#it does mean a lot of my work is pretty messy but like. nobody. nobody cares that much....

[thecatspasta]

One of my skills is I rly want to make super detailed and cool art but I literally cannot spend more than 3hrs on any one piece or I will implode so instead I just figure out how to get the general idea in the fastest time possible and hope it turns out well

It normally does

[botanyshitposts]

Hey! I'm not a botanist, but I'm in circles where it's a bigger thing and I'm kind of curious about something.

So, from an outsider's perspective, the genus Garcinia has a lot of weird and messy classifications. For example, common species like G. intermedia and G. gardneriana are really similar to Garcinia brasiliensis, to the point that it's pretty controversial if they're actually separate species. The Garcinia species colloquially known as "achachairú" also appears to bear a lot of similarities to that trio (although much less than they share with each other), HOWEVER it's almost exclusively referred to (in cultivation and in studies) as G. humilis, a Carribean species with small oval-shaped leaves, despite actually having very long lanceolate leaves and being exclusively found in the Andean foothills of Bolivia. Also, multiple frequently cultivated species like Luc's garcinia and Russell's sweet garcinia haven't actually been described yet, despite for example the former having a decent amount of scientific interest and frequent genetic testing done on it.

All of these odd classification things and even more others have been pretty well known in my circles for the past 15 years-ish, but still nobody seems anywhere close to a conclusion for them. How long does it usually take for a genus to get organized when it has as many species as Garcinia does? And how do they do it? Do they go around testing every single species or only a few at a time? If a species is currently not named, do the same people usually describe them as part this endeavor, or just leave them for somebody else? I saw Plinia and Artocarpus recently got reshuffled a lot because of some prominent genetic studies on them, and several new species and even genera were added, but it just seems alien to me how stuff like that even ends up happening. There are so many plants out there!

Sorry if I'm asking the wrong person here, but I've been wondering about how this stuff will eventually be resolved for yeeeearrs

There are so many plants out there!

ok im kind of surprised i can offer a few possible answers to this question despite having never heard of this but i think i can. if the question is 'why aren't some plants actually described', this is the primary reason why.

when i was in plant anatomy class in college, the person teaching us was a plant anatomist who assigned us different plants from the greenhouse to dissect and describe in a paper for her, and she told us that we might find something that hadn't been described before, which was pretty shocking to me. what do you mean i could potentially find a new-to-science thing? has nobody in history looked at this plant that's just growing in the greenhouse upstairs??

what she said was that no, sometimes not. there are so many plants out there that it's difficult to do one exact in-depth description and published examination of each species, so what botanists end up doing is doing or finding one in-depth examination of one species in a specific group and assuming that all the others in the group are at least similar, if not the same. which is good because it saves time and works as a shorthand, especially if there's not much funding, but also sometimes it has the potential to overlook more nuanced differences that can go undiscovered for a long time. but that's just botanical species in the conventional sense, which i don't think is as straightforward in what you're describing.

another answer to this question that's more specific to the species you're talking about here is that plants are having sex. they have so so so soooo much sex. few things they enjoy more to be honest. and given that the most conventional (but not only) definition for different species is 'can't have sex with other species because it's too different from them', the lines get blurrier to deal with, and one thing botanists do when the lines between species get too blurry (because of all the sex) is to just assume that they're all part of some kind of hard-to-describe genetic soup with individual plants falling along gradients or spectrums of similarities or differences, and in this case you'll see botanists just name the most prominent species among them and call it the '[most common suspect] complex', which groups together all the ones that happen to be having sex with each other at the same time, just to make them easier to talk about. this typically doesn't mean that they're species-less, but more that they can be thought of as a group with a few distinct points where they can look very distinct, and those points are the species, if that makes sense; see the citrus sex graph at the end for an example.

i also see from a cursory google search that people seem to be planting and eating these in a more widespread way, and people are talking about them on forums and stuff. this is one of the cases in botany where things get tricky, because a person looking for traits in a fruit that's having tons of sex might not actually be looking for the same things botanists are looking for when describing a species-- it might seem easiest to just find which species or few species are the tastiest and grow those, but if it's a genetic soup then all you can really do is do it the old fashioned way and breed individual plants for the traits you want. which, who knows, could end up being a hybrid between all of them.

case in point: again i am not completely up to date with the lore here but i found a forum thread where people were debating which species to plant and the consensus was just to plant multiple species at once, which is fine but is also really funny given that it DOES facilitate even more sex, thus blurring the lines even further and-- if the posters decide to plant the resulting seeds from the fruits-- will create even MORE hybrid plants of no discernible concrete species in the plant soup. the hybrid of a hybrid of a hybrid of a hybrid or whatnot. when does one stop calling it a hybrid between two species and start calling it 'the tree in grandma's backyard that's the tastiest of the berries i've tried'? that is the question, truly, one humanity has had for millennia in the search for the tastiest berry, and at that point it might just be easier to call it a variety or cultivar, which are horticultural terms for just that-- a distinct 'kind' among the same species that taste good subjectively and can be reliably rebred and harvested, like all the apple varieties people debate about.

another reason is that plant phylogenies are hard and brain-twisting and plant taxonomists and systemisists are among our strongest warriors. it's not uncommon at all in botany to be researching something and to find out it's been reshuffled because of a new breakthrough on the case a bunch of people more qualified on the subject decided made more sense like a decades later. sometimes species themselves will even change names multiple times if it turns out that it was described earlier by someone else considering the new circumstances. if you're a really unlucky or just controversial plant all this can happen over and over again until, finally, the trees of math have been resolved in a way that makes sense. how long will it take? surely there is a concrete end to the madness? nah. lol

finally, if you're looking into studies on this, you should know that some phylogeny stuff is opinion-based or subjective, especially at first. what counts as a new group for one group of researchers might not count as one for another. so when you see stuff where people are inventing new categorizations or genuses or whatnot or merging multiple ones together spontaneously, it'll depend on how well supported their reasoning is and what the evidence seems to show, and the larger community of plant taxonomists will, overtime, decide what they want to do with that information-- which may include verifying it or refuting it with more evidence. what researchers are proposing when they split stuff off or merge it together is a new or updated model for thinking about existing information, and that model may be more or less useful than the existing one for the means of actually learning more about the plants.

anyway in short there are lots of reasons why this might not be sorted out and the more sex these plants have the longer it's gonna take. i'm strongly reminded of that one citrus sex graph (its this one) (screenshotted to see it on night mode):

[bananaactivity]

Im not finished with Carlos fully but he looks good enough for right now ( he’s 22 in this picture here)

I changed Carlos and Evie up, so now Evie is a vain witch like her mother who is fashionable but she doesn’t sew her own stuff. ( which is for the better cse wtf was that ugly ass dress she made for Mal in D2???)

Carlos considers himself to be a very expensive person and can be pretty big germaphobe. He hates getting anything on his clothes and he refuses to wear the school uniforms at Auradon Uni because they’re ugly. He wears lots of black white grey and red, with gold accents usually. He does theme around dog associated items like gold bone cutlets, paw print lapel chains, and a tennis ball brooch. He often wears red gloves and his favorite shoes are his collection of red bottom dress shoes. He likes hiding red on the interlining of his clothes too, such as his jackets and hats and vests.

A lot of his own person style is derived from 1990s London fashion ( as the artist that means I get my references from the 1996 101 Dalmatians live action movie, the styling of Cruela in that movie is ICONIC AND IMACULATE, and I MUST reference her for Carlos.

PURRRR

Of course he wears REAL animal print. And he’s not a weak touch me not prick like some think. He’s still tech savvy and does Anyalitics and specs for the core four. He also loves GUNS 😄. Think of him like a sharp shooter who stays in the back of turf wars and snipes people. The isle doesn’t have many marks men ( they all really like swords for some reason) so he’s pretty dangerous. He builds his own weapons too.

His passion started out as a way for him to collect his own furs but Harry gets him most of what he needs plus he always needs Carlos to redo his wardrobe ( he gets… messy… after a couple days work) Carlos hates that Harry ruins his creations so fast but he pays him well and gifts him rare fabrics and samples from Auradon.

Because Carlos has no magic Mal always underestimates him. She sees him as only a stylist and ranged weapon specialist. Even tho she acknowledges him for his wit and tech skills she still doesn’t listen to him. Sometimes he wishes he could stay with Harry but then he’d have to do more work up front. Harry understood what Carlos was capable of and respected him a lot. What Harry doesn’t understand is that not everybody likes to be covered head to toe in hot sticky blood 24/7. Harry had also promised him a suite on his boat that nobody else was allowed to occupy, but even if Harry’s crew feared HARRY they wouldn’t mind having an attitude with CARLOS for preferential treatment, even if it is what he deserves 🙄

Harry and Carlos’s relationship is the definition of there are two wolves inside you. Carlos smokes and drinks but he’s more of a Marlboro and Merlot type of guy and Harry’s a Rum and Cigar kinda lad. ( I’m using cartoon logic and say that those habits are purely aesthetic based of iconography from the original Disney moves, Cruella smokes and Capt. Hook smokes two cigars at once)

Carols isn’t really scared of dogs anymore but when he arrives at Auradon he “befriends” his roommate Chad ( now an animal lover like his mother) who has pet rats and a entourage of wild animals constantly in their dorm, and threatens to shoot and skin them all every single day to make a new line of coats ( when Chad rebuttals that his rats are too small to make coats, Carlos says they’d make the perfect fuzzy gloves 💀) He also uses Chad as a living mannequin for his designs. They have a goofy relationship with each other, Carlos does make Chad do all the dirty work of skinning and draining the animals he hunts but despite how traumatic that is Carlos is a fun sweet guy so it’s okay 💀💀💀.

Jay is jelly of Carlos due to his closeness with Harry. ( I guess the way to Jays heart and respect is by holding him at sword point and threatening to gut him and hang him by those very guts over shark infested waters and watch them nibble away at him 💀)

Next I’ll find up Carlos and do some fit designs then I’ll redesign Jay and tell that gutting story 😛

[milksuu]

I’ve been on the Ezreal brainrot ever since I discovered Heartsteel. And my little brain has been scheming

How would a relationship with him work out if his partner is an idol too and they have to sneak out to have fun together??👀

(Btw, unrelated, but I love how you write, it’s super fun and easy to read)

Dirty Little Secret | (O1)

❥ prompt: Let's face it. You and Ezreal hardly have time for anything with your busy idol lives. Unfortunately, things get a bit messy after you first meet. Luckily, both of you share a secret hobby nobody knows about. And boy, does it come in handy. ❥ content/warnings: ecchi, drama bomb, forbidden romance ❥ characters/pairings: Heartsteel!ezreal x idol!f!reader , Heartsteel gang an: omggg tysvm anon! honestly, im so sorry but looks like your ask is getting a part two lmfao! guess i went overboard with my idea, and so, your actual req. will be fulfilled in the next part. i also blame all american rejects for my non-original title. thanks for understanding.

No one knew about Ezreal's secret hobby. When anyone asked where he was going with a black gym duffle bag, he gave everyone the same answer. "J-Just heading to the main studio to warm-up before you guys get there. Nothing else." Little did they know, that's not where he was going. Instead, he was heading to a photoshoot. A very specific kind: a cosplay photoshoot.

I mean, who wouldn't want to dress up as their favorite anime/manga character, superhero, or original fantasy creation? Even better, who wouldn't want to be photographed while doing it? Ezreal felt he could be anyone and anything. Adored with attention in more ways than one. Best part was, with so many cosplays to shift through, no one ever knew it was him. Except you did.

And that all happened because you went to that same photoshoot. It was a group event held in a public park, surrounded by retail shops. It was perfect for both slice of slice or nature-esque shots. It was by coincidence your character and Ezreal's character were canon together in the anime lore you were cosplaying. Which sparked you two being asked to pose romantically with one another, and pretend to be going in for a kiss.

You gave your consent and Ezreal tipped your chin up, his face mere inches away from yours. You squinted your eyes against his features and whispered. "You look kind of familiar." As if you had seen him walking around your workplace just the other day. Maybe somewhere else you frequented? You couldn't quite place a finger on it. Ezreal couldn't shake off the feeling either. He tilted your face another way for a different angle. He laughed nervously, whispering back. "That's funny. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met. Maybe we're at the same cosplay shoots a lot. And now we've just noticed each other."

You accepted the rational. Either way, you didn't want to press it, in case he flipped the coin around and started asking you personal questions. Cosplay and anonymity were one in the same for certain individuals—especially in your case.

After a couple more pictures, you parted ways. Ezreal felt his phone buzz. He checked his messages:

[Yone:] Where are you? You're late. I believe you said earlier you would be here before us to 'get in some extra practice'. [Yone:] Care to explain?

OH CRAP! Ezreal didn't realize how late the hour was. He'd been so distracted, he forgot to set his reminder. And now he was officially going to be late— or, well, late-er. Sweating bullets, Ezreal quickly let his fingers type:

[Ezreal:] i'm there! just in the bathroom. might be a while. lunch is kicking my butt. 😳🚽💩💩💩

[Yone:] Thank you for the TMI. Hurry up then.

Ezreal wiped at his brow. He was running on borrowed time. Yone was sure to find out if he wasn't back within the next fifteen minutes. Snatching his bag from the public lockers, he ran to the public restroom. To his utter surprise, there was a line for the men's restroom. Seriously!? That never happened. And it's not like he could waltz into the women's restroom (which, not surprisingly, also had a line). He went around, and found a private unisex bathroom.

VACANT

He flung himself inside, locked it, and striped away his cosplay. Something shifted in the corner of his eyes—it was you. And there you both were, standing in awkward positions down to your undergarments. You pointed at each other accusingly, and shouted at the same time; "I do know you!" You both recognized each other as idols; him being with Heartsteel, and you as a solo-artist. Even though brief, you two bumped into each other more than once at the company building.

"G-get out! I was here first." You blushed, taking your moon-wand and smacking him with it. "Ouch—it said vacant!" He cried out, trying to block your magical melee attacks. "It was your fault for not locking it. How was I supposed to know?"

"I really don't have time for this. Do whatever you want." You tossed your wand into your bag, fetching your skirt. You shot a narrowed look. "Just don't look over here, or else."

"Fine." Ezreal huffed, rubbing at his sore collar bone. "Don't look over here either."

With grumbles and protests, the two of you changed back to back. All the while, still bickering. He heard you struggling, turned over his shoulder, and found you trying to reach your back zipper. He sighed, helping you raise it to the back of your neck. You turned sharply. "I told you not to look but...thank you." You peeked down and noticed his pants weren't zipped up. You reached and returned the favor. He blushed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He gulped. "Don't sweat it. Thanks for catching that for me."

A silent truce settled between the two of you as you finished dressing, and shared the mirror to freshen up. Ezreal realized you were also in a rush to get ot the studio as well. He called an Uber for the both of you. His phone buzzed and buzzed, blowing up with messages. He opened his group chat:

[Aphelios:] yone is pissed btw. rip ez. ☠️

[Kayn:] YEAAAA YONE'S GONNA GROUND YOU. 😈😈😈

[Sett:] Sorry, Ez. We tried to cover for ya'h. Hope you're alright. 😓

[K'Sante:] I'm sure he's fine. For now. Once Yone finds him, we may not see him again in one piece. hehe.

