#in the tradition of MC kids this MC kid has no idea what he's getting himself into

[starfishstark]

PRINCESS AND THE SITH

NOTE guys this prompt got a hold of me, so blame @ofstarsandvibranium for the midnight horrible writing

WARNINGS 1.6K words, violence, death of a non-MC, smut (you freaks), lots of religious imagery and refrences to Qimir being god-like (he is)

PAIRING qimir x princess! reader

you and young jedi qimir fall in love when he's guarding you as a member of the royal family. you're stricken away from each other in the name of duties and responsibilities, and the love is thought to be a lost cause to you...until you see him again, holding a vibrant red saber to the throat of your betrothed.

Oh my stars, he was just as beautiful as the day he left. Even with grim over his face, and sweat glistening over his skin. The red reflected off of him in a way that she could only compare to heavenly. Oh what a horrible idea…

It was just a mistake, that was all. As a kid, she should have known she couldn’t have grown close to any Jedi. As a teenager, she should have recognized her faults, and moved past them. Not whatever happened between them then, puppy innocent love. Nothing tainted, nothing impure, simply just a love that bloomed between them, first love. 

But it could never meant to be. She knew she had to grow into her royal duties, one day marry into a rich royal family somewhere out there to settle down and provide heirs for that family as she wasn’t the eldest.

And Qimir…he was a Jedi. He could never have that without forsaking what he has stood for all his life. So once the threat on the royals’ lives had ended, he was sent away. And she never thought of him again…

That was completely false, by the way. It was like every waking second after his departure was spent in reminiscence of him. 

Every lesson became a guess if he would like the subject or not. Every lonely stroll became a daydream about his presence. Every late night was spent wishing he was there guarding her room from the inside, holding her in warrior strengthened arms and confessing the sweet love he had for her. 

As time washed past, the remembrance faded away, until the impending face of reality dawned upon her. There was no point in wishing over something she would never have, something that wouldn’t serve her people. 

She had a royal duty to be bound elsewhere and provide heirs. It was time she forgot about the boy that only stayed weeks, but occupied her mind for years.

But he stood here, grinning like a madman, but at least he was grinning.

“Qimir?” She asked softly, not daring to guess if it was him or not. 

The guard took her by the arm, pulling her away, "Princess, you need to step away. Our priority is getting you to safety—”

“What do you mean- oh.” 

She saw it, the reason he was grinning so widely. In his arms he held the man she was meant to marry in the crook of his elbow, squeezing the neck so tightly that the eyes started to bulge out, but her eyes stayed focused on the sheer mass of muscle he displayed. He wore white…white, like her husband was supposed to on the wedding day. White, and red that made him glow in her eyes. 

“Qimir, what is this?”

“I read…” He started off, clearly his throat, trying to soften his voice. “I read about your laws and traditions, princess…” He glanced off at the man he was currently strangling, holding the end of a small dagger like saber, to his head, a look full of disgust and malice. “And this idiots’ laws too…If I kill him off, I get his wife or his kingdom…and to your laws, all you need to provide is a backup heir for your kingdom…it doesn’t matter who the father is.”

“Of course it does, it needs to be of royal blood,” She answered simply, face and thoughts going more and more blank the longer she spent in his presence. He was really here, and it was flattering he wanted to marry her, but really it could never work out he was a Jedi-

The red saber stared back at, as if taunting her to continue her thoughts. 

No, no, ok, makes sense, he’s a Jedi anymore, but…if he wasn’t Jedi, what was he?

Qimir cocked an eyebrow and smirked at the ministry to her right. “Is that so?”

The Ministry looked down in shame. “No, you are wrong princess…He…he is right. The father does not matter if at least the mother is in direct blood of the throne.”

Her face dropped, looking at them equally with shame and a repulsion, and then panicking, looking suddenly at her fiance’s impending death in the eyes. “Wait, wait, Qimir, don’t be rash, we don’t have to kill him, you’ll enable an entire army of attacks, think rationally here-”

“Oh princess…” He crooned, a glaze in his eyes that never left her, not even for a second. He tilted his head, turning her fiance in tow with him. “Shh…If it’ll hurt, you can close your eyes this time. This isn’t the first time I’ve killed for you…and it won’t be the last either. Shhh, sh…close your eyes.”

“You…you can’t do this,” She tried again stupidly. 

“Yes, yes I can…” he whispered, voice impossibly soft when the subject was the murder of a royal in front of her, her supposed fiance… well not anymore, a little voice in her head cooed, sounding impossibly like Qimir in that moment. 

“Just close your eyes, princess, nothing to see here…the wedding will commence like normal…and nothing will come between us again.”

“Qimir, please, he’s innocent,” She whispered, tears springing in her eyes.

“Princess, c’mon now, don’t make this more difficult for yourself…close your eyes, and cover your ears.”

She glanced at the man she was strangling, taking a full moment to beg for forgiveness in herself, before she turned around closing her eyes and covered her ears. She thought she could practically feel Qimir’s grin resonating around her, and the second her ex-fiances’ body hit the floor. After a moment of silence, a hand rested at her shoulder, turning her around. 

Qimir’s handsome face tugged at her heartstrings, even when she knew that the hands he touched her so softly with were stained with blood. His eyes were alike to a puppy, with hope filling a spark in them that she would marry him and they could love again, the love that never truly fades. His hair framed his face, since when was it that long? Oh she hadn’t seen him in that long.

“Ready to get married, princess?”

__

After the marriage, no one really dared to come near him after he so simply beheaded the heir to a million count kingdom. Suffice to say, no one would bother them for a while…especially during their wedding night. When he had face pushed against the pillow while he took his time learning his way around her body once again. 

“When I-” He cut off with a sharp thrust that rendered her useless under him, whining some nonsense about how good everything felt, “saw the wedding announcement, princess, I nearly killed him that night. Almost consumed him in the force itself, that bastard, trying to take what’s mine.”

“Yours, yours, yours, Qimir, I’m so sorry—”

“Shhh, it’s ok, princess, I’m not mad at you,” he crooned into her ear, his nose tracing a line up and down her neck in comfort as he forced himself further into her, the mess dripping onto the bedsheets and down her thighs. “You didn’t have a choice, you thought you had to do it…I know you would have chosen me if you could, oh poor baby, you thought you were all alone…”

His voice was so soft onto her, like velvet that soothed all the cuts left behind by the years he wasn’t there. “It’s ok… I’m here now, princess…”

She gasped softly when he pulled out just to thrust all the way in again, his fingers coming up to push her head back into the mattress, forcing her hips higher and straightening back out. “Stars, princess, I dreamed of this so much when I didn’t have you…did you dream of me?”

“Almost every night, Qimir, missed you so much,” She blabbed, feeling tears peak at her eyes with how long he was dragging this out. “Please, please, please, need you, need you now, please—”

“Shhh, shh, baby, maybe if it’s easier, you should close your eyes,” He whispered, a mockery of the circumstances before their wedding, sending a shiver involuntarily down her shoulder. “I know what you need, just-” he thrusted again, pressing a spot inside her that made her see stars “-relax.”

She practically melted in his grip, while he breathed heavily above her, the sound like a symphony to heaven’s gates to her. Like pure bliss exploding on her skin, ever second he was with her. 

“Fuck, I love you so much, princess, baby, you love me too, don’t you? Stars, I did this all for you, I fucking love you.”

“I love you, I love you, Iloveyou, Iloveyou-” The phrase became a mantra on her tongue, a prayer that died the second he started to move on her. Prayers were answered, an alter laid before her. He had the wings of an angel, and the eyes of the devil when he peered at her with such power laid in his hands. His blood-streaked hands, like the acceptance of a sacrifice, sacrifice in her name, if he was god, what does that make her? The worship he gave to her, laying practically at her feet, jumping down from his pedestal for a touch of mortality from her lips, and the dangers of being young forever when they touched. 

“You’re mine, princess, no other dirty prince will ever touch you,” He whispered to her, and she knew she believed in faith when his words rang like truth itself in her core. 

When they both finished, he laid next to her, curling her hair behind her ear and pressing gentle kisses to her forehead, each one like sunlight on her skin. She knew what it was like to be touched by a god. 

[atsadi-shenanigans]

Thinking thoughts. In a lot of popular books, usually YA, I’ve noticed that when the mc (usually a girl) goes through Some Shit, at the end of the series or whatever to show healing and growth, the authors often have her married off and possibly with a kid. The ~normal ideal~ and all.

But for me, that don’t resonate. I appreciate to hell that Animorphs author K. A. Applegate said, “Sometimes the wounds left really fuck you up” and, like, spoilers for a 30 year old book series:Jake’s life collapses, Rachel fucking DIES, Tobias fucks off from society completely, Marco is sitting pretty on fame and fortune but that boy had a 50/50 chance of completely cracking and collapsing his own life, and Ax went back to his militaristic, authoritarian by the sound of it war-mongering society of holier-than-thou xenophobes. Cassie is the ONLY one who got out and stayed out, and she had major issues about the whole thing from the start.

I’m so glad that was one of my formative media obsessions. I didn’t really grow up with, in my very personal opinion, was this idea of “A bad thing happened but you just need to get married and have a baby or two and all better!”

And expanding on this (insert Tom Cardy as JRR Tolkien ripping off his sweater), “I’m not even HALFWAY started!”

Astarion. Some of y’all really love papastarion and you go, Glenn Coco. I ain’t trying to shame you or say you’re doing it wrong. Y’all seem really happy and that’s genuinely awesome. I love some of y’all’s work myself.

But for me, I LOVE the idea that, even romanced, Astarion doesn’t “settle down” in the aforementioned traditional context. That man has been through A Lot, and after the events of the game, so has his LI. I am feral over the idea that he alone, or with LI if he has one, just fuck off. Never married. No kids. Just spending decades and decades figuring out who he even is and what he wants to do with that. That’s comforting in the extreme, to me. You don’t have to be married and with kids to be happy and fulfilled, and I just really appreciate that.

(For those of you creating absolute gremlin children of his, I do salute you, that shit is amazing and hysterical).

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire: The Epilogue

biker!Eddie x artist!Reader

biker!Steve x Astrid (fem!OC)

masterlist playlist

wc: 14.6k

18+ONLY as always, adult themes, allusions to smut, backyard union/wedding, violence, auto theft, hustling, fist fight, mention of blood, mention of guns and shooting, relationship issues, Eddie is a cat dad, tw: Charlene, alcohol consumption, healing, lots of love.

Summary: If you're one of my ride or dies who have read this far, you know what to expect, but I do mention pregnancy and kids more than a few times, for good reason. We get to check in with what the gang has been up to, and how the families have grown. A little bit of drama, of course, and Coffin Kings mayhem. For the sake of this story, the character Bones is meant to be Tom Hardy from the yet to be released movie The Bikeriders.

A/N: This is reallyyy more of another chapter more and an Epilogue, lmaoo. I love all of these characters so much that I keep wanting to spin off in different directions and write a bunch of niche stories; I can see myself living in this world for a long while. I know I say it all the time, but my IoF readers mean so much to me, and I really hope you enjoy this. Please see a second author's note at the end.

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Highway 22 had once been the only main road out of town, but since the freeway came to Hawkins in the 60’s, very few ever took the country road lined with cornfields and alfalfa crops.  There were several homesteads scattered about, mostly farmers, and all of them spaced out by several acres; but for the home of the Whittiers—Bob and Helen—who just happened to live across the street from the place once owned by the Fergusons.

The first time they heard the rumble of motorcycles approaching, Helen screamed through the living room that it must be an airplane flying too low, about to crash into them.  She nudged Bob awake from his nap in the recliner and then ran out onto the porch, wringing her hands.

What she found was a motorcycle gang, clad in leather and covered in tattoos, crawling twenty deep into the driveway of their newest neighbors.

It was rare for Eddie to invite the entire local Coffin Kings MC and a few of the Hells Belles over, but the ceremony for Steve and Astrid’s union was an exception.  She was 8 months pregnant with the twins at the time, bursting at the seams, but Steve had this bug up his ass that he needed them to be official before the babies came, and Bones was happy to officiate.

Under an arbor in the neatly manicured lawn of your front yard, flanked in willow trees and cherry blossoms, Robin stood as Steve’s best man, and pretended like she’d lost the ring during the ceremony when he asked for it.  The panic in his face made everyone in attendance snicker when she pulled it from the tiny pocket of her vest with a wink.  Steve wore black suit pants with a collared white shirt, rolled up to the elbows, under his Coffin Kings leather.  Astrid looked stunning in a hunter green, off-the-shoulder dress with a few pieces of simple, gold jewelry, and a baby’s breath flower crown in her hair. 

Astrid didn’t need a ring, or any traditional symbols, and the material stuff meant nothing to her, but Steve insisted.  He took the extra step of getting her name tattooed on his ring finger, which made her roll her eyes and fall more in love with him all at once.  

You stood at Astrid’s side, making eyes at your boyfriend Eddie who was extremely handsome in his leather and a suit in the front row.  You were still reeling at the idea that this was your life, as fear kept trying to creep in and tell you it was all a dream, or that something would happen at any second to take it all away at any moment.  

You’d barely had the keys to the farmhouse for two months before the wedding, and so things were still stacked in boxes on the main floor, and the plumbing was a mess, but every morning, Eddie kissed you goodbye before work, and then you padded over in bare feet to the empty space with south facing windows that would soon be your studio. 

Wayne gave Astrid away, and there were tears streaming down Steve’s cheeks.  Once the official “I do’s” were said, everyone, including the bikers and their families in attendance, started to hoot and whistle for the kiss.  Steve held her face in his hands, and it was deep and sweet and made the obnoxious howling from the crowd melt into a collective swoon before erupting in applause.

Eddie’s heart swelled with love, not only for his friends who were finally getting the happy ending they deserved, but for you, and the promise of the life you were building together.  Neither one of you held the matrimonial traditions of society in high regard and didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that you were devoted to each other, but right then, watching you stand with Astrid, he thought about dropping to one knee and begging you to be his wife.

Neither one of you had a family history of marriage keeping people together, in fact, it had mostly only succeeded in fucking everything up.  In his heart, it was till death do you part, and that was all that mattered.  In fact, he planned on finding you in the afterlife as well.

Steve had Oliver on his shoulders while they cut the cake, but what everyone didn’t know was that Astrid was fighting some stomach cramping.  She figured it was the two babies kicking from all of the excitement, but the second the music started for the reception, her water broke.  

“This can’t be happening right now,” Steve was flabbergasted, holding up his wife so that she didn’t sink to the ground.  “They’re not due for another month?”

“Oh it’s happening,” Astrid gushed, framing her belly with her hands. “They are coming.”

“Take my car,” Katie offered, digging around in her purse for her keys.  The driveway was full of vehicles, pinning in Astrid’s truck, but Katie’s car was further out, near the highway.  

“We’ll be right behind you,” Eddie shouted, reaching for your hand.

Dustin was the voice of reason, stepping in front of him while the others headed for the vehicle.

“She could be in labor for hours, and you’ve got guests,” Henderson reminded his friend.  He was there with his wife Suzie and their daughter Stevie. “I say stay here, man.  Robin can call you from the hospital with an update.”

For a second, it had slipped both of your minds that you even had guests; approximately 87 of them.  

The big speakers Eddie had hooked up to a sound system were playing Hold onto Me by Cowboy Junkies, and the two of you turned to stare at each other, wondering what to do.  

“Dustin’s right,” you looked around, eyes settling on your ex-coworker Jeff who was drinking red wine straight from the bottle. “I don’t want anyone to puke in our bedroom or something.”

Suzie handed you a glass of champagne, ring finger heavy with a Princess cut diamond.  “I promise you, those babies probably won’t poke their heads out until morning.”

You just hoped nothing went wrong, since Astrid confided in you that labor had been notoriously hard on the women in her family; there had even been a few mothers who didn’t make it.  What if they needed to do an emergency C-section? What if one of them started to come out sideways?  

You were about to take a sip of the sweet bubbles when you saw Steve jogging back in your direction.

“Katie’s car is dead,” he huffed, headed for the back patio where his Harley was parked.

Craning your neck down the long row of cars, you saw Astrid sitting on the front bumper of the dark blue sedan with Oliver holding onto her arm while Robin and Katie appeared to be having an argument.  You were sure it was nothing personal, but tensions were high.

“Hold tight, let me grab the jumper cables,” Eddie jogged alongside Steve, aiming for the garage.

“Nah, it’ll take too long, we need to get out of here,” Steve was throwing a leg over his bike and revving the engine before Eddie could offer another suggestion.

You ran up beside Eddie. “He’s driving her to the hospital on that?”

“It appears that way,” Eddie stepped back so that Steve could roll by the two of you, fishtailing through the lawn before jumping a rock bed and weaving between the vehicles to pick up Astrid.

A lot of pregnant women might have hesitated to go by motorcycle, but Astrid did not.  She didn’t hesitate to get on behind him, knowing that the sooner they got to the hospital, the less likely things would go wrong.  Making room for her ample stomach took a moment of adjusting, but she strapped her helmet on before tapping his shoulder to let him know she was ready.

“You’re insane!” Robin shouted at him, and then she covered her face in frustration.  

Bones, Devlin, Van, Ratchet, and a few others went along as escorts, clearing the highway with their own bikes so that Steve could have the road. 

Across the street, Helen was on her porch with a pair of binoculars.  “Bob? Where are they taking that pregnant woman?”

Bob was in the living room with the TV on, and he pretended not to hear her.  

“The music is loud enough,” she scoffed.  “The whole thing better quiet down by 10 or I’m calling the police.”

If so, that wouldn’t be the first time she’d called the cops about her across-the-way neighbors.  The first time was during the week they’d moved in, and a couple of the Kings came over to help unload furniture.  Helen reported that there was a gang breaking into the Ferguson place to steal things.

“Let me get this straight,” Hopper twirled a pencil between two fingers while he spoke into the phone.  “They’re stealing things by putting them back inside the house?”

He very politely talked her down from a ledge, and then drove by on the highway to give her a wave so that she felt safe.  

The Velvet Hammer was closed the day of the wedding, as most of the employees were guests.  But the next day, Shana opened up the bar at 10, harboring one of the worst hangovers of her adult life.  

The shrill ringing of the phone made it feel like a buzzsaw was cutting through her skull, and Jackie leaned over the bar counter to snatch the receiver.

It was you, letting them know that Astrid had given birth to two healthy baby girls named Gracie and Rue early that morning, and that labor had been horrific, but their mother was on the mend.

Poor Steve.  When the doctor came out and said there were “complications”, he nearly tore down the wall trying to get in there to his wife.  The first baby, Rue, started to come out feet first, and he had this terrifying thought of the umbilical cord getting stuck around her neck or something, but once they got her turned around, the rest went smoothly.  He did the best he could to coach her through the breathing techniques they’d learned in the Lamaze classes, but at one point, she politely, yet abruptly, asked him to shut up.  

Not even three months later, Astrid was pregnant again.

They were certain that the procreation of the twins had been a fluke, a miracle; something that would only happen once in their lifetime.  

But they’d been gravely mistaken.  

They’d just transported the whole family to the ranch style home Astrid had inherited from her grandmother.  Everyone had their own room, including another living area in the basement, and a vintage Landshark Airstream trailer in the back yard where Steve and Astrid slept when they needed alone time.  It was the communal living, and the constant support from Robin and Katie, that kept them from mental collapse when they found out there was another baby on the way.

“What is wrong with you?” Eddie chuckled at Steve when he gave the two of you the news one morning over coffee at your kitchen table. “Couldn’t keep it in your pants for a few weeks?”

“I told you,” Steve shrugged.  “I have a magic dick.”

At that, you and Eddie shared an affectionate eye roll.  All joking aside, Steve was ecstatic about the news, bouncing on the balls of his feet everywhere he went at the idea of having a fourth child.  Astrid, on the other hand, was trying not to have a panic attack as she breastfed two infants at once.  If it happened to be another set of twins, she said she’d have to give one to you and Eddie.

You were testing paint swatches on the wall when Eddie snuck up from behind on the hardwood floor and put his arms around you, nuzzling his face into your hair.  He had on a pair of his “holiest” jeans that were so ripped and worn, they were about to be shorts, along with his Slayer shirt that now had wide, cut out arm holes, exposing his ribs.  

“Which one do you like more?” You asked, slipping your arms over his.

He hummed, kissing your earlobe.  “They all look yellow to me.”

“Close, but one is Summer Sunset, one is Lemon Cream, and one is—-”

“What about black?” He asked in all seriousness.  “Or gray?”

“Or we could just keep all of the wallpaper as it is,” you giggled at the tickle of his beard scruff on your neck.

The country rose wallpaper was lovely, but heavy pink floral themes in every room was a bit much for both of you.  “You’re right, I love Lemon Yogurt or whatever.”

“I figured as much,” You turned to search his face.  He’d been growing his bangs out, so they were just long enough to tuck behind his ears.  “How does tofu curry sound for tonight?”

Your lips met, and you could taste that familiar mix of wintermint and Camel Lights that you’d come to love.  He’d cut back to only a couple smokes a day, but he went through a pack of gum in an hour.  

“Mhhmm tofu,” he closed his eyes dreamily. “Is there meat in that?”

Just before the twins turned one, you and Eddie had your first big fight.  

