#if i actually enjoyed coloring i would be unstoppable

[greywardens]

how do y’all enjoy coloring. I am in Agony every time i get to the coloring stage. So so much fun sketching and lining and then coloring comes in and reminds me, “oh yeah that’s why i have 8 abandoned wips”

[beautifulfuckup99]

How about an insecure reader who thinks she is unworthy of love and keeps pushing JK away and wants to keep it just friends but he doesnt care and snaps one night showing her how much he wants her 🤭😉

Awe! So cute! Got you right now! Lol

Title: I can handle it

Warning(s): Talks of body weight, Insecure!Y/N, Face-S!tting, Dom!Jungkook, D!rty Talk, Spank!ng, Some Hair Pull!ng, Curs!ng, and some well-earned fluff!

Author's Note: So this will follow a curvy and/or plus sized Y/N because as a fellow 'big girl', I know we deserve some damn good smut too! Hope you enjoy! Oh! And this will be and "Idol!AU"...

*************************************

Monday:

"Jungkook, stop!" You snap, finally fed up with today as you move out of his arms. "I'm not going." You declare as you walk back into your closet to change out of the dress. Tonight was nerve-wracking. Management had given Jungkook the green light to make a public outing with you in order to confirm that he was in fact in a relationship.

This would be your first introduction to ARMY, this giant mass of unstoppable force, that could make or break you and your relationship. And you were panicking.

"Y/N, what was wrong with that one?" Jungkook asks in the same calm and soft tone as he always had with you.

But how long would that last?

How long would he put up with you before realizing he could have literally anyone else? Famous or not.

You were spiraling now.

Just fucking great!

"I looked like a fucking pumpkin!" You say with an eyeroll. "Tell the guys I'm sorry, go out with them on your own. We'll do this reveal another time." You state and Jungkook frowns, walking into your closet to actually face you.

"First off..." He says, eyebrows knitted together in slight frustration. He would never let that out in his tone though. "Orange is a great color on you. And secondly, we can't keep putting this off..." He says as you rummage through your rack of clothes to try and find something. Nothing looked good enough.

"Baby, could you please just leave? I wanna change." You say, never a fan of changing in front of him. He rolls his eyes at that.

"Y/N, we've literally had sex before, yet I can never see you naked? It makes no sense." He sighs and you turn to him.

"Out, Jungkook. Now!" You order as you fuss at him. He sighs heavily before just giving in and leaving. There was always tomorrow...

Tuesday:

"Mm... Something smells good..." Jungkook says pleasantly as he wraps his arms around you from behind. You sigh deeply and move from his arms, not liking the feeling of his hands so close to your stomach.

"It's nothing special." You say casually and Jungkook frowns a bit at that and sighs softly before letting it go. He did that a lot when dealing with you. But you were worth that. Even if you never saw it that way...

"Oh? Nothing special, my ass. It smells like Samgyeopsal!" He laughs softly and it almost melts your icy demeanor. Keyword: almost.

"Wait till it's done, to see." You mutter and he laughs more.

"No. Let me see!" He says as he tries reaching over you to uncover the pan.

"Kookie, no! Let it be a surprise!" You laugh as you move in the way so he can't uncover the pan.

"Let me see!" He laughs as he starts to play fight with you.

"No! Go away, wait till dinner!" You fuss and gasp as you feel Jungkook wrap his arms around you and you feel him begin to lift you.

"No! Jungkook, put me down!" You practically shriek in panic. He's quick to put you down and you push him away. "Don't do that! You'll hurt yourself!" You say as you back away, feeling panicked. Hiding your body with baggy clothes was one thing, but having him always trying to grab you and hold you? God, it was like he'd find out, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was dating a plus-size woman. And you didn't want that.

"Y/N, calm down. I was joking. Plus, I lift more than that at the gym-" You cut him off.

"I don't care! Don't do that again!" You say and huff before storming away, leaving your boyfriend upset and hurt in the kitchen.

Wednesday:

"What are you looking at?" You scrunch your nose as Jungkook gets comfy on the end of your bed, watching you as you read your chapter for the night.

"Just... Watching my beautiful, smart girlfriend read." He chuckles softly and you shift at that.

"Don't be weird." You mutter as you go back to reading.

You had this theory going. See, if you let yourself fall for Jungkook and all his sweet words, you'll only feel stupid when he finally comes to his senses and leaves you. So, acting cold and nonchalant? At least you could act like you don't care when he breaks up with you. And what's better is he'll never get the satisfaction of knowing he hurt you! It was the perfect plan!

"Why do you do that? Just take the compliment..." He sighs and you look up from your book at face him and breathe deeply. You knew you didn't have much time with him left. He only had this week off, hence why he wanted to come out publicly with you this week...

"No." You say finally and shut your book. He sighs and moves closer to you, gently touching your thigh and you grab his hand. "Night, Jungkook." You say simply and he sighs.

Thursday:

"Hey, baby. Good work out today?" You ask gently as Jungkook comes bouncing into your apartment.

"Yeah! It was great. You should come with me next time to-" You cut him off.

"I like working out alone." You state fast. Last thing you wanted was for your, very toned, boyfriend to watch you run on a treadmill for an entire hour.

"Well, I just thought-" You cut him off again.

"I like my privacy." You say and walk past him to go to your room.

"Y/N... Come on, I... I just think It'll be cool for you to watch me!" He tries as you shut the bedroom door. He groans and rubs his still sweaty face. He sighs and shakes his head. "Ok. I'll cook dinner tonight?" He calls with no response. "Ok. Got it..." He mutters and shakes his head.

Friday:

"Oh! Here." Jungkook says as he tries pouring more noodles into your bowl and you're fast to pull it away.

"No! I'm good." You assure fast as you shake your head.

"But you only had a little bit." He argues gently as he tries again.

"No, Jungkook. It's not like I need the extra food." You snort, trying to make light of your appearance. He frowns.

"What does that mean? Food is food." He says and you hum at that. "Y/N, I don't like when you-" You cut him off.

"Tell the truth?" You raise an eyebrow. "Jungkook, you look fucking amazing. That's a given." You state. "I don't, and that's just as obvious." You shrug.

"Y/N!" He says just as offended as he'd be if you were to make fun of him. "What's been going on with you this week? Ever since I brought up going public with you, you've been-" You cut him off again.

"A bitch?" You ask. You couldn't explain the attitude change. Maybe a part of you was hoping to tire Jungkook out enough for him to leave you? Maybe you were hoping to spend this whole week picking fights with him so you wouldn't have to go public with him? And then he'd go back to Korea and you two could go back to skype calls and long text messages instead.

"No! Y/N, stop." He says, shaking his head. "You're fucking perfect the way you are. I love you. Stop acting so... Cold." He says and you watch him closely and feel your heart clench at the fear of letting yourself believe him. You couldn't.

"I'm gonna go wash dishes." You state and get up, walking off.

Saturday:

"No. No this is all wrong." You sigh as you eye yourself in the mirror.

"I think you look sexy." Jungkook smirks as he comes around to grab you from behind as your eyes stay glued to your stomach area that you could see through the tight black dress you had on.

"No. You can see... Everything. And it's so... tight." You pout a bit as you feel the cool metal of Jungkook's lip ring trail along your neck.

"So? We're going out to a bar. You look good." He encourages as he trails his lips towards your pulse point.

You feel the anxiety building up as you think about tonight. Going public, what that means for you both. The 'what if's pile on as you stand there.

What if he gets bored of you?

What if you guys don't last?

What if you get hurt?

What if it becomes clear to everyone that he can do so much better?

You couldn't do this...

You liked your relationship over the phone. Where it was safe. Where he was where he was, and you were where you were. Where he only saw what you wanted him to see. Where you could hide from him. It's always easier to love from afar. You get to use your imagination for the rest and fantasy is always better than reality.

You were spiraling again...

Just fucking great.

"No. I'm not doing this. I can't." You say finally and pull away. "I look horrible, I'm not going out like this." You state as you try moving away from Jungkook, only to be yanked back.

"Y/N, enough." He says and you move away from him.

"No! 'Enough' yourself! I'm not going!" You huff and turn to go to the closet. "My fat ass is sitting hom-" You're finally cut off by Jungkook.

"Stop talking about yourself like that, god damnit!" He finally snaps and you pause, never hearing that tone from him before.

"I am sick of you acting like this. You're so fucking sexy, and you wanna walk around like you're not? You're driving me fucking crazy. Come here." He orders as he pulls you right against him.

"Jungkook-" He cuts you off again.

"I don't wanna hear you anymore." He orders. "Do I make myself clear?" He asks firmly as he grabs your neck to make you look up at him. You feel your face heat up and you can only nod. You feel his strong arms wrap firmly around your waist before he lifts you up. You want to stop him, you want to warn him about your weight, but you can't speak as he takes you to the bed and tosses you back on the bed.

He grips your thighs. "So fucking sexy. I love your thighs and ass." He pants and turns you on to your stomach fast. You're stunned by the strength. "And all you wanna do is talk shit about the body I love..." He growls and smacks your ass cheek, groaning. "Fuck, I love watching it jiggle." He groans and you moan at the sting.

You feel your dress bunch up at your waist and look back at him as best as you can as he smacks your ass again. "Fuck, baby..." He whispers and grabs your hand, pulling it to his crutch.

"You feel how hard you get me? Hm? And you still think you're not perfect? Please." He scoffs as you shiver at the feel of his bulge under your hand. You can't help but open your legs more in anticipation.

He moves away from you and lays back on the bed. "Come here." He orders and you open your mouth, but he grabs your face. "Did I fucking say talk? Hm?" He whispers as he shakes your head for you as you moan out a soft 'no', loving how he controlled your body.

"No. I didn't. Shut the fuck up. And get on my fucking face." He orders and your eyes widen, but you move on top of him, mindful of your weight still.

You hover over his face, and he grips your hips. "I said sit." He whispers.

"Jungkook, I don't wanna-" He cuts you off.

"Why do you think I work out every day? Hm? I can handle you, Y/N. I want you smothering me." He orders and you blush hard.

"Jungkook... I... J-Just... Tap out if it gets too much..." You whisper and he snorts at that.

"I'm a man, Y/N. Tapping out is for wusses." He states.

"You say that till you pass out." You mutter, trying to joke too. He looks you right in the eyes.

"It'll be the best way to go. Now sit." He orders and you bite your lip, but slowly lower yourself on to his face more.

"Watch yourself. In the mirror. Watch how sexy you are..." He whispers against your underwear covered pussy. You nod and slowly look up at the mirror as you feel his mouth move between your pussy lips. You gasp softly and run your fingers through his hair as he teases your clit through your underwear and leaves bite marks along your inner thighs.

Soon, your underwear is pushed to the side as he focuses on sucking and licking your clit. You try and keep your eyes open, but you're a moaning mess as you feel him work his tongue deeper between your folds.

"Ah... Ah... Oh, baby!" You moan and feel his tongue wiggle towards your entrance, slowly sliding into you. His arms wrap around your thighs, and he pulls you harder against him. You can feel his nose on your clit and his tongue moving deeper inside of you, and it's as if he's smothering himself in your pussy.

Looking in the mirror by your bed, you can see your hair a mess, your dress bunched up around your waist, and Jungkook's hand undoing his belt as he lays under you.

You groan at the sight of him using one hand to pull out his cock that's already hard. He strokes it as he focuses on eating you out.

"Oh, baby!" You practically purr, never feeling so... desired before.

He moans deeply into your pussy, and you can't help but rock your hips against his face, gripping his hair more tightly. "So good! It's so good! Baby!" You moan as your head rolls back a bit. You can't lift yourself up from his face even if you wanted to. His tatted and solid arm was still wrapped tightly around your thigh to hold you on his face like an oxygen mask. Oh, the irony...

"I'm gonna cum!" You moan out loudly, unable to stop yourself. God, you loved feeling manhandled like this.

Hearing your moans and cries, Jungkook grips your hips with both hands, moving you more so you're riding his tongue and grinding against his nose, making a mess on his face. "Oh... My god, yes..." You whine as you feel it building effortlessly. You needed this release. And all at once, it hits you.

"Jungkook!" You call out as you cum hard on his face. He doesn't stop though. You squeak at the constant rubbing on your now sensitive clit and fall back on to the bed to lessen the pressure on your bundle of nerves, but Jungkook doesn't let go of your hips, and instead moves to lay on his stomach, still eating you out.

"Oh my god! Baby! T-Too... Too much!" You pant as your back aches at the aftershock.

"Mm... so fucking sweet..." He mumbles against your clit between heavy pants, your juices covering his face like a freakin face mask. It makes you blush as he kisses up your body. "Get on your stomach. Face the mirror." He orders.

"I get it, you like my body-" He cuts you off.

"Too late for that. I want it drilled into you." He says and forces you into that position.

You blush hard and try covering your face, but he's quick to smack your ass hard. "Look. Look at how pretty you get when I slide in." He pants in your ear, and you shiver and look in the mirror.

You gasp shakily as you feel him start to slide in. "Atta girl. Stay just like that..." He praises breathlessly and reaches around to hold your neck as he fucks you slow and deep. His hand moves to your chin and pulls your head back so you can look up at him.

