#i wasn’t 100% sure if i had a male and female

[gatorbites-imagines]

Please, please, I'll do whatever you want, just more yautja

Male Elder Yautja OC (Ge'jaar) x male reader

Ficlet

I still don’t really know a whole lot of the yautja lore, but I love them anyways. So, heres me cooking up an oc and hoping it’s somewhat canon because I love yautja and will take any excuse to write about them. Readers somewhat based off of an oc of mine. Reader is also around 6ft 5 inches. Ge'jaar is 9ft or so.

Bako really grew on me for some reason when I wrote this, so lemme know if you guys wanna read about him.

You were old. Very old. You hadn’t kept much track of just how old you were, it didn’t really matter, but you only appeared to be in the 50s or very good 60s. You knew you were a lot older than that, having spent at least 100 years away from earth, hunting. You had returned though, at some point, and settled down in a very defensible cabin far away from much of everything, where you could live in peace with your “dogs”.

Well, you called them dogs, mainly because they walked on all fours and had a tail they’d wag, and followed orders. An ex of yours had called them Kiande amedha, you just called them xenomorphs, or your beetle dogs. Years ago, back when you had successfully killed the bad bloods that kidnapped you and your military unit, you had found this little ugly hissing creature. There was a stereotype that humans would bond with most near anything, and they were right.

You brought the little bugger along on the ship you stole from the now dead bad bloods, which took a long time to figure out how to steer. You named your pet Lucky, and you would later learn she was female. Strangely enough, she seemed to follow you as if you were the queen and not her, so it was all fine. Even if she and her first offspring did kill your ex when he tried to hit and control you. One of her offspring lost a leg in that fight, so obviously his name would be tripod.

Luckily for you, sweet little Lucky didn’t breed like other of her kind. Over the years shed only had about 50 offspring, whom she seemed to raise in the same way you remembered earth dogs would do it, sometimes making you wonder if she was some kind of crossbreed. Having 50 kiande amedha though, made you very dangerous in the eyes of your ex’s species, especially when they learned you controlled them.

Joining the hunt hadn’t been something you had outright planned to do. Or getting juiced up with whatever weird drugs and inventions the clans you were friendly with cooked up. That was why you grew so much taller, and aged so slowly.

Ge'jaar wasn’t part of one of the clans you fought alongside. You two actually met, when a group of young bloods tried to hunt your beetle dogs. Apparently, they thought you would be an easy target, being an ooman and all. Of course, you made sure to show them you weren’t. they successfully killed one of your pets, a spunky one named Hoover because he ate everything. And like any hunter worth their salt, you needed revenge.

It led to some political struggles and conversations between clan elders, since you were pretty much a part of that one specific clan now after so many hunts together.

Ge'jaar wasn’t the leader of his clan, but still counted as an elder. He was handsome, in his own, scaley way. His skin was white and covered in the same dark splotching as all yautja seemed to carry. He wore a lot of the same clothing as most yautja did, and would later on wear a cape you made from the hide of a beast you had hunted.

In the end, Ge'jaar went as far as to apologize and repay you for the dead “hunting hound”. Bako, one of the males from your apparent clan, would later tell you it was because Ge'jaar wanted to fuck you. You were still very salty about Hoover though, so you acted quite nasty and confrontational with Ge'jaar and his clan for a good chunk of years.

The cape Ge'jaar would start to wear, hadn’t even been a gift in your mind. For some reason the elder yautja had followed along for one of your solo hunts, in Bakos words “going on a date” with you. And yes, Ge'jaar was very impressive to watch fight, he was very big and broad, alright? The creatures purple blood sprayed all over his white skin also didn’t help.

You couldn’t even remember what you had said to him, but it must have been some threat or curse as you threw the creatures skin at him, since you only wanted the meat and bones. It made no sense to you at the time why Ge'jaar started wearing the fur, and you hadn’t wanted to ask Bako since the guy had just started cackling at you when he saw it.

It was only years later when you had settled back down on earth, that it really seemed to register to you that Ge'jaar was trying to charm you, in his own yautja way. Still feeling so angry about Hoovers death, even if Ge'jaar himself didn’t do it, you took all the hunting and dead creatures by your ship and hut as a threat or challenge. All the jewelry and armor as harder to explain, and you still had the book about yautja mythology somewhere on your shelf.

At that point, you had just assumed Ge'jaar moved on, since you hadn’t seen him in so long. The only yautja you truly spoke much too nowadays was Bako and those from his clan. And of course, the ones that still owed you favors, just to remind them you were still alive to cash in on it.

You had just returned from one of your trips to the nearest large city, a trip that took you almost two weeks since everything was far away, when you saw him again. Or rather, one of your beetle dogs saw him, a young one named Blue, since his dome of a head reflected blue more than the rest.

Blue had been born, laid? On earth, and had seen very little true combat, so you assumed that was why he was the friendliest of them all. Where most of Lucky’s offspring that had known space and combat stuck to the shadows and settled in the cave system near your cabin, Blue was a real lapdog.

Friendly enough it seemed, to just accept an intruder in your home. Stepping out of your truck, Blue trotted out of your cabin door, which was wide open, looking as happy as a clam with dried meat in his maw. There was a feeling in the air that you weren’t alone, so grabbing at your beloved weapon of choice, you were about to fall back into old habits.

That was until Ge'jaar of all people, stepped out of your cabin, wearing one of your shirts. Well, trying to wear one of your shirts. It was one of the largest shirts you owned, old and worn with some odd shape on the front that might have been a logo once.

The elder yautja looked very comfortable, right at home honestly, his dreadlocks pulled into a bun on the back of his large head, and a damn sleeve of cookies in his massive hand. The confusion must have been so clear on your face, as the retired hunter chittered and laughed, moving closer to help you lug stuff back into your cabin and into your massive basement.

The confusion was strong enough that you just kinda went along with it, moving everything from your large truck and away from sight until you needed it. It was only after you both sat down on the couch that you took notice of the minor changes to your home, it looked very much like Ge'jaar had just moved himself in.

You could have smacked him right then and there, maybe cut all his dreadlocks off and made him swallow his mandibles, but somehow the massive scarred yautja made himself look so innocent and borderline lovable.

Blue, the little fucker, just got comfortable on a large fur Ge'jaar had laid out across the floor, tail whipping all over and knocking trinkets off your coffee table. The little traitor, you knew you spoiled him too much.

It took a lot of explanation from Ge'jaar, and you had a feeling if you hadn’t lived amongst his people for so long you might have lost it, but apparently Ge'jaar had made some plea to his clan leader, and yours since apparently you still counted as one of those, and you two were pretty much married without your approval.

Well, or so you would say, but all your guy’s “dates” and all the “gifts” you passed between you counted as courting. You settling down back on earth just appeared to be retirement in their eyes. It wasn’t like you still hated Ge'jaar, you never really had thinking back, it just… came as quite a surprise.

Ge'jaar still kept on courting you, even when you fed most of the things he caught to Lucky and her offspring. The elder yautja took your claim that Lucky was your child to heart, clicking and purring when she, and by extent her offspring, finally accepted his presence.

Time was a true blur out in the mountains, you only really noticed it by the seasons passing and you needing to go back into town two or three times a year to stock back up. But soon enough Ge'jaar was part of your life, and yes, you still snipped and bit at him sometimes, but this time it was meant as flirting.

Your mate, since that’s what you guys were now, was so patient and seemed to find your human nature endearing enough to pick up on some of it himself. It still felt very weird to be given flowers by a seasoned hunter like Ge'jaar, or to walk in on him watching Gilmore girls with Blue draped across his lap, but you got used to it.

It was probably best that you and Ge'jaar were the ones to get together, since he was older, had already had all the offspring he wanted. The yautja was also confident enough in himself that he didn’t get jealous the same way your ex had. Ge'jaar was hot and he knew this even in his fluffy robe and slippers, though you couldn’t help but miss him in his netting and weapons at times.

It turned out to be a lot more comfortable than you had thought to retire, with your mate who had to be hundreds of years older than you, and your many, many beetle dogs. There were times you debated on going out for a hunt again, as a date, for old times sake, but that was something you would need to discuss with Ge'jaar first.

[concreteangel92]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Noah Sebastian x female reader

18+

Warnings: Cum play, mentions of spanking, dom/sub relationship, slight humiliation kink and degradation kink (not too heavy) male masturbation, just Noah being a typical brat tamer

So this is kinda filthy even for me ahaha but it’s not massively detailed as it’s a head canon styled piece but I am working on proper detailed works as we speak so hopefully I will get those out soon.

This actually started as an idea from the other fic I’m writing but it didn’t fit into that scene properly so I decided to make it a separate piece so the thought wasn’t wasted haha and fyi the story I’m currently writing has definitely been inspired by the new tour content, that’s absolutely feeding me right now 🥵

Masterlist

•You’ve been playing up all day and winding Noah up in front of people when he’s been working

•Just genuinely being a brat because you found it funny that day

•That’s fine but Noah would 100% punish you for it when you’re alone

•You’d be face down on the counter, underwear round your ankles while counting each spank he delivers

•But what’s one more dig?

•”That the best punishment you got? I’m getting bored of it now”

•Those spanks would instantly stop

•”Is that so?”

•Oh yeah, he’s pissed now

•You’d feel Noah’s grip on your hip tighten and hear the sounds of his trousers hitting the ground

•”Spread your legs”

•Noah would have a deeper growl in his voice, clearly not impressed with your attitude, but that’s ok, he’s happy to take it up a notch just teach you a lesson

•You’d feel his fingers scissor you open with a dark chuckle “bored are we? Do you want to tell that to your dripping cunt”

•That would most definitely pull a low moan from you, now Noah loves dirty talk, but to be that vulgar is very rare, even for him

•You could feel movement behind you and hear the sounds of him groaning and skin slapping on skin

•”So my punishments aren’t good enough eh?…” You could hear his words get caught in his throat, you knew he was touching himself behind you, his other hand now not leaving your hip

•”Well lucky for you…shit….I’ve got the perfect punishment for your cocky little attitude”

•You’d keep your head on the counter, pussy aching to be touched but you know that’s not going to happen any time soon

•“Did I forget to mention….that the guys will be here…any….any minute for the afternoon?”

•Noah hadn’t mentioned that they were all coming round for a gaming afternoon, you suddenly felt a sense of fear at what he had planned

•Noah’s groans became louder as he sped up his pace, you knew he wasn’t going to last much longer

•”fuck..I’m gonna cum”

•You’d feel him release onto your heated core, Noah would quickly bring your underwear back up and press the material into your folds, making sure not to let any of his juices slip out down your thighs

•You’re eyes would go wide, a choked moan escaping your lips as you now knew what his punishment was, it felt so wrong and dirty but fuck me were you turned on

•You’d hear Noah fix his clothes and then he’d grab you by your throat, bringing your back onto his chest so he could talk into your ear

•”let’s see how cocky you are walking round with my cum in your pants, and don’t think you can run away and hide baby. You’re going to sit with us until I say otherwise, is that clear?”

•”I’m in a dress, what if it…slips out?”

•You’d receive a hard smack to your ass and then Noah turned you around so he could stare down at you

•”You should have thought about that before you decided to be a brat and telling me that my punishments are boring”

•Noah grips your chin and gives you a hard kiss

•”Be careful what you wish for baby”

•That’s the moment you’d both hear keys in the door and the guys walking in with pizza boxes, Noah pulling your dress back into place and stepping away from you

•You’d do your best to walk normally and act all innocent when everyone started chatting, trying to sit without anything ‘leaking’

•Your cheeks would have a permanent blush for the afternoon

•All the while, that cocky smirk never left Noah’s lips as he stalked your every move

[flowery-mess]

broken, you know that I've always been

Pairing: frat boy Noah x female reader

reader has a name (Ella Thompson, but the story is written in 'your' POV)

Warnings: 18+ MDNI / alcohol consumption / drunk male character / mentions of death and thinking of lost family members / child abandonment / let me know if there's anything else

Words: 4k

Author's note: so I'm just gonna leave this here and sleep off my hangover, hope you won't hate me much when I come back haha🥹

frat boy Noah masterlist

‼️ This story is a work of fiction, the plot and characters entirely made up. The appearance and name of the main male character are inspired by Noah Sebastian Davis, but the storyline bears no connection to the real person. The character's history, personality, and actions are entirely fictional and do not reflect the life or experiences of the real person.

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“What if I get wasted tonight”

Noah’s message lit up your phone. You were currently in your biology class, not really paying attention.

“Are you asking me for permission or what?”

“Do you see a question mark in that message?”

“Then why are you telling me?”

“Just making sure you won’t get mad”

“Why tf would I get mad Noah?”

“Because that means no sex tonight”

“Worst day of my life then”

“Exactly”

“Shut up”

“But I do need something from you”

“Spill”

“I’m staying at the frat house after school, but I drove here. Will you drive me home tonight?”

“Are you seriously letting me drive your stupid expensive car because you wanna get shit faced?”

“Yep”

“Amazing, that’s better than sex. Looking forward to being your chauffeur tonight.”

What you didn’t know was that those were Noah’s last sober words for today.

—

Knowing that you’re not going to drink any alcohol tonight and will end up as Noah’s babysitter, you went to the library after your last class and continued with your school work.

Before you even knew it, it was 6PM and you had missed calls and texts from the group chat.

Molly: Ella where are you? You’re gonna be late

Clara: We’re having pre drinks, come home asap or there won’t be any left for you

Molly: We’re leaving in an hour!!

Molly’s last message was sent an hour and half ago, meaning they’re already at the frat house. You sent them a quick “I’ll come later.” message and started packing your things.

Back at your dorm you considered not going out tonight and just wait until a drunk Noah calls you to pick him up. You were not in a mood for a party tonight, let alone sober one.

Molly: Your boy is getting wild tonight!

Molly: Get your ass over here or we’re gonna come for you

You rolled your eyes at Molly’s messages. The worst part was that they would really come back just to drag you to the house full of people.

You pulled the first clothes out of your wardrobe, 100% sure that if there would be a contest for the most boring outfit you’d win tonight.

But grey loose jeans, basic black t-shirt and a hoodie was your choice tonight.

As you dragged yourself over to the frat house, as slowly as you could, your phone buzzed again in your pocket and you were ready to throw it away if it was another message from Molly. But it wasn’t.

Noah: ae you conihg togt.,?

You stopped walking and focused on the words on your display. He was wasted and it wasn’t even 10PM.

“I’m on my way.” you quickly replied and continued walking in the direction of your today’s nightmare.

As you were closer and closer, you could hear the loud music and soon enough you also saw people in front of the house with red plastic cups in a few different groups.

You avoided all of them, making your way straight for the main door.

The inside of the house was even louder and packed with people. You scanned the room without a care if you’re going to find Noah or your friends first.

“Here you are!” Clara hugged you from behind and yelled in your ear.

“What took you so long?” Molly asked and then eyed your outfit, “And what the hell are you wearing?”

“You look very nice today too Molly.” you shot her a sarcastic smile, “I’m not drinking tonight and I’m not even in a mood to be here. I promised Noah that I’m gonna drive him to his place in his car so he can drink tonight.”

“Cute.” Molly and her annoying comments.

“Shut up. Have you seen him?” you continued searching for him behind your friends.

“Yeah, last time we saw him he was with a group of freshmen telling them, and I quote “The best secret places to jerk off in this house where no one can catch you.””

“Oh god.” you rolled your eyes. Something like that was so out of character for sober Noah. “I’m gonna try to find him and then I’ll come back.”

You didn’t wait for their answer and started walking through every room on the ground floor, but with no luck.

You tried the first floor and also the backyard, but there was no sight of Noah. Well, if he was hiding in any of his secret spots there’s no way you’ll find him.

You went to the last place you could think of, your place.

No sight of Noah again.

You sat on one of the swings and took out your phone. You started typing a message for Noah that said “Our place right now.”, keeping it short and simple so his drunk eyes could read it.

You didn’t expect any answer, so you were surprised he managed to send you “Pk” back, hoping it was meant to be Ok and not anything else.

After a few more minutes of swinging and scrolling through your phone you heard heavy and unsteady steps coming towards you.

“Hi!” a hiccup, “I was scared that you, you wouldn’t come.” he stopped in front of you, but only for a second before the spinning inside his head sent him to the right.

“My god Noah sit down.” you guided him to an old bench and watched him fall on his ass.

“You’re the best!” he pointed at you and you heard another hiccup.

“Give me your car keys.” you reached out your hand, but instead of doing what you said, he high fived your palm with his. “Noah, give me your car keys before you lose them.” you were trying to be reasonable with him, but he wasn’t getting it.

“You have to find them.” he said with a smirk.

“Did you lose them already?” you asked in shock, the idea of you and him trying to find them sending you into a coma.

“No, no, no, no.” he leaned back against the back of the bench and with a smirk on his face said, “I have them on me, but if you want them, you have to find them.”

“I’m not trying to flirt with you Noah, give me the keys.”

“Nop.”

“Noah.”

“Mhmhm.” he nodded his head no and your patience started running out.

“Okay.” your hands went for his front pockets, touching them with your palm over the fabric. You only felt his phone there. “Stand up.”

“Bossy.” he chuckled to himself, but followed your orders.

You did the same with his back pockets and found his wallet and the car keys. When you were taking them out of the stuffed pocket you heard him say “I like it when you touch my ass.”

“Oh I’m so telling you that tomorrow morning.” you let out a laugh for the first time tonight.

You used your pointer finger and poked his chest and he was back on his ass. He was looking up at you with a big smile.

“What?” you asked.

“You’re my friend.”

“I am.”

“And I like you.”

“I like you too Noah, you’re my friend too.”

Something in his face changed, the smile was still there, but his eyes turned sad.

He was thankful to have you in his life, but it reminded him that not everyone always cared about him like you do.

“Are you okay?” you asked him when he didn’t speak up again.

“Mhm.”

“That’s not very convincing.” you whispered and reached out to push his hair out of his face. “Why are you drinking like that tonight?”

“I felt like it.” another hiccup. His answer was quick and something in the tone of his voice told you that you’re not going to get more out of him.

“Okay, but be careful and don’t do anything stupid okay?” you pulled him up from the bench by his hands and he kept holding them to stabilize himself.

“Yes captain.” he booped your nose and together you started walking towards the door that led you back inside.

You sent Noah off to his friends and went to find yours too.

Thankfully that was easy, they were where you left them before you went to find Noah.

You didn’t like being the sober one in a house full of drunk people. It made you feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.

You and the girls found a quiet corner and after a few more comments from Molly about you not drinking tonight you fell into a nice conversation.

You saw Noah a few times throughout the night, but he was mostly outside or with his friends in Matt’s room. Every time he looked more drunk and every time he walked through the main room he made silly faces at you.

You were thinking you’re never going to leave, because despite the amount of alcohol he had in his system, Noah didn’t look like he was leaving any time soon.

You didn’t even know that he was back downstairs since the last time you saw him go to Matt’s room with more beers, but suddenly he was on the kitchen table with a group of people around him.

They were chanting “Noah! Noah!” and something told you that you should get over there to find out what was happening.

“What is he doing?” you asked Nick when you reached the group.

“He picked a dare.”

“Dare to do what?”

“Do a shirtless dance on a table.” Nick said it as if it was an obvious fact and continued to watch Noah’s show.

You didn’t know if you should take a video so you could use it against him later or get him down before he stumbles over his own feet and falls down.

The group around him hyped him up and he started to lift his t-shirt while doing something that should've probably been the dancing part.

He threw his t-shirt to his friends and his toned and tattooed chest was on full display for everyone.