Big enough that you threw some clothes in a bag and said you were going to stay with Katie and Robin right before you slammed the door so hard, a vase full of daisies he’d bought for you crashed to the ground and shattered.  

It was over something so stupid, really. The way he left hair in the sink after he shaved bugged the shit out of you, and when you rolled as far away as you could from him in bed, he took it personally.  You’d felt restless and out of your mind that week, and then you started your car to realize the gas tank was empty, even though he said he’d fill it up.  You promised Eddie you’d have some quality time with him one night, but then Steve needed you at the Hammer and…all of these things started to pile up until the dam burst.

You sat in your car with the engine on for a while, swallowing back hot gasps, unable to pull the trigger and drive away.  It wasn’t long before you felt his shadow, and a few soft knuckle taps on the window.

“Please don’t go,” he said.  

“I don’t want to go,” you shivered and finally broke out in a sob, tears streaming down your face.  “I love you so much.”

Next thing you knew, you were in his arms, and then you were back in the bed you shared, begging him to be so deep inside, until it made you see stars.  

—-----

“An inch to the left,” Robin coached you from the ground as you were up on a ladder at the Velvet Hammer, hanging a piece of artwork along the brick red wall opposite the bar while Mother Love Bone played from the jukebox.  “Ah, right there. Perfect.”

You’d brought a few paintings over weeks earlier, at Robin’s request, and they all sold almost immediately, so she begged you to bring in a few more.  Still an employee at the Hammer, Steve offered you something more of an assistant manager position, but you were honest with him and confessed you didn’t want the extra responsibility, but that you’d help as much as you could.  Plus, the tips you earned waitressing mostly surpassed what they could offer you as an assistant, and you were under the gun to get a collection of work together for the upcoming show in Marysville.

The same Marysville shows at the airplane hangar where you’d bumped into Eddie and Charlene that one night three years ago. The memory felt surreal to you, as if it were something that had happened in another lifetime.  

The bar didn’t open for another hour, and Steve was hunched over a cup of coffee, popping energy pills he’d bought at the gas station.  

“Get any sleep last night?” You asked, on your way to return the ladder to the storage room.  

Steve grumbled something unintelligible, and his head bounced, nodding himself awake as if he’d been drifting off right where he sat. 

“Mae has some serious pipes on her,”  Robin quipped, speaking of Steve and Astrid’s newest baby girl, Mae, who was barely 16 weeks old.  “The only one of us she seems to want to be around is Oliver.”

The twins were over 2 years old by then, and just as much of a handful as you’d imagine toddlers would be.  Now with another baby, the family was running on empty.  You and Eddie volunteered to babysit Rue and Gracie for a weekend after Mae was born, and even though you loved the girls dearly and cherished the time with them, you found yourselves counting down the minutes until their dad came to pick them up on the last day.  “I’m glad we decided not to have kids.  Steve’s brood is more than enough,” Eddie whispered to you at the window watching Steve drive off.  He even considered getting “snipped” around the time Steve had the procedure, just as a precautionary measure.

“Why are you here so early anyway?” Robin asked around a yawn, adjusting the clasp on her denim overalls.  “Go home and get some rest.  I’ll stay until Shana gets here at noon.”

Steve yawned too, stretching his arms above his head as he stood.  He wore a nice pair of blue denim jeans and a sage green pearl snap shirt that was buttoned wrong.  “Can’t. Interviewing for a new apprentice over at the shop.”

Construction on the tattoo parlor next door took longer than anticipated.  So long, that Eddie got frustrated enough to go ahead and do a bunch of the work himself.  They’d just passed inspection the week before and were anxious to get some bodies in there working.  They’d decided on the name Velvet Ink, and Wayne found some vintage barber chairs at auction for the reception area aesthetic Steve was looking for.

As of then, Wayne was fully in remission and getting his strength back. He’d even been well enough to take his 1948 Harley-Davidson Panhead out on a few Sunday cruises with the boys.  Rue, one of the twins, took to him like glue, and Eddie remarked that he’d never seen the old man smile as big as he did when she called him “gan-pa”. 

Taking the last big gulp of his coffee, Steve made his way out, letting in blinding beams of sunlight when he pushed open the front door of the Hammer. He paused for a moment to look at the padded leather stool that was there, the one he’d parked his butt on for many a night.  Even though he helped to keep the peace if necessary, most of the past two years had been spent behind the scenes.  A weird, secret part of him missed it; missed the simplicity of being a bouncer, versus being the owner of two businesses.  Before he knew it, reminiscing on his old life brought his thoughts back to Charlene.

He was sure that she kept tabs on him, and he hoped she never decided to drop in and wreak havoc on his life again, but he was grateful for the fresh start she’d given him.  He hoped that she was enjoying herself with Billy…or whoever the hell she was fucking those days.  

—-----

It was Eddie’s night to make dinner, and you spotted him fussing in the kitchen through the side window of the farmhouse when you drove up that night.  It looked like he touched something that was too hot and was snapping his hand in the air to cool it off.  

You saw his motorcycle parked in the red barn, and wondered if he was planning to do some repairs on it.  The Chevelle was no longer around, as he’d sold it to a collector up north so he could get a pickup that would be more useful to your new lives.  You’d begged him not to, as  you knew how hard he’d worked on it over the years with Wayne, but he couldn’t be swayed otherwise.  .

Turns out, your man was extremely stubborn.

“Hey there, Dungeon Master,” you greeted him, shutting the back door to take your coat off.  He’d been teaching you to play DnD now that he had a new head mechanic at the shop, giving him a bit more time to lean into his hobbies. Max and Lucas moved back to town, and Eddie was happy to teach Lucas how to operate the tow truck when he voiced that he needed a job.  

In a black Hanes tank and jeans, your man was barefoot with his hair tied back.  Looking down at the pot of sauce he was stirring, he smiled so big his dimples popped.  “You really like calling me that, don’t you?”

Calling him Dungeon Master was a new kink unlocked for you.

You set your bag on one of the kitchen chairs and wrapped your arms around him from behind to sink your teeth into his shoulder.  “I love finding out what a nerd you truly are.  It’s hot.”  

He lifted up a wooden spoon full of marinara, cupping his other hand underneath, and turned to blow on it before putting it to your lips.  

“Smells yummy,”  you said before taking a taste.  He watched  your mouth, but then eagerly found your eyes for the verdict.

“Mhmm baby it’s delicious.”

Satisfied, he went back to stirring. “Astrid gave me her recipe.  I’ve never made it from scratch before,” he took a lick off the spoon for himself. “I think I used too much garlic.”

Another facet of Edward Munson you’d never realized before was that he was a natural in the kitchen, and found a lot of joy in cooking.  One of the first things he made when you first moved in was chickpea patties for burgers, and whenever the two of you went into a bookstore and you found him browning the vegetarian cookbook section.  

If  you weren’t working at the Hammer, nights at home were very low key.  There was the occasional concert or dinner on the town, but mostly nothing sounded better than curling up on the couch with him, or on the porch swing with a cocktail.  Charlie was strictly an inside cat, but you found a stray living in the barn.   All black with green eyes, a recent visit to the vet let you know that she was pregnant, and a litter of kittens was on the way, one of which had already been claimed by Oliver.  So, you brought her inside and made her comfortable in the guest bedroom, until just yesterday when  you found her curled up for a nap in Eddie’s lap.

He named her Scully because of his love of The X-Files, and you wondered if he’d be able to give the rest of the kittens up for adoption with the way he fawned over his new companion.  He bought her a fancy collar with a bell, as well as catnip and special treats that she was forced to share with Charlie.

Later that night, sprawled on the couch with your head on his chest, you were having a hard time keeping your eyes open during an episode of Saturday Night Live when the phone in the kitchen rang.  You almost jumped out of your skin, and both of the cats sprang from their perch on top of the couch.

“What the shit,” Eddie grumbled, gently sliding out from underneath you just as a second ring shattered the once peaceful evening.  

“Who would be calling this late?” You said groggily, pulling the blanket up to your chin to turn and watch Eddie disappear down the hall.  

“I don’t know, but this better not be Steve wanting to rant about one of his late night epiphanies.”

Phone calls at midnight were rarely ever a good thing.  You sat straight, waiting to hear Eddie pick up the receiver. Had someone been hurt? Were the girls okay? Had something gone wrong at the Velvet Hammer? Maybe it was Bones needing Eddie for something to do with the Kings, and if so, you didn’t want him to answer it.

Eddie jerked the white, cordless phone to his ear, frowning.  “Yeah? This is Eddie.”

You shifted to the edge of your seat, muting the TV so that you could hear him.

“How did you get this number?” He mumbled gruffly.

That made you get to your feet.

“...what makes you think I had anything to do with it?”

You took a few steps and froze.

You had a very bad feeling that you knew exactly who it was at the other end.  

Eddie locked eyes with you when you came to pause at the stove. 

“You have to be mistaken, there’s no way he was one of ours—-,” Eddie said to whoever it was, shaking his head.

You reached out and motioned for him to hand you the phone.

He swallowed, hesitating at first, but then you took it from him and put it to your ear.

“Charlene?” Your tone was patient. “What’s going on?”

—----

Earlier that evening at the Harrington residence, Astrid was breastfeeding Mae in the rocking chair while Katie helped the twins get dressed after their bath, and Robin washed dishes with Oliver.  The TV was on, but no one was paying any attention to it, and Mae nestled against her mother like she was finally ready for sleep.

God, Astrid was tired.

Exhausted to the marrow of her bones and beyond.

Absolutely in love with her daughters and in awe of the beautiful family they’d created, but wishing she could have a few hours away from it all, just the same.

The twins were being loud, giggling as their Auntie Katie ushered them across the hall to their bedroom, and Astrid held her breath, worried they’d wake the baby up.

She let Robin know she was putting Mae in her crib, and then went to take the first shower she’d had in a while, feeling her stretch marks and all the ways her body had changed after carrying three babies. She never doubted Steve’s attraction to her, but he tattooed gorgeous women every day, not to mention the ones who waited tables in fishnet stockings and danced at the Hammer.  She was sure a handful of those young beauties had a crush on their boss and would offer him comfort any time he wanted it.

She hated when her mind went there, when she could feel the walls of insecurity and depression closing in.  She wanted to be nothing but grateful for every waking moment, but sometimes she was way too tired to think clearly.  She needed to cry or scream or fuck… or something.

Between the kids, Steve’s schedule, and having zero energy at night, she couldn’t remember the last time the two of them had been intimate.  A few kisses and touches in passing was really all it had been.  Considering the insatiable hunger they’d had for each other over the years, it made her worry that he just wasn’t attracted to her anymore.  But also, she knew that was bullshit—-but the whispers kept nagging at her.  

On her way back down the hall to her bedroom, she could hear Oliver reading the girls a bedtime story and she paused to listen, emotions catching in her throat.  Rue and Gracie loved him so much, and he was such a wonderful big brother, slipping into the role like he was born for it. Born to be a nurturing, caring soul just like his father.  She often wondered if Ollie would grow up to be who Steve would’ve been, if he had been surrounded with love as a kid.  Before Wayne took over his care, he hadn’t known much comfort or safety.  

Steve came home smelling like a distillery, and when he tried to kiss her on his way in, she moved her head away.

“Where have you been?” She didn’t have to ask, it was obvious he’d tattooed late and stayed to have a few drinks. She missed the guy who would spend hours rubbing her belly and talking to the babies inside of it.  It was the closeness she missed, not the sex itself. 

Alarms went off in Steve when he caught the way she didn’t want to look at him, the way she shrugged away from his touch.  “Hey, baby, I’m sorry.  Jake paid extra to have his back piece finished tonight and so I—”

Robin and Katie had adjourned to the basement, and Astrid was folding laundry at the couch. “You just thought you’d booze it up with your buddies while I took care of our girls?”

He lowered his arms to hook his thumbs into his belt loops.  “I thought about calling but I didn’t want to wake the—”

“Your daughters are all asleep.  Gracie was asking for her daddy,” she pinned a towel to her check with her chin and folded the ends together.

Steve’s heart tightened, thinking of how he’d missed his baby girl asking about him.  Thinking of how he was already letting her down.  “I’m gonna sneak in and say goodnight,” he mumbled, heading that way.

“Please don’t,” Astrid snapped. “It took a long time to get them to calm down, but you’re rarely here at night so you wouldn’t know.”

Okay, something was definitely wrong.  He’d fucked up, but he wasn’t exactly sure how.  Astrid knew that he’d have some long nights, this was something they’d talked about.  There had to be something else going on.  

He sat down on the edge of the recliner, facing her, and laced his fingers together.  “Is there anything…you want to talk about?”

Astrid scoffed, keeping her eyes on the TV.  “Where do I even start?”

“I’m sorry if I—”

“Just say it, Steve,” she bit, stacking folded towels on top of each other.  “Just say you’d rather get drunk with the dancers at the Velvet Hammer rather than come home and be with me.”

At that, he was dumbfounded. Gobsmacked, even.  

“How could you…what? That’s crazy. Shit, you know other women don’t even exist for me, Astrid,” he kept trying to catch her gaze, but she’d avoid it.  “No one has ever meant more to me than you.  You're the love of my life.”

“I can tell you’re not attracted to me anymore, Steve. Just say it, I don’t float your boat.”

“Float my boat?” He almost chuckled at that, but immediately caught himself, realizing that it wasn’t a good time for humor.  

There were tears welling in her eyes and Astrid bit her cheek in an effort to keep them at bay; her shoulders were shaking.

“Hey, listen, baby, c’mere,” he stood and reached for her hand.  She let him have it, dropping the t-shirt she’d been holding.  “Tell me you love me? Please?”

“Have you fucked anyone else since we’ve been together?’ She stared at him that time, eyes wet.

Steve didn’t hesitate. “Never even crossed my mind.”

She swallowed thickly, lowering her gaze.

“Wait,” Steve’s mind raced, realizing that it had probably been months since they’d had sex.  “Have you? Fucked another dude?”

That one pissed her off, and it showed in the look she shot him. “When the hell would I have time for that, Steve? I barely have time to pee.”

He let go of her hand.  “Oh, so, you’ve wanted to, with other people…you just don’t have time?”

“Steve, I’m going to punch you in the throat.”

He pulled her over so that she was in his lap, and she only fought him a little because then she was crying into his neck, overcome with exhaustion.

“Tell me,” he said softly, brushing her hair away to kiss her forehead.  “Tell me you love me.”

“You know I do,” she sniffed, letting the tears roll hot down her cheeks, pulling her knees up so that she was snug in his lap. 

“Say it,” he was pushing it now, tipping her chin up to find her mouth with his.  

She mumbled her devotion as the tip of his tongue dragged along her bottom lip.

She clung to him as she cried it out for a minute, letting him hold her close and stoke her hair.

“Is she okay?” It was Oliver.

He’d snuck in from the other room and was watching the scene with a creased, worried brow.

“I’m fine, honey,” Astrid sat up, wiping her eyes.  “It’s just been a long day.”

Oliver stared at his dad, almost defiantly.  “I don’t like to see her sad.”

Steve saw his own tender perception mirrored back to him in his son's eyes.  “I don’t like it either, come over here,” he motioned for Ollie to get close enough so he could put his arm around his son.  “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I didn’t want to miss you again,” Oliver admitted, sending another pang into Steve’s heart.

He’d gone from working all the time to…working even more, and something had to change.  He hated being away from his family so often that he missed bedtime several days a week; they needed to hire more full-time help like Robin suggested, but Steve and Eddie were trying to pinch every penny.

After he talked to Oliver about his day, Steve realized he needed a goddamn smoke.  Since the twins were born, he’d tried several times to cut back, but decided to quit cold turkey two days ago, and it wasn’t working.  He needed to get some of those nicotine patches or something because being irritable with a throbbing head was no way to live in tandem with everything else on his plate.

Two hours later, after he’d tucked Ollie in and everyone else in the house was asleep, Steve made love to his wife. 

He was about to try for a second round when his beeper on the nightstand started buzzing.

The alert was from Eddie.

Steve frowned at the number and excused himself to use the phone while Astrid pulled her robe on to go and check on Mae.  

Come to find out, the past was indeed back to haunt him, yet again.

—--------

Hawkins was the last place Charlene ever expected to be on her birthday weekend.  She’d said goodbye to that place forever, or so she thought, as there was nothing for her there.  Her relationship with Billy lasted the better part of a year, but when she found out he’d been cheating on her with their neighbor, it didn’t even phase her.  Normally, she would’ve been furious and exacted some elaborate revenge on the two, but at the time, she only shrugged and told him good luck.  She was never in love with him, he’d been just another way to pass the time; a way to distract from her deep, soul-sucking loneliness. 

Just before the separation from John, she’d purchased a storage unit for sentimental items she didn’t want to look at, but also didn’t have the heart to throw away.  She’d considered letting someone from Storage Wars buy it just so they could be disappointed, but there were private letters and photos in there that she never wanted anyone to see, especially not strangers.  So, she was back to clean it out and burn whatever she no longer wanted to hold on to.  

She was in disguise, so to speak, with a new cropped brunette hairdo, and oversized sunglasses.  The divorce and the bankruptcy of one of John’s businesses made headlines in the paper for weeks, as there was clearly not much to talk about in Hawkins, and for the first time since marrying into money, she didn't want to be recognized.  

She promised she wouldn’t punish herself by driving along the street in front of the Velvet Hammer, but she did it anyway.  She picked up her white 1970 Jaguar XKE from the secure garage it’d been stored in, and parked across the street to watch you carry a huge painting in while Robin held the door for you.  The neon sign for Velvet Ink was clever, and she sat there for over an hour, until Steve finally stepped out of the main building.  He squinted up at the daylight, shaking his fist like he wanted to punch the sun, and went next door to shake hands with a woman who was tattooed neck to foot, before unlocking the door to the parlor.  

She had plenty of phone numbers for young men who would love to get paid to be her escort, but she was tired of paying people.  She wanted someone to want to be with her, and be protective of her, without the money or the status, and she was realizing she didn’t know how to act normal when it came to earning someone’s genuine affection.  

So, that night, she was alone at a swanky rooftop bar drinking a dirty martini and listening to someone playing a Christopher Cross instrumental on the piano.  

Eating the last olive, she was thinking she’d make her way to her hotel when she felt a body sink down for a seat just one stool over.  She smelled him first; a familiar mix of leather and nicotine, but this one had superior taste in cologne as she recognized a hint of cedar and honeysuckle from Dior’s Fahrenheit.  

He ordered a beer and a shot of Jameson and then, to her surprise, he leaned over and pointed at her empty glass.  “Can I buy you another?”

Her first instinct was to flat out ignore him or say, “no, I can buy my own drinks, thanks,” but then she turned to see who the voice belonged to, and her tongue got stuck on the roof of your mouth.  

Maybe ten years her junior, he wore his jet-black hair slicked back, while his full lips and hazel eyes reminded her of someone.  She could tell he was tall with broad shoulders, and a couple tattoos exposed where his shirt was pushed up to the elbows.  A few chunky metal rings similar to the ones Eddie always wore, and from the insignias on his leather vest, she could see that he was also a member of the Coffin Kings MC.  

Charlene notoriously had a thing for outlaws, especially pretty ones, and so she let him buy her that second drink, and then a third.  

He said his name was Nick, and she was relieved to find out he appeared to have no clue who she was.  She said her name was Rita, and after that third drink, she invited him back to her room to continue the party there.  

Inviting a stranger back to her suite was not how she’d expected the evening to go, but the need to feel the weight of him on top of her overrode any common sense that might’ve tried to dissuade her. He was sexy and he made her laugh, and those were the only qualifications she needed at that moment.

After a few hours of getting to know each other in the biblical sense, and enjoying the mini bar, Charlene excused herself to the bathroom.

“I think I need a shower,” she hummed, lifting an eyebrow.  “You want to join me?”

He was stretched out on the bed naked with his hands behind his head watching an episode rerun of ER.  

“You go ahead, babe,” he seemed to nestle further into the pillows after that term of endearment, shooting her a wink.  His Coffin Kings leather was neatly folded over the back of the nearby chair.  “I’m gonna make us a couple more drinks.”

She left the bathroom door open a crack, just in case he changed his mind, but then she got fully absorbed in how heavenly the steaming hot water felt.  She thought she heard him come into the bathroom at one point, so she peeled the curtain back a few inches, but only found her reflection in the mirror.  

By the time she turned the water off, the steam from the hot shower was as thick as soup, and she realized that at one point, he’d shut the door all the way for whatever reason.  Perhaps for her modesty? Him being such a gentleman felt almost too good to be true.  

“You could order some food from the late-night menu if you’re hungry,” she said from behind the closed door while brushing her hair out.  “Pie sounds good for some reason.”

Either he wasn’t responding, or he did, and she just couldn’t hear him over the audience laughter on the TV.  She rubbed in some expensive body butter and then checked herself in the mirror a few times while putting the fluffy, white hotel robe on.  

“But if you need to go home I’d understand, as long as I can have one more—-”

She opened the door as she spoke, but then stopped dead in her tracks.

Nick was no longer sprawled on the bed, and all of his clothes were gone, even his kutte.

Nothing wrong with that, maybe he went to get ice or to take a phone call.

The suite was large, with a separate sitting room, and so she checked around for a bit before realizing he had, in fact, vanished.

