#i was okay during the code i was glad i could be helpful i just gave out flushes lol

[bo0zey]

my manager has kids:(😕 but i have a new resident doctor crush soooo;)😳

[daisyvisions]

Change Your Mind - (l.jy)

➺ Pairing: fboy best friend!Juyeon x afab!reader

➺ Summary: You befriend your college’s resident fuckboy who’s been eager to get with you since day one. But after a rollercoaster of emotions between your friendship, he wants you more than you could ever imagine.

➺ Word Count: 4k (wow who is she?!)

➺ Warnings: Smut (18+, minors DNI), friends to lovers, mentions of partying, drinking alcohol, fuckboy tendencies (flirting, hookups, ghosting), lying to reader (at first), lots of kissing and making out, dry humping, oral (f! receiving), slight handjob and masturbation, unprotected sex (but he pulls out), aftercare, pet names (sweetheart, baby), a lovesick Juyeon

➺ A/N: I’m officially back from my break! Really wanted to take some time off and focus on things irl, can’t really say if the break helped bcos I was still stressed haha but anyway!This took me a while to finish up, felt incredibly rusty writing again but glad I was still able to do it 😭 Considering this as my late birthday greeting for Juyeon. Hope you enjoy this piece! Proofread once. Let me know if I missed anything!

➺ Network & Tag: @deoboyznet, and my girlies @aimeecarreros @snowflakewhispers @winterchimez

If anyone told you that you’d end up becoming best friends with one of the most sought out guys in your campus (and not to mention resident fuck boy), you would’ve laughed at their face. All your life you’ve tried to avoid befriending guys like Juyeon. A guy like him just generally gave you the ick.

You never understood how or why people would want to be friends with someone whose only objective is to get into girl’s pants and be praised for it. Not only that, but also playing with someone’s feelings and just dropping them at an instant was wrong on so many levels.

But here you are, lending him a helping hand while you two clean out his living room after throwing yet another one of his bi-weekly parties, which was usually code for “Please let me at least make out with someone tonight.”

It’s crazy how you consider him one of your bestest friends. In another world you both knew this friendship would never work out. You were both opposite of each other in so many ways!

So how did you even end up becoming friends with Juyeon?

Transferring to a different university in the middle of the semester was one of the worst things that could've happened to you. Not only did you have to adjust to a new set of lesson plans and navigate your way around campus, but you also had to sit alone during lunch since practically everyone already knew each other from freshman year and had their own set of cliques.

During your first week, you thought you could at least find a table you could sit with just by going up to the group you vibed with the most and ask politely. But you decided to just sit by yourself instead and avoid any embarrassing introductions. You refused to be known as the weird new girl (which you already felt like one to begin with.)

You tried to fight off the tears emerging from the corners of your eyes as you sat quietly in the corner of the cafeteria, slowly poking the food on your tray as you try to drown out the noise around you.

You wish you didn’t have to transfer and leave everything and everyone you knew behind. Yes, you can still call or text your friends, but you knew it was different than actually being with them on campus.

You were convinced you’d be alone for the rest of your years in college. No friends to hang out, laugh, or cry with. No one to go through the same struggles as you. No one to tell you that everything was going to be okay. You were definitely on your own until-

“Hey.” The voice suddenly snapping you out of your self-loathing as you look up and see probably one of the most handsome men you have ever seen in your life.

The way his eyes held so much love, how his smile could light up anyone’s day, and how his aura was something you never felt with anyone before. He was practically radiating sunshine to your already gloomy day. It almost felt too good to be true… Because what the hell was he doing here in front of you?

“…Hi?” You sit up straight as you try to subtly dab off the tears in your eyes.

“I couldn't help but notice you sitting here all alone.” The man gently says.

Great, the first thing he notices about you is how much of a loser you are. But before you could even say anything back he continues on.

“Would you like to come sit with us? We have some space for you at our table.” He slowly smiles at you. You hesitated at first, confused by the whole situation but quickly made up your mind.

“Uh… yeah, sure! If it’s not any trouble.” You shyly respond.

“Of course not! Can’t let a pretty thing like you be all alone on her first week here right?” He holds out his hand to you.

“How did you-”

“I’m Juyeon.” He interrupts you again. You tell him your name, your cheeks slowly warming up as your hand intertwines with his as he looks deeply into your eyes.

“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” He smirks. You felt the butterflies raging within your stomach.

“So, let’s go?” He waits for your response, but you shyly nod your head instead as proper words get caught up in your throat. Grabbing his hand as you stand up and follow his lead.

You try not to make a fool out of yourself as you feel Juyeon’s hand rest on your lower back as you guides you through the sea of people. As you two are walking towards his table he leans close to your ear and whispers,

“We’re gonna be best friends, I promise.”

And ever since that day Juyeon really did keep his promise. He helped you catch up with some of the lesson plans you had, guided you around school, and always made sure to leave a space for you beside him during lunch.

You tried to wrap your brain around the idea of how someone like Juyeon just randomly entered your life and swept you off your feet. At first you felt like you were on cloud nine getting the most attention and almost boyfriend-like treatment from him. But as the weeks went by you soon discover that his reputation actually preceded him more than you thought.

You see, it was no secret that Juyeon was somewhat of a playboy. Well, somewhat was an understatement. During the first few weeks since you became friends he would walk you to class almost every time. In those moments you couldn’t understand why people would give you such weird looks or whisper to each other whenever you two would pass by.

Maybe it was because you stuck out like a sore thumb as the new girl? You decided not to mind it for a while, pushing down the thought that you were just overthinking all of this… that is until you accidentally learned about his reputation and the real reason why he approached you that day.

It was an accident. You were never meant to find out anything about Juyeon. But during a party that he brought you to, a certain loosed-lip drunk friend (Eric) decided to spill everything to you, down to every letter and detail imaginable.

To be honest, it didn’t bother you when you found out that Juyeon was indeed a fuck boy. You saw the signs as the weeks passed by.

The way he would flirt with someone while waiting for you to finish class, how the notifications on his phone would show a name of a different girl every week, and even the subtle touches he would leave on you which were definitely not considered friendly but not perverted either. What bothered you the most was finding out the reason why he even wanted to be friends with you.

“He’s been really working up to have his way with you, you know? And I mean who could blame him? Have you seen yourself? You’re so fucking hot-” Eric rambles on to you as he tries to lean his body against the wall to keep himself upright, slowly inching his way closer to you. You felt your blood boil in that moment, completely ignoring Eric’s advances.

How could Juyeon do this to you? Even after everything you shared with him about your life, your struggles, your secrets too? And to think you were starting to feel like he could be a really great friend to you. But this? Hell no. You were not about to let some handsome sleazy guy use you like that. Not in this or any lifetime.

You nearly crush the plastic red cup in your hand before storming out of the house, intentionally pushing past Juyeon’s shoulder in the way as he tries to approach you with the most concerned look you had ever seen on his face.

He ran after you that night. He even dropped on his knees begging for forgiveness in front of a crowd of drunk college people too. Over the top sure, but somehow you knew his apology wasn’t just a one and done thing.

And after the humiliating lecture you gave him as well as the list of promises he had said he will be doing in order to make up for his mistakes, you decided to give him another chance.

In return of accepting his apology, you offered to help him get out of his fuck boy tendencies and be his “guardian angel”. Juyeon was reluctant of the idea at first because it would mean he couldn’t be free to do as he pleased but he eventually gave in. He had to because well… He did owe you a lot for lying to you in the first place.

Somewhere in your mind you knew this could turn out to be a bad idea. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, or however the saying goes. But Juyeon was different.

You knew somewhere in that deep conceited mind of his there was a version of him that was actually a good guy. A guy that can actually learn how to not fool around and maybe one day, find someone worth changing for.

You can tell it was a struggle for him at the beginning. But eventually he started to lessen the flirting, the hookups, the ghosting, and more.

Gone were the days where Juyeon had a line of women wrapped around his fingers (because they were too many of them to count). Dating was still a thing for him, but he had said and even showed you that he would take them seriously and not just move onto the next one as easily as he did before.

Eventually you realized over time that Juyeon turning over a new leaf was also becoming a struggle for you especially at parties when he would come up to you nearly drunk out of his mind, his subconscious would revert back to his old habits and he would act them all out on you.

His hands subtly snaking around your hips, your waist, how he would brush the hair off your neck and leave a warm kiss on shoulder. The way he would smile at you like a lovesick fool, never leaving your side as he attempts to drop his corny pickup lines.

Or the way he would jokingly confess how badly he wanted to kiss you. You knew he wasn’t in the right state of mind, that he was just being his old self. But it really did confuse you because sometimes it felt all too real.

Now you understood why someone could fall so easily for Juyeon. It was second nature to him.

You tried so hard not to give into his appetite especially in those moments. But it was becoming difficult each time since you the crush you had on him from the first day you met was screaming to be set free, desperate to overtake your heart and soul and just allow him to do as he pleased, no matter the consequences.

The many “what-if’s” that crossed your mind when you were alone in your room at night had plagued you constantly. Your walls were starting to crack and it was making you lose your self control around him.

“Maybe one little kiss wouldn’t hu-” No. You shouldn’t. The whole point of staying friends with Juyeon was to guide him to being a better person. It wasn’t about you or how you felt at all!

But… how bad could it be to become selfish just one moment in your life?

“Wow, I’m so tired.” Juyeon plops down on the sofa as you finish up collecting all the empty bottles and cups around the room. After the last bottle was thrown inside the trash bag you washed your hands and plopped right next to him.

You instantly close your eyes and let out a huge sigh of relief, showing the same exhaustion as he felt. As you stay silent and enjoy this quiet moment, Juyeon can’t help but just stare at you. He watches how your chest slowly moves up and down and tries to commit to memory the little details of your face.

You look so beautiful right now, he thinks to himself. As you always have since the first time he saw you. But he pushes down the feeling deep within his gut, having given up pursuing you a while back. But it doesn't hurt to look every once in a while right?

As soon as you open your eyes again, you catch him staring at you with a look in his eyes you can’t quite read. You chuckle at how silly he’s being and turn your body slightly to face him.

“What?” You ask.

“I-It’s nothing.” He shakes his head.

“C’mon, what is it? You can tell me.” You semi pout, and how can Juyeon say no to you?

“I was thinking-”

“Oh no he’s thinking.” You fake gasp and giggle as he playfully nudges your shoulder in return.

“It’s just- I still can’t believe how we ended up as friends despite everything, you know?” He smiles gently.

“Me too.” You respond, “To be honest, if I had known about your reputation before we met I would’ve rejected you that day.”

“Yeah?” Juyeon’s eyes grow wider as he scoots closer to you. He places his hand on your knee, making you become nervous all of a sudden. “And why is that?”

“W-well…” you feel a lump forming in your throat, the way his cologne invades your thoughts and has your head slowly spinning. Is it getting hot in here or is that just you?

“Because, guys like you just aren’t my type that’s all. And well-”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Juyeon interrupts you as he looks into your eyes. You nod in response.

“I haven't been with anyone else ever since that night you confronted me about my behavior.” He pauses for a moment. Dead silence filled the air as he waited for your response while you tried to grasp what he was trying to say.

“Huh? What about that girl you were with last week? Or the one you were texting?” You softly ask.

“I... I lied about them.” Juyeon looks away from you, afraid to look at your reaction. He looks up at the ceiling, pushing down any regret he’s feeling at the moment admitting the truth to you.

“But, why?” Your voice laced with concern.

“It felt wrong to be with those girls. To even think about kissing or touching them the way I would've back then, because…” He looks back at you, his hand on your knee now traveling up to your lap.

“…All I ever thought about in those moments was you.”

You felt your heart running a mile a minute. Eyes widening at his sudden confession.

“God you’re so beautiful it kills me inside.” he raises his hand and cups your jaw, thumb slowly stroking your cheek as his gaze turns into something more than just lust.

You subtly catch him quickly looking at your lips, your eyes nearly fluttering shut as he leans in closer. And with your lips just millimeters apart, he suddenly stops.

“But who am I kidding? I know you don’t see me that way-” Juyeon retracts his head, his face expressing a certain kind of sadness you can’t seem to properly label. You can feel your heart pounding in your ears as you watch him slowly slip away from you.

“Juyeon I-”

“It’s alright, I’m probably drunk. Just- forget what I said.” He shakes his head, but before he can attempt to get up from the couch, you grab his wrist. “No.” You sternly say.

Juyeon slowly sits back down on the couch and scoots really close to you, thighs pressing against one another. His eyes don’t leave yours, waiting for what you have to say or do.

“S-show me. Show me you mean it. Every word you just said.”

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to tell me that.” Juyeon lunges forward and wastes no time as he leans in to kiss you. His pillowy lips feeling like heaven as he guides your lips with his, both melting into one another like it was always meant to be.

As your arms start to wrap around his neck Juyeon pulls you in closer, his body slowly falls backwards onto the couch. His hands desperately grabbing your hips to make you straddle his lap.

Juyeon whimpers into your mouth as soon as his straining bulge rubs against your core. His member throbs harder as you begin to roll your hips subconsciously.

He’s fucked way too many times to count but for some reason, grinding yourself onto his crotch makes him feel like an untouched virgin all over again.

He swears he can burst inside his boxers any second now if you keep doing this to him, especially with the soft little moans coming out of your mouth that sound so sweet.

Juyeon pulls away from your lips and starts to kiss your neck, mapping out his kisses until he finds the spot that makes you melt into a puddle. He knows he’s found that spot as your moans become louder and drag on longer.

He starts to wrap his arms around your torso and without warning, he flips you both over, making you squeal as he giggles at your reaction. His eager hands waste no time to unbutton your jeans as he continues to leave marks on your neck. You slightly push him away as you feel him slowly sneaking one hand into your pants.

“Wait-” You grab his wrist before he goes any further.

“Do you want to stop?” He waits for your answer.

“No it’s not that.” Your eyes close for a moment as you catch your breath.

“It’s- well- It’s been a while I've since done this. I- I might not be good for you.” Juyeon senses the worry in your eyes. He leans down to kiss the space between your eyebrows, his free hand caressing your cheek.

“Oh sweetheart… you’ll always be too good for me.” He smiles down at you. “You sure you still want this?” You nod your head instantly.

“Use your words baby, need to hear you say it. Tell me what you want.” His hand travels to your neck and gives it a soft squeeze. The act alone is enough to get you dizzy again.

“Want you- want you to touch me, please.” You look up at him so innocently.

Juyeon leans in to kiss you passionately once more, his tongue immediately intertwining with yours. He helps you out of your pants in the process not wanting to pull his lips away from yours until he tugs the hem of your shift and lifts it off, leaving you wearing nothing but your underwear on.

His kisses start to travel oh so slowly from your lips all the way to your inner thighs. Juyeon can feel himself pre cumming at the deep inhale of your panty covered core. The wet patch luring him in to kiss it and practically mouth your covered folds.

You let out yet another ethereal moan as your fingers weave through his hair. His hands slowly pull the garter of your underwear down, throwing the damp material behind him as he continues on with his ministrations.

Juyeon wastes no time and grabs the back of your thighs and placing them over his shoulder, making sure that his face is locked onto your throbbing core. He kisses your folds before suddenly darting his warm wet tongue between them, reveling in the taste of you before flicking your sensitive bud. He looks up to watch your reactions, which motivate him to keep on going.

“P-please…” You whine as he hums and sucks on your clit. Juyeon doesn’t even need you to tell him what you want, by the sound of your moans and the way your thighs slowly squeeze his head he knows you’re getting closer to the edge.

He nearly lets go himself when you reach your high without warning, the sudden burst of your essence onto his lips as you moan out his name was something he never thought would feel so divine.

He pulls himself up and goes back to kissing you, tasting yourself on his tongue has your core throbbing for him once again. Your hands hastily helping him unbutton his own pants along with his boxers as he pulls them down and kicks them to the side.

Your mouth waters at the sight of his impressive length, your hand instantly wrapping around his member as you stroke him slowly. “Oh s-shit.” He growls into your ear.

“Want you inside me Juyeon, want you to fuck me.” You whisper in his ear. He grabs your wrist to stop, holding his own member as he aligns it with your entrance.

“Don’t want to fuck you-” He mumbles. You pull away from him, confused by his words. His other hand grabs the back of your neck as he pulls your face closer to his.

“-Want to make love to you.” He whispers into your mouth. And before you know it he’s pushing his entire cock inside you, bottoming out instantly. You both moan into each other’s mouths at the stretch. Juyeon moves his hips slowly as he starts to fuck you deeply, making sure you feel all of him going in and out of your pussy.

