#i would say im sorry but uhhhhh this is really good so im not

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

Oh this is kind of banging

[star-sim]

show me how ☆ jake sim

☆ non-idol! jake x fem! reader ☆ summary: jake didn't think his casual crush on you, his hot coworker at the local ice cream parlor, would flourish into anything. but one day, after a power outage during a shift, the two of you are forced to huddle up together to keep warm, opening up many, many, many doors into your relationship. ice cream was sweet and soft. and despite your appearance, so were you. ☆ genre: coworkers to lovers, fluff, a lot of bickering, alternative! reader, jake is kind of a loser, rock references, nonchalant crushes, summer romance, baddie reader, JAKE IS JUST REALLY DOWN BAD ☆ warning(s)? slightly suggestive? just tbh its js jake being really attracted to you LOL ☆ word count: 12.3k ☆ joining @bywons 1k event for "show me how" by men i trust. i had a little bit of a different approach to crushes this time. this is extremely late im so sorry enjoy!

"Can I get uhhhhh…"

Jake deadpanned for the 15th time in the past hour.

He was trying to be kind, to be understanding, to be loving in all ways possible… He really was.

But was it that difficult to order a mint chocolate cone with rainbow sprinkles?!

Jake watched as the snotty child before him picked his nose, his eyes glazing over the menu. It’s been ten minutes and this kid was taking too long to order. For fuck’s sake, he was holding up the line!

For his summer job, Jake started working at the ice cream parlor near the pier. He thought it was a good idea, since the pay was above minimum wage and he liked ice cream.

Wrong!

It was horrible!

From rude customers to his asshole of a boss to his incompetent coworkers, Jake dreaded coming into work everyday.

It was another summer afternoon, where Jake slaved away for his corporate overlords. Summer was only kicking off, so the June gloom stuck like glue. This morning, there were already storm warnings, so imagine Jake's surprise when a whole bunch of people went to the beach today and the ice cream parlor next to it.

"Please take your time," Jake said with a tight-lipped smile. Translation: I’ve given you enough time, kid. Hurry up and order or I’ll actually snap.

The kid blinked at Jake, before picking his nose. "Can I get uhhhh…"

Jake winced, but forced a smile with a nod. "Would you like any recommendations?"

Translation: You better tip me, you little punk.

By now, he could see the angry mothers and kids at the back of the line, quietly complaining about the hold-up. All Jake could do was smile apologetically, hanging his head in embarrassment.

And to Jake's horror, as the snotty little kid was still deciding on what he wanted to order, Jake could hear the back door creaking open, followed by a "Bye, Jake!" before it slammed.

Did Jake ever say that he hated his coworkers?

Today wasn't even Jake's shift, but he had to cover three shifts, because his other coworkers couldn't give a damn. They loved to leave early because they knew that Jake would work his ass off either way. So here he was, now forced to run an entire ice cream parlor with already angry customers all by himself!

"Actually, I don't want anything," the snotty kid blinked at Jake. "Bye, mister."

With that, the kid left, oblivious to Jake's gawking face.

You've got to be kidding me.

If it weren't for the fact that his name tag had his name printed in big, thick letters and that there was already a line of impatient customers, Jake might have yelled.

As he put on his customer-service voice for the next customer in line, Jake could hear the back door creak open again if he listened past the generic pop music playing in the background.

And the moment that he heard a familiar voice, Jake nearly ascended into the sky.

"Jake, I'm here!"

There was only one part of working at this dinky little ice cream parlor that Jake liked.

And it was you.

His savior, you.

You were the only coworker that actually did your work. In fact, you went above and beyond. The only shifts that seemed to be productive on all ends were when it was you and Jake.

If he could recall correctly, today wasn't your scheduled shift either. You were probably covering someone's shift like him, too.

And plus, you were cute.

Really cute.

Jake never really thought he had a "type" when it came to girls. In fact, Jake couldn't even remember the last time he had a crush. But the moment he saw your smudged eyeliner, constant annoyed look, the multiple tassel and charm bracelets on your wrists, and your black nail polish, he knew that you were his type.

You looked like you could probably scare a baby with a single look. Honestly, you could make Jake piss himself with a single look, too. And for some reason, he liked it. A lot. Which was weird.

Within seconds of just arriving, you were already throwing on your apron, fixing up your work uniform before appearing at the counter, ready to do your fucking job.

Jake tried his best to focus on the group of middle schoolers who giggled over every word as they ordered their ice cream, but even from behind him, he could hear you cleaning one of the scoopers and getting the keys for the second cash register. Even though all you were doing was your job, Jake couldn't help but straighten up his posture and run a hand through his hair as you took the register beside him. Just in case you spared him a glance, he had to look his best.

"Hi, what can I get you?" you said chirpily, putting on your best customer-service voice, something that Jake could tell was not your forte. Although he didn't know you seriously, he's had conversations in passing with you, whether it be on slow days, during breaks, or as the two of you closed up the parlor together. You never sounded as enthusiastic as you did now, as you happily helped an old lady pick her order.

You were cool like that.

Actually, really cool.

Jake couldn't think of anyone cooler than you.

And you were pretty, and hardworking, and honest, and responsible, and cooperative, and a little bit scary, but that was hot. You were also very kind to customers, and even though Jake could see your lips— which were nice, by the way— twitch, he could tell that you were trying your best, which was good, and—

"Um, sir, can I order now?"

Jake snapped out of his daze, tearing his eyes away from you.

"R-Right!"

Completely missing the way you rolled your eyes at him, though without a little chuckle.

It wasn't always easy being the only competent worker at the parlor. While it meant you got paid more for covering so many shifts, you couldn't say it was fun working the late shifts.

The parlor closed at 11PM on weekdays, so here you were, working late into the night. 

You yawned as you rang up the last customer of the night, using all of your last bits of strength to muster a smile, before saying, "Have a good night!"

As the door slammed shut, the building winds outside providing more than enough force to ring through the entire parlor, you let out a sigh.

"They're gone, Jake," you called.

From inside the break room, you could hear Jake groan something muffled but definitely, "Finally."

Jake Sim was the only coworker you could rely on. He was the only person your age, both of you were freshly graduated highschoolers working to prepare for college experiences. Despite his party-boy look, he was surprisingly diligent. You definitely noticed how he ended up picking up another person's shift, just like you. Unlike everyone else, he actually gave a damn, which you could appreciate.

Tonight was no different from any other.

It was just Jake and you, working the closing shift together.

The moment you entered the break room, you let out an exasperated sigh, leaning on the door frame. Jake, too, was slumped over on the table, his face buried in his arms.

Your shitty coworkers always tried to convince you that you should be happy to work extra shifts: extra pay, more work experience, have a good rep with the boss.

But what they didn't mention was how absolutely draining it was to work 7 hours straight in a short-staffed busy ice cream parlor.

"Why were there so many people?" Jake groaned, shoving his face deeper into his arms. If you weren't exhausted out of your mind, you would've thought the scene before you was a funny sight. Jake, in his silly white uniform designed to look like that of a sailor's and crooked worker hat, practically melting on the break room table.

"And why were there only two of us?" you added, letting your eyelids fall shut as you leaned against the door frame.

Though, you would say, you did like working for one extra reason: Jake Sim himself.

He was as cute as a button, and pretty easy to talk to.

Jake lifted his head, quickly checking his phone.

"No seriously," he rested his face on his fist. "It was cold and dreary all day— and wasn't there a storm warning?— Why would anyone want to get ice cream on a day like this?"

You shrugged. "Beats me."

The two of you stayed in the break room in silence for a few more moments, catching your breaths after a long day. "Let's get outta here, Jake."

Here was your favorite part of the work day: closing up. Not just because it meant that you got to leave, but you could do whatever you wanted.

Jake locked up the front door and flipped the sign, while you locked up front displays and cash registers. The two of you tidied up the breakroom (which was empty because your slobs of coworkers weren't here), before pulling out the mops and cleaning up the floor.

This was the fun part.

"Hey!" Jake cried as you splashed water onto the floor, your wet mop sludging up the water as it moved against the checkered floor. Looks like some of the water got onto his pants. "What was that for?"

You shrugged, with a sly grin. "No reason in particular— Hey!"

Jake shook off the excess water on his mop, pointed directly at you, the water droplets spraying all over your shirt.

"See?" he pointed to the wet drops on your shirt. "We're even now."

You rolled your eyes, but you knew he was being playful.

It was fun now because this was the time that you could play whatever music you wanted. Your manager always insisted that you'd play generic pop music during store hours, but now that it was closed, you could play any music you wanted. And it was great, because you and Jake had the same music taste.

"Really?" you whipped your head over to Jake as he passed your phone, which controlled the sound system, back to you. "Bon Jovi?"

You winced as loud vocals, strong guitar riffs, and a drum louder than you could imagine blasted through the speakers.

"Bon Jovi is good!" Jake shouted all the way from the freezers.

Maybe your taste was just a little bit different.

Jake was a cool guy. He really was. Very personable and someone that you could have fun with, even if you weren't that close to him. But sometimes his music choices were too much.

"You have no reason to be blasting hard rock at 11PM," you murmured.

"I heard that!"

You stifled a chuckle.

As you cleaned the floors, you nodded your head to the music. You could hear humming along wherever he was. It was all quiet, only the sound of mops, the freezers' buzzing, and your queued music playing in the background. It was small moments like his that made you want to keep working (other than the pay).

And plus, the parlor was very close to the beach.

At times like this, you could hear seagulls squawking overhead, with waves crashing against the shoreline.

Which... now that you thought about it...

Why couldn't you hear any of that?

Usually, even if Jake was blasting the hardest rock, you could still hear the sounds of the sea.

But now, all you heard was wind.

You glanced out the window.

Palm trees blew against the night sky. Wind whirled, creating a howling sound.

And before you could think anything of it, you heard two things: the back door slamming, and the sound of electricity buzzing.

One moment you could see everything, and the next moment it was completely dark.

Your blood ran cold.

The music stopped. The buzzing of the freezers stopped, too. It was completely dark, so dark that you couldn't even see your own hands, save for the single stream of moonlight leaking through the front windows.

You would consider yourself a calm person, you really would.

But in that moment, you felt panic set in.

Because here you were, working a late shift in a tiny little ice cream parlor in the middle of the beach, with no one but your teenage coworker. And now all the power went out.

And because you were afraid of the dark.

The mop in your hand dropped, clunking! against the checkered flooring.

Your heart pounded, so loud that you could hear it in your ears. You could feel it jumping out of your chest.

"J-Jake?" you called out.

No response.

Your mind did wonders to scare you, and now it was working over time.

What happened to Jake? Did he disappear with the lights too? You dug your teeth into your bottom lip.

Were you all alone in the dark? Just you and this dark abyss, a dark abyss so suffocating yet so cold that you couldn't even tell if you were standing or curled up. By this time, your legs were feeling weak, so you wouldn't be surprised if you were on the floor, your knees to your chest.

You squeezed your eyes shut.

The howling of the wind sent chills down your spine. Realistically, nothing could get you. You were just at work, like always, but it was just dark. But you felt like something would jump out at you, something scary and from your worst nightmares. It would get you, maybe hurt you. Were you going to die? Why did you feel so alone? What happened to everyone? What happened to Jake—

"[Name]?"

At the sound of a familiar voice, your eyes shot open.

But instead of being met with a pure, unknown darkness, you were met with a tall figure before you, completely shrouded in darkness, save for the stream of yellow light coming to illuminate its face.

Terrifying.

You let out a shriek as you jumped back.

What the hell was that? Was that what got Jake?—

It took a step forward, and before you could scream again—

"[Name]!" it was Jake's voice. He reached out for you, his hand resting on your shoulder. "It's me, Jake!"

You heard a bit of clicking, and it was then that you realized that the scary figure that you saw was just Jake with a flashlight. You relaxed.

"You okay?" Jake crouched down to your curled up figure, the yellow light of the flashlight glimmering against the floor. Although your eyes had slightly adjusted to the darkness, you could see your hands now. "I think the power went out."

You nodded slowly, still with your knees against your chest. Your heart was still pounding in your chest. You felt Jake's hand reach out for yours, interlocking fingers before giving it a squeeze.

Boom!

You jumped away from Jake, a small "eep!" escaping your lips.

Jake flinched, pointing the flashlight at the front windows.

"Thunder," he muttered under his breath. Although all the streetlights and signs had shut down too, he could see the lightning as it struck in the night sky.

He glanced at your startled form.

"Damnit," he cursed under his breath. "There was a storm warning earlier."

You hid your face in your palms.

This was everything that you didn't want to happen.

It was completely dark, and here you were practically trapped inside. It was impossible to get home, because the roads were all dark, and there was probably an oncoming storm, too. It was cold, and it was just you and your coworker. You just wanted to go home!

Although he couldn't see your face, Jake could sense your uneasiness. 

"C'mon," he tugged at your hand. "Let's go to the back."

Although Jake bumped into a few tables and counters on the way to the break room, he didn't mind. After all, there was you, who was clearly startled. He'd rather get a bruise on his hip than you.

He could hear your breath hitching, small whimpers of fear tumbling out as he led you through the dark abyss. Jake had to admit, it was much scarier when it was completely dark than when it wasn't.

The breakroom wasn't much better than in the middle of the floor, but at least there were chairs. Not that it mattered.

You and Jake decided to sit under the break table, shoulder to shoulder with the flashlight between you.

It was silent. You couldn't see Jake, but the feeling of him next to you relieved only some of your anxiety.

The flashlight only illuminated enough for you to see a few feet around you. Otherwise, everything else was a dark, bottomless void.

You knew it was illogical and practically impossible for something else to be lurking. But as minutes passed in silence, the thought of something—or someone— prowling in the dark and ready to jump out at you gnawed at you more and more. Goosebumps rose along your arms, the hair on your neck standing.

"I'm scared, Jake," you whispered, your voice shaky. "I'm so scared."

Thunder boomed in the air, lightning crackled, while heavy rain began to shower down. You jumped at the sound, your hands immediately shooting to grab Jake's arm and leaning into his touch. You squeezed your eyes shut, a scared squeak escaping your lips.

"I'm scared!" you squealed.

Jake's brows furrowed, throwing his arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer to him.

