist. That big ol fat monkey is Fatz, our pianist, (Fatz grumbled at this) That’s our space dog, Dook Larue our drummer, and that’s Mitzi our female vocalist. She may be young but she has a hella good voice. Plus Fatz and her mother go way back so we don’t really have a choice,” Beach Bear explained.

“Hey!” Mitzi complained, punching his shoulder. Fatz eyed Rolfe, squinting his vision as if trying to decipher something.

“Is something the matter?” Rolfe asked, he had to admit he was a little scared.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…you reminded me a lot of an old friend of mine,” Fatz said.

“That’s weird,” Rolfe replied, still very much confused.

“Oh yeah! Old Wolfman, huh!?” Beach bear exclaimed.

“My dad and Dook’s uncle were in his band!” Rolfe’s heart stopped.

“Wolfman?” He asked.

“Yup!” Dook confirmed. Rolfe looked down.

“That’s my dad,” he said. The room went quiet.

“Dude,” Beach bear said, as Dook and him exchanged looks.

“What did you say your name was again?” Fatz asked.

“Rolfe,” he simply said. Fatz gave a small gasp.

“You are his son!” Fatz called out.

“I can see the resemblance,” Beach Bear stated.

“You have an older brother, right? Raul? And your mother Lucy! Gosh, she was a real beaut! How they doin, son?” Fatz asked. Rolfe scrunched his snout.

“I don’t want to talk about him or my mother any of that,” Rolfe confessed.

“W-w-why not?” Dook stammered.

“Because they’re dead to me!” Rolfe snapped. The band’s faces fell. Rolfe suddenly stood up.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, it’s just…we never got along and I just got kicked out and well I don’t want to sour my already decent day,” Rolfe explained. 

“It’s alright we’ve all been there. But I just want to let you know that your father was a great man, and you shouldn’t hold anything against him,” Fatz said. The band gave Rolfe an awkward smile before leaving to the main stage. Excellent job, moron! Rolfe thought to himself. He hoped the audition could make up for it…

“Okay everyone, settle down,” Billy Bob ordered. The band quit their chatter and turned to face him. 

“So as you all know, The Manager said that we need to have a side part by tomorrow so let's get this over with!” he said. The band surrounded Rolfe, ready to hear him.

“Now usually I’d have a puppet but they um…they got destroyed so…” Rolfe began. He awkwardly arranged himself and cleared the stage.

“People say a ventriloquist’s job is by far the easiest job you can have as long as you have total mouth control. But those people can’t make their voice come from here (he mimicked a puppet with his right hand) or here” (me mimicked a puppet with his left hand.) The band chuckled in curiosity. Rolfe pretended to grab his voice and threw it across the room making it seem as if his voice got distant. Then he held his paw out as if retrieving the voice making it come closer.  The band clapped. 

“His mouth d-didn’t move, uh, o-once!” Dook said, clapping loudly, pointing at Rolfe in amusement.

“Woah! This will do wonders! I’m sure the kids will love ya, Rolfe!” Billy Bob said. Rolfe felt his face get hot.

“Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!” Rolfe beamed.

“That was great, sir! We’re going to start band practice soon. Do you think you can figure out some skits or something? Maybe he could sing with us!” Mitzi offered with a squeal.

“Do you know how to sing?” Looney Bird asked. Rolfe made a “so, so” hand gesture. 

“Well I don’t see why not, Mitizi! Now lets finish cleaning up, uh, Rolfe, congratulations, and we’ll figure out the skits tomorrow morning,” Billy ushered…

In those two hours, Rolfe helped set up his stage. He chose colorful tinsel for his background, a rainbow cardboard cutout, with gold coins stuck to it, and a disco ball on top. He placed a cymbal to his left side, inches from where he would stand.

“What’s all this for?” Billy Bob asked.

“It’s a manifestation. See, my dream is to be rich and famous! This stage of mine will be a reminder of that. So I decorated it all nice, see?”

“I see. Hey, that's pretty smart. I have a kind of a manifestation too. See my stage over there?” Billy Bob asked.

“Yeah?” Rolfe pressed.

“Well it serves as a store I call “Smitty’s Super Service Station,” I sell an invention called Gasohol! It serves as an alcoholic beverage and car fuel. Hopefully I can perfect it some time soon. Pretty convenient, huh?” Billy Bob explained. Rolfe nodded.

“Very! I might take a swig sometime… Oh, so if it’s not a bother, do you think I could stay here tonight?” Rolfe asked. Billy Bob cocked his head in confusion.

“What for?” he asked. Rolfe looked around ashamed.

“See, uh, long story short, I kind of got kicked out of my home and now I’m sorta… homeless. I figured it’s best if I stay here for the meantime until I can afford a motel or something,” 

“Oh. No need! You can stay with me and Looney for a while. I’m sure my residence is big enough for one more member,” Billy Bob offered. Rolfe’s eyes lit up. 

“Really? You mean it?” Rolfe asked. 

“Mhm,” Billy Bob replied.

“Thank you, I’ll make it up to you, cross my heart,” Rolfe offered. Billy Bob shook his head.

“Don’t mention it! You deserve a place to stay without any “you owe me’s” It seems to me this new job of yours is all you need,” Billy Bob said. The bear was about to leave when Rolfe stopped him.

“Billy Bob?” Rolfe asked. Billy Bob turned to look at him.

“I might need a ride to the craft store,” Rolfe declared.

“Why’s that?” Billy Bob queried.

“I need to make myself a puppet,” said Rolfe…

[unquietspiritao3]

I saw the host of that podcast about SA in standup saying on Bluesky that the story includes James, so I’ve been too scared to listen 😣

oh no! 🫂 i promise if i hear of any sexual misconduct allegations against james, i will mention them straight out. 💜

using james to promote the episode is mildly clickbaity, imo. he’s mentioned twice:

the host makes a good point that james created an entire tour show about heckling while there are much bigger problems in standup that don’t get discussed enough. the old observation ‘a women’s greatest fear is being murdered, while a man’s greatest fear is being laughed at’ definitely applies here.

the host named james, among several other comics, as participants in the taskmaster charity football match where one of the other players was mark olver. i’d never heard of this guy but apparently he has multiple allegations against him going back years. now, i see why the host did this, and ideally james and the other comics would’ve refused to play in that match—even if it was for charity—with olver. but you’d be surprised how many good people are unwilling to speak out against problematic behavior in a group setting. it goes against our survival instincts, which tell us that being ostracized by a group is life-threateningly dangerous. and unfortunately, being ostracized by the group is often the result of speaking out. however, i’m pretty sure mark olver’s participation in that match is ultimately down to alex horne, who certainly gave the impression at the time that he was solely responsible for organizing the comedians. also apparently mark olver has worked (works?) as the warm-up act for taskmaster. ew.

anyway, the podcast ep as a whole is very good! the host talks about protections against sexual harassment that are in place for volunteers of crisis helplines and contrasts that with standup. the overall point is that there’s a better way to do things and the system needs to be changed rather than focusing on each individual predator separately. i agree!

[9mysterybook6]

clucky’s au

I don't know what to call au yet.

Technically my au Same story of clucky but with differences

But the thing is different, Jack has a group of friends, and especially a close friend.

His close friend is Jesse

Oliver his inventing a way to get them into trouble or blow up in they faces.

roxanne she Always bold and always ready for a challenge

James The troublemaker And cunning like Jesse

Emma she Fun and loving friend But sometimes she like to teases Others like Jesse

I was thinking what would happen if played things a little differently but the same plan.

I was thinking what if Jack didn't want to be the restaurant owner?

In the episode The DARK ORIGIN of CLUCKY

In their father's will, Jack was made the owner of the restaurant. But Jack was not happy when he read the will.

I was thinking what if Jack cared about his family's restaurant but it wasn't his passion.

And as you saw in the episode he really cared about Richard.

Also in the episode of JAXON JACKYL is NOT a MONSTER

Flashback scene 6:40 / 8:18

So I decide to make Jack leave.

You heard me

Jack was sad and upset about all the events and especially the will.

His friend Jesse tried to comfort him and lift his spirits.

And while they were talking, Jesse said, “Sometimes there are things that you cannot control as you wish. Do not think about what if in the past had happened in the past, but think about what you will do now, here in the present.”

So what are you going to do now?

Jack thought a little and decided to do what he thought was right.

so Jack make assets, belongings and property to his brother Richard

And take some of savings And the remains to his brother

He left a letter with an audio tape and With the envelope at their house.

Then Jack went with his friend Jesse

((The letter says He gave up ownership of the restaurant to him and the family business.

And that he will leave by himself because this is what he always wanted from him.

I wanted to say goodbye before I went but I don't think you wanted to talk to me or see me, not after everything that's happened.

Don't worry about me coming back because I cut ties with you Because that's what you wanted.

The audio tape contains my last message to you. chose whether you wanted to hear it or not.))

((I know a song that fits the scene:: Marshmello ft. Bastille - Happier

audio tape It contains Jack how he really cares about them and always looks up to them.

When they were young, True, it wasn't the best, but there were times when we were together and having fun, and those times you helped me when I needed help.

Especially when you stood up to the bullies when we were in school for me and my friends.

He knows how much he wants to impress their father and make him proud of him.

Jack told him how proud he was and how much he cared for him no matter how many times he pushed him away.

Even though you blamed all your anger and unfortunately and troubles on me

I still care about you and try to help you even though you try to distance me from your life

Lately, I've been, I've been thinking, I want you to be happier, Even though I might not like this

I think that you'll be happier, So I'll go

I want to see you smile but Know that means I'll have to leave

After all isn't this what you've always wanted

I hope you are happy without getting angry or me getting in the way without me being around anymore.))

Jack was living his life with his friends.

I wondered what to make of Jack's dream if he didn't want a restaurant.

And I thought about his mother

In the game you will find a newspaper ((Betsy bower an eccentric artist and marketing expert who doubles as a comedian Bow's imaginary mind brought forth the iconic clucky the chicken mascot a cheerful qurky character that has become synonymous with the clucky brand her marketing strtegies and humorous touch have played a critical role in engaging the community and building a legal customer base))

What if I made Jack follow his mother's passion?

Jack wants to be an artist and comic book artist.

He also does cartoons and games.

Yes, this was Jack's life, happy with his friends and his passion.

