#it seriously means so much since this one HUGE beast

[paperdice]

Hi can I’m have a platonic request of the ancients cookies x child reader who posses the soul jam it called the light of innocence reader it a huge cheerful adorable ball of sunshine that see the all positive in earthbread reader cuteness it so much not even the monsters have courage to attack them istead they protect reader from the cookies of darkness and dark enchantress cookie too they smile bright anyone day anytime at all headcanons please

𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐣𝐚𝐦 (𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬)

"The impact this child has on everyone needs to seriously be studied.."

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• There was only five soul jams, the five that did more than enough to protect earthbread and the cookies that lived within it. Yet, the secret of another lying around in an unknown cookies possession was exposed.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Pure vanilla was one of the few who was anxious at the thought of a cookie that they didn't know was holding a soul jam. The possibility of it being used for evil was the biggest worry, though the name "Light of Innocence" sounds heroic. If placed in the wrong hands, it could lead to terrifying dangers.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Though that was the past, now pure vanilla is babysitting the soul jams holder. The Light of Innocence landed on the brightest child there is, pure vanilla was the first to be smittened by the ball of sunshine. You radiated this positivity around yourself that affected everyone near by, or at least that's what it felt like.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• The fact that nothing is willing to hurt you is very shocking. He gets it of course but even animals and cookies of darkness such as dark enchantress cookie herself wouldn't dare to touch you with any negative attachments in mind. His reaction to seeing you, a small wee child, hugging and petting a huge beast like it was a house pet for the first time. He almost had a heart attack

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Pure vanilla would open his eyes often when around you due to knowing that you like his heterochromia eyes. He loves seeing you giggle at his pretty eyes, he doesn't understand why you laugh but as long as you're happy he doesn't mind. You're such a ray of hope in pure vanillas perspective, always looking in the good in times of fear and danger.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Loves to take you to his garden, he swears that every time you walk past the flowers, they begin to rise and glow at your presence. At times it looks like the flowers are trying to reach you with the way they lean towards the direction you're in. When you're in the garden the plants look their best, the most alive they've ever looked.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• As if pure vanilla didn't shine his own light, when the two of you are together its like a second sun on earth. It's even joked by other cookies that nobody can look directly at you both because it's too bright! Cookies know if the duo are making their way towards them because the infamous glow gradually gets larger. It's so cute!

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• He protects you with everything hes got, though pure vanilla is a healer and never fights, he still will use every bit of his dough to shield you from any risks. Which means check ups are fairly common, of course he knows you're okay every time since nothing ever wants to hurt you. But it's better to be safe than sorry!

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Walks with pure vanilla are common too, he likes to do a quick stroll in the kingdom with you to lighten the air. The flowers stand at your attendance, the grass's green pops, clouds that hid the sun backs off and the wind refreshes all in a hitch. Pure vanillas walks are always made the better when having you by his side. You can also save the trouble of everyone dealing with your morning hyper by having the walk cooling you off.

⋆｡˚♡•ᴗ• Pure vanilla cookie takes great care of you, he protects you, looks out for you plus spoils you in every way he can whilst teaching you important life lessons and morals. This grandpa's heart is big enough to fit you in it, but sometimes it feels as if you took up too much space with how worrisome he can be when he knows nothing happens. He's your main babysitter for a reason! He loves you!

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° Brace yourself for a hug cause it's coming in hot! Hollyberry cookie is very affectionate towards you, how could she not?? Just look at your cute lil face! The holder of the unseen soul jam was like family in holleyberrys eyes. Unlike pure vanilla cookie who was more in the role of your babysitter, she was like a mother figure to you. As she was to all cookies

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° Mother hollyberry cookie here laughed her head off when she saw a small lamb being a soul jam holder! Oh how the worries of it being in the wrong hands was nothing but a joke now, a frail fresh cookie was protecting the gem with their newly baked life. Hollyberry cookie applauses your bravery,, you've been under her protection ever since.

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° She likes to tell you her stories with extra exaggeration to see your reactions, she'll even give you sweets and a warm drink to go along with these tales. Of course she's a busy cookie herself so she can't always spend every moment with you, but that's why she always has to treat it with specialty being with you.

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° She tells wildberry cookie to keep an eye on you whenever he gets the chance, he too is as much as your guard as he is hollyberry cookies. He's an observer for your soul jam, making sure it's always in your possession in case you get too distracted with fun. Hollyberry cookie can't help but smile at the sight of "big scary wildberry" towering over the happy go lucky child for safety measures.

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° She thinks your wonderful for anyone to be around! You can be a shield yourself you know, with how loving everyone automatically gets when it comes to you, nothing can get passed you. Oh how she loves to pick you up and show your glimmer self to her kingdom, making any stops you wish to make then meeting all kinds of faces.

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° Hollyberry cookie likes to hand you popular children's drinks from her kingdom, if you like a specific type expect her to toss mountains of it on you to drink no not literally ouch. The same goes for sweet delights, she'll suggest her personal favorites when she was your age!

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° This queen can read you like a book! You think she's not paying attention when you're off picking some berries when she's conversating with another cookie, till one day she hands you a basket filled with berries. Remarking when she saw you trying to gather berries but due to your size you couldn't get many. Next time just ask her for some berries!

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° Being with hollyberry cookie is basically you doing whatever you want, she's so laid back and free spirited if anything she'd support your ideas and actions. However that doesn't stop how she can get protective of you. Yes she knows even the wildest of beast will roll over for your touch, but she will hold you back if you start feeling obliviously bold.

⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖° She shields you from many things, always making sure you don't have your mind cluttered up with any negativity. Her words of encouragement are always smoothing, you don't understand it now due to age but soon you'll realize why she always wanted you to just be yourself.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ His face never showed how truly worried he was to knowing there was a secret soul jam, as well as how shocked he was to know who you were. You were in the very last of his expectations, dark cacao sighed away whatever thoughts he had before meeting you and introduced himself along with his friends.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ Seeing such an optimistic holder that felt nothing but positivity and was so free of doubt, to be fair yes you are a child but even children are aware of the evil creeping up on earthbread. He's not complaining, not anymore no.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ Before all the ancient cookies decided to protect you, dark cacao had a heartwarming moment with you. Or that's what his heart felt like, he was watching you pick at the buttercup flowers since nobody was around to do it instead. Making sure your safe from any soul jam robbers.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ You called over to him and asked a question that made him show no reaction but he had little interest, "you know if you put a buttercup under your chin it'll glow? But,, it only works on some cookies!" No he didn't know, so when he saw you call him down to your level he followed. He knelt down and you hovered the flower under his chin, it didn't work, the small cookie laughed then showed him how it works on them not in a teasing way

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ While you were speaking he noticed how his soul jam started glowing, the purple illuminating in a way he's only seen once before. You noticed it too, so you went closer with curiosity til you noticed how bright it got when you did. Dark cacao cookie looked vaguely surprised, however when he saw you getting all giggly he finally noticed that you had this radiation of positivity, a glow. No wonder the soul jam beamed at your presence, he couldn't help but smile.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ Pure vanilla the babysitter, hollyberry the mother figure and now dark cacao the personal guard. He clearly has a soft spot for you, when the ancient cookies were thinking of protecting you instead, the others could tell you were already working on dark cacao. He was all agree than disagree which was not the way he was before.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ You seem to have grown an interest in what dark cacao thinks of things before you act upon it. You know how kids get when they look up to you and wanna see if you like something they like as a form of confirmation? Same with the new holder and dark cacao cookie, of course he knows this. He could be peacefully walking behind you then you point out how pretty the sky is later turning to him and ask what he thinks.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ He'll either agree with you or just quietly say whatever he thinks, he knows you care about what he thinks, even so, dark cacao is a humble man. He feels a bit idolized that you look up to him and in a way he sometimes cares about what you think too. He doesn't wanna scare you off or seem crude, he lays off his stoic face a bit and tries to be careful with his words to not sound harsh.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ If you take interest in his hair, wishing to play with it, he probably won't know what to do. Will he allow it? Just for a bit, if it gets too much he'll softly end hair play. If you take interest in his kingdoms snacks/foods he'll give you a warning to its bitterness or lack of taste before you choose to take a bite.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ He truly does care about you, you just need to be a bit patient with the old man, he's not good with showing emotions. He's a kind man at heart, we all know it, towards you he'll especially try his best to be more forward as well as safeguard you. Whether beasts protect you or not he's on standby for anything that comes your way.

ִ ࣪𖤐 What could one of the things be missing.. Hmm.. Oh duh, the rich aunt! When she saw you she laughed alongside hollyberry cookie, the kinda laugh, if done to a child, couldn't tell if they were being made fun of or they really were just joking around. Rest assured you found out very quickly that's just how her radiance is.

ִ ࣪𖤐 When your tiny eyes followed up and down her appearance, you paid extra attention to her wings. Your eyes are in awe at its beauty that you hadn't realized you just grabbed it with no announcement! She turned a bit offended but mostly shocked with how brash you were. But when she saw you smiling in admiration, she knew, she was going to love you.

ִ ࣪𖤐 Have all the cheese your little heart desires, she'll give you finest she has in store. The face you made when you took your first bite fills golden cheese cookie with pride and joy, well of course she knows it good I mean cmon now, what really sold her was your eagerness for wanting more. You were so stuffy by the end, pure vanilla had to remind her that sometimes too much care can be, well,, too much..

ִ ࣪𖤐 Fancy her gold? If you stare too long wanting a closer look at the gleaming golds and treasures she holds, she'll let you take a closer look. Like the shining necklace in that shop? Well lets go in she'll let you observe and take in all the bling! Though she will keep an eye out if she spots any fakes around, your eyes deserve the finest, realest jewels there is! Greed is a good thing in her kingdom after all.

ִ ࣪𖤐 A secret that the both of you share, is one nobody can find out, not like she cares, she just doesn't wanna deal with defending herself in future disagreements. The secret being golden cheese cookie flights! It started off small for awhile, tosses in the air slowly getting higher and higher. Slowly beginning to fly off land a bit further, till of course cookies told her not to for safety reasons, that broke your little heart.

ִ ࣪𖤐 But why would it be a secret if you guys stopped? Because you didn't, sure you were sad for like a second till you found good within it like always and yet she remembered how much you laughed. It's not like shes not careful no, your treasure to her, that's why she trusts both herself and you to keep flying, just keep it under wraps yeah?

ִ ࣪𖤐 She knows whenever it gets too hot out cookies feel discomfort, melting under the sun ain't exactly the most pleasant experience. That's why when she knows it's feeling a bit much out, she'll shade you using her wings, no way is some heat going to disrupt your enjoyment.

ִ ࣪𖤐 The cheesebirds love you too! Sometimes you find yourself carried away accompanying them rather than golden cheese cookie, they're just too cute not to talk to. Birds your size that can talk, bonus being that they love talking to you, sometimes golden cheese cookie has to remind you that you're hanging with your aunt today.

ִ ࣪𖤐 I have a sneaky feeling shes not as chill as the other ancients (aside from pv) when it comes to beasts getting close to you. Pure vanilla tries to avoid beast interactions, hollyberry cookie laughs knowing nothing will happen and dark cacao is always on standby. Golden cheese cookie,, she either does one or two things, tries to get your own beast army as a joke or tells you to stay away.

ִ ࣪𖤐 Golden cheese cookie loves your innocence, you have no idea how much power you hold in your mini hands, but she will teach you how to rule the cookies. How to be a monarch yourself in the future, till then, she has a lot of playtime with you before you reach that age.

⋆˚✿˖° Her shock to you wasn't really much of a shock, it was more like a long pause. The repeated question flooded her head like a broken record, "how did you find the soul jam?". She also questioned if you ever knew how to use it, these thoughts were never her doubting you, okay but who wouldn't.. from what it seemed to look like, you knew what it could do.

⋆˚✿˖° The soul jam fitted you perfectly in her mind, the light of innocence held by the personification of light with a mind of innocence. It seemed like fate in her eyes, so if it was, she has nothing to worry about. Her body mellowed while she softy and ever so quietly laughs along with hollyberry cookie and golden cheese cookie.

⋆˚✿˖° You were just the cutest surprise, after the decision was made to look over you, white lily cookie was like an older sister. Shes always quiet and determined to find any peace left in earthbread. Because of this, in your childs mind, she's a little scary. Not in the intimidating way no, you looked up to her.

⋆˚✿˖° She was like your older sister in a way because of this if you ignore the sibling fights n all that stuff, you were the little sibling that wanted to have your big sis's attention and her love. Though she didn't push you away, she always caught you staring at her at times in a shy way. She really wanted to talk to you, the way the other ancients did.

⋆˚✿˖° Yes you're the cookie that sees good in everything, not a single negative trait was in your heart or dough. So why was it you felt shy towards her? Cause you loved her! The whole time while she was thinking of reasons for your actions, you were secretly planning the perfect first impression! No where near shy as she thought you were no, you were just hoping to make less appearances to make "the first meeting" perfect!

⋆˚✿˖° You surprised her by having other cookies your age pretend to attack her, of course she didn't feel threatened, they were using toys as weapons and their acting was goofy. It didn't take long to find out why the cookies were messing around with her, you jumped in with dramatic flare, showing off your soul jam to the "evil cookies" and warning them to back off.

⋆˚✿˖° Ever since you "saved" white lily cookie the two of you have been the cutest duo! You love to try and braid her hair the way she does it, she taught you how to braid hair when you caught her doing her own hair. It was a bit tricky for your youthful brain, although, once you got a hang of it, you never let go. Always asking white lily to let you braid her hair when it's already been braided. It warms her heart.

⋆˚✿˖° If white lily cookie noticed you liked her staff, you can get the privilege of holding it for a bit. She admires your innocence, how was it not even once did you ponder knowing more? It was like you were living life on easy mode, no thought behind those eyes unless it's joyful thinking.

⋆˚✿˖° One day, a cookie taught you how to make flower crowns, so you asked white lily cookie to let you into her garden. You told her your plan of making her a white lily flower crown, it did hurt a little seeing the flowers getting picked but she was happy with the end result. She wore it for a bit after that.

⋆˚✿˖° White lily cookie can't do much but she tries to keep an eye out on you, her heart would break into millions of pieces if she were to ever find out something bad happened to you. She'll give you loads of words of wisdom so nothing like that can come of sort.

I hope you enjoyed these, I think I passed out like two times while writing but I'm glad it turned out just fine. If you're thinking of rolling again you're welcomed back anytime!

[sanctus-ingenium]

Do the saints in the mez setting have ye olde fanclubs. Are there folk saints of mechs. Do people sell those like sainted tokens of like scraps of paint from the mechs or something

Not so much fanclubs in a fandom sense, that's a bit of a modern invention. They would have taken their worship very seriously and one of the most common pilgrimages of the time is a tour of all the stables, where you can get iron pilgrim badges made out of old armour plates. I have drawn Mercury and Mars wearing them before ⤵️

The badges are worn as a sign of devotion but also to prove that you've visited those stables, because as the stables increase in importance, they don't just let anyone wander in to see the relics and beasts. You have to prove that you've been to other stables before, the more the better, otherwise you may not be worthy of checking out the good stuff. It is expected that every member of the laity go on a pilgrimage at least once in their lives.

Craftspeople do capitalise on this by selling small devotional items that you can take home and set up in your own shrine. I've drawn one of these, a mass produced woodcut print of Leun, but these are super common and usually not of high quality, fudging details so that they might resemble any given beast if you just squint a little. This one is on the upper end, quality wise

But the most central part of how one is expected to 'commune' with a holy beast is in their breath. huffing fumes is right there in the scripture - I mean, they are practicing engine worship, so of course they're placing huge significance on the smoky part. Grifters often sell what are essentially empty bottles, claiming that they have captured some smoke or some of the beast's breath, making it, essentially, holy air. Fun fact, when an important member of the Church is dying, he has the option to request a death by engine fumes instead of a natural death, and in a severely hypoxic state they share their final wisdom with the congregation, often in the form of a prophesy.