"Hey," he said into your ear, watching as you curled up against him, clutching his arm tight. "Hey, I got you."

Your hold on him only tightened as another round of thunder boomed through the night. "Open your eyes, [Name]. It's okay."

You shook your head profusely, your face pressed into his shoulder.

"Nothing's gonna get ya," he whispered, slowly rubbing circles on your back. "You're okay."

You shook your head again.

"It's so dark," you peeped. "Too dark."

"It's okay," Jake's voice was soft, soft as a cloud as he comforted you. "I'm here. I got you."

You nodded into his shoulder, but you kept your face pressed against it, not letting up.

Jake watched you, both with a soft heart and with wide eyes.

He wouldn't say he knew you too well. Even so, he'd spent a lot of time with you this summer so far, he had a few good memories with you. You were always so... cool.

Always on-task, always ready to fight a rude customer, always ready to speak up if you thought something was wrong.

It was weird. Seeing someone that Jake had always seen as a pillar of support one way or another completely drop that image of strength was… something that he never expected.

Here you were, so vulnerable in his arms.

Jake would have never expected you to be afraid of the dark, let alone some thunder, but he didn't mind. Even with your eyes closed, and even with his arms wrapped around you, you still jolted at each crackle in the sky.

If only he could do something to help you...

Jake let out an 'ah' sound.

He leaned into your ear, whispering right against the shell of your ear, "I'll be right back."

You let out another squeak as you felt Jake slipping away from you, yet he didn't take the flashlight with him.

"J-Jake—!"

"I'm still here," he said, yet you heard as he took a few steps. He was rummaging through his bag. He tried his best to feel for what he was looking for: a small, square case. "I'm with you, don't worry."

And as quick as he left your side he was back. Jake slithered his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into him. Your eyes widened a fraction as Jake fished for his phone from his back pocket.

"What were you—" you furrowed your brows— "Why’d you get up?"

You could feel Jake turn his head to look at you, and you could hear him grin.

"To get this." In his palm, Jake revealed a small, square case. His earbuds.

You blinked. "W-Why?"

"Don't worry about it." You watched confused as Jake took his earbuds out, jabbing it into the headphone port of his phone. Then, he handed you both of the ears.

"For you," he said simply.

As you were about to object, lightning striked again in the sky, yet another squeal coming from you.

You took his earbuds, jamming them into your ear.

Jake pressed the first song in his playlist.

And if you weren't scared out of your mind right now, you would have yelled at him.

Because really?

Bon Jovi?

At a time like this?

The music was loud enough that you could be distracted, but quiet enough that you could still hear Jake's voice. And when Jake noticed that you were relaxed enough, he opened his mouth.

"I'm surprised you didn't want to rip out my earbuds the moment you heard Bon Jovi," he said.

You elbowed him, yet you were still clinging onto him for dear life.

"Read the room, man," you muttered. "I'm scared shitless."

Jake laughed, and you rolled your eyes again. "This is the only time that I'll willingly listen to Bon Jovi."

"Hey!" Jake cried. "Bon Jovi is a good band."

You shot him a look. "Play some Pink Floyd, something."

You cursed Jake. Of course he'd let you listen to his music, because he got to control it!

"Nah," Jake said. "Bon Jovi is perfect for rainy nights."

You scoffed. "In what world?"

You could hear him grin again. "In my world."

What a loser.

You could see his phone screen light up, probably texts from his parents, but he ignored it. Jake’s phone was on the floor on the other side of him, the side that you were not on.

“Are you sure you won’t play Pink Floyd?” you asked slowly.

“Nope.”

Extreme times call for extreme measures.

Your arm reached across Jake’s lap, jerking to take his phone.

“Hey!” Jake yelped, squirming away from you in a way that blocked your hand from reaching his phone. “What the hell are you—“

“I’m changing the song!”

The two of you struggled like that for a few more moments, and then the next thing you knew you were on Jake’s lap, your arms pinned above your head.

“Let go of me!” you writhed, the earbuds in your eyes still blasting the hardest rock you’ve ever heard. Although you managed to take Jake’s phone, there wasn’t much you could do if he was pinning your hands above you.

“Then give me my phone back,” Jake ignored your struggling.

“Then change the song!”

“No!”

You huffed, continuing your attempt to wriggle out of Jake’s hold, but alas, he was stronger than you. “How are you so strong—“

Boom! Crackle! Thunder and lightning struck.

“Eep!” Immediately, you collapsed onto Jake’s chest, pressing your face into his shirt. You clung onto him, squeezing your eyes shut. When you could feel his chest rumble with a few chuckles, you punched his shoulder lightly. “Shut up.”

Jake chuckled again, but he only pulled you in closer by the waist, allowing you to cling to him more comfortably.

As the storm raged on, any hope that the power would be back up was lost. Jake's phone still had service, but you could tell he was being polite and not going on his phone to not make you feel alienated. Your phone was somewhere in the front, probably on a counter or something.

"We really shouldn't have agreed to cover shifts today," you murmured, your cheek pressed against Jake's chest.

Jake hummed.

He wanted to get past the way that anytime you spoke to Jake, it was either about music or work. He didn't mind talking about these things with you, but he wished he could say more. He wanted to know what you were thinking, and hear about what you liked and disliked, what silly stories or memories you had to tell him.

He wanted to get to know you.

“What’s your favorite color?”

???

"What?"

Jake blinked. "What's your favorite color?"

You stared at him. "Why?"

He shrugged under you. "I dunno. I just wanted to get to know you better."

"Oh." What a simple reason. It made sense for such a simple question. "I like black."

Jake scoffed. "That's not a color."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

"A shade."

"Says who?"

"Says science!"

And then it was quiet again (at least on Jake's part, you were still listening to his music)

But not quite awkward.

Despite the compromising position that you were in, there wasn't any feeling of embarrassment or discomfort.

That's how Jake would describe how he felt toward you. It was an easy thing. You were cool and pretty, and he liked you. Nothing more, nothing less. No games to play, no extra calculations or hours of planning. He liked you, and he was just going to do what felt right. It was as straightforward as that.

"What are you doing after this summer?" you asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

That's right. You and Jake had never discussed much about your personal lives, like where you went to high school, what your plans were post-high school, etc.

And now that the two of you were alone, in the dark, with virtually nothing to do, it was the perfect time to talk about it.

"I'm going up to Santa Barbara," Jake said coolly. "I'm studying biomed engineering."

"Oooh," you mused. "How exciting."

Jake let out a chuckle. "You don't sound excited."

"I am," you deadpanned, and Jake couldn't hold back a laugh.

"What about you?" Jake asked. "What are you doing?"

Even though it was dark, Jake could hear you frown.

"I'm going to Davis for International Business." You paused. "I don't know."

"Whaddaya mean?"

You shrugged. "I dunno if it's really my passion. I just chose it because—"

You're interrupted by a loud bang! followed by buzzing. You jolted, tensing up in Jake's hold, whose hand shot to the small of your back protectively.

"Eek!" you cried, and the next thing you knew, all the lights were back on.

You and Jake stayed where you were for a few moments, long enough for the freezers in the back to start buzzing again. As if someone just snapped their fingers, everything turned back on. The bright lights hitting your darkness-adjusted eyes made your eyes water.

"Oh," Jake said plainly. "The lights are back on."

"No shit, Sherlock," you muttered, earning a pinch to your side. It was now that you and Jake really realized your current positions: you were on top of him, with your head resting on his shoulders, with his arms wrapped around your waist. And it seemed like the two of you realized this at the same time.

"We should—" Jake averted his gaze from you, finding the floor next to him very interesting.

"Yeah, you're right, we should—" you slowly pulled away from him, grimacing at the feeling of Jake's arms slipping away from you.

"Yup, and—" Jake trailed off, not fully completing his thought.

Awkward.

The two of you were back on your feet in no time, both with slightly-disheveled work uniforms, but hey, it was to be expected.

Together, the two of you inspected the parlor. Just in case something slipped in while it was dark (even though that was virtually impossible).

Everything was exactly as you left it.

The mop that you dropped on the floor, your phone on the counter, the keys to the freezer that Jake threw by accident, even the messy chairs.

"Are you scared right now?" Jake asked with a chuckle as you stayed close behind him, your fingers clutching his broad shoulders. From time to time you'd peek around him, but for the most part, you stared straight at his back, unwilling to look ahead. Just in case a monster jumped out!

"I'm not." Lie.

Jake laughed, but before he could poke fun at you more—

Boom!

Oh right, the storm.

Like a cat, you jumped almost immediately, gripping Jake's shoulders for dear life.

Jake peeked out the windows. The streetlamps and signs were illuminated again.

"Looks like all the lights are back up," he said. He glanced over his shoulder to you, who clung to him. "I think we can go home now. The storm's dying down already."

You nodded, and the two of you finished closing up in silence, before preparing to leave.

"Do you have a ride?" Jake asked you as the two of you packed up your things.

Shit.

"My mom was going to pick me up because she didn't want me driving late at night," you groaned. "I'll call her right no—"

"No," Jake shook his head, reaching inside his pocket. You watched as he really shoved his hands in there, like he was searching for something. At last, after digging through his pockets for what felt like hours, he pulled out a bunch of keys, with a tiny lego keychain dangling off of it. "I'll drive you home."

After that day, you weren't called into work again for a few days. In those few days, for some weird reason, you couldn't get Jake off your mind. Which you thought was weird.

You never really thought about Jake aside from work. And it wasn't even the fact that you were thinking about him! It was the fact that you felt weird for feeling weird about thinking about him. If that even made sense.

He's always been cute. Gentlemanly, too.

When he drove you home the other day, he insisted that you didn't need to pay him back for driving you home. In fact, he said that he'd rather use more gas than have you wait alone at the parlor to be picked up. He opened and closed the door for you, showed you how to control the heaters so that you could be warm, and even let you play your music!

He was reliable too, someone that you knew you could count on. And he was very kind, because no matter how many rude customers there were, he understood that everyone was human and served them with a smile. Unlike you, who always exercised that "we reserve to deny you service" right.

These were all things that you knew. It was no surprise. You knew these things.

But after that day, you couldn't help but feel like it was... amplified.

Jake was cute, but now he was cuter. Way cuter.

He felt even more gentlemanly and reliable and kind now. Him going out of his way to comfort you, even if it meant that you had to listen to his god-awful music, warmed your heart.

And that was the weird part.

It was just so odd. You couldn't stop thinking about him. And you felt all weird and mushy for thinking about him, which made you feel even weirder!

You didn't really get it.

Surely, it wasn't a crush.

It wasn't like you were all over the place, distracted and spacy and blushing now that Jake was on your mind. You weren't rolling around and kicking your feet, nor were you giggling.

But you would be lying if you said that the simple thought of his name didn't make you excited.

Meanwhile, Jake knew exactly what was happening to him.

And it was that his crush on you definitely deepened tenfold.

In the moment, when he was with you, whether it be the other day or any other day at all, he was always nonchalant. It was a casual crush, he'd say. Everything was straightforward with no games to play.

But that was a lie.

Because here he was, lying on his bed and staring at his ceiling. He hugged his pillow, embarrassingly pretending that it was you. He felt like a weirdo, but he couldn't get the feeling of you clinging to him and in his arms out of his head!

Just the mere thought of that night made him have to roll around and giggle for a few moments.

Jake sucked in the scent of his pillows. Unfortunately, they didn't smell like you, just like laundry with a faint scent of his own cologne.

You were so pretty, and cool, and kind, and smart, and practical, and just everything good in the world. And then when you got scared and clung to him, it made his heart flutter, because who knew you could be so cute?

Jake let out a squeal into his pillow, his cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling.

For the first time ever, Jake actually wanted to go to work. Just to see you.

He couldn't wait for it.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," you said for the millionth time today. "We don't have that here—"

Another day at work. Just when the idea of going to work didn't sound too bad, you're reminded why you hate it.

Apparently some kids on TikTok spread a rumor that your parlor had a special, limited-edition, summer unicorn flavor. And even worse, your damn social media manager was hinting at it on Instagram, too.

So here you were now, trying to explain to a hoard of angry customers that this limited-edition unicorn flavor was absolutely false. To think that your own social media manager would betray you and your coworkers like this just to attract more customers... You shouldn't be unsurprised but you were.

Diabolical.

It must've been the 90th time in the past hour that you had to explain that you had no fucking clue what a unicorn flavor would be, and if you weren't a tired and overworked teenager, you would've felt bad when a little girl bursted into tears in the middle of the store.

Cry about it, you thought, and you couldn't tell if that sentiment was towards your angry customers, or if it was towards upper management that were about to get multiple complaints about you.

Breathe, you had to tell yourself. It's not worth it. Where was everyone else anyway? You couldn't believe that you were left completely alone to operate the establishment on your own. And most of your coworkers were older than you anyway. Those bums!

You sucked in another breath, putting on your best smile.

"You're telling me that you don't actually have the limited-edition unicorn flavor?!" an angry father crossed his arms, upset with his children cowering beside him.

"No, sir," you said as politely as you could. "That was just a rumor. My apologies for the inconven—"

"Unacceptable!"

You winced, feeling your ears warm up. If everyone in the parlor wasn't already watching you like a hawk, all eyes were now on you.

"I had to drive two hours here," the father slammed his hand on the counter, leaning in so close that you could smell him. "I drove two hours here for unicorn ice cream and you're telling me that it was all a lie?!"

All of this.... for ice cream?"

"I apologize, sir," you hung your head low to appear genuine, clasping your hands together. "That must have been a long ride and—"

"Shut up and give me my ice cream, you bi—" Your eyes widened a fraction as you saw a big palm swinging your way... Was he about to slap you? In the milliseconds that you could even react, you squeezed your eyes shut, preparing for the stinging feeling of a hand against your cheek.

But instead, you felt nothing, only the sound of a few gasps and light chuckling.

"Hey, there, sir," you heard Jake's voice as you peeled your eyes open.

Jake was beside you, his hand wrapped around the man's wrist that was mere inches away from your face.

"J-Jake?!"

The man struggled in Jake's grip, attempting (and failing horribly) to pull his wrist out of Jake's hand.

"Let go of me, boy!" he yelled. Everyone's eyes were on the scene now. How embarrassing.

Jake narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip.

