#i know in my bones which one will win this (but i kinda hope the other does because that one has lot more nice photos)

[burninface]

Hi Face, my video game loving friend!

Do you have any thoughts about the Gallaghers and Milkoviches playing Mario Kart? What do you think their go to characters would be?

Hi Sarah!! Thanks for the ask and omg I finally answered your ask! Sorry for the super delay…>< here I am!!

And yes I always have lots of thoughts about their gaming characters! But I only played mario kart on wii back when I was still in primary school and had played mario kart 8 on my bestie’s switch once or twice, and I don’t know the most of game terms in English, so I watched some videos and checked up wiki for reference. Hope I didn’t get anything wrong😵!

Ok so first, I tend to think that the first mario kart game for milkoviches will be Mario Kart: Super Circuit, cause teen Jaime or Colin would steal a GBA for fun (which was soon pawned by Terry, the younger siblings only got to watch them play). But for the Gallaghers it is more likely to be Mario Kart Wii, when Lip and Ian became teenagers and they got one from some dead people’s house. And of course they’ll play mario kart 8 for family entertainment after season11 hehe

And for their go to characters and in game personalities, here’s my thoughts:

Fiona: I don’t think she was very interested in video games nor she had time to play? But she’d join her siblings occasionally. She usually just picked a random character and played it as a driving game, using items once she got them and just vaguely knew what can they do.

Lip: He is definitely the kind of player who plays to win. And he’s also the only one who will change vehicles depends on the maps and pay attention to the stats of characters and vehicles. He knows a lot of game tricks and shortcuts, and will change his strategy to better counter his siblings (and later mickey, but at the time he would be too busy to deal with parenting and had no time to study the game like he used to do). His favorite character would be Donkey Kong, because he’s kinda meta in both mkw and mk8 (ok, I’m actually not very sure about this). And later for mk8 he liked Waluigi too, for the same reason. And sure, he prefers bikes than karts (his favorite bike is Flame Runner).

Debbie: She didn’t play video games much but different from Fiona, Debs has a gift in gaming. She figured out the best combo of characters and vehicles naturally, and found the playing tricks without playing much. She even won Lip sometimes, but her permanent enemy number one is Carl. Her game skills were better than him, but not her luck on items, especially when she was countering Carl. They keep recording the score between them from mkw to mk8 (it’s really close). Debbie’s favorite characters are Peach and Toadette, after Franny was born, she started to like Baby Daisy too, ‘cause she looks exactly like her baby girl.

Franny: Her favorite character is Dry Bones (She thinks they are cute), Yoshi (just like her uncle) and Inkling Girl (she plays Splatoon too!). And after watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie, she thought Peach is really cool too. Her uncle Mickey suggested she choose Tanooki Mario (raccoon suit Mario) to chase her uncle Ian once, they giggled together the whole game.

Carl: When Carl was younger, he thought Mario Kart was a game about speeding and crashing, so his to go character was Bowser. He liked to crash his siblings’ karts but soon found that he couldn’t touch them if he always fell behind. So, in order to crash more karts, he began to study how to drive faster. Then he found many shortcuts to facilitate him to chase up, and also found the fun of using items to attack others. And his favorite character became Wario and King Boo. Dry Bowser was cool to him, too. Carl’s a lucky player who always got nice items, but his game skill was not that good (he is more like a fps/fighting game player to me). And yes he seems Debbie as his biggest enemy in Mario Kart as well. Carl was also the best Gallagher in the ballon battle mode.

Liam: Liam is the one who always deliberately falls behind at first to get better items and prevent clashes, but suddenly boosts up at the last round and becomes one of the top 3. Just when you see the finish line and think you are winning, Liam will come from behind and silently drive past you. Liam is also the only one who will search for gaming tips as reference (Lip was too proud to do that). He always chooses Toad as character but his favorite one is Shy Guy, sometimes he uses his mii character too. He plays splatoon too!

Ian: idk why but my first impression is Ian will always move his whole body when playing video games, so for mkw, he always keeps tilt controls on while playing games and tilt his upper trunk sharply every time his kart drift. His favorite character is Yoshi, cause the cute dinosaur seems friendly and is easy to play. And later for mk8, he likes to use Villager (‘cause he seems like an Animal Crossing player) and mii with Mickey’s appearance (by pie @gallapiech) too. He knows the common tricks of the game and some of the shortcuts (learned from Lip) by experiences. Somehow Ian was always attacked by others unexpectedly (mainly by Carl and Mickey, sometimes Debbie when they trying to crash the other player, and by everyone when they use items trying to take down another player). His favorite item is Bullet Bill and every time he falls behind, he’ll keep praying for one in low voice (and he’s kinda jealous that Carl always got one). He is also the only one who will slow down a little to safely dodge all the obstacles on the track (that’s how he found that his crush and later his boyfriend and ex and husband looks exactly like a goomba).

It's another story when he plays against with Mickey though. They’ll physically harass each other, and since Mickey will always find him among all the players and use items on him deliberately, Ian has to become more aggressive to fight back. They always got place 11th and 12th in multiplayers game due to it (they still like to compete for the 11th tho, and winning the other one def feels better than be the winner of the game). Not only once Ian said they better play separately but the family love when gallavich play as a duo because that means easy win to them.

Mickey: Mickey’s favorite character would be Wario and Dry Bowser, because duh, he loves being a big bad guy (and Bowser looks a little dumb in his opinion). And later when he found out that Ian isn’t good with raccoon, he liked to use Tanooki Mario too. From all the Gallaghers and Milkoviches, Mickey is the best at using items. He was good at aiming other players, prejudging their movement, as well as calculating when to use boosting items to make the best use of them. He was also good at remembering shortcuts and mastered stealing others’ items (he mastered stealing in Ballon Battle too). But compared to winning the whole game, Mickey was always focusing at winning one people. Just, not letting someone to win is more fun to him.

While playing against Ian, his favorite things to do is waiting for him in front of items and driving sideways to eat all items up when Ian arrives, and bumping into him from time to time (in game and out game). He’ll use all the items on Ian (and he always accidently steps on the banana he set before because he is too focus on his lover). But every time when Lip is in game too, the highest priority will become “not letting Lip win” (and if Ian wins Lip, "that counts my win too ‘cause we are fuckin’ husbands").

Mandy: When Mandy was younger, she’s a Toadette/Daisy player, but later her favorite character had changed to Mario and Luigi (‘cause they are man with big nose?). Mandy’s gaming skills are quite alike to Ian, which makes them a perfect gaming duo. Her favorite item is super star (since all his brothers like to use items on others). She like to use physical harassment while gaming just like all the Milkoviches. Later for mk8, she got her love for Daisy back because she’s comfy to use. She also likes Link (“yeah he’s def the most handsome one”) and Isabelle (she plays Animal Crossing too, but not much as Ian, they often visit each other’s island).

Iggy: Surprisingly, unlike on other things, Iggy really have brain for video games, even Mickey had learned tricks from him. Iggy is the kind of player who can’t explain why he’s this good at the game, but he’s just good. He’s also lucky in game (and he believes the unluckier he was irl the luckier he will be in games), always gets the good items and dodges the attack from others. His to go character must be Waluigi, and he was one of the members who voted Waluigi to appear in the Super Smash Bros. He also loved Rosalina, she’s his first video game crush. But he’s too afraid to let Terry found out he’s using female characters in game so he never played as her back then (and he’s still confused about how’s that ”faggy” if you like a female character so you play as her just to gaib her more screem time). After mk8 came out, his favorite character became to Iggy (“Yo losers, none of you can play as yourself in game except me”).

And a little bonus about Sandy: I think she’s kinda like Debbie, has a gift for Mario Kart but not really interested in this kind of game, and unfortunately, she had never played against with Debbie in games (they didn't have time to). She likes to play fps games better and duos with Mickey sometimes (they play fps irl too lol).

Another bonus: young Milkoviches playing Mario Kart Wii!! (yeah I know mkw was released in 2008. But I just want chibi Milkoviches to play together🥺

Bonus after bonus that kinda digress: while I was writing the answer, Mario Kart Toys were back at McDonald's. I ordered happy meals for the toys and then started to think… Mickey is likely to be one who order happy if the toy in it is really cool to him. But he doesn’t want others to know he orders happy meal (even when he was kid) and he really doesn’t like the milk in it (other things are okay), so he always found another one to order happy meal for him and to steal their coke…

At last… sorry for let you waiting for so long Sarah…! Thanks for the ask again and hope you like the answer<3 I really love to imagine them playing video games🥰

[amber-tortoiseshell]

Phylogenetic wild cat tournament

Ocelot lineage

Genus: Leopardus

Depth: 9 (8 wins away from championship)

New genus! This one, Leopardus is actually the most populous of all: it has 8 species (Felis has 7, Prionailurus has 6). The reason I started the tournament with two others and not this is that Leopardus cats are "further" away from the other genuses in term of genetic closeness.

With it, we, for the first time in the tournament, leave the old world and visit America, more precisely South America. Both of these kitties live there.

Geoffroy's cat

yes! this one comes in black too!

Kodkod

more melanism!

[forlix]

‧ ❆ ˚ 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝・h.j.

— stars flare brightest in the absence of light, and you see his clearer than day.

words・6.4k

pairing・han jisung x female reader

genres・college!au, friends with benefits to lovers, snowed in trope, smut, MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS THAT INTERACT WILL BE BLOCKED, angst, ANGST, you have been warned, hurt/comfort, i can't write normal fluff to save my life, happy ending!!!, semi-slow burn

warnings・depictions of insomnia, recurring nightmares, graphic violence, character death (in the nightmare), fears of abandonment and falling in love, alcohol consumption, humans helping each other heal. smut warnings under the cut

playlist・stay - acoustic by jonah baker・all of me by big gigantic・babydoll (speed) by ari abdul・oasis by exo・volcano by han

a/n・hi, here's my second installment of winter falls. writing this was immensely challenging and twice as meaningful, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. thank you to my may for being so fucking instrumental in piecing together this rollercoaster—this one is for you, i love you. thanks to my sahar for everything, always and forever. and thanks to all of you for being here. happy new year ♡

smut warnings・spitplay, unprotected piv, please practice safe sex!!!, car sex, dirty talk, jisung's dick game is kinda crazy, squirting, lots of aftercare

Every time Jisung closes his eyes, he sees somebody’s back.

It’s leaving. Traipsing somewhere he can’t follow. He tries to chase it—he always does, he never learns—but the premise doesn’t so much as surface before the ghosts circling around his ankles go for his throat instead. They snare him by the shoulders, force him to his knees, slam his forehead into the permafrost hard enough to break bone. They make sure the next time he tries to move will be the last.

So he remains, keeled over in the cold, until tearwater clings to his lower lashes in small icicles. Until bloodstained snow coats his lips like the manifestation of a curse. Until the back has disappeared.

Who does it belong to? He’s left to wonder. Where is it going?

Why can’t I follow?

Then he wakes up.

No longer does he lay awake for hours afterwards, scouring the dream’s every frame for his answers.

Now, he tosses and turns in clammy sheets until his exhaustion wins.

Now, he welcomes sleep like a miracle granted by some pitying god.

You see him.

Through a living room packed with red-faced partygoers and dissected by oscillating strobe lights, albeit, but you see him anyways. 

Jisung can barely make out the rest of your face—he blames the lighting, or the soju, or both—but your eyes alone turn him to glass. Not a fancy vase through which the world distorts, but a simple pane that puts him and his ghosts on full display.

He hopes you like horror movies.

Felix knows you, because of course he does, and Jisung has never been happier to call the extroverted Australian his friend than when you come over to say hi. You stumble out of the crowd all smudged makeup and sweaty skin, your figure hugged by a short black dress with two diamond-shaped openings just above your hips, your glossy lips curved in a drunken smile. Jisung immediately wants it against his mouth.

Instead, it disappears behind his friend as you pull him into a quick hug. A few wisps of your hair dust over Jisung’s arm, momentarily replacing the smells of grease and vodka with cherry blossoms and vanilla.

“Lix, hey!”

“Darling, it’s good to see you! Feels like it’s been ages.”

“I know, right? How are you? How is everything?”

“Good, thank you. Just happy the semester’s over.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Then you go to lift your drink and discover thin air in its place. “Or I won’t. Whoops.”

This prompts Jisung’s first contribution to the conversation—and his first effortless laugh in a long while.

“Eventful night, huh?”

He meets your gaze from all of two feet away this time, and his knees buckle under him. That gaze, fuck. So clear and true, like a prism of glass refracting light into a rainbow. He would let you refract him a thousand times over if he had any light to give.

“Maybe,” you giggle. “Seems I’m a little too happy the semester’s over.”

“Wanna not get a drink to celebrate?”

Your expression flickers. Not in a bad way, more like you hadn’t expected him to ask so soon—or for yourself to have your answer so quickly.

A strobe light catches right under your eye and refracts the color in your blushing face. A rainbow.

“I’d like that.”

He tilts his head towards the kitchen. You give Felix’s elbow a light squeeze before moving past him; he gives Felix a glimpse of his growing smile before falling into step behind you. The blonde shakes his head, throws back the rest of his beer, then swivels at the sound of someone calling his name from across the foyer.

Felix will get drunk enough to forget the sight of you leading Jisung up the stairs, two bottles of pink lemonade tucked under your arm. Nothing stronger, as promised.

Jisung asks his question an entire minute after he intends to. “Where are we going, by the way?”

“Somewhere I can see your pretty face without having to squint,” you reply, and his stomach tumbles like a schoolboy with a valentine.

You don’t stop at the second floor. Instead, you nudge open a door Jisung swears just materialized to his left and emerge into the night air.

It’s warm for December, but he’s still met with chilly winds licking down the sides of his neck. That’s not the only reason he shudders, though. Below his feet, he finds a metal platform akin to that of a fire escape. Above his head, a staircase that looks one forceful step away from dropping off the side of the building.

You turn towards it. 

In a hurry, he sputters, “I’m, uh—I’m not sure about this.”

A beat passes. Your hold on his wrist loosens, not to let go, just to trace wordless reassurance down the back of his hand. Your fingers feel perfect sliding into the spaces between his, like drops of honey in the craters of soufflé pancakes.

“It’s safer than it looks, I promise.”

Jisung heaves a sigh. It seems saying no to you is an impossible task.

You’re right, though. The iron rungs are surprisingly rigid beneath his feet, and the two of you make it to the roof with no trouble. He does stumble when you pull him up onto the gravel, but it’s intentional, a purposeful blunder to have you closer. To snag another glimpse of that blush, another trace of that floral vanilla.

“Sorry,” he whispers almost directly upon your lips. And that earns him all three.

The next hour evades him for the most part, and Jisung is pissed about it. He’s with the woman of his dreams under a sky so clear it’s almost lustrous and he’s too shitfaced to recollect when he gave you his hoodie to wear; what you said that made his lungs capsize with how hard he laughed; how you ended up so close to each other, your legs strewn over his lap, his hands tracing over your thighs.

Thankfully, he remembers a few things. He remembers how frighteningly easy you are to talk to; he remembers your habit of smacking his stomach when you get flustered; he remembers you getting flustered a lot. He remembers the timbres of your different laughs and how your stunning features crinkle with each. He remembers feeling like a pane of glass in front of you, just like he had downstairs, and he remembers liking it, somehow. Liking the way you see through him, the way you allow him to just exist as he is. Liking the way you acknowledge his ghosts with such nonchalance, inviting them over for tea and biscuits.

He wants to remember everything about you.

It’s not often he wants to remember anything.

Eventually, your conversation comes to a natural close. In its absence, Jisung notices that the alcoholic sludge in his brain has largely diffused; with it, the rumbling bass of the party below. The full moon hangs at its highest point, blanketing the two of you with anticipatory silence, nudging you towards the only topic you’ve yet to breach.

He meets your gaze again, from all of two inches away this time, and his insides twist.

“You’re still drunk, aren’t you?”

You blink at him, not following. Then he leans his forehead against yours, lets his eyes flicker to your mouth with such unbridled want that you’re instantly dizzy—and no longer confused.

Regret pools in your eyes moments before they close. “Yes, I think so.”

Your lips are so, so close that he can feel the air shift between you when they move, can feel the soft warmth emanating from them. Jisung pulls away before he does anything stupid.

You do the stupid thing for him.