So, onto folk saints! They do exist - assuming you mean large mechanical creatures which have not been built by the Church. in which case yep those exist, the theocracy has sole control of the fuel supply within its own borders but there are plenty of other parts of the world. But there are also beasts that straight up don't exist but are worshipped by the laity within the theocracy. Rumours of odd sightings spread into stories of some new beast who can help you fix your gout if you pray to him. The Church considers it heresy but just like in the real world, that doesn't really stop people. Except in the case of the annexed Midean region, where people practicing "idol worship" are executed.

Oh they were having one hell of a golden age before those damn Mideans decided they wanted independence about 300 years ago, and before the dragons stopped appearing with such frequency.

The slow fall of the theocracy began with the Midean civil war/war of independence, which was a narrow win for Mez but has been a burden on them ever since. The Mezian theocracy grew by annexing surrounding nations and cementing its chokehold on fuel supply, and its colonisation of Midea was what brought it to power in the first place, long before that, especially given that Midea was the world capital of of enginesmithing at the time and an exporter of fantastic technology. So that was all great, for the Church, until the war of independence which lasted almost a century. Midea lost and did not become an independent state, but it marked a significant shift in how the population believed & behaved. That's partially why Saint Lycaon was taken from Midea, he is essentially a hostage under threat of destruction if his people don't fall in line. The constant struggle to police those areas taxes the Church of its resources and civil unrest doesn't seem to be dying down any time soon.

Before the war, the theocracy's power was absolute within its own borders. After, it has retreated to its strongholds of Salvius and Forza (where the biggest stables are) and all but abandoned the more remote regions to fall to ruin. Not so much a spoiler, but a major plot point of the story, set at the end of this age, is that the final death-prophesy of a cardinal was: unless taxes were paid by the laity [dying of plague], the Church is under no obligation to send the beasts to aid them in times of peril. During the 'golden age', this would have been an unthinkable act of miserliness, and the Church would have sent those beasts out whenever and wherever, often to random villages not being attacked, just to give people a chance to see them. The massive waste of fuel was not a big deal because there was always sooo much more waiting, and the sky was full of dragons. Now, every drop must be preserved.

[graspingremlinhands]

So @milk-powrit asked me to draft why I didn't like GxK, to which I decide to oblige.

DISCLAIMER: Those are my personal opinions; of a fan of Monsterverse since 2014 and a nobody with any competence in analyzing media, save some common sense and maybe rudimentals??

Also I already hugely disliked Godzilla vs Kong so my discontent had a part in how I enjoyed the movie.

To conclude English is not my first langauge and even in my langauge, debate is not one of my strenght.

Spoilers alert; so skip or I kindly suggest to block the tag: Godzilla x Kong spoiler.

Let's start with the first thing: I don't enjoy how the tone of the movie shifted so drastically from Kotm to GvsK.

In this post, a youtube user explained better than me why the shifting tone felt like a downgrade. If in Godzilla (2014) Godzilla was introduced by hearing his foot stomping on the ground. It was heavy, massive, it reverbered on the glass of the airport. It felt natural, realistic. How a creature that BIG would move in the real world.

As the user said Realistic =/= Seriousness. Godzilla can be goofy. But Monsterverse!Goji was estabilished in a setting, that was the real world.

In both GvsK and in GxK Godzilla does not feels natural. Was necessary for Godzilla to evolve, to be more nimble, when already in GvsK was already moving in a way unnatural?

Or pulling the 0 gravity fight? What purpose had the evolution, if in the end it was not even necessary. Had really improved his fighting skills? They were the same, on earth and in the hollow earth.

2 reason: I've seen around posts about how media litteracy has gone bad; in some ways about people can no longer sospend their belief and calls anything a plot-hole.

But I think that one thing is suspending the belief but another is the director of the movie making the plot moving from point A to point B without telling the audience how.

For example: Suspension of belief: They had the Beast Glove ready to use, because Monarch was already working on it ✅

But why Jia is the chosen one of the day? How the Iwi in hollow earth knew of Skull island? How the shard to control Shimo works? Why Godzilla would respond to the distress call of the people who fought against him? Why Mothra has a connection to the iwi, in particular. Since in Kong: skull island there's no reference to her? How Jia flew back on Earth with Mothra, without dying for the gravitational pull?.

Not everything has to be the viewer's guess that's what I'm saying.

3 point: Shimo and Skar King are as much wasted potential as it was MechaGodzilla was in GvsK.

Skar is menacing yes, has the ability and dexterity of a formidable foe. He's vile and disgusting, oppressing his clan (let's call it that) and he's even an abusive father. All of these things: but as a villain he's really that dangerous?

He was introduced as this terrible tyrant, a danger to the world. And he wasn't even trying to go on Earth; he went up by accident basically. Because the Iwi had to play with gravity. Or should I believe him, forcing his subordinate moving rocks was to build a staircase to the upside?

And Shimo, sweet girl. She looks so horrible. Her white scales don't blend in for anything. Like she was photoshopped last minute. Her powers do damage I see. But her being presented as one or The first Titan do actually mean something to the plot, to the character? Or a simple red-herring to made her more interesting than she actually is?

Because at the end of the day SHE IS A PET!!

"Oh Kong now has found a mate, so cute". My brothers on earth, she goes on four, is used as a mount the all time and she kept panting the whole time. That's a pet, the old dog you have to force inside when it snows.

It was pretty disappointing.

Last but not least the reason I personally dislike Wingard take on the Monsterverse, which is the point you could probably throw away all my arguments, compelling or not because it's really a ME issue, who don't think no one'd agree and I don't blame anybody for it.

I HATE HOW WINGARD DECIDED TO PORTRAY GODZILLA.

I don't hold nothing over him for having Kong as his favorite. That's personal taste, I respect it.

But when it comes to at the expense of the other protagonist, it rubs me so in the wrong way.

On this point I don't know if I want to discuss it further, but boy I do have to complain on this topic.

To summarize I'm mad Godzilla doesn't get to have the same introspection and grace is allowed to Kong, knowing he can to (if you read the Dominion comic. But since they are only distributed in the US not many does. OR should care about it. Cause I'm first a supporter of the idea that if a media is not capable to give all the informations in like the Movie, you the audience should not have to pay for more. So basically the Novelitation are cool but also a scam)

That's all I had to say about it.

Hoping any of this uphere is comprehensible. If in the end I only sound like a rambling idiot I accept it. This movie is too stupid to be too mad about it.

I'll just ignore it

[lilly-chou-chou]

Barbie: An essay. Accepting Hyperfeminity

A Film Beyond Feminism

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧

Yesterday I had the biggest privilege to watch Barbie and it really got me thinking that I do indeed have a lot of things to say about it. This purely how I feel and all of my emotions that I am pouring into the screen, some may agree some may not and that is okay.

Phase one : Feminism, Love & War

The theme of the film is indeed feminism but what a lot of people are not talking enough about or overlooking is the fact what a huge impact being girly had been over the years, since the 90's to 2000's the whole plot of girly being associated with being a bimbo really made a lot of women hate or look down upon being a girly girl. To this day even after the release of the film I do feel sorry to say but there are still a lot of people especially women who feel uncomfortable to be girly, they are afraid of being judged for being not smart enough or not being able to be taken seriously.

This whole hate has extended even towards disney princessess. So many parenting books, videos and even women themselves hating on disney princess just because a man saved them when as a matter of fact disney characters go way beyond man saviour. Cinderella just wanted to go to ball and enjoy, despite being in an abusive household she still loved and appreciated people around her she didn't let bad things influence her, if someone says this is toxic positivity then I have to disagree because she genuinely didn't seem delusional. She was smart, witty, cracked jokes, used sarcasm and found peace in talking to animals. This to me at least is mentally strong not toxic positivity. Ariel just wanted to see the human world but she just happened to fall in love along the way, Belle loved the beast because she taught him how to be free from his own demons, she saw, she taught, she gave him the warmth and love he was lacking.

Other thing is people always look down upon love, my question is why shouldn't there be love? One can be independent and yet still be in love. One can dream and still be in love. People these days are so heartbroken and bitter they have shut themselves off of the whole love scene but might I say that love is more than just romantic feelings, love can be between parents and a kid, love can be between you and your dreams/passion/goals, love can be between you and your pet, love can be between you and the stuffed animal toy you have had since you were a baby, love can even be with knowing when you come home everything is same as it was and it can even be when it comes to changes.

I do believe and hope that after the impact of this film people especially women aren't afraid to be girly because a woman who is girly, love shopping, getting nails done, lives for colour pink, does makeup is just as much of a feminist as a woman who opposes the girly girl spectrum.

Phase two: I Kennot even

Ken was one of the most well written second lead character, I cannot stress on this enough. How I see the film is that in the beginning Barbie land was actually never really equal per say because the playout of it was so co dependent, yes, I understand that was the intention but I would love to dive deeper. Barbie land is the opposite of real world so just like in the real world the power disbalance was so real. I was really reminded of those days when all men did was work and women weren't allowed to do anything so they just longed for their husbands ro return from work. They dresses up for them, made plans for them and practically lived for them. I loved this scene so much because it really showed that Greta knows about feminism because indeed feminism means women and men are equal and either disbalance can really cause a huge harm and we saw that when kens were constantly fighting for all barbie's approvals and lived life through their partners.

When ken went to real world, he was exposed to patriarchy and for once when he saw men being valued he ran with it, the whole reason he even did patriarchy to Barbie land was just to get Barbie's attention when he said "it doesn't feel nice does it" and "when I came to know patriarchy wasn't about horses I instantly lost all interest" shows that he did all of that just so Barbie notices him.

In a way, well like my opinion I see both Barbie and Ken as victims.

Barbie has been shammed by extremist over the years because people think Barbie has unreleastic body but no one see the fact that barbies were created to give girls hope, Barbie has all the careers and can be huge inspiration to little girls everywhere that a girl can be beauty and brains. Barbie was never about making little girls feel bad they were meant to see as "bad" all because of extremists.

Ken was indeed just created to be Barbie's boyfriend and indeed lives up to the name "just Ken" but this film really made us feel his importance too! Towards the end when kens finally have a job assigned by president they have somewhere to start and have their own identity. They will be more than just kens and partners.

Phase three: Conclusion

Both of them had their own journey of self discovery, both of them also had break downs, gave up and kens made bad decisions but they didn't know any better but along the way they really grew up and mentally became mature.

Greta really knows what she did and really captured the prefect ambiance of what needs to be showed. She really gave both characters such depth and love, she really is very talented and I love her for making a film that goes beyond feminism, it is much more than women empowerment. This film not only showed us strong woman power but also showed that patriarchy is taught never learned, people don't know any better, power of influence and accepting women for wanting traditional life as well as accepting who opposes.

I will forever be in favour for this brilliant film. Much love to Greta, cast and behind the scenes cast and of course the colour pink.

[dweebfics]

🌶️Airazor x Optimus Primal (ROTB)

RISE OF THE BEAST SPOILERS!!

If you haven't watch the movie, this will give off a huge spoiler.

Warning: NSFW and angst

Airazor P.O.V

We were all gathered together by the fire with the humans. I was starting to lose my mind with the corruption device that Scourge threw at me.. I was trying to ignore it as I took a deep breath and looked to the side eyeing both Optimus' next to an Idle Bumblebee.. I separate myself from the others to go and stand on Primal's side.

As I started to approach, Primal notices me and quickly turns around to pay attention to what I have to say.

"Hello.." I was able to get out, trying to hide the bothering corruption taking place. Primal notices my wing and tries to comfort me.

"Airazor.. Why didn't you tell me sooner. We could have hel-" I cut him off.

"I'm not important right now, what is important is the key and to avoid Unicron to have it." I said trying to reassure him.

"You're important.." He said as he got closer to me and placed one of his digits under my beak.

"You're important to me.. *ahem* and of course the team" He said trying to remember the others. I chuckled at this.

"But in all seriousness.. This corruption might make you malfunction anytime now." Primal said. I looked at the ground and then to the powerful gorilla..

"Airazor.. M-maximixe.." I said in a whisper tone, Primal sees this and follows my steps into transforming as well. As we finished I leaned forward, trying to stabilize myself. I was starting to feel dizzy, only for Primal to grab hold of me by my waist and I placed my servos on his broad chest. I looked up at him, staring deep into his optics.

"I'm sorry.. Primal.. I did not mean to.." He cuts me off..

"It is alright Airazor.. Do you need anything or need me to do something for you..?" The leader asks me. I looked up with a surprised look on my faceplate to then look down with a smile.. Remembering everything we did before this war started back at our home world..

"Well.. There's one thing I would like for you.. For us to do.." I said as I looked up at him. Primal knew where I was going with this, but stood quiet.

"Just.. One last time... This corruption will take over and we do not know how this battle will end.. One last time.. is all I ask.." I said as I place my servo on his faceplate, watching him gently lean his helm into my servo brought so much warm into my spark, something I have not felt in a long time. The Primal lets go of my hips and slowly drags me by my servo to go further into the forest with him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Moments later we were deeper into the forest, away of reachable optics and audial receptors. Primal stops and then turns around to look at me, I once again look into his optics, he gently holds me closer and opens his mask for me to see his mouth plates. I placed my servo on the side of his faceplate caressing his lips with my thumb. Primal stood still at all times as I did so..

"I missed you.." I finally got out to break the silence.

"I missed you too.. I missed this.. our times together.." The leader exclaimed making me smile.

"Well you have me here now.." I said as I pressed myself more against his chest. Primal took a deep breath and gently placed his servos on my waist. I placed my arms around his neck, Primal took this as his advantage and closed the space between us smashing our lips together. I melted into the kiss.. It has been so long since I last felt his lips on mine.. I placed one of my servos in the back of his helm as I caressed him while deepening the kiss. Primal groans into the kiss. I smiled into the kiss braking us apart briefly.

"Feels good?" I asked in a whisper. Primal kisses me again and breaks us apart once more.

"Of course.. You always did.." He said with a chuckle and quickly starts kissing me again. Primal did not waste any time to lift me, gently placing me on the forest floor. The kiss started to get more intense and passionate. Its been so long since we shared something so intimate.. Primal broke off the kiss and started to leave a trail of wet kisses down my neck, I bit down on my bottom derma to hold back a breathy moan. Primal was being so gentle and passionate with his kisses and touches.. it felt so tender against my framing. Primal opened my legs apart to be more comfortable in between me. Although, suddenly I felt something poking me. I looked down and then up to the maximal leader. He hid his face against my neck.

"Excited are we now?" I said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I can't help myself.." Primal expressed, I placed my servo on his faceplate once more.

"Its ok.." I said as an audible opening of my valve cover made him look down. He quickly traced his digits on my valve lips, making me inhale sharply at the sudden touch. Primal then inserted one of his digits into me, making me release a sudden and short moan. Primal came down to my faceplate and started to kiss me as he pumped his digit into me. I started to moan into the kiss as he was increasing his speed and added 2 more digits within me.

"P-primal.." I hissed breaking the intense kiss.

"Think you're ready for me?" The gorilla asked.

"I have been ready for quite sometime now.." I said reassuring him. He smiled down at me, bringing his digits to his mouth plates to lick off my juices.. I was stunned at how attractive that made him look.

Primal started to place himself in my entrance, he looks up at me and I gave him a small nod to go ahead. I felt the sudden stretch in my region.

"A-ah~ Frag.." I cursed under my breath, this making the leader chuckle. He finished inserting his whole member inside and stood still. He looked down at me and I was already starting to pant. He grabbed hold of my stabilizers to keep me steady as he went back and thrusted back in me, making me throw my helm back at the intense sensation. His rhythm started slow, thrusting in me with a curve on his hip, hitting all the right nodes.

"Frag Primal!" I cursed making the leader chuckle.

"Watch your language now Airazor" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh don't lie.. you love it" I exclaimed looking straight into his optics. He chuckles and started to lean in towards me.

"It drives me wild" He whispered into my audial receptor and gave me a very sharp trust of his hips into me, making me release an audible moan into his audial. Primal started to make his pace a bit more faster, making my whole frame move at his rhythm. I threw my helm back giving him more access to my neck, he instantly leans towards it and nibbles on some tender cables.

