#is he more interesting than his design suggests cause his name is pretty cool

[the-daily-male]

Today's daily male is 707 from Mystic Messenger!

for @mia-martian

[nottoxicfr]

Hi. so this is probs gonna be a long ask which i apologize for bc i'm a complete stranger LOL but i've been thinking about your dragon install concept since i saw it last night and i wanted to give you my full opinions on it bc i didn't want to blast your notifs with a wall of text in tags

so, for my personal thoughts (because i definitely think we have overlapping interests here esp since you brought up burning godzilla as an inspiration in that post and godzilla vs destoroyah is one of my favorite movies), i think if i were going to draft a scenario where sol is taken over by the FoC, i'd definitely lean into a more biological feeling, if that makes sense. my main hooks for this thought process are 1. while i can't speak on sin devil trigger bc i haven't played any devil may cry games, that is sort of what burning godzilla had going for it (and godzilla as a series hasn't been adverse to leaning into a more body horror adjacent focus with the king of the monsters, ie with shin godzilla) and 2. i think it makes a really interesting thematic parallel to justice. because obviously justice is like, she isn't a machine strictly but she does have a distinct bio-mechanical element to her, so i think its interesting to make a full gear sol go in the opposite direction and have a more visceral element to his design, if all that makes sense

if this comes off as like, rude or unsolicited at all i do sincerely apologize ^-^; bc i do like your concept a lot! i just have a lot of thoughts on this particular topic and i'm excited to see someone who's as interested in dragon install stuff as i am. peace up

Hey there! I don't get asks very often, so I'm pretty happy to be able to answer any of them.

I think you're right about a Full Gear Sol Badguy needing to lean into the biological features to contrast against Justice being so heavily bio-mechanically designed. She's a big Evangelion (which features beasts being bound in armor) reference in Xrd, whereas I think Sol should be something more like Godzilla or maybe Ultraman. A Kaiju, but depending on the circumstance I think he'd be designed with a more severe sense of horror (if he's a villain) or something a little more subtle (if he's still Sol). Either way, I think he leans into his Overture Dragon Install! Sort of like what you might get if you were to try and design an apex predator.

In the situation where Frederick becomes Justice, or whatever name you'd call him, I would think of a design that suggests that the fire is burning him from the inside out, which I guess is sort of body horror-esque? It would be inflicting a constant pain on his body, which would only serve to make him a more aggressive Command Gear, alongside being possessed by the Pope and blowing up Japan.

I did actually do a Sol-Justice swap once. I tried to make him look like a furnace being overrun by fire! His arms were made of fire. There's parts of that present in the Kaiju Sol too, because I have a tendency to design Sol's more monstrous forms like a physical shell being overwhelmed by its contents!

Admittedly, I'm not a Sol expert. Still, for someone like Sol who strives to keep his innards really far from the surface, something like that would be terrifying to experience. It's more important to be scary to him than it is to the "audience," I think.

"The Flame of Corruption exceeds even this physical vessel," is the description I think I used to describe the way fire explodes out of him, rather than just burning like a Charizard. Though, I should clarify and say the design isn't necessarily caused by the FoC overrunning Sol Badguy's human soul. He's still Frederick/Sol! He's just very on fire.

If I think about the Flame of Corruption as a sentient force influencing Frederick, then I think that the overlay of them would probably affect his psyche. However, if he keeps a cool head, then he'd be able to manage the form.

The design was influenced by the Kaiju fights in FFXVI, specifically Ifrit. At one point he fights a mountain! I thought to myself, "I wish Sol could have fought that giant form of Justice like that." I'd recommend looking up the fight, if you aren't saving the game for later. It's super cool, and if you like Dragon Installs, I think you'll see where the design comes from.

I really want a Guilty Gear Action Game while ArcSys is focusing on GG's franchise growth.

I'm glad to find people who enjoy Dragon Install! All my designs featuring Dragon Install designs do particularly well, so it's good to know we aren't alone.

Thank you for the ask!

[cre8ives]

Watch me be so wrong about this…

As is a customary of me having to be productive, my brain has decided to focus on something else entirely unimportant. 

I will be analysing the mysterious steam page man’s design a little bit and also giving my thoughts on some of the possibilities of who he could be, because I’m absolutely crazy and enjoy tormenting myself with useless pursuits. And I just thought it could be fun! And if I end up being right, I can have a fleeting moment of triumph, and if I’m wrong, well… Lets hope this post fades into tumblr obscurity, never to be seen again

First of all, disclaimer, I might make some mistakes in my research/names/info and whatnot. I’m not SUPER well versed in greek mythology but I’m getting there. Feel free to correct me!

First of all, At the moment, I’m leaning towards him being a mortal rather than a god because of his design, his colour scheme particularily. Based on the designs of the characters in Hades 1, most of the god/immortal characters (with some exceptions) have very bright colours and intricate shiny jewelry in their design. A lot of them also have unnatural hair colours, which separates them from the more muted and natural designs of the mortals.

Assuming he IS a god for a moment, there’s a pattern on his clothes that could easily be interpreted as + symbols. And since this is a character design it’s safe to assume these symbols are intentional and mean he has a connection to medicine somehow, which could be a pretty cool mechanic in the game. If he gives boons to the player it would be interesting to see ones that are healing/regeneration based maybe??? Since the closest we got to that in the first game was Dionysus. Asclepius is one of the earliest gods associated with medicine, so if he were to be a healing god I’d imagine it would likely be him.

He could also easily be any other lesser known god I’m not familiar with, as supergiant definitely likes making their own depictions of these figures in greek mythology.

As for his potential mortal identities, I’ve seen a lot of people leaning toward the idea of him being one of the heroes. The gold band he’s wearing on his head appears to be a diadema headband, which is used as a symbol for kings. This could hint at him being someone like Odysseus or Perseus, who are kings as well as heroes. He could also be someone like Heracles. He’s got that smug, arrogant Theseus type expression so that furthers the theory of him being one of these characters. In the case of him being one of these heroes, I wonder if he would have a similar role to Theseus? Maybe he’s a boss, or some kind of ally to the protagonist in this game’s equivalent of the house of hades? Maybe he’s romanceable?  

Also, I just wanted to point out what appears to be a moon shape or something on his design, under his + symbol clothing? Obviously this could be related to Artemis, but Hecate is also connected to the moon and since she’s a big role in this game maybe it’s showing some kind of connection to her? Does that suggest that he IS in fact some kind of ally to Hecate and Melinoë after all?

Last but not least, the possibility that I keep coming back to despite everything. What if he’s Chiron, the centaur? It would explain the healing symbols and I just think Chiron would be an interesting character to introduce into the Hades universe. I also think the limited view of the way he’s standing in the image is interesting, and almost an awkward way to stand. I get that this is very much a reach but what if it’s cause his legs aren’t human? It’s just weird that he’s so,,, slanted? Maybe he’s just jutting his pelvis out to the world, who knows. But what if it’s because hes… got horse legs. I think it could be cool if Chiron had a supporting role in the game, maybe he has a similar dynamic with Melinoë that Achilles has with Zagreus in the first game? I think that could be a super nice parallel considering Chiron mentored Achilles, it would be nice to maybe see them interact too! The moon symbol on his design could also be explained by the fact Artemis mentored Chiron at one point but I don’t know. The only thing that puts me off thinking this guy is Chiron is the fact that he seems so youthful and naive(?) compared to how I’d imagine Chiron, but that’s from his appearance alone so I could be totally misreading that. This is the possibility I gravitate towards the most at the moment, but I’m still not 100% sure.

If you’ve tolerated my insanity this far, i hope this has given you some food for thought. I’m afraid I’m back where I started: uncertain. The steam page man wins this time… Thanks for listening this far I guess! In case you can;t tell I am SO…… Normal about this game. I am SO. EXCITED for hades ii. Tune in for more delusion

just throwing this out there into tumblr because I keep remembering it every so often

Has anyone got any thoughts on who this guy might be?

He’s on the steam page in his pixeled glory but he isn’t in the trailer so there’s no confirmation of who he is (unless there is and I didn’t realise)

I’ve seen a bit of speculation that he could be a mortal or even chiron the centaur, which could be interesting

that’s all

[figurativepieceoftrash]

trash chan please what does

outline?? ?

have in it

Funnily enough, you actually read and beta'd the original version of outline?? ? a long time ago, but I would totally understand if you've completely forgotten it, esp because I've reworked and rewritten it a few times since then lol

This one is sort of(?) a Yoichi & AFO roleswap, though it's got a few more layers to it than that? I'm just going to post a little snippet of the outline in question bc I kinda think the concept behind it is cool and I'm going back and forth on actually finishing it

Yoichi is immortal like afo

When Afo forced a quirk onto Yoichi, he picked a regen quirk instead of a stockpiling one

This improved Yoichi’s constitution and allowed him to actually help the resistance force

1rst, 2nd, and 3rd actually managed to defeat afo, this was in large part due to his unwillingness to harm Yoichi and Yoichi’s participation in the fight

Afo was kept alive, but locked away (Yoichi may be a little petty so. Vault time)

After an *ahem* amorous exchange with 2nd, Yoichi found out he could transfer his quirk

Yoichi employed afo’s scientists and grilled him for info on certain points of quirk usage

Eventually, Yoichi learned how to make copies of quirks, and transfers copies of the regen quirk to his closest followers, granting them immortality

Bc of their notoriety and influence following afo’s downfall and the repossession of his research/wealth, Yoichi, Second, and Third are very well-regarded in the current world hero community and hold positions of considerable power

Yoichi heads the hero public safety commission and is heralded as a very important figure in Japanese hero society (somewhat corrupt)

Other vestiges are high ranked heroes with immortality and close ties to Yoichi

Afo is still alive but imprisoned, Yoichi uses him to move around quirks (The vestiges and other pros who Yoichi trusts often end up having two or more quirks depending on what they can handle, quirks are also used as a reward/punishment system in certain cases by the hpsc)

This is tough bc it takes a lot of convincing every time, Yoichi was looking for a mind control/brainwashing quirk for awhile but eventually stumbled on cloning as a solution when Ujiko suggested it

Izuku is a clone of afo designed to use his quirk and replace him. When afo becomes obsolete, the hpsc plans to kill him

The vestiges hold real affection for Izuku, but are pretty much willing to kill him whenever if he steps out of line/starts acting too much like the og afo

Izuku isn’t the first clone, the other prototypes didn’t work out because they didn’t have enough of afo’s dna/weren’t stable. Izuku is the first stable clone

He receives constant doctor’s visits bc of this, but these visits slow when it’s determined that Izuku is entirely stable and not in danger of organ failure

2nd and 3rd dislike Izuku more than the others because they knew afo personally

Izuku takes quirk suppressants (yeah they aren’t real but I like them as a concept) for most of his life, slowly being weaned off as Yoichi tries to transition him into use as afo’s replacement

Izuku’s name is Izuku bc a woman who was a dna donner for his cloning (Inko) was under the impression that the experiment she partook in was for an experimental fertility treatment (people with self-esteem issues, meek personalities, and anxiety were intentionally chosen as donners) and expressed how she always wanted to name her son Izuku (she had high hopes that the trials would work, rip)

Yoichi is personally raising Izuku, so he actually grows very attached to him

Izuku is very sheltered and not allowed to engage with anything that might cause him to develop traits similar to afo

No quirk talk, no hero or villain talk, no watching the news

Compliments are sparse and always have caveats

The outline is finished, but I'd feel weird posting more of it here bc this is technically supposed to be a snippet??? Pls interact if you have interest in it lol, I'm looking for a reason to get invested again

[scarlettriot]

Fair Festival Time!

As the summer months are coming to a close I thought it would be fun to do some Fair-specific MHA Headcanons as well as some Fair First Date Headcanons (GN Y/N)

First Dates are below the cut.

Headcanon WC: 433

First Dates WC: 1,541

Total WC: 1,974

. Mina and Denki buy the all-day rides wrist bands and are hitting up everything as many times as they possibly can and trying to bring as many friends along with them. Eijiro and Momo are the two most willing.

. Katsuki is really talented at just about any game that requires him to throw a ball of some kind. He's not in it for the prizes though, he'd win a 6ft tall teddy bear and hand it off to Ochaco without a second thought. All Katsuki wants is to watch the bottles or basket blow up.

. That being said, he gets A LOT of joy out of the dunk tank.

. Izuku is super patient with carnival games, he rules at any game where you have to memorize where things are. He brought home a bunch of goldfish that he won (gave most to Eri).

. Speaking of this adorable child! Eri just wants to try ALL THE FOOD! She walks hand in hand with Mirio and Tamaki to all of the food stalls and pointing to all the delicious treats she wants to try. They do keep an eye on her, they don't want her getting a tummy ache and ruining her fun.

. Shoto is instantly in love with frozen slushies. He wants one in every single flavor and he gets one in every single flavor! After trying them all he's decided that lemonade and orange are his favorites.

. Hanta tapes Mineta to the Zero Gravity ride when he catches him trying to be a little perv.

. Hanta then goes and checks out all the vendors with Toru, both buying some cute, locally made products.

. Circling back to games, Eijiro kills it at the strong man game. Gets giddy every time he hears that bell ring. Doesn't even need a prize.

. Mezo is really good at ring toss, even with his extra arms, he still throws them one at a time to get the most experience out of the game.

. Tsu and Koji spend a lot of time around the animals. While most of the animals tend to follow Koji around because of his quirk, Tsu has a small gathering of ducks around her at all times and she thinks they're adorable!

. Mina has gotten her face painted.

. Ochaco and Izuku got a caricature sketch done together and somehow they made Ochaco's cheeks more round and Izuku's hair more fluffy!

. Denki got lost in the funhouse, Tenya had to go get him out.

. Kyoka hangs out where the musical performances are nearly all day long. When Katsuki isn't being extra competitive, he usually joins her.

Fair First Date Headcanons

Featuring: Izuku, Katsuki, Denki, Hanta, Mina, and Eijiro

Warnings: Smooching

These are all pretty damn corny. I'm feeling sappy so this is what you get!

Izuku

. Izuku is all smiles, all day long with you.

. He wants to enjoy every minute of it so he will suggest you get to the fair early in the morning! He plans every part of the day, schedules times for snacks and when you should be indoors enjoying activities to beat the heat of the day.

. Makes sure you're putting on sunscreen throughout the day and staying hydrated! The last thing he wants is you getting heatstroke or something!

. He's not great at all the games but he still gives them all a try! Especially the ones you seem to enjoy.

. Ends up holding your hand when you get lost in a hall of mirrors. Nervously let's go once you're out but is very blushy when you grab for him again.

. Now, he had this day all planned out, so, when you're on the Ferris wheel at the end of the night and the fireworks begin just as you reach the top, you shouldn't have been surprised.

. He's holding your hand, brushing his thumb against yours when you both turn to say something to each other and your faces are just so close together.

. This time, he makes the move and kisses you.

. You two end up making out for nearly the entire show, a little startled when the Ferris Wheel starts moving again.

Katsuki

. You had to bug Katsuki pretty relentlessly to go to the fair. He didn't like the idea of the crowds and it was gonna be so damn hot but when you told him about all the games, how they were so difficult to actually win, he changed his tune real quick!

. You still compromised a bit though, waiting until the warmest part of the day passed.

. He made a b-line for the rows of brightly colored tents, holding onto your hand and pulling you along behind him.

. And, damn it, you'd been right. They weren't all easy to win! He eventually found a groove though, and learned he excelled at names that he had to throw things at.

. You had SO MANY stuffed animals by the end of the night!

. Fireworks started going off while you two found a picnic table to eat your dinner at with your massive collection of prizes.

. He'd popped a fried pepper into his mouth and you noticed him watch a little boy, struggling at a game nearby. He was sitting just so he could see the backs of the bottles and noticed they were rigged. There was no way a kid could knock them down, he didn't have the strength.

. Katsuki didn't say a word to you. He just got up and walked over to the kid. You couldn't hear their conversation but soon enough Katsuki was standing behind him and helping him throw the ball. You just barely saw sparks of his quirk propelling it forward.

. The bottles fell, the boy jumped up and down with a huge grin, accepting the massive snake plushie and hugging Katsuki's waist before he returned to you, again, not saying a word.

. You slipped into the seat beside him, kissing his cheek and telling him how sweet of a thing that was. There were grumbles of, "better not tell anyone..." Before he kissed you for the first time that night.

Denki

. Denki had no plan. He didn't even know a fair was happening until Hanta had said something about it but as soon as he did he knew he wanted to go, and he wanted to go with you!

. You got there shortly after opening, running for the ticket booth to purchase unlimited ride wristbands. And then set off!

. Hours. You spent hours riding every single ride there!

. It was only when you felt heat on your shoulders and saw the redness the sun had caused on Denki's cheeks that you thought you should maybe get out of the sun for a while.

. After filling up on food, you decided the funhouse would be a good way to stay cool! Wandering around the mazes and rooms, grabbing onto Denki as you fell into a ball pit. He didn't let you go after that.

. The sun was setting and you two were back at it with the rides! Lines are longer now than they were earlier in the day, leaving the two of you with more time to talk rather than just running around like two crazy people.

. It was after you got off the teacups. Your heads dizzy, laughing so hard your sides hurt, clinging onto one another so you could stay upright when Denki grabbed your face with both hands and kissed you smack on the lips.

. The kiss only lasted a couple seconds before you both needed air again. But, on the way to the Music Express, you both peppered each other with kisses, unable to contain yourselves.

Hanta

. He asked you a week ago if you'd like to join him, not really for the rides or anything like that, he was really interested in all the craft booths!

. You went at opening, grabbed some cold drinks, and started walking down the vendor's alley stopping at every stall and stand to admire the wares.

. You admired the way Hanta could strike up a conversation with anyone. His easy, laidback personality showing through as he gushed about leatherwork and delicious-smelling candles.

. Of course, you left with bags full of goodies!

. By the time you actually made it back around to the fair rides and attractions, your stomachs were screaming for food.

. You settled in to watch a few shows, chatting happily among yourselves until before you knew it the sun was beginning to dip.

. Finding a spot at a picnic table you were ready to watch the fireworks show but before they began, Hanta plopped a bag down in your lap, a sneaky little grin on his face.

. Inside, you found one of the candles you were in love with from earlier in the day but decided to save your money... well, two could play at that game. You dug around in your bag and handed him a small box. Inside was a necklace you'd seen him eyeing but passed up.

. Your thank you was in the form of a sweet kiss as the show began.

Mina

. Excitement buzzed through Mina all day long, the anticipation of going with you to the fair had her practically bouncing!

. While she was very eager, she also wanted to go later in the day. More people, more fun, that was her way of looking at it!

. You two were attached by the hand the moment you walked through the gate. Setting off for rides first, your heads bonking together on the tilt-a-whirl with a laugh.

. Next, she wanted to get her face painted and yours too! By the time it was done, Mina had elegant swirls of gold and red making her look like a proper Alien Queen and you had a mask designed of ornate patterns spirally over your nose and over your cheeks.

. You'd been splitting a funnel cake when pops of fireworks started exploding overhead. Stopping in the middle of the pathway to watch them.

. A few people muttered in annoyance but Mina was completely entranced, you pulled her off to the side, behind a few of the food vendors, so she could watch in peace.

. It didn't take you too long to turn your head skyward either.

. That was when Mina struck.

. The moment you were distracted, she grabbed hold of your cheeks, smudging the paint, and kissed you. The reflection was the fireworks in her eyes were as bright as her smile when you finally pulled away for air.

Eijiro

. The plan was to get there when the fair opened but you both took your sweet time, getting sidetracked with talking along the way meaning you actually arrived in the early afternoon.

. Not a problem, still left you with a ton of time!

. Eijiro let you lead the way, was your partner, rival, or cheering squad for whatever game you tried playing. But then he found the strong man game...

. It wasn't like you were surprised he could ring the bell but your eyes still went wide when he did. Grinning like he'd just taken down a group of villains all on his own when he presented you with a huge stuffed shark he'd been awarded.

. It was after you both scarfed down some food that you found a rock climbing wall and knew you had to tackle it! High up in the air, almost to the top, was when you lost your footing.

. Someone would have caught you, you both knew that but still, Eijiro's hand shot out and grabbed you first.

. After the minor scare, you found a spot in some grass to watch the fireworks that had started on the walkover. Laying back, the shark plush in your arms, your head on Eijiro's chest. You could hear his heart racing faster and faster.

. When you sat up to ask if he was okay, if he didn't like the fireworks, he just jolted forward and kissed you quickly. Not scared, just nervous. You assure him there was no need, kissing him again, before settling into his arms.

[aceopmari]

If the Straw Hats Had a Reality Show Dedicated to Pirates Headcanon! Ft: Law!

With how infamous the pirate crew gotten, it was only natural that they were soon granted the rights to have their own reality show, like other famous pirates in the Grand Line and the New World.

Get ready for Keeping Up with the Straw Hats!

Luffy: Whether it was his strength, or his childlike innocence, Luffy was a fan favorite!

He often ignored the producers suggestions to make the show more interesting.

Luffy didn’t like when the producers told him to punch a random person on the street when they were visiting an island.

Was not getting paid, as he owed the producers over 10,000 berris for punching the camera one time in anger, when the director attempted to take his meat away. The director was only making a suggestion for a much healthier diet for the star of the show.

Luffy also skipped out on a lot of confessional sessions. Mainly because he really didn’t have much to hide to begin with. But if he did go, it was mainly to either show appreciation for his crew or to make public declarations:

“Sanji’s cooking the BEST!”

“Do we get free meat with this show?”

“I’m going to kick Mingo’s ass!”

Zoro: The viewers found Zoro amusing! Whether it be him constantly getting lost, or his heated arguments with Sanji. The producers would rush over to him, cameras and all whenever they caught the two together.

Zoro was surprisingly popular with female viewers. They enjoyed watching him sweat whenever he would work out in the crows nest.

Zoro didn’t care about the show really. Just as long as he gets to work out, drink booze, and sleep, he’s good.

The producers always looked forward to his confessionals after he fights with Sanji:

“That damn shitty cook! Just who the hell does he think he is?!”

“That curly brow dumbass is gonna get himself killed one of these days!”

Sanji: Was angry that Zoro was racking in more views from the female viewers than he was!

Why him?! Why not me?!

He kicked the camera man straight in the chin when he told him that Zoro was naturally more popular than he was.

Sanji desperately tried to win over the female viewers by showing off his fighting skills or his culinary expertise.

He was excited when he finally got some fan mail from the fans!

It turned out to be from the okamas though…

If Sanji went to the confessionals, it was usually to cry about why women weren’t interested in him…or to talk shit about Zoro:

“Just what does he have that I don’t on this show?”

“Why aren’t all the beautiful ladies watching me?”

Little did Sanji know, he caught the eyes of Violet and Pudding.

Nami: An absolute slut for the camera! The producers LOVED her!

One couldn’t tell who was using who more. All that mattered was what would bring them more views and more money.

Whenever it was filming time, Nami would purposely wear a bikini without the jeans to draw in the male viewing audience.

Add the extra seductive act she would put on, and nosebleeds would cover millions of transponder snail television screens.

Loved to give tours of the Sunny and show off her designer clothes.

Would parade around the islands, using Momonosuke as an accessory to manipulate the fans into loving her more.

Nami LOVED to take advantage of the fanbase, often subtly asking for gifts mainly money through the fan mail she receives. Next to Robin, she had the most.

Nami became very vain and strict with the crew on how to present themselves for the camera and had to keep members like Luffy in check to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to cause the show to be cancelled. But just in case, as a backup, she could always start an Only Fans.

One might say that the fame and fortune was getting to her head, as she would purposely start up drama whenever she was out on an island. Would probably steal from a city mayor if it meant she could get the fans taking for weeks.

Whenever she was in the confessionals, it was mainly to complain about Luffy’s or Zoro’s antics.

Would probably shit talk about Robin, although faking it the whole time, to get some drama started:

“Honestly! I wish Luffy would just use some common sense for once!”

“Robin thinks she’s all that! But everyone knows, I’m the prettiest girl on the show!”

“I’ll let you film me in the bath. It’ll cost you 1 million beri!”

Franky: Loved the camera! One sided on the producers part since they didn’t enjoy Franky’s sense of…ahem…style.

He would dance, be loud, or show off his cool body.

If he was in the confessional room, it was to complain openly to the producers on why they did him dirty.

“Hey! I saw last weeks episode! Why did you cut my scene out, bro?!”

Ussop: Although not nearly as popular as Nami, Ussop was interesting enough to get some viewers watching the show, even unintentionally.

Ussop used the show to make himself seem cooler, mainly through the confessionals.

The lies he told caught the attention of viewers worldwide, though very few could sees past his lies.

The producers didn’t care, so long as there were viewers.

“Yes it was I! The Great Captain Ussop who defeated CP9!”

“Wait wait! Cut that out! Cut that scene out! I meant SniperKing!”

Chopper: The Worlds Favorite Cutie Pie!

Choppers looks alone were enough to win the hearts of viewers! Mostly the female reindeer mink.

Combine that with his child like innocence and he’s instantly a popular household name!

On top of that he already has many sponsorships from multiple sweet brands. (Mainly cotton candy ones.)

Choppers pretty shy on camera and often does his usual dance when he’s nervous. The audience eats it up.

He doesn’t gossip. When it comes to confessionals, he’s usually talking about Zoro’s recklessness when it comes to bandages, or Sanji’s nose bleeding habits.

Jimbei: Not particular interested in TV or fame, but used being on TV to his advantage to spread his word and try stop discrimination against fishmen.

The producers found him boring and didn’t look forward to filming him, especially at confessionals…but at the very least, he was able to bring in views due to his former status as a warlord.

Robin: Had many admirers! She enjoyed being on the show. Often is seen on screen on a lavish shopping trip with Nami.

She does her part to make the show more interesting, whether it is be her dark sense of humor or putting her devil fruit powers to good use.

She once used it on a producer when he asked her to do something suggestive for views. After that, the producers never messed with her again, out of fear for their lives.

Not much for confessionals though, except when she’s expressing how amused she is at Luffy’s antics.

She may appeared to be calm and quiet but you better believe that the rumors she would stir up, would get the people talking!

