#i took the little blurb thing I did the other day and expanded it a bit

[wpdarlingpan]

Ken really does give off Worshipper!Yandere vibes. He’s the type that would think you are literally flawless, the most wonderful and beautiful thing to ever exist and all he wants is for you to look at him

Ken x Fem.Reader

I wanted to expand on Ken so here is a short o little blurb

Warning: spoilers, fast-paced

Ken used to only have a good day of sterotypical Barbie smiled at him or even acknowledged him. That was until almost turning Barbieland into Kendom and taking over her Dreamhouse.

She of course told him to go find himself, make something of him that wasn’t associated with a girlfriend.

He really did try. For a whole 2 days.

That was until he saw Y/N Barbie.

She had been walking past him down the street when he saw her. It was as if a ethereal beauty dropped down from the sky. Well, some Barbie’s did drop from the sky, After all who needs stairs in Barbieland.

Y/N Barbie had a slight distase for the blonde Ken. After all he did brainwash all of her friends into something demeaning. But a part of her realizes he didn’t want to hurt them, he just want to be recognized. He was hurt and when someone’s hurt their actions sometimes aren’t led by logic.

“Hi Ken”

Ken stared at Y/N for a moment, frozen. He snapped out of it and quickly turned on his ‘charm’.

“H-Hi Y/N!” He smiled brightly at her as the girl in question gave him a polite smile and was about to continue on her way before he lightly grabbed her wrist.

“What are you up to today?”

“I was just going to go shopping. I want some new clothes for the party tonight.”

Ken immediately saw the opportunity.

“Can I keep you company?”

Y/N Barbie was hesitant. She heard the whole ‘you aren’t your girlfriend speech’ and she didn’t thing it was possible for someone to move on within two days. But a part of her was battling her, begging her to say yes. After all, Y/N never had a Ken.

“Um… Sure Ken!”

And that was the day everything changed between them two.

Ken followed her around the store. If she even admired it long enough he would grab it and hold it for her. By the end of the trip he had quite a few clothes in his arms but he wasn’t even tired. Only asking if you wanted anything else.

Then you two went out for food.

He took you to the fanciest restaurant in Barbieland. One that the Barbies and Kens would go to on dates which was quite obvious to Y/N but she couldn’t bring herself to mention it.

Then the two of you thought it would be a wonderful idea to go run along the beach. Of course Ken was all for it. He was of course a professional Beacher. The other Barbies, Kens, and even Allen so you guys together and were curious. All with the same thought

“Well that’s new.”

They didn’t mind all too much. Although Allen was slightly concerned. You are the closest person to him and he was worried Ken wouldn’t treat you the best. Of course they are friends, after all Allen is ‘Kens buddy and all his clothes fit him’ but it was a natural platonic instinct to be cautious

Next you shared a ice cream cone and even played a game of Volleyball. It was the perfect day, which was expected in Barbieland. Even when the world had changes it still found a way to be perfect for its inhabitants.

As the shining sun went down Ken finally drove you back to your own dreamhouse for you to get ready.

He had opened your door for you, grabbing your hand to lead you out, and walked you to the door. But he didn’t want to push it for once so he was about to leave. He couldn’t risk losing you like Stereotypical Barbie. Even though he was a lot more nervous for you than he ever was with her.

This time, Ken wrist was the one whose was grabbed.

“Would you like to come in?”

Ken could only stare in shock. Barbie never let him in. Y/N did.

“Yes.”

That was the single word that solidified Kens love, forever. Y/N was his and luckily, they don’t die. So it truly is forever.

[snowsonlylove]

hii!! i commented about making a fic of coryo w or about the song haunted by beyonce, i was thinking maybe something smut if ur comfortable! if not its okay but the fic could be academy!coriolanus x academy!reader and theyre school rivals both working hard to beat each other and theyre obsessed with each other but they hide it with the fact they wanna win but they j wanna fuck (or get together) maybe theyre both possessive and jealous or coryo is the one thats really extra with it,, the story could go rlly slow too and then theres just a part where the facade and tension goes away and theyre needing each other so badly at that moment rushing everything, just like how the song goes idk if i made any sense :o im so excited to see the result!! this song just gives me coriolanus vibes

You Must Be Haunting Me..

a/n note: hii!! yes, i loved your idea and i mostly stayed with your vision, only changing some minor things so the situation makes sense and dw i managed to deliver 🫡 hopefully you like it!! tysm for your idea and i look forward to seeing if there are some things you want to expand on (maybe with little blurbs on this dynamic bc i absolutely LOVE this trope!) & i'm totally comfortable with smut so dw about sending me kinky asks or requests. i totally accept them!!

Pairing: Academy!Coriolanus Snow x AcademyRival!Reader

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N and Coriolanus Snow have been academic rivals ever since the beginning of their journey in the Academy. It’s no secret that both Y/N and Coriolanus are the two top students of the Academy, both of them only being able to beat each other, the rest are just no competition for them. However, they genuinely have no idea why they're doing this constant battle against each other. Little did they know, both of them always think about each other behind closed doors and are obsessed with each other, each equally impressed at the other at how intelligent they are. One day, things just boil over with how Coriolanus constantly riles Y/N up and they explode in a huge fight which results in a turmoil of deep, rough and passionate sex. 

Fic Type: Smut (NSFW) 18+, Enemies to Lovers trope, dramatic behaviour from both of them, a wee bit of angst (mostly derived from the name-calling but in my head this is more funny than it is angsty 😭😭😭)

Warnings: unprotected sex (don’t do this guys, use a condom. reader is on birth control), rough pushing, harsh words used from both Y/N and Coriolanus, degradation (use of whore), cunnilingus (female receiving), squirting, lmk if i missed anything else

Word Count: 2k

I do not own Coriolanus Snow or Y/N Y/L/N (cuz it’s you, boo). All credits go to Suzanne Collins and her team. Song credits also go to Beyonce and her team. 

I do not allow my works to be republished or translated under any circumstances. Any instances of this happening and YOU WILL BE BLOCKEDDD. 

Also, ageless and empty blogs will be BLOCKED as this is a 18+ fic. Report my fics and you’re blocked cuz if u don’t like it, LEAVEEEE.

Y/N Y/L/N and Coriolanus Snow began this disastrous journey from the age of 11-12. Both students entered the Academy with an air of poise and elitism about them as they knew what it took to defeat the competition in the Academy, most students not even being a possible candidate to them. It was all fine and well, until one year, Y/N and Coriolanus were put in the same class for the year, and the rivalry then started..

The first assignment of that year was an individual project on what each student thought the Capitol looked like during its earliest times. Each student was tasked with coming up with a drawing with their thoughts on said topic. This was their chance to go up against each other. Both Y/N and Coriolanus would stay up in the library after school and collect piles of books and do their research and by the time the task was due, Y/N and Coriolanus obviously submitted the best sketches.

After acknowledging this, the professor asked the class to vote for who’s sketch was the best. Small pieces of paper were given out to write either Y/N’s and Coriolanus’s names and as the professor then collected the papers, making both students anxious. As the professor counted the votes, Y/N’s heart was beating out of her chest, Coriolanus’s as well. It was then announced that Y/N won, which made Coriolanus furious as he spewed a full speech on how much he hated her. “You’d never be as good as what they say you are. You’re just dirt under my feet. God! You’re such a bitch!” He screamed as the professor and the class started at him in astonishment as they’ve never seen him lash out before.

Y/N was heartbroken when she heard this as sometimes when Coriolanus wasn’t looking, Y/N would sneak glances towards him and she started to be enamoured by him. Their time together after hours in the library would usually end up in them having conversations about their day and this time together helped them bond better. With this in mind, Y/N truly thought Coriolanus was at least civil enough to be respectful towards her. Y/N felt tears well up in her eyes as she ran out of the classroom, the professor telling her to wait.

Coriolanus, still blind with rage, kept on screaming and yelling obscenities about Y/N as he stormed off to his seat, his face red and his whole demeanour fueling with rage. Unfortunately, this fateful day was what started the vicious rivalry between Y/N and Coriolanus as the two would fight over who got the better grades, which teacher favoured which student more, the differences in their scores in each assignment every single day.

As of current, both Y/N and Coriolanus are 18 and in the midst of graduating. One of their last assignments was unfortunately a pair assignment. Dr Gaul once scoped out the Academy and witnessed one of the fights between Y/N and Coriolanus and she noticed how by getting them near each other, she could make them into the power couple of Panem and have them continue the Hunger Games, which inspired her to whisper in the ear of Dean Highbottom to get them to be in the same class and for them to share a table together until they graduated. Both Y/N and Coriolanus were very unhappy about this, both choosing to ignore each other while they were in their seats. 

With both of them getting older, both Y/N and Coriolanus started noticing certain things about them. Coriolanus noticed how Y/N’s facial features were more prominent, how her ass got bigger, her breasts more plump, making him unable to control a certain urge at times which led him to mastrubate thinking about her sometimes. Y/N also noticed a few things about Coriolanus. How he started to grow muscles, how they cling to his academy uniform whenever he took off his academy jacket, how his jaw was sharper, how his nose was becoming more emphasised, how he lost his baby fat. She can honestly go forever and forever about how attractive he is.

That being said, there was one particular day where everything just blew over the water. Y/N and Coriolanus were taking notes during Dean Highbottom’s lecture when Y/N felt Coriolanus’s elbow dig into her arms whenever they got to writing. This obviously made Y/N frustrated as she harshly whispered to Coriolanus to stop a few times, which led to a hushed debate between the two before it grew louder and louder until they were screaming at each other, making the whole class look at them and Dean Highbottom staring at them in shock before yelling for them to stop and stay after class for detention.

Both Y/N and Coriolanus felt embarrassed as they were lectured by Dean Highbottom after class before an assistant of Dean Highbottom requested him to join Dr Gaul for a meeting about the Hunger Games. Dean Highbottom sighed as he looked at the two young teenagers, “Look.. I feel that you two are now old enough to know what is acceptable behaviour in class. I’ll be back soon, do not kill each other while I’m gone.” As Highbottom left the classroom, the tense atmosphere began to build as the door closed behind him.

Almost immediately after he left, Y/N and Coriolanus stared at each other with the most hateful expression ever. Y/N menacingly glared at him while saying with gritted teeth, “See, Coriolanus! If you’re long ass elbow didn’t fucking dig in my arm every single time, that old fart wouldn’t lecture us for one fucking hour! My god, you’re truly dumb!” Coriolanus glared at her before stating, “It’s not my fucking fault that happened with you were taking over the whole goddamn table with your arms everywhere! Geez, Y/N! I thought you’d be more modest!”

Y/N looked at him, shocked, “ME?!! You’re blaming ME for something YOU did! That is so fucking misogynistic coming from you, a man! I swear to god, this is discrimination towards women at its core! Grow the fuck up, Coriolanus! We’re not children anymore! God! I’d be spending my time with Sejanus right now if it weren’t for your stubborn ass!” Y/N huffed while rolling her eyes. Coriolanus stared at her, his face full of jealousy before gritting out, “Sejanus? What the fuck are you doing with Sejanus?! You’re such a fucking whore! Ugh, you’re such a bitch!” Y/N looked at him, offended, “Bitch, weren’t you just fucking Clemensia a few weeks ago? Yeah, I heard about that! Everyone was practically talking about it! Don’t pretend to be so innocent, Coriolanus!”

Coriolanus looked at her, his expression turned dark as he stalked towards her, her taking a step back until her back had hit the wall. Coriolanus leaned towards her, lifting one of his arms to go above her, bringing the other hand towards her chin and lifting it. At this point, the height difference became very apparent as her head was tipped far back, her still glaring at him. “Are you baiting me, Y/N? You talk so much for someone who just fucked Felix Ravinstill of all people a few days ago..” Y/N continued to glare up at him, “At least I had the decency to keep it in my pants longer than you! God, I hate you!” Coriolanus looked taken aback as he muttered while leaning in to cup her cheeks, her face wiggling to be let out of his grip, “Well, I hate you too, sweetheart…” 

Coriolanus leaned in as he captured Y/N’s lips with his, their mouths fighting for dominance as they kissed each other as if they needed each other to breathe. The previous tension broke into a more sensual type of tension as Coriolanus wrapped his hands around her hair ravenously while Y/N’s hand made friends with the back of his neck. One of Coriolanus’s hands found its way to Y/N’s waist as he dragged her away from the wall, pushing her towards a nearby desk before propping her up on the desk and spreading her legs, allowing him to be closer to her, not once breaking their kiss. Y/N broke their kiss as she moved her lips to Coriolanus’s neck and trailed them down his Adam’s apple while taking off his blazer and unbuttoning his shirt, Coriolanus doing the same to her.

As they undressed each other, they continued to slide their tongues against each other, the sound echoing around the classroom. They managed to undress each other down to them both only wearing underwear before Coriolanus kneeled down so that he was face to face with the apex of her thighs. Coriolanus leaned in and captured his teeth to her underwear as he slowly pulled it down, revealing her aching, dripping pussy. Coriolanus licked his lips as he roughly shoved two fingers in her cavern as he curled his fingers in and out her folds, creating a beautiful sensation as he found her G-spot with no difficulty.

Y/N moaned as she threw her head back and slid her hands down to Coriolanus’s hair and tugged on it while pulling him closer to her heat. “Oh my gosh.. Coryo, it feels so good…” As he kept pumping his fingers in and out of her, he suddenly attached his lips onto her clit as he sucked on her clit and pumped his fingers harder, each movement feeling more and more intense for Y/N. He kept on going as he curled his fingers one final time, which made Y/N yell out as she squirted and covered his fingers with her wetness.

Y/N sighed in satisfaction as she helped Coriolanus up and gave him a deep, passionate kiss while tugging down his underwear and hooking her legs on the bottom of his back, Coriolanus leaned in closer as he aligned his erection with her heat, tapping his dick on her clit a few times before pushing his hardness in her heat. He only pushed in half of it when Y/N suddenly exclaimed, “Coryo, it’s too much! I can’t take all of it!” 

Coriolanus leaned down so his forehead was laying against hers before whispering in a comforting tone, “It will fit, Y/N. Trust me, trust me..” He closed his eyes as he leaned in to capture her lips with his as he pushed in slower this time, now being able to fill her pussy with his cock to the point where their hips were against each other. Coriolanus groaned as he slowly pulled out before thrusting in again, “Fuck, Y/N… You’re so good. Such a good girl..” 

Y/N moaned at hearing him praise her as he started to thrust his dick in faster, each time harder and rougher than the last. The room started to echo with the sound of her moaning, his groaning and the sound of skin slapping. Y/N closed her eyes as she moaned, her mouth forming an “O” shape as she threw her head back once more and arched her back, needing to feel closer to him. Coriolanus wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her in closer and kissed his way all around her neck, leaving furious red hickeys which would soon turn purple.

The pace in which he was fucking her got rougher each time he would thrust his aching hard dick into her dripping pussy, the slapping sound really turning them on and his balls slapped to her ass, their moans becoming louder and louder each time. The furious force in which he was fucking her started to reach a boiling point as Coriolanus moaned, “Ugh.. I’m fucking cumming, Y/N. Oh.. You’re such a good girl. Such a tight and wet pussy..” 

“Ohh.. Coriolanus… So good, so deep… I’m gonna come, gonna come.. OH MY GODD!!” Y/N screamed as she came. Coriolanus groaned as he came inside her, sighing as he tried to bask in the afterglow of his orgasm, holding Y/N tight against his chest in the process. Y/N left kisses and hickeys around his neck as she looked up at him with a dazed but satisfied expression and kissed his lips however, this time the kiss shared between them wasn’t one full of hate, it was one full of love.

As they pulled away from each other and started to get dressed, Coriolanus faced Y/N and said, “You know, if you wanted to fuck me, you could’ve said so.” He said with a smirk. Y/N turned to look at him, acting shocked as she huffed in feign frustration, “Oh shut up, Coriolanus!” She smacked his chest as both of them gave each other a silly grin before hurling in laughter.

[faotoni]

Fate.

Hi there, uh, this was intended to be a longer story than it is so if anyone likes it and wants me to continue or further expand, let me know :) if I suck, I'll know that too (you won't have to tell me)... I'm not too unfamiliar with that concept unfortunately or I would post more... but, I don't know, I liked this little blurb I wrote, so, here. have it.

Also suck at titles for things.

Fizzarolli only remembered flashes from that night. Like snapshot pictures, followed by the increasing feeling of pain.

Until darkness.

The last real memory he had was Blitz’s face, desperate and lost, staring back at him as Fizz’s arms, legs and horns got burnt away. He felt the hurt, the confusion, the panic; all intermixed with the feelings of death. Dying.

Pain.

The next memory Fizz had after that was waking up to the sound of sawing, cutting and more burning, as the doctors of Sloth worked away at Fizz’s dead limbs. He was awake for all of it. Bandaged up with his mouth taped shut so he wouldn’t scream. Not that he could, his throat feeling as empty as his soul did in that moment. He felt alone. He felt like that hospital room was truly hell, never mind actually living in REAL Hell. It was nothing compared to that moment.

That was all.

Before he woke again.

In that memory, he remembered waking up and trying to reach or something, only to discover his arms were gone. He looked down and saw his legs were gone as well. Along with his entire body in bandages. He tried to cry out, but the emptiness in his throat remained. It suddenly felt cold, as the loneliness came back, taking over every space his limbs should have occupied.

Then nothing again.

Fizz’s memory was shattered after that, bits and pieces remained but nothing that was that important.

Until he was fully conscious.

The first day he had a grasp on his situation was the day he asked to see Blitz, or if he was anywhere in the hospital, if he was ok. It took quite a bit of doing without a voice box or limbs but Fizz managed to concentrate long enough to pen Blitz’s name on a piece of paper with his still bandaged tail. The imps in the room with him, Cash Buckzo who was Blitz’s dad and a few other stand ins for Mammon, who couldn’t be bothered to see if his first clown champion was ok, didn’t want to indulge Fizz’s wish to see his best friend.

It broke his heart.

He didn’t know if Blitz was ok, if anyone else got hurt or even died in the fire… he didn’t know anything.

And then the talking began.

Not right away, but bit by bit, information about the contest, the circus, Blitz… it all started to come out of the mouths of whoever was in Fizz’s room at the time. At first he didn’t believe his best friend could want to hurt him, or even try to kill him; but the more they talked, the more Fizz didn’t know, the more he was forced to believe.

For day after day, Blitz never came.

They told Fizz, Blitz didn’t want to see him.

It broke his heart.

He was truly alone.

The rest of his first months were a blur after that, rage and betrayal slowly building inside of Fizz over the information that was fed to him by the beings that came into his room. It made him want to die.

Then something happened.

Mammon showed up.

He practically broke the door down; waddling to Fizz’s side and gushing over his predicament. Fizz was confused at first, surely Mammon already knew what happened to him, or perhaps he knew but was just too busy to actually go see him. Fizz tried to explain to Mammon he couldn’t talk, using his tail to point several times to his throat trying to indicate the emptiness. It didn’t matter to Mammon though. He was too wrapped up in Fizz being a stump. No arms, no legs… how could you preform? How could I market you, erm, make you better? How? Fizz looked past all the talk that sounded more like he was an object other than a living being because for the first time in a while, this was the only positive conversation he had heard. Everyone prior singing “oh woes me” to him instead of trying to figure out how they could help him. It didn’t matter to Fizz that Mammon didn’t truly care about his well-being. He didn’t see it that way. He refused to. He saw Mammon wanting to help him.

But as excited and happy as Fizz was at the possibility of being saved, his dreams were dashed faster than they were built up. Mammon didn’t know how to help him.

Fizz felt alone again, trying to cling onto the positives of the conversation but they started to fade.

The next strong memory Fizz held was a few days after Mammon came by.

He came by again but this time, with someone else in tow, along with a few doctors and nurses. The special guest was Asmodeus, the King of the Lust Ring. Mammon explained to Fizz that he and Asmodeus had come up with a plan to get Fizz’s limbs back. Fizz felt the excitement come back into his soul, filling his chest and warning his face.

But it was short lived, for the measuring began. Fizz was moved all around and scrutinized by the doctors and nurses, his head bandage removed showing his broken horns for everyone to see. He remembered looking to Asmodeus in near tears, but being shocked by the man’s expression. It wasn’t one of scrutiny or unfeeling, it was of concern, of pain, of sadness. For him.

For Fizz.

Someone felt something for him, as a being.

He couldn’t look away from Asmodeus as the rest of the measuring happened. He was convinced that if he tore his eyes away for a second, when they returned, the face would be gone. The feelings wouldn’t be there. He desperately needed someone to feel for him.

Someone to care about him.

After the flurry of measuring, everyone left the room, but Asmodeus. He stayed, pulling up a chair and introducing himself to Fizz, as well as explaining a little more about the prosthetics they were thinking for Fizz. Mammon and Asmodeus were working on an advanced type of sex doll, with robotic arms and legs that stretched and moved around via a computer chip implanted in the robot. They figured they could do the same to Fizz. They had done some testing and it had worked on the imp they tested it on, they were missing an arm as well. Asmodeus explained to Fizz that they would have to wait until his wounds were fully healed to do the operation. Fizz tried to sign that he understood but had trouble figuring out how, which made Asmodeus chuckle, putting a smile on Fizz’s face.

Asmodeus said Fizz had a nice smile.

The next memory Fizz had was if the next day, surprisingly, Asmodeus made another appearance, bringing in some flowers and soup from his home in Lust, suggesting the soup may help him regain his voice. Asmodeus helped feed it to Fizz, which he was both grateful for and heavily confused. He didn’t quite know why Asmodeus had taken a personal interest in him. Why him? What was so special about him? No one saw it… besides Blitz… but…. No. Asmodeus shouldn’t take a liking to Fizz, he’ll just hate him. Like Blitz did…

Fizz ended up “accidentally” knocking the soup off the table and onto the ground with his tail after a few tastes of it. He really enjoyed the soup but he couldn’t risk losing someone again. Asmodeus couldn’t like him, or take interest in him as a being. No.

But something weird happened. Not anything like what Fizz expected. He didn’t know what he was expecting, maybe a huff, Asmodeus saying something along the lines of Fizz being Mammon’s property and only doing all this to keep him happy or something, but that didn’t happen. Asmodeus got sad and apologized for Fizz knocking the soup over almost immediately. Not only that but he got up quickly and checked to make sure none of the hot soup got on Fizz. He offered to get Fizz something else to eat and cleaned up the mess. It made Fizz feel guilty. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t trust anyone.

Asmodeus ended up bringing him oatmeal and waffles.

The next few memories were a montage of moments with Asmodeus, who hadn’t given up on befriending Fizz, even after his various tests to see if Asmodeus was being truthful or not. He was, if anything the tests made Asmodeus more present in Fizz’s life. He was in his hospital room every day. He brought gifts every day and told Fizz about himself every day. Each day Fizz wished he could answer back. He tried each day to force his vocal chords to work but to no use. Asmodeus didn’t seem to care. He helped Fizz express himself and sign using his tail. It warmed his heart and he slowly started to accept Asmodeus’s friendship.

The next full memory was when they brought in the prosthetics and Fizz’s ”hopefully” final surgery. Asmodeus was there, and he helped Fizz fall asleep so he wouldn’t feel the pain from what he was about to be put through, using some of his own personal magic. Even before knowing if it would work or not, Fizz was thankful.

After the surgery, Fizz was grateful. It had worked, though there was a lot more recovery to be had. He woke up in his room, this time with Asmodeus by his side, softly humming some song Fizz didn’t know. Asmodeus was happy to see Fizz awake and explained to him that the implants and surgery had worked. Fizz smiled and opened his mouth; trying so hard to push any bit of air through his fried vocal cords.

“thanks.”

[stardustbarbarians]

I got tagged by @welightthefire (thank you for the tag!!)

1. How do you feel 2022 has gone in terms of writing?

Well, considering I started writing for this fandom back in February and managed to fill up my master list (as well as write two series holy cow!) I'd say it was a rather productive year!

2. What pieces are you proudest of this year? It can be a shot/blurb/headcannon, a whole series or even a specific chapter.

Too Pretty For War is the first one that comes to mind, however I am also immensely proud of Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines as well as Everything Leaves You Hungry

3. Is there anything you posted that you wish had reached more people? (No such thing as a flop here!) Shout it out, it might catch a new pair of eyes!

Truthfully, all of my fics for Daniel.

4. Can you give us a hint of anything coming before the end of the year? Maybe even a little taster?

Too Pretty For War Chapter 9 teaser incoming!

Two months. Two months it took for Athens to get a new king. It was through no fault of the kingdom’s that such a gap in leadership occurred, rather due to the fact that Princess Y/N requested that they wait until her family could make the trip from Sparta. It was not as if the kingdom was left ungoverned, Sam was just running the kingdom without the official title. 

However, that was set to change today. On the most blasted hot day of the entire summer. It was sweltering, sweat dripping off one’s skin from the moment the sun rose. There was no reprieve. Even basking in the shade was nothing more than a slight improvement. Samuel and his wife were forced to stand in the stifling heat for the entirety of the day. Once the ceremony was over and Samuel was officially king, the first thing he would do would be to demolish the long ceremony. 