"Here at Layla's Ice Cream Parlor, we reserve the right to deny any patron service," he said plainly.

The man scoffed. "And are you about to deny me service? What are you, the manager?"

Jake only shook his head calmly.

"You were about to assault my coworker here," he motioned toward you, then to the man's still-raised hand. "I don't need to be any manager to realize that someone of that sort has no business here."

Jake shot him a smile, before roughly letting go of his wrist, letting it fall to the counter.

"Please leave, sir."

He glanced around the room, noticing the way everyone stared at him. Another tight-lipped smile spread on his face.

"There are no limited-edition summer flavors, so if that is what you are here for, I apologize for the disappointment. " Jake glanced at you. "Please help yourself to the flavors that we actually have."

With that, Jake took you by the wrist, pulling you into the breakroom.

"W-Wait Jake—!" you tried to pull out of his grasp. "There's still customers out there."

He gently pushed you down onto a chair.

Jake crouched down at your sitting figure, putting his hands on your knees. He squeezed them playfully. "You've done enough today. I'll handle the rest."

"But— But there's a lot of people today," you reasoned, placing your hands on his. "You can't run the entire place on your own...!"

But before the last syllables could even leave your lips, Jake was already retying his apron, fixing his dumb uniform hat. Before he slinked away through the door, he glanced over his shoulder, gripping the door frame.

"I'll prove you wrong," he said with a grin. "Just watch."

(You were right, he was wrong. Not even the most exemplary worker like Jake could handle an entire exuberant ice cream parlor by himself. The moment you saw his tired eyes you were already throwing on your apron. Though, you got a good laugh out of it afterwards.)

You deadpanned.

This was not what you signed up for.

It was Saturday, the day that you swore was your break day from work. And then all of a sudden you got an urgent call from your manager and you rushed to work immediately.

You thought that the parlor got robbed, or maybe something broke down.

Nope.

"You want me..." you blinked, "To wear that?!"

Lo and behold, before you was a comically large ice cream costume, with a brown waffled body for the cone and the most obnoxious white swirl reaching high in the ceiling, with only a circular cut-out to see your face.

Apparently, sales were dwindling, so your managers decided to try out some new advertising.

You were going to wear that godforsaken ice cream costume and hang outside the parlor to attract customers.

"Kid-friendly language only," your manager instructed you matter-of-factly. "No swearing, no saying mean words."

You tuned him out.

And if the walk of shame out of the bathroom in your ice cream costume wasn't bad enough, you were hit with the last thing you wanted to see: Jake Sim.

You were about to jump and shriek and let the ground open up and devour you whole... when you realized that he was wearing an ice cream costume too...!

"You too?!" you cried. Behold, in front of you stood your favorite coworker Jake Sim with an equally deadpan expression, clad in the ridiculous ice cream costume.

"Yup," Jake muttered, popping the p. "I guess we'll never be free."

And he was indeed correct.

There was truly nothing more mortifying than standing outside the damn ice cream parlor, holding an even more obnoxiously bright sign and trying to attract customers... all in your humiliating ice cream costume.

Kids laughed at you from across the street. Cars that passed by you probably did the same. Absolutely demoralizing.

"Come to Layla's Ice Cream Parlor," you said in a monotone voice, trying your very best to not burst into tears of sheer embarrassment. "We have ice cream... and... uh—"

You glanced at Jake, whispering to him, "What else do we have?"

"Ice cream." He said, absolutely no expression in his voice or face. Oh god, we must have lost him too! "Nothing but ice cream."

Poor guy, he looked like he wanted to disappear.

This must have been a punishment, or something. Maybe a humiliation ritual. But after a good ten minutes, you and Jake just decided to commit to the bit. After all, you were getting paid extra for this.

"Ice cream, ice cream!" you and Jake chanted as you paraded around the vicinity of the parlor. After all, there was nothing you could do but make the best of it. You went out of your way to speak to oncoming customers, advertising with the most energy you could. "Come to Layla's Ice Cream!"

But it wasn't always easy.

Like always, customers and children were rude.

"Hello, miss, are you interested in trying some of Layla's yummy yummy ice cre—" and then you got laughed at. Like actually. They just started pointing and laughing at you. Like you were some freak.

And then Jake tried to square up some little kids a few times, it was a mess.

And finally, after what felt like years out there trying to advertise to people, your manager finally called you guys back in. Apparently, you and Jake did such a wonderful job that you guys were needed back at the front. Your coworkers couldn't seem to keep up. Lazy asses.

You and Jake went back inside to change back into your work uniforms— those stupid blue and white sailor uniforms. Except, one of your coworkers was having an "emergency" in the staff bathroom (you were certain it was just Beomgyu sitting on the toilet with his phone and refusing to do his job), so both you and Jake had to change in the staff break room.

At the same time.

"Okay, you will change, and I will cover you—"

"Shut up!" you exclaimed. "Why can't we just change at the same time?"

Jake was being terribly awkward about it.

"B-Because!" he reasoned, unable to hide the way he couldn't look you in the eye. "Because.... you're a girl, and I'm a guy!"

"Aaaaand?" you drew out your syllables, crossing your arms over your chest.

"We can't possibly change in the same room?" Jake cried. "What if— What if I accidentally see your—"

Your cheeks warmed up. What was he on about? "You're not going to!"

Your boss was really annoying about punctuality, so you and Jake should probably change quickly anyway. You ignored Jake's fussing, raising your arms as you began to pull your shirt over your head.

"What are you—"

"Just change!"

In the end, you guys just did the easiest option: turning around so that you faced opposite directions while the other changed... which should have been intuitive for Jake (but he's a little slow).

When you two were both done changing, you turned back around to face Jake, about to let out your grievances about working.

Except, when you saw him, you couldn't help but let out a giggle.

Because your work uniform was supposed to resemble that of a sailor, there were a few complex pieces, such as the sailor scarf draped over your shoulders and neck. Usually, you need a mirror to tie it properly. There was also the damn paper sailor hat that you had to wear.

Since you weren't changing in the bathroom, there was no mirror, so poor Jake's hat and tie were sloppily done, crooked on his person.

"Jake," you smiled, motioning for him to come toward you. And when he was close enough, you yanked him even closer to you by his shoulders, causing him to let out a yelp.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked, unable to hide the panic in his voice.

You giggled again. Your hands began to work on his tie, undoing his sloppy tie and neatly folding it. "Relax, you big baby."

When you were done with his tie, you fixed Jake's hat, oblivious to the way Jake's ears and neck turned a noticeable shade of red.

"There you go," you said with a grin. "All good!"

Jake looked at you with shaky eyes. You were close to him now. Close enough that he could feel your breath fanning his cheeks. Close enough that if he just leaned in a bit more, he could kiss you— Jake jerked himself away from you abruptly. His heart was pounding in his chest at an abnormal rate.

Don't think about kissing her when she's right in front of you! he scolded himself. You gave him a questioning look, before you just grinned again and left the break room.

Ah, Jake was going crazy.

Man, fuck you Beomgyu! you mentally cursed your other coworker. You were absolutely correct; earlier he was indeed hogging the staff bathroom so that he could shirk his responsibilities. According to Jake, Beomgyu did this really often, to the point that the staff bathroom ran out of soap too fast because Beomgyu was busy playing with soap and making dumb ass bubbles in there.

Of all times, it had to be now that the staff bathroom just decided to run out of soap?

It was getting late, so your manager told you to start cleaning. And just as you began, some little unsupervised middle schooler skateboarded right into you, spilling his three scoops of chocolate ice cream with layers of caramel and peanut butter sauce all over your white uniform.

And all you were given were a few measly napkins to wipe but the sticky sweet mess, only after you cleaned up the mess on the floor. Now as you desperately tried to clean the mess off your uniform in the staff bathroom, you were certain that your manager was going to yell at you later.

As you reached for another hand towel from the dispenser, you let out a groan as you realized that there were no more. Seriously, what was Beomgyu doing in here that he just used up all the soap and paper towels?

"[Name]," you heard a knock on the door. It was Jake. "You good in there?"

You groaned again.

"No!" you cried from the other side of the door. You were frustrated, how bothersome! Even if there were more paper towels, there still was a giant brown stain on your shirt. And you'd probably have to get another uniform. "It looks like a shit stain!"

You heard Jake chuckle from the other side of the door, before his footsteps retreated. After a few minutes, Jake came back.

"Can I come in?" he asked, knocking again on the bathroom door.

"Door's unlocked."

Except, instead of seeing Jake in his usual work uniform, he had a big black hoodie thrown over him, probably one that he was wearing before he changed into his uniform earlier. In his hands was a white shirt.

"Wear this," he said as he shoved the white shirt into your hands.

It was his own uniform shirt.

"But—" you tried to reason with him, but he put his hand up, silencing you.

"Can't have you walking around with a shit stain on your shirt," he said with a cheeky grin, earning him a slap on the arm.

"But you'll get in trouble," you breathed. Your manager was really particular about workers wearing uniforms, and for some reason not about workers actually doing their job.

Jake shrugged. "It's about time I did." And flashed you another smile. "And plus, I was going to get in trouble anyway. Apparently, defending my coworker from a rude customer is punishable."

Ah, the unicorn ice cream incident from a few weeks ago.

Was he really that willing to get in trouble for you?

As you closed the door to the bathroom, you could already hear your manager and another coworker making their comments about Jake. Although you couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, it must have been the usual remarks about inefficiency. And probably about how he wasn't wearing work-appropriate clothes.

You sunk your teeth into your bottom lip as you listened to their muffled voices.

Jake was really getting in trouble all for your sake.

As you buttoned up his white shirt, you noted that it carried the scent of his cologne. It smelled good, and you instinctively brought the sleeve up to your nose to catch a better whiff. But then you felt weird and stopped immediately.

It wasn't fair. Everything about your job.

You and Jake had to do all the work, but even so, the managers were disproportionately harsher with Jake than they were with you. Probably because of some sexist bullshit.

And then there were rude and entitled customers.

Jake was taking the fall for you too much.

And you couldn't keep letting it happen.

As you made your way out of the staff bathroom, you could hear your manager berating Jake, with another coworker joining in.

"And why are you not in our employee dress code?" your manager chided. "This is unacceptable! A hoodie? What do you think will happen to our store's brand?"

Jake just hung his head low, but you could tell he was annoyed more than anything. "It was because [Name]'s shirt got ruined, and she was uncomfortable."

"And what business do you have with [Name]?" your coworker joined in lambasting the poor Jake.

"Look, man," Jake looked up at them. "I was just helpin' her out." Jake paused for a moment. "And plus it's closing hours anyway. It's not like anyone sees me out of uniform."

Your manager and coworker thought for a few moments, before your coworker said, "Well, you're still causing a hindrance for our parlor. I think we will cut you weekly pay—"

His weekly pay? Ridiculous. Your body moved on its own, and before you knew it, you had bursted through the door.

"I-It was my fault!" you blurted, your lips moving faster than you could think. "Jake was just helping me."

You ignored the way Jake looked at you with eyes big as saucers, surprised. You swiped your tongue over your lip. "I-It's really my fault. If there's anyone that should get their weekly pay cut, it should be me."

Jake's face visibly contorted, his brows crashing together. "[Name]—"

"That's enough," your manager finally spoke up. The older man sighed, before checking his wrist watch. "Jake, [Name], just forget about it. Don't make this mistake again. Just close up for the night."

And with that, you and Jake were left alone once more.

"What was that all about?" Jake asked you as the two of you closed up.

"What was what?"

Jake huffed, leaning on the mop. "You know, what happened earlier about uniforms?"

"Oh." You shrugged, not really paying him any mind. "What about it?"

Jake huffed again. "Y'know... Why did you step in?"

You finally looked at him, before blinking a few times. "Isn’t it obvious?"

Jake smiled. "No, that’s why I’m asking you."

You scoffed playfully. "Okay, smartass."

You paused for a few moments. "You’re my friend, Jake. You’ve protected me in the past, so I'm just returning the favor."

"Thank you," Jake replied, unable to hide the smile growing on his face. "That's very kind of you.

You just hummed in response, going back to cleaning up.

Jake teetered on his feet, back and forth, as he played with his fingers. His heart pounding in his chest, Jake chewed on his bottom lip.

He was nervous.

Just this morning, you texted him if he wanted to hang out with you, because as you said, you were bored.

Hanging out? With you? The hottest girl that he's ever seen? There was no way in hell that he'd say no to such a golden opportunity.

You'd told Jake to meet you at the pier, because there was a nice mall area around there. As you relayed in your texts, you were going on vacation in a few weeks, and needed to go shopping for it.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't have any ulterior motives. You weren't really sure how you felt about Jake. He was cute, and sweet, and you definitely wanted to get to know him better. And there was a part of you that desperately wanted to impress him.

Maybe today could be an opportunity for you.

You checked your reflection in the car window before you got out of your mom's car. Muttering a "bye," you made your way toward where you told Jake to meet you.

It was a sunny day. You chose to wear something breathable, a pretty pink sundress with a cardigan. You didn't dress like this on most days. You liked to opt for dark colors, but today you wanted to be... cute.

Pretty for Jake.

You spotted Jake pretty easily. Not because he had anything that made him physically easy to identify, not at all. It was more like... you simply could just spot him. It was like you had a newfound Jake-radar.

"Hi," you said with a smile. And for some reason, it seemed like Jake was startled, with his eyes widening as he caught sight of you. "Are you okay?"

Jake stared at you for a few moments, and you swore you saw the way his eyes looked you up and down. His lips parted, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he swiped his tongue over his lips.

You felt a twinge of embarrassment. You didn't wear light colors normally, was it obvious that this dress was not something that you usually wear? Did you look strange? Maybe you should've worn your typical black clothing, and—

"N-No," Jake stammered, his eyes still looking you up and down. Truth be told, he had to bite back a "damn." Because yes, damn, you looked hot. "You look— You look nice today."

Your cheeks prickled with warmth. "Oh. Thank you."

"You don't..." Jake continued, as if he was on autopilot. You were beginning to feel really shy when you realized that he was really staring at your chest area. "You don't wear pink often, do you?"