Piers Morgans was having a field day with the headlines:

“Did Cat Burgler Nami Get Breast Implants?!”

“Roronoa Zoro: Honorable Swordsmen or Man Thot?! Gets Caught Sleeping with Wano’s Most Beautiful Woman!”

“Is Monkey D Luffy, Secretly Seeing His Crewmates Sister From the Germa Kingdom?!”

Brook: Fans loved seeing Soul King on screen. In some episodes he’s either playing music or he’s attempting a panty raid in Nani’s room. Which often results in him getting beat up by her every time.

Anything he says in the confessional‘s ends up with his signature laugh.

Law: Made a special guest appearance since starting hiw alliance with Luffy.

You can imagine his look of surprise, when the crew showed up on Punk Hazard with a camera crew and all.

He wasn’t at all interested in being on TV. His famous “I hate bread” made him an instant fan favorite. And meme along the fanbase.

He didn’t like that…

Law hated being followed around by the camera crew on the Thousand Sunny or when he simply just wanted peace. He frequently scolded the producers to stop or told Luffy to call off the cameras, but neither listened.

He only wanted to discuss the alliance plans in private with the crew and didn’t want the producers to catch any of it for the world to see.

As time went on, and Law was getting sucked into the Straw Hat shenanigans. He found himself wandering into the confessional where he would frequently complain about the crew. Mainly the captain.

“Mugiwara-ya will be the death of me…”

“Rorona-ya has no sense of direction…”

“How has the crew survived this long? They don’t ever strategize when it comes to making a plan!”

Viewer Reactions:

Sabo: Enjoys watching his little brother on screen, and always has a good laugh. Koala would often scold him for abandoning his duties to go watch the show.

Hancock: Would briefly abandon her duties as Pirate Empress for the whole day if it meant, she could watch Luffy on screen.

Took up most of his fan mail, and gifts that had meat.

Hancock would be envious of Nami and Robin on her screen, wishing she was their with Luffy.

Mihawk: Reality shows weren’t his usual choice of television entertainment, but he did watch, soley to watch over Zoro’s progress as a swordsmen. He would lie if Perona asked him if he found what he saw the slightest bit amusing.

Ace: He got a kick out watching his little brother on screen. Often laughing at Luffy’s antics. He saw that Luffy’s crew was slowly riding in more views on the reality show The WhiteBeard Pirates had. Ace wasn’t too worried but he knew he had to step it up.

Shanks: Often shaking his head and smiling in amusement at the sight of Luffy on screen. Would sometimes watch the show with Ace as the two spoke fondly of him.

Big Mom: Was furious that Luffy was racking in more views than her crew combined. Everyone used to love Big Mom’s wedding cake special episodes.

“MUGIWARAAAAA!” *Smashes TV*

Garp: Nearly choked on his crackers at the sight of his crazy grandson invading his screen.

“LUFFY NOOOOOO!”

Smoker: If any marine soldier was caught watching, Keeping Up with the Straw Hats, you better believe that he’ll would be raised at HQ. in secret though, he would watch it. Not for entertainment, but more so to study the Straw Hats moves.

Buggy: Screeching out in jealously seeing Straw Hat Luffy was popular enough to be given his own show and not him.

Kid: Was sitting at a bar one night and spat out his drink in anger at the sight of Straw Hat on his screen.

Nearly popped a blood vessel when he saw Law on screen.

“The hell?! Even Trafalgar?! How come those bastards get their own show?!”

Killer remained silent. He knew the reason why the Kid Pirates never picked up the rights to a pirate reality show was because of how scary Kid was.

Dragon: Used the show as a way to keep up with his son. Although in secret, since he didn’t want his army to notice.

Germa 66: Mixed reactions.

“That’s no son of mine.” Judge would say.

Reiju giggled at the sight of the screen. After a mission, she would look forward to watching the show to see her brother.

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji expressed annoyance and criticized Sanji. Although would never admit that they were each jealous that Sanji got to be on a reality show instead of the Germa Kingdom itself.

Yamato: Wants to be on the show. Not for the fame, but mainly to spread the word and tell the world what a horrible father, Kaido is and spread Oden’s legacy to the world.

[uomo-accattivante]

Great article about Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter - a poker movie that’s not really a poker movie...

Some filmmakers write a hit movie and spend the ensuing years trying to escape its shadow. Paul Schrader never flinched. Forty-five years after his “Taxi Driver” script put him on the map, the writer-director has developed a body of work loaded with alienated anti-heroes compelled to violent and reckless extremes for the sake of a higher calling.

That includes “The Card Counter,” in which Oscar Isaac plays guilt-stricken Abu Ghraib vet William Tell, a man with a gambling addiction compelled to help the revenge-seeking son (Tye Sheridan) of a former colleague. Taking justice into his own hands, Isaac’s William Tell slithers through the Vegas strip in search of questionable salvation, not unlike a certain Vietnam vet named Travis Bickle did from the driver’s seat. As if to cement the comparisons, “The Card Counter” features Martin Scorsese as an executive producer, marking the first time the two men share a credit since 1999’s “Bringing Out the Dead.”

For Schrader, “Taxi Driver” comparisons are inevitable in all his work. “My tendency is to look for interesting occupational metaphors,” Schrader said in a recent interview. “‘Taxi Driver’ hit the bull’s eye of the zeitgeist and it doesn’t die. There’s no way I could’ve planned for that, but it does inform the stories I tell.”

At 75, Schrader continues to churn out movies much like his compatriot Scorsese, albeit on a much smaller scale. “The Card Counter” is the latest illustration of the secularized Christian dogma percolating through his work. “Our society doesn’t like to take responsibility for anything,” he said. “But I come from a culture where you’re responsible for everything. You come into the world soaked with guilt and you just get guiltier.” In his own prickly fashion, Schrader makes movies steeped in empathy for lost souls in search of redemption despite the daunting odds. “We’re all certainly capable of forgiveness,” he said, and chuckled. “Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.”

The “Taxi Driver” dilemma looms large in nearly all of Schrader’s work, from the dazzling high-stakes activism of “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” all the way through Ethan Hawke’s eco-conscious priest in “First Reformed.” While the latter, Oscar-nominated effort brought Schrader new fans, “The Card Counter” is an even more precise distillation of his aesthetic — a moody, philosophical drama about the vanity of the personal crusade.

Schrader, who has labeled his homegrown character studies as “man in the room” dramas, embraces the parallels as usual. “There is this kind of myth that the taxi driver was this friendly, joking kind of guy who was a character actor in movies,” he said. “But the reality is that it’s a very lonely job, and you’re trapped in a box for 60 hours a week.” He saw the same logic with gambling, a wayward profession generally depicted in the movies in the context of escapist romps, rather than the somber rituals that afflict most players. “I thought about the essence of playing cards every day, or sitting in front of a slot machine. It’s kind of zombie-like,” Schrader said. “You see commercials of people in casinos laughing. But it’s a pretty glum place. Today with slots you don’t even have to pull the lever. You just sit there and let the numbers roll.”

The gambling figure led Schrader to the bigger picture of his character’s conundrum. “I was wondering why someone would choose to live in that sort of purgatory,” he said. “He doesn’t want to be alive, but he can’t really be dead, either. What could cause that? It can’t be a simple crime, murder, or a family dispute. It has to be something unforgivable. And that was Abu Ghraib.”

After the fallout of that debacle, William did time in a military prison, and reenters society before the movie begins. That was a world the filmmaker wanted to understand in clearer terms. Though Schrader has received blowback for his controversial Facebook posts in the past, in this case, the platform was an asset: He used it to track down soldiers who had done time in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, the only military prison in the U.S., to better understand the initial claustrophobic world that Tell endures, as well as the conflict between the justice he’s received and what he deserves. “This man has been punished by his government, set free, and paid his due, but he doesn’t feel that,” Schrader said. “What does he do then? How does he fill his time? That’s how it all began.”

Schrader himself toyed with gambling when he lived in Los Angeles early in his career, but soon gave it up. “I very quickly realized I was only interested in gambling if it was really dangerous and I didn’t want to expose myself to that kind of danger,” he said. Years later, though, the experience helped inform his story. “There is this whole fantasy of gambling movies from ‘The Cincinnati Kid’ to ‘California Split,’” Schrader said. “But poker is all about waiting. People will play 10 to 12 hours a day and two to three times a day, a hand will happen where two players both have chips. Now you’ve got a face-off. But that doesn’t happen very often. Most guys who are there are running the numbers, the probability.”

He envisioned “The Card Counter” as a repudiation of the traditional poker movie, which builds to the giddy release of a final tournament. When that moment arrives in the movie, Schrader takes the movie in a bleak, shocking new direction. “It’s not really a poker movie — that’s a red herring,” he said.

William is immersed in his casino journey when he encounters Cirk (Sheridan), the crazy-eyed son of another Abu Ghraib soldier who committed suicide. Cirk blames the soldiers’ former commander (Willem Dafoe), and hopes to loop William into the plan. Instead, the older man decides to take Cirk under his wing to talk him out of the act, which doesn’t prove so easy. In the process, the gambler forms a curious bond with La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), a gambling agent and pimp whose icy, relentless drive to make the most out of the poker circuit brings William some measure of companionship on his wayward journey.

It should come as no surprise that the “Girls Trip” breakout is nearly unrecognizable in the role of the calculated La Linda, which is also a distinctly Schraderish touch: From his work with Richard Pryor in 1978’s “Blue Collar” all the way through Cedric the Entertainer’s supporting turn in “First Reformed,” Schrader has made a habit of seeking out comedic actors willing to play against type. That’s partly opportunistic on his part. “They’re eager to do it because they want to expand their palette, so you can get them for a price,” Schrader said, chuckling again. “That’s necessary, given the kind of films I make.” But that’s not all: “They will always find a way to be interesting, even when they’re not getting a laugh.”

Which is not to say that the process comes easily to them. Haddish recently told the New York Times that Schrader had to coach her out of speaking in a comedic sing-song. The filmmaker put it in blunter terms. “On the first reading of the script we had, frankly, she wasn’t very good,” he said. “I told her to go back and read every single line without emotion. Then I said, ‘You’re not going to do that in front of the camera, but you can’t hit every line either. So let’s pick five or six lines you can hit where you get a smile or reaction.’ Quickly she got that it was a different rhythm.”

As for Isaac, whose disquieting turn suggests a maniac lingering just beneath the surface, Schrader once again turned to metaphor. “I told him to imagine himself on a rocky coast in the ocean,” Schrader said. “Waves are going to come up and get you all day every day. They’re going to try to batter you. Let them. The waves will go away. You’ll still be there. Don’t compete. In the end, the rocks will win. You have to learn to trust that the way these things are put together has more power than the individual movement.”

William’s routine includes an odd ritual in which he covers all the furniture in his various Vegas hotel rooms with white paper. While the motivation is never explained, Schrader said it stemmed from an experience with production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti on the set of 1982’s “Cat People,” when Schrader realized the man was doing the same thing. “He said, quite simply, ‘I have to live here surrounded by these ugly hotel furnishings,’” Schrader recalled. The concept inspired the new movie’s most compelling visual motif. “Casinos are very ugly places. There are no exceptions,” Schrader said. “Often you aspire to finding pockets of beauty and there weren’t really any here except the only place he could control, which was his hotel rooms, where he could privatize his visions. I came up with this ritual for him to control those visuals.”

At a certain point, Schrader himself couldn’t control the visuals of “The Card Counter” for more prosaic reasons: After an extra tested positive for COVID-19, the production shut down last March, with five days of shooting left, and couldn’t resume until July. Though Schrader initially took to Facebook to fume at his producers, the pause eventually opened up an opportunity to tweak his vision. “I edited the film and put in placeholders for the five or six scenes of consequence that I hadn’t shot,” he said. “I didn’t have a fully finished film but I could screen it for people. Normally you only get that privilege if you have a big-budget film and you’re allowed reshoots.” The early audience included Scorsese, who provided a crucial note. “I asked Marty, ‘What am I missing?’ He said to me that the relationship with Tiffany and Oscar was too thin. So I rewrote those scenes.”

Schrader asked Scorsese to take on the executive producer credit as a favor. “I said, ‘Marty, wouldn’t it be nice to share a card again? I thought it would help sell the film but it would also be a cool thing to do after all these years,’” Schrader said. “Then a couple of weeks later his agent called wanting to work out a deal. What deal? I asked Marty and he said yes. That’s the deal!” Now, the pair are trying to collaborate on a new long-form TV series based on the Bible, though the timing has been delayed by production on Scorsese’s upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

In the meantime, Schrader has been mulling over the way “Taxi Driver” not only continues to inform his storytelling but the world at large. “Hardly a week goes by that I don’t notice or hear some reference to it,” he said. “But I don’t know how you’d tell such a story today. A number of writers have tried and I don’t think they’ve succeeded because it has to come out of a certain place and time. We have plenty of these incels around, but they’re not as original or revealing as they were 45 years ago when that character came on the scene. I wouldn’t know how to write about it.”

Instead, his next project is a love triangle called “Master Gardener,” which he hopes to shoot in Louisiana before the end of the year. He has several other potential scripts ready to go after that. And while he has expressed trepidation about the future of cinema in the past, he’s not convinced that audiences have given up on it yet. He recalled a conversation he had with Cedric the Entertainer when “First Reformed” made the rounds. “He said off-handedly to me, ‘You know, I didn’t realize there were so many people who liked serious movies,’” Schrader said, and chuckled once more. “Well, yeah, there are.”

“The Card Counter” premieres next week at the Venice Film Festival. Focus Features releases on September 10, 2021.

###

[xpacestuff]

Su/gf crossover things part 2

(sorry if these aren't that good!)

------------------------

Dipper: So... that glowing pink thing?

Steven: Yeah?

Dipper: Why does that happen exactly?

Steven: Oh, I'm not sure... I guess when I don't feel well? It's like a burst of energy when it happens...when i feel like i need to run away or just...-

Dipper: Oh! Like a flight or fight response!

Steven: What is-

Dipper, taking out the journal: Interesting...

Steven: What's a-

Dipper: mumbles to himself

Steven: ...Nevermind.

------------------------

Steven: Hey Mabel! what are you-

Steven: Mabel.

Mabel, putting fake gems on waddles face: Whaaat... he likes it...

Steven: Why didn't you ask me to help you?

Mabel: :D

------------------------

Mabel: OH! YOU CAN DO SHAPESHIFTING, RIGHT?

Steven: Oh, yeah, but-

Mabel: Can you turn into anything!? Like a unicorn! Or a hamster! You can do this hamster ball thing, so!

Steven: uuhh haha... I don't really... like shapeshifting... sorry..

Mabel: Aw, why?

Steven: It's just... some things happened when I did...

Mabel: Like what?

Dipper: Mabel, don't bother him! If he doesn't like it then leave him alone.

Mabel: Yeahh... you're right. Sorry Steven!

Steven: Nono, it's okay, don't worry!

------------------------

this is something different than the "steven has the same powers as bill so dipper is sus" writing post i made lol (basically this one is just silly)

Dipper, walking around in circles: It's just... what does that star symbolize?

Mabel: What do you mean?

Dipper: The star on his shirt, Mabel! Does it have to do with this gem stuff? Is it related to his powers?

Mabel: Uh...Dipper, why are you questioning something like that?

Dipper: Well, he showed me a picture of himself when he was younger, and he always had this star on his shirt! Why?

Mabel: Maybe he just likes stars? Come on, bro. It's just some shirt design.

Dipper: I don't know...

later

Dipper: Steven... okay, so, this will sound weird but what does that star on your shirt mean?

Steven: Huh?

Dipper, pointing at it: You always have that star on your shirt. Does it have to do with your powers or something? Is it some magical shirt?

Steven: Oooh hahaha! No no, it's just my dads merchandise. Just like that pine tree on your hat, I'm guessing?

Dipper: ...Oh. Well then. rips a page from a notebook

Steven: ...Seriously?

Dipper: Yes, seriously.

------------------------

So what if something dangerous happens and steven completely turns pink also starts turns into his buff chad form (haha edgy)

Steven, in that form: Oh, oh no no no... oh no.. shit..

Dipper: Wha-

Mabel: What!?

Steven: Oh god, Mabel and Dipper, d-don't look at me!

Dipper: ...Does that new form... hurt you?

Steven: What? uh.. no.

Steven: I- I didn't want you guys to see me like this!

Dipper: No, no, it's uh, okay!

Mabel: Yeah, we're here! Don't worry!

Steven, slowly getting smaller do his normal form: It's just..

Steven, as his pink glow fades: This just hasn't happened in a while...

later

Mabel: Well, I made you some chocolate milk!

Steven: Thanks, Mabel.

Dipper: So... you better now? You're smaller than when you were well... all pink and glowy

Steven: Yeah, yeah i'm better now. I guess I need to tell this to my therapist though.

Mabel: You better! I don't want to see you hurt :(

------------------------

Steven: Hey do guys wanna fly

Dipper: Wh-

Mabel: YES!

Dipper: Um... what do you mean with "fly"?

Steven: I have floating powers. I can just carry you two and well.. fly around

Mabel: Oh my god!!! really!?

Steven: Yeah!

Dipper: How come you're just randomly suggesting this?

Steven: Well, strange things have been happening here in Gravity Falls, so I just wanted to lighten the mood up a little bit.

Dipper: Alright, then

Mabel: YEAHH!!! LETS FLOAT!

------------------------

Mabel, Dipper and Steven are basically floating now

Mabel: THIS IS AMAZING!!! You can float and summon a hamster ball! That's like, the best thing EVER!

Steven: hahah, yeah! ...Dipper you alright?

Dipper, absolutely worried that he's going to fall: y.. yes.

Steven: I can drop you off-

Dipper: AH- NO!

Steven: I mean like... slowly help you land on your feet again, yknow?

Dipper: Oh, uh, yes... please..

Steven: Alright!

------------------------

Mabel: Tickle attack!

Dipper: Mabel no- hahaha! Stop!

Steven, entering the room: Hey guys

Mabel, staring at him: >:)

Steven: o h n o

------------------------

Dipper: Is this your real form? You can shapeshift, after all.

Steven: Yes?

Dipper: HMM

Steven: How could I prove it to you anyways?

Dipper: I don't know-

Steven: Here, a picture of when I was younger. I can assure you that's me, and my 'real' form haha

Dipper: ...Wow you were small

Steven: You're one to talk

Dipper: Hey!

Steven: Haha!

Steven: Oh, by the way, you know that I don't like shapeshifting, right?

Dipper: Yeah... I guess you don't.

------------------------

Mabel: Uuughh I'm so bored

Dipper: Yeah, me too.

Steven: Do you guys wanna uh, bake something? maybe?

Mabel: Hmmm... like what

Steven: Oh! Have you heard of cookie cats?

Dipper: Cookie cats?

Steven: Here, let me show you a picture of them shows a picture of it from his phone

Mabel: It looks so cute!

Steven: We can bake this if you guys wanna?

Dipper: Well, we don't have anything else to do.

Mabel and Steven: Yeah!

------------------------

steven and dipper are just walking around the woods cause why not

Dipper: Ouch!

Steven: What happened? Are you okay?

Dipper: Yeah, it's just...I just scratched myself on this branch, i didn't even see it.

Steven: Oh, that's no problem! licks his finger

Dipper: uh-

Steven: puts his finger on Dippers wound there!

Dipper, healed: WH- HOW?

Steven: I have healing powers :)

Dipper: You surprise me everyday...

Dipper, whispering: Maybe I should tell Ford... hmm..

------------------------

again before they knew steven is half gem

Mabel: I love gems!

Steven: Me too! Even though some tried to kill me, most of them didn't really know what they were doing. Mostly when they were corrupted.

Mabel: H..huh?

------------------------

Mabel: Your girlfriend sure is cool Steven!

Steven: Yeah, I love her a lot.

Mabel:

Mabel: :")

Steven:

Steven: Uh-

Mabel: No, no. It's just cute. Don't mind me. I hope when I'm a teenager I can find love like this. Haha...

------------------------

Steven: You guys' grunkle is really nice!

Dipper: Yeah, at first he can be a bit mean, but in reality he's a great guy if he wants to be. Trust me, I've been there.

Steven: Aw... I said that cause he gave me something for free. That's a start, I guess?

Dipper: Sure is.

------------------------

Stan, going through a box of old stuff: Ahaha, yeah. Brings back some good old memories.

Steven: Oh, can I look? If you don't mind?

Stan: Sure kid.

Steven: ...

Steven: A... Space Train to the Cosmos CD?

Stan: Yeah, haha. He has the same last name as you. I remember listening to him years ago.

Steven: Mr. Pines... this is my dad. Greg Universe.

Stan: ... What.

------------------------

this is before D & M met Ford, I guess? (if this takes place when D & M arrive to GF for the first time)

Steven: So... what's that?

Dipper: Ah! It's uh- it's nothing. haha...

Steven: Dipper, are you okay? What are you holding there?

Dipper: sighs It's just...

Mabel: IT'S A JOURNAL!

Dipper: Mabel!

Steven: Oh, like a diary? That's cool.

Dipper: It's... more than that, actually.

Mabel: Come on! Let's just tell him!

Dippers: Well, uh, it's basically a journal that has a lot of information written down from all these weird monsters and creatures in Gravity Falls. I still have no idea who the author is.

Steven: Wow... Have you told Mr. Pines?

Dipper: He didn't take it seriously.

Steven: Hmm...

------------------------

Steven: I don't understand your purpose... nor do I understand why you look like that

Steven: But I support you

Soos: Dude it's just square pizza

------------------------

Connie visits again

Steven: Connie! Hey!

Connie: Steven!

they go for a hug, then fuse

Stevonnie: ...Uh-oh.

Mabel: :D WOOOO!!! HOW???

Dipper: >:0

Dipper: WHAT THE FUCK??

------------------------

Ford: This is so interesting... a half-gem, half-human.

Ford: Tell me, what can you do?

Steven: Well, I can summon a shield. I have healing powers. I can bring plants to life. I can bubble things up. I can also have destruct- oh, I uh, I actually don't like talking about that.

Ford: ...Can you show me your shield?

Steven: sure summons his shield

Ford: Wh- how do you do that?

Steven: Well, it's my gem that just summons it when I want to.

Ford: So how powerful is it?

Steven: Oh, pretty powerful, I guess? I was able to protect myself from the diamonds- oh uh, yeah, the uh diamonds are the most strongest gem, by the way. Yellow tried to step on me and tried to uh, hurt me haha but it's okay now.

Ford: Wow! So, how tall and strong are these diamonds? And uh, that's crazy she did that. But do tell me more.

Steven: They're really tall. I don't exactly know how much but as tall as a skyscraper... maybe taller? I'm not sure. The tallest one is White.

Ford: Interesting... I'm guessing you're a diamond too? You were able to protect yourself, after all.

Steven: starts glowing pink a little

Ford: Huh!?

Steven: Ah- sorry, sorry! That just happens sometimes!

Ford: Glowing pink... hm...

------------------------

Imagine they all (Stan, Soos, Steven, Dipper and Mabel) fall into that one bottomless pit. Steven completely panics because the others are falling and he's worried to the point where he just forgets about his floating powers. But after the others start telling some of their stories, he calms down. They turn around to him and ask him if he could tell a story aswell. He tells them about how cool it was to learn combat with his (now girl-)friend Connie. How at that point he learned something very important. The others listen very well to him, and as he finishes the story they, surprisingly, fall out of the bottomless pit. After this Mabel and Dipper ask Steven about the things he has learned and if he could teach them.

------------------------

Mabel and Dipper: wearing their peanut butter and jelly costumes

Steven: Hahaha! That looks nice, why are you dressed like that?

Mabel: Summerween!

Steven: Oh, I've never heard of that! :D

Dipper: Yeah cause they honestly just made all of this up.

------------------------

Steven hanging out with the other teens!!! Very important!!! He needs to learn how to "act his age", y'know what I mean? explore around. take some risks (that are not traumatising, thank you). just be a teenager in general.

(i could make a whole other post for this tbh)

------------------------

Stan: You have literally no legal documents, kid.

Steven: Yeahh...

Stan: I love it!

------------------------

Robbie: And who are you?

Steven: Oh I just, uh, work here.

Robbie: Yeah? With Wendy, huh?

Steven: Oh! Yeah, she's my workmate, I guess?

Robbie: Hm... right.

Robbie: walks past him while elbowing him in an aggressive way

Steven, whispering: Yikes... scary.

Dipper, from the back: I know right!?

------------------------

Mabel, goofing around, doing some weird stuff: hehehe

Steven: Wow... thinking about it, she'd get along with Amethyst.

------------------------

Mabel: gasp Oh my gosh! Steven, look at Waddles and Lion!

Lion and Waddles: literally just staring at eachother

Mabel and Steven, with star eyes: Awww....

------------------------

Wendy: Dude, your girlfriend seems really cool.

Steven: Oh, yeah! She's great. She's really smart and pretty, she can sing and play the violin... she can sword fight-

Wendy: Wait wait wait... sword fight?

Steven: Yeah!

Wendy: Your girlfriend rides a pink lion and can sword fight? That's so cool!

Steven, full of love: Ah, yeah... she's amazing...

------------------------

Hope y'all enjoyed this one. This is the second part! Even though none of these are in any order, so it doesn't matter. But here's the first one. Also, I just wanted to say something about the shapeshifting thing: I do enjoy posts where Steven shapeshifts to make his arm or whatever longer to help. It's really cute, but in my opinion (again, my opinion) I feel like after steven turning into a cat and kaiju monster, he'd be way too uncomfortable to shapeshift. It'd also remind him of when he became taller, buff and was glowing pink. That's just what I think. :-)

[lesbian-in-leather]

So it's a little late but I finally made the extended version of this post

I'm just going to rewatch the trailer and write down all of my thoughts, but actually expand on everything this time (and it'll actually be mostly in order)

Maybe it's just the cut for the trailer, but the lawyer scene feels very rushed. BBC made it comedic in its own right, not just a setup, but here it feels very much like "have some exposition so we can get to the ghosts". The ghosts should not be the only point of comedy - they're important, sure, but "Samantha" and "Jay" should be able to carry a scene by themselves

"Samantha" doesn't think it through. At all. She cuts off the lawyer after his first buyer suggestion, and "Jay" doesn't seem to be on board with the idea. In the OG, they were both into this (admittedly bad) idea, so the responsibility was on both of them. Yes they rushed into it, but it was way more thought out than just hearing the words "bed and breakfast" and deciding that's your new plan

Why did they age down Pat for "Pete". I hate it. He's younger and skinnier and there's no reason. Like yeah, the OG doesn't have AMAZING diversity, but it's better than this - don't take out diversity in a remake. Didn't think I'd have to spell that one out

The sage joke is admittedly funny. However, it gives us some insight into the ghosts that I'm not the biggest fan of, and let's us see a lot of their new designs. Let's go across, shall we?