Anxiety rose in her chest but she pushed it down, taking a seat on the edge of the bed to reach for her lipstick on the nightstand.

But the lipstick was in her purse and there was no purse to be found, just a few condom wrappers and tiny, empty bottles of booze.

She’d taken her purse into the bathroom with her, she was sure of it.

After a few sweeps of the place, mumbling to herself in disbelief and horror, Charlene realized that her purse, her money, and her car keys were all gone.

She’d been hustled by a member of the Coffin Kings, and the truth of it made her scream into the palms of her hands.  

She sprinted for the window to yank the curtains back.  It was the middle of the night, and they were on one of the highest floors, and she couldn’t see the Jaguar from there even with binoculars.

She didn’t even bother to change out of her robe or put shoes on as she bolted from the room.  She was pissed, sure, but there were sobs catching in her throat, and that old loneliness dropped like a lead weight, threatening to bring her to her knees.  

By the time she rushed breathless into the lobby, Nick and her car were long gone.  

—------

For whatever reason, Charlene asked Eddie specifically not to tell Steve; she didn’t want to face him under such lame circumstances.  But the two men made an agreement a while back that one would tell the other if they ever heard from her, just to keep miscommunication to a minimum when dealing with someone who had a track record for manipulation.  

“She thinks one of you put this Nick guy up to it,” you said, standing at the door watching Eddie get dressed.  “As payback or something.”

Eddie frowned, adjusting the strap on his watch.  “If I felt like I needed to get back at Charlene, I sure as hell wouldn’t trust someone else with the task.  Plus, I didn’t even know she was back in town.”

“Did Steve know?” 

The last person you ever wanted to feel bad for was the rich white woman who tried to ruin your life, but still, you didn’t like the idea of any woman getting hustled and used in that way.  

Okay, maybe Charlene deserved some payback, but you hated to think that someone from the Coffin Kings was out there making a habit of taking advantage of women in such a spineless way.

Eddie was rummaging through the top dresser drawer.  “We don’t even have a member named Nick, so that’s another whole fucking problem.”

“Another charter, maybe?” You followed him into the kitchen.

“Maybe,” he put his leather jacket on while Scully wound herself around his legs. He bent down to pet her and spoke to her in a baby voice before finishing his thought. “Or maybe it’s something worse.”

You didn’t have to ask to know that impersonating a member of the MC was a big problem. 

Under any other circumstances, Eddie would wait until the next day to deal with whatever happened to Charlene, but the chop shops worked fast, and if they didn’t hurry, they’d never get her car back.

Why did Eddie even care? He asked himself that on the way to meet Steve at the hotel, rumbling along in his midnight blue, square box Chevy.  She could’ve just called the cops and let them sort it out. But Eddie knew that, aside from Hopper, the police force was a joke, and there would be days of paperwork and questioning before anything attempted to get solved.  By then, whoever the guy was would be long gone, and the Jaguar on a cargo ship to its next owner.  

Steve was already in the parking lot, leaning against his bike with a smoke in his mouth when Eddie rolled up.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” He asked, slamming the door of his truck.

“Left a message for Miser down at the chop shop,” Steve exhaled, ignoring his friend’s question.  “He said he’ll keep an eye out for the car.”

Eddie had already sucked down his ration of cigarettes for the day, so he shoved another piece of gum in his mouth as they made their way to her floor.

There was a crystal chandelier in the lobby and mirrored elevators that gave Eddie the creeps.  

“You think it’s some sort of trap?” Steve had his hands in his pockets, leaning in the corner while they traveled up with a Beach Boys instrumental played from a speaker in the ceiling.  “Like she’s trying to trick us or something?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Eddie muttered.  “I’m not gonna mention it to Bones and the rest until we know what we’re dealing with.”

Still in her robe, Charlene would’ve touched up her makeup to look presentable, but her Estee Lauder compact, and mascara were both in the stolen purse.  Also, she was too upset to care. She’d called to cancel the credit cards in her wallet, but there was a bunch of cash that she’d surely never see again. She’d have to contact her bank in the morning, but until then, she was basically squatting in that expensive hotel room.

Eddie did not look happy to see her when she opened the door, but she’d expected as much, tucking her bob of hair behind her ears. 

What she hadn’t expected, and what made her breath catch, was that Steve rolled in right behind him, scowling.  He had what appeared to be baby spit up on the front of his Santa Cruz skate shirt and dark indents under his eyes.  

Steve didn’t acknowledge her, he just breezed into the room and started looking around like he was a seasoned detective at the scene of a murder.  

Charlene gave Eddie a look, whispering, “I asked you not to tell him?”

All Eddie could do was shrug, as he was still weary of her intentions, and for good reason. 

Steve couldn’t help it, ever since the birth of his daughters, every injustice done to a woman in the world was something that could potentially happen to his girls, and he wasn’t having it.  

“What did he look like?” Eddie asked the question just as Steve spun on his heel at the other side of the bed.  

Hands on hips, she gave the description as best she could, and it sounded like half the guys in the club.

“He said his name was Nick?” Steve picked up the remote to turn the TV up a notch.  Unsolved Mysteries was on and he was suddenly interested, forever distracted.  “Do you think he was telling the truth?”

Charlene scoffed. “I had no reason to think he was lying? I didn’t ask to check his driver’s license.”

“Maybe you should from now on,” Steve kept his eyes on the screen, sitting down at the end of the bed.  “The way you go through men like a meat grinder.”

“Look who’s talking, Romeo,” she spit back.  

Charlene turned to complain to Eddie, but instead he held his hand up, palm out to silence her.  “Are you sure he was with the Coffin Kings?” 

Charlene tightened the sash on her robe. “Okay, you two can feel however you want about me, but you know I’m nothing if not observant.”

The two were silent in agreement.

“His leather vest looked just like the ones you have on now.  Black, tooled leather with the reaper holding a coffin on the back.  Embroidered insignias on the front as well.”

“Did it have a nickname or rank?” Eddie stuffed a third piece of wintermint gum in his mouth while Steve lit another smoke.  The smell of the nicotine made Eddie’s hand twitch and his muscles ache.

Charlene shook her head after a moment of contemplation.  “He didn’t have a name on his cut, but Hawkins was the charter, I’m positive.”

Both men shared a look before Steve got to his feet.  “So you had your car stolen, what’s the big deal? Don’t you have like a hundred of them?”

Charlene shot him a look, reminding herself not to be a bitch. “That car belonged to my dad.  It was special. He’s the only person in this world who ever gave a shit about me.” She went to the bedside table to grab a half empty travel size bottle of Jameson and drank the rest.  “That’s why I kept it in storage. I couldn't take it with me, and I didn’t want to sell it.”

Eddie scratched the stubble on his chin, thinking about how he couldn’t wait to go home to crawl in bed with you and the cats. 

“How much is it worth?” Steve asked out of curiosity.

Charlene shrugged, leaning against the wall to cross her feet at the ankles. “Dunno what it would go for today.  Easily 300K.”

Eddie almost choked on his wad of gum thinking of what he could do with that much dough.  

Steve raised an eyebrow.  “You better hope this Nicky is stupid and greedy enough to sell it locally, or we might be shit out of luck.”

—-----

You felt Eddie slink in under the covers to spoon you early in the morning before dawn, but you were too tired to look at the clock or ask him how it went.  Charlie was curled up at your feet and Scully took her pregnant belly over to nestle behind Eddie’s knees and purr.  

He wasn’t in bed with you at quarter to 8 when you finally rose from sleep, and for a second, you thought maybe you’d only dreamed about him coming home, until you saw the note he’d left on the nightstand.  

Had to run again

Tell you everything later

Left the coffee on

Love you infinity, Eddie

The way he always signed his notes made you chuckle, as if anyone else would be leaving notes for you at the house.  You folded it up and tucked it into the shoebox in the closet where you stashed all of his notes to you.

After a half hour of letting yourself rejoin the living on a much-needed day off, you went up to the studio to stare at the two paintings you were working on, but your reverie was shattered when the phone rang.

Breathless, you answered to find that it was Robin.  The shrill wail of a screaming child sounded from somewhere in the background.  

“Is Steve there at your place?” She sounded rightfully flustered.

“No, um,” you looked around the kitchen as if maybe he was there, you just didn’t know it.  “Eddie was here but then he left again. They might be together?”

A thoughtful silence and then, “Steve never came home last night. We assumed he stayed at your place.”

You were shaking your head but then realized Steve could have slept in the living room and you wouldn’t have been the wiser.  You walked through the house to see if there was a blanket on the couch, but it was as tidy as you’d left it before bed.  

“Are you busy right now?” Robin continued, making the executive decision to worry about Steve’s whereabouts later.

That was a loaded question, and even though you had plenty to do, you knew that was Robin’s way of saying she needed help.  “Not…right this minute.”

“I hate to ask,” it was true, she really did hate to ask for help, but sometimes it was necessary.  “Could you come over here for an hour or so? Katie has teacher conferences, I have to go to the Hammer, and as you know, Steve is MIA…”

“Sure,” Mae let out another earth-cracking wail that made you fear for your life. “Be there in ten minutes.”

—------

Miser’s underground chop shop operated behind one of the oldest buildings in Hawkins; solid brick, using a mom-and-pop place to get an oil change as a front during the day, but at night, stolen cars were stripped for parts and/or sold on the black market.  The building was huge, and had once been a busy hotel and saloon, as it was near the train station.

Miser himself was short and muscular with a gray, handlebar mustache, a rodeo buckle from his old bareback days, and a cowboy hat.  He’d been a pillar of the community for decades, and one of the last few anyone would suspect of illegal activity.  

That morning, Eddie, Steve, Van, and Devlin rolled into the alley, passed the No Trespassing signs, and settled at the locked garage door. Miser’s Old Lady was one of the head Hells Belles named Jackal, and she came out of the back door with him.  A long ponytail of silver hair, she lit a smoke and gave the guys a tip of her chin.  

“That car you said to look out for? The white Jaguar?”

Eddie and Steve still had their sunglasses on, nodding once in unison his question. 

“The guy showed up an hour ago,” Jackal inclined her head, whispering. “He’s been here before. He’s with another crew that likes to scam older women and take their shit.”

Steve and Eddie exchanged a look with the other two members, palms itching to get their hands on him.

“I asked him about the Kings flash,” Jackal continued.  “He said he was from another charter, but he didn’t know who Bones was.”

Bones, President of the Coffin Kings Hawkins charter, was one of the first original 9 members of the MC when they first banded in the 60’s.  Every CK member from Indiana to California knew exactly who Bones was.

So, this guy Nick just made it to the top of their shit list.  

“This might get messy,” Eddie said to Miser.

“We got you,” Jackal confirmed, waving for them to follow her.  

At the far end of the building, a door opened, and a guy with slick black hair, wearing a Coffin Kings kutte stepped out.

“Shit, that’s him—” Miser hissed, reaching for the Ruger at his hip.

But it was too late, the guy saw them and bolted.

Steve cursed, letting out after him on foot alongside Jackal, while Eddie and the others pursued on their bikes.  

Around the next building, there was a car waiting for Nick—a plain white sedan—and even after Steve summoned his high school athlete days, he still couldn’t catch up.  Nick jumped in the passenger seat and the vehicle peeled out, throwing dust up into Steve’s face as his arms windmilled to a halt.   

“Fuck,” Steve took his sunglasses off and threw them to the gravel, nostrils flaring as he watched the vehicle flee.  

Miser sent a gunshot, aiming for the front tire, but missed as the car picked up speed.  

Eddie and the others continued on in hot pursuit, and Jackal motioned for Steve to get into her truck that was nearby: a lifted navy Bronco with monster tires.  Steve had to grip onto the side bar to heft himself up into it, and then she gunned it, skidding out of the parking lot.

The sedan led them on a wild chase over the railroad tracks, skirting the center of town to avoid the cops.  Eddie and Van made their way to the side of the vehicle and Van cracked the driver’s side window with the hilt of his knife, making them swerve.  The car dove into the nearby alfalfa field, going where they knew the motorcycles couldn’t follow.

But, Jackal’s Bronco was made for the mud.

“Hold on—” she warned Steve.

“I’m holding,” Steve said through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed on the target in front of them, his fist tight on the grab handle above his head.  

The sedan almost got its back tire stuck in the ditch, but the Bronco bounced right through the muck like it was a paved road, tractor tread crawling along like a tank.  

While Steve and Jackal took a diagonal course through farmland, Eddie and the rest took the next side road, aiming to cut them off before they could hit the highway.

—-----

You were on your way to Robin’s when you caught sight of a white car being chased through a field by what looked like a monster truck from one of rallies at the coliseum.  

“What…the—-”

It was far enough away that you didn’t feel in danger, but you slowed down to see if you could understand what was happening.

But then three riders on motorcycles were headed in your direction at full tilt, so you pulled off to the side of the road to get out of their way, wondering if you knew any of them—-

“Eddie?” You squinted, wanting to be mistaken.

Indeed that was your boyfriend leading the pack.  

He saw you as they passed at lightning speed and picked up his hand in a wave.

You sat there for a while, watching the three of them disappear in your rearview mirror, clearly angling to beat whoever was driving their car through the crop rows.  

After a heavy sigh, you dropped your shoulders and kept on in the direction you were headed.

Three years ago, you would’ve freaked out and followed them.  But at that point in the relationship, such a scene was par for the course, and you knew it was best to stay out of it. 

—----

Up ahead was a sharp turn in the bend, and Devlin sped up to angle the sedan away from the street.  His approach clipped the bumper of the car, making it lose control, forcing it back into the ditch, but it also made his own bike go flying.  Thankfully he was thrown free before the hunk of metal landed on his leg, skidding across the gravel.

Jackal rode her tire up onto the back of the sedan, pinning it there as the two men inside fled.

Steve was on the ground so fast, he could barely find his feet.  His legs felt like that of a roadrunner in one of the cartoons, flying in circles.  

Eddie snagged the driver, throwing him into the dirt with a grunt, followed with a punch of his fist.  The driver was gangly, with a prison spider web tat on his elbow and dishwater blonde hair styled in a mullet.  

Nick climbed up onto the main road and bolted, until Jackal aimed and shot a bullet so close to his head, the heat grazed his ear.

That made him stutter to a halt, just in time for Steve to tackle him at the waist, putting him down hard on the pavement.  Van took Eddie’s place, putting his knee into the driver’s back, pinning him there while the rest went to deal with the Coffin Kings imposter.

No words were exchanged for a while, just Nick sputtering in pain while Eddie rolled him over to check his pockets.  

He found a wad of bills and waved it in Nick’s bloody face.

“C’mon man, that’s like 2 grand—-” Nick protested through a busted lip before Steve punched him again.

“Yeah, it’s real nice,” Eddie flashed a grin, standing to tuck the money in the top pocket of his leather.  “Take that thing off of him.”

Steve and Devlin got the leather vest off, making sure they hurt him in the process, and then Devlin put his boot on the guys belly to keep him there.

Eddie inspected the insignia’s, noticing there were no rank or name placards, and the material wasn’t even real leather.

Eddie gripped it in his fist.  “Where the fuck did you get this?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear,” Nick wiggled, grimacing at the weight of Devlin’s foot.  “Just let me go, okay?”

Steve bent down to lap the guys face with the back of his hand.  “He asked you a question.”

Nick looked like he’d rather vomit than tell the truth, but then Jackal stepped up and pointed her gun at him.

“Okay okay!” He squirmed.  “M-my mom made it for me, alright? For my birthday a few weeks ago.”

None of them had been expecting that, but they all made eye contact and snickered in disbelief; Eddie’s grin nearly split his face open right before his expression turned dark again.

“Tell your mom to come see us sometime, we’ll put her to work,” he joked.  “But you? You’re fucking done, do you understand—?”

Steve pulled Nick to his feet by his shirt and got in his face, jaw tense.  “I should kill you for what  you did to her.”

Eddie gave a sideway look, not expecting Steve to still have so much heat under his protectiveness for that woman.  Maybe that’s part of what having daughters did to a man.  

“B-b-but you’re not going to, right?”  Nick blubbered. “We’re cool?”

“We’re far from cool,” Steve pulled him close to whisper in his ear.  “I’ll be coming for you.”

And then Steve shoved him so that he tripped over his feet backwards and fell again.  

“You better run, cowboy,” Jackal shot a bullet into the ground at his feet, and he let out a high-pitched scream before taking off down the road on foot.  

“I see either of you again, you’re dead. Understand?” Eddie shouted after both of them as Van let go of his death grip on the driver.

The two were too scared to look back; too busy scurrying away as fast along the corn field to care about how stupid they looked.  

“Hey, War Machine,” Van brushed blonde hair away from his beard stubble. “Was that your girl we passed back there?”

Eddie checked over his shoulder in the direction of the farmhouse, wondering where you’d been headed, exhaling a long breath. “Yeah, it was.”

—-----

You only saw Robin in passing once you arrived at the house and parked behind the Airstream.  Oliver was at school, so it would be the three young girls with you and Astrid. 

The twins were on the floor in the living room, coloring, and you couldn’t get over how much Gracie looked like Steve.  Since they were fraternal, Rue resembled her sibling, but was also very different.  She had Astrid’s wild hair and a face that didn’t quite resemble either of their parents; Astrid said she was the spitting image of their grandmother, Evelyn.  

Astrid came around the corner cradling Mae in her arms with her mane of black hair back in a clip, and her eyes were puffy. 

“Please take her,” she groaned, handing over Mae into your arms with a sigh of relief.  “I can’t do this anymore.”

Mae had a pacifier in her mouth, but you could tell she was smiling up at you, lids droopy.  You began that automatic movement of rocking her in your arms.  You’d never been around many babies in your life, but the soothing gesture seemed to be ingrained in your dna.  

Astrid flopped heavily into the kitchen chair with a groan. “Did Robin tell you Steve never came home last night?”

“She did,” you bent to kiss Mae’s soft forehead. “Eddie came home late and left early, so Steve might’ve been with him, and I just didn’t know it.”

“It’s not like Steve to not leave a note or let me know somehow,” she started picking at an invisible thread on her peach dress that buttoned down the front. “Do you think he did anything with Charlene?”

You were shocked at the question, but your friend looked like she hadn’t slept in days and perhaps wasn’t processing thoughts at peak capacity.  

“Oh god no, Astrid,” Mae squirmed, kicking her strong little legs a few times in her Big Bird onesie, and you sat down in the chair next to Astrid. “Steve would never, and I think you know that. He’d cut his own hand off before he did anything as stupid as cheat on you.”

“Maybe,” she swallowed hard like she was trying to push down a sob. “We just…can’t seem to connect like we used to, and I’m just…just…”

She covered her face with both hands and cursed into her palms.  

“Hey,” you leaned forward with a free arm to rub soothing circles on her back.  “I’ll stay out here with the girls if you want to take a nap or something?  Slam some beers in the bathroom, whatever.”

Astrid chuckled a bit at that, sliding her hands down her face and into her lap. “Maybe I do need some sleep.”

From where you sat, you could see the twins on the floor in the next room with papers and crayons scattered about.  Just then, you noticed that Rue was headed in your direction, curls bouncing around her face.  

There was a tiny frown on her face, like she’d been concentrating, and she handed each of you a piece of lined notebook paper that had been ripped in half.

Apparently, she’d made some drawings, but before you could say anything, she was off again, determined to get back to her work.

“Thank you Rue, I love you,” you called after her.

“One is from meeee!” Gracie shouted.

“I love you too, Gracie,” you laughed, staring fondly down at the mess of colorful scribbles.

“They want to be like their big brother so bad,” Astrid had tears in her eyes, but for a different reason this time; she was so proud of her little family, so grateful to be a mother.

When you held the paper up to the light, you noticed that there was some writing on the back of it, so you turned it over.

My hot wife —

Slept in trailer, didn’t want to wake the girls

Can’t wait to kiss you again

I love you

S.

“Um, I think you should see this—” you passed the note to Astrid, and enjoyed watching the relief spread across her face as she read it.  

—------

A few hours later, Steve rolled up to Munson’s Garage in the Jaguar, after giving it a test run around the hills to enjoy how smooth it took corners.  He found Charlene already waiting there on a bench in the shade, talking with Wayne who wore a pair of light blue coveralls.

Wayne got to his feet while Steve pulled the sportscar up to the closest parking spot.

“Took you long enough,” Uncle barked at him, crossing his arms.  “Cab dropped her off an hour ago.”

He’d left the top down, so his hair was a mess, and he pushed his sunglasses up, eyeing the two.

“No, it’s fine,” Charlene shrugged, looking relaxed.  “I had good company.”  She had on a teal, halter top pant suit with matching heels, and she stuck out like a sore thumb.   

Steve put one booted foot up on the bench seat next to her.  “Yeahm, so, that guy Nick, he wasn’t—”

“I know,” Charlene reluctantly held her hand out to take the keys he was offering. “Eddie told me. I’d like to say I’ve learned my lesson, but probably not.”

“No woman deserves that,” Wayne said, giving Steve a pointed look. “I hope you boys took care of it.”

“We did,” Steve met his gaze, letting him know without words that the dude wouldn’t be hanging around Hawkins if he had a lick of sense.  

Wayne said a polite goodbye to Charlene before heading back to the shop. 

“You never mentioned how charming your uncle is,” she said, running a hand through her hair.