5. Are you setting any writing goals for next year, or just going with the flow? If you are, what are they?

I'm just gonna go with the flow like I always do <3

6. Do you have any one shots or finished pieces you're tempted to expand on or revisit next year?

Well... I did leave the ELYH saga on a cliffhanger.... and it has been calling my name as of late.... but who knows. And I still have that bonus chapter for Too Pretty For War that I promised!

7. Is there anything new you're tempted to try out? A new style/trope/AU/another person in the fandom?

I do have an old Grease AU that I started for a different fandom and I have been thinking about revisiting it. I'm fairly certain someone else in the fandom has written a Grease fic and I'd have to ask them if they'd feel comfortable with me also posting one before I'd even think about posting mine. Oh! I also have an Indiana Jones AU I've been chipping away at for months (and another AU that I'm going to keep a secret until I've written enough to post a teaser).

8. Now to hype some other writers! What's a piece you read back in the first half of the year that you can shout out?

Westerberg: A Cautionary Tale by @t00turnttrauma Girl I still couldn't believe what you did to Sam in the 4th chapter I was shook as hell. I remember texting one of my friends being like "ain't no way she's actually gonna do it" and then you DID

9. And how about something you've read more recently?

Well, the stuff I have enjoyed the most is actually unreleased fics from @t00turnttrauma and @ofthecaravel of which I am not at liberty to disclose, but just know they're so amazing and awesome and I cannot wait until their stuff is released so I can gush about it freely. (Kim I am begging so nice on my hands and knees to take another crack at the Coven one please please please - but don't feel pressured)

10. A fun one to finish...If you could insert yourself into any fic in the fandom, which would it be and what do you think would happen?

I'd have to go with Sinister by @godlygreta because I love angst that much apparently. Also the whole vibe of that fic is so immaculate and I think about this fic all the time. (If I were to go with one of my own fics I'd pick Too Pretty For War I just wanna see Sam in a toga everyday)

Tagging @t00turnttrauma :)

[bytheangell]

My Priority

(Read on AO3) (A/N: The inspiration for this came from a discussion of how finding a kidnapped Magnus would be Alec's priority would make for a great parallel to Will's "She's my priority!" line about Tessa from TID. I wrote a little part of this on a Tumblr post, and decided to expand it into a longer ficlet!)

In the back of his mind Alec knew this moment was coming. He can’t keep sneaking behind the Clave’s back without getting caught, especially not with the amount of attention on him and the entire New York Institute after everything with Jace and Lilith and the Owl. Still, he thought he might have a little more time being able to utilize the spare Shadowhunters for a bit of recon, using the computers overnight because the resources here are beyond anything he’ll have access to on his own, even with the offer of Catarina and her contacts.

Because it’s been seven days since Magnus went missing. Seven days since Alec saw his face, or heard his voice, or so much as received a text message from him. The others volunteer to help him search when they’re off duty, Underhill practically lives on the network of surveillance cameras scanning the world over for any trace of the warlock, to no avail. If he just had a little more time…

Time, however, is not on Alec’s side. Now the Clave caught on and he’s been summoned into the main hall of the Institute for an official reprimanding. He knows what’s coming: a cease and desist. Will they kick him out of the Institute or just strip him of his title?  Will they lock him away despite their clear inability to keep prisoners where they belong?

He tells Jace and Izzy before he goes because he doesn’t know what’s going to happen and he needs them to be prepared for the very possible result that this is going to end poorly for him. Any ability he has to remain calm and diplomatic is gone; it left the moment Magnus was taken, and he was chained to this Angel-forsaken building chasing down convicts and cleaning up the Clave’s mess instead of searching for the man he loves.  

No more.

They understand - of course they do. They’ve seen him the past few days, barely holding it together enough to fill out paperwork without his hands shaking so much the words become illegible. They’ve watched him close the door to his office and suspected the reason why at the muffled sounds of a sob or two he couldn’t keep entirely contained no matter how hard he tries. He did he best to stand by his duty, by his people, but he’s breaking and something has to give.

That something might just be him.

He turns to go face his fate when he hears the sound of footsteps following behind him. The noise belongs to Jace, Izzy, and Clary too, who came in towards the end of his conversation with his siblings.

“What are you guys doing?” Alec asks, slowing to a stop.

“We’re coming with you.” Isabelle says simply.

“Don’t. I’ll take the fall; you were only doing it to help me, your names will never come up.” Alec shakes his head.

“They won’t have to. We helped you because we wanted to, and we’re going to stand by you now because we want to. We’re here for you, Alec.” Jace doesn’t even stop walking as he speaks.

“And we’re here for Magnus. He saved us so many times, and the least we can do is our best to return the favor.” Clary adds.

The emotion Alec feels is overwhelming. He might expect this from Izzy and Jace, but to have even Clary vow to stand behind him in this… it means a lot, even if it’s support he doesn’t want. He can’t have any of them put themselves in the line of fire for his sake.

Alec opens his mouth to protest but Izzy and Clary follow Jace’s lead, moving past where he stands, and it’s all he can do to turn and catch back up to them. His legs feel weak but he pushes forward with long strides to the front of the group. He knows it’ll be pointless to argue - they’re almost as stubborn as he is sometimes and he both loves and hates them for it.

They see Jia Penhallow standing at the head of the room, posture drawn tall and lips pursed in a look of disapproval. Alec wonders if they choose the Consul partly on a severity factor.  

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, current Head of the New York Institute.”

Alec walks forward just a few steps in front of the others. “Consul Penhallow.”

“I didn’t realize we invited half the Institute to this meeting.” The Consul says, looking with disdain down at the three Shadowhunters standing around Alec.

None of them defend their presence, but they don’t make any move to leave either, making it very clear they have no intention of leaving Alec’s side. The silence falls heavy in the room.

“Very well. I’m sure there’s nothing we have to discuss that you haven’t already divulged to your friends , regardless of sensitivity.”

Alec fights the urge to roll his eyes, but just barely.

“It’s been brought to my attention that you’ve been conducting off-the-books missions to search for Magnus Bane.”

“He wasn’t-” Clary starts so speak, falling abruptly silent with a grunt when Jace elbows her in the side. Alec silently thanks him. They might stand behind him for support, but he can’t have them speaking for him. He has to answer for himself, as the Head of the Institute. Plus, Clary is hot-headed, and anything she says in a flare of anger would almost positively be used against him no matter how well she means.

“I’ve been looking for him while off-duty, yes.”

“But using Institute resources, that could be put to better use tracking the escaped prisoners. Using Shadowhunters who - while ‘ off duty ’, could be volunteering that time towards our own work instead.”

It isn’t a question, but she waits for his reply just the same. This is a dangerous game he’s playing - everything she says is true, but she’s spinning it to her advantage. What he, or anyone else, does in their off time shouldn’t matter. But to make it look like he’s pulling potential Institute resources?

“Anyone who assisted me did so at my request - at the insistence of a superior, and are not to be blamed for their actions.” He has to assume she knows everything, and that includes whoever has even so much as looked up a name for him in the past week. His thoughts go instinctively to Underhill, tapping into the surveillance systems, among a number of others. He can’t let anyone else get caught up in this with him.

“So you admit your actions are an abuse of power?”

Alec feels Jace take a step forward behind him, the tension almost palpable in the air around the four of them.

“No. As you stated, any efforts to track down the whereabouts of Mr. Bane were done off duty. No Shadowhunters were pulled from their assignments. No equipment was utilized that was already in use.” He holds his head high, gaze steady.

“Luckily for you.”

Alec wonders how someone can be so cold, so detached, in the face of someone simply looking for their loved one.

“All efforts are to stop, effective immediately.” She pauses, before adding, “That includes yourself, Mr. Lightwood. You have a duty to the Shadowhunters, not the Downworlders. Let his own people look for him.”

“You can’t tell me what I’m allowed do in my free time!” Alec cuts her off, voice rising and  knowing he’s playing into her hand, but he doesn’t care. Tears sting at his eyes, not of sadness, but of frustration.

He kneels in front of the consul now because he’s too tired to stand. Her words bring a feeling of defeat over him that he managed to keep at bay up until this moment. Now he’s used the last of his energy arguing his case, breaking down physically and emotionally day after day until it’s too much for his body to handle.

Alec is tired. Between running the Institute and looking for Magnus he can’t remember the last time he slept more than an hour or two, running on caffeine and the hope that today will be the day, and that he isn’t already too late. And now even that hope is being taken from him. He can’t do this anymore - he doesn’t have the strength left to keep fighting.

He feels a hand on his right shoulder, then his left, as his siblings reach out to not only comfort him but ground him as well. The Consul waits in measured silence until he’s regained his composure.

“I don’t think you fully understand your position - there is no ‘ off time ’ for you. Your allegiance is to this Institute. You will not get a second request, Lightwood. Stand down. One warlock - who isn’t even a warlock any more - cannot be our priority.”

Something snaps inside of him at the finality of those words.

“He’s my priority!” Alec states, voice raising with every syllable, eyes narrowing. He doesn’t realize that he’s pushing himself to his feet again, Izzy and Jace’s hands falling off of his shoulders in the process.

“Your people are here, which is where you belong.”

“My people are safe, for now. Magnus isn’t. I can do both: I can run the Institute and look for Magnus. But if you’re forcing me to pick one over the other then it isn’t even a choice. I guess you’ll get along just fine without me until I get back.”

“Don’t walk away from me, Mr. Lightwood.” But Alec doesn’t look back after turning away and stalking down the hall. “You’re going to regret this!”

Clary shakes her head. “No, he won’t. But I think you just might. You need him more than he’ll ever need you.”

“And you’ll be lucky to get him back after this,” Isabelle adds, turning to follow Alec’s lead with Jace and Clary close behind.

They’re going to get Magnus back, one way or another.

---

They walk in silence until they’re well clear of the Consul. Jace, Isabelle, and Clary can all see the way Alec’s shoulders rise and fall with sharp, deep breaths; they see his hands clench and release at his sides and wonder what he’s going to say when they reach his office and follow him inside without asking if he wants them there or not.

Clary closes the door behind her and the moment it clicks shut Alec collapses into his chair, head falling into his hands.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” he says, words muffled by his palms.

“It was amazing,” Clary reassures him. “And it’s what you needed to do. They can’t ask you to stop looking for Magnus - and you’ve been doing it without letting it interfere with Institute business. They had no right to tell you to stop.”

Clary says this with the sort of innocence that they see in her time and time again - she hasn’t grown up with the politics of being a Shadowhunter, with the expectations woven into every motivation they carry, every instinct they fall back on. Or, at least, they’re supposed to carry and fall back on.

“They had every right. And there’s no way they aren’t stripping me of my position no matter what I do now.” He hesitates, adding in a voice barely above a whisper, “...I wonder if this is grounds for deruning.”

“We won’t let it come to that,” Isabelle reassures him. None of them mention that's exactly what they said about Maryse, too. 

Alec sits in silence for a few more moments, processing everything that just happened, before he’s back on his feet. “I’m going to need you to keep things running smoothly here while I’m away.”

“Where are you going?” Jace asks.

“I don’t know yet. But it’s clear I can’t look for Magnus and continue my duties here, so… consider this an official temporary leave of absence.” He grabs a piece of paper and hastily scrawls a few sentences on it before sending the fire message off. “Jace, I imagine they’ll make you Acting Head while I’m gone. Try not to burn the place down.”

“What do you mean, while you’re gone? We’re coming with you.”

Alec shakes his head. “No. I need you all here, and you’ve done more than enough already. More than I had any right to ask of you. I’ve been in contact with a few warlocks that owed Magnus a favor or two - they offered to help me if I needed it. The rest of you are to follow Consul Penhallow’s orders effective immediately. Pass that along to everyone who was helping.”

There are a few moments of tense silence between them before Isabelle nods first, followed by Jace.

“Alright. Stay in touch, let us know the second you need or hear anything , got it?” Jace asks.

Alec nods. “I’m going to get out of here before she tries to stop me. If anyone asks-”

“You didn’t tell us where you were going. We don’t know anything.” Isabelle says without hesitation.

Alec allows the brief hint of a smile before he leaves, grabbing his bow and arrows off a stand next to the door on his way out.

Once they’re certain he’s gone Clary looks between the two remaining siblings.

“We’re not actually going to stop looking, right?” She asks, voice low.

They shake their heads in immediate unison.

“Not a chance.” Jace confirms. He knows Alec is going to kill him for this whenever he gets back, but he doesn’t care.  “We just have to be more careful about it. C’mon. We’ll call the others off, but after that we have work to do.”

[illfoandillfie]

Kinktober Day 8: Breeding

Kinktober Masterlist | Regular Masterlist

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Fem!Reader

Words: 2,072

Warnings: Breeding kink, nothing much else in the way of kinks,more angsty than I expected any of these blurbs to be lmao

A/N: Breeding stuff isn’t something I do a lot of but lowkey I’ve been into it a bit lately dkakdjksdjaa. Still experimenting with writing it so I hope this is okay lmao

Early in your relationship with Gwilym, you’d made it clear that you wanted kids one day and, to your intense relief, he’d said he did too. You knew it wouldn’t happen right away, that you wanted to be together for a while longer before you complicated things by adding babies to the equation. But by the time you were engaged, a few years after getting together, you decided that was long enough to know it would work. There was no rush for it to happen but even before the wedding you’d stopped taking your birth control pills and were actively trying for a baby. The chances of getting pregnant straight away weren’t high but you’d hoped that it wouldn’t be long after you were married that your family would expand. 

The wedding came and went with all its anticipation and excitement and joy and you still weren’t pregnant. Months passed and, though you tried, you remained stubbornly child free. So you researched it and found as many home remedies as you could that might boost your chances of conceiving. Gwil stopped wearing briefs, you changed your diet and took recommended multivitamins, and you kept better track of your cycle. And when there was still no change, Gwil added the app to his phone as well as yours so that you would both know when you were ovulating. You got stricter with your routine, began taking your basal body temperature every morning so your data would be more accurate, and made sure you were having sex at the optimal times, laying there afterwards with your legs in the air in the hopes that this time would be different. It was fine for a little while but every time you took a pregnancy test that turned out a negative result, every time your period started, your hopes were crushed a little more. It got to the point where sex was routine. You would wake up to an alert that you were ovulating and manoeuvre yourself so Gwil could cum inside you before rolling over for another half hour of sleep. When he got home from work you’d be waiting so you could try again, bent over the couch or kitchen bench but without any of the passion that would have accompanied the same position before you started trying. He’d make sure you came too but less because you wanted it and more because some website or other had suggested it could help the sperm reach the egg.  

You hated what was happening. The feeling of failure that you carried around, made all the worse by knowing Gwil blamed himself when it was your womb that wasn’t doing its job. And then on top of that the loss of passion. You knew Gwil wasn’t happy, you weren’t happy. But neither of you wanted to be the one to suggest relaxing the routine or taking it less seriously because that might come across as giving up on the family you’d promised each other. Instead you made appointments with fertility specialists and fought the urge to cry every time you saw another negative test, worried you were killing your relationship for the sake of a baby that you might not be able to have. 

The day you realised you couldn’t remember the last time Gwilym had kissed you, you made an appointment with a therapist who specialised in relationships and sex. It was hard to admit you needed help, but Gwil didn’t resist which you took as a good sign. And the sessions went well. Your therapist was understanding and kind as you explained the problems you were having. She helped assuage your guilt about failing to conceive and advised you on how to mend your relationship. And then, when you cofessed you were worried that continuing to try for a baby would just make things worse, she offered some advice you’d didn’t expect to hear.  “Use the desire for a baby to fuel your desire for each other.”  Gwilym looked to you, confused, and then turned back to ask, “What does that mean though?”  “You’re worried that your attempts to conceive will only exacerbate the negative things you’ve been feeling. That creating a sexual routine around ovulation will mean boredom and disinterest as it did before. So instead you could consider reinforcing the positive aspects of sex – the connection and intimacy you share as well as the physical pleasure – and tying them to the act of conceiving.”  She went on to further explain the idea, describing what some referred to as a breeding kink, and how you might incorporate it into your sex life though dirty talk and role play. That while it wouldn’t help you get pregnant it might help you from feeling like trying was a chore. 

At first you were hesitant and uncomfortable with the idea. It seemed unnatural to mention pregnancy during sex. But you were willing to try anything in order to maintain your relationship. So you did some research, watching porn with Gwil and reading out reddit threads that discussed it, putting suggestions to the test when you were in bed together. And somewhere along the way you began to enjoy it. You stopped feeling daft for begging Gwil to cum inside you and he stopped feeling self-conscious when talking about how he was going to fuck a baby into you. Sex stopped feeling like something you had to do and more like something you needed to do. Conception was still the goal but it was more than that. You didn’t have to have sex to get pregnant, you got to. And soon every aspect of your attempts to start a family were part of the game. You got praised for taking your temperature and for taking your multivitamins. Gwil would watch you swallow one of the pills each morning and would growl about how you were such a good girl, making yourself more fertile so he’d have no trouble breeding you. And each time you got another failed pregnancy test he’d kiss your temple and hold you close and whisper that it meant he’d have to try even harder to knock you up. But best of all was the sex. The more you played with the kink, the less tiresome the sex was. Sure, there were days where you just went through the motions but for the most part it helped. You explored role play more – sometimes he was a king you were married to in order to give him an heir, or sometimes he’d pretend to kidnap you growling about how he was going to lock you up and fuck you until you bore him a child. When you wanted to be on top you’d place your hands on his chest as you rode him and told him you wouldn’t stop until he’d cum, no matter how much he tried to hold off. He might pretend to struggle, to buck you off, but you’d pin him down and tell him you needed it and he’d cum faster than you could have imagined possible. It revitalised your sex life entirely. 

On one evening your tracker dinged to let you know you were ovulating and you knew Gwil would have got the same notification. He got home not long after that, dropping his bag in the door before grabbing you and pushing you to the bedroom. You half laughed, half squealed his name, excited. But Gwil just pushed you onto the bed and tugged your pants off.    You scrambled up the bed and he followed, crawling after you like an animal in heat.   Gwil grabbed your legs and pushed them wide open, leaning down to spit on your cunt.    You whined at his urgency as he began spreading the saliva with his fingers, making you wetter and wetter as he rubbed your pussy before finally pressing a finger into you.   “God,” you gasped but Gwil just laughed.   “You’re so eager for it, aren’t you darling. Bet you’ve been thinking about it as much as I have. How I’m going to fill you with my seed.”   You nodded, finding yourself near panting as he gave you a second finger, unbelievably aroused by the situation.   “Good girl, that’s right,” he cooed, “Such a cumslut. You’re going to cum on my fingers first though, before I give you what you really want.”   You couldn’t help but whine at his promised delay.   “I know darling, you just want me to fill you up with cum, don’t you?”   “Yeah, yes, please.”   “Ask for it then, show me you want it.”  “Oh fuck, Gwil, please. W-want you to cum in me. Need you to- to- ohhh- to put a baby in me Gwil. I need it, I need it, I need it. Please, Gwil, please. Please just cum in me. I need you.”   “I will darling, I promise. But only after you’ve been a good girl and cum on my fingers. I want you nice and relaxed so I can fuck you easily. And I’m not going to let you cum once I’ve blown my load in you. I’m not going to risk you leaking sperm onto the sheets. That would be such a waste. So cum now.”   You felt yourself getting closer, spurred on by the filth coming from your husband’s mouth.   “C’mon darling, need you to cum so I can have my fun. I’m so hard from just thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight. How I’m going to pound your pussy and fuck my cum into you over and over until I’m sure I’ve knocked you up. I’ll keep you plugged with my cock until I’m ready to give you another load. Make sure it takes. You’re going to be carrying my child by the end of the night.”  That was enough you push you over the edge, the thought of Gwil keeping you pinned beneath him, cumming in you over and over until you were pregnant. You moaned and tightened on his fingers.  “Good girl,” he said softly, “Can feel how needy you are. Eager to bear my children. Trying to milk my fingers like you do with my cock.  I’ll give you the real thing now.”  You bit your lip as you watched Gwil undo his pants, pushing them down to his knees, too impatient to do more. 

He groaned, the sound low and rumbly, as he penetrated you, one hand resting possessively on your stomach, “There you go, that’s what you wanted. And you’re going to take it all night. However long it takes, I’m going to fuck a baby into you. And then everyone will know you belong to me, that I own you. Would you like that?”  “Yes, god yes. You own me, you do. I just need your cum.”  “Don’t worry, you’ll get it.”  You squealed as Gwil adjusted his pace, making good on his promise to pound you as he fucked you hard and fast, no more room for talking. But he didn’t need words to show you he meant what he said. He proved it with the feeling of his cock slamming into you and the way he pushed himself as deep as he could while he came, holding himself there and grunting as you tried to pull every drop into you. When he was done he slumped his weight, his cock still pressed into you, his panting breath hot against your neck.  “Thank you,” you said softly, stroking his back, feeling the material of his shirt under your palm “Thank you Gwil.”  He found your lips then, kissing you deeply, wincing softly against you as you unintentionally clenched down on his dick again. But still he didn’t move, just resettled on top of you as you ran your hands over his back and his arms. For a while you lay like that, completely entwined, unwilling to move. Until you asked the question that was at the front of both your minds.  “Do you think it worked this time?”  Gwil lifted his head, “I really hope so.”  “Me too.”  He took a deep breath, “It’ll work. We’ll make sure, okay? As soon as I’m hard again we can have another go.”  You chucked, able to feel Gwil laughing too, his body shaking with it as he lay on top of you, “I love you Gwil. Even if this doesn’t work, I’ll still love you.”  “I love you too Y/N, no matter what.” 

Taglist: @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @hannafuckingsucks @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @queenmylovely @ilovequeenmorethanyou @johndeaconshands @borhapbois @stardust-galaxies @cherries-n-rocknroll @rogersslave @scorpiogemini

[troubatrain]

runaway - n. patrick

a/n: happy sunday here’s som midday filth i wrote today? i think i might make this a little series (where all the fics sort of connect) but i have decided yet so tell me if you want more! big shoutout to @hookingminor​ for letting me dump ideas in her DMs. Also tagging @texanstarslove​ for encouraging me to expand on this blurb i wrote yesterday! hope you guys like it :)

warning : smut - it’s literally just smut

part two

You were running away if you could even count making a grand escape from Boston to Philadelphia to your brother’s place. You had submitted your final paper in your dorm at Boston College, packing your bags and loading your car in what should have been the direction home. Instead, while you were packing your ex had posted a picture with his new girlfriend, and you felt like an idiot. You couldn’t believe it, gossiping to your friends that you’d slept with him a week ago and you were so sure you were getting back together. Now, you were just heartbroken and when you needed an escape - there was always Kevin.

So you drove in the direction of Philly, calling your big brother on the way down to tell him you were on your way. Kevin was in California, but told you to come regardless, worried about his little sister. You drove in silence, your mind racing for hours, finally pulling in front of Kevin’s building a little after nine. Philly was cold, but nothing compared to the cold December temperatures you were used to. You let yourself into his place, grateful for the key you kept the last time you came for a visit. The place was dark, and you stepped into the kitchen in search of any food.

“Hey Boston.”

You jump, letting out a small yelp and almost falling to the floor. You turn around to meet Nolan’s eyes, a smirk on his face while he stifles a laugh. You huff, crossing your arms and raising your eyebrows at him, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I live here, what the fuck are you doing here?” Nolan scoffs, looking at you like you’d completely lose your mind. Nolan wouldn’t have told another soul, but he was happy to see you. Kevin would murder him if he ever let it slip, but Nolan wanted to do absolutely filthy things to you. So Nolan settled on teasing you, because if you thought he didn’t like you then he wouldn’t have to cross that line.

“If you really must know, I didn’t want to go home and tell my parents all about my ex boyfriend’s new girlfriend,” You mutter, holding in your tears because Nolan didn’t need to see you cry. You were almost sure he hated you, and you didn’t know why. Nolan was pretty nice to everyone, especially when your family came into town. Kevin loved him, and constantly bragged about his roommate, but Nolan gave you shit all the time.

Nolan let out a deep breath, processing your words and the tears that were threatening to spill from your eyes and he wanted to fix it. He wanted to throw his arms around you, and hold you until it all felt okay but that was a slippery slope for Nolan, “Go put your stuff in the guest room, I’ll get us something to eat.”

You emerged a little while later, your hair wet from a warm shower and an oversized t-shirt hanging from your frame, covering the shorts you had on. You pad into the living room, sitting on the opposite side of the couch as Nolan, tucking your knees into your chest. You looked frail like someone had taken your already broken heart and snapped it again.

“Pizza should be here soon,” Nolan whispers, looking over at you with sad eyes. He looked warm, a hoodie covering his hair that was longer since the last time you saw him, “You-”

“Want to smoke?” You both let out the question at the same time, laughing when you realized what you did. That was the one thing you and Nolan seemed to bond about, smoking with Kevin was awful because his voice seemed to echo afterwards and it was too much for the both of you. Nolan got up, disappearing for a second and reappearing with a joint already rolled in his hand.