You looked around you and saw girls from different years, looking at him with hungry eyes. They shouldn’t look at him like that, they shouldn’t even see him like that.

Your eyes found Noah again, his hips were now moving in a weird way and he was singing the song that he chose for his performance.

He must be pretty drunk, because he wouldn’t do this even after a few beers on a normal occasion.

When you saw him catch his balance at the last minute before he almost fell from the table, you pushed your way through the group of people and yelled “Show's over!”

You got to the table and saw Noah jump on his friends. They caught him, but you stopped breathing for a second.

“We’re leaving.” you took his t-shirt from Matt’s hands and tried to put it back on Noah.

“I don’t wanna yet.” he couldn’t stand still, making it harder for you to put his t-shirt over his head.

“Noah, you’re ready to go to bed.” it was as if after you said those words a wave of tiredness hit him.

His head was hanging low and his eyes suddenly looked heavy. He stopped moving around and you finally slid the black fabric over his upper body, ending the show for those girls that were still watching him.

He said goodbye to his friends as if he’d never see them again. You just waved at Molly and Clara, because once you left the kitchen Noah’s arm was around your shoulders and he needed your assistance.

“Come on, we’re almost there.” you had your arm around his torso, trying to hold as much of his weight as you could so he wouldn’t fall on the ground.

“My car!” he yelled when he saw his black Range Rover parked in the same spot since this morning.

“Finally.” you mumbled to yourself.

You opened the passenger door and literally threw him inside. His body was folded in a weird angle and you had to help him with the seatbelt.

“Be gentle. I’m always gentle with you.” he said, offended by the way you were handling his body. He was right though, he was always gentle with you, but sadly you couldn’t carry his drunk body as he did with you when you were too drunk to walk.

“Sorry.” you brushed his hair out of his face and traced your fingers on his cheek as an apology.

You quickly sat behind the driving wheel and started the car.

“I trust you to get my baby home in one piece.” and a hiccup followed. His head was resting on the backrest and his eyes were closed.

“That makes one of us.” you said, suddenly not feeling very confident in your driving skills.

You managed to get out of the parking lot and follow the GPS you had on.

“Can we play Mario Kart when we get home?” Noah asked.

“I think we should go to bed.”

“That’s boring.”

“We can play tomorrow.”

“But I want to play when we get home.” he said with the attitude of a little kid.

“I didn’t know alcohol brings out your inner child.”

“Kids can’t drink alcohol Ella.”

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t too.”

“That’s rude.”

He cut your next answer off with the radio. He turned the volume to a maximum and started dancing in his seat. You reached to turn it down a little before saying “I also didn’t know you love dancing this much.”

“I’m a dancer, can’t you see the moves?”

“Oh my god.” you said with a laugh. Never did you expect to see Noah like this.

—

“This drive was actually like Mario Kart in real life.” Noah stated when you helped him out of the car.

“Shut up, we got home in one piece.” you locked the car and made your way inside the building.

“Keys?” you asked Noah when you reached his apartment.

“You know where they are.” he winked at you and you rolled your eyes at him.

Your hands made their way to his back pockets again, looking for his home keys.

“You’re touching my ass again.” he laughed at his own joke.

—

You finally made it inside, not even bothering to take Noah’s shoes off you took him to his bedroom where he fell into his bed without your help.

You used it as a chance to take the shoes off, one by one when he said “Cuddles?”

He was laying on his front, but his face was sideways, kinda looking at you over his shoulder with a little pout.

“Give me a minute yeah?”

“I want cuddles.”

You threw his shoes on the bedroom floor instead of bringing them to the front door and crawled next to him on the bed.

“Come here you drunk mess.” you said and laid on your back so Noah could lay his head on your chest.

Silence took over the room and you knew Noah would soon fall asleep, so you used the chance to ask him again.

“Do you want to talk about why you got drunk tonight?”

He remained silent, but his movements and breathing got him away that he was still up and heard you.

“You don’t have to, but you never do this so I wa-”

“It's getting close to Christmas.” was his answer that cut you off.

“Yeah, and?” you asked gently.

“It always makes me think about my family.” his words were muffled by your clothes, but you heard him.

“Of memories of how you used to celebrate Christmas?” you asked.

“No. Memories of how fucked up my childhood was.” before you could say anything he continued. “After my parents left me with my grandparents my father came back a few times to celebrate it with us. It always ended with a loud argument and me hiding in my room from all the chaos. When he stopped coming back it was just the three of us. It was calm, but it was fake as fuck. I always saw it on my grandmother’s face how sorry she felt for me. Poor kid without parents. I don’t blame them, they did their best. It wasn’t them who ruined my life.” he scoffed and you saw his father's face when you closed your eyes.

You played with his hair, something to calm him down and to give you something to focus on from stopping you from crying.

“When they died and it was just me, I felt happy for the fucking first time on Christmas. They didn’t have to set up everything for me anymore and spend all their money on gifts for me. I felt free.” his voice cracked at the end and you felt a teardrop on your skin where your t-shirt has ridden up.

“Noah-” you wanted to comfort him, but he didn’t let you.

“Don’t you dare say you’re fucking sorry for me Ella.” so you stayed silent. It was like words were pouring from him for the first time since you met him.

“You know what I always ask myself? Why did it have to be me? What did I do that they didn’t want me? I was barely a three years old when they fucking left me.” a sob left Noah’s throat and his hands gripped the fabric of your t-shirt.

“I remember asking my grandmother when they’ll come back for me, when will I go back home, but they never came back for me.” he took a deep breath before saying more, “And all of those nights I heard my grandmother cry for me. Her last words before she died were “I’m sorry Noah, I’m sorry we couldn’t give you a better life.” and I fucking hate that. It wasn’t her who should’ve given me a better life. It wasn’t her fault that they didn’t want me.”

And he was right. The only people that should be blamed for all of his trauma were his parents. Could you even call them that?

“I don’t know how to talk about this when I’m sober and I just needed to get it out tonight, so I got drunk. I’m sorry I dragged you in it.”

“Don’t say that, I’m glad you wanted me to be the one that takes care of you. I like doing that. I like knowing you’re okay.” you tried to reassure him with every word you spoke.

“But I’m not okay Ella, I’m fucking broken. You shouldn’t be here, you should be somewhere else with someone else who can give you more than me.”

“I’m not gonna let you say that, there’s not a place I’d rather be than here right now with you. Okay?” you felt your own tears running down your cheeks. You didn’t expect this night to end like this. This was the most intimate moment you two shared so far and you wanted Noah to know that he can talk to you about this anytime, even when he’s sober.

Silence took over the darkened room until Noah spoke up again.

“Remember when you did the pregnancy test?” you just hummed in a response, “I was thinking a million thoughts a second, but I knew that if the test would be positive and you’d want to keep it that I’d do it with you. I’d never leave my kid.” he whispered the last part and you had to hold your own sobs. You closed your eyes and let the tears run down your cheeks.

You knew he wasn’t saying that he wants kids with you, or that he loves you or that he wasn’t relieved when the test was negative, he’s just saying that he knows he wants to be better than his parents.

“Noah, you’re nothing like your parents okay? Saying something like this makes you a much better person than they are. You’ve been through a lot, but you made something of yourself. You turned all the bad things into good things. Look at you, having your own apartment, a fucking car and going to college. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s true.” you thought if saying the next thing wasn’t out of line, but you felt like he needed to hear it. “I’m sure your grandparents would be proud of you.”

Noah didn’t give you an answer, he just hid his face in your skin and cried. You cried with him.

His body was shaking from sobbing so hard and you did everything you could to calm him down. You kept rubbing his back and whispering sweet reassurances in his ear, but he wasn’t there with you.

His mind was somewhere else, thinking about all the good times he got to live with his grandparents.

How he helped his grandmother with her garden, laughing at her enormous joy from new plants he got her. He continued with bringing her new plant or flower each time he went to visit their grave, imagining her happy face and how she would hug him and kiss his cheek.

Or when his grandfather took him to see local races. How he was passionate about the cars and pilots who were driving them. How he would love Noah’s car and want to drive it himself. How Noah would buy him his own dream car so he wouldn’t have to drive the old blue small car they had anymore. How he never stepped a foot to another race after he died.

How they attended every single one of his school events even though he told them they didn’t have to. When they got old it was hard for them, but they still came. Every time.

How he had to sell their old house, because he couldn’t even look at it without breaking down. He thought about the box full of things that he kept to remind him of them and how he hasn’t touched it for years. Scared of his own reaction.

They gave him everything they had and made up the mess his parents made. And they didn’t have to. And he felt like he didn’t show them enough how grateful he was for everything and how much they meant to him.

His body was soon tired from the crying and his sobs calmed down. He was starting to fall asleep.

“You have me now Noah, you’ll always have me okay? You’re not alone.” you lifted his head from your chest, his red and tired eyes looking at you with lots of unspoken words.

“Thank you.” he managed to say and you brought him in for a small forehead kiss.

You helped him out of his clothes, leaving him in his white boxers and threw the blanket over his body.

He laid on his side and you sat next to him.

His hand found yours, the grip he had on you begging you to not leave him.

You couldn’t find a single reason why someone would leave Noah behind and didn’t fight for him. How could someone do this to a little child that wanted nothing more than a gentle touch from his parents.

You laid down next to him and watched him fall asleep.

There were no more tears and his breath became steady.

You pushed his brown locks out of his face and then traced his facial features with your fingers.

You ran them over his eyebrows to make the frown go away.

You traced the shape of his nose until you reached his lips. They were slightly open and warm to touch.

His cheeks were still a light shade of pink and you gently caressed his skin there.

His chest was going up and down and the white blanket had slid down to his waist.

You let your fingers slide down to his chest, tracing some of his tattoos. Tracing each word of the desolate tattoo. He was not a desolate. He had you and his friends. They were always joking with each other and making fun of everything, but you know they have his back. He’s not alone in this life anymore.

You left your hand where his heart is, feeling the steady beating of his heart lull you to sleep.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

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[buggyboba]

✦ October 24th | sex pollen

AN 𓏧

↳ ○ | AN| Hi, hello, we are going to pretend that this isn't three days late. I was FIGHTING for my life with this one, I'm not going to lie. We got there though, I'm not 100% happy with this, but that might be me being real nit picky. The Master is a real ass in this one, it feels a little non-con, since a few things happen, I'll throw it in the TW too, but it's not really, just kinda vibes briefly. I'm only going to do one more, (well two because treat won for trick or treat, so I will be doing a Dhawan!Master x Reader one and a Kate Stewart x Reader one for Halloween, to finish it out. Once again I will keep the rest of the ones I didn't do for Kinktober and maybe release them slowly. This was a big big challenge for me, the whole kinktober thing, and that's on me for thinking a week or so before October that I could certainly do 31 fanfictions, even if they were supposed to be short little smutty drabbles. I have quickly learned, I can't just write short little things...I won't apologize for that though, because that's the roleplayer in me...I was absolutely one of those long-ass novel writing role players. I LIKE WORDS IDK WHAT TO TELL YOU LET ME HAVE MY PROSE AND STUFF! Anyway I once again tried to keep it rather gender-neutral, but it's implied female anatomy, but if you squint maybe not? I tried, I SWEAR I will do Master x male reader sometime. SMUT MDNI

SUMMARY𓏧

↳ ○  how was he supposed to know the flowers on this planet were in bloom this time of year. How was he supposed to know how they would effect your human body? (Spoilers he knew.) 

PAIRING𓏧

↳ ○ Simm!Master x Reader

TW𓏧

↳ ○ mentions of hypnosis, sex pollen, so consensual, but at what cost? sort of vibes. unprotected p in v sex, semi-clothed sex, the master is a right asshole, cumshot. petnames.

WORD COUNT𓏧

↳ ○ 3100

A03 lINK𓏧

↳ ○ x

MASTERLIST LINK𓏧

↳ ○ x

★𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★ 𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★

You were suspicious when he brought you to this planet; he called it Hevides, said it was a nice little flora planet, perfect this time of year. You shoved your hands in your jacket pockets, looking around as he exited the tardis, which aptly was pretending to be a tree. That wasn’t going to cause problems later, you were sure. He explained that there were a few rare plants on Hevides that he wanted to get his hands on; he wouldn’t tell you what for, but you assumed it was for a nefarious plan; it always was. You followed after him; it was a beautiful planet, you would give it that, but you also had a deep, nagging fear that a man-eating plant or something was going to get you, and that would be a terrible fate, just this giant piranha plant from Wish looking thing eating you. You were careful where you stepped; thick vines were littering the forest floor, which definitely didn’t help your imagined scenario of being eaten by a plant while there. 

“Are you sure it’s safe?” you finally asked, but his annoyed scoff told you it was the wrong question to ask. 

“Ye’ of such little faith,” he muttered as he walked past you.

“I mean, do I have to remind you of the fish people?” You started.

“Fish peop—you mean the sea devils? Come now, pet, that’s xenophobic.” He teased you. You stammered and tried to back petal, to which he chuckled and kept walking. “They weren’t fish; they were more like turtles if anything,” he shook his head.

“No, I didn’t mean it in a—I didn’t know they were called that." You stammered out, “And wait, wait, you don’t get to call me that; you are the most—” He cut you off and shook his head.

“Just because I think everyone is beneath me? Because they are, and you silly little apes are no exception, little backward things you are,” he tilted his head watching you. “Now don’t pout, pet; I picked you, didn’t I? As my companion,” he smirked his tone, teasing on the word companion. He disliked the word, but it was the best word to describe you and your relationship. 

"Yeah, moving on; we don’t have time for all that right now; you told me the sea devils were safe, and then they tried to kill us.” You pointed out.

“Miscommunication, and perhaps some old hard feelings.” He waved it off and clapped, making a victorious sound as he spotted what he was looking for. It was a large purple and orange flower; it looked similar to a sunflower if you had to compare it to something; the middle was covered in thick red pollen. He motioned you over, and you shifted, walking a bit closer. You hadn’t noticed how careful he had been stepping around it. When you got close enough, he flicked the back of the flower, making the pollen fly into the air around you. You coughed and sputtered, trying to cover your mouth so more of the bitter pollen didn’t get into your mouth. You looked at him with a look of disbelief as you doubled over coughing harder. 

“Don’t fight it; just breathe normally," he instructed as he observed you. “I just want to see how it affects you,” he said almost nonchalantly. 

“An experiment, right now, with a mystery plant!” You used the sleeve of your jacket trying to breathe. You felt funny, but not in a funny way; more like your body was slowly getting hotter, your blood was on fire, and your skin felt uncomfortable, like your clothing touching it was too much. The feeling was overwhelming quickly. Then the heat pooled, and you felt an ache between your legs. You blinked, trying to determine the feeling and will it away. Your head was hazy. You took a step back, your pupils dilating more; he moved forward, catching you before you almost fell in your attempted retreat. 

His fingers pressed against the side of your neck, on your pulse point, feeling your heart racing, pulsing against his fingers, he hummed. Your hand wrapped around his forearm; you tried to look angry, but your body was on fire, and his cold touch felt good; it would feel better lower. You blinked at your own thought; you felt your mouth water, and he pulled you up carefully. “Talk me through what you are feeling,” he smirked. “I mean, I can see some physical signs, some delightful tells, but I want to know how it feels for you.” He said like he was a scientist, and this was all a very ethical experiment. 

You almost didn’t want to tell him; you felt squirmy. Was that a word you could use? Was that a scientific description? “I’m on fire,” you breathed out. His hand grabbed your throat, letting his thumb brush your jawline before he moved your head side to side to look you over with that cocky grin. You let out a softer sound, “I don’t know, I mean, it’s overwhelming really; I am shaky, and there is this..." You paused, not knowing if you wanted him to know about the ache, but he looked at you with an expectant look. “I just...feel horny,” you muttered out the last word, looking away from him, but he tsked and pushed your jaw with his thumb so you would look back at him. “I just, I need..." You sighed.

“Need what? Go on, tell me... I am all ears.” He grinned at you again; you could tell he had a sort of satisfaction about this reaction. You wanted to stay mad, you really did, but your mind was so hazy now that you couldn’t think about anything but getting rid of this ache. It was nothing like you had ever felt before, and you were worried, scared almost. What was this pollen doing to you? 

“I just want the ache to go away. I just want—” you muttered out, locking eyes with him. His honey-colored eyes took you in. He studied your face, how flushed you looked, and how desperate you sounded. He looked down at you as your hips arched subconsciously against his, and a snider grin took his lips. 

“Such a needy, desperate thing.” He teased, “And why should I help you?” He asked like this wasn’t completely his fault. 

You blinked and looked at him almost in disbelief, “Because you brought me here! Because you made the pollen come off the flower?” You said shortly, his free hand left his pocket and moved to grab right above your hip. “You knew this would happen!” You accused, to which he gave you those puppy dog eyes.

“I didn’t know this exact thing would happen; I mean, I could have hypothesized about the effects on your silly human body, but I wasn’t completely sure, well, until now.” He nodded. “It won’t kill you, so stop worrying so much; just feel a bit.” He grinned, “You are adorable like this...all needy.” He mused a bit; he found this whole thing amusing, and you let out an annoyed strangled sound; you were getting so worked up, and he was just standing there being amused; you could strangle him. 

“Why isn’t it affecting you?” You sighed, trying to focus. You had a lot of willpower, so maybe you could work through this, maybe. 

“Respiratory bypass... held my breath when I flicked it.” He shrugged like it should have been common knowledge to you by now. "Plus, I’m sure it wouldn’t have affected me anyway.” He let your throat go and stepped back. “Come along. There really was something else I needed to get here.” He said and started to walk. You didn’t move; however, he paused when he didn’t hear you following him. He turned to you and raised an eyebrow. “Well?” You stayed still; you didn’t know if you could trust your legs to carry you properly. He rolled his eyes. “Are you playing disobedient now? Should I make you follow me, pet?” He asked, and you knew he was implying he was just hypnotizing you; maybe that would override what you were feeling. 

“No, you don’t have to do that,” you muttered. You took a deep breath and forced your legs to move; even though they shook a bit, your whole body did. You didn’t like this feeling, this sheer feeling of need; the heat was almost unbearable. You wrapped your arms around yourself as you slowly followed him, glaring at the back of his stupid head as he leisurely strolled through the forest looking for what he was really after. You walked for what felt like ever; the effects were getting worse, your body shook more, and you had to stop and lean against a tree to hold yourself up. "Master,” you breathed out. He paused, taking note of your breathy call. He turned around and looked at you, taking in your appearance; it seemed the pollen was in full bloom in you now. He tilted his head, noticing how you were leaning, how you subconsciously clenched your thighs together, and how one hand gripped onto the stomach area of your jacket. You looked weak now, shaky. He inwardly sighed like you were a nuisance before he turned on his heel and walked towards you. 

“You humans are so fragile,” he muttered and moved to pin you against the tree; his hands ran through your hair, forcing you to look at him again. The touch made you breathe out, “You aren’t going to be any good to me if you can’t keep up.” He mock pouted at you, “I suppose I, once again, have to take care of you.” He gave an exaggerated sigh, moving to let his hand trail down your stomach, stopping at the button of your pants. He looked at you for a moment, taking note of how your eyes were hazy, how you had the look of pure need, and how he could smell how aroused you were just by the air around you. That pollen made short work of you, and it amused him more than it should have. It melted your reservations, so much so that you were shifting a bit, trying to get him to undo your pants; it was like your mind couldn’t think of anything but getting off. “Oh and out here in the open, the great outdoors, how scandalous of you, bunny.” He mocked a bit. You felt your cheeks heat up more. He was right; you would have never done anything like this in public, not that this was public; this was in the middle of an alien forest; you hadn’t seen signs of civilization or anything of that sort, though that didn’t mean there wasn’t. 