“Stay away from Wayne,” Steve grumbled, sitting down across from her.

“I didn’t mean—” she got flustered and then straightened.  “He reminds me of my dad, that’s all I meant.  Nothing nefarious.”

“Never can tell with you,” he muttered, fumbling to rip the wrapper off a soft pack of Camels with his teeth. He told himself he wouldn’t buy another pack, but he lied.

There was silence while Steve lit his smoke, all but for the sound of faint rock music and an electric drill from one of the garages.

“So,” she chanced. “I hear you have a big family now.”

“Yeah, what about ‘em?” He scowled at her after a hearty inhale.  

Charlene lifted both palms out as a sign of surrender.  “Forget it, I was going to say I’m happy for you.”

Steve snorted.  “You expect me to believe that, after all the shit you pulled, that you actually give a shit about anyone?”

She’d expected that, and she knew she deserved it.  

“I give a shit about you,” she muttered.  “I would’ve done anything for you.”

The sincerity confused him but then he pushed his shoulders back.  “I’ve got everything I ever wanted, and I won’t let anyone fuck with that. ‘Specially not you.”

“Understood,” she said, rubbing her magenta lips together with a nod. 

“I want you to be happy, though,” he softened his tone.  “I cared about you once, and that means I always will, no matter how much I wish that weren’t true.  I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“That’s probably the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she scoffed a self-deprecating laugh.

“That sucks,” Steve exhaled through his nostrils. “You’ve got a good heart, Charlene.  It’s just too bad you don’t know how to use it.”

A car pulled into the compound and at first, Steve didn’t pay much attention until he saw over his shoulder that it was you.

With Astrid and the girls.  

—-----

Eddie turned the radio up in the garage when Come and Get It by Judas Priest came on, and then wiped his hands on a red rag as he made his way to the office.  Although the finances at the Hammer and the garage were handled separately, he’d hired one accountant he trusted to take care of it all, and she’d just left a stack of paperwork for him to sign. 

On the wall behind the desk was a framed photo of the two of you together, hugging in the front doorway of the farmhouse the first day you’d moved in.  The flashback made his mouth twitch in a smile, as he had so many fond memories of those first couple weeks, back when there was nothing but a mattress on the floor and several leaks in the roof he had to control with various buckets.  It was just the two of you, making love and whispering about lifetimes of devotion.

He had a secret place in the metal file cabinet where he kept all of the notes you’d left in his lunch over the months, and he had this tugging need to look through them again just before he caught sight of your car coming through the open gate and into the compound.  Wayne was gone, but there on the picnic table sat Charlene and Steve, and before he could think too much about it, his feet were moving, wrenching the door open to make his way across the lot.

Steve jumped up when he saw you angling for a parking spot nearby.  Oh shit, Eddie realized you had Astrid and the girls with you, too.  The fact that they’d helped Charlene was no secret, but still, it made him feel uneasy with everyone about to converge in one spot. 

—------

“Please tell me that is not Charlene,” Astrid whispered, eyeing the profile of the woman sitting across from her husband.

“I’m afraid that is exactly who it is,” you muttered, suddenly feeling like maybe it wasn’t a great idea to bring the girls by to visit daddy at work. It had been a while, and you assumed she’d be gone by then.

But it was too late now.  You recognized the Jaguar parked nearby; it was the same one she brought in for Eddie to fix that first day you met.

All three girls were safely in car seats in the back, and when Astrid went to step out, Steve was right there, blocking her exit.

Funny enough, Eddie did the same, but on your side.  He was there so fast, you accidentally hit his leg with the door.

“What a sight for sore eyes,” he grinned, pulling you flush to him while tipping your chin up for a kiss.  

With lips still brushing together, you mumbled: “What the hell is she still doing here?”

And then through gritted teeth, Eddie responded: “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Steve went to grab for Astrid right away, hands at her hips, and she let him, but her attention was over his shoulder.  

“To what do I owe this pleasure, gorgeous?” He murmured, noticing that she’d put on some mascara and deep burgundy lipstick after not wearing makeup for months.  

Steve only shuffled back a few steps to allow her to shut the door, but then he continued to act as a barrier to keep her from going any further.  He bent down to knock on the back window, waving to the twins as Mae slept in the car seat between them.  Gracie shouted “daddy!” and held her hand out as if he could grab it through the glass. 

Steve glanced sideways at Eddie.  “So, should we all go get pizza or something? At that one place with the bouncy balls that the girls like? My treat.  If you head over there, we’ll meet you—-”

Eddie was close to telling his friend to shut the hell up, as it felt like his babbling was only making things worse. 

Astrid kissed his cheek.  “Please move out of my way, Steven.”

—----

Charlene stood up and took hold of the keys to head for the Jaguar.  She could tell by the looks you and Astrid were sharing that she’d managed to make things awkward, and more than anything, she felt embarrassed.  

But, she took a step away from the picnic bench just in time to see Steve’s twin daughters come bouncing out of the vehicle in matching Oshkosh overalls and her chest tightened—-oh god, one of them was the spitting image of Steve.

And why were the two tiny girls headed that way on their little wobbly legs as if they knew her?  

“Slow down, Rue!” Astrid called after them as Steve fumbled at getting the car seat out that had Mae inside.  

“She’s, um, she was just leaving,” Steve grunted, trying to move the apparatus out without waking the baby.  Astrid was already rushing to catch up with the girls, making each of them hold one of her hands.  

For some reason, Charlene was frozen.  Locking eyes with Gracie, knowing they were Steve’s hazel eyes, accumulated with the rest of her regrets like a punch to the gut.

Her deep dark secret was that she’d always wanted children of her own, but John refused.  

You and Eddie followed them over, albeit reluctantly.  If there were ever some serious conversation that needed to be had with Charlene, it certainly wouldn’t be done with the kids there, and so you weren’t at all sure what could possibly unfold.  

Although Charlene and Astrid had spent a very tense few moments together the night Craig was shot, they’d never shared more than a few words with each other.  Last night, when Steve got the page from Eddie, she’d known it was about Charlene before he even said a thing; she could feel her arriving in her bones like some might feel the impending threat of cold weather.  

Steve hurried to get between the two women and set the baby carrier on the picnic table.  Gracie was on her tiptoes with her arms up, begging him to put her on his shoulders, and so he did, and she took hold of his hair like a saddle horn.

“Glad we could meet under better circumstances,” Astrid said to Charlene, sincerely.

Eddie put his arm around your shoulder and you sank into him, wrapping both arms around his middle. You wished you could hide under his blue and black flannel so no one could see you.  

“You have a really beautiful family,” was all Charlene could think to say as she caught sight of Steve’s third daughter.

“Thank you,” Astrid replied, maintaining steady eye contact.

There were a few strained silences, and you could feel Eddie wanting to fill them, but suddenly he burst out with:

“Did you want to come by the Hammer and see what we’ve done with the place?” He chirped, rubbing your arm almost violently. 

Your whole body tensed at that, and you could see that it was the same physical response for Steve.  

“No, that’s…I’m good,” Charlene removed the Gucci sunglasses from the top of her head and put them over her eyes.  “There are several cargo crates of my things being sent to Hawaii right now, and I have a flight to catch.  But I’m sure you’ve done well with it.”

But it was Rue who broke the next silence.

She’d wandered a few yards over to the fence and back, carrying two bright yellow dandelions pinched between her fingers.

She was right there, blocking Charlene’s path to her car, arm outstretched to offer her one.

“For me?” Charlene was genuinely confused, and not accustomed to the wholesome kindness often displayed by children.  

Rue just nodded, tucking the other one behind her ear so that the bloom was at her cheek.

The rest of you exchanged a few baffled looks—all but Astrid, because she knew what was happening.  She knew then that her daughter carried the same gift she’d been born with; the gift of intuitive sight.  Even at her young age, Rue could read people and their intentions, and she knew that Charlene was no longer a threat to them.  She knew that everyone in that parking lot deserved healing and forgiveness. 

“Like this?” Charlene put the flower in her hair the same way with tentative fingers, and Rue nodded again, moving around the woman to walk back over to her family.

Astrid scooped Rue up into her arms.

Charlene took one last look over at the group as she drove out of the compound, seeing the way you all smiled at each other, continuing on with conversation as if she’d never been there. You were all visibly relieved to no longer be sharing space with her, but Rue had been able to see her with fresh eyes, without all of the pain and suffering she’d inflicted on others and on herself.  There’d been no judgment or weariness in that child’s eyes; just curiosity and love. It gave her a bit of hope that maybe she could…start over.  Maybe she’d fall in love again with a guy who wasn’t Steve, maybe she’d adopt a child of her own one day, or maybe…she’d get a dog and call it a day.  

—------

A few days later, you couldn’t find Scully, and the two of you fell into panic mode.

“Did you let her out?” Eddie snapped.  “You know we need to keep her inside this close to the due date.”

Eddie was a mess. Granted, you were upset too, but he was ready to tear the whole house apart looking for her, and then some.  You couldn’t help but smile to yourself seeing how devoted he was to this once stray cat.  Some nights he even made room between the two of you so that Scully could sleep in the middle.

But finally, a soft mewing from the closet alerted you to the fact that she’d tucked herself away in the dark to have her babies.  

“Honey, come look,” you whispered down the hall to him.

There she was, snuggled back in the corner in a box of old sweatshirts, nursing four tiny baby kittens.  She had one more a half hour later to make the final count five.  Two black, one gray, one black and white, and one orange striper.

“Daddy must’ve been an orange guy, hey my darling?” He hummed a conversation to Scully as you picked them all up to put down some fresh blankets, making sure she had food and water nearby.  

“What should we name them?” Eddie asked as you both sat in the doorway, watching them nuzzle together for sleep.

“I think we should let Oliver name the orange little girl, since I know that’s the one he’ll pick,” you whispered, to which Eddie agreed.  “Maybe I’ll name the gray one Keanu,” you said, mostly joking, but Eddie didn’t seem bothered.  As soon as it was possible, Scully would be back at the vet to get fixed, but you were grateful to have this experience with him.

“Can I name the black ones Dio and Vecna?”  He asked, hopefully.

“What kind of a name is Vecna?” You wrinkled your nose.  “Should we call him Vicky for short?”

“The black and white looks like a Leia,” he continued, eyes sparkling.  

“Leia is a good name,” you hummed, putting your cheek on his shoulder. 

You moved Scully and her box of babies into your bedroom so that she would be closer if she needed anything, but then in the middle of the night, she moved the kittens back to the same spot in the guest bedroom closet, so then that is where you let her stay.  

Later that night, you were in the kitchen cleaning up before bed, when you heard Eddie singing a song under his breath in the next room:

“Hey little girl is your daddy home, did he go and leave you all alone…”

You thought you recognized it as you scrubbed a dish, eyes darting to the window to watch two motorcycles zoom by on the dark highway in the distance.

“I got a bad desire…”

On the refrigerator behind you, secured by magnets, were photo snapshots of the two of you with Steve and Astrid, Robin and Katie, Gracie, Rue and one of Mae when she was first born.  There was one of Wayne twenty years ago, standing with Taz and War Machine as two gangly teenagers.  There was a long strip from a photo booth at the fair with you, Eddie, and Oliver all making faces for the camera.  

“Tell me now, baby, is he good to you

Can he do to you the things that I do? I can take you higher…”

He’d been folding the blanket on the couch and blowing out candles, but then he was on his way to  you as the mumbled lyrics got clearer:

“Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull

And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my skull…”

You finished what you were doing, but then you stayed still, feeling him come up behind.  

“At night, I wake up with the sheets soaking wet

And a freight train running through the middle of my head…”

You leaned back, letting yourself be caged in his embrace; his head dipping to kiss your neck.  You thought about that day on the side of the road when he picked you up in the tow truck, and how it didn’t feel like you were meeting for the first time but more, coming back together after a lifetime apart.  

His lips ghosted the shell of your ear.  “Only you can cool my desire…”

After that first kiss years ago,  you knew there would never be another option for you; Eddie Munson was endgame.  Having tasted true love once in your life, you felt like you could die happy.

But not until you rode the highway of life for a long, long time.  Even at the end, you’d still be holding on tight.

“...Oh oh oh I’m on Fire…”

—------

The Epilogue of an Epilogue

“Yo, Steve. Package for you.”

It was Thumper, working the door at the Velvet Hammer for what promised to be a wild Friday night. Max ended up showing interest in the Assistant Manager position, after deciding that long haul trucking was taking a toll on her need to start a family, and Robin couldn’t hire her fast enough. Jeff also came on as a part-time bartender, leaving you pleasantly surprised and wondering what other skill sets he had up his sleeve.  

Steve had just come through the door to ask Shana for a cup of coffee when the crumpled brown piece of mail flew at his chest.  He caught it, but took the time to throw Thumper a dirty look.  

“Ease up, boss,” the burly biker grumbled through a huge grin.  “Since when do you have a penpal in Hawaii?”

He stopped in his tracks at that, afraid to look down.  Afraid to open it, even.  Steve’s newest ink—-Mae’s name on the back of his hand—-glistened from the recent layer of Aquaphor.

He asked for his coffee with a pound of sugar and sat at the end of the bar, frowning.

The return address was a P.O. box in Honolulu without a name, but he didn’t even have to wonder.  He was sure he could smell the Chanel through the packaging.

Inside was a ring of keys.

Car keys, clearly, but it took him a second to understand what they belonged to and why they looked so familiar in his hand.

There was also a note:

These are the keys to the Jaguar.  It’s parked in a secure garage at the airport, instructions also enclosed.

Every time I drive it, I get myself in trouble. Hopefully you will have better luck, or maybe Rue can have it when she gets older. 

The dandelion was a fair trade.  

C.

—----

I have so much to say, so much love to give to you all, and I hope you can feel it through the words. I'm so deeply grateful for each one of you and this experience. Whether you have left comments, reblogs, thoughtful asks, or edits, I remember you and you are special to me. I would give anything to meet up at the Velvet Hammer for cocktails (and/or tea, of course) but here are a few in particular I'd like to thank:

Huge thank you to @cryptidcurio for being the initial inspiration for this fic in the first place, and for always feeding me the best ideas. Some of the most popular scenes in this series are from her. Our biker Eddie and biker Steve talks seem to have somehow gotten us through the past hellish year, I love you. I'm so grateful for @texasblues and all of our chats about Steve, Astrid, Wayne, and the girls. Truly, the only reason Astrid and Steve are so perfect is because of Jennie and our brainstorming. We chat a lot about what Rue, Gracie, and Mae will be like when they are older, and hopefully we'll have a few blurbs about that someday. Also, I highly recommend her Steve & Astrid writings HERE My beautiful friend @dandelionnfluff decided to do a bind of I'm on Fire for their personal use and I am still choked up about how much work they put in and how gorgeous it is. You can see their amazing work here: book bind

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Taglist: @notsobubblybaby @unfocused81 @aysheashea @etherealglimmer@manicmagicmayhem @dream-a-little-nightmare@chaoticgood-munson @emxcast @rhirojo @bexreadstoomuch @micheledawn1975 @falling-solar-system@secretdryrose

@whatwedontdointheshadows @miarosso @seventhlevelofhell @corrodedcoffincumslut @lofaewrites @goldyghoul @chloe-6123 @kelsiegrin @chelebelletx @stylesxmunson @kurdtbean@dandelionnfluff @hideoutside @truffleshuffle12 @tenthmoon @texasblues@emilyslutface@mmunson86@onegirlmanytales@laylaloves-ed@dashingdeb16@eddiiiieeee @ick90 @dashingdeb16 @polyestermonster @trixyvixx @atomickaratel8dy @kiyastrf94 @allthingsjoeq @eddiesxangel @razzieth @corrodeddeadlydoll @erinekc @angietherose @sllooney @writinginthetwilight @moonbeamsandmayhem @brianamunson92 @joannamuns9n @bellalillyrose @alba8688 @chevelle724

[sxftkxssxs]

If you are free and in the mood, can you write about the M6 or just Asra, lucio, and Nadia reaction to MC donating third of what they make from working in their magic shop, like they donate it to charities or families that need money.

I can never resist adding the slightest bit of hurt to Asra's part (he makes me violently ill.)

I don't really know how I ended up having all of them giving to charities themselves but they all definitely would at one point or another.

M6 with a MC who donates to charity

Asra

He'll offer more ideas on how to donate or give to the charity of MC's choosing. He'll try to slip some goofy things in if they're donating to kids, he wants them to have fun!

They definitely kept this tradition up if MC started it before the Plague, since it was something important to them. Though, he'll always be a little teary eyed while he does it.

Once MC is able to walk and talk on their own, they'll ask them to pick charities every so often to give to. If they pick one they used to give to a lot he gets a sad look on his face they can't understand.

When they go on their trips they make sure to bring enough supplies back to donate a good amount and still have some for themselves.

Asra likes to donate to charities that focus on kids. Especially ones that include orphans.

Julian

He'll mostly tease at first.

Even though he's teasing, he gets a warm feeling in his chest seeing you be so kind to all these people.

Julian gets somber when he sees families struggling to stay together. It reminds him of having to leave Portia.

He'll absolutely want to be part of it but uh, MC, what do you expect this man to give?? He's been on the run for years!!

He likes to donate to medical related charities, but still varies often. His second most donated to is family charities.

Nadia

She loves that MC cares so much for her (and possibly, eventually, their) people so much.

She knows that the time she was asleep and with Lucio, she neglected her people. Even if she never meant or wanted to, it happened.

It warms her heart that they still cared enough to help others less fortunate.

She'd love to join! Just, tell her not to overwhelm these people. Please.

Muriel

He's honestly not thought about charities for...a long time.

Before him and MC get close he'll be on edge about it. He doesn't trust apperances.

Once he gets closer and realizes MC just wants to do it to be a good/nice person, he relaxes.

We've seen this man be so kind when he's finally allowing himself to be his own person. Apply here!

He likes to make things for charities. Blankets, Furs, etc.

Muriel would likely want to donate to charities that focus on family or orphaned children.

Portia

she is ecstatic!!

This woman has donated since she got herself into a good stable position and you cannot tell me otherwise.

She's been donating to charities that revolve around keeping families together or children. She understands the pain of losing family more than they realize.

She would want MC to donate to wherever they wanted, give as many people a chance as you can!

Pre-Upright Lucio

He's genuinely confused

They'd rather give that money away?? They could've spent that on something extravagant for him themselves!

The whole idea confuses him immensely.

Once MC starts dragging him through the magic realms and lovingly forcing him to face his own consequences, he'll start to grasp the concept much more.

Post-Upright Lucio

This is a new and improved man right here!

He'll even participate with you! if you help him decide on what all to give? He's still lost on what is best there

Surprisingly, he's the one to suggest donating to families or children.

He still holds so much guilt over his actions. He knows that he's gonna live with that the rest of his life, but at least he can do something good with his second chance, right?

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia Chapter 430 Spoiler Talk: The True End of An Era (Part 1)

This is it, the final chapter of My Hero Academia. A series 10 years in the making has finally ended. It's really insane to think about. This series has done so much good for a lot of people despite the fandom's flaws. MHA was both people's introduction and even reintroduction to manga and anime. It's bittersweet to write about the final chapter, but I will do the best I can to honor the series I love. This is going to be a very long one. Also a lot of screaming.

Now, please, if you want to wait until the official translation releases on Sunday, PLEASE TURN AWAY NOW! Save this post and come back to it on Sunday when everyone has read the chapter. I will be using spoiler hashtags for this, so if you end up spoiling yourself because of my post, that's on you. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING:

Here we go. We first start off with our Final Color page for the series! It's a gorgeous double-page spread featuring all Class 1-A (Now 2-A) kids that we've grown to know and love throughout the past 10 years including Shinso, Aizawa, and All Might of course. Izuku Midoriya AKA Deku, our beautiful MC who I will miss with all my heart and soul 💚, is leading the page and his friends towards the bright future they all fought so hard for. It's a wonderful way to conclude the series and I will make sure to get a high-quality version of it to use as my computer wallpaper.

The final chapter is titled "My Hero Academia" because of course it is 🥹. This was truly My Hero Academia.

OH FUCK WE GET A TIME SKIP TO THE FUTURE SOMEONE HOLD ME 😭

KOTA IS THE THE UA HERO COURSE AND IZUKU IS HIS TEACHER IT'S SO PERFECT FOR HIM!!!💚😭 I BET MR. AIZAWA AND ALL MIGHT WERE BIG INSPIRATIONS FOR HIM TO TAKE THIS PATH 🥹

IT'S ONLY BEEN 1 PAGE AND THIS CHAPTER HAS ALREADY ENDED ME IT'S SO JOEVER FUCK

BTW, Deku is saying a more optimistic version of the "Not all men are born equal" narration he told us at the beginning of the very first chapter of the series. Very nice way of bringing the story full circle.

Ok, the next 2 pages have a lot of things in them, so I'm going to try to sum it up as best as I can:

Izuku finally came home to see his mother, Inko, at their apartment and she looks happy 💚

All Might is out of his wheelchair and helping old Gran Tarino walk with a cane (how he still survived I have no idea).

All the kids running in their gym clothes in what looks like their second Sports Festival (god, what I'd give to see that in its entirety).

Miriko is very happy with her new prosthetics including one that looks like the Bullet Bill from the Super Mario series.