[Kayn:] HAHAHA HE'S SO SCREWED HAHAHAAAAA

[Sett:] Watch it, Kayn. Else im tellin' Yone you snuck out on the motorcycle last night.

[Apehlios:] i have footage from the house cam. 😏

[Kayn:] YOU GUYS BETTER NOT ISTFG 🤬🤬🤬

Ezreal sank down into the back seat. Kayn was right—he was so screwed. You watched his whirlwind of expressions from the side of your lashes. You couldn't help but feel bad for him. You were right on time for your schedule. And it was all too apparent he wasn't. You stared out the car window. It really was tough to balance certain things as an idol, and some were better at it than others.

When you both arrived at the Riot building, and walked passed the double swinging doors, there was definitely Hell to be paid. A bead of sweat ran Ezreal's temple. Finding Yone standing with his arms crossed, and looking down with a razor-sharp gaze.

"Is this why you were late?" Yone directed the comment towards you. Ezreal bit his bottom lip. Yone tapped his foot against the ground. "You have exactly five seconds, or I'm addressing your conduct with Alune. And if that happens, I promise, you won't like the result of our conversation."

He stumbled to get the proper words out. "No—I—it has nothing to do with her—I was just—"

"Ezreal did nothing wrong. I'm the one responsible for making him late." You stepped forward, garnering Yone's interrogative attention. "You see. I'm absolutely crazy in love with him." The whole lobby fell to dumbstruck silence. "I blackmailed him into going out with me today. I even went as far as to give him this hickey," you pulled down the top his shirt, revealing the bluish bruise against his clavicle from when you smacked him. "I took a picture of it. And told him if he didn't finish our date, I would tell all his precious fans he was taken. So...." you trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Ezreal's eyes were as wide as saucers from the blatant forgery of your lie.

Yone narrowed his gaze against you, as if trying to siphon the real truth. You only stared harder in return, solidifying your stance. Yone breathed out a tensive puff of air. "I'll be speaking to your manager then. Whoever it is, they'll be responsible for reprimanding you. In any case, don't you ever come near him again. Or else you won't have a career in this business—I'll make sure of that. Do you understand?" You paused, then gave a veiled smile. "Of course."

Before Ezreal could speak up again, Yone snapped a finger, pointing for Ezreal to head in the direction of the recording studio. He took a breath, as if wanting to say something—anything to you. But Yone spoke with a silent bite. "Don't make the rest of your team wait for you any longer." Ezreal nodded, bit the inside of his cheek, and walked away. About to turn into a hallway, he gave one last glance over his shoulder. Catching his stare, you placed a finger against your lips, before disappearing with Yone into an elevator.

And all Ezreal could think was: he really needed to see you again.

to be continued...

[crushedsweets]

What do the proxies think of each other?

this is gonna be kinda messy and disorganized but i got it HANDLED

again, THIS IS ALL MY AU!!! there is a streamline, detailed plot that intertwines, so these characters mingle and grow in ways they probably wouldnt in canon, since different events follow them here O/S Syndrome = Operator/Slender Syndrome, aka slender sickness

Toby: He thinks of Brian and Tim kinda like shitty uncles who only come around every now and again . they used to taunt him a lot cuz toby was always like. annoying, selfish, sarcastic - so it would piss them off, and they'd piss toby off, and then it would be pretty bad. but as toby gets older and calms the fuck down, it gets better between them . he gets pretty sad when they eventually cut him(and everyone) off to move to like, canada or oregon or something.

he likes kate. theyre both outcasts even in a group of creeps and killers and literal monsters.... so toby's always been nice to her. when she refused to come to the cabin, he ended up dragging a mattress over to the mines for her. brings her food, gallons of water, t shirts. she owns random band t shirts that she doesnt even listen to cuz toby gave it to her LMFAOOO . he's the reason kate starts coming and staying at the cabin

Kate: she hates tim. completely cannot stand him. she hates when slendy makes them work together. he's been a dick to her since he met her, because their first time meeting was um. her dragging tim through the forest while he was unconscious. and she was generally part of what tormented him during the events of marble hornets (IN MY AU OBVIOUSLY). he's also uncomfortable because when she kills people she does it with her bare hands. will lick the blood and dirt and grime off her fingers. generally freaky.

she's better with brian. he doesn't remember her tormenting him so much during MH, but he still knows - but he's better at empathizing with her situation. he kinda pieced together what happened to her, while tims just blinded by like. anger and trauma. dont get me wrong, brian is still uncomfortable around her (again, she acts really scary when working), but when she's not working and she just sits there. she looks so tired, and she's so quiet, and its sad. he feels for her.

she likes toby, too. first person to treat her fully like a person after becoming a proxy without her having to like, beg for it (directly or indirectly). again, he brings her things, he's kind to her, laughs with her. he'll tease her and make fun of her but she can tell it's not with ill intent so she'll do it back - she considers him her best friend for a while.

Tim:

HE'S A HATER HE'S A HATER HE'S A HATER ok i know i call him an asshole and say he's mean a lot but i legit am not mad at him and i think he is within reason (like 60% of the time) since like. kates dragged his unconscious body through the forest and left him covered in scratches/bruises, toby's almost always throwing the first punch, he's had his entire life derailed for so fucking long, and these kids don't make it any easier- he could've been in kates position, which is the one thing that makes him kinda hesitate when he wants to say smth mean. he usually isnt an asshole unprompted, but he'll always take it the second step.

a lot different for brian. he wanted him dead for a while too. blamed him for a lot of stuff, but at this point he........... has nobody else. brian is his friend. i feel like writing too much about the complication of their relationship kinda takes away from it. theyre roommates, they leave together, they'd fight tooth and nail to stay in eachothers lives. despite everything

Brian:

i feel like i dont have a lot to say about brian since I already described everyone else's relationship...

just to sum it all up with him, he cares more about all three of them then he lets on. but he's also a lot better at showing he cares. he brings some basic groceries and beer and shit over to the cabin pretty frequently, he'll hang around toby and if kates there, ask if she needs anything. she usually just shakes her head, but on the off chance she says she wants like. a specific drink. he kinda feels like he got +1 friendship points with her LMFAOOO . and obviously he jokes around and messes with toby when they're not fighting

and again, same thing with tim. that's his friend. he's missing a LOT of memories from the events of MH, but tim hasn't hesitated in telling him how he feels about it... and he feels bad. it all sucks. even now, he says things he doesnt mean, just because all of the guilt and anger and trauma gets him and tim both riled up. then they go get a drink together and move on

overall, the proxies are pretty messy. brian and tim arent very present anymore, toby and kate are sort of taking on their 'in charge' roles. their relationship slowly mends itself over time, since my AU largely focuses on improvement and recovery and redemption (HOWEVER MUCH THEY CAN ALL THINGS CONSIDERED...), but its still pretty bad

[utilitycaster]

Something that I find misses the point so completely it is breathtaking is when people are like "this player hates engaging with their backstory" about the CR cast. It's pretty much never true, and what's worst is that I've seen it the most about Travis and Taliesin, two of the players who I think have the strongest grasp on how to create and engage with a backstory.

The choice to have a character who avoids elements of their past can be a valid, informed, and deliberate character choice. People run from their pasts! People decide not to pursue things for a number of reasons - because it hurts too much, because they're scared to know the answer, because they think the people around them don't care, and because their interests change. Caduceus very much is an avoidant character. He has access to Sending by the time we first meet him, and he never uses it to try to contact his family. That's not Taliesin being stupid or avoiding. That's Caduceus making a conscious choice to not ask the question "is my family dead" because he is terrified the answer is yes. He waits for a concrete sign to go after his family to the point of deep loneliness and self-harm out of this fear. That's a crucial trait that you need to understand him as a character! Ashton is also on some level similar in that he engages in no shortage of harmful, wallowing, and self-indulgent behaviors - and that is a choice. They also have obviously messy feelings about the Hishari and it's pretty plain to see they feel extremely conflicted about their growing bonds with Bells Hells because now they'll feel bad if Bells Hells leaves them. So of course he's hesitant to bring this to Orym, because then he's entrusted Orym with this information, and he has to care, and again, this is a major part of who Ashton is.

The same goes with Fjord and Vandran (and Sabian). One of the core themes of Fjord's story is deciding whether to run from or embrace your past, and which parts of that past you want to bring forward as you change, which means that to explore that, he has to do some running! He makes efforts to learn more about where they are (going to search for Vandran during the Zadash downtime; hiring a bounty hunter for Sabian) but those get interrupted by Fjord's shifting feelings about Vandran, and fact that this is an ensemble and the story naturally shifts.

Which brings us to the practical element. Fjord doesn't want to release Uk'otoa at the time, so it makes sense to return to the mainland and process next steps, and the focus of the story then turns to rescuing Yeza, and then finding Yasha, and rescuing Caduceus's family, and changing Veth back, and brokering peace, and TravelerCon, and Eiselcross. Through this, he still in fact does quite a lot of backstory work (changing patrons and taking a paladin oath, asking Jester to contact Vandran), as well as an immense amount of character growth and engagement with the ongoing story, but Travis doesn't wrench everything off its natural course just to check off every box on Fjord's list, because that would be selfish, obnoxious, and not fun to watch. And Caduceus achieves exactly what he set out to do! He found and rescued his family and found a way to hold off the corruption! Despite his avoidance, he covers all the bases! And as for Ashton...we've had precious little time to cover anyone's backstory in depth other than Imogen's, and we've actually seen a decent amount of Ashton's backstory regardless with their contacts in Bassuras and their interactions with Jiana. There simply was not time in Bassuras to stray from the main objectives and search for the Nobodies, and I think if we had people would be annoyed since that arc already took a very long time (and, for what it's worth, rather like Fjord, Ashton has explicitly asked after The Nobodies. Do not mistake lack of payoff for character disinterest).

It is, to me, incredibly telling this criticism is most commonly seen about the two players who I think also get the most "well they had an central arc/more focus than my fave" criticism.There's no way to make everyone in the fandom happy, and I think Travis and Taliesin are the players at the table who most understand that and give the least fucks about what the fandom thinks, and who (possibly relatedly) have some of the strongest grasps of narrative and what it means to play in an ensemble. Which is in my opinion a major factor in why their characters are so good - even the ones I do not vibe with are fully realized and well-crafted, because the players are not trying to make likeable characters, but rather interesting ones, and they're not trying to take center stage, but rather be generous at the table.

[archivalofsins]

It's been a good while since the end of trial two and a lot has changed in the fandom overall. Even more will change over the course of trial three. I think in this area of uncertainty and impatience it's easy to forget everything that transpired.

Admittedly I'm kind of proud of my growth over this period of time and how the experience has impacted how I interact with fandom and the internet overall.

Not to sound incredibly old fashioned but I think there's still much to unpack from trial two before heading into trial three. So, the down time between the end of trial report and now has been greatly appreciated.

A lot happened.

Haruka's broken 50/50 as people highlighted the risks of him remaining unrestrained not only to himself but others.

People stating that anyone voting Yuno guilty was a pro-life conservative, politicizing her trial as pro-life pro-choice debate. Even going as far to state that Milgram was a sexist series for including her at all.

Futa's was just funny because it was a bold faced admission by the audience that they were in fact too much like Futa to properly judge him. Amongst other things.

Mu's trial was a bunch of people politicizing it in the opposite direction using a bunch of right wing buzzwords like calling it fake news, for some reason bringing race into it from headcanoning her victim as half black, then victim blaming like her victim attacked first so she deserved to die.

Shidou well fuck we need a doctor so go off king. Like it wasn't even about him it was about Mahiru I know who I really cared about here. I couldn't give one singular fuck about Shidou even now. Oh he might hurt Kotoko I don't give a fuck if he does his doctor role what he does in his off time is his business. Nobody was thinking oh my god what about the harm the guy with the medical degree can do to others here when they voted him innocent nobody cared. Like honestly he has a medical degree he can do a lot of harm but that wasn't our problem or main concern.

Mahiru ah see he hung himself and he's probably a cheater anyway. Yes some people thought it was justified to drive a man to suicide for being unfaithful. That was a weird hill for some people to build a house on but they did. I don't know a lot of people just conveniently forgot women cheat and can be abusers as well. I don't know how some forgot that but I wish I were them.

Kazui the guilty shrine- seriously a shrine? Really... Oh also men shouldn't be allowed to get divorces because it makes women look bad. Isn't that what abusive husbands were saying when women wanted divorce rights and fought for things like no fault divorce wild. No one was thinking there yeah go on cook me nothing that would be better than the poison you're trying to disguise as feminism. It'd be less detrimental too.

Amane's second trial really was like,

"Sure her mom kills cats and beats children but we can't forget she's a cult survivor too and being a parent is hard."

Bro as someone with an abusive single mom who did some shit and went through some shit um no that's not an excuse. You can't just go parenting is hard get me my taser or my childhood was hard too it's my turn to beat kids. Like not tobring up Oshi No Ko again but the Amane trial really was just chapter 141 to me in real time (read it because that got messy later in).

"She had to live through the cult too. She was having a hard time as well what about her upbringing? Do you know how hard it is to raise a child by oneself."

Her husband was at work not dead what the fuck did y'all mean by this???

What were these takes? Nobodies trauma gives them a free pass to traumatize others- wait we'll get to you hold up put those dogs back where they came from! She's a single mom of one girl meanwhile the woman with two sons and an absent doctor husband. Not doing any of this shit. She was my rock Shidou says fully meaning it. Yuno mom two kids haven't heard a word about her killing cats or beating kids. Wild it's like it's pretty easy to choose not to do the things she did. Every other shit parent here did decide to be shitty Amane's mom included.

Mikoto oh suddenly your trauma does excuse how you responded to a situation. Work hard, such sad boy. Yeah I can believe the stigmatized version of dissociative identity disorder in this one niche situation. Japan is so backwards of course they'd still write it like this they don't know any better. So, of course the other alter is the evil one and Mikoto is still the goodest of boys- Also dissociative identity disorder isn't real unless you have a certain number of alters that act x specific way that's why there has to be this many.

With a tiny hint of if the child is guilty let's just kill this man too~

Fuck Mikoto he's had it too good. Bitch could have went home in fact we see him do it in the video! Where the fuck was Amane gonna go the streets?! We saw how that worked out in her video. Snitch ass streets, if these streets could talk- Don't worry with snitch advisory they can even if you don't want them to!

Kotoko well if you think she's bad then you don't have real trauma. Also grooming can only be sexual actually I heard the term from twitter and never looked into the act of doing this ever outside of that context. God don't even ask me to define groom as a verb.

So on and so forth. It's been a lot and this all just shit I personally experienced.

Trial two showed us one of the worst aspects of humanity,

Our ability as people to use our own experiences as the blueprint for all life.

Our stubborn commitment to seeing something only one way. Because that's always been how we've seen it. That's always been how it was. Milgram trial two and the audience for better or worse put the definition of closed-mindedness on full display.

Regardless of how inclusive, progressive, or forward thinking people believed themselves to be in the moment. We saw what a commitment to only one way of thinking could cause and who it ends up hurting. I think trial two can teach people that even the most progressive leaning individuals can cause harm.

