#minecraft two story shop

[kiellessa]

Another double storied shop, this time a lighting shop on the bottom (not very decorated this time around) and an upstairs potions shop on the Reloaded SMP S4 server. The top is supposed to vaguely look like the potions shop tower exploded as well as advertise the lighting portion.

The area around my shop is rather flat as we buy lots and there wasn't much allowance to landscape due to the rules this time around.

Shaders: Complimentary

VanillaTweaks leave & ashless campfires; Winthor Medieval stained glass

[sohnric]

a brief inquiry into online relationships – k. sunwoo

pairing: kim sunwoo x fem! reader

genre: enemies to lovers au, internet best friends au. friends to lovers au. gamer! sunwoo and gamer! reader. fluff, comedy. sunwoo has a big fat crush and is a bitchless loser but is also simultaneously being very annoying and mean sometimes:(

wc: 20k

warnings: swearing, sexual innuendos/jokes/flirting, the reader is referred to with she/her pronouns and called a girl! i call league players virgins :/ (and im right). certain parts are really chat heavy (but what do you expect from an internet best friend au am i right). the reader is said to have dyed hair! I wrote this with a friend in mind yall just get to read it 😔

there's only one person kim sunwoo treasures the most in the whole world, and that person is his internet best friend. there's also only one person kim sunwoo hates with a burning passion, and that person is you. well, imagine his surprise when he finds out... they are the same person.

playlist: fruit roll ups - waterparks / royalty - enhypen

I wrote and dedicate this fic to @csenke 🩷 happy birthday best friend, I hope you like your little present. I dont like being sappy in public, but do know that I love u the absolute most.

a/n: a HUGE thank you to @from-izzy for beta reading and helping me out with this fic so much, listening to me ramble and cry and hyping me up izzy, it means a LOT. thank you @sanaxo-o for beta reading a bit as well. 🫶🏻 ive wanred to write this fic for literally years so im glad it is finally out hihi.

The first time Kim Sunwoo has ever been accused of having a crush on a girl he hasn’t even met in real life yet was on October 11th, 2023. It was a few months after meeting the said girl online through a Minecraft server and talking to her during the night over a Discord call, not being able to fall asleep after and coming to class looking like a zombie from the deprivation of relaxation. After he said the story to his friend Changmin, he got laughed at and teased– all because he said he didn’t want to hang up on his online best friend yet, and she was so full of energy, and Sunwoo wanted to know what she had to say because she was so adorable gushing over how much she loved Paw Patrol as a kid and how she got some magnets for her fridge from her local grocery store and put Skye right in the middle, where she keeps her shopping list. 

Of course, Sunwoo refused this accusation. He does not have a crush on his online best friend– the girl he hasn’t even met in real life yet. He doesn’t like her, because let’s be real, he doesn’t even know what she looks like. Navigating the boundaries of an online friendship was already hard as it was for the boy– was he oversharing? Was he being too much, too annoying at times? – so asking for the girl’s socials outside of Discord or begging for a simple selfie in the chat is far away from the things he’s comfortable saying out loud to her. 

And Sunwoo can’t be into her– because he doesn’t even know her that well. He doesn’t even know where she lives or if the name she’s given him online is her legal name. What he does know, though, is that she’s the same age as him, she’s funny and pretty fucking cool, she has obscure interests like the Spiderman movies or collecting albums of her favorite kpop artists, and her voice is nice over the speakers of his laptop when the two of them call and play Minecraft together in the late hours of the night.

That’s not enough to develop a crush on someone, right?

Right…?

The first time Kim Sunwoo starts to question his own feelings for his friend is also, coincidentally, October 11th 2023. See, he might say that he’s not as dull as one would think after looking at him, but after the conversation he had with his best friend in the morning, something started to click. (Mainly because he just couldn’t stop feeling the blush creeping onto his cheeks, bashfulness filling his composure. Why is it so hard to deny the obvious?)

In the late hours of the night, Sunwoo logs onto the Minecraft server and walks around the world he’s created. He is on a mission of cheering his online friend up– she said something about an exam going terribly wrong in his Discord DM’s just a few hours ago, and although he tried his best to cheer the girl up over messages, he thinks he has to go an extra mile to remind her that life is not as rude and that she’s loved even when she feel like a disappointment. (Just the sentiment of the wording in his head is suggesting that he’s trying to stay oblivious to his own feelings– there is no doubt he is failing, though.)

He checks the people online in the server, noticing she’s not there yet– as he expected, since the girl usually logs on only a few minutes before midnight– which assures him that there is still time to execute his little plan. With a pep to his step, Sunwoo’s character moves through the terribly half-assed house he’s built (that his friend teases him for) and opens  one of the chests in his underground storage area. After taking everything he prepared earlier– for whatever reason, he’s not sure (or just trying to deny the obvious, once again)– he skips outside of the wooden building and runs towards the portal he built leading to her house last week. 

Once she saw the portal outside of her house, she asked him about it. To the question of why he wants easy access to her house at all times, he replied that it’s so he can rob her when she least expects it. Her and him both know she’s not the one keen on mining, so there’s not really much to steal in the first place, but to Sunwoo’s surprise (and relief), his friend dropped the topic quickly, moving on to the next one.

After the vision of his character finally clears and he is left standing right outside of her house– which is a stunning piece of architecture, by the way– he looks around for a bit to find the best place for his little offering.

He settles on the place by the front door of her house and gets to executing his little surprise. Opening the inventory of his character, Sunwoo takes out a bone meal and uses it on the grass blocks next to the door, making all sorts of flowers grow next to her humble abode. When he’s satisfied with the colored petals blooming in their digital world, the boy gets out the pink wool and digs into the remaining dirt blocks on the ground, replacing them with the rosy cubes and shaping them into a small, but telling heart. 

He stands back and admires his work for a bit, laughing at the ridiculous actions he caught himself doing. Sometimes he gains self-awareness in the weirdest of situations, and this is surely one of them– he prays his friend doesn’t log on in this exact moment. He would have no other choice but to jump out of his window and kill himself, he thinks.

Still, he follows up with his initial idea and places a chest next to the heart, filled with emerald and diamonds that he gathered over the last week. He worked hard on them and she kept whining that she still didn't have any– and although he’d like to keep them, he figures he can just get more the next time he’s alone in here, mining. 

A cherry on top is placed next to all of this– a wooden sign that he types “What if we put our Minecraft beds next to each other? xx” on, against all his thoughts telling him otherwise. 

This might be a terrible, terrible idea, he thinks. But the thought of making his best friend smile fuels the boy. Taking one last look at his masterpiece, he snickers. Yeah, Sunwoo. Maybe there really is no getting out of those allegations. Maybe he won’t tell about what he did to Changmin– and he’s lucky the boy doesn’t play Minecraft and has no way of finding out by playing on the same server as the two of you.

Sunwoo logs out of the game, sitting back in his chair. After scrolling through his Instagram for a bit, he hears the familiar sound of an incoming Discord call waking him up from the doom, making him breathlessly accept and wait for the girl’s voice to come out of his headphones, making him feel excited and on the tips of his toes.

“Ya, Steve, was it you who made that cute altar in front of my house?” she asks, making his heart skip a beat.

“Depends,” he hums, “did you like it?”

Every Tuesday afternoon, 6 o’clock sharp, Kim Sunwoo takes the role of the head of the Video Gaming club at his university. It’s quite an easy job, he’d say– since all his responsibilities lay in meeting up with the members of the club in an internet café once a week, playing a video game of their liking– and he also appreciates the fact that he has something to put onto his CV. The extra points towards graduation are also good, and so in reality, he has nothing to complain about– he likes video games and he also likes socializing.

There is just one thing he hates about the Video Gaming club, and that is the fact that Y/N Y/L/N, his best friend’s ex-girlfriend, managed to somehow infiltrate herself into the circle.

Now, you and Ji Changmin dated in the early stages of high school. The two of you met in Science class, and although Changmin wasn’t the smartest when it came to Chemistry, he still managed to make himself your designated helper in all experiments, just to make himself close to you. That slowly worked and the two of you started dating– for 2 months, that is– before you realized Sunwoo’s poor best friend wasn’t who you were looking for and you broke up with him, starting a new relationship with Park Sunghoon, the handsome ice skater from the private school downtown just 2 weeks later.

Changmin cried for three days straight and then one more day after he found out he was replaced, and since then, Kim Sunwoo has decided that he hates your guts– because no one makes his best friend sad. 

Every Tuesday afternoon, 6 o’clock sharp, you waltz into the internet café with your friend Aeri clinging to your side, both of you laughing about whatever you found amusing that day. The sound of your laughter is insufferable to Sunwoo’s ears and the sight of your dyed hair makes his stomach churn with acid– everything about you angers the boy, makes him all alert of your presence. For some reason, he can’t control his anger around you– everything you do infuriates him, makes him wish you were anywhere but in the same room as him.

Can’t you read the room? Do you not realize you’re not welcome here? This is Sunwoo’s territory, and for some reason, he thinks you should respect it. You haven’t spoken to each other in over 4 years, but that doesn’t mean he forgot about everything. Maybe you just keep showing up because you know he hates your guts– you do it out of spite.

Kim Sunwoo won’t have that, though. If there’s something about him that he makes perfectly known in the Video Gaming club, it’s that he is awfully competitive– and for once, he tries to use this quality of his for something good: getting you out of the club.

Because he might be the head of the club, sure, but that still doesn’t give him the permission to kick you out of it for no apparent reason. 

He figures making your life a living hell for the entire hour or two you’re in his presence every week would surely be sufficient enough. Surely, one day, you must have enough.

“There’s someone behind you, dude, watch out–” Intak calls from next to Sunwoo, helping his teammate out. 

Today’s game of choice is CS:GO– too bad for you, Kim Sunwoo is exceptional at shooting games.