"Issac" is so much less dignified than Thomas. I understand that Thomas isn't always as poised as he'd like to think, but there's a level of class that's missing from "Issac", right down to the way he stands

"Flower" looks high. How can a ghost be high, you ask? No idea. But here we are.

"Sasappis" (I read in an article that this is a character name and I believe tis the Native American guy) has such a tiny reaction I almost missed it. He barely moves while everyone else freaks out. I'm hoping they didn't create this character out of the 'emotionless Native American' stereotype but... I guess we'll see

"Hetty" is the replacement for Lady B, and she's super expressive, protective of the others, and so much younger. She was supposed to be a grumpy mother/grandmother figure - why is she literally leaping in front of the others to protect them? That should be the Captain's job but they've axed him so I guess it falls to her now. Also, why did they make everyone so young?? Like, none of the ghosts look over 35. Why. This was unnecessary and, quite frankly, stupid. Why is everyone at this house dying so young? Just so they can market them as fuckable???? L o a t h i n g

Viking Man also barely moved. He seems interested in the sage and is basically a "cooler" version of Robin as far as I can tell. They seem to have taken away the joy of Robin's character, leaving only Some Guy which would be bad in any genre, but ESPECIALLY a comedy. He has potential in theory, but I feel they aren't going to utalise it

"Trevor". I have so much loathing for this man. Let's have some overall analysis, shall we? First of all, we'll start with, what I hope is a well known fact: Julian is not a good person. I love him as a character and he is starting to learn and grow, but at no point does the BBC or the other characters try to justify his behaviour. CBS saw this, and made Trevor. Trevor is younger than Julian (because for some reason they AGED EVERYONE DOWN), which also makes people far more likely to excuse his actions. They seem to be trying to make him a 'loveable fuckup' who makes bad choices because of privaledge, and I am. So worried. That they're going to try and excuse his actions. He already feels like a writer's self-insert and that never bodes well, especially in this type of character. Mark my words, they're going to market him as the 'relateable' one while having him spout misogynistic views (probably also homophobic and maybe even mildly racist/xenophobic ones too)

MOVING ON

Why is "Pete" sarcastic? I don't like it. Pat wouldn't be the one yelling aggressive comments while everyone's actually doing something together - he should be happy! Encouraging! He should be trying to catch up to the moving group instead of attempting to draw attention away from it!

Everyone looked so happy for the dead relative when she moved on. Hate that - it was so funny in BBC when they were like 'fuck off why does she get to leave' - having "Pete" be happy is fine, but the rest of them? WHY IS "HETTY" HAPPY.

Oh look, "Travor" actively flicks "Pete's" arrow to cause him pain. Why. That was so unecessary. None of the ghosts should try to hurt each other out of pure malice, and they certainly shouldn't get joy from it. It feels like CBS is trying to turn us against "Pete" and put us on "Trevor's" side, which I called, but am not a fan of.

And here she is. "Alberta". What the FUCK did they do to Kitty. She has Kitty's colour palette and fits the diversity demographic, but that is where the resemblance stops. Kitty is SUCH a wonderful character because she was an upper class black woman who was allowed to be soft and sweet and innocent and the others all protected her and I LOVED IT. Do you want to hear some fun descriptors they gave to "Alberta" in this article?

"In her time, she dated a bootlegger and has “seen it all,” and is a bit of a diva. Though tough and not one to take crap from anyone, she has a maternal streak and often acts as the protective den mother to the “family” of ghosts"

This is not only far closer to so many stereotypes, but it's the polar opposite of Kitty!! Having a flapper was a pretty cool idea but she could have had the same character traits as Kitty! Why change that! There was NO REASON TO RUIN HER. Also is it just me, or does it seem like they've made way too many of them sarcastic? Like, they've taken away Alison's snarky streak but given sarcastic lines to way too many of the characters

Also can I just take a moment to question the sheer amount of ghosts they've included. I understand that technically there's about the same amount. But with so much less of American history to draw on and the questionable character choices they've made, it feels like there are so many undefineable characters. Like, how do we differentiate them?? Even in the trailer there are so many scenes where most of them are just... standing around. In BBC, they're all so distinct and you get so much out of rewatches because they're all always doing something - look in the background of any shot and the ghosts who aren't talking have a reason to be there! But in this they're just... standing around. Do better.

I've just realised I'm only 0:59 seconds into a 2:16 trailer so I'm going to split this into two parts

Part two is here

[sunnydaisy1]

Med Students

JACKSON AVERY X OC  (nr i just found it easier to write with a set name)

A/N: I have been watching too much grey’s atm and I know i have lots of requests to write and a wattpad story to update but the Jackson inspiration is too much ahhh.

I walked through the halls beside Alex as we made our way to the reception. Apparently we had all been paged and we didnt know what for. As we entered the large area, I saw all the residents gathered and I squeezed passed a few people until I reached Jackson and Mer. "Hey guys what's going on?" I asked, pulling Karev away from Arizona. "Fresh meat." Jackson said, nodding towards the line of sweating students. I grinned, nudging Jacksons arm, "oh how fun." He rolled his eyes but a small smile played on his lips as he turned his attention to Chief Webber. "Alright people today we are joined by a group of first year medical students who you will be supervising." He spoke, giving us all a stern look to silence the mumbles of disgust. "Your surgeries are their surgeries so look after them and try to be nice please. Oh and I will be choosing a chief resident soon so behave. Dr Grey will read out who you have been designated." Alex mumbled something beside me which caused Mer to slap him hard and I sighed, knowing this was going to be a long day. Lexie stepped forward, holding a clipboard and scanned the room for silence before proceeding. "Okay Marcus is with April." April waved and the med student headed over to her, leaving for rounds. I glanced up at Jackson who was furrowing his eyebrows. My gaze turned back to the pale interns and Lexie. "Meredith has Helen, Christina has David." The two med students walked over nervously and I laughed at Christina's merciless glare. There was 1 pretty girl left who I could tell was eyeing Alex up. "Dibs." Alex called, nudging Jackson and I rolled my eyes at their boyish behaviour. "No fair." Jackson said, shoving Karev back. "You fancy Ma.." Alex started but Jackson elbowed him in the side and I turned round, shaking my head. They both looked at me sheepishly and I turned back round as Lexie announced who Alex was going with. "Alex you're with Lydia." He triumphantly clapped Jackson on the back before heading over to his newfound 'love.' I patted Jackson's back, "Looks like you've either got the greasy dork or mr handsome." Jackson frowned down at me, "mr handsome?" I poked his cheek as Lexie continued to read out the other residents students, "not talking 'bout you." Jackson gave me a lopsided grin as he turned back to face Lex. "Maddie you're with Sam." A tall brunette stepped forward, a handsome grin on his face. "Greasy dork it is." I said to Jackson, walking off to meet my student. I heard him sigh which made me grin as I stopped in front of Sam. "Hey I'm Maddie, you must be Sam." I extended my hand out to him and he smoothly shook it. "Nice to meet you Maddie." I smiled at him and started walking off in the direction of Trauma. "Okay so today we will be under Dr Hunt who is head of Trauma. If you have any questions dont be afraid to ask but try not to get in anyones way." Sam nodded, "okay ma'am." He grinned at me as we stopped outside the ER. "It can be a little shocking seeing a proper trauma in real life for the first time so if you need to step out just do it." Sam nodded as my face turned serious. 

I stepped backwards, opening the door to the ER and walking through the the small corridor that led to the ambulance bay. "Okay we need to put on these yellow gowns and then we are good to go." I said, tossing Sam a large yellow gown. I spotted Jackson walking through the ER doors and I smiled inwardly at his pained expression, probably from his pestering student behind him. I unfolded my over gown and pulled it on, nodding at Sam who was tying his up. I was struggling to sort out the crumpled part at the back when I felt a pair of warm hands move mine away and I turned round and smiled at Jackson who grinned at me and finished tying a bow with the strings. I blushed slightly and walked over to Hunt and Torres with Sam beside me. "Morning all." I said, peering at the two grave attendings beside me. They grunted in return. I felt a nudge beside me, "hm?" I asked, preoccupied with watching Jackson cross his arms over his chest. "Is that one over there your boyfriend?" Sam asked and I blushed, quickly averting my gaze back to my smirking student. "What? No!" I said, frowning. "Okay cool." He continued before looking around at the ambulance bay. JACKSONS POV "Hey uh Dr Avery?" The greasy med student beside me asked as I watched Maddie talk to Sam and giggle on the other side of Hunt. "Yeh?" I asked curtly, fed up with this guys constant questions. "Is the ambulance coming?" He said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. I narrowed my eyes at him and titled my head to look at him, "yes." I said aggressively and James nodded, fiddling with his yellow gown. "Who's uh..who's the resident over there?" James asked, trying to continue the conversation. "Maddie." I responded, tensing as mr handsome nudged her. "Oh okay." He nodded and my attention was snagged from Maddie and her flirting student to the blaring sirens of an ambulance pulling up into the bay. Hunt and Torres stepped forward as the paramedics stepped out the doors and lifted the patient down. "Amanda Hart, 45 years old, multiple burns on her left arm and a large gash on both her legs, possible fracture on the left femur." The medic stated, helping us wheel her into the ER. I felt James shuffle beside me, awkwardly moving around the gurney. "Dude move out the way." I grunted, frustration clouding my brain. Hunt glanced over at me and I cringed, I really needed to impress all the attendings if I'm gonna be chief resident. When we had wheeled Mrs Hart into a bay and transferred her to a hospital gurney, I glanced up at Maddie who was working furiously, sanitizing the wound on the patients right leg. I shook my head to clear it and focused on the patient who was screaming in pain. MADDIES POV When we had finally given some pain meds to Mrs Hart and the bleeding was under control and she had an MRI, I sat on a stool alongside her arm where she needed a few stitches. Sam was listening to Torres explain something about a dislocated shoulder and Jackson's student was standing close beside him on the other side of the room as he finished suturing a young man. "Almost done Mrs Hart." I said sweetly to the middle aged woman watching me. "Thank you sweetie, you're a real star." She replied as I tied off the thread. I smiled at her and stood up, walking over to Hunt. "Need anything sir?" I asked, the ER was kinda slow today and I didnt want to spend all of today stitching up people, plus Sam should get a full insight of a hospital. "Uh no thanks Johnson, if you're looking for something interesting to show your med student you could observe in OR 2, Sloan's building some cheek bones." I nodded, grinning and heading over to Sam who was laughing alongside Callie. "Hey Maddie." Sam said, smiling broadly. "I've finished Mrs Harts sutures and I was wondering if you wanted to come see cheek bones being constructed?" I said nonchalantly as if I hadn't just suggested going to see a really cool surgery. "Really? Oh my god please." Sam said, gobsmacked. I nodded, "yep, go tell Dr Avery and his student, I think they've finished with their patient." Sam grinned and walked over to Jackson. "You know if you totally didnt fancy the crap out of Avery you could go hook up with Sam right now." Callie suddenly said as I watched my favourite resident talk to Sam. "Wait what?" I asked, turning my attention the the grinning Mexican. "might want to wait til after work though, if the chief found out that would be messy." I stared wide eyed at Callie, "wh..how?..howd you know I like Jackson?" The grinning attending turned towards me, "you told alex and alex told arizona who told mark who told me, word travels fast around this hospital Maddie." I gaped at her gobsmacked, shocked that all those people knew, I was gonna kill Alex. "Oh and the fact that you two never stop eye-fucking each other across the room." Callie added and walked off leaving me embarassed and blushing. I tried to act normal as I walked across the room to Sam. "Ready to go?" I asked and he nodded enthusiastically. "Wait hang on, dont leave without me." I heard Jackson pipe up behind me before placing his hands on my shoulders. "Alrighty then let's go." We walked quickly to OR 2, Sam and the student who's name I learned was James walked a little ahead, chatting about what they had seen today. "Hows Mr handsome?" Jackson asked beside me, his piercing green eyes glinting with humour. "Good, not that annoying and easy on the eyes." I responded, grinning at my fellow resident. "Oh lucky you." Jackson said, grumbling, "greasy mcdorkface over there wont shut the hell up." I laughed and shoved him slightly, causing a shit-eating grin to spread over his face. "Meanie." I said, glancing up at Jackson. "I'm not the mean one you called him a greasy dork first." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest in victory. "Yeah but we're all dorks so doesn't really count." I said, my side brushing against Jacksons. "I'm not a dork." He said defensively and I chuckled, "sure you're not Avery." "You're more dorky than me." Jackson poked me and I grinned at him, "that's why you love me." Jackson beamed and watched Sam and James stop outside OR 2. "I'll ask Sloan if we can watch." I said, walking past the two students and holding a mask over my mouth. I noticed Alex and Lydia standing very close together opposite Mark and I rolled my eyes, "Hey Dr Sloan do you mind if Jackson and our students watch the surgery?" Mark looked up at me from the patient and grinned cheekily, "depends if you and avery are gonna watch the surgery or undress each other with your eyes." I felt my face heat up and I glared at Alex who was grinning amused across the room. "Uh no." I replied, avoiding the gazes of the nurses. Mark nodded, "then you can come in." I walked back to the door and nodded, letting Sam, James and Jackson into the room, each now wearing a mask. JACKSONS POV We watched Sloan's surgery for 2 hours before Maddie got paged to the ER and I got paged to Bailey. James and I were walking out of OR 2, discarding our masks when the awkward student spoke up, "that was really cool." I nodded, trying to be a little nicer to him, "yeah it was, plastics is really interesting and Sloans a great surgeon." James nodded and walked alongside me down to the nurses station. "Is Maddie your girlfriend?" He asked suddenly out of the blue and I scoffed, "no." James frowned and adjusted his glasses, "do you want her to be?" I glanced at the dorky man beside me and chuckled a little at his attempt to get me to like him. "That's a yes then." James answered, smiling a little at my amused expression. "Yeah." I smiled at him as we turned the corner to the Nurses station. "You know if you fancy her you should just tell her, I think she likes you as well." James said, following me to the chart rack. "What?" I asked, confused why he would think that. "She likes you back Dr Avery. She kept on looking at you when we were in surgery and Sam told me she never stops talking about you." James continued, making me frown. "Thanks mate but I'm not so sure." I replied and James shrugged as we walked over to Bailey, arms laden with charts. Bailey brought me to check up on some post op patients and let James do a few checks himself. I couldnt stop thinking about what he said and I was looking forward to having lunch in a bit when I could see Maddie again. MADDIES POV Sam and I left Mark's OR after 3 and a half hours to grab food and let him go for lunch with the rest of his fellow students. "I think you guys are having lunch in the canteen with us." I said, leading Sam to the loud room filled with doctors. "Cool." He replied, walking closely beside me. We entered the canteen and I saw the rest of the residents sitting on a table in the middle with their students sitting a few tables away. I walked over with Sam to get a plate of food and followed him towards the students table where Alex happened to be sitting beside his pretty student. JACKSONS POV I watched as Maddie collected her food alongside Sam, smiling and laughing with him before heading towards his table. "Whys she over there with him?" I asked, absent mindedly eating my sandwich. "Why jealous?" Christina grinned at me triumphantly and I scoffed, glaring at her, "No." Mer chuckled as she slurped on her milkshake. I looked over again to Maddie who was now standing beside Sam's seat, talking to the table of students. "That dude's been flirting with her all morning." I grumbled, chewing on my straw. "Jackson stop being a wimp and just ask her out." Lexie spoke up from across the table. "Urgh no, I've tried before and she ends up inviting one of you guys." I replied, slumping in my seat and shooting daggers in the back of Sam's head. "Well then you just need to clarify it's a date. Maddie's a bit oblivious to stuff like that Jackson." Lexie continued, smiling at my distraught appearance. "What if she doesn't like me back, then i've ruined our friendship completely." I added, miserably picking at my plate.  "Oh grow a pair avery." Christina said, making me roll my eyes at her as Maddie walked over. "Hey guys." She said sweetly, sitting beside me in the empty seat I had saved for her. I grunted in response, intent on picking at my sandwich. "What's up with you?" She asked, nudging me and frowning adorably. I bit into my sandwich and mumbled, "nothin." Maddie shrugged and started chatting with Lexie about the med students and Mark's surgery. I continued to stay in a grump, mulling over how Maddie was gonna reject me when I asked her out later. I was fiddling with the lid of my drink when Maddie whispered to me, "Hey Jackson you okay?" I nodded and continued to listen absent mindedly to Christina complaining. "You sure cos you seem a little sad." Maddie continued, nudging my shoulder with hers. My heart fluttered at her sweet actions and I just nodded, mumbling "I'm fine." Maddie seemed to accept this but placed her blueberry muffin on my tray anyway, knowing it would cheer me up a little. I smiled slightly at her and she grinned back, now trying to make Christina see sense about her Cardio problems. TIME SKIP TO END OF DAY MADDIES POV Everyone was in a bit of a mood now after their review from their med student delivered by the Chief. My review was excellent so I wasnt annoyed but the depressing atmosphere in the residents lounge was starting to get to me. Everyone was already changed but I was still in my pale blue scrubs as Callie had needed my assistance on a surgery 10 minutes ago. I opened my locker before taking my scrub shirt off, placing it on the side and pulling my long sleeved top over my head. I turned around to get my jeans and when I faced back around, jackson was making his way across the room to me. I pulled my scrub pants off and tossed them to the side with my top, yanking on my jeans. Jackson leaned on the locker beside mine as I buttoned up my pants. "What's up?." I said, discarding my scrubs into the bin at the end. I reached into my locker to collect my stuff and looked at the green eyed boy expectantly. "Uh I was urm wondering if you wanted to go uh.. to go to Joe's with me?" He stuttered and I nodded, piling my stuff into my bag and pulling on my coat, "oh yeah sure, I need to talk to Mer about something anyway." Jackson took a step towards me as I closed my locker and put my keys in my pocket. "Urh no not urm not like that." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "What?" I said confused, frowning up at him. "Urm like a uh like a date." He continued and I frowned even more, confused as to what the hell he was talking about. "A date with Mer?" I asked puzzled, "Jackson shes marri..." I started but he placed his hands on my shoulders and laughed, making me smile slightly confused. "No a date with me idiot." I instantly felt my face heat up and I felt like an utter dork, "oh." I nervously looked into Jacksons eyes and felt my heart beat rapidly in my chest, "uh yeah, yeah I'd like that." I replied, tucking my hair behind my ear. Jackson grinned at me and I felt a wide smile spread out on my own face, still hot with adrenaline. We stayed grinning at each other and I glanced down to his mouth and back up, scanning his slightly blushing face. Jackson took a step forward, leaning down slightly and I felt the world whoosh around me, all sound and movement blocked out apart from the man in front of me. He stopped an inch away from my face, looking directly at my lips, I could feel his cool breath fanning over me. He looked up into my eyes, his green ones shining. "Can I kiss you?" He breathed out, eyes flicking between my eyes. I nodded slightly, not trusting myself to speak. 

At once, I felt Jackson's plump warm lips press against mine, pushing me back slightly as he cupped my jaw and cheek. My eyes fluttered closed and I relaxed into his kisses, kissing him back softly. I reached behind his neck and hooked my arms over his shoulders, deepening the kiss. I felt his left hand snake down to my waist, brushing under my tshirt and to the waistband of my jeans as he ran his tongue over my bottom lip. I moaned slightly and opened my mouth, letting him slip his tongue in. He brought his hand further round my back, moving his warm hands against the bare skin. I continued to kiss him passionately, feeling the rising temperature in the room. Jackson ran a hand along the front of my waist and his fingers dipped slightly under my jeans waistband. I moaned slightly in response but pulled away, not wanting to get too far ahead of myself. I kept my eyes closed and rested my forehead against his, "I dont want to get carried away." I whispered, breathing heavily. I opened my eyes to see Jackson looking down at me, his green eyes shining. "Let's go." He said, taking my hand in his and placing a gentle kiss on my lips.

[koushisbabie]

Shibari (with Suga)

so I was sat there, innocently reading some cute Japanese terms, when I came across shibari... and honestly my head was like no thoughts just Suga and pretty rope

anyway here’s a one shot of just that, enjoy.

pairing: Suga x gn!reader (I tried my best!)

word count: 1.6k

‘You okay, baby?’ Suga murmured. He breathed in against the dip in your collarbone, stroking the stray hairs behind your ear.

‘You’re distracting me.’ You said pointedly.

‘By doing this?’ He spoke in between kisses against your neck, then upon hearing you hum in response, placed a gentle one to your temple. He reclined back into the cushions and turned back to the screen, his eyes reflecting the show he’d long lost interest in. ‘Sorry, kitten.’

You nudged his arm playfully. Suga gave you a silly grin and you couldn’t help but return his cheerfulness with a soft laugh. ‘I’m not saying stop...’

The mischievous glint returned to his lovely eyes and, had they always been that pretty?  

‘If you say so.’ He snaked his hand under the blankets that were draped messily around the two of you and smoothed over your thigh. Shivers sent up your spine, despite the room seemingly growing in temperature.

‘Koushi, should we at least turn off the show?’ You raised your eyebrows suggestively. Suga’s smile grew at the use of his first name, a sign of deep intimacy that he didn’t allow with many others. Turning to the screen, he paused and closed the show.

‘Better? Would you prefer music, or the sounds of you and I?’ He winked. ‘Oh, that shade of blush looks delicious on you.’

‘Delicious?’ You chuckled. ‘That’s a new one. Music.’

Suga moved underneath the blankets and settled on his stomach in between your unclothed legs. He looked up at you innocently, placing his chin on his hands over your ribs. ‘I’m trying to spice things up; did you like it?’

‘Hmm...’ the heated blush grew deeper with the memories of other things you had tried before, ‘what else did you have in mind?’

Suga smiled gently and touched his forehead to yours. His voice was low. ‘I may have ordered some special rope.’

‘Rope?’ Your eyes flew open and met with his still closed ones. Were his eyelashes always that long? Why aren't mine like that... ‘You mean, bondage rope?’

It was Suga’s turn to blush this time, the delicate pink dusting his cheekbones and the tip of his nose. You placed a kiss on his forehead.

‘Ever heard of shibari?’ He asked tentatively, looking up at you through his eyelashes. ‘It’s a type of traditional Japanese bondage. It’s quite... artistic, actually...’ He trailed off, his gaze trying to gauge your reaction.

‘I’ve heard of it, but never tried it,’ you said thoughtfully. ‘Have you?’

‘No, but I've tried practicing tying some knots.’ Suga played with the ends of your hair, twisting strands around and between his slender fingers. ‘Want to see?’

The smile on his lips turned into something devious, all innocence dissipating. The shivers erupted in goosebumps shooting across your skin and for a second you were sure he could feel the sparks too.

This was how he was – the cheerful, gentle person that strove to be recognized as something good, someone useful – he was pure and yet had introduced to you every impure act you’d participated in in the bedroom. Well, and every other room in the house.

‘You’re going to be the death of me, Koushi.’ Drawing him closer, you pressed to him a kiss that quickly grew more heated.

‘Is that a yes? Or a no?’ He murmured into your mouth.  

‘Mm, okay.’ You smiled as you began to bunch up his shirt and pull it over his head, tickling his bare skin with your knuckles. ‘Only if you teach me what to do.’

‘S’my pleasure.’ Suga smiled, cupping your cheek.

He lifted himself off you and dug around in the drawer next to the bed. He extracted a fabric pouch and tipping it upside down, he procured a thick bundle of relatively delicate looking silver ropes.

‘They look lovely. Matches your hair!’ You pointed out.

‘I thought you’d like that tiny detail,’ he smiled. ‘Now, kitten, turn over.’

The shivers returned tenfold. ‘R-right now?’

‘Oh, I suppose you should remove your clothes...’ A sheepish glance followed as he placed the rope bundle on the bedside table and leant over to kiss you. Gently he pushed his hands up your stomach, sliding your shirt up slowly but before you could complain internally about how he was taking his sweet time; you were completely laid bare to him. ‘And there you are – beautiful.’

Breathless, was the only word you thought could describe how you felt as Suga rolled you onto your stomach and began to place kisses down your spine. Attempting to push yourself up on your elbows, you steal a glance over your shoulder at him, only to have him look up at you with an intense gaze that softened ever so slightly upon eye contact. Bowing his head, he kissed the sides of your hip, leaving the remnants of his open mouth to cool against your skin.

‘Should I try the rope now?’ He asked somewhat timidly, though you knew he was doing all he could to limit the excitement in his voice.

You nod and give him a sultry smile, or what you hoped was sultry. The twitch in his mouth revealed to you just how delicious he thought the exchange was.

‘I’ll need to put this under your tummy first...’ Suga straightened, taking the rope in both hands, smoothing it out, and beginning to reach under you, ‘and then bring it here, with this part...’

‘It’s softer than I thought it would be...’ You began as the rope tightened across your chest and over your shoulders.

‘They’re not intended to cause you a lot of pain,’ Suga placed a kiss to the nape of your neck, before drawing both your arms up and wrapping your wrists. His slender hands made quick work of the intricate ties, weaving and tightening until a gorgeous botanic-esque design laced your skin.

The tying went on for what seemed like eternity but was likely a few minutes. The only sounds that occupied the room were the quiet lo-fi tunes and your steady breathing that hitched whenever Suga brushed his knuckles against the insides of your open thighs, which was often. He smoothed his palms over your hips, drawing you to arch your back for him, thinking maybe he was finally going to touch you, before he drew back, and the cool air met your naked skin again.