"You like to overthink? Hm?" He whispers and you blush but nod, admitting to being so trapped in your own mind. "It's ok, baby. I'll just fuck your brains out." He assures quietly against your forehead in an innocent and comforting tone before he kisses your forehead.

You can't help but hum excitedly and feel his thick cock slide out of you slowly. He moans lowly as your walls clench around him. "Fuck, baby. Don't wanna let me go?" He taunts and you giggle breathlessly.

"Fuck no. You feel too good..." You shiver and he smacks your ass.

"Yeah? Beg." He whispers and you moan softly as he slowly slides back into you.

"Please. Please, I-I don't wanna think more. Fuck me. Fuck me, please, bab-" You're cut off by him grabbing your hair hard and making you look at the mirror.

"Look at you. You see how fucking pretty you are? Hm? Did I get it through your thick fucking skull yet?" He whispers in your ear before slamming into you deeply, which makes you scream out in pleasure.

"Yes! Yes! Yes, baby. Yes!" You call out as he starts fucking you roughly.

"Say sorry for being so mean." He growls in your ear as he pounds you relentlessly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, baby..." You whine, eyes rolling back as he starts hitting your spot. "Right! There! Oh my god!" You scream out as he keeps going, no desire to stop just yet, smirking at how he had turned you into a moaning mess.

"Fuck me back, baby. Let me watch that ass jiggle." He orders as he grabs your waist to pull your ass up. You shiver and start to fuck yourself on his thick cock as he smacks your now red ass cheek.

"Fuck yes. Bounce that ass on me, baby." He groans as you watch through the mirror as he watches your body in awe. He really did love you...

You feel your heart skip a beat. He did find you attractive. He did want you. And you had him wrapped around your finger with such ease. You'd spent all this time treating him wrong, to what cost? He was still here. He still wanted you. Who were you to get in his way?

"Kiss me." You shiver and he does just that, kissing you sloppily as your bodies move freely...

Sunday:

"Congratulations, you two! Beautiful couple, really." The paparazzi calls out as he snaps more photos of you as you hold Jungkook's hand tighter while being led out of the coffee shop you'd just finished having brunch at. You both smile sheepishly at the attention and say nothing, deciding that a statement wasn't needed...

You get in the back of the car first so Jungkook would have some time with his fans, to wave at them and such. You see different girls screaming to him about how much they love him and for a second you feel a tug to your heart. An ugly 'what if' trying to rear its ugly head. But instead, you just watch the man who had made love to you all night long last night and feel your breath return to normal.

You had nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing to worry about. Because you had a man who could handle all of you just fine.

And you could handle him too...

[lint-beetle4]

Eclipse (ShadowPeach Smut)

For a popular ship, there is a lot of potential with how powerful both of these monkeys are that I haven't seen explored much. I hope you enjoy!

Smut below

Every day and night, the sky would be met by the enticing light of the moon and the sun. Glowing in their powerful aura, they danced together as they watched over their domain. Yet, every few years or so, they would grow lonely, craving more than the occasional dance steps that they would greet by.

During these moments, gentle touches and whispers would greet them, love shining through the penumbra of their embrace.

Macaque was a vicious fighter, agile and cruel. He knew how to throw dirty blows and tricks that would make his opponents stumble. His counterpart, Wukong however, was smart, cheeky, able to have his opponents drive themselves mad in order to land a hit on the sage. Wukong used emotions and his own words to strike while Macaque bared his claws and lashed out with precision. Together, they were unstoppable; against the other, they were at a stalemate.

Macaque panted as him and Wukong sparred, his strength fleeting. Wukong seemed tired too, his fur drenched in sweat. It didn't help that it was a particularly humid summer day, but that wouldn't deter either of the warriors, weather was only an inconvenience never a game-changer. Wukong's staff stood firmly in his grasp, the stone monkey's tail lashing in his excitement.

"What's wrong, Macaque?" The prideful monkey grinned. "Giving up, already?"

Macaque grinned, shaking his head as he charged at Wukong, shadows changing the land before the two as Wukong fell, Macaque's cudgel blocking the king from rising up.

"Nah, I'm just getting started." The shadow demon smirked, looking down at Wukong's fallen form with satisfaction. "It seems I've won though, huh? Do you concede, Wukong? You don't have much of a choice anyways?"

The air was still, Wukong's eyes strong, yielding no signs of surrender. Wukong chuckled lowly, his feet kicking up to off-balance Macaque, the darker monkey quickly retreating as Wukong stood to his feet.

"How about we actually get started then, Macaque. This warm-ups been fun and all, but I want to see your true power."

Macaque grinned toothily, a near snarl as he stood straight, his posture braced for the quick movements Wukong seemed to be itching to fight back. The heat of the sun couldn't match the intense glare of the two monkeys, both eager to win over the other.

It was Sandy's idea, interestingly enough, to have them spar as a form of bonding. While neither was opposed, the two definitely have gotten into quarrels through the mountain as they fought, calls of cheating or foul play. Eventually, they decided that a fair fight is one where the only limit is serious harm to the opponent or the land around them.

Thus, the two exchanged blow after blow, rounds of fighting that seemed to barely drain the other. The sun had lowered further, and Wukong’s clones had thoroughly pinned Macaque to the ground, hot breaths tickling the shadow demon as Macaque panted, nearly heaving to catch his breath.

Macaque groaned against the clones, trying to move his body against the clones. Wukong stepped over to Macaque, a pleased smirk as his hand trailed along Macaque’s face, lifting the angered celestial monkey’s chin to meet his eyes.

“You could give up now, peaches, or we could be here all night? How about it?”

Macaque spat on the ground, sharp teeth bared at Wukong as he growled with piercing eyes towards the sage. “Do your worst, Great Sage, I’m never conceding.”

Wukong lifted an eyebrow, face leaning closer to Macaque’s. “Colors?”

“Red for stop, Yellow for pause, Green to keep going.” Macaque rolled his eyes, his expression softening briefly at Wukong. 

Wukong tapped on Macaque’s cheek, smirk returning to him. “Good boy.”

“What’s this all about, Wukong?” Macaque quickly returned to character, weakly struggling against the clones that looked at the monkey underneath them with hungry eyes. 

One of Wukong’s clones brushed against Macaque’s tail, trailing the sensitive nerves that connected to it. Macaque shivered underneath its touch, his expression never wavering.

“You’ll lose one way or another, Six-Eared Macaque.” Wukong nearly spat, another clone lifting Macaque slightly, hands groping at Macaque’s chest. “Until I hear those words, I’ll just keep toying with you.”

Macaque glared hardening, a blushing forming on his face as the hands fondled his chest, lightly pinching at his clothed nipples. Macaque sighed, hiding his moans from Wukong’s piercing expression.

“I–I’m not falling to your tricks, Great Sage.”

Wukong smirked, “Have it your way. All you need to do is beg, and I’ll be right here to fill all those needs of yours.”

Macaque whimpered lightly as the hands stroked his stomach, sliding through his clothes and peeling them off slowly. One of the clones had marked Macaque’s neck with deep bite marks, pulsating and radiating with pleasure and pain. Macaque gasped, feeling his outer shift being stripped away and mouths latching onto his chest like hungry cubs.

Wukong’s voice whispered to Macaque, deep and rumbling in Macaque’s sensitive ears.

“Look at you, writhing and squirming against my clones…Color?”

“Green,” Macaque moaned, his body slowly going limp as the various touches along his body overwhelmed him. They pressed hot against his fur, kissing and suckling that trailing through body while Macaque weakly struggled against the arms that held him in place. 

One clone was brave enough to go lower, tongue trailing along Macaque’s stomach, pressing kisses and light nips against his hips while avoiding the growing hunger that built in Macaque’s pants. Yet, Wukong merely watched as clones continued to overwhelm the celestial monkey, eyes hungry, nearly devouring the sight of Macaque weak against the sensational torment of Wukong’s clones.

“Mng,” Macaque groaned, mouth covered by a clone fiercely smashing his lips into Macaque’s, moans muffled as drool trailed down Macaque’s face. 

“Just one word, Macaque, and I’m all yours.”

Wukong’s voice teased him again, and Macaque pulled away from the clone, glaring at Wukong. 

“Fuck. You.”

Wukong huffed, an amused grin on his face. Wukong sat back, pulling out a half-erect cock in front of Macaque’s face. “Have it your way.”

With a simple gesture, the sage’s clones continued further, more aggressively as blood dripped down the various bite marks that littered Macaque’s body. Hands reached down to paw at Macaque’s erection, pants sliding off painfully slow as Macaque’s breath hitched at the cool dusk air hitting his pussy.

“What’re you–” Macaque yelped, feeling a hand lightly stroke against Macaque’s now wet cunt, throbbing and twitching for more sensation as rough skin and light touches sent shivers down Macaque’s spine.

Whispers of the clones filled Macaque’s ears, sour words and bitter chuckles that had Macaque twitching and groaning as he mewed weakly against the single hand that stroked him, teased him with the way it never pressed hard enough nor moved fast enough.

“So weak, like putty in our hands.”

“Getting off to clones? How laughable.”

“Does our touch replicate his so well? Enough for you to start moaning like a whore to a wealthy man?”

Macaque stuttered, breathing heavily against the warm bodies that enveloped him. “I–I’m not–”

“Sure you are,” Wukong’s voice growled in his ear, closer than Macaque had thought. “Just lose yourself, concede and I’ll give everything to you.”

Macaque moaned, eyes shut in the painful ecstasy that flowed through his body.

“Wukong,” Macaque’s voice shook heavily, his breaths ragged as Wukong’s face betrayed no emotion. “Wukong–I–”

“Tell me, Macaque.” Wukong’s voice slid easily through Macaque’s ears, silky and light. “What do you want?”

“I need you.” Macaque answered honestly, his tone begging as Macaque shivered once more, feeling himself getting close despite his craving for more touch–deeper, deeper, Macaque just needed them to go deeper. “I need you to–to breed me. Inside of me–I need you inside of me.”

Wukong’s chuckle sent waves of anticipation through Macaque’s body as footsteps and shuffling sounded around him. A new body pressed against Macaque, breath tickling him as Wukong’s tongue licks the shell of Macaque’s ear, nipping it lightly.

“As you wish,” Wukong’s smirk never left his voice, his member pressing up against Macaque’s pussy. “Color?”

“Wukong, for fuck’s sake–” Macaque yelled, turning back to Wukong while pressing his ass closer to the stone monkey. “Green, just fuck me already!”

Without a second thought, Wukong’s cock entered Macaque, Macaque groaning at the sudden entry, tightening against the member. Wukong didn’t stop for a second, hips thrusting aggressively against Macaque, grinding against him as the clones began to disappear one by one, leaving final bite marks against the panting monkey.

“Fuck–Gah,” Macaque moaned, arms now bracing against the ground as Wukong’s fangs latched onto Macaque’s shoulders. “Mng–Wukong–”

Wukong growled, possessive and controlling. Macaque’s moans grew louder, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as Wukong’s cock buried deep into Macaque’s cunt. 

A building warmth filled Macaque’s core as Wukong continued to senselessly pound into Macaque, claws scratching at the darker monkey’s fur as Wukong’s growls and chuffs continued to fill Macaque’s ears. Macaque’s arms were weak, being held up by Wukong as Macaque’s body was practically limp against Wukong.

“Macaque–” Wukong’s voice rasped against Macaque. “I’m–ghh–close.”

Macaque whimpered, feeling the rough pads of Wukong’s fingers rubbing against his clit. “Hnng, Wukong–Fuck–Inside, fill me up–I need your pups in me, Wukong–”

Macaque felt something snap inside of him, hot streams of cum pouring into his burning, raw pussy as his groans were nearly in sync with Wukong’s. Macaque felt Wukong pulsating in him, going flacid as he slowly drew out his dick, spreading Macaque’s cheeks to admire his work. Macaque’s legs gave out, shaking and weak as he slumped against the ground.

“You’ve lost.” Wukong’s voice was hoarse, rough against the darker sky that slowly became night.

Macaque growled, his teeth biting against his lip dangerous as Macaque’s tail thud against the ground. With a weak, quivering voice, Macaque spoke. “Fine, you win, Great Sage. I concede.” Wukong hummed, satisfied and proud of his win. Lifting himself off of Macaque, Wukong helped him up, carrying the exhausted shadow demon back to his hut while brushing off any remaining dust from the both of them.

“How many wins is that for you again? Like 8?” Macaque asked, fixing his scuffed clothes with shadows that tiredly mended his clothing.

Wukong shrugged, walking into his hut as he took out some fruits for him and Macaque to share. “I’m pretty sure we’re almost even though. Last time, you took me out pretty quickly.”

“That’s because you got distracted by one of your subjects borderline harassing me,” Macaque chuckled, laying down still sore from the thorough beating his body had taken. Wukong’s only response was an amused chuckle, sitting by Macaque as Wukong cuddled into him, a slight apology for being rougher than he wanted to be.