"Oh Primus~" I placed one of my servos behind his helm to caress him. His pace slows down a bit as he started to lean back to look at me, I placed a gentle servo on his cheek plate, bringing him for a soft and tender kiss. Suddenly, he places his servos on my hips making me get up from the forest floor. we switched positions, now he is laying down and I'm on top. He makes a gesture for me to take the lead. I gave him a smile and started to take my breast plate armor off. I took a deep breath as I started to play with my breast and slowly grinding on Primal's member. This making him throw his helm back with a groan. I chuckled making him look back at me.

"You look so good under me Primal.." I grabbed one of his servo's that was still resting on my hips and placed it on one of my breast for him to play with.

"Frag" Primal cursed under his breath. I bit my bottom derma and leaned forward.

"Who's cursing up a storm now, hmm?" I said with an amused tone on my voice, this making the gorilla chuckle at my remark. Without him noticing I slowly raised my hips and quickly bottomed out on his erected member, making Primal moan out loud while trowing his helm back. I followed his every move with my optics, enjoying the view in front of me. I started a slow motion of my hips grinding our pelvis together, making the perfect amount of friction. I leaned back to get into a better position and start moving back and forward, setting up a nice and slow motion to my movements. Then, I raised my hips and started at a faster pace, making my breast jump with every motion I made.

"F-fra..g A-raizor.. You feel so good.." This only giving me more confidence, I started to make my movements a little faster, adding the erotic sounds of metal pounding into metal into the forest air. Primal reaches for my aft and assists me with my rhythm, setting it to one that he pretty much likes. He then reaches for my helm with one of his servos and makes me lean forward until our dermas crash with one another in a sloppy kiss, I moaned into the kiss as his pace was starting to get harder and brutal. Primal holds me in place hugging me tightly around my mid section and thrusting upward into my valve, I released his dermas and place my face on his neck.. Anything that came out of my dermas was incoherent and just lustful moans, I was so close to my overload I can feel the knot almost breaking. Primal started to grunt into my audials and his thrusts started to get sloppy until he hilted my valve completely with his spike not letting escape any drop of his transfluid. He gave me 3 sharp final thrust until he finally relaxed his grip around me. It was so much.. I could feel it escaping from the sides..

"P-primal.. are you o-kay?" I asked as I got up and looked down at him, he was a breathy mess.. his face was flushed blue, one arm above his helm and the other one still resting at my hip.

"S-sorry about that.." Primal said while I did not know what he meant..

"Hm?" I looked at the direction he was looking and saw he dented his finders into my sides. I chuckled at this.

"It is quite alright.. It was worth it.." I said looking back at him when suddenly I felt a sharp pain from my right wing making me wince and go to the side.

"AIRAZOR!" Primal got up instantly to grab hold of me.

"Its o-okay Primal.. I told you.. Scourge is taking over soon." I said reaching for his faceplate.

"Let us try a way to help you, please Airazor.. I cannot lose you again.." The leader started to sound desperate in his tone.

"Remember our oath.. No matter the cost." A sadden expression crosses the gorilla's face, taking a deep breath as he pulls me in for a tight hug, which I gave back.

"We will meet again in the well of allspark my dearest Optimus Primal" I sad in the hug, Primal not once looking at me or letting go for only his grip to get tighter around me.. I felt tears coming into my optics, but I maintain my composure at all times.

[themushroomgoesyeet]

Questions about wizarding world building: what happens in the other wizarding schools and why aren't there more of them

Shhhhhh this post isn't a day late & I definitely didn't forget to do it

What with the - somewhat - recent releases of the fantastic beasts movies, I feel like there's been a bit of a hype about wizarding schools in other countries, specifically Ilvermourney (I really hope I spelled that right) in America. As we all know, there was a brief period of time where you could get sorted into Ilvermourney houses on the official website and read some lore tidbits about the school, but realistically we don't really know much about what goes on there.

Nor do we know anything about Beubaxtons (France why do you spell like this) or Durmstrang, or any of the other wizarding schools throughout the world. Seeing as there's at least one book in this franchise where information like that is fairly relevant, I honestly feel like we got cheated on this subject.

How do the other schools teach their kids? What do they look like? Why don't they have any exchange programs? And yes, I realize that question may be kinda stupid bc many schools don't have exchange programs, but since there seems to be a significantly smaller number of wizarding schools I think that question is still justified.

Speaking of, why are there so few schools? One school for the entire UK I can understand since it's roughly the size of Utah state, but one school for the entire US? or the entirety of France? France May still be smaller than the US, but that doesn't negate how huge it is compared to the UK. To be fair, we don't know that each of these countries have only one school, but at this point I would not be surprised if that were the case. You simply cannot assign one school to the US, it's so ridiculous and impractical! At the very very least, we would need maybe seven big schools across the country based on the size of wizarding populations in the US and really how willing you are to stretch this thing out, but it would be even more practical to have at least one school for every state.

It also sounds to me like there are different learning rates for different schools - or at least between Hogwarts and Ilvermourney (seriously? You wrote a whole ass book about two other schools but the school that gets name dropped exactly once in the first FB movie is the one that gets the spotlight?) - I remember reading on the official site that Ilvermourney kids start at a much younger age than the Hogwarts kids - I might be remembering wrong but I'm pretty sure it was kindergarten age (5-6 years for those who don't know), which means that the Ilvermourney kids would progress a lot sooner and faster than the ones at Hogwarts; if these schools did to exchange programs it would be very annoying for both parties bc the Americans have to relearn stuff they already know & the British kids have to try and catch up ons things that would normally be considered "too advanced" for them (advanced my ass, if Harry Potter, the dumbass who lived, can master a patronus in third grade then so can the rest of his peers)

[jounosparticles]

HELLO :D I an happy to see you back eheheh I hope you liked the break you took :3

ANYWAY. I dunno if you've seen, but in japanese bookstores if you pre-order live action beast (I think? I forgot but the important thing is that it's a campaign) then you can get a letter from a random character (dazai, fyodor, fitzgerald, etc etc) and that includes jouno and tecchou! they are. very silly BUT jouno's letter got my hamster wheel spinning

now what I got from this/interpreted it was that jouno is (probably) the one that the hunting dogs fall to do PR things (if they do)

now with fukuchi: he has the most public support, being a well known war hero and generally a symbol of power and authority to people. but. I don't think he likes public speaking that much JDBFB.

it's not that he CANT do it, he has been described to command a room and even having rumors that the force of his ranting can literally knock you out. I think he is more of "god I hate this" to public speaking. he'll do it, but I don't think he likes it. also Canon evidence: the UN army of mankind conference. (also below) I wouldn't be surprised if he just opted to do super super important hearings on behalf of the hunting dogs/....anything else (again, UN conference)

anyway moving on (the fixation got to me): teruko is.... teruko. I think she is the same as fukuchi in both ways. I feel like she can command a room but also thinks it's annoying (based on jounos letter). I'm not surprised. I would say who would trust a young girl but also shecan change her age but also idk whatever teruko is fucking crazy love her

I think tachihara is self explanatory (no one outside the hunting dogs knows him really and again. jouno letter) and I think tecchou would be self explanatory too. tecchou. is tecchou. I don't think he would like or be that great at public speaking. very blunt and straightforward, I don't think he has the right charisma to really sell a message to a huge crowd. I think tecchou is more of "say an inspirational quote and lets work with it" does this make sense LMAOO also "that's jounos job" is so fucking good SNBSDB

jouno is really a good option I think. he's charismatic and I think he could pick up a crowds emotion easily and change accordingly. silly guy.

anyway. the sillies they make me crazy

OHMYGODOGMYGOD. I KNEW ABOUT THE LETTERS BUT I DIDNT KNOW JOUNO AND TECCHOU HAD ONES?? i will go insane i will . what i would do for their letters.

ehem. anyway.

jouno being the pr guy is a good concept to me. he is very smiley when he talks and tends to stay composed, which is a good face to put on to represent the hunting dogs. i feel he could hold a crowd very easily. i’d listen to him

also the letter is so funny? ending it with saying he wants to kill tecchou is so in character. they can’t do a single page without flirting somehow yes i will say it that was him flirting killing is code for kissing trust me i am asagiri cough i mean. they’re so silly.

i like that interpretation with fukuchi. when we seen him at the press conference they acted as if he was some legend which definitely implies he doesn’t show up to these things often. he probably doesn’t like having all the fans ahahah.

teruko is definitely believable here too. she probably doesn’t work to impress people she does it to pursue what’s right. she’s also extremely justice oriented, the external stuff maybe just isn’t her thing. she’s also been dealing with a lot i don’t blame her for not wanting to hahaha. she’s also been around for a long time (probably) so maybe she’s fed up and done with pr stuff. she also maybe is taken less seriously which makes her doing that part of the job more difficult? like when she was introduced and the police’s faces dropped when they realized she was just a little girl. it could make maintaining a crowd difficult maybe.

tachihara makes sense. since he could write from the pov of a mafioso or a hunting dog. that would make an interesting letter actually! but maybe they didn’t wanna blow his cover or something idk. i doubt he could do pr in universe because of him being the only unidentified hunting dog.

tecchou passing the letter to jouno but still ending up needing to write his own is so funny to me like. okay good try. (also i haven’t seen his PLEASE can you send it to me i will have things to say i promise). anyways ive always seen tecchou being a little on the socially inept side of things which would make pr hard. (saying this as someone who’s similar to tecchou in outward personality ahaha). he likely doesn’t people please and is very direct with what he wants to say whereas in contrast i feel jouno is better at talking with people and being convincing which makes him ideal for pr stuff. the fact that he just immediately shut down the chance to do the letter in favour of training is so funny. he is everything to me.

anyway. i like to imagine jouno begrudgingly sitting at his desk thinking up a letter to write and the most he can do is complain about how nobody else wanted to do it for half the page. he doesn’t like the pr work but it’s what needs to be done. he can commend the agency for what they’ve done but he Cannot say anything nice about his coworkers. jouno is unintentionally so funny i love him so much. i want to put him under a microscope. i need a wan chapter of him going around asking the other hunting dogs about it.

i wonder if the letters are from characters in the beast timeline? like yeah the hunting dogs fyodor fitz etc weren’t present in beast but they still existed?

[beevean]

Really enjoy reading your analyses of Netflixvania. Makes me feel like I'm not crazy for disliking the series, since it seems most people really like it. I'm not a huge Castlevania fan (I wasn't even aware of any Castlevania manga until I read your posts), but the fight with Dracula at the end of season 2 just felt really off to me. Like every single character came out of it ten times worse than when they started. So I'm curious, what do you think of how Dracula was defeated?

I'm glad you liked it! <3 And I completely understand. The show gets praised to high heavens from everyone, and while I can dismiss the occasional "god i want to smother myself in alucard's tiddies" post, the long articles gushing about the stellar animation and carefully woven characters leave me more at loss... And like I said, it's not even a matter of being a fan of the games, the writing itself is seriously flawed.

Anyway, the Dracula sequence has me conflicted.

Pros:

Dracula is appropriately shown to be an absolute beast in combat. Three against one can barely scratch the guy. And Godbrand says in an earlier episode that Dracula hasn't been feeding regularly, meaning he's also in a weakened state. It is, in theory, viscerally satisfying to see.

The animation finally reaches the standards that the general praise attributes to it. That is to say, it's really fucking cool. I appreciated the focus given to his giant Hellfire attack, since it's his most iconic one (although I don't think it should be touched with anything, but eh)

The "my boy" sequence is the most heartwrenching scene in the show, both because it's simply well written, because I like the poetry that a monster like Dracula can only be put down by his own human emotions, and because Graham McTavish's back must have hurt so bad, carrying the show like that. Seriously, he's leagues above every other voice actor.

Cons:

Dracula being an absolute beast only makes me angrier in retrospect because the rest of S2 painted him as a Depressed Old Man™ slumping in his chair and being too Tired to properly supervise the war he started. "Carmilla has made her move" no shit you absolute dumbass, you and your lackey Isaac allowed her to do so! You were aware that she was dangerous and you didn't care!! Where were you all this time!!!

(and don't give me "well drac doesn't lift his own ass until the very last possible moment in the games either, it's lore accurate". that is a sign of arrogance and power. like drac doesn't need to lift a finger to stop intruders in their tracks, his legions of hell can do all the work. only if you actually, physically reach him, then he starts to fight. In the show he was so apathetic, that I almost lowkey agree with Carmilla's frustrations... and that's the point. It was artificial conflict for the sake of propping this OC.)

Dracula no-selling every attack paints the heroes as weak. Especially Trevor, who after making such a scene of the Morning Star in a previous episode can only piss him off with it.

Trevor punching Dracula, and him recognizing him as a Belmont because of that. The sheer lack of respect towards Trevor as a character and the source material cannot be contained :^)

(and this is minor, but I don't like how Sypha is the one getting scarred by the encounter. Alucard also got scarred by his father way back at the beginning, as he loves to flaunt. Meaning, Trevor is the only one who wasn't impacted by him, which boggles my mind - the scars that game Trevor has on his face and chest aren't there for show! They mark him as the Legendary Belmont who first survived against the Dark Lord! Why do y'all hate this guy so much?)

Alucard steals the entire glory. In a vacuum, it makes sense because they have the closest, most interesting relationship. Lore wise, this should have been Trevor's moment and once again he gets deprived of it. The Belmonts just don't have a legacy in the show.

Overall, For Love is a very well written emotional payoff to a huge waste of time. I don't care that Alucard is setting to kill his father because we barely know how he feels about that. I don't care that Trevor is finally about to fulfill his own legacy because the show kept spitting on it. Sypha is just there to be OP I guess. Their entire "arc" in S2 was them getting cooped up in the Belmont Hold, and Alucard and Sypha having fun being the biggest dicks to Trevor. They didn't even train! The most they did was to conveniently find that the castle uses an engine to move.

dracula doesn't even turn into anything :< where's my giant goat/bat monster form :<

... so I have more negatives than positives lmao. I agree with your general assertion that everyone looks worse than they should. However, there are genuine aspects to praise. I guess the scene is beautiful if you're a fan of Dracula and Alucard, and really disappointing if you're a fan of Trevor :P

[chevvy-yates]

OCs as other characters

got tagged by @bnbc, @shynrel-vp & @fereldanwench — thank you <3

Rules: take this quiz and share 5 (or more! or less! the world is your oyster!) results from the top 50 that you feel really fit your oc(s). if you don’t recognize very many from the top 50, feel free to expand into the top 100.

———

I'm not so familiar with all the TV series neither newer movies (just my picky taste), so do not wonder why same series/movies might pop up again in all of my boys bc I didn't know most of it.

RYDER

Best matches:

Bruce Wayne (The Dark Knight): 79%

YES. THANK YOU. Wie Arsch auf Eimer!

Wealthy dude, but fucks up all the mean people harmfull to the city! Just to mention that is enough here.

Jasper Hale (Twilight): 78%

fits best to him of all the Twilighters and I have to admit am a bit weak for Jasper also. I definitely see similarities! Ryder had 3(!) Twilight chars in the first 50 (edward had evven 82% but I don't see much of edward im Ry so Jasper). lol he's definitely vampire cursed — it's a total running gag! xD

John Smith (The Man in the High Castle): 77%

I ain't seen that comin' but yeah, the attitude kinda fits (I have only seen the first two seasons tho).

Darth Vader (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope): 76%

Vader is one of the first characters that fascinated me as a small kiddo (and I love Anakin T_T) and I do see why there's a similarity.

Beast (Beauty and the Beast): 75%

T_T Yes, Ryder is a beasty prince for real, who got cursed. And well what can I say, other than this is fate?

———

THYJS

Best matches:

Legolas (Lord of the Rings): 80%

Faaaairyyyyyyy – there is indeed a lot of Legolas im him, when I think about it now.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast): 73%

FATE. Nothing else. Thyjs is Ryder's Belle, yo.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope): 71%

In a world of Star Wars he'd definitvely have been a Jedi similar like Obi-Wan.