“All you Boston,” Nolan drops them in your hands, and you roll your eyes that his dumb nickname for you. You put the joint between your lips, sparking the end and letting the smoke slip through your lips.

“Shut up baby cat,” You tease, coughing from the smoke and smirking at Nolan. Nolan takes the joint from your hand, taking a hit and letting the smoke fall from his lips.

“You don’t get to call me that,” Nolan teases, a hazy smile on his face when he looks over at you, “Feeling any better?”

“I will be when-” You go to tell him that when the pizza was here everything would be fine, and as if you were magic the doorbell buzzed to let you know your delivery was here. You make a surprised face, looking at Nolan to see if he was nearly as excited as you were, but he was just laughing at your face.

You devoured the pizza, the both of curing your munchies and settling on whatever garbage reality show was on at the time. It was a comfortable silence inching over closer and closer to Nolan as time went on, before you knew it, you were practically curled into his side. You were busy on your phone, instagram stalking your ex’s new girlfriend to compare every part of you to her.

Nolan looked down at you, furrowing his eyebrows until he figured out what you were doing. Your head was against his shoulder while you looked at who he assumed was your ex’s new girl. He sighs, taking your phone out of your hand and tossing it on the other side of the couch.

“Nolan what the fuck was that for?” You ask, raising your voice and giving Nolan a look.

“Stop comparing yourself to that girl,” Nolan huffs, his voice deep from exhaustion while he stares at you. He thinks for a moment, carefully mulling over his next words because he had one chance not to fuck this up, “You’re fucking perfect.”

“Yeah okay,” You snort, rolling your eyes and sitting up next to Nolan, “Don’t even look at me and tell if you had a choice you wouldn’t choose her.”

Your voice was shaking, and you didn’t know what answer you were expecting, Nolan was only nice to you because you were Kevin’s sister. There wasn’t any other reason Nolan Patrick would give you the time of day. Nolan's eyes were staring into yours and he rubbed a hand over his jaw while he thought. His lips pressed against your jaw pressing feather light kisses against your skin while Nolan mumbled.

I’d choose you anyday.

You’re so beautiful baby.

Only you.

His lips were ghosting over yours, your eyes closed, just waiting for him to finally close the gap between the two of you, “Kiss me Nolan.”

Nolan’s lips on yours was pure ecstasy, like every part of your body was on fire. Nolan pulled onto his lap and you straddle his hips, grinding down on him while letting out a whimper when his hand smacked your ass lightly. Nolan’s lips were on your neck, leaving a mark you know you were going to have to cover later, “Y/N-”

Nolan’s voice was deep, and your name falling from his lips instead of that stupid nickname was enough to make you wet. Your hands found the ends of Nolan’s hair, tugging on him slightly causing him to groan underneath you. Nolan pulls away, looking up at you with swollen lips, and you’d never looked better. His hands were under your shirt, your skin soft under his calloused fingertips and legs wrapped around his waist while he grew hard underneath you. He slipped a hand into your shorts, ghosting over your core with his fingers.

“Please,” You plead, pressing a kiss against Nolan’s jaw. You needed a release, someone to make you feel special even if you never spoke of this again. Nolan was a hockey player and you’d been around enough to know how easy it would be for this to be a one and done thing, “I’ll be a good girl.”

That was all it took for Nolan to slip his finger under your panties and rub a circle over your clit. You roll your hips in his, desperate for any sort of friction, “Mmm I thought you were going to be good? You’ve got to be patient princess.”

You nod, pouting and looking at Nolan who was smirking at you. He grabs your thighs, standing up and carrying you into his bedroom. You fell back on the mattress, grabbing Nolan’s neck and pulling his lips back onto yours. He slipped your panties and shorts off one swift motion, leaving them to be forgotten about. You pulled of your shirt, and Nolan stops, his eyes wandering down your body, “Nol-”

“This is better than I imagined, god you’re perfect,” Nolan hums, his hands slowly moving down your body. He finally hooks your legs over his broad shoulders, pressing a kiss to your thigh, “You’re sure about this?”

“Nolan your head is between my thighs I think I’m sure,” You tease, kicking him in the back lightly. Nolan nods, flicking your clit with his tongue, pulling a moan from your body. It was everything he ever wanted to hear. His grip on your thighs tightened, his nails digging into your skin while he teased your entrance, “Nolan, fuck-”

Nolan’s lips wrap around your clit, slipping in a finger and curling it to hit your g-spot. Your hips lifted off the mattress, grinding against Nolan’s lips while he fingered you. You were close, curses and moans leaving your mouth because there were no other thoughts running through your head other than how good Nolan was making you feel.

“I know your close baby, c’mon,” Nolan growls against your pussy, sending you over the edge. You let you a yelp, your orgasm overcoming you while Nolan fingered you through your high. You ran your hands through his hair while you caught your breath, Nolan pressing kisses into your thighs. He didn’t give you much downtime, grabbing a condom from his bedside drawer and kicking off his sweats. You played with your clit, watching Nolan roll the condom over his cock and your pussy dripped in anticipation.

“I want to cum to all over your cock,” You whimper, Nolan finally sliding inside of you. He was big and the feeling was sensational. He pressed a kiss to your cheek, snapping his hips into you while you screamed underneath him, “Harder.”

Nolan was in euphoria, his name was leaving your lips like a prayer, begging him to absolutely ruin you. This was Nolan’s dirtiest fantasy, from the moment Kevin introduced him to his little sister with a threat for Nolan to keep his grimy little hands off of you. His hands were all over you now, gripping your hips while he fucked you, sure to leave bruises in his wake. Nolan’s hand ghosted over your neck, and you let out a deep breath at the contact, “Can I?”

“Fuck, yes,” You nod, letting Nolan’s large hand wrap around your throat. His was using you for leverage, fucking you into his mattress while you let out moans underneath him, “Fuck I’m close-”

“Be a good girl and cum for me,” Nolan spat, teeth grazing your jaw while he watched you fall apart underneath him. He let go of the grip on your throat, giving you no time to rest before his strokes got faster. He needed to chase his high, spilling into the condom while you shook from the aftershocks of your own. Nolan stayed inside you for a minute, his head in your neck while you watched the sweat that was glistening on his forehead. You ran a finger through his hair, wondering what the fallout from this was going to be.

“That was,” Nolan stops, muttering against your skin because he was speechless. The wasn’t just good, it was mind blowing, and the temptation to do it again might be a problem for him, “That was fucking incredible Boston.”

“Sure was,” You breathe out, picking Nolan’s head up and pressing your lips to his. You made out lazily for a while, basking in the post sex glow before you knew you were going to have to kick Nolan out. Kevin would be back in the morning, and if he caught you in bed with his teammate Nolan wouldn’t live to see another day.

“We should do this again sometime?” Nolan asks, watching you collect your clothes from his room. He wanted you to stay, sleeping under his arm in his bed where you should have, but he knew he was playing with fire. You look at him, a smirk on your face and a blush on your cheeks.

“You just might get lucky twice Nolan.”

And Nolan hoped he would...

[alitaimagines]

“baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle, I can’t let you go now that I got it and all I need is to be struck by your electric love. baby your electric love. drown me, you make my heart beat like the rain. surround me, hold me deep beneath your waves.”

        ☆ TODOROKI SHOUTO - MY HERO ACADEMIA 

        ☆ note: I just realized the last few things I’ve written been so angsty so here so here is a fluffy blurb. I feel like I could expand on this imagine so look out for a part two on this.

        ☆ previous imagine: ♡ ☆ masterlist: ♡

Todoroki hadn’t realized that he was staring off into space until he heard Momo’s voice speak up.

“Todoroki, that’s so cute,” Momo whispered as Todoroki tried to hide his blush, “you have a crush on her! you should totally make the first move!” Mina practically yelled. 

“guys, if he truly likes her, he’ll do it on his own time. don’t peer pressure him!” Iida lectured the two girls, “yeah, I think Iida has a point,” Midoriya added on as the girls sighed. 

you were standing with Kirishima, Jirou, and Kaminari, as you downed an entire packet of sour patch kids before morning training started. both Kirishima and Jirou gave you concerning looks as Kaminari drank his hot chocolate, not really caring about what was happening.

“dude, it’s seven thirty in the morning and you’re eating that like it’s your breakfast,” Jirou said with judgemental eyes, “it is my breakfast, leave me alone,” you responded as Kaminari took a few out of the bag for himself. 

Todoroki watched you give him a back hand to the chest, “keep your hands off my breakfast. that’s also my lunch!” you exclaimed as Kirishima gave you another look of concern, “can I ask why that’s your lunch? you know we get our lunch for free, right?” 

you laughed as you popped another Sour Patch Kid in your mouth, “because I’m tired of school food and this is what’s going to hold me over until I convince my mom to bring me some,” you mumbled through the candy. 

Jirou and Kirishima sighed at your stupidity as Kaminari agreed. Todoroki on the other hand couldn’t help but overhear the conversation and knew exactly what he was going to do. 

“God, it’s so fucking cold out,” you complained as you wrapped your jacket closer to you in order to gain anymore warmth out of it, “I don’t understand why they make us train in these temperatures. we’re going to freeze to death one day,” you complained. 

you couldn’t continue to complain as Aizawa walked into the field and told everyone to find a partner to spar with. you noticed everyone immediately paired up with the closest person they were with which left you having to train with Bakugou. 

“oh Katsuki!” you exclaimed as you saw him physically sigh, “don’t be upset that you’re stuck with me! think of it as a blessing!” you joked as the blond immediately started to curse you out. 

once Aizawa gave everyone the signal to start sparring with each other, you and Bakugou immediately darted to each other as he let out a lengthy amount of explosions which you quickly dodged before sliding under his legs to flip him. 

you managed to get a grasp of his leg as he tried to grab your arm but he was too late. you locked in your grasp and slammed him against the ground as the class stared at you in disbelief. 

“holy shit, Bakugou, I just flipped you without even trying,” you taunted as he got up in anger and went to attack you again, “tch, you’re going to have to catch me to get revenge on me!” you screamed as you instantly started to run in the opposite direction.

“GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID EXTRA!” he yelled while chasing you, “that’s enough. since neither of you are taking this seriously, Todoroki, take Bakugou’s place and Bakugou, you can spar with Yaoyorozu until training is done,” Aizawa interjected. 

you sighed before you started to walk over to Todoroki, “hey, Momo! good luck with Katsuki. he’s pretty weak today so I’m sure you can win a few rounds,” you teased Bakugou again as he was immediately held back by Kirishima.

Todoroki couldn’t help but chuckle at the death wish you were basically signing for yourself.

“hey Shouto!” you greeted the half-n-half boy, “you good to go?” you asked as he gave you a simple nod. 

Todoroki wondered why weren’t you as playful with him as you were around Kirishima, Bakugou, or even Kaminari. he knew he could come off as a bit cold or standoffish sometimes but your vibrant personality could usually kick anyone up a few notches. 

the two of you remained sparring for a while before Aizawa called it quits for the day. as you finally stepped away, you wiped the sweat off your forehead before looking at Todoroki. 

“I really got to give it to you,” you wheezed as you tried to regain your breath, “you really know how to fight. I really would have hated to be Bakugou at the sports festival.” 

Todoroki tried to hide the blush that was spreading on his face, “but maybe I should have taken Jirou’s advice and not eaten candy for breakfast. I have such low energy right now, I feel like I could eat a cow right now,” you said as Todoroki looked through his school bag until he found the energy bar he was planning on saving for himself. 

“here, have this,” Todoroki told you as he handed you the granola bar, “you shouldn’t go hungry for the rest of the morning. it’s not healthy,” he said, almost in a reprimanding tone of voice. 

you laughed before giving him a playful hug, “aw, Shouto! you care about my health!” you joked before ripping the package with your teeth, “what’s next? buying my lunch?” you asked. 

Todoroki gave you a look, “I heard you say that you were going to have that candy for lunch so you can have some of the cold soba I packed for lunch,” you put your hand to your chest and thought of how good your lunch was going to be now. 

“it’s like you’re my mom!” you joked as he shrugged, “if I need to act like it, I will. someone needs to make sure you’re eating properly.” 

this time you gave him an offended look, “I eat properly! last night I had an actual dinner plus, I had the hot chocolate that U.A. was offering after it!” you tried to defend yourself, “sure you did,” Todoroki muttered as the two of you finally entered the class. 

Mina and Momo gave each other looks as you sat in front of Todoroki and continued to talk to him until Midnight arrived for her class. they could tell that Todoroki was a lot more talkative around you and that made their hearts flutter for you. 

they knew Todoroki wasn’t an open book so to see their most closed off classmate not only talking but pursuing his crush made them feel fuzzy inside.

the good thing about all of this was that Todoroki was your desk neighbor. you sat directly behind him so every so often. you would pass him a note with a funny drawing of one of your classmates or pass him a candy that you had inside of you backpack. 

“look! look!” Mina whispered to Momo, “they’re already sharing sweets! I didn’t think Todoroki would act on his crush so quickly,” she said as Momo watched as Todoroki discreetly popped a chocolate into his mouth. 

“yeah, I didn’t expect to see him do it so quickly but what Todoroki wants, he gets so it shouldn’t be too surprising.” 

Mina agreed before they heard Midnight clear her throat so they could get back to paying attention to the lecture. 

once the bell went off indicating it was time for the first years to get their lunch, Todoroki pulled out the cold soba before shoving two desks together and putting it in front of the both of you. 

“oh my goodness! you weren’t lying when you said you made a lot of soba,” you stared down at the copious amount of soba he had in his soup container, “but don’t mind if I do!” you giggled before grabbing the utensils and digging into the soba. 

Momo and Mina peeked their heads from outside of the classroom as they watched you and Todoroki eat the soba together. there was a few times where you would say something that would make him laugh. 

their little viewing party got interrupted when Mina received a message from Todoroki. 

“buy ( your name ) her favorite hot chocolate and I’ll pay you back after class. don’t say anything to anyone.”

Mina showed Momo the text as she smiled, “well, let’s go! we shouldn’t be late for class and I have an idea to show ( your name ) that Todoroki likes her!” she exclaimed as the two of them ran off in the direction of the lunch room.

ALITA

[your-world-with-nct]

— 2020 has been a wild year for all of us and let me start this off by saying well done to us all for simply making it through this crazy ride - if surviving this year was your biggest achievement, that’s completely okay, and i am so proud of you for being here today !! despite the many, let’s say, mishaps, that have occurred this year, both nct and nctzens have been key in my 2020 and i couldn’t be more grateful for them, so i decided to make a little appreciation post of my own before the year ends 🥰

— to my followers ;

my petals !! i can’t believe i started off this year with around 300 followers and i’m now nearing 600 🙈 this account has grown so much this year and it’s all thanks to you. if you’ve ever come across my blog, liked or reblogged a piece of mine, sent me an ask, or pressed that follow button, i want you to know that i am so grateful for you and thank you for enjoying my works 🥺 hopefully 2021 will carry the same positive energy here on your-world-with-nct as it has this year and i’m hoping that you’ll be seeing a lot more fics in the near future 👀 once again, i love you petals <3

— to my dearest mutuals ;

@emistoomultifandom

em bubs !!! i know i could easily do this on any other app or even irl but i just wanted to thank you for making my year 🥺 my lockdown wouldn’t have been the same without us constantly texting and fangirling and our ty track/bfc reunion on my birthday was elite. and obviously this new school year has been an adventure and a half so far, with all the lunch time shenanigans, revision sessions, and exam stress, but i can’t wait for the rest of it 🙈 i am so grateful that i had you by my side during 2020 and i am eternally thankful that i’ll be able to go into the new year with you by my side once again 🧡💚💜

@misfitneo

bella - my first mutual, my tumblr mum - it feels like just yesterday that you wrote a beomgyu blurb for me after seeing my pink theme; now you’ve finished college and i’m applying to colleges 🙈i know we haven’t been able to talk as much recently but that doesn’t mean i appreciate your presence any less - i’m so proud of you for getting into med school and pursuing your dream 🥺🥺 i hope that this year treated you well, and that 2021 treats you even better 💞

@nsheeteeish

loml, almost birthday-twin, fellow leo and xiaojaem stan, fave writer - what do these things have in common? they all apply to v, or, yeet anon, if you remember the days where i ranted to you about my crush and you were a baby stay 😪 not only have you delivered such amazing content on ur writing and gif blogs, but you have provided so much comfort and joy to me whenever we message with dilay 🤧 i look forward to checking your blog every day for new posts and my twt and insta notifs in case you’ve sent me something or you’ve seen what i sent you 🙈 the fact that you think of me when you see certain things just warms my heart and you’re just such a caring person in general, thank you for being a part of my 2020 v, all the best wishes for your 2021 🖤

@cloudyangers

dilay !!! my resident yangqi and the person i think of straight away whenever i see yangyang 😚 i remember when you first requested that e2l chenle blurb back in 2019 and now the only chenle stan between us is v 😁 finding you on this app again after i forgot what ur skz blog’s url was, was just amazing and i don’t know what my tumblr experience would be like without me being able to reconnect with you 🥺 thank you for being able to make me laugh effortlessly with our lack of geography knowledge and our random antics, i will always look forward to seeing the username @cloudy_____ on my dash and screaming over renhyuckyang (+ sungchan 👀) with you for years to come 🤍

@nctsoftarchives

andi bb, my fellow dad!johnny stan 🥺 seeing you post a jaemin birthday blurb for me after your return to tumblr was so sweet and i can’t believe your first post after coming back was dedicated to me 🤧 i remember the day i first messaged you and you were gushing over how you were a big fan of mine and i said the same about you - we were just going back and forth about how much we love each other’s work 😌 you are such a talented writer and you are so full of love - wishing all the best for you in the coming new year babie 🥰

@jensungf

coming across leyna’s blog after reading that jsmr fic was the best decision, because not only have i befriended a brilliant writer, but also a jensung enthusiast who is just the kindest 🥺🥺 i think now would be a good time to tell you that despite jeno’s bias wrecking antics back in august, i actually bias jisung now 😃 i know we haven’t talked in a while, because of our busy schedules, but i hope you’re resting well and i hope that 2021 won’t be as hectic for you 💟

@doyoungcore

joyce, i know we only started talking recently but the serotonin boost both you and your works have given me this year is just incredible and i am so thankful for your warm personality on your blog and for your amazing fics 🤧 i started off as a silent reader who gushed about your writing in the tags but now i’m friends with such a talented writer and we just casually ramble about doie and jaems biases and writing struggles,,, wow 🤯 (btw took some of ur tips on editing headers 🙈) i hope that next year we can expand our friendship and that i can continue to give you the feedback you deserve 🥺💕

— favourite reads of the year ;

i have reblogged all of these to my main @/lovelycharm05 before, but i just wanted these masterpieces on here with everyone since these fics are so memorable and enjoyable to me <3 (beware there is lots of me gushing over how f&%#ing good all these writing techniques and plot devices are - can you tell i’m an eng lit nerd)

@nsheetee - moonlight café

obviously v released so many iconic pieces this year but this series was just *chef’s kiss* coffee shop au’s are the cutest to me because you can do so many different things with them, and you truly showcased that through each members’ part. although i am nahyuck biased (out of all the 00 liners), i have a soft spot for jeno’s part 🥺🤧 but that doesn’t mean i’m not obsessed with jealous jaems and cocky hyuck 🙈

@notnctu - to all the j’s i loved before

the very first work i ever read of yours, joyce 🥺🥺 i remember seeing an nct network reblog this and after reading through the summary of the series, i was enticed by the plot and i read most of your masterlist whilst waiting for the next parts 🤧 the main character’s relationship with each ‘j’ was unique to them and their interactions were just so sweet to read (except jaemin’s >:( why did my ult’s part have to be the angsty one 😤 jk jk i loved it anyways) special mention to ‘cupid’s arrow’, because that fic was an emotional rollercoaster and i loved that almost as much as i love bestfriend!jungwoo in the last part 😌

@misfitneo - lee haechan’s pride

it would be a sin if i didn’t include this in my top reads this year, pun intended 😌, especially since i have a weakness for mafia aus. i haven’t had the time to read mark or renjun’s parts yet, but from what i read in this fic, i’m sure theirs are just as good, if not better. the storybuilding and the development of the plot are so detailed and intricate and that is what i love in a fic. i already reviewed this on my main with a lengthy description of my favourite parts so i’m gonna keep this short and sweet - if you love haechan, mafia au’s, and enemies to lovers, you need to read this !!

@jensungf - passing clouds + only forever

these fics hit different now that i bias jisung 😭 ‘passing clouds’ was pure angst and as much as it hurt, it was written so beautifully and i loved it so much. ‘only forever’ healed the jisung shaped hole in my heart and made me fall in love with him all over again. the first love vibes he gives off is unbelievable and that innocence was presented perfectly in this 🤧 side note: never let jisung bake for you even if it’s as a peace offering 😖

@hyucksie - in the long run + second first kiss

although ‘sweet talk’ and ‘silent treatment’ are also contenders for some of my favourite fics of the year, these two have taken the cake 😌 the concept itself of time travel and mark and y/n seeing their future child was so creative and the mixed emotions that the characters experienced seeing their future were executed so well and the ending when their actual future selves remembered the day they time travelled 🥺🥺 not to mention the sequel doesn’t feel forced at all, the story flows well, and jealous mark is a cutie 🥰

@luvdsc - not clickbait

i’ve been following cat after i first read ‘i turned my best friend into an e-boy!! (and kissed him)’ and ever since then every piece of hers that i’ve read is simply breathtaking and so engaging. her style of writing is so unique and whenever i read anything of hers i feel so immersed in the fic. the dreamies as youtubers and tiktokers was such a cute concept to me and the little comment section at the end of each fic is probably my favourite part 😳 the way each member’s fic connects to the plot of another is perfect and their cameos in one another’s fic >>> (jisung telling y/n about the tiktok challenge in mark’s fic + cameraman jisung in chenle’s) i could keep talking abt this series for a lot longer but i’ll end it here, also i can’t wait for norensung’s parts 💞💞

@pwarkhans - the neo academy

i’ve probably mentioned my love for ‘the umbrella academy’ before but THIS !!! this series just made me love it even more 🙈 despite yangyang’s part being the only one that’s out, that and the prologue are interesting enough and seeing the 00 liners in this alternate universe is honestly amazing jxjwjxkw jaemin as three and hyuck as two is everything. the brothers’ relationship, especially in yangyang’s part, is so complicated yet so cute and i can’t wait for the rest of the members’ parts 💘

@yongtxt - vintage

when i first stumbled across this series, i was immediately intrigued by the plot, and not just because it was about rapper!mark and singer!y/n🧑‍🦯🧑‍🦯 the side characters (dreamies + doie and jisoo) were so funny and well-written and the plot >>>> i was so invested in the twists and turns of the story, the relief i felt when the conflict was finally resolved and we got our fav musician couple !!

@byunbaekby - apartment b23

i only found this series recently but wow am i invested in the plot already 😭😭 the conflict in the story is realistic and feels like something you could actually relate to. norenmin’s friendship/bond is so strong and evident through the story and the side characters are my babies (heejin, shuhua, lia - ily 🤧) i can’t wait for the rest of this series since i am a sucker for the perfect balance of angst, fluff, and crack in this 🥰

— favourite works of the year ;

unfortunately i haven’t had enough time to release any fics this year, and i’m hoping that that won’t be the case next year, but here are my top 5 favourite blurbs that i enjoyed writing and reading <3

1:48pm -> dad!johnny

one of the most popular blurbs on my blog to this day 🥺 honestly i get why, who doesn’t love dad!johnny? hyejoo is literally so adorable here and the family dynamics make me soft all over again whenever i reread this piece. also everyone’s reactions and replies to this are so heartwarming because everyone’s just whipped for the suh family 🙈

1:05pm -> soulmate!taeyong

i love soulmate au’s but something always irked me with the permanence of your soulmate like ,,, what if you end up falling out of love with them? then what? that inspired me to write my own take on soulmates, where they aren’t found, but made. taeyong’s character here is just so full of love and you know how much i love lovable boys 🤧 (ever wondered why i ult na jaemin...?)

