#i likely will not respond to any other messages

[starkeygirls]

i n v i s i b l e s t r i n g

chapter 2

rafe cameron x pogue!reader

summary: still working on writing this well - we'll get there when we get there.

wc: 4.1k

warning: none!

a/n: well, i wrote this whole chapter to hate it, start over and then still not be 100% happy with this one. hope this is at least okay! thank you all so much for taking time to read my silly little re-write! as always, please show your appreciation with reblog/comments/etc (reminder that it's really helpful to those who write ◡̈ )

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Thoughts swirled in your head as you laid in your bed, seemingly sending flirty texts to none other than Rafe Cameron. The same Rafe Cameron that spilled beer on you without apologizing. Rafe Cameron, who seemed to fight your friends at every opportunity he could - with or without a reason. The Rafe Cameron who ended up being the reason your commission was so good during a dud week. 

What the fuck were you doing? Watching as the three dots type and turn into a message, one that had the corner of your lips pulled up as you read it. Disgusting. 

You two didn’t speak after that. 

Waking up the following morning, you didn’t respond, and he never double texted. Better off that way, you thought. And it was solidified as you thought back to the party last night. 

You paid no mind to the boy who walked along the beach like he owned it. Your eyes didn’t look for his in the crowd, and you couldn’t help the huff that escaped your lips as he cut you in line for a refill on beer. 

Your head was pounding as you regretted nearly every thought you had to agree going to the party. Your sunglasses hadn’t left your face since you entered work, the lights were far too bright, the music was far too loud, and each and every customer was far too annoying. Typically, Saturday was your favorite day to work, but this was brutal. A part of you almost hoping that your boss would pop in and send you home for being out of dress code. 

JJ’s voice rang through the small shop, your name echoing off the walls and piercing your hungover ears. Pulling yourself from the back room, your eyes rolled behind your sunglasses as he came into sight. 

“You’re so fucking lucky there aren’t any customers in here?” You spat, also happy your shift mate was out grabbing lunch. 

“That’s no way to greet someone in this fine establishment.” JJ teased, eyebrow raising as he turned his attention to the clothing hung neatly in place, pulling it from the rack and holding it up to his body. “What’s the verdict? Fashion icon?” 

“The verdict is you would never buy that because it costs more than a day of work and you would stain it two hours.” You conveniently left out that it was a skirt he was mistaking for a tube top, there really wasn’t a thought in his brain. A giggle escaped your lips as you watched his eyes widen as he looked at the price tag, promptly putting it back on the rack and attempting to smooth it out as if he had never touched it. 

“Anyway,” he started nearing closer to you, taking a glance around the small shop. “We were all meeting up at the dock, we were going to chill, drink some beers, swim a little. When do you get off? It’s clearly extremely lively in here, a real bustling shop.. Would be a shame if you closed early.” His shoulders shrugged, smile tugging on his lips as his brows raised. 

“You know I can’t just close early. I don’t have the power to do that.”

“Please, you’re like vice president here and you work every day, you could pull some strings with Big O.” Your lips pulled into a small smile as you shook your head. 

“I’m assistant manager, I have plenty of days off - in fact, my last day off you were too busy hooking up with some tourist to hangout, might I add, and Mrs. Overton would not like you calling her ‘Big O’, or like if I closed early.” Jeez, when did you become such a buzzkill? After your third hour of being hungover, that was for sure. JJ’s bottom lip jutted out, you wouldn’t shut him down without a fight and he wouldn’t leave willingly without seeing a text to your boss with the request. 

– 

Sitting on the side of the boat as John B drove, you assumed when JJ said “we” he hadn’t meant Kiara, Pope and Cleo, but instead, you found yourself with only JJ and John B. 

“I can’t believe I convinced my boss to close early to hangout with you two..” 

“I have such a way with words.” JJ’s cocky tone was enough to make you roll your eyes and send a middle finger in his direction. In reality, YOU had a way with words. The way you respectfully pointed out that sales had been down that day, in fact, they had been down the last few weeks. If you were able to leave, you could showcase what was on the floor in person, and you would be able to show up to your shift tomorrow with a new outlook on the sales for the week. You strategically left out your raging hangover, that was neither here nor there. Mrs. Overton quickly agreed, saying you needed to enjoy one of the last beautiful Saturdays of the summer before Autumn came in. She was too sweet for her own good. 

“Did you notice Topper didn’t even look at me last night? Sarah was with me-”

“She was hanging on you.” You corrected, JJ reaching out to tap knuckles with you as John B cut the engine, dropping anchor in the middle of the marsh.

“Whatever, we were talking the whole night, and Topper didn’t make a single comment, no dirty looks, nothing.”

“Rafe and Kelce didn’t try anything last night, either.” JJ added quickly, peering over the sunglasses that covered his eyes as he cracked open a beer. You shooed it away as he offered it in your direction. 

“Yeah well, Rafe cut me in line for a beer.” Shoulders shrugging, attempting to grasp at any bit of normalcy from the interaction you and Rafe hadn’t even shared.

“Well shit, call Shoupe. How dare he!” John B teased, JJ quickly laughing at the comment. 

“Why did I agree to hangout with you two today?” Tone teasing, but they were lucky your hangover was dwindling as the time went on. 

“Because we’re your best friends.” John B’s voice was a matter of fact, shoulders shrugging. 