Gandalf (Lord of the Rings): 71%

Tbh I just chose Gandalf i nthe end bc of the same color xD maybe Thyjs will get as wise as Gandalf one day?

Glenn Rhee (The Walking Dead): 72%

I liked him. Heroic dude!

———

VIJAY

Best matches:

Brian O'Conner (Fast & Furious): 88%

THIS seriously fits. Brian O'Connor was a huge inspiration for Vijay, too.

Neo (The Matrix): 83%

Never thought about that but it makes … sense?

Lucius Fox (The Dark Knight): 82%

So that is why Vijay and Ryder work together, ah!

Marty McFly (Back to the Future): 82%

:DDDDDDDDDDD DeLoreaaaaannnnn, 80ssssss

Sam Winchester (Supernatural): 81%

I thought he'd be more like Dean all the time but given that he's got a brother now Sam's character might fit a bit better to him.

———

JAYSEN

I chose to do Jaysen as well because this might help me a bit more to find out his character. I took out only 3 of them, tho since I'm not entirely sure yet. Best machtes I think that might fit to him in how I think he's gonna be:

Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith): 82%

oh boy. I definitely see the Anakin attitude. maybe not the he went dark side part, tho. as in turn to corpo, be a mean charcter I mean. There's just something "dark" tied to him similar like with Ryder.

Billy Butcher (The Boys): 77%

I just do find this interesting. I need to rewatch The Boys.

Dean Winchester (Supernatural): 75%

Tbh, I saw a lot of Dean in Vijay already myself since he's one big inspiration ever since, but since Vijay got Sam in the results and I see Vijay as the more tame, calm and logical of the two twins, Dean would definitely fit to Jaysen here looking at it this way.

———

Dunno who has been tagged already, (if you have just one oc and did it already feel free to ignore the tag – I just thought of you <3)

Tagging:

@f001onthehill, @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @itzsassha, @kittenchrissy, @gloryride, @nervouswizardcycle, @breezypunk, @pinkydude, @afterdark-vp, @dustymagpie

Also no pressure an no must to do!

[far-side-skies]

This one is for Harvestman

Questions 1, 4, 5, 8, 10

HARVESTMAN MY CRAZY OLD MAN!! Thanks mate!!

1. What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)

He wishes, he wishes he could order vodka, or gin, or anything with alcohol. Unfortunately this crusty old man has been so deeply changeed by his time in the Black Gorge that he'll be wiped out before he even gets through the first shot of alcohol. So now he's forced to order non-alcoholic stuff or face the wrath of the doctors on Cyclonia.

4. Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory) 

Tons of scars. Mostly bites, claw marks and various other injuries he's gotten from the beasts of the Black Gorge. There's a few old burn scars from his days fighting Murk Raiders when they got a lucky hit on him, but those are mostly covered by his newer ones.

Tattoos, I want to say he has three. A Cyclonian insignia on one shoulder, a full back piece of mechanical wings and a scythe that's broken up by scarring, and an odd set of symbols on one forearm that he got in his mid-teens and refuses to share the meaning of.

5. What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.)

Oh, ouch ;w; Good question.

Probably the funerals of the squadmates who crashed with him in the Black Gorge. Their deaths hadn't been officially confirmed for the entire thirty years he was down there until he was able to say "yes, they're all dead". Those were his friends, they fought with him until the end. He might have had to mercy-kill a few of them. After all that, and thirty-plus years of struggling to survive in the Gorge, getting to lay them to rest was the relief he needed to finally grieve properly.

That was about seven years before the events of the show, and a few months after being fished out of the Gorge. Aside from maybe a few tears here and there in private, he hasn't broken down and cried like he did in the funerals since.

8. Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)

So for starters, Harvestman's room is dark. He never turns the lights on because why would he need to? He's blind lol

In all seriousness though, it's a fairly nice room. The bed's a comfortable four-poster with curtains that block out most noise, he's got some little statuettes to decorate the place, and there's a fancy gramophone record player that he has a huge collection of records for. He had help putting the whole place together so the colours aren't completely mismatched. There's a lot of mementoes hanging on the walls from friends and old escapades. Not many photos but he's got some photo albums on the shelves that he likes to show people when they ask about 'the old days'.

10. What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.) 

His cane, gloves fitted with magnesis crystals, and some compact weapons (i.e. daggers) that he can just slip out whenever he needs to. Harvestman might be retired, but he's still a soldier on near-constant high alert, even in places he'd be considered safe. Most days he also carries other crystals on his person for use in tutoring Cyclonis.

[stormyoceans]

i need to hear your thoughts about all gmmtv 2023 pilot trailers............

HIDING IN SHAME BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS GOT SO LONG BUT HERE WE GO I GUESS

23.5: LET’S GO LESBIANS LET’S GOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously extremely incredibly insanely excited for this one i cannot wait for this show to bless my screen!!!!!!! i may not be the biggest fan of the whole ‘im gonna keep my identity a secret while messagging with my crush’ thing (mostly because i didn’t really like how it was handled in fish upon the sky so i tend to be a bit on edge about it, it happened with kanthua in the eclipse too), but considering that my soul left my body to go commune with god when ongsa decided to call herself ‘earth’ because the earth orbits the sun, i'd say that's not gonna be an issue sfjksgdksg also the trailer is just SO LOVELY AND CHARMING and i already adore ongsa's different colored beanies and sun's different colored headband and IT'S MILKLOVE SO IM READY TO BE SWEPT OFF MY FEET!!!!!!!!!!

a boss and a babe: yeah i know the title is abysmal but let's talk about more important things like FORECEBOOK MY BELOVEDS!!!!!!!!! i think im possibly one of the very few people who actually enjoyed enchanté and i honestly ADORE forcebook. they have a fantastic chemistry that really shines through when they banter but they also can do UST and pining SO WELL, im just incredibly happy they got another series. im pretty much already in love with book's character and i tend to really like office romance in BLs, so im excited to see them in this kind of setting!!!! if i have to be completely honest though, there's something about the mock trailer that didn't fully charm me, but i can't quite put my finger on what exactly. maybe it's the kind of humour they used? but i wasn't too fond of the humour in roommates of poongduck either and yet i LOVED the show, so that’s hardly gonna be a problem. IT'S TIME FOR FORCEBOOK TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND IM HERE FOR IT!!!!!!!!

cherry magic thailand: since we didn't get a trailer it's hard for me to form a solid opinion on it, though i do admit that out of all the BLs they announced this is the one im less excited about, mainly for two reasons: 1) dark blue kiss is one of the few popular BLs i still have to watch, so im not emotionally attached to taynew, nor am i familiar with any of their other works, which means that without a trailer i really have no idea what to expect acting or chemistry wise, and 2) i know they're gonna be two very different beasts because the thai version is gonna be an adaptation of the manga and not a remake of the japanese series, so im fully aware it's not fair to draw comparisons between the two, but the jp one has such a huge place in my heart and it also gave us one of the very few aroace representation we have in media, it's just gonna be really tough for me to keep the two things separated in my head and to accept the differences between them ;;;;;;;; on a more positive note i have a crush on both sing and jan so my bisexual ass is already sweating

cooking crush: [insert tiffany pollard's beyonce meme] OFFGUN???????!!!!!!???!?!?? god the amount of clownery we've all partaken in thinking they weren't gonna do BLs anymore meanwhile kings were having the time of their lives planning their FOURTH SERIES together. literally the one time im not gonna mind acting like an absolute buffoon sfjkshfksg i think not me will always remain my favorite offgun project but i have a lot of hopes for this one!!! i absolutely LOVE kitchen settings, however i've found all the food BLs i have watched until now kinda.. lackluster. i did enjoy what zabb man, but it's not one of my favorite shows, so i hope that in my time of need offgun will come to me with the food BL of my hopes and dreams. another positive note is that neo is in this as well, and while im a bit perplexed at the choice of not pairing him with louis, im pretty curious to see him act with someone else!!!

dangerous romance: im surprisingly really excited for this????? which i did NOT expect considering that it has an high school setting, but the trailer got me hooked!!!! i only saw chimon in he's coming to me (yes i know i have to watch the gifted I KNOW), while im more familiar with perth because of love by chance and the stranded, but they seem to have a very nice chemistry and i really like that the show will probably deal with more serious topics. im also a simple woman with very simple needs and if you dangle enemies to friends to lovers in front of my eyes i will follow it blindly like a horse with a carrot. also hiiiii papang hiiiiii just wanted to say im free whenever hiiii <3

hidden agenda: JOONGDUNK AND AOUBOOM IN THE SAME SERIES THAT'S ALL I NEED TO BE ON BOARD WITH THIS. star in my mind wasn't the best show but i think joongdunk have great chemistry and they seem very comfortable with each other, so im excited to see them again and for joong to play a less serious character than kluen was. the premise gives me a lot of 2gether vibes, so not particularly groundbreaking, and im a bit worried that the drama in the story could frustrate me a little, but i see pining and i start BARKING, which means this has the potential to have me committed. also i personally find aouboom characters shady as hell but that actually just makes me even MORE EXCITED GIVE ME MEAN GAYS POWER COUPLE PRETENDING TO BE NICE BUT FUCKING THINGS UP FOR EVERYONE ELSE. last but not least: im starting to believe guy could have chemistry with a rock, that one second of him and pod got me like a dog seeing a squirrel just on high alert with my ear up and my body weight leaning forward ready to bite like HELLOO????????? (what's with the similes today idk anyway)

last twilight: the professional mental health crisis intervention team currently in my room is telling me i cannot afford another meltdown so im just gonna point you to this and this to have a vague idea of how i feel about it but to sum it up IM MAKING THIS MY ENTIRE PERSONALITY TRAIT I WILL EAT DRINK BREATHE SPEAK DREAM OF NOTHING BUT THIS SHOW AND THIS SHOW ONLY THIS IS ALREADY THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME THE MOCK TRAILER ALONE HAS GRABBED ME BY THE THROAT AND SLAMMED ME TO THE FLOOR SO HARD THE TILES CRACKED IT'S GONNA BE SO BEAUTIFUL SO GROUND BREAKING SO LIFE ALTERING THEY ALREADY OUTSOLD OUTDONE OUTSLAYED OUTEVERYTHINGED [GETS SHOT WITH AN ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER]

only friends: look there's no point in hiding it: i have some mixed feelings about this show. on one hand it has a stellar cast that im in love with and im always STOKED to see a BL dealing with more mature themes, on the other im afraid these are.. not the kind of mature themes i tend to enjoy ;;;;;;;; it's like with love mechanics, where i simply could not get into it because despite yinwar's insane chemistry the cheating and the messiness were just too much for me: i was feeling more bad than good while watching it, and it just ended up turning an enjoyable experience into an upsetting one. of course im not gonna presume and judge things just from a mock trailer, but the fact that this is gonna deal with toxic relationships is giving me pause. it's really just a matter of personal preferences though and im still gonna give it a chance!!! it's also very nice to see everyone on my dash screaming and being beyond excited about it so im gonna support everyone from the sideline!!!!!

our skyy 2: IM SORRY FOR BEING DISGUSTINGLY BIASED BUT THEY'RE GIVING PUENTALAY BACK TO ME AND THAT'S THE ONLY THING I CARE ABOUT LITERALLY SOMEONE IN GMMTV IS GETTING KISSED ON THE MOUTH THIS IS NEITHER A PROMISE NOR A THREAT BUT SIMPLY A FACT IM BOOKING THE PLANE TICKETS AS WE SPEAK. we're also getting phutian!!!!! and pranpat!!!!! and akkayan!!!!! and more forcebook and joongdunk and pondphuwin!!!!! and the kids from my school president that we’re finally gonna meet next week and for which i already have the adoption papers ready to sign!!! i usually have mixed feelings on second seasons because most of the time they just provide unnecessary drama, but i think a special episode could work very well. is this just banking on nostalgia for viewers' pleasure? absolutely. do i care? [IS TOO BUSY MAKING OUT WITH A GMMTV EXEC TO ANSWER]

all in all im incredibly happy with what we got and i think it's a pretty good variety: we have school settings and office settings and kitchen settings, we have younger characters and adult characters, we have some light storylines and some heavy storylines.... and we are still far from being able to actually call this 'diverse', but we finally got a GL and a disabled character and it may not be enough but it's a start!!!

[afternunh]

this but instead of doing it for likes i just answer them all under a cut to try to make my brain stop buzzing enough that i can sleep

What’s their name? Sindri Rehw-Setlas if you're viera, Sindri King for anyone else.

Race and Main Class/Job Rava Viera, Dark Knight/Reaper

A striking feature? Heterochromia? RBF?

Their age? 32

Their personality? Stoic, gruff. Keeps to himself and doesn't like small talk.

Their clothing? Very practical - he repairs stuff on his own and likes it to be close fitted to not get in his way. Not a huge fan of most styles of shoes. Must Be Black.

How was their childhood? It's never easy for viera boys! Once he hit puberty it was off to train to protect his home, which he REALLY took to heart. He has a lot of respect for his mentor. Kind of forgot how to play though. :(

Their goals? Protect his home and his sun at any/all costs.

How do they make a living? Odd-jobs as necessary - hunting or heavy lifting. He'll trade items or favours for gil/supplies as needed.

Their favorite food? Not picky usually, will not admit he's partial to fruit - especially citrus.

Their worst fear? Failure.

They have hobbies? People-watching. Best way to know the threats.

Which is their favored party role? Tank! He'll pick up reaper later but he'd still act like he's tanking because of who he is as a person.

Their talents? For silly ones, he’s good at knife tricks. More seriously he's very good at living off the land and is so handy with a sword.

Is it a native of Eorzea? What is their hometown? Golmore jungle, Dalmasca

Their parents? He had them but he only really considers his mentor to be his family! That's his da.(Not that he will tell anyone this.)

Their siblings? Forever an only child.

Other family? Not in contact while he works.

What do they think of love? Sindri doesn’t think it’s for him, he doesn't think he has the time or capacity for it. (He does, he's just a stupid idiot who can't see it right in front of his eyes.)

And sex? It's a means to an end, he's used it for trade when he was a younger adult but hasn't had to for a while since he got good with his sword. Doesn't think about it much, but wouldn't be opposed if he could actually trust someone enough to let them that close.

Thoughts about gil? Useful so he doesn't have to carry things around all the time! Noisy though.

Their faith? Oschon on paper, Apollo in practice.

They have enemies? PROBABLY SO MANY

Their role models? His mentor, and Apollo.

Their fondest memory? Probably just quiet time spent stargazing.

Their biggest flaw? Man is a brick wall. It's so hard for him to let anyone in and even then he'll pretend he hates it.

Their beliefs? People are inherently untrustworthy. No personal sacrifice is too great for the sake of his charges.

Thoughts on beast tribes? They're people the same as everyone else. If they could stop the summoning that would make his job way easier.

Their greatest regret? Despite not liking people, he takes it really personally if he tries to protect someone and fails.

Any secrets? MAN HAS FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS DON'T LISTEN TO HIM

[darkness-to-redemption]

The dragon that had tried to eat Inferna had a much more serious problem than Ariel's body check. Raph was on the beast in an instant. Jaws clamped tight around it's neck, he slammed into it so hard they flipped over. Raph was now on his back, but this didn't actually help his opponent. Raph began to claw at the more vulnerable underside. Ripping it to meaty shreds as it squealed and thrashed. When it finally grew still, he flung the corpse off as he rolled back onto his feet.

Then he snatched up Inferna, swatting away her current opponent with his other forepaw, and held her tightly to his chest.

Mikey finally laid eyes on Ariel and charged. Right over Knockout who was seeing to a wounded Ironhide and a still befuddled set of terror twins before he caught up to her and snatched her right out of the air. His tail slashing happily back and forth, sending minions of evil flying every which way.

Donnie was a bit more controlled, but not by much. He butted Clayshah eagerly with his head, sending her rolling head over heels before she too was snatched up.