The hitching of your breath was accompanied by Suga’s quiet hum, the pleasant sound that indicated he was enjoying himself. His fingers were soft and busy, and the anticipation began to grow worse with each passing second. You knew he was trying his hardest not to touch you on purpose.

How cruel, you thought to yourself as a tiny huff of annoyance escaped your lips.

‘What was that, baby?’

His voice startled you.  

‘N-nothing.’

Then he was right next to your free ear, the one that wasn’t pressed against the cool satin pillow. Suga was leaning over you, expertly avoiding touching your arms that were tied up behind your back. You felt his hand brush the side of your neck, his eyes trailing it as he made his way slowly down your spine, tracing absent shapes into your skin, until he reached the insides of your thighs again. He knew what he was doing – the damn tease – as he traced the softness of your skin closer and closer to the heat that pulsed incessantly.

Is he finally going to touch me? You thought as a tiny whimper escaped your lips. Suga paused momentarily, meeting your gaze again.

‘Are you okay?’ He asked, genuine concern laced his voice. ‘Did I tie it too tight?’

Looking at him with pleading eyes, you murmured. ‘Please, touch me.’

‘Oh, is that all?’ Suga smiled deviously, leaning in closer to your ear. ‘Say it again, kitten.’

You could feel the surprise tugging your eyes. ‘Are you going to make me beg?’

‘I just want to hear it one more time, you know how I love that pretty voice of yours.’

You swallowed, not having realized just how hungry you were for him. The anticipation grinding at your limbs, the tightly bound rope was fixed comfortably around your wrists and over your shoulders, down your stomach, around your thighs, leaving various parts of you exposed and vulnerable. Parts of you that only Suga could see and even then, it wasn’t like you were dressed up in rope every day – this was an entirely new feeling. The feeling of utter powerlessness, a complete trust in the one person you didn’t want to hide a single thing from.

A hand caressed the side of your face, tucking a stray hair behind your ear. Suga’s expression now quite concerned, presumably due to your lack of response. ‘Hey, are you sure you’re okay? We can stop, just tell me when.’

You looked at him with what you hoped was a sexy expression and not something of cluelessness and desperation. ‘Koushi, please,’ you said in a tiny voice, pouting for extra emphasis, ‘I want you to fuck me.’

Suga’s eyes widened ever so slightly, before straightening to gaze at his masterpiece and you could feel the intensity trailing over your skin, the pulsing in your lower belly growing more urgent. He placed his hand between your thighs but before you could relish in the sweet contact you had long been anticipating, he drew it back, scrutinizing the glistening left on his fingers. You watched over your shoulder as he sighed contently before undressing and climbing onto the bed to place another kiss to your temple.  

As he met your gaze with adoring eyes and a soft smile, the fraction of him that was pure shone in the lamplight and for a second you were convinced he was an angel, though what followed sure showed you otherwise.

[shyrose57]

2nd part than.

8: (This ones longgggg) Their rooms all have the same beige (like brown mushroom color) walls and floors. As their not allowed to change that. But Watson has some bookshelves in his room along with a old adventurer cape that goes in front of his body and hangs to his ankles (Item-Ya Adventurer Cape is a perfect example. Idk the actual name for the kind of cape it is), some display cases featuring his strongest bows and arrows, along with a sword and axe, along with pictures of the group toghere and pictures from his travels on the walls, he has a single lone desk that is only used when designing new bows or arrows. Ran also has bookshelves, but his is bigger and takes up a whole wall, he also as a winter cape with fur on its shoulders hung up (he lived in a snow biome for a little while and made the cape himself), along with a single weapon case that features a lone damaged neitherite sword, he also has chests stacked along a wall filled with random stuff that he sometimes gives as gifts or uses to throw at people. Jackie has a few paintings and posters in his room, along with the only carpet in any bedroom (that he totally didnt steal from Grievous), a panting easel, he has a single display case in his room that displays the sword Porkius gave him for winning, theres also pictures of the group toghere and a small chest next to his bed filled with things that belongs to someone in the group. Grievous has a small bookshelf (one book is a naming book Watson jokingly gave him), a chest filled to the brim with blankets and pillows (cause for him comfort is a necessity), he also has a desk that he tends to fall asleep at when doing literally anything on it. Everyone also has a good sized wardrobe somewhere in their room that is filled with different outfits and w statue stands with either iron armour or empty. There is also a four-way-bunkbed in the living room/area, they typically use it when someone is having or had a very bad day and needs comfort, or when Jackie's separation anxiety is bad and needs to sleep with everyone nearby. 

Ran loves reading and sometimes gets mad when someone intrupts his reading. Watson loves designing new bows and arrows and just designing weapons in general (Grievous does too and helps him sometimes). Jackie likes to paint and has a interest in adventuring one day. They are well known but only in Subbin and surrounding cities. Though word does travel about them at times which can bring people to Subbin. They have 2 titles actually! First is used in typical matches, while the second is used in more formal or serious matches (like those for general). Ran: The Enderman, Partikel Tari (Dancing Particles, referencing how when he fights when serious its like he's dancing as he teleports around the field). Watson: The Archer, Multi (Referencing how he has more experience than anyone in the use of all kinds of weapons and can quickly adjust to situations). Grievous: Multi-Named, Unpredictable (referring to how he is by far the most unpredictable person in serious battles). Jackie: The Child, Diremehake (Underestimated, referring to how he gets underestimated a lot during any battle). They get recognized quite often and get called their stage names, when they dont want to deal with people recognizing them they often either yell at them to go away or just run away. 

9: They do all of the above! It depends on the match up (Jackie and Watson stay out of eachothers way mostly, Ran and Grievous make it one on one, and Ran and Jackie take them out quick). Oh the first time Ran threw Jackie was hailours. You could hear Watson screaming from the stands in fear and Jackie just head-butted the guy in the stomach. Then when Jackie recovered he just yelled for Ran to throw him again, and once again you could hear Watson screaming no and threats at them from the stands. Ran agreed and threw Jackie at the last person, who he just bear hugged as he hit and held them down. Then after the battle Watson smacked the two and chastised them.

10: At first he drops stuff and trips over his feet on a regular basis. But after about 3 weeks he fully regains his balance, and is able to finally walk without tripping at the start. While the attempts at bonding do work to get Ranbob and Cletus closer the two never get as close as the rest. Neither can really name what's stopping them from getting closer though. For the first week people need to constantly remind Ranbob to do all of those things. As he thinks the constant hunger, thirst, and tiredness is all normal when its not and their trying to get him to understand that. And while he eventually starts to do it himself, theres still some nights where he doesnt eat or drink or sleep. They just leave the two in the house, but later they do start to expand the house a bit to fit the new addition. He does not get his own place up, he just gives up after some time. He doesn't fall asleep out there to often thankfully, but since the house keeps falling on him he does get cuts and bruises quite often. He gets stuck in a rain storm only 2 times which isn't bad, but he does get semi-bad burns from them sadly that Benjamin has to sit him down for and have Charles distract him for long enough to wrap his wounds properly. And it only took Benjamin like 4 weeks before he finally got fed up and forced him inside and had him stay with them. He has dealt with a storm before when he was young! But it was when he was about 12 so its been a long while. 

11: He spends all of his free time glaring at them. And for the first few days whenever he sees someone from his group hanging around his brothers, he'll go over and pick em up and just carry them away. The fishermen worry for a bit that Ran may hurt them, but Watson assured them that Ran knows the two groups like eachother and wouldn't hurt them incase that could hurt his families feelings. 

12: Ranbob is extremely happy about potentially getting new members of his family! And eagerly tries to talk with them. But Ran is far less happy and actively avoids them (and drags his family away at times).

13: At the start they have no idea where their going. But when Grievous brings up about Rans damaged sword they decide to find a nether portal so they can find whats needed to repair his sword! And Watson decides on the way he can show them all the different biomes in the world, which Jackie is extremely excited for. 

14: If the fishermen get separated from Ranbob for too long he actively goes and searches for them. And refuses to stop until he finds them. When upset Ran loves to pick up members of his Haunting, though he doesnt do them often as he knows his Haunting doesn't like it when he does it to often. He and Ranbob also pick up blocks though as it's a comfort action and soothes them. Cuddles piles do happen! They happen more for Ranbob to comfort him after a nightmare or just a bad day, or when he basically relapses and wants to go back to Dream. But cuddle piles are more rare in Rans group, as cuddle piles only happen when anyone is doing really badly mentally or physically and just need comfort, or when they all just need some comfort. But their much more sentimental and have more meaning than Ranbobs groups. 

15: Oh definitely. I forget if I included it when I first introduced my Au. But soon after Ran escaped Mizu, he was hunted for his pearl and respawn ability. Though he killed the people hunting him. Every year he was out of Mizu and every year before he entered Subbin he was hunted by multiple groups. He's become legend just for avoiding so many groups and killing a vast majority of them. He's known as the "Green Eyed Enderman." and is a top goal amongst hunters. There are some times Ran got jumped in Subbin for being a hybrid but he quickly defeated them. 

Karl has played his role in this! Though maybe I could make it so he comes in later on during a really difficult part between the  brothers, and helps out. Using his own experiences in the SMP and seeing what ruined relationships like brothers does to someone and others, to make sure their relationship doesn't stay so broken and hurt so many people. Maybe at the end I'll have them go back and face Dream so Ranbob (and even Ran slightly, with how Dreams presence affected him) can finally be completely free. As of rn no one has a pet. But that question made me really want to give someone a raven and idk who. I want to have bits of the other Tales in it! Im not quite sure how yet but I want this to be a mostly Tales ONLY au (no main SMP stuff unless needed or necessary) as the Tales don't have enough love. He does write down the experience he had with the Dream Experience and writes down very important things, but other than that he leaves it behind. 

Im really happy to hear that you like my au. I love world and story building a lot and can't control how much I write sometimes, again im sorry this is so long and I'll do my best to not make anything this long ever again. Sorry if this bothered you

8: Sounds pretty interesting, overall. Was Watson-as his cape suggest-perhaps an adventurer? And he designs his own bows and arrows? Very cool. What kind of things does he come up with?  Ran also sounds like he’s traveled a bit. He knows how to sew? Has he ever made anything for anyone else? Where did he get his sword? Jackie’s got a carpet? Very nice, he deserves it. And a painting easel? How good is he at painting? Or is it more of something he’s just trying? Grievous sounds like he could build a very good pillow fort, and honestly, good for him. How often do they camp out in the bunk bed room? 

Ran not liking being interrupted is understandable. Does he ever read to anyone, or is it more some alone time for him? Grievous and Watson must design some terrifying weapons. Where is Jackie looking at adventuring to? Anywhere specific, or just around? And what language(s) is Ran and Jackie’s secondary titles in? Latin? 

9: Very smart of them, means it’ll be harder to pick up a pattern. And hearing about Ran tossing Jackie-I’m laughing. I’m not going to lie, kind of assumed it was planned pre-match, but hearing that they just decided to throw him? Watson’s reaction? Just...hilarious. Was Jackie even prepared for it, or did Ran just toss them without warning? Honestly, it kind of sounds like people might come to the Pit for the comedy just as much for the fighting. If this was the kind of thing that went down, I’d probably come to watch.

10: Oh no, Ranbob! At least he’s getting better. So Cletus and Ranbob never quite click, huh? Well, that’s alright. Sometimes people just don’t. Doesn’t mean they don’t care about each other! Ranbob thinking it’s normal, oh god. Does he ever say something along those lines, or get confused why the others are so worried about it? If so, how do the fishermen react to that question, and how does Ranbob react to the answer. As for the house, well. He can say he tried if nothing else-and hey, funny story to share with the gladiators later on. It’s good that he wasn’t caught in too many storms, less that he was caught in some at all. I’m sure that was a big help in convincing Benjamin to finally just put his foot down, which, honestly good for him. You go, Benjamin!

11: Ran, bud, chill. I like how you said his free time though-my first thought was that he immediately finished a book and went over to glare at them. Probably not true, but a hilarious mental image. Very glad Watson has reassured the fishermen-how did Ranbob react to that worry of theirs?

12: Ran’s actions are pretty understandable, but still a bit sad. How does Ranbob feel about them? Is he resigned? Determined? Upset?

13: Adventure! Into possibly dangerous places! How fun! Can’t wait to see where it goes. What do they see? What’s the first stop? How long are they heading off?

14: He won’t stop? Like, potentially will work himself into the ground won’t stop? Ran just picks up his members like blocks. And, oh boy. Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream? That’s just. Oof. Very much oof. How do the fishermen deal with that, and how do they feel about it?

15: Ran sounds like he’s had a less than enjoyable time out there. Do these hunters ever go after them once they leave Subbin? Do they target Ranbob? I mean, he’s another Endermen hybrid, and one who definitely isn’t as skilled as Ran, or as used to them. He’d be a much easier target.

So Karl’s gonna come in towards the end. Nice. Ran was also affected by Dream? How so? Obviously less than his brother, but did he ever notice? Did Ranbob? Sounds like it’d be a good final showdown, over all.

As for that pet raven, may I offer some suggestions? You could give one to Jackie and Grievous, so it can help them cause havoc, or maybe one to Benjamin, so it can help him keep an eye on his dorks. Maybe even Cletus, to help snag things, and mess with people, or Isaac, maybe to help find things. Even Watson, or one of the brothers, to help keep watch over their groups. Really, you could give any of these guys a raven. Depending on said bird’s personality, it could fit anywhere. Just depends on what you want to do with it.

I completely agree with you, we need more Tales AUs. Ranbob and Ran did come from what was basically a city of historians, perhaps you could use that to tie in the other Tales? Or even have them across the old ruins of areas on their adventure. Even chunk in more time travel, via Karl or otherwise, if you want to toss in more characters.

Ranbob pretty much starts over then. Good for him. How does Ran feel about that? Actually, who was Ran’s idol, and his general life on Mizu, before the Dream incident?

Other questions:

One thing I’d like to know is how the groups react to each other’s experiences and general life styles. Like for one, Ranbob and the fishermen generally seem more physically affectionate with each other, while Ran and the gladiators seem fairly less so, but no less close. 

For another, the fishermen probably still remind Ranbob to eat or sleep, which would probably seem a bit confusing for the gladiators. How much do they know about both sides? Obviously enough for them to want to help get the brothers back together, but like.

How much do the gladiators believe Ranbob’s side. Are they wary, or skeptical, or do they believe it completely, and if so, why? 

How long was Ran left running, evading hunters, and how has that affected him? How many times do both brothers say something concerning, and how do they react to what the other says?

You’ve said Ranbob occasionally relapses and wants to return to Dream. Does this happen on the trip? And if so, how do the gladiators react to such a thing-depending on how much they know about the whole thing, I can imagine mixed reactions. How does Ran react?

How do both groups react to the new endermen hybrids? They seem to have dealt with different instincts before now, so seeing Ranbob trail the fishermen and Ran just pick up the gladiators must be a bit strange. 

What can Ranbob keep down? Not only was Dream in control, and not particularly careful with his body, but supplies were probably also somewhat limited when he did eat. So how has that affected him? 

Are there any nicknames within in the groups? How do the gladiators react to the schedule change, considering they had set times for so much before? How do the fishermen react to the new areas? What habits are/become shared, and what habits are restricted to one group.

In general, just...how the fishermen and the gladiators differ in lifestyles, basically. 

For another, in one of the earlier post, you mentioned both Isaac and Cletus wanted to return to Mizu. Isaac kind of gives me a historian vibe himself, or some sort of archaeologists. Just a kind of person who wants to learn about history-perhaps something to do with the fact that he was played by Karl, and the whole time traveler thing. 

But anyway, what exactly did those two want to do down there? Explore, learn, steal?

And how would you say everyone’s personalities are like? Will you be introducing anymore characters, Tales or otherwise. It’d be interesting to see a Pit version of Tommy, or Puffy, or such.

How does Ran react when he finally accepts the truth, and what exactly pushes him to that? 

Hope this isn’t too many questions. I’m pretty invested, not gonna lie.

And seriously, I don’t mind the length. Long or short, I’m really just happy to hear more about your AU, and I look forward to more.

[taelme]

Don’t Need Your Love Club - Recruiting Now! (Welcome, Na Jaemin!)

genre: high school!au, community service club president!jaemin (LMAO) (fluff, mild angst w a happy ending!!) 

pairing/s: Jaemin / Reader (ft majority of nct dream, nct Doyoung, Astro Sanha and Stray Kids Seungmin and Hyunjin!) 

word count: 16k+ 

tw: none! mild tension between Jaemin and his parents 

a/n: happy valentines day~~~ happy Jaehyun day~~~~ ❤️❤️❤️❤️ hope you enjoy this! Donghyuck’s chapter will be coming soon so please look forward to it!  

"Y/N," your friend called over her shoulder, "what do you think? Chocolates or balloons?" she asked you.

“Huh?”

Your lips parted in confusion, though you realised what she said quickly, shrugging in response to her question.

“I don’t know,” you hummed.

You glanced at the display of items nearest to you, eyeing the pretty roses laid out on the table.

"I like the flowers," you offered, a hint of teasing in your tone, knowing very well her boyfriend didn’t like flowers.

You heard your friend tut her tongue at you. "For my boyfriend, not you," she told you, making you giggle, making you shoot her a patronising look, dodging when she tried to swat at your shoulder.

“I don’t know why he doesn’t like flowers, he’s pretty convinced they attract bees no matter how much I try to convince him,” she elaborated, making you wince.

“I hate bees, though. I get what he means,” you pulled your lips into a frown, almost eliciting a giggle from Jaemin, who had to turn his head away and cover his mouth in an attempt to stifle his endearment.

“Just—” She groaned. “—help me pick between the chocolates or balloons,” your friend shook her head, directing your attention back to the topic at hand.

You hummed in thought, oblivious to the way Jaemin was listening in on your conversation as he pretended to arrange the chocolate boxes next to the roses, catching your attention.

"Chocolates," you muttered, letting your gaze wander down the set-up of the booth, noticing the pretty posters and banners they'd pasted up.

"Wow, whoever designed the banners this year should get a pay raise..." you commented, inspecting the banner but feeling like there was something off with the spelling.

"Right? I thought so too,” your friend murmured, though you didn't know whether she was referring to the chocolates or the banners. Turning to Jaemin, she gestured towards the boxes of chocolates.

"Can I get one box of that, please?"

You looked up at who she was talking to, recognizing him to be Na Jaemin, your senior who you'd first seen during the club fair in your school, looking away immediately because you weren't used to seeing him so up-close, not realizing what a nice smile he had until now.

Noticing your distress, your friend eyed you suspiciously, deciding she would put her suspicions to the test.

"Are you getting anything for anyone?" she turned to you, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she had successfully directed Jaemin's attention towards you, making you shake your head vigorously.

"Nope," you replied, shifting your weight on your feet, “don’t give me that look...it’s just that, you know, my Valentine's day this year's looking pretty.....uneventful," you huffed with a nervous laugh, making Jaemin frown.

Though he was well aware that the custom he was used to was that Valentine's day was for girls to give guys gifts, he figured a little 'chivalry' as Jaemin liked to put it, may just be the right thing for this situation. Before he lost the sudden surge of confidence, Jaemin recalled what you'd mentioned about liking the flowers.

Packing the box of chocolates into a bag for your friend, Jaemin swiftly handed her the bag along with her change, and you were about to leave when you saw a flash of red almost being shoved against your face.

"Here," you heard his voice.

You leant back, staring at the rose in front of you in surprise, your gaze flickering between the rose and Jaemin who was holding it out for you.

“From me. Happy Valentine's day." Jaemin tilted his head at you ever so slightly, giving you a small close-lipped smile.

You weren't sure whether your mind was registering your movements when you took the flower from him gently, a short silence falling between the both of you (well, and your friend too).

Jaemin opened his mouth to speak again, “What's your na—”

"Y/N!" your head snapped around when you heard the unmistakeable voice of that menace sound in the school's foyer, Jaemin’s question going unnoticed.

"Your 'church brother' is here..." your friend trailed off and you felt a weight on your shoulder, turning to spot Donghyuck next to you, hand pressing down on your shoulder harshly.

Jaemin's eyes widened at the sight of his friend, narrowing his eyes at Donghyuck, "Yo...Lee Donghyuck," he called in a slightly louder voice, making Donghyuck's head snap around to face him quickly.

"Ohh! Right, I forgot you’d be here. You two haven't been introduced yet, right?" Donghyuck gestured between you and Jaemin, earning a shake of the head from Jaemin.

"Well I was about to before you came out of nowhere," Jaemin muttered bitterly, going ignored by Donghyuck, who fiddled with his tie with one hand, gesturing back to you with his other hand.

"Jaemin, this is Y/N, a family friend of mine. Y/N, this is Jaemin." Donghyuck let go of his tie quickly, bringing his hands to yours and Jaemin's wrists, forcefully pulling your hands closer.

"C'mon. Shake hands, make friends," he told the both of you in a tone that fearfully resembled the way he spoke to his pet turtles (whether they were still alive or not, Jaemin was scared to find out).

You hesitated only momentarily, but tensed when you felt Jaemin close the gap and grasp your hand in his, dismissing all those knowledge from etiquette classes and his parents on a firm handshake, choosing to simply squeeze your hand reassuringly before letting go.

Donghyuck, looking satisfied, had let his gaze fall on the rose in your hands, a confused sound falling from his lips.

"Who'd you get this for?" he frowned, and you'd looked at Jaemin in panic, unsure whether you should tell Donghyuck you weren't getting it for anyone.

Looking at Donghyuck with wide eyes, you pointed a finger at Jaemin, making Donghyuck mirror your expression.

"You got it for him?!"

Donghyuck's tone rose, unmistakably about to kick up a fuss since he knew Jaemin’s horrible track record when it came to professions of love from girls in school, but Jaemin intervened before he could do so.

"I gave it to her," Jaemin blurted, looking elsewhere once Donghyuck had directed his wide eyes towards Jaemin.

Narrowing his eyes at the both of them, a realization struck Donghyuck, making him nod slowly, casting a knowing look at your friend.

"Oh....interesting....I'll uh....good for you, bro” Donghyuck shrugged, pulling your friend aside under the pretence of heading to class first so you and Jaemin would be able to have some time alone together.

You glanced nervously between Jaemin and the other members at the booth, seeing him smooth down the sides of his hair, shaking his head to adjust his hair, his slightly curly hair bouncing with the movement.

"So uh....you're a first year, right?" you heard Jaemin clear his throat, his voice coming out a lot more confidently than you'd expected.

Not trusting the pitch of your voice, you nodded in response, seeing his lips curve into a smile, showing off his (very straight) teeth, his head tilting slightly as he looked at you curiously.

"That's cool," he smiled, the conversation falling silent between the both of you before Jaemin spoke up again, wanting to continue your conversation in the hopes of finding out more about you, "are you in any clubs?"

You shook your head, "I put my name down for a few but they're mostly event-based ‘cause I was scared I wouldn't be able to like...cope and stuff," you explained, twirling your rose between your fingers.

"Ahhh...I get it," he hummed, sounding fairly empathetic, though he knew his choices were rather different, seeing as he was used to biting off more than he could chew when it came to commitments.

Jaemin's gaze flickered to your hands, and you wondered why he was glaring so intently at your rose, almost jumping in shock when he'd held a hand out.

"Sorry, can you hand me the rose for a minute?"

You frowned, your panic making you react with a joke.

"You're taking it back?" you asked, handing him the rose anyway.

Jaemin simply gave you a soft smile, shaking his head and turning away from you. You watched as he picked up a pair of cutters, clipping off a thorn on the stem that you were surprised you hadn't cut yourself with from how much you were twirling it.

"There, all better," he smiled, handing the rose back to you.

"Oh.....thanks," you felt your cheeks heat up, "I better uh...head back to class and shit—I mean. Yes. Bye," you waved quickly, not waiting for him to respond before you walked off.

===

That same day, Jaemin had met Jeno on his way back from school, said boy looking very tired after playing for ungodly hours at the computer cafe.

"Do you have dinner at home?" Jeno asked Jaemin, nudging the frame of his glasses up his nose bridge, shaking his head slightly to get his hair away from his eyes.

Jaemin shot Jeno a knowing look, narrowing his eyes at Jeno, “you told your mom you were staying over today again, didn't you?"

Jeno scoffed, “I didn’t—” Jeno sucked in a breath, “okay, maybe I did, but hey, are you trying to fault me for wanting to spend time with you?” Jeno raised his eyebrows, challenging Jaemin.

Jeno relaxed when he saw the way Jaemin broke into a grin, shaking his head good-naturedly at his friend.

“It’s fine, my mom’s been asking me to invite you for dinner anyway,” Jaemin sighed, tucking his thumbs behind the straps of his bag, looking up and letting out another sigh when he saw the way the sun was setting, the sky beginning to get darker.

Jaemin directed his gaze away from the sky, glancing at Jeno.

“So, we haven’t had a good time to chat in a while,” he began.

Jeno snickered at the unnatural wording Jaemin used, making Jaemin tut his tongue in annoyance at Jeno.

“As I was saying, how have things been for you?”

Jeno’s lips pursed, looking as though he were contemplating as he spun his phone in his hand like it was a fidget spinner, letting out a small sigh and shrugging, “I don’t know, I guess I met this girl at the computer cafe the other day when Chenle bailed on me,” he started, ignoring the smirk that Jaemin was giving him.

“You ‘guess’ you met her?” Jaemin laughed, raising his hands in defence when Jeno gave him an exaggerated glare, “okay, sorry. Please, continue.”

“At first I was just looking to kill boredom so I just invited her to play a game of battleground with me since she looked pretty bored too, but then after that she just- okay. Long story short, she played a lot better than I thought she would.”

Jaemin’s eyebrows raised, pressing his lips together in a poor attempt to conceal his amusement, “mmhmm,” Jaemin prompted Jeno to continue.

“‘Mmhmm’ what? That’s it, that’s all that happened,” Jeno responded defensively, making Jaemin roll his eyes.

“You wouldn’t be telling me about her if you didn’t have more to say, Jeno. You can’t fool me, idiot.”