“Maybe Sarah had a talk with them. If you’re seeing her, I can’t see why she would let her brother and his friends fight with you guys.” There was a small murmur amongst the three of you, clearly that must’ve been the answer, right? You were just happy JJ had dropped the teasing he had been giving you, and happy he didn’t know about your late night texting - it still felt like a fever dream.

– 

Floorset day.

It was the worst day, right ahead of shipment day. Having to unpack all of the new clothes, unwrap them, put them in size order and backstock was a nightmare. But you would rather do that than completely rearrange the store and dress mannequins. 

You were fighting with a mannequin arm to try and put it back in its socket, you had already been whacked in the head, nearly tackled by a plastic person, and now you were standing with an arm between your legs, trying to shove the other one on. Letting out a huff as you continued to struggle, you heard the ding of the door. Of course someone had to come in right now. It’s always how it happened. Always when you were on the ladder changing a light bulb, or fighting with the mannequins- they couldn’t just wait ten more minutes to buy some overpriced clothes. Pulling the mannequin arm out of the polo shirt, you placed it on the table, turning to look at the door and who had just come in. 

“Hi! Welcome in! I apologize for the-” You stopped, eyes glancing over Rafe who was looking right at you. Pulling your hair that had clung to your lipgloss, you stumbled over your words. “Uh- apologize for the mess. We just got in some new items.” Taking a deep breath, you smiled. “Let me know if I can help you with anything.” 

He was alone, and if it wasn’t for his behavior, you would have written it off, and turned your attention back to the mannequin, back to the ipad with how the floor needed to be set up. And despite your best efforts to pull yourself from the thoughts of Rafe Cameron that consumed and confused your mind, you couldn’t help but watch as he moved around the store. An internal fight broke out inside of you, wanting to just let the kook do whatever it is he came here for. He had already picked up his items- he came in empty handed so he wasn’t returning anything. Hell, you had told him to let you know if there was anything you could help him with, so why were you still watching? 

You hadn’t seen him in a few days, your last interaction, if you could even call it that, was at the party a few days ago. No texts, not that you really expected any- it wasn’t like you had previously texted him on a regular basis. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to walk in on you manhandling your boyfriend.” He smiled. And you swore your heartbeat picked up. What the hell was going on with you? Distance makes the heart grow fonder or whatever bullshit Shakespear would have said? Your life was not some cheesy romance movie. 

“It’s okay, I prefer when I have an audience. I think it teaches him more of a lesson.” His lips pulled further into a grin, looking down to the floor in an almost attempt to hide his reaction. He paused by the rack of new items you had gotten in the day prior, eyes flickering to you as if silently asking if he was allowed to look through the racks. “Wait, actually there’s something we got in and I thought of you when I opened it.” You pulled the mannequin arm from between your legs, heels clicking as you stepped closer to him. 

“You thought of me?” His brows raised and you felt a heat take over your face. You did what you did best and ignored his question, eyes trailing down the rack as your finger lightly ghosted each piece of clothing until you pulled the sweater out. 

“So this is similar to that shirt you got before, but the fabric is a little thicker for when it gets colder. This color is a good transition color for going into fall, but-” You paused, pulling out another color. “This one is going to let you transition from fall into winter with the deeper tone. Not to mention you can put a button up underneath it to dress it up and also give you another layer. The style is also going to last you a while since it’s a staple piece, and if you like the color enough, it doesn’t matter what colors are in, you know?” You could feel his eyes on you instead of the sweaters you had pulled out, but once your sales side came out, there was no shoving her away. This is what you were good at, it was how you made bigger commission checks. “I noticed you wear more bright colors when you’re out during the day, assuming the country club? And then you wear darker when you’re with friends or at a party. And don’t flatter yourself with me saying I take note of these things, I like clothes. Anyway, you’re obviously not going to wear this sweater out with your friends or anything like that, it’s cashmere and wool- you would be sweating but I don’t know if you’re really going for pink sweater vibes either.” You grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards the second rack. “I think this striped one is so nice. The navy and white stripes but not all the way up? It’s nautical but also just yells fall, paired with some brown pants-” You stopped yourself, almost embarrassed with how much you had rambled. 

You watched as Rafe’s blue eyes scanned the clothing you had tossed his way, along with the newest sweater you had brought his attention to. 

“New shoes I bought have navy on ‘em, right?” His brows furrowed, turning his attention to you. Your face perked up a bit. 

“They do, and if you have the plain white, which everyone on The Eight does,” you paused, pulling at the original sweater you had shown him. “This would go, obviously because they’re white. They go with everything.” 

---

You weren’t entirely sure how it happened, but Rafe was now helping you shove the arm onto the mannequin. He had bought almost all of your recommendations, despite the brown pants you reassured would be a good choice. He had nearly laughed in your face, but said he would be back if needed. He would be back when he realized you were right.

“So you’re the only one here today?” The brunet asked, a popping sound happening from the mannequin before he slowly released the arm, it staying in place on the torso. You nodded, arms up, ready to catch the arm should it fall. 

“Yeah, they trust me to run the store?” You laughed, shaking your head as the concept still baffled you. Lowering your arms, you smoothed out your blouse, running your fingers through your hair as you looked around the store. It wasn’t perfect, but it was getting near the end of the day and the last thing you wanted to do was start another project and stay later than you needed to. “I’m not supposed to be the only one working since I lock up and could obviously take something, but I think my boss knows I need the money and I would be dumb to steal and lose my job.” 