You choked out a whine; you didn’t want to wait anymore, yet here he was being his normal mocking, snarky self, taking his time because he wanted to annoy you; that’s what it had to be. He finally pulled the button free, and with a delicate movement, he unzipped your pants, letting them fall past your knees and pool around your feet, but he didn’t touch you yet; he let his hand slip under your jacket, pushing it and your shirt up as he stepped closer, his mouth pressing against your neck, his hands groped at your chest, kneading the flesh there, listening to the lovely needy sounds that were spilling from your parted lips. He pressed against you more, keeping you snuggly pressed against the tree, the bark scraping your back, but the pain from it didn’t translate; it almost felt good. Your hand gripped and your nails scraped at the bark; your other hand grabbed his arm, gripping the fabric of his black jacket. Each kiss and nip caused you to whine and groan out; it felt so good; everything felt so enhanced; someone could be making a killing using this as one of those ‘enhancer’ pills, a funny thought that was quickly pushed from your head as his hips rolled against yours, grinding against you. He let a soft growl escape his throat as he sucked a dark mark into your skin before his hands slid down and grabbed your legs, easing them up to sit against his hips. You wrapped your legs around him, your body so hot, your blood felt like it was boiling, you whined out, you felt so damn needy, you didn’t like it, your senses were on overdrive. 

"Oh, what fun little sounds you make,” he muttered against your throat and pressed an open-mouth kiss against it before letting his teeth graze again. All these little touches and nips were driving you mad.

“Master! Please!” You choked out, pressing against him more, well, as much as you could in this position. As you pathetically rutted against him, he arched his hips up some, and you could feel his arousal, the bulge in his pants growing. He moved one hand down to undo his belt, and you gave a soft, needy sound. 

“Down pet,” he smirked, kissing your neck again as he pulled his belt some and then undid his pants. “So needy, I bet you are dying to get fucked.” He growled in your ear. The growl sent a rippling shiver down your spine; you had never needed something more than in this moment. “I’ll admit, this was a very insightful experiment.” He said pulling himself free from his boxers, slowly stroking his cock, teasing against you with the tip, “like a dam broke.” He teased you; you hated that, but you couldn’t help it; the pollen thrummed through you still. You were about to say something, anything to get him to just help you, but he pressed the tip into your dripping entrance. Which caused a breathy sound to escape. He slowly sank in, pulling you against him, One hand moved to cup against your ass, and the other was held against the tree by the side of your head as he started a deliciously slow rhythm. It was clear he was milking this to see you so desperate that you would do anything. It made perfect sense to you; with who he was, you knew he was going to make you beg, even though this was all his fault. Acting like it was an inconvenience, and he was so benevolent to help you, to fuck you. 

Your hips rolled against him, trying to get him to stop being so teasingly; his mouth found your neck again, sucking against your pulse point; he could feel how hard your heart was pounding, and you panted out. A deep thrust pulled a long groan from your throat, which made him smirk against your neck. You clenched against him, a diabolically delightful feeling for both of you, which made him grunt against you, biting your neck. He got the message and moved, pressing you harder against the tree, picking up his pace to something rougher, something faster; he wasn’t being playfully teasing anymore. 

“I don’t think you really mean it; maybe I should stop and let you think about it some.” He pulled his hips back, but you tightened your grip around his waist; there was no way in hell you were going to let him stop. 

Your nails scratched into the treebark behind you, the hand against his arm tightened more, your breath ragged as you groaned and moaned out, the feeling intense, the pleasure making you dizzy thanks to your already hazy mind from the pollen, you felt your muscles tighten and a pooling in your stomach, from your tensing and how your core pulsated around him, he knew you were close. He slowed suddenly, causing you to make a pathetic sound. “You can cum when I say you can,” he nipped below your ear. You couldn’t even think; your mind was swirling. How could he be so cruel and control this right now when your body needed this? “Oh, you want it so badly; listen to you, whining,” he smirked and made a mock whine in your ear. “You know what to ask for.” He breathed out and rolled his hips slowly, pulling almost all the way out, before slowly pushing back in.

You weren’t even sure you could form proper words right now, and he wanted you to feed into his control; he wanted you to beg for him to finish you. There was another low whined sound that he pulled from your throat. You thought about not playing his game, but he would stop, and you certainly didn’t want that. “Please, please let me cum, please, I need to,” you begged out, in the best tone you could manage, even arching and writhing against him, making sure to lock eyes with him. He studied you and shook his head with that cocky grin.

“Master please!” You slid your hand up from his arm to the back of his neck, keeping him close. “I’m sorry! Please! Please, I need you. I’m sorry, please! Please let me cum.” You breathed out in an almost panicked breath; this seemed to please him because he returned to the rhythm that he had been at before. “Please!” You doubled down. The stream of begging words and praises fell from your lips as you clung to him. You choked out a loud screamed Master, as you felt your body snap, the pleasure rushing your blood. The feeling of need was there but not as strong as it had been. He hissed out as your walls clenched against him and flexed milking against his cock. There was a moment he considered marking you as his in the most primal way, but he reluctantly pulled from your divine heat, rutting against you, holding the base of his cock as he groaned out, painting your stomach with strands of hot cum; it splattered against your bare stomach and the bottom of your jacket. There would be time for anger about that later. After a few long silent moments, he let you down to lean against the tree he had just fucked you against as he fixed his pants and redid his belt, making a face as he looked over your appearance. “Messy,” he said, like he once again didn’t cause the problem. 

You took deep breaths trying to come down, you slowly fixed yourself, and your gaze flinted up to him. You could feel the prickle of the pollen still, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as it had been. “Do you think you can focus and keep up now? Tell you what, darling, we finish this up, and maybe if you are good and keep up, we can have some more fun when we get back to the tardis; dunno how long the pollen is going to control your silly little human mind, but I would love to study the effects more closely.” He smirked, and you nodded weakly, looking down at the mess he had made of you. It was going to be a long adventure, that was for sure. 

★𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★ 𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★

Taglist𓏧 ↳ ○ @bees-fart-too , @bakusquadobsessed , @anastasa-mslfedit , @cabinedepapel , @asteria237 , @suckerforcate , @bingewatchingmylifegoby , @toastvogel , @starbucks-06 If you want to be added to the rest here is the l x

[luffyvace]

Tanjiro x male reader<3

Tanjiro x male reader won second place in the poll!! :) enjoy tanjiro stans<3

Starting back at the final selection let’s say that’s when you met

just to clear things up

and you two started dating some time after that

of course eventually making it official

tanjiro was quite flustered when he realized his sexuality might be different from tradition

but he wasn’t afraid to be bi/gay/pan or anything

he just thought- ..! Actually he never really thought of that type of thing..

I mean he was kinda too young

but now that your together!

he has time to figure it all out :)

tanjiro is such a sweet lover!

and helpful!

and caring!

(Really he’s a ball of love)

if you feel tired he carries you

(Even if your both beat up after a mission)

if you need water he’ll spare you some of his or go fetch some

And he’s always down to spar at any type of day!

I will say he’s not thinking about you in that way when you take your shirt off

but when you do he definitely admires you!

you might have abs seeing as though the demon slayer corps has………...harsh (brutal) training 😅

if you do then he sees it as a result of your hard work!

same with scars!

especially with scars<3

he can 100% relate and you two share stories about each one

if you have any—you probably trauma bond

you guys just end up talking all night long about your past, everything that happened, your pain, whether you want revenge or not and so on!

It strengthens your trust and relationship with each other

btw if anyone asks why your together as two males or how you know you actually like men..

tanjiro will humbly and politely educate (lecture) them on how important you are to each other, how you met, why/when you started dating and even if they don’t like it, it’s simple to walk away instead of disrespecting your relationship!

I hope y’all don’t run into uzui..

(y’all do)

that man has THREE wives why wouldn’t he question when he sees you two?? 😬🧍‍♀️

tanjiro had to hit em with the quick fix cuz when I tell you he did not let that slide 😂

especially with how slick uzui mouth be gettin..😒

Tanjiro also has learned to adjust to scavenging for food (he grew crops with his mom)

as well as inosuke (he grew up in the wild) and zenitsu (he used to have crops with his sensei)

so if you can too, great!

if not the 3 of them work together to make the 4 of you meals

and after they learn how to stop burning them

theyre pretty tasty too!!

don’t expect inosuke to share.

do expect inosuke to take

-note to self, m/n.

zenitsu doesn’t see the attraction to males instead of females

he won’t judge but will ask you two if your sure your into males

and after tanjiro gives him that lecture about being respectful-

he doesn’t question it again

LOL

inosuke straight up don’t care

he doesn’t really view relationships in a romantic way

its more so between “they’re beneath me” , “they’re above me, I must beat them”

so no worries about him judging either 😋

if nezuko doesn’t like you

it’s not to say tanjiro won’t date you because of it

but I’ll honestly say it plays a factor

If sweet nezuko doesn’t like you it prob means something..🤨

she has good instincts so tanjiro might start to assume you have ill intent or smth 😬

he’ll try to get her to like you and if she warms up to you he assumes it might’ve been personal 😂🤷‍♀️

but if she doesn’t..

he finds you like 30% less attractive🧍‍♀️

if she does like you from jump, she starts to protect you as well

and loves to spend time with you when she’s outside her box

tanjiro adores this and you three cuddle or play in each other’s hair whenever you have the time

It also makes him happy if you accept nezuko as a demon quickly

after missions tanjiro finds you, nezuko, zenitsu and inosuke

then cries

like your all just a crying mess tbh

i mean unless your like emotionally unavailable..

BC I DON’T SEE HOW YOU COULD NOT CRY AS A MINOR WHO HAS TO KILL LITERAL HORRIFYING BEASTS FOR A LIVING?!?!?!?

Tanjiro will help you achieve your goals as you likely help him achieve his

even more so after that night you had where you opened up to each other about your past

(again, only if you have truama)

tanjiro is really grateful for you

before all he had was nezuko

and aside from zenitsu and inosuke

now he has you!! 💗

tanjiro’s love languages are acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation and (shy) physical touch

actually maybe some gift giving when he can too!!

so all?!

such a green flag 💖

for acts of service as I said he’ll genuinely do any sane thing you ask of him

he cares about you that much

he won’t bother to complain about being tired either

he automatically assumes your either doing worse or he’s fine

as for quality time he gets really relieved when he gets sent on missions with you

at least he can be there to see and protect you

(or maybe vice versa 😂)

he’d beat himself up about not being able to protect you more if you get serious injures

tends to your wounds everyday then trains vigorously

to get stronger and protect you as you fight along side him when he fights muzan

if your gonna fight along side him in that battle? He’s gonna need to be strong enough to protect you.

he doesn’t want to loose you.

especially not to that man.

he lost everything to him.

he won’t let it happen again.

💗💕💖🍡♥︎

for quality time outside of missions ✌︎('ω')✌︎

tanjiro likes to train, cuddle, go on walks, go shopping, chit chat :)

All that good stuff <3

with words of affirmation he really just praises you all the time

”you did your best today in training! I could tell! :D”

“You look great today m/n!! I’m glad your wearing the (favorite men’s jewelry piece) I got you!”

”I can definitely tell your getting stronger, m/n!!!”

c:

it can also be

“get a good nights sleep, m/n! I love you!”

”be careful on your mission okay? I love you, m/n!”

“thank goodness we surviveeeeed!!! I love you m/n!! I love you so much!!”

now lastly for (shy) physical touch

he is nervous to touch you

he doesn’t wanna make you uncomfortable, yes that’s the last thing he wants

he doesn’t know how to execute it so he ends up either asking or making it very obvious of what he’s trying to do

that way you can shut him down early on just in case

and you won’t feel pressured to let him if you dislike affection

which mind you he does asks if your okay with it first

so that’s likely not the case

if you did mention your distaste for physical affection, however, it’s duly noted in his mind and will keep it to a minimum

your gonna have to discuss boundaries or else he’s gonna act like you have the plague trying not to upset you 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Tanjiro doesn’t dislike pda or anything

he’s just a bit embarrassed about it

maybe if it’s more subtle like resting your head on his shoulder, then yeah that’s okay!

hugging too!!

but direct kissing or hand holding?

his face is a cherry and he’s apologizing to the passerbyers for disturbing them

even if they don’t mind

he’s self aware when it comes to not disturbing others

tanjiro can be a little flustered/shy about things but he’s certainly isn’t embarrassed about your relationship!

he’s quite proud, actually!

will happily tell/correct anyone that asks or misjudges♡♡♡

It’ll make me happy if you enjoyed this, so hopes to you did!

(apologies for the procrastination, and thank you for your patience lovelies!)

[beauty-and-passion]

Lore Olympus: a golden mine of bad writing

As I said, one post wasn’t enough.

There is still a lot to say about this webcomic and in this post I would like to talk about how Zeus, Apollo and Kronos have been treated. Here I will focus on the first two acts only, because the third act is not over, as well as the story. And yes, that means I will write another post when this whole thing is over.

I wanted to focus on these three gods in particular because are treated in a way that baffles me and makes me question what did they ever do to Mrs. Smythe. Tell me, Rachel: was it something personal? Did they do something to your family? What happened?

But maybe you don’t understand my point, especially if you haven’t read the Greek myths at all and you think that these three are just “Unfaithful Guy”, “Rapist” and “Evil Villain Har Har Who Also Wants To Rape”. Seriously, what’s with this weird obsession with raping everyone and with sex? Did Mrs. Smythe ever see anything else in myths, besides sex?

So please, allow me to explain why their characterizations are wrong and boring - and no, not just from a mythological point of view. 

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Zeus: the walking clichè

Making Zeus an asshole is understandable, even if utterly boring and clichè. Oh wow, he's an unfaithful husband and he's vain. Very original. Groundbreaking, I'd say. I’ve never read about him being unfaithful to his wife, not even once in all the 200 million retellings made during the history of mankind.

It's a shame because Zeus is much more than that. He's a mighty ruler with a strong sense of justice: in several myths, he punished the assholes for their wrongdoings. He's very clever and strong. He's also associated with xenia, the custom of offering protection to strangers, which means Zeus is also a protector of foreigners.

I mean, this information alone offers so many new perspectives about him! Just imagine if, instead of hanging around and doing nothing useful aside from being everyone’s favorite punching bag, Zeus fought against every corrupt system of the mortal realm, in order to protect the foreigners and the innocents. It would’ve been so cool to see a different side of him, instead of the same thing over and over again!

But nope, Zeus = unfaithful husband only. Let’s ignore all the other aspects of him, to focus on the one everyone focuses on. Let’s make him the umpteenth version of the same guy, instead of offering a new vision. This will surely make the story worth everyone’s time!

Rachel, this could’ve worked if I was 12 and had never read a retelling in my entire life. But since I’m more than twice that age, seeing Zeus as an unfaithful husband again doesn’t get my interest. And I’m sure this doesn’t only apply to me, but to everyone who already saw at least two retellings of him. Isn’t this story supposed to be new and original? Then why are we still picking from the same old clichè visions of these gods? Where is the writer’s personality and ability?

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Apollo: king of wasted potentials

I am absolutely, completely, 100% baffled at how Apollo has been treated in this story.

It's insulting to see the most beloved Greek god treated as a bidimensional piece of shit. Not only because he doesn't make any sense in the story (why is he here in the first place? Did Persephone and Apollo even interact in any myth?), but also because there are so many different possibilities for him, that seeing him being this is the biggest waste of potential I’ve ever seen.

A brief recap of who Apollo really is: Apollo is the embodiment of the sun. He is the god of arts and crafts. He's the most beautiful god, he embodies the concept of perfect Greek beauty. And he is associated with a lot of cool stuff, like medicine, truth and oracles. Also, like most of the other Greek gods, Apollo had many male and female lovers.

Now, look me in the eye and tell me that, with all of this, your first idea about him is "yeah, let's make him a stupid rapist, so stupid to not realize that hey, maybe forcing a girl to sleep with you will not make her fall in love with you". Oh and let's not forget he randomly decided he wanted Zeus' throne just after the fertility plot point had been introduced Because Yes. And he’s running for president of Whatever-Land Because Yes. Also, he’s currently involved again in another evil plot Because… yeah, you got it.

It’s just so frustrating to see him being the biggest loser of all time, considering how much cooler he could’ve been. Just think about it: we could've had a bisexual musician, who does concerts with his band (the Muses) and has a shit ton of lovers. We could’ve had a heartbroken doctor, who does his best to save everyone because he has not been able to save his own son from death (Asclepius). We could've had a mysterious advisor who can see the future because of his foresight powers.

What did we get instead? A fucking rapist.

Apollo is nothing but wasted potential. He’s an insult to himself, the story, common sense, and the Greek culture. Of all the incredible things he could've been, he became the most insulting of them all. I really cannot bear to see this fucking idiot and his punching-bag face, pretending to be Apollo. He’s not Apollo.

But if there is a guy I can see less than him, then let me introduce you to…

_______________________________

Kronos: Supreme Master of Wasted Potential

First of all: why is Kronos here? Why does this love story need Persephone to defeat a big bad guy? Just to show how cool and badass she is? Considering that their fight was a joke, it didn't work very well.

But okay, let's say we need a villain Because Yes. Kronos is still a huge waste of potential, probably the biggest waste of potential of the whole series until now. He could’ve been an interesting, multifaceted character, but he became a cartoonish supervillain har-har I want power.

Sigh.

But let’s take a step back and talk about the real, mythological Kronos. His story starts with his parents, Uranus and Gaia. The two had a lot of sons, including Titans (like Kronos) and Hecatonchires (monsters with fifty heads and one hundred arms). Disgusted by their monstrous nature or maybe just out of fear of being overthrown, Uranus chained his sons away into Gaia's womb (aka the Tartarus) so that they could never come out again.

Gaia suffered from this decision, so she devised a plan: she made a stone sickle, gathered her sons and tried to persuade them to castrate Uranus.

All of her sons were afraid of Uranus, Kronos was the only one brave enough to do it. And he was successful: he overthrew his father and became the new ruler of the universe, along with his wife/sister Rhea.

However, after becoming king, he didn't free all of his brothers as his mother wanted, but locked Hecatonchires and Cyclopes away once again. And so, Gaia told him that, one day, he would meet his father’s same fate and be overthrown by one of his own children.

Scared by these words, Kronos devised a plan: every time he had a new child, he took the baby from Rhea and swallowed them. Rhea was desperate and, in order to save her last son Zeus, she sought Gaia's help.

So Rhea gave birth to Zeus in a secret place, then handed Kronos a stone wrapped in clothes: he swallowed it, thinking that it was his son. This way, Zeus managed to escape the same fate as his siblings and was raised in secret, away from his father, until he was old enough to come back and fulfill his destiny.

And now, you may think Zeus overthrew his father with a sword and killed him and nah nah nah, myths are not that stupid and predictable. Zeus didn’t use violence to overthrow his father, but intelligence. He disguised himself to reach Kronos' court and, at the right time, he gave him a drink. That drink was an emetic (given by Gaia), that forced Kronos to throw up everything he swallowed, in reverse order: first the stone he thought was his last son, then Zeus' brothers and sisters.

After freeing his siblings, Zeus did what his father would've never done: he released the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclops to help him in the following battle against Kronos and the other Titans, a battle known as Titanomachy.

The war ended with the victory of the Olympians (i.e. Zeus and his siblings). Many Titans were confined in Tartarus, under the Hecatonchires' control, others were not imprisoned and kept appearing in other myths.

And Kronos? His fate differs depending on the myths. In some versions, he was imprisoned in Tartarus. But according to other, more interesting versions, Zeus forgave him after years, freed him and Kronos became king of the Elysian Fields: the famous earthly paradise reserved for the greatest Greek heroes.