[ruruvxz]

Keeping it quiet 'til I hit back — California

The Woman Who Left Too Soon; Lara Raj, the lead singer and coveted music producer for Katseye, has never felt the need for useless romance. Don't get her wrong— she loves a good chummy romance, but it was never really for her. That could partly be blamed on her past lover, who abruptly left her just to become some indie artist, but then again, the tides change, and so do the people. And what the— she's famous now, she's unstoppable, she can pull anyone, so why the hell is the woman who left her in the dust, pretending to be all buddy-buddy with her.

PROFILES∿ nightmare blunt rotation > KATSEYE

#masterlist, #payroll advocates

LARA RAJ ❀ lararajj & larahatesbabies

“Said I had the prettiest eyes, you’ve ever seen.” Lara has always known who she was since birth, a beautiful singer, and an even more beautiful person, despite her intimidating exterior, she’s such a kind soul. She’s the sweetest person to everyone, although has trouble being in relationships due to her previous rocky one with another musician. Y/n L/n left her high and dry without a word, though, she avoids talking about it completely and tries her best not to contact her due to her issues. Although one thing can be noted, she has never told anyone the name or who her evil ex actually was, just the terrible stories that came with it.

MERET MANON ❀ meretmanon & bluntmanz

“She’s a catch, but so am I.” The only girl who doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, constantly getting in trouble for slipping updates and upcoming projects the girls are doing. Manon is very genuine though, she hates liars, absolutely adores her members, and will always defend them. Despite that she doesnt know about Y/n, and only knows of an evil girl Lara used to date. She thinks y/n would be perfect for a blunt rotation though. She met Lara during Dream Academy and connected through the fact that both girls had been chosen and hadn’t auditioned like the rest. The both of them are so close, in fact, they even go to family parties together with Megan and Lara’s sister.

SOPHIA LAFORTEZA ❀ sophialaforteza & sophiathefirst

“Guess sometimes you learn to forget.” The mother of the group. As someone who Lara confides with the most for relationship advice, Sophia knows all about you, in a strange way, always finding another reason to dislike you every day. Despite that, she remains civil and enjoys your music (mainly because she doesn’t know it’s you). Her heart is in the right place, Sophia and Lara had a shared love for musical arts, and often went to musicals and plays together, even having their little group filled with other theater geeks.

DANIELA AVANZINI ❀ danielaavanzini & opiummdani

“You had to make it obvious.” Lara’s biggest opp I’m afraid, it’s all in lighthearted fun, but y/n was unironically one of her celebrity crushes so she’d sometimes go on and on, not knowing the true extent of her behavior. She means nothing bad by it, but on multiple occasions, Lara has blocked her, even during events the redhead is side-eyeing Daniela whenever she brings you up. Even then, Daniela and Lara had an inseparable bond, through their love for dance and Playboi Carti, the both of them make a lethal duo. Daniela would often barge into Lara’s room begging to go to Erewhon together or to do another dance trend for the Eyekons.

MEGAN MEIYOK SKIENDIEL ❀ meganskiendel & mamanmegan

“I wanted to see the world in color, through your eyes.” Lara’s roommate and number one victim of her constant yapping and ranting knows Lara like an open book and is undoubtedly the closest one to her. This leads her to being the only person, other than Lara’s sister, who knows who you truly are. Despite the fact, that she adores Y/n more as a musician than a person, teasing Lara at the fact Megan owns Y/n’s poster and hangs it on the walls of their shared bedroom. She is quite literally Lara’s little sister she never had, she invites Lara to family events and vice versa. She never goes anywhere without Lara, often begging her to come with her to do minuscule tasks, like getting a lighter for the deli a jogging away, she has to bring Lara with her.

YOONCHAE JEUNG ❀ y0pn_cha3 & yooninurwalls

“And the walls painted white, they tell me all their secrets.” Even though everyone knows about her sassy attitude, Yoonchae is regarded to be one of the innocent members. Although no one knows she’s friends with Y/n and her little crew, since she’s often kept to herself, and no one asks about it. Despite being in both groups, she has no clue that you and Lara where ever in a situation together, and completely blocks out all her member’s love lives. She is Lara’s baby, her child, her toddler, even when Yoonchae’s tired and sleepy, Lara would always lend her a shoulder to sleep on. And when Lara’s tired, she still tries her best to entertain Yoonchae despite how exhausted she is.

[iwrite-xo]

-- to my ex best friend, whom I still dearly love

" Why is it that my heart still continues to ache? You moved on, and I did, too. Do you not remember me anymore? "

⋆✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

We only get one best friend in this lifetime. As you go through life, you will come across new friends and perhaps even build a better bond with them. However, your heart will forever remember that one person you once shared everything with.

At one point in my life, I knew everything about you. I knew what your favorite movie was, your favorite song, your celebrity crushes (because you never settled for just having one), your favorite color, and your favorite food. I knew you better than you knew yourself.

How long has it been again? A couple of years, maybe at best? How have you been? No, really. How are you doing?

I found myself coming across a picture of us because I accidentally scrolled too far up in my gallery again. Crazy how time flies, doesn’t it? It feels as if it was only yesterday we were giggling away in class, trying not to get caught by the teacher.

Hey, remember when I used to bug you for your lunch and snacks? Man, you would either get really annoyed or remain super neutral knowing this was a daily occurrence. Nonetheless, you ended up sharing with me anyway.

I eventually gave in to the urge of stalking you on social media. To my delightful surprise, you looked very happy. You had a brand new life filled with new characters, new plots, and so much more. You had a lot going on in your life. I found myself smiling fondly. I wish I was there to witness each and every single milestone of yours, celebrating them by your side, feeling overwhelmingly happy because that is MY best friend going after what she wants.

So you were doing okay. That’s a huge relief. You were doing more than okay, actually. My best friend was glowing. My best friend was healthy and safe. I couldn’t ask for anything more after seeing such a positive outcome in her life after all these years.

why is it that my heart still continues to ache? You moved on, and I did, too. Do you not remember me anymore? You didn’t forget about all our core memories together, did you? There’s no way. What about us hanging out together once a year, laughing to the point where we couldn’t breathe? Do you perhaps still remember that? Surely you do.

We were unstoppable together, weren’t we? Every time one of us was absent, the teacher had to make a comment about where the other one was. Our teachers tried separating us in class, but somehow, we always found a way to communicate with each other. The moment one of us missed a day of school, we immediately texted each other to find out where we were because how dare we leave each other alone at school? Our friends would get tired of all our shenanigans. Heck, my mom loved you more than me, practically claiming you as part of the family.

Did you know I still have all the letters you wrote for me? Do you still have mine? I’d like to think you do. You know, at one point, I wanted to throw them out because the pain became so unbearable, but then I thought to myself, “I can’t do that to her.” I can’t do that to you. You were my best friend. We were girls together. We grew up together. Do you realize how special that is?

You have a permanent spot in my heart as “number one best friend” even to this day. How can I forget someone who I claimed as my sister? How can I get over someone who I love so dearly? How can I forget someone I wanted as my bridesmaid one day? How can I forget someone I wanted to grow up with and buy houses next to so that our kids could one day be best friends and continue our legacy? I can’t. I just..can’t, okay?

please do support me by reblogging! thank you!! <33 hope you enjoyed !

[ssruis]

You. 🫵 Go read this. Peak rks. Peak rui.

Obligatory comment-under-read-more Of Shame (ao3 character limit my beloathed)

YOU WROTE THIS SO QUICKLY??? 18k???? Has it even been a month since you mentioned this… You’re cracked. I’m scared and in awe of your power. As soon as I clicked the link in the notes I knew I was about to read peak… I was cackling. The mental image of Rui doing that is so beautiful… Pristine, even. One might say immaculate. Perchance. I got my hat on backwards and it’s time to forget 10 years of positive character growth!!

“I remember.” Guilt. Shame. Sorrow. It had gone badly. He had walked home alone. “Sorry about…I’m sorry.”

> you have such a way of conveying so much with so few words… dagger to the heart

Was he hit by a high speed vehicle?

> high speed door, actually. Happens to the best of us.

A life of solitude, easy and empty. Years of solo tinkering in his room in silence. Finding more ways to enjoy being alone. Not yearning, never yearning. Maybe one day creating something great.

> main story rui & his “I’m fine like this it’s just how life is going to be” mindset ouuuugh… creating because he’s given up on finding something great…

“Such careless design!” Tsukasa huffs. “In a place like that, they should really have some kind of tape so people know to duck!”

“To be fair, most people are shorter than Rui.”

“So that means they should just get knocked out every time they want to enter a room?!”

> as I’ve said before I love the way you write the nene + tsukasa dynamic (even if it’s not the focus here). They’re such an underrated comedic duo… tsk could say anything & she’ll throw out a counter argument just because.

Even a high budget production wouldn’t have props this well constructed.

> and it would have taller doorframes! probably. I love the way you capture how Rui is always always always viewing and analyzing things through his director mindset… everything can be related to shows if you just try hard enough.

“And this is the bedroom back here,” Tsukasa says, pointing through the doorway. Okay, he’s just going to ignore him then.

> he’s so funny. His husband got factory reset and he’s entered overly enthusiastic and fretful tour guide mode out of panic.

Rui stares at his ring finger again, twisting the band around and feeling the metal rub against his skin. Such a quaint sight. 

> “quaint” auugh… main story rui being flung 10 years into the future and seeing that he’s happy and thriving and living in domestic bliss with that obnoxious blond guy & it’s just. Unbelievable and unrealistic in the way that an unearned cheesy “& then they lived happily ever after” storybook ending would be to him.

I only knew you for a couple of weeks, and then we parted ways. And that was a parting that was welcomed by me, if I’m frank.

> nene your spot as tsukasa’s no.1 hater is in jeopardy

Tsukasa makes a face, but it only lasts a moment.

> tsukasa and his refusal to back down or consider failure (unstoppable force) vs rui’s “this guy sucks big time” mindset (immovable object). Tale as old as time.

Rui catches sight of a framed photo up on the wall, apparently a scene from their wedding. Or a show. It’s hard to tell. There may not be a difference.

> there isn’t a difference. Fully believe they’d treat their wedding like a show. They’re incapable of being normal. show freaks (derogatory) (affectionate)

Tsukasa steps out from the doorway he’s been skulking by for the past ten minutes.

> insert sad ant with a bindle image here

“Okay.” For a second the absurdity almost makes him laugh, but he wills away the smile before it’s too visible. “That’s…interesting.”

Tsukasa drops his stance. Why does he seem disappointed? There’s absolutely no way Rui would have ever entertained something like that, future or past. It’s not like there would be that many poses. He would run out eventually. Though, those did seem- specific. Are there more? No, Rui isn't going to waste his time following that thought process.

> HELP ME they’re so weird!! They’re so weird. I giggled. Rui & his initial fascination with tsk (that never really went away, just changed shapes) & tsk and his 100+ poses that he has memorized and ready to pull out at any given moment.

Like he’s going to be led down a path so softly that it’s already too late by the time he realises the direction is wrong. 

> yes… the tsukasa tenma Stockholm Syndrome effect. Millions fall victim to it each year. Fondly reminiscing on the days where I straight up did not care about him. & now that I’ve spent close to a year as a wxs fan I’m tragically very fond of him. As you can see this condition is incurable.

“Well, maybe it’s just because I know you both so well. It just feels like you recognise each other’s vision well, and that comes across when watching.” […] “I have no idea what you guys are doing most of the time. I’m pretty sure the way you express love isn’t the same as most people, anyway. You communicate best through theatre talk and dramatics.”

> YOU GET IT… you get it. They’re so fucking weird. but they are weird together. And obnoxiously happy about it too.

It’s someone that’s making his voice a little softer, at least. Even if he’s still loud. Rui closes his eyes and tries to imagine Tsukasa speaking to him like that.

> saki mention :)

“I wasn’t upset,” Rui says, looking away. “I was simply being honest based on my observations.”

> me when I lie (to both myself and others)

It’s familiar, but it’s- not right. Of course he wants to take it, because this life everyone is telling him about seems so warm and inviting, but- he doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know how to be both himself and this at the same time.

> ow. Pre wxs he’d been alone so long that he started defining himself by his loneliness to the point where he was like “I’m better off like this actually” and now he’s got all this love coming at him from a bunch of different directions… how do you even begin to trust that. Esp when it’s love for a you that you don’t know… ur mind. Love this part.

Two conflicting things can’t both be true at once. There must be an error somewhere. Is that why he feels like he’s doing something wrong?

> He’s so funny... he’s facts and logic-ing his way to the wrong conclusion but because he’s being “rational” about it he can’t see that he’s wrong or that he is in fact letting his feelings get in the way of seeing the problem clearly.

Rui wonders just how much Tsukasa will put up with before he decides he isn’t worth it.

> already shifting from “this guy is the worst I want him to leave me alone” to “he’s the worst but surely he will leave me because I am too much.” Nene was right when she said he’d fall in love again but she had too much faith in Rui (in that he lasted less than a week before the tsukasa Stockholm syndrome kicked in).

> I really enjoy how you show that he’s slowly falling back into his relationship with tsukasa even if he’s unaware of it… he starts teasing him instinctually

There can’t be that much difference between his old self and the new. It’s not as if he’s acting irrationally or strange.

> he’s so blatantly and confidently wrong… it’s inspiring…

It had been an incredible display, by far his favourite part of the entire musical other than Nene’s performance. “Not really. I didn’t notice it that much.”