Even those who want to support marginalized individuals or are marginalized themselves are capable of causing harm. Because when we convince ourselves that the only voice that matters is our own we silence, belittle, and ignore the experiences of those around us. It doesn't matter what politically correct framing a person attributes to their belief if one is being closed-minded it will still harm others and the movement they're purporting to care about.

It will more than likely do more harm to the people one is attempting to help the most whether that is themselves or others. That's the only thing being closed-minded can do.

[spaceratprodigy]

D, F and H for fairh and max hehe <3

@hibernationsuit — [ The Fluff Alphabet ]

More Faith and Max content? Don't mind if I do <3

–

D. Domestic (do they want to settle down? how are they with cooking and cleaning?)

I mean, realistically yes. Considering how their lives have been since meeting and even before that, they've been through a fucking lot. They want some rest, they want a peaceful life for themselves to be possible, but there's so much work ahead of them before that can ever be done. But the moment they can have it they are relishing in every moment together that they can, finally being able to breathe and relax their shoulders for the first time in their entire lives.

So, my own personal standing is that canon Faith and Max don't have children. It's not something they want, it's not something that happens for them, and they are more than happy about it, because being together is what's most important. However, I will humor the thought because y'all already know in several AUs they do have a daughter together :]

Faith is quite good at cooking! It's a bit rough for her having to acclimate to exclusively Halcyon food, and often needs Parvati and Max to remind/encourage her to eat, but she enjoys cooking for sure. She does have a preference for baking, having quite the sweet tooth, herself. Max is not that into sweets, but he will try anything she makes. It's fine, it tastes better when it's off her lips anyway. Max I think is fine at cooking, not bad but not the greatest either. He cooks just enough that is satisfactory for his own needs. But if he's cooking for Faith, he puts a noticeable amount of more effort into it.

I think they're both pretty good at keeping clean generally. Too much clutter and lack of organization would bother Faith and she would end up tidying up anyway, but their space is most definitely lived in. They have their own things here and there, their own projects left out for when they return to them in a bit, some books and schematics sitting around, things like that, but not anything that's unbearably messy.

–

F. Fiancé (how do they feel about commitment? how fast do they want to get married?)

Their story is genuinely a slow burn despite me always getting right to the good stuff. By the time they do realize what's going on between them and how very real their feelings for each other are, it is suffocating for them. They are terrified. This is such a new experience for both of them and they don't really know how to handle it, and then Fallbrook Arc happens and it makes everything even more complicated. Because now they're faced with the thing they were trying to avoid acknowledging blowing up in their faces and how they now might lose the best thing that's ever happened to them if they don't wise up and get it together.

But once reciprocation and reconciliation on Scylla happens, they cannot be pried apart ever again after that. Marriage isn't exactly a thing that's on their mind for a long while afterwards, they're just so blissed out of their minds having each other and being together that that's all that matters.

What does spark marriage talk, however, is Gorgon. Let's just kinda skip to the end of these thoughts. Nobody walked away from Gorgon feeling okay. The entire crew was miserable, depressed, hollow, they stayed huddled in the kitchen for days together, no one wanting to be alone after that mission, after everything. Faith and Max were holding each other tighter at night after that.

One day, they need to talk about it. Not really any specific conversation in mind, just needing to get anything off their chests about that place and everything they saw, everything they discovered, what it did to so many people and how it continues to haunt Halcyon. Something leads to another, Max brings up how Faith would feel about making their companionship a little more permanent. How after everything, everything they've been through, and whatever more is to come, if some fate is to befall them, they die with no one to doubt how deeply their love ran for each other, they die not ever being alone, they die knowing they were each other's.

Without a word to anyone but themselves, they start wearing matching rings.

–

H. Hugs (do they like hugs? how often do they do it, and what are they like?)

Faith is Very Weird about being touched in most cases. She likes physical intimacy, but she isn't exactly a people person and it's very hard for her to find that kind of comfort within someone. She doesn't trust or feel safe around most others to put their hands on her in any way. There are few exceptions as her story progresses, but the safe bet is to let her initiate any kind of physical contact.

I think Max is in a similar boat of physical touch not exactly being his strongest love language. So even tho I don't think either of them are super mushy gushy, I do think every touch between them is so charged and intoxicating. They are definitely more private about it.

As for the hugging, I can see it being a very deep experience whenever they do. This long desperate need they didn't realize they craved for so long, the starved feeling that comes with it as they hold on, melting into each other and not wanting to let go, not wanting to lose that comfort. When was the last time they felt something like this? It is a huge sign of love between them to do this.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Ooh new chapter!

Well, there goes his plan on waiting until he forgets that he's human. Good. Though the thought of Shifting-Sickness is kind of terrifying. It was bad enough when it just meant forgetting your human self, losing that part of yourself, but this is. Well, it makes sense, I guess? You'd lose so much, after all, it would make sense for someone's psyche not to survive that either.

Okay, that's harsh. It's not entirely a lie, but it's very much exagerated and harsh. Like I said, the "tantrum to get his attention again" is, I don't know. It's true that Dabi wants to get his attention again, but calling it a tantrum feels wrong. Especially since he really does want to kill him and is ready to see everything else burn, too.

I'm glad Dabi gets to talk to someone about his past. I'm also glad Stain can give him more information about shifters. It's interesting that Shouto is a shifter as well! I wonder if he knows? I wonder if Rei knows and told him to hide it, too? Not telling them about each other would be cruel, but since they never interact anyway, I could kind of see where the thought is coming from? Hmm.

Ouch. I mean yeah, the situation is messed up and at least Shigaraki should know Dabi is a shifter, but Dabi keeps getting thrown in the deep end, doesn't he? Again and again and again he feels terrible about what is going on. Again and again there are new reasons for him to feel like that.

Dabi is planning on sacrificing himself. Not only to kill his father, but to try and take away some of the pain the League will feel after he dies. He still worries about them so much. He's in love with Shigaraki and it shows. He says he hates that he's being selfish and he tries to make decisions to protect the others but it won't work because he needs to talk to them for that.

I love when Stain and Shigaraki get along. That duo is so funny. Also, I'm glad Shigaraki has someone he can talk to about this stuff.

Oh my god. You didn't. Holy shit, that is one hell of a way for that reveal to go. Of course, Dabi immediately focuses on the important things (like Shigaraki's eyes).

Nobody in this house is normal. Shigaraki doesn't even consider that Dabi might be a spy, he's just fucking terrified of losing Onigiri again. Of losing that first good thing that happened to him.

Well, that's a shift in dynamic. Though I guess I can see why. Dabi just confessed to him and he's definitely pretty and when you think about everything Dabi has been doing under the light that he's human, yeah, okay. Though I'm a bit worried that Shigaraki also did that to keep him. Because he's scared that if he doesn't give Dabi this, he'll leave. Their dynamic is very messy here. I hope they talk about it and work it out once they're no longer this on edge.

Dabi wants to show that he is useful. Oh, the boy wants to do whatever it takes to be able to stay. Also, he really needs to get over the fact that he's colour blind as a cat fast or things are going to be even more awkward. It's already bad enough that he knows way more than he should and that he needs to be careful with what he says (and also that he has had way too little human interaction).

Boyfriend reveal, lol. Dabi is going to have to put the work in to get along with the rest of the League, especially since he really can't interact with Onigiri for that. Stain is an absolute bastard (who wants to make sure at least Shigaraki knows).

Oof, this is a lot. The fact that Shigaraki is absolutely jealous that Stain knee before him hurts, but is understandable. Dabi will have to put in a lot of work before the others accept him. They don't think he's good for Tomura and I can see why, but also that's kinda fucked up.

Aw, they're working out a routine! Also, Shigaraki is absolutely right, Dabi would do absolutely anything if he said it would make him happy. He's such a simp.

Stain is such a menace oh my God. He's going to keep poking at Dabi until he sets someone on fire. Just made a joke about his quirk directly after having a very serious talk. I love this man.

Dabi is trying so, so hard. Especially since the others are already sad about the fact that Onigiri isn't around. Do they think that Dabi and Onigiri don't get along? That would explain at least some of the cold attitude. Or do they think Dabi too was send by AfO? Do they think he's trying too hard? God, Dabi just wants his family to like him :(.

They're bonding! "Their guilty consciences bullied them for me." Is a very funny line.

Mmm very good smut. Pet play and Master kink! It's been a while. Though I can't help but remember that they have thin walls... I guess the others will just have to deal with that.

It's cool that Dabi gets more cat-like urges as a human when he's so out of his head! I'm sure Shigaraki won't mind letting Dabi clean him up some time :).

This chapter sure was a ride! I'm glad Shigaraki knows now, and I'm looking forward to seeing Dabi interact with the rest of the League more! I do wonder, is Shigaraki going to make Dabi the leader for the summercamp job again? How will everyone feel about that? Guess we'll have to wait and see! (Just like Dabi has to wait and see if he ever gets to know Stain's animal form).

Thank you so much!

Stain is definitely harsh, but not everyone is going to look at a revenge plot and think it's something worth dying over no matter what the reason their doing it is. For someone who's entire goal is to change the world through his violence and not let himself be stopped until he's finished with his work and surrenders, Dabi just having the plan to scream his trauma to the world and then immediately go out in a blaze of glory after killing one guy would be pretty pathetic to him

Stain and Shigaraki have such sibling energy in this fic and I'm kind of living for it, supreme bitchiness and effectiveness all at once

NO ONE IN THAT HOUSE IS NORMAL

Dabi and Shig are both a mess throughout this chapter but they are doing their best to figure it out! The League and Stain just to happen to be REALLY not helping as they do.

They do have thin walls :) and I'm sure that won't come back to haunt them at all :)

Thanks for commenting!

[glyphreader]

Veiled Ascension (Murders at Karlov Manor Commander No. 18, Illus. Domenico Cava)

The afterlife is an area of Ravnican afterlife is an area that's surprisingly unexplored. Sure, we all know that the souls of many people get bound to the Orzhov and continue to hang around as indebted ghosts. And in the past, there used to be the pocket plane of Agyrem (also known as the Ghost Quarter), which led to even more ghosts being around (since the Mending, this has since been resolved).

However, beyond all the ghost-related stuff, the lore is pretty vague. Is there an underworld or heavenly realm that people go to after they die? There are angels on Ravnica - but then again, in Magic, angels are first and foremost constructs of pure white mana and not necessarily messengers of some kind of god.

So what is happening in the art in Veiled Ascension? The people depicted here don't seem to be ghosts - they're very much made of flesh and blood, not wispy smoke or bright glowing spirit energy. Considering this, the illustration seems to show some kind of rapture event, where people are literally (and also metaphorically?) lifted into heaven. However, since it is shown on only one card and happenings like this don't get mentioned in the story or anywhere else, it can't be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

The card doesn't have any flavor text, but maybe we can extrapolate from the rules text a bit. The mechanics care about disguised and cloaked creatures. Aside from disguised criminals, face-down creatures in MKM are also flavored as regular people/nobodies. So the people depicted here are probably guildless commoners.

Another point worth noting is that the rules text doesn't mention the graveyard. The name and the imagery make it feel very afterlife-y. But there's also the possibility that this ascension isn't related to death. Based on these observations, I think there are two possibilities:

The card depicts living commoners that are being given wings as some sort of magical favor.

The card depicts the dead bodies of commoners being exalted and lifted into some sort of heavenly afterlife.

Either way, it seems like this event is not connected to any kind of guild activity. It's too benevolent / non-profit oriented for the Orzhov, and too peaceful for the Boros. Given the absence of "celestial gods" on Ravnica (opposed to the Old Gods of the earth associated with the Gruul), my conclusion for now is that Veiled Ascension represents the white mana of Ravnica acting on its own, as an ambient natural force, to reward the good deeds of commoners who have gone unrecognized. If they are dead, maybe they are lifted towards the sun and merged with the white mana of the plane. If they are living, maybe a flight on magical wings represents the turning point in their life, when they are freed from their hardships.

White mana "erratically" acting on its own, without any focus or agent, would also explain why the cloaks-turned-wings are so unsymmetrical and messy. White mana is manifesting, just like it does when angels are created - but in an uncontrolled, imperfect way. Going by this interpretation, it couls also mean that the artificialness of the plane has warped and transformed its mana flow, which has limited its abilities to affect the world "naturally."

Random side note at the end: While a lot less scary, the figures in this art strongly remind me of the Pilgrim Butterflies in the Dark Souls games. Not only are there some visual similarities - similar to the butterflies, they're also not explained and left open to interpretation. I think Fromsoft-style indirect worldbuilding works really well in Magic.

[rosalind-hawkins]

Mumbleshipping Friend-group & Exes

Duke and Ryou are friends with Yugi, Tristan, and Tea, but I wouldn't say they're terribly close with those guys. They'll all still do group stuff together, but not a ton of one-on-one friendships there. Ryou makes a point of hanging out with just Yugi every now and then though, as they're the closest the other has to someone understanding their experiences with sharing your body with another soul. The more Ryou heals after Yami Bakura is gone, the more comfortable he gets with Yugi (and the others).

I imagine that Duke's dated a few people and is generally on the more promiscuous side, but probably not anybody inside the friend-group. He would only date a friend if he was serious about it, not casually. He doesn't want to disrupt the group by dating casually and then having a horribly messy/awkward breakup that divides everybody. He's seen that happen before, and boy does it suck.

Marik and the Ishtars are good friends of Ryou, and in bringing them in, Seto and Ishizu develop a quiet respect for each other. They're both older siblings that have had to make difficult decisions in order to do what's best for their family, so there's a level of understanding there. They don't talk a lot, but they're comfortable together, and she's Kaiba's favorite Ishtar sibling. Ryou usually requests that the Ishtars be invited to the mansion for the holidays, and it's hard to say no to those big eyes when he decides to beg.

Maybe Marik dated Ryou previously before they were healed enough to make it work and they're just friends now, or Marik missed his chance at dating Ryou before Duke and Kaiba got him, so he's got a little bit of pining but he's getting over him and choosing to stay his friend (Ryou doesn't necessarily know about Marik's feelings).

Joey is friends with Duke mainly but Ryou too (shitty dad bonding and that applies to all four of them actually). Joey's had a shittier life than some of their other friends, so he's less judgmental and more understanding about a lot of things.

Kaiba doesn't bring any friends to the table, but I do imagine that Joey is his ex and they secretly dated for like 17 days and it was his first and it was horrible and chaotic and awful—BUT they both learned a lot about themselves from it and used that to grow a lot personally, so now they have this secret peace between them, but they still play up their rivalry like it's an inside joke in front of the others. Kaiba doesn't say quite as mean stuff as he used to and Joey doesn't let it get under his skin anymore, and it's just fun heckling between them. And if they ever seriously needed help from the other for some reason, they would ask and the answer would be yes, no explanation necessary. No, nobody knows that Joey and Kaiba dated, and even Ryou and Duke don't find out unless something happens (like that "seriously needed help") so before that, when they're trying to get Kaiba to participate in friend stuff, they're all "please be nice to Joey, okay? I need you on your best behavior" and he goes "*sigh* fiiine" but inside he's like "oh cool i get to see Joey again, i hope he's doing well."

Most of this is pretty specific to my canon for a certain fic, but these are generally the headcanons you're going to see me stick to anytime I write mumbleshipping.