He nodded, taking a seat on the arm of a chair. Looking lost in thought, your own mind began to wander. The hour or so you had just spent with Rafe was actually… nice. Throwing different clothes his way, laughing as he huffed in the fitting room, mumbling a few “absolutely not’s” and rolling his eyes as he came out in a few of the ‘older’ styles, as you called them. He had even convinced you to try on a few outfits, and you couldn’t help but laugh at one of the combos he had chosen. You both laughed until your stomachs hurt.

It was almost domestic in a way, like the two of you had been friends for years. If you were being honest, the past drama, or whatever it had been was nowhere near on your mind. The way your friends teased you, the way Rafe and his friends had caused more trouble than good in your lives - the only thing you felt was happiness. You never expected to find yourself laughing with Rafe Cameron, never expected to have anywhere near a good time with him.

And now you found yourself locking up the shop, Rafe waiting for you outside as you set the alarm code and locking the back door. Your heels clicked along the cement, and with the fresh air hitting you, that’s when what you were doing really hit you. You were going to be seen out in public with a kook. Not just any kook, but Rafe Cameron. He seemed sure of it, had rattled off the two of you going to Duke’s a small restaurant that you had heard had amazing food, not that you could ever convince any of your friends to go. You accepted without much of a second thought. 

But the second thought was hitting now. 

“Did you want to put your things in your car?” Hands fumbling to put your keys in your purse and grip onto your sunglasses. He nodded as you slid your sunglasses on, he followed your motions, take his own off his head and covering his eyes with the shades. Following him to his car, you slid your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’. While a small bit of worry was coursing through your veins at the thought of getting dinner with Rafe, the last thing you needed was your friends bothering you- or figuring out where you were and making fun of you for actually giving him the time of day.

“You look nice today, you know.” Rafe’s voice was casual as he tossed the large bags into the backseat of his Range Rover. 2022 you assumed, maybe 2020, but there was no way it was any older than four years old. Despite the people you imagined getting in and out of it, it still faintly smelt like new car. You wondered how he kept the smell lingering around for so long. “You looked nice the other day, too. But I don’t know if cashmere is really something you should be wearing in the summer. You’ll sweat.” Oh, so he wanted to tease you now about what you had said to him earlier? Eyes rolling at his comment, you couldn’t help the corner of your lips pulling into a bit of a smile. 

“It’s August, Cameron. It’s basically fall, and it was feather cashmere, anyway.” Your hand waved him off, a light giggle escaping your lips. “But thank you. I’m usually fighting the mannequin in a skirt or dress, but I learned this time.” 

“You mean to tell me that Paul puts up a fight every time?” Of course he remembered you telling him how you had named all the mannequins, because why wouldn’t he? How could he possibly make himself anymore desirable in the moment? He couldn’t- you were sure of it. 

It pained you, if you were being honest. The way he effortlessly made you laugh, and the way you were able to tease each other, firing back at one another. It reminded you of your nights with the pogues, though the sexual comments were yet to be found. He was actually respectful, which surprised you. Was it because he was alone? Why was he alone? Were you just some last resort when all of his friends were busy? You couldn’t think of that right now, no matter the reason, you had already spent time with him, you had already had a good time. You had already agreed to dinner. 

–

Dinner had taken longer than you had expected- but it wasn’t in a bad way. You had actually learned a lot about Rafe, which was something you never thought you would say. That he’s a lefty golfer, which was a bit weird since he was a righty. You learned that despite living in Kildare his entire life, he didn’t have his boating license, and he was allergic to strawberries. You learned he was in the process of helping his dad with his company, but he couldn’t quite get all the trust he had hoped for.

Your cheeks hurt from how long you had been smiling. When was the last time you had smiled that much? You couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, not that it really mattered. 

He smacked away your card as you attempted to tell the waitress to split the bill, a huff escaping your lips as you glared towards him. “I could have paid, you know. At least half.” 

“Could have, but aren’t going to.” He said simply, flashing you a toothy grin. 

“Well, I’ll leave the tip then.” 

“Or, you could let me handle it.” 

A huff escaped your lips, sliding the card back into your wallet, arms crossed against your chest. His lips pulled into a grin as he watched you admit defeat, your motions mimicking that of a child who didn’t get their way. 

“Contrary to popular belief, we can actually pay for our own meals.” Your words were sour as they left your lips, feeling a sense of pity radiate off of him. His brows had furrowed. “If this was some charity case it can stop here.” 

“Woah, woah.” Rafe’s hands found themselves up, confused at this sudden attack after a meal spent with laughter and aching cheeks from smiles. “I seemed to have missed where I insulted you? I think you left the station and took a hard left because where did I insinuate that you couldn’t pay?” 

“When you decided to not even let me tip.”

“I did that as a kind gesture.” He added quickly. “Do you always attack people after they pay for your meal?” 

“Only when they don’t let me tip.” 

“Then I look forward to more arguments in the future.” 

His words shocked you, your hands getting clammy at the thought of seeing him again, of sharing a dinner table with him again. A part of you believed this was just a nice gesture after spending some time together, surely he had just gotten hungry and decided to invite you along as opposed to eating alone. 

Perhaps you were wrong. 

“Thank you.” You finally mumbled, eyes meeting his. Suddenly your rings were the most interesting thing on the planet, toying with them on your fingers as you felt embarrassment creep up at your outburst, though also feeling a flush creep on your cheeks. Thankfully, the restaurant was dimly lit and you were certain Rafe wasn’t able to see the effect of his words. More arguments in the future, please.