You push his shoulders to the plaster behind him, push yourself onto his lap with a swing of your body and a slotting of your legs on either side of him. 

The plush of your thighs hugging his hips, the curves of your breasts pressed against his chest, Jisung tries to stare up at you, perplexed, aroused. But you’re so close that he can’t, so he settles with whispering upon the underside of your chin, “what are you—”

“Gimme your lemonade.”

The authoritative words come out in a slurred haze, and he all but hastens to oblige. 

You pluck the plastic bottle from his wavering grasp. His empty hand hovers as if uncertain where to go. But matters as trivial as hand placement drop off his mind’s precipice as he watches you unscrew the cap, the slope of your neck illuminated by spindly moonlight, and without thinking he pushes his hands beneath the hem of your—his—hoodie.

The skin of your waist is warm and smooth where his fingertips are cold and calloused, the juxtaposition unimportant in your reciprocal desires to touch and be touched.

“Open,” you murmur.

His jaw goes slack, firstly from pure disbelief. Then, obedience. The dark locks that obstruct his vision of you fall away as his head meets the brick half-wall behind him, as if the midnight breeze itself mandated their removal.

You pour some of the pink liquid past Jisung’s parted lips. Stray rivulets slip down his cheek and vanish beneath his neckline. You break eye contact to follow their path with dilated pupils and fluttering lashes. With unadulterated desire.

He swallows, gently, and feels the sweet substance surround his tonsils.

He swallows, forcefully, when you wrap your lips around the bottle, the plastic still slathered in his spit.

The swig you take is long, deep. Your throat bobs and your eyes close as if you’re savoring a finely-aged nectar. Then your lips are popping off the opening with a soft thwock, leaving a thick strand of saliva to suspend, suspend, suspend until the very second it’s about to drop, which is when you collect the residue with a deft swipe of your tongue.

“A placeholder,” you breathe, and Jisung’s head careens. A shared bottle. An indirect kiss.

“You’re a monster,” he croaks.

You giggle and lean down, curling a hand around his cheek, pressing a wet kiss to his Adam’s apple.

“Tomorrow, if we’re both sober…”

One, two, three pecks up the length of his jaw.

“...and you still remember my address…”

A suckle to the lobe of his ear.

“...you can kiss me, for real.”

A trembling breath.

“And then some.”

Jisung moans, loudly.

Thankfully, he remembers a few things.

He shows up at your place shortly after sunset the next day. You swing open the door, your face already alight with your world-ending smile.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Then he’s kissing you like a man famished.

Jisung learns to love your back, that night. He loves its dips and curves, loves its rise and fall. Loves how it arches into him, how it looks drenched in his cum. It’s the back of his dreams.

The back in his dreams keeps walking.

Jisung has never liked winter.

He has never liked its winds, whispering woefully as if mourning something unnamed and unseen. He has never liked its palette, whitewashing the world as if refracting a rainbow in reverse.

He has never liked cracking open his eyes and seeing the scenery of his nightmare outside his window. Nor does he like trudging over the sleet as if weighed down by the same ghosts that break him time and time again in his dreamscape. They love winter. 

And this winter, he swears, is the bitterest yet. On the nights when he’s allowed to sleep, the nightmare comes in such sharp relief that he thinks he’d rather anything else, the ghosts meaner, the blood redder, the silhouette slower. It’s an act of mercy when he’s still awake by the time bleached sunlight perforates the curtains, resting upon his salted cheeks and balled fists.

This winter, it is not just dislike that he feels towards the gray winds—it’s hatred. A maelstrom of loathing so large and dark that Jisung no longer knows where it’s headed or what it’s directed to. Or who.

When winter break comes to an end, he’s probably the only person who’s happy about it.

His friends certainly aren’t, looking like a line of angry nutcrackers with their folded arms and thunderous faces standing outside Greem Cafe.

Jisung calls out a greeting as he jogs towards them, and cue the grumbling.

“What is there to smile about? Enlighten us.” That’s Hyunjin. “I have to deal with four finals and three essays in the next five days and this guy is smiling.”

“He’s accepted his fate, I reckon.” That’s Felix. “We should do the same, boys. Let ourselves down easy, y’know?”

“No, no, he’s smiling because he remembered to bring me his chem notes.” That’s Jeongin. “You did, right? Please say you did.”

Jisung is stunned into silence. “Can I not be happy to see my friends?”

“No,” Hyunjin and Felix reply in unison.

“My bad,” he sighs.

“My notes,” Jeongin repeats.

“I have them, dude. Let’s sit down first.”

The younger boy shouts an impassioned “THANK YOU” at the sky like the clouds just saved his GPA. Jisung reaches for the door to the café, then stops at the sound of Felix’s voice.

“We’re waiting on one more person.”

He turns towards the blonde with puzzled eyes. He’d been under the impression the study session would comprise just them four.

“Who?”

Felix’s response falters on his tongue when he catches sight of something in the distance, and his face changes in a way Jisung’s seen before.

“Look behind you.” Felix shuffles past him, raising his voice to shout, “yo!”

Jisung glances away from the newcomer as quickly as he sees her. It’s not until his eyes pivot to the fire hydrant across the street that he processes her identity.

In one second flat, his mind clutters full. He thinks back to that party, when all it took was the sight of your smile for him to theorize you were the most exquisite thing ever made. He thinks back to the next evening, when he kissed you and verified his hypothesis. He thinks back to what followed and would continue to follow in the few days that remained before break: entwined tongues and emblazoned hickeys, whitened knuckles and whiny praise, snapping hips and shaking bedframes.

This winter, Jisung swears, is the bitterest yet.

But seeing you, the scarf wound multiple times around your neck doing nothing to hide your gorgeous smile, feels like catching a fragment of summer in his frozen hands.

“Thank god,” Felix groans before embracing you. Collapsing on you, more like. “I’m saved.”

You reach around to pat the boy on the back, your eyes brimming with laughter. “Lower your expectations, please. I did well on one exam.”

“You aced the midterm. That automatically makes you a rocket scientist,” Felix corrects, his voice muffled into the shoulder of your coat. A few beats of silence pass. Then, “this is comfy.”

“Okay, okay, let’s go get some caffeine in you,” you giggle. “We have a lot of ground to cover today.”

Felix straightens up sleepily. And sadly. “Superb.”

Jisung hangs back as you introduce yourself to Hyunjin and Jeongin. He doesn’t even notice his growing smile until you’re standing directly in front of him and for the first time in three weeks there’s the smell of cherry blossoms in the air and a rainbow shining on his face again.

“Hi,” he offers.

“Hey,” you reply.

Hyunjin is the one to shatter the prolonged silence that follows. “Are you guys betrothed?”

Felix and Jeongin stalk into the café snickering. You and Jisung trail behind with flaming cheeks.

It takes Jisung two and a half hours to talk to you again. At that point in the afternoon, Felix is napping on the second practice test you’ve given him; Hyunjin has downed three shots of pure espresso and is currently viewing his screen with concerning intensity; Jeongin is at another table on a quiet Zoom call with his chemistry T.A., Jisung’s notes clutched to his chest like a life vest. And you’re leaning back against your seat opposite to him, scrolling through your phone in what he presumes to be a well-deserved study break. As good a time as any.

He opens up his texts with you. His fingers fly across the keyboard.

Jisung: do you have plans after this?

Your eyes stutter to the top of your screen, linger there for a moment, and lock onto Jisung’s from across the table.

He presses his lips into a thin line to suppress his smile. You let yours spill over in full form, and with it comes a soft giggle that would be worth getting his number fucking blocked just to hear one more time.

Three gray dots appear before elongating into a prompt response.

Y/N: I was gonna ask you the same thing…

He’s the one who laughs this time. Fuck, you’re cute. You’re so cute.

Jisung: can i take you to dinner? Y/N: Yes, I’d love that :) Y/N: When should we leave? Jisung: 9? Y/N: Sounds good~ Jisung: cool Jisung: it’s a date Y/N: It’s a date! Y/N: Excited 💛

With that, you put your phone face down and return to work, though your lips remain privately upturned. Jisung wants to kiss them again.

He also wants to turn you into a mess on his cock again.

Or both.

He doesn’t get much studying done after that thought surfaces.

Jisung: me too <3

When nine o’clock rolls around, you and Jisung begin cleaning up your work stations in near-perfect simultaneity. There’s confusion written all over Hyunjin’s and Jeongin’s faces as they watch you swing your backpacks over your shoulders—but Felix’s expression is a blank slate as he sips from his macchiato. Your ingenuity isn’t the only reason he invited you today.

As you make your way out of the café, your shoulders brush once, twice, and then Jisung drops his hand into the space between the two of you without uttering a word. You scoop it up in your own without missing a beat.

He steps into the freezing night feeling warm all over.

“You know what I realized?” You say as you walk towards his SUV.

“What did you realize?”

“We’ve never had a sober conversation before. Can we change that tonight?”

Jisung has broken hearts before.

There’s no euphemistic way to describe his tendency to abuse the sensitive organs, to wring them out and throw them away like irrelevant trash. To juggle and drop them with a sheepish laugh like they’re nothing more than props in a circus act.

He doesn’t do it to save himself or his partners from getting hurt or any self-ingratiating bullshit like that. It’s for himself, all for himself. All to unload his balls and his mind for fifteen blissful seconds. 

There’s blood on his hands. He never cared to wash it off.

Except you are the one asking for his heart this time around, a dash of hope in your smile as you do so, and he thinks it would be his life’s greatest honor to be discarded by you.

“Sure,” he answers.

He doesn’t even last until he’s inside the car.

Your back meets the door to the passenger’s seat, guided there by his hands on your hips. From millimeters away he watches your surprise morph into understanding, then darken into lust.

“I like when we don’t talk, though.”

It’s the most annoying thing in the world to remove so many layers in such a cramped space.

Combined, your clothing forms a tower high enough to block out the driver’s window completely. An unnecessary blockade.

The glass fogs up anyways.

“Fuck, Ji, yes, right there, oh my god.”

You have your legs spread open and the back of your neck digging into the cupholder on the door. It’s not comfortable. You’re too busy getting fucked open to care.

Jisung detaches his lips from your neck to ask, “here, baby?”

The head of his cock hits that gummy spot again, harder, sweeter. You convulse, your hand scrambling for purchase in his raven locks.

“Yes, yes, yes, don’t stop, please.”

Please. The word plays over in his fuzzy mind.

It seems saying no to you is an impossible task.

His cock slips out of you and you lament the loss of contact with a high wail.

“W-why’d—where’d you go?”

He can’t help but chuckle at how incoherent you’ve become. He cradles the back of your head with a tender hand and lowers your upper body onto the leather seat, adjusting himself to your new elevation.

“Right here, beautiful. Didn’t go anywhere—promise—” 

He expels the final word through gritted teeth as he slams into you again, and the new angle is glorious. Your bodies keen in flawless harmony. Profanities tumble from his lips in a steady stream before they turn back into syllables.

“Would never go anywhere. Would never leave without making this pretty pussy cream like it deserves—holy fucking shit, baby.”

You clench around him at his words and then he’s setting a new, relentless rhythm, rocking the whole vehicle with every hearty smack of his hips against yours, your wet walls squeezing him so dreamily he thinks he sees nirvana with every thrust.

You’re enjoying it just as much, if the bubbles of spit in the corner of your mouth are any indication, and Jisung is viciously proud to be the cause. Unbelievably lucky to feel your breasts jiggling under his chest and your nails digging into the back of his neck.

“Good?” He whispers, and you nod blissfully.

“So—good, Ji, so fucking good. Your cock is perfect, fuck, I can’t even—can’t even think.”

“You’re the perfect one. Can’t believe how well your cunt takes me, shit. It’s like it was fucking made for this.”

“It was,” you breathe, and he nearly shoots his load into you at this alone. “It was, it was—oh, god, I think—think I’m gonna come—”

“Do it,” he rasps. “Come for me. Come on this cock and it’s yours.”

“R-really?”

“Really.”

“Then, I will. I’ll come on your cock—make it mine. Need it so fucking bad, I’m so fucking close, oh—please—”

He anchors himself in place with a hand against the windowsill and the other travels down your body to rub fast, tight circles into your clit. You let out a wanton, prolonged moan, tilt your head back to expose him to your fluttering throat. And then you’re pulling his lips onto yours again, and the following kiss is sloppy beyond belief, the kind that can only antedate the happiest of endings.

“My cock,” you sigh into his mouth. “Mine.”

“Forever,” is the breathy response he doesn’t know if he means, the response he gives you anyways.

And then you curl your fingers in his hair. Clamp your teeth around his lower lip. Clench your thighs around his waist. There’s liquid everywhere. Tearwater spilling down the sides of your face. Release gushing all over his dick and pelvis and backseat.

He catches up the moment he realizes what’s just happened. Pulls out of you. Presses his head against the roof of his car. Spits on his hand. Pumps his pulsating cock. Sends himself over the edge you’ve just finished tripping over.

Eventually, he regains feeling in his limbs.

He opens his eyes, surveys the damage, and grins.

Your stomach is covered in ropes of white, your expression hidden behind your hands. You start shaking your head in profuse embarrassment the moment you feel his eyes on you.

“You squirted,” he says.

“I know,” you almost yell, and his grin erupts into a laugh.

He lowers himself back over you, takes your wrists, and removes them from your blushing face. He doesn’t think he’s seen you so flustered before and it has him palpitating in ways he never thought feasible.

Maybe he did mean the damn thing after all.

He pushes off the strands of hair clinging to your damp forehead and replaces them with a gentle kiss. “It was sexy as fuck and you’re everything.” 

There’s a certain softness in your eyes when he pulls away. He hopes, for your sake, it’s all in his head.

His car is in need of aftercare most of all. You shrug on your clothes with considerable effort and get to work, all while sharing comfortable chatter and easy laughter.

Those things persist during your dinner date at a nearby Chinese restaurant and the drive back to your place, which Jisung knows well enough to no longer need his GPS. Those things persist until he kisses you goodbye on your doorstep, because he would have to be fucking crazy not to after you gave him the best night he’s had in so long.

After you reminded him that he’s still capable of comfort and ease, in spite of it all.

Snow comes a few weeks into the new year. 

This winter, it falls late, and it falls hard, like a gust of breath expelled from drawn lungs at the very last minute. Held there as if lying in wait for something unnamed and unseen. 

The gust of breath is too quiet to be heard over the one Jisung lets out against the shell of your ear. “Wait here.”

He goes to roll off you. You don’t let him just yet, darting your hand around his wrist and bringing his face back within centimeters of yours.

Han Jisung is beautiful. You knew it for the first time at that houseparty and you’ve known it every hour of every day since. But it’s always clearest to you in the afterglow, when his bare skin is golden and sticky and his delicate lips bitten to bright fuchsia. 

When his irises have gone black and you see stars, flaring in the absence of light.

You close the distance that remains between you. Your lips part with a content sigh. Your hands drift over the slant of his neck; his find home in the dips above your waist.

He breaks away once you’re both out of breath, and the pad of his thumb wipes lightly at your lower lip.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes,” you reply shyly. “I couldn’t help myself.”

The smile this brings to his face reminds you of a candle’s flame. Soft on the eyes and scalding to the touch when he presses it back against your lips. Once, twice.

“Can you wipe your cum off me now?” You whisper, and he laughs straight into your mouth.

The mattress lifts. His footsteps grow quieter. You shiver in his absence.

Only then do you notice the blizzard.

You stumble off the bed to throw your curtains aside. Snow descends from the sky like spools of unraveling yarn. The streetlights have been reduced to foggy specks, the parked cars to blurry heaps. Every sidewalk and rooftop in sight has already been slathered in ivory.

Jisung announces his return with a disbelieving whistle.

“Am I dreaming?” You murmur.

“When did that happen?”

“I have no idea.”

You don’t even notice the wild smile on your face until you turn to him and catch his reaction to it. He looks like he’s asking himself the same question.

“C’mere,” he hums, and you oblige.

He laves the warm towel over your breasts and stomach, as well as the places his release has trickled since you flung yourself to your feet. All while supporting the small of your back with a touch fatally careful, an expression wholly adoring. All evidence of just how blurry the line between sexual escapade and lover has become in two short months.

Your ribcage fucking throbs.

“You don’t seem excited,” you say.

He finishes cleaning you off. You give him a distracted thank you, noticing the sudden shadow draped over his face like a netted veil.

“I’m not,” he answers, not unkindly.