He watches his screen and moves his mouse swiftly, shooting the opponent– he thinks it might’ve been Jaehyun or Chan– before they even have a chance at spotting him. His team– Terrorists– are winning by a mile, coincidentally having the best of the best in the group. He’s playing a perfect 5v5 game alongside Intak, Haechan, Yeji and…. and you. 

“Do you even have your screen on, Y/N?” he grunts from behind his computer, glaring at the screen. He notices you not really killing any opponents, and even though he understands that not everyone is going to be the best at every video game that gets played over the course of semester, he’s making sure to trash talk you each and every time you’re even an inch away from perfect.

“Fuck off, I’m trying.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” he snickers, pointing his gaze towards you only for a split second to watch you roll your eyes at his comment. An annoyed sigh escapes  your throat, making the boy’s veins reek with satisfaction.

“We’re winning anyway, so I don’t get why you’re so pressed about it,” you grunt, tucking your hair behind your ear as you play, momentarily taking your hand off the mouse.

Sunwoo notices your character in his point of view on the monitor– the nickname ‘ceo.Y/N’ shining proudly over the default skin of the terrorist figurine– when a bright, spiteful idea sparks up in his brain. The boy realizes he left the friendly fire option on when assembling the game room, and with that, he’s set on his decision.

You don’t deserve anything nice in Kim Sunwoo’s eyes– which is why he shoots you in the head the first moment he sees you, laughing to himself.

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” he comments as he watches your character drop to the ground.

“What the fuck?! Yo, why did you do that?” you gasp, snapping your head around to point your daggers of eyes onto the boy, frustration dripping off your face. It does nothing to ruin the mood of the satisfied boy, only making him shrug and offer you his brightest smirk.

“You weren’t contributing anything to the game anyway,” he shrugs, “might as well sit this one out, Y/L/N.”

Yes. This one surely will teach you a lesson.

When Kim Sunwoo reaches his room after his shower– at 1 in the morning sharp and feeling too awake for the late hour, since all the hot water ran out due to his roommate’s greediness (curse Eric Sohn’s long ass showers)– he notices a notification shining on his phone in bright light, making him reach for his phone with curiosity. He doesn’t have many friends that would reach out to him at the late hours of the evening, since he talks to most of them during the day anyway, and so even subconsciously, as he reaches for his phone, he expects to see his online best friend’s username pop up in the notification bar.

And he was right– clicking on the Discord notification waiting for him at the top of the screen, he already feels his heart skipping a beat, his insides flowing with immediate warmth despite the cold shower he took just a few minutes ago.

Further shaking out the water out of his hair before plopping onto his bed and reading through the girl’s messages, the boy finds himself smiling at her profile picture. It’s a close up of her Minecraft character standing in front of the little display he put out for her– and he can’t help but feel like this is some sort of a soft launch. Of what, he doesn’t really know– since the two of them are far from dating– but that’s okay. It satisfies him enough. Nobody even really knows it’s him who she’s showing off, but to him, it holds the weight of the whole entire world.

sunpoodle [0:22] – a missed voice call sunpoodle [0:35] – a missed voice call sunpoodle [0:36] – so u dont like me anymore sunpoodle [0:38] – i see how it is sunpoodle [0:48] – everything ok tho? sunpoodle [0:54] – a missed voice call

Squinting at the screen, Sunwoo starts to type out his reply to his friend. Before he has the chance to click send, though, his phone lights up with the incoming voice call from her, leaving him to accept it almost immediately. He hears her voice coming out of his speaker after a few seconds of silence, having his ears perk up and heart beat a little faster.

“Damn, took you long enough,” she hums, making the poor boy chuckle. “I thought you were either dead or ignoring me.”

“I wasn’t,” he replies before settling deeper into his bed, going as far as putting a blanket over him to provide himself the most comfort, “I would never ignore you,” he lets himself speak out, a full body cringe taking over him the second he realizes just how far gone and infatuated he must sound with his friend.

“Oh, okay,” she says, “I was getting kinda worried, though.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah, we didn’t speak at all the whole day,” she replies. And she’s right– Sunwoo was too busy the whole day to text her or check in with her throughout the day. He was working on his assignments with Changmin and Juyeon in the library, and then he had to listen to Eric talk about his crush on the new girl from the café he works at. Before he knew it, it was late in the night and all he wanted to do was shower and go to sleep– his plan was thrown into the bin the moment he got back into his room, though. 

He might have not put his online friend as his priority during the day but if it comes to sacrificing sleep for her, he won’t even think twice.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he mumbles, although something inside of him cheers at the fact that she cares about him enough to want his presence every day.“I was just busy with assignments and socializing.”

“You do that?”

“Strange, isn’t it?” he chuckles, poking fun at himself. There’s no doubt of him being an extrovert, but for the sake of hearing the girl laugh through his speaker– his insides squeezing on themselves with violent tenderness at the sound (what a contradiction)– he is content with simply ignoring the fact.

“What’s up, though?” he asks. “You usually don’t call and I have to pressure you into picking up in some way.”

“That’s not true.”

“Kind of is, when you think about it–”

“I just like to be persuaded,” she hums, making the boy chuckle. 

“Noted,” he says– and it might’ve been just a figure of speech, really, but there is a secret folder inside of his brain that he calls the girl-he-likes-folder, where he keeps all the information and random facts he learns about his friend safely, until he has a chance to use them. “But really, what is it? You seem uneasy,” he notes, making the girl laugh softly on the other end of the line.

There is some shuffling on the other side before he finally hears her voice again. Sunwoo furrows his brows at the ruckus, but he doesn’t mention it– maybe she’s just moving around the room, doing her own things as she talks to him on the phone. It makes his brain wander, though– imagining her cleaning her room, putting things away. Stacking some old papers or throwing stuff into the trash can. The image of his friend is always hazy in his mind– he was never really the most imaginative when it came to stuff he doesn’t know– but he still feels attracted to the girl in ways he can’t explain without sounding absolutely crazy to an outsider’s ear. He has no clear idea of her features– he doesn’t know how long her hair is, what her figure looks like, or what color her eyes are, but he still knows that to him, she’s absolutely beautiful and no reality he could see would break this image he has of her.

The fact that she’s calling him while going on with her life, as if he is an active, real part of it, makes him smile to himself. Every time the girl acknowledges her friendship with him, he feels like he’s on Cloud 9– he doesn’t really know why he needs that validation, though.

“This might sound stupid, but I just wanted to hear your voice,” she says nonchalantly through the speakers of his phone, and with that, Sunwoo is a goner. He feels the world stop turning for a while, his breath hitching in his throat. Something about the girl’s words makes his head spin and thoughts run laps around the walls of his skull– is it just him, or does that sentence sound strangely intimate?

“Why?” he asks on autopilot– because the annoying voice inside of him needs answers. 

“Hm? Oh, I dunno,” she quickly utters out before she makes a sharp turn in the conversation, completely disregarding her previous statement, “did I tell you about that party I’m invited to this weekend?” she asks instead, making the boy shake his head in disbelief and throw his face into his pillow to stop himself from screaming.

“No,” he sighs, “but tell me now.”

“Okay, so–”

The rest of their conversation is drowned out by his thoughts. Don’t get him wrong, he is actively listening to what she has to say– how she doesn’t know what to wear and she’s not sure if she wants to match with her best friend– but he is also subconsciously focused on the fact that the way she talks in her low tone, keeping her voice down to not wake up her roommate next door. It makes the atmosphere that much more sincere and intimate. He finds himself admiring his friend’s excitement and joy, the energy she has when she talks about how her day went and how she can’t stay keeping up with one topic for long– getting lost in the track somewhere along the way, making Sunwoo remind her what she was even talking about in the first place. Everything about the girl is mesmerizing to the boy, and before he has a chance to notice, he’s falling asleep to her rambling on the phone, eyelids heavy in comfort and sleepiness. 

“Are you still there?” she asks, receiving only a soft hum from the boy on the other side. “Am I boring you?”

“No,” he half-whispers, “I’m just comfortable. Keep talking,” he says, hugging his pillow to his chest and putting the phone next to his head. He hears a soft scoff on the other side of the line, a kind, sweet voice lullying him further into dreamland.

“Okay, keep using me as your bed time story, then,” she jokes, a tint of faux offense in her tone, “I’ll disconnect the call when you stop giving me fakely interested hums after every other sentence.”

And with that, Kim Sunwoo falls asleep to his online best friend talking his ear off on a Discord call. How could she ever think that wanting to hear his voice was stupid? He understands– he thinks that perhaps, he’d choose listening to her even over hearing his favorite song.

The idea of teaching you a lesson with his competitive nature is quickly thrown into the bin when the next week comes as the game his friends choose for the afternoon is one that he is not fond of. Why does he not like this game, you may ask? Well, simply put– he is absolutely terrible at it. 

The love for League of Legends is a telling sign of someone’s virginity, though, so Sunwoo thinks he can take pride in the fact that he is not a bitchless loser by playing it in his free time. (Don’t mention the fact that he is a Discord user and currently does not have a girlfriend. He will ignore it for the sake of his reputation.)

“I’ll go bottom,” Intak says as he chooses his champion in the lobby, making Sunwoo huff. He’s not really good at playing the mage, he’s terribly, terribly bad at going jungle, and tanks and fighters are equally as easy for him to play as learning the Pi number by heart (very difficult). Soon enough though, he finds that the rest of the roles are quickly divided in his team, and that leaves him nothing else to do than to just humbly take the responsibility of the middle lane, equipping the only champion he’s played before– Fizz.

With him locking in his character, the image on his monitor morphs into the loading screen, letting him once again scan the names that belong to his team. Having 10 members in the club is easy enough to divide into two teams by 5, which he is thankful for, but the teams are almost always randomly selected– which makes him angry only at times where he gets the obviously weaker players. 

This time around, surrounded by Intak and Yangyang teaming up on the bottom, Soobin taking over the jungle and Yeji resigning on the top lane, Sunwoo is satisfied to see he at least doesn’t share a team with you this time around– because that means he can do everything in his power to make your life a living hell while playing the game.