Rith looked on stupefied as Leo repeated the same process of picking the stranger up and holding her close to his chest.

"I don't understand anything." He mumbled to River. "Stay close, since you insist on not staying in the bunker."

River just nodded and followed Rith as he charged. Fully trusting his father to watch their back as they brought the fight to the smaller foes. Rith flinging water and chains both around him with skill that had the marks of his sire's careful teaching and his grandfather's just as careful lessons.

"We're getting stomped out here!" Vicky was barely able to dodge out of the way of a cluster of dragons and swooped low. Luring them to the now back on his feet and dangerous Ironhide. "We seriously need to do something besides fight them off!"

"I think that big thing up there is the main problem!" Caitlin replied, pointing at the huge undead dragon. "It's like he's a magnet, drawing everything thing bad to it!"

"By no fault of his own." Amaterasu shot a blast of light at the demon following the blonde woman. "He is being forced."

"How do you know that?" Vicky landed next to her.

"Because we told her, you dolt!"

"Futsu!" Amaterasu grinned at the obnoxious ball of smoke. "I had thought the dragons did not wish to interfere anymore."

The ball of smoke snorted. "We did not. Not until Spirit realized his blunder and returned your daughters."

Amaterasu fought to hold her tears back as that sunk in.

"But all of this means nothing if Tiamat destroys us all." The dragon growled. "She has been freed from her confinement and is very much intent on finishing us all off. If we die, the champions die with us."

"Oh for the love of...." Vicky rubbed her tired face. "We can't stop these guys much less her."

"I'll go." River said unexpectedly as she and Rith walked up. Both covered in numerous kinds of unmentionable filth.

"You?" Futsu blurted out. "What can you do?"

River shrugged. "I...don't know. But I'm the only one we can really spare. Well, me and the rest of my non powered family."

@infuriatedleprechaun

Opposites Attract

“Careful, you idiot.” Leonardo snarled at his youngest brother. “They’ll hear you, scatter and I’ll have to chase them all around the city.”

[redgemwink]

my games of the year!!

hey yall!! with the year coming to a close i wanted to list my top 5 favorite games that i played this year!

5. honkai star rail - i was really conflicted abt putting a gacha game on here, especially since i don't even play it much anymore but tbh the belobog arc was just too good not to put it here. maybe the next planet will bring me back in but i didn't really like the luofu at all. but the time i spent on the herta space center and belobog were so enjoyable that i rlly feel like it deserves this spot.

4. octopath traveler 2 - this came out this year?? jfc this has been a long year. but yeah this game is really good!! i would absolutely die for agnea. i feel like in just about every area this game was a huge step up from octopath 1, i found every character really enjoyable and i genuinely cried multiple times during castti's story (malaya.... she loved her) and in general just loved nearly every story, and the endgame and how the characters from each route tied in was so cool. i think there's still some qol needed in certain areas and that's why this is only fourth but overall very good game i recommend. also ochette is super fun to play, love beastmaster classes sm

3. fire emblem engage - sort of the opposite of octopath honestly, the story was pretty awful in this game and the characters were all very one note but the game is just so gorgeous to look at and so so much fun. what can i say, i like fire emblem dfkdfskdkdsf and while the characters and story are completely camp i found it charming in it's simplicity at times, lapis and citrinne especially were really endearing characters to me. this certainly isn't my favorite fe game bc i admittedly prefer story/character heavy ones like 3h but i still found it to be a really enjoyable experience with lots of fun customization! i hope they take a lot of what was in engage and put that into future games bc i rlly need more fe games where everyone has cute casual outfits like that and you can dress everyone up all silly. this game is just pure silly fun.

2. cassette beasts - so this one took me by surprise. this game is an absolute GEM and if you like pokemon at all you seriously owe yourself to play this!! it takes everything i love about pokemon and just brings it to a whole new level. the story, the characters, even the designs for the beasts are all so peak. the way types interact with each other is so fun and something i've never seen before in this genre. this is the type of game i absolutely see myself replaying every year just to try out new beasts and the randomizer mode and stuff!! ALSO THE WAY YOU CAN REMOVE THE MOVES AND PUT THEM ON OTHER BEASTS?? god. this game is everything i WISH pokemon was, and if it were any other year it probably would have been my goty. but..

baldur's gate 3 - yeah. i mean, do i even need to say anything on this one?? a strong demon lady held me in her strong arms and kissed me. we ate spaghetti together. we went to hell and fought demons together. this game is a lesbian love story and i- oh wait i probably shouldn't just talk about karlach for this whole section lol. really though, bg3 is just one of those games that hits different, there is SO much to do in this game and not a single moment of it isn't filled with fun. exploring the world was so fun, whenever i discovered secrets and stuff it felt amazing, there's just such a wonderful feeling of mystery in this world. there's so many ways every interaction can go, the story is amazing, the characters are amazing, the multiplayer is amazing. this whole game just fucks hard, and i think it's not only my game of the year but possibly my game of the decade. i think if this game's mod support gets better then we could be looking at a stardew valley situation where fans keep the game alive FOREVER by adding all sorts of cool stuff over the years. i can't wait to see what gets added as time goes on! anyways back to karlach so yeah i wanna cuddle with her and go on a pizza date and be pinned against the

[jimlingss]

Student Council Prez [Finale]

Episode 18 - Finale  Words: 9k Genre: Fluff, Slice of Life, High School!Au

“Look! Look! Here they come!” A bunch of first year students poke their heads out the window, staring at the student council members entering the campus through the front gate. They fawn and sigh helplessly at the handsome boys, barely managing to blubber about each one of them as they melt on the floor.

“Don’t you think the Student Council President is so cute?” Someone pipes up, staring at the boy from above.

Another girl grins. “His cold image has really changed lately. He’s like a cute puppy.”

“You’re right!” Another one agrees enthusiastically.

“I just want to squeeze him to death!”

“Ahem.” Someone coughs behind them and the girls turn. It’s Hara with Choa, the both of them leaning on the window sill and glancing cooly out the window for a moment. “Don’t you know the cause of his change?” Hara raises a brow, barely parting her lips to speak and holding her head high.

“What?” The girls exchange looks with each other. “What is it?”

Choa laughs mockingly. “Haven’t you heard? Really, you’re all so out of the loop. Have you been living under a rock?”

“He’s been dating someone. The smartest, prettiest and most powerful girl in the school.” Hara twirls her long ponytail in her hand.

“Right!” One of the girl’s eyes light up. “I remember her! She’s the scholarship student!”

“Y/N.”

-

His steps echo as he strides down the hallway. A straight back, shoulders tall with all the pride of his achievements and a smirk on his lips. The crowd of people part like the red sea as they gaze at him in wonderment. He turns the corner on his heels, precise and perfectly.

The head of class.

The model student.

Student officer.

Cool, handsome and intelligent.

Son of the founder and principal head of the academy.

Student Council President - Min Yoongi.

“What are you smiling for?”

His cool demeanor instantly shatters when he grins happily at you. You’re leaning on the wall outside the door with a scoff and a roll of your eyes. “Did something good happen?” You playfully tease, cocking your head to the side, raising your brows and smiling back at him.

“No, nothing happened.”

“So you just walk down the hallways with a smirk like you own the place?”

“Technically I do.” He retorts, opening the student council doors.

“Your dad does.” You press on. “And it makes you look slightly insane when you walk like that.”

“Hey.” He frowns with an adorable pout. “People think I’m cool you know.”

You scoff, plopping in your seat. “If it helps you sleep at night, then sure.” You add on a whisper. “You’re more cute than anything.”

“What did I say about calling me cute?” He huffs out and you don’t respond, ignoring him. After a moment of settling down, he pulls out some work and you lean your head on one hand, staring right at him. Your eyes run over his round cheeks, the slope of his nose, his clear and milky skin, his brown orbs and the way his eyebrows slightly scrunch together when he’s concentrating.

Yoongi begins to break a sweat from your intense gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He meets your eyes and you sheepishly smile. “Just thinking about how crazy I am about you.”

Yoongi’s eyes widen in surprise, mouth parting for a second as you notice the tip of his ears reddening. You giggle before leaning in close. “Kidding.” He falls back at you words, scoffing. “I was thinking about….”

“About?” He frowns.

“How cute you are.”

He breaks out into a smile but still tries to look angry. “For the fiftieth time! Wha-”

//

“Brilliant. Top. School. BTS is the best academy in this entire country…” Mr. Min dramatically swivels on his feet. “Dare I say...best academy in the ENTIRE WORLD?!” He chuckles, a rambunctious roar that echoes through the room.

Mr. Lee smiles while feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. “Yes, Principal Min. I couldn’t agree more.”

“How fast a school year ends.” He sighs, looking out the window again. “It’s already time for another graduation. In a year’s time, my son will also be moving on too.”

“Yes. Time does move quickly.” Mr. Lee nods his head thoughtfully. “Everyone’s lives must continue. The best we can do is cherish this moment and everyone’s chapters that unravel here at this academy.”

There’s a silence as Mr. Min inhales a sharp breath. “I wasn’t thinking that deeply. I was thinking about who was going to become president after my son leaves. It would be better if it weren’t someone who always demands the budget to be raised.”

Mr. Lee laughs. “I concur.”

//

The teacher at the front of the classroom claps her hands together, the chatter simmering down into some silence and you peel your eyes away from the window. “As everyone knows, the upperclassmen are graduating very soon. In one year’s time, you’ll all be in their shoes and I know you’ve heard this a million times before but there’s not a lot of fun and games next year! You all need to start looking towards the future and what schools you want to attend after graduating this academy.”

There are a few sighs in the classroom, a couple people rolling their eyes. Most of the students are on the path of inheriting their parent’s companies or joining them and most aren’t exactly ecstatic about the idea. The teacher smiles. “I know it seems stressful and scary but everyone should start to figure out what they want to do in the future. Don’t be afraid to talk to me anytime.”

It feels like everyone has a plan or at least a vague idea of what they want to do.

“Me?” Hyeri frowns, pouting her lips as she thinks. “I’m probably going to become a doctor at my father’s hospital. What about you?”

-

“I don’t know.” Minah scratches her head. “I’m really interested in linguistics so I’ll probably major in that at the Women’s University….I can try my best…”

-

Taehyung screams. “Professional gamer!”

“That’s not a real occupation.” You tell him and he whines.

“Well….I do like my drones and kites…” He hums. “Maybe I’ll become a pilot! My uncle has an airline!”

“You’re going to kill everyone.” Namjoon intercepts with a grin, teasing him.

“What about you?” You turn to Namjoon.

“I’ll go do a co-op program at an Ivy League School, finish in three years and do research in that university either as a full-time researcher or also as a part-time professor teaching math and sciences.” He says without a moment of contemplation. “I might take a masters in something...not sure yet.”

“Wow...that’s really specific.”

He nods. “I’ve thought about it a lot...haven’t you?”

-

It seemed like everyone had a plan...except for you.

The future wasn’t something that you were engrossed about or anxious for; rather, you didn’t even expect to finish school. Day by day, it had always been scavenging money for tomorrow and making sure that your siblings had enough to eat. You always imagined yourself on the streets, scamming people and selling drugs until you either got shot, injured, captured by the police or became a chemist in your uncle’s basement. Suddenly, your future seemed so much brighter than you’ve ever anticipated and there were so many new options...too many.

“Hey…” You’re sloshing the mop in the cleaning solution bucket, scrubbing the tiles clean. Yoongi sits up from the couch, staring lazily at you with a hum. “Do you know what you’re going to do after high school?”

“Architecture.” He murmurs, eyes drooping with sleepiness.

You frown, turning to him. You didn’t expect him to have an answer. “Really? What about your dad’s academy?”

“I’d be damned if I inherited that.” He yawns. “I’d rather live as a rock.”

You laugh. “You already do.”

You return to mopping and he lies back down. After a moment, you shatter the silence much to his dismay, breaking him from the gentle fall to slumber. “What made you decide?”

He grunts out with annoyance before answering you. “I’ve always wanted to do it as a kid. I liked legos. And I always imagined building a secluded house on an isolated island somewhere with no one around.”

It made sense since his room had a drawing board in the corner and was piled with blueprints. You’re pleasantly surprised by how earnest Yoongi is about his dream, even if he didn’t share it with anyone.

“What about me?” You snicker.

“That was back then. I’ve changed my mind since.” He hums. “I’m going to build a house for us on an isolated island somewhere.”

You scoff, turning around but as Yoongi peeks an eye open, he catches your blush and smile. His own smile crawls up his lips as he shifts more comfortably, having an urge to pull you down to cuddle with him. “What about you?”

You sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know….” There’s a slight moment of silence. “Maybe I’ll be a police officer and let all the kids go.” You joke with a laugh.

“You’d get fired from your job.” He mutters. “What do you think of social work?”

“Social work?” You hum out.

“Don’t you want to help kids like you?”

“What do you mean kids like me?” You defensively put your hands on your hips, turning around to face him.

He sighs, opening his eyes. “I don’t mean it like that….I mean children who have lost their parents too. You’ve been through the same thing….so I don’t know….maybe you could help them.”

A year ago, had someone told you that you even thought about becoming a social worker, you would’ve laughed. You hated social workers and social services, the people who wanted to rip your siblings away from you and the people you had to avoid to keep your family safe. But now, you were broken away from that stubbornness and you knew what it was like to practically be a runaway, selling drugs and barely managing.

“Maybe.” You shrug. “Maybe I’ll run a daycare, maybe I’ll work in a science lab...maybe I’ll be a nurse. Maybe I’ll do nothing at all.”

“Sure. Anything you want. As long as you’re happy then I’m happy….” Yoongi murmurs. “You could be a housewife.”

You cock your head to the side. “And who would ever marry me?”

"I will.”

His clear and quick answer stuns you. Yoongi opens his eyes as if he’s shocked at his own answer, his first thought that mindlessly spilled from his lips. He sighs happily as he watches you grin and blush. “...if you clean my house better. Chop-chop Y/N.”

You roll your eyes at him, continuing but still feeling like your heart’s about to burst. “Who said I was ever going to marry you? That would be like giving my soul to the devil or signing a permanent, life-long slavery contract.”

Yoongi hums, finally falling back into his nap. “I do need a lifelong slave.” He mutters. “....as long as you’re around, I’ll be happy.”

“What?”

There’s a long silence and you wait for him to say whatever he said louder but then his chest begins to softly heave. You sigh, putting the mop down gently and spreading the blanket over his body. For a moment, you get tempted to lie down and nuzzle beside him but you instead press a quick kiss to his cheek; getting back to mopping as usual.

//

The only times you’ve sat in the teacher’s office was when they reprimand you for your behaviour or your consistent abscesses, which you would storm out of. The times before that, it was for praise and certificate achievements but that was before your parents had died. Hence it was odd to be seated in one once again for neither purposes.

“I’m glad you came and talked to me about this, Y/N.” She smiles and you can only return it stiffly. She means well, gentle and genuine but you can’t help but remember how she ignored the bullying incident when you came to the school. She was afraid at the time and you never blamed her, she was human after all. “It shows you’re taking initiative for your learning and your future!”

“Thanks.”

She pulls a few papers out, your student records and your grades. “So, Y/N...what are you aiming for? Is there anything you have in mind? Schools? Careers? Things you like?”

You sigh, shrugging. “To be honest, I really didn’t think I’d make it this far.”

She nods thoughtfully and then grins. “Well you did. But don’t get too overwhelmed. I know there are a lot of choices and it’s alright if you don’t know what you exactly want to do.”

“To be completely honest with you…” You bite your tongue, having no shame and spitting out the truth. “I don’t have any money to go to any school.”

She frowns, doesn’t respond and suddenly turns to her computer, typing furiously. Just after a few seconds, her eyes light up and she claps her hands. “We’re in luck!”

You wait for her to continue and her smile widens considerably as she turns to you again. “It’s fine that you don’t have any money but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to post secondary. Your grades are high Y/N and you’re a very bright, young lady. You’re qualified for full scholarships and luckily, there’s a few spots left!”

You frown. “...what scholarships?”