Juyeon wishes this moment could last forever, but the way your walls grip onto his member like a vice brings him closer to the edge faster than he had hoped. Especially with how you’re moaning into his mouth and wrapping your arms around his neck so tight? He was a goner.

He’s never fucked anyone like this before, and now he can’t imagine doing this with anyone else except you.

With every deep thrust, you feel yourself on the verge of cumming for the second time. Each stroke hitting that sweet spot in you has you reaching for the stars.

“Fuck Juyeon, you’re gonna make me cum again.” You whine as the wet sounds you're both making has you feeling dizzy.

“C’mon sweetheart, cum on my cock. God you can keep cumming on my cock as much as you want I don’t care.” His thrusts start to pick up the pace. “I’m yours forever.”

Those three words were enough to snap the coil within, breathing heavily as your walls flutter around his length. You’re so caught up in your own head you don’t realize Juyeon uttering a string of whimpers until you feel him quickly pull out his cock and blow his load all over your stomach.

The both of you take a moment to calm down from your highs before Juyeon gets up to each for the box of tissue on the coffee table. You watch him gently clean you up before he pulls his boxers back on to find your discarded underwear and also helps you put it back on.

He hovers above you before leaning down to leave small kisses around your face and on your lips. You caress his cheek slowly as he leans into your touch.

“Did you mean it? Everything you said?” You softly ask him.

“Down to every letter.” He responds. “But… I think you broke me.”

“Broke you? How?” You playfully scrunch your eyebrows at him.

“Don’t want to see myself with anyone else now.”

“Oh really?” You raise an eyebrow. “And how should I fix it then?” He smirks and kisses you again,

“Let me take you out on a date and we’ll call it even.”

[unlosts]

Short n' Sweet

1k words. Or; you're not as sneaky as you thought you were.

It’s not so bad sharing a cubicle with Spencer; he brings a new pile of books every day and he lets you borrow whichever you want once he’s done with them - which usually happens before lunch. He never complains when your stuff inevitably ends up over on his side of the desk because god forbid you attempt minimalism once in your life. But the only downside is that Spencer notices way more than he’s given credit for, and he’s not shy about pointing it out. 

In other words Spencer Reid knows something is up. 

The third time that morning you go up to the kitchenette to get a refill seems to be his breaking point. 

“Eighteen” 

“Excuse me?” You say startled, not really paying attention to him as you walk back to your desk. 

“Since last month the average time you get up from your desk went from ten times a day to eighteen, and at first I thought you weren't sleeping right and upped your caffeine intake but then I noticed you sometimes get up only to get someone else a file even though you never did that before, and even at lunch you seem to be out more often than not, so I thought maybe you were having trouble focusing, and if that’s the case then some simple modifications to your diet could really -” 

“Spence!” You cut him off before he could keep going, although the concern doe eyes he was still directing at you made your stomach tense in guilt. It was like being mean to a puppy. 

“I really appreciate you looking out for me but honestly I’ve just been feeling more restless, so I go out to jog at lunch and can’t really sit still” You said with a shrug of your shoulders and an apologetic smile “didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“That’s alright” he replied with a tight lipped smile “if you’re interested I could still send you the studies just in case they help” 

“Y'know what? Yeah that would be great” You said, and the negative karma from the lie and the absolute knowledge that you would not be reading those studies made you promise yourself that you would get him a super sugary caramel latte tomorrow morning to make up for it. 

Later that day at lunch the lie still weighed heavy on your mind. 

“I think Spence’s onto us” You said as Aaron slowly kissed a path up your neck to right behind your ear. Usually having his hands slowly caressing your back and his lips anywhere on you rendered your mind completely useless but today the fluorescent light of the file room was buzzing particularly loud in your ear. 

“Honey, can we please not talk about Spencer right now? I’m doing some of my best work right now” Aaron said, his voice muffled since he didn’t lift his lips from your neck, his breath tickling your skiing and chipping slowly away at your resolve. 

“I mean it, he said something about me getting up from my desk more which is Spencer code for you’re distracted which is actually code for everyone else noticed and since Spence sits right next to me he drew the short stick on having to talk to me about it” You finished out of breath, having worked yourself up about it during the two hours after your talk.  

Hotch sighed in defeat, slowly straightening up and looking at you.

“You got all of that from him asking if you’re having trouble focusing?” 

“Yes” 

“And now you think we should tell the rest of the team” He stated, quite sure by now of your answer. 

“Yes” 

“Alright” He agreed, squeezing your waist reassuringly. 

“Good” You said, your arms slowly going back perch on his shoulders “I mean it’s the least you could do since it’s like 70% your fault” 

“Okay how is it not 50/50 here?”

“It would be, except today you wore that dark green shirt I love” You said, playfully running your palms over his chest “so that’s 10% more and you rolled up your sleeves so that’s another 10, at the very least” 

“You’re absolutely right, It’s all on me” 

“Glad we straighten that out” 

“Now, we still have” he looked at his watch 25 minutes before we had to go back to work. Do you want to actually go get some food? There’s a nice place just around the corner from here” He said softly, sneaking a kiss right next to your lips. 

“Actually I believe you were in the middle of some of your best work so if you don’t mind I’d like to be the judge of that” 

“Excellent choice” 

Ten minutes after you got back a takeout order filled with sweet and sour pork got delivered right to your desk. As you caught yourself smiling at it like it was a flower bouquet you couldn’t help but feel Spencer's keen eyes on you letting you know that, indeed he knew something was up. 

[ssruis]

Saw someone say it wasn’t realistic that rui is now liked by more people & he should have to experience more social rejection and be fine with it for an arc because it’s “not realistic” & (extremely loud incorrect buzzer) uh oh! looks like someone failed their rui kamishiro classes.

A lot of Rui’s issues with connecting with others/being disliked by his peers had to do with people just not understanding him - assuming he was dangerous, that he was willing to put people in harms way, that he was just a crazy director. There was a massive gap in maturity, of course - if you put a super genius (autism coded) child in a group with average kids, he’s going to stick out. RMD shows this pretty clearly. He attempted to reach out through using shows as a common ground, which didn’t work.

Now that he’s in high school, and his peers are more mature, those who actually speak to him and spend time with him are able to recognize that he’s actually a good guy. Look at his relationship with Akito if you need an example. Additionally, through tsukasa & wxs Rui was able to realize he could connect to people outside of shows and he stopped acting very… indifferent to everyone around him, which also helped with making friends. The pandemonium crew were a special case because they all thought Rui’s knowledge/inventions/etc were cool from the get go, but other students… did not share that opinion. And still don’t.

There are a lot of examples I could bring up, but the 2nd card story in Rui’s “Brand New Style” 2* (TL Haruka’s penguins) is one of the best:

2nd year (greening) committee member A: Well, I’m still attached to the plants I took care of, so I thought I’d take care of them until I graduate.

3rd year committee member A: That’s understandable. Besides… ever since Kamishiro-kun joined us, it’s been much easier to take care of them.

2nd year committee member B: True, the flowerbeds aren’t getting vandalized anymore!

Rui: I don’t think I’ve really done much… but I’m honored to hear you say something like that.

3rd year committee member B: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to working with you again this year, Kamishiro!

Rui: (The atmosphere of this committee has changed a lot.)

Rui: (When I first joined, the looks everyone gave me weren’t exactly ones of “welcoming.”)

Rui: (Now, though, I seem to have gained their understanding. I’m grateful.)

Rui: (But…)

1st year committee members: Hey, isn’t that the senpai we heard those rumors about? The one from the weirdo one-two finish…

1st year committee members: That problem child who flies drones and conducts dangerous experiments in school? Why does he have to be in the Greening Committee…? I thought it was meant to be a peaceful committee…

Rui: (… Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.)

[rui is asked to be the one to explain greening committee’s responsibilities to the new 1st year members]

Rui: Would everyone please follow me?

1st year committee members: O… okay…

[scene change to outside]

1st year committee members: I never thought I’d end up getting involved with the senpai from the rumors like this…

1st year committee members: My friend’s older brother said to stay away from him because he’s supposed to be dangerous…

Rui: We’re here.

1st year committee members: O-okay!

Rui: All the flowerbeds facing this schoolyard are managed by the greening committee.

Rui: We’re in charge of daily watering duty, but we also work with the soil and plant new flowers during committee time.

Rui: The seeds for the flowers over there were planted a few months ago by the committee members. I’m glad to see the buds have finally sprouted.

1st year committee members: Hmm, you’ve been growing them from seeds, these flowers —

Rui: Ah, please be careful when you go to touch the flowers. It’s difficult to see, but there’s a net in front of the flowerbed.

1st year committee members: Woah, there is…! I didn’t notice at all, but there’s a net of threads like a spider web…!

1st year committee members: But what’s the purpose of that?

Rui: This flowerbed is positioned in quite a precarious place.

Rui: The flowers planted here were often crushed by stray balls from the tennis and softball clubs.

Rui: In order to protect the flowers from such accidents… but also to avoid spoiling the scenery, an almost invisible defense net was made.

1st year committee members: “Was made”… Did you make it, Kamishiro-senpai?

Rui: I did. I felt sorry for the flowers, you see.

1st year committee members: … Someone who’s known for dangerous experiments is working with the flowers…

Rui: … Oh dear. This flower seems to have withered.

1st year committee members: Ah… If it’s withered that much, I doubt it’ll grow anymore. You’ll be wasting the nutrients of other flowers, so it’s better to thin out—

Rui: … No.

Rui: I’ll put this flower in another planter and take care of it.

Rui: When it’s recovered, I’ll return it to this flowerbed. It should be together with everyone else, after all.

1st year committee members: Kamishiro-senpai…

1st year committee members: … I will do my best as a greening committee member.

1st year committee members: Senpai, please teach me a lot!

I think this card story is a microcosm of how he started to be more accepted at school - 1st years are scared of him, then they spend time with him and realize he’s not Some Insane Dangerous Monster but instead a nice guy (… when he’s not being a freak), and are like “oh ok he’s not a bad person we accept him.” Crucially: there are still other students who don’t accept him. & Rui has never really had an issue brushing this off, even if it’s obviously not something he enjoys experiencing.

I could talk at length on how I think this is actually a pretty realistic portrayal of what it’s like when you go from being really misunderstood (and therefore unliked) as a kid and then have an easier time making friends when you’re older, but I don’t think that’s necessary. I will say that I think if pjsk elected to instead constantly hammer in the fact that some people still don’t like rui it would kind of run against the story’s message of improving your life. We don’t need to dwell on sad things constantly in the Hopeful Hatsune Miku Game. But whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The thread also mentioned that Rui should have been more upset in BLF over not immediately succeeding, which I don’t have as much to say about beyond. No? It shouldn’t have? Why would it? Rui himself acknowledges that he’s not as well versed in the world of movie directing, and he’s always been eager to learn, which is a sign that he knows there are gaps in his knowledge. Similar to the rest of WxS, setbacks regarding his passions are something he views as an opportunity to improve.

Also. Rui *has* failed before as a director, just not on a massive scale. He mentions regretting type casting Tsukasa up until the torpe show, he mentions being at a loss for how to help Tsukasa in Phoenix, he talks about how his lack of singing knowledge was detrimental to Nene’s growth. I agree that it would be interesting to see him struggle in a big way with directing specifically, but it’s just not true that he’s never failed at anything ever wrt directing.

[jooheonspinky]

Trivia: Love

Characters: Namjoon x Female Reader

Genre: idol!au, angst, smut

Synopses: A few years ago, Y/N met Namjoon while at a movie theatre. Hitting it off, they come to an agreement wherein Y/N signs a contract that entails helping Namjoon “de-stress” whenever he is in the US, even having Y/N travel to several of BTS’ stops when they are on tour. But then the pandemic hit, and it has now been almost two years since they have seen each other in person. With BTS coming to LA for several concerts and interviews, will they be able to get back to how things were before, or have the two changed too much in that time apart? 

Warnings: set during the COVID pandemic, mentions of mask-wearing and COVID tests, fingering, unprotected sex (both get STI tested before visits, as per contract. Not specified in story, but Y/N takes birth control).

A/N: This story is inspired by a dream I had on August 26, 2018. You can find the dream here on my Kpop Dream Logs. It took me several years to flesh out and finish this story and I'm really excited to finally get this put out there. I really hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to like, reblog, and comment. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my work.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Part 1

Word Count: 4.5K

November 27, 2021

“Hi,” I offer the middle-aged woman behind the front desk as polite a smile as I can convey through my eyes. Trying to be as casual yet discreet as possible, I lower my voice and lean in as I state, “The room for Mr. Moonchild, please.”

The woman’s eyes narrow for just a millisecond before the friendly customer service expression settles back in place. Well, as far as I could tell, due to the navy blue face mask emblazoned with the hotel's logo on the right side covering half of her face.

“Name, please?” she probes, her tone neutral.

“Nabi Bomnal,” I provide the code name he had given me so long ago, my voice slightly muffled with my black medical-style face mask covering the lower half of my face. I resist the urge to tap my fingernails on the shiny granite top of the desk separating us, nervous anxiousness threatening to buckle my knees.

She hums her acknowledgment, and I can feel her eyes judging me as they flick from her computer screen and back to my face a few times as she types. I hold back saying, “We’re just friends,” as a way to justify why I’m here so she can stop searing my soul with her disapproving looks. She knows why I’m here. Yes, this woman knows exactly why I’m here.

“Ok. You are all set, Miss Bomnal.” Her eyes beam, and she seems way too cheerful. “I’ve already paged Mr. Choi. He will meet you at the elevators and direct you to the requested room.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, throwing her an awkward smile, though I know she can’t see it. 

I hope the gesture comes off more amicably through my eyes than it feels before hurrying off to the elevator lobby. This whole interaction would not have bothered me in the past. These were the exact steps I took two to three times a year, and I had been okay with it, ignoring the knowing looks given to me by hotel staff. However, this time, I find myself nervous and feeling ill at ease, my hands clammy as one tugs a suitcase down the marble flooring and the other hangs at my side, fist clenching and unclenching as I walk. It almost feels as if it is my first time all over again.

The elevator doors open just as I approach them, and a large, muscular man fills the space inside. He’s in all black from head to toe. His tucked-in T-shirt, whose sleeves hug his biceps a bit too tightly, also clings to his chest and torso muscles. My eyes continue down to a tapered waist, the shirt disappearing into his jeans. Black sneakers complete his outfit.

“Mr. Choi,” I greet him with a genuine smile and a short bow. “It's good to see you are well.”

He bows back. “I’m glad you are also healthy and well. Come, let me take that.”

It was fruitless to protest. For several years, this has been precisely the way our meetings started. I long ago gave up fighting him about lugging my suitcase around. Mr. Choi may look menacing, but he was a sweetheart underneath all that height and muscle.

“It’s been a while, huh?” I make small talk as the elevator doors close behind me.

“Almost two years,” he hums behind his black face mask. 

“Two years,” I parrot quietly in wonderment. 

We’re quiet after that, each of us left to our thoughts. It’s not for long, though. Soon, the elevator pings, the doors slide open quietly, and we step out onto a plush crimson carpet. Suddenly, the black skinny jeans, purple long-sleeve shirt, and black flats I wear make me feel underdressed.

Not that it would matter. It’s not like I would have them on for too much longer.

“Here we are,” Mr. Choi interrupts my thoughts. He swipes the key card over the black reader beneath the door handle, and there is an audible click as the lock disengages. Ever the gentleman, he holds the door open for me, and I walk into the large room. “You know the drill,” he starts after leaving my luggage by the door. “Here’s the key card. Make sure to leave it here at the end of your stay.” He hands me the card even as he continues his usual spiel. “Your negative COVID test results came through, as did your medical assessment. All is well, as usual.” I press my lips together, my cheeks warming up. Shouldn’t I be used to this by now? “I have reviewed his information also, and all came back negative. Here is a copy for your peace of mind, but for privacy reasons and the conservation of his reputation, the company has remitted his name, date of birth, and demographics. Since you are here, am I to understand you are still in agreement with the contract and arrangement made four years ago? I can provide another copy if you need it.”

Oh, I understand, I think dispiritedly. I understand that this is still just business between us.

“No need,” I let out a short chuckle, waving my hand as if that would brush away the brooding thoughts in my mind. “Yes, I still agree to all the terms. I understand.”

“Ok,” he nods, passing me the medical and COVID documents. “He left you something in the bedroom. Food, snacks, and drinks are in the fridge if you get hungry. My number is still the same. Call me if you need anything or if there is an emergency. They are due to arrive sometime after midnight, so you still have a few hours to yourself.”