12:13pm -> boyfriend!mark

7dream!!!! i don’t usually write domestic fluff even though it’s one of the genres i indulge in the most 😔 but when i do, i go all out because everyone needs to know how soft i am for my boys >:( mark’s love for the dreamies is so unique and i love their friendship so much, i had to write about it when i first heard about the 7dream announcement which i definitely did not cry at

11:40pm -> boyfriend!jeno

this was one of the first requests i ever got and i was just so touched than someone personally requested something from me AND it was jeno 🥺🥺 everytime i read the tags under this, everyone is just gushing over jeno and like,,, same 🙈 this type of fluff >>>

waking up with wayv -> wayv reaction

when em first requested this, i didn’t exactly know how to write something for each member without being too repetitive, but in the end, i loved the mini plots i wrote for them and it’s just one of my underappreciated faves 🥰

— favourite releases of the year ;

just a few of my favourite albums that got me through online school and revision sessions for offline school 🥲 ft. lots of nct + october albums bc that month was PACKED

nct 2020 - resonance pt1 + pt2

nct 127 - neozone: the final round

nct dream - ridin’

wayv - awaken the world

superm - super one

enhypen - border: day one

twice - eyes wide open

txt - minisode1: blue hour

seventeen - semicolon

stray kids - go live + in life

itzy - not shy

conan gray - kid krow

if you’ve managed to read all the way to the end, congrats for putting up with my lengthy and very sappy sentiment and sorry that you had to go through all of that 😭😭 thank you for being a part of my 2020, i hope that the new year allows us all to have a fresh start and brings us the opportunities we didn’t have this year. happiest new year to you all 🥳 (even tho it’s not 2021 yet when i’m posting this :))

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

out of love by alessia cara + calum for that lovely angst

Thanks for your song and patience!

Please consider supporting me on ko-fi. 

I’m debating on whether or not to continue song blurbs. Your support really helps me out, reblog if you enjoy. 

____________________________

Routines

He first notices it in himself. 

It doesn’t set off the alarm suddenly. Ashton’s really the first one to see it. He asks about you, how you are settling into the new job, and when Calum answers with a placid good, Ashton gives him a look. Like how could good be the only word that Calum had when it came to you. But Ashton doesn’t push it, he nods and says that he’s glad you’re happy with your job and in a place more aligned with what you wanted. 

Calum can’t seem to recall when you started the new job. But it couldn’t have been for more than a day or two. He had just taken you out for dinner as a celebration. Calum excuses himself to the bathroom, racking his brain because surely he wasn’t going insane. But when he scrolls through the text messages from you, he sees the dinner was nearly two and a half weeks go. It’s just his memory, with the latest album things have started to blur just a little and he can’t seem to keep anything straight anymore. 

Calum fucks up the routine. 

Not that he meant it maliciously. There’s an order to the day that you’ve gotten accustomed to. You waking first and cook breakfast. Calum sluggishly pulls himself to at least have his morning coffee with you--you go to work. He catches up on emails, takes Duke out for his walk if he manages not to doze off again, goes to the studio. You get back--there’s always a note left in Calum’st mostly uppercase penmanship if Duke needs a walk. You relax, fix dinner. Calum comes homes, reheats his plate if it’s gone late, you two talk, laughing at the dining room table as you sip on tea. 

Calum doesn’t come down for his morning coffee once. You sit, bag at your feet with ten minutes before you have to leave for work. And you sit, and sit, and sit, wringling your thumbs and picking at your nails. The bedroom door never creaks open. 

In the car, your phone rings. Calum’s name and photo on the screen. “I know you haven’t left yet. Get out of the car so I can give you your morning kiss.” His voice is gruff, still thick with sleep. You bite your lip and laugh, heart-expanding at the fact that you didn’t have to leave Calum without your morning kiss. 

You leave the car running, and jump back out. Calum stands, sans shirt but in sweatpants, on the porch. Duke, who you took out earlier, wagging his tail at his feet. Calum’s clearly tired, eyes puffier than usual. The close crop can’t really be fussed about, but as the length slowly grows back you can see it’s flattened from his sleep. He flashes a quick smile and an open embrace. “Morning,” you laugh, kissing him quickly. 

“Morning. You look good by the way.” He gives you another kiss, to make up for him oversleeping. “Have a great day.”

You nod. “You too rockstar.” 

When your car pulls out of the driveway and down the block, Calum steps back into the house. He hums, still tired and collapses onto the couch. There’s not a lot of guilt, mostly just thoughts of sleep. 

Around one that day his phone buzzes. A picture from you of the latest addition in dogs you see on your lunch break. He replies with a couple heart eye emojis, grinning at the stern-looking German shepherd. Cutest bub around, he types. 

Don’t let them hear you say that. Looks like they wouldn’t take too kindly. Love you, babe. 

Love you too. He goes to send the text but his fingers take pause. When’s the last time he called you doll? He used to use it all the time. Calum erases his period and adds a coma before his fingers add more. Love you too, doll. 

Calum really knows something is happening when you take pause at the bedroom door. His duffel bag, unzipped, and half full. Your voice cracks as you speak. “What are you doing?” You don’t want the scene to send you into a panic but you have no clue why Calum would be packing a suitcase, without warning. He always gave you a week’s notice at the very least--sometimes shows and events kind of popped up. 

“The writing retreat?” He could’ve sworn he told you about the four day trip up the coast. Not going out of the state at all, just a few hours out of the way. It was in the works since last week. Why would he not bring it up to you? 

“The what? How long?”

“I--I told you. It’s only four days. Going up the coast just to write for a little bit. Some guys up there want in a couple tracks. I told you this, baby.”

“No, you didn’t.” 

“Yes, I did. I had to have told you.” But he can see the tears welling in your eyes and the way your lower lip has started to wobble. “Please, please God tell me I told you?”

You shake your head. Throat seizing up on you. God, you wanted to feel stupid for thinking he was leaving--nevermind the fact this was his house. But lately, over the last few months, things felt different, off, distant. It wasn’t the end, you told yourself. It couldn’t have been. Calum always made things up, he was imperfect like everyone else. But not telling you about having to go away, it’s the final straw. 

Calum steps over his bag, arms lifting to cradle you. You take a small step back, with a shake of your head. It hurts to swallow, the squeezing in your chest is not helping. “You don’t talk to me anymore.” The admission is choked as it leaves your lips. You haven’t let out a full sob, but you feel it beating at your lungs and ribs. 

“I’m sorry. I just forgot.”

The look Ashton gave Calum months ago comes flooding back. The heaviness to his eyes, the pull of his brow. Ashton wasn’t confused. Calum was the last to realize it. He was the last one to see the thing happening. If this had been a bad dream, Calum would’ve woken with a cold sweat. When his mouth gapes and his eyes pull together, you turn, clutching your sleeves into your fist to wipe your eyes. 

“Wait, please!”

He still loved you. He did. He still loved you. 

But he hadn’t call doll in ages. He didn’t hold your hand in bed anymore. He didn’t drink his morning coffee with you. He hummed when you talked about work. He hadn’t even meant to do this. It’s not even like Calum felt bored--maybe a little bogged down. But not bored. Things were so good.

You can’t even hide in the house before you turn the corner to the spare bedroom, Calum’s gently taking your elbow to slow you down. What was happening? What was he doing wrong? “Talk to me now. Please?”

That sob, finally makes itself known, scratching over your throat. You pull your joint of his grasp but don’t face him. You can feel the heat of him on your back as he stands, inches, maybe even centimeters behind you, but have no physical contact. “You haven’t had breakfast with me in two months.”

“I have--two months?”

You nod. “You haven’t called about being late home. I still fix you dinner though, knowing that you’re not going to show up until whatever wee hour in the morning. You used to buy me flowers just for no reason and even though I seemed to kill each one with just a look, you kept buying them.”

Calum racks his brain. He bought some. It couldn’t have been all that long ago. He bought some for Valentine’s Day and then more a week later. It was only July now. “Fuck,” he whispers at the realization. “Five months?”

You nod. “Five months.”

You might have naively wondered if people stopped loving each other or if it just they forgot how to love the other person. But here, now, looking at the beige walls of this bedroom you thought the former was definitely more likely. 

“I’m sorry.” It’s the only thing Calum can say. It’s the only words his mouth can work around and get out. He loved you. He really did. 

“Ashton asked me if everything was okay with us. And I had to tell him the truth. That I wasn’t sure.”

“It’s not you. I need you to know that it wasn’t you at all,” he urges, finally taking your hand and you let him. You even turn, standing toe to toe with him. “I loved you. Through and through I loved you.”

It’s not even a sad revelation. Somehow it feels mundane to hear it. You knew all along that something had happened. You just didn’t want to believe it. But it’s obvious that things had just run out of juice. Your lip wobbles again and you can feel it, hear the tremors as you speak. It’s probably a stupid thing to admit, but it feels right. You unwind your fingers and speak, “I love you.”

Wiping your eyes, you look to the floor. The earth hasn’t shattered. You thought it might. And it’s not a last-ditch effort to save a dying thing. It’s just a statement of truth, just the bone grinding honest truth. Your teeth ache just a little as you continue to speak. “Know that even when I saw the end of the tunnel, and I was staring it down every goddamn day, I actively loved you. I still love you. But I-I can’t keep doing this. Lying to myself.”

Calum nods, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I-I never meant to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“It might be too late for that.”

His chest nearly caves. He takes a staggering step back and the tears that were threatening to spill and tell all his secrets fall down his cheek. The ink of his truth now tracking down his cheeks. He had hurt you in probably the worst way possible. Holding onto a routine and pretending to give out love. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“We all do stupid things for love,” you croak your laughter leaves in bursts and occasionally choked off by a sob. “We all do stupid things for love.” 

Like lying to yourself, or turning a blind eye to things. There’s just a moment, you lean into the wall right outside the guest bedroom and Calum leaning into the door of the hall closet. Neither one of you can look at each other. Your arms are wrapped around your stomach, the pain from your chest now spreading down your body. Calum just feels heavy, even numb because he can’t believe he had drug you through that. Waiting day in and day out for him to either snap out of it or maybe even into reality. Waiting for yourself to come to that realization too. 

He opens his mouth, staring up at his ceilings with more tears threatening to fall down his cheek. 

“Don’t say you're sorry again. Please don’t.”

“What can I say? What can I do to make this better?”

“Nothing.” 

-H

[doing-all-write]

flustered

Pairing: Joe Mazzello x Fem!Reader

Summary: You and Joe are getting ready to go to the store when he decides now is a good time to re-enact his casting video for BoRhap. 

Word Count: 1K (she’s bby)

Warnings: This thing may be the most fluffy, self-indulgent piece of romance I’ve ever written. So, be prepared for lots of fluff, soft Joe and saying I love you for the first time

A/N: Hello! I’m working on part 3 of don’t be a baby (i haven’t forgotten, don’t worry!) BUT that video of Joe’s audition tape was too soft and adorable for me NOT to write this little blurb with the help of @mrhoemazzello​ who is the greatest muse known to human kind 💖💖💖 

💖💖As always likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated 💖💖

"BABE" 

"You don't need to yell, I'm literally right next to you." she turned with a squeak as the tips of her braids hit Joe, causing him to clutch his face in faux agony. 

"SHE'S BLINDED ME!" He screamed at the same time that she cried, "I'm sorry!" 

"(Y/N)? Is that you?" She scrunched her nose as Joe smashed his palms against her face, "I can only tell who's who anymore by touch alone." She giggled as she gently pushed her palms against his chest, feeling the softness of his well-worn sweatshirt pushing back. 

"Wow, you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world, are we really dating?" 

"Yes," she laughed, "Much to my dismay." 

"The woman WOUNDS me with her hair then with her words?" Joe flung his hand against his forehead, slumping against the wall as (Y/N) rolled her eyes. 

"This is what I get for dating an actor."

Peeking at her through his eye, Joe grinned, "And you wouldn't change it for anything, would you?" 

"Not for anything in the world." She smiled as she got on tip-toe to plant a kiss on his lips. Pulling away, Joe placed a hand on her hip, bringing her closer so he could kiss her again. Feeling her smile against his lips was his favorite thing in the world. 

"You know, we said we were going to the store twenty minutes ago..." 

"You're really ruining a romantic moment here." Joe sighed against her lips. 

"Will you ever forgive me?" She mumbled as she gave Joe a long, lingering kiss. 

Pulling away, she giggled at the stunned look on Joe's face. "If you keep kissing me like that, I'll forgive you for everything forever." 

Laughing she grabbed his keys from the side table, "Are we going our what? We have exactly zero food in the house." 

Shaking himself from his stupor Joe snatched the keys from her hands, brushing past her to the front door where he stepped into his shoes, "And who's fault is that?" 

"It was a stressful week! You know I bake a lot when I'm stressed!" 

"Don't forget the eating aspect." 

"That's the most important part!" She flung her arms out wide to illustrate her point. 

Laughing, he tugged on the end of her braid, "You ready to go, darling?" 

"Yeah," her eyes widened, "SHOT GUN!" she screamed as she bolted for the car. 

~

Caaaaaan?

"ANYYYBODYYY! FIND ME! SOMEBODY TOOOOO!" She shoved a fake microphone into Joe's face, "Looooooove." Joe sang passionately into the mic in his best baritone voice. Flinging her head back, she let loose a loud laugh. 

Glancing over at her, Joe's heart expanded. The sun was streaming through the windows, bits of hair falling out of her braids, blowing all over. Her smile was wide and he was sure he had never seen someone so beautiful in his entire life. 

Reaching forward, he turned down the song, "Did I ever show you my audition tape I sent in for Bohemian Rhapsody?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, he had shown it to her on one of their first dates and she had watched it every day since. 

Joe knew that and (Y/N) knew that, but quirking an eyebrow, she decided to play dumb, "You know, I don't think you ever have Mazzello." 

Nodding sagely, Joe gripped the wheel, "Well, luckily, we're in the same car that I happened to film it in and I think I can remember the accent.."

"Babe, you literally did the accent last night when we were making out." 

"Yeah and it turned you on." Smacking his arm, Joe laughed, "Alright, alright. You ready?" 

Straightening up in her seat, she smacked her hands on her thighs, "Okay, Mazzello. Annnnnd...ACTION." 

Launching into his monologue he gave during his audition tape she felt her heart straining in her chest. The love she felt for Joe in this moment stole her breath away. Turning her head, she let her gaze drink in Joe, at the sun streaming in, highlighting his profile. Being with him felt like holding a birthday candle close to her chest, it was a fire but it was full of promises, of wishes, of good things to come and years and years to look forward to together. 

Taking his eyes off the road to meet her (Y/E/C) ones, he smiled. "Are you even listening to me?" 

Nodding, she laughed as Joe's hand came to rest on her thigh, "Because it seems like you're not even paying attention to anything I'm saying to." He continued in John's accent. 

"I am! I am, I swear." She patted his hand as Joe nodded, mollified, "Okay, because it would be a shame if you weren't listening as I told you about the time that I went to set super hungover and Ben and Gwil tricked me into eating mayonnaise..." hearing her laugh fill the car was better than any song that could be play over the stereo. 

"Babe! That's not true! I was there on set that day with you just as hungover, I was the one who MADE you take that fourth shot!" 

"Yes, and we both paid for it dearly." He said with a straight face as she fell into giggles again. Glancing over at her, another smile lit up his face. "Babe, oh my god, stop, my sides hurt." She whined as she swept a finger at the moisture that had collected in her eyes. 

"Would you like to hear me rate my favorite kind of cheeses in this accent as well?" He bit back his own smile as her laughter shook her frame. Leaning over the console she buried her face into Joe's shoulder, breathing in the scent of his cologne, the laundry detergent they used and sunshine. 

Feeling her shake against him, Joe leaned over to plant a kiss on her head. Lifting his head up, he continued his monologue on cheeses, completely oblivious to her pleas, begging him to stop. 

"So that's why Gouda is probably my favorite cheese but Pepperjack is a close second." He shrugged as (Y/N) collapsed back into her own seat, clutching her stomach. 

"Oh my god, Joey, I'm dying, please. Holy shit..." she trailed off as she caught her breath. Joe laughed, keeping one hand firmly planted on her thigh, the other one deftly steering the car into the parking lot of the grocery store. 

As her laughter died down, Joe parked the car and twisted in his seat to face her fully. Wearing one of his sweatshirts, no makeup, eyes crinkly as she recovered from her laughing fit. Her smile, wide and unguarded. The Queen playlist she had made him playing softly in the background. The sun lighting her form up, making her look angelic. All of a sudden he couldn't fight the words that were leaping from his throat. 

"I love you." 

Her laughter died as she stared back at Joe, eyes wide. 

"Wh-what did you just say?"

Taking a deep breath in, Joe figured it wouldn't make much sense to deny what he'd just confessed. 

"I said, I love you, (Y/N)." He lifted his eyes from his hands to meet hers and her breath hitched. She wanted to spend forever drowning in them. The next words left her body in a sigh. 

"I love you too, Joey." 

Realizing what they had just admitted to each other, the smiles they were beaming at each other were huge. 

"We probably look like idiots. Just sitting here. Staring at each other." (Y/N) mumbled. 

"Smiling like two fucking weirdos." Joe added as she nodded then lunged across the car's console, planting a kiss on Joe like she had right before they'd left for the store. 

Pulling back, they each had equally dazed looks on their faces. 

"Should we, um, even try to go grocery shopping? Or-" 

"Can we please go home and have sex?" she asked as she kissed Joe's bicep, buckling her seatbelt back into place.

It took Joe three tries to get the car started. When he finally did, (Y/N) was laughing just as hard, if not harder than she had before. 

"I'm sorry but the woman who I love just said she would have sex with me! Excuse me for getting a little flustered." Joe huffed. 

"It's adorable, how do you think I feel knowing the man I'm in love with is that excited to have sex with me?" she mumbled as she scrolled through Joe's phone, trying to find the next song. 

Joe glanced over at her, "What are you so focused on over there, (Y/L/N)? You've got your tongue sticking out when you're concentrating super hard."

Quickly pulling the tip of her tongue back in to her mouth, she chuckled as she hit play on the next song. "I was trying to find our new 'I love you' song." 

Joe's eyes grew soft as he reached over to take her hand in his own, "Yeah? And what song would that be?" 

The machine of a dream!

The look on Joe's face was better than she thought it would be. 

As the song's final notes played, Joe parked the car next to their building and reached over to take both of her hands in his, "(Y/N), I need to tell you something important." 

"Yes, Joey?" She said as she batted her eyelashes at him. 

"I'm in love with my car...and also you." She gasped as she swooned into her seat.

"Babe, you know just want to say to make a girl weak in the knees." 

"I also know what to do to make her weak in the knees." he whispered in her ear as he nipped at her earlobe. Squeaking, she frantically pulled at the handle of the car door, "Well then what are we doing just sitting here? We gotta get inside!" 

Chuckling Joe unfolded himself from the car, "Who's the flustered one now?"

[xserpentlife]

Run

Requested: I had an idea I didn’t know if you would like to write with an A/B/O werewolf universe. Reader is abandoned by her parents/pack and stumbles into southside with nowhere to go. Reader pretends to be a confident beta, but is actually a terrified omega. Jughead realizes this (you know he be snooping) and tries to set the reader up with alpha Sweet Pea because SP hasn’t found a mate yet. I’m sure you can go crazy with your imagination and make it awesome if you want to write it :)

A/N: I hope you guys like this. I just wanted to tell you I will not be doing a part two to this, at least I don’t think. I just feel a part two would not be as strong as this first part. But that is only because I feel like concepts may make this go on longer Basically, a concept is kinda like a blurb you give me a situation like Wolf Y/N and pea after everything and this happens, and I expand on it. So please send them in if you want too, I love this little universe I created.

Warnings: Family abandonment, some injuries

Word Count: about 2450

Greendale was your home, your family was there, friends too, but then it was gone in an instant. Everyone left Greendale after it was attacked by an outside pack. They left you too. You were an omega the lowest of the low, your parents a beta and alpha saw you as weak. They didn’t want you around, because you were a determinant to their hierarchy, they cared for your brother much more, he was an alpha, going to take over the pack one day, and your parents thought you were an Alpha too, till they realized you were a female and an omega. Not even a beta you disappointed them from the start. You always had the smaller room, fewer toys and clothes than your counterparts and, you were forced to clean up around the house. You were never wanted, never.

It wasn’t a surprise when you woke up from the fight, far away from home woods being the only thing you could see for miles. They left you while you were all running from the danger, you were the weak link they always thought...

Maybe put in. Your breathing shallowed as you walked frantically searching for your way home. Every slow step you put in made you feel farther away, your hope almost gone, until you came across a sign for Riverdale, You needed a place to make a home, a place to be somebody that wasn’t an omega. You did not want to be forgotten again. You were walking trying to find someone you were so hurt you could barely take more steps. You fell down transitioning out of your wolf form, and into your human form naked laying on a street.

Jughead’s POV

“Fangs stop goofing around, we have to go to the pack meeting!”

“No Jug look there's a naked girl!”

“Holy shit” Jug ran up to the girl trying to shake you awake but it wasn’t working, she was losing blood from a leg wound, and had a few cuts around her body. “Call Toni and tell her to bring clothes to the Wyrm”. Jug picked you up carrying your body as he ran to the Wyrm.

Once at the Wyrm they began cleaning your wounds after Toni had put undergarments on you. They wrapped each of your wounds and called the pack doctor to come and check on you.

“She is going to be fine Jug, but I do not want her waking up in the Wyrm. She has lost a lot of blood and her wounds need to be rewrapped with wet wraps every hour and dry following that for her skin to heal correctly. It should be a few hours before she wakes up but can one of you take her home? Toni?

“Yeah I can take her, of course, Fangs you wanna help me, can I borrow your truck? Yeah, I'll carry her and drive her and I’ll come back for the meeting. I’ll tell Pea you had a family emergency.

Y/N’s POV

You woke up a few hours later a place you didn’t know, you figured the other pack had caught up to you, the one that overtook your family. But you looked down to see your leg wrapped and medicine sitting next to the bed you were in, in a room that looked so alive and welcoming.

“Oh uhm Hi” You cowered away a bit. “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m Toni”

“Y/N” You reached out your hand to shake hers. “How… how did I get here?”

“Jughead and Fangs…” You look puzzled and she continued  “Sorry, they are my friends. They found you on the street”

“Oh no…”

“No, no your safe they found you before anything could happen, your leg is a little fucked up is all, but the doc says it'll be fine in a few days.

“The clothes…”

“Mine”

“Oh I'm so sorry I can, you can have them back. Uh, I should go but… wait I don’t have any money but I’ll pay you back…”

“Don’t worry about it really, can I ask you a question though?”

“Uhm sure”

“Where did you come from”

“I came from the Greendale pack, we got ran off, I split up from them but everything is fine” You needed to portray confidence needed to be strong even when you weren’t. The pack here could not think that you were weak. They needed to think you were a beta, think that you had the strength, not weakness or cowardice. “I'm uh, I’m a Beta”.

“Okay… I’m an Alpha, would you uh like to meet the rest of the pack”

“Of course, but you’re an Alpha?”

“Yeah, my mother and father both were, and I’m an only child, got lucky I guess”

You went to the Wyrm that night, meeting everyone but one. Sweet Pea, they called him, he was one of the pack Alphas, his friend Fangs was another, and Jughead too, the boy that had found you. It took a week for you to feel somewhat back to normal. You felt lost like everyone you ever knew was gone, I mean it was true, you were left, kicked to the side like dirt, but the serpents made you feel welcome and wanted. But in your head, you knew it was just because you were pretending to be a beta. You had been masking your scent with Toni’s clothes that she let you borrow, so pretending wasn’t as hard as you thought it would be. The hardest was not going on runs. For a week now your leg had been healed, you would usually go on a run every day, but you couldn’t, if they did they would see your size, see that you were an omega and not a beta. You just couldn’t risk it. So you fought off the urge to turn and run.

The more you stayed in Riverdale the more you were told the stories of the serpents. How they hid from the northside. They never got along. The serpent pack was top of the Southside. The Ghoulies always fought them. Going to Southside high meant you could be a target but you needed to go. You were protected by them, but you needed to begin acting normal, needed to blend in. Being normal meant you had to go to school with everyone else.

School was different, in your old pack you were homeschooled from a young age, honestly lucky you got an education at all. It was your aunt who had taught you, well she was more so a nanny but she was so close you always called her your aunt. See your parents hated you, hated everything to do with you, so they pushed you to the side and hired a nanny, you were lucky for that though, lucky you weren't thrown away completely.

You got to school with children running around, smoking, banging against lockers, and making it against the walls. It was different from what you were used too because in your life you were sheltered, you didn’t kiss often, you never smoked, and the banging was so loud for your ears.

“How do you deal with that?”

“What?”

“The banging…”

“Headphones, pretend to listen to music, but just plug your ears instead, C’mon let’s get to class” She handed you an extra set of headphones in her bag and pulled you towards the classrooms. You followed her to your first class of the day Entering the room she said hi to a guy but he quickly bolted out the door, not even looking at you.

School was not as bad as you thought it would be. Classes were pretty simple, you knew everything you need too, it was being around other people you hated. You were never used to being around them, every time you heard a noise you cowered, I guess it really showed your true form. You needed to get out of the room. The anxiousness kept building and building you needed to be free needed to run. You luckily stashed clothes by a log in the woods a few days ago in case you had a chance.

You took off running into the woods morphing into your wolf form. You ran and ran, the wind through your hair, the air relieving the tension in your body. It felt good, so much more incredible than words can describe, it was something you missed so deeply.

You transformed back into your human form slipping the clothes over your body.

“Y/N!”

“Uhm… Jughead… I”

“I knew it, the smell it wasn’t right, and, and the howl it was so much quieter, you were so quiet, cowering at the noises… why?” he started packing around you, you grew nervous.