“You don’t like snow?”

“Not really.”

“Why?”

He circles around the bed to get dressed. You bend to pick up the clothes tossed aside earlier and drop them into your hamper, then slip into a clean pair of underwear and sweatpants.

“It’s a long story.”

Just as you reach for a top, a bundle of cloth travels in an arc across your bedroom and hooks itself around the crook of your arm. His T-shirt. 

You glance at Jisung. He’s already looking elsewhere, but his private smile makes its way onto your face as you slip it on.

“Well, I have time.” You sink into your mattress, now surrounded by his muted musk, his papyrus and petrichor. “We’ll be stuck here a while, after all.”

“Stuck?” Jisung repeats, the lanyard of his car keys dangling from the pocket of his hoodie, his feet turned towards the door.

A pregnant pause commences. His intentions dawn, and you gape.

“You’re not driving right now.”

He breaks eye contact.

“Right?”

That was the plan, you read in his expression.

You know better than trying to reverse a river’s current by kicking up rocks. You know better than trying to curtail the flight of an albatross by clipping its wings.

You know better than asking someone who thinks he was made to leave to stay.

And you won’t.

“I have somewhere to be early tomorrow morning,” he stammers, the lines terribly rehearsed. “The snow’s not heavy, I’ll be—”

“Stay.”

You’re not asking.

Jisung looks at you, startled, as you glide across the bed. You place your feet on the hardwood and circle your arms around his waist. Lace your fingers upon the hollow of his back. His pulse goes uneven at your abrupt proximity.

Akin to the drag of a feather, you mouth at his cheek, then the side of his neck.

“You can stay, Jisung.”

He shudders at your words, and you’ve got him.

It’s oddly normal, the sight of him clambering into your bed in your clothing—a pair of old sweatpants and your favorite crewneck—like this isn’t the first time you’re sleeping together in your two months of sleeping together.

In fact, the only indication of anything unordinary is the floaty feeling in your stomach when your head hits the pillow and discover Jisung’s face only inches away. He drapes an arm over your waist, gathering you close. You nuzzle into the crook of his neck.

The inevitable question follows.

“Can I save the story for another time?”

“Sure,” you return, keeping your voice small. He doesn’t hear your disappointment this way. “Should we go to sleep, then?”

“We should.”

Your foreheads touch. Your noses bump together. Your eyes cross, watching the adoration pull at his. You dimly register your hand threading in his fluffy locks, his thumb running over your cheekbone. Your lashes narrowly miss the surface of his eyes, and then he tips your face up by millimeters.

You don’t remember when you fall asleep. You only recall the hour beforehand that you spend with Jisung’s lips traversing yours, like you are the ocean and he’s uncovering new waters with every bruise he prints against your throat, every suckle he leaves around your tongue.

In your dream, the roles reverse and you are the one exploring him, mapping out his constellations with wide-eyed wonder.

You wake to a black hole.

For the first five seconds, you see nothing. You hear nothing. You feel nothing. You only blink in the darkness, your mind kicking into groggy gear to ask the very good question of why you’re conscious again.

Instinct moves your hand across the mattress. Empty space greets you where Jisung should be. Unfounded dread shoves your back off the bed. You gasp, the sound seeming to echo in the cavernous silence.

Your eyes adjust enough to discern light in the crack beneath your door, and you’re wide awake.

The following events go by in a blur. You stumble out of bed and into your closet, fastening your fingers around the thickest piece of fabric you find. You fly into the living room, where the lamp by the couch is left on and the pair of worn black Converse on your doormat have gone missing.

The front door is cracked open, and through the narrow inches you spot someone hunched on the stairs outside, his dark hair dyed platinum by the awning light’s fluorescence.

Your heart stills in relief, then quickens with anxiety.

You’ve tried wearing this crewneck in January enough times to know you can’t. In fact, you suspect that it somehow soaks up the temperature, lets it seep in between its every seam until it becomes one with the bitter winds. 

But he isn’t shivering, you notice as you take a seat next to him, draping the puffer over both of your shoulders on your way down. He’s simply staring off into the bleak storm, snowflakes sitting atop his head like a coating of ash, their color matching that of his frozen skin. He’s becoming one with the bitter winds. 

At first, you don’t recognize the man in front of you.

You’re well familiar with those ring-laden hands and the whetted jawline thrown into shadow, those remnants of cologne clinging to his frame. But you have never seen that gaze before, bloodshot and bleak and belonging to somebody new. Somebody who isn’t completely here, straddling the partition between the realms of people and phantoms.

Then he lifts his eyes and you see stars, flaring in the absence of light. Your stars.

And you recognize him for the first time ever.

You drop your hand to your hip, and his fingers feel stiff and cold and perfect, sliding into the spaces between yours.

“Why don’t you like snow?” You ask.

Jisung’s eyes return to the swirling sleet, but he moves your interlocked hands to rest on his thigh, and you know that he’s with you.

He’s been having this nightmare.

It takes place in a small clearing. It’s winter, and everything is covered in snow. Not the gentle kind that you can catch on your tongue, but the unyielding kind that’s hard and dense and covered in cracks, like a lake newly frozen over.

Somebody is in front of him, walking away. He can only see their back. He wants to chase after them. He doesn’t want to be left behind. But there are ghosts nearby, and they’ll split his skull open on the permafrost and tie his windpipe into a pretty bow if he so much as dreams of pursuit. He always does. He doesn’t know how not to.

Normally, the back leaves, and he can do nothing but remain. He can direct his loathing only to the snow into which he bleeds. 

Normally, he waits for the dream to end with something bordering on boredom. He’s seen this movie too many times. He fucking hates how it ends.

This time, though, the snow tastes like something.

After the flavors deliquesce upon his tongue, his head shoots up, his eyes blowing wide as they latch onto the retreating figure. He knows who it is.

His feet scrabbles against the ice with his attempts to rise to them. He lunges forward with frenzied resolve, and that is when the ghosts snap his neck.

He wakes up.

“Cherry blossoms and vanilla.”

You blink, tearwater streaking from your eyes in silent, steaming trails.

“That’s—”

My shampoo.

A broken sob escapes you in lieu of the rest of your sentence, and Jisung laughs, a flimsy facade that crumbles when he lifts his hand to dab at your moistened cheeks and it’s trembling.

“Silly,” he murmurs. “I’m used to it now.”

“I don’t want you to be.”

“I don’t want you to cry for me.”

“You died.”

“And I would do it again.”

This response comes without an shred of hesitation.

You first realized you had something to confess, that night in the the back of Jisung’s SUV. You’ve kept it locked away for your sake and his, even moreso. You see how fear clings to him like an unshakeable wraith, and you refuse to feed the parasite.

Now, your confession explodes from its fortress in the center of your soul and rises up your larynx. You panic like an inept security guard letting their only prisoner bolt free. Is it really the right time? Do you know what to say? Have you really thought this through? 

Too late. It’s rushing to the point of your tongue already. You suppose you’ll find out.

He saves you the trouble.

“Honestly?”

Your confession stills. 

“I don’t know if I’m okay, and I won’t try to convince you otherwise. You’d call my bluff. You’re good at that.

“But everything feels okay when I’m with you. You see me. You allow me just to exist as I am. You make me feel human again—you make me want to feel human again. You empty my mind.”

You feel as if you’ve been ejected into space naked, griping for air where there is none.

“I never believed in having somebody to lose,” he utters, gently leaning his forehead against yours. “But I would rather disappear than watch you go.”

You cradle his jaw with shaking fingers, trying and failing to quell the violence of your emotion.

“Don’t go,” he exhales.

You kiss him.

It should feel the same as before. You reach for the slant of his neck, him the dips above your waist. You sigh into him, parting your lips, and he moves into you deeper, harder, dipping into your mouth with his tongue’s pliant swipe. But there’s something new in the way you hold each other, in the seal of your mouth against his.

The line between sexual escapade and lover vanishes as if swept off the sand and into the sea. His stars come out of hiding at last and they bathe you in their residue, light your heart aglow.

Your confession resurfaces. It wants to stargaze also.

“I love you too,” you breathe.

The night comes and goes.

The two of you spend it entangling, sweating, your lips glued the expanse of his neck and the arcs of his shoulders, writing over the ghosts’ injuries with bruises of your making.

Only when the winds have faltered outside do you attempt to rest again. You are curled up in balmy bliss, utterly depleted. Jisung’s arms around your middle and legs threaded among yours bring you that much closer to slumber’s cusp.

You attribute it to your exhaustion when he mumbles something against you, and you have no idea what it means: “Thank you for refracting me.” 

Your confusion is palpable in your silence. His laugh hits the nape of your neck with a gentle puff, and he kisses the spot just beneath your ear. “Never mind.”

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© 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐱 (est. 090323) · 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? please consider reblogging, commenting, or sending me an ask to let me know; or, read my other writing here. thanks so much for the support!

[dazzlingjaeyun]

𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 - 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐧

✧ in which the attempt to get distracted from your feelings might not end exactly as you planned

jungwon x fem!reader (feat. sunghoon)

genre: mostly angst, some fluff

warnings: skinship, (a tiny little bit suggestive if you squint your eyes), mentions: physical violence, blood, alcohol, cheating, breaking up, toxic relationship, crying, and panic

word count: ~6.8k

a/n: phew, this took me like forever to write but the idea had been in my head for so long. i hope y'all enjoy this read ! ≧◡≦ (i highly recommend to read the teaser to this before for better understanding; it's linked in the pink text -> if you click on 'previously')

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previously:

"you're still not seeing anyone?", his eyes locked with yours again, "i'm sure there are some guys in college who are all over you. maybe you should try your luck?"

he gave you a knowing look, as if he subtly wanted to tell you: get yourself out there and distract yourself from him.

over the weekend, you replayed jay's words in your head over and over again. he wasn't wrong; it wasn't too bad of an idea after all. you wouldn't try to force anything, but you decided to allow things to happen if they decided to roll around. you couldn't keep on sulking over your one-sided feelings, especially not when jungwon was your friend and almost in a relationship. you should be happy for him after all, you thought.

as if on cue, you bumped right into said potentional distraction the following week.

you were rushing down the stairs of the lecture building, eager to catch the subway three minutes later, as you tripped over your untied shoelace and right into someone walking up the stairs.

the force you hit him with made said someone stumble back a step.

before you could realize what happened, you felt a strong grip on each of your arms steadying you, eventually preventing you from falling down the stairs and taking him along with you.

"woah, careful there", you heard his semi-familiar voice as you looked up to meet his widened, chocolate-brown eyes.

"wait... y/n, right?" you nodded slowly, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. you remembered his face and his voice, but you couldn't figure out from where.

apparently, you couldn't seem to hide the confusion; the corners of his lips shot up into a smile the same time that a chuckle left his mouth. "sunghoon. we had a group project last semester." right. that's why he looked familiar.

still shocked from the moment, all you could utter was a little "i'm sorry" along with an apologetic smile. "for forgetting and for running you over", you added. only then, you realized his hands were still holding onto your arms. you cleared your throat. "and thanks for um... catching me, i guess?"

he gave you a short smile and loosened the grip around your arms until he let go of them fully. "i mean... i was kinda saving myself", he said, reminding you of how the scenario would have ended hadn't he reacted so fast - namely, with both of you at the bottom of the staircase, probably with at least one broken bone and definitely not with the grin he gave you now. the thought made your stomach twist.

"hey, it's fine", he tried to somewhat comfort you, noticing how all color had left your face. "although, i do think you owe me... for saving your life practically, you know"

he was exaggerating. you knew he was. but it still twisted your stomach a second time, leaving you with an uneasy feeling. relax, maybe he just wants some notes from a lecture he didn't attend. or he has an essay due tomorrow that he didn't want to write. or-

"come to my match tomorrow. if i win, you'll go on a date with me"

what.

your intuition told you to decline. however, the look in his eyes proved that he insisted, and you really did owe him.

maybe you should try your luck, jay's words echoed in the back of your head. right. maybe i should.

without wasting another second, you nodded your head, which caused a smile to spread across sunghoon's lips.

"i still have your number saved. i'll text you the details", he replied as he walked past you and up the stairs a few steps, before he turned around to look at you again. "you might want to tie your shoelace unless you planned to run someone else over"

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

the same evening, as promised, you received a text message from sunghoon with the place and the time for the following day.

yet again, your stomach flipped for the split of a second, the thought if you were out of your mind for agreeing on the deal with a stranger clouding your mind. but then again, he wasn't a complete stranger and it was only a college ice hockey match. it would be nice getting your mind off your feelings and any recent events jungwon never hesitated to tell you about.

and that's how you found yourself on your way to the college's ice hockey rink less than 24 hours later. as you walked closer, you noticed sunghoon standing in front of the entrance, carrying a big bag in one hand and holding his phone in the other. you picked up your pace for the last few meters.

"sorry, i lost track of the time while getting ready", you greeted him. he looked you up and down for a second before smiling softly. "don't worry, it was worth the wait."

you felt yourself smiling slightly at the compliment, your cheeks covered in a light pink shade.

sunghoon guided you inside and to a seat in the first row, waiting for you to sit down before he spoke. "i have to change and warm up now. do you need anything before i go?" you shook your head.

"i'm wearing number 7 so watch out for me. and remember, if my team wins", he said, confidence radiating from his voice, "you owe me a date". he gave you the hint of a grin before disappearing to what you assumed was the locker room.

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

as time passed, you found yourself feeling more and more invested in the match. although you had no knowledge about any rules, and the players' movements were too fast for you to follow, you quickly adjusted to the speed of the match and started to put the puzzle of possible rules together. as soon as it started to make sense to you, your interest grew bigger.

you hadn't noticed how you had unintentionally followed a certain player's every move until you cheered for a goal he scored, his head turning to look at you and his eyes lighting up as they met your cheerful ones. you swore you could see him giving you a quick wink, before turning on his skates to continue the match.

even as the match was over and the crowd of people around you started leaving, you were still trying to figure out if the fast rhythm of your heartbeat was due to the adrenaline in your body that the game had caused or due to your tiny interaction with said certain player. back number 7. said certain player, who you now owed a date.

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

after your date with sunghoon, you found yourself accompanying him to every single one of his weekly matches, not even cancelling when you really had to finish an assignment that was due the end of that day - and that you hadn't even started. besides the matches, that had by now become like a weekly ritual for you, the two of you spent more and more time together, getting to know each other better and growing closer.

he would wait for you after your classes so he could walk you home - something you would usually refuse to do. but walking meant you didn't have to take the subway that was, more often that not, packed to a point that the doors barely closed. and walking with sunghoon meant spending some extra time with him, listening to how his day went and telling him about yours, and sometimes, just sometimes, it also meant having him holding your small hand in his bigger one, your fingers softly intertwined.

you would come over to his place after his practice, to order dinner and watch movies until one of you fell asleep cuddled up against the other.

the two of you would go out on dates, although neither of you officially addressed them as such, and you would slowly begin to feel more and more comfortable around each other.

what had started as a deal - all because you almost knocked him over on the college stairs a few months ago - and as sort of a distraction from your one-sided feelings for your best friend, had by now become a part of your life. a part that made your stomach all fuzzy and your heart warm up each second you spent together.

the plan to distract yourself, however, seemed to work - if jay's judgement was anything to go by, at least. a few weeks ago, you had finally briefed him on the entire situation with sunghoon. part of you felt bad for not letting him know earlier, mostly because he had given you the idea of 'trying your luck', but you had wanted to wait until things were more settled.

jungwon, on the other hand, didn't know yet. remembering how you'd felt whenever he was telling you about the girl he'd liked when you still had feelings for him, you decided to keep everything concerning sunhoon a secret from him. at least for now that the relationship with his girlfriend was in a slump that it couldn't seem to get out of. given your feelings a few months ago, you would have probably been happy to hear the news - although you hated yourself for that - but now that your heart didn't stung anymore at the thought of your friend with another girl, you felt bad for him.

if jay had told him already, which he pinky-promised he wouldn't do, jungwon was very good at hiding. or his mind was elsewhere. just like now, during your weekly bar-catch-up-meeting, when he didn't really seem to listen to jay's updates. you didn't have to ask him; you knew what lay heavily on his heart - and it made you feel even worse about your decision to introduce sunghoon to them that night. but recent events had sort of pushed you to finally do so;

a few days ago, the two of you were sitting in a café for one of your (unofficial) dates, when sunghoon suddenly handed you a bag. hesitantly, you took it from his hands and lurked inside. after shooting him another glance, and earning an approving nod from him, you shoved your hand inside the bag, grabbed the piece of fabric and slowly pulled it out. although you immediately recognized the familiar colors of the jersey, you unfolded it slowly, the '7' on its back confirming your suspicion.