Now. Just look at all of this beautiful, beautiful potential.

We have Gaia, a powerful goddess who overthrew two rulers of the universe, without moving a finger. A goddess strong and clever, but also a mother who wanted all of her children to be free - even the most hideous ones. She could’ve been a tragic figure, a master manipulator, or an evil schemer. Or all these things!

We have the Hecatonchires: fighters so powerful, to turn the tide of any battle. They could’ve been scary and intimidating, but also tragic monsters who just wanted to be accepted. They could’ve taught a beautiful lesson about the importance of accepting the ugly and giving everyone a chance to prove themselves.

Then we have Kronos. And Kronos had everything to be the greatest character.

Think about this concept: Kronos has always been afraid of Uranus, just like his brothers. He was just better at hiding his feelings. And that visceral fear is still inside him, it still haunts him after centuries, just like the memory of how he overthrew his father. And that fear takes the shape of paranoid thoughts about his father coming back to take the throne.

Kronos could’ve seen his father haunting him, but he could’ve also dissociated and seen himself as his father. In his altered state of mind, he could’ve been both the king and the one who overthrows him.

That could’ve made him a truly dangerous, unhinged character. A god who can’t see what’s real anymore, obsessed with the ghosts of his past. A god with nothing to lose and everything to gain. After all, if he kills his children again, the throne would be his once more. And, since he sees himself as himself and as his father at the same time, he would think that he is the "true king" coming back to take his throne.

That could’ve been awesome. Kronos could've been complex, desperate and multifaceted, a villain to pity and to be afraid of. A truly new, interesting version to know and love.

And do you have any idea how incredible Zeus could’ve been in this version? We could see him facing Kronos again, still as strong and determined as when he was young. And while everyone would expect him to kill Kronos, he would use his intelligence once again. He would prove to Kronos (and to everyone else) how intelligence is always superior to violence and how he's a good leader, despite his thousands of flaws.

Also, we could've seen Zeus talking to the defeated Kronos and making him the ruler of the Elysian Fields. We could've had a meaningful ending, in which Zeus understands Kronos' fears and shares his own.

I would’ve adored this, because according to the myth, Zeus was also supposed to be overthrown by a son! Hence why he swallowed Metis (his first wife) while she was pregnant.

The myth never truly clarifies who this supposed "son" is, but according to the different versions, Metis was pregnant not with a son, but with a daughter. A daughter who, one day, would be born, full grown, from Zeus' head. A daughter who would become Zeus' favorite child: Athena.

Honestly? I ADORE the idea that there was never a son to overthrow Zeus, but a daughter. And she would not overthrow his father by violence like her grandfather or by intelligence like her father, but by love. Athena doesn't need to take the throne from her father physically, she doesn't even need to sit on that throne: not when her father loves her more than anything else.

And I love the idea that Zeus is aware of that. He knows his daughter is his weakness. He knows that, if she asks, he will willingly give her that throne, because he loves her too much. And I would've loved to see him sharing these thoughts with the defeated Kronos. It could've been a beautiful moment, to see Zeus talking with the fatherly figure he always missed from his life. It could've led to a beautiful, meaningful ending for a dramatic story.

But can you see the problem here? This concept works for a story about Zeus, not about Hades and Persephone! These two have nothing to do with Kronos! Heck, even Rachel Smythe knows it, considering she had to pull a stupid plot point out of thin air, to explain why Kronos would give a damn about Persephone!

In case you were wondering: yes, the fertility-magical-power-battery-thing is bullshit. Gods don’t need a magical battery to be powerful. And no, fertility goddesses are not rare either: Aphrodite, Demeter, Hera, even Artemis are just a few of the fertility goddesses in Greek mythology. Kronos could’ve picked his favorite from a large pool, instead of becoming an absolute creep with Persephone in the stupidest fight of all time.

And speaking of that, two words on the supposed “fight”. First of all, apologies to all fights for being associated with this thing, because this was anything but a fight: it was a cartoonish conversation accompanied by the umpteenth sexualization of Persephone, who first appeared fully naked, then with a dress so stupid to defy the laws of physics and perspective.

And if you don’t believe me, please see it by yourself: this is how the dress was supposed to be, according to episode 75

This is how it ended up. Apparently, the Fates didn’t predict how huge Persephone’s boobs would be and the neckline didn’t grow accordingly: I feared to see one of them slipping out from it anytime during the “fight”

Also, please appreciate how Persephone is turned to the side, but the dress’ stupidly huge neckline is shown from the front, otherwise we would’ve seen her full naked boobs.

And that stupid neckline kept bothering me throughout the whole “fight”, because it kept changing size. Check the episodes and see it by yourself: sometimes it’s smaller, other times it’s wider and it keeps moving in impossible ways. It drove me insane.

But since we’re talking about drawings, please allow me a very brief parenthesis about them too.

_______________________________

The drawings are a joke

I am not an artist. I can barely draw a straight line by hand. But I studied art history, perspective, proportions and colors, so I’m not completely clueless.

But you don’t need to be clueless, to notice how bad the drawings became. If you have two eyes and saw another human being in your life before, then you can notice by yourself how bad they are.

It’s not a secret that Lore Olympus’ art style changed over time. In the beginning, this comic was characterized by a lot of straight lines and geometric shapes, alternating and mixing with gentle curves. There were blur effects, colored outlines, a lot of details that gave an overall dreamy, ethereal vibe to every chapter (like the soft glow that accompanied the gods).

But as the story progressed, these elements disappeared. The geometric shapes gave way to an overall “softness” and roundness. The dreamy vibes and blur effects were replaced by sharper, clearer drawings. A distinct black outline now marks every character.

And speaking of characters, they were the ones who changed more. Lore Olympus always had funny, silly faces but the characters were also able to be serious and look natural. Now all we have are grotesque faces: the characters are a collection of caricatures and no one has a normal expression anymore. Check by yourself, by confronting a random episode of the third act with the first one: they’re two different worlds.

The disproportions were common too, since episode one. But at least they were somehow plausible, while now they’re completely absurd. It’s as if Mrs Smythe completely forgot what a human being looks like.

And this is pretty evident in how all characters became a rough draft of the two protagonists: all women got Persephone’s face, all men become buff and huge, with wide-ass shoulders and teeny tiny heads. This is particularly obvious at the end of season 2 / start of season 3, when we see some of the funniest images ever, like Hades with a tiny head and shoulders as wide as the entire USA

Or this hilariously bad image of Zeus with clown shoes and a head as big as his deformed hand.

No excuse can justify these drawings: no one is running after Mrs Smythe, nor forcing her to draw, and people are paying her real money to work on this webcomic. The least she can do is draw something that doesn’t look like a bad distortion of a human being.

Unless this isn’t her drawing, but her staff’s work. In that case, they are still paid to do their job, right? Or do they think this story is a joke and decide to show how much of a joke it is, by turning everyone into a grotesque caricature?

_______________________________

In conclusion

Lore Olympus is hilarious because of how bad the writing is. It’s a manual example of how not to write a climax for your story. It’s a perfect demonstration of how you can still fail, even with great characters with endless possibilities. It’s a list of all the mistakes you can make as an artist.

If you’re a writer or an artist in general, please check Lore Olympus and study it. Here you will find everything you should never do and all the mistakes you should never make.

As a writer myself, I appreciate Lore Olympus, because I need works that teach me what I shouldn’t do. Good teachers are useful, but bad ones are even more useful, because it’s thanks to them that I can learn and grow and make better stories. Lore Olympus might be a failure from an artistic and writing point of view, but it might also serve as a foundation, from which other people can develop better ideas.

Actually, it already did it! Do you want to read a better story, rose from the disappointing ashes of Lore Olympus? Then check Lore Rekindled and @genericpuff: you will find their work here on Tumblr. They planned everything ahead and it’s pretty clear by reading it. The characters make more sense, the events have a more logical explanation. And the art style is much, much better than the last Lore Olympus.

We will meet again for the third and (for now) final post about this series, a much-needed post about the protagonists of this story: Hades, Persephone and Demeter.

<- Previous post - Next post ->

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

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[dpr-stay]

Through the years | D.K

Doh Kyungsoo x f1driver!Reader

Warnings: Swears, a lot of crack

WC: 9.1k (ik, kill me now)

Howdy Cowpeople! This one is... hefty. This wasn’t supposed to be as long as it was but when I get in a groove... I think I made it obvious but I just wanted it to be over L O L. This one is pretty niche, but hopefully it can be enjoyed by both sides as it is a driver!reader.

(I didn't edit this, whoops)

2015

“Can you explain this picture?” The reporter asks, hovering in front of you with a phone in hand. The crappy quality is amplified as they have zoomed into the point where the picture is unrecognizable. You squint your eyes to see it and can’t make out quite what they’re trying to show.

“Sorry, w-what is that?” You ask, drawing back and squinting your eyes, resisting the urge to close them from exhaustion. Whoever decided it would be a good idea to do interviews after nearly 100 continuous laps in some barely held together race car with no break was a sadist. No other explanation.

“Oh! It’s a picture of you in a car with a guy.” The reporter said eagerly and shoved the phone your way. You briefly looked at the camera, an unimpressed look on your face, before turning back to the phone and squinting again.

You paused for a minute and drew back, your face still scrunched up, and exhaled.

“Nahhhhhh.” The drew out word left your mouth.

The reporter’s head tilted and they frowned.

“But it is! It’s you in Seoul after the Japanese Grand Prix!” He continued, looking very determined. You plastered a confused expression on your face.

“I’ve never been to Seoul before.” His face dropped and he turned back to his phone, as though trying to rationalize what he was hearing.

“Have you just taken a picture of… two random people in a car? To me it honestly doesn’t even look like anything cause it’s so zoomed in but to each their own.” You finished your words with a shrug.

“No, my source told me that that was 100% you! They said they saw you get in the car at the airport.” He continued on, undeterred by your flat disregard.

“I hate to say it, your contact’s wrong. I’ve never even set foot in the country.” You shrugged before turning to your PR manager who was gesturing for you to leave, with rather forceful movements. That was to clue you in that you were in trouble. With her personally or with the boss man, you didn’t know.

“Lovely to see you again, though.” You smiled and held your hand over. The interviewer tentatively took it and you exchanged good-byes before you turned around and left to go onto more interviews. The glance you exchanged with your PR manager told you that you were lucky you had not been caught out on your multiple lies and you heaved a sigh of relief to yourself.

Being the only female driver in a heavily male dominated sport was incredibly stressful. Add to that the eyes of reporters trying to find you doing anything remotely weird to spin it into a scandal and you had a lot of things to worry about. Especially since you had just started a relationship with a highly coveted Kpop singer which you were determined to keep under wraps.

You both had a bet running with each other. The first person to reveal the relationship would lose. There was no consequence but your pride, something which both of you had a bit too much of.

And so, a game was born. It simultaneously made you more careful of revealing your relationship while also making it a fun game.

This also meant that you had to start constantly lying to reporters to get out of tricky situations. Surely nothing bad could ever come from this.

2016: 

“How does it feel to be a key contender for the championship?” Asked a reporter, directing it to, of course, Lewis Hamilton, who was sat beside Daniel in a panel of drivers. You were sat on the other side of Daniel, the small desk in front of you reaching for miles on either side.

As Lewis gave the carbon copy response that he had given to every interviewer so far, Daniel leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“I’m surprised they haven’t called him out on that yet.” He then reached for his plastic water bottle and took a sip. You considered this for a second before leaning to his side and answered, not turning your face from the crowd of reporters.

“I’m surprised they haven’t called you out on your disgusting trim.” He jolted forward at this unprompted attack on his hair and the choking sound he emanated drew attention from all in the room, all watching him with curious eyes as he tried to regain his breath.

“You alright mate?” Lewis asked, one of his eyebrows arching.

“Y-yeah I’m fine.” Daniel replied, waving his hand, eager to have attention off of his spluttering. It took a while but eventually all the cameras were aimed back at Lewis, so Daniel took the opportunity to elbow you hard in the side, your reaction being to topple off your chair dramatically. Usually one for the dramatics, you’re not sure you’ve ever seen Daniel want the cameras off him so much. 

Hidden behind a small desk, you could only hear the questioning tones calling out your name and see Daniel’s slightly panicked face urging you to get up and back on your chair. With one single hand, you reached for the desk and slowly pulled yourself up.

You released a deep breath as you hauled yourself into your seat and turned to face the crowd of reporters who were looking at you. With a grand hand gesture, you motioned for them to continue with their interviews and turned slightly to Daniel with a smile. He shot you back an exasperated glance before your name was called from the crowd of reporters. You looked towards the reporter and he began speaking.

“So, as you’re the only female on the grid I feel the need to ask, if you could date any of the drivers, who would it be?” The eager face he had contrasted with your entirely unimpressed face. You could hear Daniel begin to start speaking and you could feel the defensive energy emanating from the rest of the drivers on the panel, but before any of them could interrupt with scathing criticism about the misogyny that permeated the question, you replied to the reporter.

“Literally none of them, I’d rather die.” Your response was met with general silence before Daniel started laughing as usual.

“Really? You wouldn’t fancy any of them?” The reporter asked, almost in disbelief.

“No!” You said almost equally in disbelief.

“I’m fine with what I have at home!” You added on after a second.

“Are you saying you’re in a relationship???” The reporter was on the edge of his seat, others shoving their microphones and cameras trying to get a good shot. You dramatically pondered that for a second before replying.

“I wouldn’t say that, I just have other things at home.” You said that and then leaned back, shrugged, and didn’t say anything else into the mic even at the reporters continual uproar as they took in the implications of that statement.

You, luckily, were able to avoid the increasingly weird questions by just not answering and smiling. You weren’t as lucky to miss the smirks thrown your way by the other drivers.

2017:

“It doesn’t count!” You said in disbelief, aiming it at the microphone of your phone.

“Mmm I’d say it counts.” Kyungsoo replied back teasingly, his voice echoing into your AirPods. 

“You can’t go back on your word!! You said it was fine last year!” You were sitting at a table in your company's hospitality, having a conversation with Kyungsoo on the phone, blissfully unaware of the interviews going on outside the building which had a clear view into the small area. 

“Yeah but it’s been two years, one of us has to call it quits soon.” Your face contorted before Kyungsoo quickly amended his statement.

“The bet! The bet! Sorry, that came out the wrong way.” 

You just shook your head, a small smile growing on your lips.

“You bastard, you had me a little worried.” He scoffed in response. He had been speaking quietly into the phone as he was hiding in a closet in the SM building, taking a break from practice to talk to you. A true charmer.

“As if.” He replied shortly, a loud scuffling heard on his side.

“One second.” He said, as a banging sound came through into your headphones.

“Come on Hyung! Get off the phone and come back before someone else finds you!” Kai’s voice could be heard through the door. A pause before the banging started again.

“Also tell her I said hello!” You giggled at the younger man’s words and Kyungsoo’s sigh in response.

“I’ll call you after the race, do your best, I love you.” Kyungsoo muttered into his phone before shouting back to Kai something about respect and to shut up. It just made you laugh more.

“I love you too, practice well and I’ll call you soon.” You finally said in response after the yelling died down.

“Bye.” He said before quickly tacking on another “love you” and then he hung up.

After he hung up you just stared at your screen for a second with a smile you would 100% not call radiant on your face. It was quickly wiped off when your PR manager popped up out of nowhere and started talking about interviews, causing you to switch to English as you stood up and followed him.

However, the interview still captured your little moment and the conversation preluding it. You knew this because, when you went back to your phone after the race, Baekhyun had sent you a picture of your smile through the tinted glass with a smirking emoji as well as a picture of Kyungsoo on the floor in the closet in the dark talking to you on the phone, not to mention the hounding you got at the next press conference.

2018:

You knew it was risky to do a live in your own apartment, especially since you were in a completely different country than where you were claiming you were.

But your PR team wanted you to do it, and you couldn’t exactly tell them no, even if you were currently lying to them about your circumstances. You were a bit worried that something unexplainable might happen like the South Korean national anthem suddenly blaring but what you weren’t worried about was the person who you were living with coming back and interrupting your live.

Kyungsoo was at practice and, while you were ok with him skipping it to talk to you on the phone, you didn’t want him to skip it now, as you had been promised a few days without any interruption if he went to every practice. So he was at practice and you were fulfilling all your expected PR duties for the next couple of days, which included the live.

Regardless of your hesitations, you set up your phone on your coffee table facing the entrance to your home and sat on the couch before turning on the live. Immediately people joined, flooding the chat and making your phone vibrate.

“Uhhh hello everyone.” You awkwardly greeted as you tried to think of things to say. Kyungsoo would be fantastic at this, you couldn’t help but think, always having to do live’s with his members.

“How’s everyone’s days been?” You settled on and watched the responses roll into the chat. You noticed a few drivers had joined your live and even a few of the boys from F2 and F3 were watching, which you thought was pretty nice of them considering it was mainly you rambling for around 30 minutes.

Your manager wanted you to do an hour minimum for the live and the time seemed to stretch for years, you continuously making small talk and occasionally replying to comments. You even snuck in a few jokes for the other drivers before, around the 55 minute mark, a sound came from your end.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you wondered where the noise was coming from, looking around the apartment. Quickly standing up, you looked around the apartment, making a lighthearted joke about ghosts as you nervously tried to find the origin of the sound.

You realised that sound was the wrong key being put in the lock as soon as you registered the sound of the correct key being put in.

As Kyungsoo opened the door, you made the biggest leap you think you have ever made. It would’ve had to have been around 4 meters surely. Somehow you had leapt onto the coffee table, knocking your phone down. Kyungsoo was staring at you weirdly as you violently gestured at him to shush. He raised an eyebrow.

“Are you ok?” He asked, his deep voice sounding as lovely as ever. You took a second, contemplating your options in this circumstance before coming to a logical conclusion.

You started to scream.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!” Kyungsoo’s face shifted to one of confusion as yours was full of desperation.

“YOU CRAZY PSYCHO! GET OUT!!” You continued to yell in perfect English, a contrast from his peaceful question, and gestured for Kyungsoo to close the door, which he did, albeit very confused.

As soon as he closed the door, you maneuvered yourself so that you weren’t facing him and quickly picked up your phone from underneath you.

“Oh my god, what just happened.” You said, showing the camera your roof. You picked up the phone and started fidgeting with it.

“‘Are you ok?’ Yeah I’m fine, I just gotta figure out how to change the locks. I’ll uh.. I’ll get back to you guys. See you later.” You said absentmindedly, as you ended the live.

You paused for a second, sat back on your heels, and sighed, staring up at the roof. The sound of footfalls reached your ears and you didn’t react when Kyungsoo placed a hand on your shoulder.

“I’m not losing this bet.” You mumbled, staring at the ground. An incredulous laugh left him at that as he reached his hand further and brought your face to look at him. A smile that there was no other way to describe but goofy was spread across his face.

“You’re still thinking of that?” He asked and you nodded.

“I take our bet very seriously.” You said before he slightly shook his head, gave you a kiss on the forehead, and moved towards the kitchen.

You picked yourself up and moved to the dining table as he started work in the kitchen. And, as he made a delicious dinner that you both enjoyed, you started to field off your PR team asking who was in your house and ignoring the comments wondering why the guy was speaking Korean in the middle of England.

2019: 

It was approximately ten minutes before you had to be in the car and ready to go, and you were half-way there. You had your fireproofs and race suit on and you were being herded towards your car by a crowd of engineers. Strategies and specifics were being directed at you and you could only nod and act as though you were absorbing what they were saying.