You averted your gaze. "You're right, I don't." How embarrassing! So he notices the things you wear... and he probably 100% knows that you don't wear pink at all. "Does it look weird, or—"

"No!" Jake blurted, before catching himself. He cleared his throat, his ears a warm shade of pink. "Not at all. I really, uh, meant it when I said— When I said you looked nice."

You nodded slowly. Was it normal to feel so warm? Maybe you should check the weather again?

"Really nice," Jake echoed himself. If you weren't busy feeling shy yourself, you would have noticed Jake checking you out for the 50th time already.

You murmured a brief "thanks," before you quickly changed the subject.

"Shall we go?"

It was unusual to feel awkward or shy around Jake, and vice versa. You knew for sure that Jake was a special person, but it never affected you. For Jake, he was determined to be calm and nonchalant when it came to you. And plus, your friendship was always casual anyway.

Which was why all of your shyness dissipated pretty quickly.

You took Jake along to all the spots at the pier's mall area.

"What are you looking for?" Jake asked as he trailed after you. Jake will never understand women. You've been to 4 stores already, and all you've done is touch things and say, 'Oh this is cute.' And then you'd leave.

You shrugged. "Cute things for vacation."

Jake looked around, through the store mirrors as you two traversed the mall area. "Any preferences?"

You shrugged again. "I like dark colors, but I don't mind brighter colors for vacation, yaknow?"

Jake hummed.

The two of you walked around for a little longer until you stopped in front of a store.

"What's this?" Jake asked.

You grinned. "A swimsuit store."

Listen, Jake wouldn't consider himself an easily-excitable guy. He wasn't pervy, either. Especially toward you! He was nonchalant!

But as he entered the girly swimsuit store, he couldn't help but redden at the thought of you in some of these swimsuits. Some of them were provocative and cheeky, making Jake's stomach do flips as his mind crept into places that made it hard for him to make eye contact with you. Other ones were cute and frilly, arguably making Jake's heart pound even faster as he imagined you in them.

"Hey, what do you think about this one?" you asked Jake as you took one of the suits off the rack.

On the inside, Jake was already drooling at the thought. But on the outside he simply nodded, giving a playful smile and a thumbs up. And really, he thought that if he could maintain that attitude for the rest of the time in this swimsuit store, he'd be fine.

But he was wrong.

"Okay, I'm gonna try these on, and I'll have you give me feedback."

What.

What?

And so Jake sat in the couches in front of the changing rooms, simply awaiting his death.

He's not weird, he swears. He doesn't want to be creepy or gross toward you.

But how could he not sweat and basically hyperventilate in these changing rooms when the hottest girl that he's ever seen (you) is about to ask him for his opinion on swimsuits?

Jake was certain that no matter what, you would look hot.

And he was proven correct when you slipped out of the changing rooms.

"Okay, first one," you said, in a voice that was a little too relaxed. You went on your tiptoes, doing a few turns here and there so that Jake could see the full extent of the suit on you. "What do you think?"

And oh.

Good lord.

Jake was really trying his best not to make you uncomfortable.

But there was absolutely no way that he could just sit there and not react. His jaw quite literally dropped the moment he saw you.

The way the suit hugged your body, the way the colors illuminated your skin, the way you were 100% feeling yourself in it— All of it was making Jake 2 seconds away from crashing out.

You must have been a goddess. Or maybe Jake saved a country in his past life.

"It looks— You look— I— You—" he stumbled over his words. There were no words to describe how you looked. You looked downright beautiful. Like, if Jake died now he wouldn't mind. And when you giggled at his reaction, he took a deep breath. Don't be a weirdo! he told himself.

"You look beautiful," he breathed, finally catching himself. His eyes flickered back up to your pretty, pretty face. "You look really beautiful in this one."

"Thank you," you smiled at him. You did another twirl, something that you definitely knew drove him crazy. And if you hadn't noticed him checking you out, Jake was certain that you definitely knew now.

And maybe Jake didn't know enough about women. Because he really believed that that one swimsuit was the only one that you were trying on.

And he was so wrong.

Because there were at least 3 more that you wanted to show him!

Oh, he wasn't going to survive this.

Well, Jake did survive.

After insisting on carrying your shopping bag full of your new swimsuits (Jake didn't dare peek inside because he thought he'd combust), you decided to do some more exploring.

You got some food to munch on, and went to all types of stores. And you took many pictures, too! Pictures together, of you trying on hats and sunglasses. Candid pictures of each other, many of which where you look pretty without even trying and Jake's mind is blown.

More exploring, walking, sitting down, walking, and then sitting for 30 minutes because both of your feet hurt. A lot of laughing, a lot of dumb conversations, and even more laughing.

And before you knew it, it was getting dark out. Suddenly, the sound of the waves crashing filled the air, the cool beach wind blowing against your cheeks. 

"Let's go walk along the shore!"

And so you did.

The orange sky was fading into a dark blue, and yet, the sun still shone so brightly as it submerged into the horizon. The water gently rocked against the shoreline, while the scent of sea salt and seaweed filled your senses.

It was a cool evening, and you tugged on the sleeves of your cardigan to warm your cold hands.

By now, the beach was quiet. Many people had already left, as it was slowly becoming nighttime.

In quiet moments like this, you couldn't help but fully conceptualize Jake as a person.

He was a handsome boy your age. He was kind, sweet, responsible, silly, everything great in a person. And he had a similar music taste to you, too. And here he was, walking alongside you as the sun set.

Your eyes fluttered over to him. His eyes were trained on the sand below his feet, appreciating the way the wet granules covered his skin.

He was a straightforward person. Things went from A to B with him easily. No games, nothing to hide. And yet, you felt like there was so much to discover about him. There was an entire world undiscovered in his head. And you wanted to be a part of it.

"What are you thinking about?" you asked suddenly, interrupting the calm silence.

"You."

.

.

.

You?

You could feel your heart picking up speed, but you kept your composure. Meanwhile, you swore your skin was prickling with an uncharacteristic warmth.

"I-I mean—" Jake seemed to snap out of his daze. "I— I was just thinking about you, and work, and summer, and—"

You blinked, but your lips spread into a tight smile. You didn't know why you felt disappointed.

You sucked in a breath. "The water's really nice tonight."

"Mhm," Jake agreed. He wasn't blind. He could see the way your face fell ever so slightly. He could see when you felt flustered or shy because of him.

But what if he was misinterpreting things? What if his eyes were playing tricks on him?

But then you'd look up at him with those shiny eyes, almost like you were begging him to give you his heart.

Just go for it.

His eyes dropped to your hands, which were still tugging on your sleeves to keep warm.

Jake clicked his tongue. Boldly, he grabbed your hands, clasping them in yours.

"Hey!" you cried.

"Geez, your hands are so cold," he murmured, before locking his fingers with one of your hands. As if nothing happened, Jake just continued walking along the shore, this time with your hand in his.

You stared at your interlocked fingers for a few moments, before you swallowed all of your shyness and continued trailing with him.

The two of you returned to walking in silence, nothing but the sound of the water and your breaths filling the air.

Jake wasn't lying when he said he was thinking of you, because he really. He always was. And just as he was about to fall back into thought, your hand pulled away from his.

With curious eyes, Jake watched as you silently pulled out a tiny plastic case from your purse.

Your earbuds.

You plugged them into your phone, before jamming one of the buds into your own ear. You looked at Jake expectantly, and he took the second earbud graciously.

You bit back a laugh as you turned on your music.

The second you pressed 'play,' a hardy bass and an unforgettable drumline played into your ears.

"Are you serious?" Jake immediately snapped his head at you. "Fleetwood Mac?!"

You laughed, throwing your head back. "I wasn't about to let you ruin the beach vibe and play Bon Jovi."

"I don't only listen to Bon Jovi—!"

And just as you and Jake were enjoying music, the beach, and most importantly, each other, Jake's phone rang. And of course, his ringtone was a Bon Jovi song.

You gave him a look as his lips spread into a goofy smile.

Not daring to tear out the earbud, he picked up his phone and listened with his other ear.

And even though it was nearly nighttime by now, you could still see how Jake's face morphed.

When he hung up, his face dropped.

"They need me to take someone's shift."

Oh.

This was really, very, genuinely, seriously annoying.

Because unfortunately, the truth was that if they needed Jake to work, then they probably needed you to work too.

Because they always needed you and Jake to work.

And so, here your (not-so official) date was ending.

Apparently, it was extremely urgent, and they insisted on paying Jake extra if he came. Not to worry, because he texted your manager to make sure that you'd get extra pay if you came along, too.

The moment that you stepped into the parlor, you could feel all the joy leaving your body. You swore that Layla’s Ice Cream Parlor had evil spirits in there, designed specifically to simply fill your body with dread.

You put on one of the spare work uniforms that the parlor had in the back. It was a little big, and a little itchy, but whatever.

When Jake got the phone call and explained to you the situation, you were fully expecting a packed parlor, with a line that went out the door and your incompetent coworkers couldn't handle it, or something. But now that you were in the parlor, you realized that that was just a load of bullshit.

"Empty," Jake muttered behind you. "There is absolutely no one here."

You hummed in agreement, equally deadpan.

Those lazy bums.

They just didn't want to work the closing shift. They just didn't want to do the cleaning or locking up. They just wanted you to take their shifts so that they could go home and relax.

And so here you two were, just lazing around in the breakroom, just trying to pass the time. You let your phone play some random playlist.

"I'm sorry," Jake said, with his cheek pressed against the breakroom table. "We were hanging out and I decided to take us to work."

"Nah, you're justified," you said lazily. "They're promising us extra pay, so it's fine."

The room went silent again, but you could tell Jake was thinking something. And indeed, he was.

Jake felt horrible! Although you did agree to come to work with him, he still felt back. Did he just fumble your first (unofficial) date? God, he's so stupid! Now you two were stuck in the worst place on earth.

He stared at your bored expression.

He couldn't let you stay bored.

Without a word, he got up from his seat in the breakroom and disappeared out to the front. You could hear some cluttering and buzzing.

"Close your eyes!" he yelled before he came back to where you were in the breakroom. And you complied.

"What are you doing, Jake?" you asked, but you couldn't help but smile. He was definitely up to some antics.

"Just close your eyes," he instructed you, before sitting down with you at the breakroom table again.

Jake clasped his hands together. "I have three cups of ice cream here. You will close your eyes and guess which one is which."

You let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Jake laughed. "We can't get bored in here."

You chuckled. "Okay, fine."

Jake watched you intently as he spoon-fed you the first spoonful of ice cream.

The first flavor was strawberry, your personal favorite.

Maybe it was getting late, or maybe Jake was just too obsessed with you, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the way your pretty lips opened up for the ice cream. He was simply so mesmerized by the way you licked your lips, relishing in the way the sweet strawberry ice cream melted on your tastebuds.

"This is so obvious," you nudged him, kicking him from under the table. "At least make it hard for me!"

Jake rolled his eyes playfully. "Just guess!"

You huffed, mumbling something about him being stupid under your breath. "Strawberry. Duh."

"Woo hoo!" Jake cheered for you. "It was strawberry!"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

The second flavor was ube. Which you guessed almost immediately.

"Next flavor, please," you giggled. "This game is too easy,"

But Jake wasn't listening to you in the slightest.

Just why did you have to start licking the spoon clean? The way your glossy lips wrapped around the spoon, your tongue wrapping around the smooth plastic, and now he was feeling all types of things, and—

"Seriously, make it harder for me!"

Jake gulped.

The last flavor he had was salted caramel. His own personal favorite.

He'd already taken a few bites out of it.

He glanced at your lips, then down at the salted caramel ice cream.

Even under the corporate light of the break room, you still glowed so prettily. And you must have been doing it on purpose, the way you were keeping the spoon in your mouth, with your lips wrapped around it so prettily.

Jake's eyes flickered back to your lips once more, then to the salted caramel ice cream.

His heart was already pounding in his chest. All the blood was rushing to his head and Jake thought that he'd faint.

Your lips were just so damn pretty.

It seemed like something was possessing Jake's body. While his mind was frozen on your lips, his body was moving on its own.

He reached out for you first, his large hand taking solace on your shoulder.

And in one, fluid motion, Jake leaned in, and closed the gap between his lips and yours.

Your lips were soft and sweet, like clouds. Jake's eyes had unconsciously fallen shut, and the moment that he realized that he was kissing you, they shot open. However, just as he was about to pull away, because oh my god he was kissing you, and he didn't even ask!, Jake felt your hand slither up around his neck.

You pulled him in even closer, deepening the kiss.

Jake felt dizzy. It was the way your tongue dipped into his mouth when he let out a little gasp. Or maybe it was the way your fingers ran through his hair, almost as if you were desperate to keep his lips on yours. Your everything— your hands, your lips, your scent— they were all driving him insane.

Jake didn't want it to end, and if it weren't for his need for air, he wouldn't have pulled away. Ever.

The two of you sat there, breathless, staring into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Jake's cheeks were red, his pupils blown out with desire. His eyes fell down to your lips.

"Salted caramel," you breathed, your hands sliding down to his shoulders. You squeezed his shoulders. "You taste like salted caramel— kiss me if that's the answer—"

And you didn't need to ask him twice, because Jake was already crashing his lips against yours.

There was something so addictive about your lips. The way you moaned against his lips, the way you clung onto him like you needed him, it was all driving him crazy.

Jake needed more, he needed you.

In his head, it was all just you, you, you.

"I want you so bad," Jake mumbled against your lips. "Please."

He could feel you giggle, but he simply just slides his hand around your waist to pull you closer.

Your lips moved against his in ways that were too perfect to be real. Jake felt like he was in heaven. You were heaven. You were angelic, you were godly, you were—

"Um, excuse me, are you guys still open?"

!!!

You and Jake jumped away from each other.

Shit.

It was still store hours.

"Are we going to get fired?"

Now it was actually closing hours.

You and Jake started cleaning after you were so rudely interrupted, and now it was time to close up.

And it was awkward.

Your heart was practically leaping out of your chest. It felt like forever since you shared your kisses with Jake. And now, you craved his lips once more.

But what if it was just on the whim? What if Jake just did it to do it?

You just wanted him so bad. You wanted to kiss him again, you wanted to feel him again.

"For what?"

You shifted uncomfortably, your eyes refusing to meet Jake's.

"Kissing coworkers."