"it's my jersey... my spare one, don't worry, it's clean", he added hastily. "it's to...", he reached up to scratched the back of his head, a tiny hint of nervousness spreading across his face, "to have a reminder of why we started dating in the first place, sort of. you can wear it to my matches from now on", he declared sheepishly.

the smile on your face grew wider with every word he said. "that's cute... thank you, hoon", you leaned in to quickly peck his cheek, only resulting in your own cheeks heating up even more. "i'll always wear it from now on"

you couldn't help but notice the warm, bubbly feeling the gesture caused in your stomach. it was a small one, yet it felt somewhat so big, so official.

you bit down on your lower lip at the thought. you had been meeting regularly, and when you didn't fall asleep at each other's place, you had been calling every night, even if it was just to say good night. sunghoon would keep his hand on the small of your back when you were walking and sometimes you even held hands in public. now that you thought about it, it did feel official. but it wasn't. neither of you had ever addressed the title-topic, until -

"will you finally be my girlfriend?"

now that you were official, you didn't want to hide it from your friends anymore, although jay technically knew. he just didn't know about the boyfriend girlfriend kind of thing.

you knew now wasn't the right timing, but a quick glance at your phone and the incoming message from sunghoon that he'd just arrived, told you that it was too late to change your mind.

just a few moments later, you saw sunghoon appearing near the entrance, his gaze scanning the bar until his eyes finally met yours and softened slightly at the sight. he gave you the hint of a smile and waited for a sign from you that he could walk over to the table you shared with your two friends. they were sitting with their backs to the entrance, so they hadn't seen him yet when jay finished with his weekly update just a minute later.

for the first time in a while, you rose to speak without jay needing to ask you to do so.

"i have kind of an update this week", you said sheepishly, looking over their shoulders to give sunghoon a tiny nod. he took the hint and made his way to your table. "actually, i want to introduce you to someone"

just in time, sunghoon walked past the table and stopped next to you, giving you a short smile and mouthing a 'hi' before looking at your friends.

"jay, jungwon", you pointed at them as you named them, "this is sunghoon", you introduced the three guys to each other, hesitating to continue. the last boyfriend you'd introduced to your friends had turned out to be a complete disappointment, and ever since, you hadn't been in a relationship again. now, it felt almost weird to open up to your friends about this topic.

sunghoon sensed your slight nervousness and softly placed a hand on your shoulder, giving it a short, careful squeeze - as if to give you a sign that it was okay to continue.

"he's my boyfriend", you finally said, a nervous smile spread across your lips.

jay bit his lower lip to surpress a grin, but he gave you a look that said i knew it, before quickly standing up and reaching out his hand to greet sunghoon.

jungwon, on the other hand, hesitated before he mimicked jay's action.

he's my boyfriend. your words echoed in his mind, even long after sunghoon had sat down next to you.

my boyfriend. his brain replayed the scene over and over again like a broken record.

while his elder friend interviewed the couple about how they had met and so on and so forth - although, in secret, he already knew the story - jungwon paid no attention to any word spoken at the table. his focus moved from the hand sunghoon had casually placed on your thigh, to your smaller hand on top of his, and back to his hand and his thumb that slowly and softly caressed the skin on your thigh that your skirt exposed. then, to the smile that spread across your lips as you were talking about whatever, the short moments of eye contact you'd share with your boyfriend, the way his lips curled up when he talked about the relationship, and finally the short peck he placed on your cheek that painted your cheeks a light pink.

jungwon's chest felt tight. uncomfortably tight. tightness, paired with a stinging pain on the left side of his chest that spread like a wildfire to his stomach. with just a hint of hope, he picked up his phone from the table to check for a notification - only to feel even the last bit of optimism shatter to pieces, as he saw the empty screen. no message. no call. no nothing. of course.

only a few weeks ago, he used to experience all these tiny moments that you and sunghoon now shared, too. only a few weeks ago, he'd looked as happy as you did now. had felt as much in love as you did now, maybe even more. only to find all of that slowly fading away more and more with each day that passed, like an old photograph that had been too exposed to sunlight.

now that he saw it happening in front of him, he swore he could hear his heart ripping a little in his chest.

he didn't know if he should blame it on the alcohol in his blood or on the current situation with his own girlfriend when a spark of anger mixed with the sadness he felt. you were aware of his situation, yet you decided to introduce your boyfriend to them that night?

then again, he had no right to keep you from having a good time just because he wasn't. and if the look on your face and the way you slightly leaned against sunghoon were anything to go by, you did have a good time. but who guaranteed that, after all? the last time he'd been introduced to a boyfriend of yours, the relationship had turned out to be the prime example of a disaster.

paying close attention to sunghoon's every move, jungwon's grip tightened around his glass when his gaze went down to his hand on your leg again and he swore he saw it moving up your bare skin just by an inch.

jay, who'd learned to read his best friend's body language in next to no time over the several years of friendship, stepped on jungwon's foot under the table and shot him a confused look that caused the younger to empty whatever liquor was left in his glass and swallowing part of his anger along with it.

a few hours later (or more like what felt like an eternity to jungwon), your night out ended with bidding goodbye's to each other, a friendly 'it was nice meeting you' from jay and a more drunk than sober 'you better not hurt her' from jungwon.

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

while jay contacted you a few times after your night out, asking the usual how are you's and the not-yet-usual how are things with sunghoon, you'd heard nothing from jungwon. you'd tried to reach out to him, but he had kept your communication to a minimum, his replies coming late, short and dry - if even.

that was until you found him in front of your door the next thursday night, after he had successfully woken you up by ringing the doorbell almost non-stop. when you opened the door and saw him standing in front of your apartment, you were ready to throw all kinds of complaints right at his face. because where did he get the audacity from to randomly pay you a visit past your bed time, when he knew for a fact how much you cherished your sleep and especially when he'd barely talked to you over the past week.

however, it took only a second look at his face for you to quickly close your mouth and swallow your complaints. you'd seen him feeling down before, but you'd never seen him like this. dark circles marred his usually bright eyes - eyes that were now red, either from anger or from tears. his skin was pale and his lips looked like they hadn't formed a smile in days. you couldn't quite make out his expression, swinging somewhere between the lines of sadness and sheer emptiness.

suddenly, it didn't matter that he interrupted your sacred sleeping time. worry rushed over you as you wordlessly stepped aside, eyebrows furrowed and lower lip sucked between your teeth, to make space for your friend to enter.

after jungwon had hesitantly stepped inside your apartment, you carefully grabbed his wrist, leading him to the living room and putting both your hands on his shoulders, pushing down softly until he sat on the sofa. your soft touch left tiny sparks on his skin that lingered there even after you left the living room again.

as you came back moments later with a mug of tea in both hands, you found jungwon still sitting in the same position. his gaze stuck to his knees, almost as if he didn't dare to look at you.

you exhaled a small sigh, before handing him one of the cups, placing the other on the small coffee table. you grabbed a blanket from the other side of the sofa and carefully put it around his shoulders in hopes it would somehow comfort him.

after you sat down next to him, it took him only the blink of an eye to blurt out all the thoughts that clouded his mind at once.

"i'm sorry for bothering you at this time, i know you were probably sleeping and i really tried to reach jay, but he didn't answer his calls and he wasn't home and-... and i know i didn't even talk to you properly the past days but-"

"jungwon.", you interrupted him, softly placing your hand on his upper arm. "what happened?"

he was right. you were sleeping and he hadn't talked to you properly the past days, but that didn't matter anymore. your chest felt tight at the sight of your friend in such a state.

you could hear jungwon release a long sigh before he said the words you'd already expected to hear: "we broke up."

you listened attentively as he gave you a summary of the previous happenings. it sounded like the prime example of a nasty break up; hour long arguments with a lot of screaming and crying included. trying to make up, only to fuck it all over the next second. you could feel your heart aching for him, only imagining how overwhelmed he must have felt, especially after being so in love.

"oh, jungwon...", you sighed once he was done, taking his hand that had started shaking in his lap at the memory of everything he told you in yours and giving it a careful squeeze.

his shaking hand came to a halt at your soft touch and for a reason unknown to himself, jungwon wished that you'd never let go.

"i'm so sorry", you broke the silence again and slowly let go of his hand, leaving it cold without your touch.

you knew he would talk to you or jay whenever he felt the need to and you certainly didn't want to push him to speak, nor dig too deep with further questions.

"comfort movie and ice cream?"

jungwon's lips curled into the hint of a smile just for the blink of an eye before it disappeared again and he nodded.

"comfort movie and ice cream"

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

even a week later, jungwon caught himself thinking back to the night he rang your doorbell in despair and how you'd comforted him so effortlessly. he swore if he thought about it hard enough, he could still feel your warm touch around his wrist, on his shoulders, on his arm, and on his hand. sometimes, he even caught himself wondering what it would feel like to hold your hand for longer, or how much comfort it would give him to hold your body close to his if only the tiny amount of skinship had felt like this. like the first ray of sunshine after a storm. like home.

although he knew he had no business to neither think nor feel like that, his mind tricked him into the same train of thoughts over and over again. and whenever it happened, he'd feel guilty. he'd hate himself for letting his thoughts wander back to you so frequently, knowing it was straight up egoistic. you had comforted him that night. you had given him the tiny bit of affection that he'd been so deprived of ever since his relationship went downhill - even if it had just been platonically. he blamed the fact that you were running laps around his mind on the situation he'd been in, but that only made it worse. knowing he was only longing to relive these tiny moments with you for the sake of feeling at ease - of forgetting about his break up. or so he thought.

over the next few weeks, he was proven wrong. he couldn't say he was over his ex girlfriend yet, but she for sure started to matter less and less to him. at the same time, thoughts of you clouded his mind more often than he'd liked to admit.

at first, he'd tried to shrug it off. but as time passed, he couldn't deny the small pang in his chest whenever sunghoon picked you up from your night outs, whenever he saw your phone light up from a notification, the picture of you and sunghoon that you had put as your lockscreen greeting him, or each time you posted your boyfriend on social media - being all lovey-dovey, of course.

if he thought all of these feelings were just caused by the sudden lack of love in his life at first, by now he was sure that they were the outcome of the lack of your love.

you, on the other hand, blamed any glares at your boyfriend, any of jungwon's sighs at the sight of you two together, and any other more or less weird behaviour from jungwon on the fact that he was still not over his break up and simply felt a bit uneasy at seeing love happening right in front of him.

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

as the weekend rolled around, you were hoping that saturday afternoon would not only lighten up jungwon's mood overall, but also ease the uncomfortable tension between the two of you.

it was jay's birthday and as per his wish, you met up with him and some of his other friends from college to play bowling all together. you had been hesitant about letting sunghoon tag along, given the circumstances with jungwon and you not wanting to be the reason for a ruined birthday, but jay, who had also grown closer to sunghoon over time, convinced you otherwise.

although you were enormously behind in points, the game was fun and everyone seemed to have a good time. small waves of relief washed over you each time you saw jungwon scoring a strike, followed by a cheerful jubilation. finally.

it was your last turn before the game was over. even though your chances of winning were zero, you still tried your best to at least hit a few pins - just so the results wouldn't be as embarrassing. and against your own expectations, you indeed scored a solid seven.

when you turned around, jungwon tried his best to surpress a proud smile at your result. there was no need. it would have gone unnoticed by you anyways, your eyes falling right on sunghoon, his wide smile and his opened arms that embraced you in a short hug after you approached him.

"see, i told you; you just need some practice and you'll do well", he mumbled in your hair, leaving a soft peck on top of them, before he let go of the hug, cupped your face in his hands and captured your lips in a short but loving kiss.

"i guess seven is my lucky number", you replied jokingly flirtous.

sunghoon opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly interrupted by an annoyed groan coming from the other side of the table.

"you guys are gross"

the glare you gave jungwon for his words made his insides twist and he decided to keep whatever else words he wanted to throw at you - out of pure jealousy, admittedly - to himself.

in fact, you didn't hear any other word from him that day, until you used a moment in which sunghoon and jay were busy discussing whether baseball or ice hockey was better, to follow jungwon as he excused himself to the restroom. you were dedicated to confront him about the prior situation.

"what the fuck was that for, jungwon?"

he raised his eyebrows cluelessly.

"you know what i mean. it was unnecessary. and not exactly respectful." you crossed your arms in front of your chest, looking at him expectantly.

"it hurts seeing you with him."

fuck. his own eyes widened as the words of confession left his mouth. out of all the lies he could have come up with, did he really have to say the truth?

you sighed, dropping your arms to your sides. "listen, jungwon. i'm sorry about your break up and your loss, but just because you ended your realtionship doesn't mean that i have to-"

"am i not being obvious enough?", he interrupted, causing you to look at him in disbelief.

"what? i don't think i'm rubbing your nose in-"

"oh, cut the cap, y/n", he interrupted again, a slight hint of annoyance shadowing over his words this time. he blamed it for the sudden confidence it gave him as the next words just rolled off his tongue without any warning.

"you really don't understand i'm in love with you?"

the words hit you like a punch in the gut, its pain spreading all over your stomach as you took a step back.

this world cannot be so sick and twisted, you thought as the uneasy feeling made its way to your chest like a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe.

you swallowed hard, as if that would subside the feeling.

"i don't think this is the place and time to have this conversation now", you tried your best to stay calm, although all you wanted was to run off and escape the situation.

"why?" jungwon asked, and with each step he took towards you, you took a step back. "cause your boyfriend is just a few steps away?"

your heart was hammering against your chest.

"and what if he hurts you?", he continued.

memories of your previous relationship, memories which you had worked so hard to shove all the way to the very back of our mind, hit you like a wave. what if he hurts you?

you shook your head in an attempt to shake them off, trying to keep your cool with the attempt of a deep breath. you wouldn't panic. not here, not now.

"what would you know about his intentions?"

"nothing. but i don't trust him and i know about mine. you can still choose me over him and we'll-"

"stop", you said sternly. your head hurt and everything was spinning. "stop making everything about you." words left your mouth before your head was done forming them into sentences. "i had liked you for so long before and you never cared how i felt when you talked about her non-stop."

jungwon's eyes widened as your confession rang in his ears. "i...", he swallowed hard, "i care about how you're feeling"

"i'm feeling happy now. you care? then don't ruin this for me"

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

weeks later, the stress the situation had left you in, had calmed down. you were laying on the side you claimed as yours on sunghoon's bed, scrolling through tiktok and effectively procrastinating on your studies. after sunghoon had left to meet with his study group, you were alone in his apartment. he'd offered you to tag along, but after you'd declined, you just decided to stay in his place so you could spend the evening together once he came back.

after a few more minutes of scrolling, you finally put your phone down and started studying. just when you felt too exhausted to continue, you heard keys turning in the lock of the front door. what a timing.

you quickly closed your laptop, stood up and made your way to the front door to greet sunghoon, only for him to quickly rush past you, not even granting you a look, but instead keeping his face down.

you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion and turned around to follow him.

"babe?"

you tried to understand what it was that caused him to act like that all of a sudden. everything was fine when he left. your mind started racing about all the things you could have possibly done wrong when he shut the door to the bathroom right in front of your face.

he didn't lock, but you didn't want to enter like an intrudor, so you took a deep breath before carefully knocking on the wooden door.

"sunghoon?"

when you heard nothing but the sound of water running, you decided to open the door slowly, little by little, until you could see him leaning over the sink and washing his face.

when you caught sight of the sink, painted in red, an alarm went off in your head. you quickly rushed over to him and stopped his attempt to splash more water on his face by grabbing both his wrists, tight but careful enough to not hurt him.

when he finally faced you, your heart dropped. his lip was slightly bruised and blood ran down his nose. you gave him a worried look to which he averted his gaze.

a few moments later, he was sitting on the edge of the bathtub with you kneeling in front of him, cleaning up the blood on his face and treating his wounds. although you were careful, you could hear him hiss in pain from time to time.

"are you going to tell me what happened?", you broke the silence while tapping a tissue on his lip.

no answer.

you took his hands in yours, scanning his knuckles for any injuries.