“Please..”

“I knew you weren’t a beta Y/N” You cowered down whimpering, the anxiety coursing through you. “Hey, hey shhh”

“Jug please, I'm sorry I lied, I was so scared so…”

“Why…”

“My uh, my family they uh… hated me, kept me locked up in my house, they were disappointed I was an omega, wanted nothing to do with me and…”

“Y/N the Serpents aren't like that… you know that”

“I know that now, but, but when I met you I was lost and scared, my leg was close to broken. I was left alone by my family… You know it doesn’t matter, I need to go...” You got up running, you needed to get away from him, needed to be on your own. You morphed into your wolf form once again before taking off. You were running for what felt like miles, before realizing you were lost. You didn’t know Riverdale, didn’t know their woods. It was all okay until you got launched into a tree, a whimper leaving your body. You looked up to see 4 wolves around you on all sides, no way you could run. You were 2x smaller than them, if not more, they were bigger and most likely faster. You howled hoping someone would hear, but nothing happened, no one came.

Jug knew exactly where you were, he could trace your scent, always good at tracking people. But he wanted you to meet Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea was the main pack Alpha along with Toni, he hadn’t met his soulmate yet, Jughead always tried setting him up. So this was his perfect opportunity.

*Sweet Pea’s POV*

Pea was chilling in the Wyrm when Jughead came bursting in the door.

“Y/N is missing!” 

“Who’s that?”

“The new girl, you saw her at lunch and bolted remember” The warm feeling invaded once again, a feeling not quite explainable. 

“We will find her I promise”

“Thank you ”

Pea didn’t know that Jughead and Toni were planning this the entire time. Pea had no idea that they were trying to set you and Pea up.

Toni gave Pea the jacket you had been wearing.

“Wait, Toni, this smells like you… and something else”

“Yeah, she has been wearing my clothes, can you find her?”

“Yeah, she's under our protection, I need to find her it’s my duty”

Pea began running, he heard a whimper through the trees, so he ran faster coming up on the Ghoulie wolves. He heard your cries, when he laid eyes on you, almost felt your pain in a way, but he didn’t get a good look before the Ghoulies were standing in front of you. You tried running but you couldn’t stand, they had hurt your leg that was still so sensitive from the first time you hurt it.

“You can not take her!”

“We do what we want Sweet Pea, you have no authority”

“This is my land, meaning my authority, now leave before I call for backup packs to take care of you”

“You wouldn’t dare! For this mutt, this sad excuse of a…” Pea growled in their direction, feeling so protective over you even when he hadn’t laid eyes on you, and just could smell your scent. The howling of surrounding packs ensued, quickly the Ghoulies had fled, you staying against the tree eyes closed, your body transitioning out of wolf form, as you shook with fear. You felt a nudge against your back, warmth radiating through your body, his scent filling your nose. This was something that never happened, wolves never really felt warmth like that, seeming as they were warm as it was, it was an odd sensation.

“You’re gonna be okay, can you climb on my back” You shook your head without looking and the woof nuzzled into you again. You looked into the wolves' eyes, before stopping in your tracks. The heat that went through your body felt 10 times hotter than when the wolf nuzzled you the first time, his scent filling your nose. The wolf transitioned out of his wolf form, starting back at you was a tall guy, a serpent mark bared upon his neck.

“Hi…” You just stared at him, a partial awkwardness due to the nakedness you both dawned. “One second” He ran away for a moment slipping shorts on and handing you a shirt that was behind a nearby rock. “I keep some placed around the woods, in case I go on a run”

“Uhm thanks, I uh, I should go…” You tried getting up but your leg gave out, you tried again but whimpered falling as the wolf grabbed you. “Please stop you’re hurt” Pea felt it, felt your pain in him, but he didn’t understand why, he could feel his pack sometimes, yes, but it was never anything like this. “I’m Sweet Pea”.

“Wait… you’re the alpha, I really need to go, I’m sorry” Before you could stand you felt his hand on you. “I know you’re not a beta”

“I…”

“It’s okay”

“It’s not I lied, and I never should have said anything or lied or even came here but my family I just… please don’t kick me out I don’t have anywhere to go… I...”

“Stop, it’s okay, just tell me your name”

“I’m uh, I’m Y/N” You couldn’t get the warm feeling out of your head. “Pea, uh do you… do you feel warm” You felt warm, it felt sweet, you smelled sweetness, smelled him so much stronger than you had before. You felt love… felt close to him with barely knowing him and you didn’t know why didn't understand it.

“Well Y/N I would never kick you out, plus I can’t… that warmness, it’s called imprinting at least I think that’s what is going on, it’s a wolf thing my grandma taught me about it. It means we are soulmates Omega.”

[residentlesbrarian]

The First Book I Read In the Dark: Queer Witches and a Whole Bunch of Redwood Trees

The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta

Let me set the scene...we start Day 1 of this experience curled up next to the white painted fireplace desperate for warmth with two blankets, an extra hoodie, a stocking cap, and my trusty lazy husband for that much needed lumbar support. 

Now The Lost Coast was a book I had checked out multiple times over the past year of silence on this blog because every time I saw it on the shelf I would pick it up, flip to the blurb, read it and go, “Man, that sounds so good! I gotta read it!” Then I’d check it out and it would sit in my locker, or in my car, or on my desk for three weeks and I’d turn it in completely untouched. But this time...this time I swore I was reading this damn book! Even if I was reading 10 pages a day during my breaks at work I was gonna finally read this book, it wasn’t going unread sitting somewhere for three weeks again. Little did I know how right I would be! 

So as a bit of a precursor this is the only book of those I read in the dark that I had already started. I was 90 pages in when I started reading on Day 1 and I only get more incoherent from here so let’s do this!

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: Our protagonist is pulled across the country to the yawning redwood forest of northern California and discovers more than she could ever imagine. Her mom  thought Danny kissing girls was the worst of her problems but now she has to deal with witches and magic and is that a dead body! This non-stop ride is just getting started!

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review: 

Okay so I would say this book pretty firmly falls in a middle ground of okay for me. It was some really great escapism for me in a time when I really needed it, but the way the book was structured and written just didn’t really jive with my usual reading tastes. It felt to me like it was trying so hard to be poetic and artistic that it got a little lost at times, no pun intended with the title of the book. 

Now for the plot, which I think was maybe the strongest element of this book. The driving plot of the book never changed and was always consistent and I really liked how the author wove the magic of the world and the unique structure of how she was telling the story while never losing the plot in that unique structure. It was always peeling away one layer at a time and showing us just a bit more without holding our hand. It was very well done and kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was going to happen and how it was all going to end. Next we have what is usually my favorite part of a review but this time...isn't. 

I have so many conflicted feelings about the characters in The Lost Coast. On one hand holy giant redwoods I haven’t read a book since Not Your Sidekick that had this many casually queer characters just strutting about doing their thing, but on the other hand I feel the way the story was written leaves so much to be desired. The characters feel so thin and lacking when they had the potential to be so rich and diverse. Don’t get me wrong they are diverse in the bare bones definition, but we know so little about them at the end of the day it feels like it doesn’t really matter. We have our protagonist, Danny, who we know has a strained relationship with her mother but is close enough with she was willing to move her across the country in an attempt to try and give her a fresh start. Now there are somethings that take place in the story that explain a lot of the odd things about Danny’s character and made me a lot less unhappy with her by the time the book ended but it was really hard to get behind her as a protagonist at the beginning not because I didn’t like her but because I wasn’t motivated to follow her into the story. She was just going along from one event to the next with no real drive of her own, which brings us to the Grays: Hawthorne, June, Lelia, and Rush. They at least have a consistent motivation, but they had such potential to be really interesting characters but each one fell just short for me. The closest one to a compelling for me was Rush, we learned the most about her and I think that was mostly because Danny paid the most attention to her for obvious gay reasons. Now I can’t really expand too much more without going into massive spoiler territory for the plot which I don’t want to do, because the book is good and is an experience I don’t want to take away from anyone it just fell flat for me.

So yeah, this book wasn’t what I expected and I think a huge part of that was because the blurb is so much different than what is in the book itself. And I know, as a lesbrarian I should know not to judge a book by its cover or its blurb...but that is your first exposure to the story you are going to be reading and in this case the tone was so much different. Now let me reiterate this book wasn’t bad. There were parts that were so beautifully written I had to reread them several times to take in the layers of imagery and sheer poetry of the prose, but I feel like at times that style took away from the story itself and most of all it took away from the characters so that by the end of it they just fall a bit flat for me. I do recommend you give it a shot though because you won’t find a book with a queerer cast out there and maybe it will speak to you more than it did to me. 

Queer Wrap-up: Alright lets look at the this stellar tally shall we. Even with my own lack luster feelings toward the characters from a story perspective you can’t over look the fact that all but one character we interact with on page regularly is queer. That is something I have never seen before, so it more than earned its five unicorns, even if the quality was a bit lacking on the tail end the quantity really pulled it out. So we have our protagonist who is unapologetically kissing girls from page one and doesn’t ever shut up about it but also doesn’t shy away from the fact she also finds boys undeniably adorable and cute. In a scene that makes this tally easier than most she defines herself as queer so we are gonna stick with that. Within the Grays we have Lelia who is a tiny nonbinary gray ace person who will get in your face and is not afraid to be called a weirdo, June is a “femme as fuck” lesbian who is also not white (I belive Danny describes her as vaguely pacific islander at one point. I swear it was more specifically stated what her ethnicity was somewhere later in the book but I didn’t write it down at the time and couldn’t find it in my quick flip threw the book when I grabbed it to jot down their stated sexualities, but she is definitely not white), Hawthorne is a bisexual black witch who states she has “a strong lean toward masculine folks” which is refreshing to see bisexual representation that isn’t just “gay but guys exist I guess”, then we have Rush who very succinctly sums herself up with “Fat. Queer. White. Cello Player.” She is also some add rep in the form of having synesthesia where she can taste words. We also have some disability rep as June has an injury to her leg from a fall out of a tree that never healed properly and it does cause problems for her throughout the book, not the greatest rep but it’s there and shouldn’t be forgotten or not included. Man, oh man, this is the longest wrap-up I think I’ve ever written but I am still not done yet. We have Imogen who is the missing Gray mentioned in the blurb and brought up pretty quickly in the story and without spoiling anything we do get confirmation she is also undeniably queer as well as another character that I can’t even begin to talk about without a giant redacted stamp for spoiler reasons, but just know this book does have queer rep coming out its ears. 

Links: 

Amy Rose Capetta’s Website

Goodreads

So yes here we come to the end of the first Book I Read In the Dark it was a whimsical journey through redwoods with witches and more queerness than you could shake a widowmaker at (if you don’t get that reference read the book). I finished this book on Day 1 and immediately dove right into Book 2 because well I didn’t have anything else to do and I was kinda reeling from the confusion of this book and wanted something to ground me. The next book was one I had wanted to read for a very long time. You’ll see whether it did the job or not. 

As always if you want to read this but don’t want to spend the money without knowing for sure you are going to like it, go to your local library. You’d be surprised what they have on their shelves just waiting to be discovered. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [15]

masterlist

Words: 13.3k 😅

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: some brief smexi and violent blurbs (death)

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: I would like to thank the song Different by Woodz for helping me power through this long ass update. Thank you everyone for waiting so patiently!!! Engoy! 💙

“You need to raise your elbow.”

Arms straining against the draw-weight, you struggled a bit to comply, but you managed to lift your elbow just an inch higher.

“Okay, better, but now you’re leaning forward.” Jungkook critiqued as he peered at you.

Sighing, you relaxed your draw and allowed your arms to drop. Holding your bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, you began to shake your limbs out and roll your shoulders; trying to loosen up and get rid of the tension in your body. Though it was a little difficult to accomplish when a certain someone was right there.

Does he have to stand so close?

“Try again.”

Think about the target, not him.

Nodding, you nocked the arrow before inhaling and raising your bow. Breathing slowly and steadily, you took aim and waited for Jungkook’s assessment. Though as you waited, you did your best to ignore his distracting presence. You focused your eyes on the target carved in to the tree. Not the simultaneously cute, hot, and concentrated look on his handsome face. You listened to the chatter of birds and the whoosh of wind through the leaves. Not the song he hummed in an alluring voice as he inspected your form and circled around to your back. You breathed in the fragrance of damp earth and soggy wood caused by last night’s rain. Not the intoxicating and comforting scent of steel and florets that followed his body like candle smoke

Nope, definitely not focusing on any of those.

A warm touch under your elbow made you flinch.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He murmured as he adjusted your arm to his liking. “There. Much better.”

You swallowed hard and let him manipulate you as he pleased. You weren’t even paying attention to the way he maneuvered your form. All you could think of was that he was right behind you.

Right.

Behind.

You.

Oh my-fuck-okay. This is fine. Everything’s fine.

He moved his other hand down to your tummy, stepping closer to you to balance himself as he did so. Pressing against your belly slightly, he forced your spine to straighten. The action caused your back to brush against his chest and your lungs to harshly suck in air.

“Keep your posture or your back will hate you.”

This is not fine. This is not fine. Holy fuck. Everything is most definitely not fine!

The early morning chill in your bones began evaporating as his body heat enveloped you, but despite the warmth now flowing into you, goosebumps started to develop along your skin. Originating at the source of his contact, you felt them follow the tingles surging through you and you shivered at their sensations. Overwhelmed by his proximity, you didn’t know what to do. Your entire body was frozen. Your entire self was burning.

“You good? You just stiffened all of the sudden.” Jungkook noted as he felt your body tense beneath his hands.

Your eyes widened and you thanked the gods of Illain that he couldn’t see them expand in panic. Hastily, you released the bowstring and the arrow thumped into the tree just shy of the center of the target. As soon as the arrow hit, you stepped forward and away from Jungkook. Immediately, you missed his warmth. At the same time, you felt like you could breathe again.

Pivoting to face the male, you saw him smiling proudly at your shot.

“I’m good. Totally good. Fantastic you could say, as you can see.” You gestured to the arrow before bringing your hand to rub up and down the arm that held the bow.

Jungkook’s smile morphed int a smirk as he turned his eyes to you and crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t say fantastic… but it’s pretty great, I’ll give you that.”

You felt the corner of your mouth upturn slightly at his praise and you looked down to hide the delicate grin.

You heard him chuckle lightly. “Let’s do it again.”

Only if you help agai-wait no. NO. No closeness. No touchy. Get some distance.

Lifting your head to look at him, you didn’t make any moves to step forward as you raked your brain for alternative things to do. Your obvious hesitation made him raise an eyebrow at you. Pursing your lips, you shifted your gaze to the tress beside him as you pleaded with your chickpea brain to come up with something. Anything. But when you still didn’t move or say a word, his eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward you.

As he advanced, you lurched backward; desperate to keep space between you as you suddenly exclaimed, “Meditation!”

Jungkook stopped and looked at you in both a curious and confused manner. “Medi…tation…?”

“Oh, uh… yes! Meditation!” You rapidly nodded and went ahead and sat on the ground. “I feel a little disorganized today mentally, so I think it would be more beneficial.”

Not to mention it’ll keep you away because you’re the reason my mind is a fucking mess.

“O-Okay?” He blinked at your strange behavior.

“Great!” You laid back and rested your hands on your stomach while closing your eyes. “Now sit your ass down and don’t move and don’t say anything.”

You heard him huff and move before plopping down. Of course, right next to you.

Can he not!? Ugh, okay, whatever. Just focus on your breathing and ignore him.

It seemed like several minutes went by of trying to imagine a lotus flower expanding and collapsing in your mind to time your breaths to. Those minutes, which in actuality were probably only mere seconds, were constantly interrupted by the feeling of being watched. It started weighing down on you, making it damn near impossible to conjure that imaginary lotus flower.

A few more minutes seconds went by, and that feeling grew heavier and heavier. Finally, you opened your lids ever so slightly and peeked a Jungkook.

Who was staring straight at you with soft, peridot eyes.

Spasming internally, you sat up and smacked his arm, which startled him. “Meditating doesn’t mean watching me like a creeper!”

He just laughed and shrugged as he made a remark about how he couldn’t help himself. Apparently, you had just looked too adorable all relaxed and breathing slowly while your body occasionally twitched.

All the air in your lungs magically vanished as your jaw dropped.

A-Adorable? Why does he have to say stuff like that!?

His smile doubled at your dumbfounded and shocked appearance. “You going to continue…?”

Cute smile. Cute face. I wanna smoosh in my hands. I wanna-okay, nope nope nope. This isn’t working. Time to abort.

“You know what? I feel way better already. I feel so organized. Like I got shelves in my head type of organized and-” You gasped, though it was a little too aggressive to possibly sound legit and scrambled to your feet. “Oh my goodness, I just remembered I promised Tae I’d help him catch a… a duck! I promised him I’d help catch a duck this morning. So, um, I gotta leave… to go catch a… duck…”

Bending down, you quickly snatched up your bow as a baffled, yet intrigued, Jungkook probed, “Why does Tae want a duck?”

“Uh… he, uh, said he wanted it for dinner and Jin said he’d cook it fi he got one?”

You jogged over to where your quiver was resting against the base of a tree and picked it up by the strap. You stilled briefly as you realized almost a third of your arrows were implanted in various trees, but you ultimately decided you didn’t necessarily need them.

“Duck is pretty tasty…” Jungkook muttered to himself before snapping back to attention. “Hey, wait, we aren’t done with training yet!”

That was true. You probably still had a good twenty-five minutes left in the session, but you didn’t think twice about ditching early as you sped-walked out of there. All you could think of was getting away from Jungkook’s cute, stupid face and his cute, stupid remarks that didn’t mean what you wanted them to mean. Said male, taken aback by your rapid departure, simply stared at your retreating back.

As you finally put some distance between you and Jungkook you head him shout after you. “Where the Illai’s name are you going to find a duck in the middle of the forest!?”

As the sun reached its highest point later that same day, you found yourself firmly slapping a hand over Tae’s mouth. You had just told him about your possible feelings toward his brother that may or may not be developing into a full-blown crush. At first, he pouted, thinking you were teasing him and dangling his “ship” in front of his face. As weird as that sounded, you didn’t crack a smile or even giggle. This was some serious shit, dammit. Once he realized you weren’t joking around, the Saeni gradually started hyperventilating and buzzing in excitement. Which led you to your current position: hand smacked over his mouth to conceal any squeal that threatened to escape. His blue eyes locked with yours and you sighed at the utter elation swimming in them.

He pushed your arm away, freeing his mouth, and whisper-yelled, “You’re serious!? Oh my goddess, yes yes yes!”

Although he wasn’t being very loud, your eyes still darted around to check if anyone was listening. “Can you keep it down?”

Your eyes continued to frantically sweep over the other Saeni, but when you realized none of them had heard, you released some of the tension in your body. As you let out your relieved exhale, your gaze fell on the burgundy head that was walking alongside your best friend. Smiling, you raised a hand and let your fingertips brush against the quiver strap crossing your chest.

You were all gearing up to leave, just double-checking to make sure you had all your things. It had been about forty minutes since you dipped from training, and Namjoon wanted to roll out within the next five. Satisfied all your belongings were safely tucked away, you zipped up your backpack and rose from your crouch while continuing to explain to Tae how frustrating it was when books change their covers halfway through a series.

“Like you have the first two books with the original cover and out of nowhere they just change to a new edition for the third book! So, you either have to deal with mismatched covers or spend the money to replace the first two books! Ugh! It gives me a headache.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Tae inquired as he adjusted his headband. “I mean, you’re still reading the same story, right?”

“Yes, it’s a big deal! A huge deal! And don’t even get me started on when they change the cover to the movie poster.” You fake gagged at the thought, causing Tae to giggle.

“What’s a movi-”

He was interrupted by someone clearing their throat and you looked over your shoulder to see Jungkook standing there with one of his hands behind his back.

“Hey, Kookie! What’s up?” Tae asked while you just smiled at the green-eyed male and tried to ignore your quickening heartbeat.

Bringing his visible hand up to rub the back of his neck, he said, “H-Here,” while removing his other hand from behind his back and thrusting it toward you.

In his grasp was a bundle of arrows.

All the ones you had left behind this morning.

You moved your eyes from the arrows to his face and saw that he was still rubbing his neck while avoiding looking at you. Smiling to yourself, you thanked him before gently grabbing the arrows and tucking them into their rightful home.

“Hey!”

You beamed yourself out of the memory and back to reality at the sound of Tae excitedly addressing someone. Focusing your eyes back on your surroundings, you registered that both Yoongi and Hobi were now walking with you. He must have called them over while you were lost in your thoughts.

“Guess what, hyungs!?”

Hold up. Guess what!? Oh hell no. He better not be talking about what I think he’s talking about. I swear if he is…

“Tae…” You warned the Saeni as you carefully walked down an incline.

Dismissing you, he joyously leaned in close to the two older Saeni and whispered, “She has a crush on Kookie!”

“Tae!”

As Hobi gasped at the news, Yoongi glanced between you and his practically vibrating brother. “Am I supposed to act surprised or…?”

“Excuse me?” You scoffed at the magic user’s dry tone.

“Please, it’s quite obvious, Y/N.” He rolled his petal pink eyes and squatted underneath a fallen tree before smirking. “Looks like you got over Chim pretty fast though.”

“Whoa, you liked Chim?” Hobi covered his mouth in astonishment as he braced one hand on the same tree and leapt over it.

While you and Tae ducked and shuffled below it, his question made you groan.

For fuck’s sake, is it Expose Y/N Day?

“Does Chim even know?” Tae poked you.

“Know what?” You asked in an exasperated tone and almost releasing a hysterical chuckle. “That I thought I was in love with him or that I possibly like his brother now?”

“Oh my goddess, you were in love with Chim!?”

“Girl, you like him. Stop dancing around it. And no Hobi, she thought she was.”

You gave the magic user a pointed glare while angrily waving your arm around your head to ward off a pesky bug that kept bothering you. “I don’t think you have any room to talk, Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

His eyes briefly glanced at Hobi before narrowing at you menacingly. You gulped when you saw his hand twitch and a couple of mint-blue sparks fell the forest floor. Laughing nervously, you tiptoed your way to Hobi’s other side, effectively putting him between you and Yoongi like a shield.

The white-haired Saeni sighed contently and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, murmuring wistfully about young love as Tae elaborated on whether your best friend knew of your current crush.

You mumbled back that he didn’t.

“Well, why not?” Tae asked with an innocent tilt of his head. “I’m not complaining, but isn’t it sort of odd you told me before him?”

Yoongi rapped his knuckles on an adolescent tree he was passing while he snickered. “She’s probably too embarrassed to.”

“I am not!” You protested as Hobi frowned and told the magic user not to be mean.

The mint-haired Saeni just looked you up and down. “Mhmm. Sure.”

You released an offended noise and stepped out from underneath Hobi’s arm to glare at Yoongi.

“I’ll do it right now.” You raised a confident brow at him before yelling, “Slim Jim! Get your ass over here!”

Your smug expression steadily fell, though, as your best friend said a quick goodbye to Jungkook and jogged back to meet you.

Am I really about to tell my old crush about my new crush? I mean, he didn’t know he was my crush and maybe he wasn’t even an actual crush when I think about it now, but he is my best friend. He should know. But it’s still a bit weird an-

You jumped as Jimin tackled you into a big hug.

“What’s up, squirt?”

“Squirt?” You laughed a little too loud and a little too long. “That’s new! Ha ha! When did you come up with that one? It’s kinda too ‘Finding Nemo’ if you ask me, but I mean, you do you, you know? New nicknames… man, aren’t they jus…”

To the side, you saw Yoongi giving you an “I told you so” look, so you let your words trail off into silence. Jimin gave you a majorly confused face as you laughed to distract both him and you from your nerves, but you took a deep breath and managed to look him straight in the eye.

“Okay, so, um… I knda sort of maybe, uh… like somone?”

Jimin grinned at you, his eyes squishing closed. “Kookie, right? You guys would be cute together.”

Your jaw dropped and you tripped over a tree root.

“Why are you so shocked?” He asked with a laugh as he nudged you. “I’m your best friend, doofus. I’ve known you for so long and you’ve never looked at someone the way you look at him.”

You looked down at your hands and began toying with your fingers.

“I probably looked at you like that, you just never noticed…” You muttered under your breath, forgetting that his hearing now matched his brothers.

“Wait, what?”

You immediately stopped walking and stiffened. Oh, fuck.

You shot your head up and your wide eyes met his, but no sound came out of your mouth. You just parted and closed your lips repeatedly, not knowing what to do or say. As you desperately tried to figure out what you should do, you saw the others step back slightly and look away.

“You… you liked me?”

“Wow, I think I dropped my, uh, dignity back there so I’m just gonna go spend the rest of my life looking for it a-”

“Y/N…”

“-nd never show my face to anyone ever again. See ya!” With a panicked salute, you swiveled around and went to go find a ditch to lay down in for the remainder of eternity.