She shifts her monitor to you, showing you the application on their website. “They provide free housing on campus and they’ll cover your expenses on the condition that you attend SCP University and finish with any degree!”

She’s more enthusiastic than you are, almost hopping out her seat. “SCP University is one of the top ten universities in the country and the AD foundation help students like you with financial aid. There’s also student loans that you qualify for. Money’s not a problem at all, Y/N!”

She grabs your hands, eyes twinkling and you wonder if it’s guilt that motivates her to help you so much. “I really believe in your future. So you should too! I’ll write a recommendation letter and I’ll definitely secure a position for you in this foundation if that’s what you want. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Except, now you’re worrying even more.

“Thanks….I’ll definitely think about it.”

//

It really was perfect. You could get into the school with a full scholarship and not have to fuss over the expenses. The university was an hour and a half away from where you lived by car and two hours by bus. You could come back everyday to Sungjae and Sohyun who would both be in the ninth and third grade by then. In your last year there it would be possible to stay on campus with their free housing since your siblings would be old enough to stay on their own. It was as if your parents came back as ghosts and made it so that there would be no other choice but for you to continue with your education.

There was only one problem; more of a concern than a problem. Nonetheless, it still bothered you.

“Yoongi.”

“Yes?” He mumbles, scribbling something down on paper. You plop down in the seat next to him, finished cleaning for the day.

“What university are you applying to?”

He hums. “Who knows.”

“So you don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

You grimace at his reply. It wasn’t like you wanted to be overly attached or clinging to him but the possibility of him moving far away concerned you. Yoongi’s intelligent, there’s no doubt about it and he’s filthy rich, meaning that there wasn’t any place that he couldn’t go to if he set his mind to it. You’re just afraid of being left behind, being forgotten and left in the dust.

“Bye.” You wave to him at the door, ready to leave and he hums, still at the table. As you grab your coat, you notice a paper on top of a file folder or rather, an application for to...SCP University.

“What is this?” You hold up the page.

“What?” He squints but it’s too far for him to see. He sighs and gets up. As he slowly approaches, the knot between his brows disappears. “Oh. Well………….....I heard their architecture program was good.” He shrugs but watches you closely. “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Wait….” 

He grins, pulling you in his arms quickly by wrapping your waist with his hands. He presses a quick kiss to your lips. “Why? Are you worried I might leave you? Can’t stand the thought of being without me?”

“I never said anything like that….” You grumble and he laughs.

“We’ll be together for a long time.” He promises with another tight squeeze. “You won’t be able to get rid of me.”

You snuggle up closer. “I hope so.” 

They’re screaming. They’re screaming and you can hear it from down the hall, both you and Yoongi shooting each other looks before you both break out into giggles, finally opening the student council doors.

“Oh. my. god. oh. my. god.” Unexpectedly, Jin’s hitting his head against the wall as Hoseok laughs on.

“What’s wrong?” You approach them as Yoongi makes his way to the front of the table.

Jin turns around with tears in his eyes. “LOOK!”

You frown, inspecting his face but finding nothing out of the ordinary. “Is it not obvious?” He says with a gleam of hope.

“Oh, it’s obvious alright.” Hoseok says in a laugh and Jin groans, shoulders slugging downwards.

“Oh.” You finally notice it. “It’s your hair….you cut your hair.”

“THEY MESSED UP!” He cries out, trying to cover his dark brown locks with his hands. The front of his hair retracts upwards in uneven cuts; the trendy choppy bangs that everyone despises.

You shrug with a grin. “You don’t look bad.”

He grumbles and Hoseok pinches his cheeks. “Like a baby or our underclassman, aigoo~”

Meanwhile, Jimin and Taehyung are in the corner.

“Bro…”

“What?”

“Do I smell?” Taehyung lifts his armpits and Jimin makes a face of disgust. “C’mon, just take a whiff for me.”

Jimin sighs, slowly complying as he leans in and inhales a small breath. “You smell….normal...no wait...like flowers?”

Taehyung’s mouth expands into a boxy grin. “K Listen. Do you know how old this shirt and blazer are? How long has it been since I’ve washed them?”

“Two weeks?”

“Make that five!”

“Damn!” Jimin draws out, eyes widening while utterly impressed. The two best friends high five each other.

“All I did was spray a little febreeze! It’s my new record!” Taehyung lifts up both his arms. “There aren’t even any green stains where my armpits are!”

On the other side of the room, Jungkook is watching the microwave. He and Namjoon both wondered if it was possible to cook an entire Thanksgiving turkey without using an oven. They both debated for awhile until they decided to put it in action, buying a turkey and stuffing it with bacon and hotdogs. Needless to say, they weren’t the most adept at cooking.

“What’s your hypothesis?” Namjoon takes a sip of his Arabian Mocha blend coffee. “Do you think it’s going to work?”

“I’m starting to think this is a bad idea.” Jungkook sighs, turning his back away as they both stare out the window. “What do you think happens when you fry candy?”

“Just with oil?” Namjoon contemplates. “Without any batter?”

“Yeah.”

“Hm…….I guess then it just becomes crispy candy...or candy soaked in oil.”

“Listen Namjoon…” Jungkook begins again, rambling. “We know water evaporates…”

“Yes…”

“But what happens when we put water in an airtight container…..will it all evaporate? Will we be able to see it in gas form or all as water vapour?”

“Well-”

“FIRE!” Hoseok suddenly shrieks, shattering the noise in the room. “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!”

Everyone is silent, turning around with wide eyes. Jungkook freezes and Namjoon’s jaw drops at the sight of the whole microwave going up in orange, sizzling flames. Yoongi sighs and pulls himself up grudgingly. He grabs the fire extinguisher in the corner, kept there from previous incidents, unclips the nozzle and smushes the fire out successfully. Everyone takes a deep breath of relief, thankful that the fire alarms or sprinklers haven’t gone off (like other previous incidences). Yoongi glares at Namjoon and Jungkook before turning to you with an unimpressed expression that makes you grin.

“Guess microwaving an entire turkey’s a bad idea.” Namjoon laughs.

Jungkook nods his head. “Duly noted.”

Really, it was like any other day with the student council members and you couldn’t love it anymore; especially when you spent those moments with Yoongi.

And your hair didn’t get burnt into a crisp.

//

“Hey.” You poke him in the cheek.

“Hey.” He responds lethargically back before turning to you with a frown. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why? I can’t sweetly stare at my beautiful boyfriend and think about the days we’re spending together?”

Yoongi makes a face of disgust and you tighten your grip on his hand. “No. It’s just that when you give me that look, it usually means there’s something wrong….did you do something to me?”

You scoff, turning away from him. “I just…..”

“Yoongi.”

“Yes?” Now it’s his turn to stare sweetly at you, gazing at your profile and your cute lips that he’s so tempted to kiss - even though the both of you are walking down the street in public.

“Just listen, okay?” You stop in your tracks and he becomes worried at your suddenly serious tone. “I don’t want you to feel pressured to do this but…would you like to join me and my siblings this weekend? We’re going to visit my parents…”

There’s a silence as he blankly stares at you and you laugh nervously, rambling to try to fill in the gaps. “It’s not that big of a deal but I figured, you know, that maybe...I don’t know what I was thinking but I never brought you along and I didn’t want to make it seem like it was a bigger thing than it actually was or that I was trying to keep it a secret-”

“Y/N.” He pulls you in for a hug. “I’d love to.”

You sigh softly into his coat in comfort, anxiety washing away. “Okay.”

“I want to be part of all aspects in your life. The pretty parts, the ugly parts…” He holds you closer. “...and the painful ones too.”

Your fist raises and you weakly hit his back, voice cracking as you speak. “Stop it. You’re going to make me cry.”

“Good.” He chuckles. “It would be a sight to see - Y/N’s breakdown in the middle of the street.”

“You’re mean.”

Yoongi pulls away from you and presses an endearing kiss on your cheek, completely catching you off guard and he pulls away when you’re still stunned. Days like these become your most cherished and you can’t help but feel overwhelmed with happiness.

//

Of the countless times you’ve walked through the gravestones, never have you walked with a smile on your face. You’ve been here on rainy days, days where your cheeks were permanently stained and tears couldn’t well up in your eyes, days where you stormed in angrily with an eternity of resentments. But by your side stood your siblings, Sohyun carrying a bouquet of yellow carnations, Sungjae holding her hand with a grin and Yoongi’s holding yours. Never had you felt more fulfilled and the days where you were aching with loneliness seemed so long ago.

“It was a car accident.” You say without a trace of fury or misery, simply staring at their names. “They were late coming home. I had a feeling that something was wrong and after midnight, a policeman came knocking at our door.”

Yoongi’s hand tightens around yours and you look up at him, swallowing hard. Your siblings gazed at you, knowing full well that you never liked speaking about that night or about your parents. It was painful for you to have to relive it and you didn’t appreciate anyone’s sympathies either. For the longest time, you felt cheated. Your entire family was ripped away and you were left alone to care for your siblings. Feeling angry was always easier than feeling heartache after all.

But you felt neither of those things when you stood by Yoongi and finally shared the deepest pains in your soul. “They would’ve loved you.” You laugh, swinging your held arms back and forth and looking at the flowers set between the stones. “You’re smart, handsome...snarky as all hell. They would’ve really loved you.”

Yoongi holds you tight as you feel tears welling up. His arms wrap around your back and he hums comfortingly. “I would’ve loved them.” He whispers. “If they’re anything like you, I would’ve loved them.”

“My dad would kick your ass for hiring me as your maid.” You mutter and your siblings giggle quietly.

“I would be so scared to come by your house.” He retorts back with a small laugh.

“My mom would adore you more than me.” You sigh, lips upturning. “But they would’ve loved you.”

On the night of your parents accident, you cried alone at the hospital stairwell, hidden away from everyone else. For months and months after, you were convinced and ridden with guilt that you would never be a complete family again. You pushed yourself on the brink of death willingly since some part of you had completely given up, swallowed by your hardships and loneliness. But now, your siblings were elated with genuine happiness and you had a shoulder to lean on. Somewhere along the way, you had become family again.

Somewhere along the way, you weren’t so lonely anymore.

“They’d be proud of you.” He murmurs.

Yoongi saved your life in more ways than one.

//

The rundown restaurant is bustling with people, the familiar walls and tables are left unchanged from your memories. The old ladies’ faces light up as you walk in, immediately recognizing you and showering Sohyun immensely with praise at how well she’s growing up. Sungjae on the other hand orders for all four of you since you’re in a complete mess.

“Are you okay?” Yoongi says in a half-chuckle, leaning over to you with his head rested in his hand, elbow propped up on the table. He hands you another tissue but you swat it away.

“I’m fine.” You say in a thick voice, still nasally.

“You’re such a cry baby.” Sungjae pokes fun at you but quiets down when you glare at him.

Earlier, you had bursted out into tears and was unable to stop. Now your eyes were completely swollen and your nose was glowing red. Yoongi laughs as he continues staring at you fondly. “I was just feeling emotional, okay? And this is your fault!”

“How is this my fault?” He points to himself with a chuckle.

“You made me feel this way!” You bark at him and he smiles. “Who told you to be so understanding and caring?”

Sohyun reaches over and gives you a bear squeeze, making you feel better. That is until she starts squeezing you to death while menacingly giggling and you forcibly peel her off of you. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes.” You answer, wondering when she started speaking so well.

The thought struck you as the food was served and Sungjae passed it out to everyone, even picking up food and putting it on Sohyun’s plate for her. It was still fresh in your mind, the memories of Sungjae acting out and putting his fist to everything and everyone that made him feel angry. His teachers had numerous complaints about him being a disobedient child, a rebel and in every other conversation with him, the both of you would be arguing. Sohyun at that time was completely mute and kept all her feelings pent up inside. But now as you looked on at your two siblings, laughing in their own conversation, you couldn’t help but feel like they were growing up in front of your eyes.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Yoongi nudges you.

“Hm. Yeah.”

You gaze at him for a moment. It felt like it was just yesterday since he came over for the first time and complained about your food. It felt like just yesterday he had showed up at your doorstep and demanded nonsense that you couldn’t make out at the time.

You wondered how time moved so quickly.

One year.

Two years.

A decade.

Three decades.

Time moved without pausing and without breathing. Things change slowly and in a blink of an eye. But what weighed on you day after day was your worries with Yoongi; would you even be with him anymore in five years from now? Nevermind five decades.

More importantly, did he want to stay that long with you?

You could never tell with these things. You were scared of how fickle love was, scared that he would change his mind somewhere along the way and your time together would merely become memories.

“Yoongi.” You had asked him one evening as you both walked home together, one simple question that had been bothering you - “do we have a future together?”

“What?”

“I’m worried that’s all.” You manage a smile. “I’m not sure of anything and I don’t know what the future has in store...for me...for us. I just know I want to be together with you, for a long time.”

He chuckles, the same one that you hold so close to your heart. “Just a long time?”

“Forever.”

Yoongi takes one stride to you, lifting his hand to hold your cheek. He smiles, eyes crinkling as he presses a kiss to your lips and another. “I’m serious.” You whisper with a pout when you realize he’s teasing.

“Well I’m serious about you.” Yoongi wraps his arms around your waist and clasps his hands together.

“I want to marry you.” You confess and his head quirks to the side with a grin.

“Are you sure?” He teases again.

“I’m sure. But I don’t have much...I’m mean and I have a short temper. I get angry sometimes-”

“I know.” He interrupts with a laugh, kissing you again while gazing at you with softened eyes. “I know.”

“And you still want to be with me?”

He answers without hesitation.

“Forever.”

[Epilogue]

It’s a quiet house, the night already fallen but the numerous picture framed photos on the wall are still visible with the lights. There are multiple of them, all in a row while slightly moving downwards like a staircase. The first photo shows a family, two parents standing at the back and three kids in the front, all of them smiling but the colours have faded away from age. The next shows two beaming people in graduation gowns and hats, holding hands with their other hand holding a rolled up scroll. The frame that follows shows the same two people joined with another six boys and two kids.

The frames continue on with a beautiful bride and beaming groom embracing each other, the sunlight piercing through the window behind them. The one after that is of a cute baby and the-

“Why are you staring so intently?” Sohyun laughs, breaking Joonhyung out of his trance.

He turns around and smiles. “Your family’s really nice. Your sister is really pretty too.”

“Say that outloud again and my brother-in-law will come for you with an axe.” She laughs and he pulls her in for a back hug, wrapping his arms around her stomach as they both sway back and forth, staring at the pictures.

“He’s going to come for me with an axe whether I like it or not.” Joonhyung kisses the top of her head.

She scoffs. “That’s right and my brother too.” She looks up at him with a huge pout that makes him giggle. “Shouldn’t I be the prettiest in your eyes?” 

He rolls his eyes as if to make a point. “Just because we’re dating, doesn’t make me blind to other women’s beauty.” She thrashes against him in defiance at his snarky answer and he laughs, tightening his hold on her. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! They might be pretty but you’re the most beautiful.”

Sohyun clicks with her tongue. “That’s better. But are you calling my sister not beautiful?”

“Girl, what do you even want from me?”

She turns around, gazing at her childhood best friend turned lover, her boyfriend of two years and person she chose to be her soulmate. Just as Sohyun reaches up on her toes with a smile, ready to kiss Joonhyung, a loud ahem interrupts the both of them.

“Excuse me?” Sungjae raises his brows and Sohyun flinches in surprise, already pulling away from her boyfriend’s arms.

“You scared me! And what are you doing back?! I thought you were suppose to come home on Monday!” Sohyun sighs out in exasperation.

“A twenty four year old man can come home whenever he wants to. And is that a way to greet your brother?” Sungjae cocks his head to the other side. “But what is Joonhyung doing here?”

“Hi.” He nervously raises his hand and laughs. Sohyun immediately goes in front of him, almost acting as a shield.

“He’s just over for dinner.”

“And where’s noona and hyung?” There’s a long silence as she doesn’t answer. “Sohyun.”

“They’re out.” She mumbles.