“Try not to die in the first few seconds, Sunwoo,” Soobin snickers as the game starts and the boy aimlessly moves towards the middle of the map, moving his character with the mouse. Sunwoo only salutes at the taller boy, making him giggle.

“I’ll try not to, boss!”

Sunwoo’s quest in this game is to protect the tower and farm as much as he can– so that destroying the opponent’s tower is easier and opens up the shortest way to the enemy. After seeing how his character moves in the game– don’t make fun of him but after so much time since he last played the game, he’s forgotten– he puts his head into his hands and mourns, noticing that he foolishly chose an assassin. It’s not that they’re bad per se, it’s just that Kim Sunwoo is much better at League of Legends when he has some distance from the opponent. Which, when he wants to attack, is not a feature Fizz awards him with. 

Much to his surprise though, the middle lane seems to be empty. There is no one from the opposite team walking up to him and trying to start combat, and that puts him at ease. Maybe he can do his job right– for at least a few minutes before the tower is damaged enough that the enemy realizes they need to protect it. 

And so clueless Sunwoo enters the circle under the tower, attacking it with the red minions by his side, veins flowing with satisfaction that hey– maybe he will be successful with something in this game. He surely doesn’t need the validation of his team, but look– all he needs is to not embarrass himself in the process of playing this game. His pride is precious to him. 

The talk around the internet café slowly drowns out around him, providing him only a background noise. He doesn’t need to listen to his team’s strategy– he knows he isn’t really included in it, as the weakest link. Hyperfocusing on the game, he almost jumps when two characters suddenly appear from the bushes– not skilled enough, Sunwoo didn’t think to check them when he arrived in the middle of the map– attacking him.

The nicknames aerichandesu and ceo.y/n shine proudly above the characters of Annie and Vi, both of the females cornering him and making him scowl at the screen. You don’t do much damage to him, he notices, but there is something about the way Aeri plays that tells him that he is royally fucked in this game.

Only a few seconds of combat pass before the banner saying First blood appears on the top of the screen, embarrassing him and making the rest of the team laugh at his death. He finally acknowledges that he was tricked, and as the seconds pass of him waiting to be revived, his eyes meet yours from across the room– and oh how he wishes to wipe that smirk off your face.

“As expected,” Soobin chirps from Sunwoo’s right, making the poor boy sigh and cross his arms defensively at his chest.

“They teamed up on me!”

“That’s the point, sweetheart,” Yeji hums from the corner of the room, “you’d know that if you knew how to play.”

“Oh, shut up, you losers…” he grunts as his character revives, making him hurriedly move towards his designated place again, noticing his team’s tower slowly falling apart due to leaving you in there unwatched. 

Once he appears back under his tower, he watches you retract from your place. Sunwoo takes this as his opportunity to show you that one on one, you’re not going to win against him– and so he chimes forward after you, using Fizz’s trident to deal you magic damage over the next couple of seconds. The clicking of his mouse onto your character resonates through the crowded café and the banners showing his teammate’s successful kills do nothing to help him focus on the task at hand– but your health bar is slowly dropping, and that satisfies the male.

“Not so strong without Aeri now, are you?” he teases, watching as you aimlessly start to run away from him, no longer focusing on killing his character.

He doesn’t get a verbal reply from you, but one thing is certain– the poor male forgot to keep a check of his own health bar, and while chasing after you with greediness, wanting to be the one to get you down, he foolishly gets shot down by the enemy minion following him. The kill is still written off to you though, and when his screen freezes with the death announcement, he watches you cheer– eyes glimmering and a victorious smile spreading across your cheeks– before you high-five with your best friend to your right.

Turns out that maybe you don’t need Aeri to carry you in League of Legends. At least not when it’s Kim Sunwoo you’re playing against– and that puts him at a big of a disadvantage.

Is this how you feel every time he conspires against you? Because if so, he has to applaud you– you have an awfully big patience. He can handle it for one Tuesday out of the semester, but if he was in your place, he’d be running away from the room the moment he dies in the game again, all because of you.

Running around, out of breath and heaving for oxygen, Kim Sunwoo starts to contemplate if all of this was even a good idea. He should’ve known the whole thing was bound to be a failure when the first mishaps started happening, but against his best assumptions, he decided to go on with it and try to figure things out. 

The first thing wrong with this whole entire thing is that it wasn’t even his idea in the first place. Hyunjae suggested that the whole friend group goes to play laser tag at the end of the week, to wind off a little before finals. And Sunwoo agreed– because that sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?– and expected to just read out the details of it in the groupchat. He thought turning up to the place would be the only thing he had to do, but oh how he was wrong. 

Lee Hyunjae decided he didn’t really feel like going to laser tag on the single day where all of them were free– which meant that they either cancel the whole thing or go without him. And since Eric Sohn was all too excited for the idea, Sunwoo decided he won’t disappoint his dear roommate– in fears of getting sabotaged or killed in his sleep if he declines– leading into making Kim Sunwoo being in charge of the whole thing because as the only Aries of the group, he takes his leadership seriously when he has to.

And so he sucked it up and called the laser tag place, asking for a reservation for 5. Another failure hit him in the face when he was announced that they can only let them play if they have a group of ten people, and before he had the chance to let the rational part of his brain take over and cancel the plans, he was left agreeing and saying he will find 5 more people to come with them. 

Sunwoo figured that Eric, as the born extrovert, will have no problem finding 5 more people for the laser tag game. He was wrong, though, when his friend announced that all of his friends magically have some plans for that exact Friday– he thought that there’s a party that somehow, only the loser friend group he is partaking in wasn’t attending, for some reason– and Eric could only think of one person that would come, which left Sunwoo with solving the issue of finding 4 more people to come to play laser tag with him.

So he brought out the big guns– the Video Gaming club group chat. 

sunwhooo [9:31]: hello friends i need 4 people to join us for laser tag tomorrow sunwhooo [9:31]: anyone down meet us there at 5pm

And with that, he considered the task done. Too over with the whole thing and too tired of being the only one with common sense in his friend group, he didn’t check who agreed to his invitation. He figured that someone will either show up, or they will shamefully go home. Which option it’s gonna be is the problem of the day after– in this moment, he needed sleep.

He appeared in front of the laser tag arena on Friday, 4:45 sharp, waiting for his group to arrive. He felt like one of those tour guides in the middle of big cities– all he was missing was a flag in his hand, or an umbrella– either or– waving around and calling out for his friends. Five minutes after him, Changmin and Juyeon arrived, tailed by Eric and a boy that’s introduced to him as Jake Sim– who is, just by the way, a carbon copy of Sunwoo’s dear roommate both with energy and some of their small mannerisms. 

Five minutes before they were supposed to enter the arena and get the safety tutorial on how to play, 2 members of his club came up, smiling widely ear to ear. If Sunwoo had to guess who would say yes to his invitation the fastest, Myung Jaehyun and Lee Donghyuck would be first in line– and he was right. 

“Where’s the rest of you?” he asked after greeting the boys, and right in this moment, after hearing their reply, was when he knew he should’ve canceled the plans the moment Lee Hyunjae turned down his own offer.

“Y/N and Aeri’s bus was late, but they’re on their way now!” Jaehyun said, smiling ear to ear. “Y/N texted you in the groupchat, but I don’t think you saw it.”

“Pretty sure I have her number blocked,” he grunted under his breath, sighing to himself. Was it too late to leave now…?

“What?”

“Nothing.”

And that’s how he ends up in this mess. You and your best friend arrive 2 minutes late, but you’re still let in– much to Sunwoo’s dismay. Everyone seems to be excited– almost too excited– when they choose to play the game in the complete darkness, and before Sunwoo has a chance to protest, he is thrown into the laser tag game, nothing but a laser gun in his hand and a vest with the sensoring clutching to his chest.

He can’t see anything, he’s constantly bumping into the obstacles, the arena is too big for his own liking– because he doesn’t really know where he is and can’t see anyone else, making him feel strangely alone and kind of afraid– and it’s so hot inside that sweat is slowly dripping down his forehead, making him irritated.

Once in a while, he hears a scream from somewhere inside of the arena when two players meet. He contemplates just sitting on the ground and waiting for the game to pass– not really that mad about being the last one in the ranking– but the last remains of his pride are telling him to keep going, to keep trying.

He’s good at shooting games! What is he doing?

Taking a deep breath in and out, he makes a run for it– hoping he won’t be met with the wall and break his neck in the process (now that would really take the crown for the worst thing that could happen in relation to the laser tag), before he’s met with the sound of footsteps in his ears, making him painfully alert of his surroundings.

Turning his head around, trying to see where the sound is coming from and who he has to protect himself from– or shoot and get some points in, that is– he feels his body meeting full speed with another person, a yelp coming out of their throat right before the sound of clothes rustling and body mass hitting the floor resonates through the place.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath, dropping the gun, “are you okay?” he asks, genuine concern lacing his tone. 

“Watch where you’re going, for fuck’s sake!” he hears your voice call out of him… and the last remains of genuine concern leave his body at that, irritation swimming to the shore.

“How the fuck am I supposed to watch where I’m going when you fuckers chose to play in complete darkness?!” He yells over the music– that is, just for the record, an atrocious EDM remake mix of early 00s songs– and lets his eyes adjust to the darkness for some more, watching the outline of your figure on the ground slowly appear in his retina.

Acting on auto-pilot, though, the boy reaches out an arm towards you, trying to help you to your feet. The view of your face is hazy in his eyes but he can still make out the scowled expression you offer him before you take his hand and let him drag you to a standing position.

“So much sympathy in one man, wow,” you grunt, shaking your head at him once you’re standing tall in front of him. “Wouldn’t hurt to apologize, you know–”

“This clearly wasn’t my fault–”

He starts, but stops himself mid-sentence when he sees you point the laser gun towards him, shooting. The interaction is short– it goes by almost too fast for him to register it– and before he has a chance to let the sensor cool down and aim towards your chest as well, you’re running away from him, full speed skillfully through the maze. 