He stopped you by gently grabbing your wrist and saying your name desperately. “Y/N…”

Letting out a defeated sigh, you turned back to him. “Fine… yes, I liked you. Er, I thought I did. I’m honestly not quite sure what I really felt for you anymore.”

“Shit, Y/N, I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, and fuck, I would go out with all those girls right in front of you and…” He released your wrist to run a hand through his hair. “Fuck. I’m such a-I didn’t-holy shit.”

You sent him a soft grin and pushed his shoulder playfully. “Of course you didn’t know. I know you didn’t because I made sure you didn’t. And you don’t need to apologize. Besides, like I said, I’ve moved on from your sorry ass.”

“Yeah, for my own brother.” Jimin teased you but his smile quickly fell, and he continued with a strained voice. “I just… fuck, I feel like the biggest asshole. I literally just talked about knowing you for so long and I didn’t even… I didn’t even realize I was hurting you.”

Both his hands went to his hair and he tugged on it stressfully.

“Hey hey hey.” You detangled his fingers from his apricot locks and held his hands. “It’s okay. I’m good. You’re good. We’re good. I swear.”

You dropped his hands and then held your arms out with a hesitant smile, hoping that he still felt comfortable around you. To your relief, he immediately entered your embrace and held you tightly. You clung to each other for several seconds until, with one last squeeze, you stepped back. You saw he was lightly beaming at you and he reached out to ruffle your hair.

Seeing that your “private” moment was over, the others joined once more and began teasing you for how awkward that whole conversation was. You mildly shoved a laughing Yoongi away, but you were giggling as well because they weren’t wrong.

Awkward? Absolutely. But I feel… better?

“What are you guys talking about?” A new voice popped up. “You’re making me feel left out.”

Your giggles faded as you noticed Jungkook standing on the outskirts of your little gossip group, a pout evident on his face.

Your eyes bugged out. “N-Nothing! Nothing at all!”

Tae’s eyes, on the other hand, brightened and he began saying, “Actually, we were talking about-”

“Oh, just stupid stuff like, uh… if we prefer waffles or pancakes and our favorite sex positions!” You hastily spoke over the grey-haired Saeni, but as soon as your words left your mouth you wanted to mentally smack yourself to oblivion.

Favorite sex positions? Really, Y/N? REALLY!?

Jungkook coughed while the other three males did their best to contain their snorts and snickers.

Jimin’s face suddenly turned a little evil and you swallowed hard, just dreading his next statement and praying it wouldn’t be too detrimental to your soul.

“You came just in time, Kook. Y/N was just about to share hers.”

WHAT!?

You forced out a threatening laugh before saying through your gritted teeth, “But I already went, remember?”

You glared daggers at your so-called best friend.

He better not…

“I forget what you said,” Yoongi spoke up.

You blinked several times and raised your brows in incredulity.

Tae joined in. “Me too. I mean, there were just so many.”

You choked on your own spit and began hacking up a lung to try to clear your airway.

“Plus, I’m sure Kookie’s curious,” Hobi concluded.

You stumbled over your feet as your eyes expanded to comical proportions. After regaining your balance, you looked at the Saeni in absolute betrayal.

Sputtering, you began to deny their words. As you firmly protested how you only had one favorite position, thank you very much, you realized you were not helping your situation. At all. The three boys were wheezing and barely containing their outbursts. With a fed-up huff, you stomped over to Jungkook and as you passed his stiff form and strangely blank face, you grabbed his hand and dragged him after you. You were abandoning these disloyal hooligans right now and you sure as heck were not leaving Jungkook with them. Who knows what they would tell him!?

Probably that I basically have a big, fat crush on him and that it freaking hurts how I know he’ll never feel the same way about me.

Fuck, that’s so pathetic.

Tae, wanting to make his stupid ship a reality, would probably be the one to blurt it out. Curse his damn blabber mouth and his inability to keep a fucking secret. You undoubtedly trusted the blue-eyed male with your life… but you didn’t trust him with this. Not after he went ahead and spilled to Yoongi and Hobi not even five minutes later.

As a result, you were taking Jungkook with you.

They’re all traitors. Every single one of them. They can roast like marshmallows in the bonfires of hell for all I care now.

“Goodbye, everyone.” You called over your shoulder as you gave them a crisp middle finger without looking back. “I’ll remember you all in therapy!”

They all finally let out their rambunctious laughter as you marched away and towed the burgundy-haired Saeni behind you. Though, in your complete mortification and desire to get away, you didn’t register the fact that Jungkook hadn’t made a single peep during the entire exchange.

A little while later you were hopping from rock to rock as you crossed a shallow, but wide creek. Sure, your shoes were waterproof, so you could have just trudged through the tinkling water like everyone else, but it was more enjoyable this way. Plus, ten minutes ago, Jimin yelled out that he thought his father’s draeva was really close. The energy he was receiving from it had started palpitating and growing even stronger. Because of that, you were going to have as much fun as possible before shit got real again.

You peeked to your left to where Jungkook was making his way through the water beside you. You jolted as you realized he was already looking at you and right as you met his peridot gaze, you instantly returned your sight to the rocks in front of you. You did your best to keep your focus on the stones, but all you could feel were his eyes lingering on you now that you were aware of it. Huffing a bit, you tiptoed to the next available footing and wobbled slightly as the slab tilted under your weight. After steadying yourself, you leapt to the next rock, and the next, and the next. But as you landed on the last one, holding your breath for a second as you edged around the algae sludge covering it, you frowned as you saw a giant gap between you and the nearest rock. You narrowed your eyes at the distance, mentally trying to calculate if you would be able to jump that far when you heard a low chuckle next to you.

“I don’t think you can make that, little human.”

His voice held a tremendous teasing lilt; something that made you even more determined to successfully cross the distance. You wanted to prove him wrong. You could definitely make it. One hundred percent. Ten feet had nothing on you.

“Pffft. Of course I can, just watch me.” You shifted your feet and bent your knees a bit, readying your muscles as you zeroed in on your destination.

Your resolve strengthened as you saw Jungkook cross his arms with an expectant look gracing his face, as if he was waiting for you to fail. With a deep breath, you brought your weight back as you swung your arms behind you. Then, with a tiny, defiant grunt, you threw your weight forward and propelled your body through the air.

Well, you would have.

If your shoe hadn’t slipped on the slimy algae.

Your grunt quickly changed into a surprised screech as you felt yourself go down and not forward. You fell straight into the water with one leg splayed out, a knee tucked underneath you, a hand palming the sandy and pebble-ridden creek bottom, and a forearm somewhat bracing yourself. Of course, since you caught yourself partially on your forearm, half your face was also dunked below the surface.

You shoved yourself up, sputtering as you spat water out of your mouth and pushed your half-wet hair out of your face. As your eyes and ears were cleared of creek water, the first that and sound that met you was Jungkook doubled over from laughter. He kept alternating between pointing at you and clapping his hands as he tried his damned hardest to form words but would lose himself to hysterics every time he took in your now soggy state. His nose was scrunching up, his head thrown back, and the tips of his pointy ears were turning red from the sheer force of his laughter.

Sulking, you raised yourself to both knees and inspected your palm as Jungkook’s boisterous sounds continued to fill the atmosphere. Glad to see that you hadn’t cut your hand, you glared up at the Saeni before looking back down at the water.

“You can stop laughing now, geez,” you mumbled in pout.

But the boy just kept at it. Between his cackles, he made sure to point out how he had “told you” you wouldn’t be able to make it. As if your embarrassment and water-logged self didn’t make that clear enough for you.

He’s such a little shit.

You splashed your hand through the creek, catapulting water at the green-eyed male. It hit him at his upper legs and lower torso, slightly dampening the fabric. Instantly, Jungkook stopped laughing and stared at you with a blank face. You lifted an eyebrow and stared back, your stubbornness and pettiness rising to the surface. A few seconds of your impromptu staring match went by, then Jungkook’s eyes grew devious while he stepped closer to you. Before you could even blink, he placed his hands on your shoulders and shoved.

With a curse, you immediately lost your balance and fell backwards until you landed on your ass. You whimpered as the water seeped into your clothes and completely drenched the rest of your body. Glowering up at the male, you wanted to throw a tantrum at the smirk plastered to his face.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, sweetheart.” He winked, and with one last chuckle, began making his way across the creek once more.

You smacked the water with your fists before bringing your dripping self to your feet. “GET BACK HERE, YOU INSUFFERABLE COCONUT!”

He just laughed at your outburst and kept walking, so you took off after him. When he heard your feet stomping through the water, he started running away with a grin on his face. You chased after him, screaming obscenities, but you couldn’t help but start laughing too. You probably looked like an idiotic fool to all the other Saeni who were watching your antics unfold.

Jungkook reached the opposite side of the creek and sprinted away into the trees. He must have been “jogging,” though, because you were right on his heels. You both crashed through the forest, yelling and taunting each other. Momentarily, you lost sight of the Saeni through the thick greenery but continued running after him in the direction you believed he went.   When you broke through a cluster of leaves, you saw him standing still with his back to you. Snickering, you snuck up to him as quietly as you could and was about to jump on his back… but you stopped. You had finally looked beyond his shoulders, albeit just for a moment, but the scene made your steps falter.

“Whoa.”

In front of you was a slightly crumpled, but mostly intact, stone construction tucked between the trees. The parts that were still solid were innately carved, so it looked like it must have been something important back in the day. Random trees were growing up and out of the sections of the collapsed stonework, their roots stretching over the structure like lacework. Vines crept over the entire thing as well, and little white flowers were bursting along the climbing plants. Their scent drifted over to you, and you inhaled their floral sweetness. The familiarity of the smell made you think it might be wild honeysuckle. At the center of the building, a detailed spire rose toward the sky. It wasn’t a skinny, needle-esque tower, but rather it was a fat and almost cone-shaped thing that extended to a round point at the top. The carvings were delicate and intricate, and icicles of stonework spiraled around it, creating an interesting contrast to the upward direction of the spire.

As you absorbed the old, yet exceptionally beautiful structure before you in awe, Jungkook let out a breath and whispered, “Juufa.”

It turned out the building was an ancient temple dedicated to Juufa, the god of harmony. Jungkook was in the process of explaining that when the rest of the Saeni caught up with you. All their eyes went wide and they each fell into silent awe as they saw it.

Jungkook continued murmuring to you, “It’s rare to see a temple for the harmony.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s said that he doesn’t like to be worshipped because it’s distracting. He prefers to keep to himself and just focus on his duties.” He gestured to the slightly dilapidated structure. “Because of that, most who had temples for Juufa ended up heading his desire and allowing nature to retake them.”

That… is very unconventional of a god. I like him already.

As you continued gawking at the impressive sight before you, you saw Jimin run a hand through his apricot locks and inspect the area in your peripherals. He shuddered suddenly and locked his eyes on one spot to the right of the temple. Following his gaze, it led you to a gathering of trees displayed in a bright beam of sunlight.

“That’s it…” he whispered, making you gasp.

Oh my gosh, is his father’s draeva over there!? Talk about nice real estate.

As if in a trance, Jimin began walking over and you all trailed after him. Along the way, Yoongi silently waved his sparkling hands at you to magically dry you and your clothes off. You sent him a small nod in thanks, pleased to no longer be cold and dripping. As you neared the trees, you could see that Jimin was moving toward the one with the thickest trunk. You didn’t know what type of tree it was, but it was tall and sturdy with a vast network of limbs stretching up and out.

“That’s it,” he whispered again while stepping into sun patch.

You and the other Saeni stopped about ten feet away and spread out in a sloppy semi-circle as Jimin kept advancing.

You held your breath as your best friend hesitantly approached the tree. Slowly, he lifted his hand and placed it against the trunk. But nothing happened.

“Find his handprint,” Jiae suggested with a smile as her lilac hair fluttered in the wind.

Jimin nodded and began stalking around the tree, looking around the trunk and up into the limbs.

“I think I see it,” he said as he began climbing.

As he ascended, you tilted your head toward Tae and asked, “What’s gonna happen when he unlocks the secret?”

He shook his head, causing his feather earring to jingle against his other piercings, and replied that he had no idea.

Blowing out a raspberry, you returned your eyes to Jimin, who exclaimed that he found his father’s mark.

One again, you held your breath and leaned forward in anticipation. Jungkook, though, went to stand underneath his brother. Probably in case the half-Saeni fell from whatever was about to occur.

A crisp breeze ruffled the leaves and Jimin’s hair, and you saw the branch he was leaning against sway in the air. And after taking a deep breath to steel himself, Jimin gently allowed his hand to rest against the bark, in the place you assumed his father’s handprint was located.

And yet, nothing happened.

Jimin’s brows furrowed and he removed his hand before placing it back.

Still, nothing happened.

All of you on the ground pursed your lips and looked at each other in befuddlement before returning your eyes to the apricot head who was now repeatedly slamming his hand into the tree. You blinked at him while he began huffing and puffing in frustration.

Geez, Slim Jim. It’s a tree, not a frozen computer.

“Why-” Slam. “-won’t-” Slam. “-you-” Slam. “-work!?” Slam.

He really emphasized the last one by grinding and smooshing his hand into the bark.

“Uh, maybe give it a moment Chim.” Namjoon called up to him.

You snorted to yourself before adding, “Yeah, maybe it’s just thinking!”

Jimin took his hand off and let out an aggravated noise while pushing his hair back. “It’s not working!”

Tae then proposed that maybe he had the wrong draeva. Yoongi, Jin, and Mingi voiced their agreement and Hobi even started inspecting other trees nearby. As both Jimin and Jiae argued that it was definitely the right one, you sat down with a sigh and rested your chin on your palm. Jungkook saw you and gave you a lopsided smile while rolling his eyes playfully at everyone else.

You grinned back at him but hoped he couldn’t see the heat rising to your cheeks due to how handsome he looked standing in the sunlight. Looking away from him, you leaned back on your hands as you let the Saeni figure out the issue at hand. This wasn’t your area of expertise, so you were just going to sit back and offer occasional moral support.

And that’s exactly what you did and have been doing for the past thirty minutes or so.

“You can do it Jimin! Anything is possible is you just believe,” you shouted at your best friend in a sweet voice while sending him two encouraging thumbs up.

He just groaned and tugged on his hair for the umpteenth time.

Shrugging, you went back to drawing in the dirt with a stick. You would throw out another great, motivational quote in maybe… two minutes?

I feel like that kid in a group project who shows up to meetings and offers their opinion but doesn’t actually do anything.

Another fifteen minutes and numerous uplifting sayings went by and it was safe to say that you were bored out of your mind. Throwing your stick aside, you stood up and wiped your bum off before clearing your throat to gain the attention of the Saeni.

“Welp, as invigorating as this is, I’m gonna go explore the temple.” You went to pivot on your feet but paused and sheepishly looked at Namjoon. “Oh, um, is that allowed? Like am I not supposed to go in there since I’m not Saeni?”

The leader of the kiela contemplated for a moment before showing off his dimpled smile and waving you on. “Ah, no, it should be fine.”

You clapped your hands together in satisfaction. “Fantastic… well, scream if you figure it out or need me!”

You fully swiveled around and began strutting off toward the entrance of the semi-collapsed structure, eager to see it up close and what it looked like on the inside.

“Y/N!”

You stopped your leg in midair and pursed your lips as you looked over your shoulder. “Damn, ya’ll need me already?”

Jungkook jogged over to you, the top of his burgundy hair bouncing slightly. The corner of your lip quirked up at the sight, but you quickly forced your mouth back to a neutral position.

“No, I just, um, I-I’ll come with you. You know, since it’ll be dark, and you might not be able to see.”

You placed your foot down, teetering a bit since it landed partially in a hole in the ground, and rolled your eyes. “There you go yet again with that superior senses bullshit. But sure, fine, whatever, come on. At least I can push you in front of me if there’s booby traps.”

His steps slowed down, and he furrowed his brows. “Why would there be something to trap your boobs?”

You heard Jimin snort while he continued scrutinizing the draeva.

“Ya! Refer to them respectfully as breasts, you sprout!” Jin hollored.

“Personally, that’s worse because it makes me feel like a chicken,” Jiae replied to the eldest before meeting your pained eyes. “What about you, Y/N?”

I can never win, can I?

You closed your eyes and sighed in defeat as you pressed your fingers onto your lids. “Just… forget it. Let’s go, Coco.”

I’m totally sacrificing him if I have to.

By the time you and Jungkook emerged from the temple, the sun was starting to descend in the horizon. You breathed in the sweet air of Illain and the honeysuckle, happy to no longer be inhaling the dusty stuffiness from the depths of the temple.

The innards of the structure had been just as beautifully broken as the outside. Ornate sculptures and detailed artwork filled the passageways and rooms, and you had eagerly explored the many corridors with Jungkook by your side. Luckily, you had been able to see a majority of it due to the numerous tiny windows carved into the walls and ceilings. It hadn’t provided the best light, but it had been enough to make do.

In some parts of the temple, the halls were completely collapsed in, or tree roots and thick honeysuckle vines blocked the way like a filigree wall. But there had been no booby traps, much to your dismay. As terrifying as they would have been, it was would have been a little exciting. And with Jungkook with you, you knew nothing bad would have happened.

Your favorite part was probably the room on the highest floor that was filled with hundreds of tiny bells strung on chains hanging from the ceiling. Sure, there had been the slightly creepy, but very detailed painting on the back wall depicting a female clawing out a male’s heart with her hand. The female had a sun hovering above her head and a sad look to her face while the male had a crescent moon floating above his painfully contorted face. But as gruesome as the picture was, it was strangely beautiful and alluring. Maybe the underlying concept of female empowerment made you cheer internally. You didn’t really know for sure.

You had admired the image underneath the singing bells for a couple minutes until Jungkook came to stand next to you. You remembered him frowning as he stared at it. When you asked him what that look was for, he had explained that the sun was the symbol for Illai. He didn’t understand why the artwork showed her killing someone. She was a kind and benevolent goddess. Someone who brought life, not death. You had pondered his words, before shrugging and suggesting that maybe it was just a metaphor for the morning sun “killing” nighttime.

Whatever it was, you still liked it.

Skipping over a bundle of roots in front of the temple entryway, you saw that everyone except for Jimin, Jiae, and Chungha were sitting in a small circle around a fire. Hobi was picking at the dirt under his nails with one of his blades and Yoongi was curled up next to him with his eyes closed. Tae and Mingi were throwing a rock back and forth through the flames, and Jin and Namjoon were speaking quietly to each other as the former nudged the fire with a stick. You and Jungkook made your way over to them, and as you approached, they ceased their respective activities (minus Yoongi) and greeted you both.

After sending everyone a tiny wave, you sat down beside Tae. Jungkook followed suit, sitting down beside you and resting his forearms on his knees.

“Seeing as Jimin isn’t here, I’m guessing he still hasn’t had any luck?”

Namjoon sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Nope. Nothing’s working.”

“Well… that’s not good.”

“You could say that again.” Jin snorted as he poked the edge of the fire.

Doing so made a plume of smoke rise from the embers and a sudden draft of wind sent it directly into Mingi, who began coughing and waving hand in front of his face.

While the guard combatted the smoke, Tae flopped to his back and whined about how bored he was.

Hearing the archer’s complaint, Hobi sheathed his blade and offered playing a game of keumbak, making Tae perk up in interest.

“What’s that?” You asked Jungkook in a whisper while Namjoon began protesting Hobi’s suggestion.

“Basically, you spin a knife and whoever it lands on has to stand against a tree and let everyone else throw a knife at him.” Your eyes widened in fear but Jungkook kept going. “Whoever’s knife gets closest without hitting the person wins and they don’t partake in sequential rounds. You keep going until someone either loses or gets hit. Oh, and you get bonus points of style and throw difficulty.”

What kind of fatal, wack- ass game is this?

You gulped and wondered how you could get yourself out of playing. You weren’t too keen on having knives thrown at you today. Or throwing them at your friends and possibly hurting them. Seeing your freaked-out expression, Jungkook chuckled but voiced that he didn’t think keumbak was a good idea.

Hobi huffed and inquired what Jungkook would deem a better game to play. The burgundy head nudged you, silently telling you to say something.

“Uh… what about Truth or Dare?”

Tae gasped excitedly. “Oh, Chim’s had us play that before! It was fun!”

“Wait, what’s Truth or Dare?” Mingi questioned with curious hazel eyes.

As you explained the basic rules to the guard, you saw Hobi gently shake Yoongi awake. The magic user cursed and went to shout at who woke him up but stopped when he saw it was the white-haired Saeni. Smiling softly because of them, you asked if everyone was okay with playing.

Almost everyone nodded, but Mingi quickly asked one more question. “What if someone doesn’t want to answer or do the dare?”

“Uhhh…”

“If they want to be a little bitch, they have to take something off. Shirt first, though,” Yoongi groggily said as he sat up with Hobi’s help.

Oh, that’s a good one. I’ll get a nice, free show of all these attractive guys and it’s pretty harmless too since-WAIT. No, that means Jungkook might take stuff off. Oh fuck, I don’t think I can handle that. Though I kinda really want him to… but it won’t help my situation… but he has such a good body… fuck what am I going to do!?

You bit your lip as everyone murmured their agreement to his rule. After contemplating and telling yourself not to be a weenie, you agreed as well, which caused Yoongi to smirk in your direction.

Hobi, you better get your guy under control before I sit on him!

Tae began bouncing up and down, asking who was going to go first. You all looked at each other, wondering the same thing until you made a decision.

“Papa Jin! Why don’t you go since you’re the oldest?”

The raven-haired Saeni placed a hand over his heart. “It would truly be my honor, little scorja.”

Everyone fell quiet as you waited for Jin to pick out his victim.

“Mingi!” He suddenly shouted, causing Namjoon to jump in surprise next to him. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Mingi responded without pause.

“What do you think of my cooking?”

Oh my fucking god, he’s fucking dead if he doesn’t answer this to Jin’s liking.

The hazel-eyed male shrugged. “Eh, it’s pretty good. Could honestly use some more heat in my opinion, but I can understand that ingredients are a bit… limited right now.”

You gaped at Mingi’s bold words then peeked at Jin to see his reaction. The eldest just laughed loudly but briefly before humming in response.

Frick. That’s sort of terrifying.

“Alright, um… Hoseok, truth or dare?”

The kiela’s spy danced his hand over his tucked away blades and after a few seconds of thinking he replied, “Dare.”

Mingi looked into the fire as if searching for inspiration, then suddenly snapped his fingers and announced, “Choose someone in the group to spank you.”

You brought a hand up to cover your mouth as you saw Hobi’s eyes flicker to Yoongi for a split-second before blurting out, “Kookie!”

You couldn’t conceal your laughter anymore, though, when a look of pure regret overtook his features afterwards.

Jungkook stood up with an evil glint in his eyes while cracking his knuckles, and you heard Namjoon whisper his sorrows for Hobi’s ass. You watched Jungkook rub his hands together as Hobi reluctantly got to his feet, turned around, and braced his hands on his knees. You could literally see the apprehension, fear, and tension coursing through him, making you laugh again.

But your laughter died when a powerful, loud smack reverberated into the air.

Ho-Holy shit. He just flat-out destroyed Hobi’s ass.

Said Saeni collapsed to the ground, clutching his butt cheeks as Jungkook breathed out easily and returned to his seat. The green-eyed male caught your look of horror and assured you that he didn’t actually hit him that hard.

“Hyung is just being dramatic.”

“I don’t know Coco. That looked fucking rough to me.”

His eyes darkened and he leaned in closer to murmur, “If that’s your version of rough, you don’t want to see mine.”

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

His intense gaze bore into you for a couple more moments before he pulled back and reset his expression, leaving you gawking at him. Not to mention, a little turned on too.

What the hell is he doing to me?

You did your best to ignore Jungkook and the dirty thoughts he caused you to have as Hobi finally settled down and let his light brown eyes pass over the group. He paused on Tae, who straightened at the possibility of it being his turn.

“Tae, truth or-”

“Truth!”

You grinned and shook your head fondly at his eagerness. Looking back at Hobi, you saw him exchange a silent conversation with Yoongi and nod subtly. The spy’s eyes flashed with mischief and you pursed your lips together as you wondered what that was all about.

Hobi cleared his throat before folding his hands together and addressing Tae. “You and Y/N are really close… would you ever consider dating her?”

You let out a confused hum as your eyebrows shot up. On the opposite side of the fire, Namjoon and Jin mentioned their agreement that the two of us did get along very well at his question.

What the? Why would he ask that? He knows Tae and I are just friends.

Beside you, you heard Jungkook’s breathing slow down and you glanced at him. He looked entirely normal, well, except for how he was sending a piercing glare at his blue-eyed brother.

Tae, giving a relaxed shake of his head, denied he would date you and then blew a kiss your way.

You stuck our tongue out at him but sent him a kiss back while giggling.

“Okay, now I get to pick!” Tae proclaimed while showcasing his boxy grin. “Joon hyung!”

“Dare,” the yellow-eyed Saeni said with a sigh.

Tae thought long and hard, then began searching the ground before picking something up and holding it proudly above his head. “You must wear this as a mustache until your next turn!”

It was a twig.