> HELP MEEE… really holding onto that hatred with a white knuckle grip, huh.

> When I first read this fic I was like “hmm idk if Rui would hold onto his grudge like this but I can see where its coming from” and then I reread it again (fic so nice u read it twice. Or more.) and realized I was so wrong… it’s not just about accepting that tsukasa has changed, it’s about accepting that his life has improved so drastically. He’s mentally still very “I will never belong with anyone and I have to follow my dreams on my own.” Right after the first time in forever that Rui lets himself get his hopes up & then promptly has them shattered during the main story fight, he’s suddenly thrown into a life where he’s happy and fulfilled and accepted for who he is. Of course he’d try to cling to his dislike of Tsukasa, because letting go of that means letting go of the “I’m incompatible with other people” mindset. (Rui vc) that’s my comfort unhealthy-outlook-on-relationships-&-life and I will not be letting it go. Your mind…

“No, she’s happy to do it. Any of us would do the same, if it was something really important. Nothing is worth more than a friend in need, right? Even the best job in the universe couldn’t compete against that!”

> points at Rui in curtain call

“Rui Rui Rui Rui is your head okay do you feel sick do you feel dizzy are you okay do you know who I am Rui????”

> The little pink thing is here (the crowd goes wild)

“Is it true that your head went whambamow?” Emu asks, pulling back to look at him with large eyes. “And now you don’t know anyone and you can’t remember anything like vshhvshvshh?”

> as always I’m obsessed with how you write her like… you nail the emu typical incomprehensible onomatopoeias but I can still understand what she’s getting at.

“Mmm…” Emu’s eyes stay on his face, searching hard in a way that makes Rui feel oddly exposed. Why does it feel like she’s seeing something that he can’t? “I think you’re definitely Rui, but I’m not sure you’re completely Rui.”

> she knows him so well… even putting her insane ability to read people aside she can pinpoint what’s up with him from a mile away even when he can’t understand himself. Because she knows what a happy Rui looks like and it’s not this.

> semi related but it makes me so happy that yes this is a rks fic but it also includes all of Rui’s friendships and takes a look at his dynamics with them. because you write them so well but also because his friends are so so so important to him… there’s a weird fandom brain tendency to go “romantic relationship > importance of everyone else in a characters life” which has never sat right with me, but especially not for WXS. They’re all friends… they all love and support each other & the dynamic doesn’t need to be romantic for that.

“That’s so sad, you really don’t remember any of our shows…” Emu says forlornly, blowing bubbles into her drink as her head dips.

> so cute so cute… you always write in little actions that aren’t plot relevant but do make the scene feel so much more real and I enjoy it every time…

This is the place where everything ended, to Rui. He tries to picture that happiness, really tries to place himself into that life, but it just doesn’t seem possible.

> “where everything ended” obsessed with that. it’s so true. Forever thinking about that little scene they added in journey to bloom after the main story fight where it shows him looking super upset in his room…

“Is it scary?” she asks. It’s the same tone someone might take with a young child, but somehow Rui doesn’t find it condescending. “Because you don’t remember, and now suddenly you have lots of love from every single direction? And that’s a really big change, right? Especially compared to when you first started making shows with us! You always had a big big wall like kztkzkzt.”

> this made me smile she’s so good with emotions & getting to the root cause of what’s wrong… I love seeing emu written so well…

Why would Tsukasa bother to do this, even though Rui has no recollection of their relationship? It’s not something he deserves. It’s not something he should have. Yet, here it is anyway.

> ohhh that hurts… Rui Kamishiro you sad sad man

“Is that a script?” he can’t help but ask. It warrants an overjoyed expression from Tsukasa, and Rui isn’t sure if he’s made a mistake or not. 

> tsukasa tenma you are never beating the dog allegations.

He finds himself looking away from the page to watch Tsukasa as he delivers his lines, something striking about the way he moves and talks. Everything seems so deliberate, yet fully natural too. Well, of course, this must be something he’s performed countless times, but- still. Rui never imagined his own work would sound like this. It’s usually lost once it leaves the paper, but now it seems- more, not less. Tsukasa is- adding something to it, somehow.

Rui keeps reading his assigned lines, but finds himself getting a little more into the performance. It’s hard to consciously sound disinterested when Tsukasa is filling the air with so much energy. Is this what they normally do…? Rui could believe it. It feels familiar. It feels fun. This isn’t bad at all. Distantly, Rui thinks his future self must not be a very good actor, because it’s hard to stop himself from smiling even as he tries to stay in character. 

> You get it… they’re so odd. Why are they like this. So much of their bond is built off of their shared all consuming passion and love for theatre. Height of romance for ruikasa is creating a show together.

An audience full of ordinary people probably wouldn’t enjoy this. Perhaps it’s something his other self forgot to edit out.

> rui :(

Yes, but also no, because Rui is scared that the feeling in his chest is going to keep developing, keep rising with the liveliness of the room.

> “I can’t catch feelings for the man I’m literally married to. I have to leave” I cannot stand this guy. Aren’t you supposed to be smart rui.

It’s been this long, so an argument was inevitable, this is the start of the divorce era- 

“Your jacket’s inside out.”

> DIVORCE ERA… i giggled

“It’s a different perspective, you know? Asking someone for fashion advice with a decade long memory gap? Oh, that reminds me, did I tell you you owe me ten thousand yen?”

> they’re so funny. Your second priority should be checking in on your friend’s wellbeing after an amnesia inducing head injury. your first priority should always be profit.

Mizuki watches him for a moment, then sighs hard, crossing their arms. “Listen, Rui, I’m sorry to have to tell you this. I know it’s going to come as a huge shock, but try to stay calm, okay? The truth is…you’re gay.”

> took me OUT… mizuki you are so funny

A friendly smile and a wave. Once no longer needed, he’d be gone. 

Every time he had tried to go past that level, every time he’d dared to step closer, things had gone wrong. The shows he had shared as a child had ended no different to their performance at the park. Rui had started alone, realised just how different he was, and then gone back to being alone.

[…]

Those feelings he gets when Tsukasa checks to see if he’s okay, when he smiles at him- they’re temporary. They’re frivolous. Rui isn’t the type of person who can love someone like that. And- even if they’re not- he’s not the type of person who can be loved like that. This life is too unrealistic. It’s too selfish.

> I’m obsessed with this part… even past the main story Rui was still holding onto his belief that he was simply incompatible with people - because if that isn’t true, that means there’s no easy logical reason for why he was so rejected by his peers. It means he’s capable of forming relationships and it means opening himself up to losing something so much more important than surface level friendships with others when the people he loves leave him (because they have to eventually, right?). & even though that belief was unhealthy, it let him believe he was content being alone, but now that he has all these people who love him it actively gets in the way of his relationships. It’s so much easier for him to view his desires as selfish than it is to believe that other people legitimately love him.

Performing with his friends, subjecting others to his ideas and creations, forming a close connection with someone…it’s simply too much.

> “subjecting others” love that phrasing it’s so true… baby rui going “I forced my shows onto other people and that’s why they rejected me” and the way he started to view his love for others as something that’s inherently too much - because it can rival his love of theatre, and all his life he was shown over and over again through rejection that this passion was too extreme. So it’ll probably the same thing if he lets his friends know how much he cares about them, right? (Wrong! He is stupid.)

His voice is eager and inviting like always, and there’s the shine in his eyes that’s always there when he looks at Rui. Not too dissimilar from a dog waiting for praise.

> do we have solid proof tsk isn’t a very human looking dog? There’s no compelling evidence against it. So it must be true.

“But I don’t think that’ll happen!” His vigour returns tenfold as he shoots up, eyebrows pointed down. “And before it got to that point, I’d do absolutely everything in my power to ensure you were happy and safe! I wouldn’t ever want to make you uncomfortable, but- I don’t mind however long it takes! I don’t care if I have to do it all over from the start! I would do it ten thousand times for you, Rui!”

> tsukasa “unstoppable force” tenma… the phrase “I give up” isn’t in his vocabulary.

He can hear the water running, though there’s no singing or loud monologuing today.

> you are so talented at show don’t tell I love all the little moments in this fic that - even through rui’s lens of Hate - show how upset and concerned and wrong footed Tsukasa is. He’s more than capable of covering this up with the “Rui will go back to normal eventually” attitude but he is very clearly (unless you’re Rui with amnesia) Not Having A Fun Time. Tsukasa Tenma and the no good very bad 2 weeks from hell.

“[…] I like sharing stuff with you. Understand?! How can you say we don’t have anything in common?! I like all of that stuff! I like it a lot!”

> this whole speech was so so cute and sweet. I sniled so sneetly. I hate them (said with great affection). When it truly comes down to it Tsukasa is so good at locking in and saying something that’s simultaneously both completely unexpected & exactly what needed to be said. The cost of this skill is, of course, being so super obnoxious all the time and occasionally getting treated like a chew toy/guinea pig/clown by his friends (which is always funny and deserved).

Of course, the decorations and the music and the flowers had been beautiful, but it was that moment that had been the true act of togetherness - being there as he cried. The silent understanding of ‘this is what I thought I would never have’ without Rui ever saying it, and the realisation that despite everything, now they did have it. Understanding without needing to be told. Not just sharing happiness but sharing sadness and doubt and courage too. To be understood. To understand. That’s it. That’s love.

> STOP get out… this is so beautiful and touching… accepting and being accepted and revealing your whole, authentic self and trusting that you’ll be loved and can love in return…

“Oh, really? But it’s okay if you want to kill me off sometimes. I have a lot of good poses for death scenes! And we still have some fake blood left, so that could be pretty useful for that kind of thing.”

> of course he does. Tsukasa Tenma voice “every actor should have at least 5 death poses. I, of course, have 20.”

“Would you like me to include a graphic death for you next time?” Rui asks fondly. “I’ve always wanted to experiment with using alternative means of showing blood, such as through lighting or with props. Potentially using colours other than red, too.”

“Oh, that sounds good! I’ve been working a lot on my core stability, so I think I could hold even a pretty complicated pose for a good amount of time without moving. And I’ve been trying a new stage fall technique if you want to try shooting me through the head…I think something with a bow and arrow could look really good…”

> what is wrong with themmmm going from a super emotional moment to immedietly talking about the most artistic way for tsukasa to die on screen. They’re insane. “‘Would you like me to include a graphic death for you next time?’ Rui asks fondly.” help meee… fondly planning out a scene where your husband dies violently. True romance. They always follow up their normal and/or emotionally vulnerable conversations with deranged theatre talk, thus restoring order to the universe. I think this is one of the best rks interactions in fan works that I’ve read like. They would. They so would. Cheering and clapping so hard.

"Would you love me even if I was made from polyurethane foam?" he asks distantly. Tsukasa’s eyebrows twitch.

“Go to sleep,” he mutters. “If it’s you, yes.”

> they are so funny & annoying I need to hit them with a bat

God this was so good… I love your writing so so much & I was so excited to see this fic pop up. I will save the longer comment for tumblr where I’m freed from the restraints of the character limit but I’m so obsessed with this. Perfectly balanced between sweet and serious and hysterical… an excellent rui character study… exploring his relationships with his closest friends and how they’ve grown and changed… so beautifully written… you have such a fantastic grasp on these characters and what makes them tick. Thank you for sharing… I’m going to be rotating this in my mind for ages…

[vilevileposting]

I'm reading homestuck for the first time (Weeks 5 and 6)

I keep forgetting to post these and I'm sorry!

I've been enjoying going around telling people homestuck is good actually. That's a role I never got to occupy in my young life as homestuck passed me by. So far zero people have believed me and I don't expect that to change.

I have now seen a picture of a troll! Foul little imp

I *am* left with my first little critique of homestuck: Act 3 felt like it was building to the End of Act 3 flash, like it was trying to outdo End of Act 2. Setting things up almost more for the payoff of the flash than for the sake of the story. I don't think a series of lore bombs is a very good way to structure a story, and I'm worried that's the structure the series is going to take. That said, it *is* fun in the moment, it's only in hindsight that I'm thinking this.

Our dealer and homestuck veteran Char has been writing discussion questions for our weekly book club meetings (sometimes), and I've decided to include those along with my answers.

Week 5

980: I bet If I could pause here I’d see something wacky

1000: Interesting that John changed his name *to* Ectobioloist from something else, especially after the prior reveal that ectobiology is a thing in this setting. ARGH I SHOULD HAVE FINISHED THE PAGE BEFORE WRITING THIS NOTE

1022: Tempted to go back and look… This is the kind of thing I’d miss.

1024: This exchange makes me feel like I’m right about both their parents, but I’m getting a little used to the rug pulled out from under me. I feel like I’m picking up on a kind of rule of threes. If I’m right about something, my attention’s drawn to it once, and then the second time it shows up is confirmation. But if I’m wrong, my attention is drawn to it, then my conclusion is hinted at more blatantly in a “it sure looks like that huh” kind of way, and finally the third time it appears is the rug pull. I can’t think of an example following this format right off the melon, I’m going off pure vibes sleep deprived and on a plane.

1026: There are two towers on that funny moon, and it’s notable to me that Rose’s real life house is based on them.