“Hey!” he yells out, but is much slower at following you. Is he doing something wrong? Why is everyone suddenly so good at navigating the space?

And while Kim Sunwoo is competitive– there was an agreement that the last place pays for everyone’s meal after– sometimes, his spirit is overshadowed by his emotions. Frustrated, irritated and a little mad, although he pays much effort into shooting at his opponents and gathering up all the points he lost while he was aimlessly walking through the place like a blind man, he just can’t seem to catch up and crawl out of the last place.

Standing outside of the room and looking at the scoreboard after, having the rest of the team pat his shoulder and thank for the meal, his eyes land on you as you’re the last one to leave the arena aside from him.

“Looks like being good at CS:GO isn’t enough to be good at shooter games in real life, huh?” you tease, pouting at the scoreboard in mock sympathy. “Thank you for the meal, Sunwoo. I’d like a large fry and a cheeseburger, by the way. Make it extra cheese.”

Maybe he should’ve canceled the laser tag the first moment he wanted to. 

You know what? Maybe he should cancel the Video Gaming club altogether, while he’s at it.

Sitting around the study room in the library, accompanied by Eric and Changmin arguing about something and enveloped in a gray, fuzzy hoodie, Kim Sunwoo lets himself roll his eyes at the aimless quarreling and puts the hood of his sweater up, leaning back on the uncomfortable chair. After a couple of minutes spent listening to the fight– that’s about the assignment at hand, just for your information– Sunwoo feels himself zoning out of the room before he’s brought back to reality by the buzzing of his phone on the table with the incoming notification.

At this point of the uneventful afternoon, he would’ve replied back to anyone within a few minutes– anything to pass time, he figures– but when his eyes zone in on the name on his screen, he is left clicking at the Discord bar quicker than the speed of light.

sunpoodle [6:44]: can u call rn? notsteve [6:45]: no notsteve [6:45]: im at the library rn notsteve [6:45]: why

“You can’t just completely ignore that point of the essay, because it’s going to look like we didn’t do enough research,” Changmin argues his point in the background, the loud voice of Sunwoo’s roommate almost startling him as he tries to prove otherwise.

“We can’t just include every. single. point. in it, though, or else it’s gonna become a wholeass bible at this point.”

“Better to exceed the word count than to hand in an unfinished essay–”

sunpoodle [6:48]: oh so u hate me notsteve [6:48]: pretty sure this is emotional manipulation

“What do you think, Sunwoo?” Eric speaks up, turning his head towards the last boy of the three– the only one that hasn’t spoken up about the matter yet. It’s true that he didn’t really do much work on the actual essay yet– only some very, very brief research last night– but that didn’t mean he suddenly felt like doing much more. 

“Hm? Me?” 

sunpoodle [6:49]: dont care sunpoodle [6:50]: youre probably with some other bitches

“Yeah,” Changmin chimes in, “say your part. It’s three of us here, so the majority will go. What do you think?”

“Oh, I don’t really care…” Sunwoo hums without much thinking, eyes glued to his phone screen.

notsteve [6:51]: ??? sunpoodle [6:52]: anyways i just wanted to show you my child sunpoodle [6:52]: but you’re clearly not interested so

“Are you even listening?” Eric asks.

Sunwoo hums in response, automatized. Did the words really register in his brain? You can bet they didn’t.

“Are you texting that online girl again?” Changmin scoffs, Sunwoo’s ears perking up just a little bit at the mention of his friend.

“Yeah.”

notsteve [6:53]: a child??? notsteve [6:53]: is this another sylvanian families toy  sunpoodle [6:54]: no:(( notsteve [6:54]: what is it then notsteve [6:54]: because we both know youre not responsible enough to have a child

“Still can’t believe you developed a crush on a girl you don’t even know,” Eric sighs from next to him, the previous topic of their conversation long gone when it means he can make fun of his roommate for being absolutely, totally infatuated with a girl in his phone screen.

“How can you even know she’s real?” Changmin jokes. “For all you know, that could be a 50 year old white male trying to get nudes out of you,” he adds, making the shortest boy snort at the comment.

“I don’t have a crush on her,” is all that leaves Sunwoo’s mouth, although his tone is not very argumentative– just mindlessly spoken out, most of his attention still glued to his messenger app.

sunpoodle [6:55]: are you underestimating me?? sunpoodle [6:55]: im offended sunpoodle [6:56]: might just block u. and here i was considering sending u a pic of my dog…

“Sure you don’t,” Eric sighs, “because you’re totally not smiling like an idiot right now.”

“Shut the fuck up…” Sunwoo breathes out, rolling his eyes. The smile on his face freezes and drops at the unnecessary comment, but his cheeks grow a soft pink hue to them, only further proving his friends’ point.

notsteve [6:56]: A DOG????”,?” notsteve [6:56]: show it to me notsteve [6:56]: show it to me rachel!!!!

“When are you going to ask her for a picture or something?” Changmin pries, kicking his friend to his shin under the table.

“When she asks first,” he shrugs, “I don’t wanna sound like a creep.”

“I bet you already do,” Eric jokes, making his roommate glare at him. 

“Besides, we call often,” Sunwoo shrugs, “I know she’s not a 50 year old man. And so far, I’m content with this. It’s not like it would be going anywhere in the first place.”

“You don’t know that,” Changmin says, and something about that sentence makes Sunwoo momentarily glance away from his phone screen, furrowing his brows at the male.

“Yeah,” Eric chimes in, “you don’t even know where she lives. For all you know, she could be just down the street and you two could be going on embarrassing lan party dates together, or something.”

“Or– and get this–” Sunwoo ironically argues, “she could live on the other side of the country. Which, logically speaking, is much more likely.”

“You never know until you don’t ask,” Changmin shrugs, “I mean, it doesn't hurt to know.”

Shuffling his feet under the table, Sunwoo thinks to himself. There is a reason why he never really asked his online best friend any personal questions– and that is because he was simply afraid. Afraid of what he might find out.

No matter the distance, it’s scary for Sunwoo to know about his friend’s whereabouts. Because if she lives far, it means the chances of ever meeting her are unlikely. If she lives close, the chances rise– but he’s also completely terrified of the chance to meet her because, to put it blankly, he is petrified of the image his online friend would have of him when she meets him in real life.

Hiding behind the cloak of the internet is much easier for the boy. His friend doesn’t know what he looks like, what his mannerisms are in real life. And it’s not like he is faking his personality online– because truth be told, he’s acting the same way in his Minecraft server then he would in any real life situation– it’s just that he is strangely insecure of if he’d still be liked in the same way, had his friend met up with him in real life. He’s nervous of awkward silence. He’s stressed out about the fact that maybe he won’t click as well with the girl he met online. It’s all strange and new to him, and that’s why he never really dares to ask.

“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “it’s all just kind of weird.”

At this point, he doesn’t know if he fears meeting up with his friend online, or never seeing her with his own two eyes more. 

sunpoodle [6:57]: doggo sunpoodle [6:58] – sends one picture sunpoodle [7:02]: wow youre ignoring me again sunpoodle [7:05]: why do i even try at this point… sunpoodle [7:08]: teaching my dog to bite u if he ever meets u irl notsteve [7:09]: how are u gonna do that notsteve [7:10]: BUT OMG THATS SUCH A CUTE DOG notsteve [7:10]: BEST BOY sunpoodle [7:11]: i have my ways… sunpoodle [7:11]: but he says thank u so i guess we will let it go for now

Sunwoo chuckles at your reply, making the rest of the boys in the room look at each other with knowing eyes, shaking their head in disbelief. It’s not that they’re disapproving of their friend’s little (big) crush on the girl he met online– they’re supportive of whatever makes their dear bundle of sunshine happy– they just fear that this whole thing… might not end the best for the young gamer.

notsteve [7:12]: u like me too much to make your dog bite me notsteve [7:12]: admit it sunpoodle [7:13]: im resuming with my lecture!! sunpoodle [7:13]: he is small and fat but he is strong. do be afraid notsteve [7:14]: all that for not paying attention to you for 5 minutes? notsteve [7:14]: your actions speak for themselves, honey <33

“Right…” Eric awkwardly clears his throat, calling the attention of the enamoured boy, “shall we dwell deeper into your online relationship, or do you want to help us with the group essay for a change?” He asks while kicking the boy into his shin lightly, to make sure he has his full attention.

“Essay please,” he replies, nodding to himself. There is no way he is going into details of the embarrassing crush he has on the girl living in his phone.

sunpoodle [7:15]: what can i say life isnt fun without my jasper :// notsteve [7:15]: try not to die as i work on this assignment sunpoodle [7:16]: dont lie u dont do those notsteve [7:16]: unfortunately i do:(( notsteve [7:16] – sends one picture

Sunwoo points his camera so only a part of his laptop is shown with the study room in the background– making sure neither his friends or him are in the picture– before sending it to his friend. It’s not like she needs proof– Sunwoo knows that despite the playful teasing, she understands his need to put in some work into his education– he just feels like slowly testing the waters with sharing more and more of his real life with his online best friend.

“Okay, so let’s get back to what we were talking about before,” Changmin says, “I was thinking we should at least briefly talk about the points that are against what we’re trying to argue here, but Eric says it would completely disregard like, half of our work, so…”

sunpoodle [7:17]: wait is that at SNU notsteve [7:18]: yea notsteve [7:18]: how’d you know sunpoodle [7:18]: oh my god ?? sunpoodle [7:18]: i study there too

You know what? Forget the assignment– it’s due in a week. It can wait 7 more days.

“Guys, uh…” Sunwoo hums, hands shaking and his heart doing somersaults in his chest, “I’d actually like to go back to the topic of my online friend for a sec…”

Although Kim Sunwoo feels like the world stopped turning– or shifted in its axis, either or– since he learned about the fact that his internet best friend goes to the same university as him, and therefore, could be just about anyone he sees in the halls on a day to day basis, much to his dismay, it did not. The world didn’t stop turning and nothing really changed, all events happening around him as if he wasn’t just gifted with the life changing information: and that meant that besides the exam week fastly approaching him, he still had to host the Video Gaming club the Tuesday after.