"you didn't fight back", you established.

still no answer.

you stood up with a sigh, ready to leave the bathroom, when only one word from sunghoon made you freeze right at the spot.

"jungwon."

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡

when you didn't find jungwon at his place, you drove to the café he recently started working at, in hopes of finding him there. you knew he was busy working, if he was there, but you couldn't care less.

sunghoon had tried to talk you out of it, practically begging you to just let it be and to stay home with him, and the memories of the last time you tried to tackle a problem with jungwon weren't exactly encouraging you to do so again, either. everything told you to not confront jungwon about the whole situation, but anger got the best of you when you, nevertheless, decided to do so.

when you arrived to the café, you caught a glimpse of the counter, half relieved to see jungwon behind it, half not. not wanting to cause a scene, you waited in the queue until it was your turn.

"hi, what can i get-"

jungwon's words got stuck in his throat when he realized who was standing in front of him.

he believed in coincidences, but this would be too much of an coincidence, even for him. he knew you knew.

"let me guess, your lovely boyfriend told you already?", he cocked an eyebrow.

"care to explain?", you asked back, mimicking his attitude.

instead of replying, he left his spot, grabbed a glass and started to add ingredients you couldn't quite make out from the speed he was working at. once he was done, he placed it on the counter in front of you.

"i'm off in half an hour", he slid the glass across the wood, closer to you, "if you wait, i'll tell you after. the coffee's on the house."

and without another word, he turned to the next customer, ready to take their order.

you sighed, but grabbed the drink and sat down in an empty chair, swirling the straw. you hadn't exactly planned for the day to end with you sitting there, waiting for jungwon to finish his shift, and sipping on a coffee that tasted surprisingly good - but here you were.

a few minutes later, jungwon, who was now changed out of his working clothes, approached your table.

"i told you to stay out of it", you said, before he even had the chance to say anything. "what makes you think getting involved and punching him was okay?"

how and where did you two even meet? why did you start this, and why didn't sunghoon fight back? tons of questions rose up all at once, making it hard to not lose your focus.

instead of replying, he silently reached out his hand, to which you just gave him a confused look.

"you won't believe me, anyways. so i'll show you."

not sure how to feel about what he had to show you, you hesitated before standing up, but refusing to take his hand. you followed him through a door that prohibited access to customers with a sign that read 'staff only'.

without a word, he sat down in front of a big computer screen, repeatedly clicking on different things with the mouse and tapping on the keyboard here and there. his narrowed eyes indicated he was searching something.

an uneasy feeling crept up on you, spread from your stomach, to your chest, and finally the rest of your body. you had no clue what jungwon was about to show you, but what you were sure of was that it couldn't be good.

"got it", he finally said, after what felt like an eternity. part of you was curious to see what he'd show you, while another, bigger part was eager to run away and pretend the day had never happened.

hesitantly, you took a few steps into his direction, until you could see the screen. at the second glimpse, you understood that what you saw in front of you on the screen was the café you'd been sitting in less than five minutes ago. he was showing you the café's cctv file.

"that was right before my shift", jungwon said, before he clicked play and leaned back for you to see the screen better. although, when you saw and realized, you wished your vision was blocked.

what you saw was no one other than your boyfriend sharing a table with an unfamiliar girl, both of them sitting a little too close to each other for your liking. you weren't a jealous person per se, but you also had boundaries. and your boyfriend's arm around the shoulders of a random girl you didn't know came very close to crossing them.

you tried to tell yourself that they were waiting for the other members of their study group, but no one else arrived, and nothing on the table looked like studying.

your stomach sank further and further, pearls of cold sweat pooled in the palms of your hands and your knees started to feel weak the closer the two got to each other. by now, you were anticipating what you saw next, but you still clung desperately to the tiny bit of hope that you had left; that told you you were exaggerating and it would be fine.

but even that tiny spark of hope died when you saw exactly what you'd expected to see. your boyfriend leaned in for a kiss.

your breath got caught in your throat and by now you knees felt like they'd give in and let you hit the ground.

the last thing you saw on the screen was jungwon pulling sunghoon away and placing a delicate punch right in his face without hesitation - then the screen went black.

it wasn't until you saw your reflection in the screen that you realized jungwon had stood up and placed his hand on the small of your back, as if to steady you.

silent tears rolled down your cheeks until they fully blurred your vision. what if he hurts you, jungwon's words from several weeks prior replayed in your head.

before your mind could wander off to questions such as how long it had been going on or what you did wrong to get cheated on, you were pulled into a tight hug.

jungwon held you through your sobs, let you soak his shirt in tears and carefully stroked your back in an attempt to calm you down.

although his heart was aching, ripping a little every time you let out another bitter sob, he held you tight to his chest as if keeping you close to him could protect you from all the bad in the world. oh, how he wished it could.

after you'd calmed down, he slowly let go of you, taking his hands off your back and on your cheeks instead, cupping your face and slowly wiping away your tears.

"now if after this you still don't choose me over him, i don't know either", he tried hard to make it sound like a joke, "also, my skills in making coffee are immaculate, so..."

the last part elicited a small chuckle on your behalf that quickly died again.

"i need time, won"

he nodded and gave you a soft smile, your face still cupped by his hands.

"as much time as you need", he said softly, "whenever you feel ready, i'll be here waiting for you, okay? as long as it takes you"

‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊

© dazzlingjaeyun, 2024. please do not copy.

taglist: @ilovejungwonandhaechan @aloloveswonie @jungwonloverr @laylasbunbunny @rawrszh @avacelestepereira @aishigrey @ilabjungwon @heeheeyeoiizz01

join my taglist here

[dark-l-angel]

Literally the next day and here I am, still delulu. Here's another scenario for you, and the last one was so good I want to see what you some up with for this. Jason, helping us study by giving us a break, cuz you know that we were all stressed out the past few months because of exams and such. Can you imagine him, forcing you to take a study break, I mean stealing your laptop and putting it in a place you can't reach kinda forcing. And then just chilling, like maybe snuggling up and watching a movie or *gasp* a cute slow dance in the kitchen!!! IDK, but your marvelous writing is fueling my delusions.

BTW if I didn't mention it before your writing is amazing! Peace out ✌️

Oh it's the delulu princess 💕

Would you believe if i tell that i used to cry silently in order to not wake my parents up as a stress relief during night studyings "before i know about jason" due to how stressful shit was?

I hope this may help any students whom facing hard times ❤

7 minutes in heaven

Jason todd x reader

You could swear your brain is about to explode, too much stress for your brain. Tons of sheets scattered all around your shared apartment with your boyfriend/husband which had put him in a state of worry.. he knows about your exams and how hard you've been working to the point where you wouldn't eat/drink water if he doesn't bring it to you, he was understanding.. but his patience has limits.

Jason was staring at you from the kitchen counter while he cooking a nutritious meal, he decided to put an end for the whole thing.. you weren't taking care of yourself, for example : you were staying up at night as he goes patrolling and comes back, he'll find you in the same spot with your laptop and bunch of papers in front of you just like he left you.. Which hurt him the most. Watching exhaust and tiredness consuming you slowly.. you were almost like fading away.

He came up to you, snatched the laptop from your lap "hey! What are you doi-" "shut it up, I've had enough" you heard jason clearly.. you wanted to argue but your body failed you, you are too tired to even react or say a word but just fall back to the couch and sigh in disappointment of yourself "it's been a while since I've given him attention.. what an asshole" you mumbled to yourself.

You saw jason hiding your laptop on the top of the pantry shelves.. you'll be needing a seat in order to reach tha- "don't even think of it". A jason hissed at you while picking the pile of your papers carefully. You gave up at this point. You can't win against him especially since your loving bf is a hot-headed person, basically there will be no point of trying.

"Go to the bathroom and get naked.. I'll be right over" he said as he was in the kitchen. You don't have a choice, do you?. You went to the bathroom as you found the tub was filled already with hot bubbly water ready for you, some jasmine scent have been teasing your nose, a pair of comfy pajamas was put aside. Damn i want this man

You stripped out of your clothes without hesitation, dripping your tired body immediately into the tub, feeling your skin melting out the tiredness away.. bones floating in your body.. *eternal relaxation stage 😎👌🏻* until you hear a knock on the door that broke the calming silence.. jason entered holding a tray of the meal he was cooking earlier with some cute little additions *ya know like hotdog octopus, snake pickles.. ect*. Boy decided to pamper you today.

He kneeled to meet your pretty tired face. Kissed your forehead before starting to feed you. No words were talked. Jay was a man of action, he loves you bitch. all he does is pleasing us even if he was simply breathing.

Once you finished, he put the tray away and turned back to you. He started washing your body carefully and gently as if you were made out of thin glass. From washing your hair, putting conditioner on, applying masks/products, to scrubbing your skin, while Massaging the stressed muscles in the way.

After he finished rinsing your body, he wrapped you like a burrito in the towel before carrying you bridal style to the bedroom, he helped you with your clothes before kissing your whole face..

Next minutes of kissing, he came closer and asked if you both could have a movie night since he knows how much you loved them.. you got excited about it, an expression he hasn't seen in a long time. So you immediately jumped out of the bedroom to the living room choosing a film while jason went to make popcorn for you both to enjoy.

That's where you finished setting everything, but your bf was still missing, you jumped out of the couch and walked toward the kitchen, seeing your bf still with the popcorn. You thought for how much efforts he have been doing in order to help you, you couldn't help but just hug him from behind. It didn't took him out of surprise, he took it more of a little reward for him "feeling yourself better?" "I feel like dancing" jason didn't think twice before he turned around and put his hands on your waist kissing the top of your head, while your arms wrapped around his neck.

You two, forgetting about this dang world, swaying smoothly in the kitchen while popcorn is popping.. you rest your forehead on his muscular chest/shoulder *according to your height* fucking throwing every single thing was burning your mind and focusing only on slow dancing with your bf.. jason had a big role this whole time.. you can never thank him enoug-

Your mind got caught by jason gently removing his hands from you, switching his attention to the popcorn.. "it'll be ready now, better go grab your seat angel" you were excited about this, jason was able to see it in your eyes. Feeling alive again after being the reason of your happiness and joy.

I love him as much i love you ❤

Glad you like my writings and i hope you enjoy this one 💕

[jonquilyst]

Day 14 - Challenge Day

Everyone... I have some news for you: This is the final challenge before the merge! That means whoever wins this challenge will be guaranteed spots in the merge, so I hope you all will try your very best!

This challenge's movie genre is crime. One contestant from each team will be randomly chosen to be a prisoner. From there, two other contestants will be tasked to break out their team's prisoner out and escape with them. The first team to have their prisoner and their two rescuers escape the "prison" will win invincibility!

Of course, breaking into a prison is no easy feat! That's why I've added multiple sections to this prison and filled it with booby traps! The prisoners will be locked deep inside and the contestants tasked with breaking them out will have to power through the booby traps in order to reach their prisoner.

My random wheel of names have chosen Liana and Drew to be the prisoners of their teams! The wheel of names was also used to select the rescuers for the Illustrious Star-Shines (no need for the wheel for the Big-Names, since they're now just a team of 3) and it chose none other than Drew's BFF Flo and the ever-so-determined Hans! The Illustrious Star-Shines who were not chosen are exempt from this challenge.

It was a chaotic start for our Star-Shines. In attempt to clear the first booby trap to unlock the door behind them, Flo was struck by a poisonous arrow and Hans... Man oh man does fire love him! He catches himself on fire for the second time thanks to the booby trap! Thankfully Flo was quick-thinking and extinguished him right away.

Thankfully, the Big-Names had better odds. Toni was left unscathed, though she was blasted with bone dust which left her filthy. Willabelle on the other hand also fell victim to a poisonous arrow.

The Star-Shines make their way deeper into the prison and come across another obstacle! Flo can see Drew on the other side of an electrified gate that must be deactivated with a switch. While attempting to disarm the gate, Flo and Hans were terrified to discover tarantulas and a skeletonized arm inside the switches! (Not specifying whether the arm is real or not)

The same goes for the Big-Names. Toni was terrified to discover even more tarantulas in the switch, while Willabelle narrowly dodges another poisonous arrow!

In the end, our two teams successfully disarmed the gates and they're now able to break their prisoners out!

As soon as Liana and Drew are rescued, the teams rush to the entrance of the prison. In the end, the Illustrious Star-Shines are the first team to have all 3 participants escape, meaning they win the challenge and invincibility into the merge! Congratulations!!

THE ILLUSTRIOUS STAR-SHINES WIN!

Big-Names... You already know the drill. I'll see you at the auditorium where you will once again say goodbye to another teammate.

Today's Confessional: Hans Somme

"And that's how the Illustrious Star-Shines roll! I've always known we were the best team. Those Big-Names never had anything against us. Those two times we lost? That was just us preparing to knock them out of their seats afterwards. It's called "warming up." Our 5 victories speaks for itself."

"Though if I'm being completely honest... I'm kinda sad we're not gonna be in teams anymore. I really liked what we had. It's been an honor to serve as this team's captain."

@bloomingkyras @witheringscreations @akitasimblr @ethicaltreatmentofcowplants @simsinfinitylt

@invisiblequeen

[ofthesunlight]

Today, I want to tell yall about my favorite silly things on each of my deity's altars. I'll show pictures too!!

Please enjoy the nonsense that is about to fall upon your eyes 😎

1. Apollon

My favorite silly thing on Apollon's altar is probably the half used blue haie dye 💀 he loves when I express myself with my hair, so when I put it on there he refused to let me take it off lmao

2. Loki

I kinda hate that he won't let me take this off tbh. It's so funny though. It's a DEAD BATTERY............ He tells me, "that battery is as dead inside as you are" and im like. Wow dad thanks-

3. Artemis

A random butterfly. I don't know if she is associated with butterflies, but it's golden and it broke off of a wall hanging thing. It's really pretty but I laugh when I look at it because it's technically broken but she LOVES it.

4. Aphrodite

Hands down the hello kitty flower agate that I have. I got it from angelrealmco on Instagram which BY THE WAY THEIR SHOP IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! but anyway. Aphrodite adores it, I love it, it's cute and it reminds me of her. Also it represents my inner child a bit!!! So it's a win win.

5. Hades and Persephone

My dead cat's ashes are on there. She was my cat, but she never really spent too much time around me until nearing the end of her life. She always gave me cuddles, and she purred a lot then. I like to think she was peaceful when she passed, even if her passing was painful for her and my family. She died two years ago. While is is sort of depressing, it also gives me hope that my queen and king are watching over her!

6. Zeus and Hera

Dog with a bone. A little stuffed animal hehe. It reminds me that I am safe with these two, even if they used to terrify the living shit out of me 😭

7. Athena

It's literally so funny to me that I have a bobblehead of my first ever college I attended on her altar. I'm technically still attending, but I'm switching in the spring. I love it because to me it's hilarious to have a cowboy on the goddess of war and strategy's altar!!

So as you can see, I am not serious at all when putting together my altars. Like yes there are "normal" associations on them too, but tbh i find the "normal" things BORING. So if you find yourself questioning whether or not your own altar is good enough, especially if you don't have the traditional tools..... I promise you, your deities LOVE it. What matters is the thought you put into your altars. If something reminds you of them, STICK IT ON THERE!!!!!!

And one final note- if you don't have an altar or shrine to a deity, that's okay too :) not everyone is going to want or need one! I didnt have one for a long time because I literally thought it was pointless lmao. Your deities appreciate any work you put into your practice, even if it's just a little bit :)

[star-girl69]

Ultraviolence

Natalie Scatorccio x Fem!Reader

—-

a/n: exams are crazy 😰 but i hope you all enjoy!!

warnings: mentions cannibalism, mentions of death, swearing, hallucinations, panic attack kinda, mentions of kidnapping, tell me if i missed anything!!

Chapter Twenty Five - Crown of Bones

Chapter Twenty Four - Crown of Bones

—-

1996-

“People of Europe, I send you the rainbow of Argentina!”

Misty and Crystal have been singing for ages now, sweeping, and everyone is doing their best to ignore them, eating their starling soup.

You sigh and turn to the window, trying to get away from the world, feeling Natalie breath out heavily next to you, muttering under her breath about them.

But at the same time- their singing feels normal. You smile to yourself, wondering if something like this would have happened at Nationals in a hotel room the girls had remade into a party room.

Would you still be sitting next to Natalie like this?