Useless notes below the cut

In my original old Mumbleshipping fic (only on FFN and boy is it bad, but you can see that I was passionate about it and using the story as an absolute playground), Amane and Ryou's mom were still alive (their deaths were faked and they were put into witness protection) so once Ryou finds them, they become part of the regular "invited to the mansion for the holidays" crew. And then a love triangle starts between Marik, Mokuba, and Amane, and oh boy that part barely got touched on in the fic but it still lives in my head to this day with no resolution and will continue to haunt me until I give them some kind of ending. I was so down for every possible kind of drama in that story, it's insane.

[alphinias]

They also said they hate Jiara because he makes Kiara be with another person in the friend group but she never liked any of them except JJ Kie has never been in love until now so not sure their issue especially since they have no problem with that in those other trash teen shows where everyone gets with everyone in and out of the friend group with those Gossip Girl type shows I think they just make excuses to not ship a thing like you don't have to ship it but don't lie to fit your narrative.

I mean, I think to a point it can be considered a valid criticism of the writing because it was pretty messy at times. I wish we could have avoided the pointless thing with JB for sure, and it’s clear for a little while early on they didn’t have a lot of direction on what they wanted to do with Kie. I think one thing that really makes it stand out in comparison to other teen shows is the fact that we have such shorter seasons, while older shows had so many episodes to find their footing that people are more likely to forget the weird shit that went on when it was working out those early kinks. Nobody says anything about how Joey was with seemingly every man on Dawson’s Creek, even the gay one, probably partly because they forget.

But yes, let’s not act like every single teen drama doesn’t do something like this. It’s just part of the genre and it always has been. And let’s definitely not act like because of some stumbling early on, the show isn’t allowed to change course and go with what really does work and makes most of the audience happy. It makes a lot more sense to just say “it’s not my thing” or more often “I prefer this other ship they aren’t going with”.

[estrogenboyfriend]

some questions i won't answer yet

expand read more to find out the answers:

19

masc enby femboy (he/him/any)

around 5'6? i don't remember

murica

i don't know or care

you can figure it out from my UID in genshin screenshots if you want

for now i'll only say english

turquoise

rice with soy sauce

idk currently

(possibly) coding OR playing video games

idk, i listen to obscure japanese stuff

don't have one currently

i can't choose

i don't have a favorite movie cuz i don't watch movies anymore

GENSHIN IMPACT!!!! it has become my new hyperfixation

i don't watch TV shows anymore either. but there are a few i wanna watch including toilet bound hanako kun which I have watched a bit of, and hazbin hotel which i've only seen the pilot of

i'm not into sports

same as favorite activity

my favorite article of clothing are DEFINITELY my pink femboy shorts. they are SOOOOOOO COMFYYYYYYY and cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love wearing them so muchhh

pansexual demiromantic with a VERY strong preference for guys

single (& recently broken up too) 😢

never had one

any guy(optional) who is bonded with me (i.e. i am hyper attached to them) and also sexually compatible with me (i.e. it's possible for me to adapt to what satisfies them)

any irl meetup with someone from whom i don't have to hide my identity

online: probably. irl: no

satisfying someone else, being appreciated (mostly just people liking/complimenting my body), and praise (call me a good boy PLEASE)

excessive misgendering, "sissy" stuff (please don't EVER call me that🤢), nipple/genital piercings (sorry), excessive bondage, strain on the genitals (done by certain contraptions i've seen and it looks super disturbing), catheters, and any phobia that i have (needles and sharp objects near "veiny" areas, insects, excessive gore, etc). a lot of those are not just turn offs, but also triggers

not rn, no

not that i'm aware of

not yet

around 5? maybe more...

only reddit, discord, and tumblr

u/xhydrochaeris, xhydrochaeris (i don't accept friend requests unless i know you), and @estrogenboyfriend

no, i don't like NSFW subreddits/pages and don't really find them appealing

discord > tumblr > reddit (????)

none lol, i'm a fucking lonely ass nobody everywhere

yes, all of them

uhm i don't know? probably very little compared to average for the actual functions of social media, but a LOT to communicate with others

idk lol probably some 冰淇淋 shit that i got obsessed with ages ago

black/very dark brown

black/very dark brown

no i don't, I'm pretty enough without makeup

uhm medium for a girl, long for a boy. i am a boy but girl standards apply more to me since i present femininely

kinda fat but fem (i am working on my body, eating disorder fucked me up tho)

extremely messy, naturally curly, so it just is a constant mess

usually a t-shirt, hoodie/sweater, and sweatpants.

no

no

online: yes, if you mean me with a boy. but it doesn't really happen anymore....

idk i forgot (memories are not sorted and i'm not gonna bother sorting them)

idk i ACTUALLY forgot, like forgetting on demand which is apparently something that i can do if i try hard enough...

no bruh eww lung cancer

nope

no

does pirating music and video games count? oh and also hacking(homebrewing) my new nintendo 2DS XL

uh probably not, im a good kid

YES... A LOT. i have sleep issues.....

anything that has been within 0.5m of an onion/garlic. those fuckers are NASTY, they smell horrible, taste horrible, and their smell and taste LINGERS in your fucking mouth for DAYS.... YYYYYUUUUUUUCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes

not sure if i've met any famous people

i kinda forgot ... i have a bunch of japanese CDs/records that i like but those haven't seen the light of day ever since I got burnout months ago

baizhu in genshin impact because i WHALED for him 😢 I was so desperate but hey at least i got him now :3

GTA V on epic games cuz it was on sale

probably my phone or laptop or smth idk

my homebrewed new nintendo 2DS XL which is so fucking cool because nintendo wants it to die but i am keeping it alive against their will and i really need to start playing with it again.

奥村チヨ - 恋の奴隷 / 眠くなるまで (vinyl 7" single, jun 1 1969) https://www.discogs.com/release/3249405-%E5%A5%A5%E6%9D%91%E3%83%81%E3%83%A8-Chiyo-Okumura-%E6%81%8B%E3%81%AE%E5%A5%B4%E9%9A%B7-%E7%9C%A0%E3%81%8F%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A7

i mean, the sega genesis model 1 that i have qualifies as futuristic, doesn't it? in fact i think it's way more futuristic that a LOT of stuff that have come out recently. being "futuristic" isn't about features, it's about aesthetic, and those designers in 1989 LARPed futurism WAY better than whoever the fuck is in charge of the capitalist machine nowadays

idk, check my weird shit drawer. i once had a massive dick-shaped crumpled up paper object but i think it's been recycled now.

phone and laptop. couldn't even do basic shit without them.

i said this before, my favorite article of clothing are DEFINITELY my pink femboy shorts. they are SOOOOOOO COMFYYYYYYY and cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love wearing them so muchhh

my hard drive. don't worry, there's nothing sussy on there, just 8+ TB of illegally downloaded music

money

some clothes for men just sitting in my closet... they disturb me so much and i fucking hate them

yes

BOTH. i place equal value on both yellow and purple. on light backgrounds, it's purple, on dark backgrounds, it's yellow.

i don't like either, but i dislike taylor swift a TINY bit less

neither, the nerds can fight over this without me

sour. i have terrible spice tolerance

i guess i'd prefer cold cuz i could cover up more. hot weather would require me to show off my body even when i'm under the most dysphoria...

this kinda contradicts the last question, but summer because more free time

i am masculine in a feminine way 💙

video games

PC, but for proprietary media, nintendo

uhm i really don't know honestly

idk...but i have a pet dog

whichever has the least rules and strategizing involved. i am NOT gonna spend thousands of spoons on a game i have to learn for months and years before i can even enjoy it slightly

....what?

.......what??

...don't know

neither

lemon juice probably

if i'm in the US, neither. if i'm in europe, then mcdonalds (there is a MASSIVE difference because of capitalism which makes sure that all murican fast food and processed foods SUCK ASS and are filled with unhealthy AND un-tasty junk, and the government can't do shit to regulate the hypergigacorporations that are doing this bullshit)

uhhh depends on my mood really. maybe horror?

MAYBE alternative rock, idk..... it's hard to pick

not gonna lie, lotr is IMPOSSIBLE for me to get into and it takes 50 million spoons, but i won't pick harry potter any time soon because jk rowling is a prick, so if i'm FORCED to, it's gonna be lotr. FYI i don't enjoy any nerd media at all due to the sheer amount of effort it takes to get into them and keep up with them. it's like i'm almost completely incompatibility with them

again, i don't fucking know.

i don't want either, please leave me alone

invisibility.

i haven't listened to either so i don't know

soccer, because i don't understand baseball at all, and i kiiiinda understand soccer very little

yep a pet dog

question 33

i'm about to go to university

a B in a particularly shitty class (the professor was a prick)

As in literally all except 1 class

most programming classes

no

no

i am ABOUT to start working out. not at a gym tho, just gonna do some workouts at home and see how it goes.

probably not

maybe? idk?

[downbadmostofthetime]

with the release of 2.0 and with the comments & reblogs this has received, i wanted to add a bit more to my point.

firstly though, i do want to clear up the fact that ruan mei apparently DOES have a place for you to talk to her whenever, it’s just that it’s through a phone. though my point still stands for dr ratio and now especially more considering that he got screentime in the penacony quest (not that much but it was still notable)

it was also brought to my attention (i knew about this but i just forgot at the time of making the post) that argenti’s voicelines are incredibly one sided. he has voicelines for the astral expression crew and even ones for joining into battles, but nobody on that fucking train has a voice line about him. NOBODY. like what?? not even a joining battle voiceline from the trailblazer?? what the hell is this????

the knights of beauty were also mentioned briefly in the penacony quest about how (if my memory is correct” they were invited to come, but they didn’t respond and thus didn’t come. honestly, this feels like (to me) a messy way to try and include them. the knights of beauty all work alone, so when it’s said that they were invited, so they mean every knight or just one or a few?? AND i think it’s pretty obvious that they wouldn’t even go in the first place. like i said, they work alone for idrila, so idk why whoever was sending these invites out even thought that a single one of them was gonna show up from their invite.

that could just be me overreacting in some way or being dumb but idk that’s what it sounds like to me.

i also previously mentioned how argenti doesn’t get a lot of attention compared to a character like dr ratio, and sure, maybe dr ratio is an unfair comparison because he’s someone who got a lot of attention because we got him for free ( and his bathtub lightcone…)

but i also wanted to shed light on another male character who is in the same place as argenti: luka.

of course, luka is a four star character so idk if it’s really fair to compare him to five stars. but luka is in the same boat with argenti & his appearances (except he actually appeared in an event once, unlike argenti). and i mentioned how dr ratio’s lightcone had people going crazy, while luka’s is pretty similar (and arguably, in my opinion, hotter) and yet nobody cares??

now. what’s something that luka and argenti both have in common that i think drags down their popularity (in the fandom) a lot??

they have no good yaoi ships.

there’s nothing wrong with yaoi ships. but it’s really annoying how nobody will give your favourite character time a day because they just happened to have no other proper connections with another male character.

at least for argenti, there’s velite. but literally (UNFORTUNATELY) nobody gives a shit about an npc x playable character ship (i wish people did though because i am a huge fucking argelite shipper holy shit) but for luka he has absolutely none because he like rarely even ever mentions a guy & his companion mission had seele play a big part in it, who is a woman and a lesbian and in love with bronya.

you may think this point is absurd but it’s really not. let’s take gepard and sampo as examples. by themselves, I wouldn’t say they’re the most popular characters, they’re definitely overshadowed by other characters a ton. but because if you ship them together, you’ve got that enemies to lovers, criminal x guard dynamic, and that increases their popularity.

blade and dan heng are both popular because of their ship, jing yuan is too considering he can be shipped with both. aventurine and dr ratio are newer characters that literally exploded in popularity because 1 they’re hot and 2 toxic yaoi lightcone

yeah my point(s) being that argenti still doesn’t get in game love by hoyoverse (he’s not even confirmed to be the world 9 boss in the simulated universe it’s that fucking boss in penacony that one hits you) and he also doesn’t get love by hsr fans because his main ship is with an npc we’ll most likely never see again

(edit a few hours later): oh yeah I forgot to mention that on twitter there was a 5 star character holding rate with a sample size of over 32k people and argenti was literally LAST WITH JUST OVER 20% SEE WHAT I MEAN HES LITERALLY SO UNPOPULAR DESPITE HIM BEING OP

can I be honest for a second

I actually kind of hate the treatment argenti got when he came out

sure. he’s a playable 5 star, got his own companion mission, and as well as a boss fight.

but comparing that to other characters, he literally got almost the bare minimum.

sure not every character has a companion mission, but those characters will usually be apart of other character’s companion missions or even in events centred around them (take sushang and guinaifen for example).

and while argenti is one of the few playable characters to have a boss fight, the others still have more than him

gepard may not have his own companion mission, but he was a main character in serval’s and even received visitor verification after you complete it, as well as the fact that he actually stands somewhere in belobog so you can talk to him whenever you please. plus he was also in the main story quest, just not as a prominent character. and as well that he’s a boss and is fightable in world 3

yanqing on the other hand does have his own companion mission, has visitor verification, is a fightable boss in world 8, had a very brief appearance in the main story quest (if I remember correctly) but was also complacent in two other companion missions (kafka and jingliu’s), and is available to talk to whenever you please.

kafka has her own companion mission, while she doesn’t have visitors verification. she’s one of the main antagonists in the game and is quite important to the lore (it’s unfair to compare her to argenti but you get the idea, so I won’t elaborate on the other things she has)

while argenti has:

-no visitor verification

-no appearance in any main story quest

-isn’t available to talk to whenever you please

-isn’t in any events so far

you can argue that “dr ratio and ruan mei are new characters and they aren’t bosses, available to talk to whenever, etc” but they do have main story quests (one for each actually), ruan mei has technically her own event (it’s based off of her own creations but they’re HERS and plus she has her own cat design so) and they both also have visitor verification.

maybe im just overreacting or just too impatient considering that argenti only came out in the second half of 1.5!!! and plus he’s gotten loads of attention outside of the game with hoyoverse buying the naming rights to a specific kind of rose species and naming it after him and holding a whole exhibition!!!! you know!!!!

but it kind of does suck with how his companion mission was so good, but the ending just felt very incomplete for me? like it feels like they didn’t know how to just properly end it so we got that (not that I’m complaining though I loved his quest). and as well as how he didn’t even receive visitor verification??? despite expressing his wishes to return???? they could just pull a seele, bronya and jing yuan with him but at least with those three they didn’t really have like an opportunity in the story for that to come around (if that makes sense) and thus them being added months later. but it’s different for argenti, considering how all three of them don’t even have a companion quest while argenti’s only main appearance is him having one.

argenti in my opinion is definitely one of the more underrated male characters and idk it just really sucks because I love him a lot and it kind of hurts to see how he isn’t getting as much attention as newer male characters like dr ratio for example.

yeah idk where I was going with this if anyone read this whole thing then hello I guess I hope you enjoyed that

[kooktrash]

tunnel vision | kim taehyung

summary | you’ve just gotten yourself a job working with the campus crush, kim taehyung. he’s quiet and brooding but everyone is obsessed with him including your best friend. what do you when she asks for your help in dating him when he’s catching feelings for you instead? he’s supposed to notice her but he’s got tunnel vision when it comes to you.

warnings | 13k words. college au. barista au. fem!reader, tsundere taehyung if u squint. looks like could kill u but is actually a cinnamon roll taehyung. unrequited love. reader has insecurities. Taehyung is forward and expressive. mentions of toxic friend dynamics. f2l kinda. smut. fluff. protective sex. 69, oral [f and m]. riding. missionary. rough but loving schmut. tae’s got good intentions. soft dirty talk, a lot of foreplay, nipple play, cunnilingus, messy but passionate. reader gives toe curling head. Tae got a big one but that’s just a fact.

song inspo: bff by jesse… ‘she’s your best friend but I can’t help my intentions on you, baby.’ — minus cheating undertones in the song lol

There is something bittersweet about wanting something you probably shouldn’t. Something about the fact it was forbidden or at least felt that way. Maybe you were exaggerating, maybe you weren’t, but finding the guy in front of you attractive doesn’t feel alright.