He still has to turn up to the internet café and take the attendance sheet with him, even though the groupchat announced to him that they’re all going to study for the incoming exams instead. Because the rules are rules– as the head of the club, Kim Sunwoo has to host the meetings every week, or else the rights for the club will be revoked and all the privileges that come with having one will be taken away from him before he even has a chance to blink.

It’s already bad that he will be the only one on the attendance sheet– if he doesn’t decide to fake some signatures, that is– but now, he is alone and bored, and as it turns out, playing games alone isn’t as fun as playing them with someone else. The competitive nature in him yearns for multiplayer games, it longs for the social contact he so effortlessly has with someone when playing a video game with them. He thinks he built a decent group out of the other video game lovers at this university, and he didn’t even realize it up until now– when he’s sitting alone in the internet café, in the far back on one of the couches. 

At least he has the chance to test out the new Playstation console they installed here.

Legs spread wide on the small couch, having the whole place for himself, Sunwoo turns on the Test Drive Unlimited game, clicking through the settings. He is not a big fan of racing games in general, but he figures it’s the only game that he can play alone and still have at least some fun, and so after picking out a fancy car to drive around the world, he focuses on racing and fulfilling the side-quests the best he can.

Until a figure squeezes itself right next to him, startling him. “Oh, Jesus!”

“It’s Y/N, actually,” you snicker, making the boy’s mood drop at least two notches, eyebrows furrowing at your sudden arrival. What are you even doing here? He thought no one was available this week?

“You came?” he asks, and despite the sincerity of the question, the tone sounds kind of spiteful.

“Yeah,” you shrug, “am I not allowed here? I thought the club is on every Tuesday?” 

“It is,” he agrees, a hint of annoyance in his voice, “I just didn’t expect you to come.”

“Didn’t expect, or didn’t want?”

“Both,” he grunts, before he turns his head towards the screen again, ignoring your presence completely. The noises coming out of the console provide you two with some background music, but it’s still not enough to diffuse the tense atmosphere. Sunwoo hates every second of you by his side– your thighs touching in the small space due to his dominant manspreading– even the sound of you breathing making him immensely annoyed.

“What��s your problem with me anyway?” you suddenly speak up, breaking the silence. Something about the way you ask the question puts a dagger through Sunwoo’s heart, for some reason, but he doesn’t dare to drop his tough facade.

“I don’t like you, that’s all,” he shrugs nonchalantly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he focuses back onto the game, trying hard to not fail at his sidequest. Everything but focus on the difficult conversation beginning to take place right in this moment, right? 

And why do you even care? It’s not like the two of you are friends– anything close to that, even.

“Why?” you scoff, shaking your head in disbelief. “I mean, I don’t get it. I did nothing wrong, and you seem to be getting on fine with the rest of the girls, so I don’t think that’s the problem here,” you lightly laugh, trying to take some weight off the situation.

Sunwoo’s jaw hardens. He doesn’t want to have this conversation right now. 

“At first I thought it was just harmless teasing, something you do for fun or attention, but then I realized you were being serious about it, so I really… I really just wanna know what’s the deal behind all of this,” you grunt, swinging your arms in the air at the last word, putting more emphasis on the end of the sentence. You’re starting to get frustrated, and that’s slowly ticking off Sunwoo’s patience.

“Oh, you don’t know?” he scoffs, turning his head to you. “Then you’re even worse than I thought.”

“What are you even talking about?” you yelp out, the eyes of others in the internet café turning towards you with furrowed brows, annoyed glares pointed at your little commotion due to being disturbed while playing their favorite games.

“You’re my friend’s ex, that’s why,” he mutters, before scoffing at you and pointing his eyes back to the TV screen. 

There is a moment of silence following his confession. He’s not sure what is the reasoning behind it– if you’re rocking your head, trying to remember what he’s talking about, or if you’re just shocked that he is so loyal to his friend. Maybe you’re in disbelief. Maybe you feel ashamed. Truth be told, Sunwoo doesn’t really care.

“Ji Changmin?” you ask, suddenly sounding surprised. “This is about Ji Changmin?” 

Sunwoo hates the way you sound almost… amused? 

“You can’t be serious. That happened over 4 years ago! There’s no way either of you is still hung up about that,” you say, shaking your head at him in disbelief.

The boy snickers, talking to you, but not really offering you any eye contact as he continues on with his game. “Maybe you didn’t think it was serious, but I surely won’t like someone who did my friends wrong.”

“Sunwoo, we were kids.”

“Does that mean it didn’t count?” he scoffs.

“Yeah, basically,” you bluntly agree, a bitter laugh escaping your throat. “Ask Changmin. I’m sure he barely even remembers–”

“Well, I remember him crying over you for two weeks straight, so maybe stop bragging into spaces where you’re not welcome,” he snaps, finally looking at you.

He chose a bad moment to have eye contact with you, though. The second the words leave his mouth, hurt flashes by your face, your expression instantly dropping. Your orbs get a little sadder and there’s a wrinkle between your eyebrows that makes Sunwoo’s stomach drop, guilt washing over him in waves strong like tsunami. Realistically, he shouldn’t care about hurting your feelings– by his logic, you must have even deserved it– but there is something in him that wants to physically crawl out of his skin and give himself a big, fierceful slap across his face for the words he just said.

Because who is he to tell you you’re unwanted in the club? The other people there like you. Everyone gets on with you just fine– it’s not Sunwoo’s right to ban you from the space he created, just because he has personal vendetta against you.

You’re not even doing anything wrong… Maybe he did fuck up.

“O-okay–”

“No, wait,” he hurriedly says, reaching out an arm towards you instinctively so he can stop you if you wanted to leave. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… I care about my friends a lot, that’s all. It’s… nothing personal,” he explains, humming to himself.

Except he’s lying, and you both know that. Everything about this was nothing but personal– the targeted jokes, the mean comments, the rude energy he has towards you any time you show up. Everything about his behavior and his annoyance whenever you are around is personal, because it involves you, and only you. 

There’s no way he can save himself now, though. The words are already said and out there, and even though he regrets them, there is no way Kim Sunwoo is apologizing.

A cloak of silence falls over the two of you again but this time, it’s slowly eating Sunwoo alive. It’s biting on his arms and crawling on his insides, carving out every harsh word he’s said to you into skin, making it unbearable for the boy to continue just aimlessly sitting next to you. He has to do something.

“Do you want me to leave?” you ask in a soft, quiet voice– a tone slightly familiar to him. It makes his ears perk up and his stomach squeeze on itself. It’s a weird, visceral reaction, but he won’t really allow himself to put much importance into it.

Instead, he sighs and turns to you with the controller in hand, offering you a soft, guilty smile. “No,” he shakes his head, “you can pick your own car and play for a while as I order us some snacks, if you wanna. I’m also pretty sure there’s Smash bros on it, in case you wanna play with me when I get back.”

The air is tense and awkward, and Sunwoo curses himself from the way events unraveled. He feels like he is betraying his best friend, in a way, but the guilt he carries in him is too big to not try to dissolve. 

You take the controller from him and nod, chewing on the inside of your cheek. He thinks this might be the beginning of truce– not a friendship, just tolerance– between the two of you, but he is soon taken out of his delusions when he sees you clicking off the game and opening Smash bros instead. 

In that moment, he knows he is going to get his ass kicked, and he knows it’s going to be personal.

The remote control in his hands feels like a weapon after he managed to finally stick the strip of LED lights all around the ceiling– and with how things have been going (the previous ones not working and them falling down every few seconds this time around), it might as well turn into one if it turns out he failed at installing his newest room decor again. He will use it against himself, he thinks– there is not much will to live left in him after the whole day, leaving him weak and exhausted.

Praying a little before trying for one last time, Sunwoo clicks on the red button of the remote control in his palm, squeezing his eyes shut– and after wishing on all 11:11s and all eyelashes, it seems– the LED lights finally turn on and illuminate his room with a dark red glow that he quickly turns towards a more muted purple, because it’s easier on his eyes and he kind of doesn’t want his room to look like literal hell upon walking in.

The boy’s heart leaps in his chest. It finally worked– he is every gamer girl’s dream! (And to stay true to the statement, he reaches towards his phone, clicking on the Discord app, approaching the one he dreams about.)

notsteve [10:45]: ive got these really sick lights if u wanna come over ;;) notsteve [10:45]: they tried to scam me twice but omg look notsteve [10:46] – sends 1 video notsteve [10:46]: they can change colors hihihii

Ever since the moment Kim Sunwoo learned that his dear online best friend loves to be persuaded– her words, not his– alongside with the new knowledge of the fact that they both walk across the same halls and visit the same lecture rooms, the dynamic he had with the girl shifted just the tiniest bit.

First of all, they call more often. Not only during the late hours of the night, but also during the day– whenever either of them feels like chatting for a while. There is also an increased volume of voice memos and random pictures of their surroundings, which didn’t use to happen before. And believe me, Sunwoo doesn’t want to honk his horn too much, but he swears the amount of casual flirting increased at least twice the size– from his side anyway. But he promises his friend is reciprocating! Hell, she even starts it sometimes! You have to believe him.

sunpoodle [10:47]: and here i thought you died notsteve [10:48]: almost notsteve [10:48]: i couldnt get it up :((  sunpoodle [10:48]: i didn’t know that was a problem ://

Sunwoo snorts at that, heat rising to his cheeks at the comment. 

notsteve [10:49]: god i hate u notsteve [10:50]: no that’s not a problem for me sweetie notsteve [10:50]: i can show you if u come over cough

The moment he sends the last message, he regrets it. Every day he spends talking with his friend, the boundaries and lines get pushed and pushed, and he can’t seem to know why. Is it the prospect of maybe meeting her one day? The idea of somehow sweeping the girl off her feet and getting to know her beyond the level that the online space gives him– in a more deep, personal way?