"No!" Jake's cheeks flared up. "Of course not!"

"Then..." your brows furrowed. Your face felt hot to the touch. You felt like you were going to get a heart attack. Seriously, you felt like you were burning up, all the while you felt frozen in time and space. You slowly looked up at Jake. "Then can we... you know... keep doing it?"

.

.

.

"I— I mean, if you don't mind— and if it's not something that we could get fired for—" you stammered— "Then can we... you know— can we keep kissing?"

Jake was already on it.

“Eek, Jake, lock the doors first!”

After a few more weeks of hiding in the storage closet to makeout, and honestly straight up shirking your responsibilities to kiss in the breakroom, you and Jake did the unthinkable.

"We resign!"

Your manager looked at you incredulously. "W-What?"

You and Jake smiled. "We quit."

You've never felt more free. With your boyfriend at your side, it seemed like the summer was endless.

BONUS

"Did I ever tell you that I liked you?" you asked Jake, in his car just moments after you quit your job.

"I don't think you did, babe," Jake laughed.

"Oh."

You should probably put that on your to-do list.

You glanced at your boyfriend. How his lips looked so kissable.

Sigh. You'll tell him what you like later. It's time to kiss!

note: please reblog n comment if you enjoyed! xoxo vanya >_<

[hunterofartemis7]

Pt.11

*at the police station*

Bruce: do I even want to know how you ALL got arrested?

Jason: we have a very good reason!

Bruce: oh I’d love to hear it

Jason: a doctor was very rude to raven and made her cry

Tim: and he had so many complaints from different female staff and female patients so we took matters into our own hands

Bruce:…yeah that’s a good reason. *pays their bail*

Cop: *lets them all out*

Dick: btw, where are the birds at?

Bruce: outside with Kori and Selena

Jason: cat moms here?

Bruce: yes

Jason:….put me back in the cell

*outside*

Raven: I didn’t think they would get arrested

Damian: I did

Selina: I mean, they had a good reason.

Kori: you think the doctor will sue them?

Selina: he can try, but Bruce had better lawyers

Raven: how much was their bail?

Selina: probably a couple hundred a piece. Why?

Raven: cause I need to know how much to pay Bruce back for

Bruce: *coming out of the jail* you’re not paying me back for anything Raven.

Raven: but they got arrested because of me…

Jason: no we got arrested because no one fucks with our family.

Raven:..thank you, for sticking up for me

Dick: anytime Rae.

Bruce: so what exactly did he do to make you cry and make them THAT angry?

Jason: uhhhhh…..

Raven:…..

Tim: *gives her the “we say nothing if you don’t want us to” look*

Selina: well??

Raven: *mumbles* he..was saying awful things about me..and my baby..

Selina: BABY!?!?

Bruce: your pregnant?

Raven: *nods* I..I’m sorry I didn’t tell y—*gets tackled by Selina*

Selina: CONGRATULATIONS!!!! MY WORDS IM GONNA BE A GRANDMA! 🥹

Bruce: *hugs her as well* congratulations my dear! I’m so happy for you! *turns to Damian and hugs him* congratulations son

Damian: thank you father

Jason: B this is your first grandchild

Bruce: I know.🥹

Dick: so we’re celebrating now..okay. *takes a breath* IM GONNA BE AN UNCLE!!! *bear hugs Damian*

Damian: UNHAND ME GRAYSON!

Jason: I’m really happy for you two but also…*punches Damian in the arm* WHAT THE HELL MAN?!

Damian: what was that for!?

Jason: uh maybe for not telling us sooner!! Our baby brother is having a baby and you didn’t tell us immediately! How long have you known!?

Raven: little over a week…

Jason: REALLY!?

Damian: we were going to tell you!

Tim: when?

Damian: in like…3 months

Selina: THREE MONTHS!?

Kori: guys, stop yelling

Jason: give me one good reason why!?

Kori: *motions to raven who’s tearing up*

Raven: I’m sorry…😣

Jason: Rae…no no sweetheart it’s okay, don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong

Raven:😖😭 *hormones suck*

Damian: way to go asshole *hugs raven close, rubbing her back*

Dick: Rae were not actually mad, we’re just giving Damian shit.

Tim: yeah we didn’t mean to make you upset.

Jason: *looks at Kori like “this will be a long few months”*

Kori:😑

[zephyrstargame]

well here's something I can do!

this is a little spin on an idea i've been seeing around that i think is wonderful... I personally, am not in the best financial place to be donating, but i can use my platform as a game developer to help out and do something cool at the same time :3

In exchange for donating esims to gaza, I'm gonna populate the world of Zephyr Star with your characters as NPCs! currently: OPEN!!

Here's the deal-- scurry on over to gazaesims.com to figure out how to buy and donate an esim to the people who need em-- any plan works for me, as long as you're gettin something out there!

then slip into my DMs (or anywhere else you can contact me directly) and show me a screenshot of the email, preferably with timestamps for proof that it's from after this post was posted... or really, any proof that you did do the thing-- also show me:

a reference image for what character you want me put in the game

what this character should say as an NPC (just a few lines at most) (optional; if you'd like i can just write some general dialogue instead)

how you would like to be credited in the in-game credits (ie what name i should put)

below the cut are some submission guidelines and extra notes, please also read that if you're interested :>

here are some general submission guidelines:

nothing too lewd, please!

or racist

or otherwise offensive

fandom ocs MIGHT be fine if they're Legally Distinct enough from the source material, but try not to get me sued here

In general, this game's world has No Humans, but that's not a strict requirement-- just a general suggestion

and keep in mind that characters with super intricate details might have to be simplified in order to work as pixel art

otherwise, anything works! furries, robots, sentient objects, your cat, whatever

and here's some notes, so you know what to expect:

i'll take anywhere between a few hours to a few days to finish, depends on how i'm feeling... either way, i'll tag you in a new post when i'm done!

the character will be done in small pixel art, with maybe some additional effects if i feel it works for the design

i will adjust the sprite size depending on the character-- an average sized character is drawn on a 32x32 canvas but if it's like a giant or really tall or something, i'd make it bigger so that the scale is accurate

everyone also gets a zoomed in headshot for the dialogue portrait

no secret bosses, shopkeepers, or other special story purpose for now, sorry! these are just some guys that stand around and say 1 or 2 lines as you go about your adventure

im putting the characters in various places at random, but if you want your guy to be in a certain type of location in-game let me know

this game is STILL in relatively early development-- but i do promise that each and every submission will be in there by the end! it might take yeaaaars for the full game to finally be out, but i'll be posting screenshots as I put em in the game so you know im not slacking around :>

and alongside the screenshot, i'll also post the sprites on their own if you'd like to save them for yourself

legal stuff uhhhhh im not good at legal stuff-- by participating, you are giving me permission to use your submitted character in the final game-- credit will be given in-game where you would expect to see it (the credits) and i will not claim ownership of any of your guys

(cartoon mafia boss voice) if at any point you want your character scrubbed out of the game, or you want anything changed, let me know in my DMs or anywhere else you can contact me and *click* *sinister laugh* we'll make it happen

no money goes to me ever, im not even gonna be the middlesnake between you and the esims-- i just think its less of a hassle to work this way -w-

did i get everything? i think that's everything... if i forgot something important sorry i'm a scatterbrain failgirl who has never done anything like this before im trying my best okay

may the rift be filled with your cool little guys! but more importantly, let's keep gaza connected! free palestine! 🍉

[rokurookajima]

for the character ask game!!

Raava:

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

Vaatu:

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Wan:

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

27. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

THANK U!! obv u knew who i wanted to talk about lmaooo

read more bc it’s yap city under here

raava !!!’

19. hmmm ok so many things hard to say about characters who got SO little screen time lmaoo. so i mean .. that would be the only thing i could dislike about any relationships she had - they didn’t get enough time. i would obv watch 1000 hours of just .. wan and raava existing, doing anything at all. but still ofc being their relationship to each other for the most development of any then .. that’s beside the point

i wish we got more of her relationships with vaatu and korra. i’d love to have seen more in depth exploration of her dynamic and existence with vaatu before they were separated, and also post-fusion, how his existence still affected her going forward. with korra, i love the few interactions we got to see between them but again i just wish we got MORE!!

25. ok the way i honestly don’t remember my FIRST first impression seeing her, but ofc i was uh. how do you say. deeply obsessed forever from the moment beginnings part 2 ended i knew that was something i was never gonna move on from (could’ve never expected the impact it would have on my literal whole entire life but that’s a whole other story lmaoo).

now? that is my fucking GIRL. my woman. i love her so much. i love the way her character has evolved for me over time (as i said in my OTHER ask answer also for her lol, with the small amount of canon time we got there was just always so much room for us to expand on that and i love all the ways that’s grown and changed and expanded in that time)

26. uhhhhh everything. i’ll never get over anything she’s ever done. she exists and i’m like holy shit are you guys seeing this??

vaatu!!! gay boy…..

5. ok agreeing with you that nightwish is absolutely his vibe. but otherwise not really any particular songs come to mind, but y’know… i should look into that more

18. so ofc.. ofc. again with the lack of screen time striking but 😮‍💨 i think all his relationships in canon are compelling in some way. with raava, there is so much narrative potential there to be unpacked

then ofc i’ve slept on this specific thought way too long, but nightmare as you posed in your tags the other day: considering how he must have felt about wan is SO good. the being that set him free later coming back to be the one that imprisoned him. that’s soooo 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

i also think his relationship with unalaq is fascinating but exclusively through the lense that vaatu is the (for lack of better word) innocent one here; he is the victim of unalaq directly, the manipulated one, the one literally backed into a corner with no other way out. that’s juicy as hell

23. can i say my own fucking drawing lmaoo it’s the panel of him alone in the hvac comic…..

wan :’)

3. i’m going to speak my truth. i hate his fucking dumb ass goatee……

i would never draw him without it tho lmaoo it’s too much a staple of his character design it cannot be removed but it doesn’t mean i LIKE IT

(i hate like. most of the facial hair in all of avatar why did the mustache-less beards have such a grip on the character design.. the pointy ones and aang’s weird chinstrap it just all.. it doesn’t work for me IM SORRY)

25. i actually DO remember the very first image i saw of him and what i thought!! the summer before book 2 dropped when they first released some images from it (i think at comic con or something), that was when they announced they were going to address the avatar origin and showed a single imagine of wan (a screen cap from the air nomad village scene lmao yes i know that) and his name and i was like hm … not sure about this.

absolutely no way i expected him to be my specialest boy ever ESPECIALLY all these years later 😭😭😭 and now yes that just. is what he is to me. he’s the specialest boy ever. i love him an unfair amount he’s like a son to me

27. freebie!!! so i’m gonna say first song that comes to mind when i think about him

i have three (3) variations of waava playlists bc i’m insane (and it’s been 11 years come on) so ofc there are many but the number 1 wan specific song to me is king by lauren aquilina and YES i heard it for the first time in 2013 in a beginnings amv lmaoo so it just. from the start was associated with him but also just fits so well imo

[dreamlanddeluxe]

pro-tip from someone who has had stretches pf insomnia like this since high school: (bc your posts makes it sound like a new development and like youre scared, so i want to help. sorry this unsolicited)

but literally?? fake it

fake sleeping. youre going to lie down, close your eyes, shift when youre uncomfortable, but keep your eyes closed and stay laying down. try to keep your mind as blank as possible, thats really hard for me specifically, so i legit will listen to videos or podcasts or music or ocean-waves as i fake-sleep (bonus, i found something that works for me 60, 70% of the time are those ASMR roleplay videos where it'll be like "your boyfriend/girlfriend talks to you while you sleep" or "you get confessed to while youre asleep" or literally anything where i have to "roleplay" being asleep?? weirdly? flips a switch and ill be KOed before the video ends. what the fuck. but thats niche as hell, idk if itll work for you, but it is an "experiment! you never know" encouragement)

and youre going to want to fake-sleep as best as you can, even if youre actually awake the whole 8+ hours, because it legit tricks your brain into thinking youre asleep enough that it gives you those chemicals you need from sleeping that help regenerate your energy and whatnot. like scientists found this works really well, insomniacs who did this instead of their phone or tasks or reading, even if they rarely fell asleep while fake-sleeping, not only recorded feeling a lot better than the control group who was not given this order to sleep like this, but also had more balanced chemical stuff. i like to akin ir to a cell-phone charge. youre not going to get the 100% you would from actually sleeping, but going from a 20% to a 65% is still p huge and very helpful. before i was told this tip, i literally would meditate to recoup; and shockingly meditation releases those same chemicals so like. i was already doing it. just. sitting up instead of laying down lol

also, please do talk to a doctor about getting a sleep study done or something if you have the insurance to afford it. but this is a tip you can do in the meantime in addition to other experimentations thatll help you out. youll still feel exhausted (esp if you cant quiet your brain. my AuDHD mind shuts the fuck when other people speak, so the audio-roleplay and podcast and video-essay people have been god-sends), you won't be that 100% refresh as i already said, but it also wont be AS compounded of an exhaustion which is so helpful when your metaphorical battery is just going down and down and down— to have SOMETHING charge it even a bit or just stall it. i dont want you to think this is a "youll feel back to normal!" cure-all; it truly is the epitome of a "well, thatll help it not get WORSE at any rate, and maybe a bit better" type of rhetoric

for now, i would recommend doing a fake-nap, pick x-amount of hours that feels most comfortable to you (my pick is usually 3 or 4, but my lil sister found she prefers 2 hour long fake-naps and my other lil sister just goes "fuck it, no fake-nap, only fake-sleep; im doing 8+ hours" lmao), see if it at least takes the edge off

i have said a lot of "temper your expectations" type of stuff but i will also say this: at one point, this tip literally saved my life. because i spent 2.5 months running on a total of 4 to 6 hours of legit-sleep per week or per week-and-a-half throughout. and that kinda shit, i belatedly found out, should mean i should be dead. but i was fake-sleeping at least 5 hours a night. and my family's doctor went "uhhhhh thank god i showed your mom that study i guess, omfg". so like. i swear it helps. just. ALSO temper your expectations on how much it helps lol

if this is unsolicited and feels unwarranted, i apologize. im not good at reading tone in text, and just wanted to help. i hope this does help you out, you got this, i believe in you!!