The walk to your car was once again filled with laughter and teasing, something that you hadn’t been sure would be possible with someone like Rafe, someone who had always been so different from you and your friends. Someone who didn’t seem to understand the world you came from - not that you could understand his world any easier. As much of a facade as you put up in your fancy clothes, you were still from The Cut. You still had to work, and work hard at that, for everything that came your way. 

But there was something easy about being with Rafe - not that you would admit that to him or your friends. Ever. 

“Well, thanks for the clothing recommendations, still honored you thought about me as you pulled them out of the boxes.” You pushed his shoulder slightly at his words, a small ‘oh please’ mumbled under your breath at his words. “And I’m grateful the server took the knives away before I refused to let you pay.” 

Reaching for your keys, you rolled your eyes at his remembrance of your outburst, you proclamation that yet again, there was a clear line in the sand from where you both stood on the island. That line in the sand becoming more apparent, yet again, as you unlocked your car which was strikingly different from Rafe’s flashy one. He didn’t mention it, but thoughts were once again flying rampant around your mind at just how different the two of you were. 

“No, no. Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to get that arm on without you, and I’ve dying to eat at Dukes. Really, thank you.” Your words were sincere, and Rafe was almost caught off guard by your lack of jokes. He kept it cool, as he had the whole time you spoke to him, in fact, as he had every time you spoke to him the last few days. A part of you wondered if that was just who he was, or if he was better at hiding his emotions than he lead on - at least with your friends. 

As the two of you approached your car, you half waited for him to lean against the door, for the two of you to keep speaking for another hour. And a part of you almost wanted it. 

“See you around?” He offered, an easy exit. 

“See you around.” You confirmed, reality creeping in as you watched him nod, tapping the top of your car. Rafe offered you a simple ‘get home safe’ before turning on his heels and heading in the direction of his car. 

Climbing into your car, you sat there for a moment, the whole day swirling around your head. You drove home with the radio on low, still trying to understand how you had really ended up at dinner with Rafe in the first case. 

Not a date. You kept repeating to yourself, because while you had known of Rafe Cameron all your life, the Rafe Cameron that had sat across from you at dinner was brand new. Pulling into your driveway and making your way to your room, you finally pulled your phone from your bag, taking it off Do Not Disturb. Your phone flooded with messages from your friends, but none from him.

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taglist: @p0gue420@khaisdrz@marrleyss@sadgirlxangel@alorsxsturn @hoelesslyt @mattyskies @percysley @eolsens @saintsir4n @honeybee270

[diamonddaze01]

Hiii!! I love your little stables, they’re so fun!

Could you do dk + prompt 75? Thank you!

dog days

pairing: seokmin x reader | wc: 1.4k prompt: “guess who's going to be a father!” a/n: i had WAYYYYY too much fun with this lol

The text leaves your phone with an almost sinister delight. 

Y/N: guess who’s going to be a father?

You set the phone down with an almost wicked sense of satisfaction and glance over at the tiny furball gnawing on her brand-new squeaky toy. Her tiny tail wags in a blur, like a metronome set to excitement. "Your dad is going to lose it," you whisper, crouching to ruffle her floppy ears. She yips in response, her voice more like a squeaky hinge than a bark, almost as if she’s in on the joke.

She’s a whirlwind of fluff, waddling around with the toy clutched tightly in her mouth, her big brown eyes blinking up at you innocently. It all started this morning when you were just out for a casual shopping trip. You had no intention of adopting a dog—not even close—but when you passed by the animal shelter and saw her? Well, the universe had other plans.

You'd been walking down the street, listlessly browsing, when the soft, pitiful whine of a puppy reached your ears from behind a small, open door. On impulse, you stepped closer to the shelter, your curiosity getting the best of you. And that’s when you saw her—her tiny face peeking out of her kennel, eyes wide with innocence, a little tail wagging furiously despite her rough start in life.

Without a second thought, you found yourself in the shelter’s lobby, filling out adoption papers. You’d been telling yourself you just wanted to look, but in reality, you’d fallen head over heels before you even knew what was happening. She was a mess of floppy ears and big eyes, and as soon as she licked your hand for the first time, it was over.

By the time you picked her up, a full plan had already formed in your head. Seokmin had been so busy with work, and this is just what he needed (but of course, you had to have your fun first). A surprise like this would shake him out of his routine—and you just couldn’t resist.

Your phone buzzes again, snapping you out of your thoughts. Seokmin’s name lights up the screen. His frantic texts and calls flood in immediately:

minnie 💖: what minnie 💖: wha the fuck minnie 💖: what do you MEAN minnie 💖: FATHER??????? minnie 💖: are u being serious minnie 💖: this is a prank minnie 💖: why arent u responding minnie 💖: baby minnie 💖: BABY minnie 💖: do NOT leave me hanging minnie 💖: HELLO????? minnie 💖: wait minnie 💖: are you ok? minnie 💖: baby ur killing me here minnie 💖: RESPOND

You smirk, choosing to let him stew for a few more minutes. You respond with a cool, collected message: 

Y/N: come home after work we can talk

And as an added bonus, you type out: 

Y/N: love you, daddy 

That’s all it takes. Less than twenty minutes later, you hear the screech of tires outside. A car door slams, followed by the unmistakable sound of Seokmin rushing through the front door, slamming it against the wall with enough force to rattle the nearby picture frames.