Not that he isn’t absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous to the point that it should be illegal… no, never that. It’s just, well, now you understand why pretty much everyone around campus is whipped for this guy. It was a small campus but wow did he manage to have everyone wrapped around his finger. The best, or worst, part is that he doesn’t even know it. He could also be acting like he doesn’t realize his affects on people but that only makes him that much more attractive. You’ve never been into the mysterious type—you were too impatient to let them open up. This guy is an entire breed of mystery and coolness yet he had a warm look in his eyes. He didn’t even have any social media and that just made him more aloof and attractive.

Now you understand why one of your friend’s freaked out on you after finding out you’d be working with him. In her own words: “Oh you lucky bitch! You’re gonna work at the same store as Kim Taehyung?”

You were in fact lucky to be in the presence of someone so attractive but that’s the part that felt forbidden. He was almost too attractive. If he’s even the slightest nice to you you’ll crush on him like it’s nobody’s business and that’s a big no no. Why is it a humongous no no? Because your best friend, So Hyun, has the world’s biggest crush on him. Borderline obsessive but honestly that was anyone who has ever seen him in person. You couldn’t possibly tell her he really was attractive because she’d have your head on a stick.

You learned your lesson after stanning the same member in some kpop group, she does not share. If she finds Taehyung even remotely attractive she’s got a crush and boy oh boy is she territorial. At twenty two years old she’s gotta be pretty damn grown to still act that way but hey, she’s your friend. It didn’t bother you that much, you just learned to keep things to yourself. So the fact that you could agree and say Taehyung is as attractive as everyone says, you’re gonna keep it to yourself.

“Tae Tae, don’t be so mean all the time, it really hurts my feelings,” one of your coworkers said suddenly. You were snapped out of your subconscious focusing again on what you’d been doing. You just started a part time job at a cafe bookshop near the University you attended. Most of the employees were college students but that didn’t mean you all attended the same place. You knew Taehyung was a year or two ahead of you and that the girl talking to him went to an entirely different college. It was a fairly decent sized shop that pulled a good flow of people in so it was a fun job. Three of you worked the late shifts but only two would stay to actually close the shop. Today, unfortunately lucky you got to close with Taehyung who seemed to ignore the other girl.

“Don’t you agree Y/n? Isn’t he kinda mean?” The girl, Sia, asked you making you freeze up.

You couldn’t help the clueless expression on your face as you said, “What?” Oh God why was she trying to drag you into this. You’ve barely been working here two weeks and it’s part time so it’s not every evening. This is barely your third shift with Taehyung and you’ve had extremely short conversations.

“Weren’t you supposed to be off five minutes ago?” He asked her suddenly as he read the time on the computer screen. She looked down at it cursing as she hurried to clock out completely forgetting her flirting with Taehyung. Neither one of you said anything as she blabbered on quick goodbyes running out the door leaving you two alone in the empty shop. It was a Thursday so it was pretty slow.

When it was finally you two alone not a word was said on your end. It took him about five minutes of only hearing the music for him to speak up, “You always get quiet when Sia’s here.”

You didn’t respond right away only looking up at him cluelessly again, “What do you mean?”

“Well the last couple of times we’ve worked together we talked but tonight with Sia you weren’t really talking,” he shrugged in response thinking back to the last two times you’ve worked together. Despite still being fairly new you picked up on the store rules quickly and you didn’t pester him nonstop like some of the other female baristas. Not that he needs you to pester him but he just noticed it.

“I can’t keep up with everything she says,” you admitted going back to your filling the machine with fresh espresso beans, “And to be honest I just sort of mind my business and try and get through work so I could go home.”

That last statement made him chuckle in surprise nodding his head in agreement, “Oh. You know that tall girl you’re friends with? The one who came in on your first day?”

“So Hyun?” You asked with peaked curiosity. He nodded crossing his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the back counter, “She came in the other day looking for you but you weren’t working.”

Yeah you know. She called you after telling you how gorgeous Taehyung looked making a French press with the sleeves of his button up rolled to his elbows. Still, you acted like you didn’t know, “Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah she was in here for a while but she didn’t buy anything,” Taehyung went on taking the large bag of beans from you so he could put it away, “I didn’t know you were in Journalism but she said you were.”

You nodded in response climbing down the step ladder and putting it away. Despite this being the third time working with him you still didn’t really know him. All you knew about this guy is what So Hyun has told you. Her crush on him started last year when he was one of the spokespersons for the art club. He’s also pretty well known for his oil paintings that were shown in last year’s Fine Art’s seminar where he won first place for the second time in a row. You’ve definitely heard whispers about him in passing with a group of strangers but you never thought much of them. He seemed to keep to himself and his close circle of friends despite his reputation.

“I’m gonna make myself a macchiato, do you want any?” You asked as you started to take out what you would need. His face scrunched in disgust as he shook his head, “No thanks, isn’t it a little too late for coffee?”

“It’s never too late,” you told him even if the shop was only open until 8:00pm and it was already 7:30. He snickered, “I feel like that’s not true.”

“It’s never too late for me, I need caffeine to survive,” you explained, “Trust me I’m not nice if I don’t have coffee in my system.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” he said teasingly as he turned to the drawer filled with tea containers, “I rather drink tea or hot cocoa.”

“Why? Not a fan of coffee?“ you asked taking a cup to pour your drink into. The bell above the door rang as a couple girls came in going straight to the music section. The two of you stopped to greet them before continuing your talk. He shook his head, “No it’s too bitter.”

“But you’re around coffee all the time” you stopped, what were you saying? “Doesn’t the smell bother you?”

He smiled as he finished making his drink letting it sit on the counter, “Not really the smell, I just can’t do strong tasting drinks.”

“Let me guess, you get drunk easily too,” you meant it jokingly but the awkward side eye let you know you were right. You laughed lightly as he nodded, “One beer and I’m drunk.”

Before you could respond the door dinged again and the two of you looked toward it. Your face contorted in a mixture of confusion yet joy as two people walked straight to the counter, “What are you doing here?”

“So Hyun wanted to come,” Hobi said with a shrug of his shoulders as you left the kiosk letting him wrap an arm around you in greeting, “And you’re off soon right? Let’s get drunk.”

“I’m not off till like 8:20,” you told him thinking about all the closing you still had to do after the shop is closed. He made a face, “Give me your key then, we’ll wait at your place.”

With that you went back to the kiosk going straight for your small locker tucked into the side where you grabbed your keys. Taehyung just stood behind quietly staring ahead in no particular direction. His face has turned to stone again, borderline uninterested but you barely paid it any mind. So Hyun glanced to him a couple times before finally speaking up, “What about you? Any plans for the weekend?”

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug, “Just gonna stay home.”

“Well that’s no fun, you should go out,” she said batting her eyelashes. You were too busy talking to Hoseok to notice the way his eyes glanced your way for a brief moment. He didn’t give her a verbal response, simply nodded in agreement and turned away to get busy with something else. Once they had the keys to your apartment they left together leaving you alone with Taehyung again and the two girls still looking at albums.

“Is that your boyfriend?” He asked now that it was just you two. You turned to him, “He’s just a friend. I’ve known both of them for a couple years now.”

There wasn’t much talking anymore as you helped the girls with their things at register and Taehyung left to recover the floor and flip the sign to ‘closed’ after they left. You worked quickly to finish your closing duties and by the end of the night you were standing outside the shop while he locked it up.

“Which way are you headed?” He asked you staring around the empty street. It was dark and there weren’t many people out. The only light came from lit up store fronts. You pointed in the direction you’d be leaving to making him nod, “I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh you don’t have to, is it out of your way?” You asked as you two began walking in that direction anyway. You definitely didn’t expect him to offer something like that.

“The bus stop is on the way but it’ll still be a while so I don’t have a problem,” he told you shoving his hands in his coat pockets, “Plus it’s late and dark out so I wouldn’t want you walking home alone anyway.”

He walked you all the way to your apartment stopping across the street. He waited for you to pass the safe zone before turning around and heading back to the bus stop. He didn’t know that your friend was waiting on the other side ready to bombard you with questions about what the two of you talked about.

So Hyun let out an overly dramatic sigh, “If he just gave me one chance, I swear…”

Hoseok sat up from his spot on the grass, “If he gave you a chance he’d go running the second he finds out you stalk him.”

“I don’t stalk him—“

“You do,” you and Hoseok said at the same time laughing. He pushed the textbook off his lap, “Besides if anyone’s got a chance with Prince Charming it’s Y/n.”

You rolled your eyes, “He’s so far out of my league I can’t even think of him as anything other than a coworker.” You typed away on your laptop, you were currently doing an Op-Ed on recent movies just out in theaters for the student board page.

“Eh, you’re always talking when we come in and you work together, don’t think I haven’t noticed the heart eyes,” Hoseok smirked kicking at your leg as if that’d make you admit it. So Hyun looked to the both of you before a smile stretched across her face, “Is he working tonight?”

“I don’t know, I just agreed to cover the shift for Jimin but I don’t know everyone working,” you told her truthfully. You picked up the shirt after one of your coworkers asked if you could cover his shift. You still had some time for a few assignments so you weren’t in any rush to do the work. Since you wanted extra cash you agreed to cover the shift. Thankfully you weren’t stuck closing tonight so you’d get off earlier than usual.

“Well if he’s working you should see if he’s got any plans this weekend, Hobi’s having a bunch of people over so it’d be a perfect excuse to see him,” So Hyun said wishfully, “And then you can talk about me and make him see that I’m the one for him.”

“I thought he didn’t party,” Hoseok asked staring off in the distance across the courtyard on the East side of campus.

“He does if his friends are there, so make sure you invite them too.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” You asked with a sigh. She glared down at you for a second, “I don’t know but you have to. Please? For me? You know I like him a lot and you’re my best friend who’s so lucky to be working with him.”

“So why don’t you just apply to work there instead of trying to get Y/n to set you two up,” Hoseok cut in, “Stop trying to make Y/n do the impossible.”

“Ugh you’re so mean to me Hobi, just say Y/n is your favorite.”

“Alright, Y/n’s my favorite,” you smacked him lightly to get him to stop but he just laughed in response. All three of you were pretty close but it’s true that sometimes you and Hoseok are closer. Nothing against So Hyun or anything but sometimes your personalities collide a little too much and you can only hang with her for so long before your social battery runs out.

“I’ve gotta get to my last class,” you said packing your things up, “If he works tonight I’ll try and tell him about it but I’m not making any promises.”

“I love you, you’re the best!” So Hyun said as you walked away from them. Before heading to your next lecture on photography you went looking for a vending machine.

You know how sometimes, when you hear of something for the first time [or see something up close that you’ve never seen before] and suddenly it’s popping up everywhere? Like when you hear of a random thing and now it’s all you can see or think about. That’s what’s happening right now.

Before you started working at the bookshop cafe you rarely saw Taehyung. Sure, a couple times you saw him around on campus but he was never close. Now that you started working with him and actually talk to him it’s like he’s everywhere. Like at the vending machines for example. You didn’t try and talk to him or anything but that didn’t stop him from turning at the feeling of someone behind him in line. He had to do a double take to make sure it was you, “Oh hey.”

“Hey,” you mumbled looking around as if talking to him alone was already pushing your luck. One of his fangirls might jump out at you and you wouldn’t be surprised if it was So Hyun. He got his drink and stood to the side stalling his departure as you went to get your own drink. Sensing his hovering you turned to him punching in the number for your drink, “Do you work tonight?”

“Er no, I think it’s Jimin, Jin, and Sia,” he told you as your drink was dispensed. You reached down for it pulling back with it in hand as you said, “Oh, I’m actually covering for Jimin today, we switched shifts.”

“Ah so he got you to do it? That’s nice of you,” he said. You acted like you didn’t notice the way he joined you now on a walk toward a direction neither one of you were sure of, “So does that mean we aren’t working together tomorrow?”

“No, I know it’ll be hard without me but I’m sure you’ll manage,” you teased. Your boss Jin, typically made the schedules and he liked consistency so usually, you were scheduled in shifts with either Taehyung or Sia. Very rarely did you work with some of the other baristas despite being there for a month already. It made it easier to create routine though since you mostly closed with Taehyung and you two split the work load in a way that made it easier for you both.

“I guess I’ll have to,” he let out a dramatic sigh stopping at a corner to look at you, “Got any plans this weekend?”

Oh right, quit your attempts at flirting you had an objective. You nodded your head, “Yeah actually, well kinda. You know my friend Hoseok? He’s gone to the shop a few times?” Taehyung nodded waiting for you to keep going.

“Well he’s throwing a party on Saturday and I was gonna ask a few people from work if they wanted to come.”

“Ah, so I’m one of the chosen few invited?” He asked with a playful smirk that you’re still trying to get used to. At a glance Taehyung always looks cold and expressionless. He dresses pretty mature in academic styled clothing and he’s just known for being serious all the time. Lately he’s been giving you glimpses at his 4D personality that sends you on a whirlpool of mixed emotions. You can definitely see why girls fall for his charms. On top of being physically attractive he’s also charming even if it is only toward a selective few. You definitely don’t see him smile that way to Sia or any of the other girls he talks to but you try not to let that thought get to your head.

“You can say that,” you said turning around to face him now that you really had to cut the conversation short to get to class, “I can text you the details if you’re interested.”

“Yeah alright, I’ll let you know.”

He let you go off as he stood there for a moment. Not even an entire minute later was a hand smacking down on his shoulder pulling him to one side as his friend, Jimin, stood there next to him. He had a cheesy grin, “Damn, I just missed Y/n. I was gonna thank her for switching shifts with me today.”

Should Taehyung mention what you’d told him? Or should he keep the party invite to himself so he has an excuse to see you outside of work? He’s seen you around campus a few times but he’s never sure if he should go out of his way to talk to you. He’s a pretty private person and you seem to be like that too so maybe you don’t like mixing your work life with everything else. Right now that you ran into each other had purely coincidental yet he was pretty pleased about it.

He’s not sure what it is about you but he enjoys seeing you. You’re really pretty but that wasn’t why he liked talking to you. A lot of girls around him were pretty but that never interested him in getting to know any of them better. He’s not really interested in relationships right now but that doesn’t stop people from trying to get closer to him. It’s tiring, honestly, or at least he thinks it is. He rather spend his time on his paintings and school that way he can graduate and start looking for a stable job as an art curator.