The kids struggling taking either mid-terms or finals written tests. Bakugo is still using his left arm to write, so I assume his right arm is still barely usable.

Shoji and Kota shaking some prominent mutant's hand I assume from their contributions towards the war.

Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods working together as usual!

Tokoyama meeting up with Hawks.

KOTA AND ERI HOLDING HANDS AND GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL WITH MADALAY'S APPROVAL THAT'S SO FUCKING CUTE 😭❤️🤍

Endeavor being followed around by his sidekicks and Hawks.

Aizawa and Present Mic visiting what I bet is Shirakumo's grave 😢

The fan translator says that the kids finally meet Melissa from the first MHA movie! We don't see her face, but I'll take what they say is truth.

Spinner's book selling and Compress reading it in jail.

Bakugo going through rehab to get his right arm back!

Deku and Ochako spending time in the snow.

OUR KID'S GRADUATION OH MY GOD MOST OF THEM ARE 18 THERE AND THEY'RE OFFICIALLY PRO HEROES I'M SO FUCKING PROUD OF THEM 😭❤️ Interesting though since none of them really look much older except for maybe Iida and Shoto, but it's hard to tell from the scans. And Bakugo and Monoma keep the crazy graduation tradition of blowing things up as their goodbye present to UA!

And finally, we see the embers of One For All slowly fade away in Izuku's hand until there's nothing left...

Oh, god. The time skip takes place 8 YEARS in the future geez. So, if this is 8 years since we left the kids in Class 2-A, they would be about 24-25 years old now damn. We're actually going to see them all grown up that's crazy.

The next page shows us a middle school class very similar to how we saw Deku and Bakugo at the very beginning of the series. The teacher asks them what they want to do in the future and we get to see small glimpses of other characters now such as Hatsume who has her own lab (go, girl!), and LaBrava who seems to own a company with Gentle!

The main kid we focus on in this class is Dai, the young boy with dark blue-ish dotted hair who was looking at the All Might statue in Kamino before the first war started (I don't blame you for forgetting; I had to look him up too). He says he wants to be a hero, but everyone else says that his Quirk is too weak for him to become one. Despite that, he still goes to the All Might statue (which sounds like has been rebuilt) for inspiration. Sound familiar? 🤔

Next we see Shoji accepting a prestigious award for his efforts in resolving mutant prejudice-based incidents! He looks SO BULKY HOLY SHIT DUDE 😳 And his hair got longer to the point of putting it in a ponytail! Also, Koda and the glue Class 1-B kid (I think his name is Bondo or something) are there to congratulate him too! I bet you that Shoji making it to the top 10 in the final popularity poll helped Horikoshi give him a little spotlight and it's a good way of following up on what happened after his bout in the Final War.

Next up, we see Ochako, Tsuyu, Momo, and Iida visiting schools across the country! Ochako has also set up a Quirk Counseling expansion project that's become one of the most essential things in the future society!

Ok:

1: It's hard to tell with Iida, but the girls all look slightly older especially with their hair being a little longer.

2: Their future costumes look great! It's not a 100% match to what we saw in Endeavor's vision, but it's still great! Iida's armor got more detail to them; Tsuyu's frog goggles got gogglier?; Momo is finally coving up her cleavage and showing less exposed skin took you 10 years, but you finally got there, Horikoshi; and Ochako's got updated headwear, the two dots on her outfit are side-by-side instead of on top of each other, and her collar thing looks similar to Deku's hero mask which I know was intentional.

3: Good for Ochako for doing something about Quirk Counseling. Definitely inspired by what happened with Himiko Toga. I hope this means that we won't have another incident like Toga had and that kids are now able to get help with their Quirks as opposed to being villainized. I hope Ochako's making good money out of this too for her family like she originally intended.

We also see a teenage Eri going to her music club with a guitar on her back! She has a normal girl's sailor uniform, so my best guess is that she's either still in middle school (I think she would be 14-15 at this point) or she's not in UA like a lot of us thought. Either way, she wants to pursue music instead of Hero work so I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't go to UA at all. It also looks like her horn did fully grow back, but whether her Rewind Quirk still works the same is up in the air.

And we see that Mr. Aizawa is still working at UA, BUT HE CUT HIS HAIR SHORT 😭 WHY DID YOU CUT HIS BEAUTIFUL, LONG LOCKS, HORIKOSHI??? OF ALL THE PHYSICAL CHANGES YOU GIVE OUR CHARACTERS THIS IS THE MOST DEVASTATING 😭

*BREATHS* But, he shows Deku and us a video of Bakugo SCREAMING AT A CIVILIAN FOR FILMING HIM TOO CLOSELY 😂😭 PLEASE NEVER CHANGE, KATSUKI BAKUGO 🧡 I'm also really glad he still got to be a Pro Hero despite his injuries.

AND NOW WE SEE MY SWEET FAVORITE BOY, SHOTO TODOROKI WHO CUT HIS HAIR A LITTLE SHORTER!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, I LIKE HIM BETTER WITH SHORT HAIR AND STILL LOOKS LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL PRETTY BOY HE ALWAYS WAS! STAY PRETTY, SHOTO!!! 🩵

Anyway, Shoto patrols day and night and is very nice to his fans! Kind king 👑! He's also become his own man to the public now as he's barley called "Endeavor's Son" anymore. That's a real relief because I know for a fact that that was haunting him for years. Also, there's a chance he'll pass Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and even Mirio in the rankings! I'm so proud of my fave! 🩵❄️🔥

GAH! I'm actually hitting a world limit here! I have to make a Part 2!

[l3viat8an]

One of my favorite tropes is cryptic pregnancy (when you don’t know you’re pregnant because of your body type/shape, lack of symptoms, and/or because of the position of the uterus making it so that the baby develops towards your back so your bump is way less noticeable esp if you’re plus-sized), and I headcanon that humans are more likely to have a cryptic pregnancy when carrying a demon baby because the symptoms are different and the human body reacts differently to a demon baby than it does a human baby. So imagine poly!mc (specifically in a throuple with luci and dia) going to bed early with period cramps one night, and then going to breakfast the next morning with a baby in their arms lmaoooo. All the brothers are SO confused, and ask where MC got the baby from. Levi and Mammon both pass out when MC shyly admits they gave birth alone last night. They were really scared and disoriented afterwards, and that’s why they didn’t call for help. For extra dramatic bonus points, imagine everyone’s panic when they get a good look at the baby and realize it looks just like Diavolo, and even has little versions of dia’s wings. Barbatos can only pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh when he finds out what’s happened. Dia is ecstatic, and even though he knows he can’t, at least not yet, he wishes he could immediately throw one of the traditional week-long celebrations for royal babies. He settles for a smaller private celebration between he, MC, and the brothers. Lucifer is slightly less happy than Dia, because he knows how this will complicate things not only for their relationship, but for dia’s rule; dia and MC will have to get married, and the devildom will effectively have a new ruler with mc becoming the princess, and not only that, Lucifer will probably be given the title of consort, so that he can be legally recognized as part of the relationship…there’s gonna be MOUNTAINS of paperwork for this.

I read this and just can’t get past MC giving birth alone in the middle of the night jsksjsk

Like the trope is an interesting one, and this idea is amazing!! Poor Lucifer definitely ends up with a fuck ton more paperwork-

But- Just MC being, like “Oh, yea, I had a kid last night no big deal.” I mean they’re in hell so that’s probably not the weirdest thing but still-

And I’d imagine the first few weeks after the baby is born are the hardest. MC and the baby going back and forth between the castle and HoL a lot and Diavolo constantly asking them and Lucifer to move in with him officially.

[psychicreadsgirl]

hi, can u please do a reading on Yulhee and Minhwan, they are getting a divorce..what happened in their marriage?

There was a lot of tension between the two about parenting. Yulhee felt very tired in the marriage and suffocated. I sense that she was doing a big bulk of the parenting during the marriage. He wasn't often there for her when she needed him. They also have different parenting styles and different ideas about parenting; one is more traditional and strict, believing in rules/more traditional paths for the kids while the other is more open and more relaxed (sometimes too relaxed).

She also felt like he became someone that she didn't see herself with in the long term. Before she looked up to him a lot and felt like he could guide her a lot but after they married for several years, she felt like he was more immature than she thought and he couldn't provide the lifestyle and stability that she needed. Yulhee was quite young when she married and their marriage came pretty abruptly. Now that she has grown up more mentally and emotionally, she feels like she is looking for a different type of marriage/relationship. Yulhee is looking for someone who is more mature, stable, and has a more stable job that provides a certain lifestyle she wants.

There was also some conflict between both sides of their families. I sense some conflict between Yulhee and a parent of Minhwan's. She felt like she was being controlled or looked down by that parent. I don't think they approved of their marriage as they felt she was too young to be married to him.

Also just because she doesn't have custody of the children doesn't mean she doesn't care about the kids. She feels like the situation they have now is the best that can be; she financially is not able to support the 2 kids on her own whereas she feels he is able to and he has support from his side of the family. Yulhee also wants some freedom to live her life more and enjoy the rest of her 20s; she feels she missed out a lot and sort of became a mom too fast. Minhwan feels a bit of guilt too that he was able to hang out more with friends during the marriage compared to her.

There is a possibility that these two may appear on a divorce show together but I highly doubt they'd get back together. If they show up to that show, it'd be to earn some money. I wouldn't recommend that they get back together either. It's possible that Yulhee may show up on some other dating show or be a MC/panel member. He may also do this route too.

[the-eeveekins]

The 16th Day of G-Witch: Father and Child

Alright, let's get this over with. Look, if you like this episode or Guel, you might want to skip this one because I'm about to be a hater here. Also as a heads up, I decided to avoid the shot of Seethia's body in my screencaps, because as much as I dislike this episode, that's still a tough moment and tough to look at.

This episode pisses me off, and it's IMO unarguably the worst episode in the entire series. It's all so incredible pointless and irrelevant to the main story, and ultimately a gigantic waste of time that should have been spent elsewhere. Olcott and the Dawn of Fold do not play any role in the rest of the series, and the short 5 second scene in the final episode felt more tacked on to try and even remotely justify why nearly an entire episode was spent on them. Guel is not that integral to the main story that he deserved a chunk of an entire episode dedicated to his development and essentially putting him in the main character seat for an episode. The only impact this episode had later on in the show was so Guel could recognize that one kid on Earth who let slip Shaddiq's secret. Which was already a ridiculous coincidence that it could have been replaced with nearly anything.

It's insulting and sexist that in the first Gundam series with a female main character, they completely sidelined her for an entire episode just to let the most popular male character play at being the MC for an episode that has almost nothing to do with the main story and was designed to be more like a traditional Gundam episode than what G-Witch was. It feels like something that staff were ultimately forced to keep in so the executives who feared the show failing could distract fans who hated it with the standard Gundam tropes and a male character in the lead role, like jingling shiny keys in front of someone's face. And the worst part is? It worked. A chunk of the fanbase LOVED this episode because it felt like a classic Gundam episode and made them want to throw away what made G-Witch special and unique for more of the same shit they've had for 40+ years.

And all of that cost the show time it desperately needed to spend on the main story and characters with way more importance than Guel or Olcott. The only good thing I have to say about this episode is that the Prodoros IS a cool mobile suit. I hope it gets a model kit someday.

I've got to agree with Norea here. Nika is incredibly naive about the situation Earthian's face. Wanting to solve problems without violence is certainly a worthwhile goal, but not one that is always practical. Sometimes violence and war is necessary to overthrow tyranny and oppression. It was made clear in S1 than when Earthians peacefully protest their terrible conditions, they're met with violence by the Benerit Group. And when peace is no longer an option, you have to use violence to fight back.

Likewise, I actually think Shaddiq gets a bad rap from a large part of the fanbase. Some of that is rightfully because of his actions towards Miorine, but a lot of it I think comes from the sort of people who just like to yell "WAR IS BAD" and do not comprehend that in some situations, war is necessary to overthrow oppressive groups like the Benerit Group and Spacian Governments.

Giving weapons to Earthain groups is a solid idea that will even the playing field and make it difficult if not impossible for space to opress Earth through force, forcing them to the negotiating table for equality, and if all else fails, kicking them off Earth and reclaiming their resources themselves. My only concern with Shaddiq's approach is that I'm not sure he wouldn't try to lead Earthians even further into oppressing Spacians as revenge.

This is actually the one time I don't fault Guel for trying to do something "heroic." Trying to save Seethia, while probably being ultimately pointless, was a good thing to do. It's just a shame that, despite literally having a child die in his arms due to an attack by the Benerit Group, he learns all the wrong lessons from it.

This conversation serves absolutely no purpose. It doesn't actually make any sense (he was a member of Dominicus, Earthains attacked him and killed his family and now he...works for an Earthian terrorist group?) and ultimately it's a completely meaningless detail that has absolutely no effect on anything.

And finally, the cherry on top, the downfall of Guel's character. I really tried to like him, but this was very much the beginning of the end. After going through a trauma conga line and learning NOT to play the hero, Guel finally sees what his father's company has been doing to Earthians his whole life, and even has an innocent child die in his arms because of the attack.

And the lesson Guel takes away from all of this is that he wants to save his father's company and keep the oppression machine going? I get that maybe Guel being the one to fail and not break free from the shadow of his abusive parents was the whole point of his character arc (Kashtanka), but it's still disappointing.

And after all that bullshit, we drop these incredibly important details in a post-credit scene at the end of the episode. All of this information, from what Notrette intended to do with Quiet Zero and what happened to her, was way more important to the story than everything that happened in the previous 20 minutes. But all it gets is a short scene at the end of the episode and is never further elaborated on.

This should have been the episode we learned more about Notrette and Quiet Zero, maybe even more about Prospera and Delling. Instead we got Guel and Olcott's pointless adventure.

[ravenwolfie97]

okay so initial thoughts on honkai star rail after i played like half of the tutorial bit this morning before work

first off, for the record, i have not played or heard much of anything about honkai impact 3rd and i have only played genshin impact pretty much since launch so my expectations were "genshin but sci-fi fantasy" but i can say that's not quite what i got (here’s a read more if you don’t care lol)

- immediately i notice that the graphics fidelity is gorgeous, very sleek and clean - it startled me a bit but also made me happy that the lip flaps are synced to the english dub! it seemed to flow really well even with the expression changes. the dialogue system doesn't seem all too different from genshin or. any other system like that. but it's got a pretty nice polish on the transitions between different states - the animation in the cutscenes and battles are really good, clearly they had a real talented team working on them. the characters feel so bouncy and expressive and it is pretty darn satisfying - the UI and interactive language is pretty much exactly the same as genshin with a sci-fi coat of paint. that's not a bad thing necessarily but like. it's pretty obvious - so the way combat and elemental powers work is very different from genshin, which frankly i should have expected, given this is a turn-based rpg. and i shouldn't have too much trouble with it, since turn-based rpgs are kind of a staple in my game roster, but for some reason i had trouble connecting with it. obviously finishing the tutorial would help, but it didn't feel as intuitive as i expected elements are presented in more of a traditional jrpg type of way where there are clear weaknesses you can exploit on enemies if you attack with a certain element. idk if i fully mean this but i think it kind of ruins part of the fun of discovering an enemy's weakness when the game itself just. tells you what it is off the bat also the types are weird in that they have pretty static effects in terms of what they do, the variability in moves is probably also explained further in character profiles but i haven't found how to look at that yet bkjljl - i'm fascinated by the ideas of Quantum and Imaginary types. what does that even mean. how do those manifest - i think it was a bit of a bold move to start the game off with two random characters talking about the world as if things are normal and known, and then having them influence your player character into. being in the plot not that i didn't like kafka and silver wolf. in fact i love both of them a lot. but i also had no context and had no goddamn idea what was going on so i was thrown pretty off-guard first thing which isn't exactly the greatest first impression lol - why is she named March 7th. does anyone know. is there a joke lost in translation or is it because she's like a pseudo-mascot character or. what - speaking of march actually i really want to like her but so far her character reeks of "hi i'm a girl". her skill is called "The Power of Cuteness" and one of her abilities is called "Girl Power" and so far her personality is cute, kind, and kinda stupid. it's a bit much. but she's neat - i have no big opinions on dan heng except he's neat and people keep saying he's the kazuha of star rail bc windy maple leaf boys but they're wrong bc dan heng has a stabby not a slicey and he can only hit one person at a time while kazoo thrives on the multi-hit AoE damage - i do love that the MC's weapon is just. a future baseball bat. that they get to smack people really hard with. no element, just big smack - oh yeah hyv loves to queerbait i guess cuz that wasn't CPR honey the twitter crowd wasn't kidding - i can’t think of anything else rn cuz it’s past midnight but star rail is neat and i like the little train rabbit dog mascot it’s cute and i wanna get past the tutorial hkjbjk

[toyama-division]

Kensaku’s Thoughts on Hakodate Division

Kotan Anchikar

“An Ainu village chieftain? That’s really something I never expected to see… I can’t really joke about him because I’ve had to study some of their culture. The medicinal practices of the Ainu people specifically. A lot of their practices might be considered to be outdated, what with their beliefs being disproven by modern medicine. But they did have some basis in their choices in plant remedies… Only a couple though. I’m sure a handful of my coworkers would like to talk with any healers in their village for new ideas. Personally, I might want to pass… Mostly because I’d rather we didn’t try and steal their longstanding traditions just to market them to the rest of Japan. Might upset this little chieftain more than help them in the long run, haha...”

Ted Bridges

“Pfft…! You’re telling me… This guy’s name is Ted, his MC name is Teddy, and he’s in a team called Kuma no ie? Oh, this guy isn’t going to hear the end of my un-bear-able bear puns! I’ve got enough jokes to break the sound bear-ier with them. I’m paws-itively ready. Do think he’s the type to get em-bear-assed? Hahah, I’m killing myself here. I need a second to get my bear-ings for the next member, hahaha!”

Kokomi Morozov

“My stomach is killing me from laughing… Last one here is… Kokomi Morozov? Another Olympian like that Nerima girl. She’s much older though, so I’m sure she’s in Japan to practice. Hakodate has a big ski resort up on Hakodate-Yama, I just can’t remember what the name of the place was. I’ve only been there once anyway as a part of a business trip. The marketing team apparently loves skiing so we gave it a try. Let’s just say I was less than graceful out on the snow. The cafe at the peak was great though. After a long ride up to the summit, a hot cup of coffee was great to drink… Wonder if the other two would want to go. Not necessarily to Hakodate, but just skiing or snowboarding in general. It would be fun to watch the boys give it a try.”

Kuma no ie

“Aside from Teddy, I’m wondering how exactly the bear motif fits into the rest of their group. I suppose Kotan-san could have a bear as a spiritual symbol that’s important to him. But Kokomi-san? I don’t think a bear really fits her. She’s much too… How do I put it? Soft and innocent looking. I suppose some people who aren’t as familiar with bears might see her as a little teddy bear. Pfft, that’s funny. Teddy, Kotan-san, and Kokomi-san lining up as the three bears from that kid’s story… Oh, is that why they’re called Kuma no ie?! If so, that’s a hilarious story for why they picked the team name!”

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 43- Our First Win

Chapter Summary: Jen joins V, Rap Monster and Jessi in an episode of Hello Counselor. BTS promote their new album and get their first set of wins

Words: 8,000+

--------

“We listen to your concerns. National counseling session!” The MC announced as everyone applauded. 

Jennie sat in between Namjoon and Taehyung as the MCs announced them as special guests along with Kim Kayeon, Lim Yohwan and Jessi. The show Jen attended today was called Hello Counselor and she was excited to see what would happen on the show.

After the MCs asked for Jessi and Rapmon to rap, they turned to Tae. “Good looking V, what can you do? You can imitate an elephant?”

“I have an elephant on my body.” He answered as the crowd laughed. He lifted his sleeve to reveal his arm. “I have two spots on my arm. If I do this, it’s an elephant.” He pinched his arm, showing it off. 

“Lovely, Jennie!” The MC called out.

“Yes?” She smiled.

“What can you do?”

“I play the guitar.”

“Wow, what type?”

“Mainly acoustic. It’s my strong suit and it’s my favorite instrument. I feel as though I can really express myself when I have my hands on a guitar. Whatever emotion I feel, I strum and you can hear it.”

“What mood are you in now?”

“Happy.” She beamed as the studio applauded. She was handed an acoustic guitar and made sure it was tuned. “I guess I’ll do the acoustic version of I Need U.”

Once she started to strum the chorus of the song, the studio went silent. After she was finished, the studio erupted in cheers, some were shocked at how precise her guitar skills were.

“BTS released a new song, too. Can you sing a little of it for us?” The MCs requested

“We’ll dance.” Rapmon stood up with Jen and Tae to perform the chorus dance of I Need U. Once they were done, they were applauded

For the show’s concerns, it was listed as, Dad, let’s be happy, My unpretty daughter and My husband’s change of heart.

The MCs go with my unpretty daughter first and it’s from a mom. She has no idea what to do with her daughter and she’s embarrassed because of her. She doesn’t know what to say when people ask about her daughter, asking if she has a job. The mother claimed her daughter is 38 years old, does rap and is flippant. The mom showed her concern that her daughter doesn’t seem to understand how she feels about the situation.