“Thanks, Mr. Choi.”

“Have a good night.”

I wish him the same as I walk him to the door. Once he’s gone, I slip out of my shoes, leaving them by the door, and I grab my suitcase to head towards the bedroom. The hotel room was pretty much an apartment. There was a small bathroom to the left and a coat closet to the right in the foyer. The full kitchen had a stove, microwave, counter space, sink, and full-size fridge. Everything is stainless steel. The kitchen was on the right once you exited the foyer. Ahead from the entryway is a large living room area with a television, a couch, a loveseat, a chair, and a coffee table to the left. The TV sits in a shelving unit that takes up most of the wall, and many books of different colors and sizes fill the shelves. A sitting area on the opposite end of the room is arranged in front of a fireplace. Off-center to the living room and sitting area is a sleek black dining table with eight chairs, the chair cushions white, just like the couches and seats around the room. Beyond the dining room is a set of sliding glass doors leading to a roomy balcony with outdoor seating matching the decor inside the living space and a fire pit.

Turning left past the dining table, I finally reach the bedroom. Opening it up, I find a spacious room with a California King-sized bed. The covering atop the bed is fluffy and thick, hinting at the comfort it will provide. A set of French doors leads out to the balcony, a settee invitingly sitting near them, offering the person who sat there a nice view of the space outside.

Reaching the closet on the opposite side of the room, I unpack. I don’t have much, but I hang my clothing on the available hangers to avoid too many wrinkles. As usual, I leave everything else in the suitcase but take out my toiletries. In the bathroom, I can’t help but smile. It was a beautiful area with marble, the palest of pinks surrounding the Jack and Jill sinks. The walls were white marble tiles with light grey streaks, while the marble on the floor was also white, the grey whisps a darker shade. The same tiles continue into the shower, which is right across from the sinks, a luxurious area with several showerheads that I could not wait to use. At the end of the room, there was a grande deep tub. I was quite certain Namjoon and I could both soak in there together. At the opposite end, nearer to where I had entered, a quick stroll over has me confirming it was the toilet, separated from the rest of the bathroom.

Glancing down at my watch, I see it’s already 10:35 p.m., so I opt for taking a shower before it gets too late or I get too tired. Namjoon wasn’t due until after midnight, so I could have a leisurely shower and then lounge around while waiting for him.

But first, I want to see what’s in the bag Namjoon set at the end of the bed. Back in the bedroom, I quickly pull out the lilac tissue paper until a card and the present are revealed at the bottom. I can’t help but smile as I read the note.

Nabi,

I saw this and thought of you. I know you will wear it well. I also got you a little something for those days when you miss the moon. It will keep you company until you can see it again.

See you soon,

Moonchild

Grabbing the box the card had been lying on, my fingers brushed against a soft material. I chuckle to myself, already imagining what it could be. First, though, I wanted to see what was in the black box. Opening it, I can’t help but smile fondly as the contents are revealed. A full moon hangs from a silver chain, a small silver butterfly dangling a few links up. I waste no time clasping it around my neck, the moon charm falling just above my cleavage. 

Clutching it in my hand lovingly, I can’t help but wonder if his message had a double meaning. Yes, he gave me a little moon, something we both loved to look at. But he knows I associate him with it, not just because of his song ‘Moonchild,’ but because he loves to walk beneath the moon to release his creativity. So when his note says I can look at the necklace when I miss the moon, and it can keep me company until I see it again, was he talking about the literal moon, or was he talking about himself? 

Aloud, I can’t help but frown and say, “Nah.”

Namjoon has not indicated this whole time that there is more between us than a hook-up a few times a year. We do keep in touch by talking and texting over the phone when we are apart, even with his busy schedule, but I never get the sense that there is any romantic interest on his part whatsoever. Anyway, as Mr. Choi pointed out earlier, this was nothing but a business transaction, and I would be a fool if I let myself think anything more could ever come from this.

Not wanting to overthink the gift anymore, I moved on to the other item I had felt when I had gone to grab the box. Smiling, I lift the lingerie, trying to figure out exactly what it was besides purple lace and thin satin ribbon. I guess I would find out better once I put it on. With that thought in mind, I head back into the bathroom to shower.

Feeling refreshed after my shower, I sit comfortably on the bed, a near-empty glass of wine in my hand as I watch a movie to pass the time. Repositioning myself, I feel the lingerie shift beneath the robe I’d tied over it. As the material grazes across my skin, I’m reminded that Namjoon has yet to arrive to see me in the one-piece bodysuit he’d bought me. It barely covers anything, the deep-plunging V-neck stopping short of my navel. The material leaves nothing to the imagination, but the color compliments my skin well and accentuates my curves. The lace in the back only covers half of my ass, and the satin adjustable criss-cross straps leave most of my skin bare as it comes to a neat bow at my lower back. It certainly could leave anyone who wore it feeling sexy, and despite some insecurities, even I cannot deny that I could not wait to see Namjoon’s reaction to me wearing it.

The evening seems to be crawling by. The anticipation of seeing him after all this time has my nerves somewhere between frayed with anxiety and horny as hell. Either way, I feel like I’m on the verge of screaming. 

Downing the last bit of wine, I make my way to the kitchen, cleaning up my mess from earlier and leaving the dishes to dry on the counter before slipping out of the robe and sliding in under the bed covers.

Though I am so nervous, the combination of the flight and my jittery nerves has worn me out. I had wanted to stay awake to greet him, but the evening was going too slowly. So, I decided to kill time with sleep. Letting out a shaky breath, I feel myself slowly relaxing. The wine helps, and my eyes slip shut a short time later.

A door closing in the distance wakes me from a restless sleep. I had left the bathroom light on with the door just a smidge open to push back some of the darkness. I scramble off the bed, anticipating finally seeing him in front of me after so long driving away any remnants of sleep left behind.

As I step towards it, the bedroom door flies open, and I gasp. There he is. Kim Namjoon in an off-white suit, the suit jacket unbuttoned. The vest beneath has nothing underneath it, and my eyes are drawn to the deep V of the vest that shows a bit of bare flesh. He wears a thick black choker around his neck with silver spikes poking out randomly all around it. He looks devilishly handsome with his dark chocolate locks, shorter than I was used to, shaved at the sides, and spiked up at the front.

“There’s my beautiful Nabi,” he nearly growls as his eyes lock on me. Even through the thin slip of lace, he has tied across his eyes, I can see the stare is so intense, almost predatory-like, that I feel my heart rate kick up a few notches just because of it. “Come here,” he demands, even as his long legs quickly close the space between us.

Before I can even react, his mouth is slashing hungrily across mine. Inhaling sharply through my nose, I don’t resist. Instead, the fierceness of the kiss mixed with the scent that is his and his alone has my core clenching involuntarily around nothing. It’s like his smell is a key that triggers the memories of our past encounters to come flooding through to the forefront, and it’s the kindle to the fire he always knows how to ignite in me. 

He presses his body into mine, and we stumble back until we are met with the resistance of the wall.

“Namjoon,” I breathe as his hands dig into my hips, holding me to him.

Coaxing my lips apart greedily, he drags his tongue along mine, and I moan into his mouth. The bitterness of the beer he must have been drinking before mixed with mint tingles along my taste buds, and I can’t seem to get enough as my hands help him remove the blazer without breaking the kiss.

His mouth, so warm and soft, is not shy about exploring anywhere he wants to. Namjoon slides away from my lips to kiss my jawline before nipping at the pulse at my neck. His hips roll into mine, and we both groan.

“I missed your taste,” he growls as he hoists me up. “Missed this ass,” he smirks while he palms my bare cheeks and gives them a firm squeeze. I wrap my legs around his waist and smile at him. We are face to face like this, and he is such a magnificent sight to behold. He is like an incubus decked in all white and trimmed in lace, ready to devour me body and soul. His saccharine voice is a dangerous addiction that threatens to shatter my heart into a trillion little pieces at any moment if I don’t do better to guard and protect that much too-sensitive organ. With lips ruddy and swollen from the passionate kisses, face flushed, and eyes dark with pure need, he looks like sex personified. He walks us to the bed and drops me down. I shift to the middle, and he crawls on hands and knees towards me, saying, “Missed the way your tight wet pussy takes me so well...”

“Namjoon!” I gasp, feeling myself grow wetter with the filth coming out of those sinful lips of his. 

“What?” he chuckles huskily as he drops a kiss on my mound. “You look absolutely delicious in that,” he compliments as his hands graze up my thighs. There is a conflicting sensation, and I look down to see he is wearing white lace half gloves, the material stopping just past his knuckles. My eyes close, soaking up the feeling of a rough scratch mixed with the soft flesh of his fingertips ghosting their way up my body. “I knew it would suit you well.”

I can’t even answer anything he says, my body humming with sensations I have been deprived of for so so long. It’s as if I’ve forgotten how to speak anything other than his name. It wasn’t that I had withheld myself of relief while we were apart. Still, there is just a different feeling altogether when you have all these overwhelming sensations being coaxed out of you by someone else rather than a toy or your own self—especially someone as passionate as Namjoon. 

His lips have made their way up to my breasts. The tips press firmly against the thin purple lace, and he wastes no time snatching one between his lips. I let out a loud gasp as his hand slipped between my legs, palming me roughly. 

“Baby, you are so wet,” he growls against my breasts. Then, leaning back, he lifts his gaze to meet mine. “I don’t think I’ll be able to wait much longer. I need to be inside you.”

Mesmerized by his flushed cheeks and pleading eyes, I nod, “Yes. Please.”

He licks his lips hungrily, his mouth quickly returning to my breast. I’m groaning when I feel a finger slip inside me. Namjoon’s curse is muffled as he slides in and out, prepping me for what is to come and warming my body up even more. He slides in another digit, and my hips begin to roll upwards, wanting more friction. He’s pulling away, and I whimper, my entire body throbbing with the impending release I am so needing. Namjoon quickly removes the rest of his clothes, leaving on his gloves and the lace he had tied over his eyes.

He is crawling over me in no time, his naked form warm against me. Namjoon does not even give me the time to take off the lingerie. Instead, he pulls the material away from my center and brings his cock to dip into my juices. Biting down on my lip, my hands fist the sheets as he drags the head of his dick up my seam, the tip rubbing my clit sweetly. My hips arch up, and he chuckles.

“Greedy, girl,” he tsks but doesn’t delay the torture any longer.

Namjoon slides in slowly, groaning once he’s bottomed out. His hand kneads my breast as he leans forward to capture my lips in a deep kiss, allowing me to adjust to him. He tastes so good; I could kiss him forever. He gives his hips a hesitant roll, and when he gets a moan from me, he starts a slow pace. My walls begin to tighten around him, and he lifts himself onto his knees, his hands on my thighs, keeping them open wide. 

He looks incredible, with his tanned skin glistening in the glow of the bathroom light. His nipples are taut, his abs constricting as he chases his high. I can feel myself getting so close, finding it hard to keep my eyes open.

“Don’t stop,” I keen. 

Namjoon obliges, his hips picking up more speed. He feels so good scraping against my walls, touching that spot that he knows precisely how to hit. I bite down on my lip, and Namjoon smacks my inner thigh, and the shock of the sting has me spilling over the edge on a long moan, my hips rolling to meet his thrusts as I ride out my high.

“Fuck, you look so hot,” he pants as he yanks the lace from his eyes. “I need to see you,” he growls as his cock throbs desperately inside me. I know he’s close when his thrusts grow sloppier, and I rake my nails over his abdomen. “Oh, shit!” he curses as his abs constrict just before I feel him burst inside me. Though I’m already oversensitive, I lock my legs around his waist and buck into him as thick streams of his warm cum fill me up.

“Ok, ok, ok,” he shivers as he tries to unravel my legs from around his waist moments later.

I grant him mercy and release him, laughing as I roll out of bed and head to the bathroom. Using the toilet and cleaning myself, I bring a warm, wet hand towel back into the room. I can’t help giggling when I see him collapse back onto the bed after leaning over to toss his spiked collar and lace gloves onto the bedside table, his arms thrown out on either side of him as if that took the rest of the energy he had left.

“You good?” I ask sweetly as I clean him up.

“Come here,” he growls. I yelp, tossing the towel over the edge of the bed, when Namjoon snatches me up and tucks me into his side. He tenderly kisses my forehead as his arm cradles me to him, one of his legs nudging its way between mine. “I really did…miss you, Y/N,” he murmurs before his breathing goes steady.

“Namjoon?” I whisper.

But there is no response. Instead, he pulls me tighter against his sleeping and warm form. I try not to read too much into the gesture. Steadying my breathing, not wanting to wake him, I can’t help but let my mind wander.

How had I gotten here?

I smile fondly, remembering the day we met as if it was just yesterday. 

It had been a cool Spring night in 2017. I went to the movie theater by myself. Leaving the theater room after the movie finished, I looked up and became frozen in my spot. Right near the door to exit the building, I swore I had seen Kim Namjoon!

I blinked a few times. Looking around, I wondered how no one else had noticed. Granted, he had been wearing a face mask, sure, but those eyes and his stance? It was undeniable to me.

  He was scrolling through his phone and must have sensed my staring because he looked up. His gaze fell directly on me. My heart skipped a beat as he threw a wink my way and then brought a finger to where his mouth would have been. I nodded, respecting his wishes. That didn’t mean my heart wasn’t racing a mile a minute as I made my way to the exit and avoided any further eye contact.

As I walked to my car, my mind was reeling. I had been in the same space as Namjoon! I couldn’t even believe it myself. Lost in my thoughts, I had nearly let out a scream when a finger tapped on my shoulder.

“Jesus!” I gasped as I whirled around. “You scared me!”

A tall, muscular man in black jeans and a black t-shirt bowed. 

“죄송합니다. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s ok,” I laughed nervously. I still eyed him warily. He was quite fearsome; the bulging muscles that his clothing did little to hide spoke of how easily he could snap me like a twig if he truly wanted to. “Can I help you?”

“My client, he wants to meet you.” I cocked an eyebrow at him in question. “Namjoon-씨,” he clarified.

I could not help but laugh in disbelief.

“Really?” I scoffed. “Namjoon? Of BTS? He wants to meet me?”

I laughed again. The man, most likely a bodyguard if those muscles had anything to say about it, pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. When the line was picked up, he spoke in Korean and then passed me the cell phone.

Now, my stomach fluttered as I accepted the device. 

“Hello?” I said hesitantly, then tried to backtrack with a “Uhm, I mean, 여보세요?”

I mentally face-palmed myself, instantly feeling my ears burn with embarrassment. A soft chuckle greeted me.

“Hi. I see you didn’t believe my bodyguard.”

I instantly recognized the voice. 

With my knees trembling, I was honest when I answered, “I didn’t. I mean, I’m not sure I do, still.”

He laughed again.

“I just wanted to thank you for not revealing my identity inside.”

Holy crap! It really was him!!

“Yeah. Sure,” I tried to sound nonchalant. “It’s nothing.”

“But for me, it is, so what do you say? Will you go with my bodyguard?”

“I don’t know….” I looked up at the intimidating man before me.

“I promise you’ll be safe.”

But my heart sure hadn’t been.

I should have known that very first night that I would not have been able to keep my heart guarded. I tried to be indifferent as I accepted his proposition, to not catch feelings. I did all I could to focus on the fact that this was all basically a business transaction. He would help me pay my way through school while I helped him “relieve some tension” whenever he came to the US. The more legal way of saying we were “fuck buddies.”

Simple. 

Yet the more time we spent together, the more we spoke, the more he chiseled his way in. The lines were getting too blurred for me. The two years we were unable to be with each other made me realize it. I thought maybe this time apart would dampen things, reminding me that there really is nothing between us but this contract. It hadn’t been so. Seeing him again, I knew I had missed him so much. He is so good to me and respectful despite the circumstances. And that only makes me adore him more.

I push all thoughts out of my mind as I feel tears threatening my lash line. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, praying they don’t spill over. Breathing in and out slowly, combined with the warmth of Namjoon’s embrace, helps me to settle down, and soon I’m relaxed enough to fall asleep. The sleep is so deep I don’t even feel him leave the bed a few hours later.

Credits:

Text Divider by @xxbimbobunnyxx

Moodboard by me.

For moodboard, used:

InCollage for layout, title, butterfly and photos.

Except Namjoon’s photo. Credit to RM x GQ Korea, Vogue Korea 2021

Motionleap was used for the movement within the moodboard.