None of the girls who’ve tried to get closer to him have been his type either. Maybe he’s picky or unrealistic but when he’s thinking about someone he thinks about their future together. He doesn’t want to waste his time with meaningless hook ups or relationships if he doesn’t think it’ll ever work out. Take his coworker Sia for example, she’s extremely pretty but she drives him insane. She’s so forward and honest about her interest in him that it sort of pushes him away. If he falls for someone he doesn’t want it to be forced. He wants it to happen naturally because there’s genuine chemistry.

That’s why he likes talking to you at work. He likes to think there’s some chemistry there even if it’s just platonically. Conversation flows between you two so easily that working with you just makes his shift go faster. It doesn’t seem like you have ulterior motives when you talk and it feels like you’re actually interested in what he has to stay instead of just pretending like you are because you find him attractive. Do you find him attractive?

“Earth to Taehyung! I asked if you’re doing anything this weekend?” Jimin asked snapping him out of him out of his thoughts. He looked down at his friend, “Uh no? Just planning on staying home all weekend.” Lie.

“Alright so Saturday I’m meeting up with this chick and apparently her friend is crazy into you so what do you say? A group date or something?” Jimin asked hopefully as he followed Taehyung to his next class, “They’re pretty hot, dance majors, flexible…”

“I’m busy Saturday.”

“Okay well that’s a lie since you just told me you’re not doing anything,” Jimin rolled his eyes, “Come on do me one solid. You never wanna come out.”

“Sorry, I’m not interested,” Taehyung sighed turning to Jimin ready to leave, “Go ask Yoongi, I’ve gotta get to class.”

By the time the weekend rolled around you shared a couple quick texts with Taehyung. Nothing major or anything but he did ask for the address to the party and little things like telling you a certain regular came into the shop asking for you. It’s kinda bad how a text from him made you smile a little. Once again, you weren’t doing anything wrong but knowing your best friend had a huge crush on him while he texted you didn’t feel right.

He caught you completely by surprise Saturday night when he called you in the middle of you taking a shot at Hoseok’s party. You had to step away from the group as they loudly talked over the music finding a corner to answer the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey, so I think I found the place but how do I get up there?” He asked staring up at the apartment building in front of him. It took you a second to process what he was saying before you were rushing toward the door, “I’ll come down, see you in a minute.”

Taehyung couldn’t help the tiny smile from spreading across his face as you came down carrying a drink in hand. You waved him over to the door and he let a hand touch your side in a quick hug, “Are we getting you drunk tonight?”

“Let’s see how the night goes first,” he told you smiling following you to the elevator. He came alone even if you told him you’d be inviting people from work. He could’ve asked Jimin to come but he wanted to go on that group date and Taehyung was worried he’d ask those girls to come. When he first got the party there were a lot more people than he expected. Some were familiar faces from school and some weren’t. The ones who did recognize him approached him surprised to see he was at a party knowing damn well he was a homebody.

“What do you want to drink then?” You asked him leading him to the kitchen where the counter was filled with liquor bottles people brought and a few chasers. You tried not to think about his proximity when he came up next to you, a hand flat on the counter next to yours as you could feel the aura of his presence directly behind you peaking over your shoulder to inspect the inventory. He looked down at your cup, “What are you drinking?”

“It’s for alcohol but you can barely taste it,” you told him, “But if you’re a lightweight I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

“Bad thing for sure, let me taste,” he said taking the cup from you. You studied his face to see if he’d like it, his eyes locked on yours as he tipped the cup back letting the drink pour down his throat.

“Well?” You asked as he passed the drink back to you licking his lips. You couldn’t hear his response over the music so he leaned down close to your ear, his breath tickling your lobe as he spoke, “I like it.”

You ignored the shiver that went down your spine, “I’ll make you one then.” He nodded his head, lip being tugged between his teeth as he stared down at you. You looked prettier than usual but he thought you normally looked pretty anyway. Maybe it was the atmosphere that made him feel relaxed around you and since you weren’t running around making coffee drinks you looked more at ease too. He’s not sure if parties were your element but if he were to be asked to go on a night out he’s sure to say yes if you were the one asking. Now that he’s getting a chance to look around he noticed he’s the only one from work. That could mean the others you invited didn’t come, or he was the only one invited. He was going to go with that latter since Jimin didn’t mention an invite and that meant you specifically wanted him here.

Your brows furrowed in concentration looking at him leaning a little closer. It caught him of guard, his eyes shifting down to your lips for a moment before you pulled back. He blinked nervously as you smiled, “I just noticed… your eye lids are different. One’s a monolid and the other isn’t.”

Immediately his hand flew to block one of his eyes in embarrassment, “Yeah, it’s kinda weird.”

“I like it,” you whispered back to him still looking at his eyes as his hand slowly dropped to his side again. You both looked away from each other awkwardly as he raised his cup to his lips in order to hide the upward curl of his smile line.

“Y/n!” The call of your name pulled you both away from the stump and your hand was leaving the counter, barely noticing how the tips of your fingers had been touching his this entire time. You turned around looking for the one who called for you, So Hyun came up with a smile, “Jungkook just got here and he’s looking for you.”

Taehyung looked down to you as So Hyun motioned for you to take the excuse and leave. If you just let her work her charm on Taehyung she’s have him falling for her in no time—or so she says. You blushed looking back to Taehyung, “Oh, um, do you mind giving me a moment? I’m just gonna see what he wants.”

“Um…—“ “Don’t worry I’ll keep Taehyung busy,” she told you nudging you forward, “Why don’t you go find Jungkook?”

Taehyung watched you leave, the effects of being at a social gathering finally weighing on him and suddenly he wasn’t so at ease anymore. So Hyun flashed him a flirtatious smile, “Wow, I never see you at these sort of things. It’s good to see you let loose.”

“Yeah…” Taehyung nodded awkwardly. He didn’t really know So Hyun. The only times he’s talked to her is when she’s visited you at work and to be honest, he finds her kind of annoying. Honestly he couldn’t even understand how you two were friends but hey, they wasn’t for him to question. Don’t get him wrong, So Hyun seems nice but it’s almost forced. Like she’s not being genuine and he hates people like that. He was way more interested in knowing who Jungkook was rather than what she had to say.

“What are you drinking? Can I try it?” She asked him to which he shook his head no. “I don’t like sharing drinks,” he muttered scanning the groups of people to find you. Maybe this Jungkook guy wouldn’t mind if Taehyung included himself in the conversation. He found you across the living room chatting it up with a guy who had a full tattoo sleeve. It made his lucky number seven tattoo seem like a joke. Did you like guys with tattoos and piercings?

You put your arm on the guy’s shoulder laughing at something he said and Taehyung swears his eye twitched. The eyes you just recently complimented that left him feeling a little too happy over it. Has he made you laugh like that? You haven’t known each other for long but he likes to think he makes you smile at work. Maybe you’re the type who needs to be comfortable around someone before initiating skinship and it just means you two can still get closer. He wouldn’t mind that, possible texting you more or hanging out outside of work and school. Actually, he’s currently work on a new art piece and he needs a model for body proportion reference, maybe he could ask you?

The more he looked the more irritated he felt. This is why he can’t do crushes at his grown age, he’s way too possessive and intense. He doesn’t want anyone else making you laugh. Uh oh. Wait, does he like you?

Ah shit, he does.

“So let me get this straight,” Jungkook cleared his throat, “So Hyun has a thing for the campus crush, Kim Taehyung, and he’s your coworker. She asked you to get her with him and you’re helping her like a dumbass even though he clearly has a thing for you?”

You nearly choked on your drink, “Oh my god Kook, he definitely does not have a thing for me. We’re just friends.”

“Yeah okay, so why is he looking at me like he’ll hurt me if I get too close to you?” Jungkook asked raising a brow as if the answer were so obvious. You brushed him and his ideas off, “You know he’s a private person. He probably just feels weird that I left him with So Hyun when he doesn’t really know her.”

“I mean sure but he could also be thinking about murdering me because you left him with So Hyun to come talk to me. Are you even thinking about the danger you’re putting me in?” Jungkook asked holding a hand to his chest, “I know people say I’m intimidating but just look at his T-bone. One glare from him is good enough to K.O someone.”

“You’re so stupid—“ “No you’re stupid because now he’s leaving,” Jungkook shrugged making you whip around to find Taehyung. Sure enough he wasn’t next to So Hyun anymore and instead making his way to the door. You pushed your drink into Jungkook’s hand as he smirked yelling after you as you took off wishing you luck.

“Hey! Where you going?” You barely made it out the door catching him waiting for the elevator turning to look at you.

“Well, y’know I don’t really know that many people and you looked busy so…” he bit his lip in thought hearing the elevator doors open but making no move to get in as you walked over to him. Your brows furrowed, “Did So Hyun ditch you?”

“Uh no, you did,” he answered truthfully catching you by surprise. You brushed your hair out of your face nervously. Kim Taehyung does not have a thing for you. It’s literally not possible. Look at him then look at you.

“Right sorry, one of my friends wanted to talk and I sort of got dragged into conversa—“ “Yeah you looked pretty busy,” Taehyung shrugged as if it was no big deal even if it felt like it was to him, “No worries, it was fun though I think I’m just ready to call it a night.”

“Taehyung,” you whined thinking back to So Hyun and how she’ll blame you later for him leaving because he didn’t want to talk to her, “Can’t you stay a little longer? I won’t leave you alone anymore, I feel bad now.”

“Don’t,” he sighed hearing the doors close again. You were standing so close that he could practically smell the shampoo in your hair. He didn’t think it through when he moved a piece of stray hair behind your ear, “Don’t feel bad, I mean. I had fun, seriously but I don’t want you to feel like you’ve gotta stay with me all night.”

Even though he’d like it if you did but maybe that’s just the jealousy speaking. His touch sent goosebumps along your skin as you took an unconscious step toward him, “But I do feel bad since I invited you.”

Okay sure, you invited him because So Hyun asked you to but you found yourself just as excited as her to see him tonight. Obviously you tried not to think about it too much but it was hard not to when he was looking at you so sweetly. You never knew you liked guys with a twist. Someone who looks cold and mysterious but is an actual sweetheart to those he’s friends with. If you heard the little interest he had in what So Hyun or any other girl had to say compared to how attentive he was to you, you’d know he’s into you. But you don’t know that or you refused to even think about that possibility.

He smirked, “Well then you can make it up to me over lunch next week. Whenever you’re free between classes let’s eat in the cafeteria.”

“Okay!” You said excitedly, face lighting up. He nodded stepping closer pulling you into a goodbye and a promise to text before finally getting into the elevators. You got back to the party blushing and slightly confused on if you should tell So Hyun about lunch.

Part of you would like to have lunch just between you two but he’s already been way too nice to you. Jungkook already thinks he’s into you and soon you’re gonna start believing it too if you keep going at this rate. You’ve definitely confused a guy’s niceness for interest in you and you’re way too embarrassed when they choose So Hyun over you.

That’s why you agreed to help her. She’s drop dead gorgeous and had the height and body of a model. You definitely did not compare and knowing she was so stuck on Taehyung you didn’t even have a chance. You’ll just live vicariously through her if they ever do get together. He’s the total package and you can agree to that even if he wasn’t your type originally. Too bad you’re not as attractive or interesting as your best friend and all the other girls into him. Even Sia is so pretty it makes you want to cry. And she has such a soft and feminine voice unlike yours.

Ugh, maybe you’ve been single for too long and need to do something about it so you stop thinking about your best friend’s crush.

It was mid next week when your schedule aligned with Taehyung's and unfortunately for him so did your friends. He waited in line behind you and So Hyun as you got your trays of food pretending like everything was cool even if it was supposed to be just you and him.

"You're paying right? I forgot my wallet," So Hyun asked looping her arms with yours giving you a smile. Your brows furrowed, "Don't you have Apple Pay?"

"But you're paying for Taehyung's it's not fair." You rolled your eyes. You really hadn't planned on letting So Hyun tag along but after overhearing you tell Hobi you weren't going to have lunch with him today she asked why. You had to come clean and then she threw a fit for not inviting her. You tried telling her that you weren't sure if Taehyung would be okay with it but she assured you that on the night of the party they got along really well. She also thinks he might be a little into her and well, who were you to ruin her chances when she actually might have a shot with him?

Okay, to be fair you don't think he's that into her but hey, you're just going along with the flow and doing as told. Once you all got your food you turned quickly to reach for your wallet not noticing Taehyung sneak past you and paying with his phone for all three meals. You turned with your wallet in hand looking at him in disbelief, "I was going to pay for it all."

He lifted a brow biting his lip looking down at you for a moment, "You can treat me next time."

Next time? What does he mean next time. Like did he mean he wanted you two to go out for a meal again? Or was he just saying that to say it but with no intention of it? So Hyun tried not to overthink what he said either instead moving too match his pace to an empty table, "Thank you Taehyung, that was so sweet of you. Maybe I should treat you to a meal too."

He simply nodded in acknowledgment as the three of you took your seats at an empty table. You sat next to So Hyun as she moved to the spot in front of Taehyung and it made you feel slightly awkward. You're not sure if you're reading it right but Taehyung seems disappointed. The three of you are in an uncomfortable silence that made your leg bounce anxiously. You stood up awkwardly, "I'm gonna go dump this, I'll be back."

So Hyun looked after you with an unreadable expression as she tried to think of something to say to him. "I'm still surprised to see you at that party since I know you don't really go to many. You're not really into going out, are you?"

"You could say that," Taehyung huffed leaning into the table, his tone a little bitter as he looked after waiting for you to walk back already. He was being rude, he knows it but he just doesn't get it. He was hoping it was just you two so he could try and understand what he feels for you and if there was any possibility there but now he couldn't.

His gaze shifted to So Hyun speaking clearly now, "But I went so I could see Y/n."

He had a feeling he knew what So Hyun was trying to do. She might not have had the worst intentions but Taehyung didn't like it. If she were to approach him naturally instead of trying to force her way close to him through you, he might've looked at her different. But he just didn't like her way of doing things. It didn't feel genuine and sure she was pretty but he didn't feel any sort of connection between them. So it sort of upset him that you seemed to be playing along in her charades. It had him raising from his seat holding his tray and backpack.

Your slow walk back to the table was rushed at the sight of him leaving making sure to glare at you in the process. Your brows furrowed in worry as you quickly went to So Hyun who was gathering her things too, "What happened?"

She rolled her eyes holding her things, "Well he's definitely not into me at all. Good fucking job."

"Alright we'll now I'm extra confused, are you trying to say this is my fault?" You asked, some pent up frustration leaking out. This is why you should always mind your business and ignore people's wishes. You try and help them then get blamed when shit goes wrong. So Hyun sighed, "Of course it's your fault I told you I liked him and you flirt with him anyway! He literally hates me, what did you say to him?"

"Look, I have no idea what you're talking about," you raised a hand in surrender getting your backpack, "And I don't understand why you're suddenly mad at me when I've literally done everything you've asked me to."

"Ugh, don't you get it? It didn't work Y/n, he hates me and I think you told him something," So Hyun accused you pretty dramatically in your opinion, "You know I'm into him so why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry but you sound so dumb, why would I say something to make him hate you?"

"Because you like him! You knew I liked him first and you didn't like that so you were talking shit about me," she added making you scoff. Alright that's enough, you held your book bag on your shoulder.