“So you’re home with him alone?” He sighs, rubbing the sides of his forehead. “Just cause noona and hyung are out doesn’t mean you can just sneak around and do that sort of thing. She’ll shave your head, you know.”

Sohyun blushes from her chin all the way to her hairline, a shade of bright red that leaves both men in the room smiling. “We��re not doing anything like that! And I’m old enough if you didn’t realize! I’m graduating high school in a few months!” She retorts at the top of her lungs, grabbing Joonhyung’s hand. “C’mon let’s go.”

“You better keep the door open!” Sungjae laughs, falling back onto the couch and wondering when his younger sister used to talk back so much. His mind drifts to Joonhyung who was staring like a deer in headlights the entire time and he’s reminded of the first time he ever met him, back on the playground where he used to bully Sohyun.

Sungjae chuckles to himself. “Really...I should’ve beaten up that kid a lot more back then.”

//

She’s sitting out on her porch, grumbling incoherently under her breath as she angrily peels the radish with the sharpest knife she owns. The sun has already set and there’s barely enough light from inside the house to allow her to see outside but she’s too stubborn to move until she’s finished. “Eunhye! Can you get me some water?”

She throws down the knife into the bucket of discarded peels. “Get it yourself!”

Her brother whines from inside the room. “But I broke my ankle!”

“Exactly. You slob! You can’t do anything in this house.” She gets up anyways with a huff, moving towards the kitchen. “You get arrested and thrown into jail. Then Y/N has to bail you out. You’re their uncle for goodness sakes!”

Eunhye stomps her way to the room with the glass full of water, shoving it in her brother’s hands as he’s seated on the bed. “For the record…” He smiles. “I only got arrested because I broke my ankle. I couldn’t keep running for the life of anyone.”

She ignores him. “And now you’re freeloading off of me!”

“You said I could stay with you…”

“If you helped me with the farm! You’re just more work now!”

He grins as he downs the glass. “Thanks, Eunhye.” He hands it back to her. “I hope you don’t mind but once I’m back in shape, I might stay here for awhile.”

She scoffs as she moves out the room and at the thought of you, she notes to herself to give you a call sometime. “You better. I don’t want you burdening Y/N!”

“I’m a pretty great gardener!” He shouts to her. Eunhye sighs as she moves to peel the carrots on the porch, wondering if her sister was looking down on the two of them and laughing her head off like she used to. Despite Eunhye’s sharp words to her brother, she can’t help but feel like the farmhouse has gotten a lot warmer.

//

The two girls have been transported back to their teenage years, each rolling on their beds with their phones pressed to their ears. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

Hyeri laughs. “I didn’t do anything. I just heard about a position and it sounded perfect for you.”

“But if it weren’t for you, I would’ve never met Henry.” Minah sighs sweetly. “I seriously think he’s going to pop the question one of these days.”

“He’s better. You two have been dating for four years already!” Hyeri says with a scoff and Minah hums. “Oh yeah, are you going to the high school reunion tomorrow?”

“Of course I’m going! Are you?”

“I am. I’m kind of excited too. There’s going to be a lot of old faces.”

“Speaking of which, what’s Yura doing these days?” Minah sits up, fixing her face mask before plopping back down again. “Wasn’t she overseas busy with something?”

“She got back a week ago. She’s running her father’s department store and I think she’s actually pretty good with it...if only she didn’t keep invading in her clients personal lives.” Hyeri laughs.

“I can’t blame her. Some of those guys are to die for.” She hums. “Did you have lunch with Hara?”

“Yeah, yesterday. She was telling me about her new fashion company. She and Choa are both teaming up since Choa has her own photography studio now.”

“That’s actually pretty cool.” Minah smiles. “All of us really need to meet up sometime after the reunion. It’s been way too long since we’ve all had a girl chat. But have you talked to Y/N these days?”

Hyeri laughs again as she twists her hair with her finger. “She’s busy like the rest of us are but I came over to her house like three weeks ago..? Something like that and she and Yoongi are doing really well.”

“Oh my god.” Minah flips over. “You need to tell me everything. Like they’re pretty much the high school sweetheart couple that actually worked out and turned into the perfect soulmate couple! Twelve years after and I’m still envious of them!”

“You have Henry! What are you saying? I’m the one that’s dying alone. But you’ll see them at the high school reunion, they’re definitely coming too-”

The two girls continue chatting, gossipping on the events around and scandals in their workplace, catching up after being busy for so long. The night continues to transpire until they repeat their goodnights, crashing onto their beds.

//

A small hole-in-the wall sits on the corner of the street, a warm atmosphere with brick walls and toned down lights. It’s decently filled with each table having their own conversation but the loudest one has six men laughing around it, taking quick swigs of their drinks. “Just because you’re a married man now, doesn’t mean you get to ignore my calls!” Jin hits his fist on the table, looking towards Hoseok who grins.

“Are you just jealous that I married the loveliest girl on the planet?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “No. Do you know how much of a pain it is to have you call you a million times to set up a proper hangout?”

“Don’t hold it against him.” Taehyung laughs. “The only reason he’s even met up with us today is because the high school reunion is tomorrow.” 

“Are you leaving soon?” Namjoon interrupts, looking over at Jimin who nods.

“In a few days.”

“Tell your brother congratulations for me.” He smiles. “I know how difficult it is to get on the National team and now he’s already participating in a worldwide competition.”

Jimin swells with pride. “Will do. But when are you leaving?” 

Namjoon takes a swig of his bottled drink. “Maybe in a few weeks. The university doesn’t need me that much. Plus I’ve saved up enough vacation days in the last decade to last me a year.”

“Hey, hey.” Hoseok interjects, still not giving up on the losing battle. “Okay, you might blame me for not answering your calls but at least I’m not late.”

Jimin giggles. “Tell that to Y/N and she’ll go off on you. She’s been tired lately.”

“Guess Yoongi’s keeping her up these days?” Taehyung raises a brow mischievously and everyone laughs.

“That’s true though.” Jin leans back in his seat. “Where is our Student Council President?”

Just then, the doorbell chimes and everyone swivels their heads over. For a second, all of them are bewildered by not seeing anyone until they look down and see a toddler pushing herself in. She looks around curiously and a familiar man follows closely behind her.

“Speak of the devil…”

Taehyung nearly launches out his seat. “You brought her with you?! Can I hold her?!”

Yoongi grins. “Hello to you too. And no. Keep your hands to yourself.” He catches his wandering toddler in his arms, lifting her as she giggles. As he takes a seat across from Jimin, he settles her on his lap. “We couldn’t get a babysitter tonight and Y/N doesn’t trust Sohyun anymore after she almost set our house up in flames trying to make pancakes. My parents are busy and my brother’s abroad with his wife.” Yoongi sighs after the long tangent. “We were running late so we decided to just bring her with us.”

“You look exhausted.” Hoseok laughs, noticing how the other man’s hair is all out of place and he opted for wearing a black hoodie instead of dress shirts like the rest of them.

“I sure feel like it.”

“Some things never change.” Namjoon laughs.

“Y/N looks a lot worse than I do but don’t say anything.” He wears a silly smile while thinking about his wife.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Jimin says, staring at the baby fondly as she grabs onto her father’s hoodie drawstrings, pulling on them with a bright gleam in her eyes. He’s amazed at how much the child is both like you and Yoongi but completely and utterly adorable; a mop of black hair, bright eyes with round and rosy cheeks.

“You’ll know what it feels like when you start to have brats like these.” Yoongi says to Hoseok, bouncing Yumi up and down on his knee as she begins to laugh. Said man also breaks out into a huge grin.

“Speaking of which…” Jungkook looks out the window. “Where is Y/N?”

“She’s coming all right.”  

As if being called, right on cue, the bell chimes again to signal your entrance. It takes exactly one sweep of the restaurant for you to go dragging your feet over to the table, collapsing in the front seat in front of everyone and throwing the diaper bag to the ground. You sniffle a bit before tucking your ragged hair behind your ears in an attempt to tame it. “Hey.”

“Hello to you too.” Taehyung greets brightly. “Are you doing okay?”

“Am I doing okay?” There’s a slight silence as everyone waits for your answer and you look over to the kid in Yoongi’s lap. “Well yesterday I brought our dog to the park and somehow he contracted fleas and now we have an infestation. This kid gave me the flu a week ago and I’m still recovering. And I don’t think I’ve had proper sleep in the last year and a half. Am I doing okay?” You sigh out before looking at Yoongi who’s as exhausted as you are but utterly amused at your meltdown, halfway to chuckling his head off.

“Honestly. Not too bad.” You point your thumb tiredly to your husband. “All thanks to this guy, I haven’t passed out yet.”

“You’re so loving, honey.” Yoongi mocks with a tight lipped smile and you scoff lightly before reaching over and planting a quick kiss to his cheek - another one to your daughter too since she begins staring at you with wide eyes. As if taking the golden opportunity, Yumi grabs your hair between her little fists and gives it a good old tug. You almost scream, managing to move away before she twists her fingers in permanently and decides to never let go, like Jack and Rose on the titanic.

As you draw distance between the child, moving your hair behind your back, she begins with a shrill cry as if having lost her prized possession. Yoongi immediately holds her in his arms, patting her back and cooing her to quiet down. Luckily she does and you both take a sigh of relief.

“I’m not breastfeeding anymore.” You announce to the entire table, pretty much to the entire restaurant. “Let’s get wasted.”

But unlike your plans, Yoongi and Jin don’t let you.

Yoongi can’t handle taking care of a toddler and your drunk self at the same time. Jin on the other hand, just frets over everyone, afraid that they’ll be too hungover in the morning to attend the high school reunion. So instead, you take a few sips, leaning back and catching up with everyone. When you turn to stare at your daughter and husband, your mind starts to run backwards.

After graduating high school, you and Yoongi went to the same university. One summer during your undergraduate degree, the both of you had went backpacking in Europe. Things started to move quickly after that and eventually he moved in, without asking really. It was more like he kept on staying night after night and his things started slowly appearing in the house. The both of you moved onto your graduate studies and you were finished before Yoongi did. He was extremely anxious in those days, trying to finish his degree as quickly as possible and a full year after his apprenticeship, he proposed.

The thing Yoongi feared most was you proposing to him, purely out of impatience. But when he finally did, you immediately answered no. His face was still fresh in your mind, someone who went completely pale and green at the same time. But then you bursted into a fit of laughter and lunged in his arms with a definite ‘yes’. The both of you hit your head on the concrete but it didn’t matter.

A full year later, you wed with both your aunt’s blessings and his parents. The two of you were restless but his family adored you and no matter how tough your aunt tried to be, you could tell she loved Yoongi. And at that time, the both of you had moved into a bigger and better house that you could finally call your own.

Sungjae used to burst into your room with ‘have you seen my charger? I think I lef-’ and the next second he’d be screaming at the top of his lungs and slamming the door shut. When you found him, he was trying to clean his eyeballs out in the sink. You were so utterly embarrassed back then but the thought was entirely humorous to you now. Old habits die hard - though after that, you and Yoongi locked your doors before getting down to business.  

It was a full year of blissful marriage until you had a child - which wasn’t exactly planned but looking back on it, you don’t know what you were expecting since the both of you kept going at it.

It was déjà vu. At the moment, you were sitting at the front of a table with the seven boys that you used to sit with years back; discussing student council plans and funds, up to no good and making complete mischief. They were all older now and so were you but their banters and giggles all remained the same. The boy that you adored, sitting by your side was now your husband and he held the baby that you had together in his arms. Your heart ached with reminiscence but also swelled in your chest of the numerous more years to come. You were truly living the life that you would’ve dreamed of back then.  

“What are you smiling about?” Yoongi turns to you with a bit of playful suspicion, slowly shifting your drink away from you. You clasp his wrist with your hand without blinking, making him flinch with surprise.

“Don’t you dare.”

He scrunches up his nose for a moment. “Don’t drink too much. I don’t want to drag you around.”

“You’ll always have to drag me around, honey.”

Yoongi chuckles and you tilt your head, wondering when it was that you started loving him to death.

//

The lampposts cast a warm glow underneath your feet and dimply at the path in front of you. The water flows slowly beneath, a soothing sound that makes your tense shoulders relax despite the chills. There are no cars driving past except in the far distance, making it a seemingly peaceful comfort as the moon shines brightly in the sky.

“Why are we here? It’s freaking cold.”

Yoongi hums before transferring your sleeping daughter into his other arm, gently resting her head on his shoulder before he pulls you close and interlaces his fingers between yours. Your voice moves into a quiet murmur as you pout at him. “You still didn’t tell me why we’re here.”

“Do you remember where this is?” His eyes move towards the moon soaked river as you both continue walking.

“Of course I remember.” You smile, melting with a soft sigh. “We jumped off this bridge together.”

He chuckles. “We did.”

“We were insane.”

“You made me do it.” He gives you a look. “You’re insane.”

You open your mouth to retort but you close it a second later, not being able to refute. He grips your hands tighter as he grins, gums showing with crinkled eyes. “But this is where I fell in love with you.”

“What?” You laugh out as the both of you halt in the middle of the path, looking at the faraway city line. “You fell in love with me while we jumped off a bridge together? You’re so romantic.”

“I guess I’m as insane as you are.” He smiles sweetly before looking down and you follow his line of sight, noticing a lock on the metal fence bars. “Don’t laugh.”

“What is it?” You’re already grinning as you hold the lock in your free hand. It takes a good thirty seconds for your eyes to suddenly light up with recognition. “Oh….my god. This is the lock you bought when we went on our mountain retreat.”

He glances away when you begin staring at him with wide eyes. “That’s the day I decided to finally man up and confess or at least...kiss you or do something. Do you even know how long I was holding back for?”

Your red stained cheeks are completely numb from smiling and you snicker, nudging him. “So you put up a lock on the bridge we jumped off of?” You flip it over, seeing both your names written on the familiar padlock.

“Hey. I was a stupid high school boy back then and it was like my mark of final resolve.” He bites his lower lip, huffing tiredly.

“I never knew you were so innocent and romantic.” You giggle despite him rolling his eyes. “But I can’t believe you never told me! It’s been what? Twelve years?!”

“I was so embarrassed. I still am.” He shakes his head slightly as to not wake up your daughter. “I really think I was crazy back then. You made me really crazy back then.”

You pull him in a side embrace and he kisses the top of your head. “Do you know how creepy it would’ve been if we didn’t end up together?” You murmur.

“If things didn’t work out, I’d come here with a saw.” He smiles. “But no. I would’ve made sure to marry you. I vowed to myself that day.”

“You’re disgustingly cute.” You press a quick kiss to his lips and he presses another one against yours. The both of you freeze immediately when Yumi begins shuffling in his arms but after a second, she continues with soft snores. You take a soft sigh of relief before turning to Yoongi once more.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Outrageous.

A promise of ten thousand dollars, treading on the path as strangers shoot the both of you odd looks. Yoongi is drenched from head to toe in his uniform. If the yesterday version of himself saw him now, he would certainly feel both disdain and irritation. He didn’t even need a housemaid.  

Yoongi turns to you with hatred, brooding on how he almost died jumping off a bridge. And now instead of going to the hospital, the both of you were making your way to a library to write up a dumb contract. But as he notices your softened features when you're not frowning and the faint scars lining your cheeks - when he was used to porcelain skinned girls, fretting over even a smudge of their makeup - Yoongi didn’t feel pity nor annoyance.

He simply could not stop staring at you, even though your hair was soaking wet and he was pretty sure there was seaweed stuck in it. There were so many things that Yoongi suddenly became curious about, catching him completely off guard. He wasn’t one to take interest in anything or anyone, sworn to lethargically live his life day by day. But there was just something about-

“What?” You scowl at him with a huge frown, realizing that he’s staring at you.

Yoongi scoffs, finally prying his eyes away. “Nothing.”

But whatever it is, good or bad, something instinctual tells him that his entire life will be turned upside down by-

You.

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Not One of Many - Chapter Seventeen.