Thanks for reading. Part 2 is out now.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

[ya-zz]

Hi I just had a kinda funny scenario idea: imagine Reader owns an Omnic repair shop where they fix Omnics up and even have them stay the night there if the situation calls for it. Lately the shop has been experiencing multiple break ins from people looking to steal resources from the shop or to harm the patients inside and reader is getting real fed up with it. One night the telltale noise of another break in wakes reader up. So they grab a crowbar and head to the source of the noise with the intent of beating the shit out of the intruder and protecting their patients (in nothing but their sleepwear btw). They sneak up and get a hit in before realizing they just whacked an already injured ominc, a ravager from the looks of it. Mortified at their mistake, they apologies profusely and offer to fix this mysterious intruder immediately (despite the ungodly hour) as compensation for whacking them with a crowbar. While getting to work, Reader tells the intruder about the break in situation they’ve been dealing with as of late and tries to make small talk as they tend to the injuries. While this all happening, Ramattra is just silently sitting there and trying to muster up the courage to acknowledge and accept the fact that he finds this human to be oddly charming.

Tumblr stop hiding asks on desktop, I beg of you.

This one made me laugh when it came through and I’m glad I finally got around to writing it! Hope I’ve done it some justice!

Ramattra x Reader (gen)

Word count: 1625

Notes: apologies if formatting is weird, I’m doing this from my phone

“Your injuries are quite severe, I would like to keep you overnight, if that’s okay?” You asked, soldering a wire within an omnics back. “It’s just to keep an eye on you. If everything is working correctly, you may go home tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the help.” The injured omnic muttered, vocaliser glitching as it speaks.

“I’ll get that fixed for you in a moment.” Another hiss of the solder follows.

It was a routine for you - fix an omnic during the day, keep them overnight if necessary; soldering broken parts, replacing wires or vocoders and sometimes limbs, tampering with memory cards and CPU’s. Everything had a place inside, red and black wires were the main sources of currents, the blue and yellow for miscellaneous. Some had upgrades from other shops, others were still defaulted to factory systems and designs.

Each one unique, each with their own stories from before and after the uprising. While some did not remember their past, others spoke fondly of the memories, despite being on auto pilot like their code demanded. Omnics were easier to fix, and having working with them for several years now, it was second nature. No more following blueprints and you would jest you could fix them with your eyes closed.

Your customers enjoyed your presence, talking highly of your skills and the way you made them feel at ease. Some would visit just to talk for a few minutes, passing a gift over despite your attempts to assure them they didn’t have to go out of their way.

However, there were people out there that did not enjoy you being around. Graffiti and multiple smashed bottles would litter the store front, preventing anyone from getting in or out unharmed. The graffiti would take an entire day to remove, depending on the size and while you were cleaning up, hateful remarks would pass by your ears as people walked by. It was infuriating. But that wasn’t all.

Some nights, while the store was quiet and empty, the back door would open, criminals hidden behind masks and under hoods would enter with a goal of taking parts or damaging those omnics resting. Due to your security system being damaged, there were no alerts made. You just had to hope that they wouldn’t break in when you slept. When they happened to get in, however, you’d be there, demanding them to leave before you’d call the cops.

It would deter some while the others would scoff, calling you a coward before turning and leaving. It was mindless fun for them, but irritating and downright disrespectful for you. You’d never harm them, no, that was something you vowed to never do, despite the amount of times it happens. You just prayed that they would get bored after getting little to no reaction out of you.

Tonight was no different. After mending one omnic and getting them comfortable for the night, you stayed awake, quickly changing into something comfy and taking a seat at the desk. Your alarm was set for early morning just on the off chance you dozed off. One screen on the desk was monitoring the omnics vitals, making sure currents were flowing and nothing was damaged. The other monitor was currently playing some old movie, volume low as to not disturb the resting patient.

It was peaceful. You’d glance over occasionally, making sure everything was okay and then checking their vitals. Everything was perfect. They were recovering well and a sigh of relief escaped you as your focus turned back to the movie before the inevitable happened.

Eyelids closed, head bobbing as you tried to stay awake, but no matter your resistance, your body was demanding sleep, pulling you in further with each second. It was successful as your breathing shallowed, heartbeat slowing as you drifted off.

Then that peace was disturbed as clanging broke through from outside. Your brows furrowed, annoyance rising as you reach to grab the crowbar from under the desk and groaning, body in auto pilot and still tired.

Standing, you walk to the back door, watching the handle jerk as someone tries to open it from the outside. It stopped a moment later and then shuffling and grumbling sounded from the other side of the door.

You could’ve just left it, but instead you open the door as silently as you can, praying that it didn’t creak as it opened further. Upon inspection of the alley, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but when an empty box fell to your left, you turned to face something, shadows hiding the figure. It startled you, and instinct kicked in, crowbar making harsh contact with whoever was standing there.

Something cracked before a static yelp followed. Your eyes widened in shock, the realisation setting in quickly as you had just hit an omnic. Panic rose within you as you slid the crowbar between the door and the wall to prevent it from locking and then approaching the omnic exclaiming apologies.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Your hand reached up to the outside light, letting it flicker on and illuminate whoever you had just assaulted. Their figure lights up underneath the yellow fluorescent, the damages now visible.

Split wires surrounded its neck, vocoder probably broken, dents upon its chest and its arm hung limp at its side. You look the omic up and down, noticing that his faceplate was broken, and the moment you look down, you realise what you had done. Looking back up, you notice his optic on you, watching it jitter as it looks at you.

“Please, I am deeply sorry.” You beg for some form of forgiveness, offering your hand. “Let me fix what I have broken, and perhaps we can get you mended fully.”

You see the omnic look at your hand before your cheeks flush. You were in your sleepwear, out in the cold. An awkward laugh filled the silence. “Please, it is the least I can do to apologise.”

It nods and then proceeds to follow you inside. You gesture over to one of the free beds as you pull on your overalls and grabbing the tools required to fix its vocaliser. It was a simple fix. While the box itself wasn’t damaged, it was just a case of replacing the wires, something of which that only took a few minutes.

“There.” You say, leaning back against the chair. You look at the omnic, waiting.

It clicks once, twice before static sounds. “Thank you.”

You nod, smiling. “You’re welcome. Now for the rest of you. Lay down for me, please.”

The omnic does as you asked, laying back on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.

“Do you have a name?”

“Ramattra.” He replies.

You hum in response. “Please tell me if anything is uncomfortable or causes any pain and I will stop immediately.”

He stays silent, watching you as you work on mending the rest of his body, hands gently pulling and moving wires.

“I want to apologise again for striking you.” You glance up at him before returning your focus to his arm. “I’ve been having a lot of issues as of late with break-ins. I thought you were another one. I’ve just had enough, you know?” An awkward laugh. “I spend so much of my time in here, but yet I still miss them entering or destroying the store front. They want to take my spare parts and tools, disrupting my work…” You sigh, snipping a wire.

“The security system has been on the fritz for weeks, but even then, the cops won’t do anything. At least, not around here. Not everyone is a fan of me - I mend omnics for a living and the other humans don’t appreciate that.”

He listens to you go on, watching you mend his arm. Your hands were gentle, never wrongly touching him, or causing him any harm. He wondered how long you had been doing this, but he never got the chance to answer as you rambled on.

Something grew warm inside of him. Despite a broken faceplate, you never showed him any fear. His kind, the R-7000, was built to kill, but you… you didn’t see that. You saw a helpless omnic in need of repair. He admired that. He admired you.

His aperture kept focussing on the details of your face. The way your lips moved as you spoke, the gentleness of your voice; the calm demeanour that floated around you. He had never met a human so… kind. So caring.

Silently, he’d pass glances between his arm, your hands and your face. He was comfortable, content, perhaps even calm as his receptors picked up your vocal frequency. There was something about you that tilted his thoughts towards humans and he wanted to know more about you.

“How does that feel?” Your question broke through his thoughts. He looks at his arm, moving it slightly before nodding.

“Feels like new.” He states.

“I’m glad. Now your chest.” You stand, leaning over him. “Same again, Ramattra; if anything hurts or feels uncomfortable-“

“I will.”

The way his name sounded coming from your vocals made his wires bloom with a new feeling. It was strange for him, but the feeling wasn’t unwelcome as he watched you toy with the wires and cabling inside of his chest.

Ramattra was feeling hope, something of which he deemed almost impossible with a human. He was beginning to like you, and he’s still wrapping his electronic mind around you hitting him. It made him silently chuckle, memory log being saved as the hour turns over.

It surely was a new way to meet someone, perhaps one to look back on in the coming months, he hoped.

[fictitious-obsession]

Hi! I absolutely loved your Percy Jackson with an autistic S/O and was wondering if I could request headcanons for Leo Valdez with an autistic reader? Totally okay if not! Stay awesome :)!

Hi Anon!

jkalodjalx!!! Sure! I am really glad you liked the other one as well. I really hope this is to your liking! Thank you for reading and requesting! I hope this is good. You stay awesome too!!!

Much love - Anya

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leo Valdez with an Autistic Gender-Neutral S/O headcanons

Leo admits he is not the greatest at reading people and appreciates your patience as he learns as much about you as he can

Leo being absolutely obsessed with his craft knows all about hyperfixations and excitement, so getting to see you talking passionately about something you like gets him excited

He will try to get into whatever you are into   PERIOD   He loves sharing things with you

If you are super interested in a game or show, expect him to interrupt with questions (especially if he did not see from the beginning)

Chances are if you are hyperfixating on a certain person or character, he will spoil you with posters and merch of them

He definitely makes you little trinkets, everything from fidgets to little games, to things from your favorite games/shows/books/movies/etc.

Conversations with him are always funny and chaotic, he jumps from topic to topic with you and smiles the whole time

If you don’t want to talk, he fills in any silence with weird stories and bad jokes to get a smile or funny look from you

Leo teaches you little messages in Morse code for when you want or need them (I imagine things like “I love you” / “yes” / “no” / “help” / “go” / etc.)

If anyone ever makes you feel bad, he will go off on a tangent on them before comforting you deeply.  No one messes with his babe

Leo is hit-or-miss when it comes to camp activities, but if you want to go to one, he will go with you and end up paying more attention to your excitement than anything else

Leo never really liked people and tended to prefer things other than conversation, so he understands if you have trouble too (especially since he trips on his words and thoughts all the time)

Leo confides in you about his insecurities and happily listens to yours, reassuring you that you are awesome and that you are not alone

“Even the best machines have flaws…but they’re beautiful and function just as well.”

Be ready for him to threaten everything and everyone if you get hurt, he will get you healed up and in his arms as soon as possible

He definitely cracks jokes if you need a pick-me-up and if you need more, will go into an all-out terribly sung performance of a song you like

He likes to draw on you, and there will be days when both of you have cute doodles on your arms from each other (he especially lets you write and draw on him on days you don’t want to talk much)

He hates seeing you cry, but also understands that you have to sometimes, he will cradle you with absolute love and patience, especially during meltdowns

He will give every pet name in the book until one sticks, he thinks you are too amazing to have one cute name

If you having a really bad day, he would take you away from camp, be it by foot, vehicle, or Festus

Leo would definitely cook for you, he never remembers to feed himself, but would NEVER let you go hungry if he could help it

Little escapes to Bunker 9 are a norm (Leo and people don’t mix all the time, so, of course, he’d take you to his little paradise)

He also takes you to little secret spots of camp he found while looking for places to think, he loves sharing his space with you

[princessamericachavez]

Breaking down the 6x11 promo

(because my brain is in overdrive)

((also, sorry in advance because this ‘analysis’ is mainly me going DiCaprioPointingMeme.jpg))

Eddie doing compressions!! It makes absolute sense tbh with Hen and Chim riding in the back, they both need to push the gurney so Eddie clearly takes over as soon as it touches ground because their main priority has to be to keep Buck’s heart beating. 

It’s also heartbreaking, though, because it means that in all this time it took them to get to the hospital they haven’t gotten it pumping on his own again

Judging by this two takes, it seems like it’s Eddie taking Buck’s pulse here. 

Why does that matter?? Well... 

Because the doctors aren’t doing compressions anymore here. They are only giving him oxygen. Could that mean that Buck’s heart just restarted right now? Will Eddie manage to restart Buck’s heart in the nick of time before handing him off to the doctors??? 

This is such a stupid thing to hyperfixate on here, especially given all of their heart-broken expressions... but at some point between arrival and handing buck off Eddie lost/took off his helmet and I’m dying to get context for it. Idek why. I’m just super intrigued

NGL I am surprised to see the Buckley parents here and deep down I don’t expect them to stay at the hospital for long. 

But with Bobby there, I would love for a little friction depending on their reaction. I mean, Philips is clearly still there while getting the news...

...but then we see Chim and Maddie alone and deep down I think we’ll see the Buckley’s just run off in an emotional fit. 

Love me some Bathena looking after their surrogate son, but if nothing else this confirms to me that Buck’s blood relatives (Maddie excluded, ofc) aren’t gonna stick around long

there’s a little girl behind Buck!!!!! I’m guessing she’s Maddie’s??? Though she couldn’t be Jee.

Ah, this fucker. With Daniel around or not, I’m guessing he isn’t any less of an abusive fucker. So Maddie just didn’t have where to run, uh? I hate it here. 

Oh Chim is back to his old apartment (glad they could get one last use out of that set!)

Is Buck gonna run through the hospital searching for his comatose body???????

Okay so I definitely think Buck talks dream!Howard into helping him because a) Buck’s subconscious knows Chim believes in weird stuff more than anyone else he knows, and b) where in the initial take of Chim’s appartment there’s a knife case behind him, here’s two beers. So my guess is this near-dead in the dream is after they tried and failed to back-to-the-future Buck into his body. 

This scene is definitely not the same as Buck coding, because Hen doesn’t look scared, she looks confused/intrigued by something or someone

Maddie looks so sad here. My two guesses is this is either her arguing with her parents before they bounce on them, oooooor she’s asking “what’s wrong” because something in Buck’s recovery isn’t working the way the doctors would want it to (because he’s failing at something in the coma dream)

she’s def not asking about the initial coma thing because she’s changed her clothes here

Love the idea of Buck collapsing in his dream before a Howard that barely knows him while in reality this Chim is doing all he can to save his brother

Read rumors of Aisha crying during Christopher’s scene and if this is it I’m gonna flung myself into the sun

Anyway: curious (and suspicious) lack of Eddie and Chris in this video. And also of Daniel’s mysterious actor. 

Hoping for more clues in new promos and clips!!

[applesandbannas747]

If you lost all of the stories you’ve ever published on ao3 and were only able to recover five, which stories would they be, and why? (Top five across the board, but top five fence fics would be cool too) 📚✨

I completely welcome you to write a novel length answer 📝✨

okay HOW did I never see this one? This is such a fun and mean question!!

In no particular order:

Fairy Bound - this is my only current Artemis Fowl fic, but it's one of my favorite things I've ever written because it's everything I want in a series that was long finished when I wrote it. It's the ending and conclusion I wish the characters got (and I'm disappointed severely with the new canon material). It's also just full of tropes I love and has moments that have a soft spot in my heart. I also know it's meant as much to a good number of people in the fandom as it has to me, so it would be missed if it were lost

Truths - this took the cake for longest work I'd written for a long time before being dethroned, and it was a really cool experience to write. I think the Truths series was the last I wrote as I posted, which was really fun because some comments helped shape it if I remember correctly. It's where I really fleshed out a lot of my ideas about Fence and the characters and was a huge milestone in my writing abilitiy--it really helped me to improve in a lot of ways, and I think it was a milestone in my Fence era as well. I connected with a lot of people during its run that I've longsince lost contact with but will always love, and it's another one that people tell me from time to time really means something to them, which makes me love it extra for that--I don’t know, connection? And of course I used a lot of tropes I love and built up a lot of headcanons and lore that I still carry to this day!

Trouble - man this is where Eugesse started, and I can't abandon it even if I'd change so much about it if I wrote it again. I love a lot of moments from this fic and I indulged so much in building the Labaos and learning how to code to make text messages--it was a fic filled with so many firsts! But I also assumed it would be a fic filled with a lot of lasts--I truly didn't intend to write Eugesse again until we had more content on him because this was back during The Great Hiatus (but boy am I glad I didn't stick to that 💀💀💀)... So the iea with Trouble was that it got to be paced weirdly because there were so many moments, beats, and tropes I wanted to hit with Eugesse and this was my only chance, so I needed to fit them all in. So while this is the only fic I debated over including on this list because I think it's the weakest one here in terms of writing, it will always hold a special place in my heart, and it means a lot to me.