You all silently shook with laughter as Namjoon trudged over to grab the twig and position it above his top lip. He had to pucker a bit to make sure it didn’t fall, and you had to admit that he looked but insanely cute and extremely funny.

As he sat down slowly to make sure the twig didn’t become dislodged, he caught Jungkook’s eye.

“Dare,” Jungkook said immediately.

“Of course. Um…” Namjoon’s yellow eyes darted around, looking for inspiration. “Aish, I’m bad at this stuff. Um… jump over the fire? While holding my mace over your head?”

Jungkook once again rose to his feet while scoffing. “This will be too easy, hyung.”

“Easy!? That thing weighs a ton!” You said bewildered at his unconcerned tone.

“Nah, it’s basically nothing for him, just watch,” Tae told you as he cradled his face between his palms.

You knew how strong Jungkook was, but you were still a little skeptical it would be nothing. But your doubts were quickly proven wrong as Namjoon held his heavy weapon out to Jungkook, who grabbed it with one hand without so much as a grunt. The green-eyed male shifted so the mace was in both his hands then easily hefted it over his head and leapt over the fire. Landing softly, he rolled his eyes and returned the weapon to its owner as you gawked at how nonchalant he was acting.

“See?” Tae addressed you while your shocked gaze followed Jungkook. “Nothing.”

You inhaled deeply through your nose, still trying to wrap your head around how Jungkook just did that without even a gasp as the male sat back down and smirked at you.

“Sweetheart, it’s your turn.”

To what? Get lugged over your head like sack of rice?

Oh, no… the game.

“Um…”

What will bring the least amount of damage? Probably a dare, so I shouldn’t pick truth.

Without meaning to, you said “truth” out loud and you blanched at your mistake. “Wait, no! I mean-”

His smirk transformed into a grin, but not one that settled your nerves. “Nope. Sorry, but you already said it, it’s locked it.”

Shit. Stupid stupid stupid.

Jungkook shifted closer to you, making your breath hitch.

“You never did say what your favorite sex position was, so now’s the time.”

All the air in your lungs disappeared as you stared at him, wondering if he was being serious as Yoongi, Hobi, and Tae erupted into rowdy laughter. The remaining Saeni had looked at you two in complete confusion, obviously not understanding where the question came from.

I am not telling him that!

“Come on, sweetheart, I’m waiting.” He teased as his cocky expression expanded. “It’s either tell me or take the shirt off.”

You usually didn’t give a shit about being shirtless in front of anyone. Like, if you still had a bra on, then what did it matter? But for some reason, you found yourself not wanting to remove your shirt.

Fucking hell, I guess I have to then…

You closed your eyes and hid yourself behind your hadns before mumbling, “Doggystyle.”

You didn’t bother speaking up because you knew all of them would be able to hear you clear as day. The three laughing Saeni grew even more unruly at your answer, so you buried your head in your arms to hide your flushing face. You stayed that way, refusing to lift your head, until they calmed down. Then, you raised your head, and against your better judgement, allowed yourself to glance at Jungkook. You stilled as you realized he was staring at you. Not doing anything. Not saying anything. Just staring. With a clenched jaw and hazy green eyes.

It made you uneasy… in a good way.

Stop it! He’s probably staring because he thinks that was a vanilla answer, not because he’s imagining fucking you like you want him to. Ah, shit… don’t think of him fucking into you from behind.

But, of course, your mind didn’t want to listen to reason. Thoughts of the strong male wrecking you, no, ruining you from behind began invading your head. You imagined the symphony of grunts, whimpers, and slapping of skin on skin. The way he would command your body to his pleasure. Hoe utterly rough he would handle you.

Stop it! Um… wrinkly, old balls! Smudging your nail polish! Eating bad Mexican food! Bad things! Yucky things!

With a shaky breath, you squeezed your hands into fists and averted your eyes. Taking another deep breath, you collected yourself and continued the game as you tried not to focus on the weight of Jungkook’s eyes still boring into your profile.

The sun had almost gone to sleep for the day, just a small sliver of light was still visible in the distance. You trained your eyes on the colorful sunset, observing as the pastels slowly darkened into the night sky. You smiled at its beauty while listening to the crackling of the fire. You were so transfixed, you didn’t even realize Yoongi had been calling your name until Tae waved a hand in front of your eyes. Jumping a bit, you brought your attention back to the game that was still going strong.

Not a whole lot has happened, besides Namjoon attempting a full split (he did not succeed and was still complaining about a pulled groin), Tae admitting that he was the person who lost Hobi’s favorite dagger a year ago (the spy once again lived up to his NSFW outfit with the bloodcurdling glower he sent Tae’s way), Jin being dared to let you cook one meal entirely by yourself (the male took one look at you before yanking his shirt over his head), and other dumb, reckless, and funny things.

Blinking rapidly, you met Yoongi’s eyes and sighed internally when you saw the playfulness lurking behind them.

Not wanting to even consider the type of shit he would have you reveal if you picked truth, you ultimately decided to go with dare for this round.

He glanced at Tae and Hobi, which made your palms sweat, before looking straight into your eyes. “Mingi’s lap seems a little lonely over there, so you have to sit on it until your next turn.”

Oh… that’s not that bad. I thought it would be giving Jungkook a lap dance or something. Whew.

Meeting Mingi’s hazel gaze, you shrugged at each other, then heaved yourself to your feet and walked over to the guard, who stretched his legs out in front of him.

“Hello, my good sir.” You greeted him verbally with a laugh before gently easing yourself down onto his lap.

“Hell there, Y/N.” Mingi laughed too while leaning back on his hands to balance himself.

Once you were positioned successfully and somewhat comfortably on the male’s lap, you looked over to give Yoongi a “so what?” face, but found his gaze focused somewhere else. He snickered to Hobi and had a knowing smile teasing his lips. Furrowing your brows, you turned to see what he was looking at.

Jungkook.

The burgundy head was glaring into the fire. His entire body was stiff, his hand edging down toward his dagger, and you could see his chest rising and falling heavily with his breaths. After looking at him in concern for a few seconds, he lifted his head to look directly at you with heated eyes. You were taken back by how aggravated he appeared, but before you could say anything, he brought his eyes back to the fire.

The heck is his problem?

“You good, Kook?” You heard Yoongi ask in a not-so-innocent tone.

The youngest member of the kiela didn’t respond, but you saw his jaw shift in annoyance.

Well, he obviously doesn’t want to disclose what his problem is, so looks like I’ll ask when his panties aren’t in a twist.

And so, the game continued, though you kept sneaking glances at Jungkook as others answered their truths or completed their dares. Not once did he meet your eyes. And he only really moved or spoke when he had to.

You had to admit it was bothering you.

Then, it was your turn once more and Jin asked you if you regret coming to Illain. When Jin concluded his question, Jungkook finally brought his eyes back to you. As if he actually wanted to hear your answer. You flinched a bit when you thought you saw a flash of worry appear on his face, but it was gone so quickly you weren’t sure if it had even been there to begin with. By now, the sunlight was completely gone and only the fire and moon provided light so it could have just been the flickering orange flames playing tricks on you.

Tearing your gaze away from Jungkook’s face, you addressed Jin and truthfully told him that you were really happy to be in the new world. That you were glad to have met everyone and now call them your friends.

All the Saeni smiled at your answer, even Jungkook’s mouth tilted up slightly, and they were grateful you felt that way even though the journey had been quite crazy and violent.

You beamed back at everyone and with a pat to Mingi’s knee, rose from his lap and trudged back to your original spot. Through, as you left the guard behind and walked past the fire, you shivered at how chilly it had gotten. Without realizing it, Mingi had been keeping you toasty and your backside was already missing it.

As you squatted then let your butt fall to the cool ground, you wiggled your fingers at Tae. But when the breeze picked up, you shivered and wrapped your arms around your middle.

Noting your state, Jungkook sighed and shifted a it before leaning over to poke your thigh. “C’mere.”

Peeking over at him, you saw he was inviting you to sit between his legs.

Well, looks like someone is finally over his random temper tantrum.

As confused as you were regarding his attitude, you couldn’t help but be tempted by his offer. It would be so warm and cozy. Not to mention, you would be close to him. Like really close.

Your decision was ultimately made by another cold gust of air attacking your body. With a nod, you crawled over to Jungkook and positioned yourself between his legs. You hummed as his body immediately protected you from the wind and his warmth fought off the chill. Settling into your new spot, you gasped when his hands found purchase at your waist and he dragged you backwards into his chest. Then, he hugged you close and placed his chin on the junction of your shoulder and neck. Flinching a bit as his hot breath hit your bare skin, you forced yourself to relax and ease against him although you were screaming on the inside. His intoxicating scent began floating around you as you rested your hands on his arms and leaned into him.

“Better?” He murmured against your neck.

You nodded and whispered a thanks while your heart threatened to leap out of your chest.

Satisfied you were warm, he then reminded you that you needed to ask someone truth or dare.

“Oh, r-right…” You caught Yoongi and Hobi smiling slyly at you and you narrowed your eyes at them. “Hobi.”

The white-haired male clapped his hands together and said, “I choose dare, little scorja.”

Careful not to bump into Jungkook, you tilted your head to the side and gauged the distance between him and Yoongi versus him and Namjoon and chortled when you saw what you were hoping for. “I dare you to hold hands with the person closest to you for the remainder of the game. You can only let go if you or the other person need to do so for a dare.”

Both his and Yoongi’s eyes widened comically as they looked between them and realized they would have to hold hands. There was no fighting it either because their hips were basically touching from how close they sat to each other. It was your turn to snicker at their expressions and how they started fidgeting. Slowly and without looking at each other, they intertwined their hands as a faint blush dusted both their cheeks. Cooing internally, you smirked and basked in their cuteness.

The game went on after that. Mingi took his shirt off because he refused to steal a piece of rubble from the temple (you had to admit that he had a very nice body, but it was nothing compared to the one holding you), Tae ate a weird looking bug (he gagged and you thought he was going to lose it, but he made you proud by holding on and swallowing the creature), and Namjoon confessed he broke their instructor’s prized sword during their trainee days (apparently, the instructor had loved the weapon dearly and cried for weeks when he found the blade shattered one day).

Then, Jin asked Jungkook who he would have sex with if he could choose anyone in the world. Your heart spasmed at the questioned and you held your breath while waiting for Jungkook’s answer.

Fuck, you wanted him to say it was you. But you knew he wouldn’t. It would probably be some girl he’s trained with or someone he’s seen in passing that caught his eye. Your ears were filled with the snapping of burning wood as the male stayed silent and debated his answer. Sadness cascaded into you as you realized he was most likely thinking of all the beautiful Saeni he’s encountered in his lifetime; filtering them out until one gorgeous, sexy female remained.

As your chest tightened and you fought to keep your face impassive, Jungkook suddenly removed his arms from around you. Preparing yourself to hear some other girl’s name, you inhaled sharply when his arms snuck around you and pulled you against him once more. With a jolt, you realized…

He.

Took.

Off.

His.

Shirt.

And was no holding you against his bare chest. You felt heat flood to your face, and you tried to control your breathing as he dropped his chin onto your shoulder again. Peeking to the sides, you saw Tae squeezing his lips together while looking at you with wide blue eyes and waggling brows. On the other side, Hobi and Yoongi, hands still waffled, were chuckling at you quietly. Namjoon and Jin, bless their oblivious hearts, didn’t seem to notice your internal screeching. The final Saeni just raised a single eyebrow amusedly at you.

Humming contently and adjusting his grip on you so that you were tucked even further against him, Jungkook called out Yoongi’s name to proceed with the game.

And yet again, you all continued playing. You were surprised everyone was still participating, but you figured it was because there really wasn’t anything better to do while waiting for Jimin to unlock the draeva.

You had your turn again, which included Mingi asking how you met Jimin and why you tagged along to Illain. You fondly retold the story of a little Jimin trying to scare you with a spider and you consequently punching him with your tiny fist. Then, you shrugged and explained how he was your best friend and there was no way you were going to let him go on an adventure like this alone.

Jungkook laughed in your ear as you spoke and when you finished, he whispered, “Such a feisty little human.”

You shivered at his breath dancing along your skin but managed to retort in a teasing tone, “Such an annoying little shit.”

Then, you asked Tae about what eye color he wished he could change to (he firmly said he wouldn’t change it because he likes his blue), and he won’t on to challenge Namjoon to a dare. You sort of zoned out after that, leaning your head back onto Jungkook’s shoulder and looking up at the twinkling stars. The smoke from the fire swirled up and partially obstructed your view, but the white-grey wisps just added to the enchanting sight above you.

You inhaled the sweet air and scene of flowers and metal, listened to the sound of rustling leaves and crackling fire, absorbed the soft vibrations of Jungkook’s heartbeat, and sighed up at the sky. “It’s so pretty.”

You felt Jungkook’s head shift and he softly agreed, “Yeah… really pretty.”

The abrupt shout of Jungkook’s name by Hobi brought your eyes back to the Saeni and you saw him draw a knife out to play with.

The male behind you let out a groan and he mumbled,” For Exia’s sake, this game never ends.”

“Truth or dare?” Hobi asked his youngest brother as he twirled his knife in his hand.

Jungkook chose dare, making Hobi smile at his blade.

“I dare you to kiss one of the females here.”

You felt Jungkook stiffen just as you did at Hobi’s words. The older Saeni winked at you subtly and your mind began losing it.

All the various possibilities ran through your head, but you knew all of them would suck. Sure, you wanted Jungkook to kiss you, but… not if it was because he had to. Not if it didn’t mean anything to him. And if he didn’t kiss you then he would kiss Jiae or Chungha. You swallowed as you thought of his lips against someone else’s. Biting your bottom lip, you looked down.

And if he refuses the dare and takes something off, then he’s still rejecting me. Fuck, Hobi… what were you thinking?

“Hurry up, Kook!” Namjoon joked. “We don’t have all night.”

Jungkook grumbled while removing his arms from your middle and standing up, allowing the heat that cocooned you to slowly evaporate. With a smirk directed at nobody in particular, he began walking off into the trees toward the three people not a part of your game. Leaving you cold and alone.

Tucking in your knees, you nodded to yourself and wrapped your own arms around your body as Tae, Yoongi, and Hobi all looked at you in concern. Even Mingi frowned in your direction.

Of course, he’s gonna kiss one of the other girls. Probably Chungha since Jiae is with Jimin. And I’m not surprised he didn’t take off something. His competitive ego had already been wounded when he took his shirt off earlier.

You sniffled and blinked a few times as you scolded yourself for getting upset.

“Y-Y/N…” Hobi quietly said in a pained voice. “I… I didn’t think he-”

You sighed pitifully and looked over to the Saeni and forced a smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“Little scorja…?” Tae reached out and gently placed a hand on your shoulder.

“What?” You asked and laughed in a weak manner. “He can do whatever he wants.”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Jin inquired, not understanding what was happening.

Not understanding that disappointment was crashing you over and filling your heart.

Before you could answer, Jungkook came strutting back to the group with a smug expression on his face. You averted your eyes while the three Saeni who knew of your crush glared at him.

The burgundy-haired male stopped, questioning why they were looking at him like that when he completed the dare. But they said nothing to explain, not wanting you to feel any worse.

“Who?” asked Namjoon.

Jungkook cleared his throat before walking around the fire. “Ch-Chungha.”

You sucked in a breath as he sat down behind you and caged you in with his legs again.

The audacity of this fucker!

But you couldn’t bring yourself to stay mad. You were just… sad and hurt and wondering why you always had to like the guys that never showed a speck on interest in you. Maybe you were cursed. Or maybe you were subconsciously addicted to the ache it caused in your heart.

Jungkook didn’t wrap his arms around you again, thankfully. Instead, he leaned back on his hands. Fuck, all you wanted to do was get away from him and let Tae hold you. But you couldn’t. It would look weird and suspicious if you got up and left his leggy embrace now, so you just sat there in discomfort. Shrinking yourself as much as possible, you tried to allow only the barest amounts of your body to touch him.

Unaware of the heaviness inside your chest and the small feeling crowding in your mind, Jungkook smack his lips together once before calling Tae’s name to continue the shitty game.

The next morning you were finishing up your training session with fatigued energy. You had barely slept a wink last night. Not with Jungkook sleeping peacefully next to you as if he hadn’t just stomped your heart into a pulpy mess. After tossing and turning for several hours and resisting the urge to look at the snoozing burgundy head beside you, you had given up and just stared at the stars and moon blankly.

You had remained that way, basically motionless and letting your feelings eat away at you, until you somehow fell asleep. When Tae woke you up a couple hours later, he informed you that Jungkook asked Yoongi to train you today since he wanted to get some of his own training in with the kiela. You had breathed out a relieved sigh and nodded since that meant you didn’t have to look at or deal with Jungkook until later.

But that didn’t mean you were entirely focused or particularly spritely during training.

Fortunately, Yoongi seemed to understand and didn’t berate you for your poor performance. You were also grateful he didn’t ask how you were doing since you weren’t in the mood to talk about it. Instead, he just did his best to distract you with training and keep your mind preoccupied for a short while.

He even ended the session a bit early, telling you to go wash up in the creek and try to get some rest before Jimin began tackling the draeva again. With a tiny, tired smile, you thanked him and dropped your bow and quiver off with the rest of your stuff before grabbing the towel you had stuffed in your backpack. Throwing it over your shoulder, you made your way through the foliage toward the creek.

Muttering to yourself about dumb boys and dumb feelings, you brushed past the small, leafy limbs and shuffled through the shrubs. The sound of soft rapids began to reach your ears and you groaned in pleasure at the thought of cleaning the dirt off your skin.

The calming sound of flowing water grew louder and louder, and you smiled to yourself as you ducked under and around the last set of branches before the creek beach. Though it turned into a frown as you saw a shirtless Jungkook bending down to retrieve his shirt from a rock.

One morning… is one morning without him too much to ask?

You stilled as he straightened, showcasing the hard ridges of his muscular back as well as the rings of his draeva mark. Water dripped off the wet strands of his hair, beaded on his skin, and trailed down the curve of his spine. Your eyes followed the drops’ descent to his slim waist until they reached the waistband of his pants, but then your eyes went even further and snuck a look at his round, firm booty. Continuing down, you took in the bulging outline of his thighs and the-

Oh shit, he’s turning around! Act casual!

You went to move your hands behind your back, then brought them to your front, then clasped them together, then tried crossing them all in a span of a second. None of them felt normal so you just awkwardly hung them at your sides as your eyes went wide with panic and he fully turned around.

Your plan had been to gruff out a simple hello and walk past him.

Unsurprisingly, that all flew out the goddamn window as soon as you were presented with the snack that was Jeon Jungkook’s abdominal muscles. You swallowed hard as you tried to peel your eyes away from his lean torso and his drool-worthy v line.

You finally managed to bring your gaze up to his face and mentally cursed when you saw him smirking at you.

“Like what you see, sweetheart?”

The nickname made you blood boil and you made your eyes harden while anchoring your arms across your chest.

“For Exia’s sake, are you mad at me or something?” He rolled his green eyes and went to tug his shirt n over his head but paused and suddenly looked at you seriously. “Did hyung do something to you at training?”

“Mr. Sparkle Hands?” You scoffed and began marching forward. “No. He didn’t do anything.”

He pulled his shirt on all the way. “Okay, well why are you so grouchy?”

Now just a couple of feet away from the male, you raised your hand and poked him forcefully. “I am not grouchy. Or mad. Why would I be mad? There’s nothing to be mad about.”

He frowned at you jabbing your finger into him. “Alright, so you’re definitely mad, and I presume at me, but wha-” He stopped as he realized something, then chuckled and smirked again. “Oh my goddess, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

I want to punch him so fucking badly in his perfect fucking face.

“Why the hell would I be jealous?” You lifted your chin and did your best to not give away your actual feelings.

Yes. I’m fucking jealous. And hurt. And embarrassed. And a whole lot of other shit.

He stepped closer to you and lowly said, “Because I said I kissed Chungha last night.”

You unwillingly winced slightly, and you moved away from him as your eyes began to sting.

Inhaling, you looked past him at the flowing creek. “So?”

Maybe if you just ignored him, he would leave and let you mask your tears with creek water in peace.

“Sweetheart.”

Just ignore him and he’ll leave.

“Look at me.”

Ignore him and he’ll leave. Ignore him and he’ll leave. Ignore him and he’ll leave.

“Please.”

You still didn’t, so he took matters into his own hands. Literally.

Reaching out, he grabbed your chin and forced you to face him. He no longer had that cocky grin on his face, but was looking at you with soft, worried eyes.

You stared at him, tired and borderline limp. You didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore.

Gently, he tucked some of your hair behind your ear with his free hand before holding the side of your face. His thumb caressed your cheek and you let him. You shouldn’t have, but you did.

“I didn’t kiss her.” He gazed at you with sincerity.

Huh?

Seeing your confusion, he continued. “I only said I did. I didn’t want hyungs thinking I bitched out again, so I took off my sock, put my shoe back on, and walked back. That’s it.”

I’m sorry, WHAT!?

You shoved him away, yelling and cursing his ridiculous, unbelievable ego. He looked at you in shock as you put your palms against his firm chest and pushed him again. And again. And again.

This motherfucker hurts me and now tells me that pain was because his fucking ego was too sensitive to not do a dare!?

“You’re the biggest, most annoying, frustrating, immature… jackass I’ve ever met in my life! AND I’VE MET A LOT OF JACKASSES!”

As you barely controlled yourself not to wring the living daylights out of him, you noticed his head jerk to the side suddenly. His silver earrings flashed in the morning light. Then, he had the nerve to shush you.

Maybe, a nice, early morning strangulation won’t be a bad way to start the day.

Fuming, you clenched your hands and was about to start going off again, but he whipped his head back to you in alarm and quickly smacked a hand over your mouth while gripping your upper arm in his other. You struggled against him and proceeded to scream vulgarities at him through his palm.

“Y/N. Shut. Up,” he whispered in a dark, serious tone.

And shut up you did. You glared at him with mad, yet perplexed eyes as you breathed heavily into his hand.

He held your gaze as his head tilted to the side once more. As if he was listening for something.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw something shine brightly and briefly and you yelped as Jungkook forcefully yanked you down to the ground. You hit the rocky beach with a harsh grunt and above your heads, you glimpsed a decently sized dagger fly though the air where your bodies had just been. You strained your neck to follow its path and watched as it clattered against a lone rock and ricocheted out of sight.

What the fuck!?

Next, came a small party of three unknown Saeni charging through the trees at you from the opposite side of the creek. Cursing, Jungkook rolled into a crouch while throwing a rock at one of them. The projectile hit the male dead in the face, causing him to fall to the side. Instinctively, you also rose to a crouch and reached over your shoulder for an arrow but froze when you remembered you left your bow and quiver at camp.

Shit.

You picked up a rock too, and readied to throw it, but realized it was completely unnecessary. Jungkook had already snapped the neck of the first Saeni who reached him, his teeth gritted in anger as he did so. As the now dead female collapsed, he snatched up the knife at her waist and spun once before throwing it at the final opponent. The blade rotated once in the air and embedded itself into the skull of its target.

Whistling at his display of abilities, you tossed the rock aside and fully stood. “Are they-”

He nodded. “Draikensu.”

Double shit.

He leaned down to wrench out the blade from the Saeni’s face, blood erupting out and drenching the draikensu’s head once it was removed. With a clenched jaw, he made his way over to the male he had hit with a rock, but before Jungkook was able to reach him, more draikensu began pouring out from the tree line across from you.

“Oh, fuck. Run!” He swiveled and began coming back to you as he yelled. “Go! Go! Go!”

With a curse, you turned and began sprinting.

The two of you crashed through the forest. Branches whipping against your face, thorns scratching against your skin and clothes, and frenzied energy thrumming through your veins. Jungkook was behind you, urging you to move faster as arrows began thumping into trees and whistling past your heads. Sucking in air, you did just that. You ran and ran and ran. Away from the draikensu. Toward camp and your weapons. Into the rising sun and what you were sure would be a bloody, death-bringing day.

previous [14] — next [16]

[thesunnyshow]

Name: reya

Writing Blog URL(s): @chu-ni

Age: 19

Nationality: african-british

Languages: english, swahili, korean

Star Sign: libra

MBTI: enfp/entp (it always changes lol)

Favorite color: purple!

Favorite food: i really love chicken burgers

Favorite movie: princess and the frog

Favorite ice cream flavor: vanilla!!

Favorite animal: elephants

Go-to karaoke song: fancy - twice

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? caramel frappe with whipped cream, in general i prefer tea though

Dream job (whether you have a job or not)? secretary general at the UN….or an author

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? making anyone agree with me and do what i want them to do

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? ancient egypt!!

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you?.....no.

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? neither if i could lmfao but i’d go for 100 chicken sized horses

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? the nerd who’s actually really pretty after she gets a cool makeover 

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? im not sure about aliens, but i definitely believe in ghosts and spirits.