As for Richard

When he found the letter, envelope and audio tape

Richard will feel remorse, sadness, Sorrow

Because he intended to get rid of his brother and take the restaurant,

Because in https://gametoons.fandom.com/wiki/Clucky

Richard is shown to have severe self esteem issues, causing him intense paranoia and intrusive thoughts. Richard deludes himself into thinking that his brother Jack is after him, despite Jack looking up to him immensely and adoring him. It is suggested that Jack’s premature death was caused by Richard out of jealousy as his father’s will went entirely to him.

And as I said before Richard When he became Clucky

He is a character similar to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

like split personality character

As I said, the gameplay will continue on the original but different.

Years passed without Jack seeing his brother, without any communication or contact.

So one day

Jack decided to visit his brother so he told his friends about this matter.

All of his friends had strange, uncomfortable expressions on their faces, especially Jesse.

Jesse: Jack are you sure you want to go back there?

Jack: Jesse is there something I should know?

Jesse: Hey what gave you the idea everything is fine

Jack: Jessie I've known you since childhood and I know when you want to hide something bad

Jesse sighed And he said, "No, you're right. There's something I should have told you, but my gut tells me something very bad is going to happen if you go back to the restaurant."

Emma: Jack, I'm sorry if we kept this from you.

Jack: What are you talking about?

Jesse has Jack showing him files and a tablet showing him newspapers and news about Clucky's.

Jesse has Jack showing him files and a tablet showing him newspapers and news about Clucky's.

And about the conditions of people who disappeared or became missing after they worked in Clucky's.

Jack: What is all this?

Jack was shocked and confused.

Jack: Why didn't you tell me before and what about Almost Chickens

But what catches Jack eye is Paper about Richard

What do you mean There is no trace of him? He said worriedly

Oliver: We were looking for him but as far as we know he never showed up after opening the restaurant with the new chicken recipe.

roxanne:There are many strange and suspicious rumors in Clucky's

roxanne: We wanted to tell you but

Jesse: Blame me, I'm the one who asked them to keep quiet and not tell you

Jack: Why did you hide this from me?

Jesse: I had a terrible feeling that if you went to a restaurant you would never come back again.

Jack: Listen to me, I understand your fears, but this is my brother we are talking about.

And like a classic talk with friends when they go on a mission or some kind of adventure.

Jack: I need to know what happened to Richard. I need to know if he's okay.

Jesse: I know you're mad and upset with me and the guys but that doesn't mean we won't stand by your side

James: Yes, we are a team and we stand with each other in every predicament, calamity and problem.

So they made a plan.

The plan is to disguise Jack with a fake identity.

Jack was wearing a blue-gray wig with a fake mustache and His fake name is John Smith.

and With glasses with spy camera

While his friends are in his truck like Scooby Doo's truck.

the truck Not far from a restaurant where no one can see it, in case something happens.

And job application to restaurant

Jack works in a restaurant trying not to be strange or suspicious in his actions while he gathers information and investigates the place.

Jack befriends Maia but he has a feeling she knows what's going on here.

Things keep going like this

But all that changed when in the episode: (The MASCOTS Want REVENGE!)

When Clucky was attacking Maia

Jack shot Clucky With non-lethal bullets on his shoulder

She was shocked.

Maia: John what are you doing here get out of here

Jack took the knives away from Maia and said not until I know what happened here.

Jack: Get out of here

Maia: No, we have to go.

Clucky: Well well well what do we have here?

Clucky: John I didn't expect you to show up here this is not your work schedule At this hour

Clucky Getting a little closer

Jack shot close to Clucky foot as a warning.

Jack: Don't come near us And answer my question what did you do to Richard Beakman

While his friends Jack were outside the restaurant they were going to break the wall with the help of one of Oliver's inventions.

Clucky: Haha didn't they tell you curiosity kills people?

Clucky: I'm interested why you want to know what happened to him.

Jack: Just tell me what you did to Richard you stupid chicken

When Clucky started running towards them

Jack asked Maia to separate so he could take care of Clucky

The idea was a short chase scene.

When one of his friends broke the wall and took Maia with them, they called Jack.

While Jack was running to the exit, and dodged the knives from Clucky

One knife hit Jack's wig and torched it from his head with it and his moustache fell off.

Clucky was shocked when Jack lost his disguise.

He said in a voice that could not believe his eyes, whispering Jack's name.

Jack took advantage of the opportunity and ran away quickly before he could get out of the exit.

Clucky shouted at Jack: Jack, is me, your older brother

Jack didn't know whether to believe the information or not. He was confused.

But Jesse took Jack with him to truck. And they left at a crazy speed in a truck.

And on the way Maia was asked if Jack was really Jack Beakman.

After some conversations, they arrived at the house.

I don't know what kind of events to put in here.

But after talking to Maia

They knew there was a real Mascot.

Clucky Roofus Ribbit Polar Prince Barney Beaverton Ball Pit Monster

Oliver asked about Jaxon Jackyl and How can a stranger that Mascot not exist While the rest is there?

Isn't it clear to you?

Everyone looked at Jesse.

Jesse: I bet he intends to turn Jack into a Mascot.

Jesse: That's why Jaxon Jackyl doesn't exist because Jack didn't become him.

And after a lot of talk

I don't know what events to put here how Jack became Jaxon Jackyl Because his brother doesn't want him to disappear again or lose him.

Because the castle incident did not happen so Jack has no hunger problem When he became Jaxon Jackyl

I was thinking of a cat and mouse chase scene.

For example, make the ending Clucky wins. If Jack doesn't go with him, he will hurt his friends.

So Jack goes with him to the restaurant.

Clucky use the machine And turned Jack into Jaxon Jackyl

That was my plan in th au

For example, you know Ball Pit Monster.

Before he became a monster, he was a boy named Billy.

And Billy knew Jacko's friends.

Emma was his babysitter before he became a monster.

When Jack became Jaxon Jackyl

Jaxon is good friends with the other mascots

He was like in a series doing pranks but harmless pranks to other mascots

Clucky tries to fix his relationship with his brother.

Jaxon made some kind of deal with Clucky

Where he doesn't hurt Maia when she works here or any of his friends.

and takes time for psychiatry and classes on anger management With Oliver

So yes every time Clucky wants to punish someone or mascots

But when Clucky's around Jaxon

Clucky behave politely With his brother

As if he hadn't done anything bad seconds ago

Clucky even tried to make Jaxon try Almost Chickens.

But Jaxon refuses to take it because he doesn't know what it contains and because he doesn't know what happened to people who tried it.

And every time he asks his brother what it is made of and what is its secret recipe.

Clucky is evading or making excuses for Jaxon and the way it was

anyway

Like the events of the story Clucky locked up the player

With the help of the player Jaxon may finally know what's going on here and especially about the recipe.

Like I said, this is one of my new au

I need some time to sort out the idea.

Because I find the idea of ​​Clucky over protecting of his little brother funny.

I can just imagine Jack sitting in the dungeon cells, He ignores his brother and gives him the silent treatment.

Later I will complete this Au idea.

[kangmoon27]

MARRIED FOR SÈX | JJK

Pairing: Possessive Jungkook x Y/n

Summary: He marries you for your body while you marry him for his money.

"Ahhh~ f-f-fuck Jungkook just like that" moaning while feeling his member moving inside you. While being fuck by your husband you pull yourself up and pulled him closer by his shoulder then started kissing him hungry, his tongue winning on the dominance of your both tongue and he begin to suck your bottom lips.

Thrusting hard inside you made you hold into his shoulder as he continues thrusting inside you, feeling him cumming inside without even a warning you made you clench around his member, he continues to fuck you till you finally cum for him making his cock covered by your cum.

After a hot season with him you sit up and watch him dressing up already as if you're only his one nightstand fucker, you let out a sigh and get up from the bed while being fully naked and walk to the bathroom to take a bath.

Have you heard about Marriage For Sex? Well maybe you should hear this story about two married couples that only marry each other for lust and personal needs.

Nobody knows about their marriage not them having related to each other but if that's the case why did they even marry each other if they will act as if they're stanger after done fucking each other well the reason is that the boy believe that man should respect the woman's body so for him to feel less guilty he marry her so that he knew to himself that he has right to touch you as far as you're his wife, yet on the other side the woman agree with this arrangement as she wanted to get out of a hell.

Jung Yn who is not Jeon Yn is a stripper and one day someone invited her to the VIP room only to see the man sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, once he noticed her, he made his way towards her and look at her up and down and said "Marry me".

*Flashback* (Y/n POV)

"Marry me" the man said while he's standing next to me, I let out a chuckle and look at him again till I started laughing really hard.

"Excuse me sir, stop joking around it doesn't suit you well, you should be hot and cool not a comedian" I said and chuckles but the next thing he said made me stop

"Once you agree to marry me I can buy you out so you don't have to work from here anymore and be touch by some random guys won't you like that" he responded as he look at me in this cold stares.

"Why me? And why marriage?" I asked.

(Jungkook POV)

"Fuck why did I even agree with this" I heard her talking to herself while I'm back facing her, I turn around and said "Cause once you become my wife you can get whatever you wanted as long as I can have your body underneath my mine" She rolled her eyes and sit on the couch of my mansion.

"Any rules about this Marriage for Sex?" She asked as I nod.

(End of flashback)

After finishing taking a bath I saw him sitting on the bed while looking at me, I walk towards him and knee down while facing his open legs, I place myself in-between while kneeling as he then grabbed my chin "Are you breaking the rules?" He asked while glitching his teeth

"N-no" I replied and started shaking my head. Make sure you aren't cause once I find out you're breaking one of the rules I'm going to throw you out of my house like you're just a piece of trash, understood?" He said while looking at me deadly in the eye making me nod

"Y-yes" I replied closing my eyes while nodding repeatedly satisfying him "good, now dress up" he said and stood up before banging the door behind him.

"Fuck, I should get abortion" I whispered to myself while looking at the close door being frustrated.

You're sitting on the couch inside your share room looking at the contact recalling all of the rules that is made by your husband

Rule no.1 Do not fall in love

(fuck I did)

Rule no.2 Not allowed to get pregnant (fuck it, I'm pregnant)

Rule no.3 Keep us a secret

(I already told someone about us)

Rule no.4 Be Professional

(I'm not being one)

Rule no.5 Don't fuck others

Reading the last rule that he gave made you sigh as it's the only rule that you didn't break at all.

You put the papers down on the table Infront of you and walk Infront of the mirror, looking as yourself and stare at your body while your eyes is fallowing your hand touching your body, you bite your lips and begin to rub your clit.