Who would still be there?

You rub your eyes, looking out the dusty window, trying to spot Shauna coming back with the bear meat for tonight.

Antlers, white like bone, the parts that aren’t covered in blood, at least, shine back at you.

Antlers like these used to mean so much to you. They meant a win, food in your stomach, and now everytime you even think about them- glance over at the wall above the fireplace-

And you remember that night. The antlers you saw. The sounds, the taste, how good it all felt.

You’re not sure of what you’ve lived through, you don’t know what is happening in this place, in this cabin, but you know those antlers aren’t supposed to be there.

You gasp, your metal cup clattering to the floor, soup spilling, staring, staring and those fucking antlers you can’t escape from.

“Hey, hey. What’s wrong?” Natalie asks, her hands all over you, but you’re not hurt, you’re just staring at the antlers in the window, wondering why you’re going fucking crazy-

You bring your hands up to your eyes, and when you open your eyes again- there is nothing but the dusty window and the snow, the trees in the background.

“Nothing,” you gasp after a second, your lungs tight, your breath not able to come through properly. “I… I just thought I saw something.”

The rest of the cabin is silent as Natalie shifts closer, looking out the window.

She nods. “It’s alright. There’s nothing there.” She looks into your eyes, places a hand on your face. “It’s alright,” she repeats.

You nod, feeling shaky and odd.

You’ve felt for a long time like something is inside of you, the wilderness, a poisoned sapling in your liver that is just pumping you full of poison- and the more you get it the more you want it.

You shake your head and try to take a deep breath, but it comes out as a shudder.

“I’m- I’m fine.”

Natalie nods, but you know she doesn’t quite believe you, and when you glance around the cabin- no one quite believes you either.

“You’re not,” Lottie says after a moment, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. She stands up, crosses the room, and holds her hand out. “You need to breathe-”

“Oh, my God,” Nat scoffs. “She doesn’t need your bullshit, Lottie.”

“I’m trying to help,” Lottie frowns.

“I’m alright, Lottie,” you say, and Lottie takes a step back under Nat’s stare.

Shauna bursts through the door, setting down the tray of bear meat.

In a moment, everything has forgotten about you and your vision, just leaving you and Natalie in the corner.

She exhaled harshly, turning back to you after she’s done glaring down Lottie.

“You don’t need to be so mean,” you mutter, feeling like someone has stabbed the antlers through your chest, and the blood is yours. “She’s just trying to help.”

“She can go and help anyone else.”

“So who’s the thief?” Shauna asks, standing up, glaring around at all of you. No one says anything, confused as to what she’s talking about. “Someone stole some bear meat from the shed. I guess they think they deserve it more than the rest of us, which… at this point, is pretty fucked. If anybody, I’m the one who should be taking some more, but I’m not, because I’m not the fucking worst. So which one of you is?”

After Shauna’s rant, everyone is silent, and you share a glance with Natalie. She shakes her head, and you do too- and you believe her.

“Okay. Right. Whatever,” Shauna hisses.

Coach comes out of the shadows, moving to his chair in the corner, his crutches banging against the floor.

“It was probably him,” Mari whispers to Akilah, staring at him out of the corner of her eyes. “He thinks he’s so much better than all us.”

Coach stops and looks up to the sky, sighing.

“I didn’t take the fucking meat,” he glares at her. “Okay? And in case you forgot-” he holds up one of his crutches, “Not exactly nimble in the snow, huh?”

He keeps walking forward, and your breath finally feels a bit more normal, and you shake your head, not risking a glance out the window.

“But you know what?”

He stands in front of his chair, turning around to face everyone.

“If it had been me… what exactly would you do about it? Would you eat me?”

Everyone exchanges glances, and you’re not exactly sure what anyone’s trying to say-

Mari stands, taking a few steps forward confidently, like she would.

“Let’s all just chill, you guys,” Nat says, scrambling to her feet and raising a hand out to Mari. She gestures to him. “There’s no way that Coach would ever-”

“This is because of you, you know.”

You look up at Mari with wide eyes.

What the fuck has Mari done for you all?

“Excuse me?”

“Why we don’t have any meat. Lottie tries to bless you for the hunt, but half the time you’re MIA. Or when you do show up, it’s like you’re practically holding your nose.”

“Are you joking?” Nat hisses, and you stand up, feeling a little angry and a little on edge-

“What have you done, huh, Mari? Have you been hiking through the mountains in the freezing cold looking for food?”

She takes a step towards you, and you do too.

“No. You’ve been here, in the cabin, nice and warm while we were out there trying!”

“If there isn’t any game, then how did Lottie get the birds.”

“Lottie didn’t fucking get the birds,” Nat scoffs. “They flew into the cabin.”

“Because she told them too,” Mari says.

“It did happen when the blood dripped on the symbol she made,” Akilah mutters.

“We’re still not really sure that’s why,” Shauna says.

“Yeah, you see, that’s what we call a coincidence,” Coach sighs. “Okay? Those birds were just… like, confused, or had a disease or something.”

“No. If they were diseased, then we would have gotten sick from eating them,” Misty says, the broom still in her hands.

“What about the bear?”

Everyone turns to Van.

“I don’t think anyone who saw that could call it a coincidence.”

“Exactly.” Mari turns back to you and Natalie. “It all goes to show the only food we’ve had in months is thanks to Lottie.”

Natalie runs a hand through her hair.

“Then we should have a fucking contest, huh? One-on-one. We both go out. Just her and me, and at the end of the day we see who makes it back with more food.”

You stare up at Nat, but she’s not looking anywhere near you.

“Come on, Nat. That’s not fair,” Travis says. “Lottie’s not a hunter.”

“Oh, according to them, she’s better than a hunter.”

She looks around, and everyone else does, but not one says anything.

You grab Natalie’s hand, making her look at you.

“You’re not serious.”

She stares into your eyes.

“You’re not serious, Natalie. You can’t- can’t just go out into the wilderness all by yourself,” you laugh, just because it’s so hilarious. You look around, and no one says anything. “All of you can’t be serious. You’re gonna freeze out there all by yourselves.”

Natalie looks at you.

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “It’s stupid.”

You take a step closer and drop your voice.

“Why do you let them get to you, Nat?”

“I’ll be fine, Y/N.”

You stare back at her, and when you look at her shadow behind her, you swear she’s wearing a crown of bones. Of antlers.

—-

2021-

“I know you’re in there, Y/N!”

Misty’s sing-song voice has been at your door for the past five minutes, banging and knocking, shouting that it’s her! It’s your old best friend, and you should just let her in-

“I don’t wanna talk to anyone, please Misty,” you groan, leaning your head against the heavy door. The following knocks make your teeth chatter.

“Okay,” she says, slightly shouting. “I wanted to tell you this in person, but since you’re being difficult…”

“What, Misty?!”

“Natalie’s missing.”

You open the door quickly, and when you look in her eyes, you know she’s not lying.

But you know nothing about the man behind her.

“I… who? Who the fuck-?”

She glances over to the man, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

“That’s Walter. Seriously, do not mind him. He’s just helping me.”

“Hi,” he says after a moment, holding out his hand that you cautiously take. “I’m Walter,” he smiles. “And you must be the infamous Y/N I’ve heard so much about. All good things, besides for the shouting of your name just now.”

“Ha,” you say, and maybe you would she laughed if you weren’t so scared and confused.

One Yellowjacket missing could mean bad news for the rest of them.

Misty barges past you and inside, and Walter smiles awkwardly at you before following her.

“Oh, okay,” you mutter, shutting the door and following them. “Nat’s missing?”

Misty sighs, sitting on your couch, like she had when Travis died.

“Yes. But, we have a lead! Purple people.”

“Misty… do you have any meds you should be taking…?”

“Oh, no, no, Y/N. Not actual purple people. But people dressed in purple clothes.”

“Oh, yeah. ‘Cause that makes much more sense, huh? Besides, how do you know she didn’t just take off?”

“Has she contacted you?” Misty asks, taking out a notepad. Walter looks around your apartment while you wring your hands together nervously.

“No,” you sigh, and she sets down her notepad, adjusting her glasses.

“You know something.”

“I don’t,” you mutter.

“You do!” she shouts, pointing her finger at you.

You roll your eyes. “God, Misty, fine, I-” she looks at you expectantly, and you look away. “I… may have kinda, like, completely cut things off with her at the reunion?”

“Y/N,” Misty gasps. “What? What happened? You guys were so…”

You sigh and turn back to her. “It… it was never really healthy. And we were too focused on saving each other to save ourselves, it- it was never meant to work, you know?”

Misty looks you up and down. “Well,” she mutters, writing something down.

“She’s probably in Texas,” you mumble. “She always runs to Texas. She took me to Texas. She likes… the heat.”

Because winter makes her feel a little sick.

Misty nods. “Texas,” she sighs. She looks around your apartment. “Goodness, Y/N. Breakup really effect you?”

“It wasn’t a breakup, Misty,” you sneer. “We weren’t together. It was just… a formal… we shouldn’t ever get back together again.”

“Okay,” she says, raising her eyebrows, not really believing you. “Well, pack your bags. Don’t worry, I already called out of work for you-”

“Misty?! You- you can’t just-”

She cuts you a harsh glare.

“Listen to me. I know, and everyone else knows, that you still love her. And now she’s missing. I need your help, Y/N, and you need mine.”

“I don’t need your help, Misty,” you roll your eyes.

She shrugs.

“Aren’t you at least curious?” Walter asks, the first time he’s spoken since he came in. Misty rolls her eyes. “Come. I’m paying.”

And you are curious. And you do care about Natalie, even if you’re working to not love her anymore. Besides, who doesn’t want a free vacation?

—-

taglist:

@sweetdayme4427 @dreaming-for-an-escape @peachydokii @happysparklingshadows @zhivaxo @maraudeerrs @karsonromanoff @onlyangel-444 @subastronaut

everything taglist:

@emilynissangtr

[deadtiredghost]

I cant find the original image i wanted to post cause this theory is built on that, i think i found it on pintrest but u know how in the apocalypse timeline Leo has Raph's prosthetic arm? and how everyone theories that Raph dies first?

Right well. I prefer to think otherwise! (bear with me i have a point)

TW: death, apocalypse things, mourning(?), its rottmnt apocalypse angst you know what you'vs signed up for.

My personal headcannon of how things went down is that things went to shit but not entire shit at first. there was a healthy resistence and all and the family were skilled enough together to stay together. Yokai and humans alike had to team up and all, but couldn't do much against being Kraangified.

We know its 2044 when Casey Jr gets sent back so CJ can't be older than 22 canonically; personally I think he is around 15-17, same age as Leo and Donnie. this also means that Mikey is around 39 and Leo is 40.

I think the adults died first, Splinter would not live to see his sons die.

Whether CJ was an accidental pregnancy or Casey found him and adopted him, he came into the turtles lives when they were in their mid to late twenties.

the second i think is more likely personally but if Casey was pregnant or got someone pregnant then they had to have had a fighting chance that things would get better at this point for her to bring a life into the world - at this point they looked like they might win, and the next generation was their hope

"It's you! All of you, together! I never thought I'd see you again! I'm so happy, I could hug you!" - CJ, movie.

I believe that all of them got to know CJ as a toddler, maybe even until he was in his tweens, maybe not, but reguardless, they knew him as a child enough that he loves them and considers them his uncles (and leo his father-figure).

We know Casey knew Donnie enough that Donnie probably helped on their chainsaw hockey stick, but I believe that Donnie died second. Donnie's death is incredibly distructive because of everything he can do with his tech - there are other mechanics and scientists but not to the same level as Donnie.

I think that Donnie's death marks the dwindling of the resistence, it also irreparably damages the family. Maybe Casey was around 10-12 when Donnie died, not a fighter just yet but training to be - hence the weapon and "trademarked apparel".

I also think that Donnie's death triggers Mikey to practice with his mystics to a detrimental effect to try to contact Donnie's ghost and all, becuase Mikey is seen kinda decrepit at 39 years old, and while yet the apocalypse ages you, I think the last 5-or-so years of Mikey's life took a massive toll on his body so he cant do physical shit anymore (nor his razzmatazz *sob*) because his bones r brittle as fuck in return for his excessive mystic capabilities.

The reason I think Donnie died first is because of Leo's arm, which is Raph's prosthetic.

I've read fics where Donnie makes Raph a prosthetic and he rejects it because of his ninpo, for it to be repurposed for Leo, but I very much prefer the angst that surrounds the idea that when Leo lost his arm they had no mechanic to fix him a new one, that Raph's prosthetic was taken straight off his body to give to Leo who accepts it to keep Raph with him.

(this idea came from the pintrest pic i cant find, which was a tweet i think)

ya that. i have little more to say - i just eat up the angst i guess. I love all the animations on youtube, there are so many of Raph's death and I love all of the interpretations so much.

So ya. my theory: Donnie dies around 2040-ish, Casey and Raph the year after, then April at some point. It's all a load of shit in the last 4 years of the apocalypse where it's clear they can't bouce back from this so Leo comes up with the time-travel plan.

[kayrllylikesblitzwing]

Da dumb won ze poll

So I drew him

OKA SO HERES THE THING I forgot today was Easter till I went out with family n friends so when I got home about like what two hours ago I realized Huh didn’t do any Easter post which I mean is fineeee

But then I RECALLED that in a discord server I’m in its lowkey tradition for me to draw Blitzwing cus I always do it and then I realized SHIT I haven’t even made a SKETCH so I Drew this REALLY FAST I hope u guys like it GRAAAH

Last year I drew hothead in a similar rabbit fit but I probably will NEVER POST THAT EVER because it’s terrible and I hate it I love hothead and SPEAKING OF WHICH how come I can’t rig my own polls HOTHEAD ISLOSING BY 20 MILLION GAZILLION VOTES WAAAAAAAAH WHERE ARE THE HOTHEAD FANS AT pull up PULL UP random is winning by HALF THE VOTE H-A-L-F HALF (I am a hothead fan)

ALSO ALSO ALSO the Blitzwing poll is HILARIOUS every hothead fan sends like paragraphs upon paragraphs on why hothead is the best which I AGREE someone posted something on the poll like Did you know toothgaps were a sign of beauty and I read that and my mind EXPLODED NO WONDER HOTHEAD IS SO ATTRACRIVE I love these paragraph upon paragraph explanations of why hothead is the best because we all know he definitely can’t read Thus he wouldn’t be able to read to paragraph and understand how badly we are embarrassing him by calling him our little silly rage schnookums and baby boy

and then icy fans are funny bcuz they are simple. Succinct. Icy fans just be like yeah icy is the most attractive 😍 that’s why I like him that’s why he is the best and to that I ALSO AGREE icy kinda looks like one of those high-cheek boned high fashion models I feel like he is simple though like if I beat him in a game of chess he would surrender to me and we would be married I will sapiosexually bottom him he’s probably like a chess grandmaster with like 20 million degrees and phDs in being smart and devilish sexy so that would be hard to beat him

And then random fans are just like. Heeheee hoohooo he’s the funny man and I CONCUR I feel like random like. Made Blitzwing. Like if hothead n icy just existed without random Blitzwing wouldn’t be Blitzwing he would be Blutzwuss RANDOM is the funny glue that says one-liners from time to time but the one liners are the best thing you’ve heard all day and they make your day and heal your depression or something

He also has a crazy long tongue so I see the appeal I see 😝😝😝😝

Anyway happy Easter THANK YOU for looking at my post n my ramble daily reminder that Blitzwing is pretty cool and I am still brainrotting Okay Love You Bye

For April fools should this blog become a astrotrain love club or Blitzwing HATE ZONE🤔

[inmenanswiththejaffacakes]

God... I can already tell social media is gonna be hell in three days (also wait omfg the finale is in three days wtaf where has this year gone)

Like... I know it's ALWAYS hell both before and after the finale, but just from the reactions to team posts alone... I feel it in my bones that shit is gonna get nasty no matter the winner 😭

Anyway, team everyone cause literally wow what an amazing top three!! I want them all to win for different reasons!!! I will say I do want 💎 to take it just a little more ONLY cause I would honestly kill to see ✈️ on All Stars once she grows a bit outside of the show, and I think 🍌 would do extremely well too (but she gives off the vibes of a one-and-done kinda ru-girl - though I hope I am wrong on that!)