What are some small things that make your day better? when i can have moments to myself to enjoy my own company. or when someone asks me what i want to eat and they bring it for me 🥺

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? uhm…...probably the fact that i write fanfiction lol..but outside of that! i sing in the shower. and i talk to myself a lot.

What fandom(s) do you write for? nct dream currently, but in the future i want to expand to other groups!

When did you post your first piece? 17th of June 2018.

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? i can never write just one genre. predominantly i write fluff with a dash of angst for spice simply because i love a story that has an issue and then having that issue be resolved for a happy ending. when i started my blog i was 17, and so i said i wouldn't write smut. now that i'm older im feeling more and more comfortable writing suggestive content at the very LEAST.. so maybe in the future i might write smut, who knows? i like writing fluff because i like making people feel good, but i like adding angst to it because i feel like the contrast between the two is very *chefs kiss* to me.

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? i only write x readers!

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr? i first got tumblr when i was 13 years old and i was a fresh kpop fan lmfao. i wanted somewhere that shared my interests. of course i discovered x reader fics on here and i was in awe, i guess of how much power writers had in contributing to fandom content and keeping readers satiated. i’d always loved to write and so i’d always wanted to start my own writing blog, and for 2 years i did write for other blogs! it wasnt until 2018 that i finally took the leap and decided to start my own, because i wanted to impact people's emotions and take them on a journey through my writing.

What inspires you to write? what inspires me….teen movies, music!! music is a big one for me, and also the books that i read. i also grew up playing otome games so the plots and writing from those influence my writing a lot.

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? i really enjoy writing royalty!aus as well as exes!aus. i love to do them cause they require me to build a world and with royalty aus specifically i love weaving together bits of political intrigue, or arranged marriages, etc. its so much fun!!

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? that if this world is too rough or too much, you can always escape from it. it might not be physical, but immersing yourself in a universe that's entirely different for a little while can help soothe you.

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? usually i try and take breaks. the problem with that is that my breaks can go on for longer than i’d like and im trying to fix that. so my other solution is to read read read!! read as much as i can, or go back to books that i loved. ask myself what i liked about the writing, what are some parts that i thought were amazing examples of good writing - i note them down then see if i can apply that to my own work. another thing i do is take a break from writing my longer, fleshed out works and write blurbs! blurbs are a great way for me to write but not feel like its tedious because i don't have to spend as much time on them and it gets me into the groove of writing without feeling stressed out.

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? my favourite piece of work is miscommunication. it took me months to write that, even after i lost all the work halfway through, and its the longest piece of work i have written so far, so its kinda like my baby. my most successful is candy jar. its also the work i owe my blog exposure to - it was the first piece i published, and it was also the first piece of writing i did in around 4 years.

Who is your favorite person to write about? i don't have much out for them, but i really enjoy exploring mark’s and jeno’s characters. they're people, but in my work i enjoy analysing them and judging how they’d act in different contexts.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? the only difference for me is that fanfiction (depending on the fandom) has some of the stuff fleshed out for you already, such as the world its in. if youre the type to write AUs then the only thing you already have is the characters - the planning, the writing, the drafting, and everything else is still the writer's responsibility. therefore there isn't much of a difference between the two for me.

What do you think makes a good story?  a good story, to me, is one that takes me on a journey. it could be any genre, but i like to feel immersed and connected to the characters and the world in it. also aside from the obvious, like good grammar, a good story feels natural to read. i don't feel like skim reading half of it.

What is your writing process like? my writing process consists of me getting inspiration - usually from a song, or a film or a book ive read or a game ive played - i note down my idea and who i want the story to be about, and then bullet point the whole story, with some snippets of particular dialogue i want the reader or the other person to say at certain scenes. i then open another document ( i have a writing app on my phone, called werdsmith, so i use that!) and set a word count goal i want to hit so i can track my progress and start writing the fic, with fleshed out language and exposition. when im done (usually after a couple weeks up to a few months, depends on the length of the plan) i read through it to fix any mistakes, then i transfer it to docs so i can read it again and italicise any areas i feel need it.

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? i...don't think so. mainly because the original fiction i read and would like to write for myself is predominantly fantasy, whereas the fanfic i write on my blog is usually non-idol, normal fics. 

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? im a SUCKER for enemies to lovers, royalty ofc, “and they were roommates”, and i think superhero aus are really cool but there isnt enough of them :( idol/you as member aus....not feeling her… also abo/werewolf/vampire aus….not feelin em

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? a LOT. a HUGE amount!! i said before how i like giving my readers somewhere where they can immerse themselves as an escape, even for a short while. hearing about how my work affected them, made them feel, makes me feel less insecure about what im writing and thus more confident to publish it.

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? i’d say reblogs. and also putting out more content. when i first uploaded candy jar i went to my one of my favourite writers (jaeminlore) and asked her if she'd be okay with reading it and giving feedback. to my surprise she loved it and her reblogging it to all her followers is literally what gave me a bunch of followers all of a sudden who loved what i’d written. to keep that momentum i created more and more content, and while i haven't uploaded as often as i've wanted to or written as much as i’d wanted to, i can say i have a good amount of work on my masterlist for people who are looking for more to read.

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? 100%. fanfic has an unfair reputation for just having bad writing and cringey fics (and i feel like this is because of the way society views the demographics who predominantly consume and create it), when in reality i feel like those who write fanfiction are extremely talented and selfless people. they're on the internet creating content for free for people to enjoy and like any other work of art they're putting time and effort into it. i think it should be respected. any form of art is going to have its good and bad sides.

Do you think art can be a medium for change? hmmm….yes. i feel it can be a way to reflect the thoughts of people and also be a way to inspire people to do more.

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? sometimes. sometimes i feel like i'm forcing myself to write because i feel like if i don't then people will forget about me or they’ll forget about my blog. while what i choose to write about is for me, i feel like the speed of my writing and what im writing isn't to the quality i want it to be cause i feel like i gotta get it out for people to read.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? i've never felt that way!

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? only 2 of my friends know, and i only told them like. a week ago!

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? i wish you guys would message me more! i'm quite a sociable person, and i’d love to have regular anons who talk to me 👉🏽👈🏽

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? i think one common thing amongst all writers is that we write what we want to read. so don't feel like nobody's gonna read your work, cause somebody will. you gotta act like your work is top tier even if someone says it isn't - always write the best you can, and just do it! like don't even give yourself time to overthink it, write that fic, make it look pretty, upload it onto tumblr and do not be afraid to ask your favourite fic writers to read your work once its up!! i’d be happy to read and give feedback for any fic writers as well so don't feel afraid! 

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? ive been on here for 7 years….i grew up on this site lmfao. but i don't think i regret joining tumblr once.

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? shes not very active anymore and i miss her very much but user hyuck-s was so supportive and i love her!!

Pick a quote to end your interview with:

she believed she could, so she did.

BONUS ROUND: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL 

[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

Worm 2.2 - In which we browse a superhero forum

The run had helped to wake me up, as did the hot shower and a cup of the coffee my dad had left in the pot.  Even so, the fatigue didn’t help the feeling of disorientation over just how normal the day seemed as I made my way to school.  Just a matter of hours ago, I had been in a life and death fight, I had even met Armsmaster.  Now it was a day like any other.

Yeah, I’d be suprised if you pay any attention to anything they teach at school today. The feeling of coming back to normality and routine after that must be something else

I felt a bit nervous as I got to homeroom.  Having basically skipped two classes the previous Friday, failing to turn in a major assignment, I figured that Mrs. Knott probably knew already.  I didn’t feel relieved when Mrs. Knott glanced up at me and gave a tight smile before turning her attention back to her computer.  That just meant the humiliation would be redoubled if and when class was interrupted by someone coming down from the office.  A part of me just wanted to miss this class too, just to avoid the potential humiliation and avoid drawing attention.

Ugh, falling out of schedule and/or failing classes because of the bullying is rough as hell. Keeping your grades acceptable can be used as escapism from your own thoughts in these kinds of situations and if that starts falling apart too... what’s keeping you in school at all?

If you start missing classes it can quickly slowball into full-on not attending class at all.

All in all, I felt anxious as I made my way to my computer, which kind of sucked because Computer class was one of the few parts of the school day I didn’t usually dread.  For one thing, it was the one class in which I was doing well.  More to the point, neither Madison, Sophia nor Emma were in this class, though some of their friends were.  Those girls didn’t usually feel the need to harass me without the trio around, and I was further removed from them because I was in the advanced stream of the class.  A good three quarters of the people in the room were computer illiterate, being from families that didn’t have the money for computers or families that didn’t have much interest in the things, so they practiced typing without looking at the keyboard and had lessons in using search engines.  By contrast, I was in the group that was learning some basic programming and spreadsheets.  It didn’t do a lot for my already geeky reputation, but I could deal.

Oh interesting that Taylor’s favourite class is Computer Science! I am studying to be a Software Engineer myself! Nice!

It’s good that those three aren’t in every class, so you at least get some moments of respite from their bullshit. That’s good.

We never had the basic kind of keyboard-training classes and all that. Is computer science taught early in America? Here we basically don’t learn anything until we are like 16 or 17 at the very least.

Mrs. Knott was an alright teacher, if not the most hands on; she was usually content to give us advanced students an in-class assignment and then focus on the more rambunctious majority for the rest of the class. This suited me just fine – I usually wrapped up the assignment in a half hour, leaving me an hour to use as I saw fit.  I had been recalling and going over the events of the previous night during my morning run, and the first thing that I did when the ancient desktop finished its agonizing load process was to start digging for information.

Lucky you! Assignments stress me out a lot, generally. I wish I could just do them easy-peasy like that. Although I suspect Taylor’s are much simpler, just because of her age and school education vs college.

The go-to place for news and discussion on capes was Parahumans Online. The front page had constant updates on recent, international news featuring capes.  From there, I could go to the wiki, where there was information on individual capes, groups and events, or to the message boards, which broke down into nearly a hundred sub-boards, for specific cities and capes.  I opened the wiki in one tab, then found and opened the message board for Brockton Bay in another.

Ok I love this. I love this a lot.

This is one of the most realistic things the serial has done so far. Also one of the most fun. If superheroes were real, you bet your ass there would be forums about them, probably more than one. With hourly threads and a lot of speculation and debate.

I imagine there would be like a serious one with strict rules for talking about world events relating to capes, like if it was the news. Cause they aren’t just a tv show or a videogame, they have a real impact in the daily lives of people everywhere.

There would also be whole fanclubs or communities for each super-group and for each city/country, where they talk about the popularity, newcomers, fights, etc...

I can also see entire pages dedicated to romantic relationships or rumors, fanarts, conspiracies, versus battles (who would win?) etc....

Basically, supers being real would absolutely reshape the whole internet forever.

I had the sense that either Tattletale or Grue were the leader of the group I had run into.  Turning my attention to Tattletale, I searched the wiki.  The result I got was disappointingly short, starting with a header reading “This article is a stub.  Be a hero and help us expand it.”  There was a one sentence blurb on how she was a alleged villain active in Brockton Bay, with a single blurry picture.  The only new information for me was that her costume was lavender.  A search of the message boards turned up absolutely nothing.  There wasn’t even a hint as to what her power was.

Grue seemed the one calling the shots, but I could also see Tattletale as a short of “shadow leader” type, yeah...

Tattletale has almost nothing about her in her page! That’s very interesting. So she’s very secretive or at least good at hiding information about herself...

Heh, ironic that the Tattletale is the one who keeps secrets. I like the name she picked.

I looked up Grue.  There was actually information about him, but nothing detailed or definitive.  The wiki stated he had been active for nearly three years, dealing in petty crimes such as robbing small stores and doing some work as an enforcer for those who wanted a little superpowered muscle along for a job.  Recently, he had turned to higher scale crime, including corporate theft and robbing a casino, together with his new team.  His power was listed as darkness generation in the sidebar under his picture.  The picture seemed crisp enough, but the focus of it, Grue, was just a blurry black silhouette in the center.

So Grue is an experienced criminal! Somewhat at least. Three years of experience is certainly better than one night!

He was doing low-level crimes until recently, when he adquired his new team, and they seem to be doing big heists now! How did Grue find the others? Seems like a pretty big increase in notoriety and strength in a short time!

Darkness generation....that could potentially be very cool. I wonder if it can be used offensively, like fire with Lung. I always imagine the darkness element (when used as blasts the same way they use fire, in some media) to feel like being devoured by some parasite, like if darkness ravages and devours you. Light on the other hand just scours and obliterates everything it touches. At least those are my headcanons for the more esoteric elements.

I searched for Bitch, next.  No results.  I did another search for her more official title, Hellhound, and got a wealth of information.  Rachel Lindt had never made any real attempt to hide her identity.  She had apparently been homeless through most of her criminal career, just living on the streets and moving on whenever police or a cape came after her.  The sightings and encounters with the homeless girl ended around a year ago – I figured that was when she joined forces with Grue, Tattletale and Regent.  The picture in the sidebar was taken from surveillance camera footage – an unmasked, dark haired girl who I wouldn’t have called pretty.  She had a squarish, blunt-featured face with thick eyebrows.  She was riding atop one of her monstrous ‘dogs’ like a jockey rides a horse, down the middle lane of a street.

Huh, so Bitch, or Rachel, had never had a secret identity or a secret life! Seems like her cape and normal life are one and the same! She was homeless and running from one place to another, along with her giant eldritch dogs.

I assume they took her into the group and she prefers it to being alone and without a place to be.

According to the wiki entry, her powers manifested when she was fourteen, followed almost immediately by her demolishing the foster home she had been living in, injuring her foster mother and two other foster children in the process.  This was followed by a two year series of skirmishes and retreats across Maine as various heroes and teams tried to apprehend her, and she either defeated them or successfully evaded capture.  She had no powers that would have made her any stronger or faster than the average Jane, but she was apparently able to turn ordinary dogs into the creatures I had seen on the rooftop.  Monsters the size of a car, all muscle, bone, fang and claw.  A red box near the bottom of the page read, “Rachel Lindt has a public identity, but is known to be particularly hostile, antisocial and violent.  If recognized, do not approach or provoke.  Leave the area and notify authorities as to her last known location.”  At the very bottom of the page was a list of links that were related to her:  two fansites and a news article relating to her early activities.  A search of the message boards turned up too many results, leaving me unable to sift through the crap, the arguments, the speculation and the villain worship to find any genuine morsels of information.  If nothing else, she was notorious.  I sighed and moved on, making a mental note to do more investigation when I had the time.

Damn, can she control her powers all that well? Or at least, at that time? Cause that sounds to me like the type of situation where her newly-found powers go out of control and cause problems.

She had a foster-home, but then had to run away from the people she hurt ,the authorities, heroes and everyone! And she lived two years like that! No wonder she is antisocial now, jesus.

Also she can apparently turn any dog into those boney creatures of death. Wow. Depending on where she is, she could be incredibly powerful in a fight!

She also seems to be the most famous one so far, having even online admirers and fansites about her exploits. Interesting. She seems to be dangerous though, as she is said to be violent to everyone she meets.

The last member of the group was Regent.  Given what Armsmaster had said about the guy being low profile, I didn’t expect to find much.  I was surprised to find less than that.  Nothing.  My search on the wiki turned up only a default response, “There are no results matching this query.  32 unique IP addresses have searched the Parahumans.net Wiki for ‘Regent’ in 2011.  Would you like to create the page?”  The message board didn’t turn up anything else.  I even did a search for alternate spellings of his name, such as Regence and Recant, in case I had heard it wrong.  Nothing turned up.

Woah, if Tattletale had little to no information, this guy is straight-up a nonentity! Absolutely hidden from the public eye!

We don’t even know his powers, story or place within the group. How fascinating.

If my mood had been on the sour side as I got to homeroom, the dead ends only made it worse.  I turned my attention to the in-class assignment, making a working calculator in Visual Basic, but it was too trivial to distract me.  The work from Thursday and Friday had already given us the tools to do the job, so it was really just busywork.  I didn’t mind learning stuff, but work for the sake of doing work was annoying.  I did the bare minimum, checked it for any bugs, moved the file to the ‘completed work’ folder and returned to surfing the web.  All in all, the work barely took fifteen minutes.

You at least get experience and speed in doing these kinds of things! And calculators can be fun to program!

Also yeah, having nothing to do and being able to use the internet the rest of the class is pretty sweet!

I looked up Lung on the wiki, which I had done often enough before, as part of my research and preparation for being a superhero.  I’d wanted to be sure I knew who prominent local villains were and what they could do.  The search for ‘Lung’ redirected to a catch-all page on his gang, the ABB, with quite a bit of detailed information.  The information on Lung’s powers was pretty in line with my own experience, though there was no mention of the super-hearing or him being fireproof.  I debated adding it, but decided against it.  There were security concerns with my submission being tracked back to Winslow High, and then to me.  I figured it would probably be deleted as unsupported speculation, anyways.

They are really underselling Lung huh. No wonder Taylor was suprised about how OP he could be! And yeah better not to edit anything in a trackable device, or without any solid source for that matter.

The section beneath the description of Lung and his powers covered his subordinates.  He was estimated to have forty or fifty thugs working for him across Brockton Bay, largely drawn from the ranks of Asian youth.   It was pretty unconventional for a gang to include members of the variety of nationalities that the ABB did, but Lung had made it a mission to conquer and absorb every gang with Asian members and many without.  Once he had the manpower he needed, the non-Asian gangs were cannibalized for assets, their members discarded.  Even though there were no more major gangs in the east end of town to absorb, he was still recruiting zealously.  His method, now, was to go after anyone older than twelve and younger than sixty.  It didn’t matter if you were a gang member or not.  If you were Asian and you lived in Brockton Bay, Lung and his people expected you to either join or to pay tribute one way or another.  There had been local news reports on it, newspaper articles, and I could remember seeing signs in the guidance counselor’s office detailing where people who were targeted in this way could go for help.

He seemed to want to grow quickly by recruiting every asian person in Brockton Bay, cape or not! And if you were Asian, you would have heard of his band and their threats or extortion.

You are partly responsible for the capture of one mayor threat to the safety of the citizens of Brockton Bay. You did great last night, Taylor!

Lung’s lieutenants were listed as Oni Lee and Bakuda.  I already had some general knowledge about Oni Lee, but I was intrigued to see there were recent updates to his wiki entry.  There were specific details on his powers:  He could teleport, but when he did so, he didn’t disappear.  As he teleported, his original self, for lack of a better term, would stay where it was and remain active for five to ten seconds before disintegrating into a cloud of carbon ash.  Essentially, he could create another version of himself anywhere nearby, while the old version could stick around long enough to distract or attack you.  If that wasn’t scary enough, there was an report of him holding a grenade in his hand as he repeatedly duplicated himself, with his short lived duplicates acting as suicide bombers.  Topping it all off, Oni Lee’s wiki page  had a similar red warning box to the one that Bitch/Hellhound had on hers, minus the bit about his public identity.  From what they knew about him, authorities had seen fit to note him a sociopath.  The warning covered the same essential elements: exceedingly violent, dangerous to approach, should not be provoked, and so on.  I glanced at his picture.  His costume consisted of a black bodysuit with a black bandoleer and belt for his knives, guns and grenades.  The only color on him was an ornate Japanese-style demon mask, crimson with two green stripes down either side.  Except for the mask, his costume gave off the distinct impression of a ninja, which just added weight to the notion that this was a guy who could and would slide a knife between your ribs.

Oni Lee sounds like a mayor fucking threat! The ability to teleport-shadow clone yourself multiple times to get to a thousand places quickly AND leave behind copies who could stab, shoot you or even blow themselves up seems really really dangerous.

And he’s a sociopath to boot! You were lucky he wasn’t there last night, he could have probably just teleported to the roof and knifed you.

Bakuda was a new entry, added to the ABB wiki page just ten days ago. The picture only showed her from the shoulders up, a girl with straight black hair, large opaque goggles over her eyes and a metal mask with a gas mask styled filter covering the lower half of her face.  A braided cord of black, yellow and green wires looped over one of her shoulders. I couldn’t pinpoint her ethnicity with the mask and goggles, and her age wasn’t any easier to figure out.

This was the bomb expert, right?

She looks menacing with that setup, which is probably true! Her powers also sounds really worrying!

The wiki had a lot of the same details Armsmaster had mentioned to me.   Bakuda had essentially held a university ransom and she did it with her superhuman ability to design and fabricate high tech bombs.  There was a link to a video titled ‘Bomb Threat @ Cornell’, but I didn’t think it wise to play it in school, especially without headphones.  I made a mental note to check it out when I got home.

Damn, she was basically a domestic terrorist back then!

It’s probably not a good idea to play a bomb threat at a school IN a school, you’re right.

The next thing that caught my eye was the section heading titled ‘Defeats and Captures’.  I scrolled down to read it.  According to the wiki, Lung had apparently suffered a number of minor defeats at the hands of various teams, ranging from the Guild to the local teams of New Wave, the Wards and the Protectorate, but consistently managed to evade capture until last night.  A blurb read, ‘ Armsmaster successfully ambushed and defeated the leader of the ABB, who was weakened from a recent encounter with a rival gang.  Lung was taken to the PHQ for holding until the villain’s trial by teleconference.  Given Lung’s extensive and well documented criminal history, it is expected he will face imprisonment in the Birdcage should he be found guilty at trial.’

Huh, so he WAS bested before! Just not captured! He always evaded prison, until now thanks to Taylor and co.!

Or thanks only to Armsmaster, according to the official story, which to be fair, is what they agreed upon.

The birdcage? What is that, some sort of super-prison like The Raft, Blackgate, Impel Down in One Piece...

Is that place safe? Cause prisons and jail breaks are pretty synonymous in comics

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  I wasn’t sure what to think.  By all rights, I should have been angry that Armsmaster took the credit for the fight that could have cost me my life.  Instead, I felt a building excitement.  I felt like shaking the shoulder of the guy sitting next to me and point to the screen, saying, “Me, I made that possible!  Me!”

Hehe. Excited and happy Taylor is just the best.

With a renewed enthusiasm, I switched tabs to the message board and began looking to see what people were saying about it.  A post by a fan or minion of Lung threatened violence against Armsmaster.  There was a request by someone asking for more information on the fight.  I was given pause by one post that asked whether Bakuda could or would use a large scale bomb and the threat of potentially thousands or hundreds of thousands dead, to ransom Lung back.

Eeash, seems Arms was right about the consequences of this!

That Bakuda threat is really scary

I tried to put that out of my mind.  If it happened, it would be the responsibility of heroes better and more experienced than I.

True, you can’t carry everything on your shoulders.

It struck me that there was one person I hadn’t looked for.  Myself.  I opened up the advanced search page for the Parahumans.net message board and did a search for multiple terms.  I included insect, spider, swarm, bug, plague, and a mess of other terms that had struck me when I had been trying to brainstorm a good hero name.  I narrowed the timeframe of posts to search for posts made within the past 12 hours and hit Search.

Huh, I don’t think you would find that much honestly. I mean, fight aside, you were pretty stealthy on your way in, and the only people who directly met you are the fire dragon currently going to jail, a couple of mooks without their boss, a group of very cryptic teenage villains and the superhero who was going to keep you hidden sooo yeah.

Also kinda hard to search for yourself without having decided on a name yet!

My efforts turned up two posts.  One referred to a villain called Pestilence, active in the UK.  Apparently Pestilence was one of the people who could use ‘magic’.  That is, he was if you believed magic was real, and not just some convoluted or deluded interpretation of a given set of powers.

Pestilence sounds awesome as an insect-power name. One of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse!

Huh, so there are powers that seem more “magical” and others that are more “technological”. Nice.

The second post was in the ‘Connections’ section of the message board, where rescued damsels left their contact information for their dashing heroes, where conventions and fan gatherings were organized and where people posted job offers for capes and the cape-obsessed.  Most were cryptic or vague, referring to stuff only the people in question would know.

That is a nice system to have, to contact people anonymously.

The message was titled, simply, “Bug”

Oh

Well damn, seems someone did notice you

I clicked it and waited impatiently for the outdated system and overloaded school modem to load up the page.  What I got was brief.

Subject: Bug

Owe you one.  Would like to repay the favor.  Meet?

Send a message,

Tt.

OH

IT’S TATTLETALE.

IT’S THE TEENAGE VILLAINS REACHING OUT TO HER AFTER THE LAST FIGHT.

This opens up so many possibilites oh my god

The post was followed by two pages of people commenting.  Three people suggested it was something important, while a half dozen more people decried them as tinfoil hats, Parahumans.net’s term for conspiracy theorists.

Hah! I imagine a message like that would cause speculation even in OUR reality! Considering Taylor’s the protag, those tinfoil hats may be on to something there...

It was meaningful, though.  I couldn’t interpret it any other way; Tattletale had found a way to get in contact with me.

She sure has!

So now both Arms and Tattletale have contacted her, both with offers maybe! Damn, she sure got popular after that one night!

Oh, oooh

What if they offer her to join them?

And what if she accepts?

Oh god the story could go in a wildly different direction now. I hadn’t even considered that in my list of possibilities!

It seems at odd with her desire to be a hero, so maybe not.... But what if?

I’m liking where this is going.