Even after four years on the job some people felt they just couldn’t rely on you. Honestly, they should just let you do your thing, you knew what you were doing. 

No! God, ever since Kyungsoo had joined the military you’d been irritable and quick to anger on the track. Your poor engineers were trying their best to get through to you, likely because they wanted to keep their jobs, but you’d been incredibly closed off since after you got back from the honeymoon. 

Oh yeah, you got married. During a break and right before Kyungsoo was scheduled to start his enlistment, you got married down in a small courthouse with only a few people from either side. You had your family, a few close friends, and a few drivers while Kyungsoo had his family, a few close friends, and the whole of EXO.

It was very emotional and intimate, but that was how you’d describe your relationship so you were very happy with it. You were also extremely happy with the week get-away in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand that followed after, a week of people not recognising both you, farmers markets, and sheep. Lot’s of sheep.

But ever since he’d flown off to do his duty to his country (and shaved his head, no one should look that good with a shaved head) and you’d flown to your next race, you’d been incredibly… angry.

You didn’t know if it had to do with not seeing Kyungsoo for the better part of two years or having that split immediately after the wedding, but what you did know was that it was affecting your racing so you had to snap out of it.

Being dragged back to the present you quickly hopped in the car and performed all of your checks on the steering wheel and adjusted things while people flitted around outside the car, adjusting things and making sure the car was in proper state.

After a quick radio check, the call to start up for the formation lap (you were in P11 after a pretty dodgy qualifying) was relayed and all around you could hear car’s engines coming to life. You glanced at your engineers and snapped down your visor at their nod, starting the car.

Before you pressed the throttle something quickly came to mind. You rapidly gestured for one of your engineers to come close to you, incredibly conscious of all the cars revving around you. The poor engineer almost sprinted to you as you started to fiddle with the zip of your racesuit, the gloves you were wearing prohibiting you from unzipping it.

The engineer's face was comically concerned and he slowly reached forwards before you looked up and grabbed his outreached hand. His face immediately went to one of shock as you made his hand grab the zip and unzip the front part of the suit.

Choosing to ignore the cameras capturing this interaction you continued unzipping it till it lay around your collarbones, hoping the cameras don’t catch any of your naked shoulders. The engineer's face then relaxed as he saw the necklace around your neck and he quickly reached in, almost leaning over the car, to move your necklace around your neck till the latch was in front of him.

He cautiously unlatched the necklace before zipping up your race suit. You immediately relaxed as the pressure around your neck was relieved. Before he could retreat back to the crowd of engineers, you grabbed the hand that wasn’t holding your necklace and slapped it appreciatively with your other hand.

He retreated as you powered up the car and started to move it forwards, letting all the cars that needed to go before go before you started to move. 

Your team radio started up as you were leaving the pit lane.

“You all had us very confused there.” Your race engineer said as you started your cruise around the track. 

“Yeah, sorry I completely forgot about it. But I thought it was better to take it off.” You said, pressing down on the throttle. 

“He better not lose that though. I want that back at the end of the race.” You subtly threatened, suddenly thinking of the rings that were attached to the necklace. You hoped that maybe the cameras hadn’t seen your wedding and engagement rings but you knew there was no chance they hadn’t not captured it. Oh well.

“I don’t know if you’ll get it back by the end of the race.” Your engineer said, her tone almost sarcastic. 

“What’s that mean?” You asked, letting the car cruise.

“You’ll probably be killed by your PR team first.” She said bluntly. So bluntly it made you laugh. 

“I’ve got a race to focus on.” You reminded her, leaving out the part that you had a race to think of an excuse as to why you have two rings attached to a necklace around your neck.

And you did think of an excuse, wearing the necklace proudly during post-race interviews and saying it was a family heirloom that had been passed on to you by your grandma whenever you were questioned about it.

The moment still went viral though, people questioning the relationship between you and the engineer. It went viral enough to that you had to suffer through teasing by Daniel and his accomplice Max Verstappen (you didn’t know how the kid knew you were married but you suspected it had something to do with an annoying Australian) not to mention the shit being talked in the EXO group chat you were in.

I mean seriously, all of those guys are millionaires, does Chen have nothing else to do with his time than bully the wife of his bandmate?

2020: (sorry Alex)

Somehow you got signed to RedBull on a year contract. Not to say you weren’t grateful for the opportunity but you were definitely a bit confused. But anyway, you let bygones be bygones and now you had a 22 year-old dutch nuisance under your wing.

He was a great kid but god, was he traumatized. You were convinced he’d never seen a healthy family dynamic, so you were more than happy to let him see how you and Kyungsoo functioned. Or at least how you functioned when he was not in the military.

You kind of felt like a life coach for the kid, telling him when he was being taken advantage of or when he should continue with something. You’d been woken up plenty of times in the middle of the night by him drunkenly whining into the phone about wanting to go “home”, something neither of you commented on when he woke up on your couch the next day.

So, safe to say, you’d practically adopted a child without the permission of your husband.

This extended to on the track as well, you’d gotten into a few mild disagreements with Jos Verstappen after his cruel comments which often involved you looking at him angrily and him shit-talking you in interviews about you being a woman. You’d often have to refrain from saying that you’d always be more of a man than him, but alas, you didn’t want to get kicked from your seat.

You knew that Max was extremely appreciative of your dynamic, even commenting on it a few times during interviews, saying that he was very happy to have you as a teammate. After that interview you almost felt like you and his lover, Daniel, were able to give him some sort of an idea of what a normal family relationship should look like.

This sentiment was definitely reinforced when a loud knocking on your Monaco apartment door happened in the early afternoon. It was a weekend with no race, so you were soaking in relaxation. You were having a nice bubble bath after having read for the whole morning, so you were hesitant to hop out of the bath. 

The knocking persisted however, and with a sigh, you got out of the bath and wrapped a bathrobe around you before loudly yelling you’d be a minute. You tugged on some sweats which weren’t yours and put your hair in a towel before eventually making your way to the door. 

You might’ve taken more than a minute, but it didn’t matter when you opened the door and were greeted with the image of Max Verstappen on his knees, face pressed into the expensive hallway carpet. What a sight to see, the prodigy and most highly anticipated driver of his time, lying face-first on the floor.

“What the fuck?” You asked, immediately crouching down to his level after a quick glance to see that none of your neighbors had left their apartments to check on the banging (pretentious, self-concerned people). 

You rolled him over, your confusion doubling as you took in the remorseful look etched across the young man's face, almost tripling as you took in the barely concealed tears in his eyes. Your heart ached though and you pulled him up so that he was sitting on his knees.

“I’m so sorry.” He muttered as your face contorted in confusion. What had happened? “Come inside Max.” You said quietly, helping him up from his spot on the floor and leading him inside, locking the door after you both. Leading him to the couch, you left him after putting the throw blanket over his shoulders, and went to make both of you a tea.

You noticed your phone constantly vibrating on your kitchen counter and quickly chucked it on do not disturb, not checking the notifications because you were more concerned with your teary teammate. 

After grabbing the teas you made your way to the couch, setting them down on coasters on the coffee table, before sitting on the edge of the ‘L’ piece of the couch, so you were facing Max. You grabbed his hand from his lap where he had been nervously picking at his nail beds.

“What’s wrong Max?” You asked calmly, bringing his hand to your lap to stop him from hurting himself. He looked up at you, a few tears having rolled down his cheeks. 

Whatever had happened had fucked him up. You didn’t think it was a fight with his dad, he’d sadly become pretty unresponsive to those. You briefly considered him losing his seat but shook that off, he was doing exceptionally well. 

Maybe you’d lost your seat and he was sent to deliver the news. That would make more sense, especially as your phone was blowing up. You hadn’t been performing very well, but you didn’t think they’d drop you from your seat midway through the season, especially during a season as turbulent as this one.

It was the only reason that made sense though, so you prepared yourself for the news that you would be unemployed. Maybe you’d go back to F2 or maybe IndyCar? Or you could just move to South Korea and live there permanently, letting Kyungsoo fulfill his passion for acting and singing while you did a few kart races to occasionally quench your thirst for adrenaline. 

That actually didn’t sound too bad, though you’d definitely have to discuss it with Kyungsoo when he got back from enlistment, which meant around 5 months of unemployment. But hey, you had the money and so did Kyungsoo.

Max snapped you from your thoughts of the future by clearing his throat.

“You don’t know?” He asked, curiously glancing up at you. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“No…” You said, conveying your confusion. “Should I?” 

“Have you checked your phone recently?” Yep, you were definitely getting fired. You should probably start packing now. Maybe Daniel could get his seat back? You shook your head in response to his quiet question.

“I’ve just been reading all morning.” Max nodded, a small ‘ah’ leaving his mouth as he stared at the floor. He reached for his tea, his hand leaving your lap. You narrowed your eyes at that, following his movements as he sipped, a gasp immediately leaving his throat as he burnt it.

You immediately cussed and sprung up from your couch to grab a glass of cold water, running back to the couch and giving it to Max, watching as he gulped down the glass. When he finished he turned back to you and thanked you, before pausing for a second and bursting into another round of tears. You placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re really freaking me out Max. Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” You asked gently, trying to make him catch your eye.

“Promise you won't hate me?” His small voice asked and you internally crumpled at his vulnerable question. Honestly you never thought you’d end up gentle-parenting a teammate like he was a child of yours, especially since you were only like 5 years older than him, but here you were, caring for him like family.

“Yes, I won’t hate you Max.” You repeated as he finally caught your eye. He took a deep breath before starting to speak.

“I was doing an interview for the press and they started asking questions about other drivers and my relationship to them. They then asked about you and I said that I’m really close to you and etcetera.” Ok, seems pretty normal so far. At least you weren’t getting fired, hopefully.

“And they asked if I see you more as a mother figure or a romantic interest.” He said before quickly turning his eyes away. This confused you before you clued in.

“Oh Max.” You said quietly and he turned back to you. “I’m flattered you feel that way but I am married and I am loyal-”

“No, no, no!” He said, louder than he’d ever spoken in the time since he was on the floor. His cheeks had turned bright red as he looked in your eyes.

“No, I didn’t say that I saw you romantically!” He quickly amended and you breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.

“Ok, that’s good! I didn’t want our friendship to be awkward.” You said, looking at him for a response. He just grimaced and averted his gaze. You gestured for him to go on confusedly and he began speaking again.

“And I said more like a mother-figure.” A statement which made you feel positive things you don’t want to address. “Then I may have accidentally said that, even though I haven’t met him, I see your husband as more of a father-figure as well.” He quickly rushed the last part out and you sat, stunned. 

The room went silent while you processed what he told you. Fuuuuckkk. How much trouble were you going to be in? I mean the team knew, but this wasn’t something you could pass off as your grandmother's rings. This was undeniable proof that you had a husband. God press days were going to suck after this unless you could somehow make an excuse.

As time went on he seemed to collapse in on himself, the energy quickly switching to something you didn’t like.

“To be honest I thought you were going to tell me I’d lost my seat.” You said and Max’s head snapped up. “What?” He asked, disbelieving.

“Yeah I know, crazy.” You laughed, dragging out the last word, trying to establish a more relaxed aura in the room.

“No, why haven’t you kicked me out yet?” It was at times like this you really wanted to punch Jos Verstappen in the face. You made an over exaggerated confused face, hoping the fact that that had never gone through your mind was on display in your face.

“Max, why would I do that?” You asked, your voice very quickly becoming soothing.

“Why aren’t you mad at me? You’ve spent years hiding this! You should be yelling at me!” He said, standing up. You tried, in vain, to get him to sit down by gently calling him, but he started pacing.

“I’ve just ruined your chances at revealing this yourself, at ever having another peaceful day in your marriage, and all you can do is make a joke?!” He almost started yelling, clenching his fists. You got fed-up and yelled his name, calling his attention to you.

“You’re in my house as my guest. You will not tell me what to do or how to handle situations. Sit your ass down.” You yelled, your voice incredibly commanding. He followed your instructions and sat smally in front of you.

“Max. It was eventually going to come out. I don’t mind. I’d much rather it come off handedly from you than maliciously leaked by a random instagram page.” You said and he looked up, almost looking close to tears. You frowned before bringing the boy up into a hug. You stayed like that for a few minutes before you had to ask a question.

“You didn’t reveal who he was though, no?” You asked, still in the hug. You felt Max shake his head and you silently fistpumped behind his back. It wasn’t your fault, so it technically didn’t count and you hadn’t lost the bet.

You were right, by the way, press days were soon filled with questions about your mystery husband instead of your racing. But it was fine, you were somehow able to twist it as though you’d made a joke about having a husband and Max took it seriously.

Phew.

2021: (sorry latifi)

“And so today you will be reacting to fan edits of yourselves!” The lady behind the camera finished, prompting you and George to look at eachother. It was early in the season and, even though you’d raced together for a few years, you weren’t exactly close, being that before pre-season meetings, you hadn’t ever talked. At all.

This meant he didn’t know much about your personal life or the whole ‘husband’ thing. Which was fine, you’d tell him in your own time, when you felt your friendship was strong enough. He seemed to be a great kid, though you were determined to not adopt another grown child, especially after the look you got from Kyungsoo when you mentioned the fact you may have ‘accidentally’ had Christmas with Max Verstappen.

But hey, they had finally met during February and it was almost like a Dad saying that his daughter can’t adopt a cat while simultaneously cuddling with the cat. Kyungsoo, against his better judgment, had instantly attached to Max and now you were battling for the position of being his favourite driver. Which you were totally not bitter about (you said your favourite EXO member was Sehun in retaliation and he changed your mind very quickly).

Back to the present, the people behind the camera placed a tablet on the table in front of you. It was open on the photo gallery and you could already see some very flattering videos saved to the device.

“You wanna go first?” You asked, and George nodded before picking up the tablet and scrolling through the photo library. He closed his eyes and landed on one. Loud music immediately began playing from the device, you think ‘London Boy’ by Taylor Swift, and you both watched in varying states of horror as photos and clips of him flashed on the screen.

As the video ended you both accidentally made eye-contact. Now, as an almost 28 year old woman, the simple gesture of looking into your teammate's stricken eyes should not have made burst out laughing as hard as you did. But, god, George’s eyes were expressive. In fairness he also did laugh, though he probably was confused as to why you were laughing so much.

After you caught your breath you could only utter out,

“Your face...” Before peeling back into giggles again. He started laughing again as well before putting the tablet down. In doing so, he accidentally swiped the tablet and the Backstreet Boys started playing, an edit of the 2019 rookies playing as the video.

This chain event caused you to start gasping, the sheer ridiculousness of the videos catching up to you. George only took one look at the tears forming in your eyes before he was also wheezing out harsh breaths from laughing.

It took around 2 minutes for you to look at each other without laughing and, for you both to be able to pick up the tablet without giggling, it took another minute or so. You eventually began scrolling through the tablet, laughing at some and ‘aww’-ing at some of the sad ones. 

Eventually a video came up with the background music to ‘Give it to me’ by Sistar, an edit of you that was hot but had you gasping at the lyrics.

“What?” George looked over to you, curious as to why there was another noise that came out of your mouth than laughing or a strained ‘why?’.

“The audacity!” You said, as the music continued playing.

“What..?” George asked, more confused than previously.

“Do you want to know the lyrics they’ve just edited me to?” You asked, looking over at him, your voice pretending to be offended.

“What?” He said, his tone changing again to have a sort of goading lilt.

“Will I even get married before I turn thirty.” You said with an air of finality, turning to glare at the camera, your jaw dramatically hung open. George gasped mockingly.

“How dare they!” He said sarcastically and you nodded eagerly.

“I know right!” You responded beginning a stereotypical mean girl impression. “How dare they!” After that little fiasco, you both kept scrolling and laughing (a notable example of this being when an edit of George crying came up, him pushing your shoulders as you continued to laugh). 

Eventually the video was being wrapped up and George was preparing to do a sort of sign off when he paused and turned to you.

“I know we aren’t incredibly close…” He started and you prepared for a multitude of questions. You didn’t know him well enough to predict what he might say, so you went over your predisposed answers to questions in your head.

You knew he wouldn’t ask anything uncomfortable, like about your relationship status, or anything really weird, like how many socks do you wash at once. But that left a gaping probability for mildly-weird or mildly-uncomfortable questions. You hoped he wouldn’t ask that, but you were still prepared to be asked if you threw out your receipts or kept them.

“But I didn’t know you knew Korean. How did you learn?” 

Oh. Fuck.

You did not have an answer for that. How the fuck did you not have an answer for that? You definitely should have had an answer for that. Oh wait, you didn’t have an answer because you promised yourself not to tell anyone that you could speak Korean so that you didn’t get that question!

The real, close-friends answer was that Kyungsoo had taught you over a range of years and that you’d taken courses so that you’d be able to talk to his friends and family. However you didn’t have a PR approved answer because you’d never thought that you’d need one. Time to put your problem solving skills to the test. 

“Uhhhhh…” You said, staring confusedly at George, aware of the seconds that had passed while you were internally monologuing. You hoped your expression didn’t convey the level of gob-smacked that you felt but you think it did because George’s face contorted to be one of worry.

“If that’s a sensitive topic or something you don’t have to answer!” He quickly said as though he was trying to fix the situation. You’d later learn the George thought before your video that you were kind of ‘fucking terrifying’ (his words) and that he was scared he’d screwed up by asking you this and one of his ‘hero’s’ (his words) wouldn’t ever want to talk to him again. 

“Nah, nah. It’s ok.” You waved him off, desperately trying to think of something. Oh! You knew exactly what to say.

“Basically I just have this really good friend who is Korean and I asked him to teach me for fun.” You said simply, before realising that wasn’t good enough considering your reaction.

“I was trying to hide how good I’ve gotten to try and surprise him but I guess it’s ok.” You said, a small smile on your face. George relaxed from his tense state and nodded, a small smile playing onto his lips as well.

“Ah that’s cool. Sorry to spoil the surprise.” You waved him off again and he continued the video’s outro.

Another good save, you really oughta be hired to problem-solve. And by problem-solving you mean lying to the media. And George. Poor George. 

2022: (yeah the timelines don’t match, don’t call me out pls)

A loud banging sounded against your hotel door. You groaned, dropping the book onto your chest from where you held it up. Glancing angrily at the door, you rolled out of bed and stomped over to the entrance. You ripped open the door and prepared to start reaming the person on the other side before letting out a high-pitched scream.

You were in Japan for the Suzuka GP. You always didn’t like the Japanese GP because, even though you were incredibly close to Kyungsoo, your schedules never lined up so you could never see him. 

That fact really grinded your gears, but it’s what you get when you try to schedule something with SM Entertainment. A decisive ‘No.’ What a great company. To be honest, was Willaims really any better?

No. No they weren’t. That mere fact infuriated you enough to make you scream. However, it wasn’t the reason you were currently screaming. That was because, standing in your doorway in the middle of the team hotel, was Kai. 

You hadn’t seen him in a few months, you both had busy schedules, so the man appearing on your doorstep was miraculous. You didn’t think of why he was there, or how he got there. You just threw your arms around him and gave him a hug.

“Oh my god!” You screamed, before immediately regretting it and quickly pulling him into your hotel room before someone came out of their rooms and wondered why he was in front of yours.

“Hi!” He said, laughing as he let himself be pushed into your room despite the fact he could pick you up and throw you.

“What are you doing here?” You asked changing your pulling into a hug, squeezing the younger man as though he was your child. You had a serious problem with that, treating men almost your age as children. But Kai was more of a brother than a child, to be quite frank. That distinction just meant that he really really bugged you.

“I have a concert tomorrow and I thought I might just stop in.” He said, a smile on his face. “Though it is only me, sorry.”