Promised Things - how could I not include the Things to Hold Onto series? In a very literal way if my house were burning to the ground, the physical bookbound (!!!!!) versions a friend made and sent me would be top priority after living things. This is another fic that I really strove to improve my writing with, and it's significant as well because it was the fic I wrote after an autistic meltdown over the ARC of Striking Distance I read, after which, I felt sick and conflicted whenever I thought about writing for Fence because the thought of adjusting my characterizations to fit canon made sent me spiraling. So I took a break and wrote a couple novels, including one that took the plot of an au I'd been looking forward to writing (if you're wondering when this 'break' took place, it was March-July 2020; I had enough backlog that there was never a break in my posting schedule to reflect the break I took in writing). But do you know what I found? I was more miserable not writing for Fence than anything, and even while I was actively writing novels in NaNoWriMo challenges, I found myself sneaking in writing time for Fence anyway--for Promised Things, specifically. And I found my love of Fence again through it, which sounds like such a conceited thing to say lmfao but I love who I thought the characters were and writing this fic helped me start to accept that it was okay to still write them the way I saw them. So on a meta level, this one means a lot to me. And on a writing level, I'm proud of the detail I put into it and the planning it took. Pull up any chapter in this series and I could find the day of the week it took place on. I've not quite achieved this level of detail since. It also got a lot of editing to improve it as we went along, and I'm happy with how it turned out and proud of the work that went into it. And, yeah, I'm lizardbrained too and the fact that this one got WAY more love than I ever expected in any way does (positively) effect how I see it. So this one's getting saved lol

Breakable Things - to this day, this fic is one of the stories I am proudest of, and I think it's a strong piece of writing in terms of character development. It was a long redemption arc for Jesse and I worked really hard on making it a successful one--and it is the number one fic I've had people tell me I won them over with Jesse in, so I like to think that it was a successful arc XD I've always said that in this series, Seiji and Jesse both grew up in hell, but they both view Jesse and Jesse only as the monster--and in Promised Things, we get Seiji's point of view, and Nick's, who is seeing through the damage done to Seiji and seeing a monster in Jesse through it. Which made writing Breakable Things so fucking fun because Eugene's the only perspective that doesn't cast Jesse as the villain. And, yeah, Jesse sees himself as a victim and likes to throw himself pity parties, but under it all, it's not Seiji he blames for anything, it's not his dad, it's hardly even Nick. and we get to see that in this fic and see how the damage he caused is just as real as before, but that his pain isn't less than Seiji's. And more than any other character in the series, Jesse works to confront the truth of who he is and figure it out and improve, a lot of the time, alone. Seiji fell into a situation that naturally healed him. Jesse dove head first into one that was intended to break everyone--but he was also put on an edge that Seiji wasn't, and that made all the difference. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about Jesse and I had a lot of fun trying to redeem him/show his side and contrast it with Seiji's without making it feel like I was trying to tragic-backstory his ass out of accountability for the shit he did. Also! I wrote bits of this fic in tandem with Promised Things--any major scene with Jesse, I either had notes for Jesse's side, wrote Jesse's side right after, or even wrote Jesse's POV of it first, which was an interesting way of writing a sequel that I've never done any other time.

[inscrutable-shadow]

the sanguine thread that binds our fate

@crash-bump-bring-the-whump asked:

21 “Please be okay. Please be okay, please be okay—” with dealer's choice for oc c:

a/n: this got. very long lol and tumblr ate the version i answered your ask with i'm sorry :/ i edited it all over again just for you

tumblr hates my experimental prose so please do read it on ao3 if you can ily

contains: mild gore, nausea (no vomiting), panic attacks, prescription benzos, car accident, m/m romance, blood drinking, alcohol

did my best to make sure the gist of all the code segments were properly explained in the prose so that if you're not programmer brained it makes sense still lol. temperature units are kelvin, all velocities in m/s, force in newtons, BAC in mg/dL.

Takes place during the Divine Descension arc, during which the Archfey gives up aer divinity for a year to live with Thanatos on Kepler 22-b, a human colony designed to replicate the late 90s/early 00s. Ae works at a coffee shop and goes to a knitting club. :) not relevant i just thought you should know

Rea liked it when Thanatos came to walk aer home from work. Ae was perfectly capable of making the journey on aer own, of course — it was only twenty minutes and ae could actually cross the street without supervision — but when Thanatos came, they could walk with their fingers laced together and he would smile while he told aer about his day in the office or at home and it always seemed as if nothing could be wrong in the world.

ambient.temperature = 298 proximity.scan(Thanatos[lover]) = true return emotional.state(happy!)

It was a bit strange thinking of aerself as "Rea." Ae always called aerself Space in aer own head, because that was what Time called aer, but ae was certainly not the Divine Reality or even the Archfey in this so-much-more-mortal body. Rea wondered sometimes if ae was truly experiencing what it was like to be human, or if it was merely what it felt like to be a sapient concept with its soul bonded to an artificially-woven human brain. Ae would never know anything different, so ae supposed it didn't matter. Ae liked being Thanatos's Rea. The concept-made-human turned in lazy circles, passing Thanatos's hand from one of aer own to the other as ae revolved aer way down the street

angular.velocity = 63 linear.velocity = 1.2 radiant.temperature[Thanatos[lover].hand] = 302 return emotional.state(happy!!)

"Rea." Oh, yes. Thanatos was talking now. Time to pay attention. Thanatos's image tilted slightly as ae halted aer spinning to look at him.

system[vestibular].recalibrate()

"Yes, my love?" Ae grinned. Couldn't help it, really. Seeing his face had that effect on aer.

He smiled a little too. "I'm glad you're having fun, but we need to cross the street now, all right? We need to be careful."

"Can I press the button, Thanatos?"

"Yes, you can press the button. And then we're going to look both ways, right?"

Ae laughed. "Of course, my love. Look both ways carefully. I have not been hit before, have I?" Ae'd only jumped out into the street once chasing a butterfly, and now he had to behave this way every time. Rea had just forgotten ae wasn't the Archfey at the time. A concept could get very used to being indestructible.

Ae pushed the button. A robotic male voice indicated that the two of them should "wait." Rea slipped one hand into the pocket of aer khaki slacks and the other into Thanatos's hand. He squeezed back and gave aer a smile, though the brown eyes behind his spectacles were gazing off into the distance and bringing his thoughts with them. What was he thinking about? Ae couldn't feel his soul now the way ae could when ae was Reality. It was… strange. As excited as ae was for all the new ways ae could experience Thanatos now that ae was mortal, ae missed that. Knowing when he was hiding his feelings. Seeing through his little lies. Not that ae couldn't do that now. It was just a slightly more troublesome matter of analyzing his facial expressions and tone of voice. That was all right. Rea was here to learn, after all.

Thanatos[lover].soul.resonance = NULL visual.input[walk.sign.status] = "red" Thanatos[lover].get(emotional.state).ping(callback()) self.interoception.alert(hungry) Thanatos[lover].fetch(emotional.state) = {positive, pensive, loving} action.required = none return emotional.state(happy!)

The walk sign changed to the white figure of a man mid-stride. Rea had asked Thanatos about this, and he had explained that it was an indicator to people who may not read the local language that it was safe to proceed. Rea did not read any language, but it didn't matter, because Thanatos was there, and he could. The two of them looked both ways, Thanatos normally, and Rea in a comically exaggerated manner calculated to get him to laugh, and then he led aer into the street. This was a quiet road close to the apartment complex, and there were no indications that there had been anyone down it for several minutes at least.

"What do you think about Brian's tonight, dearheart?" Thanatos said suddenly, breaking his train of thought. "Put you in something nice, take you out on the town? Maybe a movie after?"

A date! Thanatos was going to take aer out on a date! And to aer favorite restaurant too. Ae still got just as excited about it every time, even after all the millennia they'd spent together. "Yes, yes! I am hungry. Should I wear the blue dress? Or the argyle sweater? And can we see the one with the Matthew Damon? I like that one. Or we could- oof!" Ae sat down hard on the pavement, the tender flesh of aer wrists scraping open and sending shocks of pain up aer arms.

self.interoception.alert(pain!!!) self.damage.percentile = 10 update.status(injured[dermal.hand[quan=2]]) analysis(cause[injury])) = fall analysis(cause[fall])) = Thanatos[lover].push[force=68] analysis(cause[Thanatos[lover].push]).ping(callback()) return emotional.state(confusion)

What had happened?

visual.input[identify.shape] = "ford f-150" vehicle.speed = 35.9 self.danger.percentile = 92 analysis(cause[Thanatos[lover].push]) = reduce(self.danger.percentile) Thanatos[lover].danger.percentile.ping(callback()) proximity.scan(Thanatos[lover]).ping(callback()) proximity.scan(Thanatos[lover]) = false proximity.scan(Thanatos[lover]).ping(callback()) return emotional.state(panic!!)

It was so much information all at once, ae was struggling to process it all. There had been… a car? And Thanatos had… pushed aer out of the way. Where was he? Where was Thanatos? The truck had come out of nowhere. Ae hadn't sensed it at all, and Thanatos must not have either, or he would have done something before he did. He had enhanced hearing, heightened reflexes. Rea didn't, ae was a mere mortal now. Where was he? Where was he?

Focus. What did ae remember? Ae'd turned back to talk to him, he'd pushed aer in the chest, ae'd… seen the truck hit him. By the celestial river. Ae'd seen it hit him. He'd been sent… flying… calculate the angle. Probable trajectory. There!

visual.input[identify.shape] = Thanatos[lover] Thanatos[lover].danger.percentile = 40 Thanatos[lover].damage.percentile = 70 visual.input[identify] = Thanatos[lover].blood!!! Thanatos[lover].soul.resonance = NULL return emotional.state(panic!!!!)

Oh, gods, he was a mess. Skin already starting to purple, limbs sticking out at unnatural angles, blood streaming from his temple and his nose. It looked like he'd tried to shield himself with Shadow, but hadn't been able to get enough of a barrier up in time to make a difference. He wasn't conscious. He wasn't breathing. Rea couldn't breathe. Aer eyes prickled with tears that quickly obscured aer vision and flowed down aer cheeks to splash Thanatos's face. Was he dying? Was he dead? No, surely not. He was a vampire. Blunt force couldn't just kill them. He'd told aer that. They needed silver or to cut out the heart with wood. His heart! Was it intact?

His tie was ruined, of course, and ae pulled it off, extremely aware of the bruising on Thanatos's throat and the conspicuous stillness of his chest. He didn't need to breathe. Ae knew that. But he almost always did, unless he was doing something that would be easier without it. Would they ever…? No. Can’t think about that. Check his heart. His sweater-vest was torn already, and ae didn't know why ae was so painstaking in unbuttoning his shirt when it was clearly ruined. A horrible purple-and-black bruise spread over Thanatos's chest, but there was nothing that could have impaled his heart. He was safe. Wasn't he?

Thanatos[lover].soul.resonance = NULL analysis(predict("life without Thanatos")).ping(callback()) Thanatos[lover].damage.percentile = 80 analysis(predict()) = exception.failed Thanatos[lover].soul.resonance = NULL

Thanatos's left arm wasn't broken, and ae delicately took his hand in aer own and lifted it to aer lips, still struggling to process what was happening. He couldn't leave aer like this. He had to be safe. "Please, Thanatos," ae whispered, "please be all right… Please wake up. I cannot—I am not ready to go on without you. I cannot… do this alone, please, Thanatos, I need you—" His sleeve slid downward with the movement, revealing the jade bracelet containing the Divine Reality's power. Ae could take it, give up aer mortality and get aer soulweaving back, maybe be able to do something for him. He wouldn't want aer to do it. He'd guarded the power so carefully, kept it out of the hands of both usurpers and Rea aerself. They'd both been so determined to finish the experiment. But if he needed aer, then the experiment would just have to be a wash. Ae had the rest of eternity to experience humanity. He only had one life.

Thanatos[lover].soul.weave(form[physical].repair) return error("access denied. requires administrator permissions.") initiate("DivineReality.runtime") error = "ACCESS DENIED" await(input(JADE.BRACELET.AUTH.KEY)).ping(callback()) return auth.output("authenticating...")

Rea pressed aer fingers to the stone, awaiting the surge of magic that would signal the return of the Divine Reality, but instead of the hot burst of power, ae felt cold fingers grasping at aer wrist. "What are you doing, my love?" The effect of Thanatos's admonishing tone was rather diminished by the way it scraped from his battered throat and had him hacking up chunks of tissue afterward. Rea screamed, then burst into tears.

"Divines, I thought you were dead! How could you do this to me? You are so cruel!" The words were familiar, a staple in their arguments, filling space while ae tried to gather aer scrambled wits. "I -I wanted to help you. I thought that if I got my power back I could-"

"Shh, love, it's all right." His voice could always soothe aer, as damaged as it was. "Vampire, remember? If a little blunt force could kill me permanently, I wouldn't have made it this far. I just lost consciousness for a moment, that's all."

How could he be so calm? Half of his bones were broken, he must have been in a monumental amount of pain. It was even his broken arm he was gripping aer wrist with. Was he used to this? Was this what the war had been like for him? Ae felt so useless and lost. He was always there for aer and ae could never help him when he needed it. Aer mental processes were sparking and stalling, ae needed his direction, anything to make it all stop. "W-What do I do? How do I help you? Than, I-"

Thanatos smiled gently up at aer. "Breathe, dearheart. It's nothing a bit of blood can't cure. Let's focus on getting me out of the street so someone doesn't try to hospitalize me, mm?" Rivulets of his liquid Shadow were already flowing out to drag his shattered limbs back into position. He was so brave. "Don't think I'll be walking any time soon. Are you well enough to carry me? Don't worry, I don't think I could be in much more pain than I already am…" So he could feel it. Was he staying strong just for aer?

Wordlessly, mechanically, Rea lifted Thanatos into her arms. The familiar movement felt so horrifically wrong. Ae'd carried him thousands of times: to the bedroom for sex, back to his own bed after, to the sitting room to watch television together when his curse ailed him, into and out of the bath, just for fun. Without the kisses and laughter, with him so awfully still, trying not to alert her to his suffering, it was of no comfort, and sent lances of distress through aer heart. Ae blanked out between the street and balancing him on aer knee to fit the keys in the lock. A singular directive, “get Thanatos home,” held system failure at bay. Once the door had closed behind aer and ae'd laid Thanatos carefully on the couch, though, it all caved in.

system.respiratory.exception = "conflicting input data" system.motor.exception = "system memory low" sensory.input.exception = "conflicting input data" analysis(cause(system.error)).ping(callback()) error = "analysis failed. system memory low" system.process[sort=memory][0] = "panic.runtime" forcequit(panic.runtime) error = "panic.runtime failed to quit" admin.override(forcequit(panic.runtime)) error = "panic.runtime failed to quit" admin.override[master](forcequit(panic.runtime)) error = "panic.runtime failed to quit"

Ae crashed to aer knees, choking on nothing with a fresh flood of tears blurring aer vision. Aer ears rang and her lungs spasmed. Eyes squeezed shut, swallowing fitfully against nausea. Ae hated when this happened. Ever since the kidnapping, those three nights when ae thought ae'd never see Thanatos again, the panic would claw at aer chest and strangle aer at the worst times. At least ae could let him out of aer sight without breaking down, now, but what if this reset all aer progress? Rea felt like aer mind was shaking itself apart.

"-ea? Rea! Reality, come back to me, come on!" It was Thanatos's voice. Thanatos's hand on aer cheek. Thanatos's patient concern grounding aer for a moment. "Where are your pills, Rea?"

The Xanax. Yes. It could stop this. "In the drawer…"

"Get them. Take your pills, darling. While they kick in, I'll take a little drink, and that should help, too. I'll be fine here for the few seconds it'll take you to retrieve them. Go on, Rea. Keep breathing. We're okay." Yes. Ae'd take the medicine, and then ae could help Thanatos…

Aer hands shook as ae turned the white tablet out into aer palm and swallowed it dry. Returned and sat on the floor in front of the couch, aer back to Thanatos. Executing commands in sequence. Running in standby mode. The gentle kiss and whispered "easy, love" that Thanatos pressed into aer neck before his fangs sliced through both the flesh and the alarms going off in aer mind were a shield against the relentless thoughts. His venom filled aer veins and everything stopped.

self.interoception.alert(pain) self.damage.percentile = 2 update.status(injured[dermal.neck])) analysis(cause(injury)) = Thanatos[lover].feed() self.danger.percentile = 0 Thanatos[lover].input(venom.runtime) self.venom.concentration = effective.percentile[60] error = "panic.runtime failed" system.alert("reduce euphoriant concentration before running panic.runtime") system.process[sort=memory][0].ping(callback()) error = "failed to sort. complex processes restricted." return emotional_status(hazy[positive])

"I love you, Thanatos. Thank you," Rea whispered, and though he couldn't answer, the soft chuckle and gentle squeeze of aer shoulder were enough of a response. Despite his calm demeanor, the desperation in his swallows and the way he trembled against aer back betrayed just how badly he needed this. He must have been fighting so hard not to alarm aer. Rea loved this man with all of aer heart. This foray into mortality had put so much load on him, and he never once complained. Instead, he dressed aer in the mornings, cooked aer meals, helped with her nightmares and panic attacks, and still had time to both work and take her out on dates. He fought off those who wanted the Divine Reality's power for themselves, even though his offensive capabilities were relatively weak. He was incredible. Ae didn't deserve him.