1033: I know those weary eyes!!!!

1039: I appreciate the harsh spike in Gun Realism

1043: Notable to me that the Peregrine Mendicant’s awesome sword is black in color, when you would expect the Light Guys to have white weapons. If indeed he is a Light Guy as Jade’s dream implied.

1046: I would like to apologize for my repeated misgendering of the Peregrine Mendicant. I did it on purpose out of malice. I’m a DEMON

1049: What does this MEAN

1051: Seems like Rose might have been onto something with her subconscious doodling theory, because it only just occurred to me that this takes place prior to basically every other event. Also what does this MEEEEAAAAAN

1062: Pressure cooker bomb reference

1064: Second coming of decoding foreshadowing. Very notable that they got a potted plant, which I seem to recall was one of the things in the jetpack!

1070: Bro EXECUTED Cal for NO REASON!!! THEN LEFT ON A HOVERBOARD!!! I’m telling you in terms of power scaling Dave’s brother is clearly unstoppable.

1093: This has *gotta* be them.

1096: Kamina glasses…….

1099: What is it with Dr. Hussie and ethnic weddings

1108: I was on board for a mayor and a mailwoman, but I am not here for a cop guy

1110: I feel better about a judge guy.

1133: I’m uncertain about Bec’s nature. For a hellbeast, he seems to also be quite cooperative.

1136: Seems like a paradox in the form of sending items to the past is allowed, but not taking items.

1149: Without a pause button I’m just utterly unequipped to handle this – I wrote BEFORE realizing that Nanna’s note is the same note we saw in John’s dad’s copy of Sassacre’s, except written in John’s copy and dropped into the void. This affects the timeline! And I’m really not sure how. I might need to rescind my earlier comment about Nanna being a willing participant in all this, which seems like it may no longer be true. Somehow this copy goes from the void to John’s dad’s safe, then back around again, presuming it’s the closed time loop it seems to be. No clue how that’s gonna come together.

1152: Is this one of the planets we saw? In the process of checking, I notice that there is a LUMINOUS PLANET with a SINGLE MOON, exactly like the one Jade dreamed about. Going by the art style, that indicates this luminous planet and the shadow planet are the sort of centers of light and dark we’re working with. Anyway, if this is one of the four planets then I think it’s the dark cloudy one, or possibly the not so dark (kinda bright actually) cloudy one. A thought that occurs to me now, days later, is that we have 2/4 kids accounted for in dreamland and the shadow planet also has a moon.

There were no discussion questions for Week 6.

Week 6: If Homestuck Book Club was mpreg our child would have a heartbeat.

1159: I think this is the guy in John’s house and I’m not checking.

1169: That’s a setting-specific captchalogue analogue!!! And it’s the same as Wandering Vagrant’s tattoo!!!!!!!!

1170: Hidden message vibes.

1171: Hidden message vibes intensify…

1177: Standing out to me how things get swapped. Clubs Deuce seems to have swapped here with Hearts Boxcars, and a moment ago, the Spade Key was swapped with the rules for blackjack and the war chest was swapped with the deck of cards. If Clubs and Hearts are paired somehow then that would leave Spades paired up with Diamonds, and the rules for blackjack don’t seem very diamondy. I don’t think that’s what’s going on.

1210: Damn I wish I knew how to play poker

1215: Purple planet with a moon…

1219: I saw that the doom wardrobe whatever it was called was the same as Jade’s, but now with John’s bathtub in play I notice all the inventory options are themed after the four kids.

1353: It finally happened

Q: Where do you think the midnight crew and their foes are from? Who does Spades Slick look suspiciously like, and what do we know of his origins?

A: Spades Slick looks exactly like the Warden guy, and for a moment, a lot like WV/PM. He showed up under almost identical circumstances to them too, wandering a destroyed world, and for some reason, making a city. Or present band of synonyms for Wandering Vagrant are uniquely insistent upon civics, with a mailwoman, a mayor, and a judge. It could be that after worlds are destroyed, these guys show up and make something. It’s unclear to me why, or how to categorize everything. The plot of Midnight Crew centers around a conflict of black vs green, not black and white. They did say darkness always wins, maybe there was some other force (time?) before light? We don’t really know where this interlude falls in the timeline, if it falls anywhere at all. For example, if Spades Slick becomes the Warden, or vice versa. Or the secret third option. If those bar codes are an analogue for captchalogue cards, then it stands to reason that that code can be used to replicate the thing it designates. They could just be clones.

Q: Did you understand... any? of the time fuckery?

A: I followed the thread but I could not retell the story if I tried.

Q: Who is the weird little grey fucker at the end of the intermission?

A: John Stuck

Q: What's Snowman's deal? Will she ever be killed?

She’s clearly an imp-thing turned traitor, but there’s so little to go off of. The o in her name wasn’t green at any point, and she’s not shown to have a power besides taking the world with her if she dies. So she’ll probably die. Former Mayor Hussie isn’t striking me as someone who flinches.

Q: Who of these characters, if any, do you think might reappear in Homestuck?

If nobody else, definitely Spades Slick and Snowman. Maybe Lord English, maybe the rest of the Crew.

[obihiro-division]

Once upon a clear weather amidst the hot and humid summer, finally a super glorious day had just rolled around in Obihiro! And because this day was none other than another anniversary of Daiki Kamiyama’s grand debut into this world, an unstoppable flux of presents submitted over to his home sweet home was obviously to be expected!

Noticing something hanging on his apartment’s door handle, the young lad unexpectedly found a mysterious parcel neatly wrapped in a furoshiki-style.

He did remember Jack once warned him not to receive a gift from strangers but whom does that grown-ass butler think he was lecturing? Today is his birthday and it would be his right to take a look at his own present, would it?! Besides, for those who don’t know; being a little bit nosy was the basic startup of every heroism!

Deciding to snoop a little peek at his new present with curiosity, there he found a set of multicolor MLG sunglasses...

And those were not only just them! There was another gift sending along as well —which is a particular box, and inside this box is full of… What? Fish?

Moreover than that, they were all so colorful… Yeah, now it seemed like he has got himself the rainbow taiyaki…

One more thing left at last inside this beautiful packaging; it was a tiny card written in glittery pink lying there among the gifts, saying;

“Happy Birthday Mr. Paladin☆

Every hero is in need of gorgeous gadgets and no army could march on its empty stomach, therefore here you go~ A full set of rainbow power!

Hope you enjoy our gifts ;)

—Nara Division”

—————————

Rest well and get better soon! 🍀

The young man was bouncing with excitement… His first gift! Two of them!! From people he's never actually met?! He was mentally thanking Hisoka for allowing him the opportunity to be in the D.R.B. Never in his life had he been given such nice gifts and words from potential friends. Taking the sunglasses and placing them carefully on his coffee table, Daiki snuck another peek at the colorful taiyaki assorted in a circle, grinning widely. That was until his gray eyes slowly drifted to the small clock on his wall.

“Oh bloody- I'm gonna be late for the morning patrol!” Daiki suddenly exclaims. Stuffing a taiyaki into his mouth, he chokes down the delicious treat as he fastens his mask over the lower half of his face and buckles his helmet under his chin. Underneath his goggles, he teared up at the tastiness of the fish-shaped pastries before he slammed the door behind him. No hero can be late for their duties, not even the great PALADIN!

Thank you for the gift! And for the words to rest. Having to hold back from working when I should rest was hard. (´-_ゝ-`)

[naupactus]

19, 20, 24 plsss

19- the light but also freedom of mobility. i can go out with friends or go for a walk and mostly everythjng else during the day. well you can during the night too but not as freely. either only in Night Places or in safe company transitorily. cant have a picnic at night sadly. and light because you can see shit. sure you can see a little at night but you cant see the colors of everything and small things like bugs or flowers or hidden things dont appear to you as much. they do during the day.

20- the privacy... i feel more comfortable doing anything when everyone else is asleep. if it were possible to actually be completely silent while playing guitar i would be unstoppable at night. sadly not but i still get to enjoy myself so much more without the interruptions that are during the day. it's also quiet and that's very nice

26- i am slowly becoming less malleable by other people's opinions (real or hypothetical) Very slowly but i'm getting there <3 i didn't go to a party last weekend that i was (generally) invited to, on purpose, and last year i would have forced myself to go and then broken out crying in the middle of it if i started having a slightly bad time

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

hello, i notice that your request were open and was wondering you could do a matchup for me? preferably for demon slayer, jujutsu kaisen, and one piece.

i'm 20 years old, hispanic, a virgo, and use she/her pronouns.

appearance: 4'11. pear body shape. shoulder length hair. dark brown eyes. sometimes wears glasses.

personality: i'm a little awkward and distant at first. mostly wanting to know if your intentions are good or not. but once i get to know you and feel comfortable around you... i can be quite sarcastic, honest (to the point where it has gotten me in trouble), very curious, mischievous, stubborn, a little odd, calm, and patient. talking is depending, i guess? i mostly talk out of necessity or, if asked, unless i wholeheartedly love and trust you so much. i also tend to ramble a lot when a subject that i know and/or love is brought up. i can be prideful to the point where i don't want to apologize, but i am learning that it's okay to make mistakes and that i am not always right or know all.

hobbies: listening to music. playing games. reading. stargazing. watching [anime, documentaries, movies, series, etc].

likes: art, cats & dogs, dr. pepper, fashion, music, reading, stargazing, webtoon/manhwas.

dislikes: coffee, heights, hot temperature/weather, insects, overcrowded places, when people make fun of me for being a picky eater

love language(s): gift giving and acts of service.

extra: i really want to have tattoos. my favorite colors are pink and green. physical touch kind of scares me. and i always want to look good even if i'm just going grocery shopping.

sorry for the request being so long ^^' and i hope you have a wonderful day!

Hi Anon! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took so long.

You didn't specify whether you would prefer a male or female matchup (or if you didn't have a preference) so I've given you a male and female matchup for each fandom. As a result, the headcanons for each character are a bit shorter than normal. If you'd like more headcanons for any of the characters, please let me know and I'll happily write some up for you.

I hope you like your matchups!

In Demon Slayer, I match you with...

Modern au Tanjiro is definitely a fan of webtoons. I can’t explain that, it’s just a feeling. He’d love to get some suggestions from you so you can talk about your favourite comics together.

More than willing to get rid of bugs for you. He’ll move them so they’re not bothering you and let them go somewhere they’ll be happy so they don’t come back.

You and Kanao are certainly a quiet couple but you get each other in ways others can’t. She might not say much but she’s very empathetic and understands you well.

She’s not a big fan of crowded places either so is more than happy to avoid those with you. If you do have to go somewhere crowded, Kanao will stay as close to you as possible without touching you so you’re both comfortable.

In Jujutsu Kaisen, I match you with...

I don’t see Megumi as a huge fan of physical touch himself so he’s more than happy to have his personal space. If you’re comfortable with linking pinkies while you walk or even just occasionally touching ankles while sitting together, he’s happy with that as well.

Enjoys watching documentaries with you. He finds them interesting and enjoys hearing you add any extra facts throughout. He’s always paying really close attention too so expect him to remember those details even months down the track.

Nobara is the outgoing sass to your quiet mischief. You’re actually a super chaotic and unstoppable due when put together so it’s great for you two and terrible for everyone else.

Oh, she’s so happy you like fashion. She might not be the most girly-girl out there but she’s still a teenage girl and can appreciate some good outfits when the mood strikes her.

In One Piece, I match you with...

You and Usopp would definitely be the art due of the crew. You’ve both got that creative spark in you and are more than happy to give each other feedback and advice when the other is stuck on something.

Since you’re both mischievous as well, I can see the two of you being the pranksters of the crew. No one is safe from your pranks. Hopefully you can run fast though, otherwise you might not always escape scott-free…

Vivi loves stargazing with you. She finds it super relaxing. Bonus points if you’re rambling about the stars. Vivi loves listening to you talk about your passions so it’s a win-win in her book.

Definitely not someone to tease you for being a picky eater. In fact, since she’s got access to private chefs, she’ll be able to ensure all of your meals are designed so you enjoy every bite.

[star--nymph]

People have opened up the flood gates; I will now be making a list of random facts about Kassandra and you guys will ENJOY IT.

Has PTSD, Depression, and Clinical Anxiety.

May have undiagnosed ADHD.

BISEXUAL.

5'2 ft of pure unadulterated, unstoppable POWER.

Insomniac; has nightmares and terrors and will avoid sleeping for days at a time.

May have a deathwish/suicidal tendencies.

Copes with: Alcohol, Cigarettes, Fighting.

As the story progresses, develops a hobby/coping mechanism with plants and flowers.

Allergic to kiwi.

Favorite colors are ‘dawn’ colors: red, pink, orange, yellow/gold. BRIGHT.

Loves flowers, plants, and knows a lot more about flower language than most people would expect.

Has been playing chess with Ryuu since they were kids. She’s currently losing 228 to 219.

Actually loves shopping and clothes a lot, but doesn’t wear her nice things often enough.

Notoriously bad cook.

Has like. A closet full of different colored leather jackets. Won’t stop buying clothes.

Loves reality shows, horror movies (she loves creature features), and romcoms.