"If I can't be touch by the others I'll just keep touching myself as this is the only thing that I can do" you told  yourself as you begin to touch your own body.

The next day

Walking around the living room as soon as you finish taking a bath when you suddenly saw the suitcase on the couch, looking at it made you realized it belongs to your husband who left you hanging after remembering he needs to attend a important meeting that made you enter the bathroom to finish up the work he left at home.

You sigh and walk upstair and come down with a car key in your hand planning on giving it to him knowing he needs it.

Author's POV

Walking inside the entrance and walk to the receptionist asking for your husband's office "May I know where Mr.Jeon's office please" you asked the receptionist calmly while waiting for her to answer "I'm sorry miss but what do you need from Mr.Jeon?" She looks at me waiting for me to answer "Well you see I'm Mr.Jeon's maid and he forgot his suitcase as home so I have to go and give it to him would you mind telling me where his office is located?" You asked her again, she nod her head and smile as the two of you begin to walk and entered the elevator.

The receptionist knocked on the door receiving a yell from your husband, she stepped side and look at me "I-I'm sorry miss but I can't help you get inside, if you want you can go on your own I'm really sorry" she bow and left you alone without even letting you speak, you sigh before opening the door.

"You left your suitcase" you said calmly, you walk Infront of his table only to meet his eyes burning in anger, you hear someone sobbing next to you only to find a woman crying while her head is down, you gulp knowing exactly what's happening.

"I-I should get going now Mr.Jeon" you quickly turn around to leave but he stopped you "You're not going anywhere" he spoke making you turn your body around and pointed at yourself confirming if he's really talking to you "who else do you think" he reply in short cold response making you bite your lips and look down.

"Come here and sit on my lap, my lovely wife" he command making you widened your eyes same goes to the girl who's standing at the right side of the room, Jungkook turn around and saw his assistant looking at him in shocked, he raised his eye brow making the woman look down again.

"Baby, I said come here" he tap his lap as you slowly made your way to his desk, he tap his lap again asking you to sit on them so you then did.

He buried his face on your neck and started giving you wet kisses all over your neck as you started making a lil noise coming from your mouth and begging to moan for him when he started biting and sucking your neck marking you as his.

He stop after done making three pretty noticable hickeys on your neck and turn his head to his secretary "what are you doing there? Are you going to watch me and my wife making out?" He asked glancing at the woman, the woman bow before running out of the room.

"Get up" he ordered you and you did as he said even tho you're quite confused about what just happened, he stand up from his seat and walk to the couch. Looking at you while bitting his lips, he signal you to come towards him and you did, you stood up straight Infront of him and he begin to touch your body, he out both of his hand on your waist and slide then down to your butt cheek and squish it.

"Wanna give daddy a handjob baby" he asked you while smirking and all you can do is to nod and imagine his huge member receiving a pleasure coming from your hand and could be from your mouth as well made you feel needy and horny.

"Then go on, no one is stopping you" you bite your lips and look at him only to fine him bitting his while waiting for you to work on him.

Unbuttoning his pants and pulling the zipper down made you gulp since you feel a little nervous and worried if ever someone see you both doing the dirt.

"Do you wanna lock the door?" He ask, you slowly nod and stood up from the floor "Can I?" He stared at you for a moment before nodding, you walk to the door and lock it, you turn around only to see your husband wait for you.

"Now come here and continue what you started darling" you made your way to him and knee down, pulling his boxer down and see his cock standing up proudly Infront of your face.

"Go on baby, start now and don't ever think about teasing me, you know there's a consciences" you nod and grabbed his cock from your right hand.

"Fuck baby your hand is also so soft" he spoke while pulling his head and face the ceiling feeling your hand around his member while stroking it back and forth.

"Fuck baby do it faster" talking under his breath while telling you every step you should do, you did as he said and started doing the handjob fasters making him moan, he suddenly grabbed your chin harshly and pull you up to his lap making you sit on his dick, he let out a groan but quickly pulled you into a deep kiss while his hand I'd playing with your boobs, he was about to unbutton your shirt when someone knocked on the door.

"M-mr.Jeon, Mr.Kim is here the meeting should start already by now" hearing his assistant's words made him cursed himself mentally.

"Fuck, get up and fix yourself" he said as he begin fix his clothes and his pants, soon After he's done he look at you and walk to his desk "open the door"

You nod and walk straight to the door only to be greeted by him.

"T-taehyung......."

"Y/n......."

"It's nice working with you Mr.Jeon I hope everything will turn out good and amazing" Taehyung offered a handshake to Jungkook while Jungkook take it and quickly take his hand back.

"It is nice talk to you as well Mr.Kim I hope this collaboration between our brand won't disappoint both of us" Jungkook replied.

"Mind telling me what's your relationship with Ms.Jung Yn, Mr.Jeon" the other man finally hand a courage to asked the younger about the woman he meet earlier.

"So you know her, how come?" Your husband asked out of curiosity as how can someone like you know someone like Kim Taehyung, unless----.

"Well I meet her at the club and I'm always booking for her too sleepy with me once I'm having a free time and I was kinda shock to see her with you just now" Taehyung answer honestly.

While on the other hand Jungkook poke his cheek using the tongue knowing his guess is right, Kim Taehyung because once of your costumer before.

"How much do you know her?" Jungkook asked and look at Taehyung

"Well to be honest not really much but after some months of sleeping with her I made a promise to buyout her so she can be with me but once I come back from the business trip she's already gone, did you buy her out?" Taehyung look at Jungkook right in the eye as the two begin to look at each other in intense.

"I want Yn, what kind of exchange do you need Mr.Jeon, so that I can keep Jung Yn all for myself" the older offered the younger making the younger one chuckles.

"Exchange? Do you really think Yn is like a stuff that you can exchange for something? No and also it's not Jung Yn anymore, it's Jeon Yn itself" he smirk looking at Taehyung.

"I'm pretty sure Yn is just your toy so why don't you just let her come with me, I can treat her better for sure, do you even know how she always beg me to buy her out just so she can assure that she will only fuck me and feel my cock inside her, how she beg for me to take her home and own her as mine, how she always tell me she lo---".

Receiving a punch from the younger while the older fell on the ground with a blood running out of his mouth, he chuckles and look at Jungkook.

"You're bother aren't you? Is it because I'm telling the truth Jungkook?" He started laughing softly while shaking his head.

"Why are you so scared? You should be confident knowing that she's already your wife right, why are you scared that she might wanted to divorce you and be with me instead?" Taehyung shook his head and tap Jungkook shoulder before wiping the blood from his lips and walk away.

Jungkook on the other hand sigh and punch the wall before walking out of the meeting room and went straight to his office while walking at the hall way he saw you and only to find Taehyung kissing you on your forehead before walking away from you.

Wanting to punch that man again but sadly Taehyung already walked away so he just continue walking to his office and shut the door once he get inside his office, you look at him and quickly look away feeling how mad he  is right now.

"Want to be with him don't you?!" He shouted. "N-no" the only thing that you can reply right now as his action seems to scare you.

"Tell me the fucking truth you wanna get fuck by his again don't you" he grabbed your chin while looking at you dead in the eye while he's  burning in anger "what are you going to divorce me now?!" .

"Well guess what you can't, I'm adding that to the rules that you should follow" he said before walking letting go of you and started walking to his desk again, once he's Infront of his desk your words made him stop on his struck.

"I don't need your rules anymore" your eyes is filled with tears as you said those words "what did you just said?" He slowly made his way towards you, he was about to grab your arms aggressive but you stop him by saying "I'm pregnant, I love you, I'm not professional. I don't want to live under your rules anymore Don't make a new rules for me to broke don't----.

Feeling his lips on yours while his hand is on your waist and kisses you passionately with full of affection, the first ever kiss that he become gentle is happening right now.

He pulled away and started catching his breath while you did the same, "J-jungkook" you whispered while looking at him, "You didn't like it?"he asked while you shook your head and started giving him a peck on his lips repeatedly.

"W-what does that mean?" You asked him "What do you mean?" He asked and raise his eye brows, "Y-You kisses me" You respond "why is this the first time I kissed you?" He asked.

"The kiss is different" You said while looking at him, he stared at you for a minute till he smiled and started kissing you again.

"Hmmm~" you broke the kiss and and look at him "what does it mean" you asked him again but all he did is to pulled you back and continue to kiss you.

"Let's make this marriage for love" -Jungkook

"Wait, do you also love me now?!"

-Y/n

"No"

-Jungkook

"Then"

-Y/n

"Forget it, let's just keep it Marriage for Sex, but this time we will make this marriage work out"

-Jungkook

End

[dishearteningmediocrity]

June 25th, 1937

Eighty-seven years ago, on June 25th, 1937, Colin Clive died in Los Angeles, California. This was a column that appeared in the Monday, June 28th edition of the Hollywood Citizen News, written by Edwin Martin--columnist, press agent, and acquaintance of Colin's. If I remember correctly, Gregory Mank quoted excerpts from this in his biography, but the article is worth reading in full. There's a poignant tribute underneath all the name-dropping.

Yeah, I know, not enough misery in the world these days, so it's time to dredge up more from the depths of the past. Still, it's an interesting glimpse into his life and death--and some of the people left behind.

Source: Hollywood Citizen News, Monday, June 28, 1937. Accessed via www.newspapers.com.

Transcript below.

CINEMANIA by Edwin Martin

JOURNEY'S END

"Think of all the chaps who've gone already. It can't be very lonely there--with all those fellows. Sometimes I think it's lonelier here."

Night after night we had heard him deliver those lines, and they never failed to touch us.

On this day they came back to us again--more poignantly than ever.

A few of us had gathered for a round-table at our favorite spot in Travaglini's--it was also his favorite corner that we occupied.

Just a few weeks before we had sat at this same table with him and planned a radio interview.

Soon after, when he went to the hospital, came a note in this manner: "Must have this old pump repaired a bit. Sorry we'll have to postpone our interview until I come out. Keep the corner warm at Travaglini's."

We had known him for many years--known him and admired him since they first brought him from England to star in the picture version of the same play he had made famous on the stage.

Later, when the play was revived by E.E. Clive, we enjoyed a most pleasant association while handling the publicity on the show during its run here at the Hollywood Playhouse.

During this time we got a little closer to this quiet, rather lonely man, who made famous the role of the hard-drinking Captain Stanhope in the stage and screen productions of "Journey's End."