“That’s ok!” You said, still in disbelief one of your closest friends was on your doorstep.

“Does Kyungsoo know?” Kai smirked in response to your question. That was answer enough in itself and you slapped Kai on the shoulder.

“You should’ve told him! He might’ve come.” Kai gasped in mock offense.

“What am I not good enough? Would you really prefer your husband that much?” He continued in mock offense and you dead-panned him. He just laughed in response.

“I did have to tell the company I was coming though, and they asked me to film a TikTok with you.” He quickly rushed out and you groaned, staring at the sky. What was up with all of these people wanting you to do TikTok’s?! You had all of your team's PR people constantly chasing you with a camera and now you had Kai asking for a video.

“Fine.” You ground out and Kai grinned, purposely ignoring your annoyance.

“Fantastic!” He said and quickly whipped out his phone, launching into his plans of what to film. Your only artistic input was that he had to cool it on the filters or else you wouldn’t film. 

The video started with the familiar sound of Peaches by Kai and a hand knocking on your hotel door, you opening the door curiously. As the chorus sounded, you recorded Kai dancing in your doorway, incredibly aware of the chance of any of your colleagues walking into the hallway and wondering what the fuck was going on.

The video continued after the chorus, Kai recording you slamming the door in his face with a confused expression. The video then ended with a still image of the both of you doing a heart together with your hands and you let Kai go rampant on the filters, hearts and sparkles flying around on the screen. 

When you watched it back, Kai waiting at your side eagerly to see your reaction, you did your best to hide the laughing fit you had in reaction to the monstrosity. You couldn’t quite hide the gasps that were leaving you though and Kai frowned.

“It’s perfect. I love it.” You said, through your giggles and he smiled.

“I know. It’s fantastic.” You only nodded because you couldn’t trust yourself to talk, a small whine escaping through your lips at the struggle of not laughing.

“Do you want to see the caption?” He asked and you violently nodded your head. 

“Please.” 

“P15 but still P1 EXO-L.” He read out and you just hung your jaw open. “You bastard!” You laughed out. 

“I put it in Korean as well.” Your only response was to hit him, hard, while still laughing and shaking your head.

“Should we run it by your PR team before posting?” Kai asked, taking a serious note. You looked to him and sucked in air through your teeth.

“Nahhhh.” You replied and he shrugged, and clicked post.

“I should probably tell Kyungsoo you were here before he finds out through the internet.” You said, reaching for your phone. Kai nodded vehemently.

One phone call later, an angry Kyungsoo and an apologetic Kai later, the TikTok was making its rounds and your phone was blowing up, your poor PR agent about to have a heart attack.

On that delightful note Kai left your hotel room, farewelled with a minute long hug and a well-wish for his concert, and you were left to phone your PR agent who just screamed into the phone for 10 seconds before actually speaking.

Of course, during the press releases for the rest of the season, you talked about how much of an EXO-L you were and how close of a friend you were to Kai. This didn’t come without dating rumours but, due to one poorly angled camera shot of your disgusted face when a reporter suggested dating to your face, that was shut down pretty quickly. 

Still no one had shipped you with the other EXO members though, so you weren’t even close to losing the bet. (Though you had been asked which EXO member was your favourite, which you responded to with a smirk.)

2023:

It was a good race, you finishing P4 which was a huge improvement since last season. Your team was on top of the moon as were you, smiling from ear to ear. You were currently in the press area, getting asked questions left and right about the car and your performance.

You were adequately responding to each question, sometimes looking questioningly your PR agent when you weren’t sure how to respond. A loud crash sounded through the area that drew the attention of most in the area as a reporters chair fell to the ground. They had jumped up at something on their phone and, like everyone else in the pen, you were wondering what had them so fired up.

Then their eyes darted up and made eye-contact with you. Your internal monologue quickly changed from questioning to a repeated loop of ‘Oh no. Oh no.’ as they advanced your way, moving like a predator stalks their prey. They thrusted their phone under your nose, the shitty little mic attached to it capturing every breath you took and the many cameras in the area capturing your wide eyes.

The reporter addressed you by name before starting to speak.

“Do you know of a man by the name Doh Kyungsoo?” They asked and your world cracked. What on earth had happened? How did they know? All you knew was that it was time for the one acting class your mum had made you take to try and sway you from racing to come to full effect.

“I think he’s from that band Kai’s in, yeah?” You responded after a second of fake pondering. The reporter's eyes narrowed like a hawk.

“You wouldn’t say you were close? Not close enough to get married perhaps?” The reporter asked, clearly trying to stir the pot. Oh my god, was this a prank? How the fuck did they know? How were you supposed to play this off? Would this jeopardize your career?

“Uhhm no…?” You said, incredulously, fixing them a scandalized stare. They sarcastically nodded.

“Oh really? Then what’s this?” They said and shoved their phone closer to your face till you saw a picture of you and Kyungsoo on your wedding day. How did they get this? Had one of your small circle leaked something?

You tried not to let the bewilderment you felt show on your face.

“I’m sorry? Are you trying to pass this off as real? It’s obviously photoshopped! I’m so tired of people trying to fabricate a story of me dating every person I’ve interacted with!” You finally snapped, letting a few years of pent up tension out in this moment. The reporter only continued to smirk.

“Oh really!” They said and you wanted to punch them and their snooty little face. To try and display this, your face fell into one of contempt.

“Is that why this image was posted to Doh Kyungsoo’s official instagram account with the caption ‘Sorry for making you lie to the press for eight years!’?” 

They got you there, dam.

Your jaw dropped open, the corners of your mouth rising at the pure hilarity of this situation.

“Excuse me?” You asked, grabbing the phone off the reporter and tapping back onto the post. They were right, Kyungsoo had posted to his official instagram that exact post. It was a carousel post with pictures taken of when you’d lied to the press about him, from the initial lying about being in Seoul to a picture of your ringed necklace to a picture of you smirking after being asked which EXO member was your favourite.

You couldn’t help but release a laugh, your hand traveling to cover your open mouth. Why did he post this? 

Wait.

This meant you won the bet. Your head shot up to stare at a camera.

“I won the bet.” You said quietly. The reporter snatched their phone back and stared at you confused. 

“What?” They asked and you whipped your head to them, a large smile spreading across your face.

“I won the bet!” You said eagerly, reaching out to grab their shoulders and rock them back and forth.

“I won the bet!!” You ignored how they shook you off, turning to your PR Agent instead and grabbing them and lifting them up. They hurriedly tapped your back as you lifted them, as though signaling you to drop them, but you ignored that and started spinning them around. 

“I actually can’t believe it, oh my god!” You snapped out of it and dropped your PR Agent, immediately running out of the media pen and back to your driver room, pulling your necklace out of your racesuit and pulling your rings off, placing them back on their correct fingers.

You quickly packed everything up, ignoring the ringing of your phone as your team tried to get you to go to more press conferences and briefings, and you got out of there, on the first plane to Seoul you could book.

When you arrived, after a long plane trip filled with excitement and pictures being taken of you, decked out in your team's merchandise as you sat buzzing in your seat, your phone was completely blowing up, messages from everyone in your contact list and more. You turned it off (you’d deal with it later) after calling an uber to your apartment.

You were jittery the whole ride, hoping that, despite the time of night, Kyungsoo was still awake. When you arrived outside your apartment building, you felt all the tension in your body ease, and you looked up to see the light on in your window. You smiled and took your suitcase handle in hand and ventured into the building, greeting the old lady at the desk.

Riding the lift up to your apartment nearly had you pacing and you almost ran down the hallway towards your door, quickly knocking. You felt the reverberations in the floorboards as Kyungsoo walked over to the door and a sense of euphoria filled you at the familiarity.

The door was barely open before you launched yourself at Kyungsoo, his heavenly laughter filled your ears as he caught you. You quickly found yourself in a kiss before pulling back and peppering kisses all over his face, finding his giggles more lovely than his singing.

You both pulled back just to look in eachothers eyes and you smiled simultaneously. 

“I love you.” You muttered, the happiness from the day finally catching up to you.

“I love you too.” He whispered, tilting his head before going in for another kiss. 

“You know.” He began later that night, when you were just lying in bed cuddling together. You turned your head from its position on his chest to look at him, his eyes remaining on the roof.

“I think I won in the end.” You immediately reared your head back, prepared to object at the sheer wrongness of his answer. He anticipated this though and dropped his hand from where it was combing through your hair to your mouth. He also dropped his head as to make eye contact.

“You stuck by me through everything. Even though you had to lie almost every day and had to listen to millions of rumours about me with other people, you still stayed with me. You learned a whole other language just to know people who knew me. Nothing I will ever say will ever put into perspective how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me. The way you’ve loved me will be comparable to nothing other than how much I’ve loved you.” His heartfelt speech made your head vibrate and a few tears left your eyes at his words, him kissing each one away. 

You whined deep in the back of your throat and he released a laugh at your response. 

“You could’ve just said ‘I love you’.” You said quietly.

“That’s true too.” He said, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

ahh it's over! dividers from this post btw, it's 11:59 pm let me sleep.

[slowlyoats]

The Blood Sucking Brady Bunch:

Chapter 1

Trying something different from my usual stuff. Here's the first chapter in a fanfic I started! Let me know what y'all think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trigger Warnings: none

The story contains original characters interacting with the Lost Boys universe and with its characters.

Summary: Max tries his hand at finding a mom for his boys again, and starts pursuing A vampire named Abigail, who has three “daughters” of her own. How will blending two vampire families go? The story is told from the POV of one of Abigail’s daughters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1: Introductions

Abigail wasn’t stupid. 

That’s what Juniper said when Abigail accepted the offering from Max.

Juniper was newer, she didn’t know Abigail  as well as Mary and I did yet. Hell, Juniper had only joined our little family a mere 3 years ago. That was nothing in the face of immortality. She still saw Abigail as this maternal figure, who was motherly and loving to her girls. Who was wise and clever and who could never be bested by anyone, especially a man.

But I knew better. 

Abigail was not a bad person, there were much worse Makers. The three of us could honestly count ourselves lucky for getting turned by Abigail.  She was motherly, yes, but mature? Especially when it comes to romance? No. 

She was still a schoolgirl at heart, waiting for her prince charming to come sweep her away. She was blind to the ways of men, despite having lived well over 100 years at this point. 

Typically, Abigail only ever got involved with human men. They were a lot more pliable, and much easier to deal with when things eventually got out of hand (which it often did). Human partners were also a great way to ensure that we were always well fed, without having to hunt.

 Hunting requires a lot more tact and strategy when you're a female vampire. We can’t just rely on brutish, raw strength.  Sure, we were stronger and faster than the strongest of humans but not by much. I like to think of it as the universe’s finally “fuck you” to all women who get turned.  Abigail says it has to do with how Vampirism originated and that male mammals are typically stronger than female ones, and blah blah, natural order, blah blah, sexist comment about her own sex, blah. I think I’m going to stick to my “last fuck you” theory instead.

Female vampires do tend to have much stronger talents though, which definitely make up for the universe being a giant sexiest.  We might not be able to hold our victims down and take what we want, but with one tilt of the head Juniper could simply boil your brain and turn it to soup. 

Max was the first vampire I had ever seen Abigail with. She always told me to avoid “the males” as she likes to call them, as much as you can. Male vampires meant trouble. They were territorial, impulsive, possessive, and they were experts at ruining a good thing. 

I remembered this, as Max presented Abigail with an offering of blood. Abigail had mentioned in the past that vampires have very distinct, ceremonial ways of going about courting.

Max and Abigail stood far enough away from the deck so that we could see them and hear them if we listened hard enough.

Juniper leaned against the hardwood railing, all doe eyed and rolling with energy.  Making remarks about how “it’s so romantic” and such.

 Mary quickly joined us out back once she spotted through the window what was happening. She pulled out a chair from our patio set and calmly watched.

It was a beautiful night, the moon was full  and there was a soft, warm summer breeze. I could hear the ocean waves crashing into the rocks on the east side of our home. An onlooker would take one look and think we were a scene straight out of a romance movie. 

But, if they only turned their heads slightly to the left (as I had just done) and peered into the forest and shrubbery they would see four pairs of eyes poking out, expectantly waiting for an invitation.

I noticed them first, then Juniper.

“Who are they?” Juniper whispered.

Mary looked over to where the eyes were.

“Those would be Max’s boys, if I had to guess”

“His boys?” Juniper's ears perked up. Always the more boy-crazy out of the three of us.

“I’ve heard they’re dangerous. We should keep our distance” I interject. 

Juniper squared her shoulders “so are we.”

“Not in the same way” Mary countered, clearly irritated at the growing male presence in our backyard

Max then bent down to the offering’s neck. I didn't recognize the man that Max had chosen to be his courting offering to Abigail.  Max bit into the man’s jugular artery.  He quickly retracted his fangs and looked at Abigail. Abigail then turned her head back to the porch with all of her girls watching. Her eyes met mine with a look I didn’t quite understand.

I shook my head; this was a bad idea.

Abigail turned back to Max, she placed one hand on his shoulder like they were about to waltz, and her other on the offering's shoulder and sucked on the wound Max had created for her. Max grinned with the acceptance of his offer

The shrubbery began to rustle then, and I could hear hushed swearing.  Suddenly, a small blonde man came tumbling out of a tree and fell face first onto our lawn.

“Dam-it Paul.” One of the voices shouted.

The small blond man looked up at Max and waved. Max did not look amused.

The man then turned his head to us. His face was round, and dimples framed his curved chin. He had brown eyes, and a mop of thick, dirty blond curls that flayed about everywhere.

He slowly surveyed us, and momentarily, looked almost shocked. I guess Max’s boys didn’t know about Abigail’s “girls.”

He then winked at Juniper.

“Hello ladies!” He shouted, waving at us more enthusiastically than he had at Max.

That had caught Abigail’s attention, and she turned from the now dead offering and Max, looking over at the small man. Her eyebrows lifted and her lips thinned.

“Well I guess now’s as good a time as any to introduce you to my boys, Gail.” Max gestured to the forestry. “You can come out now” he called.

The bushes shuffled, and one of the trees shook like something big was tossed  from it.

A flash of black and white quickly darted from the bushes and ran over to the blonde man and slapped his shoulder. This new man wore a black leather jacket that barely covered his fishnet shirt, and tight (and I mean tight) white jeans. His hair was floppy and from the looks of it probably smelled. He looked like he lived and breathed rock and roll and acted like it too.

The man, still laying on the ground, launched himself at this new intruder.

“YOU SON OF…!”

“That's enough, you two.” Max spoke heavily, with an air that demanded obedience.

Just as the two stopped and looked to Max, two more individuals emerged from the shrubs.

“How many of them are there?” Juniper mused. 

The two newcomers were dressed similarly. They both looked at the porch and surveyed us like we were a new exhibit at the zoo.

The shorter out of the last two had cropped, spiky hair. He wore a long trench coat that was so black that it made his hair look like straight moonlight. He also reeked of cigarettes and gin so strongly I could smell it from where I stood. His eyes were ocean blue, and he had a smirk on his face that any devil would envy.

The last one was the tallest out of the four of them. He had long dark brown hair and wore a striking earring that resembled an animal claw in his left ear. His face was made of sharp edges, he wore no shirt under his leather jacket beside two strands of beads that sashayed across his chiseled abdomen. He didn’t smile like the others, only observed us with an air of curiosity and a furrowed brow.

Max pointed to the curly haired boy, “this is Marko” the boy now known to us as Marko gave a mock bow to Abigail and then to us.

Juniper giggled, which earned a response from the rocker one who then bowed even lower to us and did a mocking hand gesture towards Marko.

Max rolled his eyes.

“The one acting like a fool is Paul.” 

“My favorite role to play, old man” Paul countered. Max moved on from Paul’s comment and looked at the one in the trench coat.

“This is David, my eldest” David gave a barely noticeable nod to Abigail.

“And lastly, this is Dwayne.” Dwayne gave no gesture to signify the introduction and seemed to just stare into oblivion.

“Now Gail, I wasn’t originally planning on bringing our little families together tonight, but if you wouldn’t mind, I would love an introduction to those heavenly beings that are up on the porch. I don’t mind sending the boys away either if you aren’t ready yet.”

“Don’t send us away!” Marko exclaimed

“Yeah, we  only just got here” Paul purred as he slivered over to the deck railing and leaned opposite of Juniper. “And I for one would love an introduction.” 

Juniper bent back a tad from Paul, as light pink tinted her cheeks. 

I took a hesitant step forward, and Mary stood from her seat. 

“I think we have had enough excitement for one night.” Mary stated. “Sun will be up soon, and i'm sure you all need time to travel back to where you came from”

That was Mary talk for “go back to the slimy hole you crawled out from you filth and don’t come back.”

Max gave Mary a look. One that told me that he wasn't used to being challenged. 

“What do you say, Gail? A quick introduction can’t hurt?”

Abigail, who at this moment seemed like she was in a trance staring up at Max, broke away and looked at us. 

“Oh, it wouldn't hurt at all! I’ve been so rude; I should have introduced them right when you got here.”

Abigail gestured towards the porch. 

“The one in front is Juniper. The one standing towards the back is Mary.” 

Mary scowled, tossed her long braid off her shoulder,  turned around, and walked inside the house. 

Abigail looked at Max.

“I'm sorry about her” she placed her hand on his chest. “she reached that age where she is just angry at everyone and everything. It's nothing personal.”  

I scoffed. Mary may be a frigid bitch sometimes, but this was definitely personal. 

Abigail looked back to me, either choosing to ignore my little outburst, or it just falling on deaf ears. 

“Oh, and  right here is Eliza.”

 Dwayne resurfaced then from wherever he went in his mind and  looked up at me.  His eyes were brown, but not the same shade as Marko’s. 

Marko’s eyes were brown with bursts of bright amber that reminded me of tiny volcanic explosions. 

Dwayne's eyes were deep, rich soil. I caught myself leaning forward slightly. He gave me a slight smirk. 

I averted my gaze, not trusting my ability to hold back a blush.

The porch door slammed open, and hit the adjacent wall hard. I winched, knowing that the mark it would leave on the shingles would be a fight later. 

Mary stormed past me in her mustard yellow jean jacket. She flew down the porch steps and continued on past Abigail, while simultaneously flipping Max the bird.  

Paul gaped at the action, and Marko smiled with glee. 

Mary hopped the hip-height, backyard fence, and landed on the sidewalk. 

Abigail, looked back at the porch noticing the doorknob shaped hole that was now present on the side of the house. Her eyes flashed yellow momentarily, and then she looked at me.

“Go with her, make sure she doesn’t get us into any trouble. You know how destructive she can be when she is in a mood like this. 

Max rolled his eyes “how destructive can a little thing like that be?”

Abigail's lips puckered “you’d be surprised.”

Abigail looked back to me again, “Go, now.”

I turned around quickly, and ran inside to grab my jacket. 

When I returned, the boys were gone and Abigail and Max were sitting side by side in the wicker loveseat by the small pond in the corner of the yard. The scene looked romantic, and if it were any other couple it would have filled me with happiness for them, but knowing Abigail's track record with men, I was hesitant, and nervous. 

I walked past them, offering Max a polite smile and giving Abigail a look that said I was going to try my best to wrangle Mary in.

I opened the back yard gate that led to the main road, and stepped onto the sidewalk. 

Immediately, the rumble of a motorcycle engine and the flash of a leather jacket appeared next to me. 

It was Dwayne.

He looked me up and down, slowly, in that very masculine way that guys do. 

I snorted.

I started to walk towards the boardwalk. He slowly followed along beside me. 

I looked over at him, and there was that stupid smirk again.