Actually really bad at videos game but doesn’t give up to like. A concerning degree.

Likes to listen to music and sing to herself when she’s alone.

Loves dancing and drags people up to dance with her.

Eventually gets a red bearded dragon named Poppy.

Favorite animals are all lizard. Can name every type of lizard if you ask her.

Lives off of a coffee and red bull and pure willpower.

Gives such GOOD hugs and cuddles but has to be wrestled into being the little spoon??

Horses freak her out. Really all big animals do but especially horses.

Big Sister Friend.

On bad terms with her uncle.

Had a girlfriend for a period of six years that broke up with her three years prior to the current story; doesn’t like to talk about her.

Loves kids.

Has the sweetest, softest voice when she sings. Sings a LOT.

Her favorite song is ‘I Wanna Dance With Someone’ by Whitney Huston.

Hates sodas and anything that pops in her mouth. Bad texture.

Loves Birthday Cake flavored ice cream.

Hates hates hates the cold!!

Actually a far better listener than most people give her credit for.

That kid in elementary school who lifted all the chairs during clean up time because someone told her she wasn’t strong enough to do it.

Also that kid in school who would not sit down in her desk and by would I mean COULD NOT. She just wanted to TALK TO HER FRIENDS.

Loved light up sneakers so much as a kid that now she literally ha combat boots that glow.

Cares for everyone but isn’t keen on letting her guard down

WHAT IS VULERANBlITY I ASK YOU

“don’t ask me to talk about my feelings, I’ll fight you, I’ll fight your mom, I’LL FIGHT ME”

will hold a grudge until the end of fucking time

you know that joke where someone tells character A to disarm and it takes them literally stripping down with a pile of weapons in front of them to do so? That's Kass

Surprisingly shy with romance??? Melts easily buT Don’T LOOK AT HER

Kind of working on her impulses and her mouth works faster than her brain a lot of the time

Should have the one brain cell of the group but absolutely doES NOT

Has almost a Phoenix Wright level of pain tolerance and yes that should scare you.

Has a rose on the back of her neck to cover up a former military tattoo

Was called 'The Brat' during her military days

When she sees a pretty person she gets all dreamy and flirty but then when she actually flirts she does the bisexual finger gun thing

[ya-jirushi]

Tsurune Audio Drama: A Shot of Color 8 Being Pestered by Mutou-sensei

Unstoppable force (me wanting to post stuff in order to be organised) vs immovable object (me procrastinating + my schoolwork) /hj well at least the audio dramas for these last until april 19 lol No special notes here just enjoy Mutou-sensei being uh, intense, to say the least. Hang in there, Masa-san. It's nice to see him act like a young adult sometimes though lmao

Tommy-sensei: Then… Cheers! Mutou-sensei & Masaki: Cheers! Mutou-sensei: I’d like to sincerely thank the both of you for accepting my invitation today. Tommy-sensei: Now, now, there’s no need to be so tense. We’re having a relaxed gathering today, Mutou-sensei. Mutou-sensei: Yes! Thank you very much! Masaki: Here, have a glass. Mutou-sensei: Much obliged, Takigawa-sensei, I’ll be sure to savor it. Masaki: I don’t mind being referred to casually. Mutou-sensei: Ah, but that’s rather… Tommy-sensei: I’d much prefer if you called me Tommy. Mutou-sensei: To-Tommy…? Tommy-sensei: My full name is Morioka Tomio, so you get “Tommy”. Mutou-sensei: I, I understand… Masaki: Is Kirisaki off from club today? Mutou-sensei: Yes, there’s no use to having daily practice when there’s nothing to work towards. Masaki: This might seem rude for me to say all of a sudden, so I apologize, but you always striked me as the type to approach kyudo competitively. Tommy-sensei: He was the one that trained Kirisaki to be such a powerhouse after all. Mutou-sensei: N-Not at all! For you to speak of me in such a way, Morioka-sensei– Tommy-sensei: It’s Tommy. Mutou-sensei: …It’s gracious of you to say that about me, Tommy-sensei, I can only humble myself. Tommy-sensei: Oh, none of that now. Here, have another drink. Mutou-sensei: Thank you! Mutou-sensei: Although the reason I started kyudo in the first place was because of Yasaka Akihiro 8-dan. Masaki: Grandpa? Mutou-sensei: To be more accurate, for someone like me who just did the sport but had no direction at the time, seeing Yasaka 8-dan’s shots made me realize that this was something you worked on throughout your whole life. Masaki: It affected you that much? Mutou-sensei: It did! His shots were that impressive. Rather than being full of spirit with the intent to purify whatever they were aimed at, it was more so you wouldn’t expect when it was shot and it would reach the target just as swiftly. And then, it would hit. Mutou-sensei: Even to untrained eyes like mine, I could tell that I was in the presence of an expert–no, a master of his craft. Tommy-sensei: Ah, Mutou-sensei what subject do you teach? Was it classical or chinese literature? Mutou-sensei: Huh? Oh, no, I teach math. Tommy-sensei: I-I see... Ah, well, don’t mind me, go ahead. Mutou-sensei: ...With all that being said, I wanted to ask you for stories of your grandfather, Takigawa-sensei. Masaki: Eh? Mutou-sensei: Like what kind of training did he do usually? Did he have any special practice routines or… Actually, even just stories from his day to day life would be much appreciated…! Masaki: Well… Even if you ask me those things… I’m sorry, Mutou-sensei, but I didn’t really talk with him much since starting university. Mutou-sensei: But why?! Masaki: Woah there… To put it simply, um… It’s a usual case of drifting apart, or something like that. The both of us didn’t really see eye to eye on most things so— Mutou-sensei: Just what are you saying, Takigawa-sensei?! Masaki: Woah! Mutou-sensei: I’ve seen the way you shoot, it’s precise, beautiful, and looks as if it’s effortless. I’d dare say it was a direct display of Yasaka-sensei’s skills..! Tommy-sensei: You really do admire him, don’t you? Masaki: Hearing someone call grandpa’s shots ‘beautiful’ is kind of– Mutou-sensei: It seems you can’t see it for yourself! Or are you being humble? You are, aren’t you? Masaki: Mutou-sensei, you’re getting a bit too close– your face, it’s too close. Mutou-sensei: I’m envious of you, being able to live with Yasaka-sensei and learn his secrets… While an inept outsider like myself could only improve by earnestly taking countless shots and re-examining myself. Masaki: But isn’t that the best way to improve? Mutou-sensei: Takigawa-sensei! You simply do not realize how blessed you are! Masaki: Even if you tell me that I– Mutou-sensei: Ah… If only I were able to, I would've wanted to become one of Yasaka-sensei’s students, I would’ve wanted to be the best one! No! I’d even become his grandson! I would’ve liked to call him, “Grandfather!”... Masaki: …Mutou-sensei, there are other diners here, so if you could keep it down please… Are you drunk, maybe? Mutou-sensei: I am not! I feel miserable!! Masaki: Tommy-sensei… Tommy-sensei: Fufu, what a passionate conversation this turned out to be. How nice! Masaki: What part of it is ‘nice’ exactly…!

[strongbookthoughts]

Notes on 3D Granny Squares by Moore, Moore and Semaan

Yeah, so I finally looked at a digital craft book since starting this sideblog. Specifically through Hoopla. I have some opinions about both the format and the book itself.

The good, the bad and the ugly, right? I'mma start with the ugly.

I am absolutely sure that a physical copy of this book would not have the color guides for every single block formatted this way. This particular block actually has 5 colors, so guess what I had to page through! Yeah, I guess Hoopla thinks that every single picture should have its own page with no text. That's, uh, not ideal for this book. (On the other hand? Super easy to screen shot, if I want directions for a project I can't finish in 3 weeks.) Anyway, gonna try to ignore the digital formatting issue to talk about the contents now.

Okay, so I checked this book out because I saw a different book by one of the authors recommended elsewhere. I figured I'd get a feel for her aesthetic before deciding if I wanted to request the library get a copy of the book.

THE BLOCKS ARE SO FRICKEN CUTE!!! I LOVE THEM!! OMG!!! There's a lot of applique bits to make them 3D, so I'm not sure I'd love making them, but I am really enjoying flipping through the pictures. Every part has both written instructions and a chart. And I do love me some charts.

Look at that. It's a 6 stitch chart for lips. EVERY piece has a chart. Delightful. (Slightly less delightful is that some charts are in cream on white because color matching or something rather than being readable.)

Oh, and there are projects scattered through the book that are generally kid-focused.

So, uh, yeah. I'mma bug the library to get that other book. And may get this again, if I am making a thing where I need a granny square with a 3D jellyfish.

Also, I am unstoppable now! SO MANY DIGITAL CRAFT BOOKS TO HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT!!!!

[acidsoju]

MUSE II

read muse parte one here

genre: smut, non idol, college life, slice of life, some fluff, romance. pairing: poetry major! soobin x art major! femreader warnings: nsfw, dom soobin, sub reader, unprotected sex, public sex, oral (f. receiving) word count: 5k summary: if soobin had been a sorce of inspiration to your painting, why couldn't you also be one to his writing?

“Roses are red. Violets are blue. What the fuck I’m supposed to do?”

“Ah, yes, that’s my favorite so far.”

Soobin rolled his eyes, crashing the little paper in his hand and throwing it somewhere around his room. In his swivel chair, he turned to look at his friend laying in his bed while playing on his cellphone, not listening to him anymore and barely answering the same ‘that’s good’, ‘oh, I like that one better’ sentences everytime Soobin came with a new idea.

“Shouldn’t you be rehearsing or something?” That finally caught the attention of his friend who, after taking a look at the time in his screen, gasped loudly. Taehyun grabbed his stuff as quickly as he could and stormed out of Soobin’s house after screaming around:

“See ya, Soob! Good luck with your thingy!”

Now Soobin was alone with his own thoughts in his room; his floor covered in his failed writing attempts. He leaned his head against the chair’s back, his hair swiftly falling to the sides of his face. Like a drummer, he twirled unstoppably the pencil in his fingers while trying to organized the ideas rushing throught his mind.

After winning last year’s poetry contest, he didn’t feel the necessity of trying again; but that changed after this year’s prize was revealed; a full year scholarship? He was on. But it seemed like the harder he tried, the harder it became to actually write something that wasn’t a full of crap.

Soobin still had a month to write and submit his poem, so he found himself staying till late hours in the uni’s library, reading how many hours long from Homer to Shakespeare to Komachi and then Dickinson; Soobin immersed in his big literaly world.

“We’re closing soon, son. You should go back home.” The old and sweet librarian would tell him, snapping him out of his world when the nights arrived.

One specifically night, he found himself roaming around the various departments in college, enjoying the strange atmosphere it created the night in the place. He felt such an outsider in such a familiar place to him. The sound of his footsteps died when he saw light coming from a classroom and he walked slower, trying not to make any sound in case it was, you know, a serial killer.

Avoiding making sound wasn’t really necessary as you had your earphones on, blocking any sound from outside. You sat down on a wooden stool facing a canva two heads bigger than you, your hand holding up the brush and and brushtrocking on it, plastering life into it. It wasn’t done but Soobin could tell you were working on some sea details at the moment.

He stayed crouched down peeking from the door longer than he thought, but he found himself mesmerized. It hadn’t been that long of a time since you two met but still, after that night he stood over at your place, you two had not talked again due to your busy, overwhelming university lives. Memories from that night with you came to his mind making his breath hitched.

He analyzed the scene in front of him some more; from your tired yet focused eyes, to the hand holding the palette in which you would mix some colors; your own clothes had stains of paint in some random places, some were still fresh and some looked old so Soobin assumed you used that specific overall anytime you’d paint.

Your hand stopped and Soobin hid himself just in time before you looked to the door. The hall was dark. Just what time was it? You didn’t know and your phone was still in your bag, but from the window you saw the stars of the night sky and decided it was time to go back home. Your eyes flickered to the door once more when you thought you heard some footsteps, but since you had your earphones on you assumed it was nothing and carried on.

Soobin rushed down the hall to the art department’s entrance, almost running. His heart beating loudly against his chest after almost being caught. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to you but he would prefer if you didn’t catch him practically spying on you.

The very next day Soobin found himself walking down the art’s department again, curiously wondering if you’d be there again too. And you were; on the same clothes, with your earphones on humming along to the song while painting. This became of Soobin’s little routine after his actual routine in the library but it didn’t last long since one night when he had peeked to look into the classroom, he had seen no one.

The big half-done canva was there though and as his eyes went from the glistening sea to the bag on the floor, his heart started beating anxiously against his chest. He was about to leave when he heard the clear sound of footsteps stopping just behind him; he suddenly felt like he was about to die in a horror movie and when you towered over him and poke your head form his side, he couldn’t help but shrieked.

Next thing he heard was your loud laughter. He fell on his butt and tried to calm his anxious heart, feeling the back of his neck burning up. Your shoes appeared in front of him and he looked up at your figure; you smirked down at him, an eyebrow arched and your arms crossed in front of your chest.

“Well, I haven’t seen you around lately.” Soobin laughed awkwardly at your remark and stood up enjoying the way you had to tilt your head up to keep looking at him in the eyes. He had to admit that looking at you from a distance and from up a close were two completely different things. His eyes faltered for milliseconds to your lips.