Jeno inhaled, letting out a tired sigh, eyes lighting up when he saw Jaemin’s house in sight, “I can’t wait to eat your mom’s food again,” Jeno frowned, rubbing his stomach.

“Don’t dodge the question. Spill,” Jaemin’s tone was firm, making Jeno slump his shoulders in resignation.

“I don’t know, I guess it bothered me? That I just kept thinking about her? Like, I wanted to know more about her, you know what I mean?” Jeno looked at Jaemin for affirmation.

Jaemin’s eyebrows raised, a thoughtful pout on his lips. His lips soon curving into a knowing smirk.

“So you were attracted to her, basically,” he commented dryly, making Jeno tut his tongue at him.

“You make me sound so stupid,” Jeno sighed, their pace quickening as they walked down Jaemin’s driveway, Jaemin already fishing out his keys from his bag to unlock the door.

“Am I wrong?” Jaemin scrunched his nose up in amusement, a groan of pain leaving his lips when Jeno smacked him across the arm. “Is she from our school?”

Jeno hummed in affirmation. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen her before. She’s friends with Yoon Sanha and Seungmin.”

“Oh, Seungmin’s friend! Yeah, I think I know who you’re talking about,” Jaemin nodded, recalling seeing Seungmin with this said girl-space-friend before in school.

Opening the door (with his good arm), Jaemin caught a whiff of his mom’s cooking when he stepped into the threshold.

“Jaemin, honey, you’re back? Come, let’s eat,” he heard his mother call.

“Hi, Aunty!” Jeno called out loudly, tossing his bag aside next to the sofa and entering the kitchen, sounds of Jaemin’s mother cooing over Jeno echoing to where Jaemin stood in the living room, taking his time to put down his things.

Checking his phone for notifications, he let his bag drop off his shoulder as he scanned through the messages from the teacher in charge of the Community Service Club and the group chat, talking about upcoming preparations or proposals they were waiting for Jaemin to send to them.

“Home from school so early?” Jaemin heard his dad’s voice.

“Huh?” Looking up from his phone, Jaemin made eye contact with his father who was standing near the entrance of the kitchen, waving Jaemin over.

“Put your bag down, let’s eat,” he told Jaemin, who obediently did so, following wordlessly behind his dad into the kitchen. He wasn’t surprised to see that Jeno was already seated opposite his mother.

“How’s school, baby?” His mother asked, “Jeno told me your overseas trip is coming soon.”

Nodding in response, Jaemin swallowed his mouthful of food.

“Yeah,” he answered, hearing his dad chime in with a sound of approval.

“You’re signing up, right? I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you that you need all those specs to look good on your school applications,” he said matter-of-factly.

Jeno scrunched his nose up in distaste, bowing his head in the hopes that Jaemin’s father wouldn’t notice his dissatisfaction with where the conversation seemed to be heading.

“Is it really a must for you to go?” Jaemin’s mother cut in, making him raise his eyebrows in question.

“It’s....a volunteer trip......” Jaemin murmured, spooning his last spoonful of food into his mouth, already feeling full.

“Yeah, I know, honey. But why do you want to do all these things, isn’t it tiring? I’m sure if you just donate the money they can get people to do it, right? Why don’t you ask your teacher for other alternatives that won’t be so physically taxing?”

Jaemin’s father shrugged, “True. All these people want is the money at the end of the day.”

Jeno winced, knowing this was a particularly sensitive topic for Jaemin, looking at his friend furtively to gauge his reaction, a wave of concern washing over him when he saw the way Jaemin scoffed slightly, his fists clenching around his cutlery, directing a very harsh stare to the salt and pepper shakers at the centre of the table.

“That’s not true....these people deserve help, and I’d be happy to be the one to help them.” Jaemin muttered, trying to calm himself down so as not to act out rudely to his parents (as much as he wasn’t agreeing with what they were saying now).

“Jae, it’s great that you have this perspective of it but...you know it’s just an excuse for your school to show that they care about the community…right?” His father laughed, picking up his glass of wine and bringing it to his lips.

“Is that such a bad thing? That I’m offering help to people that need it more than me?” Jaemin tilted his head, letting go of his cutlery, a soft thud sounding from the metal hitting the placemat. Jeno watched with wide eyes as Jaemin’s mother picked up the rest of the meat on the serving plate, placing it on Jaemin’s plate.

“Here, eat some more. I don’t want to keep the leftovers.”

Jaemin wanted to tell her off, to ask her to just throw it away like she always does, but in his anger thinking about the wastefulness of the action, he jabbed at the meat with his knife, bringing it to his mouth and eating it despite how full he was, Jeno’s gaze at Jaemin’s plate as pitiful as it could get.

Standing up abruptly, Jaemin spoke over the last bits of food in his mouth, desperate to leave the kitchen, “I’m done with my food. Thank you for the meal,” he murmured, storming off upstairs after grabbing both his and Jeno’s bags from the living room.

Jeno sighed, bowing slightly as he thanked Jaemin’s parents for the meal, walking upstairs after Jaemin, seeing his bedroom door ajar when he reached the top of the stairs. Jeno shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the back of Jaemin’s desk chair, watching as Jaemin rummaged loudly through his cupboard, pulling out the spare set of clothes and underwear Jeno kept here for the days he stayed over.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Jeno heard Jaemin say from behind the door of his closet, soon seeing his head of (very dishevelled) hair when he shut the door, handing Jeno his clothes.

Jeno shook his head, knowing that it was common, it not having been the first time he witnessed- or heard -Jaemin’s parents views on Jaemin’s schooling situation.

“Don’t worry about it, man. Just go take a shower, cool down. We can talk about it later if you want, alright?” Jeno looked at Jaemin whose eyes began to gloss over, and Jeno swore he saw Jaemin’s lips quiver slightly.

Jaemin nodded, thankful that at times like this he still had Jeno to keep him sane. Nodding wordlessly, he left to shower, hoping the time alone would let him calm down like it usually did.

===

You'd failed to spot Jaemin around in school much after Valentine's Day, and even now as you walked into the mass hall for morning flag raising, you couldn't help but search for him among the crowd of 2nd Years, but obviously not finding him.

Taking your seat next to your friend, you went with the normal proceedings, practically ready to leave the hall after the announcements sounded as if they were about to end, until your friend had tapped your thigh rapidly.

"Dude, dude look who's on the stage," she told you hurriedly, excitement laced in her tone.

Frowning, you lifted your head only to see Jaemin standing at the podium. Microphone and cue cards grasped in one hand as the other adjusted his collar.

"Good morning, teachers and students. My name is Na Jaemin, a member of the Community Service club." he began, and you saw powerpoint slides being flashed on the screen hanging next to him.

"I’ll try to keep this short but I'm up here today to talk about the upcoming overseas community service trip that the school will be having." You watched as the screen showed a video titled 'CSP-2018'.

Glancing at the screen, Jaemin smiled, "here's a video to let you know more about the purpose of the trip as well as the types of activities we do on the trip. Since this is a cultural experience trip as well, there will be various activities planned for students to incorporate both work and play in the trip,“ he said, nodding to signal to the people in the control room.

Watching the video, you noticed how Jaemin had gone for the trip last year as well, seeing many shots showing him playing with the children from the orphanage or showing them building a room for the children. A part of you felt strangely touched by the video, appreciating the effort they put into bringing a positive impact to the lives of the people there, making you feel more spurred on to sign-up for the trip.

"Are you gonna go?" your friend nudged you, gesturing to the video.

You nodded, ”I mean...I want to but I gotta know the details first.."

The video had ended, and Jaemin had picked up the mic again, "This year's trip will be at the same location, and the dates of the trip can be found on the screen," he stated, “sign- ups are currently open, and there are about 20 slots that are yet to be filled so we hope you can join us on this trip..."

Nothing but silence could be heard around the hall.

"Oh, and extra-curricular points will be awarded, of course," Jaemin added as an afterthought, only then sparking murmurs and whispers around the hall.

"I'm free on those dates.." you hummed, after mentally going through your schedule, you made a mental note that the trip would be less than 2 weeks from now. "What about you?" you asked your friend.

She shook her head, “I can’t, I’m going overseas with my family during that time, but I mean…there's no harm in you still going. Maybe you can make some friends," she shrugged.

You winced, giving her a hesitant look.

Jaemin unconsciously searched for you in the crowd as he signalled the club members at the back of the hall to give out the details to the teachers.

"If you have any questions, feel free to approach any of the members of the club, including myself," Jaemin almost smiled when he found you in the crowd, squinting at the screen.

Turning your head back to face the front only to make what you thought was eye contact with Jaemin, he spoke, "Thank you for your time today, and I hope to see you there," he smiled, giving a small bow before exiting the stage.

===

"What did you send me? I'm literally sitting next to you," you told Donghyuck as you sat next to him in the church pews.

"Sign-up link," he murmured, and you could just about hear him over the sound of the priest's voice giving announcements.

"Sign-up link for what?" you frowned, genuinely confused at what he was sending you.

"The overseas community service thing," he told you, choosing not to add the part about Jaemin asking him to send it to you.

"I want to go but like...my friend can't make it so if I go there's literally no one I know there!" you shrugged, hoping Donghyuck could sense your stress about having to be in an overseas environment with people you didn't know.

"Who knows? Maybe this'll be a good chance for you to make friends! I know some of them, they're really nice people."

You hummed, "Lemme ask my parents first...when do sign-ups close?"

Donghyuck hummed in thought, "Monday."

"That's tomorrow!"

"Precisely. Which is why you gotta make your mind up soon," he threw his hands up in a shrug, giving you an unapologetic look.

You'd left it at that, and you were glad Donghyuck hadn't mentioned it after that. And a part of you hoped that would be the last time you would have to think about it, since you didn’t think the chance of you going was very high.

But being confronted by Jaemin about it on Monday morning when you were trying to buy your lunch didn’t make your dilemma any more solved. (well, not confronted but it might as well have been to you)

"Are there any more of this one?" you pointed at the empty section of bread, asking the lady operating the shop.

Shaking her head at you with a sad smile, "sorry, sweetie, we're all sold out."

You frowned. “Oh man,” the frown almost audible in your tone.

"Hey, Y/N,” your attention was taken away from choosing what alternative bun to get when you heard someone call your name, turning in the direction of the voice only to see Jaemin standing next to you, wearing the school sweater this time instead of the usual sweater vest.

He already bought his food, the plastic bag hanging from his wrist, but you were still stuck deciding what to get among the selection.

"Oh, hi," you smiled, diverting your attention to the bread before you. "Why d'you look so sad?" He asked you, an amused smile on his face.

"There's no more of the bread I always get," you frowned.

“S’this your lunch?" he pointed at the bread, earning a nod from you. Jaemin had noticed you looking rather sadly at the empty section of bread, glancing in his plastic bag to see that he'd bought the last few for him and the guys in the dnyl club.

"Oh, right, Donghyuck told me you were thinking of signing up for the trip?" you grasped the packaging of the bun you were holding tighter, suddenly feeling like eating more.

Picking up another bun, you glanced again at Jaemin's plastic bag, wondering if he was going to eat all those by himself.

"Did your parents agree to it?" you nodded.

“Yeah, they agreed. It’s just me...I’m just kind of hesitant since I don't really...know anyone in the club?"

Jaemin gave you a hurt expression, "Aren’t we friends?"

You opened and closed your mouth, not being able to defend yourself as he took the buns from your hands, paying for you while you were distracted trying to formulate a reply.

"I mean, yeah, we...are," you gave him a smile, still feeling unbearably shy at the thought of it, feeling him hand the plastic bag with your buns back to you, not noticing that he'd dropped one of his buns into your plastic bag.

"Then you have nothing to worry about! I know all of them, they won't bully you, they're really nice."

"Wait, you-" you glanced at the cashier, back to the bag of buns in your hand, turning back to look at Jaemin in shock, "you shouldn't have.."

Jaemin grinned, shaking his head at you as he led you away from the crowd at the bakery, "you don't have to pay me back. This isn't a bribe, I promise."

"Anyway, I have to go, got a...um...meeting. See you around?" Jaemin wished he hadn’t agreed to Harvey’s idea of joining the ‘don’t need your love club’, since that meeting was the only thing that was currently the only thing standing in between him being able to spend more time with you.

You stared at him blankly, nodding, mentally deciding that you would sign up for the trip.

“Uh-huh....see you around."

When Jaemin returned to the club room, the boys had immediately noticed the giddy smile he had on his face while he distributed their buns to them, Renjun eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's got you looking so stupid?" Renjun spoke up.

Jaemin shook his head dismissively, leaning back in his chair and trying to conceal the smile from his face, never remembering feeling like this in a long while.

"Aren't you eating? Where's your food?" Jeno asked, and Jaemin could practically hear the frown in his voice.

Jaemin let out a loud sigh, “I think I’m already fed enough to last the week.”

“....Do I even wanna ask..?” Donghyuck murmured, chewing on his bread while giving Jaemin a questioning stare.

Jaemin lifted his head, casting Donghyuck a satisfied smile. “I’m so glad you have friends,” Jaemin told him, making Donghyuck scoff, having a feeling he knew what was going on with Jaemin.

“I’d like to solve the puzzle” Donghyuck raised his hand, his tone similar to that of a gameshow contestant, earning an expectant look from Renjun and Jeno.

Staring at them in silence, Jeno nodded slowly, unsure why Donghyuck had kept silent despite the green light.

“Go on??” He prompted again.

“Jaemin has a crush,” Donghyuck’s tone was firm and decisive. This made Jeno and Renjun’s eyes widen.

“Huh? Since when?”

“No way.” The boys chimed in simultaneously.

“Valentine’s Day,” Jaemin sighed when Donghyuck brought up the day.

“I don’t believe in love at first sight, but she was really cute...and all my interactions with her have been pleasant...but that’s it.” Just like that, it was as if Jaemin had snapped out of his giddy daze, brought back to earth by his many responsibilities he should be busy with instead of being lovesick.

Renjun was sceptical, “Then what’s got you looking as though she asked you to marry her?”

“Last I heard, she was considering signing up for the overseas trip,” Jaemin explained, making Jeno nod, a hum of understanding leaving his lips.

“But you don’t actually know if she’s going, do you?” Renjun shot him a look, his question sounding more like a statement, making Donghyuck brush Renjun off.

“Hey, let the boy dream. It’s the first time I’m seeing him actually like someone and it’s a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be,” he snickered, taking another big bite out of his bread as though he were attempting to fit the whole thing in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out from the action.

“When’s the next time you’re gonna see her?” Jeno asked, curious about who you were.

“The pre-departure briefing’s on Wednesday. But that’s if she signs up, of course,” Jaemin gave Donghyuck an pointed look, knowing he’d sent Donghyuck the sign-up link to forward to you.

Donghyuck raised his hands defensively, “I swear I sent it to her.”

Jeno on the other hand simply nodded, figuring he should be supporting Jaemin since it was rare to see Jaemin care about anything other than his oh-so-many responsibilities, and maybe—just maybe, it was a change of scenery that Jaemin needed.

“Keep us updated.”

“Yeah, you better.”

When Wednesday came, Donghyuck assumed you’d shown up to the briefing when he’d received a flood of messages in the chat group.

jaemin 1:55pm- oh my god she’s here she’s actually here for the briefing- 1:55pm - r u guys SEEING these messages- 1:56pm - o I’m stupid I was the one that checked the groupings but I didn’t even realise she was in the same grp as me- 1:56pm - wait she’s in the same grp as me omg- 1:56pm -ok the meeting is starting bye wish me luck-

“Hi guys, so for starters can you take a look at the board and see which groups you belong to, and assemble yourselves accordingly around the room? With group 1 here and group 4 here?” You heard the young teacher instruct, their tone sounding fairly urgent, so you quickly searched for your name among the names on the board, not wanting to end up as the last one standing.

You were quick to spot your name, but you felt a strange wave of relief wash over you when you saw Jaemin’s name under the same group as yours, turning around and spotting him at the side, already sitting with a few other people.

Making your way over to the group, you saw Jaemin look up from the sheets of paper he was analysing, giving you a wave when he saw you. It seemed to you that the people here already knew each other, but only upon reaching your group and sitting down you felt their gaze on you when Jaemin had greeted you.

“So, I see you decided to sign up in the end?” He leaned back, resting his weight on his hands behind him, giving you a smile.

Nodding and reciprocating his smile, you tried to peek at the papers he had arranged neatly in front of him but failed when he'd reached his hand forward to fiddle with the side of the papers, shielding the words from your vision.

"I'm glad," he let out a small content sigh, glancing at the direction of the teacher before nodding, "sorry, I’ll be right back."

You gave him a small smile, eyes widening when you looked back at the rest of the group, realizing they were all looking directly at you.

"What's your name?" one of them spoke up to ask, her tone fairly eager, making you unconsciously try to match her level of energy.

“Y/N,” you replied as cheerfully as you could, scanning the faces in the group and recognizing some of them to be from your cohort.

"Oh, is it the same Y/N?” you saw one of the girls turn to whisper, earning a sharp nudge from whoever was sitting next to them.

"I don't know about you, but I’ve never seen the pres act so comfortably with people other than his group of friends," you heard the girl next to you murmur, making your eyebrows raise.

"Much less a girl," the boy sitting next to her had agreed.

"So.... is it your first time coming for one of our events?" a boy with light brown hair asked you, taking your attention from the girls, eyebrows lifting in question. "I'm Seungmin, by the way."

You nodded, "Yeah, uh... Jaemin was asking if I wanted to go the other day so i figured like... why not, and stuff.." you trailed off, nervous huff of laughter leaving your lips.

"Are you and the pres dating?" a girl that you recognized to be from your class had interrupted, narrowing her eyes at you in disbelief.

"Who? I'm not dating anyone right now," you replied, confused as to why they were accusing you of dating their president, whoever it was.

"But wasn't he the one that gave you the rose on Valentine's day?" the girl sitting next to you had cut in.

"Wait, I always thought he was gay. He’s not gay?” A boy sitting in the other group next to you had turned to join the conversation.

You laughed, more confused than anything, "Oh, that? The rose thing- that was Jaemin."

You saw Seungmin press his lips together in an amused smile, "You don't know who the pres is, do you?"

You were about to defend yourself, pretending as if you knew before giving up, slouching in your seat and shaking your head at Seungmin, seeing him point at the front of the room, and you followed his gaze to where Jaemin was standing, discussing something with the teacher and what you assumed was the travel agent at the front of the room.

"That," Seungmin said, "is our pres."

Your mouth formed an 'o' shape in realization, eyebrows raising in surprise at the unexpected discovery, turning back to Seungmin with a determined expression on your face. "Wait, is he really gay?”

Seungmin scrunched his nose up at the question, shrugging innocently, “It’s kind of unknown...personally, I’ve never thought that way, but he has always seemed pretty uninterested in dating. You’d be surprised at the amount of love confessions he’d refused from just this Valentine’s Day period alone,”

You frowned in confusion, "then why'd he give me the flower?"

"You see that's what all of us are wondering. But from what we know, the pres is a massive flirt," Seungmin divulged, smirk playing at his lips as he watched your eyes widen.

You were about to ask something else when you heard the sound of Jaemin getting everyone's attention.

Introducing the travel agent to the group, Jaemin let him take over and came back to sit with your group, (conveniently) placing himself next to you. As the travel agent briefed you guys about the details of the trip, you noticed how Jaemin was silently double checking whatever he had on his paper with what the agent was showing on the screen, nodding along as he talked.

Halfway through the briefing you heard the travel agent start to wrap up, inviting Jaemin to carry on with the rest of the briefing, seeing the boy next to you make his way over to the front of the room.

“You guys are already split into your assigned groupings, right?" you heard the teacher speak, feeling Seungmin lean over to inform you who the teacher was.

"That's the teacher in charge of the community service club, his name is Doyoung." You made a face of realisation, recalling hearing Donghyuck mention him many times (and the fact that he was a ‘major pain in the ass’) before.

“Basically, now that you know the itinerary, each of your groups will be assigned with an activity that we will be doing during the trip, some will be preparing gifts for the visits and others will be planning things like games or designs for the mural.”

Doyoung had walked over to the centre of the room, directing his instructions to a particular group sitting on his right.

“For the groups in charge of the murals, please come back to me with your designs preferably latest by the day of the flight itself, because we need to confirm it with the orphanage for the approval of the design.”

You frowned, unsure why he was directing such a stern gaze towards the group next to him, only realising afterwards that it was because one of them was very obviously falling asleep right in front of him.

“Jaemin, your group is doing the gifts, right?” Doyoung turned to ask Jaemin, who stood at the front of the room, with his back leaning against the whiteboard, arms crossed in front of his chest as he nodded.

“Alright, then the rest of the session will be for you guys to prepare your activities, group leaders please take charge, check with Jaemin or me if you need any clarification about the visits.”

“How come Jaemin does so much of the planning?” You turned to ask Seungmin, not realising that Jaemin was already making his way back to where your group was.

Seungmin’s gaze darting between yours and Jaemin’s approaching figure, he lowered his voice to a mere murmur, “Honestly, I think it’s just always kind of been like that...our last teacher before Doyoung was crap at organising, so Jaemin just took the lead, but now I guess the habit kind of stuck, so Doyoung just lets him carry on and just oversees it and stuff,” he explained to you, making small gestures as he spoke, turning around to face the circle promptly once Jaemin had returned.

You almost jumped when you felt Seungmin lean over to tell you, “don’t let this scare you but... another factor is because Jaemin has always been pretty strict about the club activities. Not saying that we don’t have fun—we definitely do have fun. But to put it simply....if you’re not really..genuine about it, he can usually tell right off the bat, and he won’t really be silent about it either, so....I would suggest treading a little more carefully around him, especially if you’re just...in it for the points or as a one-time thing.”

You nodded slowly, turning back to see Jaemin looking at you with his eyebrows slightly raised in question, “did you hear what I said, Y/N?” He asked, a teasing lilt to his tone, not to mention the hint of a smile at his lips.

You opened your mouth to reply, almost nodding, only to remember that in fact you didn’t hear him, deciding on giving him a sheepish smile instead, shaking your head slowly, “uh...sorry, I didn’t um... hear that,” you admitted, seeing him visibly relax, letting out what was a mix of a sigh and an amused huff.

“It’s alright, what I asked was whether you guys had any suggestions for gifts that we could make for the children at the orphanage we’ll be visiting.”

“Should we give them something more educational? You know, since they probably don’t have as many resources as we do,” you heard one girl from the group speak up, earning various nods from the group, including yourself.

Jaemin jut out his lower lip in a pout, nodding, “we could do that, did you have anything specific in mind?” He asked her.

The girl’s eyes widened, shaking her head and shrugging, “I’m not very sure..”

“What about like those stationery sets? We could buy them online and I’m pretty sure it can ship in before the day of the trip,” another girl offered, and you nodded, figuring it was a pretty good idea.

“Hey, Jaemin, do we still have leftover stuff from the bracelets we made for the fundraiser?” Seungmin spoke up from next to you, catching your interest.

“Bracelets?” You turned to him and asked, glancing back at Jaemin when you heard him let out an affirmative hum.

“Yeah, we have a lot left over from the last event we did, I can bring them and we can make some, since the trip is in less than a week,” Jaemin murmured, turning to the rest of the group, “do any of you think you can meet before the trip to make the bracelets? I could pass them to you if you guys are free,” Jaemin suggested.

You’d wanted to mention that you were available, opening your mouth and nodding at Jaemin, but your enthusiasm subsided quickly as you succumbed to the majority when you saw many of them shaking their heads, commenting about how they had yet to pack for the trip.

“Then, it’s alright, then. I don't think I’ll have time to make any beforehand anyway. We can just make them during the trip on one of the nights, after all, the trip isn’t very long.”

===

“You totally missed your chance, dude, you could’ve just asked her to make the bracelets with you, you know?”

Jaemin let out a resigned huff at Jeno’s chiding followed by the sound of the rapid-fire gunshots from Jeno’s game. Shaking his head as he shoved the last of his shirts into his luggage, staring at the bag full of beads and string tucked in his luggage.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, I’m literally flying off in a few hours,” Jaemin shrugged, letting out a grunt as he heaved his luggage from his desk chair to his bed, making Jeno yelp and shift to the left before getting crushed, not without casting a glare in Jaemin’s direction.

“So do you have a plan?” Jeno asked, hissing loudly before setting his phone down next to him, bringing his other hand behind his head to support it as he lay on Jaemin’s bed.

“What plan? Plan for what?” Jaemin frowned, neatly folding his jacket and fitting it nicely into the corner of his suitcase.

Jeno shot him an unamused look, “for Y/N, dude.”

Jaemin’s movements halted for barely a second, shaking his head dismissively.

“There’s no plan. I shouldn’t pursue it,” he said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself.

“What do you mean you ‘shouldn’t pursue it’? You were the one that gave her that rose on Valentine’s Day and freaked out just because you gave her bread so what are you going on about saying you have no plan?”

Jeno’s tone was exasperated, “rule number one of gaming dude, doesn’t matter if u have a plan or not- just go with your gut. We die like men.”

Rolling his eyes, Jaemin walked into his bathroom, fishing out his toiletries as he replied Jeno, his voice echoing from the bathroom, “this isn't battleground, Jen.”

“Okay, fine, whatever. Game or not, you can’t close this case so quickly. At least try to get to know her first, before you totally write it off.”

Jaemin didn’t reply, letting a pensive silence fall between the two boys as he zipped up his luggage loudly, moving to double check if he had whatever he needed in his carry-on bag, going to the bulleted list in his phone and checking the items off as he went.

Jeno knew why Jaemin was so averse to the idea of pursuing you or even thinking about a relationship with you, the Jaemin that Jeno knew never would have let himself get into a relationship if he knew he wasn’t ready to commit and set aside time to make it work. Jaemin was one of the most romantic people he knew, but refusing a chance at love was just something he’d been forcing himself to do, until now at least. Which was why Jeno was determined (but mostly hopeful) to see this through.

“You know how I feel about these things...” Jaemin’s tone was warning, but it wasn’t like Jeno cared.

“Yes, I do,” Jeno replied confidently, “I’ve known you for like....ever, and don’t fight me when I say this because you know it’s true. But what I know....is that you love love.”