Why does the idea of getting to see her with his own eyes, the idea of touching her, make the poor boy so flustered and excited? It’s not like either one of them actually initiated any real meeting in the first place– all of it was just half-jokes and invitations. He wonders when the day comes when he will be able to just nod and say yes to any of it– he wonders when she will feel comfortable enough to actually set a time and place, ordering to meet him there. He would drop anything– cancel any plans– just to run and meet her. 

sunpoodle [10:53]: i could get convinced sunpoodle [10:53]: to see the lights irl i mean sunpoodle [10:54]: nothing else…..cough sunpoodle [10:54]: youll have to clean first tho 

After the replies flood in, Sunwoo immediately relaxes. The girl doesn’t seem uncomfortable– quite the opposite, actually– and so he takes it as a sign to continue the playful nature of things, subtly pushing the idea of a meet-up more and more. For some reason, Sunwoo feels like it should happen soon– although no time is running out, he feels pressure somewhere in the bottom of his stomach and quiet buzzing in his fingertips any time the thought of his friend crosses his mind– and he knows it will only go away if he finally meets the girl. (Or it might even get worse– either way, he desperately needs to find out.)

notsteve [10:56]: my room is super clean!! notsteve [10:56]: and my bed is comfy sunpoodle [10:57]: proof or im just gonna assume youre lying

The boy tussles in his bed, his hair getting messy in his sheets. The music playing in the background only further pushes the intimate atmosphere, and so after receiving your message, he doesn’t waste much time in opening his camera and putting effort into the angle of the picture he’s going to send you.

He makes sure not much of his face is shown. His phone screen mirrors mostly the white fabric of his pillow– that is now tinder purple with the LED lighting– but in the right corner, the majority of his tousled hair is shown. It looks soft against the sheets and he makes no real effort in tidying it, since he thinks it adds to the aesthetics of the picture. A glimpse of his face appears in the picture as well– only his left eye, though. It looks sleepy, hooded, and after squinting at the screen for a few seconds, Sunwoo decides to hit send. 

The line is once again pushed a bit farther, making him wonder if his friend will follow in his footsteps and send a similar photo back. It’s secretive enough, yet also daring enough to make the other side wonder and fantasize– what does the rest of his face look like? Did she see him around? Does she recognise his face? 

…does she find the glimpse attractive? (God, Sunwoo, get a fucking grip!)

notsteve [11:02] – sends one picture sunpoodle [11:03]: i feel like a victorian man seeing an ankle for the first time

The reaction makes Sunwoo’s heart pick up at pace, a dumb smile running to his cheeks. If anyone saw him right now, he’d get bullied and picked on until the rest of his life– it’s hard to hide the feelings he tries to keep under control, though. It’s already difficult enough to deal with them on his own– he bets bottling it all up and pretending they don’t exist would even result in making it all that much harder.

notsteve [11:04]: WDYMMMMM notsteve [11:04]: be serious for once sunpoodle [11:04]: oh i AM serious sunpoodle [11:04]: i mean that bed sure does seem comfy o:))

Sunwoo feels like he is going to faint soon. Hell, he feels like the world is suddenly turning faster and it’s hard to keep up.

notsteve [11:05]: i heard its even comfier when you cuddle i mean what who said that sunpoodle [11:06]: im open to trying that out for myself

There are pools forming in Sunwoo’s palms during the course of the conversation, but they only deepen when he realizes that maybe he has to be the one to make the first step and initiate something actually real. Something that isn’t just mysteriously looking selfies in the chat or silly conversations about cuddling and meeting up that could turn into reality, but aren’t, and for what reason is making him absolutely insane.

And so he picks up all of his remaining courage and starts crafting the message inside of his head. How does he bring it up? How does he make it sound real? Like he’s being serious– that he wants to meet her and will turn crazy if it doesn’t happen soon? 

The semester ends in a few days and lord knows if his friend lives anywhere near the campus. Knowing that he wasted his only chance and opportunity would absolutely destroy him, no matter if it’s Christmas or not. 

Before he has a chance to send the carefully crafted message, though, the tone of a new message in his phone makes his attention perk up, reading out the words she’s sent to him via Discord and making his heart drop to the deepest pits of his stomach.

sunpoodle [11:10]: in all seriousness tho we should hang out sometime sunpoodle [11:10]: since we live on the same campus and all lmao sunpoodle [11:10]: (im trying to be so normal about this)

Well, that’s sudden. And unexpected. The boy feels himself grinning, resulting in biting down on his bottom lip to keep himself from screaming out. It’s finally happening– and he wasn’t the one having to write it down first. It’s not only him that seriously wants to meet up, and that has him metaphorically bouncing against the wall of his newly decorated room.

notsteve [11:10]: oh my god its happening notsteve [11:11]: everyone stay calm sunpoodle [11:12]: LMAO bE SERIOUS FOR ONE SEC sunpoodle [11:12]: would love to meet outside of ur bedroom first tho  notsteve [11:13]: omg ofc that was just a jokey joke notsteve [11:13]: just tell me when and where n ill be there notsteve [11:14]: im free literally whenever except from when im not and even then ill make sure i cancel any other thing sooo sunpoodle [11:15]: what about after exams? sunpoodle [11:15]: im busy on tuesday but i can do any other day sunpoodle [11:16]: they opened a new café close to the campus if u wanna see?:)

Sunwoo feels on Cloud 9. It’s finally happening and it’s so close– in just a week. More than 7 days, sure, but it’s still close enough– much closer than never, as he once presumed. Tussling a little in his bed, he makes sure his mouth is covered with his pillow before he lets out the scream he’s been holding for the last few minutes. 

If Eric hears him, Sunwoo is gonna try to convince him that he just stubbed his toe. Nothing else.

The boy is painfully aware of the fact that he’s acting like a teenager in love for the first time– kicking his feet, giggling, thinking of his crush before falling asleep– but frankly speaking, he doesn’t really care. In just over 7 days, he can prove Ji Changmin and everyone wrong: he doesn’t have a crush on someone he hasn’t met before. Because in just over 7 days, he will meet the presumed love of his life and look at her with his own two eyes for the first time.

That day somehow feels more important than his own birthday. Maybe he should get the date tattooed… He’ll think about it.

When he finally takes his face out of the soft pillow, he notices his room went dark. When he reaches for the remote that belongs to the newly installed LED lights, he finds it not working. In any other circumstances, he’d consider either drowning himself in his bathtub or jumping out of his window– since he and Eric live on the 6th floor, it would be high enough to cause the damage needed– but right at this moment, he feels like nothing could ever break his mood again.

notsteve [11:20]: about the lights tho…

Sunwoo doesn’t really know how he grew to love video games. If he really thinks about it, perhaps he could say it was just how boys always turn out– fascinated with anything electric that had a cord attached to it (he once managed to make the power go out for the whole street when soldering his old pair of headphones that stopped working in one ear), but there was also something so fun about gaming that managed to make the boy stick to it– and that thing was how easy it was to make friends during it.

When he was little and his dad bought him his first game boy for Christmas, he not only managed to boost in front of everyone at school during recess by playing with it, but he also managed to lend the device to everyone who stared at it with even the tiniest bit of desire in their eyes for too long. Sunwoo knew not everyone was as fortunate as him, and playing it was so fun– he thought no one should go without trying the game boy at least once. The other kids at the playground kept going back to him to play with his toy and the friendships eventually blossomed to the point that the people around him stayed even beyond the video games– and that’s how Sunwoo met his first ever friend, Ji Changmin. 

Sunwoo always liked having a group of people around him. He enjoyed when his friends from high school would come over to his house and play with the Playstation console he begged for his birthday. He didn’t mind anyone borrowing his phone during class and trying to solve the most difficult level of Geo Dash (since he’s the one that got the farthest in the game), because it meant he got to talk to the desperate gamers during break and have someone to run to the convenience store to buy snacks with afterwards.

He loved going to internet cafés, because even though the initial friendship he had with Eric Sohn and Lee Juyeon came around because they asked him to play Valorant after finding the poor boy alone, waddling into the place completely lonely during his first week of university, the bond got deeper and he can’t imagine his life without the two men in it anymore.

Sure, video games are fun. He likes to play shooting games because he enjoys winning. The competitive nature in him thrives during video games– he loves to tease his opponent, he loves to show that he’s the best. Yeah, Kim Sunwoo enjoys spending his time in the virtual world, escaping the mundane reality. But if he really dwelled deeper on it, he doesn’t think playing Minecraft would be as enjoyable if he didn’t talk to his online friend on the server every day, or if him and his friends didn’t go out and eat dinner together after a round of Overwatch in the late hours of the day.

Which is why he created the Video Gaming club in the first place. To connect people– to play games with the ones who need a buddy in their life. It made him smile to see people that met because of his club hanging out together even outside of it– he felt like he was doing something good. Sunwoo prided himself in the fact that he was the one to connect people together through his hobby, that he could share precious moments and make precious bonds in his circle through gaming. 

Maybe that’s why the last meeting of the club for this semester made him so emotional. Truth be told, he didn’t think the Video Gaming club would make it big– hell, he thought not many people would care to show up each time. As a pat on his back of some sort, Sunwoo decides that the last game of the winter semester should be his favourite.

“Can’t believe you got us playing Minecraft of all games, what are we, 11?” Chan mutters from next to the club leader, making the boy snicker.

“Just say you’re embarrassed about the nickname you chose when you were 11.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Okay, mega_dino, I’ll believe you,” Sunwoo hums and nods, hearing his friends giggle as the younger one takes a hold of his gaming mouse.

Squinting his eyes at his screen, the club leader makes sure everything is set before the game starts. He already moved all of his important items from his main house into an underground hiding place of which coordinates he’d written down before getting to the internet café– knowing that his friends would want to sabotage him as soon as he lets them play on the server he carefully created. He knows letting them play on a different one would be much easier, but he kind of prefers to have the upper hand of owning a couple of diamond swords already, and he’s also too lazy to set up a new one. (And he would have to pay for it– which he isn’t really a fan of. Money is tight when you have to buy new LED lights off Temu every other week.)