“So…” He mumbled scratching the back of his head with his hand and trying to pull his best innocent smile, making his dimple show specially for you. “This is not what it looks like?” He didn’t sound convinced at all which made you snort. “Really! I just happened to be here and didn’t except anyone else to be here… I didn’t expect you to be here.” Wow, was he always this good of a liar?

You narrowed your eyes at him and ended up shrugging, deciding that there was no reason to believe he was lying and, after all, you both did go to the same college.

“Okay then, it was nice seeing you again.” You lazily smiled at him before walking into the classroom again, putting a sudden end to your meeting. Soobin blinked at the space you were just a second ago and without too much thinking, he followed you in. While you took your usual seat, he walked closer and stopped behind you looking at the beautiful painting in front of him. You silently gulped feeling the warm of his body radiating on your back and picked up the palette and brush, hoping the slight shake of your fingers would pass unnoticed.

“You really are talented.” He complimented nodding his head while looking at you inching closer to the canva, some lose strands of hair falling to the front of your head because of the sudden movement.

When his hand reached out and put the little hairs behind your ear, you flinched surprised at the sudden contact. His hand lingered in the spot just a moment before tracing his fingertips down your neck. You closed your eyes, enjoying his sweet caress.

“It was nice seeing you too.” He whispered in your ear, now his body towering over yours.

It was safe to say that that night Soobin couldn’t stop thinking about you; while deprived of sleep, he started writing down every thought that came to his mind while you flooded every space in his head. He didn’t realized when he fell asleep, head resting down on his desk and with half a paper written thanks to you.

Knock knock. You turned your head towards the door to where the tall, pretty boy stood, gently leaning on against the door frame, a coyly smile for you. You nodded in his direction, greeting him with a small smile on your lips while your eyes told everything in your place: ‘what are you doing here?’ Soobin caught that; still he walked in and placed down his bag on a table. He sat down and took out some things from his bag.

You cleared your throat. “Did you need anything?”

“Oh, I can’t be here?” He tilted his head.

“I don’t really mind… But why are you here?”

“I’m participating in this year’s poetry contest.”

You hummed nodding your head, turning around in your seat to look properly at him. Did he wear glasses before? This was the first time you noticed them. It suited him really good. He didn’t say anything else to you and instead focused all his attention down on his notepad, nibbling down on his pencil.

Just when you turned back to the canva, he lifted his eyes and grinned, trying to suppress his smile from growing bigger.

Truth was, you didn’t really mind sharing the classroom with other people. After all, you had your earphones with you just in case you needed to block anything that could bother you from the little world you were creating. Still, you didn’t really expect to feel the burning of his stare from time to time on your back. So nervewrecking.

Long hours passed day by day where the two of you were sharing a common silence. Only making small talks from time to time when Soobin would feel his head clouded or when you would start getting annoyed at some failed attempts.

As more time you spent together, Soobin started noticing more things about you; the way you’d block him from your own world completely, humming quietly to whatever came to your mind and sometimes even muttering things to yourself which he found kind of cute; or the way you’d massage your back after long hours of painting; how you’d rubbed your temples while sighting or the quick glances you’d steal from him when you thought he wouldn’t noticed.

Oh, did he not noticed all those times you’d look at him with your pretty eyes?

He could notice from the corner of his eyes when you’d turn, pretending to stretch and look outside through the window, how your eyes would trail to him and lingered on himself. He had ended up hurting the inside of his cheek after so much biting to suppress his grinning. And from time to time he’d lift his gaze, caughting you staring at him and enjoying the red in your ears.

“Pretty.”

You were startled when he suddenly talked standing behind you, interrupting the unspoken pact of silence between both.  When had he gotten so close? You tilted your head and looked up at him as he towered over yourself to peek closer at your work. The back of your head hit his low abdomen and that made him look down, a smile spreading in his face that made your cheeks burn up. His hands placed on each side of your face and his thumbs gently rubbed your red cheeks.

“So pretty.” He mumbled and from the look in his eyes you were sure he wasn’t talking about your painting. His eyes moved to your lips, his index finger tracing the corner of your mouth while his own lips slightly parted open. You thought he was going to kiss you and you really wanted him to, but you felt your heart sank in your chest when he pressed his pretty lips into a smile, looking back up at your eyes and let go the hold in your face.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You got up dropping your brush and palette to the floor and turned to him; he could barely react when you grabbed the collar of his shirt in your fist and pulled him down to your height, crashing your lips against his. You kissed him hungerly, melting at the sweet taste of his lips, before parting away from him and looking at his eyes still covered in shock. You felt your ears burning up, but still managed to talk. “Well, you don’t have to look that surprised.”

He chucked, getting out of the sudden shock and his hands grabbed your hips, pressing you against him. Yeah sure, he had played just a little with you trying to get a good reaction from you, but this? He couldn’t imagine you’d react like this and, being completely honest, he loved it.

Soobin hummed delighted when you closed the distance between your lips again, your hands sliding to the back of his neck, tugging at his soft hair. Soon your back was pressed against the cold wall of the classroom, sending shivers down your spin. You felt the hardness of Soobin’s cloth dick rubbing against your tight as his hips started bucking up, making you gasp softly against his mouth, his tongue meeting yours at your sudden open mouth.

His hands moved down to grab your ass, rubbing harder against you before lifting you up easily to match his height, pressing your against the wall. Your legs rounded his waist and pressed him impossibly closer to you, your core aching while he rubbed up his still clothed, hard cock against you, barely being able to relief some ache. Breaking the kiss, Soobin started leaving a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses from your neck to your ear, licking experimentally and moaning against it. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head; he moaned so fucking prettily.

“Fuck baby, I missed you so bad,” he whined, slowing down the movements in his hips while locking his lips with yours again, his tongue against yours owning every inch of your mouth. His grip on your loosened before he placing you back down on your own feet. As soon as you stood on your own, he fell down on his knees looking up at you with pleadingly eyes, his hands caressing and squeezing your tights. “let me show you how much I have missed you, mmh?”

“Wa-wait” You gasped at the cold air hitting your skin when Soobin pulled down your overall pants to your ankles, leaving you exposed only with your panties and shirt in front of him. His long, slender middle finger slid against the wet cloth between your legs and you sighed, trying to press togheter your thighs. Soobin gave you an annoyed look and clicked his tongue before grabbing and putting over his shoulder one of your legs exposing you more to him, after throwing away your overall to a corner in the room.

“You’re so wet baby, did you miss me too?” He mumbled sliding your panties to a side and caressing your wet folds with his index finger. Your hips buckled and that made him chuckle. “Eager?” He got his face closer to your core, his breath hitting against your bare skin and kissed softly your clit, again making you flinch. “Want me to eat you up?”

“Soobin, hurry." You whined not liking his teasing at all. He obliged and pulled down your underwear, his eyes never leaving yours before he closed his mouth against your aching hole. Both of you groaned at the same time; Soobin at your such delicious taste, eyes rolling to the back of his head, and you at the way the man on his knees eat you up so good. "Mmh- agh, Soobin, s'good."

All the moans that came from your pretty-self went directly to his aching cock. He switched places with his mouth from your folds to your abandoned clit while inserting easily a finger and then two in you, in and out faster every time. You covered your mouth with a hand, biting down ignoring the fact that you were going to leave some marks on your skin, trying to appease all the noise that scaped uncontrollably from you.

Soobin groaned against you when you started grinding your pussy against his face, matching the pace of his fingers fucking into you. You were so close; you looked down and moaned at the beautiful image of the man eating you out so deliciously, cumming on his fingers. He switched againt his fingers for his mouth and rode you through your climax, hearing the sweet whimpers from your overstimulated self.

"Sob-soobin---fuck."

Your knees trembled and he helped you steady yourself up, putting down your leg and holding you tight by your waist. Soobin crashed his mouth against you making sure you'd taste yourself and started unbuckling his pants. He grabbed your hand and put it right over his hard dick, eyes piercing through you after pulling apart from your mouth.

“Feel that?” He questioned you, grinding against your hand while your eyes glued to his pretty swollen lips. “You make me so fucking hard, baby- god.”

“Soobin, please.” You whined; he smirked loving the way you’d say his name.

“Please what, princess? Say what you want.” You started rubbing your tights together, trying to relieve the aching between your legs.

“Need you to fuck me right now.”

Just as you said that Soobin pulled down his boxers, his hard, fat dick sticking up to his abdomen, the tip shiny from the pre-cum. You bit your lip; you wanted to eat him up so badly. But when he noticed the intention you had to get on your knees, he stopped you grabbing your hips harder, his dick trapped in between the two bodies.

“Where do you think you’re going? Thought you wanted me to fuck you?” He tilted his head and rose an eyebrow; you opened your mouth to reply but he cut you off. “I wanna pound so hard into you, baby so turn around and lift your pretty ass for me, okay?”

Soobin watched you turned to face the hall, putting your ass in full display for him, his hand wanking on his member, a soft gasp living his lips at the godly sight. He pressed his dick against your ass teasingly, grabbing your hips and pressing them against him. After some pleading from your part that had his cock twitching, he positioned the tip against your wet, so hot, entrance and planted a kiss on your back before pushing forward into you; his mouth forming a ‘o’ and a groan erupting from down his throat as you clenched around him, taking him so well.

“So tight for me, ri--ah- right?” He hissed feeling you sucking him up perfectly with your gummy walls while you grinded against his hips for more friction. He started pounding deeper into you, a moan scaping from you as you pressed against the wall trying not to fall. “So damn pretty.”

Soobin eyes were fixated where you and him met, licking his lips and whimpering when you’d clench around him. His pace fastened and he had to bite down on his lip so hard to avoid cumming when you started pounding against him as well, matching his pace. Your fingers rubbed against your knob, your eyes rolling to the back of your head, feeling so close to your climax.

Soobin slid his hand around your chest and grabbed your pretty neck, straightening you and pressing your back against his agitated chest. His mouth reached your ear and he started moaning for you, one hand pressing on your neck, the other pushing his fingers into your mouth while his dick devoured your insides.

“You take me so damn well, baby- fuck.“ He groaned, feeling you clenching at his words. “So fucking pretty, please, make me feel good and cum over my dick, okay?”

It didn’t take more for you to cum, Soobin panting at the feeling of your juices covering his throbbing dick and he thrusted a few more times before cumming too, ropes of cum filling you. He didn’t stop thursting into you until there was a white ring of cum at the base of his dick and you were whimpering so hard that even the fingers in your mouth couldn’t muffle down the sounds.

Soobin turned you around after pulling out of yourself and kissed your lips, not leaving you catch your breath. His hands cupping your face and rubbing sweetly.

“I think…” You said after pulling apart between agitated breaths while Soobin helped you put back your clothes. “We should get out of here before someone comes.”

“Good idea.” He put back on his own trousers and gently kissed your lips again, before going for his stuff.

“You looked so fucked up right now.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Soobin ignored Taehyun’s comment and put down his tray of food on the cafeteria table. He knew he looked bad, after all he had go back late to his place last night and of course, his racing mind and heart hadn't let him sleep at all so he had no other choice but to work on his writing which had resulted in him finally finishing up the submission poetry for the contest and sending it up.

That was why he still had some bed hair and bags under his eyes that thankfully his glasses covered almost completely. Still if you’d look up at him from close, like his friend Taehyung did, you could noticed his sleep deprived self.

He started munching down his lunch when his eyes landed on you walking into the cafeteria, mindlessly looking down at your phone instead of where you were going. Soobin’s eyes were glued to you, his mind flashing back to yesterday, he fought the smile on his face.

Of course, his urge to smile really died when someone sneaked from behind you and hugged your waist, lifting you up in the air and making you gasp in surprise before giggling so beautifully. He hated it. Soobin watched the way Yeonjun put you down before kissing your cheek and hugging your shoulders, walking you to a free table.

“Oh my god, what did that salad even do to you?” Taehyun asked concerned watching Soobin stab furiously the poor lettuce, an annoyed grimace on his face. When his friend didn’t answer him, Taehyun looked where Soobin’s eyes were and hummed as if he got everything. “Are you jealous? Do you like her?”

But Soobin didn’t answer. He just watched carefully how Yeonjun placed a tray of food for you and opened his mouth, you spoon-feeding him before eating yourself.

“Are friends usually that close to each other?” He mumbled to himself but Taehyun perfectly caught that and snickered, earning a death glare from his friend. His eyes went back to you, chatting non-stop with Yeonjun who’s face lazily rested in the palm of his hand while listening and nodding to whatever you were saying.

Taehyun was actually scared Soobin would brake the fork on his hand when Beomgyu joined you and Yeonjun on the table, ruffling your hair and placing down some pudding on your tray. That should be me, thought Soobin, glaring at the boys surrounding you. His eyes met Yeonjun who, for a second, looked defiant into Soobin’s eyes, but then his gaze softened and he interrupted you mid-sentence, lifting up his finger in Soobin’s direction.

Soobin did felt his nerves shutting down and himself relaxing when you turned around and looked at him with your beautiful, so soft, lips stretching into a pretty smile and waving your hand in his direction. Soobin smiled lightly and waved back.