"Baby!" His voice is pitched somewhere between panic and determination as he strides inside. His tie is hanging loose, his hair is a messy mop from a long day, and his work bag is hanging off one shoulder like it could tumble off at any moment. He looks like he’s barely holding it together.

His eyes dart around the room, landing on you. His breath is shallow, his pulse racing.

"But we were so careful," he blurts, pacing in frantic circles, running his hands through his hair. "How could this even happen? Wait, no, I do know how, but how?!"

"Seokmin, I—"

"Are you okay?" he interrupts, his voice climbing an octave. "Do you feel okay? Should we go to the doctor? Oh my god, we need to go to the doctor, right? Just to be safe—"

"Seokmin, please—"

"And��wait, wait, okay," he halts abruptly, hands on his hips as if to steady himself, trying to ground himself in the chaos. "Okay. Okay. Let's just not panic."

"That’s what I’m trying to say—"

"We’re adults," he continues, the words spilling out in a rush. "We love each other. We can handle this, right? We can—"

"Seokmin!"

The sharpness in your voice cuts through the tornado of his thoughts. His shoulders stiffen, and he stops mid-step, his brows knitting together in confusion.

"What?"

Before you can answer, the soft sound of tiny paws skittering across the floor reaches your ears. Seokmin freezes, his gaze snapping toward the hallway. Then, like a bolt of lightning, his eyes widen, watching as the little puppy comes careening into the room, ears flopping wildly as she tumbles, regains her footing, and barrels straight toward him. Her tail wags so fast it looks like it might take flight, and she lets out an adorably squeaky bark.

He stares.

"You… got a dog?" His voice cracks slightly as his hands fall limply to his sides, the weight of realization hitting him like a freight train.

You grin, crouching down to scoop the puppy into your arms. "No, baby. We got a dog. She was supposed to be your birthday present, but I got too excited."

Seokmin blinks, looking between you and the puppy, his face a mixture of shock and relief. Then it all clicks. "So, you’re not… pregnant?" His words are slow, as if testing out the possibility that he might have completely misread the situation.

You laugh, shaking your head. "No, that’s what I was trying to tell you. But you are a dad now. Go ahead—give your daughter some kisses."

A beat of silence passes as Seokmin processes your words. Then, without another word, he drops down to his knees, cradling the puppy with absolute reverence. His hands are gentle, like he’s afraid to break her, and he presses his nose into her soft fur. "She’s so tiny," he whispers, completely enamored. "I thought I was going to have to Google how to change diapers, but this?" His smile widens as he kisses her head again, his voice soft and full of adoration. "This I can definitely do. Welcome to the family, baby girl."

You slip your arms around his waist, resting your cheek against his back as you watch the scene unfold. "I knew you’d be a natural," you tease, your voice light, the warmth between you both undeniable.

He looks back at you with a soft laugh. "What should we name her?"

You nudge him playfully. "I don’t know, you’re the dad. You choose."

Seokmin pauses, staring at the puppy who is now rolling around in his lap. After a few moments of consideration, he looks up at you with an almost mischievous grin. "We should name her Panic."

You blink, caught off guard. "Panic?"

"Yeah," he says, laughing sheepishly. "Because that’s what I felt the most before I met her. And honestly? She feels worth the panic."

You roll your eyes but can’t help smiling. "Fine, but don’t come crying to me when she chews up your shoes."

Seokmin grins, his eyes twinkling. "Oh, come on. You know she’s going to chew your shoes first."

Just as the words leave his mouth, the puppy squirms free from his arms and rolls onto the floor, scurrying toward her squeaky toy. She immediately goes to town, gnawing at it with all the enthusiasm she can muster. The sound of her tiny jaws working on the plastic toy fills the room.

"She’s got your energy," you murmur, leaning against Seokmin as he pulls you in closer, wrapping his arms around you.

"And your sass," he counters, pressing a kiss to your temple. He looks down at the puppy with a smile that says everything. "She’s perfect."

You both sit there, watching her wrestle with the squeaky toy. The chaos, the mess—it’s all so natural now. Seokmin pulls you closer, and you lean into him, the warmth of his body against yours a perfect match. The puppy, now calm and content in Seokmin’s arms, looks up at both of you, as if she knows she’s exactly where she’s meant to be.

"So," Seokmin starts softly, his voice still filled with wonder. "We’re doing this, huh?"

You smile, watching him cuddle the puppy like she’s the greatest thing he’s ever held. "Yeah," you say, voice soft. "We’re doing this."

send me an ask for my drabble game!

[pjsk-headcanons]

Social media usage hc's!

Ichika: totally a tumblr user. she's very active in the vocaloid fandom and sends memes in the leo/need groupchat. she would sent cute pictures and caption them "us <3" or some shit like that.

Saki: she definitely used tiktok, twitch and youtube a lot during her stay in the hospital. responsible for 90% of the links in the leo/need groupchat.

Honami: i dont feel like she would use much social media. maybe she made a few accounts to check the links others sent her, but otherwise she doesn't use them.

Shiho: she only uses youtube for bass and calligraphy-related stuff, as well as cute animal videos. that's mostly on tiktok tho. she would have a perfectly curated tiktok fyp.

Leo/need probably have a youtube, twitter and tiktok account, but only use them for promotion.