The MC continued to read that the daughter had been rapping for 2 years and her TV audition was cut out from a show and failed the preliminary. Jennie cringed when she heard about that. Must’ve been really bad for them to cut out an audition.

Once the mother, Jeong Chaeok, walked out and slid down the slide, she sat in the middle of the guests and MCs.

“It’s a concern that your daughter wants to be a rapper?” The MCs asked.

“Yes. A woman should meet a nice man, get married, have a baby and be loyal to our country.” The mom declared.

‘But not everyone wants to date. Not everyone wants kids or wants to get married. What’s wrong with that?’ Jennie thought in her head. 

She had to keep in mind she was from America. Different countries have different standards and traditions. She had a different mentality about dating and marriage than the mother.

But what’s wrong with being independent?

Personally, Jennie wanted kids when she was married. She thought about it, no one in her family told her that she should, she thought of it on her own. She didn’t think it was a big deal if other women didn’t want to do that.

“It’s a good thing you came. That’s Jessi. She’s the queen of rapping.” The MC pointed out.

“Hello.” Jessi bowed.

“I don’t know her.” The mom bluntly replied, causing the crowd to laugh. 

Jennie cringed at her bluntness.

“Those young people over there. That’s Rap Monster, Jennie and V. They’re good at rapping.”

“The boys are very good looking.” The mother said, causing Jennie and Jessi to have a rain cloud over their heads, feeling shaded. 

‘A clearly different response’

“All righty, then,” Jennie murmured.

The mother goes on about how her daughter isn’t ladylike and wears a cap crookedly and wears torn clothes. Jessi immediately hid her legs that exposed her knees. 

“I don’t like that.” The mom looked at Jessi’s jeans.

Jennie held onto Tae, laughing with him and the rest of the studio when the mother performed the hidden dance talent that she found when she was 49. 

“I’m deceased!” She giggled.

When they met the daughter, everyone applauded her. The daughter revealed that her nickname is ZiZi and wished to release an album in her name. 

“I want to show people women can rap, too.” The daughter said.

“Jessi is rapping a lot.” The MC pointed out.

“She just became famous.” The daughter replied, earning laughs from the crowd. 

Jennie dropped her jaw at her sudden statement while Jessi stared at her. It looked like Jessi wanted to write a diss track on the poor girl.

Later, the daughter revealed that she’s crazy about Zico from Block B, fell for him and wants to meet him in person, so she thought that rapping lessons would help. She received compliments from her teachers and since she likes Zico, her dream is to become a rapper. She wants to perform on the stage Zico stands on. She sounded so determined, wanting to successfully be a rapper.

“How much are you rapping?” Rapmon spoke up

“I’m reading collections of famous sayings. Rappers write their own lyrics. I listen to songs for about 6-7 hours. I’m on the internet a lot to see what’s going on in the world. I want to write lyrics people can sympathize with a lot. I don’t want to swear or speak English just because I rap.”

“Your mother wants you to get married. Don’t you want to date?” The MCs asked.

“No.” The daughter answered. “Men are a luxury for me, right now. I made a huge bet with my life. I’ll fail or succeed. Men are a luxury for me. I’m firm about it.” 

Jennie felt kind of bad for the daughter as the mom put her on the blast throughout the show. She stayed quiet watching everyone else talk. Then the daughter came up to the stage to show off her rapping.

“The title is Strong Eonni.” The daughter revealed and then started to rap. “People say I act strong, sorry but I’m really strong. I don’t act innocent. I’m just honest. My image? Don’t judge me like that. I have a lot of affection and tears. I don’t express my feelings, so people misunderstand. Even women think I’m charismatic. I’m a woman after all. People think I’m strong and can’t talk to me. Fall for my charm and there’s no exit. I’m cute just to you. I listen well and I’m exemplary. I can cook anything just like that. All I know is you. I’m a fool.”

“You should audition for Unpretty Rapstar,” Jessi suggested.

“I’ve thought about it.” The daughter added.

“I think you’ll fail. She lacks in delivery and flow.” Jessi demonstrated a rap for her.

Later on in the show, it was revealed that the daughter didn’t attend family gatherings and didn’t attend her uncle’s funeral. The mother explained that she envies her friends who have weddings and she wants a son in law, all set for her daughter to marry. She even had her daughter go on blind dates but the daughter turned the guys down.

The MCs decided to ask if the female guests had any love interests and then turned to Jennie. “Miss Bangtan, have you had a boyfriend?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head.

“No boyfriend?” The MCs go on again, surprised.

“No boyfriend.” She confirmed.

“How?” they asked as the studio laughed.

Jennie was kind of surprised by their response. She guessed they thought she would be dating right now for some apparent reason. 

“A chick is busy. Boys can wait. I’m still young.” she replied.

"And he'll have to go through us," Rapmon spoke, causing the studio to laugh. It was clear that BTS was going to be protective of who came around Jennie.

“And my daughter is getting old.” The mom spoke up.

“Well I mean, love comes in all different ages. I believe she’s still young although she’s going on 40.” Jennie added.

“Jennie, what are your thoughts on this situation?” The MCs asked.

“I have a different mentality with marriage and kids. I’m not from here, so I have some cultural differences from you. I don’t see as much pressure to marry and have kids where I’m from. And I see that as long as you work hard, you can achieve your dreams. But I feel as though if you don’t want to get married, don’t get married. If you don’t want kids, then you don’t want kids.” She spoke up as everyone looked at her. “I understand the mom wants her to do these things, but at the end of the day, it’s her life. That’s my opinion. I don’t think she should be forced to do something she doesn’t want to do. And I mean, I’ve seen elderly people get married. I don’t see what the problem is with age. She’s still young, going on 40. That’s still young.”

Jennie turned her attention to the daughter. “Although you’re older than me, I think you should have a backup plan just in case something doesn’t go as planned with the rapping. I’m not going to be a K-Pop idol forever, and I do want to go to college and major in whatever I think will be right for me in the future. So, I would just keep that in mind as you continue to learn how to rap. I highly advise you to have a backup plan and make sure you are financially stable. And I do think you should still be with your family. I’m miles away from my family. It’s always a struggle for me to be away from my family while I’m here in Korea. I try to contact them as much as I can and see how they’re doing. I miss birthdays, I miss weddings, births, graduations, and a lot of things. But you, you’re here, in the same country as your family. Never forget your routes. Check up on them at times. Even if they might drive you crazy, because my family certainly does that, still contact them. They love you.”

It was frustrating to her that parents want their children to do this and that. But again, she needed to keep in mind that she held different traditions from others around her in this country. At the end of the segment, the daughter was requested to continue rapping for one year and if she’s not successful, quit.

Everyone began to vote if it was a concern or not. 

“She wants to be a professional rapper,” Jessi spoke. “It’s a long way ahead. In my opinion...it’s better to do it as a hobby. Many people do it as a hobby.”

“It’s a concern,” Rapmon added. “I don’t want to stop her but I don’t think it would be right to tell her to keep going.”

“I won’t discourage you,” Jen spoke up. “You should do what you want. If you see that you’re not getting anywhere with the rapping, still keep the rapping as a hobby and go with your backup plan.”

“It’s a concern. Honestly, it’s better to get married. It’s the mother’s wish.” Taehyung stated. 

Jen frowned a bit at his statement but kept her thoughts to herself.

In the end, the audience thought this was a concern and the daughter told her mom that she would start dating but won’t give up the rapping. 159 votes were counted, and the mom got 1st place, shocking the crowd as they applauded her. It seems like the mom will be on the show next week.

The next concern was, ‘Dad, let’s be happy’. It was about a 21-year-old college student talking about his dad working for 17 hours every day. Basically, all he does is sleep and work and the son wants his dad to rest. The dad doesn’t even go out with friends and always talks about how he needs to work. The son’s mom died from cancer six years ago and his dad became more addicted to work after that. The father doesn’t even go to the hospital despite having toothaches and knee pains.

They met the son, Kang Jaejun, and Jen remained quiet as he talked about his concerns about his father. His father knows English and still teaches at elementary, middle and high schools. He expressed that he thinks his father works more because he feels a heavier responsibility.

When the son pointed him out, the MCs requested Jessi and Jennie to say hello to him.

“Hello, Mister Kang!” Jessi greeted. “Where are you?”

“Hello, how are you doing, Mister Kang?” Jennie spoke with a smile after spotting him.

When he waved at them, he responded in English, “Fine, thank you.”

The BTS members stayed quiet throughout the segment until Jennie was asked about her thoughts on the situation.

“This right here is a serious issue. I know how it feels to overwork yourself. I collapsed from exhaustion during dance practice a while ago and it’s no joke. It’s scary. And with you being an older man, it may be even worse for you and hurt your body even more. The body cannot run 24/7, it’s impossible. The body needs to rest and you need to take care of yourself.” She responded as the MCs agreed with her statement.

At the end of the segment, the son suggests his dad meet new friends so he can go to the Army without any worries. Jennie thought the situation wasn’t that big of a concern because as long as they communicate with each other, they should be just fine. For the results, they got 75 and were eliminated.

The last concern was about a housewife of 10 years with two sons with a husband who won’t leave her alone day or night. He seems to have changed his mind a lot and had ten different jobs in 12 years. He even quit after one day of working.

‘Yikes.’ Jennie thought as she cringed.

He started a business and loved it when business was good but claimed he wanted to quit if the business was bad. The wife claims her husband is too fickle and that’s her concern. When the wife comes out, she expresses that her husband quits too easily.

‘Jeesh.’ Jen thought, glancing at Rapmon with the same wide eyed expression. 

They listened to the wife rant about everything her husband wanted and changed his mind. It was a headache.

“Then, he said he needed a bike to go to work. He started again. He rode the bike for a month. He kept it at work. He changed it at least five times.” The wife explained.

“The bike?” The MCs asked.

“Yes, the bike. He doesn’t just buy the bike. He buys all the equipment. He doesn’t think about that when he sells it. He always justifies it by saying he received more money.”

“Did you see if he got more?”

“There’s no way he would get more. He spends a lot of money. I don’t want to fight, so I just let it go. Then he sold all the bikes. He started a restaurant, so he said he needed a motorcycle.”

“Why?”

“He had to buy ingredients at the store. He started it less than a year ago. The one he has now is the third one.”

Jennie and Rap Monster exhale, in disbelief at what she just told everyone. The MCs had their jaws dropped as the studio went silent.

‘That’s excessive’

When they met the husband, the wife expressed that he had different excuses when he quit his jobs. As the BTS members remained silent, watching everyone else talk, the husband mentioned that he brought his wife a luxury bag as an apology for the losses but the wife said that she was told to sell it if she didn’t carry the bag every day.

“Oh, my gosh.” Jessi laughed while Jennie let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head.

“I brought her one after selling the tank. The second one was from selling the bikes. She didn’t carry the first one at all. I thought we should sell it and...” The husband trailed off as everyone watched him.

‘Sell it and what?’

“Sell it and get a new bike for me.” The husband stated.

Jennie threw her arms up in the air, earning laughs from the crowd while Jessi was about to throw a pillow at him.

“Yo....” Jennie felt as frustrated as Jessi at how crazy the guy was.

“I want to throw this.” Jessi laughed and turned to Jennie. “You wanna hit him, too?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Jessi, Jennie, this can’t be in the US?” The Mcs asked as they both shook their heads.

Near the end of the show, everyone expressed their opinion on whether it was a concern or not.

“It’s a concern,” V answered.

“It’s a concern. I can understand how the husband feels, too. It’s too frequent and excessive though.” Rap Monster added. “I think he needs time to endure and heal on his own.”

“It’s a concern,” Jennie answered, pressing the button.

“I’ll make it short. It’s a concern.” Jessi pressed the button. 

At the end of the voting, the wife received 132 votes, making My Unpretty Daughter the new winner of the show, receiving a prize of $1,000.

“Until the day Korea has no more concerns, Hello Counselor is here to help. Thank you!” The MCs closed the show

------

On April 15th, G-Friend attended Weekly Idol. The girls were seated, going over each member’s profile. 

“Next is Hayoon. She is the Shy Girlfriend. She loves to bake, rollerskate, and enjoys acrobats as a hobby. She is well known for her dimples in G-Friend.” Coni read as she showed off a big smile, revealing her deep dimples.

“Are you close to any idols?” Doni asked as Hayoon nodded eagerly. The members giggled at her as he gestured for her to answer.

“The idol I’m closest to is Jennie. I love her, she’s my best friend.” She shyly revealed with a smile.

“Miss Bangtan? BTS’ Jennie?” Coni asked as she nodded.

“She is incredibly sweet.” Hayoon continued. “She has helped me a lot, giving me strong words of encouragement before I debuted in G-Friend. She has given me a boost of confidence in myself. She is so patient with me, too.”

The crowd aws at her words. “Well, it’s funny that you mentioned her because she is actually here, right now. Let’s welcome her!”

Jennie walked out, waving as she saw Hayoon immediately rush up to her, to hug her. She let out a laugh and hugged her tightly before sitting with Doni and Coni. 

“Jennie, it seems like you are very loved, by Hayoon.” Coni laughed as she nodded.

“How’d you two become so close?” Doni asked.

“Well, we go to the same school. SOPA. Met her during the first day. She’s shy so I just kept talking to her until she started to talk.” Jen explained. “It worked out pretty well because now she can’t stop talking to me. She can’t shut up.” She teased as everyone laughed.

As fans watched the show, they would tweet:

‘Jen looks so happy! I love seeing her smile.’

‘JenHoon! I ship it!’

‘They are so cute!’

After the show, Hayoon and Jen go to Big Hit’s dance studio together.

“I cannot believe you’re making me do this,” Jennie murmured after stretching. 

Today Hayoon was going to show her one of G-Friend’s dances. The Bangtan girl was skeptical because cute dances weren’t her thing. She felt awkward about it, but Hayoon was eager to teach her.

“This was long overdue. Now watch me.” Hayoon waited for her to press play as Glass Bead came on. 

Jennie watched silently as she performed the entire dance, dancing in sync with the music. After she was done, she turned to Jennie with a bright smile.

Staring at her with a poker face, Miss Bangtan shook her head. “No.”

“Yes.”

“Nope.”

“Yep.”

“There is no way.”

“There is a way.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“This is not me.”

“This will be you, today.”

“This is too cute!”

“You’re too cute! Hehehe. Let’s go step by step.” She gestured for her to stand next to her. As she taught Jen the dance, she giggled at her facial expressions whenever she thought the dance move was too foreign for her.

“I gotta shake my butt, too?”

“Your hips. Do it cutely. Not sexy.” Hayoon demonstrated.

“I’m not really a cute type of person, Yoonie!"

“Tell that to Jungkook!”

“What?” Jennie turned to the door and saw him watching. “Oh my God. How long have you been there!?" She kneeled and covered her face, while Hayoon laughed. 

“Long enough.” Jungkook smiled, thinking about how cute her reaction was. “I’m meeting with Jimin to practice. I couldn’t help but hear G-Friend’s music. I had to see what was going on. I’ll leave you two, to it.” He giggled and left.

Jen felt like she was going to drown from embarrassment. He really just watched her struggle with this cute, well-choreographed dance.

As she continued to dance, Hayoon giggled again. “Smile Jennie! You’re too serious, this isn’t a badass concept! Okay, don’t force the smile, now you look scary!”

“Yoon, this is my resting bitch face.”

“Smile!”

She forced a smile while she danced.

“Okay, now you’re just faking it.” She playfully scolded.

Jen tripped on her feet and fell. Sighing loudly, and yelled, “I SUCK!”

“You’ll get it, don’t worry. You got the dance down, you just need to stop overthinking it because it’s not what you’re used to doing.”

Later at night, Jennie decided to FaceTime her sister, Alani, to discuss BTS’ upcoming comeback.

“How are you feeling?” Alani asked with a smile.

“Nervous. It’s a highly anticipated comeback.”

“It’s normal to feel nervous. But don’t worry, you guys are going to go out there and have a blast on stage. I have a great feeling about this comeback.”

“You do? We really want our first win. I hope we’re able to get it. We got third place last time when we were nominated during the Danger era. We’ve been trying to work hard to achieve this goal.”

“Do you think you guys can do it?”

“Yes.”

“Keep that mindset. Good things happen to those who wait, y’know. Keep working hard. It’ll pay off one day. Just don’t be discouraged and don’t give up. We’ll be watching.”

-------

On April 29th, the members were on Star Attack. The members sat next to each other as they answered a variety of questions. Jennie sat in between Suga and Jin.

‘What are you guys doing lately?’

“I think we can say that we’re in full swing with preparing for the comeback,” Rapmon answered as they mentioned their concerts abroad and how international fans are a driving force in their growth abroad.

“We will give you 1 question and 1 answer.” The production crew gave the members questions to answer.

‘To Jin, what is handsomeness?’

“Isn’t this an extremely important question?” Jimin asked.

“I was handsome from when I was born. My life is smeared with my handsomeness.” Jin confidently answered.

“Pff!” Rapmon couldn’t hold back his laugh.

“I love his confidence.” Jennie praised. “He’s such a King.”

‘To Jungkook, what is fragrance?’

“My skin and flesh, bone...” Jungkook went on.

“Why is fragrance a part of your body?” Jin asked.

“To me, it’s that important.”

“Speaking of fragrances, has anyone seen my perfume?” Jennie brought up. “I had a small bottle of grapefruit perfume. I cannot find it for the life of me. I just brought the thing.”

“Yeah, where is it Jungkookie?” Jimin put him on blast.

“PFF!” Rapmon laughed again, covering his face while the Golden Maknae looked down, embarrassed.

Jennie raised a brow. “You took it?”

“I-it smelled nice!”

“You could’ve just asked!”

“Would you have said yes?”

“No!”

“Then why should I ask!?”

“Because it’s mine!”

The members laughed at their bickering and they got back to the program.

‘To Jennie, what are smarties?’

“Well, I’ll have you know that smarties are a blessing from my Lord and Savior. This God given treat is the best and I can’t get enough. I would love to own the company so I can have free smarties for life.” She smiled innocently while the members laughed at her answer. “I’m dead serious, I’m not joking.”

“W-wait, she’s not joking?” The members were scared at her serious expression.

‘To J-Hope, what are tears?’

“Yah~ why does it have to be this type of question? It’s another one of J Hope’s charms, is it not? People can’t always be full of brightness only. Reverse charms. It feels like girls find men with tears...”

‘To Jimin, what are abs?’

“It’s homework. It’s like if I do this, I’ll receive praise but if I don’t do it then...I’ll have it for only 10 years more.”

‘To Rap Monster, the end of forgetfulness is?’

“Recently I lost my bag. A while back, after I lost my wallet, I received another one from Suga hyung. But I put that wallet in my bag and I lost that bag as well.” The leader answered.

“Mm-mm-mm.” Jennie shook her head.

‘To V, what is the world of outer space?’

“Seems like the questions can go from state of mind to outer space.” He answered. “I think there are rabbits on the moon.”

‘To Suga, what is Daegu?’

“It’s also my hometown, I’m from Daegu, why didn’t I get asked about it?” V protested.

“What’s Daegu to the two of us?” Suga asked him and they answered at once. “Hometown!”

“Intestines~!” V answered.

“What even...” Suga laughed with the members.

Standing up, the members were told to close their eyes and recall which member held grudges the most. Once they open their eyes, they would point their finger to the member and the member with the most points would have to do push ups for 30 seconds. Jennie ended up pointing at Suga, but in the end, Jungkook did the push ups.

As the members watched the Golden Maknae do his push ups, J-Hope requested to get a shot of Jungkook’s thighs, praising how strong and thick they were.

Next, the members were requested to play the one legged fight game and whoever won could reveal the other members’ secrets.

“We take this game very seriously,” Jimin warned.

“Indeed. You sure you want us to play this?” Jennie added.

“I can promise that I won’t take it seriously,” Suga spoke.

The members lift up one leg, preparing for the game. 

“Aigoo, my legs...” Suga suddenly dropped to the floor, causing Jennie to laugh loudly with everyone.

“How!?” She asked as Suga shamefully walked away.

The rest of the members hopped around, while Jen stayed away. 

“V, no!” She tried to hop back as he aggressively hopped forward, gaining up on her. 

He giggled as he followed her around the room. He bumped into her, causing her to fall to the floor, eliminated from the game.

“I love you!” He tried to sugarcoat what he’d done as she got up.

“LIES!”

In the end, Jungkook won the game. The members sit back down in their seats to check out the fan comments.

“The member that has the most cosmetics. Who cares the most about it.” Rapmon read a question.

The members point to Jennie, immediately. 

“What? No.” She shook her head. “No, no way. Not me.”

“She’s in denial.” Jin giggled.

“I don’t have that many! I don’t wear that much makeup!”

“Nail polish. Lip gloss. The list can go on.” J-Hope laughed.

Jennie read the question, “If you were a boy, which member would you date if they were girls? Hm...” She looked at the members. “J-Hope.”

J-Hope placed his hands over his heart, touched by her answer. “Really munchkin? Me?”

“Mm hm. I love his personality, he’s always bursting with positive energy.”

‘Please show us the tough girls through Bangtan Boys’ concept.’ Was J-Hope’s request.

“I think I know what he’ll do so I’m going to cover my ears,” Suga said.

“Ah, 5,6,7,8!” J-Hope sang in a high pitched voice, “Why are you shaking up my heart?”