“Can I give you a ride?” His voice was deeper than I expected. 

I looked over, “I need the exercise.”

Now it was his turn to snort, “we're vampires, we don't need exercise.” His eyes sparked with playfulness. 

“I barely know you. Getting onto a motorcycle with a stranger doesn't sound like a good choice.”

“But walking two miles, in the dark, on a main road does?”

I paused, he had me there. I looked at the bike he was riding, the body was a deep cherry red, it looked to be scratch and dent free, which I guess is a good indicator that he doesn't get into a lot of accidents. 

I huffed.

He smirked, and stopped the bike, gesturing me to hop on.

I hesitated; I'd never been on a motorcycle before. He must have read my expression because he followed with

“Put your hand on my shoulder and throw your left leg over the back.” I followed by lifting my leg over the seat. “ Place your feet on those.” he pointed to two foot pegs on either side of the bike. “And then place your hands around my waist.” 

I slowly loped my arms around his waist, and loosely gripped his jacket. 

He leaned back so that his mouth was close to my ear, I jolted back quickly at the sudden closeness of his face to mine.

His lip twitched up, “you ready, mama?”

I could smell him more clearly now that we were pressed up against each other. Gasoline and salt hit me first, and then the undertone of spice from his cologne. 

“Yes” I managed to get out, once I pulled my gaze away from his. 

Chapter 2

[dukeofdelirium]

I saw this anti-Kataang post saying Katara is 14 going on 25 and Aang is 12 going on 8. And honestly this really pissed me off, the invalidation of Aang’s trauma and the adultification of Katara honestly grosses me out. It’s such a shameful mischaracterization and flanderization of both characters. Zutara stans like these are such fake fans, they don’t care about the show, they don’t care about Katara just their own fanfic version of Katara they can project onto.

https://www.tumblr.com/linnoya-writes/708121534055759872/kataang-but-its-only-a-2-year-age-difference?source=share

imma be real this is the weirdest shit I ever read 😭

“Aang plays with Momo while the other kids drink TEA like sophisticated ADULTS and play GAMES that require CRITICAL THOUGHT !!!! REEEEE”

Aang knows how to play pai sho…… we literally saw him playing it in book 1 episode 12: The Storm…. Fuckin moron @ OP 🤦🏻‍♂️

Also the weird commenting on what Aang would theoretically know about genitalia and sex is … odd…. And it’s also so strange to me that people think Aang would be some naive idiot who knows nothing about the world let alone about sex at his age.

The air nomads were very sexually open in ways that none of the other cultures are in ATLA. This is canon. They were a sexually free people, lol. So saying that Aang would have no concept of these things because he’s too “immature” to know about it is not aligning with what we know of his people and culture. We also know that Katara and Aang married and had a child together when they were pretty young, so… this whole argument is so strange lmao. Adding onto this, Aang traveled the world and frequently at that and we can assume he did so solo. He had way more life experience and knowledge by the age of 12 than Katara or Sokka combined, who had never even set foot outside their village. If any of these two characters is naive about sexuality and all it encompasses, it would in fact be Katara…. Who grew up in a village without men aside from her brother… lol. Aang traveled everywhere, he probably was friends with plenty of girls and I’m sure Katara wasn’t his first kiss, either given these facts.

Their argument is “Aang doesn’t know about female anatomy” which is implying he is unfit to date her on the grounds he couldn’t “please” her. However, as I already showed, this would very likely not be the case given Aang’s culture and people and everything we know of his life pre iceberg.

If anyone doesn’t know about sex and genitalia, it would be Katara. 100%. She literally grew up in an isolated village with no males aside from her brother. She would have virtually no concept of male puberty or male anatomy. Lol. So what’s the argument here? Is Katara now “unfit” for Aang because she grew up isolated from men? See how easy that was to flip their bullshit? 😭

And no, the point isn’t whether he knows or not, OP. The only reason anyone is considering this in the first place is because you argued the point. Yknow, because normal people don’t rlly think about this in regards to cartoon characters.

It’s honestly so bizarre to me how ppl act like Aang is the naive, stupid and sheltered child in the show when in reality, Aang was already self sufficient as a 12 year old. He traveled, cooked for himself and cared for himself during said travels, he knew of other cultures intimately, he knew a lot of history, he was already a master of his native element, etc…. That doesn’t sound like a naive child to me. Aang doesn’t act silly and goof off because he’s stupid. It’s both an aspect of his carefree personality and also a conscious choice and coping mechanism from trauma and grief and survivors guilt.

And anyway, Katara thinks of Aang’s carefree nature in a very positive light. She likes this about him.

I’m also never gonna understand the argument of “she grew up in war” as if Aang didn’t fight alongside her in that very war as a kid, too. Yeah, he had 12 years before that, but who gives a fuck? He also suffered far more loss than Katara or anyone for that matter, and that is objective fact.

[quibbs126]

I decided to make a Solus Prime design yesterday for whatever reason, I’m not really sure why. But I did, so here you go

It’s in a mostly TFA based style, though it’s probably not 100% like the style. Again I don’t know why, other than I just like it

I remember I tried this once some months ago, but it wasn’t working out, but I think this time it came out fairly well. Not full body, but you know, it’s something

I’m not 100% on this color scheme honestly, I kept switching it up because after finishing the lineart, I realized I didn’t have any idea what her colors would be

These are my other options I came up with and was debating with, and I asked my friend yesterday which one she liked, but she didn’t respond and I wanted to be done, so I just went ahead with this one

Honestly I do quite like the design I came up with here. The main thing I think needs the most work is her gauntlets, I don’t think they look the best

Also the placing of her hands on the hammer is weird, I’m aware. It looked fine originally, but then I changed up the hammer design a bit on the lineart and didn’t realize it looked wonky until I had already started messing with the colors, and I was too lazy to go and fix it

Other general design things, her look’s a mishmash of her various designs, but mostly her One design, because I like it. That’s also why she has gold in the other colors

I gave her a larger body type, more similar to the male designs since I thought it fit her, being a physically strong blacksmith and all. Though I admit, she may not look feminine enough as is, I may have gone too much that way

I feel like Solus needs like a good balance of the two. Like she shouldn’t need to be overly feminine just because she’s the only female Prime (which I think is a bit dumb, there should be others allowed), but she should be allowed to have some amount of feminine features because she’s THE female Prime. If that made sense

I gave her the cable hair (they’re supposed to be like giant cables) because I think it just looks good, and I’ve seen other people do it to her. I also think it helps in making her look at least a little more feminine

The lips too, though I’ll give that to male character as well honestly. And the mark on her mouth was a bit from the sketch, it looked like she had a mark there, but I keep it because I thought it worked on her

I was also planning on having her side face plates be the same color as her metal, like TFA Optimus has, but it didn’t look right

I feel like I’m not being engaging in the description here, sorry. I just don’t really know what to say

I guess I could say something about Solus herself? But I don’t really know what to say, I’m not sure if I’m going to use this design for anything, I just sort of made it up because I needed to draw something yesterday. I have thoughts on her and what I might do with her, but I don’t know if I want to say here. I’m also in class writing this, so that probably has something to do with my brain being fried here

Yeah I don’t know, sorry about the lackluster description. Just take this, I guess, hopefully the design itself is at least enjoyable enough

[sunshineoptimismandangels]

I just finished watching Dear Hongrang and I’m still trying to process everything. I had such high hopes for this show, but now I’m not really sure how I feel—so I’m just going to break it down point by point and give it some ratings!

Spoilers ahead!

Production value: 10/10 - Amazing! The cinematography was gorgeous! Great editing. Perfect costumes! Delicious set dressings. The scenery was beautiful! Everything, *chef kiss*. The production was top notch.

Original soundtrack: 100/10 - The soundtrack is wonderful. So full of emotion. It sounds modern yet still fits the historical time period. It's beautiful.

Acting: ∞/10 - Holy moly! Every single actor acted their heart out. I was really angry at the characters I was supposed to be angry at and really felt for the characters you were supposed to feel for. Incredible all around. Special shout outs to Uhm Ji Won's acting because her stepmother character filled me with rage. Also, Kim Min Ki's character In-Ho who was so endearing and loyal and he never even had a single line!

Characters: 6/10 - Most of this score goes to the incredible acting across the board. The show leaned heavily into classic Kdrama tropes—evil stepmothers, cold fathers, loyal servants, and of course a love triangle—but the characters still felt surprisingly well-rounded for the most part. That said, the endless parade of henchmen got confusing fast, and the prince never quite felt like a fully developed character, maybe because they kept his true identity hidden for so long. The biggest issue was that the second male lead became really OOC at the end - he became straight evil which was out of left field.

Plot: 5/10 - Unfortunately this is a big one, and where the show fell flat. The plot had so many holes, and at times it felt really rushed. They did tie up a lot of loose ends by the finale, but some things were just left unexplained. Honestly, it felt like watching a movie based on a book and thinking, “Yeah, this would make way more sense if I’d read the book first.” The magic didn't make sense, if there was even any real magic, the ritual that the prince wanted to do didn't make sense and was hurriedly explained, the death of the young boy, why the female shaman had a grudge? All of it explained so quickly and they were big plot points. Was this originally a comic or something? Because that’s the vibe it gave off—like there’s some source material out there that the show didn’t do a great job of explaining.

Romance: 6/10 The main leads were devoted to each other and they played being in love very well, so many hard fluttering romantic scenes. My problem though is that they were just suddenly in love, there wasn't a lot of good buildup, this is one of the ways the show felt rushed to me. I didn't really understand where this life-sacrificing devotion came from, it kind of sprung out out of nowhere. It didn't help that for the first few episodes you think that they may be half-brother and sister. And even after we, the audience, find out they aren't, Sim Jae-yi still thinks she's falling in love with her half-brother. So that was... uncomfortable.

Ending: 5/10 - The final episode of Dear Hwarang was intense but ultimately felt hollow. I don’t necessarily need a happy ending to feel satisfied, but this one lacked any real emotional payoff. Too many major characters—good, bad, and in between—were dead by the end, making the whole journey feel almost pointless. The acting, drama, and score were strong, but the resolution fell flat. And honestly, I’ll never get over what they did to In-ho. 😭 The violence wasn’t unexpected as it had been there throughout the show, but with so few left standing, it felt like everyone lost—including the audience.

Final Score: 6/10

[the-habitat-ring]

Today’s Rose Adventures

I’ve never been particularly into roses, but after moving to the habitat ring and rescuing a lovely old fashioned rose from being smothered by invasive Amur honeysuckle and adding rosa setigera, the native climbing prairie rose as my version of Stardew Valley’s fairy rose, I have come to appreciate them more. My prairie rose is currently blooming and looks lovely growing against the fence, but I wanted another prairie rose or two to continue down the fence line not only because I think it would look beautiful in bloom but also for the wildlife value.

In the Midwest, native roses serve as host plants for the caterpillars of over 100 different species of butterflies and moths, which are vital for the food web. Those caterpillars are perfect food for baby birds, and the thorny canes provide shelter for all sorts of animals. The rose hips (it’s fruit) feed birds and mammals in the fall and winter. This is another reason why I wanted more plants — unlike most roses, prairie roses are dioecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on different plants and thus require two plants to pollinate and fruit. My single prairie rose hasn’t produced any rose hips, so obviously he needs a mate (or two). Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of places around here selling native roses and they can be pricey.

Fortunately, I drive past this beautiful patch of roses on the side of the road to and from work, and after my success growing elderberries from cuttings I knew I had to try again and see if I could successfully propagate rosa setigera.

Today I was finally able to take some cuttings, but I was confused. Although I was sure that this was rosa setigera (it’s the only native rose that gets this large), all of the canes I was seeing and cuttings I took had 5 leaflets.

I have always seen prairie roses with 3 leaflets, which is unique and a useful identifying feature. However, everything else pointed to it being rosa setigera, and it didn’t seem to match any other rose species.

I posted pics in the state native plant group just to be sure, as I wasn’t interested in propagating anything else. The other native roses aren’t climbing and I don’t have a good place to put them other than on the fence, and although I formed an emotional attachment to the rose that came with the house I’m not interested in adding more non-native roses to the habitat ring. Fortunately the experts in the native plant group confirmed my ID — while rosa setigera typically has 3 leaflets, it can also have 5, so they’re not the norm but still climbing prairie roses.

The plant experts gave me a better key feature for identifying prairie roses — rosa setigera is the only rose to have combined styles (the thing in the center), whereas in other roses they are separate. I love learning new things!

I went ahead and planted the cuttings (with minimal blood and tears) in a pot covered with an old juice container to keep them humid. I would’ve taken a picture but by the time I finished it was dark out and I was being eaten by mosquitos, so I’ll try to post pics later. Hopefully my propagation is successfully and I get some roots! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[nicolovesutoo]

Satoru x Suguru - STARBOY

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

Themes: Meeting at a nightclub, bartender Suguru and rich boy Satoru, love at first sight

FLUFF: 1,023 words ⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

Suguru was a simple man with a simple routine: Shower, Eat breakfast, Attend college classes, Finish homework, and then Go to work. He has had this routine for over 2 years, it was ingrained in him. He was the type of person who needed a schedule, he couldn’t function without one. Working at Club STARLIGHT wasn’t on his bucket list, but it paid well. His friend got him the job after hearing him vent about his asshole manager at the last bar he worked at. At this job though, Suguru could wear what he wanted as long as it was all black and his hours were flexible.

Tonight at STARLIGHT, though, made him take multiple shots of espresso to the head. He had been up since 9 AM to finish a class project and went to work at noon… it was now 10 PM. He was covering a shift for Shoko because she had night classes and had covered his shift last week because he was sick. His least favorite thing to pour was beer, mostly because of the strong smell that it produced.

Dressed in black button-down and blue jeans, he poured a beer for a female patron before cleaning a wine glass. The music was blaring and the DJ was shit tonight, he looked like he was pretending to know what he was spinning. The remixes made no sense, like, “Who mixes ‘Blue’ and ‘Despacito’??” He thought, rolling his eyes and yawning before drying the wine glass. The theme for the night was ‘Christmas in São Paulo’, but he didn’t understand it either. The vote on the theme was held by his coworkers at 4 PM on Wednesday like clockwork. He tied his long black hair into a ponytail and listened to other people’s conversations.

A certain man caught his eye though, he stood out like a sore thumb but in a good way. His white hair was messy and he was dressed in a blue dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up, black pants, and black dress shoes. He was laughing and chatting it up with the other male patrons that Suguru had seen around more than once. These men spent a lot of money in one night; their checks usually racked up to $600+. They were important businessmen who, when they were drunk enough, wanted to buy a little bit more than just a drink. But Suguru always declined and called a cab for the men, even when they weren’t bothering him.

The man with the white hair and pale skin approached the bar, sitting right in front of him. He had an expensive watch on his right arm and his tinted round glasses barely covered his bright blue eyes. The man had the smile of an angel but the appearance of a sly devil. He spoke gently to Suguru, the man was sober.

“Hi there, Mr..?” He asked, gesturing towards Suguru. They didn’t wear name tags here.

“My name is Suguru.” He answered, coming closer to the bar and leaning over to talk to the man. Surprisingly they were of equal height. “What can I do for you?”

The man looked him up and down before flashing a smile and lowering his glasses, “Well my name is Satoru, and can you make me a Hennessy on the rocks?”

Suguru nodded and turned away from him, going to make the drink. Usually, Suguru would be the one making the conversation with the patron but Satoru carried it. He talked all about his job working at this fashion company named, ‘KAIZEN.CO’, how he was the future CEO because of his father.

Suguru didn’t come from a rich family like Satoru did. Sure they were well off but not designer well off. When he handed him the drink the man’s hand lingered on his for a bit, longer than needed, before taking away the drink. Satoru took a sip from the drink and gave him a thumbs up, signaling that he did a good job. He handed him the check, the drink coming out to $20. He paid in cash, placing down a $100 bill and telling Suguru that it was his tip before winking. He wrote something down on the check before walking away to his buddies, a man with blonde hair and another with brown hair.

Suguru raised an eyebrow before picking up the check and reading what the man had written. He had written his number and told him to ‘Call him <;’. He scoffed before sticking the receipt in his back pocket and finishing his job.

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

He went home at midnight, completing a 12-hour shift, and was ready to pass out. When he lay on his bed, however, he sighed and thought about the man who took an interest in him. Without consulting his friends, he took the receipt out of his back pocket and dialed the man’s number into his phone. He put it on speaker and waited anxiously for him to answer, his heart dropping a bit while it rang.

When he answered the phone, his voice sounded groggy, as if he had just woken up, “Hello..? Who’s this?” He asked with a yawn.

Suguru hesitated before speaking into the phone, “It’s Suguru, the man you asked to call you..”

He could hear the man scrambling around, knocking some things over while cursing under his breath. He heard something ‘click’ before Satoru spoke again, “I was hoping you would call! If you aren’t busy tomorrow, well today, I was wondering if you wanted to go get a coffee or something.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Suguru asked, laughing a bit while the man on the other line scrambled for words.

“W-Well yeah! If that’s what you want to call it, I mean you don’t have to that’s totally chill, like we can keep talking–”

“There’s this nice cafe on 5th street named ‘ANGELS’. Meet me there at 10 AM?” He asked him, ending the rambling.

He felt him smiling on the other end before answering, “Yes, I’d love to.”

“See you then.” He said before hanging up the phone and telling him goodnight.

(I'm also on AO3: ily__nico)

[forgottenfourr]

i saw you in a dream - university smau

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chapter eleven - not off the hook

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word count: 656

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a/n: tbh i have been awake for 43 hours so this shit has not been proof read. so if it doesn't make any sense i will fix it once i wake up from my slumber.

it has come to my attention that a lot of you probably think i am female. i am not. i am male. gay man. homosexual. blue green pride flag. trans flag too. my pronouns are he/xe and i’m a dude :)

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jeongin’s pov:

being emotionally vulnerable is something he never lets himself be. it doesn’t matter if it’s with his family or a professional therapist. he doesn’t do it. so now that he’s come to a head with felix, his best friend, he feels like he is going to bust at the seams at the thought of explaining everything to him.

though felix is a complete and utter asshole for what he did, jeongin feels like he is partly to blame. in felix’s eyes, his behavior the other day wasn’t much different from how he and his friends usually act. jeongin is sure that if felix truly did know just how serious the situation was, he wouldn’t have spilled it to everyone and furthermore breaking jeongin’s trust.

he could feel his breath hitch in his throat as he heard the front door of his apartment click open. his freckled blue hair friend weakly making his way through the door, his usual sunshine demeanor clouded and dazed. even though he tried his best to hide it, guilt and sadness was evident on felix’s face, pinging jeongin in the heart.

one thing felix isn’t is, and never will be, is a bad person. that is something jeongin is 100% sure of. there is not a single bad bone or intention in his body. not even if he tried. jeongin always admired that about him.

that’s why it is almost impossible to stay mad at him. there was no malice or hatred behind felix’s actions.

the air in the apartment was still and almost chilling. even on a warm day like today.

“hi” felix says, almost inaudible.

“hey lix,” there is a smile laced in jeongin’s tone. causing felix to turn to face him almost instantly. the familiar nickname making him feel once again comfortable in his own home.

there is a brief shared moment between them. a collective acknowledgment that things were going to be okay.

“aye-“ felix begins to call out, guilt straining through his voice. but his words became muffled in jeongin’s shoulder and he gets wrapped into a tight hug.

jeongin isn’t one for physical affection so the embrace is taken fully after felix’s initial shock.

felix breaks the hug.