Jaemin opened his mouth to protest, only to close it back shut, his brain going against him by imagining all the possibilities of what kind of person you would be once he got to know you, curiosity getting the better of him, but more-so the hope that the vibe he was getting about you was correct.

Slinging his bag across his chest, he waved Jeno off.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just send me to the airport.”

===

"C'mon, don't look so disappointed, you're making me feel bad that our seats are assigned," Seungmin joked, noticing the way you kept glancing at where Jaemin and Doyoung were sitting on the aeroplane.

You flushed at how you were caught staring, shaking your head hurriedly so Seungmin wouldn't get the wrong idea, "no, no, no! Don't feel bad! You're a great seat buddy!”

Seungmin shot you a look of disbelief, eyebrows raising and lips parting, "wow, your tone was so reassuring," he murmured, shaking his head, "but that doesn't hide the fact that you were staring so spill."

Your eyes widened. "Spill?"

Seungmin nodded, leaning back in his seat, "we've got the whole flight for you to tell me about your ‘pres-agenda’," he waggled his eyebrows, a serene smile on his face.

Not being able to help the gasp that left your lips, you made a disgruntled sound, "what makes you think there even is a ‘pres-agenda’?"

Seungmin gave you a wide eyed look.

"No...don't tell me... it's a doyoung-agenda?!" he joked, making you roll your eyes, swatting at him with the sleeve of your jacket.

"Look, I know as much as you do, okay? At this point I still can’t tell if his flirting is to hit on me or if it's really cause it's second-nature to him," you huffed, recalling your annoyance at how he helped so many girls put their luggages in the cabin while you fumbled with yours.

"Well," Seungmin shrugged, "you have the whole trip to find out, if you think about it."

"Yeah, but how is a whole other story."

Seungmin shook his head dismissively, glancing at Jaemin's direction only to see Jaemin look away quickly, having been caught looking your way as well.

"Trust me, with someone like Jaemin...I don't think it's gonna be that hard."

And maybe Seungmin was right.

Once you'd landed, you barely had time to rest before Doyoung had announced that you were about to visit a university in the country, asking everyone to hurry and get on the bus so you wouldn't be late.

Jaemin got into the bus with the rest of the members, while you stayed at the door after being assigned by Doyoung to do a headcount. Only after you were done counting and had trudged up the bus, you realized that the numbers were uneven because Doyoung had occupied the seat next to him with the bags of snacks for the gifts. This meant that Jaemin had to find another seat, and Seungmin was sitting alone as well, making you wonder why no one had sat with Jaemin.

About to approach the empty seat next to Seungmin, you saw him lift the big bag of gifts from the floor to plop it on the empty seat next to him, mouthing something to you while gesturing wildly with his head at Jaemin's direction.

‘sit with him’ you managed to decipher.

To Jaemin, you clearly looked like you were having a dilemma regarding where to sit, and he took the liberty to glance around the bus, seeing that the only seat left was next to him.

"Y/N!" he called, waving his hand to get your attention, "you can sit here," he offered with a smile (though it didn't really seem like you had a choice). Feeling the bus start to move, you decided you'd better hurry up and sit before you fell over.

Landing on the seat next to him with a thud, you felt him take the things you were holding from your hands.

"Seatbelt," he murmured gently.

Mouth forming an 'o' shape in realization, you quickly did the buckle, taking your things back from him with a murmur of thanks.

You noticed Jaemin was scrolling through something on his phone that you thought resembled an itinerary, your curiosity getting the better of you.

"What's that?"

Jaemin turned to you, "huh? oh this, this is just the proposal the university sent to me."

"Proposal? What are they sending you a proposal for?" you frowned in confusion, making Jaemin have to look away lest his smile grow any bigger.

"It's kind of just like a formality, 'cause we're planning on working with them to like give like support to the orphanage we're visiting and all," Jaemin shrugged, and you hummed in understanding.

"Wow...that's really nice, that it's not just like a one-time thing but that we can actually give them like... continuous support," you smiled, and unconsciously, so did Jaemin, who nodded at you in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s what I told Doyoung, since we’ve been to that orphanage before I felt like it was a good opportunity for us to help them,” he murmured, and you couldn’t help but notice the way he looked so happy talking about it, tugging at your heartstrings (just a little).

“Also,” you added, a hint of playfulness in your tone, “you never told me you were the president of this club,” you accused, seeing him huff in amusement, fiddling with the papers in his hands.

Leaning against the window so he could face you better, Jaemin looked at you and shrugged.

"Didn't think it was important information, I guess."

"Is that why you kept trying to recruit me to sign up?" you laughed, feeling like you shouldn't have been laughing when you saw how seriously he shook his head.

"I asked you to sign up because I wanted to," he murmured, his voice almost getting drowned out by noise from the rest of the club members.

Flushing at the implications of the statement, you shoved his shoulder lightly, “Didn’t peg you to be such a flirt,” you laughed, your heart almost stopping when you saw the smile he gave you, only serving to draw you in further to wanting to find out just who Na Jaemin was.

“Seems like there’s still lots of things I don’t know about you, huh,” you huffed, feeling strangely confident talking to him (contrary to how you’d imagined yourself fumbling over your words in your head).

Jaemin shrugged, unbuckling his seatbelt and that was when you realised you’d already reached your first venue which was some university, if you remembered Seungmin telling you correctly on the plane.

“You’ve got the whole trip to find out,” he winked, standing up and briefing the class when Doyoung called for him. His words reminding you of what Seungmin had said on the plane.

You stared, dumbfounded at Jaemin’s behaviour even after he’d finished briefing the group in charge of the university visit, letting your limbs move mindlessly to manoeuvre yourself out of the bus and to where Seungmin was, the said boy wiggling his eyebrows at you as he spotted you approaching him.

“So? What’s the update?”

You shook your head, still at a loss of words from Jaemin’s sheer confidence. You heard Doyoung briefing the group on the details of the university visit, saying that the first agenda was to meet with the heads of whatever department you were visiting.

Following the group, you were led into this room where you saw various students dressed in blazers standing at the sides of the room, offering you bottled water and snacks as you walked past.

You took your seat next to Seungmin, as Jaemin spoke with Doyoung at the front of the room, introducing themselves to the heads of the department.

You watched as Jaemin had taken a seat at the tables near the front of the room with Doyoung, setting his bag down onto the chair before turning around to glance around the room.

Doyoung had stood up to set up the powerpoint slides at the computer, whereas you simply watched as Jaemin scanned the room, raising his hands to beckon one of the blazer-clad students, who rushed over to Jaemin, letting him whisper something to them before they’d promptly went to the table of refreshments, taking a few water bottles and bringing them to the corner section of the room who you were only realising now hadn’t received the gifts.

In your silent admiration, you hadn’t noticed that Jaemin had caught your gaze, his eyebrows quirking upwards ever so slightly and his hand raising in an ‘ok’ gesture to ask if everything was alright, earning a delayed nod from you.

Smiling, he’d turned back around, which Doyoung took as his queue to pick up the mic, introducing your school and saying a few words before passing the mic over to the group that was in charge of the university visit, and you’d let yourself zone out temporarily.

You noticed that there was one person in particular that had been very nice to you and Seungmin, which you were very appreciative of, giving you the impression that the students there were really friendly.

This friendliness had only increased when you had gone to sit in in one of their classes, and that student had taken a seat next to you, introducing himself to you and trying to make conversation, but your attention was rather unevenly split since Jaemin had been invited to introduce the school in front of the entire class.

Jaemin’s eyes narrowed at the student that was speaking to you, unbeknownst to you but going very much noticed by Seungmin, who gave Jaemin a shrug. Jaemin figured he would let it slide, consoling himself with the thought that ‘hey, maybe the students here were a little on the friendlier side, but that’s okay, at least they were welcoming instead of unwelcoming’.

You’d been led to another room where the group of you had sat in a circle together with the blazer-clad students, and you’d taken your seat next to Seungmin again, Jaemin sitting next to Seungmin. The blazer-clad students had initiated a discussion with the students from your school, talking about what they were and what their committee did, and inviting some of the students from your school to share about your experiences in the country so far, typical overseas-trip stuff, you figured.

You were pretty attentive to the discussion, until you heard the student next to you speak up, “so, uh...do you guys study this department as well?”

You turned to him, a hum of confusion leaving your lips, realising then he had directed his question towards you.

“No, actually, we don’t,” Seungmin answered, though you felt a little awkward under the student’s unwavering gaze.

“Ohh... cool, how old are you?” He asked, earning a hum from Seungmin, who didn’t know whether to laugh or be scared at the dagger eyes Jaemin was directing towards the student.

“Oh, uh..he’s 19, I’m 18,” you murmured, hearing the boy hum.

“Oh, I’m actually one of the oldest members of the committee, I’m like 22 this year,” he told you, making your eyes widen, not having expected him to be so much older than you. 


“Oh....” You laughed nervously, directing your attention elsewhere, pretending to fiddle with the badges on Seungmin’s bag.

“What kind of messaging apps do they use in your country?” You furrowed your eyebrows, naming the few that you used frequently, not understanding why he would ask you that.

“Ohhh,” Seungmin swore he heard disappointment in the boy’s tone, “over here we mostly use other apps, we don’t use those,” you scrunched your nose at his reply, looking back down at Seungmin’s badges.

You hoped the conversation would end there, afraid that he would ask for your number since you weren’t sure where this was heading, but it seemed as though he’d read your mind when you heard him open his mouth to speak again.

“Hey, you know maybe we can ex—”

Your attention was diverted when you heard their teacher’s voice sound through the microphone, asking for volunteers from your school to say a few words about how their experience has been in the school so far, everyone in the club immediately turning to Jaemin, hoping he would save the rest of the members from having to go up there and talk.

You felt the boy nudge you, gesturing for you to volunteer, making you wave your hand dismissively, “no, no, please.”

You missed how Jaemin glanced around at the club members (his gaze lingering on you and the blazer-wearing boy for a little longer than appropriate), seeming to have gotten the hint when he raised his hand lightly, giving the teacher a courteous smile as he got up to accept the microphone from her.

“Hi, my name is Jaemin and I’m the president of our club. Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to the people here such as the committee members and the teachers for being so...” Jaemin had to withhold himself from glaring at the boy seated next to you, “welcoming,” he drawled, narrowing his eyes at the boy next to you.

“But nonetheless, my experiences here have been pleasant so far, and I hope that our school has a chance to continue partnership with you in the future after this project that we embark on this trip,” you nodded, flashing an encouraging smile to Jaemin, which he returned sweetly, before handing the microphone back to the teacher.

After Doyoung and Jaemin had presented the gifts from the school to the university department head, you had all been called in for a group picture, Jaemin finding his way next to you (totally not just so that the boy couldn’t stand next to you), draping his hand over your shoulder casually as you all squeezed together for a photo.

“We’ll be heading for lunch after this, so let’s be quick so our itinerary doesn’t get delayed,” you heard Doyoung tell a group of the club members, and you and Seungmin had quickly made your way out of the room, the boy waving goodbye to you with a smile as you walked past him.

Seungmin couldn’t help the snort that escaped him, making you raise your eyebrows in confusion.

“Hmm?” you hummed.

“Nothing,” Seungmin smiled innocently.

The restaurant you were eating at for lunch was within walking distance, and you were eager to sit down and eat once the aroma of the food had hit you when you entered the restaurant, Jaemin beckoning you over to sit with him.

Taking a seat opposite Jaemin but next to Seungmin, you glanced up to see Jaemin turning around to scan the room again, and you could vaguely hear him muttering numbers under his breath.

“Does everyone have a drink?” He stood up slightly to ask, his hand resting on the back of his chair to support his weight, receiving murmurs of acknowledgement and affirmation, Jaemin invited everyone to start eating.

You took that as your queue to reach over to grab the bowl of rice just as Jaemin was about to take it to distribute the rice to the people sitting around him, not knowing that you had similar intentions.

“It’s okay, let me,” you insisted, beginning to scoop the rice onto Seungmin’s plate, seeing Jaemin withdraw his hand quickly, a hint of pink tinting his cheeks as he tilted his head down.

“Thanks,” he murmured once you had scooped the rice onto his plate, followed by the guy sitting next to you and lastly onto your own plate.

"How'd you guys find the university visit just now? Fun? Boring?" you heard Jaemin begin, glancing at the few of you expectantly as he chewed his food.

“You spent quite a while talking to one of the committee members, right?” The guy next to you had asked you, his name was Hyunjin if you remembered correctly.

You recognised him to be one of the guys on the school’s dance team, since you remembered going with Donghyuck to one of their performances before.

“I mean,” you laughed nervously, your gaze on your plate unwavering, “he was just being really friendly so I guess-”

Seungmin made a sound of disbelief, “you’re really too nice, he was totally hitting on you!” Seungmin pointed out, turning to Jaemin in his excitement, the latter letting his spoon linger between his lips as he pretended to be uninvested in the conversation.

“Don’t you think so? You saw it too, right?” Seungmin asked Jaemin, making Jaemin turn his head ever so slightly in Seungmin’s direction, his gaze moving to yours, before giving you a small nod.

“Yeah, I may have...heard a little bit of the conversation,” Jaemin shrugged, making your eyes widen, embarrassed for some reason that Jaemin had noticed and you hadn’t.

Jaemin set his cutlery down on his plate neatly, leaning back in his seat to dab at his mouth with a tissue.

“Thoughts?” Hyunjin held his fist out in front of Jaemin’s mouth to act as a microphone, earning a shrug from Jaemin.

“Wouldn’t have made it far with whatever strategy he had,” Jaemin shrugged.

You pursed your lips at his comment, unsure what to make of it, and you’d only wanted to sink into your seat even further when you heard Hyunjin make a low impressed noise.

“Ohhh...what’s this... is there some tension I feel here?”

Seungmin took that as his queue to join in, narrowing his eyes at Jaemin as Hyunjin continued, “Is our pres perhaps.... threatened?”

Jaemin scoffed, standing up, which the other members took as their queue to finish up and start heading back to the bus as well. Turning to glance at you before he turned back to Hyunjin to shake his head, “you wish.”

===

You hadn’t noticed you’d fallen asleep on the bus, being nudged awake by a particularly hard bump in the road the bus drove over, making you groan slightly, your jacket covering you snugly which added to the list of factors that may have lulled you to sleep without knowing. You only realised then that you were leaning on something, making your eyes widen, getting up slowly because you had assumed Jaemin was asleep, not wanting to wake him.

Turning your head to look around the bus, (as much as you could because falling asleep in that position was starting to kill your neck), you noticed that almost everyone had fallen asleep, even Doyoung and the tour guide.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” You were startled when you heard Jaemin murmur softly, turning your head as fast as you could without straining your neck, seeing him with his phone in hand, looking at you with a sheepish expression.

You opened your mouth to speak, shaking your head, “oh, no, don’t worry you didn’t,” you assured him, not being able to help but glance at his shoulder that you had fallen asleep on, a rush of heat going to your cheeks. “Sorry, I must’ve fallen asleep without knowing, sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

Jaemin gave you a tired smile, shaking his head, making the hood on his head shift slightly, “It’s fine, I wasn’t uncomfortable. Did you manage to get some rest?” he asked, and his tone was so reassuring that you almost actually believed him.

Nodding at him, you sunk back down into your seat, hearing him yawn. “Did you?”

Jaemin shook his head, “couldn’t sleep,” he let out a soulless huff of laughter, holding his phone up, “was working on my uni applications.”

“So early? I thought you were only graduating next year?” You asked, your ignorance making Jaemin feel a strange sense of relief.

“I’m doing early applications...” he sighed, “so I’ve got to kind of get a few things ready like my essay and like testimonials from teachers and stuff like that,” he murmured. Making you think of Donghyuck, who you knew usually left things to a little later since he would have to discuss with his parents before making any big decisions.

“Oh, so you’ve like already like discussed with your parents and stuff?” You asked, spilling out whatever information you knew that you could relate to this situation, seeing Jaemin press his lips together in a tight line, frowning slightly before he eventually shrugged.

“They uh.. don’t really care as long as it’s the top 2 universities,” you couldn’t help but sense something sad in his tone, urging you to prompt him but at the same time rendering you unsure if it was a sensitive topic for him.

“Oh...um, so like... you’re more on the science side?” You asked, recalling Donghyuck telling you that he would never be able to find a course that suited him in the top 2 universities since he was more inclined towards pursuing music.

Jaemin shrugged, “I guess it’s kind of what I have to pursue to get ahead. Like...money wise and stuff, I guess,” you raised an eyebrow at him.

“You don’t sound very convinced,” you laughed, feeling yourself relax when you saw Jaemin give you a smile, shaking his head.

“No, you’re right. I’m not.” Jaemin told you, fiddling with his phone in his hands as you hugged your jacket closer to yourself.

“Would I be reading too much into it if I take this as you would choose a different course if it weren’t for your parents?”

Jaemin’s smile dropped, something in your words resonating with him, since he wasn’t used to talking about this with someone other than Jeno, and even when he did talk about it with Jeno, Jeno wasn’t as straightforward about it with him as you were, but something in Jaemin felt as though he needed to hear it.

Jaemin gave you a firm nod.

“I wanted to do photography, or like...social work” he told you, a hint of yearning in the way he spoke, his choice of words making you feel as though he didn’t consider it to be an option anymore.

“But I chose to do medicine instead, figured that it was the only way I could appease both my parents...and myself,” he shrugged.

“Wow,” you murmured, admiration at Jaemin’s consideration hitting you, thinking about how different he was from Donghyuck.

“My friend Donghyuck, he would never. Even now since he wants to do music, he was planning on just choosing it for his uni application and dealing with the aftermath from his parents,” you told him, seeing Jaemin’s lips quirk up in a smirk at the mention of Donghyuck.

Jaemin shook his head, “that’s just Donghyuck for you,” he laughed. “My parents....have pretty strongopinions. And I guess it’s just always been like that since I was young?” Jaemin searched your expression for any sign that he was oversharing, but your attention only prompted him to continue.

“And I kind of...I think there was a point of time when I realised I had my own strong opinions??...and most of the time they didn’t line up with what my parents wanted for me or what they thought was right so I just...had to find other ways to be a few steps ahead of them, you know? So I could do things that I actually wanted to do,” he explained, though still in a very vague way.

You felt a billion thoughts rush through your head, thoughts ranging from how Jaemin’s interests were in social work, and how Seungmin had told you that the club meant a lot to him, followed by the way he even sacrificed things like a simple nap on the bus to work on his university application essay.

You were starting to realise just what an angel Na Jaemin was, thinking about how he mentioned that he had to be a few steps ahead, to do things that he wanted to do.

“Like this?” You asked, referring to the overseas trip.

Your question seemed to have caught him off guard, and you ignored how everyone else had already started to wake up, since you were already reaching the destination.

Jaemin gave you a smile, and you made a mental note: this was one of his more genuine smiles, and you could feel it.

“Yeah, like this.”

Throughout the rest of the day, when you were having dinner, you noticed the way Jaemin would bring his hands up to massage his neck and shoulder, wincing every so often, and you didn’t have to think twice to know this was because he’d sat in the same position for too long.

Taking it upon yourself to text him to ask for his room number that night as everyone was getting ready to go to sleep, you took a few of your muscle ache relief patches, resolutely making your way to his hotel room and knocking on the door.

Jaemin had opened the door, dressed in a simple white t-shirt and pajama pants, a small towel draped over his wet hair.

“Hey, what happened? Is there anything you need?” He asked, and you shook your head, an embarrassed smile on your face.

Holding out the pain relief patches to him, you saw his eyes widen, before looking back from the patches to you with an incredulous look on his face.

“Wh-...how did you...”

“I noticed,” you told him simply, and he reached his hands away from the door to accept the patches from you, bringing one of his hands up to cover his growing smile, shaking his head at you.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“Make sure you get a good rest tonight, goodnight,” you told him.

Jaemin was still at a loss for words, inhaling before letting out a short sigh, nodding at you with a smile, “I will. Goodnight.”

===

The next day was more tiring than you had initially expected it to be, and you were thankful you’d given Jaemin the pain relief patches, since painting the mural required a lot of arm movement.

You’d sat next to him on the bus again today but you were too tired to talk, falling asleep quicker than you would’ve liked, since your discussion from the day before was just left hanging in the air like that, a part of you still curious as to know more about Jaemin.

You had gone to the orphanage to paint a mural with the children, and if you weren’t already head over heels for Jaemin before you went to the orphanage you sure were now. 

You weren’t sure where he got all his energy from to interact and be so lively with the children, not seeming to mind when they’d gotten paint on him and his clothes, or even the way they kept trying to jump onto his back for a piggyback ride. You were glad the children had taken a liking to you as well, the feeling strangely bittersweet to you, since you would love to interact more with them from the sheer happiness it brought both you and them, but you knew this was a rare occasion for them to do activities like this. 

You were too busy interacting with the children to notice the way a few of the club members had already started coughing and some were beginning to feel unwell. Only when you’d returned to the bus did you realise that Seungmin was one of them, huddled in his seat desperate to get some rest because of how horrible his throat was feeling.

Jaemin had gone to a convenience store nearby and bought vitamin supplements for the club members, not to mention a coffee for himself, passing the energy drinks and vitamins around when you were all taking a break after completing the mural and it was almost dinnertime, handing it to you last before sitting down next to you on the pavement.

You watched as you were eating the vitamin as Doyoung had walked over to where you and Jaemin were, giving you a small smile before turning to Jaemin, “you guys haven’t done the gifts for the orphanage children yet, right? I heard who was it telling me just now you guys had planned on making bracelets, right?”

Jaemin’s eyes widened, nodding, biting on his straw absently as he pulled his phone from his pocket, “right, almost forgot, I was planning on texting the group to ask if they would be alright to do it tonight.”

You saw your phone light up with a notification, glancing down to see Jaemin’s message he had just sent to the group of you that were in charge of the orphanage visit.

jaemin 6:15pm - hey guys! just a reminder that we still have to make the bracelets for the kids at the orphanage so I was thinking we could meet tonight to do them? we can meet in my room to do it since my room has a little more space -

You saw a few of them acknowledge the message, so you figured those were the club members that were still feeling well enough.

Jaemin stood up when Doyoung had announced that the bus had arrived to take you to the dinner location, and you’d all boarded the bus quickly, using your phone and looking at social media to kill time as Jaemin was busy with his phone.

Jeno 6:20pm - any updates??? -

Jaemin typed out a reply quickly to the dnyl groupchat

Jaemin 6:20pm - we just finished painting the mural, heading to dinner now. the kids were so cute :( -

Jeno 6:20pm - thanks for telling me but I meant updates about HER -

Jaemin shot you a furtive glance, suddenly hyper aware that you were seated next to him

Jaemin 6:20pm - honestly, shes really nice, like...rly rly nice -

Jeno 6:21pm - ANDDD???? omg ure so frustrating ure just like Renjun -

Donghyuck 6:21pm - truth -

6:22pm - and nothing! idk what ure expecting –

Donghyuck 6:22pm - do u get the sense whether she likes u or not at least?? –

This made Jaemin wonder, was your niceness caused by your like towards him? Or did you even like him? At this point, Jaemin wasn’t sure which answer he wanted more.

6:24pm - idk I can’t tell u guys r stressing me out -

Donghyuck 6:24pm - please u’d be stressed even if we didn’t bring it up -

Jaemin locked his phone when he felt you tap him.

“Hey, we just reached,” you told him, grabbing your water bottle as he stood up, holding his hand above your head so you wouldn’t hit your head on the overhead cabin as you straightened up.

You noticed that Jaemin hadn’t left his jacket on the bus, instead, he’d kept his hoodie on, the hood draped over his head as he walked next to you to enter the restaurant, taking his seat next to you this time, which earned many looks from the club members—unbeknownst to you.

Seungmin had taken a seat in front of you, looking very tired, making you frown in concern.

“Hey, are you feeling alright?”

Seungmin shook his head, “I really just wanna go back to the hotel room and pass out, I feel a fever coming on,” he told you, earning a disgruntled noise from Jaemin.

“You should, you don’t have to join us to make the bracelets. Get as much rest as you can so you don’t get more sick,” Jaemin told him, earning an appreciative nod from Seungmin.

“Thanks pres. Sorry, I really wanted to help, but at this rate I don’t know if I can stay awake.”

Jaemin shook his head, and you took the liberty of distributing the food as he spoke, “it’s really fine, your health is more important.” (How ironic, Jaemin knew if Renjun heard this he’d be giving an earful to Jaemin about hypocrisy).

You knew that there were many bracelets to be made, but you were hoping that if enough of you showed up tonight you would be able to get it done quickly, and you were just as eager to get it done so you could go to sleep.

When you’d gone back to the hotel, you took your time to shower and get changed since you knew the meeting time was a little later, coming out and seeing your roommate already getting ready to sleep on her bed.

“Hope you don’t mind, I’m really tired,” she told you, giving you an apologetic smile.

You shook your head reassuringly, taking a seat on the edge of your bed as you dried your hair, checking your phone as you did so, seeing a flood of texts in the group chat saying that majority of them were feeling unwell, with some of them even puking and others running a fever.

Your heart sank, though a part of you questioned if they were really sick or not, since you remembered a few of them to have been perfectly fine during dinner but you figured you should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Coming out from the group chat, you saw that Jaemin had messaged you privately

Jaemin 9:56pm - looks like its just both of us left, are you alright to make the bracelets? you can just come up to my room when you’re ready -

You’d sent him a message saying you were on your way, thankful that his room was on the same floor as yours, telling your roommate you would go make the bracelets, receiving her tired hum of acknowledgement before you left.

Upon reaching Jaemin’s room you entered, you could hear some upbeat Ariana Grande song faintly playing from the inside of the room. His hair was messy, dressed in a pink hoodie and black sweatpants, waving at you in greeting before letting you enter the room.

You pointed a finger in question at the upbeat music he was playing at this time of the night, an eyebrow raising in question. 

“How are you feeling?” you asked him. 

“Feeling great! That coffee I drank just now really got me awake.” you shot him a look, clearly not having asked about his coffee, wanting to know about whether he was feeling unwell instead.  