Few knew it, but all during the past few months, even when he made such a hit in his outstanding part in "History is Made at Night," he had been carrying on under the constant shadow of a long illness--an illness which was gradually eating his heart out...but he never complained.

Sometimes there was a faraway look in his eyes as he talked--just that--nothing more--he was Captain Stanhope to the end.

A few of us were keeping the corner warm for him at Travaglini's that day when we heard Colin Clive had reached his journey's end.

WALTER BYRON, another fine young British actor, was studying his lines at the bar for the splendid part he plays with Sarah Padden in "Chilikoot Lou," with which Miss Padden soon returns to the vaudeville stage.

Eric Blore, inimitable English comedian, still in make-up, was also there...and Larry Kent, Hollywood's wandering actor, just back from directing and acting in England, was telling about a picture he wanted to make in the South Seas...Eddie Lee, known as England's "Donald Novis," was resting from his triumphant opening at the Century Club...and we were listening to the gentle elder Mr. Travaglini tell about stirring days when as a young man he was an officer in the Italian army...while Tony Travaglini, Jr., looked over a radio script planned as a welcome home to Harry Langdon.

Into this crowd of men came a saddened figure--a lovely woman who had been a friend of Colin. She was the last member of that gay trio who often occupied this same table together...from which another splendid young British actor, John Buckler, had left one night only to meet his journey’s end in Malibou Lake in a tragic auto accident.

She was the last one left—and she dragged her weary self up to the bar and ordered a double brandy.

Everyone wanted to ask about his condition, but Larry Kent was the only one who had the courage… “How is he?” he asked.

“He is going,” the woman said. “When I left he was already in the oxygen tent. They wouldn’t let me see him,” she said, trying desperately not to break down.

Because she knew that even a friend of Captain Stanhope must face unknown adventures with head held high.

A phone rang—it was for her—she answered it. Somehow the ominous tone of that ringing let us know the message. “He’s gone.”

Silently the glasses were filled…then Eric Blore lifted his glass. “I give you Colin Clive,” he said simply, and a toast was taken in his memory…and eventually each man filed out and went his separate way.

Somehow we believed that Colin Clive would have liked to know that his journey’s end had been accepted with such a gesture…as he went to that last rendezvous with his old friend, John Buckler...and as we walked out into the sunshine we remembered that we had other things to do--other things to write--but the only words we could think of were his gallant words from "Journey's End."

"Think of all the chaps who've gone already. It can't be very lonely there--with all those fellows. Sometimes I think it's lonelier here"....we are keeping the corner warm for you--Adios, Colin Clive.

[lastweeksshirttonight]

All righty, I managed to get back home despite the hurricane, let's talk about the show.

Tl;dr - I traveled cross-country to see John Oliver and Seth Meyers. It was amazing and I am still giddy about it!! Gonna put all the details under a cut to not clog up your timeline/the tags.

(All jokes will be paraphrased/guestimated bc my adrenaline and ADHD played havoc with my memory recall, lol.)

Firstly, the Beacon Theatre is absolutely stunning. It reminds me a bit of the Theatre at Ace Hotel in LA, in that it's clearly had its old elements lovingly preserved and harkens back to an older time. It was truly a gorgeous venue.

I missed getting a pic of the other side of the stage, which had a massive sculpture of shields and spears. John made a joke about the opulence of the room not matching the entertainment for the evening, and noted that "even Coco Chanel would say to keep it to one shield". Really wish I'd thought to get a picture of it, he was not wrong.

I was extremely close to the stage - 3 rows back and dead center. I definitely had the anxious excited adrenaline jitters because of it.

I mean COME ON.

The opener was Brooks Wheelan, who I remembered from his brief stint at SNL. He talked a fair deal about that, and told a great story bit about getting fired from there and opening for John shortly after, wherein he drank an entire bottle of "HBO blood diamond whiskey" from John's dressing room and had, in Seth's later words, "a nervous breakdown". I'd heard Brooks has opened for John before and was glad I got to see him, he's a lot of fun.

He also told a joke about not wanting to learn karate because of the huge glass windows in front of every karate studio and not wanting anyone to watch him learn karate. Lots of very understanding laughter there, including from me. (Why do all these places have massive plate glass windows?!)

After Brooks was John Oliver, and y'all. Let me get this out of the way.

He is fine as hell. Look. Just LOOK. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS

I would also like to take the time to gush effusively about John's mastery of set structure. The set was, aside from the typical "before we get started, I need to let you know I'm British" pseudo-opener he's used since like 2005, entirely new material -

(As an aside... !!!!!! I KNOW!!!! A FULL FUCKING HOUR OF ENTIRELY NEW MATERIAL!! THAT I WAS NEAR THE FRONT FOR!!!! I'M SO VERKLEMPT STILL YOU HAVE NO IDEA)

- and it was just beautifully written from a structural standpoint. It was pretty much all political material all centered around history and the need to understand it for context on the world as it currently stands. There were some digressions from that point but they were seamlessly woven in. He is such a goodamn incredible stand-up comedian.

A few things he talked about in his set:

That time the US dropped nukes on itself twice (which was briefly mentioned on LWT but not in this detail and not including a reenactment of a man dropping a bomb while working on a plane and him reacting to watching it roll away).

That the current British royal line of succession exists because of a "cousin-fucker who cut someone into pieces like a Benihana chef". (John told us this is something he learned researching this bit, which caused me unending joy. I love that he's making new sets!! :D)

John delights in the misery of billionaires and wished that the rocket Jeff Bezos was on would blow up. He doesn't want him to die, though. Through this he also talked about Elon Musk and his favorite fake blue check company tweets, mainly a series made by a fake Chiquita account claiming to have overthrown Brazil, followed by Chiquita saying they hadn't actually overthrown any governments since 1954.

John got booed at a Sesame Street benefit and told a killer set of jokes about Bert judging him for it. ("The man lives with Ernie! He knows chaos!")

He claims we will all know things are okay with the US again when we are all irrationally mad at Anne Hathaway for no reason again. Told an incredible story about how he just blundered into the street in LA once, almost got hit by a car, looked up, realized it was Anne Hathaway in the car, saw her wave at him, and, despite the scenario being objectively his fault, being somehow mad at her.

Shaded Dave Chappelle in an analogy about how we are not at Civil War division times because "somehow our level of division is people debating whether Chapelle's SNL monologue was okay or not", in a way that suggested it was very much not okay. 10/10 no notes.

Okay so there was one recycled bit - him being informed the Queen wanted to give him an OBE. He added to it fantastically though, by personifying the man from the embassy as the most offensively British stereotype you could possibly imagine. He said the man sounded like "if a British person rubbed a teapot and a genie came out".

There was definitely more but I could gush forever so let's move on.

Brooks came back out to introduce Seth and forgot the name of his show, lol. For a brief moment we all contemplated what Last Week Tonight with Seth Meyers would look like. (I assume the show's Adam Driver would be Stefon.)

Anyways, here is the only good photo I took of Seth.

Seth was great as well - not as good as John, but I'm very biased in that regard. The material was also pretty diametrically opposed to John's, much more domestic comedy about his wife and kids and their idiosyncracies.

I really liked Seth's energy and approach. I don't quite know how to explain this, but he had a touch of Dennis Reynolds energy to him, a restrained manicness, that was really interesting to watch. That's not my normal association with Seth's energy, either, but it was very fun. Definitely puts some of the more deranged things from his tenure as Weekend Update host in context.

Some highlights from Seth's set:

He had an amazing brick joke about doing accents as a comedian, where he imitated a Swedish accent and talked about how everyone's Swedish accent is basically the Swedish Chef from the Muppets and how the only Swedish food anyone has nearby is the meatballs at IKEA. Funny on its own, but later in the show, Seth talked about how people assume he's fully Jewish, including people on the street. He noted that he's 25% Swedish but no one comes up to him on the street and goes -insert Swedish Chef impression-. (This straight up killed the guy sitting next to me, who ended up laughing with his head in his hands for a solid 30 seconds.)

His kids eat very healthily, so when they end up going to friends' houses and eat one Skittle, they turn into demons. Literal demons. Seth's impression of an actual demon trying to undo a double-buckled car seat was the hardest I laughed at his whole set.

Seth also had a section which he claimed would be the part where he'd tell anti-trans jokes "if he was a complete asshole". I enjoyed the trans affirmation the whole evening, ngl.

Seth's family and his wife's family have very different ways of conversing at the dinner table, which directly mirrors my and my partner's family - Seth's family (like Mr. Lee's) is big on listening to everyone and contributing to conversations only when someone else has talked; Alexi's family (like mine) is constantly screaming over each other.

After Seth's set, everyone (including Brooks) came out to do a Q&A. I could not think of a song in the moment, but realized at the hotel room an hour after that I should have made @chiijohn 's evening by asking John's opinion on Planet of the Bass. :facepalm: Sorry mate!

Still, some great questions were asked, and it was about 30 minutes of just audience interaction. I've never experienced anything like it at a stand-up gig and genuinely loved it. John, of course, told people they were free to leave before the Q&A because why would they want to stay; the man is incapable of thinking anything good about himself and much as I hate his bad self-esteem, I would have been concerned if he hadn't said something to that effect.

Brooks was asked almost immediately if he remembered the name of Seth's show, which was honestly hilarious. Brooks said "I conferred with John backstage and we're both pretty sure that it's Late Night with Seth Meyers".

Someone asked how fearful Seth and John were of their shows being cancelled after one year, and Brooks snarked that he knew that feeling. (Brooks seems to have a good sense of humour about not being a huge presence on SNL.) Seth said that he wasn't super worried but that they redid his entire set (background set, not stand-up set) because Alec Baldwin said it looked like "a sushi restaurant in Burbank". (theoniontheworstpersonyouknow.jpg) John said he was told most HBO shows don't get cancelled at one season and he said "we'll see about that".

There was definitely some extended riffing on Alec Baldwin being a piece of shit afterwards, while John giggled helplessly. I love John's giggling.

Seth and John's favorite Muppet is Cookie Monster. They talked about how interesting it is that you can have amazing chemistry with Muppets, and then meet the puppeteer and have literally nothing to talk about. Seth also talked about how low-tech Big Bird was, and how the late Carroll Spinney, when on SNL, held a script in one hand, the controls of Big Bird in the other, and a flashlight in his mouth to read the script.

Everyone is upset they didn't get to cover the indictments because of the Writer's Strike. John thought there were only 3, but I honestly don't know if one of them came down before the Writer's Strike and he was just referring to the ones since then. It's been a long few months for us all.