“AHAHAHAHAHAH!” Suga got up from his seat and laughed in J-Hope’s face.

“KYAHAHAHAHA!” Hobi returned his laugh, standing up from his seat.

“I’m done.” Jennie laughed against Jin’s arm as she held onto it for support from laughing so much.

------

On April 30th, the BTS members were announced by the MCs for the fan meeting on Mnet Countdown. As they walked out, the members tagged a few lucky hands of some ARMY as they stood with the MCs.

“BTS, based on the mood, it seems like you’ve gotten more mature.”

“Yes, before we were in our teens and produced albums focused on the theme of school, this album is produced with the theme of mature youth,” Rapmon explained. “So, that’s why the mood is a bit different and it’s also natural.”

“Mood being different is a very good thing. We think of strong performances once we think of BTS. Did you tone that down a bit?”

“No, it’s absolutely not toned down. It’s actually even more powerful. We were afraid everyone would think that so we especially prepared this.” J-Hope gestured as he walked over to the side with Jimin to prepare a snippet of various BTS dances before showing off I Need U. 

Jennie ended up snickering when she saw how extra Hobi and Jimin were as they moved their hips. They were great.

For their comeback stage, the members lay down on the floor. Jennie was in between Jimin and Rapmon. They wore shorts and white shirts and Jennie wore black suspenders with Yoongi.

Fall (everything)

Fall (everything)

Fall (everything)

Heuteojine

Fall (everything)

Fall (everything)

Fall (everything)

tteoreojine

Sitting up, Suga began to rap.

neo ttaeme na ireohke mangajyeo

geumanhallae ije neo an gajyeo

mothagesseo mwot gataseo

jebal pinggye gateun geon samgajwo

Sitting on V as he sat up, J-Hope rapped next.

niga nahante ireom an dwae

niga han modeun mareun andae

jinsireul garigo nal jjijeo

nal jjigeo na michyeo da sirheo

jeonbu gajyeoga nan niga geunyang miwo

But you’re my everything (You’re my)

Everything (You’re my)

Everything (You’re my)

jebal jom kkeojyeo huh

mianhae (I hate u)

saranghae (I hate u)

yongseohae

I need you girl

wae honja saranghago honjaseoman ibyeolhae

I need you girl

wae dachil geol almyeonseo jakku niga piryohae

I need you girl

The members body roll to one side with a hand on their necks

neon areumdawo

I need you girl

Doing the same body roll on the other side, the members got down on one knee while Jungkook stayed standing.

neomu chagawo

I need you girl (I need you girl)

I need you girl

I need you girl

After the intense dance break, Jennie broke away from the group, shaking her head before looking up at the ceiling. She slowly walked around, placing the microphone to her mouth, beginning her verse, “You probably won’t care what I have to say, but I’m still waitin’ for you on my birthday. How many times are you gonna lie, once was enough. Can’t you see how much I’ve become undone?” She ran a hand through her straightened hair.

“Lookin’ at us now, I’m wonderin’ why things went so downhill...No Advil can take this type of pain away, don’t tell me to chill. I ask myself why do I stay when you always play me for a fool. This situation sucks because I thought everything was cool.” She went on while the members danced around her. Shooting the camera an expression of heartbreak, she continued, “How could you be so cruel? You used to treat me like I was your jewel. Now I’m nothin’ to you but a simple tool.”

Walking past Jin, she pressed her back against his as they both turned in a circle and walked away from each other. “I wish we could break through this. All we’ve done was fall through the mess that you created. Is this how things will always be? I’m so frustrated, Aggravated, Devastated...” Her expression turned into a dejected one. “What do you gain? To cause me so much pain? It’s putting a strain on my broken heart. But I can’t let go. Because you’re my everything...”

You’re my

“Everything.”

You’re my

“Everything.”

jebal jom kkeojyeo huh

“Mianhae.”

(I hate u)

“Saranghae.”

(I hate u)

“Yongseohae.”

It goes round & round na wae jakku doraoji

I go down & down ijjeum doemyeon naega baboji

na museun jiseul haebwado eojjeol sugaeobtdago

bunmyeong nae simjang, nae maeum, nae gaseuminde

wae mareul an deutnyago

tto honjatmalhane

(tto honjatmalhane)

tto honjatmalhane

(tto honjatmalhane)

neon amu mal an hae a jebal naega jalhalge

haneureun tto parahge

(haneureun tto parahge)

haneuri paraeseo haessari bitnaseo

nae nunmuri deo jal boina bwa

wae naneun neoinji wae hapil neoinji

wae neoreul tteonal suga eobtneunji

I need you girl

wae honja saranghago honjaseoman ibyeolhae

I need you girl

wae dachil geol almyeonseo jakku niga piryohae

I need you girl neon areumdawo

I need you girl neomu chagawo

I need you girl (I need you girl)

I need you girl

I need you girl

The members walked away to reveal Jin on his knees, in the middle of the stage. Jennie stood behind him with her back turned to the crowd, while the rest of the members stood around him.

Girl charari charari heeojijago haejwo

Girl sarangi sarangi anieotdago haejwo

naegen geureol yonggigaeobseo

naege majimak seonmureul jwo

deoneun doragal su eobtdorok

I need you girl

wae honja saranghago honjaseoman ibyeolhae

I need you girl

wae dachil geol almyeonseo jakku niga piryohae

I need you girl neon areumdawo

I need you girl neomu chagawo

I need you girl (I need you girl)

I need you girl

I need you girl

-----

On May 5th, on SBS MTV’s The Show, BTS sat down for a quick interview about their comeback. “It’s a song infused with the feelings of young love,” Rapmon said.

“It’s showing both the brighter and darker sides of youth,” Suga added. 

The members check out the I Need U film, gushing over Jungkook’s real tears on in the MV.

‘Stop. Point 1. Tears.’

“I have a lot of feels,” Jungkook revealed.

‘Full of emotions, teenager Jungkook.’

“Then shall we see who can get their tears out faster, right now?” V suggests.

‘Match of the century!’

‘Challenger V vs Tear Prince Jungkook’

Jennie tried not to laugh as she watched V gaze ahead and Jungkook fanning his eyes, trying to cry. After a while, the Golden Maknae won yet another challenge, shedding his tears first. As they continued to watch the MV, it paused when it showed the show of flowers on fire.

‘Stop. Point 2. Fire.’

‘What would BTS like to burn to ashes?’

“Weight! Weight!” Jimin answered.

“All of our black history on the internet.”

“STRESSSSS!” Jimin shouted.

‘And so! The Show has prepared, the thing that the members want to burn to ashes. BTS’ black history!’

The screen showed Suga’s audition from Big Hit, which caused everyone to yell and laugh. Suga got up from his seat, freaking out. It showed him when he was 18 years old. 

“DESTROY ALL OF THIS!” He ran up to the screen.

“NO!” Jennie fell out of her seat before scrambling up to the screen, attempting to block everyone’s view of her photo. It was her when she was a trainee at the age of 15. “My hair! What was I thinking with that hairstyle!? DELETE! DELETE!” She cringed at her wild hair.

“Aw, she looks so cute.” Jin cooed.

‘Do not let your guard down! Who is this boy?’

Jimin lowered his head once he saw two photos of him when he was younger, wearing glasses, at 17 years old.

“He still looks the same as he did when he still had glasses,” Jin spoke up.

“This hyung...!” Jimin exclaimed.

“Tell them about Jin-hyung’s!” J-Hope suggested.

“Jin-hyung wore glasses too!” Rapmon revealed.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Jin yelled when they showed his photo when he wore glasses.

“So everyone, please treat your friends around you, well. Because they might turn out this cool, tool!” Rapmon informed.

‘Stop. Point 3. I Need U.’

‘Tell the person beside you something you want them to do with the song I Need U.’

“It’ll be great if you can do a better job with the toilet ventilation,” J-Hope said to Jimin.

“I Need U...the money I lent you~” Suga sang to Jungkook. “I don’t actually say that but...”

“Suga-hyung to me!” V asked, expectantly. “Come at me with all your heart!”

“To be honest...I don’t really have anything to ask of you.” He replied.

“You should just return him money, too,” Rapmon suggested. “We’ll continue to show you more cool I Need U stages from now on.”

“Please show BTS lots of love!” V beamed.

“The Show! Play!” The members cheered.

At the end of the show, the groups stood on stage while the MCs began to calculate the votes to see who would win first place. As they announced the numbers, Jen felt her heart begin to race as she saw how big the numbers were getting from the other artists they were up against.

“Bangtan Sonyeondan!”

Jennie immediately widened her eyes, covering her mouth as the confetti popped out and Namjoon received the trophy.

They had won.

They won their first win.

The members have been dreaming of this day. Every time they were asked, it would be the same answer. ‘We want to get first place on a music show.’ No matter how many times they’ve been asked. It was their wish to gift ARMY a first win, and now they finally achieved their goal.

“Is this for real!?” She asked, holding onto Jimin who had a big smile on his face while Namjoon said his acceptance speech. 

All the members bowed to everyone while I Need U came on, for an encore. With just BTS on the stage, Jennie kneeled on the floor, trying to comprehend what was happening.

‘Damn, this is really happening.’ She thought as Jimin kneeled next to her, rubbing her back. A smile with tears in her eyes was shown as she stood up, grabbed her microphone, and yelled "Thank you!" with the rest of the members.

As soon as they go backstage, they’re met with their staff congratulating them. Sitting down, Jen dialed up her mom’s number, while a Bangtan Bomb camera was filming her. She was immediately greeted with screams, yells and cheers. She figured she was on speakerphone, so she put her phone on speaker too. 

Namjoon chuckled at her family’s enthusiasm. He was happy that she was able to hear them tell her how proud they were of her. 

Jen, still teary eyed, listened to her mom yell, “We just saw the live stream! You guys did it! We’re so proud of you!”

“That’s my niece! That’s my niece with those boys!”

“They killed it on that stage!”

“This award was meant for them!”

She heard various family members shout. “Your father is crying.” Her mom told her.

“I am not!” She heard her dad say as she laughed. “Nie, Nie. Can you hear me?”

“Yes.” She sniffed.

“You have no idea how proud your mother and I are to have a daughter like you. I already knew you were special ever since you held a microphone back in America. And now you’re in Korea, breaking boundaries, and working hard with seven fine young men. I knew you guys could do it. All that time you were talking about how tired you were, and how hard it was to make new songs, look at what the eight of you accomplished. Hard work has paid off. Those sleepless nights were worth it. And I cannot tell you, how proud we are of BTS. You guys deserve it. I may be too old to be called an ARMY but just know that your mother and I, along with the rest of the family will be your big support group.”

Closing her eyes, more tears streamed down her face. After talking to her family, she received a video from her sisters and decided to play it. It showed Vienna and Alani, watching a livestream of the show. Vienna had her hand over her mouth in suspense, while Alani had her fingers crossed, wondering what was going to happen. It was late at night, and it made Jennie so happy that they stayed up on a school night just to watch BTS, in support of her.

As soon as BTS was announced as the winner, the two sisters screamed, jumped on the bed and held on to each other.

“YES! YES! YES! THAT’S OUR SISTER! THAT IS OUR SISTER! I KNEW THEY WOULD WIN!” Alani clapped her hands together loudly, getting off the bed, and jumping around.

“I dunno what the hell they’re saying, but all that matters is that BTS won! WOO!” Vienna shouted at the camera that was filming her.

Jennie laughed and felt more tears form as she sniffed. Her family wasn’t with her physically but they were always watching her, sending encouraging messages.

Snapping a selfie with the trophy, Jen tweets, ‘Dreams do come true. We’ve come so far, ARMY! This is so surreal! Thank you, we love you!’

-----

On May 7th, backstage, BTS was given an MPD mission called Beware of the Dog. In a room together, surrounding a table with the dog game, the members begin to take turns cautiously grabbing a bone out of the dog’s dish.

The sound of the toy dog’s sleeping, made Jen nervous as she slowly reached out to pick up a bone.

“RAWR!” Namjoon shouted, causing her to flinch and move her hand away.

“Hey!” She smacked him on the arm while the others laughed around her.

“That was a good one, she was so scared!” Hobi giggled. 

When she finally took a bone without the dog moving, she sighed out of relief. Suga was the first one to get out as the rest of the members aimed to grab another bone.

“Please let me survive this...” She murmured and reluctantly went to grab another bone. Peeping at the dog as she grabbed one, she slowly backed up, relieved that she survived another round. 

Jin was the next one to get out, as the rest of the members tried yet again to take a bone. When it was Jennie’s turn, she decided to act slower this time, as she reached out for the bowl of bones. As soon as she touched the bowl, she shrieked when the dog suddenly leaned forward, aiming to bite her.

“Man!” She sat down next to Jin, watching the others finish the game. In the end, it wasn’t a surprise that the Golden Maknae won.

Later, the members stood on stage, kneeling as Boys with fun came on. Jennie wore a white blazer while the rest of the members wore various colors.

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

wasseo wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

heung (heung) tan (tan) heung (heung) tan (tan)

nado nal jal molla

Jumping up and down, and then rocking back and forth, the members act hyped up, while the fans chant loud and proud.

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

wasseo wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

heung (heung) tan (tan) heung (heung) tan (tan)

heungtansonyeondan saebyeokdari jil ttaekkaji

a wanjeon sinna gasik ttawin jibe gan ji

oraenikka niga eumchi hogeun bakchirado

sanggwaneobseo nunchi ttawin ppalli jwo gaena jwo

heungi nanda heungi heungi heungi na

yeogi yeogi buteora ni eokkaechumi boinda

Let’s ride go with me

jeo wi jeongsangdeuri boiji

ilsange sangeul hana deohae nan isanghaejiji

jeongsangin sangtaeroneun jeongsange mot gayo baby

heung heung, sidongeun dwaetgo

heung heung, sokdoneun kwaesok

da bwara bwara oneureun michil geoya malliji mara

gara gara sirheun nomdeul jibeuro tteonaranara (hwoi)

eumagi heureuneun sungan nan

michyeobeoril geot gata (hey)

nae mome heundeullil geoya neon

jigeum baro i sungan

Standing in the back with Tae and Jin, Jen patted her chest with the rest of the members.

naege mutjima nan wollaebuteo iraesseunikka

nado nal molla cheoeumbuteo kkeutkkaji nan nanikka

Placing the microphone to her lips, she shouted, “Sing it!”

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

“One more time now!”

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

Break it down

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

“Woo!”

wasseo wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

heung (heung) tan (tan) heung (heung) tan (tan)

nado nal jal molla

Jennie, V, Jungkook and Rapmon faced off against Jimin, Jin, J-Hope and Suga, while V jumped to the middle, beginning his verse.

chimyeongjeogin naui momjit

michindeuthan naui ttolkki

nae mamdaero da hago sipeo

na geondeulji jom mareo

Jin took a few steps forward with his crew, while V’s crew took a few steps back.

nan mathyeongijiman

Taking a few steps forward, by herself, Jennie snapped her fingers in front of him, three times. “No, no, no!”

nareul gatgo noljiman

She ran up to him with the rest of the guys behind her, jumping up to his height to try to act big, causing Jin to smile at her. “No, no, no!”

mwo eottae nan johke

manjokhae jokhae ok

V walked with J-Hope with a big grin on his face, having an arm around him.

Yo! naeireumeun V

giseoneul jeaphaetji

yayaya stop stop!

ah joesonghabnida

da golla golla hosigi golla

huimangi hamkkemyeon siganganeun jureul molla

ttameuro ssiseobolkka chikichakacho

oneureun naega sullae minimanimo

heossori hajimara a gi ppallyeo

dwitdam hal saenggakdo ma na nunchi ppalleo

neoreul ippallo mureo pi mallyeo

bap meogeotni? junggugeoroneun chwippalleo ma?

eumagi heureuneun sungan nan

michyeobeoril geot gata (hey)

nae mome heundeullil geoya neon

jigeum baro i sungan

Standing in the middle, taking Jungkook’s place, she sang fluidly, patting her chest, again. “Naege mutjima, nan wollaebuteo iraesseunikka. Nado nal molla, cheoeumbuteo kkeutkkaji nan nanikka!”

SING IT!

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

One more time now!

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

“Break it down!” She winked directly at the camera.

heung tan saram moyeora

da yeogi moyeora

heung tan saram deo itna

da dwiro buteora

heung tan saram moyeora

da yeogi moyeora

heung tan saram deo itna

da dwiro buteora

As the backup dancers joined the stage, the members partied it up, dancing around while Jungkook continued to sing.

naege mutjima nan wollaebuteo iraesseunikka

nado nal molla cheoeumbuteo kkeutkkaji nan nanikka

“Sing it!” The 97 Liners shouted out.

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

“One more time now!”

Wo~ Wo~ Wo~ Wo~

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

wasseo wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

ja wasseo a heungtansonyeondan

heung (heung) tan (tan) heung (heung) tan (tan)

nado nal jal molla

Big Bang had also had their comeback stage with Loser and Bae Bae. Jennie wanted to see if she could find G-Dragon but they both were so busy, they couldn’t see each other throughout the show. She was a bit disappointed. She wanted to express how excited she was for their comeback and decided to message him about it and ask for advice on her latest performance.

Not expecting him to reply so soon, he had told her to meet her after the show because he had some time.

At the end of the show, BTS was up against EXID for first place as the MCs revealed the final results.

“Today’s final results. First off with digital music sales score.”

EXID received 5000 while BTS received 2267

“Album sales score.”

EXID had 22 while BTS had 1000. Jennie had her hands in a prayer, by her face as she watched the results with butterflies in her stomach.

Would they be able to get a second win?

“Popularity score.”

EXID received 952 while BTS received 609.

“Social media score.”

EXID had 572 while BTS had 1000.

“Mnet broadcast score.”

BTS received 1000 while EXID only had 100.

“And lastly with the live broadcast real time voting score. Today’s honored 1st place is...”

It was a close battle but in the end, BTS won with a score of 6876.

“Yeah!” She celebrated with the members. 

Each of them had big smiles on their faces while Namjoon made another acceptance speech, thanking Big Hit, ARMY and their families. Jennie felt Jin’s large hand on her shoulder and she turned to him placing red lipstick over her mouth, unevenly.

She laughed and he went to Tae to place lipstick on his lips, next.

“Thank you, ARMY! We’re truly grateful for this! I love you, mom! I love you, dad! Shoutout to my sisters! Don’t follow them on Instagram! Thank you, ARMY! We love you! Woo hoo!” She yelled in English, on the mic, jumping up and down with Hobi. 

She already knew her sisters would yell at her for putting them on blast like that but she thought it was funny.

Going backstage, BTS is filmed for a Bangtan Bomb. “First place, baby! Ah!” She clapped her hands, approaching the camera. “Muah! Muah! Muah!” She blew kisses.

They were greeted by MPD who congratulated them and presented them a cake with strawberries on top. Taehyung held onto it and kept eating all the strawberries.

Jungkook and Jennie glanced at each other, equally irritated that he kept eating all of the strawberries while the members expressed their gratitude for getting another win.

“Really?” Jen watched Tae pop the last one in his mouth. He looked at her innocently as she shook her head.

As the members regrouped together, Jennie decided to share her thoughts on another win as she finally got a turn to hold the trophy. She examined it in amazement, shaking her head in disbelief.

“This right here, success won’t come instantly. You work hard, remain humble and be patient. We’ve gone through a lot, and it was worth it because our hard work is paying off. Thank you for always supporting us. We will cherish this moment forever. Thank you to the fans. Shoutout to my mama and dad for creating me and letting me do this. Shout out to my sisters, I know y’all screaming happily over this win. Good luck on your exams, by the way! I love you! Gosh, I’m still shaking, you see this? There’s so many people I want to thank but I’ll just say thank you to everyone helping us and guiding us.” She felt her adrenaline pumping as she showed one of her shaky hands on camera.

When the members were in the elevator, they continued to be filmed. “I’m too happy that my tears won’t come out,” Jungkook explained.

“I cried so much during our first win on the 5th, I’m not sure if I’ll be crying again. We’ll see.” Jen added.

“I have nothing to say.” Jimin sniffed. The members heard his voice shake and they noticed him crying.

“Chim.” Jennie pouted and hugged him from behind.

“Jimin, try saying something,” Namjoon added. “It’s a moment which can’t be forgotten.”

“It looks like my birthday party. Ah, thank you. It seems like my birthday party, like a hidden camera.” Jimin finally spoke up.

“I was really surprised. Our Jimin, here in Bangtan. Bangtan can’t be without Jimin. We can’t get 1st place without Jimin. I’m really thankful. I remember that we got a mini-version before and it was great. I thank you again. I love you.” Namjoon said on camera.

As they got off the elevator, Jennie wiped Jimin’s tears. Kissing his cheek, she wrapped her arms around him, for a tight hug. 

“Ah, I can’t believe it.” She heard him say as his voice got shaky again.

“It’s okay...you’re gonna make me cry again, stop it.” She sniffed as he held her tight.

“From now on, please don’t call me a crybaby, the crybaby is Jimin,” Hobi said. “Like a man, even if you’re happy, you have to control yourself from tearing up.

“Men cry too!” Jennie spoke up, releasing Jimin while Hobi grinned at her.

When the show was over, she met up with G-Dragon who was waiting for her, leaning up against the wall. “Hey, Jennie!” He smiled.