Hey no worries, I appreciate you taking the time to type all this out. Recently (like, within the past one to two years or so) I’ve been more prone to bouts of restlessness and the fake sleeping is actually something I practice and it does help me most of the time. I think right now it’s more of a stress induced sort of thing more than anything that’s led to me having more trouble. Might just be one of those things I gotta wait out to be honest. When I do have a moment where I can’t sleep right it doesn’t last more than a few days normally so I don’t imagine this being different I hope. Maybe seeing a doctor would help but I’ll be honest there’s a probably a few things I should be seeing a doctor about and I just don’t have the money for that lol. But still like I said I appreciate you taking the time to try and help me out and offer some advice that’s very kind of you 🫶

[nellieofthevalley]

Uhhhhh List of actors I see as certain killer frequency characters. Not all of them because I only have a couple face claims

I dont know a lot of actors because most times I just enjoy the movies instead of paying attention to a lot of the names behind them, which may be an issue but Unless im really into something I typically just enjoy it and move on.

I also know some of these people are kind of obscure, I watch a lot of Random movies and shows and sort of just picked up characters that immediately made me think of killer frequency characters.

Marie Campbell- Jodhi May, I feel like she could perfectly portray maries sort of character well especially after her performance as Queen calanthe! Shes really good at showing off female rage and I think that she would really shine if she put herself “under the mask” hehe.

Sandra Sharpe - Cara Buono, Im sorry Ive always seen Sandra as looking kind of like Mikes mom in stranger things. It just works for her so well that I cant help it.

Henry Barrow - Finn wolfhard. I really hate giving this kid anyone conventionally attractive but I honestly think that it could work for him- so I wanted to settle for someone relatively younger. I almost chose James Russell because of his performance in “the boy” but I think he looks a little too old for Henry.

Carrie - Young Winona Ryder. I say young winona ryder simply because the second I heard Carrie speak for the first time my first thought went to ‘Veronica Sawyer’ from heathers. I feel like after her performance as Veronica she could make a really good Carrie. I could also see Tessa Thompson making a PERFECT Carrie after Her performance in annihilation.

Peggy Weaver - this one was really hard, Peggy I personally cant see as white, But Mariecampbellenjoyer pointed out as well that her canon design looks a lot like Ellen Ripley from alien. Now I cannot unsee her as young Sigourney Weaver, But if I were to choose someone else I think America Ferrera, she has peggys face and I think could really pull off her positive attitude!

Teddy Gallows JR II- Toby Regbo, That man can play a woman hater so well and I saw it in the last kingdom. He also has a good face for teddy, and with a new haircut I honestly think that it could work pretty well. Honestly the guy is just so good at playing male characters that are JERKS to women.

Forrest Nash - Would yall be mad if I said David Harbour? I feel like He usually plays big tough chatacters but I would honestly adore seeing him as forrest. I think that he just fits the role of forrest really really well.

[loopylostandfound]

simon blackquill for ask game >:3

oh I am so unprepared uh *drops notes all over the place* hahaha I'm so normal abt him WHEEEEE let's go uhhhhh

- how I feel abt this character

feral. im climbing him like a tree and gnawing on his shoulders like a rabid beaver. can beavers be rabid? who cares I am one now. im shaking him in my mouth like a dog with a chew toy. im tucking him gently into bed with a kiss on the forehead. im forcing him to go to therapy. we're adopting a cat together next week.

- all the people I ship romantically with this character

me nahyuta, apollo, klavier, uendo

- my non-romantic otp for this character

athena! i love their ride-or-die friendship and they would definitely bully each other into taking care of themselves. fun hc I have for them is they can benchpress each other and they do it at the gym to intimidate people

- my unpopular opinion about this character

not sure I have one hdjskdjfjf most of my opinions abt him seem to be shared by plenty of ppl but hmm...okay yeah I've thought for several minutes and can't think of anything lol sorry hfjdjdj

- one thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon

he and maya should meet. they could be unstoppable

- my otp

blackmadhi hdjkwkdkfkf altho justquill is a CLOSE second i never expected to get so feral abt them but holy shit. lol. but i was into blackmadhi before I even met either of them somehow so I think its safe to say the brainrot is more powerful there hdjekwkfjf. also I just love the parallels in their stories and I think that (after hatefucking in a janitors closet for a few weeks) they could get along really well. and everyone would hate them so much <3

- my crossover ship

I don't rlly do crossovers much so I have nothing for this one sadly 😭

- a headcanon fact

i will give several.

he has an extensive collection of bandannas for taka in different colors and patterns and one of these has miku on it because simon likes miku and athena got it for him. his build before his release from prison was actually pretty wiry and lean although muscled, but after he gets out and learns to take care of himself he fills out more and has a softer body though still fully able to pick people up and throw them through walls. see above hc about the gym. he's actually really good with kids bc he just treats them like mini adults and doesn't baby talk to them so they like him a lot. he has some sort of Gender Feeling but he doesn't feel the need to address it. he's cool w mainly he/him but throwing in a they or a random neopronoun will make him happy too. also he has a big di-[i am forcibly dragged from the stage kicking and screaming]

[baconcolacan]

Hello again, thanks for answering! It almost gave me something when I asked the question, but now I think it's not as scary as before, well I have more questions! I'm sorry if there are many, and I apologize if my English is not very good.

1- Ok, we know that R!Tord would keep memories in case R!Tom died, but in the future no one would wonder who was that person for the Red Leader? I mean, the recordings, the painting, the monument and having a country blown to pieces out of nowhere? I guess people would think it was the Red Leader's couple, right?

2- What would be the reaction of the generals if R!Tord had told them the reason why he wants R!Tom?

3- Why I think that the one who is going to end up killing General Weth is going to be R!Tom?

4- The red soldiers are not going to wonder why R!Tom is still alive?

5- I know that this question will probably be answered in future chapters, but will R!Tom be able to freely roam the base? And please tell me that R!Tord will give R!Tom some clothes so he doesn't freeze to death.

6- What would be the reaction of Hillarson and the old unit of R!Tom to see that the Red Leader is "In Love" with R!Tom (I say "in love" because that is not love)

7- Where are Susan and Tomme Bear?

8- In some future we will see Mark and Eduardo?

Oh! and My girlfriend and my friend are proud that I sent you the questions,because they know that I am a very nervous girl and they probably knew that I would never send the questions, by the way my friend has one:

Now ask him how I can force my friend to see regimen and if he answers the comment, I read regimen.

Thank you for taking your time to answer my previous questions, Take care of yourself!

Ayyeee! Hi bud! Its nice to see that you dont think its scary to ask me things anymore hahaha answers below!

Well, people will wonder why Tom was so important, but I think they wouldn't really press for details in fear of Red Leader lashing out. Still, some will suspect that he was a lost love or some such, not that they'd try to confirm it anyway.

Well, shock, most of all, but they won't linger on it too much. RL's whims are very erratic, so at this point they would have already been used to it. So the shock will only last for a moment then they'll just accept it.

Hm, dunno.

They will. But you know. See above.

Hmmm. You'll have to wait for that :]

Hilarson would have a fit, because he knows how bad it would be to have RL's undivided, obsessive, attention. Same goes with Tom's old unit, which I hope you mean the 9th Norway Corps, as they would also do whatever they can to keep Tom away from the RA.

Susan is at home, Tommee bear might be as well.

Uhhhhh, well, I dont believe so, as Regimen will focus mainly on Tom and the other guys.

HAHAHAHA AND NO PROBS CHUM! I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to ask me questions :D

And as for what your friend said, I dont think I can force anyone to read the fic ahahaha, Im not that kind of dude. People can choose whether or not they want to read Regimen, as the story does deal with darker topics, so I wouldn't want to make somebody uncomfortable if they dont like what the tags say :PP

Thanks for stopping by again!!

[runin-reads]

trans masc anon here sorry again for spamming you but i had this really funny thought about the teen pregnancy au and i was like huh i wonder when james went into labour? and then i thought what if it was at the funniest possible time ever because of course james has to have the funniest timing for that kind of thing. so the first thought i had was what if james and sirius were literally about to have sex like theyre all cuddled up in the Mood and everything snogging so in the Zone LITERALLY ABOUT TO FUCK and then suddenly theres this HUGE gush of water and they both look down and bc of the way they were arranged when james water broke it broke all down the front of sirius' trousers and they just blink at each other and james is like '....i think im in labour?' and so sirius springs up like holy shit im going to be a father okay okay - and then when he gets monty and effie there to help with the birth and everything and effie just looks down at sirius' trousers pityingly (have a massive stain all down one trouser leg) like 'Please Change Your Trousers, Dear'.

another hc i had was what if even though james is literally. NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. READY TO POP AT ANY MOMENT. he .... CANNOT be stopped from Doing Things like he HATEEES being coddled and he hates just sitting around bc hes got so much restless energy so hes doing stuff RIGHT UP until harry is born which gives sirius and everyone else like. HEART ATTACKS. but when james is determined no one can stop him. so one day hes like :3 sirius do you want to go to diagon alley with me? i want to get some baby clothes :333 and sirius is like Uhhhhh,,,, (is looking at james who is literally 9 months pregnant, overdue by 2 weeks, can't get up the stairs by himself but pretends its not true, gets tired from standing after 2 minutes but pretends its not true and has to pee every 15 minutes). Do You... Think That's a Good Idea James? and james glares whilst. SOMEHOW smiling threateningly like 'sorry what was that? you weren't babying me there were you? im sure i misheard you right? you werent doing that right? :)' and sirius is like ....No. and james is like Great! so are you coming with me? ... :) or should i go by myself???? which i Can do, by the way! :) and sirius says very quickly no its okay! ill go with you! cue one very silly car ride because they cant apparate obviously where sirius is gripping the steering wheel for dear life while james chatters like nothings wrong EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHINGS WRONG EVERYTHING IS LITERALLY WRONG RN??? anyway so they make it to diagon alley and james?? waddles??? around looking into the shops like Hmm yes very interesting and sirius is just trailing behind him barely staving off a panic attack and its only when they get to the baby clothes shop and james holds up a onesie aggressively like 'dont you think this is cute?' in the tone of 'say this is cute, right NOW' and sirius nods warily that james suddenly makes a face and theres a HUGE stream of water coming out of him in the MIDDLE OF THIS SHOP??!?! LIKE HIS WATER BROKE??? and the shopkeepers too stunned to even like??????? comprehend what is happening rn??? and in this scenario bc i think it would be funny james would be a massive asshole right off the bat like hes making a fuss for No Reason like his water breaks and he just. yells. IM IN LABOUR???? and sirius is like Holy Shit um okay i guess we have to get you back in the car????!?!!! and so that day one very pregnant james potter can be seen screaming his head off through diagon alley whilst sirius black clutches his arm. hilariously because the universe somehow also does this. WALBURGA AND ORION HAPPEN TO BE IN DIAGON ALLEY THAT DAY!??!?!?? like if its not already bad enough for them that the heir of the house of black ran away and they had to disown him and then he knocked up a POTTER now potter is GOING INTO LABOUR IN PUBLIC?????? literally she almost dies on the spot. she strides up to james and sirius whilst james is leaning against a wall panting and taking a break and starts to say 'this is absolutely DISGRACEFUL, totally SHAMEFUL -' but before walburga can actually start ranting james just looks over at with a glare so powerful and so cold that even SHE falters a little and says 'excuse me. but me and my HUSBAND are going to go have a gorgeous baby. not that that has anything to do with you??? come on sirius' and sirius is. SO stunned. and proud. and thankful and um. honestly a little turned on but hes desperately trying to rein that in (is it morally wrong to want to bone your husband when hes in labour? thoughts for another day) anyway this is all to say sirius drives james back home with james shouting at him from the back YOU DID THIS TO ME!!! FUCK YOU!!!!!!! and other incoherent noises of extreme pain

LMAOOO this is peak drama and I’m living for it. I think you nailed their characterisation as well: James being a tiny bit oblivious towards the implications of his actions, Sirius keeping an eye on him at all times; James doing whatever he pleases and Sirius just going along with it. Going into labour in a public place is such a James thing to do. He loooves showing off and being the centre of attention so even during literal labour I doubt he would be too bothered by the staring and so on. The Walburga and Orion cameo is hilarious I think James would react exactly like you said. He’s shown having a strong sense of morality: in SWM he refuses to say the word mud blood, and he did save Snape albeit for undetermined reasons. He would just have to get the last word in with his husband’s shitty parents.

During labour as well I imagine he just starts screaming insults at Sirius like it’s going out of style. He’d say stuff like “I should’ve never let you cum inside fuck you and your pretty boy looks” and Sirius is like. Holding back his laughter and he kinda hates himself for it because his husbands going into labour, he needs to be serious! But James just keeps saying the most ridiculous things and he has to excuse himself for a second before he starts howling in laughter. I also think Sirius is the type to talk James through it if he was allowed in the room while James is giving birth. He would brush the hair away from his face and say “cmon, darling, almost there now. I can see the head coming through.”

[pesterloglog]

Gamzee Makara, Dave Strider

Act 5, page 4027-4031

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG]

TC: it's all your fault.

TG: ?

TC: IT'S ALL YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN FAULT.

TC: honk.

TG: ok

TC: YOU ALL CRACKED OFF THE TOP OF THE BOTTLE TO THOSE FUCKIN CLOWN IMPOSTORS.

TC: that all were spraying out the flagrant motherfuckin heresies at me.

TC: THE FLAGRANT MOTHER FUCKING HERESIES MOTHER FUCKER.

TC: is what came out from their mouths, it made me get my sadness on to see it.

TC: AND MY RAGE ON FUCKING HARDER.

TG: im sorry

TC: all my life i believed at a fuckin paradise to come what held the most baller, darkest of carnivals to join.

TC: AND A PROPHECY

TC: to tell all about a band of rowdy and capricious minstrels steeped in the good harshwhimsy.

TC: THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS WERE FORETOLD TO BE CRASHING THAT FUCKING PIE STAND AND BRING THE HOLY RUCKUS.

TC: like a giddy fuckin ninja one wheeling head long at the hugest fuckin horn heap shangri la's got to see.

TC: I'M TALKING ABOUT THE VAST HONK, YOU BLASPHEMOUS MOTHERFUCKER.