"Okay well clearly you're delusional and need to grow up," you said with a small sigh as you looked up at her, "It's not my fault you're unlikeable."

The argument didn't even seem like a big deal unfortunately. You've had a fair share amount of petty arguments with So Hyun through the course of your friendship and yet you never stopped hanging out. Give it a couple days for Hoseok to force you two to make up and everything would be fine. Now would everything be fine with Taehyung? You're not sure honestly.

Luckily for you, you caught him outside a couple minutes later. He didn't even try and avoid you when you came up to him you cleared your throat awkwardly having no clue what to say now that you were in front of him, "You left earlier without saying bye. I'm starting to think you're not good at goodbyes."

You tried joking in hips of easing the tension by bringing up when he tried leaving the party the other night. He licked his lips with a sigh looking away from you, "Right... bye."

"Tae, I'm sorry if you're mad at me or an—"

"Why would I be mad?" Taehyung asked leaning against the wall of some class building. You struggled to find a response though you're not sure if he was actually looking for one from you. "Because you keep letting your friend try and include herself in time that I'm trying to spend with you?"

Your silence was irritating him so at this point he was rambling, "Look if you're not into me, I get it but I definitely don't need you trying to get me with one of your friends."

"No... that's not—Tae—" you couldn't form the right words. Great. This is why you should really mind your business. In trying to help So Hyun you only managed to get both of them mad at you in the end. Your mind was so jumbled you almost missed the single 'if you're not into me, I get it' which was broad but at the same time a hidden meaning was behind it. Or at least you thought there was, like maybe an implication of what he was currently thinking? Maybe even implying he was into you and it's not reciprocated? Why was it an if? What was going to happen if you admitted to being attracted to him? You just had to know.

"What do you mean?" Was all that you could ask and it made him roll his eyes. He thought he was being obvious with how he felt about you since the beginning. Even before he realized he was into you he always paid more attention to you than anyone else. He always talked to you and went out of his way to find you at work. He went to that stupid party because you invited him. He paid for lunch today because he wanted an excuse to meet with you again and yet you still don't get it. He took a step closer to you, looking down at you making you have to crane your neck to look up.

"I mean that I'm not attracted to your friend, I'm attracted to you and only you," Taehyung said lowly, "Do you know what I mean now?"

You couldn't stop the flutter of your lashes being completely surprise. He's into you? Like, is that what he's saying right now? You said something you probably shouldn't have, "We're friends though."

It made him scoff. You really could not get it even if you were being hit in the face with it. He took a step back with a small huff, "Yeah well I don't really want to be just friends Y/n. But if that's all we'll be then whatever I guess, just friends."

"That's not—oh god I don't know what to say." You really didn't. Obviously you had growing feelings for him but the timing seemed off. Not to mention he was so out of your leave him having a liking toward you just made no sense. Was he playing you? Taehyung didn't seem the type but after everyone has told you that he doesn't really date or give people the chance you just can't understand why he's willing to with you.

He adjusted the strap on his backpack, "It's fine Y/n, you don't see me that way so I guess I got to get over it. It was my bad for thinking there was something between us. I've gotta get to my next class, I'll see you at work."

"Alright but that's not your fault that he's not into So Hyun, right?" Jungkook asked a week later at a party. So Hyun has yet to speak with you and you've been switching shifts with Jimin again until he gets his new schedule figure out. You haven't really had the chance to with Taehyung either but one problem at a time.

"I don't know," you sighed drinking from your red cup as the two of you talked in the corner trying to block out the rest of the party. You only came out with Jungkook tonight since So Hyun wasn't talking to you and Hobi didn't want to pick sides. "He kinda told me... he's into me or something."

"I mean yeah you're hot and easy to be around," Jungkook chuckled as if it were obvious making your eyes roll, "But I mean, I get she liked him but you did what you could. How is it your fault that you two fell for each other instead? It's not like they were dating or anything."

"We didn't fall for ea—" "Shut up because yes you did," he cut you off before a smirk appeared on his face as he teased, "You like him."

"Don't start with that please," you sighed. Frankly you didn't understand why she was so pissed off at you and you doubt telling her your problems with Taehyung would make it better. If anything she'll just be more mad at you for managing to peak Taehyung's interest when she couldn't.

"Y/n, I know what you're thinking, y'know?" Jungkook said, "You like him but you think you shouldn't because of So Hyun but news flash, she doesn't always have to get what she wants. He likes you, try it out. He's here, did you know that?"

"No he's not," you tried to say but he pointed across the room and sure enough Taehyung was here.

He'd been here for a while and it surprised everyone. He really wasn't the party type but a friend of his was here with Jimin. Jimin texted him that you were here with some guy, and like the hopeless jealous fool he is, he had to see who. It was your tatted friend again. He couldn't even approach you because he thinks you've been avoiding him even though Jimin has told him that you're just helping him out because of his schedule.

Before you could say anything Jungkook was already attempting to fix your hair and pull your shirt down to show more cleavage. You swatted at his hand as he said, "Look, he came for a reason and that reason could be you. So stop acting like this is a hard decision and just go talk to him. You haven't been laid in a while and even I'll admit he's hot."

"He's also been staring over here all night and it's kind of creeping me out so get away from me," he said the last part with a good shove leaving you to stumble forward. You turned to glare at him but Jungkook ducked out of view and left you there in a crowd of people confused. Maybe he's right. You know Taehyung is interested in you because he said so. You also know that So Hyun will be mad at you even if you didn't pursue him so why try and act like you didn't like him too? You're just gonna say fuck it and go for it with Taehyung because you're unbelievably attracted to him and not just for his looks.

"Oh she's coming over here, she finally saw you," Jimin says playfully as Taehyung stares at him worried now, "Who?"

"Y/n," Jimin smirked, "I know that's why you came tonight. You had no plans on coming until I told you Y/n was here with a guy. I'm not stupid."

Taehyung opened his mouth to protest when Jimin was patting his shoulder for good luck and leaving him alone in the kitchen where he'd been hiding this entire time. You blocked his path from leaving now, "Hey... I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah you were busy," he said in a harsher tone than he meant. He knows he didn't have a right to be upset over you talking to some other guy who you were friends with but he couldn't help it. Each time he thought about you he liked you a little more. Considering you haven't been talking as much it gives him anxiety almost when he sees you looking perfectly fine not talking to him. This is why he can't do short relationships, he gets way too attached and he overthinks everything possible outcome of the relationship. He doesn’t like games. He’s forward with how he feels and he’ll let it be known once he realizes it.

"What are you drinking? Can I have some?" You asked hoping to lighten the mood sensing he might be upset with you. He didn't say anything offering you the drink and in an attempt to be forward instead of taking it you pressed your lips to the rim. He tilted the cup up for you watching the slight drop of alcohol on your lip once he took it back. He visibly gulped looking down at you waiting to see what you'd do next.

"Um I wanted to apologize and let you know that it was wrong of me to try and force So Hyun on you," you told him honestly, "I thought that you were just being nice to me to be nice and I never considered you being into me at all. I know that's not an excuse so I just wanted to say sorry.”

Taehyung didn't say anything for a minute, he simply nodded in understanding even if he felt confused still. A small amount of irritation too, was he not being as forward about his interest in you as he thought? Why would you not consider his feelings for you? Did you think you were unlikeable? Did you not realize he thought you looked pretty doing absolutely anything?

"And," you bit your lip nervously. Listen to Jungkook's advise and try it out. See what happens if you're honest because yeah, you definitely wanted Taehyung all along even if you never admitted it. Would that make you a bad friend to So Hyun? Shaking the thought away you leaned on your tip toes finally ripping the bandaid off as you whispered in his ear, "I'm actually crazy about you."

He nearly choked on his drink looking down at you. He's always had slightly sensitive ears so feeling you whisper against his ear sent a shiver down his spine—especially because of what you said. You blushed lightly at your admission, "And if you don't completely hate me I'd like to talk things out privately. Like maybe at my place?"

"Right now?" He asked looking at all the party goers and the dark sky through the window. You nodded making him clear his throat nervously clenching his jaw at the thought, "Okay, what about that guy with tattoos?"

"Jungkook?" You asked him looking around the people for Jungkook. He was off already flirting with someone not paying any money to you. You'll just send him a text telling him you're leaving and it'll be fine, "He won't care."

He looked down at you absentmindedly letting the side of his leg brush against yours due to your proximity. With a final nod he spoke, "Alright let's go."

You ended up riding the bus as close to your apartment as possible and walked the short distance to the building. Your conversations were light barely brushing over the main topic and finding any little thing to talk about instead. You directed him to the living room while you went to your room for a moment to freshen up.

"Want anything to drink?" You asked Taehyung as he sat on your couch, unintentionally man spreading as he followed your figure to the kitchen. Now that he's got the confirmation that you were interested in him he wanted to move things along. He wanted to drag you to him and talk things out, maybe even kiss your way into a relationship.

"Water's fine," he muttered in response not bothering to hide the way he checked you out through the opening of the kitchen. It was pretty dark in your apartment, the only light coming from the kitchen and he sat in shadows. When you set his glass down you bent forward a little reaching for the control and he'd be lying if he said he didn't look at the skirt you wore in the process.

He sniffled a little fidgeting in his seat when you sat back next to him. You turned the tv on pulling up YouTube and playing some background music lowly before turning to him catching him already staring. You bit your lip nervously tucking some hair behind your ear as you just looked at each other for a moment.

"So, uh, do you wanna talk about... y'know," you used your hand to motion at the space between you hoping he got the hint of what you were trying to say. He nodded, "I mean, like I said, I don't really have an interest in being just friends but I also can't make you feel something for me if you don't."

"But I do," you told him honestly and it made him smile, eyes slightly glazed over. It went quiet between you two again and your confidence was starting to fade. Now that you've admitted to not only him but yourself too that you like him, there's definitely other things on your mind than just talking. You're just not sure what he wants to do.

You tried not to think about how his thigh was against yours and his arm was thrown behind you on the couch. The music was chilled out but definitely a little sensual and you're not sure if it was a little too forward already. He isn't making a move or anything so you couldn't read him at all. But at the same time, you can't keep being the one to not make any effort. You liked him since the beginning but you pushed the thought away because you didn't think he'd ever think of you that way. You let So Hyun include herself in time that was just supposed be you two and he was clearly upset every time. He has been more forward than you in expressing himself so maybe it's your turn.

You turned to face him now, knee digging into his thigh making his eyes widen in curiosity. With a deep breath you looked down at his lips tempted to just go for it but still slightly hesitant. It wasn't until the hand behind you began playing with the strap of your tank did you say fuck it. You barely moved an inch forward before his hand was flying to your jaw pulling you into him.

Your lips had barely touched before you were caving into each other's, mouths sloppily working in a frenzied kiss. It was super short too, both of you pulling away almost worried at the intensity of that little touch. Your eyes locked on each other once more before he was dragging you back to him. His head tilted to the right while yours went left, his hand still under your jaw keeping you in a position that worked for both of you.

There was nothing slow about the kiss, tongues meeting in the middle before exploring each other's mouth eliciting w deep groan from his chest as his fingers touched your hair letting his hand slide from your side to near your ear. With the sudden force of making out you found yourself moving before you could process what you were doing. You swung a leg over his lap until you were straddling him and his free hand went straight to your skirt.

Your heads bobbed in a messy make out session as his hand gripped the fabric of your skirt making you press closer to him until your chest was on his. Your arms wrapped around his neck and fingers in his hair when you found the palm of his hand flat on your butt sneaking under your skirt. You pushed at his shoulders lightly trying to pull away and catch your breath. A thin line of spit connected your lips together as you both panted unevenly. His eyes searched yours for any sign of regret, the hand on your panties now massaging into the flesh of your ass but not roughly. It was a soft and soothing caress as you began to pepper gentle kisses at the corners of his mouth. His mouth was slightly agape as he fought to catch his breath and not buck up into the warmth between your legs that was currently over his member. He couldn't even remember the last time he made out with someone like this. It had to be months at least, probably since the last girl he was in a relationship with. Taehyung's breath hitched as you got to the angle of his jaw sucking lightly making your way toward the space under his ear.

You didn't miss the way his hands tightened around you fidgeting a little when you got close to his ear. Deciding to take it further you pulled the end of his lobe into your mouth nipping at it softly with your teeth.

"Ngh," he bit back a moan at the feel, his eyes crossing for a moment when your breath fanned his ears. Why the hell were they so damn sensitive. You moved your hips over him feeling his grip on your butt tighten in the process. He was slumped back on the couch essentially letting you take the reigns for a moment as he tried to clear his mind of the dirty thoughts that were coming way too soon. Instead, he let your hips move over him back and forth, the rough denim of his jeans rubbing against your arousing heat.

You were practically dry humping like a pair of horny teens but it clearly wasn't enough. You both only had one thing on his mind and he needed it. Your fingers were in his hair scratching blissfully at his scalp as you whispered into his ear, "Wanna move things to my room?"

The tingling sensation traveled from his ear down his throat to his spine making him react far quicker than you expect. Both hands tightened at your bottom as he jolted off the couch keeping you on him. "Where?" He asked, lips brushing against yours as you clung to him. You pointed in the direction and he was taking you that way.

The door swung open with a bang before his leg was kicking it back shut. He walked until his knees hit the edge of a bed and just like that he was trapping you under him in another heated kiss. Your hands cupped his face as he pressed himself further into you, eyes squeeze shut in pleasure.

Just how you did on the couch, he was pushing his groin against yours, knees digging into the mattress with your body in between before he started a slow grind into you. The material of his jeans was doing magic hitting against your pleasure nub above your entrance and you could feel the growing bulge adding more pressure. His elbows were near your shoulders keeping himself from crushing you as your heads moved in every direction that could deepen the kiss more and more. Your lips felt numb, rubbed raw almost but neither of you pulled away. His tongue was winning against yours in exploration drawing a light sigh from your lips when he cradled your head between his arms to keep you in place.

Your hands were playing with the collar of his shirt before running down the front of his chest to feel what was underneath. It was soft and lean muscle, the kind that someone had when they were fit even without intense exercise.

He put most of his weight on his legs as he sat back further with his calves tucked under his thighs letting his hands move down your sides bunching up your shirt. Your mouths only separated for one quick moment only enough time for him to tug your shirt off and his too. They fell somewhere on the floor as he let himself looked down at you. Your legs were still thrown over his spread thighs, his erect ion only an inch away from the space between your legs. Large hands gripped at the bend of your knees yanking your body down and closer to him until you were flush against him again. He guided your hips up searching for some friction despite both of you still being dressed below the waist. His hands were at your sides letting your hips grind back on him and it was enough for him to be draping over you again to capture your lips with his.

"You're so pretty," he mumbled against your lips as he pulled away, nose and mouth brushing over the curve of your chin down your neck, "And nice."

He was moving away now, legs still widened as he crawled down your body, kissing along your collarbone, "And you smell so good."

His face was getting closer to your chest, hands now running over your bra, "And I think about you all the time."

His hands cupped the your boobs over your bra giving them a light squeeze as his lips licked over the rounded flesh, "I think about how you'll react when I touch you."

They snaked under the bra, thumbs running over your nipples causing an immediate reaction from you, "And how soft you'll feel in my hands."