“So you two fucked yesterday?” Repeated Yeonjun earning a glare from you while you snapped your head at him.

“You should scream it out loud in case nobody else heard you.” You told him feeling your cheeks burning up when two girls from the table next to yours turned to look at your curiously.

“Sure thing. Hey! Y/n and Soobin are fuc- Mhm!” You shoved some untouched food into your friend’s mouth muffling whatever the fuck he was going to say and ignored the annoyed look he gave you, munching the food. “You could have killed me."

“I wish.” Gyu mumbled.

“Ah, please!” Yeonjun pulled your chair closer to his and trapped you in between his arms, not letting you a chance of scaping. “You both know you’d be so bored without me, I’m the actual fun part of this friendship."

Taehyun seriously thought Soobin would stab Yeonjun with his plastic fork any minute. Slowly, he took the mortal weapon from his friend’s hand and replaced it with an apple. If looks could kill, Yeonjun would be ten feet underground already.

That day, Soobin didn’t show at your classroom which only made your heart sank, barely being able to concentrate in your painting. As you confessed to your friends, you had really started to like this pretty boy but it scared you so much that you two would only be a fling.

A sighed scaped your lips as you walked down the hall in complete darkness after turning off the light from your classroom. The cold of the night hit you as soon as you put your foot outside and you hurried to the entrance where the same police office man of everyday nodded in your direction.

“Hey pretty.”

Soobin waited for you outside on the other side of the entrance. His back rested against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. He smiled softly at you and waited for you to react. You, on the other hand, started malfunctioning. Was it possible that he was there just to fuck again? What was the situation between you two?

“Hey,” You answered, barely smiling and looking away from his intense eyes. He took a step away from the wall and closer to you, making you flinch but you managed to lock eyes with his. “you’re pretty late.”

“Am I?” He nibbled down at his bottom lip, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “I had some thinking to do, sorry I didn’t show up.”

“It’s fine, it’s… it’s not like you had to-

“I like spending time with you.” He cut you off, knowing where you sentence was going but he wasn’t going to let it happen. Your mouth hanged open in the air, the words losing sound and you just nodded. “So, I have something to confess.” You hummed, letting him know you were listening. “Today I almost went to prison.”

“What?”

“I really, really, wanted to kick Yeonjun in the face today.” Your eyebrows knitted and he feared you were going to get mad at him, but instead you answered:

“I mean... I get it, but why?"

Soobin chuckled softly and took a step closer to you, cupping your hands in his. “Don’t you know why?”

“...I can thing about some things but I’m not really sure until you tell me.”

“I like you,” He lifted your hands closer to his mouth and placed a kiss on your knuckles, his eyes never leaving yours. “like so much. I really like you.”

You grinned, feeling the anxiety from all day’s lifting from your chest. Your arms hugged the boy’s torso and placing down your head against his chest, you heard his beating heart.

“I hope this is not a rejection hug?” He mumbled burying his head in your neck and hugging you tightly against him. You chuckled and kissed his cheek.

“I like you too, silly. I was actually so sad you didn’t show up today, I thought this was a onetime thing for you.”

“Well, it was actually two.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know, but it isn’t like that.” Soobin lifted his head and cupped your face in his big hands. “Actually, there’s something I have to show you. Do wanna crash at my place tonight?”

You sat down on Soobin’s couch sipping at the warm coffee he had made for you and waited impatiently for him to finally show you what he had written for the poesy contest. He took a seat next to you, red tinting his cheeks as he offered you his notepad with slightly shaky hands. You smiled and took it, leaning in closer to him and making yourself comfortable in his embrace before starting to read:

She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

That night, Soobin and you fell asleep in his couch with the background sound of the tv on and animation movie’s credits playing on screen. Your body on top of his, with your face burred in the crook of his neck, one hand placed against his chest moving up and down from his soft breaths and the other intertwined with his free hand, while his other hand hugged you tightly to him.

“And you said he wrote this about you?” Gyu repeated incredulously, looking at the screen of his phone that showed this year’s poetry winner posted on the uni’s page. You scoffed at your friend’s remarks and took the phone out of your ear, placing it near your boyfriend’s. Soobin looked at you confused.

“Tell him I’m your muse.” You said silently. Soobin snickered and held your hand that grabbed the phone.

“Hello? Ah, Beomgyu, hi. Yes? Yeah, thanks, I’m so happy right now. Actually…” Soobin’s dreamy eyes went up to look at you and his smiled widened. “Being real honest with you, I couldn’t have won without y/n, she’s my most perfect muse- Hello? Beomgyu? I think he died.”

a/n: this poem actually belongs to george gordon (lord byron) because i'm not that of a brilliant poestist (am not at all)

[minhyukmysunshine]

Hooooooo boy...

My Thoughts on ONEUS - Unforgettable

No word of a lie, I was in tears by the end of this. The way the MV appeared so joyful and full of hope in the beginning, and by the end everything was suddenly so sad... It’s a perfect metaphor for what happened with ONEUS and my current feeling towards being their fan. For so long everything seemed perfect, and within seconds it wasn’t.

Cont.

For two-and-a-half years ONEUS brought nothing but happiness to my life. I declared them as an ult group so quickly after becoming To Moon. The fact that they went nearly 4 years without a single scandal, and their fandom was (emphasis on was) one of the kindest in kpop without having engaged in any fan wars, I thought ONEUS and To Moon were unstoppable. But I should've seen it coming once they got 4 wins for the same comeback; once they were finally getting the recognition they deserved; the unconditional happiness wasn’t gonna last.

The last 6 months as a To Moon have been rough. The majority of the fandom have shown their true colors and are so vile (and honestly just plain stupid). And I’m not gonna lie to myself and say I’m as excited for this comeback as the rest. I get Ravn left 6 months ago and it’s been long enough to process and accept the way things are now, but I couldn’t help but get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw the comeback was announced. A voice in the back of my head has been constantly saying ‘It’s not gonna be the same’.

When I saw Unforgettable had been uploaded, it took me a bit to finally suck it up and watch it. And honestly: I really like it. Like I’ve seen many of you have said already, I can see why it was almost the title track. Now don’t get me wrong, when I said I had the thought of ‘It’s not gonna be the same’, I don’t mean ONEUS’ sound. I never worried about that, even with the fact that Ravn is a HUGE part of their discography, because ONEUS don’t have a distinct “sound” at all. Every single comeback and album have been so diverse, and that’s the biggest reason why I love ONEUS in the first place. What my thought meant was, simply put, ‘it’s not gonna be the same without Ravn. It’s not gonna feel right seeing ONEUS as a group and only counting 5 people’.

And it isn’t. Things just will never be the same. But after watching Unforgettable, and genuinely enjoying it (and, you know, getting really sad from it at the same time), I’m one step closer to accepting that. I put my personal feelings and thoughts aside before clicking on the video, and I ended up just simply enjoying a new ONEUS song.

By the way, referring back to the first paragraph, I’m not saying the MV is actually portraying what had happened with ONEUS and how they may feel about it. I’m not that delusional in looking for some hidden message from the members that isn’t there. It’s just my personal takeaway from it and how I relate everything I’ve gone through with them to it. I also made this post to see if anyone would feel the same (plus pouring my overwhelming thoughts out by writing them down has always helped me process things).

For months I kept telling myself ‘everything will be ok... everything with ONEUS will feel normal again...’ and I was absolutely lying to myself. But today is the first day I can say it, and I actually believe it 🌙

[mikey-media-society]

Blade

Part of me finds it kind of funny how the audiences for the MCU are finally receding, and no, not in a snobby film critic sort of way. I, myself, enjoyed the Marvel movies while they had everyone eating out the palm of their hands and you were a fool and you would regret it if you skipped out on one of their movies during that era, even if it was starring one of the lesser iconic characters. I do not typically hop on bandwagons myself but I can safely say that I was a MCU fan and went to every movie with my friends. Not only were the movies charming and entertaining and led to an awesome and satisfying conclusion by bringing all those worlds together, but I think they were also good conversation pieces and I recall sitting and discussing those movies sometimes just as fun as watching them. However, I admittedly struggled staying in the loop with what Marvel had to offer after Endgame, and an increasing amount of viewers are beginning to feel the same way. When they implemented shows from Disney+ into the mix, there just seemed like there was way too much to keep up with in order to understand everything. You went from 1-2 movies a year, to that and a handful of mini-series. And eventually, oversaturation comes with burnout and I think that’s what many Marvel fans are going through. I have not watched anything post Shang-Chi, but I typically hear repeating complaints and sentiments by most people online and offline regarding the current Marvel movies.Many people say things like “corny” or “cheesy” or even “full of itself”. The standards that Endgame left everyone with, alongside the chore of keeping up with every MCU-related piece of content, nobody knows if the MCU will ever hook and reel everyone like it did before. But the reason why I brought all of this up is because when I hear criticisms like this, there is a part in the back of my head that has a Marvel movie, one that predates the cinematic universe, that basically fits those descriptions to a T. That movie is the story centered around Eric Brooks, but you might know him better as Blade.

When I first watched Blade, the entire runthrough, all I could think to myself was how it is the perfect encapsulation of 90’s edge. After decades of clean-cut and filtered media, a rebellious wave dominated the scene and edginess was in. Movies, television, toys, and commercials were all feeding into that type of energy and Blade was no exception. Blade’s attempt to win you over is by overcompensating with dark and muted colors and an unapologetic bloodbath and fascination with gore, along with the kinds of one-liners that were cool to drop back then, but big eye-rollers now, like “I’m going to enjoy this”. Blade was doing everything in its power to make you think it was cool. The movie that is, believe it or not, the actual character of Blade didn’t have to lay it on so thick in its attempt to impress you. Blade himself is one of the few elements that is surrounded in a world of exaggerated deaths and cheesy one-liners is just naturally cool. Played phenomenally by Wesley Snipes, Blade is a cold, skilled, badass vampire slayer who doesn’t let anybody get in his way. Sporting a trench coat and sunglasses while wielding swords, daggers, knives, all things sharp that he uses to hack and slash through his enemies.  And to top it all off, he’s got a silky smooth voice. As mentioned before, Blade is a vampire slayer and lucky for him, there are plenty of vampires to slay. They’re everywhere, lurking the streets by day, sinking their teeth into people by night. However, one particular vampire and antagonist of the film, has desires of something more for the vampire race, he believes they have the potential to both dominate the overworld and the underworld, seeking out ancestral powers that will turn him into an unstoppable force and conqueror of both worlds in the process. But Blade is not going to let that happen. Now feels like a good time as ever to talk about Blade’s hatred for the vampire race and what drives him to kill them in the first place. Well, for starters, spoiler alert: Blade is half-human and half-vampire, or known as a day-walker by the vampires. “Born from a mother ravaged by vampirism and gifted superhuman abilities by a bite from Morbius, the Living Vampire, Blade is the Daywalker—a skilled martial artist who possesses most vampire strengths and none of their weaknesses. His life is the tireless pursuit of eradicating the world of the beasts who seek to destroy innocent life.. But he is never conflicted between picking sides, as he views all vampires as scum for infecting his mother, giving him the powerful abilities he has today” (Marvel.org). That’s an important detail, remember that for later. Soon after that, Blade had been abandoned and had been brought in by Abraham Whistler, serving as both the mentor and father figure in their relationship.  “Whistler took Eric in and became a father figure to him.He helped Eric overcome the self-hatred stemming from his inhuman nature.He gave him a mission in life: hunting vampires to avenge his mother’s murder and the loss of a normal human life. Eric took a new name to signify his rebirth — Blade” (Writeups.org). While Abraham helped Blade transform into the cold-blooded vampire hunter that he is now, he doesn’t hold that against him nor does Blade credit all of his success to Abraham for how trained in combat he is. They have a mutual respect for each other. You also have Dr. Karen Jenson, a woman who has been bitten by a vampire and has minimal time to find a cure for herself. Admittedly, her and Blade’s relationship isn’t anything notable but she does something significant to Blade’s character by the third act.

Speaking of, a ton of significant things happen to Blade’s character by the third act, Deacon Frost gets personal by killing Abraham Whistler, which sets off Blade to show these vampires no mercy, unfortunately, things don’t get any better for Blade though, as his perception of reality and everything he stands for is crushed when it is revealed his Mother has banded together with the vampires. The sole reason why Blade pursued being a vampire hunter was to avenge his mother, only to see that she has switched sides and loves being one. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21TKB3TDoNg) Blade, at the culmination of his most vulnerability, goes completely savage. He puts the ritual to the halt, killing every vampire in sight and releasing their demons, his mother included. By the end of the movie, Dr. Karen Jenson has discovered a cure for vampires and offers it to Blade, only for him to decline. I speculate the reasoning behind this is because Blade realizes the responsibility he has more than ever before, who knows if there are other vampires or supernatural beings out there and after witnessing the negative impact the vampires had on his innocent mother and having those abilities without that kind of upbringing, that makes Blade the protector of the human race against vampires, whilst being half-vampire himself. “Blade's destiny is to hunt and destroy those who'd prey on humanity, to rid the world of evil” (Marvel.com) And for those reasons Blade can be cool without him needing to be in your face about it.

References