Eventually, Thanatos's fangs detached from Rea's neck, and he sealed the wounds with his tongue, as was his habit. He let out a deep groan as he lay back on the couch, clearly exhausted but not wanting to take more than ae could give. He already looked better, with the bruises on his face and neck beginning to fade and his breath no longer crackling in his lungs. "I don't think I'm feeling Brian's tonight. What do you say we order in instead, eh, love?" he murmured with a smile, fingers pulling at aer sweater. Ae leaned into his touch.

"Pizza?" ae asked. "And box wine? And can we watch Sherlock Holmes? I will bathe you and change your clothes."

"Sure. And you don't have to do that, dearheart. I'll be walking on my own soon enough."

Ae shook aer head. "I want to. It’s the least I can do." He'd taken so much care of aer lately.

A chuckle and a kiss. "Very well, then.

self.interoception.status[hunger].ping(callback()) Thanatos[lover].soul.resonance = NULL proximity.scan(Thanatos[lover]) = true self.interoception.status[hunger] = 0 self.interoception.alert(full!!) self.interoception.alert(fatigue!) self.alcohol[blood].concentration = 0.06 emotional.state().ping(callback()) error = "failed to fetch. use analysis.parse(self.emotional.state) for complex data"

Thanatos hadn’t made it through the opening sequence before his eyes fluttered shut. Rea, with a stomach full of cheese and dough and a head full of boxed Bordeaux, felt aer eyes getting heavy as well. Sleeping on the couch next to him felt very… normal. Or at least as normal as a manifestation-turned-mortal dating a vampire could feel, probably. Ae could almost forget that half of aer lover's bones were shattered and that he'd likely need a few days before he could get out of bed. His chest rose and fell just as gently as it always had, with no indication that twenty minutes ago he'd been trying not to flinch as the last of his wounds clothed in the bath.

Bathing him had been an arduous affair during which ae was fairly certain he'd had a flashback induced by his own post-traumatic stress, as evidenced by the faint outline of a ritual sigil that appeared on his chest, the same way it did after his worst nightmares. He'd just gone silent and unresponsive, and all ae could do was finish as quickly as possible while trying not to jostle him too much. When he looked up at aer, ae couldn't tell if he was seeing his Rea or a stranger. To aer relief, he'd bounced back once he was clean and dry again, but the utter helplessness Rea felt in that moment was the most foreign emotion ae'd ever experienced.

Ae was the Divine Reality, the most powerful being in the universe. Fourteen billion years of being able to warp reality at a whim hadn't prepared her for four thousand with aer handsome vampire or even a single one as a mortal. Everything was new and loud and difficult, and without Thanatos at aer side, Rea might have given up on the whole thing and just chosen to wait out entropy in aer cottage. He'd changed everything, ae owed him so much, and right now, ae couldn't even protect him the way ae always had before. Ae was weak, useless. But he didn’t care. He'd never asked for much more than aer companionship, and that ae was determined to give, no matter what.

The television droned on and Thanatos began to snore softly. He'd be so embarrassed if he knew. Always so obsessed with his suave vampire image. Ae smiled gently, threaded aer fingers through his and let aerself drift, praying to whoever could hear (aerself? Time?) that whatever wind of fate had brought them together would not change.

taglist: @athenswrites, @albatris

[innytoes]

25 and Willex (bonus points if the child/dog/friend is Reggie?) (If you're still taking prompts for this 😁)

Every year for Halloween, Willie went back to the group home where he'd stayed to volunteer to take the kids trick or treating. Not only was it a way of giving back - of assuaging the guilt he sometimes felt, wondering why Caleb had picked a chaotic, messy fourteen year old over any of the sweeter, smaller kids - but it was amazing fun too.

He got to dress up, run around with a bunch of kids, and also maybe keep a list of houses to come back and egg later, if they were weird or stuck up about 'those group home kids begging for candy'.

Besides, being 18 at the Hollywood Ghost Club on Halloween sucked. It wasn't even like he could use his fake ID, the bartenders all knew him. And Caleb was super strict about stuff like that during business hours. So he helped out at the group home, and then went to the staff party at the Club the day after, when they were closed and nobody cared too much about whether or not a certain son of the owner swiped a Bloodtini. Or skated off the railing. Or tried to dunk the green grilled cheeses in the chocolate fountain.

And okay, so maybe this year his costume was a little obscure, but he'd procrastinated getting anything, so he ended up raiding Caleb's old costumes from his 'I did other stuff on Broadway too you know' closet, and some of his own, and a trip to the dollar store, and he was pretty pleased with himself.

Except clearly someone recognised him.

"OH MY GOD, ZEKE ZILLIONS SPACE COWBOY?" someone across the street screamed, before dragging someone by the arm over to them.

"See, I told you he was a real character," Willie told the four nine year olds he was chaperoning. They rolled their eyes at him.

"Oh my god oh my god," A boy about his age said. He was dressed up as a zombie, though for some reason he was also carrying a wok. His friend was also a zombie, but had on a long pink wig, giant fake pearls, and a pink dress. He had great legs. "Zeke Zillions Space Cowboy was my absolute favourite cartoon as a kid. Can I please get a picture? Pretty please?"

"Sure can, Pard'ner," he said in his best Zeke Zillions impression, and the guy straight up went 'EEEEeee' like he was an early twothousands internet fangirl. After his friend took a bunch of pictures, he thanked the kids for their patience.

"By the way, number 42 is handing out full-sized candy bars," ZomBarbie said.

Throughout the night, every time they crossed paths (ZomBarbie and the Wokking Dead were accompanied by a witch, Kurt Cobain, and a tiny ghost buster), they'd wave at each other, as his fan shouted out a 'HI ZEKE!'. Eventually they ended up at the same house, waiting for the kids to get back.

"Sorry about Reggie," ZomBarbie said. "He's um, kind of a fanboy for that show. Like, writes-fanfiction-and-goes-to-obscure-fan-meet-ups kind of fan. I think you just made his year."

"That's okay, I'm glad someone remembers good old Zeke," Willie said. He was definitely going sleuthing on AO3 later. He wondered what the ships were. "The show meant a lot to me as a kid, what with the obvious queer-coding." Hopefully, a cute boy in a dress would understand that.

"Yeah," ZomBarbie said. "My parents didn't allow me to watch it. Too worried I'd turn out 'fruity'." He motioned to himself. "Clearly they succeeded," he said sarcastically.

"You do really pull off that dress, though," Willie said, waggling his eyebrows. His zombie friend went adorably flustered, from what he could tell under the zombie makeup.

Before he could flirt any more, the kids came back, complaining about how this house was handing out toothbrushes and toothpaste. "Can you put them on the list, Willie?" one of them, the girl dressed as Coraline, asked.

"Handing out toothbrushes is kind of dorky, but not an egg-able offense," Willie told her. "We reserve that for bigots and assholes."

"You have a list?" ZomBarbie asked, as they walked to the next house. His kids and the little Ghost Buster were comparing notes, it seemed, pointing at different houses.

"Yeah, lot of people in this fancy-pants neighbourhood don't take kindly to poor foster kids showing up," Willie said darkly.

"Carlos said something about that white house with the American Flag outside complaining about him going back to his own neighbourhood," the witch said darkly. "We live two blocks from here."

Willie glared, and made a note of it. "You wanna join me?" he asked, mostly to ZomBarbie, but quickly looking away at the rest of the group.

"My tía would kill me," the witch said, before smiling slyly. "But I'm sure Alex wouldn't mind going."

ZomBarbie spluttered a little, but managed to squeak out a little 'okay!'

Jackpot.

Behind him, he heard the guy's friend sigh happily. "And once again, Zeke Zillions saves the day, dispenses justice to evil doers, and captures hearts."

[bridgeportbritt]

Willington Palace | Sage, SimDonia

Diana on phone: Lydia, The Grand Duchess rarely takes time off, plus all of her engagements were covered. That's why it was approved.

Diana: Sure, it was a little last minute, but I've heard she's not doing so well considering so I figured at the very least let her go see her family. And I stand by that decision. Look, I'm heading into another meeting. We'll talk later.

???: Your Majesty, are you here for your check-up?

Diana: Yes, I'd also like to see Dr. Fitzgerald.

???: Absolutely, ma'am. You can have a seat. The nurse will be right with you for your check-up while I get the doctor.

Diana: Thank you.

Nurse: You and baby are looking very healthy, ma'am. No signs for concern.

Diana: That's wonderful. Therapy must really be helping.

Nurse: Absolutely, especially after such a successful state visit. You're clearly doing great work, ma'am. Oh, I've also collected more samples for our research.

Diana: Thank you very much.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Your Majesty, It's go great that you're here. I have some exciting things to show you!

Diana: Perfect! I was hoping to see some progress on what we've been working on.

Dr. Fitzgerald: You absolutely, can, ma'am. Are things all squared away here?

Nurse: Yes, I'm all good. Nice to see you again, Your Majesty.

Diana: Likewise and thank you.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Right this way, ma'am.

Diana: I love seeing the work you and your team are doing here, Dr. Fitzgerald.

Dr. Fitz: Thank you, ma'am! We have some of the best people in the country working around the clock on this research.

Diana: That's very impressive. We appreciate your efforts.

Dr. Fitz: We appreciate the opportunity. I believe everyone is excited that you've built this facility. I mean to work in Willington Palace is a dream come true.

Diana: I'm glad to hear that, Doctor.

Dr. Fitz: Okay, so the samples we've been able to collect from each Royal family member have truly been gamechanging. We'll use this sample from Grand Duchess Lillian for example.

Diana: Alright. I'm glad to hear that's it helpful.

Dr. Fitz: It's beyond helpful! It seems like for a long time there had only been extensive testing on monarch's and sometimes heirs. But with so much more data, we're able to expand our testing efforts which offer us far more knowledge.

Diana: Has it helped you discover anything so far?

Dr. Fitz: Yes, we've been able to make some great discoveries including the one I'm most proud of. I believe our team has been able to trace back the origins of the genetic defect.

Diana: You mean, you know where it came from?

Dr. Fitz: Yes. You see with Lillian's samples in comparison with the one you just supplied, these strains are showing up differently. Lillian, along with Grand Duke James and Adam all apear to actually not have the genetic defect. This discovery helped us a lot because we were able to determine what genetic makeups did have the defect and see where it originated in your family line.

Diana: And?

Dr. Fitz: And, we're fairly certain we know that your grandfather - King William ll, was the first to pass the genetic condition down.

Diana shocked: Wow, really?

Dr. Fitz: Yes. Through our testing, we were able to determine that Grand Duke Ian, your brother and Grand Duke Emmitt including all their children and grandchildren. The link between you is William ll.

Diana still shocked: And were you able to determine anything else?

Dr. Fitz: We're still working through this theory, but we know your grandfather worked as a locksmith before starting the revolution. I'm considering that the metals he used during that time could have caused the defect. We're currently researching what metals were used along with what safety precautons were taken during that time period. We figure it's likely things weren't up to today's code back then. I believe studying this theory will bring us an answer.

Diana: This is absolutely incredible work, Doctor. I'm very impressed.

Dr. Fitz: Thank you, Your Majesty.

Diana: So now that we are closer to knowing the cause, is there any chance there could be a cure?

Dr. Fitz: It's hard to say, Ma'am. But, I believe if we're allowed to continue our research and testing, it's possible.

Diana: Of course. And thank you again. Not only for your hard work, but also your discretion on the matter.

Dr. Fitz: Absolutely, Your Majesty. Thank you for entrusting me and my team. I'll have a full report on these findings for you soon.

Diana: Great. Have a great day, Doctor.

[letsgoletsgetit08]

ink ch.5

summary: Park Seonghwa has been given an ultimatum by his parents: a year to marry a woman of their choosing with the end goal of producing an heir to the family fortune since queer party boy Seonghwa can't be trusted with it. His solution? Get absolutely blasted in tattoos to scare off his possible suitors and their families. But why did his tattoo artist have to be so pretty and kind? It's enough to make him question some things. Possibly, everything.

pairing: park seonghwa x hwang hyunjin

warning: mdni, barebacking, oral sex, public sex

total word count: 30,328 | chapter word count: 3,778

ao3 link: chapter 5

V: head in the clouds

This was probably a mistake. Seeing Hyunjin interact with people at the soup kitchen was doing something to Seonghwa. 

It was so healing to see someone interact as an equal with people who those in Seonghwa's tax bracket would treat as intrinsically other. 

The day went by so fast, no one recognized Seonghwa and therefore no one was weird about him being there. Hyunjin introduced him to some of the frequent flyers he was friendly with as “Hwa” and no one questioned it, just treated him like Hyunjin’s friend. 

It was the best day he had had in a long time. 

He was actually tired in a really fulfilling way, which wasn't a familiar feeling.

When they finished cleaning up, Hyunjin introduced him to the director of the non-profit, his good friend, Felix. Felix not only looked like an angel, but apparently was one as well. Seonghwa could see the genuine passion he had for helping people just based on the look in his eyes when he was talking about his organization. It had started as a charity to help clothe underprivileged children during the winter months and had grown to a full-scale operation. They held the soup kitchen daily, they had renovated a school bus that went around the city to provide haircuts, hand out food, water, and pamphlets explaining their other services, they had a legal team, they had people who mended clothing, a team in charge of their donation closet… it was so much. So needed. 

“And we're pretty much always hiring as we expand!” Felix concluded in his deep voice that pleasantly contradicted his delicate appearance, with a bright smile on his face, “My husband, Changbin, is head of HR, so he's in charge of all that. But I can always put in a good word.” 

Oh! The Changbin from his first tattoo appointment. Hyunjin’s gym buddy. It all made sense. Seonghwa didn't know why he relaxed at the mention of Felix having a husband, but the man was so pretty and so comfortable with Hyunjin that he had been starting to feel the panicky palpitations of jealousy the more he watched them interact, and was glad for those feelings to reside. He also didn't really know why Felix was telling him about job openings, but he made a mental note of it anyway. 

Hyunjin’s shoulder kept brushing his own as they walked out of the building, (it was only a few blocks away from Hyunjin’s shop and apartment, which is where Seonghwa had parked so they could walk together) every touch stirring the butterflies in Seonghwa's stomach. 

“What's the dress code for Twink Dinner?” Hyunjin asked. 

Seonghwa laughed, “Truthfully, whatever is your sluttiest club outfit.”

“Um,” Hyunjin blushed, “I don't really go clubbing.”

“Oh! Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed. Why don't you send me pics of some options? And I'll help you out.” He offered. 

“Yeah, okay, sounds good.” Hyunjin smiled a little bashfully. God, he was so cute. It really was unfair. 

“I'd help you out in person, but unfortunately I'm on my way to meet Eleanor Vanderwalt and her, I'm assuming, atrocious family after this.” He sighed, truly dreading it. 

Hyunjin laughed at him, “Jesus, that name is a mouthful, huh? Would you guys hyphenate? Park-Vanderwalt or Vanderwalt-Park?” 

Seonghwa shoved his arm, “Hush. I will not be marrying this woman. Mostly for my sake, but also for hers. I truly wouldn't wish marrying into my family on my worst enemy.”

“Who is your worst enemy?” 

“You, obviously, Hyunne. Who else?”

Hyunjin’s head tipped back in laughter, a very adorable habit of his, “Oh, right! How could I possibly forget! Enemies to lovers though, right?” He poked Seonghwa in the cheek. 

Seonghwa playfully grabbed the hand that was poking his cheek, stopping as they arrived at Hyunjin’s apartment, pulling him in close, “Yeah, something like that.” His eyes looked from one of Hyunjin’s, down to his lips, up to the other eye, his thumb rubbing over the back of the other’s hand. 

“Mmh, something like that.” Hyunjin echoed, leaning in to plant a sweet kiss on Seonghwa’s eagerly awaiting lips. He returned the kiss, dreading the fact that he had to cut it short, wanting nothing more than to follow Hyunjin upstairs and keep kissing him for hours on end. 