A huge thank you as ever to my wonderful audience for your continued interest in Beth and Alfie’s story :)

Previous chapters - Prologue  One  Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Seven  Eight  Nine  Ten  Eleven  Twelve  Thirteen  Fourteen  Fifteen  Sixteen

Tag list - In the comments

Words - 3,300

Warnings - 18+ content, adult audience only. Minors DNI!

“Food’ll be here in twenty minutes, baby beast.”

“Okay, boo.”

Just three weeks in and already, they had adopted sweet little pet names for one another.

“That means you have twenty minutes before I’m pinching your laptop, Beth.”

Her fingers hit the keys faster. “Okay!”  

“I bloody mean it; you work too hard.”

She snorted. “Pots and kettles, Alfie.”

“Yeah, but he’s the difference. It’s 9.23pm and I’ve actually stopped. You ain’t come up for air since we took Cyril for a walk earlier, and you’ve been at it since 6am!”  

“I know, I know, but I’m on a roll here and I do have to submit this by Friday, as well as two others by Thursday. Now shush!”

“Ooooh, she’s bossy tonight, Cyril.” Looking down at his dog where he lay at Beth’s feet, Alfie shook his head, going to the counter and opening a bottle of Merlot he’d brought in from the wine cellar just to the side of his house, pouring out a glass for her. “Eighteen and a half minutes now.” Passing her wine over, he grinned, Beth bobbing her tongue out at him.  

“Love you.”

“You’d bloody better!” Leaving her to it, he went to the fridge and deposited some ice cubes from the dispenser into his glass, topping it up with a liberal pour of San Pellegrino, standing at the island to read the paper while waiting for their dinner to arrive. He found it quite surreal still, that there she was, sitting happily working away. Even more so that he had a woman in his home who took her career as seriously as he did his.  

That wasn’t a slur on his past girlfriends, who quite speedily after moving in with him had become ladies of leisure. Why work when he didn’t allow them to spend a single pound of their own earnings? He still didn’t with Beth, something she fought against him endlessly about (including a scene in a pub they’d gone to the previous Sunday while walking Cyril, her screaming ‘let me buy you the bloody Guinness!’ while slapping her card against the terminal to pay) but still, her career mattered so very much to her. He knew she wouldn’t give it up just because she was dating a man whom was a millionaire many hundreds of times over.  

It was just one of many things he admired about his girlfriend.  

His girlfriend. His girlfriend. Singular. Just one. And he couldn’t be happier. He realised now, being in such a wonderful relationship, to someone he was so well suited, that the approach he’d taken before had been so flawed, attempting to find everything he was looking for in one woman not workout out, so choosing those qualities in multiple women. Also, he couldn’t lie. It bolstered his image, but when he thought on it, he had to quietly wonder if it somewhat ridiculed it as well?  

He'd been the talk of London with his outlandish love life, but he did sometimes conclude that such talk mightn’t always have been to his merit. Because of their busy periods with work, he hadn’t even taken Beth out on a first date properly yet, but such would change the following evening, spoiling her with dinner at 34 Mayfair, an extremely exclusive eatery before moving onto a bar so she could meet with Steve and Marcus, two of his closest friends.  

“I can see the little dot moving closer and closer to this house, estimated time of arrival three minutes. Tap faster!” he teased, Beth managing to get her final thoughts down before saving her draft and switching off her laptop with two minutes to spare.  

Moving to the island, she draped her arms around his neck. “What do I get for being good?”

He nuzzled her neck, laughing dirtily. “You’ll see, later.”  

“Mmmm, fabulous.” She purred, kissing him with heat and longing, their exchange of tongues only disturbed by the buzzer sounding for the front gate. “I’ll go, you get the plates out.”

“Eye, eye, duchess.” He gave her a playful salute and a quick slap on the bum as she turned to exit, grinning when she looked back over her shoulder with a smouldering pout. “God, I love the hell out of that girl.”  

Once their Chinese delicacies had been plated up, they went up to the cinema room, watching the next episode of a Netflix documentary they’d begun earlier in the week.  

“Do you think it’s something they’re born with, or something that’s determined by how they’re raised? I’ve always considered it a bit of both, a fragile psyche that becomes further damaged by their formative years and the horrors they experienced. Because they all have fuckin’ terrible upbringings, don’t they? Then again, though, I reason that while evil can be both born and brought about, it takes some degree of conscious reasoning to act upon what manifests. Not everyone with mental issues and a childhood steeped in abuse goes off their rocker,” Alfie spoke after pausing the episode.  

“I absolutely agree with that. I think it’s a fascinating study, into the tipping point for these people, why they slip so far away from any reasonable semblance of humanity and act in such a heinous, depraved manner.”

Intelligent, thoughtful discussion. It was something he’d lacked in recent years, but had in abundance with Beth. They sat and conversed over it for a little while before pressing play again, Beth cuddling up against him, Alfie wrapping an arm around her and kissing her head. They were the very picture of contentment. Their relationship only continued to get better, too.

Beth arrived at his house the following late afternoon after a morning of meetings and research, a quick bite to eat with Oliver and an afternoon of hard slog over her laptop back at her flat, finding a note for her on the kitchen island.  

‘Baby beast,

I got called to another meeting, so I won’t be back until just gone half six. I know you were having a panic because you couldn’t decide what to wear tonight, so go upstairs and hopefully, you’ll like what you find.  

Love you millions, darlin’!’

She smiled, placing her bag down and heading up a couple of floors to his bedroom, entering to find a dress bag and a shoe box placed upon the bed, with a bunch of white roses beside them, her favourite flowers. “Alfie!” she cooed softly, unzipping the bag and pulling out the most gorgeous, black cross fronted dress, the label denoting it to be a Donna Karan creation. “Oh my god, you did not, Alfie Solomons!” she exclaimed, lifting it up and moving over to the large mirror at the side of the walk-in wardrobe, holding it against herself. It was stunning.

Delighted, she placed it down carefully, moving to the shoe box next. “Oh my fucking god, boo!” she screamed, pulling out a pair of dark red Manolo Blahnik Hangisi shoes, a perfect match for her little red satin clutch bag she’d intended to use that night, a vintage Kate Spade find on Vestiaire Collective in pristine condition. He was so observant, Beth only mentioning once in passing that she’d use that Friday night’s outing for her new bag, or as she coined it, give it its maiden voyage. He’d remembered, and bought the shoes to match.  

Within the tissue paper, her fingertips found another note written on the same white card the one in the kitchen had been penned upon, pulling it out and reading.  

‘It also occurred to me that I never got you a congratulations present for your article in The Times. It’s waiting for you in the walk-in.’

Curious, she went over to the door and let herself in, her hand flying to her mouth when there, upon the centre counter where he kept all of his accessories (and Amira had previously stored hers) was a very specific orange box. An orange box from Hermes.  

“You have not, you have not, oh my bloody Jesus bloody sodding Christ, you have!” She squealed after undoing the ribbon and sliding the lid off, revealing the contents. There it was, what she’d longed for, a dark blue Birkin bag. “No!! Oh my god! Oh my fucking god!!” she cried, absolutely bowled over. She didn’t even know what to do, picking the bag up, putting it down, jumping around upon the carpeted floor, having to have a little sit, getting back up again and squealing a little more, staggered by such generosity. That bag had cost twenty thousand pounds. Twenty thousand!  

“So, you like it, then?”  

She nearly died of fright to hear his voice suddenly sound behind her, yelping in surprise as she turned around.  

“What happened to you not being home until half six?”

He shrugged, grinning. “Might have lied, just so I could see your reaction. So, do you like it?”

Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “Like it? Like it? Alfie, I bloody love it so much, I nearly passed out, seeing it there! Thank you, so, so, so, so much!”

He hugged her, kissing her forehead, touched at how thrilled she was. “You’re welcome, my darlin’.”

“Seriously, though, I do appreciate it so much, because that, the shoes and dress – which I love too, and thank you for those as well – It must have cost a bloody fortune! I can’t believe you spent so much money on me!”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “My sweetheart, you wanna know how much it used to cost me in shopping sprees when I had three girlfriends? Anything from fifty to a hundred grand a week. They were fuckin’ ferocious spenders, but I can afford it. Spending what I did on you for that little lot ain’t even skimming the bloody surface, though, so don’t stress, right?”

Her eyes bulged at the amount he revealed. Just how much did her boyfriend earn a week in order for such spending to have not been an issue for him, financially? She shuddered to think, but would never ask. It wasn’t her business to know. “Blimey! And okay, I shall not stress.”

“Good, because I intend on spoiling you rotten. Now, I’m gonna go get in the shower. I can’t say I wouldn’t be welcoming to company.”  

Her clothes were off in a flash, undressing him with the very same gusto she’d used upon the tissue paper concealing her beautiful gifts, their kisses magmatic as they staggered towards the ensuite, entwined and hot for each other within moments. Under the water, their kisses grew in hunger, Beth pushing him back against the tiles as she sank down to crouch before him, working his cock with her hand while trailing soft, fluttery kisses across his abs, her tongue tracing the outlines of his stomach tattoo, squeezing and releasing on his shaft until he was like rock within her grip, her tongue moving to trail over the head of such steely hardness.

He grunted quietly, a groan fluttering over his full lips as his head thudded back against the tiles, hands coming to rest either side of her head as he looked down to watch his cock vanishing into her mouth. She hummed contentedly, her tongue pressing against the thick vein on the underside of his shaft, her hand still working at the base of him. She never tired of his thickness, how he pulsed against her when she stimulated him, strong twitches coupled with low rumbles of desire, his thighs tensing.  

“You look so pretty, with a big, fat cock in your mouth.”

She hummed again, releasing him with a pop, kissing the tip of his hardness. “I look prettier when you’re stretching out my other holes with it more.”

He chuckled, thumb stroking her cheek lovingly, Beth widening her mouth once more to take him back again as far as she could. His insides burned as he felt the back of her throat relax, her lips tight, dragging on him, her hand still pulsing around him, her other tickling his balls with a soft claw of her nails, which she’d changed to a stiletto manicure, because of his love of being scratched. This was why he lovingly referred to her as baby beast, since she got off on marking him up just as much as he did her lustful inflictions of nails and teeth. His chest still bore bite marks and purple welts from two days previously.  

“I shall come back to sucking this gigantic, perfect cock a little more later, but for now there’s only one place I want you.” Her purred words, coupled with a glance of smoking allure made his heart thunder, Beth slowly licking her way back up his chest before she turned around, folding at the waist with her legs spread wide, her hands curling around to clutch her ankles. She squeaked when he smacked her bum, the sound echoing through the bathroom, breathing a soft gasp when she then felt him plunge into her.

He filled her wholly, cutting through her slick heat slowly as his hands rested on the rounded fullness of her peachy bum, squeezing the cheeks as he groaned. She thought she’d get slammed into so hard, she’d near be propelled through the glass screen, but he surprised her by keeping the pace slow, almost retreating from her entirely and teasing her opening with the thick head of his hardness before sliding back in.

He filled an emptied her slowly, knowing he was driving her crazy from her low moans, Beth virtually growling with pleasure, her cunt fluttering around him wildly. Surely, after only thirty seconds, she wasn’t about to…

“Oh god, oh, fuck!” she gritted, her hips juddering wildly as she panted and giggled, gasping ‘no fucking way!’ as her head spun from the quickest orgasm she’d ever had in her life.

“Blimey, that was fast! Was that the Birkin effect?”

“Well, I nearly came on the spot when I saw it, boo.” she chuckled, biting her lip, her post-orgasmic tingles sweeping through her with a pleasant ebbing.  

“I might have to buy you one in every colour, then.” She was only half sure he was joking with that statement, too. What she cared about more in that moment though was not the fanciest luxury bags money could buy, but the big, hard cock spearing into her, the pace gaining momentum as he began smacking her bum in time with each deeply daggering thrust.  

She came twice more and then received hot, spurted load all over her neck and tits before he let her out again. There was something about soaking wet Alfie. He was very, very filthy. Sexy as hell, also. An hour later and they were just about ready, well, Alfie was, Beth having a stress at her curling iron as she added large waves to her hair, wishing she had her much simpler to use hot brush with her.  

“You look fuckin’ stunning, love.” He told her when she arrived with him downstairs, taking her hand and kissing it. They walked out to his car, Alfie deciding on the Lamborghini that evening, opening the doors and turning to see the bemusing sight of Beth, looking like she was doing some kind of dance. His eyebrow twitch questioned it, watching as she started to giggle.  

“Got ants in your pants?”

“No, I’m not wearing underwear. This dress is too tight.”

“And that little piece of info is gonna be burning up my bleedin’ brain all damned night now, you little minx,” he chuckled. “Seriously, though. What’s with the jiggin’ about?”

“Scuffing my shoes up a little, because they’re slippy and I’ll inevitably go flying. I have all the grace of an elephant in clogs sometimes.”

His lips curled into a smile. “It had been noted.”

“You’re not supposed to agree!”

He snorted with laughter, getting into the car. “But darlin’, it’s true. Remember when you went flying over your own feet in the park?”  

She pouted, the embarrassment of the moment hitting her again, there dog walking with her very brand-new boyfriend, trying to look cool and effortlessly chic before thud. Down she went. “Hush!”

He laughed, pressing the gate fob after starting the engine, turning out of his driveway and zooming off. “I love you so bloody much, even at your clumsiest.” That night, though, she was a picture of graceful poise and elegance, Alfie immensely proud to have her on his arm. Being a regular at 34 Mayfair, he did notice that a few of the staff he knew on a first name basis looked on a little curiously, seeing him there with just one girl.  

“Welcome, Mr Solomons. Are your other ladies not joining you tonight, sir?” the waiter who seated them actually asked courteously.

“No, Lloyd, there is but one lady now. May I start with a soda water and a bottle of the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, please?”

“Certainly, sir.”  

“So, tell me all about your morning meetings, love.” Turning his attention to her, he ignored all of the curious stares he was receiving, his focus on Beth entirely. People could speculate all they wanted; one wonderful woman was all he needed now.  

They detailed their working days to one another over their dinner, both learning of the respective progress they’d made with their current endeavours, Beth revealing the headway she’d made in her research over her next article, this literary venture covering women now living with the consequences of botched plastic surgery in the quest to fit societal standards where beauty was concerned.  

Once they’d finished, Alfie whisked them across town to Red Lounge, a swanky bar he owned in Knightsbridge, Steve and Marcus already present in the VIP section.  

“So then, lads. This is Beth. Beth, Steve and Marcus.”

Steve rose from his seat, offering his hand and a kiss to her cheek. “Ahh, a pleasure! So, you go from the woman who wrote about how scandalous our boy here is, to his one and only. I have to admire such tenacious subjugation!”

“Well, someone had to tame the beast eventually, didn’t they?” Marcus chuckled, offering Beth the same warm welcome. “Hello, love. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s lovely to meet you both, too. I’ve heard much about you.” Sitting down, a member of the bar staff was over like a shot as soon as she saw her boss take a seat, shaking a few more hands with business associates and acquaintances in the coveted, roped off section, taking their drinks orders.  

While she was chatting to the men, enjoying some pleasant banter over her article, Beth felt Alfie stiffen considerably at her side, his grip upon her hand strengthening for a second. She excused herself from the conversation politely, turning to him. “Are you okay, boo?”

“Well, I was. Until I noticed Talia standing over by the fuckin’ bar.” Following his line of vision, she looked over to where there was a large display of huge terrariums filled with mosses and flowers, the redheaded ex standing there with a couple of girls, shooting daggers right at Beth.

“If looks could kill, I think I’d have tumbled into a coffin about five seconds ago,” she joked, Alfie laughing quietly. “I hope she isn’t intent on causing trouble.”

He sniffed, turning to her. “She won’t get very far if she does, flower.” He gave her a kiss, the conversation continuing, Alfie raising his eyebrows in defiance at his ex when he received a dark glare.  

He shook his head, feeling quite sorry for her. Turning back to Beth, he had to wonder what the hell he’d seen in her in the first place. Stroppy, attention seeking, unsecure, chronic spender that she was. Yes. He was definitely in a better place with Beth in his life rather than her.