Anyway, no matter the winner, it will feel so right. Like... I don't think I've ever felt this way about a season before. Overall, it would feel the MOST correct if 💎 wins, but if ✈️ or 🍌 won, it would still feel so correct and right and no matter which way the crown goes, this amazing season will have an incredible queen reigning!!!

Season 17 is gonna have big shoes to fucking fill, I'll tell you that, lmao

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I really REALLY like your locorro Hunger Games au I can’t stop thinking about it 247 I’m so obsessed i dreamed about it my head in the clouds every seconds!! So i have to personally write to you here cuz it just BLOWS my mind like????✨💞✨ my god you made me want to watch hunger games again.

Btw i was thinking of another idea, what if spider and lo’ak are from different districts? Like complete strangers with connected history(their dads)?? I don’t know, maybe Spider could be from d12 and Peeta-coded. while Lo’ak from either d1,2 who, like your idea, was trained especially for the games by his fam?? Or vice versa?? And they met in the games and the history between their dads almost repeated? I imagine Quaritch a peacekeeper who may accidentally killed Neteyam(for angsty, his team did out of his order) And Jake(former victor) almost got his remaining kids killed by attacking Q? With this beef Spider and Lo’ak met in the game, i think Lo’ak would try to avenge his bro and the boy is wild(with his blicky esp lol) but Spider who is Peeta-coded doesn’t have a single bad bone. Imagine the irony when Lo’ak injured himself and the ONLY one who actually help him is his enemy. Or so he thought.

In the end Spider and Lo’ak become Katniss and Peeta and survived both??? I’m a happy ending kinda guy so I can’t handle one of them die when they started to get along well. Anyways! What’s your take? This just some thoughts I wanna share<3

AHHH I'm so so glad you liked it so much!! I get caught with certain au's playing in my head 24/7 all the time, to have inspired that is so exciting.

OH UR VOTING FOR CAREER LO'AK or Spider, I'm intrigued. I personally vibe much more with the Sully's being from district twelve. District twelve is pretty racially coded, and Katniss herself is supposed to be indigenous. The vibe of her having been trained naturally for the games with skills she learned and honed from being part of her culture just for survival fits so well with Avatar that I really can't part from it. That's why I love that idea of Jake and Neytiri planning and training the kids; I can't see them not doing that.

So I would lean career Spider. One of the most interesting parts of The Hunger Games is the careers, and the fact that even as the villains in the first movie and book, you quickly grow to see them as the victims they are. Katniss hates the careers up until she sees Cato's reaction to Clove's death, and she realizes that Cato and Clove were kids with feelings who were forced into this just like her. That Cato and Clove might have been hoping to somehow live together just like her and Peeta. The career districts are just setting their kids up for the best chance to live, and pitting the districts against each other is the best way for those in power to stay in power. SO, I think career Spider would be a fun idea (as much as I prefer when the kids all grow up together).

Spider's been pushed to be the best possible career he could his entire life. Quaritch, out of an abundance of fear for his kid but also knowing what is gained if his kid wins, makes like a 24/7 hell for Spider. Training does not stop when he leaves the facilities, no, Quaritch keeps it up at home. Never a second of peace. I think Spider is a naturally empathetic person, but watching the Games keeps him that way. He sees the kids he trained with die year after year, and instead of hardening him it makes him sad. He does not enjoy hurting people, and takes more naturally to the physical strength and endurance parts of his training. He's not really sure what else he'd even be of use for, he doesn't have any friends and his dad sucks, and his life is really pretty shit, so he figures he'll volunteer and make sure at least one other person doesn't have to go die that year.

Totally Lo'ak wouldn't trust him as far as he could throw him, which is not that far at all because Spider'd be tall as fuck and all muscle if he's been trained 24/7 by QUARTICH his entire life. So, Spider's fucking around the arena just vibing. He probably had to kill a person or two at the cornucopia and he was Not happy about it, but he kept that shit pretty visible because his dad says sponsors in one and two would hate a pussy and now he can actively spite his dead because he'll never see him again so who cares. He just kind of mentally breaks and experiences every single emotion he's never had before like, all the time. He's free for the first time in his life so he's just kind of enjoying himself even if it's in a death area, he doesn't know how to turn it off.

Unfortunately, letting himself be free and feel emotions comes with emotional growth and learning that is really really misplaced. He runs into Lo'ak by a stream and just freezes as he comes to the realization he's gay and attracted to that kid across the stream. He is processing this, mouth open staring at Lo'ak, when Lo'ak tries to shoot him in the face with an arrow. He only misses because he gets knifed in the back by another career who thinks Spider is all team career but comes to realize Spider would rather explore suddenly being gay then let someone who'd stab someone from behind live.

Cue the Peeta and Katniss injury healing in the cave bonding shit. Lo'ak is VERY mouthy and rude for someone who's life now depends on Spider, but that's fine. Once he decides Spider didn't save him for any shady reasons, Lo'ak becomes a pretty good bestie. He has extensive plant and forest knowledge that Spider soaks up like a sponge. Lo'ak tells him about his family, his life, and gets SPider to talk about himself and what he likes (nothing, he doesn't know, he has two things on the list; tree climbing and men). Eventually, one night while they stargaze in a tree Lo'ak showed Spider how to climb, unsocialized freak Spider tells Lo'ak he'll go kill the others in the area and then come back and let Lo'ak kill him so he can be the victor and get back to his family. He says this all matter of factly like he's telling him something they both already knew. Lo'ak fREAKS OUT and they have a big fight that results in them splitting up for the night.

Spider is distracted by losing his first friend, his first gay boyfriend (jokes lol), and doesn't notice anyone sneaking up on him until much too late. Lo'ak saves him from gettin' fULLY bludgeoned at the last second, he just got a nasty smack on the head. Lo'ak informs him it's really rude to die for people, and that Lo'ak wants him around and would like him to live. He argues if Spider has nothing going for him, neither does Lo'ak. He's the fuck up child. So Lo'ak talks him into their death pact that results in their double victory.

It's a beautiful idea and I love it. I hope this did it for you again, anon, lol.

Oh, and I'm 1000% sure if he lived Neteyam referred to Lo'ak's life being saved by his INSANE RIZZ all the time. And Neytiri and Jake were oBSESSED with Spider, who wanted to literally die for their son on national propoganda TV. They are his biggest fans, they love him more than Lo'ak sometimes it seems.

[magustiel]

Harris campaign has been spectacular, organized and aggressive. They knew about the Russia threat, but they wanted to win (of course). So, if there was fraud, they have to ask for a recount now, or whatever they need. Other countries are at risk, if Musk manipulates other elections. I hope they wait till the last moment and then make the announcement, when all the West countries and their allies have made it clear that it's not just the US. They all are done with Putin's BS

I have two perspectives here.

My personal one would agree with you. This, I find, is actually actively interfering, putting my ego in the way of playing the game to try to specifically attain that goal.

My zoomed out weird one?

Nah.

That's anxiety talking.

Even with Putin in America's pocket, Trump and Elon will be destabilizing the US so proactively, our ability to contribute will be broken at the kneecaps for several years.

Also, guys, it's like everyone's having a stroke and forgetting the US is an imperialist shitbag too, and has been funding wars around the world since fucking forever.

While I agree we need to support Ukraine, I also believe the rest of the world needs to begin picking up the slack, because no matter which war handout america cuts, it's at least pulling its dick out of one fucking pie. Israel, Gaza, fuckin. Fucking everywhere guys. All of it, the whole fucking thing.

America has refused to stop pissing in corners of the world paying into war since forever now, and it has to fucking stop. I'm no accelerationist, but if this is the way to make it stop, then shatter this old fucking babylon so we don't all fucking die, fucking thanks.

Putin will try to play robber baron, but only once the union really fractures officially over this. His only real gain is Trump cutting funding to Ukraine, and maybe a few trade deals.

Trump is also not generally long for this world, and Vance lacks the cult dedication. By the time he dies, his own people will start eating Vance's bones. Hell, the votes aren't even certified yet and they're all eating each other publicly already, what do you think happens when their false prophet superstar goes in the dirt?

Even that might be a better long term resolution; it would be far easier for military generals to push back against Vance once the obsessive sands of Trumpism have to break, even if that means the feds like, installing some fucking martial law and us ending up under some holding pattern override, functionally stopping what we know as democracy until all other prosecutions, investigations, recounts, or whatever the fuck else.

-- long term, this is ironically a resolution democrats supposedly want: A breakup of american imperialism and war funding, cornering Russia trapped upon itself with us, rattling the financial institutions, and basically removing the US as a primary world power to be replaced by a new-kinda NATO without reliance on us. A New World Order, if you will.

It involves accelerationism, which I'm not an inherent fan of; I believe in protecting people at all costs, caring for the poor and such. But if the accelerationists are here, definitionally hellbent on their path, it is far better to turn them against each other than to keep kicking water uphill eternally while internally rotting our institutions, society, and cultural mental stability.

Like we're here, it's been us trying to jam the door for election after election, and stalling really isn't saving our asses.

So just... breathe. Plan. Put up some basic supplies, build your coalitions and communities and communals, and keep your heads down for a few years. I hate to say it, take down your pride flags and things like that, undye your hair, start living like we're in Nazi Germany because, for a short time at least, we are. Don't self identify yourself as a target more than you have to.

Anyway. I think I'm doing pretty good at this for falling in backwards 20 years ago and just now realizing, what do you guys think

[the-s1lly-corner]

.....i hate that you converted me. Fine, you win, may i please request Itward comforting reader? The post about matchmaking(specifically the bit where they get locked up) made me feel. Things.

I just think it would be interesting to see usually laidback and chill reader crumble a little at this. Specifically because i hate hate hate things going out of control when i expect them to be predictable. Outside? Yeah, i cannot control the world, it's not my burden. In a group of people? Well am a part of it only, so i can only do my thing and socialize, not police what they're doing.(althrough i do so.. sometimes.. i just like being reliable..) But in MY LIVING ROOM? Nah, if something unusual is happening i'm stressed. Oh the door is closed? Well fuck, just gonna have to sit here and panic, then rage for a bit and try not to cry. And if its a tight/dark space? OHOOHOOO, a panic attack is waiting!

Itward comforting reader !

Yahoo I'm finally getting to this ehehehe!! Hope you enjoy this!

As for the converting

Giggles

Evilly smiles

The evil spell has worked (evil spell is my writing and character interpretations)

Also that last bit gave me an idea so this post is gonna tackle two settings, in terms of where you guys get locked up >:)

Side note today today by jack stauber reminds me of itward idk why

So it may have.. left my mind.. but I forgot that itward can kinda. Teleport. Or at least make little portals, as seen in chapter 1... as well as being able to just vanish as seen when he opens the window for fran in the twins house (not sure if that was him becoming invisible or teleporting, both seem in character)

But let's say, for the sake of plot and perhaps some character stuff... there are rules for his abilities, which can prevent him from using them. Mostly cooldown stuff, which.. wouldnt prevent it much unless hes doing it a lot but.. hush, I dont have many ideas!!

With that said, let's get on with the post!

Assuming you guys are locked in a room within the ship:

At first only you notice the door shutting. Itward doesnt notice it wont open until he goes to exit, only to find you're both stuck. Lets also say this is the only room with one exit; so the chemistry room most likely. Though if it were any of the other rooms, we can assume the second exit is also locked down

Itward would likely think that it's a malfunction of sorts, thanks to the doors not being manual push/pull doors... probably silently curses himself for not thinking about the possibility of a jam

Though, hes very clearly a skilled mechanic and engineer, so hes already thinking of what could be the issue and how to fix it

Probably gets way too sucked in taking off the button panel thing to get into the mechanics and wiring... it's not until he notices you quietly freaking out that he looks over his shoulder to check on you

Oh..

Oh dear..

Slowly drops the spare tools he keeps on him (I mean.. we DID see him pull a wrench out of no where when he started working on his ship during the fire berry thing... perhaps he keeps them within his bones? Like his rib cage? Like obviously it was just the game trying to save time from hydt having him pull one out rather than animate him picking one up from the ground buuuuut I'm silly)

Quietly asks if youre alright

A silly question, he can admit, hes been around many people and this is no new sight for him..

Barely refrains from putting a hand on your shoulder but stops before he reaches you, afterall hes never seen you like this and he doesnt know if you're okay with touch

Assures you that he will have the door open soon, correctly assumes that that is the issue... I mean, he can understand why it's scary, I mean, to be trapped like that. No one would like that

(Ignore that he did the same to fran, albeit non maliciously)

Refuses to get to work on the door (doesnt even realize hes prolonging the issue) until he can get through to you and help you

Hangs onto every word you say, and delivers anything you need

Need a hug? He will wrap his arms around you, and perhaps even purr. Need reassurance? He'll let you know the door is just jammed and he will fix it soon enough. Need to fill the silence? Itward will rattle on about things to keep it from going wuirt5

As soon as the door is opened he steps out of the way, letting you exit first

Keeps a close eye on you for a few hours after the fact

If you guys get locked in a closet

This one is already way worse thanks to the limited wiggle room as well as the darkness. The only light is coming from itwards eyes, and even then its not a lot

You guys are pressed up against each other, but this little scenario is not at cheesy or romantic... itward can feel your heart beating against him, so he immediately knows something is wrong

How did you guys even end up trapped here?

I dunno :3

It's too tight and cramped to move, so itward trying to force the door open or mess with the button panel is a no go.. really, of all the doors to have a manual door, the broom closet should have been the one to have it..

Honestly I think he tries 1 of 3 things

Force the door open with his strength (can he do that? We know that in terms of his powers hes packs a bit of a punch, he managed to face off remor to buy fran time in chapter 1, but I'm unsure of how strong he is physically)..though hed have to try to twist around to face the door

Knock on the door with his foot to try to get someones attention for help, and perhaps guide them through how to open the door

Or three, try his little teleporting trick and take you with him

Regardless of what option he goes through, he can't deny that theres something wrong with you

Unfortunately of you need a hug he cant, given the limited room.. plus you may feel claustrophobic enough..

Tries to give nervous reassurances as he tries to come up with an idea

Most likely case is the teleporting thing, assuming he has the capabilities of doing so in that moment

But just know as soon as you guys are free hes sitting you down at the table in the main area of his ship and making you a cup of tea

Quietly asks you if everythings alright

Similarly, he keeps a close eye on you for a while after this

[hockeylovee12]

Thanks Man-Luke Hughes

A/N: this was inspired by a few posts I saw on tumblr and they words just kinda came out. This is unedited and I did write it in one sitting so I apologize for any errors and hopefully it makes sense. I think it’s kinda funny and I hope others do as well! This is the first story I am posting on Tumblr so please be kind I am a little on the younger side so my writing skills are not fantastic I do it simply because I enjoy it I will take criticism if you have some just please be respectful about it and my requests box is always open if you have any requests or questions please feel free to ask! Hope you enjoy!! Also all images are from Pinterest

Summary: After a 5-4 home win against the Seattle Krakens 20 year old New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes decides to go to a bar to celebrate and meets a girl who he decides to bring back to his apartment only to find his big brother and roommate is there.

November 7th 2023

“My apartments on the 4th floor” Luke Hughes says as he and the girl whose name is Chloe step into the elevator of Lukes apartment complex

The pair met roughly two hours ago at a local bar called Charlie’s and the two hit it off after a couple of drinks the pair decided to head back to Lukes apartment to get to know each other a little better.

As the two exit the elevator and walk down the hall to Lukes apartment he fumbles taking out his keys and unlocking the door.

Chloe smiles at this and finally Luke unlocks the door and the two step inside.

“Hey Lukey” a voice says from the living room

“Who’s that?” Chloe asks Luke rolls his eyes before responding

“It’s just my brother he’s my roommate don’t mind him though my rooms right through here”

The pair walk towards the living room and try to make their exit towards Lukes bedroom but before the can Lukes brother spots them

“Who’s this?” Jack asks

“Hi I’m Chloe”

“Nice to meet you I’m Jack”

“Glad you guys got to meet now if you’ll excuse us” Luke says trying to get to his room with Chloe before anymore questioning are asked to which he is unsuccessful

“Where did you guys meet?” Jack asks

“We meet at Charlie’s” Luke says vaguely and attempts to make another escape

“Where are you guys going?” Jack questions

“Uh to my room” Luke answers

“What are you guys gonna do?” Jack asks clearly a bit clueless at the fact that his younger brother could actually have game

Chloe let’s out a small laugh finding the situation a little bit comical however Luke on the other hand finds it incredibly embarrassing.