“Hey! Iconic performance with Big Bang!” She hugged him. 

She’ll never get used to talking to him. She felt so lucky to be able to speak with someone so iconic as G-Dragon. She was grateful she decided to speak to him at K-Con last year. 

They leaned against the wall as he talked with her. “Congratulations on your first set of wins. It’s always a shining moment. You’ll never forget it.” He said as he thought about Big Bang’s first win with their song, Lies. “I’m always watching you even if we’re not always able to talk. I can tell that you’ve improved a lot since your last comeback. You know, you can message me, anytime. I’ll try to get back to you when I can.”

“I really appreciate it.” She smiled as he began to give her advice on how she could improve her performance skills.

On May 8th, for Music Bank, BTS was in the waiting room, standing with Irene and Bogum.

“BTS, since your debut this is your first time being nominated for first place at Music Bank, please give us your thoughts about it,” Irene said

“Right, this is our first time as a first place nominee here in Music Bank, finally after 2 years, I’m really nervous,” Rapmon answered.

“In the I Need U MV, I heard that BTS expressed youth through emotional acting,” Bogum added.

“Then, let’s see their youth expressions. First anger.” Irene announced. Some of the members made angry sounds as they made angry faces for the camera. “Sadness.”

Jennie fake cried with J-Hope as she covered her face. 

“Happiness.”

J-Hope made a funny sound effect as the members smiled brightly for the camera. 

“As expected, they’re cute. Lastly, what did you prepare for if you win first place?” Bogum asked.

“If we win first place, we’ll exchange parts between rap line members and vocal line members. I need you, girl!” Hobi sang.

“Ah, I really anticipate it. At last, will BTS be able to win first place? Please anticipate it a lot.”

“After a while is BTS’ stage so...” Jimin trailed off.

“Please wait a little longer!” Jungkook finished his statement.

Winning yet again for the third time, as promised, the vocal line switched their lines with the rap line. Jin rapped Suga's verse, while Jimin took over Hobi’s.

Taking over Tae’s lines, Jennie dramatically approached him as he giggled. “But you’re my everything...everything...everything...Mianhae...saranghae...Yongseohae.”

When Yoongi started to sing, the members laughed as he dramatically sang along with Namjoon. Once the chorus transitioned to Jennie’s verse, Tae started to act hype around her, getting in her face as he took over her verse.

“Oh my gosh...” She covered her face, trying to control her laughter.

This first set of wins will be the start of something big for BTS as they continue to make music.

[darkfictionjude]

Etymology nonnie here!

I'm not gonna comment on the poll that is going on (anyone who has read anything I've written knows who I voted for and support). I don't want to make campaign, and unlike the future IF poll, there are no major consequences. So no corruption this time from my part. I've been tempted to comment on the poll, since it's interesting to witness how the results fluctuate as people vote. Yet, alas, I don't want to spam more than I already do speaking about something that has varied so much as the day went.

That said, I've been interested by two things discussed today: The RO's as parents, and Lorcan's long relationship with Orla. In this ask I'll focus on the former, and I'll write another ask for the latter. I don't think I can tie them together well enough to justify including it here. So, take this as an omen for what it is to come.

1) The RO's as parents:

So far, none of them really fit the idea of a character who is ready to have children. All three, plus MC, need extensive therapy before they are in a good place to consider parenthood (which is something you already pointed out). Having that established, they are not the same. In the sense that I could see Nia and Imre being able to adapt to being parents with more ease than Lorcan. Perhaps not in every aspect of parenting, but in plenty.

Nia is logical enough that she probably would find a way to make it work alongside her career. Her family, if I remember correctly, has enough resources than a child shouldn't be that much of a hydrance economically. And, since in all these scenarios we are assuming the RO's is with the MC, then we can expect MC to stay at home while Nia studies/works (depending on which point of the time line we are talking about). That said, I imagine Nia would expect MC to work too (especially if MC is female, for some reason I imagine Nia would prefer another fellow woman to be a part of the workforce, and feel somewhat vindicated if a male MC took a more traditional femenine role by staying home, although I may be entirely wrong on this; yet, I still would expect her to want MC to work, regardless of gender). I imagine MC would probably have a part time job, or one that had flexible hours.

As a mother, I think you established already she would be strict. I believe she would be rather cold, but still affectionate. Like, she will be there for her kids when they need her. But otherwise wouldn't be over them all the time to give them affection. I also believe she would be the kind of mother her children would be scared of. Especially because she wouldn't yell, she wouldn't even raise her voice a bit. She would just give one cold disappointed look, and the kid would live with regret for whatever they've done to deserve such look.

Imre probably could throw money at some of the issues. But I also expect him to try to one up, if subconsciously, his own father by how he raises any child. Money also has the advantage that he can stay at home more than he would be able otherwise. Although I do think he would try to work as a paleontologist, and maybe bring his kid alongside him once the kid is old enough (not much of an option for Nia, if she is to become a doctor). Here again it would make sense for MC to stay at home more than Imre. Yet, unlike with Nia, I don't think Imre would expect MC to work (there's not really a need, after all) unless MC wanted to pursue a particular career.

As a parent, I imagine Imre is affectionate yet a bit distant. In the way some fathers can be. I'm not sure if I can explain it. Interestingly, I think he would be the kid of parent the chidren would love more when they are younger, and grew a bit more desillusioned when they get to adulthood. Simply because Imre, so far, seems more ideal as a romantic partner than as a parent. The kind of person who doesn't really want to settle down (didn't he want to marry MC like in his 40's? I think that would be devastating to many MC's if they were dating Imre since their early 20s). I don't think he would be neglectful, at all. I just see him as the cool dad, who becomes less cool when you realize what his coolness demands from him and his time.

Lorcan is a different story. I think Lorcan would love any kid of his no matter what, but he is not in a situation to have them. He is too poor for it to be responsible. And given that MC wouldn't bring any money, both would need to work. So, forcefully, they are less involved with their children. And I don't know if they can afford a nanny or equivalent as Nia and Imre would, so the situation becomes significantly more complicated.

But there is also the aspect of Lorcan, at least as of now, seems less mature than the other two RO's. Which may be because of his hotheadedness, but also due to him expressing his hatred and emotions with significant lesser control than the other two. Some of his behavior can be a bit childish too. So, at least for me, he would have the hardest time adapting to be a parent. Both due to money and maturity.

Which I think can explain why you see him as someone whose children won't respect him. I see Lorcan as someone who would love them too much, and wouldn't know how to discipline children. Depending on MC for that (which, I don't know how that'll work). So money could be even more of an issue if his kids don't realize early how poor they are. But that's a bit sad to think about.

Overall, I think the other problem when trying to imagine the RO's as parents, is how you fit MC in that image. Simply because MC is too wide of a variable, based on how different you can play them. And the thing about parenthood, is that is something that ideally should be a partnership. And if you can't be sure what half of said partnership may be like... Well, I don't think is easy to imagine how it'll go. For a reader, like me, it's easier since we just put our own MC without considering the other possible ways MC could be and develop. But for you, it probably is hard to imagine MC as anything but a very flexible and varied entity.

I say this adding over the point of the RO's and MC being very young as of now. It's hard to imagine them as parents when they have do much to do before that. Even if in the 90's people married and had children earlier than today (on average, although don't quote me on that, as I have not done any proper research on the matter).

I feel you’re pretty spot on actually. Nia would want mc to work in some capacity, she would like for them to have equal time for work and child raising. Imre would be a bit more distant as the children grow up, I likened him to a father who has his kids when he’s old, he’s a good dad but he isn’t as close as he can be when they’re teenagers and adults. And yeah I did say Imre would prefer to be married in his 40s. And Lorcan, yeah he has too many issues with parenthood, his own self doubts and that he’s not sure if he even wants children.

In the 90s there was a rise in how old people had children, still a bit young but from what I remember it’s 22-24 ish

[kingsdespair-if]

Oi! I get it Secrets is cool and great but what about my main man Mauthak? He deserves love especially because we are his second chance!!! Wooooo! So I'm gonna continue the saga and ask how would Mauthak react if he found out the MC was pregnant. (Bows.) Thank you. Thank you I'll be here all week.

Hello, dear.

hahaha Oh, there are still some Mauthak fans here. Alright, let's assume that the MC is a trans man, okay? That's the only way for Mauthak to impregnate someone.

~

You make your way to Mauthak's training ground and witness him effortlessly defeating two recruits without a weapon.

The other recruits appear exhausted, while Mauthak remains hardly perspiring. As you lean on the fence, you continue observing until he eventually notices you.

Dismissing the recruits, he approaches you, grabbing a towel to wipe his face. "Hello, handsome. What brings you here to grace me with your presence?" he asks, leaning on the opposite side of the fence and gently touching your arm. "I have something important to tell you," you reply hesitantly.

"I'm all ears, just tell me," Mauthak says, tilting his head with curiosity as the sun sets behind him, casting a beautiful glow on his skin. You take a deep breath and hold his enormous hand in yours, absentmindedly tracing the creases on his palm. He chuckles softly. "What's on your mind, my love? You can share anything with me. Has one of my recruits been bothering you?" "No, it's not about that. It's something that's happening to… me. To us, actually," you say, looking down and nervously biting your lower lip. "Did I do something wrong? Let's talk about it, I can fix it," Mauthak says, tensing up with fear of losing you.

"Oh, no! There's nothing wrong with you, silly. You're perfect," you say, cupping his strong jaw with your free hand. "I just… well, what do you think about children?" "Oh, kids? I don't know. They can be noisy and dirty. They can't carry weapons or fight. I actually tried recruiting a baby once, you know? But the little one couldn't even lift a small hammer. It was disappointing, but…" You interrupt him, gently placing a finger on his lips. "That's not what I meant. I'm talking about us having a child, our own child." He smiles at you, his tusks peeking out as his upper lip brushes against them. "In that case, I love the idea of having kids. I want to have many with you. Just imagine! With my strength, your intelligence, and your beautiful heart, they would be unstoppable. Why not?"

"Then you'll love what I have to share. I'm pregnant. We're going to be fathers." "You're kidding me?" His eyebrows shoot up, and he now stares at your stomach. "No, my love. I truly am pregnant." Mauthak grabs your face and presses his forehead against yours, gazing deeply into your eyes. His black eyes resemble a starless night sky, and you notice them starting to water. "You make me so happy, my handsome. I love you so much, and we're going to be the best family ever," he gasps, suddenly pulling back with a panicked expression. "Oh, I need to find earthworm eggs for you! Many of them!" "Earthworm eggs? Why?" you ask, feeling confused. "For the baby, of course! Earthworms eat grass and mud, and baby orcs need to eat earthworm eggs to be born green or grey! Orcs must be green or grey! I'll bring you plenty of eggs, my love. Go back home and rest, don't exert yourself. I'll return with the eggs," he says, dashing off to the training ground to dig for worm eggs. You watch as your silly Orc husband introduces another Orc tradition to you.

[gildedcageif]

hello!

I just wanted to tell u that I'm so excited for the demo!

I like the premise and all the male ROs hooked me!specially Emil,his supposedly daring smile is so enchanting Ig, also it's not much you see an artist RO and that's quite exciting to look forward to so, I think I will go for him first then Selim, he is just my type anddd -the Sultan will be the last since I don't like that he is having a Harem and all but he is still interesting and his endings seem good enough ( I do like the idea of my son ruling over)so yup.

also on a not important point,I really like happily ever after kind of endings so I'm just asking to see if you will have one of those . if not then it's totally okay ,i will play it either way!

anyway, I really can't wait for the demo and to meet them and I can also tell I will annoy you with lots of fan arts for this IF so be prepared !>;)

so yeah that's all,Good luck with your if!

I am literally crying at the moment😭 that was so sweet! I am working on the prologue and I hope not to let you down.

ROs

I am glad Emil is getting some love! He is a little shit (affectionately) and I love him for it. Him being an artist will come up throughout the game. For example at the beginning he has been sent to oversee a renovation/painting the walls of the harem, which is why he is allowed in there when usually only eunuchs are allowed inside. He will also get a 'paint me like your French girls' scene later in his route and if you get a high enough status later on, he paints a portrait of you so that later generations will know what you look like. He also canonically fills his sketchbooks with the MC when in love.

Selim is also a little shit, but he is a different kind. Emil hides his worse traits behind his smile while Selim is very honest about not being a good person and not wanting to be one. He very much has a bigger fish eats smaller fish kind of mentality. He only treats the people he cares about nicely (which the MC can become one of, though his route is a slowburn).

While Ahmad does have a harem, it is important to be noted that his route separates in two parts. One where you accept him having a harem and so he just continues doing his thing with you becoming the favourite and receiving the title of Haseki. Or... you can ask him to enter a monogamous relationship and by doing so break like half a dozen traditions and customs*. Which he will do because if you get to that point in his route, my man is fucking whipped. Everyone else will be really pissed at you both cause you just kind of fucked over the whole structure of the harem but like what can you do?

Keep in mind that the harem will not be officially shut down because it serves a practical purpose besides producing heirs. Most servants in the harem don't even meet the Sultan and mainly function as maids and all that cause someone needs to keep this place clean. They even get a salary for it! They are also often gifted to Viziers and Beys as tribute so they provide diplomatic benefits. The difference is that Ahmad won't be sleeping with any of them and basically cut all contacts, apart from his kid cause like that's his son and he lives in the harem so you need some contact. This is the equivalent of dismissing the Supreme Court in all but name for this world basically so he is already stirring enough shit.

Happily Ever Afters

....kinda yes, kinda no?

Here is the thing. It largely depends on what your MC/you ultimately desire. Fairytale 'everyone is happy and singing' endings are not a thing, but you can definitely be happy.

The Zephyran Empire is brutal. The harem even more so. To some extent, you will have to always fear for your life and that of your loved ones because you never know when someone might decide to poison you. The higher up you climb the ranks, the more protection you are afforded, but no one is truly invincible. Not even the Sultan.

The endings that kind of approach happily ever after in the typical sense typically entail leaving the Zephyran Empire. But even then depending on how you leave, if you run away for example, you may live in constant fear of the Zephyran hounds tracking you down and tearing you apart. And some routes don't even give you the option of escaping.

That does not necessarily mean you can't be happy. You can for example romance your RO and then stay happily together for the rest of your lives, till death do you part. You can change the system in positive ways to make the lives of others better. You can have a very good quality of life. You can be a beloved public and historical figure. You can have kids and grow old with them.

You can be happy, but you can't ever be 100% safe. And if you are, that probably means your hands are stained with blood and that is something you will also have to carry with you.

TLDR: you can have happy endings, but not really happily ever afters. There will be some give or take, whether that is always having to look out for schemes or being forced to do immoral things for the safety of the ones you love.

I tried to explain it as best as I could, but do ask me for more clarifications if I did not explain it well enough.

Fanart

Yes, please. Gimme all the fan art in the world. I am probably going to cry over each and every piece like the overly emotional idiot I am🥺💖

Thank you for the ask and all your support!!! You are the best💕

[jjungkookislife]

Another hfth drabble 🥳😍☺️ I missed the gang and my main couple 🥰 The return of Jinnie’s cursed playlist 😂 Idk but I actually wouldn’t mind a car ride with him but I guess I understand Jk just wanting alone time with MC 😏 And he’s also so cute sulking for not being the favorite anymore, i think it’s MC at this point with Jimin just being a close second lol 😂 The random petting!!! I also hate it when I see random people try to pet other people’s dogs without permission, like they’re entitled to it or something. And then when they get bitten or what, they act as if as if they’re a victim 🙄 It just irks me, sorry for the rant 😅 And I just love that Jk showed her his childhood diner (it’s a diner, right?) that their family always went to, cause he’s including her in another family tradition 🥺 And can I just say, I love how the drabbles are just how they spend different holidays. Just like how the title states, they’re always home for the holidays or atleast celebrating it together with friends and/or family. Just love that. Celebrating Easter like this always fascinated me cause in my country, it’s more of a traditional Christian holiday and not this egg-hunting one. Can I ask, if it’s alright, why you guys celebrate it? And is it just like a get-together where you hunt for these eggs? Sorry, the internet just gives so much info that I wanted to ask someone that actually celebrates it or atleast has firsthand experience on celebrating it like that. And excuse me, “almost-lovers”?!?!? I need more info on this 😳 And not Yoonie’s “These are mine!”, acting like a territorial greedy kitten 🤣 I really miss him 😭

And I see you read a story from @/jimlingss, I really like their work too. I just remembered how much I loved their stories cause the story ideas were so unique ☺️

Anyways, I really loved this update, thank you again for sharing it with us. I really love reading about this couple, the gang, and the Jeon family and the happenings after the main story. It’s fun to see all the shenanigans and the lovey-dovey scenes that it makes me always look forward to it every time you gift us a drabble from this story. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your works and the effort you put in them 🥰 I hope you are doing well and not overworking yourself 💜

I enjoyed writing them for Easter brought back a lot of good memories of my childhood. This one was very self-indulgent 😅

I’d be down for a road trip with them lmao we’d need a big van and lots of snacks and Jin on with his playlist. There’s a tiktok I saw ages ago of where the creator would put the boys and why and if I can find it I’ll link it here later on 🤣

But yeah I just wanted an excuse to write “egg-stra special” 🤣🤣🤣

I will eventually get JK and MC on his motorcycle at some point though! I needed him to have his car for the diner 👀 and definitely MC is the favorite now! Aera loves her and Saraí as daughters and Minji adores MC so much bc that’s her baby now 🥰 I always imagined a loving family and in laws so again self indulgent 😅

The diner is something I went to growing up. My parents went there before they met and continued to do so after and I took my husband there as well. It’s also near the church I went to as a child and we’d head there for lunch after.

The part with Luna happened to me and we were both shocked. This random man came up to me 10 years ago and put his hand in my dog’s mouth and asked if she bites. When I tell you I was dumbfounded and so was my dog 💀

Ah the Easter thing, I called my mom/family holiday!catholics bc it was the only time we were in church 😅 for my family it was about getting together and the Easter egg hunt was for the kids. We’d either buy the eggs or go to my grandmother’s house to dye eggs and stuff them with confetti.

I hope I can sprinkle a little more taejin in the next one lol they fight like nobody’s business but they could be flirting 👀

I absolutely loved their story! I have to read more but I’ve been trying to balance reading fanfics and books and writing and video games and tv shows and it’s a lot lol I’ve been trying to read shorter fics for the past few months but I have a long lists of long fics I’d love to get into 👀

Thank you so much! I appreciate it and I always look forward to seeing your reaction 💜 I hope you’re doing well 💖

[lemme-just-oops]

Arcana Twilight when they fake-marry MC: (I lost the anon request for it)

Alpheratz: He either marries in secret to stay away from all the social hastle or he has the fanciest wedding to finally stop people from pressuring him into a relationship. And since you agreed to take the role of his spouse, you get to decide on the details. His grandfather is paying for it anyways, so you can waste as much money as you want. Customized dresses and suits for every guest? Do you want it to be a fairytale, where he needs to dress up as a prince and carry you out of the location? Just this one day, he will give everything just so people will stop the social pressure. But afterwards, when guests are leaving, he thanks you extensively. But if one more person congratulates him for getting married, he will change his phone number and his identity.

Arcturus: He had fantasies of his perfect wedding since he was a kid. Whether what you two have is an agreement of status or power greatly affects the amount of effort he puts into it. During the whole procedure, he makes sure that no misunderstandings can occur, but if he were to catch feelings in the meantime, he would confess. Since your whole marriage will be a cover, and you were to meet someone else you'd like to be in a relationship with, he can organize a secret wedding for you and them.

Pollux: He is still too young to be in a responsible relationship, which was a tension point in his family since he hit puberty. Still, when they force him to find a willing partner before they arrange someone, he begged you to do this. The entire time, he will be miserable though. Does not even et his favorite sweets and his speech about your apparent romantic life is more boring than starring at a white wall. But afterwards he is fully alive again! You gained yourself a roommate for life, who breakfasts pizza and dances in pajamas at noon.

Sirius: This is a joke gone too far. At this point your life is about whoever chickens out of this relationship first, even though neither of you have confessed feelings for one another. But your wedsing would be a collection of brainstormed ideas. Ceremony by a lake, eating traditional foods from cultures you never heard of. You play rock-paper-scissors over who gets to eat the first slice of cake. When its time for YOUR speech, he transforms into you and holds up a picture of himself. Saying: "He is beautiful, said enough." If you win at a coin flip, he will wear a dress.

Spica: Marriage always had been for tax benefits for him. So when you were together and you discussed this topic, he made sure that you'd marry for benefits and divorce can easily be arranged in this world if you lost interest. On the day of the wedding, he wears a white suit and a blue tie and will talk to every guest. Only family friends will be invited though, so no extra guests. He will keep your religious belief in mind during the entire organization and will talk to you about his plan a lot, just so you can correct him if he misunderstood one thing.

Vega: This man never considered marrying, so it was you who asked him for a fake wedding. At first he was against it, no matter how desperate you seemed. But as time went on and you did not find another candidate, he will agree under the circumstance that it will be not a major event. He does not want a lot of guests or it to be an event for the entire day. But other than that, he is free for everything you want. If you ask him to put a yellow ribbon on the flying whale for this day, he will do it.