Brooks basically forces John and Seth to get out of their hotel rooms when touring. Otherwise, Seth said, "they both just sit there anxious". That tracks, especially for John, who literally said on Seth's podcast that he is physically incapable of relaxing.

When asked about their influences, John said (rather obviously) that he wouldn't have a career without Jon Stewart, and Brooks talked about how both Seth and John really uplifted him and cared for him after he got fired from SNL. Seth talked in a really lovely way about how Amy Poehler basically adopted him and got him out of his shell and was a real friend to him early on.

I really wish I'd written down every stand-up that the three of them recommended when prompted, because I've completely blanked on half of them. Seth said Joe Pera (who I also highly recommend); John recommended Maria Bamford (again, also highly recommend). He also said that most people in the room would have probably not heard of him but that the best in the UK was Daniel Kitson (paging @tellthemeerkatsitsfine to provide her recs bc she knows Kitson backwards and fronts). Brooks gave a shout to Kyle Kinane (who I am not as familiar with as I should be).

There was so much more, but honestly, I was just so in the moment that I feel like I remember things in waves. It was an amazing evening and I was honestly so blessed to be there at all.

I did not wait at the stage door or anything, because I am truly not that kind of person and have consistently been sure that if I ever met John, I'd barf on his shoes. I know on Instagram some people had gotten stage door photos, though, and I'm happy for them!

Thank you all for always being supportive of this dumb blog. I don't think I would have had the confidence to go on this cross-country journey without you all randomly egging me on all the time. It was one of the best nights of my life. 💖💖

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

More stand-up shows I’ve watched recently:

Iceman – The Final Block (2024)

I bought this off Go Faster Stripe because I know the Iceman is supposed to be a big part of alternative comedy history. Or at least, a big part of alternative comedy history the way Stewart Lee tells it, which, to be honest, makes up a fair bit of my knowledge of it. Not just Lee though, I’ve heard plenty of comedians talking about the wildest side of alt-comedy that they can think of it, and usually the go-to example is “there used to be this one guy whose whole act was just melting ice.”

In 2024, that guy came back to do a “final performance” that got filmed by GFS, and I watched it to find out whether melting ice can, in fact, be funny.

I didn’t really find that out from this video, because he didn’t actually melt any ice in that video. Instead he did a lecture on the ice melting exploits that he used to get up to, while showing off the various props and contraptions that he used to use, and occasionally spraying ice-related substances and throwing things at people. That, however, was fucking hilarious. Absolutely brilliant forty minutes. I can’t tell whether it bears any relation to the actual act he used to do, but I do know that this was very entertaining, even without the context of having seen his actual act.

I know that he did end up melting some ice at that show, because a friend of mine attended it in person (it was recorded in London, in September 2024), and that friend sent me a video of the Iceman going outside after the show ended, and throwing a large block of ice on the ground in the parking lot, until it shattered. But this was not part of the GFS film.

I can’t tell how much of the fumbling around was planned, and I’ve come away with more questions than answers about what the Iceman actually was. A comedian? A performance artist? Did he genuinely make the actual act of melting ice funny, or was his old act also mainly about saying funny things while standing around near ice? I watched this video to find out, and I still have no idea. But I did have a fantastic time watching it. It was very good.

Mark Thomas – Alive (2005), Serious Organized Criminal (2007), Walking the Wall (2011), Bravo Figaro (2012), Cuckooed (2014), The Red Shed (2016)

These are shows I’ve had downloaded for ages, because I know that Mark Thomas is the sort of comedian I should be into, but I only just recently sat down and watch them all (thought this isn’t quite all of them – I have two further Mark Thomas specials downloaded that I’ve still to watch). Because I know he’s a legend of old school political alternative comedy, and I’m a big fan of all that stuff. I took too long to get into Robert Newman too, and once I did, I loved it. This is my sort of thing.

But to be honest, I think I kind of wanted to find Mark Thomas overrated. I know he’s supposed to be such a big deal in a certain type of comedy, and I know he’s also supposed to be a shitty person in real life, and I kind of wanted to watch his specials and think “This is one of those things that has its value over-inflated by its own legendary status.” I think because of how often I see people complaining that there’s no political comedy anymore, like in the glory days with Mark Thomas. Like Andy Zaltzman and Nish Kumar and Guy Williams and Laura Davies and Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Milo Edwards and Alice Fraser and Josie Long and Robin Ince and Tom Ballard and Ahir Shah don’t exist. Because what these people mean is that they think the only political comedy that counts is if it’s made by someone who’s over sixty years old (I realize Robin Ince is skirting pretty close to the “old white men over sixty” category, but he throws his lot in with the younger generation enough for me to associate him more with them). By old white men who weren’t that great, actually, they were all cheating on their wives and stuff.

So I’m somewhat disappointed to say that I’ve now watched those Mark Thomas specials, and fuck, he’s brilliant. Yeah, fair enough, this one deserves the legendary status. Particularly those last three that I watched in a row – Bravo Figaro, Cuckooed, The Red Shed. Oh my God. All three perfect hours. Brilliant use of all kinds of tools, multimedia and audience participation and props and sets, but in ways that felt utterly seamless to make the stories come alive. I was drawn into the narratives as effectively as if I’d been watching a full-cast play, but it was still just a one-man stand-up comedy show.

Yeah, fair enough, I’m going to have to concede that Mark Thomas was incredibly talented and impressive and deserves his place as the bar to which other political comedy is compared. On the other hand, I have heard a bit of Mark Thomas do a short set much more recently, and I wasn’t all that impressed by that one. And there were some parts of a few of the shows that felt… okay, I hate it when people call a comedian “smug” or “preachy” as an insult, because a lot of my favourite comedy is both smug and preachy, I generally mean those words in a good way. Maybe I’m just unable to decouple Mark Thomas on stage from the stuff about him being a shitty person in real life. Maybe because of that, I occasionally found small moments in his shows a rare instance of a comedian being smug in a way that bothered me. “Smug in a bad way” is definitely how I’d describe the stuff I heard him do last year, in a much less polished form, in a mixed-bill club format.

But whatever those issues may be with his rougher material, I’m glad I saw his proper, polished hours, because God, he cleans up well. I am now quite excited to see him in Edinburgh this summer, late night at The Stand (the proper stand, the main room where the film the Stewart Lee stuff, a room that I didn’t manage to get into last year and really want to fix that this year because it’s such a big chunk of comedy history), which feels like the way you’re supposed to see such old school alternative comedians.

Benjamin Alborough and friends – Late Night Wogan (2024)

The main friends, on this particular night, were: Will Sebag-Montefiore as Jordan Peterson, Jason Byrne as Tommy Cooper, Eleanor Morton as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Matt Tedford as Margaret Thatcher, and Sam Campbell as Anthony Hopkins. The night in question was August 23, 2024. It was a late-night show at the Edinburgh Fringe, in which as far as I can tell, the premise is that comedian Benjamin Alborough plays the role of Terry Wogan, and brings in different comedians on different nights, to play different comedians who get interviewed on Terry Wogan’s talk show. You do not need any prior knowledge of Terry Wogan’s talk show to enjoy the show. I can confirm this, because I’ve never seen Terry Wogan’s talk show (here’s a complete summary of things I know about Terry Wogan: he was a very famous and popular talk show host, he was Irish, he died relatively recently), and I greatly enjoyed the show. Aside from some pre-prepared questions, it’s pretty much entirely improvised. It seems to be based on, but separate from, Benjamin Alborough’s actual stand-up hour, in which he also plays the character of Terry Wogan. Which I’ve seen him do bits of on those ACMS streams. I think this is what’s going on.

It took me until quite a ways into the show to work out even that much about what’s going on in it, and by the end I still had a number of questions, but I had a fantastic time watching it. It feels predictable, at this point, for me to write the words “Sam Campbell stole the show”, because Sam Campbell always steals the show, shouldn’t something else happen once in a while? But Sam Campbell did steal the show. I don’t want to spoil an huge amount because I think people should watch this, but right when I was just getting to the point where I’d figured out what was going on in this situation, Sam Campbell turned up on stage with a lighter and tried to burn the building down. You can’t let a guy go to those lengths, and then not give him credit for stealing the show.

But Eleanor Morton was also very entertain, as I expected, as Andrew Lloyd Webber/Phantom of the Opera, not seeming to have worked out whether she was the writer or the character, with hilarious results. And I’d not heard of the guy who put on a Margaret Thater wig, or the guy who was doing a surprisingly accurate impressive of Jordan Peterson’s weird voice, but they were also both great.

Then Jason Byrne came out as Tommy Cooper, and I’m not a fan of Jason Byrne’s actual stand-up, but he seems like a cool guy, and he was really funny too. I did write a post yesterday about how I’d purchased that video, and in it, I mentioned that I want to try to see some stuff like this in Edinburgh this year. Late-night wild improved mixed-bill things, in the vein of those old Late ‘n’ Lives where they took cows apart and had “Zaltzhorse night” and wrestled while wrapped in bubble wrap, and I know Late ‘n’ Live doesn’t do that anymore, but other shows do. I mentioned bubble wrap wrestling in that post, because there are videos on YouTube of Jason Byrne and DO’D doing bubble wrap-clad wrestling at Late ‘n’ Live in 2003, and they’re great. So I appreciate that Jason Byrne was still doing weird late-night Edinburgh shows 21 years later. And so is David O’Doherty – I heard stories of him playing ping-pong with Sam Campbell on some other late-night show in Edinburgh last year.

So I ask again – does anyone know where I can see stuff like that in Edinburgh 2025? Because the programme is full of that sort of thing, and I can’t tell which ones will be any good. I can research everything else, I have carefully curated my schedule of solo stand-up hours according to what comedians I like. It’s harder to do that with this shit, and yes I do realize that taking risks on the unknown is part of the point of Experiencing The Fringe.

Anyway, the Late Night Wogan show can be bought on Go Faster Stripe here, and I really recommend it to anyone who likes this sort of thing. Particularly to the many Sam Campbell fans on Tumblr. Maybe particularly to @thenaturalfriends, if anyone would like a hit of that spark that make people so into his brand of whatever it is that Sam Campbell does.