“Are we starting already? I miss Minecraft,” Intak whines from the other side of the table, a glass of coke sitting in his hand.

“Why are you saying it like it’s a children’s game?” Sunwoo shakes his head at the comments. Ever since he announced the game of choice for the week, all he’s gotten were either complaints or dreamy sighs about how nostalgic it’s gonna be. Is Minecraft not cool anymore? Should he get a new hobby?

“Kinda is,” Yeji laughs, making the boy roll his eyes at her.

“You’re just mad you’re missing out on all the fun,” he argues, “heal your inner child a little. Make that pretty house you’ve always wanted!”

“I fuck with Minecraft,” an innocent voice lands into his ears from the opposite of him– a voice he would often curse out and cringe at just because of it’s sheer existence in his proximity, but now tolerates in favor of keeping peace in the room. The comment still startles him, though– he didn’t expect anyone to agree with his point. Not if it’s you, anyway.

“Can’t believe you two finally agree on something,” Aeri sighs from your side, the girl always glued to your hip. “You do realise you’re having an advantage if you’re letting us play on your server, though?”

“It’s not like we’re playing extreme survival tournament, come on guys–”

“You aren’t,” you shrug, “don’t really know about the rest of us,” you comment, meeting his eyes with a smug look, a teasing grin slowly slipping its way onto your lips.

“I’m banning anyone who tries to kill me today from the club,” Sunwoo suddenly announces, making everyone sigh at the dramaticness of his theatrical words. “Forever.”

“You can’t ban anyone over a game–” Haechan chimes in, but is cut off by his peer instantly.

“I will call it harassment and bullying,” Sunwoo shrugs, “try to argue with that.”

“You’re just begging to get targeted at this point,” Aeri mumbles, shaking her head at him. She’s right– but Sunwoo is also kind of confident in his defence abilities. 

Unless he gets ganged up on, of course.

Which could happen– truth be told, he’s had it coming.

“Less talking and more gaming, please,” Yangyang calls from the corner, “I wanna steal Sunwoo’s diamonds now. Turn the shit on.”

And although Sunwoo doesn’t really like the implication of his friend’s words, he doesn’t argue. Mainly because 15 minutes have already passed and the club is only supposed to go on for an hour– which leaves the 10 of them only 45 minutes left to mine and do something meaningful. The owner of the server also moved the spawn point the farthest away from his house– in hopes of them not finding it and putting TNT all over the premises. (If they manage to craft some in the limited time space, that is. He doubts it, but truth be told, he can never be too sure.)

“Okay, I sent the IP of the server into the groupchat, so just type it in and press the Play button on the left and it should take you instantly here,” Sunwoo exclaims as he clicks on his server and connects to it, walking around the spawn point with his character for a bit, waiting for the rest of his group to arrive.

Pressing the TAB key, he keeps checking the usernames of the people jumping in. Once mega_dino turns up, he lets out an amused chuckle– there’s nothing that tops the nicknames you made when you were 11. Sunwoo’s email address scares him to this day, but he is too lazy to make a new one, since all of his subscriptions and social media are tied to it– it does make sending official emails to his university coordinators that much embarrassing, though.

Some nicknames are recognisable– such as yejiiiji or haechanahceah, but some are less decipherable, leaving him guessing who could be the one joining the game. He doesn’t ask about them, though, thinking that figuring it out as he plays will be more fun– when one nickname he recognises all too well suddenly shows up on the list of players, making his heart jump in surprise.

What is his friend doing on the server at this time of the day? She doesn’t usually play in the early hours of the afternoon– leaving her sessions to evening or late night. That’s when she calls Sunwoo and asks him to help her with mining (or begging for his diamonds, which he sometimes rejects, but complies with on the days he is the most weak to her cuteness). 

He considers pulling up his phone and texting her on Discord to notify the poor girl about the influx of new players on the server. She must be confused– maybe even scared, who knows– to see so many new people playing at the same time. The server Sunwoo created was a bit small, hosting only a few of his friends and a couple of people he met online, so a big amount of players would surely make it seem like someone hacked him, right?

“Is everyone in?” he asks instead, hearing everyone let out excited hums and nods.

He furrows his brows. The server says 10 people are currently connected to it, but if his calculations are correct, the number should be 11– everyone from his club and his online best friend, sunpoodle.

He does a double take on the list, shaking his head. He counts the people in his head over and over again, a little frustrated. Why is everyone saying they’re in? It’s clearly not adding up.

Looking up from his computer, he eyes the rest of his friends in the café. Everyone is playing soundly and happily, it seems, paying him no mind as they get accustomed with the new world and warm back up to the controls of the game they haven’t played in ages. 

Everyone but one person. Everyone but you.

Instead, you’re left staring at him with stern eyes. The look you offer him is sharp, maybe a little hurt– and at the moment, he doesn’t know why. Confusion is the only feeling jumping around the walls of his brain, making an unpleasant crease appear in between his eyebrows. Gears slowly turning, he tries to figure it all out.

You’re not playing. You’re not paying attention to the game. It’s like you know it all– like you’re so familiar with it, as if playing it daily. As if you know the server he made. As if you have your house in it, decorated with a cute offering in front of the door, a portal to his own home residing in the front yard.

It happens quickly– the realisation. He finally makes the connection. It dawns on him why you look so surprised. Why you look so shocked, so disturbed. 

Because if you’re the only unmoving one on the map right now and his online friend is not the one to play on Tuesday afternoons, there is only one explanation. 

“Oh my fucking god,” leaves his lips, albeit a little involuntarily. His voice is hoarse and harsh when he says the words, a final nail in the coffin for you as you stand up, the sound of the wheels of the chair churning against the floor, making everyone’s eyes snap to you.

You don’t turn off the game before you storm out of the room, giving him a clear view of your back, the character with the adorable skin you’ve picked out staring back at him blankly in the game. For a second, he doesn’t follow you– letting himself process. Everyone turns to Aeri for answers, as she’s the closest with you, but they get nothing as the girl just shrugs, equally confused, before she runs out of the room to find her best friend.

Sunwoos' ears start ringing. He feels like throwing up. 

This can’t be…

There’s nothing more in this world that Kim Sunwoo enjoys more than playing Minecraft. He enjoys mining with music playing in his headphones. He loves crafting and making his house look perfect– just like little him always wanted it when he watched all those videos on youtube growing up. He likes to prank his friend Juyeon by putting random dirt blocks all over his house, or stealing all of Younghoon’s sugar cane when he’s offline, too lazy to grow some himself. He likes to teleport to his friend’s house and leave little surprises at the door, only to hear her call him a few seconds later, her cheerful, yet soft voice repeating in his ears even after he turns off the game and goes to his bed, letting her stories lull him to sleep. 

There’s nothing more in this world that Kim Sunwoo enjoys more than playing Minecraft with his online best friend– the two of them ganging up on the dragon or entering the Nether together to find some glowstone for her house, because she wants it to look aesthetically pleasing. There’s nothing more he enjoys than helping her with little tasks and fighting off creepers away from her property, making sure they don’t blow out all the hard work she’s been putting in.

There’s nothing more in the world that he enjoys more than talking with his online friend during the mundane hours of the day, her messages making him hide his giggles in the back rows of his lecture halls. Nothing he enjoys more than her laugh, her jokes, her voice, her online presence. It calms him and sets him on fire all at once, and he doesn’t think he’s ever cared for anyone this deeply. 

How has he never noticed that the person he hates the most is also the same person that he’s pretty sure he’s in love with? How has he never noticed it was you all the time?

And really, there’s nothing in the world Kim Sunwoo enjoys more than playing Minecraft with you. This time around, though, no progress in the world is made and your voice is not talking his ear off in the background. He shuts off the computer and leaves the place, not giving anyone an ounce of explanation.

You don’t text him in the evening like you always do. There’s no night call to help him sleep better.

He doesn’t turn the LED lights on in his room either, contemplating his life in complete darkness.

Nobody’s seen or heard of Kim Sunwoo in just a little under a week. Actually, that is an over-exaggeration– he went to take his exams, and he also went grocery shopping when he went out of ramen and his signature comfort food: red tasty KitKat bars– but other than that, it’s like the boy has disappeared from the face of earth.

There is no Video Gaming club, since it’s officially break time now– for only 2 weeks, but still– and he is declining every single invitation to hang out coming from his friends. He’s simply not in the mood to go anywhere or do anything, and so he spends his days locked away in his room.

Nothing is able to cut off his stream of thought. He’s not listening to music, so the occasional sounds of his roommate moving somewhere in the shared apartment are the only background noise to his loud inner voice. The elevator music usually playing in his head is replaced by a screaming match, and although he wishes it would stop, he can’t really control it– until the sound of his door opening makes him jolt away from the nightmare he’s living in.

Usually, he just tells Eric to fuck off and leave his room– since he is not in the headspace right now to spare anyone kindness, it seems– but when the disgusted face of Ji Changmin enters the place, Sunwoo knows there is no escaping this interrogation.

“Man, it stinks in here,” the boy grunts, moving through the obstacle course Sunwoo’s room has turned into in the few days he hasn’t bothered to put away his dirty laundry. 

“Go away,” Sunwoo says. It’s a weak attempt– he already knows he lost this battle.

“Yeah, no,” Changmin shakes his head before moving to the window, opening it. “Eric orders a wellness check on you, so I’m not leaving until I figure out what’s wrong. I was told you left the club early the last time?”

Sunwoo doesn’t offer him a response. All Changmin can do is guess in this situation, and trust me, although they’re best friends, sadly, they still haven’t developed telepathy– and so the conversation is a little tougher than the squirrel-like boy would prefer.

“Did something happen?”

Sunwoo recognises it’s already dark outside, the sound of cicadas landing into his ears through the open window. He doesn’t know how long he’s been glued to his mattress, but it makes him feel a little foolish. Not more than his previous actions, though– that surely takes the crown.