Minori: VERY active on tiktok. she had been posting since way before she joined mmj, but her account has only gained popularity recently. she sometimes gets haruka, airi and shizuku to feature in dance tiktok challenges with her.

Haruka: she doesn't have a public social media presence, but she does lurk a lot on her private accounts. she feels better when she can keep up with all the news. mainly twitter.

Airi: she's quite active on instagram, but doesn't use anything else often.

Shizuku: banned from all technology usage. i feel like we already know.

More More Jump have official instagram and twitter accounts, as well as youtube where they stream. mostly ran by haruka & airi, though minori likes to log in sometimes to respond to the comments (and probably shock them). they sign off each message with colorful heart emojis. very cute.

Kohane: doesn't use social media much. minori got her to record tiktoks together when they were still classmates, so now she also has a tiktok account. doesn't have a very curated feed, but does partake in scrolling sometimes.

An: watches a LOT of youtube & twitch in her free time. i dont feel like she would feel the need to use anything else tho.

Akito: that man is too committed to the grind to let social media have a hold on him. maybe a bit of youtube and a sports news twitter account, but in healthy amounts. he's too good for tiktok so he watches youtube shorts.

Toya: had no idea what a social media was for most of his life. he would be active on reddit though. an showed him twitch so now he partakes in watching some streams too.

Vivid BAD SQUAD wouldn't have an official social media presence. most of their fame outside vivid street comes from other people posting recordings of their performances.

Tsukasa: he doesn't use it at all. saki once showed him a few things, he tried it, went "you know what. i dont feel like this brings any value to my life" and stopped. we should all strive to be more like tsukasa.

Emu: solely a tiktok user. she sends wxs a lot of funny and cute tiktoks. also partakes in dance challenges sometimes, which gain her a surprising amount of popularity.

Nene: uses discord frequently for her game stuff. made her own tiktok account only to open all of the links emu sends her.

Rui: uses twitter, but realized very quickly that the constant drama isn't healthy for his mental state so now he just looks at the memes. nene makes fun of him for living in the twitter trenches.

Wonderlands x Showtime are tiktok famous. this hc mostly comes from that one tumblr art about tiktok famous wxs and ?!?!?! i absolutely agree! i hc this also was a big reason why they gained popularity so quickly. mainly ran by rui, with everyone frequently helping and giving ideas. they post a lot of skits and extra behind the scenes content.

Kanade: she doesn't seem like the person to use social media. she only has discord and her streaming services accounts, which she considers a chore to run.

Mafuyu: for obvious reasons, wasn't allowed to use social media. i don't feel like she would use it after running away from home either, since she's seen how much pain it brought to ena and mizuki. discord only.

Ena: her being very active on instagram is practically canon, as well as discord of course. i dont think she would use anything else though.

Mizuki: this girl has an account on EVERY social media platform ive mentioned. and probably a few more. she's very good with technology, and has definitely participated in at least one fandom.

Nightcord at 25:00 don't have any social media accounts, apart from streaming services of course. Partially to keep up the mysterious and anonymous image, but also no one could be bothered enough to run it.

woah how did this get this long??? im going to sleep now

- 🍔

‎

[infraredss]

a girl will do/say the most dorky, silly or stupid thing in the world and I will be like ooaoaoaogghhhhhh. make out with m ee

[solarpunkani]

I logged into iNaturalist for the first time in like 10000 years on my computer and

Y'know how I made that 'Naturalists of Color' project? Literally just an impulsive thing for fun? Not even like a high pressure thing I don't even talk in there it's literally just a group I made for the funsies?

Apparently all the way back in September sent me a private message being all like 'ohhhhhhh but diversity is so important so why don't you include white people'

Like. ma'am. Do you do this any time an inkling of the phrase 'Person of Color' or "(Blank) of Color' comes up???? You haven't figured out what it means by now????

Literally in the project description I talk about how sometimes it feels like people of color are excluded from naturalist places or made to feel like they don't belong and yet you're sliding into my DM's like 'okay but what about me though' ma'am this wasn't about you until you made it about you

[goldkirk]

When did the latest 1,000 of you follow me??? good lord hi and welcome, I should maybe pay attention to my notifications and activity page more 😭

[great-tusk]

at what point is it appropriate to be like “hey, did you people forget that I exist or something???”

[i-am-the-balancing-point]

you are not gonna be able to guess what lucky circumstances I managed to accidentally get myself into this time lmao I secured myself a spot at a nude drawing class without even knowing it was a nude drawing class. it’s absolutely fantastic tho! the class is usually super popular and spots are hard to get so I was really lucky

[snickerdoodlles]

there's a lot of things people blame for why fandoms feel like ghost towns these days, but no one's really talked about the way discord's contributing to it

[nomairuins]

i think itis funny in the past when i would list my interests as if i post abt them i donot post abt the shit im into rly Mainly bc im not rly Into Into anything anymore i occasionally watch or read or play something but i dont do fandom stuff rly much.... just sometimes i get brainworms

[transxfiles]

one of my top 10 hobbies has to be getting added to a large group chat and then people forgetting i am there.