TC: what i believed in it to be was so beautiful, us and them all mellowing in tents, bumpin sounds, tossing back the faygo and soaking the miracles up our faith sponges, while the special stardust rained down at our elixir sticky faces, like a bunch a fuckin fairy powder from religion space.

TC: IT WAS GOING TO BE US AND MOTHER FUCKING THEM.

TC: them and mother fuckin us. :o(

TG: this is like

TG: some trolling schtick right

TG: this icp shit

TC: BUT NOW.

TC: because of you.

TC: BECAUSE OF ALL YOU AND YOUR FUCKING OUTRAGEOUSNESS.

TC: you stole up all my miracles away by revealing at me how the wicked shit was really kicked.

TC: LIKE SOME FILTHY FUCKING SCIENSTIFF WHO AT OLD TIMES WOULD BE RULED UNFUNNY WITHOUT EVEN GETTING HIS FUCKING TRIAL ON.

TC: and now i don't know what to think about the spiritual fantasies i had.

TC: HONK )o:

TG: hahaha

TG: best troll ever

TG: i dont even care if you're really into this stuff or not its awesome

TC: uhhhhh, what stuff?

TG: like

TG: horrorcore

TG: lame clown rap and stuff

TC: >:o?

TG: dude are you an actual juggalo or not

TC: bro, that word you used isn't nothing real i've heard of.

TC: IT STRIKES AT ME AS ANOTHER HERETICAL FUCKING BASTARDIZATION OF SOME SACRED SHIT I TAKE SERIOUSLY IN MY PUMP BISCUIT.

TC: i mean i guess, took seriously.

TG: hahahahaha

TG: do you really not know what im talking about

TC: I HAVE THE IDEA THAT YOU PUT IN MY PAN TO SIT THERE.

TC: that the paradise planet

TC: IS A FUCKING JOKE.

TC: and the miracles

TC: ARE FAKE.

TC: pure fiction.

TC: FALSE FAKEY FRAUDY CON JOBS FROM A BUNCH OF UNFUNNY NINJA HARLEQUIN BULLSHIT ARTISTS.

TG: ahaha

TG: i cant even tell if youre trying to troll me with this or if you actually are having some weird emotional problem

TC: can't it be motherfuckin

TC: BOTH THINGS.

TG: ok im telling you

TG: you need to watch this video

TG: the song isnt even supposed to be released for another year or something

TG: but i got it from an inside source

TG: this is as hot as it gets

TG: hang on lemme dig it up

TC: no.

TC: MOTHER FUCK NO, BRO.

TC: i'm not looking on any more of your blasphmemes.

TC: I REALLY JUST CAME BACK ON YOU TO MOTHER FUCKING SAY.

TC: that while that sickening noise you did at me is your fault

TC: THERE'S SOMETHING I DID AT YOU WHAT'S MINE.

TC: i did something that's motherfucking atrocious to your posse.

TC: MADE YOUR WHOLE CREW OF JOKERS GET TO BEING KINDA MENTALLY MOTHER FUCKIN

TC: unstable.

TC: IN FUCKING FACT

TC: that atrocious business i got to doing

TC: I DID THAT SHIT TO YOUR WHOLE UNIVERSE AS A MATTER OF MOTHER FUCKING FACT.

TC: you see

TC: YOU MOTHER FUCKIN SEE

TC: i finally got all caught up in what's true behind the sweet murdermirth of the bitchin bloodcircus.

TC: I REACHED DEEP DOWN AND GOT AT WHERE ALL THE REAL HARSHWHIMSIES WERE HIDING INSIDE ME.

TC: in the angriest ways i found up my dark ancestral chucklevoodoos within.

TC: AND THEN

TC: i focused on them through the rage you made me have

TC: AND I WENT AND MADE YOUR UNIVERSE...

TC: terminal. Bo)

TG: none of that really meant anything but ok

TG: also you have me confused for somebody else we never talked

TG: i guarantee i would have remembered you

TC: ALL THAT MOTHER FUCKIN MATTERS IS I REMEMBER YOU AND WHAT YOU DID.

TC: i'm just all letting you in on the ways i set the high justice in motion.

TC: MADE US MOTHERFUCKING SQUARE, YOU AND ME.

TC: me and you.

TG: thats cool juggalo guy who i still cant quite tell is ironic about this or not

TG: but like i said either way its all good

TC: HAHAHAHAHA, YOU DON'T MOTHER FUCKING BELIEVE.

TC: you need to get more spirituality into your superstition ghost.

TC: LIKE THE MOTHERFUCKING FAITHCHUMP THAT WHAT I WAS.

TC: as if i'd forget to do my chucklevoodoos to you too.

TC: TO FUCK UP YOUR DREAMS.

TC: make your worst fears come alive and get up on their haunts in your naphappy pan.

TG: what

TG: what fears

TC: YOU MOTHER FUCKING KNOW, BROTHER.

TC: its the fuckin puppet.

TC: THE ONE THAT'S ALL GOT TO BE MY BEST FUCKING FRIEND I GOT NOW.

TC: now that my other buddy managed to be having his head chopped off. :oC

TG: oh god

TG: did my bro put you up to this

TG: i should have guessed he might have a hand in some of these shitty trolling escapades

TC: YOUR BRO'S DEAD BRO.

TC: couldn't keep my new friend captive no more.

TC: RELEASED YOUR NIGHTMARES RIGHT INTO MY WARM FUCKING EMBRACE.

TC: and now i listen at what they whisper through my hear ducts.

TG: hahaha jesus

TG: you are fucking insane

TC: I'M ALL HEARING THESE AMAZING MOTHERFUCKIN THINGS.

TC: i think he'll help me refigure out what's the real reality about the miracles.

TC: HE'LL HELP ME TO MOTHER FUCKIN DISCOVER THE TRUTH OF WHO THE MESSIAHS ARE.

TC: the real messiahs, not the false mess a lies, hahahahaha.

TC: HONK.

TG: so

TG: my bros idiotic ventriloquist dummy is responsible for this schizophrenic bullshit

TG: is that what youre saying

TC: motherfuuuuuck yes, bro.

TG: what else does he say

TC: HE SAYS

TC: all in this funny little voice

TC: THAT IS SO

TC: very

TC: VERY

TC: very

TC: VERY

TC: quiet

TC: THAT

TC: it's time

TC: TO GO

TC: mother

TC: FUCKING

TC: kill

TC: THEM

TC: all.

TG: welp

TG: that sounds about right

TG: better do what he says dude

TC: YEAH.

TC: hahaha, here was i to come at you with all these unruly upbraids i got pent up.

TC: WHEN YOU KNOW MOTHERFUCKIN WHAT?

TC: i should be gettin grateful to you for sharing at me your way ridic heresies, brother.

TC: THE ROAD TO THE DARK CARNIVAL HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN PAVED WITH LOUDER HONK HORNS TO TREAD UPON.

TC: and scare the living motherfuck out of the lowblood faithless with each step. ;o)

TG: hahahahahahahaha

TG: you are either literally an insane psychopathic murderer or some kind of trolling savant

TG: time to block you now but lets do this again ok

TC: YOU FUCKIN KNOW IT, BRO.

TC: i like you.

TC: WOULDN'T MIND TAKING THAT PALE MARSHMALLOW YOU GOT AS A NUGBONE OFF YOUR SHOULDERS.

TC: for this collection i got started on.

TC: ADD A LITTLE STRAWBERRY JAM TO THIS PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH I'M MAKING BETWEEN MY MOTHER FUCKING LIPS.

TG: holy shit

TC: hey, before you go

TC: HOW ABOUT THAT WE

TC: slam a little. ;oD

TG: uh

They both then proceeded to have one of the best rap-offs in the history of paradox space.

[samioli]

Gosh the more I hear about DD the more I’m like I’m so glad I’m still playing Apollo Justice. Uhhhhh oh! Top five or three if your personal NRMT Headcanons and maybe one or two of your HCs for Phoenix and Miles by themselves? I saw a post earlier about like hard and soft HCs, hard being stuff you just need to have about the character for them to make sense to you and soft is less rude or die but something you still enjoy.

I guess one for me is the Bi Phoenix / realizing he’s also attracted to men. It’s not a deal breaker really but if a fic went out of its way to say he was only gay I might squint a little like mmmmm not a fan but you do you

And then a soft one is him having heterochromia. I can flow with his big brown puppy dog eyes but despite recent set him having two blue eyes isn’t Bad. But it’s one of those things I never noticed until someone said it and I saw they changed Maya to have blue eyes too and THAT feels wrong haha (no hate to blue eyed Maya-truthers)

yeah, dont get me wrong, theres still some REALLY GOOD NRMT moments in DD (like if u present phoenix's badge to miles, for instance) but that combined with that one quote i mentioned earlier just. does not make sense to me.

anyways! hmmmm interesting. i guess for NRMT, one HC is like, i dont like when miles is REALLY mean, esp during sex???? thats probably just a me preference but idk, like. a lil degradation is fine but they both should be having fun, yknow?? and sometimes i see miles depicted like he doesnt really care or that phoenix has to fight for his attention during sex, and while kink stuff like that is totally fine, i just don't personally see it for them in particular. these two are so obsessed with each other that it makes other people sick. one hard HC would be that Miles is super supportive of phoenix during the 7yg. they def had some ups and downs during that time, but miles was always there for him. ALSO a side hc, i HATE when people think miles would be disgusted by how phoenix looks?????? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! are you kidding?? miles wants to touch his stubble SO BADLY and he thinks phoenix looks hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! end ted talk last hc would be that, even if he says otherwise, miles loooooooooooooooooooooooooooves phoenix's voice and how much he talks. loves it. cannot get enough of it. one time they get into a fight and phoenix doesnt talk to him for like. idk, an hour or two tops and hes just like 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺internally. and god dont get me started about sex!!!!! he esp loves phoenix's voice and talkativeness during sex two headcanons for Miles Edgeworth: that he's nuerodivergent in some way, i guess. im partial to him being autistic, but its all great tbh. and another headcanon for him would be that he actually has the biggest sweet tooth and won't admit it Two headcanons for phoenix: He has BPD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and desperately needs to go to therapy for his issues my god. (i have BPD, been in therapy for a long time, im a whole lot better than what i used to be jsdnsjkd) OH and he also has adhd. hes just like me fr thank you so much for the ask!!! im sorry that i rambled jsaknsdk

[sharksa-shivers]

OH DAMN, SOME MEFORIA CONTENT??? O SHIT LOL...

(We see Nucleo stuck in one of the shadowdemon dungeons, he seems very fuckin uhhhh, not pleased, and this'd be due to shadowcult members finding out where he lives and waiting til he got home from work, so he's still like dressed in his work clothes and shit, oof…)

Meforia:(we see her trying to be nice and actually like…Courteous towards him, she gives a smile)Soooooo, uhhhhh, i guess…Anything i can get you or?

Nucleo:(annoyed)I mean…You could let me out and let me go the hell home…We could start there…

Meforia:(gives him a kinda sad look)Yeahhhhhh, so…I can't do that, sorry…Uhhhh, anything else i could maybe do or?

Nucleo:(just gives her a weird look)Why the hell are you asking me that??? Don't you literally want to kill me???

Meforia:(sighs)No, i don't. Look, i'm sorry, i just need you here basically for bait. I literally just need firebitch to show up, okay?

Nucleo:(annoyed)She's not gonna come here herself, she's gonna fucking send The Trio kids, fucking hell…

Meforia:(smirks)That'll work too! I just need that damn amulet off of Kristy!

Nucleo:(we see him get defensive)I swear to Neptune, you hurt any of them, im not the strongest mer but i promise you, i'll fuckin fight full power over them!!!

Meforia:(rolls her eyes)I'm nottttttt, i don't want to hurt them, i don't want to hurt or kill you or anybody else, i just want the damn amulet…

Nucleo:(glaring)Ok, cmon, we both know that's bullshit, you're just as on board with murder as anybody else here, don't fuckin lie, cmon…

Meforia:(she stares at him)No i'm not, the hell do you mean???

Nucleo:(surprised at her seeming lack of self awareness)…You want to bring back Demon Drop yeah?

Meforia:(nods)Of course i do!!! I love him!!! Nucleo:(slouches back, arms crossed)The hell do you think the outcome of that's ACTUALLY going to be? We both know what he wants…

Meforia:(getting awkward)I…

Nucleo:(obviously not happy)You say you don't want to kill me or hurt Kristy but like…You KNOW he WILL if he comes back and gets power. So how the hell is that any better or any different?

Meforia:(we see her thinking, Nucleo just staring at her, his forest green eyes just glaring)���….Okay, how about this, uhhhhh, i can't…Really…Promise this fully through but maybe i can talk Demon into sparing you, huh???? How's that???

Nucleo:(glaring, anger in his eyes)I don't want to live in a world where everyone i know and care about is fucking dead. I don't want my friends or family, or fuck, even strangers hurt and killed by you assholes…

Meforia:(she feels bad and awkward, sighing)…I…I'm sorry, i just…I'm sorry…

Nucleo:(pissed off)No you aren't because if you were, you'd call all this shit off but we both know you fucking won't!!!! Fucking christ, if you're gonna leave me alive, then do me the favor and leave me alone, wouldja? Fucking hell…(slumps tiredly and pissed)

(We see Meforia just stare, feeling bad but she brushes it off and turns, leaving the dungeon area and Nucleo alone…) ----------- (I really do need more Meforia stuff, smh...) Idk if i am 100% happy with this but i do like it so i shall share lol (points once again to the disclaimer on my page that everything is subject to change...Also this one is kinda older, like several years so...Yeah...) But i'm p sure i said before...OH is morally grey...But Meforia is too... OH is somebody who's trying to be a hero who seemingly does and has done quite alot of questionable and not good shit in her quest for that goodness. (Like...Idk, kidnapping a random teenager to save the world...Yknow, like that lol...Like yes, she's causing irreversable harm to this one person mentally...But it's for the fate of the entire world and...Surely Kristy would be much more miserable if the demons win in the end no?) Meforia is the opposite. She's obviously been through her own shit and struggles and...All her heartbreak upon losing Demon Drop with him being banished by OH and Purple Fin, well...Now she's doing awful shit to get him back. Sure, she doesn't hate mortals directly herself, hell, you could probably get her to befriend some...But........Well.........Demon Drop kinda wants to wipe out every single thing with a pulse so...I mean...Bringing him back brings that sort of danger level back now doesn't it? Other antagonists we'll see in Kidnapped are just straight up bastards but Meforia is one who...I feel is interesting to play around with...How far is she willing to go for Demon Drop? Could she ever sway herself enough to get out of the cult? (Probably not at this point easily since she's the Queen of the Shadowdemons in Demon Drop's absense...The cult probably will not take kindly to the queen stepping out of line...) Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah, yknow lolololol, It's not just The Trio and The Trio defs aren't the only characters who have arcs and developments and whatnot... Also!!! Cuz i feel like it might be asked You say it Mah-for-ia=Meforia Just for clarification lol...