"Taehyung..." you licked your lips breathlessly arching your back up to slide your hands under and unclip the material. You yanked the straps down managing to take it off with his hands still groping at your tits. With the bra out of the way he took the chance to take your nipple into his mouth, tongue swirling around the bud until it hardened while his thumb worked the other. He gave your chest special treatment with a massage and wet kisses along your skin practically covering you in drool while your hips searched for something to rut against but his body was hovering over you yet not touching.

Once he had enough of your chest he kissed down the center of your stomach, hands sliding down to your skirt but he never took it off you. Instead, his fingers grazed over to your panties, touching the hem before sliding them down, "I wonder about how you'll taste on my tongue."

"Will you let me have a taste?" He asked, skirt covering half his face watching as you gave an impatient nod. He slid the material down your legs letting them fall to the bed. You wiggled nervously feeling his stare on your definite wet core but before you could hurry him along your mouth drew open in a sudden gasp. A blob of spit landed on your cunt from his mouth and the thick liquid felt strange against your clit due to its unexpectedness. He just spit directly on your pussy...

One of his arms was holding your thigh on his shoulder while the other let his hand swipe over his spit. His middle finger touched your clit as he rubbed the spit with your dripping arousal to make it wetter and messier too. Then, once he made sure you were coated in liquid, he flattened his tongue against your opening curving it upward to collect and decent size of wetness. His tongue rolled back into his mouth and he swallowed heavily, not even thinking about your impatient fidgeting as he got the taste he was looking for.

"Mm," he hummed in appreciation, eyes shut in bliss for a moment before letting your clit fit between his index and middle fingers as he rubbed upwards, palm on your entrance applying pressure there too. Then, he pulled away, hand doing a 180 so his fingers were facing down and he leaned forward to kiss your lips, all while your clit was still stimulated between his fingers.

"I like it," he muttered against your lips, "I think I'm gonna have more."

You weren't much of a talker during foreplay but Taehyung's deep voice had your thighs wanting to shut to stop the pool of arousal. His voice was so sensual and raspy that you didn't mind the light dirty talk. Maybe you'd whisper into his ear more since you know he likes it now. Maybe you'll even do it to him at work sometimes just to see him get riled up.

He went back down between your legs, not bothering to tease anymore as he did just that. Tongue lapping up more and more speeding up his flicking while his fingers slipped over your clit thanks to the wetness of it.

Immediately your hand went to his soft dark hair again for leverage as his ministrations picked up pace, face practically digging at your heat. It was messy, nasty almost, with the slurping sounds he made. He was lost in it too, your little sounds and the way you ground into his face was enough to egg him on to take it further. He could've been like this all night if you would have let him. Your hand tugged him back by his hair. He didn't mind the sting though ready to take your mouth back on his if that's what you wanted.

You didn't say anything sitting up watching his face contort in confusion and worry. With a hand on his chest you guided him to lie down and he submitted to your actions easily, hand over yours as you applied pressure to get him down. Once he was lying down you tugged at his zipper watching the way his stomach sunk in under your touch and the black band of his briefs was slowly exposed. He didn't bother fighting it when you tugged his jeans down along with his briefs.

Taehyung released a grunt in relief as the right denim was finally off and briefs no longer confining his erecrion. He felt heavy on his navel, thick member stiff against his happy trail. Your eyes caught the way his cock twitched at the sudden exposure. You threw his clothes to the floor moving too unzip your skirt and slide it down when he stopped your hand.

"Leave it, I want it on when you're on top," he said, thumb running over your wrist bone soothingly. The corner of your mouth turned upward in a smirk as you nodded. He wants you wearing it when you're on top? Alright.

He didn't know how to react when you turned away from him, straddling his midsection facing away from him and his hands immediately raised to try and touch you. You got on your knees, pussy in his face that he finally got what you wanted to do. He couldn't stop the animalistic growl he let out as his hands gripped your thighs pulling you back into position. Once he had you over him his mouth was on your cunt again, his chin rutting against your clit as his fingers spread you open for him to eat you out.

The only thing to make his movements slow was the softest kitten lick down the length of his cock. It caught him by surprise, balls tightening at the feeling especially when you kissed the vein underneath. With one hand you picked up his member so it was pointed to the ceiling and continued to lather him in your drool letting your mouth and tongue lick around his length. His hips began to move seeking more than just the teasing, fingernails digging into your butt as you slobbered all over him.

Once his length was wet enough you moved to his tip, tongue poking at his slit where a clear drop of precum dribbled out. You licked at it, forcing spit down his head before wrapping your around it fully. Once your mouth adjusted to his girth you began to bob your head up and down, tongue licking along his slit everything you came up before coiling around him when you went down.

Whatever you did felt good to him, his hips began moving to fit more into your mouth slowly. His arms went to your back pulling you flush against him so your butt was sticking out more and right in his face. He kept you locked in around him with one arm while the other went to your hair.

You had a bad gag reflex so it took more effort to not choke and he was bigger than any guy you've ever been with. You took as much of him as possible but your hands did most of the work. When it became too much you lifted your mouth off with a pop, drool lining the way before you moved lower.

Taehyung nearly choked in your essence at the warm and wet tightness trying to suck his testicles. Your mouth licked at the soft flesh despite how full they felt and it had him shaking.

"Aish," he hissed, eyes scrunched as his head fell against your pillows, no longer eating you out like a mad man. He needed a second to enjoy this new feeling, when your tongue licked down to his perineum, the thing like down his balls. Your hand was also jerking him off in just the right way that he was extremely close. As much as he'd like to release just like this he wanted more.  No, needed more and when your actions got bolder he couldn't take it anymore. He liked that it wasn’t a fight for control. It was equal parts in trying to pleasure each other. He wasn’t trying to be the dominant one at the moment. He was just trying to take the pleasure and go along with whatever happened. It felt so much more natural that way than him trying to force you into positions or foreplay you didn’t want to do. You were just as eager to pleasure him too and he had no problem letting you do it.

"Y/n,” he licked his dry lips, “I need you on my cock, now.”

It took you a second to think about what he was asking but he was already guiding you up trying to turn you. You crawled off him feeling his arm trying to hold you by your legs as you stretched over to your nightstand. You didn’t usually buy condoms since you didn’t have a lot of hook ups but Jungkook thought it’d be funny to gift you some after making fun of your dry spell. A true friend, really.

Taehyung took it from you puckering his lips while tearing into the packaging. You leaned over him pressing your lips against his in a quick kiss as he rolled the condom on. Once it was one he was teaching for your hand leading you back over him. He held his member up as you straddled him trying to line your entrance with his tip, skirt hiding the view but draped over his hand. You pulled his lip between your teeth in a gentle nip as you tried moving back to sit over him more.

He smacked his lips disappointedly pouting a little when you pulled away from the kiss. But he hummed in pleasure as you began to lower yourself, his tip sinking into your heat slowly. His hands on your thighs letting you adjust to his size, he had to bite into his bottom lip when your walls kept him snug.

You began to slowly move up and down to speed the stretching process despite the slight discomfort. You could see the struggle he was facing at the wait and honestly you couldn’t wait either. Your hands were on his chest using him for leverage before you gained more rhythm.

Your movement began to include some grinding letting your folds get stimulated with the added movement. His hands were under your skirt groping the rounds of your ass, nails digging into the plump flesh letting his hips buck to match your pace.

“Oh fuck,” he grunted, low deep gasps escaping his lips, “… so tight.”

“Tae,” you whined letting the shortened name slip as your head fell forward, “You feel so good.”

You were breathless, putting more weight on your hands and knees so you could bounce your hips repeatedly, rotating them as best as you could to reach new angles. With the change of rhythm his arm wrapped around your lower back again, pressing you against him making you collapse over him. Your head fell by his neck feeling the tightness of his arms around your waist as he dug his heels into the mattress so he could fuck up into you. He matched your rhythm and the new angle stimulated your clit making you whine softly into his ear.

Your cute little sounds we’re making his hips stutter, “Big—you’re so big,” you moaned into his ear.

He reacted immediately, mouth drawn open trying to find your mouth to kiss but instead for your shoulder, “Gonna cum soon pretty girl?”

“Mhm,” you silently mewled, the soft sounds tickling the sweet spot in his ear to the pointer where his hand was pressing into your tailbone and before you knew it you were flipped onto your back. In this new position he reached a deeper level with your legs wrapped around him.

With a few more deep thrusts you were falling apart. Your orgasm hit you in a frenzy, hips twitching over his length feeling your ring of nerves tighten around him.

He ease his cock into you riding out your high but with the way your walls seemed to puffed around him it became too much. It took one more roll of your hips for him to release. He groaned into your ear cumming into the condom, both of you riding the wave for a moment.

After letting you relax around him again Taehyung pulled out gently. You were both covered in a thin layer of sweat but he left tender touches on your shaking thighs moving to lay down next to you. You looked at each other lovingly taking your hand in his kissing your knuckles, “Was that too much?”

You shook your head no in response before turning on your side, “Come here.”

He scooted closer lifting an arm for you to crawl under and wrapped around you holding you to his chest. Taehyung felt like he could think properly again, more clearly and not as lust filled. He stayed quiet for a moment trying to unravel all the details of what you’d told him earlier.

“We did things backwards,” he sighed, his tone was light almost teasing, “I was supposed to take you out to dinner first.”

“What about breakfast?” You asked. He made a face in thought before smiling, squeezing you a little, “Breakfast works.”

You snuggled into him some more as he held you closely. He played with the hand he still held, the one he kissed, intertwining your fingers then separating them only to do it all over again. You couldn’t help but smile at a certain thought, “I thought you were supposed to be mean and hard to approach but you weren’t ever like that with me.”

“Maybe I just liked you since the beginning,” he shrugged not bothering to confirm nor deny the rumors. He was just a private person and he felt comfortable around you enough to open it. He’d been attracted to you all along even when you tried getting him with So Hyun.

And it really was you all along. He still kept his guard up around everyone else and he doesn’t see that changing. If anything he’ll probably distance himself further from people interested him. He wants to respect you and the future of your relationship.

“Just so we’re clear too, no more trying to set me up with your friends,” he said teasingly but serious at the same time, “Because I’m yours, nobody else’s.”

“Am I yours too?” You looked up at him with rounded sparkly eyes. He kissed the tip of your nose, “And nobody else’s.”

You completely missed the ringing of your phone that was left in the living. The text from So Hyun that went unnoticed.

sohyun: I’m sorry for being mean

sohyun: I don’t want us arguing and if y’all like each other I can’t be mad

sohyun: ur my best friend and I luv u

sohyun: ps Jungkook told me u were with taehyung

sohyun: I’m jealous but also :’) happy for u

::.

a/n alright so this isn’t really angsty. I’ve been writing that too much :p

after story reflection: Tae is very much so a tsundere to ppl he’s not close with. you and so hyun are still friends but Tae doesn’t fully trust her bc he doesn’t want to see u get hurt. he is nice to her only for u tho

also we love support jk and jhope who are really just here for their friends and are observers who gas you up when ur insecure

fun fact: I also used to be a barista and honestly such a fun job

I keep writing college au’s even tho I’m a college dropout lmao

y’all the smut was kinda long and it’s funny bc I was writing it while watching the last change days episode 😭💀 like half the time I didn’t even know what I was typing I was just going with the flow

tagged: @here4btsfics @blue-creative-energy

[multi-kpop-fanfics]

hello!! this is my first time asking but can you do wonu playing the “too hot” game at a party? it’s where he and y/n kiss without stopping and without touching each other, and if one of them does, s/he loses. Then the winner gets to do whatever s/he wants to the loser. I really love you’re works and I always look forward to your posts <3

“Come onnn, Wonwoo, don’t be a pussy!”, a very drunk Soonyoung hollers right next to the older man’s ear and he winces away. “He’s right, Wonwoo. Don’t be a pussy”, you laugh and he clenches his jaw, licking the corner of his lips. “You want me to play? Then I’ll fucking play”, he grits his teeth and takes off his glasses, positioning himself on his knees, hands on top of them - same as you.

“What are the stakes?!”, an equally drunk Mingyu yells and the room focuses on you and Wonwoo again. “The winner will decide”, you announce and send a smirk towards the man, who seems to get pumped up with each passing second. “May the less horny win!”, Soonyoung raises his voice again and the small crowd around you roars again.

“Good luck trying to beat me, pretty boy”, you lean in, lips ghosting his, “Don’t get cocky, sweetheart”, Wonwoo retorts immediately and bites your bottom lip, catching you off-guard and slipping his tongue in your mouth. You waste no time in kissing him back, your own tongue fighting for dominance. 

You’ve kissed lots of guys before, one of them being the host of the party himself aka Mingyu - but none of them have ever kissed you the way Wonwoo does now. It’s a messy, sinful kiss, his tongue nearly sliding down your throat and his lips never leaving yours, awakening something primal in you. You don’t want to lose, but you’re struggling to keep your hands to yourself.

The hollering crowd around you has turned into a blur and you can only focus on Wonwoo. But he isn’t unaffected - you’re the first girl he’s kissing so greedily, almost like an animal and it has his dick painfully hard in his jeans. But that doesn’t mean he’s gonna let you win.

And so, he starts pulling back slightly and he grins to himself as you chase his lips and he chuckles as soon as you lose your balance and you brace yourself on his knees in order not to fall. You look up to him and your eyes widen in horror as you realize that you, in fact, lost the game.

“Y-You fucker!”, you bare your teeth at him, “You cheated!”, “No, sweetheart, you just lost your balance and you touched me~”, a dirty, proud smirk spreads on his lips, “And now you gotta suffer the consequences”, he stands up and grabs you by your wrist, pulling you up and dragging you to the nearest empty room, the crowd behind you wolf-whistling and screaming.

Wonwoo closes the door behind him and you stand in the room, annoyed and turned on at the same time, expecting the worst. “Okay, you won. Now what?”, you cross your arms in front of your chest. He walks over to the bed and sits on the edge, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling out his rock hard cock. 

“Get on your knees”, he sternly says and you reluctantly do as he told you. “Take off your top”, he says as he lazily strokes his length, a bead of precum slipping down. “What do you-”, “Don’t make me repeat myself, sweetheart”, his voice drops an octave and you take off your top, your breasts bouncing as you remove the tight material. “No bra?”, “So what? Scared you might cum in a second?”, you cheekily laugh and Wonwoo leans forward, threading his hand in your hair and pulling them harshly.

“You’re such a fucking tease, thinking you could win over me in this stupid game”, he growls as he speeds up his hand on his shaft, “You have guts, I’ll give you that - nobody has ever challenged me this way before. And I find that extremely hot”. He doesn’t break eye-contact as he talks and you’re sure your panties are ruined at this point.

“Are you cumming, Wonwoo?”, you ask him with an airy moan, “Fuck yeah, gonna cum on you, mess up your pretty face and tits, baby”, he groans and his cock explodes, thick white ropes of cum falling on your cheeks and lips, some of them on your chest. Wonwoo pulls back and admires his work on your face with lust-filled eyes. But he’s surprised once he sees you clean your cheeks with your fingers, moaning as you savor his cum.

“You fucking slut”, he groans and grips your jaw, kissing you just like he did during the game, but you pull back with a dirty grin on your face.

“Aren’t you gonna fuck me like one?”.