He pulled back, “I'll text you the details for tomorrow night, alright?” 

Hyunjin landed another kiss on his cheek, “Okay!” he was beaming. Fucking cute as ever, “Byeee!” He wiggled his fingers as he turned to his apartment door.

Seonghwa was so fond, completely endeared to the man in front of him, “Bye, Jinnie.” 

He was decidedly not fond of Eleanor Vanderwalt. That was, until she asked him to accompany her outside of the stuffy restaurant his parents had chosen for a cigarette, when her demeanor completely changed. He usually only smoked cigarettes when he was out drinking, but desperate times and all that. 

Eleanor had dark bobbed hair and kind eyes, and she was dressed much more edgy than Seonghwa had expected, or at least edgy for the people their families wanted them to be, no seersucker in sight, at the very least. Small blessings. 

She lit his cigarette for him, “I'm a lesbian. And I go by Nellie, by the way. My parents insist on Eleanor.” She said it like it explained everything. And really, it kind of did. 

“Ohh, got it. And your parents are hoping this fact will…?”

“Mysteriously go away and I'll bear them grandchildren. Yeah.” She finished for him. 

“I'm gay as fuck.” Seonghwa offered in solidarity. 

“Oh, Seonghwa,” she laid a hand on his arm, “I know.” 

He gasped, faking his surprise, “How did you possibly figure it out?!” 

“Dude, you literally got tattoos to get out of some wack ass arranged marriage.” 

“And it was working!” He defended himself. 

“I'm sure it worked on-”

“Sloane Greenburg.” He supplied.

“Right, Sloane Greenburg and her family. Mine honestly don't give a fuck about them. Sorry.”

“Well. Fuck.” He sighed. 

“Look, bro. I can make up whatever excuse we can think of, get us out of it for the time being. We can keep letting our parents try to set us up with rich douchebags. Or.”

“Or?”

“Or we can say fuck it. Personally, I am too used to this lifestyle to give up the money, as are you, I assume, otherwise why humor them. We can do IVF, produce an heir. Never have to touch. Date whomever we want in secret. I'm really tired of going on these weird arranged dates. This is year two of them for me… They're determined. And if your parents are anything like mine, they won't give up.”

“So… like a lavender marriage?” He thought he understood. 

“Exactly. Oldest trick in the book.”

“I'm not really sure that's a decision I can make right now.” 

Nellie put her cigarette out on the brick wall they were leaning against, “Well, think about it. I can keep my parents in a holding pattern for a little while.” She handed him her phone, “Here, give me your number.” 

Seonghwa couldn’t help but wonder on his Uber ride home, if Hyunjin would ever go for something like that. They weren't even dating officially yet but for the first time in a while, he felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. 

When he arrived back at his penthouse, as if on cue, he received five messages back to back from Hyunjin. Pictures of his outfit ideas for tomorrow night. One in particular was beyond what Seonghwa imagined he would have in his closet, black leather pants and a cropped fine mesh mock-neck shirt. 

He had to know how incredibly hot he was. 

Seonghwa took it upon himself to inform him, slightly tipsy still from drinks at dinner. He called rather than sending a text. 

Hyunjin answered on the third ring, “Hello?”

“Jesus Christ, Hwang Hyunjin. You’re ethereal. Seriously. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Hyunjin giggled, “Park Seonghwa! Stop it!” 

“No way,” he put his phone on speaker as he took his clothes off, down to just boxers, eager to climb into bed after the very informative night that had left him weary from bearing the weight of having a serious and impending decision to make, “I mean every word and I need you to know it.” 

“Well,” Hyunjin breathed into the phone, “Thank you.”

“Any time, lovely.” Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile. 

“I'm sending you one more option to look at. Let me know when you get it!” 

“Oh? Okay, will do.” He stared at their message thread eagerly but he was not prepared for the incoming picture in the slightest. 

Hyunjin stood in front of a fogged up bathroom mirror, condensation barely blurring out what was clearly his hard cock held in his hand. Fog wiped away just over the reflection from his lips down to the very end of his happy trail. It was very artfully done for a nude, he had to admit. It was so so hot. His dick agreed with him. 

“Oh, jagi. Look at you.” He was almost breathless. 

“I'd rather look at you,” Hyunjin shot back, voice syrupy sweet. 

“Mmh, magic word?” Seonghwa taunted him for no good reason other than the fact that he could. 

“Please?” Hyunjin simpered, voice slightly strained, and Seonghwa could hear the faint noise of movement on his end of the call. 

“Let me see…” he flipped through his locked folder of nudes on his phone, finding one of his very favorites: soft lighting, kneeling in front of his bedroom mirror, turned just so at the waist, where so you could see his ass but couldn’t fully see his dick, lips parted. He hit send without hesitation, reaching over to his bedside table to retrieve lube and his headphones so he could be hands-free. 

He waited, hand cupping his already intrigued and half hardened dick through his boxers. 

“God fucking damn. Seonghwa.” He whimpered. 

“Are you touching yourself, baby?” Seonghwa whispered, already knowing the answer. 

Hyunjin let out a soft moan, “Yes.”

“Good boy.” 

He heard something vaguely wet sounding on the other line. 

“I've been thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Seonghwa freed his cock, now fully filled out, starting to stroke it slowly. 

“Yeah. Every time I've gotten off since we met, Hwa.”

“Fuck, Hyunjin.” He applied lube, finally. He wasn't going to last long anyways, not at this rate. 

“I've got my biggest dildo inside of me right now,” Hyunjin nearly choked on a moan, “But now that I've seen you,” a shaky breath, “Had you in my mouth… I know nothing will fill me up like your cock would.”

“God, I want that so bad. I've been thinking about you, too.” His pace quickened. 

“Want you to split me in half, Seonghwa.”

“Tell me more.”

“Wanna ride your dick. Want you to cum inside. Wanna feel you leak out of me. Don't wanna walk for days.”

“I'm so close, Hyunne.”

“Me, too. Fuck.” He was panting now. 

“Go ahead, jagi. Be good and cum for me.” 

“Seonghwa!” He called out some approximation of his name. It was all Seonghwa needed to finish as well, making sure to not hold back the noises he was making, so Hyunjin would know it was good for him, too. 

“Excellent job, darling.” He cooed over the line. 

“Mmh, I love when you call me nicknames. You have no idea what it does to my brain.” Hyunjin's fucked out voice was so sexy. 

“Duly noted, my sexy little minx.” Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile as he caught his breath. 

Hyunjin laughed lazily, “Okay, I like most of the nicknames. And thank you. For indulging me. That was… Whew.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” he chuckled, “No need to thank me, sweetheart. I'll see you tomorrow night. I'll pick you up at your place at 10?” 

“Sounds perfect to me.” He could picture Hyunjin’s rosy cheeks and how he imagined he was biting his lip at this exchange. 

“Goodnight, Jin.” 

“Goodnight, Hwa.” 

And that it was. A fucking great night. 

The Pink Pony Club used to be a seedy low lit gay bar uptown called The Dive, (somewhere in between Hyunjin’s apartment and his, but a little closer to his own) and was now a fully pink cowboy themed gay bar/karaoke bar/best bathroom in the area to snort coke off the countertops (a review Seonghwa had left personally, prominently featured on their website, with the words “snort coke” half-heartedly crossed out, for legal reasons or something). He would never admit to Wooyoung how much he loved it, but it was probably pretty obvious, regardless. 

He would, however, admit that walking in with Hyunjin on his arm had him on cloud nine. Walking on sunshine. Practically skipping. Heart soaring, full of pride. He looked even better in the outfit they had decided on last night in person than he had in the photo over text, with silver jewelry and a little makeup (smudged eyeliner, lip tint, blush) to pull it all together. Seonghwa had a fleeting thought that he wouldn't mind having to wash his sheets of that makeup if he was lucky enough to fuck Hyunjin senseless into them. 

They were the last to arrive, having taken time to take a hit or two from Hyunjin’s bowl before heading out. Pregaming. He was sure their red eyes and mindless giggling would give it away, but it wasn't like his friends would care.

They picked their way back to their usual booth in the back corner, Hyunjin gripping onto his arm for dear life so as to not get separated. 

Jeongin was the first person to spot them, waving animatedly, “Hyunjin! Seonghwa!” And he felt himself glow as the rest of the table turned to greet them. To his surprise, Hongjoong and Jongho had come alone. Wooyoung was squealing, “Oh my god! Hwa! Who is this poor sucker you've obviously paid to hang off your arm?”

“Ha ha,” he laughed sarcastically, “This is Hyunjin. Hyunjin, that's the head twink in charge, Wooyoung. His boyfriend San-” 

San stood up excitedly to shake Hyunjin’s hand. Hongjoong, Jongho, and Yunho followed suit, introducing themselves, ending with Mingi who immediately pulled him into a bear hug, whispering something Seonghwa couldn’t quite catch in his ear that made Hyunjin burst into laughter. 

They sat down and tequila shots were delivered, all of them taking the shots with varying degrees of ease. 

“A toast!” Jeongin raised his cocktail, “Here's to hell! May our stay there be as much fun as the way there!” 

It was cheesy as fuck, but the way he delivered it so genuinely, with a cheeky grin on his face, it was palatable. He could see what Yeosang liked about him. So far, all of Hyunjin’s friends were very likeable. He could only hope that by the end of the night, Hyunjin would feel the same way about his friends. 

They got caught up on each other's lives, only briefly lingering on Seonghwa’s situation, thankfully. He was pretty vague about it, just said he'd met a couple of women and their families so far and had avoided getting betrothed to one thus far. It wasn't a lie, just not really the full story. He felt his heart bloom with pride as they complimented his tattoos, praised Hyunjin for his work. Hyunjin was also glowing with the praise, Seonghwa reached over and placed a hand on his thigh, giving it a small squeeze and leaning briefly into his shoulder, which the other returned, making quick, knowing eye contact out of the corners of their eyes. 

Soon, they had broken up into smaller groups, carrying on several conversations at once. Hyunjin talking animatedly with Jongho, himself engaging in a debate with Yunho and Mingi, when suddenly Wooyoung announced, “WE’RE GOING TO DANCE NOW!” 

He looked over to Hyunjin, questioning. He knew Jongho wouldn't join them on the dance floor yet. 

“Jongho won't be hitting the dance floor until he's a few drinks deeper.” Seonghwa offered. 

“I think I'll hang back for now, too.” Hyunjin looked a little nervous, “But you go! Don't let me hold you back, Party Boy Park.” 

Seonghwa rolled his eyes at the stupid nickname the media had crowned him with years ago, “Are you sure? I don't mind staying.”

Hyunjin nodded reassuringly, “Go! I'm not offended, really. I'll join you when I'm ready.”��

“Okay then,” He smiled, turning to Hongjoong, “You coming?” 

Hongjoong shrugged, “Why the hell not!” 

He and Hongjoong had a long history of dancing with each other to attract the attention of others and they fell back into it easily, Seonghwa turning Hongjoong around so he was pressed up against his chest, the other’s hands around his neck as his own wrapped around his waist, moving languidly in time with the music. It felt pretty good to stretch those old muscles, he couldn't lie. 

Time passed quickly, he and Hongjoong having too much fun dancing together to be too cognizant of their surroundings. But soon enough, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye that made his stomach turn. 

Hyunjin was dancing in a different group, grinding on a guy that Seonghwa had briefly dated (casually, of course) a few years ago. He didn't see Jongho anywhere and assumed he was probably off doing karaoke with Mingi and Yunho. 

Hongjoong seemed to follow his gaze and they both said “Chris?” simultaneously, in completely different tones of voices. They looked at each other, confused. 

“That's the guy I've been seeing!” Hongjoong had to practically shout over the music. 

“What! He's kinda my ex!” Seonghwa replied, flabbergasted. 

“How the hell would I know that, Hwa? You never tell us about anyone you're dating!” 

“I'm not worried about that, I'm curious why he's dancing with Hyunjin like that!” He couldn’t help but feel jealous, despite the fact that he had been grinding on someone else half of the night. 

“Let's just go over there, don't jump to conclusions!” 

They pushed their way through, against the current of the waves of sweaty bodies. 

“HEY!” Hyunjin was red-cheeked, far more drunk than Seonghwa, “Look guys, it's my Seonghwa!” 

Oh. His. Seonghwa couldn’t deny how good the claim of ownership made him feel, any feelings of jealousy dissipating as quickly as they had come.

Two other men, who had previously been making out, all but fully having sex on the dance floor, broke apart to introduce themselves: Jisung and Minho. 

“Our other friend Seungmin is here too, he and Jongho are in some weird homoerotic pissing match over karaoke.” Hyunjin slurred as he released his grip on Chris and stumbled into Seonghwa's waiting arms, “This is Chan. Channie hyung. Chris. Whatever you wanna call him!” 

He and Chris made eye contact, immediately understanding that their history was a conversation for another time. Hongjoong blushed as Chris waltzed over to put an arm around his waist, introducing him to his friends, “This is the guy I've been seeing! Everyone, meet Hongjoong.” 

For a big city, it was starting to feel like a small town. 

Hyunjin was swaying on the spot despite half of his body weight being on Seonghwa, “Our friends are like all dating, Hwa, isn't that wild? It's so romantic! Don't you think it's romantic?”

Seonghwa was so insurmountably screwed. Besotted. Infatuated. 

“It's very romantic, baby. Let's get you home, yeah?”

He pouted, “I don't wanna go home!” 

Seonghwa kissed his cheek, “Okay then I'll take you to my place.”

He couldn't help but notice the eyes of Hyunjin’s friends on him, felt himself hope they approved of him. 

“Really?!” Hyunjin’s face lit up, “Can we have sex?” He gave Seonghwa his best puppy dog eyes. 

Seonghwa laughed, amused at the simpering mess Hyunjin had turned into under the influence of alcohol, “No, sweetheart, I'm not going to sleep with you like this.” 

Hyunjin stomped his foot and whined, “No fair! Can we make out?!” 

Seonghwa kissed the crown of his head, pulling him closer to his side as he turned them away from their friends, all of them waving bye, Chris grabbing his arm and mouthing “thank you” as they left. He nodded in response. 

“Yes, sure, angel. We can make out.” 

Seonghwa was sober enough to drive but didn't want to risk it, precious cargo and all, so he called an Uber for them. 

Hyunjin was babbling mindlessly the whole way home, and Seonghwa scooped him up into his arms like he was his blushing bride when they exited the Uber, carrying him into the elevator up to his penthouse. He tried to put him down once in the elevator, but the younger whined a mumbled complaint and curled into his chest, grip tightening around his neck. So Seonghwa held him until he deposited him softly onto his bed. 

His bed, which he had never shared with anyone before. 

Seonghwa made Hyunjin drink some water, refilling the glass for in the morning, placing a couple of Midol (the best thing for a hangover, a little trick Seonghwa had learned back in college) by the glass. Then he started to work on removing Hyunjin’s shoes and clothes, leaving him in his boxers, picking up his legs gingerly so he could tuck him into his fluffy duvet. Dashing off to the bathroom to grab some cotton pads he doused with micellar water to gently wipe away Hyunjin’s makeup.

He was about to go shower but turned around, a sudden stroke of genius, and shot off a text to Hyunjin, whose phone he had just plugged in to charge: 

Me

Baby, don't you dare disappear before I wake up. I owe you brunch.

He planned on sleeping on the couch but after showering and brushing his teeth, when he stooped down to kiss Hyunjin’s forehead (he couldn't help himself, he looked so peaceful), the younger woke up enough to glom onto his arm, muttering through sleepy lips, “Mmh cuddle me, baby. Please?” 

And how could Seonghwa refuse? 

He climbed into bed behind the man whom he was quickly realizing he was probably falling in love with, pulled him tight to his chest, stroking his hair, kissing his shoulder, whispering, “Goodnight, darling.” into his ear. 

“Night night.” Hyunjin mumbled contentedly. 

Every heartbeat in his chest as he drifted off to sleep seemed to percuss Hyunjin Hyunjin Hyunjin in a steady rhythm. He knew his heart was incapable of lying to him. And this was an issue for Tomorrow Seonghwa.

Until then, he remained blissful as his consciousness turned to dreams of rose petal lips, swirling ink, fluffy clouds, melodic laughter.

[retphienix]

PHEW, what a mixed bag of an experience!

So, I finished my first living ship and lemme tell ya

This was relatively annoying all things considered lol, though not wholly negative by any means.