“ayen i am so fucking sorry i didn’t realize how serious it was and i never met to hurt you.-“

“lix.” jeongin tries to cut his best friend off.

felix continues to ramble on. “if i knew i would’ve never said anything in the first place and-“

“FELIX.” jeongin calls out again, admittedly way louder than he was meaning.

felix stopped talking.

“i know you and i know you didn’t mean any harm.” jeongin says in a reassuring tone and felix finds himself releasing a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding in.

“you fucked up big time. but you’re aware of it.” he takes a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the emotional vulnerability he knew had to come. “but i don’t blame you for it. well i do. but you didn’t know anything other than what i let you know. and that wasn’t much. if i was in your shoes, i’m sure i wouldn’t have taken what i said seriously at all. because frankly, it sounds ridiculous.”

felix finds himself chuckling at jeongin’s words. “yeah, it’s not everyday your best friend tells you that he has strangely realistic dreams and simultaneously has fallen for the person who has been showing up in them.”

jeongin could feel the tips of his ears warm at felix’s statement. he really did sound insane.

“oh fuck off would you?” jeongin says in a teasing and fake annoyed tone. felix just gives him a deadpanned expression before breaking into a smile.

“for the record though,” jeongin adds on. “you’re not off the hook. you’re doing my apartment chores for the rest of the week.” felix groans in response, dramatically throwing himself on the couch.

it was impossible to stay upset with felix.

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[jewishbarbies]

random but can I vent about something that’s been bothering me?

So there’s this band I’ve loved throughout my childhood called Linkin Park (you’ve probably heard of them because they’re not a small band lol) and in 2017 the most popular member and lead singer, Chester Bennington, committed suicide. This wasn’t exactly surprising considering that he was very open about his mental struggles and in their music, mental health is a topic that’s very prevalent, as seen in their most popular song “Numb”.

But Chester himself went through a lot, he was raped/sexually abused by an older male friend when he was a kid and had other traumatic shit happen to him.

Unfortunately a lot of their music was very relatable to me in this sense and I grew very attached to the band due to it.

Now imagine my shock when Mike Shinoda and the remaining members of Linkin Park decided to come together and reunite as a group! That’s so amazing, right? And they got a female singer!!!! That’s so cool, right? Wrong.

It is a slap in the face from Mike Shinoda and the rest of Linkin Park to Chester, me, and all other victims of sexual abuse and mental issues for them to elect a Scientologist who does not believe in the concept of mental health issues as well as a defender of the convicted rapist Danny Masterson to be their new lead singer.

I’m so disgusted. This is like spitting on Chester.

It’s not that they decided to continue the band, that’s not the problem. It’s quite common for bands to continue on after a member has died or left.

Queen still continues with Adam Lambert long after Freddie Mercury has died. AC/DC replaced Bon Scott (who passed) with Brian Johnson afterwards and even Axl Rose of Guns N Roses sang in there. Journey, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, etc.

When it comes to replacing frontmans, the genre of rock and its many sub genres are not new to the concept, and that was never the problem.

We WANTED new Linkin Park. But not like this. This is disgraceful.

I’ve been hearing about this. apparently there’s some speculation because she’s openly lesbian which is heavily frowned upon within scientology and all we have to say she’s defended Masterson is an old article saying they used to be friends and she was at the trial. that doesn’t necessarily exonerate her because to be scientology at all is concerning at best, we just don’t know 100% what the deal is, because it honestly makes no sense to me why the band would pick her if they knew all that, yknow? but i can definitely understand where everyone is coming from and why the fans are so angry, that’s totally valid. it’s all such a confusing choice for the band members to make. surely they knew the public would find out all of this? it’s just weird.

[rjthirsty]

Based off the otome game Ikemen Prince, I've created an AU where the princes are (mostly) female, and MC is male. Several character names have been changed to suit their new gender (notes will be provided), and lore has been altered to work with the new setting and my accompanying headcanons. Tags: Angst and Fluff, Violence, Sexual Themes You can find the masterlist for this series here. You can also find the full fanfic on my ao3, along with a full list of tags. The entire fic is roughly 100,000 words through 30 chapters, making it 3.5k words per chapter on average (8-10 pages in a standard novel).

Chapter Six - The Next Step (IkePri AU)

I twisted my hands under the table, out of view of Suriyel who was intently studying my answers to my first test on all the knowledge I’d managed to pour over in the last few days. I know I had been doing my best to study everything given to me, but I didn’t know I was going to actually be tested on it. Then Suriyel sprang it on me this morning, and after a mild moment of panic at her warning that I’d need to score 80 out of 100 ‘or else…’ I had done my best to answer the myriad of questions across history, current affairs, politics, laws, and even social structure.

Suriyel’s violet gaze lifted from my paper at last, only to land on me. The stare was no different than the way she always looked, but for some reason the silence that accompanied it ate at my nerves.

“Emmit… your final score is… 98.”

A sudden whoosh of air expelled from me, I didn’t even know I had been holding my breath. “I passed!” I almost felt like laughing, the tension I had been feeling all morning was quickly unraveling and I wasn’t sure how to manage the sudden euphoric feeling that rushed through me.

“A little more effort and you would have managed to get those final two marks, but… Nonetheless, you have passed.” She lowered the paper to the table and gave me a smile that looked like she was… proud of me.

No way. I must be seeing things.

“Suriyel…” That strange smile was still on her lips, my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you genuinely smile.”

“How troubling. Even devils are capable of smiling, you know. If you like it that much, perhaps you’d like to take a closer look?” And with that, her smile slipped back to her usual perfectly crafted upturn of her mouth that reminded me of a snake.

“No thanks!”

“Oh! Me! I would!” Rina was suddenly in the room, her hand raised high over her head as she was asking to be picked for the opportunity. “I want to see your smile up close, Mistress!” She was practically bouncing on the spot.

‘Mistress’?! Rina is really into the whole attendant thing.

“... Rina, when did you come in?” Suriyel calmly eyed the other woman. The dichotomy of their energy was always surprising to see, but at the moment I was more surprised that Rina had somehow got the jump on Suriyel.

“I think… it was right about when you started marking Emmit’s test? I just had the sudden urge to see him.” With that Rina bounced over to me and threw her arms around me. “Congratulations, Emmit! I knew you could do it!”

I smiled brightly, truly feeling triumphant in this moment. “Thanks, Rina. Your support really helped.” I let her squeeze me and I reached up to pat her on the arm, after a few seconds I gently dislodged her from me. If I didn’t, she’d keep on hanging on me until I had to stand from my seat. She has always been cuddly and clingy.

“I’m at your disposal, Master.”

Oh my god… I’m never going to get used to that. Nor the way you say it.

Burying my face in my hands to hide the blush that had quickly formed, I heard Rina next to me ask Suriyel a question.

“Now I’m wondering something, though. I mean, there was SO much to learn, so it’s possible Emmit wouldn’t have been able to pass your test at all, right? And there’s so little time, as well, right? So what would you have done then?”

“In that instance, I was considering binding Emmit’s arms behind his back and dumping him in the river.”

“What?!” Rina and I went wide-eyed, yelling at the same time.

Suriyel chuckled lightly, it was polite and musical, and if it had been any other time I might have enjoyed the sound. “Naturally, I am joking. I have absolute confidence in my judgment of character. I chose Emmit as Belle because I knew he was up to the task. Today’s outcome is exactly what I expected of him.”

I don’t know… I still believe you’d dump me in the river if I failed to meet expectations.

“Now, there is no time for rest, Emmit. I am sure you know what you must do next.”

I nodded. I had been running the variables through my head every time I started a task. There were 23 days left and now that I was armed with the information to understand each candidate’s personal perspective, I had to get to know them and find out what their idea for our kingdom was. Eight people, if I dedicate a few days to get to know each faction, I can still spend two full days with each person; I don’t need to spend a full two days on those uninterested in the crown - that was Jean, Lucy, and Leni, but I still need to get to know them.

“Right, I have to get to know all the candidates. I’m ready.” I said with newfound determination. If I could learn ALL of what I learned in five days, I could do more in 23.

“That is correct. Run along now.” Suriyel urged.

“You’re going to do great, Emmit! Because you ARE great. I’m rooting for you.” Rina gave her support, and I was thankful all over again that she was here with me.

“Thanks!”

And off I went! I strode out of the room, down the hallway, and then I stopped at the first intersection realizing I had no idea where to find anyone at this time of the day. I knew where Leanne’s faction’s office was, but not where the other faction’s office was. I also didn’t even know when they were in their office.

And Leanne showed up all over the place the last few days, does that mean she’s not often in her office?

I began wandering aimlessly through the palace, my ultimate destination was the domestic affairs office, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be lucky enough to catch everyone in there. And I certainly couldn’t just open every door that looked interesting to see if someone was in a study room, receiving room, or the various other rooms held in the palace.

My pace gradually slowed to an uncertain stroll and I chewed on my thoughts. No one was in the office, the kitchens, or any open door that I could find. I was headed towards the rose gardens, but I had started to lose hope that I’d happen upon anyone.

I suppose I could go back and see if Rina knows where they are. Suriyel would probably know as well… but I don’t want to give her the impression I rushed off without a plan. I mean… I did, but she doesn’t need to know that.

I was deep in thought when the sound of metal clanging against metal reached my ears, along with shouts. I looked up in surprise but couldn’t identify where it was coming from with the way it echoed through the open courtyard. Taking my best guess, I started wandering towards the opposite way that I had come from.

My guess turned out to be accurate as I found a large, open archway that the noise was banging out of. Tentatively I peeked through the wide doorway and saw dozens of people grouped up and paired up, doing what looked to be training exercises. Some were fighting each other. Some were fighting the air, or working on technique, maybe? I had never seen soldiers train before, but I had to assume this was what was happening.

My eyes wandered the room and I noticed Yves with a group, then found Jean with another. In the far end of the room, I saw Leni strolling around with her hands behind her back, inspecting several soldiers as they fought.

“You lot there!” I heard Leanne’s voice and found her calling out to a crowd. “You’re swinging those swords too far back! Don’t waste energy needlessly. Keep each movement tight. Got it?”

There were a few shouts of acknowledgement in response, and then her eyes went to another row that was practicing swings. I slipped inside and pressed against the wall, trying to stay out of the way as much as possible.

It shouldn’t be a problem if I just quietly watch.

I wanted to see what they were like commanding their troops. How they interacted with the men and women under them said a lot about the type of leader they’d be for the entire kingdom. My intention was to be a fly on the wall, but almost as if Leanne had felt me watching her, her eyes met mine from across the room.

Last night’s rendezvous replayed in my head and I instantly found it difficult to maintain eye contact and glanced away. We didn’t say anything about it after we woke from our nap, and I haven’t seen her since, so I wasn’t sure what things were going to be like. I mulled through my thoughts while watching the others in the room, directing and correcting. It was actually a really interesting thing to witness, and I never realized that groups this large would train together.

“Hey, Emmit. What’s up?” Leanne’s voice was right next to me and I blinked in surprise, starting a little because I hadn’t heard her walk up with all the noise.

“Oh! Uh, hey, Leanne.” I gave an awkward smile, though she didn’t seem to be any different from usual. “I heard you guys training, so I decided to come check it out. Is it okay if I watch?”

“Yeah, you’re welcome to come by anytime. But we’re about to wrap up for lunch. Have you eaten?”

I shook my head. Leanne smiled. “You should join us, then. Hang on for a second.” Leanne turned back to the groups of soldiers and shouted across the large room. “You lot, weapons down! It’s a sunny day, so let’s have lunch outside!”

The room exploded in noise, cheers went up from some, conversations started between others; I had thought that the clanging of metal was loud, but the buzz of this many people in an enclosed space filled the room with a different sort of loudness. The formations crumbled and everyone started making their way towards the doorway. I waited for most of the large group to exit before I followed.

The soldiers broke into small groups, eating and talking amongst themselves. Some wandered through the crowds to hand out a small, simple bagged lunch to each person. I collected mine and took a seat not far from where Leanne was sitting, near Leni. Lunch wasn’t anything special, but for some reason seeing everyone laughing together under the sunny sky, it just tasted better than usual.

I watched the soldiers, and I watched Leanne and her siblings. While they had sat in the same general area, they weren’t separating themselves off from other groupings; several soldiers were gathered around and everyone seemed to be on the same level during mealtimes. It reminded me that Leanne’s faction focused on the people of Rhodolite, and you could see it in the way they interacted with knights and guards.

“Hmm? What’s this, a picnic?” I heard a soft, cheerful voice from behind me, rolling with an edge of amusement. I turned to see Nokto dressed impeccably, the same half-lidded look she often wore that spoke of seduction. “I see you’re as buddy-buddy as ever.”

“... Nokto.” Leni murmured. I wasn’t sure if it was a greeting or a curse, and Leni’s reticent way of speaking and expressionless facial features made it impossible to know the difference.

“Wow, it’s been ages since you actually called me by my name, Leni.” Nokto smiled ruefully.

The twins looked at each other, and despite similar eye and hair color, they didn’t really share anything in common. Nokto was oozing with charm, and Leni put everyone at arm's length. I had become aware of the reputation Nokto had from Yves’ complaints about his sister’s promiscuous personality, and Leni showed interest in absolutely no one, except Yves from time to time.

“Why are you here?” Leni asked dully. “If you don’t have a reason, leave.”

“Oof, you’re so scary, Leni.” Nokto remarked in chiding sarcasm. “I’m not here because I want to be. I’m just on my way home after a lovely night out.”

Leni’s eyes slid away from her twin.

I think this conversation is done.

“Mmm…” Nokto hummed after standing silently for several seconds once Leni had looked away. She turned her provocative smile on me, painted lips drawing the eye. “Anyway, I’m tired enough that I’m going to do as I’m told. Bye-bye.” She raised a hand and wiggled her fingers at me in a playful wave.

“Hang on!” I blurted out. Belatedly I realized she hadn’t actually moved to leave, besides saying her goodbye and the wave, she hadn’t turned or shifted at all. Nokto seemed to be on her own time, and I guess I was now falling in line with the pace she was setting.

“Hmm? Yes?” Her alluring crimson gaze sparkled as she gave me the time to answer.

“I’d like…” I was stumbling under that challenging, toying look in her eyes. “Do you think it’d be okay if I joined you– erm, Chevalier’s faction for dinner tonight?”

“So you plan to start by getting to know us as a group?” She looked thoughtful for a moment, before smiling again. “Not a bad idea. I like it.”

I wasn’t expecting you to read the situation so well with how badly I fumbled that.

“Sure thing, I’ll let the others know.”

“Thank you, Nokto, I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” She purred and I suddenly felt like I had asked a favor from the wrong person. “I mean, it’s no fun if you go picking one of them without getting to know the rest of us. The game has to start off fair and all that.” I noticed the way she danced around the actual words and implications relating to my position as Belle. The current company wasn’t supposed to know who I was, and Nokto made it look so easy to keep that concealed.

“Now don’t be late tonight, okay? See you then.” She wiggled her fingers again, giving a foxy and cunning smile before sauntering off towards the palace.

How are you overflowing with intimacy in the middle of the day?

“I’m not sure I trust her… but at least she agreed to my idea.” I muttered to no one in particular.

“Are you really going to go?” When I looked up, Leni was looking at me, the same impassive expression on her face. I, on the other hand, was wide-eyed. She had never initiated a conversation with me before, so I was trying to come to terms with what prompted this first for us.

“Uh, yes? That was my intention. Why wouldn’t I?”

Leni just stared at me silently before Yves cut in to offer an answer.

I guess that was the most you were going to say.

“Fine, I suppose I’ll have to explain. Chevalier’s faction has very different ideals to us… and they act differently, too.”

I wasn’t understanding what Yves was trying to say, of course they’d be different. There was a reason the royal family was split into two different factions to begin with, because they focused on different aspects of the kingdom. I’d learned that the first day I got here.

“Are you talking about their focus on foreign politics?”

Yves huffed and looked like he was struggling with his wording. Maybe he was just annoyed at having to explain to me, but I’ve never known him to be at a loss for words and I started to worry. “That’s part of it. And sure, it sounds fine when you describe it like that, but what they actually do–” “Come on, Yves, that’s enough.” Jean interrupted, her voice issuing a warning. “I get why you’re worried, but if you say too much you’ll just cloud Emmit’s judgment.”

With a worried look, I glanced over at Leanne, clearly they all understood something I didn’t. Leanne gave nothing away as she watched the back and forth of the conversation, staying out of it unless she was needed.

“I… guess so.” Yves relented. “But listen, Emmit, if they bully you in any way, tell me at once. And I’ll… Well, I’ll give them a stern talking to!”

“That sounds kind of weak… no, really weak.” Leni remarked.

“It does?” Yves folded one arm across his chest, resting his other elbow on his hand, he tapped at his chin in thought. “What about… ‘I’ll tell Suriyel on them’?”

“You’re missing the point.”

“I am?” Yves didn’t seem to get it, and laughter broke out around us.

I felt better knowing that Yves was trying to adopt me into his mother henning of all his sisters, and I smiled at the thought of him fussing over me. It was such a change from a week ago when we had first met and he had looked at me with disdain.

The conversation moved on without me, and soon Leanne was issuing orders for everyone to pick up, pack up, and return to training. It had been an enjoyable lunch, and now I had a direction to go for learning about the princesses I hadn’t had a chance to talk to since arriving - Chevalier’s faction. I still needed to learn about Jean, Leni, Yves, and more about Leanne, but I had spent a good amount of time around them as a group and felt I at least understood the barest bones of them. 

As the rest of the group headed back to the training grounds, I made my way back towards the palace with the intention of studying up on recent dealings the foreign affairs faction had been involved with. I wanted to come prepared for whatever might be brought up during my talk with Chevalier’s faction.

Suriyel would have some resources I could brush up with.

“Emmit, wait up.” There was a light tug on the back of my sleeve and I turned to see Leanne right behind me.

“Leanne? I thought you were going back to training.” I stopped and turned towards her, her hand breaking away from where she had grabbed my shirt.

“Yeah, there’s something I forgot to tell you.”

I waited for her to go on, the two of us gazing at each other in silence. She looked like she was studying me, and I was enraptured with the way the sun made her amber eyes glitter with warmth.

“If anything happens, call for me, okay?”

“...You came after me just to tell me that?”

“Hey, it’s important. If I don’t keep my eye on you, you get reckless–”

“ I get reckless?! I think you’re talking about yourself there, Leanne.”

“I have the memory of you trying to fight off a few drunks to contest that.” She grinned at me.

“... Okay, you have a point.” I smiled in return. Leanne really had gotten me out of a few sticky situations in the past week. She was reliable. And even when that fight with the failed robbers turned violent, she managed to find a happy ending for the situation. We seemed to be on the same track for resolutions, just different ways to get there.

“Honestly, you can call for me even if nothing happens. I don’t mind. I’d still gladly come running.”

My heart fluttered. The words were so innocent, but the implication that she’d be happy to spend as much time with me as I wanted was… painful. I fell into silence as I thought about last night’s library date– No, Emmit. It wasn’t a date.

It almost felt like one. The memory reminded me of the way her mouth felt on mine, and the taste of her lips; it reminded me of the way she felt under my fingers, and how far out of my reach she really was.

What are you doing, Emmit? Pull yourself together.

I felt myself place a smile on my face as I drifted back to the present. “Thanks, Leanne. I’ll remember that.”

“Good. See you later, Emmit. Work hard, but not too hard, okay?”

“I will. And good luck with your training.”

We both turned and walked away from the moment. I quietly chewed on my lips as I chewed on my thoughts, trying my best to work through this problem in my head. After several steps I shook my head to try to dislodge the current focus in my mind - Leanne.

I have to get ready to meet Chevalier and her faction. I can’t put too much thought into this right now.