[universalray]

yami sukehiro x reader wip

(another one whoops)

New World

W/C: 5692, 2 chapters

// back story/plot stuff

NOT PROOF READ :(

a/n: I wrote the majority of this in a journal while I was working 12 hour shifts (and I had to explain what I was doing because my coworker asked)

Prerequisite

I woke up from the impact of being slammed into a brick wall. All I could feel was the immense pain in my upper back and scratches that were light but irritable.

Once I was able to withstand the pain, I mustered my eyes open to a shadowy alley in the midst of a bright sunny day. Carefully standing with my hands on my knees, I gathered my surroundings. There was no one else in this alleyway except for me. I walked towards the noise of a busy street, catching my eye were colorful beams and blurs wriggled through space in between. It was hard to tell what was going on, upon closer look there were floating bubbles and flames. My astonishment was quickly interrupted with a deep shove into my shoulder.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!", someone heckled. I turned to see who it could be but they disappeared in the crowd... or floated in the air? Someone was on a broom above everyone else and I stood in shock at what was happening. I tried to see if anyone else was seeing the person floating in the air but no one seemed to acknowledge them. However, something caught my smell and my stomach decided to tell me it was empty.

I tried to ignore the strange flying brooms-man and follow the scent that called my hunger. I weaved between the wondrous crowd, baffled by the abnormality of what seemed normal.

The stall that caught my nose was pork but with an unconventional fire. The chef held the fire in his hand while turning the pork body, allowing it to be evenly roasted. I broke my neck trying to figure out how he was lighting the fire.

"Excuse me," I started, "Where is that fire coming from—?"

The chef only looked at me with confusion, "You mean my magic?" He replied.

"Your... what?" I questioned, even more confused than I was before, not knowing what he meant.

He laughed, the deepest belly laugh as if he was never told a joke before in his life.

"Y'know, my magic! My affiliate is fire so I'm able to use my magic ability to cook!" He stated.

I blankly stared at him, unsure of what to respond. Someone tapped me on the shoulder to break me out of my trance,

"You act like you've never heard of magic before!" the voice following the tap giggled.

I turned to look at the one addressing me, her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and her

blue-ish green eyes glistened with joy.

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"You're joking right? This girl is so funny!", they laughed with the chef. Anyone would have assumed I was a comedian.

I lowered my voice, "I really have no idea what this magic thing is about. Is that why people are flying and holding fire?"

The chef and the other person's laughs drifted off, and they realized I wasn't joking.

"Where are you from..?" The chef asked, but once I tried to recall my memories nothing came up.

My brows were furrowed deep into my forehead trying to think of anything, anything from my past.

I hesitantly spoke, "I... I don't know".

"Well, do you at least know your name?"

"Uh.. mm..." I looked around and up at the sky as if it were to help me find my name,

"N-no..", I sheepishly admitted.

"Well, my name is Lira, it seems like someone must've hit you with some kind of spell to make you lose your memory," Lira said, but with my eyes still lost she just gave me a trying smile.

"Now I know you don't know me, er— you don't seem to know anything at that, but let me try and help you out!", she exclaimed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and tossing a few coins towards the chef.

Lira bought us lunch, which I thanked her for countless times, and she led me away from the bustling streets.

Once we reached what seemed like the edge, the crowd had died down and few travelers lingered.

Since they were gone I was able to really focus on Lira and all the nonsense she was talking about.

She was telling me about magic and mana, the very essences of life in this country, in this world. Her teal rich eyes sparkled as she talked about different affiliates and how everyone had their own magic.

She stopped meters away from a forest and brought out a broom, "You ready for a ride?", she asked, with a smile beaming from ear to ear.

I looked at her and then at the broom...

and then back at her,

"you're joking right?", I told her, and she just firmly shook her head no.

She put her right leg up and over the broom so it sat comfortably in between.

"This is how you should sit, assuming this is your first time riding a broom", she demonstrated, patting behind her motioning me to sit.

"No shot I'm doing that." I said, leading her to bring her leg back over the broom and grab my arm.

"You've gotta get used to it anyways cutie!", Lira winked and snuck the broom under me, sitting with both legs on one side, she made the broom fly up a few feet. Allowing me to get adjusted she waited until I was ready, though that felt like never because I liked my feet on the ground.

I was freaking out. My knees were together and I had both hands at the tip of the broom, tight enough to give me splinters. Lira wrapped her hands around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder, "It'll be a short trip to my village and I promise I won't let you fall".

My staggered breath slowly evened out and with one deep breath she took off to her village.

She flew slow enough to where I could actually enjoy the ride and appreciate the scenic forest below. Soon enough came a clearing in the woods and one by one man-made buildings came into view. Lira descended near a house built next to a river and set her transportation up on the wall.

"Well, this is home!" She said, throwing her arms open wide showcasing the small home beside her.

There were clothes blowing in the wind on the side and stacks of logs just in front of the house. The house was not at all big but seemed to hold all the necessities for basic living. Multiple fishing poles lined the other side of this shack, with a dirt path that led out to the river to what you would assume is a fishing dock.

"I do a lot of fishing and sell them in my village and the city, other than that I'm honing my magic and training to be the best!" Lira shouted the ending, placing one foot on an upturned bucket and striking a strong pose.

Still shaken up from that broom ride I mustered out a laugh, "I don't think you showed me what magic you have", I pointed out, sparking Lira with excitement to show me.

"Be ready to be amazed—," she thundered, squatting low and throwing her arms out in front of her and into the dirt.

One by one small dirt figures rose and marched their way towards me,

"Ta-da!" Lira exclaimed, out of breath from her hard work.

I crouched down to get a closer look, "This is really amazing, to be able to control the earth like this,"

Lira turned her face away from my eyes and scratched the back of her neck, "Well it's not as amazing as some people but it can be handy!

For smaller tasks...", she said that last part more quietly but I chose to ignore it.

"Oh right!" Lira's thoughts materialized and she lost focus of her little dirt men,

"What's your magic?"

I looked at her in disbelief, "I just found out what magic is and you expect me to know what I can do?"

She slowly nodded her head, understanding that it wouldn't make sense for me to just know what's going on with my magic.

"Well we can at least try and see what you have, I can sense some mana in you so I know you've got something!"

Lira grabbed my hands and turned my palms up facing the sky, "Now, just focus your energy into your hands,"

"I feel like this isn't going to work Lira.." I said, doubting the mana that she supposedly sees in me.

"I'm sure it'll be alright, just close your eyes, take a deep breath and let go—," Lira instructed.

I sighed, closed my eyes and took that deep breath.

A faint purple light broke through my eyelids, causing me to open my eyes and see what was happening.

There was a small galaxy in the palm of my hands. Every star glistening and shining, light traveling into the center and a weight of power stimulated through my veins.

"Woah... I've never seen this magic before! Is it space magic? Or.. or universe magic—?" Lira questioned excitedly, but I knew what it was, better than my own name.

"Cosmic Magic," I said, "I can manifest the stars in my hands..." I lifted my hands slowly and allowed the galaxy to expand, covering Lira and me.

Lira gasped, "You're so talented! We have got to get you a grimoire as soon as we can!", she went to get her broom again and held her hand out for me to hold.

"A.. what?" I asked, placing my hand in hers, trusting her little by little.

"A grimoire! It's a book that everyone gets that lets them use spells, it's super helpful!" Lira beamed, lifting off and racing to the nearest grimoire tower. I wrapped my arms and legs around her torso as she sped through the sky, terrified of looking down while she was so determined.

We finally landed and I wanted to sink into the dirt, but Lira grabbed my wrist and led me inside.

As we entered we were greeted with sunlight breaking through weathered cracks in the wall and a soft breeze carrying the dusty leather book smell past our faces.

Lira pushed me towards the center, motioning me to keep going and demonstrated what I should do to receive my grimoire.

I gave her a small nod and turned towards the books, raising my hands up with no expectations.

(I get the grimoire, we explain the cosmic power blah blah blah this bitch dies and then we move on to the main story, holy shit why are you writing so much FOR THE BACKSTORY???)

Ch 2

In the city, tucked away in the shadows, I was finishing up a binding spell on a bandit.

I've been catching bad guys on the low, trying to get an answer on Lira's death. It's been easy to sneak around, all you need is a dark colored cloak and a mana suppressor.

There was a lot of commotion nearby so I decided to take a look and make sure there wasn't any more trouble.

Some rowdy kid was chasing a thief who had some old lady's purse, with some other guys laughing at him in the distance.

I noticed they had magic knight capes, but I didn't know much about the knights. All I knew was that they weren't helpful since I've been taking care of the 'knight work' in villages.

I came to the conclusion it didn't need my attention so I turned my back and continued the opposite way.

"Hey"

I heard a voice call out behind me. I turned just enough to see, but kept my head low enough to still cover my face. All I could see was a body of some macho man wearing a cape.

"You tie those guys up in that alley?" he questioned. I slightly shook my head, and I turned to keep walking. He slowly circled around me, "You seem mighty suspicious though, what's the deal with the cloak man?", finishing his sentence in front of me.

I quietly lied, "it's chilly.."

"Really? This bright, beautiful sunny day and you're cold."

He stepped closer, "Listen, I've got a bad history with weirdos in cloaks so you need to tell me your intentions."

All I could do was sigh, I didn't want to be involved with the magic knights. I knew they would catch on eventually, so I just took my hood off and looked this man in the eyes.

His appearance was rugged with wild hair and determined eyes, a sword rested on his shoulder.

"My name is y/n, and I am not an enemy."

He looked me up and down, blew a puff of his cigarette,

"What am I supposed to just trust you like that?"

I rolled my eyes,

"Of course you wouldn't. I'll just show you."

I used my magic to bring the bandits between us.

"So it was you," he smiled, putting his sword away and crossing his arms.

"I don't think I've seen you before, you a magic knight?"

I scoffed, "No sir." I said in a mocking tone.

He laughed, "You should definitely join. Hell

you could even join my squad."

I tilted my head to the side, baffled by this statement, "You just met me and you're asking me to join your magic knight squad?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun and you'll get recognized for all the bad guys you caught, plus it seems like you do this often." He was trying his best to persuade me, but I made my mind up a long time ago.

"Oh I've never done this before I swear," I said in a sarcastic manner.

"Yeah, yeah, come join us, we've got a good crew with the Black Bulls. Oh, I'm Yami Sukehiro by the way, Captain of the Black Bulls."

I placed my hand on my hip and told him,

"If I wanted to join the magic knights, I'm pretty confident that I would've done it sooner,"

I stepped closer to him, pushing the group of bandits down and using them as steps. Once I towered over him, I bent at the hip to be eye level, close enough to feel his breath on my face.