[cawziiku]

I'm not gonna be responding to these anymore, I don't want to have to think about this rn, but I'm keeping the posts up

[supercantaloupe]

getting a migraine today of all days was so evil

[batsplat]

your negative takes on recent tennis rivalries pleaseeee🙏🙏🙏

ps. you’re a treasure

okay so I'll do the copy paste thing from what I did just cut from the initial post, which was my polite 'I'm attempting to write a reasonably neutral post' approach

so, this may come as a shock, but obviously I'm a bit of a fan of rivalries. we do have some bangers in tennis history, rich narrative texts, but... well. the landscape out there hasn't been great for the past decade or so. sometimes you can get invested in match-ups between specific players that are fun to watch and interesting tennis-wise, but it's all very much about the sport rather than the personal relationships between the different players. I enjoy matches between all three or ryba, sabs and iga!! but also. they are coworkers. you do kindaaaa get the sense sabs and iga aren't particularly fond of each of other, but it's all perfectly cordial. again, the tennis is great, I support them in all their endeavours, but it's very much the tennis itself you need to look for for the drama (also they don't play each other as much as I'd like, but that's a conversation for a different day)

you do still sometimes get some fun beef but it's very much isolated dumb stuff like the fritz/rinderknech "have a nice flight home" thing. this isn't going anywhere story-wise but it's fun in the moment

speaking of men. obviously the most important rivalries for the last however many years have been between various big three/four members, and federer/nadal specifically is extremely popular. tennis-wise, I still think federer/djokovic was the most fun match-up, and at least there was a little tension there because federer used to hate djokovic. they've played a lot of matches that are worth watching!! also they've finally mostly retired so it's not super relevant any more, but well tennis fans as a collective are very big three-pilled so you'll hear a lot about these blokes

and now there's alcaraz/sinner. they've only really had one match that was good start to finish (uso 2022), but definitely some fun ones (miami 2023 and wimbledon 2022 are probably the other ones that stand out, their most recent match was very much in the 'long does not equal good' category). plus, they're quite good at producing highlight reel content, like this one point everyone remembers (shown here from every angle... tennistv produces longer videos for single points than the wta releases for most finals). it's an interpersonally warm rivalry between two young guys who are both very successful and will presumably win everything for the next decade. again, I'd suggest trying to become a fan of one of those two

this was the polite way of phrasing it!! everything below here is quite rude and negative, peace and love to all

okay, let's ditch the thin veneer of neutrality, here's what I actually think: it is completely baffling to me how popular quite a few of these rivalries are, I don't get it, I have never understood it, I will never understand it. tennis went 'what if we had rivalries without narrative tension' and everyone just kinda rolled with that? mind you federer/nadal early confrontations were happening at the same time as clijsters/henin, who were like?? dude it got so bad henin said she had never been friends with clijsters so nothing clijsters and her father said could hurt her ("nothing was broken between us because there was nothing to break" ???? ffs). which is obviously not true!! but it's so... she denied the friendship ever existed and called it all pr like that's so SAD! look, this is beside the point, I'm not talking about henin/clijsters here, I do understand why people aren't that into a rivalry that was at its peak like two decades ago and federer/nadal were still playing slam finals in 2k17 (a dark dark time for some fans, federer had already HAD his decline and then he was suddenly winning slams again like tf). and to some extent I go 'well clearly people will just be into anything if you have two successful blokes' but there's clearly quite a lot of genuine passion there? like I'm not denying the passion EXISTS, people do clearly care about these guys, it's not all a psyop by Big Fedal who have suckered people into caring for these two dudes. and I'm not denying the tennis is great! I still personally prefer the match-ups that involve djokovic, and also the match-ups that involve none of those three, but fundamentally I have been watching these matches for like!! so many years! it's part of my childhood, I have enjoyed plenty of these matches, the tennis is obviously otherworldly. I have hot takes on a bunch of their matches, I can have the goat debate with you, I can give you the rundown on surface-specific match-ups and how long since nadal won a set on hard court against djokovic and federer's peak year domination rate and what they all did at madrid and blue clay and yec and golden masters and all that shit, of course it's part of my dna as a tennis viewer too!! I did usually have a slight order of preference in my head when I was watching big three match ups to have someone to root for (it's different now but back when I was a kid it was djokovic > nadal > federer, these days federer's redeemed himself a little bit in my eyes by having the decency to retire and I was radicalised against nadal). but like!! what's the narrative hook! I need somebody to explain to me what the story here is. these guys are all very good at tennis and they are racking up their titles and it's so!! whatever!! no tension no arc no real interpersonal development once federer stopped being so bitchy about djokovic. twenty plus slams who CARES, what are they doing this for! it's all so?? ugh

anyway now that I've taken a potshot at the most popular rivalry in men's tennis, I should quickly back it up by saying I feel almost the exact same way about the second most popular one (at least on tumblr) and also feel nothing for alcaraz/sinner. that one was still like... vaguely palpable? when alcaraz was clearly a way better player but struggled in that match up and also was way more invested in the rivalry than sinner was. but well, sinner is world number one now so THAT'S been ruined. again, sit me down and explain to me what the narrative stakes here are. like, if sinner wins that roland garros match, he'll be fine? alcaraz will be fine? everyone will be fine? their relationship is basically 'friendly coworkers', zero chance of anything more substantial developing there. now, don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna pretend like I'm massively into the current state of the women's game when it comes to rivalries either, but at least I have a base level of fondness there for the top players and am ideologically inclined to hype up any rivalries there whenever they come along. also, quite frankly, it DOES matter viscerally more to them!! iga spends a lot of her time kinda like,,, on the edge, the way she was in tears when getting physio after the naomi match, united cup last year, a bunch of her 2021 matches, like she's so intense and so tightly strung on the court that you do really get the sense that a loss could just cause her to have an existential crisis. there's so many unanswered questions about her ultimate potential off clay, I'm still proper curious about her story develops. and then with aryna, she's obviously ALSO so intense but in a different way, and she feels every single emotion so completely and entirely and iga has beaten her in one of those infamous semifinal chokes and it's kinda... you know, aryna also feels like she has something to prove, and you can tell they both really really want to beat each other. there's something there!! it's something real! I'm always seated whenever we actually get to see them play