“We’re just gonna hang out” Luke says not about to admit to his somewhat protective brother that he brought a girl home to sleep with her

“Well you guys are free to hang out out here I was just gonna put a movie on. Chloe do you have a favorite type of movie?” Jack asks inviting the two to take a seat on the couch opposite of him

Chloe looks at Luke and no longer sees the guy she thought was super attractive and ready to jump his bones guy but instead sees a guy who would make a good friend.

Chloe is the first to sit down

“I like comedies” Chloe says

Luke is mentally kicking himself over and over again

“Come on Luke let’s watch a movie” Chloe encourages Luke sighs and takes a seat next to her and the three look for a comedy movie to watch.

After about 10 minutes of multiple no’s they finally settle on Murder Mystery and hit play.

Jack gets up to make popcorn and the three spend the next couple of hours watching comedy movies, eating popcorn and laughing.

Around 2 am Chloe announces that it is time for her to get home. Luke offers to walk her out as she calls a cab.

Once the apartment door is shut leaving Chloe and Luke in the hallway Luke begins to apologize

“Don’t that was actually really fun Luke you’re a great friend and we should definitely do this again sometime!” Chloe says then gives Luke a kiss on the cheek and walks herself to the elevator.

A frustrated Luke walks back into the apartment and sees Jack cleaning up

“Dude!” Luke says

“She seems like a really nice girl and funny too” Jack says

“She just friend zoned me and I don’t blame her because we came back her to sleep together not watch Adam Sandler for 3 hours” Luke half yells at his brother. Jacks face drops now realizing his intend

“Ohhh shit I’m sorry I I didn’t know I thought you just made a friend” Jack says

“How many girls do you meet at bars and then bring home to watch movies with!” Luke says

“Well-” Jack starts to say

“None!” Luke answers for him

“Dude you totally cockblocked me” Luke says

“I’m sorry but in my defense you never bring girls home!” Jack says

“Ya I never brought girls home to mom and dads house because this exact thing would probably happen only it would be even more embarrassing if that’s possible because we would be watching movies with mom and dad” Luke says

“God you are so annoying!” Luke says

“Hey I’m sorry I’ll try not to do it again but at the same time dude it’s been a while since we lived together so clearly a lots changed I mean now you’re going to bars and bringing girls home which by the way your not old enough to drink?”

“I have a fake id” Luke says

“Really when did you get a fake ID?” Jack asks genuinely surprised even though it wasn’t that long ago he had to use a fake.

“You’re changing the subject” Luke criticizes

“Ok ok I’m sorry you can just text me the next time you’re bringing someone over and I’ll stay out of it okay”

“Yes thank you”

[shockersalvage]

Salvage Showcase: Blue Ink AKA Shinobu Togami

Now it's probably no lie to say that Danganronpa Togami is probably the most controversial to disliked entry in the Danganronpa Spin-off universe. Its earned a reputation in the fandom that, for the small few who know about it, for being utterly bizarre to the point that many write it off as being non-canon.

So one can imagine that when doing it for my Showcases, I’m also under a bit of pressure on how I should approach this. In my view, DRT isn’t nearly as bad as people think it is (that honor goes to Killer Killer) and deserves at least a fair shot against its criticisms and some misunderstandings about it. Of course, there’s quite the snag when talking about its original cast. Or rather, the fact that a good chunk of the major cast are essentially crossover characters from Yuya Sato’s Kagami Family Saga series and even then, when you also include those made (likely) for DRT, well, let’s just say they have quite the limited shelf life in the trilogy which makes talking about them pretty hard. Add together a few having some...baggage, and picking the first one just became an ordeal.

So after a lot of mulling over, I decided it was probably best to do the first Showcase on the series protagonist - Blue Ink, better known in the fandom by her name of Shinobu Togami. Primarily because she is the easiest to get a clear understanding of and, of the major developed originals, has less of that ‘baggage’.

...

....Also this would be the part where I post a character’s image but, well, she doesn’t have one. The DRT trilogy doesn’t have illustrations for the cast desgins so...I guess this shot of her Borges works? Sorta?

DISCLAIMER: The following is talking about a character with history of SA. If this might make you uncomfortable, its probably best to overlook this one. I try not to mention it too much, but just to give you all a head’s up.

Summary

Blue Ink is a girl that is enrolled in Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Secretary and apart of its 77th class batch. Not only that she is the official secretary of Byakuya Togami, being responsible for writing his autobiography: Journey Under The Midnight Sun.

When the Despair Novel caused riots to break out all over the world, Byakuya was called by the Council of Global Controllers, an organization that truly ran the world, to help discuss what the fate of the world should be. Blue Ink was invited as his secretary to attend. However, what neither knew was that Sonia Nevermind, who was a member of Despair High School (AKA Ultimate Despair), had told of the location of the meeting which was in the Church of Bones in Prague. As a result, DHS operatives stormed the building, killing everyone by Byakuya (who got knocked out and clothes stolen off of him aside form his glasses), Blue Ink (who carried him to safety) Sonia (who wasn’t there) and Mukuro (who was there because she was a bodguard for one of the members...but like, he died so she kinda just left).

From there the World Domination Proclamation, started by the the Ultimate Imposter begins. The world has 24 hours to find either the pitful cattle in the world or kill Byakuya Togami. Failures results in ‘Byakuya’ taking over the world. This leads into a chaotic frenzy that has Blue Ink try and survive the bonkers event about to unfold with her Master and whatever allies that they can scrounge as literally everyone wants Byakuya, either dead or captured.

However, not everything is at it seems. First, its revealed that Blue Ink is really Shinobu Togami, older sister to Byakuya Togami via adoption. In addition, her full-blooded older brother is the Ultimate Hitman, Suzuhiko Otsuki, and both were participants in the Legacy Crown Championship. Or rather survivors of that incident.

According to memories of that incident, Shinobu was a part of fifteen participants meant to compete in the LCC to become the new heir to the Togami Congolomerate. In order to win, one must obtain the ‘reliance’ during the ten day time limit. The one who wins gets to become the new heir, while the losers are stripped of the name Togami and meant to go about normal lives. During the LCC, Shinobu isn’t just competing with Suzuhiko and the others, but with her younger adopted brother, Kazuya. Kazuya was adopted after Suzuhiko’s first hit job had him slaughter an entire village, but Kazuya, who was left alive by pure accident. But, things go awry as the participants start getting killed mysteriously one by one and the clashing of selfish personalities aiming for the throne is felt throughout the entire time.

The truth? As it turns out Kazuya was responsible for the majority of the murders, some in self-defense and others because the power had gotten to him. Due to a ‘strange power’ that he had -  a light saber from his hand. This is revealed to an injured Shinobu...all whilst Kazuya ‘loved’ her wounded body. Indeed, Shinobu (with Kazuya being recent during the LCC) has been on the brunt of being sexually abused by both her brothers, more of the case with Suzuhiko, who claims what they have is ‘love’ and they were together. A confusing matter pushed aside by Takaya Togami, the final antagonistic sibling who seeks to be the last sibling standing by lighting the castle on fire and hoping the others burn to death. During this, Suzuhiko carries out an unconscious Shinobu out of the castle...

Shinobu awakens outside the castle tended to by the winner of the event: Byakuya Togami, who disguised himself as Suisei Nanamura’s girl assistant: Polaris  P. Polanski. Concerning the other participants, they’re dead, except Kazuya and Suzuhiko, who have disappeared. With nowhere else to go, Shinobu passes Byakuya’s test to become his new assistant, thanks to her inability to care for Hope or Despair for her future. Thus, he has her remain in the family as his secretary and big sister. The wounds she recieved in the LCC cost her one of her arms, which replaced with a prosthetic, and an eye. For the eye, she received a gold mechanical one that she calls Borges. Borges can give her news, be a dictionary, and just in general be a hi-tech little assistant that she uses for her autobiography of Byakuya. As for her brothers, Suzuhiko reconnected with the Togamis as their hitman on standby (before he defected during the WDP) and Kazuya would reveal himself to be alive and apart of WHO as Orvin Elevator, Captain of the Infectious Disease Prevention Unit during the WDP. Both serving as antagonists that want Byakuya dead, to be with Blue Ink, and, well for Kazuya at least, desire to become Byakuya Togami. Something that Shinobu doesn’t want to make happen.

But...something is off about the entire ordeal. At least, Shinobu’s perspective of it is off. For example, the LCC she knew of...didn’t match up with another LCC where she recalled both her and Byakuya working together. Also, whenever she mentioned something like the Hasegawa Institute people seemed confused by what she was talking about or why she was referring to them as a completely different title. What was going on?

In truth, from a conversation with the creator behind Borges and its AI, a man known as K, she learns that Borges itself had been showing Shinobu unreality. By feeding into Shinobu’s desire to see Byakuya as a God, as well as taking characters and ideas from various novels, like the Kagami Family Saga, Borges had been showing her fake conversations, information, memories, and even overlaying real people in real time with characters from those novels. It isn’t until Borges is destroyed prior to talking with K that Shinobu has the chance to gradually experience the truth of her situation. To forge her own path without the aid of Borges and even giving up her Ultimate talent.

But that wasn’t the end. During the climax of the WDP, where she finally reunites with Byakuya (who had been hiding out in Prague Castle with the Imposter), she learns the full truth: she...wasn’t Shinobu Togami, the original ‘died’ in the true LCC. She was the Kudan that people were seeking after, the ticket to the Togami Family’s Prosperity with her predictions. Or rather was and she hasn’t been for years now after Byakuya had become the Ultimate Heir.

Byakuya intentionally had Borges installed in her to erase memories of her prior life and of the original Shinobu’s identity. As means to get rid of the prophecy element since to Byakuya that was cheating, a sentiment Despair High School agreed with. Regardless of her former life, Shinobu chooses to stay with Byakuya, her own journey at this point giving her the means to tackle reality head on.

Ultimately, both Byakuya and Blue Ink are given a choice. If Byakuya chooses to rule the world, Shinobu dies,. If he refuses, Shinobu will have her mind wiped again and forced to live out a new identity away from Byakuya whilst everyone of the 78th class that came to Prague (like Toko Fukawa) would have their minds tampered to muddle the incident and erase Shinobu from their memories. Byakuya refuse and, before both loses their memories, Blue Ink gives Byakuya memento of her: a blue fountain pen he keeps in his pocket. Blue Ink blacks out after ingesting the drug.

With hope that, eventually, she reunites with Byakuya in a world conquered by him!

Personality-wise, Blue Ink shares similarities with Toko Fukawa, with her most dominant traits being her severe reverence and loyalty to Byakuya, who she considers to be a God. This love manifests between almost akin to a religious fanatic, to a supportive big sister to, well, someone whose clearly in love with him (incest runs deep in Ink’s little family huh?)

She is more open and emotional that her arrogant and reserved brother, though it's been observed she’s colder than people realize. It's implied that the abuse she suffered under Suzuhiko eventually lead to her stop caring about herself personally, no matter what good or bad fate awaits her and she sort of lives with a deattachment towards life unless it involves someone she really loves, like Byakuya. She is without Hope or Despair, but throughout then ovel feeling this way does gradually bother her. This also means if a horrible fate would happen to someone else, she can quickly move from it without issue.

Concerning back to her lack of care towards herself, in a similar vein to Peko, she doesn’t see herself as ‘person’ but rather Byakuya’s property - a writing machine made manifest. Much of her development in the novel is learning to become her own person and see life for how it truly is beyond what a machine wants to tell her. Thus leading to a resolution where, while she doesn’t give up her devotion to Byakuya, she finds the strength to accept reality for what it was and move forward to a Hope created by her own original style.

 Rundown

Shinobu’s character in DRT reflects on its central theme of ‘Truth and Lies’, or rather ‘Escapism/Unreality vs Reality’, if better to make it more distinct than to what V3 was going through with its ‘Truth and Lies’. With this theme, its represented in three parts with the, what I’m going to refer to them at least, the Unreality Siblings (Shinobu, Kazuya and Suzuhiko). Shinobu represents the ideal - a previously ignorant escapist being confronted with the truth and willingly choosing to accept it. The Accepter, to be brief about it.

Shinobu starts off as obsessed with Byakuya and constanlty using Borges for assistance. Throughout her journey, more and more of her fantasy gradually becomes unravelled to the point she is questioning why some people don’t know who some others were or why her memories weren’t lining up. She becomes confused, agitated and scared. This leads up to two important events that make her ar truly great.

The dinner with Hiroyuki that has her confronted properly with the idea that what she has been relying on isn’t actually as helpful to her as she thinks and her meeting with K, who serves as a harsh, yet important, teacher of the dangers of becoming lost in her own fantasies and assures her that she’ll be able to eventually see reality for what it is - as her own person this time. She becomes self-aware of the truth by her own notice, yet its with guidance towards what truly is at fault and giving her Hope of being her own individual without her ‘crutch’ that what allows her to be firm in her resolve to embrace the truth.

What’s more is that learning about her true past doesn’t throw in her in an existential crisis anymore, but she is able to take it in and weave it with her own tempered passion for Byakuya.  It’s a legitimate message with her against overelying on people or technology, forming your own identity and, while you don’t have to drop your strong interests, you can at least enjoy them in a healtier mindset.  Which is a far better conclusion than either Suzuhiko or Kazuya (those two are going to be a doozy...)

In many ways, with these traits, she is reflective of Toko Fukawa - writers who, after a horrible childhood past, comes to obsess over a guy who...isn’t the humblest person around, seeing him in a grander light than they would ever see themselves. Likewise, their arcs are about, while not getting over such a guy, realizing they were other avenues in life they haven’t given a try or were misguided by, with Toko finding her own goals and wants with her trusted friend Komaru and Ink coming to terms with trying to carve out her own path after seeing nothing but lies for a good deal of her life.

Personal Thoughts

Blue Ink is definitely one of the most underrated protagonists of the Danganronpa series and honestly one I feel many should at least read DRT to know more about. Similar to Komaru or Yui, Shinobu works well in bouncing off of Byakuya as his loving and loyal secretary that he actually gets along with, because Lord know Togami needs some more of that......well, not really healthy (get to that in a sec), but just positive bonds in DR. Plus, she actually does work well in bouncing off the other castmates of DR1, such as her rivalry with Toko to her banter with the Imposter back when she thought they were Kazuya and even once it was all over.

Though, there were a few hiccups. I did find it disappointing how quickly she affirmed her loyalty to Byakuya even after learning that he willingly chose to erase her first personality and memories. Would have liked for her to maybe instead have her, while not happy with it, she wants to give Togami another chance. Not because of her infatuation with him or ‘because he’s a God’, but because she has faith in Togami being more benevolent than how he acts. But that’s just personal preference.

Will also say concerning the....Unreality Mess Triangle with Ink, Suzuhiko and Kazuya and their baggage I wish it involved more outsiders, particularly of the mainline cast variety, reacting and interacting with it? A lot of time Ink is spent with her brothers apart from everyone else and it feels too isolating, in a sense? These three are at their best when they’re interacting with the mainliners, such as Ink witnessing the threeway ‘Byakuya’ discussion during their flight or watching Suzuhiko and Genocide Jack fight. Heck, this also goes especially for Ink herself being away from the other prior DR casts so much, which happens suprisingly a lot, especially in volume 3. While occasional one on one conversations are great, ultimately people are likely there to read Togami and his interactions with the main protag and both old/new casts, not just see the protag and the new cast, but little of Togami or the old ones. There needed to be a better mix of it I feel.

...Oh, right the incest too. Due to DR3 and UDH desensitizng me to this, I can say that Ink’s crush on Byakuya is something that I’m personally numb to at this point. Especially since the trilogy is determined to make being numb better than what the Hell was going on concerning her brothers. Also helps, it doesn’t come up as much as her fanaticism to Byakuya and she has more traits going for her to help balance it out.

But those are minor nitpicks, Overall, she’s just plain fun to read about and def think people should give her pov a try. (think about how many protags in this series can say they legit nearly choked out a hitman with one arm!? That’s kickass!~).

With that that’s the first DRT Showcase down! Next up is for the Minor Spin-off Squad AKA Kirigiriso/Ultra Despair Hagakure/Makoto’s Worst Day Ever. Their entries are too short and not enough cast members to give them their own distinct sections so, yeah, they’re all lumped together. To next time!