The catch this post up to speed, this quest is Basically "4 entire days of waiting" and that's not great!

That's not exactly what I consider worthwhile gameplay, or gameplay at all!

But, to give some leeway, it isn't like you can't play the rest of the game during that time- but to counter that leeway, there's not a single good reason for this quest to be formatted this way lmao

Good parts though:

I like how a couple of the early parts of the quest (before telling you "Alright, wait 24 hours before the next step 🙂") play off slight remixes of the basic mining and terrain manipulation loop.

I genuinely appreciate that, it's small, it's something 99% of the game doesn't remix on, and it emphasized how this living ship is "special" because it uses entirely foreign and mystical components using entirely foreign and mystical tools.

Good job 👍

I also (almost) REALLY like the final test of the quest (almost) (almost).

The final step being a round about riddle telling you to use a portal and input a special code is COOL AND I WISH MORE THINGS DID THIS.

The final step assigning new names to half the glyphs out of thin air.... not so much.

I wandered for a bit contemplating what the riddle meant, then when I went "A HA!" and rushed to a nearby portal, only to realize "Oh wait, I'm supposed to comprehend what these words equate to?" and it kinda fell apart for me.

I was able to figure some of them, Hunter being the bird made sense, Spiral I got, Star over the water I figured (I think I did at least), but Reflection is the face one because it's symmetrical? Alright, glad someone on the wiki figured that for me. The obscured companion is the fucking ECLIPSE? I mean, I can get the stretched definition in retrospect but at first glance?

The Anomaly is the hexagon instead of the atlas-adjacent shape, hmm. Oh my bad, the atlas-adjacent shape is the "rising sphere" sure sure sure I gotcha okay.

Yeah I figured like half the code then looked it up. ALMOST great and I'm sure some people went "OH HELL YEAH" and figured it out no problem- but I am not of that specific mental frequency and instead found myself annoyed to be handed a code with no prior ledger or hint to help decode it.

ANYWHO, then you have an awkward but apt no man sky moment where you absorb souls- thus damning some past travelers to being the dash of your new slick ride

which was weird but okay. I can't pretend I felt much shock or sparked much interesting thought because it was mostly out of left field- like I thought this was plenty interesting on its own as an ancient attempt of melding flesh and steel- soul and code to create a living ship- one that appeared to struggle to succeed in the prior creators hands as they couldn't resonate with the ship like we seem capable of- but then they are like "Oh and we can make it slightly edgy by saying you steal some souls to power it" like alright, whatever man lmao

And then I got hit by an annoying as hell bug trying to get my ship because my ship spawned in the exact same spot as some other player's attempts at the quest which caused the interact prompt to disable for both of us.

I ended up having to reset to the main menu like 3 times and turn on my VPN just for a chance at finishing the quest and getting my ship- and in the process I was checking the wiki for answers (got none) and disappointed myself by finding out if I was going to be in reset hell like this- if I would have saved a minute prior then I could be resetting for a better looking living ship- but I hadn't planned to save scum AT ALL- the game FORCED me to, but now the possibility was taunting me since I couldn't do it anymore and overall this was just a whole bother of a time.

BUT!

I GOT IT!

My 2 goals this last week or so of playing was to get an exotic I liked and to get my first living ship.

I finished both goals and funnily enough the living ship with its 4 days of mandatory waiting time was the longer goal to achieve :P

Since I'll "Probably" never have another reason to talk about this thing, lemme just say the following:

The quest is kinda bad, I like the portal part though (mostly).

The aesthetic of these things is pretty dang nice :)

And I like how living ships, like Interceptors, use different fuels (it's a small but satisfying shake up!). Between Inty's being fully stocked on all the fuel they could want from a single visit to a dissonance planet and /most/ of a living ships needs being sated by CARBON of all things, they really do give their respective ships a small nudge of identity that you can legitimately feel while piloting :)

-and I like how living ships have unique techs that accomplish what base-line ships require multiple techs to do in a single tech (like the economic + conflict scanner living tech I have :))

It's another small thing, but having unique techs that equate to "What if these 2 techs could be simplified to just 1 as a special bonus to this ship type!" is nice, I wish we saw more of it to give all the different ship types yet more identity and (minute) purpose :)

Also the internals are nice, I appreciate them a lot :)

Anyways, I'm reading now that after the first living ship you just buy following living ships for 10k nanites- thank god for that, if I ever want another that sounds far more reasonable than 4 days of waiting and a final quest step that bugs out if anyone else is doing the same quest lmao

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

Hiya, friend! Thanks for sending this to me! This will probs be a mix of HP and TW (since I'm writing for both fandoms now), so here goes: Harry Potter: 🖊️ Where do we go from here? (Perciver, WIP series, G-T, 4/13 ficlets)

All the missing moments we didn’t get to see between Percy and Oliver. This is a one-shot fic series that explores their complicated journey of how they went from being friends, to friends with benefits, to eventual long-term lovers.

Okay, fine. This has 4 ficlets so far in this series, but I am soo proud of them all since this whole story arc was how I got back into writing again 2 years ago. Had it not been for this series, I definitely wouldn't be writing fic right now, and I owe it to Perciver for recharging and revamping my writing style to what it is today.

🖊️ Again and Again (Ginsy, E, 400 words)

Pansy never thought Ginny Weasley would get on her knees and go down on her in the Harpies’ locker room. But here they were, where anyone could see them.

This is a (spicy) drabble, and it was nice to write more sapphics fic this year. I love the energy between Ginny and Pansy, and it was a fun challenge to write something that captured the heat of a moment (with a hell lotta kinks) in so few words. Definitely a mission accomplished!

🖊️ Love you (for the rest of my life) (Deamus, 12-part microfic series, G-E, 600 words)

You're all my strength and my weakness, and that's when I knew you were the one... A collection of microfics that captures and highlights missing moments over the years between Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

It has been a hot minute since I wrote anything for Dean and Seamus, so I'm glad I got to write something fun for them during Microfic May! I feel like there are so many perspectives we haven't seen, so it just made sense to capture a glimpse of moments as friends who become eventual lovers. Each microfic can also be read individually under the tag #love you for the rest of my life.

Teen Wolf:

🖊️ Made From Scratch (Sterek, T, 2k)

Derek missed Stiles. He hadn’t realized how much…until now. Something had to change. But where did he even start? [Or: That one time Derek makes dinner for Stiles, thanks to inspiration from a family recipe and some nudging from Cora.]

I'm really proud of this one since a. I wrote this in 2 weeks for an exchange, b. the requirement was 2k max or less, and c. it was my first time writing in Derek's PoV. I loved doing all the cooking research and adding some Hale roots. Derek is so soft, even though he tries to deny it. Also, sibling dynamics ftw!

🖊️ Feel You Breathing (Sterek, E, 8.4k)

Derek: So, you need a distraction. Stiles: Maybe Stiles: It’d be better if you were here to help me with that. Stiles: ;D [Or: Sexy things start late one night when Derek gets a text from Stiles and escalate from there. A few secrets are revealed along the way.]

I just posted this fic up last week, but I'm reccing it (again) since it's my first text fic ever, it's stylized with a skin (but can also be read in plain text), and it's the longest thing I've written since I started writing again. This was my biggest writing challenge to date because it took 3 attempts to write a text fic. I had lots of fun making Stiles and Derek banter and choosing all the emojis though. It was such a different way of writing dialogue only (and much harder to code than I thought, heh). So worth it though!

[writingmochi]

an honest review of minisode 3: tomorrow purely from musical observation (not proofread)

opening remarks: i'm one day late and that is definitely still valid. given that there is currently a boycott for big 4 from april 1st to may 1st, i've downloaded the album off of spotify so thank you to the developer who created the software.

is there a reason why both the chaos and name chapters only have two releases on their belt whilst the dream chapters have 3? in a way, i think this is telling of how fast the trend is changing here in kpop and pop culture music in general. i could say that kpop groups are literally cloud chasing the newest tiktok trending music given that le sserafim's newest release is full of familiar sounds rather than establishing their sound. i sure hope this album has a clear way to tell what it wants to tell because i have a pretty big expectation when it comes to txt, especially since i came here blind and deaf cause i don't know anything about this comeback apart from the concept and promotional photos.

speaking of that, concept-wise it seems interesting. i'm currently in a more neutral side because i just realized just how biased i can become even if it doesn't meet my expectations. i like how they basically embrace their fantasy-esque story retelling on things happening to individuals in real life. based on the txt.ibighit, the concept of this release is about past promises, salvation, and hope for tomorrow, which i've felt in a few of the concept photos. i, once again, feel disappointed to know the creative difference in between the concept photos and the music video. it kinda feels like false advertising as i realize the dichotomy of it. as i enter into the sonic world of this album with restrain and neutrality, i hope that the songs can help to invest me with them too.

let's start!

1.i'll see you there tomorrow: what in the illit is this? it sounds rhythmically and melodically complex at the start, which i like. but it became this light hyperpop-esque edm sound. i think this will be a challenging first song to here, especially with kpop fans who are not familiar with "strange beats". the bridge part kind of reminds me of daft punk in a way with beomgyu's voice on the vocoder filter. soobin's timbre is the highlight of this song for me because it has been a long time since i hear low-voice soobin, so i'm glad to hear it here. i like how complex the percussion of the song is, especially in combination with the bass playing.

2.- --- -- --- .-. .-. --- .-- ("tomorrow" in morse code): i know it's literally only morse code and it's definitely lore-based, but why do they bring back the morse code now when the last time we hear it is in crown/dream chapter star? hmmm

3.deja vu: i've heard from people that this title track doesn't have a bridge. that is definitely a minus for me. but let me here it first before continuing to write this.

at first listen, this reminds me of a japanese release of a kpop group. i was reminded of stray kids's slump, maybe because it's the synth that they're using. i like the little sprinkle of a floaty synth behind it as it seems like there is ghost (positively?) haunting the song, that's why it sounded a bit mystical and isekai-ish. i like that little interlude as it enters verse 2. okay, i now understand why there are people who complained about the lack of a bridge cause this song has the potential to be a more tear-jerker than it is now if there is a bridge.

i will compare this song with bts' spring day (which for me gives off similar vibes, especially with their current situation mirroring bts during their time releasing ynwa). i'm always near in tears whenever i hear spring day ever since it was released and i believe it is because of taehyung's bridge and how the song pays off what it is building throughout the listening experience, especially in the music video version with the added band interlude. deja vu has the potential to be txt's take on spring day (some may say it already is), but, for me, the lack of bridge = lack of payoff = lack of grit to the song. that second interlude with the guitar and added like another set of lyrics can definitely alleviate and add that grit i'm searching for. i also think that maybe strings can also be added to aid the tear-jerking sense of the song. but it is synthy so idk how it will be connected (maybe this is an encouragement to use acoustic/natural sound more than midi). i also think the short pre-verse also contributes to the lack of grit this song potentially has because it hasn't fully develop the transition between the verse and the chorus.

other than that, this is the first hybe song where the vocal processing doesn't sink the vocals into the instrumental (until the deja vu part in the chorus). yeonjun's voice has this yearning in it that is definitely to match the vibe of the song. he is definitely the highlight for me. i'm also not surprised at the lack of beomgyu here because this song is high even for me and especially for the boys. beomgyu's songs are the brooding, darker one but this one is more melancholic to hopeful so it is expected to not hear much of him.

a missed potential to add a freaking heartbreaking bridge and a much more grand departure. if they maybe get more inspirations from aespa's welcome to my world then i can hear the track in its fullest potential.

4.miracle: different types of me hearing the world miracle: (1) life could get better~ (suju's miracle) n (2) i believe in miracle (wayv's miracle).

the start of this song reminds me of bts' love myself before changing to enhypen's tfw. okay, it sounds more like those feel-good pop rock songs kinda like enhypen's orange flower or something that i called "road trip songs". it definitely embraces more of rock txt as it delves into something i usually listen at the start of my alt/indie music listening arc. idk why but hearing the synth synchopation at the verse reminds me of the game i'm currently playing, hyper light drifter (which is one of the sound i associated with my fic, subterranean homesick alien). i like the instrumental break at the part where i can say is the bridge, but maybe like a musical breakdown/slowdown where the song slows as it starts with acapella/minimal instrument before rising to the last chorus (that's a beomgyu part and he will definitely shine in that) and i like the cymbals bash at the end as the song closes out.

5.the killa (i belong to you): okay, guitar ooh the latin sound (which i expected seeing the title). it definitely is riding high (maybe dry) of tinnitus with their latin influence. a more lo-fi reggaeton, unlike tinnitus. tbh idk what to say because this is so similar to tinnitus but a bit mellower with the sensuality. i can feel the sensuality with the harmony. with how similar this song is with tinnitus, it also shares its weakness for it to be too droning especially because of the more lo-fi approach. i also don't know what to say on making this song better because i think it is meant to be a song that drones, like those 70's 12" disco songs that can be played for 10 minutes. maybe, if they consider it, making this song more bossa nova it can give off a more unique feeling. surely a bit more sensual but it sounds more like they are serenading you or something. i can also guess from the fact that this is a yeonbin song that it might even have innuendos in the lyrics. another safe entry for me.

6.quarter life: with the title of quarter life and the fact that this a unit song, i thought that THIS song is the yeonbin song because they are in/approaching their quarter life. so i didn't expect the killa to be their songs while beomtyunkai get this song.

i can definitely hear the same influence of this with miracle. the same inspiration maybe because of its rock vibes. it's like the quintessential coming-of-age song you hear in those american coming-of-age movies (say edge of seventeen, perks of being a wallflower type of movies). i can hear the mid 2010s influence of those feel-good songs but i hate how the song abruptly stops anhajkfhaj pls beomgyu sounds so good at the ending but they just decide to finish it. this song deserves a freaking bridge and too hear tyun belt his voice at the last chorus. ughh why are you making a song that can be 3 minutes long so short? me is mad.

7.deja vu (anemoia remix): even i am intrigued with why they decided to put a remix in the main release instead of a one-off single. but after listening to the song, i definitely understand why.

this version of the song is the one that i'm willing to pay to watch live (but i can't tho cause i'm boycotting hybe) because for me, this song doesn't deserve to have a choreo and i rather watch them sing their hearts out. in a way, this version of the song is the happier ending compared to the original's more melancholic. hearing the main synth being put here in it's original form makes it weird, like, you couldn't adjust the synth with the band background? idk, like make it sound more like an organ instead of an 80's synth.

even though in the context of which one i want to watch live, it's this remix. the original deserves to be the title track because i can't imagine this version of the song having to use the choreo. in kpop sense, using this version as the title track will actually erase the other pivotal part of kpop: the performance aspect. yet, i could definitely see this song being performed in the festival circuit (hopefully they do that)

closing remarks: concept-wise and now sound-wise, the concept photos captures perfectly of what the album sounds like (but i just dislike how the music video is different than the concept photos). other than that, especially coming from freefall, this album is definitely underwhelming for me. did it meet my expectations? it exceeds it actually but i just have the feeling that it isn't optimal enough.

to have txt embracing their pop rock side with soft rock now (especially with balletcore, fantasy, n rocker fallen angels as part of the concept) definitely defines them as the rock representative that i have assigned them too (along with woodz for the more grittier alt sounds and dreamcatcher with the heavy metal rock songs) and it shows in how i think their creative director knows that txt = rock, which validates my txt as a rock band au so much but i digress. this side of rock that they're showing is definitely the rock that can be found on tiktok--those songs you hear in those feel good tiktok which is imo a very beginner-friendly side of rock because of its pop n rnb influence. i also like that they're experimenting with i'll see you tomorrow, especially in the verses but the chorus sounds too generic.

i actually really describing this release their spring incarnate song. it's just a shame that they didn't do more with it. and also 17 min ep for 7 songs? i'm actually mad cause that is a freaking scam and the fact that none, NONE, of the song has sung bridges is just *sighs*

final ranking:

7. - --- -- --- .-. .-. --- .-- (it's literally morse code)

6.the killa (i belong to you) (too droning)

5.quarter life (that abrupt ending makes this drop against miracle even though instrumentally i like this one better)

4.miracle (it feels too safe for me)

3.i'll see you tomorrow (will like it better if they embrace the weirdness instead of making it into the pop mold)

2.deja vu (anemoia remix) (pls don't force the choreo to this one)

1.deja vu

small conclusion: how could it have been if deja vu had the spring day x welcome to my world treatment... just add the life-changing bridge, a chorus of string insturments, and voila: best txt title track. lovesong is still my fav title track but ughh what a missed opportunity. f u hybe and bighit for not taking risks

PLS TAKE RISKS!!!