"and if I did join, I doubt I'd want to be on the misfit squad."

He let out a trailing sigh and scratched his head,

"Well, it was worth a shot, but think about it. We'll see each other again, I'm sure of it." with that said he turned around and mumbled something out of my ear shot. I just brushed it off and headed home.

I got to my humble shack on the riverside and saw a note to my door. It mentioned Lira's death and a location. I was at a standstill. Why would anyone mention her after it's been years since she passed? I turned around to head to this location, and I came face-to-face with this botched bowl cut.

"Who—,"

"Y/n, I'm Marx, the Wizard Kings' advisor. I'm here to tell you that we've been tracking a group of thieves that seem to have a connection to a secret organization."

I looked at him, dumbfounded,

"The fuck does that have to do with me?" I bluntly said, shocking to him that I was being aggressive, but I didn't have time for this.

"We've received a letter that mentioned we should tell you this organization is related to someone by the name of Lira."

I almost jumped in the screen to grab him, but it didn't seem like I could physically do that.

"Where's this organization at?" I questioned.

"The Wizard King would like to discuss with you a course of action to take, please come to the Clover Castle in the morning to meet with him."

With that last sentence Marx went away and I didn't get a chance to reply.

I took a deep breath and prepared for confronting the possible murderers of my past love. I couldn't sleep at all that night, so I decided to start traveling. Since I took my broom, it was a slow ride but I arrived just in time. I was dead tired, though, my nerves gave me a lot of adrenaline.

I stepped into the meeting room and was met with multiple pairs of eyes and... a child. Marx was standing next to this kid. I recognized one other person, who had a sly smile on his mug.

"We're glad you could make it y/n, based on the information we received you're going to be an asset to this mission." The kid broke the silence. Then continued, noticing how confused I was.

"I am Julius Novachrono, the wizard King. It's... a long story."

"No need to explain, just tell me about the mission", I replied.

"Straightforward, just we need."

He went on to explain that there's been a lot of suspicious activity reported from bandits that were found already tied up.

Apparently Marx's magic is able to see anyone's memories, which is how they could piece everything together.

"What did they say about Lira?", I asked, getting impatient.

"All I know is they asked for someone named y/n and to tell them Lira is involved." Julius said.

I clenched my fist, "When are we getting to these people?"

Julius went on and explained the plan:

We were to scout potential areas and gather information, once we identified the headquarters we'll regroup and discuss a more detailed plan of infiltration.

"What's your deal with this person anyways" Captain Yami asked, and I cut him a cold stare.

"That's none of your business"

Some silver headed bird looking bitch interjected, "Well it could be a big deal if this information is vital to this mission."

I pinched my brows and sighed with annoyance, "There was someone close to me who got murdered, I've been trying to find out what happened for years and nothing came up. Looks like they want me now."

The Wizard King nodded as he listened.

"Okay, we'll start with a scouting rendezvous tonight and split up in between four locations,

y/n we'll send you to the location that's most likely the headquarters. The other three could be decoys—,"

Julius started to make assignments. The captain of the purple orcas went to the second likely locations with members of his squad going to another place.

"Fuegoleon, you can go with y/n—,"

"Hell no let me be with her," Captain Yami cut this man off with a quickness.

"I want her on my squad anyways", he stated confidently, but I looked at him with disgust. There's no way he just said that when we're discussing a mission and in front of the other captains, plus the wizard king. This guy's dense.

"Oh, I'm sure anyone would love to have her on their squad. She's been rounding up bad guys for years", Julius said. That threw me off guard because I was being sneaky of about it. I guess they could see me in those memories. I decided to ignore it and move on, this mission was important to me and we need to get moving,

"I don't care who joins me, just tell me where I need to go." I said.

Yami beamed, "Exactly why I need her."

I side-eyed the fuck out of him, but he just gave me a goofier smile.

The Wizard king finished the meeting with some other stuff that I decided wasn't useful for me and dipped midway. He told me what I needed and there was no point in staying.

Just as I was about to get on my broom a hand reached out and grab it.

It was Yami.

I let out a dramatic sigh, "What could you possibly need now?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "That meeting was killing me and you walked out like you needed somewhere to be. Since we're going to be scouting together, I thought 'well why not get to know each other a little before I'm stuck with you all night"'

I gave him a pitiful look, "Is that really why you followed me out of that meeting?"

He nodded yes and said, "Well where are you going in such a hurry anyways?"

"I was going to look at the potential headquarters."

He pretended to look shocked, "Oh, really? Then you don't mind if I join you? I'm guessing this the real reason you didn't care about who you paired up with cause you were just gonna go and do it yourself."

I put my hands on my hips "Wow you're so observant and smart. I wish all men were like you" I said sarcastically.

He seemed to perk up when I said that and started stretching. "Yeah, well I am the best man out there."

I smacked my lips together, "Whatever, are you coming or what?"

Yami grabbed my broom and lifted me up from my waist. He threw me over his shoulder and took off. I was too stunned of what he did to respond right away and then he asked,

"You all right girlie?"

I lift myself up as much as I could on his back. "Why would you carry me like this? You could've taken your own broom."

He chuckled, "It's easier this way."

I hit him on the back of his head.

"Just put me down so I can sit myself, you idiot," I told him.

Yami grabbed my waist with both hands, tossing me behind him like I weighed nothing. Thankfully, I had a grip on his little jacket and situated myself to sit behind him, but it seemed like he got choked up on something.

"Maybe hold onto something else next time before you're tossed around." Yami managed to say, coughing in between words.

"You're saying next time like I'll let you throw me again." I jabbed back.

I placed my hands around his waist because it's been a while since I've flown with someone else and I didn't know if this dude can fly well.

We arrived just outside the vicinity of the target location so I pulled out broken mana suppressor bracelets.

"Give me your hand." I directed Yami. As he complied I put the bracelet around his wrist and cast a spell to keep it together.

"It's janky so I have to enhance it with a spell." I explained.

"Wow you're prepared." Yami stated.

"It doesn't hurt to be ready."

I start looking around for the best viewpoint. There was a church nearby.

"Let's get up there." I suggested.

Before we reached the top of the bell tower I used my magic to cast a mirage spell. It would blur our appearance to others so we're not super noticeable.

"You've got some pretty handy tricks little lady, I know exactly where you could put these skills to work," he winked at me, but I chose not to respond.

"There's a storage building over there. That has to be where they're working." I pointed out.

Just then someone left building wearing ragged clothes and acting suspicious.

Yami handed me a pair of binoculars, and once I could see who it was I felt like my heart stopped.

That was one of the men fleeing the scene after I found Lira on her last breath.

My blood started boiling.

"You know 'em?" Yami asked, but I couldn't bring myself to reply. My grip was so tight it ended up cracking the binoculars he gave me.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said quietly.

The suspect went around the back of the building and my body started moving on its own.

I went around in the trees, circling in towards the building. Yami didn't say anything, but followed my every step. We got to the back just as the suspect sunk into the wall. I tried to step off the branch but then Yami stuck his arm out to hold me back.

I shot him a glare and he started to say something, but I wasn't going to wait any longer. All those years of looking and who I've been searching for is right in front of my face. I yanked my arm back and went ahead into the building.

I was met with a bunch of boxes in front of the hidden entryway and along the parallel walls. I used my mirage spell and traversed deeper inside.

I started to hear heavy footsteps behind me and I quickly turned around to be met immediately with a hand that covered my mouth to be quiet.

It was just Yami, I didn't know how he could see me but now wasn't the time, so I silently extended the mirage to him. We crept around the edge of the walls and started to hear someone arguing until it was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Enough! The whole reason we're doing this is to get to y/n. She's all we need now."

It sounded just like—

It couldn't be...

I peaked around the corner to see who was talking.

It was Lira.

Seeing her made me lose focus on all my spells, the bracelets broke and my mirage dissipated.

Lira looked up at me, now standing in full view of her with my mouth agape and hands shaking.

Yami stepped out behind me and positioned himself to be ready in case things pop off.

"Well well well look what the cat dragged in..."

Lira announced.

"H-how..." I began, she died in my arms years ago and I've been trying to avenge her death this whole time. How was she in front of me?

"You must be surprised to see me" she giggled, stepping closer into the light. I could see her clear as day, there's no doubt that's her.

I could barely find my voice, or the questions to even begin to ask.

She looked at me with pity, "You really have no idea do you? I guess I could really get away with anything."

She went on to explain that she worked for thieves and wanted to use my magic to help. There were other groups that were after her and started to be suspicious of me.

"Well, I needed those guys off my back and for them to think you were useless! I rarely taught you combat skills so you could prove just that."

She continued, "Faking my death was so easy, I used my earth magic to mimic my body being stuck and impaled, and did you know they have potions to temporarily stop your heart?"

I just stood in disbelief, but Yami was able to ask the right questions, "Why are you telling us this?"

"Because, silly, you guys aren't leaving! You, sir, definitely aren't leaving alive anyways," she clarified.

Yami stepped forward, but I held my arm out to restrict him from going past me.

Without breaking eye contact with Lira, I told Yami, "She's mine."

I understood everything now, she lied to me. It was hard to believe but I put a few pieces together when she wasn't with me in the past.

Ooh I was angry. All that grief and mourning I did was for some disgusting, lying bitch.

"So all those principles you taught me about this world, were just empty? How could you be doing all this fucked up shit and tell me that I should be putting others first—," I didn't need to finish my thought, I already knew.

"You wanted me to be some soft bitch." I yelled.

I stepped up closer to her, "And to think I actually fell in love with you.. you're fucking disgusting."

"Now now, y/n, we can be together again! I just need your powerful magic so we can eventually take over the kingdom and make everyone do our bidding."

"You're a fucking joke." I started gathering mana in my hands, preparing to launch an attack spell.

"Oh is this what we're doing? Just so you know I'm not the weakling I used to be way back then." Lira taunted. I couldn't wait to bash her head in the ground.

"Cosmic magic, galactic sword!" I summoned my galaxy sword, causing stardust to gather near me.

Yami starts taking out the side characters one by one, though I'm not paying close attention to him.

Lira summons her little dirt men, but they start gathering together to create

Holding my sword deep in Lira's abdomen, I could tell she was generally afraid of death this time.

"If I find you again, I'll just kill you, over and over again." I said through gritted teeth.

She chuckled, "I believe you, you've always been so strong... I was jealous. I guess that's why I didn't wanna compromise your good heart."