Also incredibly old art and i ABSOLUTELY need to draw her again soon, here's a pic of Meforia as a refresher... (would've posted the actual image but i am presuming it is too big...idk, won't let me so you get a link instead to some super oldass art...Ik it's old but at least you'll get some idea of her design lol...) Also Meforia isn't a shadowdemon, she's a shapeshifter as a reminder as well!! (and shapeshifters are more rare and hard to find so yeah, fun lol)

I'll find some more posts with her later, maybeeeeee more up to date dialog stuff lol XD

[jasmineaoi]

Hmmm

I gotta admit, for my case, if you ask me to prove my case on why i like og!cale. Tells you everything amazing about him and why he's endearing, i wouldnt be able to. 1: i havent read the full story yet, 2: im shit in arguments, 3; there's really not that much author-nim gives tbh.

I think others fans of him would give much more valid arguments, im sure you've seen it too.

For me, it's just when i found him, i just clicked. When i found him i just got endeared really fast. Reasons on why i love him are things that's really small and maybe not really significant.

Reasons i love him:

-he loves his family wholely to the point of using himself

-his current personality (especially the smiley n cheeky)

-manipulative (especially about controlling public)

-perseverance

-a good actor (reason for a whole lots of imagined scenes for me to daydream heheh)

-his background story

If you ask me, i never really put his sacrifice heavily in "reasons why i like him"(im not undermining others!). So yes, compared to him, there are many others(from many novels/comics too) who have the same characteristics and actually proven to be love.

In conclusion, you could say i just, JUST, love him. That's all.

Though, dont take my words heavily. I have many cases where i fall in love with the supporting or background charas first instead of the mcs.

As for "what did og cale sacrifice?". I agreed with all of the post above. And yes, as it stands for now(excuse me, that's just my bias talking i admit), it's really cruel of him to wash his hands off rensponsibility and pushed an innocent man instead. In blatant terms, yes he only sacrifice his identity.

However (excuse me), for me in my heart, he gives up all of his chances in everything related to that world through that deal. (ofc, the "a connection through the guide given to him after that" argument can make this invalid). I may be wrong, but i have to say, og!cale loses everything and nothing at once (may be my rose glasses talking, but understanding ogcale really needs a lot of surgery, there's not much to be based off after all). His niece whom he adopts wasnt his mom anyway without the memories. He lets go of his family in order to save them which is funnily ironic.

And the deal was about transmigration. Og!cale may have the skill to turn the deal into regression, but then krs!cale wouldnt be brought over. Maybe GoD can instead bring him over like Choihan, but then why didnt he? Though, a case of ogcale being able to include himself in some way in current lcf plot would be interesting(if we take krs cale having to change body to break his curse). Ohhhh okay wow, that's a whole new story in the making! (why am i getting excited right here....haha..)

All cales are lying liars, and GoD cant really be hoped much for context (based on what i see on other's reactions so far).

Uhhhhh, i talk too much. I apologise if i offend anyone. Idk what to say anymore and there may be contradictions appearing in this post, sorry about that.

To finish this of;

1 Krs!cale IS an amazing mc alright.

2 I like my small space of ogcale loving situation. (But! I swear i never undermined krs!cale! I also finds it hard seeing ogcale resembling cale.)

3 rather then comparing them, i quite like to see the cales together.

4 this can be a reason too: finding ogcale changes my view of transmigration plot setting. Now everytime i found one, i cant help but inevitably thought of the original souls. Thus, making me avoid stories with that as off lately. Whether this good or bad news, idk. It never bother my life flow much.

5 it's really nice of you to try finding ogcale's lovability.

Really thank you, love yah. (´∀｀)♡

Take care of yourself! Have a nice day!

What did Og!Cale sacrifice?

Genuine question...

Hear me out;

I'm reading the latest chapter of 'In an Instant' by Messy_haired_bum and something just clicked in my head.

See, I know that the Og!Cale is a fan favorite, something that I didn't really understand because we don't know a whole lot about the guy, but there's just something that's been stopping me from getting enamored with him via various fanfictions I've read even though they've made the Og!Cale very lovable, and I didn't really know what it was, for a long time, until now.

There are various posts circulating around saying that Og!Cale sacrificed himself greatly with the deal he made with the GoD, and at a time, I believed that. But... reading this chapter opened my eyes and made me think, what did Og!Cale sacrificed?

What did he sacrifice that he didn't already lose?

A lot of ppl say that Og!Cale lost everything to be KRS but the only thing he had left was his identity. That's... not a lot to be honest. Not enough, actually.

Now, I can hear y'all thinking "Current!Cale got his wealth, backing, and a family–", but so did Current!KRS.

Current!KRS also didn't need to deal with a world war involving a megalomaniac, entire enemy nations, and a literal divine being.

Og!Cale was a foot soldier for 40 years, most likely didn't help a lot against Arm and The White Star, and he died without any (known) great feats but he's given such an amazing opportunity to take over the body of someone that'll need to deal with all those problems? An opportunity of rebirth that even Lee Soo Hyuk wasn't given until he gave one up of his abilities to help seal a deity?

He knows he couldn't shoulder the burden of saving the world so he just... washed his hands off that responsibility... And then occupied the body of a high-ranking well-known individual to then go off and get a happy ending with his reincarnated mom.

As the excerpt above said, it's a win-win for him, he doesn't get soul-crushing responsibilities, he gets a high-ranking position that grants him power, he can deal with the learning curve due to being given Og!KRS's abilities and having an actual reliable guide, and he gets to be back with his mom.

And...

... If Current!Cale ever fails?

He can just shrug and say it's not his problem anymore.

He's got his new happy life now. (I'm not saying he will, I'm just saying he could, if he was a lesser man)

Current!Cale lost everything he had too, all the fruits of his labors, the results of him dealing with all sorts of issues and problems for years, just... taken away by a stranger in his body. You can say KRS!Cale wasn't really happy, that Og!Cale didn't know if the body he'll end up in would be okay, that he gambled with his life in taking over Og!KRS's life.

Life that... he was about to lose anyways.

It just wasn't fair...

If we ignore the fact the KRS!Cale is literally thriving and just look subjectively at the situation of the body switch, KRS!Cale got the short end of the bloody, hellish, rotting stick.

I can only get closure if I personally find out if Og!Cale ever gave a fuck about the uninvolved, innocent guy that he sent to deal with a 20 year war, and not in the 'Is he doing the saving he's supposed to?' typa way, I want to find out if he ever feels guilty of the responsibility that he gave the man, if he ever worries for KRS!Cale's personal safety and mental health, for putting an innocent man through war. An innocent man that couldn't just stand by, as the world he found himself in, burns around him.

I don't want to dislike the current KRS, I want to love him actually, but this is my current perspective on the matter and you guys are free to share yours so that I can broaden my mindset about Og!Cale (pls do, I wanna like the guy but I wanna know if he's a good guy first, I wanna know why ppl love him so I can love him as well)

[seiun-glows]

Quotes from Danny Phantom exe that live rent free in my head because they’re too good (part two)

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Hero: “when were you going to tell me youre seeing him again?”

Villain: “seeing who?”

Hero: “you know what Im talking about. Please dont do this.”

Villain: “No, Hero, I legitimately do not know what youre talking about. Please explain- elaborate.”

Hero: “Dont play dumb, please. I really dont wanna do this.”

Villain: “Hero, I would love to talk about this, I just need to know what we’re talking about first.”

Hero: “we’re really gonna do this? Okay. Fine. When were you gonna tell me you were going to therapy again?”

Villain: “this is about my therapist.??”

Hero: “yes.. because your therapist- IS PHILIP!”

Philip (villain’s henchman): “Hi Mr. Villain slash Client!! :D Hi Mr. Hero!”

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Villain: “IM SORRY I WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY FEELINGS!”

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Philip: “wait.. you kidnapped me.. and youre holding me for ransom?”

Random: “Yeah! And your family’s gonna give us a lot of money to get you back!”

Philip: *laughing and smiling*

Random: “what— whats so funny?”

Philip: “do you know who my boss is?” *still laughing*

Random: “uhhhhh.. no? Should we.?”

Philip: “OH MY GOD! YOURE SO SCREWED!”

Random: “SHUT UP! U-UH- WHO’S YOUR BOSS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!”

Philip: “Oh and dont forget about uncle Hero too!” *laughs* “Oh you guys are so fucked!”

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Hero: *talking about Villain not being back from getting food* “said he’d be back in 45 minutes, then he left!”

Connor (heros sidecick): “okay, and how long has he been missing ?”

Hero: “He’s been gone.. 48 minutes.!”

Connor: O-O

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Hero: *being very dramatic thinking Villain died during previous quote*

Villain: “uhm is.. everything alright..Connor?”

Connor: “oh everything’s fine now, he’s just being dramatic.”

Villain: “isnt he always?”

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Cop: “dont worry you’ve done nothing wrong, youre prefect.”

Hero: “.. ok thanks..” O-O

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Cop: “FUCK this Villain- FUCK HIM!”

Hero: *silence*… “Is that a… Order.?”

Cop: “what?”

Hero: “nothing!” ‘O-O

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*philip and villain being sick*

Hero: “hey philip buddy, you okay?”

Villain: “He’s fine, I just gave him some Melatonin.”

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*Philip and Villain trying to get Connor to say where the Hero is*

Connor: “I promised the Hero I wouldnt!”

Philip: *in a more flirty/seductive/villain like voice* “oh promise? You really thought you could hide something from me, baby?”

Connor: O-O “whats happening.?”

Philip: “how ‘bout I make you a promise? I promise, that I’ll let you do whatever you want to me, if you tell me where the Hero is, okay?”

Connor: “Philip- oh my god- in front of the villain.?”

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(Part of last quote)

Connor: “okay, I’ll tell you. But tell me one thing first: why do you wanna know where he is so bad?”

Philip: *in his normal voice* “oh- you didnt know? It’s their anniversary. They’re goin to dinner! They thought it would be funny, if it was like a little game and stuff so they would torture you..”

Connor: “YOU WERE TORTURING ME FOR DINNER?!”

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Connor: “speaking of ripping each others shirts off.. uh.. wanna head back to my place and we can ‘fight’ a little bit?”

Philip: “Oh I’d- I’d love to come back to your place, but I dont know if I really wanna do.. that..tonight…”

Connor: “oh! Yeah of course! We can just hang out, 100%!”

Philip: “.. really? Youre— youre not mad?”

Connor: “why would I be mad?”

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(Again- all credits to the creator, link to vid is below)

[p-taryn-dactyl]

oolong, white tea, dr. pepper, latte, chocolate milkshake, orange juice, red bull(gives you wings -cough-), nutella milkshake, cherry milkshake (look cartoons are amazing and good ones can be hard to find).

oolong (What did you want to be when you were small?):

ooooooo I wanted to be a lot of things lol. mostly an author or artist, at one point I watched a bit too much HGTV and wanted to be an interior designer but for the sake of all homes out there, that dream went out the window. I also wanted to be a superhero, that was a fun phase.

white tea (What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?) :

listening to Taylor Swift, getting a text from a friend/my crush, eating my favorite food (dumplings), a hug from my dad. ik thats more than one but what can I say, a bunch of stuff makes me happy :)

dr. pepper (Which habit are you proudest of breaking?):

oh uhhhhh, lets see. have I broken any habits probably drinking three energy drinks a day, that was a...rough time

latte (What did you think was cool then, when you were a kid but isn’t cool now?)

captain America. I mean...does this mean what I thought was cool but I don't anymore or like socially? would having a flip phone count then? idk I always wanted one, to live my Chris pine dream. crimping hair. captain America. straightening my hair except that one patch at the back. knowing every big time rush song. captain America.

chocolate milkshake (If you could ask advice from any book character, who would it be?):

oh this is a hard one whoa. probably sally Jackson from Percy Jackson bc she seems like she gives the best advice and would be so comforting! or Jesus, from you know, the Bible. such a chill guy, would probably help me solve my problems then build me a chair

orange juice (What is your favourite item of clothing?):

I really like pants. like the pleated ones. or a cardigan. or my combat boots. do rings count? also like a nice hoodie or sweatshirt.

red bull (If you had a theme song, what would it be?):

oh shit nuggets. probably anything from conan gray's discography like best friend or crush culture?? maybe a Taylor Swift song bc I already associate myself with so many of her lyrics. most likely better than revenge or no body, no crime. this is a hard question and I will be thinking about it for the rest of the night

nutella milkshake (The house is on fire, but everyone is safely out, the pets are safely out, and all wallets/cash are saved. If you could make one last dash to get something, what would it be?):

knowing myself it would probably be my computer since I always have my phone on me. but also, I would probably try and save a journal of mine or a book that holds a lot of significance to me, like Percy Jackson or A Silver Thimble, which is a book my aunt gave me a while ago. or a picture of my family/gigi, if im feeling sentimental enough

cherry milkshake (What cartoon do you still like to watch?):

(you're right, it is hard to find some good cartoons) maybe looney tunes? or tom and jerry? or that one show on Netflix with the mermaid and shark? she-ra? the animated batman show? honestly I don't watch a lot of cartoons anymore bc I haven't been able to find a show that captivates me on the same level that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse did when I was five. Oh wait those older Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts are really good, really funny, definitely would watch them again over and over.

thank you so much for the ask!! sorry if my answers are a bit weird, I think my pain meds kicked in and made my brain kinda fuzzy. but anyways, this was fun!! thank you!!