“Sorry, I really wasn’t expecting so many of them to fall sick,” he told you, making you laugh, raising your eyebrows at him in amusement.

“Why are you apologising? It’s not your fault,” you told him, seeing him close his mouth abruptly, taking a seat on his bed where he already had the beads and string laid out.

“Can’t help but feel responsible for them,” he admitted, making you let out a dissatisfied hum.

Looking at him with a firm gaze, you took a seat on his bed next to him, “you don’t have to be. They can take care of themselves, you know,” you huffed.

Jaemin shrugged, though he would never admit your words made his heart skip a beat, keeping his gaze averted as he handed you a string and picked one up for himself, starting to string beads in as he pleased, and you heard the song change.

You were almost done with your first bracelet when you heard Jaemin’s phone start ringing, the music stopping. Picking up his phone and holding it up to his ear with one hand, clasping his bracelet tightly between his fingers in his other hand, he answered the call.

“Hello?” Jaemin spoke.

“Hey, I just saw your texts, so are you making bracelets with her now?” Renjun’s teasing tone was heard through the phone, and Jaemin was thankful he hadn’t decided to put the call on speaker mode.

“Uh-huh,” Jaemin answered.

“Anything else been happening? I heard from Jeno that heard from Felix that heard from Hyunjin that there’s some sort of virus going around there?”

Jaemin sighed, “yeah, it’s pretty bad, but it’s alright I guess, I mean, I’m not sick yet so I guess I’m fine,” you wondered who it was that Jaemin was talking to, a part of you wondering who it was that could warrant such an affectionate tone from him, your first thought being maybe this was somebody he was interested in.

You needed to make sure your bracelet was big enough, so you reached over, asking Jaemin silently if he could lend you his wrist, which he offered wordlessly, letting you wrap the bracelet around his wrist, smiling in satisfaction when you found it was long enough, pulling it away from his wrist and tying a knot to secure the beads.

“Can you please drink more water? Please take more care of yourself,” Renjun reminded, making Jaemin nod.

“Yeah, my throats been feeling pretty scratchy, but it’s fine, I promise.”

“You always say that but you still end up getting sick,” Renjun’s tone was warning, making Jaemin giggle.

“I’m touched, you’re always so concerned about my health,” Jaemin teased, making Renjun scoff.

“Yeah, and from what I’m hearing from Jeno, you’re giving me reason to be concerned about your love life as well.”

“I’ll be fine, trust me. Okay I gotta go now, bye,” “Bye, Jaemin.”

“Love you,” Jaemin drawled, teasing lilt to his tone, earning a gagging noise from Renjun before the latter had hung up.

Jaemin set his phone down next to him, continuing to string his beads as you looked at him curiously.

“Umm...girlfriend?” You blurted, shocked when you saw Jaemin choke, coughing and patting his chest as he calmed down, shaking his head at you profusely.

“No, no, friend. No girlfriend,” Jaemin said clearly, making you hum, feeling him lean over to wrap his bracelet around your wrist, pulling it away and tying a knot.

“That’s interesting...you’re pretty popular in our school, you know,” you told him, seeing him flush, shaking his head at you in dismissal.

“Please, I’m flattered but...,” he sighed, making you tilt your head in confusion, tying the knot on your third bracelet.

“But?” You prompted.

Jaemin knew his reason for not wanting to get into a relationship—mostly his fear of not being able to commit, not wanting to lead whoever it was on if he knew he had too many other commitments that would keep him from being invested in the relationship.

“Nothing,” Jaemin shrugged, and if you were dissatisfied with his answer, you didn’t show it.

You continued making bracelets in the relative silence, the silence only broken when Jaemin had let out an excited sound when he glanced at the bracelet you were making.

“I like this one! It’s pretty,” he complimented, making you smile.

“Thanks, do you want it? We have more than enough beads left for the kids,” you offered, wrapping it around his wrist to measure it.

He gave you a surprised look, “can I, really?”

You nodded, “yeah, sure why not?”

Jaemin smiled, his childlike demeanour making you awfully want to squeeze his cheeks.

“Nice. I should make one for you too! Then we can have matching ones,” he beamed, making you laugh.

“Whatever makes you happy, Jaemin.”

He took the bracelet from your hands, following the colour scheme closely so he could make one identical to yours, and you took the time to make the remaining bracelets, seeing as you only had a few left. By the time you were done, so was he, and he held it up for you to see, one hand reaching over to pull your wrist towards him, slipping the bracelet onto your wrist, smiling in content as he wore his.

“Are we all done?” he asked, earning a nod from you.

Jaemin picked the bracelets up again to count them just to be sure, he knew he wouldn’t completely be at ease until he double-checked that things were in order.

“...42, 44, 45! Nice,” he grinned. Setting the bracelets down, Jaemin leaned back on his bed, supporting his weight with his hands. “Thanks so much for helping me, by the way.”

You noticed Jaemin’s voice sounded more strained, making you recall what he told his friend previously about how his throat felt scratchy.

You shook your head, “it’s really nothing, I’m glad I could help.”

A silence fell between the both of you, making you feel a sort of tension that you couldn’t place an emotion behind, figuring you should leave before you did anything stupid, especially when you had Jaemin looking absolutely angelic just sitting there, messy hair and boyish smile, practically begging you to kiss him.

Standing up abruptly, you stretched your arms over your head, yawning slightly as your arms fell limp at your sides.

“God, my throat feels horrible,” Jaemin sighed, standing up and walking over to the desk in the room, picking up the kettle to pour a cup of water for himself.

“Are you falling sick?” You asked him.

Though you knew the answer was pretty obvious, you weren’t surprised when you saw him shake his head, “no, I mean like, there’s so many other people that are way sicker than me, I think-“ he stopped to cough, wincing from the pain. “I’ll probably get up earlier tomorrow morning with Doyoung and see if I can get some medicine for them or something,” he told you, feeling guilty under your hard gaze.

“Hey, don’t give me that look, I’ll be fine, I promise,” he opened the door for you, and you were about to step out when you turned around so you were barely inches away from him, bringing your hand up to press the back of your hand against his forehead, frowning at how he’d felt as though he was running a fever.

Jaemin gave you a reassuring smile, pulling your hand away from his forehead by your wrist, his thumb running over the beads on your bracelet.

“I’m responsible for the club members, I have to try my best to make sure they’re okay, I can’t just let my own sickness get in the way of making sure they’re okay,” he answered your unspoken question, making you sigh.

“Okay fine, but Jaemin, let me…be ‘responsible’ for you, then, alright? I’m perfectly fine, but you’re falling sick. And I know for a fact that with this attitude you’re not gonna be paying much attention to yourself,” you told him, seeing him open his mouth to speak but you shook your head.

“You don’t need any more worries,” you told him, and just like that, Jaemin started to think that maybe he should be taking Jeno’s advice, not sure when the next time he would be able to find a girl like you was gonna come along, if ever.

You noticed it too, the way how now when Jaemin was looking at you, there was something different about the way he was looking at you, it was...almost affectionate.

Jaemin nodded, squeezing your wrist gently before letting go, his hand rubbing your shoulder soothingly, “goodnight.”

The next day, while Jaemin was busy making sure the club members drank enough water or were taking their vitamins, your job was the same, making sure Jaemin was drinking enough water, getting rest on the bus and eating his vitamins, you were glad you’d realized you brought throat soothing lozenges that you’d given to Jaemin (who thought they were a Godsend).

You made a mental note of things Jaemin did or how he behaved when he was unwell, his demeanour surprisingly cute to you.

1.    Jaemin didn’t mind the taste of medicine, his tastes tended to be on the extreme ends of the spectrum

After you’d given Jaemin something to drink to soothe his cough on the bus, you started to feel as though you wouldn’t mind doing this forever from the way he leant his head against the seat, looking down at you with a soft tired smile on his face, murmuring a soft ‘thank you’ to you.

You knew it wasn’t as if your actions went unnoticed, but you just didn’t expect it to be noticed by Doyoung of all people.

It was evening time when you were already at the airport departure terminal, waiting for those who had gone to the toilet to come back so you could get ready to board the plane.

“You and Jaemin seem pretty close,” your eyes widened, turning around to make sure that it was Doyoung who was talking to you.

Shrugging, you let out a nervous laugh, “uh...I guess? What makes you think that?” You glanced at Jaemin, who was currently sitting at a bench next to the big glass windows, not having the energy to stand for so long.

Doyoung almost snorted, folding his arms over his chest as he spoke, “Literally no one in the club other than you dares to do what you’ve been doing for the past few hours, much less actually have a conversation with him about community service.”

You couldn’t help the confused hum that left you. “Why? He’s so nice.”

Doyoung shrugged, a fatherly smile on his face as he glanced over at Jaemin.

“Not many people get to see that. He tends to trust very few people,” Doyoung glanced around as he spoke, giving him a distracted look, “but I guess he trusts you, from the looks of it.”

You watched as the students had started coming out from the washroom, Jaemin coming back from the big glass panes to where you were, shocking you when he’d linked arms with you, and you had to pretend you weren’t affected by it as you walked into the plane.

Jaemin looked almost disappointed to sit next to Doyoung, making the older boy agree to letting Jaemin and Seungmin swap seats (not without an eye-roll from Doyoung of course). You added to your mental list of all things Jaemin related.

2.    Jaemin wasn’t used to being taken care of,

And you knew this because you could sense how shocked he was whenever you did simple things like drape his jacket over him or adjust his head so his neck wouldn’t be sore.

New findings, 3. Jaemin gets more affectionate when he is sick

You knew this when you felt his head fall onto your shoulder gently after the plane had taken off. Little did you know, this was Jaemin’s way of letting his walls down to you, finally comfortable enough around you to let himself stop being so on-edge all the time. The sight was one to behold, Jaemin with his hood draped over his head, snuggled against your side with his arms tightly hugging the small pillow they’d given, but at the same time, the both of you could so get used to how it felt.

===

The next night, when Jaemin returned home and worked on his university application, he’d started to feel the anxiousness getting to him, thoughts of what would happen to the community service club once he graduated littering his mind, together with other thoughts like how he was going to portray himself in a way the university would find worthy of accepting him, to thoughts of whether he’d done a good enough job in planning the community service trip.

Did I even do that good of a job? Half of them fell sick, so there must’ve been something wrong with the catering—

Jaemin’s thoughts were interrupted when he glanced at his phone, suddenly getting the urge to call you.

“Hello?” he found his body moving faster than his mind could process, hearing your voice on the phone.

“Hey, it’s really late. What’s up? Did something happen?” your tone was concerned, calm. Something Jaemin never knew he needed to hear as much as he was realizing he did now.

“Nothing just…wanted to check on you, see how you were doing after the trip,” Jaemin lied, his heart swelling with butterflies when he heard you laugh.

“I should be the one checking on you, I’m fine. How are you? Have you been resting?”

Jaemin hummed, “yeah…I mean, no, not really.” Jaemin wasn’t sure what was taking over him when he murmured again. “I was kind of feeling a little shitty…but honestly..I’m feeling a little better now.”

You’d assumed he was referring to his sore throat and fever, “that’s great! Make sure you drink a lot of water and sleep early, alright?”

Jaemin smiled, resting his arm on his table and leaning his head against his arm, nodding even though you couldn’t see him, “Uh-huh, I will. You’d better go to sleep too, sorry for calling you so late. Thanks,Y/N.”

You made a sound of confusion, “thanks? For what?”

“Picking up.” Jaemin hated how breathy his voice sounded, hoping he didn’t sound too whipped.

You huffed, not being able to help your smile as well, “Anytime.”

===

“Jeno, I think I’m in love,” Jaemin buried his head in his pillow, earning a groan from Jeno who had just woken up from his slumber on Jaemin’s bed.

“Dude, it’s 4am, can this discussion wait a few hours.”

“It can’t! It’s gonna be white day in a few hours! Okay, technically it’s already white day but it’s gonna be white day in school!”

Jeno sighed, sitting up on Jaemin’s bed to look at the distressed boy, “what’s stopping you?” Jeno murmured, fatigue laced in his tone, his eyes shut as he spoke to his friend.

“What if like...I have so much.......shit going on in my life that I can’t like fully give her the attention she deserves?” Jaemin’s voice lowered to a murmur, and Jeno opened his eyes, knowing that this was something that always held Jaemin back.

“Okay, why not...I give you some situations and you tell me how you would deal with it.” Jaemin nodded, sombre expression on his face as Jeno began his quick fire.

“Let’s say...what if you had a date with her and then suddenly Doyoung texts you asking for a proposal due the next morning,” knowing Jaemin’s usual reaction would be to cancel the date and finish the proposal that night.

Jaemin answered in a heartbeat, “I’d go on the date, then just stay up to rush the proposal or something. Doyoung can wait.”

Jeno’s eyes widened in surprise, “okay next, what about...um...okay! What if you had a volunteer event but it coincides with like her award ceremony or something.”

Jeno asked, recalling a similar incident when Jaemin had skipped his cousin’s award ceremony to go for a volunteer event with the club.

“She doesn’t receive awards every day, I’d go for the award ceremony,” Jeno shot him a knowing look which Jaemin promptly ignored.

“Your parents don’t like her,” Jeno shot at Jaemin, seeing the latter shake his head.

“Don’t care, it’s my girlfriend, not theirs.”

Jeno almost squealed, taking the pillow nearest to him and shoving it at Jaemin. “I’m pretty sure you already solved your dilemma for yourself.”

Jaemin sighed, knowing that Jeno was right, again.

Jaemin’s heart was at unease after that, leaving the house early to buy chocolates for you, preparing his speech in his head for when he would tell you how he felt.

You’d already figured your White day would be just as uneventful as Valentine’s Day, seeing your classmates gushing about what their boyfriends had gotten them, some even walking in with big teddy bears that they struggled to fit in their lockers. So you didn’t think much of it when Jaemin had texted you when you were in the middle of your project meeting.

Jaemin 12:31pm - hey, r u free to meet? -

You frowned, knowing your consultation wasn’t going to be ending anytime soon, but still wanting to see Jaemin nonetheless.

12:31pm - sorry :(( im in a project meeting right now, but i can meet you after school? At like 6? -

Jaemin’s reply came in quickly,

Jaemin 12:31pm - sure!! 6 at the football field -

You thought nothing of it, almost forgetting what day it was as you went about the rest of your lessons, whereas Jaemin, who was done with his lessons earlier than you were, was already waiting at the football field, starting to get restless with his chocolates and balloons, not to mention oblivious to the fact that he was drawing attention from other students because no one could believe that Na Jaemin of all people had prepared to give someone things on White day.

“Do you think she’s actually gonna show up?” Donghyuck asked from where he and the rest of the dnyl boys were sat on the bleachers.

This earned him a (harsh) nudge from Renjun, “of course she’s gonna come, she’s really nice.”

“You say it like you actually know her,” Jeno snickered, making Renjun sigh.

“I hope she comes soon so I don’t have to listen to you guys any longer.”

Lying on the fake grass of the football field, Jaemin was momentarily distracted by the pretty colours the sunset cast in the sky, not noticing that you had already showed up.

“He kind of looks like a supply crate in battleground, should we ask him to sit instead of lie down?” Jeno wondered.

Renjun let out a strangled scream, “oh my god, too late. I think she’s here.” He nudged Donghyuck, the three boys’ attention turning to the girl walking towards where Jaemin lay on the field.

You’d walked to the field, a part of you growing very amused when you spotted the balloons next to a figure lying down in the middle of the field, walking closer until you were standing over him, seeing him furrow his eyebrows before his eyes widened, sitting up quickly and almost bumping heads with you if you hadn’t moved back quick enough.

“Wow, what’s all this? Got swarmed with gifts again today?” You laughed, seeing Jaemin get up off the floor, holding the box of chocolates with the balloons tied around them in his hands.

“Um...not quite,” he murmured, a shy tint of pink making its way onto his cheeks.

“What’d you wanna meet me for?” You asked.

Jaemin had his whole speech rehearsed in his head, but it seemed as though his body thought otherwise, holding the box of chocolates out for you.

“Here,” he murmured, this time, a lot more confident than he was on Valentine’s Day.

You tilted your head at him, an amused smile playing at your lips.

“How do you think it’s going?” Jeno whispered, “she looks more amused than flattered.”

“I don’t know why you’re whispering, I could shout and he wouldn’t be able to hear me. I’m sure they’re doing fine,” Renjun shrugged.

You hummed, laughter bubbling from your lips, “is this gonna become a tradition of yours? Giving me things on special occasions?”

Jaemin pursed his lips, pretending to be in thought.

“Only if you let me,” he smiled.

Your eyes widened, unable to help yourself from the implications of his statement, making him nod at you in affirmation.

“I kinda asked you here to like...yeah, ask you if you uh...wanna like go out with me?” He asked, and you fiddled with the ribbon of the balloon, your breath suddenly getting caught in your throat.

“Like...date?”

Jaemin nodded.

“For real?” You blurted in your panic, seeing him nod again, suddenly exuding a confidence you weren’t used to.

“Yeah...like date. For real,” he smiled, bringing a hand up to run through his hair, and you couldn’t find a better reaction in you than to nod dumbly.

Jaemin smiled, pushing the balloons aside, leaning closer to you. “I really wanna kiss you right now,” he murmured, frowning.

You glanced around nervously, embarrassed that there were students watching, not wanting to kiss Jaemin in front of the school.

“Jaemin, there are people watching,” you muttered, embarrassment creeping up on you, seeing Jaemin straighten up to glance around, shooting a grin at the dnyl boys before looking back at you.

You grasped the box tighter in your hands, feeling Jaemin bring his head down so his lips were next to your ear, “I think I have a better idea.”

Reaching his hand around to grasp the strings of the balloons, he pulled them down so that the balloons would shield the both of you from view.

“May I?” He asked, his voice gentle and smooth, enough to make your head spin.

Nodding, “of course,” you huffed, closing your eyes when you felt his lips press against yours, sweetly and so, so much like Jaemin.

One of his hands went up to tuck your hair behind your ear, going to the back of your neck and grasping it gently, feeling him smile into the kiss, enough to make more excitement bubble in the pit of your stomach. Your hand going to grasp gently at his waist, your other hand going up to cup the side of his face gently, feeling him smile into the kiss when you did so.

Pulling away before you got carried away, you heard the faint sound of cheering, turning to see 3 boys sitting on the bleachers shouting what sounded like cheers for you and Jaemin.

Squatting and covering your face in embarrassment, you couldn’t help but laugh, “Jaemin! Who are they?”

Jaemin turned casually, gesturing at the bleachers with his thumb, “oh them? They’re my dnyl club members!”

“Dnyl?”

“Yeah, it’s a ‘don’t need your love’ club one of the exchange students started, something like those lonely hearts club things,” Jaemin shrugged, earning a confused hum from you.

“Why are you in the club?” You found the whole idea pretty amusing, to have someone as flirtatious as Jaemin be part of some anti-love club.

Jaemin shrugged, giving you a small smirk, “come to think of it, I won’t be needing the club meetings so much now, will I?”

===

“Woah, who gave you those?” You and Jaemin were stopped by Doyoung on your way out of school afterwards, the teacher gesturing to your balloons with his iPad.

You cupped your hand around your mouth, looking around to make sure no one was listening, “Jaemin” you whispered, earning a wide eyed look from Doyoung, who looked at the grinning Jaemin as though he’d just told Doyoung he adopted a child.

Shaking his head with a good-natured smile, Doyoung sighed wistfully, “can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Congrats on your um...whatever young people call it now,” he waved the both of you off, making you laugh.

“Thank’s Doyoung!” Jaemin called, turning to you, smiling giddily.

“What are you smiling about,” you scoffed, seeing him shake his head, linking arms with you. 
 Jaemin looked away to hide his blush, shaking his head as he led you out of the school, for the first time, leaving school without his mind filled with worries, instead, it was filled with thoughts of you, and oh, how Jaemin loved the way it made him feel.  

“Nothing, just...happy.”

[47-shades-of-hitman]

In Your Likeness | Chapter 4 - So it begins

Your nimble fingers fiddled with the small folding knife, twirling it around in between your fingers, barely grazing the sharp blade. Your index finger hooked into the small metal loop on the hilt, giving it a firm twist around your digits, building speed. Then, with a firm movement of your lower arm and wrist, you hurled it into the dummy – right into the artery, buried deep within the neck.

Agent 47 sat a little away, observing you. The training outfit he wore was a bit too tight to be comfortable and the band-aid they insisted for him to put over his tattoo itched terribly. His blue eyes scanned your face – calm and collected, something he could find himself in. However, something else shimmered in your eyes, and he was unsure of what it represented.

“You’ve attracted yourself quite the audience.” he stated, referring to the group of teenagers, who had gathered to gape at you from the glass wall, a few meters away. You shrugged, waving it off.

“I’m the best Assassin the Brotherhood has, of course they’ll watch. They need to train to be like me one day.”

You looked over at them and smiled a little. When you winked, they shyly scurried away, like bashful toddlers hiding behind their mother’s leg upon eye-contact.

“You frighten them.”

“No.” you countered. “They imagine themselves in my stead.”

47 kept silent, eyeing you with slight interest. “So, you can throw these knives pretty well.”

“Thank you.” you said. “Mind showing me some of your skillset? We need to get familiar after all.”

He stood and walked over, leather of his garment snug against his skin. It unpleasantly creaked upon movement.

He drew his ICA Silverballer and aimed it at the dummy.

Before he could take the shot, however, you deeply sighed next to him.

“Long range? How dull.”

He raised an eyebrow before gunning  three – four – five  dummies clean in the head.

“You were saying?”

You walked closer to one of the dummies, inspecting the bullet hole freshly ripped into the plastic doll.

“Long range combat can be dangerous. There is no way to silence the target in case you miss, impact by missed bullets can be heard, if the bullet passes through, who knows where it will end up. And, you cannot quickly pull them behind a corner, immediately out of unwanted sight…”

“It’s critical, though. You carry a firearm on yourself, too. Unsilenced, not to mention.”

Unholstering your revolver, you handed it to him. “Small, convenient, hardly used. Almost obsolete with those bad boys on me.” You flicked your wrists in the air, revealing your hidden blades.

“One quick stab, silent and effective.” you concluded.

Agent 47 nodded at the dummies.

“Care to show me?” He walked over to them and readjusted their positions. “Let me sketch you a situation.”

You agreed, standing on the place where he wanted you to be. Within a minute, he had shifted all mannequins around.

“Imagine this. You’ve just eliminated a target and want to slip away, but the only way to do so is through the door, where a lot of guards are watching closely. They have noticed some ruckus, so they are on high alert. Think fast.”

“Six enemies… Fifteen seconds, how’s that sound?”

“Try it.” Agent 47 stated, stepping back. You deeply inhaled through your nose, crouching as if you had indeed been sneaking around to kill a target, and began your dance.

Thwack! One of your throwing knives buried itself into the head of one of the dummies whilst you grabbed the other around the throat, slashing your hidden blade across its neck before pushing it to the ground.

Then, you jumped on forward, kicking one straight in the back, making it topple over. You used its body to propel yourself into a flying kick, moving your wrist forward in the gesture. The heel of your boot hit one doll on the right spot to knock them out.

Upon landing, you burst your blade through the throat of the dummy you had used to launch yourself. Another throwing knife into the one you had theoretically only knocked out.

At last, you ran towards the final practise doll, sliding down to the floor to sweep it off its feet by using the force of your arm, blade slamming into the chest as you turned your body.

Slightly out of breath, you stood up, dusting down your attire. 47’s eyes were focused on you, slightly narrowed. “That took you twelve point twenty-eight seconds. Hardly leaving a chance to react and there’s barely room for error on your part given that you’re a skilled killer. Overall, I must say that it’s impressive.”

You smirked, putting your hands on your hips. This compliment coming from the strange hitman in front of you caused an inexplicable tightening in your gut, but you didn’t pay it any mind. It was probably the fact that he seemed to stare right into your soul, and he could either read your mind or your deepest secrets.

“So, what about you, now?” you suggested, breaking the silence. He blinked, flexing his fingers at his side.

“Of course. Give me something – Anything.”

You hummed and went to work. After a few minutes, you had made up a scenario.

“So, this dummy right here is our target.” you placed your hand on the shoulder of one of the dolls.

“In order to get to it, you need to get past guards. However,” you continued, “The door is locked. What will you do?”

Agent 47 scoffed. “Within fifteen seconds? That’s impossible.”

“I don’t care about your speed, Tobias. I want to see your approach.”

He was reminded of the other Assassins training in the same room upon your usage of his alias.

“What do I carry on me?”

“No lockpicks, crowbar, or keys. How about this…”

You tapped your chin as you looked around the room, walking over as you spotted what you had been looking for. You pulled a chest towards the set-up and found a long plank soon, too. You positioned in such a way that it was resting against the long side of the chest.

“This is an open window… And you have to scale the plank to get to it. You start right there.” you pointed at the area which you had designated to be the starting point, “I’m curious to see what you will do.”

Agent 47 took place where you had wanted him to and stretched his muscles.

“Ready?” you asked, adjusting a stopwatch to a counter of zero.

“Always.”

“Right, go.”

And off he went – knocking out a few dummies, subduing another, hiding effectively behind an imaginary wall consisting of a wooden bar to stay out of the enemy’s line of sight. He used coins to distract a few guards, if there had been any, and you moved them around to pretend that they were actually going where 47 wanted them to go.

When he eliminated the dummy by using a fibre wire, your stopwatch told a minute and a half.

“Nicely done, I must say.” you praised.

A sudden presence next to you made you momentarily tense – you had heard her approach, but her voice was so sharp that you shuddered.

“Well, well… I didn’t know we had a new recruit!”

“Hey, Sigrid.” you greeted with a wry smile.

“You seem like you know what you’re doing…” Sigrid spoke to 47, voice sickly sweet.

Agent 47 remained neutral. “Yeah. I transferred from Romania per experiment.”

“Romania… Interesting.” Sigrid twirled a lock of her black, dyed hair around her finger. “What’s your name, handsome?”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you turned to the training ground in order to put everything back in place.

“Tobias Rieper.”