that being said, yes, obviously I do think we're not exactly peak rivalry potential in either gender. the men's is more egregious because the way the game has shaken out since like,,,, 2004, is incredible top level domination by just a few guys. and now, yes, I'm aware I'm a fan of another sport where this was also incredibly true. but. the key difference is that the aliens had the decency to not be so fucking boring about it. sure on paper they were as a PACK winning everything, but good lord were they screaming crying throwing up whenever things went mildly wrong for them. like!! they despised each other and they needed to beat each other, which makes ME care!! I'm not saying I NEED rivals to hate each other, though it sure does help for my investment levels, but I need a narrative hook! borg/mcenroe had a narrative hook, evert/navratilova had a narrative hook (unfortunately that narrative hook these days is 'being united in transphobia'), agassi/sampras had one HELL of a narrative hook. noughties wta tennis about fifty million narrative hooks!! when I watch alcaraz/sinner, I just try and enjoy the tennis (though their roland garros match was mid as shit so what's that all about) but like... I don't care? or I care because one of them has pissed me off recently. I do fundamentally watch most of men's tennis as a hater, and admittedly this is accumulated bitterness over way too many years, but I do also think it's frustrating! tennis gets in its own way with this whole gentleman's sport business, the amount of wanking people do over federer/nadal in particular is truly insufferable... this is a sport filled with millionaire tax evaders and they'll have you believe that smashing a racquet is not only not fun (obviously it is) but also some kind of arbiter of morality. congrats to nadal for not smashing a racquet in his career!! could we please get his thoughts on gender equality in prize money? oh... okay. hm. this isn't supposed to be some gotcha, these guys all suck. but ultimately I would prefer not to engage with this sanitising and pearl clutching, given they do all suck, over shit that fundamentally does not matter while giving them a pass over all the stuff that DOES and instead maybe just have some fun. maybe you need to be single-minded and kind of dull to be good at men's tennis these days, maybe it's inevitable, doesn't mean I don't find them boring and pointless. there's some people who just enjoy like,,, watching greatness, endlessly racking up numbers and reaching the pinnacle of the sport or whatever, that's not me, I need there to be a story

thing is, right, obviously I'll still watch these matches (though I have massively turned it down this year, especially on the men's side - I did have a kind of breaking point this january where I was like 'wow I don't think I can ever care about anything any more?' and broadly speaking this has proved to be correct). I've tried hard to like a lot of these men because, god knows, it'd be a way more pleasant experience if I could trick my brain into it, but I can't! I think they're dull! fundamentally I'm too embedded in this world to ever be able to leave it. but I think it's funny when fans go 'oh people who are into drama don't appreciate the actual sport' like buddy I can basically guarantee I know more about the sport than you do. I Just Think that actually interpersonal relationships do also enhance the actual sports, like this shit is a conversation right,,, it has its history, it's a development over time in terms of your tactics and your knowledge of your opponent's tactics and so on, your expectations going into every match. when you have an interesting interpersonal dynamic, the sport also becomes more interesting... it's actually pretty straightforward lol. a lot of tennis is in the head, rivalries are also in the head, you're playing the other guy (gender neutral) as much as you are the actual ball. I get super annoyed by fans who are too busy being nostalgic to actually enjoy the players we have now, and I really don't like it when people call iga boring for instance, but I do also have a little bit of that. love the game, hate a lot of the players, simple as. bring back agassi calling his pet parrot more interesting than sampras in his autobiography, we used to be a proper sport

[constantvariations]

The Branwen bandits make absolutely no sense and every question I ask leads to more questions

Why do Raven and Vernal have advanced weapons while nearly every other member has basic traditional armory? Do they employ a hierarchy within the group? If so, how does one rise in rank? Is the competition brutal, perhaps even lethal?

How are Hunters a significant enough threat that its namesake twins went undercover at Beacon when they clearly steamroll over every obstacle pre-V5? Has Raven's reign made them stronger than her predecessor? How? Who came before Raven and why are they no longer around?

Why would Hunters be after a group of human bandits when their purpose is to fight Grimm? Is stopping man-made tragedy a part of the job because it prevents major Grimm attacks? How far would that authority reach? Would that clash with any local police force?

On a meta level, what do the bandits bring to the narrative? It would've been interesting to see an ideological clash between individualistic "survival of the fittest" and community-oriented "strength of bonds overcome all odds," but we didn't get that. Or we could've gotten some worldbuilding due to their unique nomadic nature outside the kingdoms' safe walls

Instead, the Branwen Bandits serve only a utilitarian purpose: bring Weiss and Yang together and send them to Ruby, house Raven until the finale, and be cannon fodder in a few action scenes

Yet another good idea poorly executed

[glacierruler]

You ever, see something and think it's a slight at you even though it's not a slight at you? And like you know it's not a slight at you or what you said. But it feels like it is.

And does this happen 90-95% of the time?