She took a deep breath, "I could tell you'd be too good to stoop down to my level anyways."

I was fighting back tears. If only we could've talked about this before.

"Don't piss me off, you made your decision and used me at your expense."

I lifted my sword and swung it down, throwing her off to the ground.

"You're not going to try and help me this time?," she jokingly said.

I turned my back to her, only glancing back to glare at her.

" Wow, didn't know I had an audience..." I said as I saw Yami and two other magic knight captains. I remember them from the meeting, but I don't think I was introduced. Yami had this stupid look on his face as usual, and the other two nodded at me in approval.

" I see you were able to take care of things ahead of schedule." The ginger said.

I explained, "I'm just cleaning up my past. It was nothing."

We exited out the front where a few magic knights were sending off the last bit of henchman to the castle. "I don't think we've had a chance to introduce ourselves, I'm Nozel Silva, Captain of the Silver Eagles." he motioned to the other captain, "This is Fuegoleon, Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings."

Nozel continued, "You should head back with us so we can debrief the wizard king."

I looked him up and down, confused, "I'm not even a magic knight--", Yami snuck behind me and threw his beefy arm over my shoulder,

"Come on, it's not like you're doing anything anyways. Didn't you say you were looking for these people for years? What else you got goin' on?", he said.

"Well...", I didn't really respond, but he was right. For years I've been trying to find the answer, and Lira was just toying with me the whole time. I guess it would be nice to keep doing what I already know.

Before I could really respond, Nozel summoned his ride and offered us a lift to the castle. We arrived at the castle as the sun was setting, and I was able to brief Julius on everything.

"I can't be completely mad at you for ignoring my orders since you're not a magic knight, but I am grateful that it was nothing too dangerous and you guys were able to neutralize the enemy." Julius said after I finished debriefing.

"Yeah she was kicking ass Julius. You gotta convince her to join my squad, we could use someone like her." Yami cut in.

"Dude, I can make that decision for myself." I told him. I stood up to leave but I stopped at the door, "It wouldn't hurt to become a magic knight, let alone a black bull. It's not like I'm doing anything anyways..." I looked Yami in the eyes before I left the building, and he nodded.

I stopped just outside the entrance to admire the sunset. "So, you wanna join?" Yami asked plainly, catching up to me once again.

"I'm not too sure what else I would do, but it makes sense to keep catching the bad guys, right?"

"Of course," Yami reassured me, "You'll find more purpose and family if you join up with us."

I slowly nodded my head, acknowledging his statement. I hesitated before finally making the decision and saying, "I'll join. I just need to clean out my home."

Captain Yami smiled ear to ear, throwing his arm around my neck, "I'll come get ya in the morning,"

blank. I'll meet you in the center.

Perfect he smiled and stuck out the same for me to shake. I took it and he almost ripped my arm off

geez man trying to break me before you get a chance to fly by your side

and I know you're tougher than that he's like the fuck out of heck

it's just I wasn't paying any attention to him when we were playing, but I at least know he can hold his own and at least hope so knowing this fool is a captain.

He said goodbye and headed home to prepare for joining the magic. I went back to where the last of my belongings were and made sure I wasn't leaving anything Important. I decided to finally get some sleep and drifted away as soon as my head I woke up just as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

I talked about all the good times we had and how she used to make me so happy and my heart just sunk since all that was fake. I want my wet face off and get ready for the day I stopped by Leah's grave to look one last time she's really gone this time.

I hope I really really wanted to pick up her tombstone and check it, but I didn't want to disrespect that I kicked the dirt before heading to the center of the village. Someone was beaming awake now figure that you wouldn't show that highlight shave my head if I didn't I feel like I'd be seeing you more often.

There was another black ball behind him with an interesting green in his hair funeral, let's go home ordered him. I gave him thank you.

[oldguy56-world]

As You Like It

This is the 2nd blog I have written named after a Shakespearian play that was turned into a movie. (Last October i did Much Ado About Nothing). Perhaps I should stick with this theme for a while. I could do Hamlet (story of an undersized pig) or Macbeth (the Scottish version of a Kiss hit song) Perhaps not. Let's stick to today's theme shall we?

Have you noticed that people are different. I am not kidding you. We like different things and for no apparent reason at all. Some companies have taken advantage of this. Harvey's is one of them. They make your burgers to order and based on the number of ingredients available there are a possible 11, 296,371 different ways to serve their burgers. They should have an employee contest to see how many different ways each one can dress up a burger. They could use the distraction. Me, I like mine one way only and that is with mustard and ketchup. My wife likes hers with a bunch of other stuff. I am not sure what exactly as I try not to watch. The opposite end of the spectrum is McDonald's. When I go in for a quarter pounder I ask for it with ketchup only. (they don't use, or have never heard about mustard). When I order it my way (no reference to Burger King) the entire place goes silent. The cook comes out of the back to see who is upsetting their assembly line of production. There is usually some snickering and pointing but I hold my ground. The upside is upon occasion when they get it wrong and I point it out to them they will shoot me a freebie. That is always nice.

My father was always a potato guy. He liked them every way except baked. He would throw a fit if the peel was still on it. To quote him 'is it too much g*%#&#@ effort for them to peel it for me?' Once the waiter asked if he would like to substitute rice for his potatoes. My mother was quick enough to grab his knife before it became bloody. I cannot find the words to explain what my father thought about rice.

Speaking of restaurants, they must love it when people substitute what they are supposed to get for something else. The waiter will say that 'today's special is grilled chicken breast with a pilaf of rice and steamed broccoli for $17.99'. The patron will order it and ask 'Can you change the rice to fries, the broccoli to corn, and while you are at it can the chicken breast be a beef tenderloin?' The waiter will explain that they cannot substitute the meat and that they do not have corn. The patron will be pissed and say under their breath that this will affect the tip they leave.

People like different hair styles. That is a good thing because if we all were required to wear a 'Moe' it might be hard to tell people apart. Same goes for clothing. It is creepy watching those movies from the future where everyone has on the same outfit. If you want that kind of uniformity there is a lovely Mennonite community waiting to embrace you Goodfriend. For me I have a unique style. My hair color is Absent Black and my clothing is retro Sally Ann. My wife is okay with my hair (or lack thereof) but she does have a say in what I wear out in public. FYI her say is the final word always.

My wife and I are very different people. Luckily she likes me enough to not say much about my eating, dressing (as long as we are not going out), or talking habits. She also likes my sense of humor which is good. Not everyone gets me just like I don't get some of these so-called comedians or comedies on TV. The networks are paying big bucks for some not funny material. I know I can write unfunny material and would gladly do it for half of the going rate. I can even make fart sounds with almost every part of my body so that must be worth something.

My philosophy is that if you like something, and it doesn't hurt other people, do it for the enjoyment. My only request is that if you like mushing your food together and putting it all in you mouth at one time, please, please, please do not do this within eyeshot of me. This hurts me deeply. My only retaliation would be to make a farting sound from the one part of my body you do not want me to engage thusly. Fair is fair.

PLEASE NOTE: NEXT WEEK'S BLOG WILL BE LATE. WE ARE HAVING OUR FAMILY HERE FOR FOUR DAYS TO CELEBRATE AN EARLY CHRISTMAS, SO NO NASTY NOTES PLEASE.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Variety is the spice of life. Spice is a variety that your body might not like.

[mythroom]

Reunion Pt.1 - Midge x Lenny

𓆩♡𓆪 𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕤 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖: This is my first time writing an actual fiction for Tumblr. It came from a writing prompt book I had. And I love these two characters so much I want to re-write the prompt so that it fits them. If this does alright I might continue the writing because I think that there could be a potential spot for people writing fanfiction for the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I love this show so much. These characters aren't my own and there is nothing that is cannon about this but I had fun writing it anyways.

𓆩♡𓆪ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥: Angst and Fluff, mentions of drug use/ addiction

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭

She was an absolute natural. He was so happy for her, watching from the back row. Guilt overwhelmed him. She had always supported him, even when she found out about the drugs he had stashed. 'Stashed', he laughed to himself. He barely tried to hide it, maybe it was his way to call out for help. The last time she saw him in person he was getting on a plane to head to Miami. Hoping his daughter would eventually come visit him. A foolish dream while he was strung out. Laughter. It drew him back to reality. Her voice carried through the hall, echoed by the laughter of the huge crowd she had emassed. The show was amazing. He was determined to tell her that to her face. Once the show ended he waited a while, before attempting to convince his way back stage, afterall he was Lenny Bruce, famous comedian, here to see his dear friend after her first big preformance.

After weasiling his way backstage he waited by the exit. Leaning against the wall, eyeing the people around him, listening to the whispers.

"Isn't that Lenny Bruce?"

"I thought he was in LA."

"I heard he died."

He was lucky the last part was just a rumor. A rumor started by a big stint in the hospital for him. And the reason he was clean now. He shook his head, denying the hard times that flooded back to him now. He needed to focus on Midge. He hadn't seen her in three? Four years? He wasn't sure and it was giving him a headache trying to remember. By the time he was done he saw her, leaving through the exit he was standing so close to. He followed after, into the cold New York air. He watched her walk away for a little, nervous she wouldn't want to talk to him after all this time. Then finally he decided to call out to her, his last chance at redemption. "Midge" He let out, voice cracking, denying the cool calm personality he had tried to form over the years. She stopped in her tracks and turned around, bright eyes shining in the street light. Red coat mixed in with the winter backdrop of the city. Looking at her flooded him with memories, and his mouth opened to say more but came up short of words. His breath mixed with the cold air as he took her in once more. Her beautiful eyes, dark hair perfectly pinned in place, lips red from her lipstick mixed with the cold of the night air. He missed her so much, and he could tell she missed him, but yet she stayed frozen. Her eyebrows arched, eyes widened, mouth slightly agape. He laughed akwardly. "What's wrong Midge? You look like you've seen a ghost." He smiled as he approached her, stopping short of a foot away, scratching the back of his head. Even closer he was able to see she was exactly like his memory of her, perfect in every way. He should have reached out sooner, introduced her to Kitty. God he missed Kitty already, but he missed Midge too, he was glad even for this moment. He turned to go, when she broke her silence.

"Lenny?" Her voice was filled with fear, her eyes were watering and her hands shook as she reached out to him.

"Miriam." He responded with certainty, a kind smile on his face as he turned around and welcomed the woman into his arms, reunited once more.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