“How wonderful to meet you, Toby! My name is Sigrid Andres. I originate from Finland. They had me transfer here ten years ago when (Y/n) and her brother proved not strong enough. And now I need to fill in for even more empty space, since he died and all.”

Your body immediately tensed up even more than it had before – anger swelled in your chest and you had to resist the urge to punch her in her face. “Otherwise, (Y/n) wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the work Mr Howard throws her way. She’s a bit slow, if I’m honest. I believe it’s… A family trait.”

Agent 47 replied: “I’m sure that she can manage just fine on her own. She is a very capable Assassin.”

Your humourless smile was rueful and you fought the tears blurring your vision, turning to Sigrid.

“You, of all people, have the least right to speak ill to my family after everything you’ve done.”

Your voice was sharp like a blade and contained unspoken fury.

“Go take a chill pill, (Y/n). You seem a bit agitated. You should get yourself checked out because you’ve been acting strange lately.”

A scoff built in your throat and came out louder than intended. You poked a gloved finger at her forehead, pushing her back. “A  chill pill , is that what the teenagers are saying these days?”

“Not keeping up with modern-day media, old nag?”

“Want me to break your nose again?” you proposed with a scowl.

Sigrid turned away from you and towards Agent 47.

“You’re wasting your time, handsome… Come train with me instead. (Y/n) is an amateur. Perhaps I can show you a few… Massage techniques while cooling down. The showers are very spacious.”

She smiled, disgustingly sure of herself and her caked-on beauty.

“I’m not interested.” 47 deadpanned.

“I’m sure you will be eventually, handsome. All the men around here long for a taste of Sigrid and you’ll soon find out why…” She bit her bottom lip, winking at him. “Hope to see you around.”

She swayed her hips with every step of her departure, attempting to be sexy and hoping to hold his attention. You facepalmed, sighing deeply.

“Sorry about that. She’s always like that.”

Agent 47 hummed, looking at you, blinking a few times. “I figured that you didn’t really like each other.”

You laughed humourlessly, scowling. “That won’t even start to describe it. I loathe her.”

Pacing over to one of the dummies, you continued tidying up the training floor.

“We need to brainstorm a technique. We have a few more days to prepare, so I suggest we meet later, after washing up.”

The idea of taking off the tight training outfit was liberating to 47. “Sure.” he agreed, following you to the locker room. Gathering your belongings, you looked at him. “I always shower in my own quarters, and I suggest head for your own. The young recruits always shower here after training or school, and trust me, you don’t want to know how much hair is clogging those drains.”

You halted at the flight of stairs – one went up, where he had to go, and one went down, where your quarters were. “Meet me here at eleven-thirty.” you said.

“Noted.” Agent 47 said, ascending up the stairs to the room he had been assigned.

You went down to your quarters, rushing over to your bedroom to take a clean set of clothes.

Since you were one of the top-tier Assassins of the Brotherhood, you had been given private living quarters. It resembled more of a dorm, with just a few basic pieces of furniture and a small bathroom on the side. The kitchen area was adjacent to it, shared with a few other staff-members. The lower ranked members, like Sebastian, Miranda and Sigrid, had to deal with shared bedrooms.

Taking a lukewarm shower, you cooled down your body, scolding yourself for not taking enough time to do a real cooling down while in the training area. The whole run-in with Sigrid had you on edge and you wanted nothing more than to relax. Sighing, you washed up quickly until all sweat had made place for the soft rosy scent of your soap.

Your casual attire was fairly simple, and you threw your hair into a bun. Knowing that it was warm outside, you put sandals on your feet.

“Hey (Y/n).” Sebastian greeted. “Care to have lunch with us?”

Miranda and he sat at the kitchen table, a whole tray of sandwiches in front of them.

“It’s not like we can finish all of these on our own.” Miranda tried to convince you.

You smiled and shook your head. “No, thank you. I need to go upstairs, I have some unfinished business.”

After taking two sandwiches and stuffing them into a brown paper bag, Sebastian threw himself into the doorframe you were about to walk through.

“(Y/n)!” he said with feign hurt. “Won’t you tell us about that new Assassin, the transfer from Romania?”

“What about him?”

“Well,” Seb continued, “You and him seemed to have fun during training.”

You shrugged. “You probably read in the report that it’s an experiment. We need to observe each other the next few weeks. Also, why were you watching me during my training? Actually, don’t answer that. I need to file a report about this first training, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Brushing past a protesting Sebastian, you made your way to the hall where you had agreed to meet Agent 47. He wore a black suit combined with a red tie, the one you had seen him in during your first encounter.

“You may dress more casually outside of mission and training, Agent 47.”

He blinked. “I prefer this outfit.”

“Alright, your loss. It’s searingly hot during this time of day. Follow me.”

You lead him through a few halls, going through several doors and finally, ascending a ladder.

“Where are we going?” he quizzed.

“The roof.” you said, “Come on.”

Pushing open the trapdoor, you climbed through with 47 following closely.

The sun stung immediately and you worried that Agent 47 might get terribly sunburnt, opting for a place in the shade, against a broken air-conditioning unit.

47 stared at you for a second as you sat down, opening the small box you were holding.

“Sit down.” you urged, patting on the spot next to you. “Trust me, you’d rather eat lunch here than downstairs. Sebastian won’t stop talking.”

“Sebastian?”

“My friend. Come on, sit. If we’re not allowed to kill each other, let me at least try to become your acquaintance.”

A bit hesitant, Agent 47 took the place next to you and you held out a sandwich. He looked at it for a few seconds. “I don’t really eat all that much.”

“It’s just one sandwich. It’s good, take it.” you said, “You need to eat. Muscle building and all.”

He took it, and for a minute, you sat eating in silence, looking over the scenery of Jerusalem.

“Beautiful city, isn’t it?” you commented, immediately unsure if 47 would find beauty in such things.

Gesturing towards a spot in the distance, you explained. “See the golden dome? That’s the Dome of the Rock, built on the Temple Mount. Well, a mount… It’s more of a hill, really, compared to the rest of the city. Gorgeous building, especially if the sun shines on it. Behind it, not in our sights, is the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

“I believe the Wailing Wall is near there, too.” 47 added.

“Correct.” you said, “The epicenter of Judaism. There’s very strict security around all of those places.”

You shifted, finishing your sandwich, wiping the crumbs off your hands.

“Jerusalem is the epicentre of religion and politics. I can’t think of another city deemed this holy by so many cultures. I sometimes wonder how it is, though. To be able to hold onto something divine.”

47 hummed to acknowledge that he had heard you, though not certain of what to make of the comment.

“But it makes for a great cover-up, too. I don’t believe any other city is as strictly guarded as Jerusalem. Guards on every corner and in between. Tension.”

You rubbed your chin thoughtfully.

“Inside the walls the religions tolerate each other provided that they all stay in their own quarter for as far as they can, and then, only to a certain degree. Outside of here, however, they’d kill each other in a heartbeat. You’d be good to stick to my side. I know this place like the back of my hand. It’s my turf.”

Agent 47 huffed. “Still, you hadn’t noticed me roaming about those days?”

You rolled your eyes. “I have superiors who handle things like that. I just do the field work. A bit like you, actually. You take the ICA’s orders. Or your Handler’s.”

He was silent, staring at the distance. The sound of civilization was drowned out by the distance you had from it, the noise of cars honking only faint. The mosque’s call for prayer was audible from far away.

“We’re not alike.” 47 said. “I’m genetically modified.”

“You go by the name of Agent 47. Where does that come from? What’s your real name?”

“I was born at the hands of a man named Ort-Meyer, and he gave me that name. Five men funded his project with both money and their DNA in order to create a superior army of killers. The Five Fathers, they’re called. I’m one of many clones, several types before me. Needless to say, it didn’t succeed, since I’m here, and I’m the only one left.”

Your heart climbed into your throat. “You… You really have no name, then?”

He shook his head.

“Oh.”

He shrugged. “Nothing to be done about it.”

You folded your hands on your lap.

“When I was a teenager, I was briefly informed of rival organizations. The ICA, the Magpies, the Guild of Apache… We never learned about Ort-Meyer, though. We were always told that we were the ones in the right, at all times. Our motto is after all, ‘we work in the dark to serve the light’. But I still believe in what I serve is the truth.”

Looking over your shoulder, you eyed 47. “You, however, are void of emotion, are you not? Just what I heard from the rumours about you.”

“More or less.” 47 said.

“Do you stand for whom you serve? I know you’d die for the cause, but do you know  why you would?”

Agent 47 looked at you, narrowing his eyes. “They give me purpose. I owe them that much.”

You shook your head. “No, 47, I don’t think so. What I think is… That you know nothing else. You were created to be a killing machine and that’s all you’ll ever know how to do. Also a bit like me.”

His jaw tensed and you stared at him for a moment before continuing, “I was created to be a killing machine, too. Born from the seed of one of the Masters, born out of my father’s love for my mother, but still, in the end, it was planned out for me. I knew how to kill before I knew how to speak. It is all I’ve ever known, and I will never know anything else. Outside of this, I’d be lost, like an orphan abandoned at the side of the road in the slums.”

You stood up, dusting down your pants before grabbing the paper bag you had brought with you, shaping it into a ball. You pressed it against you, feeling the sun in your face as you eyed 47. He still sat on the ground, gaze fixated upon you.

“It might seem miles off, but you and I are alike.”

When he didn’t reply, you started to walk away towards the door again.

Upon hearing footsteps behind you, you halted, smiling a little before casting a look over your shoulder.

“I need to know more about the Brotherhood of Assassins.”

You hummed.  “I can tell you more. But under one condition.”

“And that is?” he quizzed.

“I want to learn more about you.” you said.

“There’s not much to tell.” was his answer.

“Then tell me everything there is to tell.”

He gave you a small nod. With that, you headed back inside.

[im-the-punk-who]

Can I ask your opinion on Woodes Rogers?

Oh boy. Oh boy, howdy. I mean you can.

So, uhhhh the first time I was really thinking about Woodes Rogers as a character besides just being a little bitch boy was after I read Sage Street’s meta where he talks about the ways in which Rogers mirrors James in the early seasons/pre-series. And that’s pretty much how I see him. 

(On a side note, while I don’t agree with everything he has to say, I highly highly recommend Sage’s meta because it brings up some really interesting parallels and scenic cues, and particularly the meta on the S3 finale just....makes me scream a lot. Some of the painting stuff can get a bit reachy because as someone who works in theatre and has friends in film, some of the parallels is likely more ‘the set designers thought this would be cool’ than a directorial choice but like, it’s still awesome to see.)

But back to Rogers. So, personally, I think he’s a little bitch boy, but that has more to do with the fact that the show sets him up as the upholder of civilization and oppression, in direct opposition to Flint - who seeks freedom and an end to persecution based on society’s morals and whom I personally vibe much more with. Character wise I actually think Rogers is pretty interesting in that, like all the Black Sails villains, he is a complex character. He is sometimes humorous, sometimes charming, and sometimes straight up unwilling to listen to anyone’s voice but his own - hello, Eleanor! (And, yeah, I’m aware that’s how a lot of people describe Flint. It’s purposeful.) While I don’t like him, I appreciate that about him.

He has a backstory that makes it clear what his motivations are and how he reacts when faced with adversity - he hates chaos and wants order and is willing to compromise his own civility if he thinks it will bring an end to those things. In my personal opinion the reason he wants so badly to bring Nassau back in line could be that he thinks it will help him get over the loss of his brother - who died in a random act of chaos and cowardly violence. (And whose name was Thomas....) Like Flint, he is fighting in the memory of someone he idolized. 

The show underlines the similarity between them when Rogers says “All I have done here is finish what you began. I am now what you were then. And without you there would be no me.” 

Here, he is setting himself up as the continuation of James McGraw. Which is super hella rad, since we know that Flint views himself as at least partially a wholly separate persona from James McGraw. And that we’re led to believe that ‘James’ died or was buried when Thomas was taken. While I don’t think Rogers knows the full story I think it’s likely he has a pretty good picture. I’ll direct you to this post where I bring up the fact it’s likely he and Peter were working together on the pardons(and also because I assume Eleanor told him about James being McGraw as she found out during the Charlestown plotline).

Also:

“Everyone is a monster to someone. Since you are so convinced that I am yours, I will be it.”

“If you insist on making me your villain, I will play the part.”

Rogers!! Stop!! Get your own lines!!

I know a lot of people like to compare him to Thomas, and while I think we were meant to see the parallels(hi, they’re both put in green!), I disagree he is meant to mirror what Thomas would have been. In fact, if anything, he is Thomas’ foil, even as he mirrors James. 

Flint even points out this difference: 

“No one is being hanged. No one’s even being tried. Just as you wanted. Just as Thomas Hamilton wanted. So what is it that you’re fighting for that I’m not already offering?”

“Thomas Hamilton fought to introduce the pardons to make a point. To seek to change England.”

Aside from the classic “I want my Thomas back you sonofabitch.” vibe of Flint’s full answer, this is the difference between Rogers and Thomas. While it would ultimately have the same effect as Rogers’ actions - to bring Nassau back to heel - I think it’s important to recognize the intentionality of both characters as it illustrates not just who Rogers is, but also Thomas.

The reason Thomas wanted to offer the pardons was to make a point that pirates are still men deserving of forgiveness. To “offer forgiveness to any man who would seek it.” He is not coming from a point of control, but of freedom. To offer to these men a way forward.

Rogers is offering the pardons as a way to bring Nassau and the pirates back into civilization but we never actually hear him offer a suggestion of what they’re to do afterwards. And indeed, with how he runs Nassau when he has it, it seems he’s much more concerned with keeping control than in offering any meaningful change to the people he governs. 

Rogers is, in essence, exactly what James was talking about all those years ago when he said “Put a man on an island, give him power over other men and it won’t be long before he realizes the limits of that power is nowhere to be seen. And no man given that kind of influence will remain honest for very long.”

This is underlined in so many ways, from his scene with Berringer about ‘dark men’ to where he wants to accept the pearls he knows are from the Spanish gold, to when he straight up threatens Madi with the death of someone close to her in order to try and force her into surrender.

So, I think he’s a really cool character in that he underlines things about so many of the other characters.

However, Rogers is also a little bitch boy and I hate him because he’s is both a little confused and does not have the spirit. :) 

He is everything Thomas and James were fighting against instilling in Nassau - the very thing Thomas realized isn’t the way a good leader should act. Rogers falls very much under that Hobbesian view of The Social Contract - that a monarch or person in power has absolute sovereignty without needing to give value to individuals needs or wants(literally every interaction he has with Max, hi!), whereas Thomas falls much more in line with John Locke, who says that in supporting the needs of the individual, we support the state by default.

(And I can and will go on another whole tangent about this view of Locke vs Hobbes and how it’s a theme throughout the whole show, I can, I will, please don’t let me.)

Rogers is a fantastic villain for S3 and S4 because he illustrates all the ways that civilization puts down revolution and keeps people in line - right up to how his actions ultimately cause Silver to betray the cause and sell out his own friends for a personal safety that is only marginally implied - and still leaves those on the outskirts oppressed! 

Wow! Black Sails! Stop!!

And even though he as a character was eventually defeated, Rogers’ motives and ideas were actually instilled by the very rebel leaders who fought against him! It’s his treaty Rackham and Silver get the maroons to sign! It’s his version of civilization that is imposed on Nassau and the Maroon island even as he himself is ‘defeated’. 

And isn’t that a kicker? 

That Rackham in particular thinks he’s victorious because they’ve defeated the bad guy, but then he goes ahead and uses his plans, proving that it wasn’t the revolution or freedom or Charles’ idea of living free he was supporting at all but his own personal narrative of victory! What a sellout! What a direct parallel to how even progressive-seeming leaders will almost always sell out the ideals of their constituents for their own benefit! Boy, howdy!!

And I know fandom likes to throw him under the bus as all that is wrong with civilization - call him a little bitch boy and cheer his defeat. I know that he and Alfred Hamilton(and Peter, to an extent) get to be the villains in the narrative so our ‘heroes’ Silver and Rackham and even Flint can be put in opposition to them but like - that’s not the point. That’s not the point, that’s not the point, that’s not the point!

The point is that these men were tools of the empire - tools that were incredibly effective! They succeeded! Rogers succeeded in bringing civilization to Nassau. And in doing so he forced the pirates to choose between their own loyalties - he divided the camps until victory seemed hopeless and that is exactly how history generally works in terms of continued oppression. 

Hell, that’s exactly how current political events are happening right now. It’s a tried and true method of oppressive governments to pin things on one particular person (Woodes, or, y’know, Trump?) and say ‘if you defeat this person, your revolution has been successful’ while silently just going ahead with the plans of those people’s ideals anyway. It’s not the people who are the villains. It’s the ideals they perpetuate. 

All this is to say that I don’t feel particular malice towards Rogers other than that I feel towards all the characters who ultimately uphold oppression because I think Rogers is another great commentary by Black Sails on how we get so distracted fighting for what feels good that we can ultimately end up becoming exactly what we thought we were fighting against. 

(”A man casts his vote for the same reason he does anything in this life. Because it feels good.”)

And finally, he’s definitely a little bitch boy for how he treats my girls Eleanor and Madi (and Max) and I would absolutely cross the street to punch him for that alone. :)

[pokedash55]

Acronix X Coffee Robot Crack AU

SUGGEST READING MY ECHO MEETS ACRONIX FIC BEFORE THIS

IT BUILDS ON THIS WACKY WORLD OF MINE

Click for Echo Meets Acronix Fic

To summarize//TL;DR: Acronix falls out of the time vortex at the light house a befriends Echo Zane, learns empathy and put Echo on Social media so everyone knows he exists now. 

-After he leaves echo zane with a borg watch he finds himself back in Ninjago

-Stalks borg and his fam like a creep

-Jay introduces Echo to the dyer family

-Echo and unagami are siblings now

-Acronix is kinda like Echos big brother

-But no one else accepts this

-Zane and Pix give skeptical and menacing, “if you touch him” glares

-Unagami is confused babi and likes their new brother echo

-So Like One day it’s Borg, Pix, Zane, Jay, Unagami, Echo, and Milton dyer, and Acronix in a room together  (Fic on that later :3 )

-The whole fam

-Nixie just lingers around borg tower saying random junk sometimes

-Acronix : “You either die a villian or live long enough to see yourself become…”

-Pix: “A very annoying customer who is about to be escorted out of the building?”

-“UH NO. Wrong answer Pix (“dont call me pix”). REDEEMED. Cause I’m like… totally redeemed now”

-Just holds up a high five for the room and left hanging by everyone

-Jay’s like :Yeeeoree not part of our group”

-So like Acronix and Echo Zane are bro’s now cause I said so??

-Everyone: Nix is part of the Borg Family

-Me: Well YES, but actually no

-This isn't really a Future thing

-In this they're mostly frenemies kinda??

-But Acronix does really like him and borg tower and Borg is too nice to throw him out XD

-Acronix has zip money and doesn’t FEEL like looking for Krux rn

-Gets his morning coffee everyday bro

-Starts crushin on the Coffee manager (naming her shannon after the voice actor)

-His routine is basically wake up, coffee, Shannon, stalk borg, watch memes, think about looking for kux than fall asleep on phone

-Posts bout his lil bro alot (echo)

-Posts about Shannon ALOT

-Many many selfies of him an his coffee

-Realizes he may need to get someplace to live since he had yet to venture for krux

-Shoot money is a thing he doesn’t have

-Borg be super kind like, “You can stay at my Newly renovated highly advanced Borg Hotel but you must get a job.”

-Acronix gestures at being one of those technology intern clerks at borg industries. “Is for me?”

-”Must get a job AND leave my family alone…. For now… please?”

-Borg is too nice to the guy who kidnapped him and is infatuated with living at borg tower

-Does borg live in borg tower?

-Gunna say he does

-Cause Acronix just LOITERS in borg tower 24/7

-Like its like hours after closing of the downstairs shop and Pix is like getting her suit on and forcefully escorting Nixie out of the premises

-So anyway Nix has to get a job

-Ugh entry level Jobs are SO beneath him.

-Pouts uwu

-Gets a job as a barista to at least have fun with someone cool

-Ronin notices that sales have gone up in the coffee shop since Acronix has started hanging around there, because the girls think he’s pretty and he posts a lot on social media.

-Ronin wants this, but doesn’t want to have to actually pay Acronix for being a faceman.

-Hires him “as a barista”. Basically he hires Acronix to sit at the counter and look pretty, while giving the joint free advertising.

-Acronix totally doesn’t notice this and is fine with being completely exploited and underpaid.)

-Acronix X Coffee Bot! (In this she’s named Shannon)

-Shannon is like… chill and rude, but never offensive

-Cheats in chess

-Smug about it too like deamn she mean

-Epic moves (Both spinny sign and juggling. And makes epic coffee)

-Unflinching at a fire

-Complete apathy

-Throws "Floyds"  teapot plan away immediately cause she doesn’t get paid enough for this sh*t

-Says she doesn’t drink coffee but than is seen drinking coffee that lier

-Bad habit of Ignoring stufft. Ignores the upgrade, ignores her lie detector, ignores the fact the -machine is literally ice frozen

-She wears a miniskirt and a crop top/bra thingy to WORK. On the clock! savage

-Nixie is confirmed to get crushes easily and like powerful/ mean woman (Machia)

-Also he has no shame in liking nonhumans

-Love technology so would totally vibe with her

-Robotsexual for sure

-Powercouple

-Since she is still A.I, so Nix’s outgoing and I don’t care i'm great loud personality would really surprise her and she’d be inspired/impressed by his lack of chill and lack of care

-She has a bit of sass and goth hot topic to her but also still has that robot innocence that would blend nicely with Acronix since he is also Abrasive and rude on the outside, but is a tad of a softy coward (He hugs his bro and cowers behind him and gets adorably defensive when he snarks at him)

-He’d teach her so much about being more alive… maybe a bad influence but she’d dig it

-He calls her Shay almost constantly

-He hates being called Nix

-Like he is a prideful warrior who expects people to use his full name in respect

-But Shannon is too cool for that

-Calls him Nix sometimes anyway

-Respects her boldness

-The audacity to do so without permission!

-Shannon owns a motorcycle because come on

-Ridin home on a sick bike together

-Stealin stuff when people aren’t looking

-Banned from Ronin thrift shop for sure (they're lucky they weren't fired after that night. But he literally can't fire shannon)

-Chill on friday nights at Laughys karaoke.

-Not singing, just laughing at how stupid other people look singing drunk kareoke

-So a jock dork egotist and a apathetic punk bot walk into a bar

-Dareth honestly doesn’t know this guy was the one sending snakes after his trophies so he just treats him like a normal costumer

-Neither of them care about Dareth’s attempts at small talk.

-Too busy loving themselves like idiots

-She kicks his ass in strategy video games and he destroys her in battle royal stuff

-Both are equally bored by like Animal crossing and other fake life games YAWN so much work

-Shannon enjoys the thrill of racing games

-Nixie plays em but it’s not his best game

-Both GEAMMERS (but in a frighteningly cool way. They somehow both avoid nerd status… nixie still a dork tho. Jock dork)

-She makes coffee art of her hubbies face.

-He gives her so much social media attention

-Acronix gives her coffee shop media rep and he loves the petty feeling of beating Wu at something

-She doesn’t quite get his excitement in it (cause she’s on neutral terms with Wu) but loves the media attention

-She doesn’t get his phrases and he finds that both aggravating and endearing

-“Um I’m Aconic”

-Shannon: “So you’ve been lying about your name this whole time?

-Acronix: “...?”

-“That's honestly sick”

-Acronix “… “

-One day they joy ride on a motorcycle

-End up loitering around borg tower

-Borg officially meets Shannon and is interested in her origin

-Her design is not like he has seen but it also seems familiar

-She says she doesn't remember much other than working for ronin

-"Ronin" borg mutters spitefully

-He has a history of y'know.. Messing with his tech (dismantling pixal and selling zane hmmm)

-Does a diagnostic code scan

-Acronix worried bout his bae and hyped he was actually invited in for once.

-Progress on that "friendship"

-He discovers her model and general code is similar if not almost exactly the same as pixal’s code

-Ronin scrapped together with some mechanical help from his friends the walkers to make a functioning robot manager with borg tech he scrounged up and a stolen copy of pixal’s blueprints ( maybe he took pictures of them when he sold her to chen) and specs so he wouldn't have to pay for multiple employees. Just having the one really efficient one would save him thousands

-So shannon is pixals sister

-And her parents are The walkers, Ronin, and borg

-The family tree only grows people

-So Acronix is apart of the ninja family now if he marries Shannon

-Here's a chart if you're as confused as I am here:

-Anyway Shay doesn't really care much

- Her expression doesn't change

-She had never really gone out of her way to worry where she was from so it wasn't a huge revelation

-It was to nixie tho

-As the extravert he was (and has extensive experience of being a sibling) he had to make sure she got to know her new family NOW

-Like in the middle of the night now

-He never waits for things to happen

-Pix is first and she is about to power down for the night when...

-DOOR SLAMS OPEN

-"Hi SIS!!" Acronix just screams

-"hey. I'm like your sister now." Obvi shannon is more lowkey about it

-Shannon and pixal mildly get along

-Questions her taste in men alot

-Acronix chills in the back already bored and ready to move on.

-Although he's annoyed by them, the ninja were next up

-Zane and Jay are both family now

-Shannon starting to think he's using all this to fill the void of his brother being gone.

-Cause she has no interest for or against meeting these people but Nix sees it as urgent

-But he seems happier than usual so she'll let him throw her name around for a while. She did mooch off his social media so it was only fair

-Anyway eventually Acronix does find his brother, and tries to explain this whole mess to his less-than-thrilled twin

-God once Krux gets back tho

-“Hey bro! I married a robot she’s amazing!”

-He’s just taking selfies with her in hot topic outfits both of them

-“God no my brothers Robotsexual. My worst nightmares have been realized”

-Krux can only stare in horror at the people his brother now considers “family”

-Wu’s students?!, Robots!?, what EVEN IS AI?!?!?

-He eventually gets over it

-eventually maybe

-At least he can admire her attitude

-Will still mess with his bro tho.

-This is the worst timeline imaginable.

-But I can't apologize for art