“I have a crush on Y/N,” Sunwoo speaks into the existence, startling the boy.

It’s weird for the boy to call you by your name in regards to his feelings. While he was so sure of his growing adoration for you when he spoke to you online, unaware of your real identity, it’s much harder to admit it to himself when the person he spent countless nights dreaming about finally turns into reality, and it’s not the form he expected. It’s confusing. It’s overwhelming– it leaves him thinking. Why did it have to be you?

“What?” Changmin asks, genuine shock and surprise coating his tone. “I thought you hated Y/N.”

The words sting like a slap to his face. He hated you. How could he ever be so reckless with his words to you? How could he be so mean? You must hate him now.

“Didn’t you have a crush on that online girl? What– I’m confused, man…” Changmin trails off, finally sitting at Sunwoo’s bed, the weight of his body making the mattress shift under the lazy man’s figure. 

“She’s the same person,” Sunwoo explains, the weight of his words making heaviness fall over the whole room, coating it with deep silence.

Changmin must think he’s foolish. He must think he is being crazy– hell, he must judge him for liking someone who once broke his heart, even though he was unaware it was the same person that made him feel so loved just by talking to him online. 

He cares about what you think more, though. Do you never wanna see him again? Do you hate him? He would hate himself, if he was you. 

Does he hate you? Does he want to see you again? Is your friendship over?

Did he lose you?

He hasn’t spoken to you in what feels like forever. Sunwoo’s throat closes on itself, making a real, visceral emotion run through his whole body and hit right in his chest, close to his heart. The corners of his eyes burn and he feels like running out of the room straight onto an ongoing traffic– he is unsettled. He feels terrible.

“Dude, are you crying?” Changmin asks with a shiteating grin on his face, pointing towards the younger one’s face. 

“No!” Sunwoo bluntly replies, voice hoarse and scratchy, harshly wiping off the tear that managed to roll down his cheek– almost slapping himself in the process. 

Changmin laughs. He laughs. Like it’s funny. Like it’s unserious and nothing is going on, like there is nothing to be worried about, and Kim Sunwoo is just being his overdramatic self, as always. Changmin laughs as if liking someone who once broke your friend’s heart is silly and not a big deal. As if not recognising someone you like online in real life is a normal experience, and not completely embarrassing– as if being mean to the same person you claim to adore is fine, and nothing to hate yourself over.

Sunwoo is conflicted. Talk about cognitive dissonance.

“Why are you laughing? It’s not funny,” Sunwoo pouts, the familiar wrinkle appearing in the middle of his eyebrows again, making his friend roll his eyes at the boy’s distress.

Changmin sighs. “It kinda is, if you think about it,” he shrugs, “you claim to hate Y/N, but turns out you’ve been in love with her all along…”

“You’re really not helping.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Changmin snickers. “I think this makes it easier for you. I know you were nervous about meeting her in real life, so this kind of takes off the pressure, since you already know each other.”

Sunwoo looks at his friend like he’s crazy. Does he not get the full weight of the situation? Does he not realise how serious this all is?

“What are you even talking about? Do you not hate me?” Sunwoo asks.

“Me?” Changmin asks, his head turning to the side like a confused puppy’s. “I don’t think I’m the person you need to worry about– although I’m sure you worry plenty– why would I hate you for liking Y/N?”

“Because she is your ex-girlfriend?” Sunwoo mumbles, twisting in his bed to have a better look at his friend. 

He is met with a few seconds of silence. He is starting to think his whole life is a joke and he is in some sort of a weird knock-off of the Truman show. How can you and Changmin both have the same reaction to his undying loyalty? He is being taken for granted, that’s for sure.

“You utter buffoon, that was ages ago! I honestly forget we even dated sometimes, it was so short-lived,” Changmin laughs before he rests his back against the wall of Sunwoo’s room, getting more comfortable in his new position. He knows the conversation isn’t over yet– there is more on the boy’s mind than the past relationship.

“Oh,” Sunwoo hums. 

“Yeah, oh,” Changmin laughs. “I honestly thought there was more to your hate towards Y/N, but I never really asked because I thought it was some gamer stuff or something that I couldn’t give two shits about. If I had known it was all because of my relationship from high school, I would’ve set the record straight a long time ago.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve.”

Sunwoo feels defeated. Like a deflated balloon. The weight on his shoulders stays the same despite the newfound information– because truth be told, this was never the problem in the first place.

And he is aware of that. Changmin is as well– he knows his best friend a little too much.

“But that’s not all there is to it, is it?” Changmin hums, poking the boy’s side with his long finger, burying it into his hoodie-covered flesh.

Sunwoo’s averted gaze and the chewing on the inside of his cheek is enough of an answer. “What is it?”

“It’s just… I don’t know how to feel about Y/N anymore,” Sunwoo confesses, snickering to himself. “Like, online, she was this perfect angel, like– don’t laugh at me now, you know I’m fucking sensitive– she was just… she was everything, you know?”

Changmin hums. “And in real life?”

“In real life, we were never really close and I hated her. How can I like someone I so strongly dislike in real life? It’s stupid…”

“You only hated what she did to me when we were teenagers, Sunwoo. You made yourself loathe something that wasn’t even there,” Changmin says, smiling sympathetically at the boy. “Do you think she is suddenly a different person to the one you got to know online just because she made a few mistakes when we were young?”

“I dunno…”

“I think you do know, you’re just scared to admit it to yourself, because you know you were a dick to her,” his best friend bluntly announces, watching Sunwoo wince at the words. Truth hurts– but it’s what he needs to hear. Because Changmin’s right, and Sunwoo is too tired of keeping all of these doubts hidden.

“Changmin, I can’t like her–”

“Why?” the boy cuts him off. “Because you said so? You were so big on saying how much you loved her for who she is, without knowing her in real life and knowing what she looked like. And sure, I made fun of you for it countless times before– but don’t you think you know her well enough by now? And don’t try to tell me you don’t know her just because you met online, because you know you’d be a fucking hypocrite.”

“But it’s Y/N.”

“Does that make any difference?”

Sunwoo moves from the inside of his cheek to bite at the dry skin of his lower lip. After tugging at the chapped mess, he feels iron on his tongue from tearing off a piece of his skin, eyes still pressed sternly into the ceiling. 

Does it make any difference? Does Sunwoo like you less now that he knows who you are? It was never about the looks for him– and god knows he barely even knew you in real life. Saying he wasn’t interested anymore would make him a hypocrite. 

Every time he thinks of the night talks you two shared and the secrets you’d tell him, trusting him with anything and everything, his heart still stummers in his chest and his stomach does that weird thing everyone in the romantic movies his roommate Eric watches talks about– but now, the girl has a face and a voice, and Sunwoo can’t say he hates it. He can’t say he hates you.

“I guess it doesn’t,” Sunwoo whispers, saying the obvious.

He still wants you. Just the way you are. Sure, he was shocked– anyone would be– but the feelings he has for you are still the same; it’s just the hate that slowly left his body, disappearing like the puddles of rain on the pavement on a sunny day. 

He can’t hate someone so important to him. How foolish of him to once think you were the bane of his existence.

“So why don’t you two just talk it out?” Changmin asks, pointing out the obvious.

Sunwoo plays with the skin around his cuticles for a while, nervously picking at the loose skin and making himself bleed once again, the nerves getting the worst out of him. “I think I’m a little scared.”

“So I was right. You’re scared she will push you away because you were a dick to her all those times before,” Changmin once again states the obvious.

“Basically,” Sunwoo says, his insecurities slowly slipping through his mouth and out to the wild, hanging in the air. “As much as my feelings didn’t change, I think hers might have. And that’s… that’s scary.”

In Sunwoo’s eyes, what you and he had together was special. He never wanted to lose you to something like this– over spite, a foolish lack of judgement. The thought of never talking to you again is making his insides crash on themselves, guilt slowly, but surely eating him alive. The best thing that’s ever happened to him might be royally fucked over, and there is no one else he can blame but himself.

“Well, you don’t know that. And although I know you might be too scared to find out, you two both need to have a talk. Don’t you think you owe each other that much?”

Changmin’s right. He almost always is– he doesn’t know why Sunwoo ever thought the older one needed protecting. Like a pouty child, Kim Sunwoo is comforted by his best friend’s words, maybe even a little scolded and enlightened by the dimpled boy. The appreciation in his heart almost outgrows the worry, but there is still a you-shaped hole in his chest that he feels the need to fill– only if you allow him to.

He didn’t expect for it to end up being you, but he doesn’t hate the idea. 

He’s not opposed to it. He welcomes it, because 

It’s still the same you. In whatever form, in whatever shape– he knows your soul, and he fears nothing will ever take away and move the feelings he treasures for you to another place, to some other.

They’re reserved for you only. (Also, he always thought your cunning smile was nice to look at. He just tried to suppress the idea of it deep, deep within his mind.)

“We were supposed to meet tomorrow,” Sunwoo hums, “I’ll see if she… still wants to come.”

Changmin smiles. “I knew you were smarter than this.” 

The backhanded compliment would rile him up on most occasions– this time, though, he knows it’s deserved.

One would say Kim Sunwoo didn’t think much before going up to the new café that opened downtown the week after exams, just like you two scheduled. Why?

First of all, he didn’t really check in with you to see if the offer is still up and if you want to meet him after all of this. Second of all, he turned up almost 35 minutes too early, since he was so nervous pacing around his flat that he physically couldn’t stay in the closed space anymore, and third of all, he’s fairly certain he put two different socks on when he was dressing himself, and after further inspection by the front door of the coffee place, pulling his jeans up to take a look, he finds out his suspicions were correct.

The thing is, though, against popular belief, Kim Sunwoo thought almost a little too much before going to the scheduled hangout. He thought about it the whole night before– and the whole previous week, if he’s being honest. He thought about it so much it consumed his every waking thought, leaving him all over the place, distracted and distressed. On most occasions, Eric had to ask a question five times before he was heard by his dear roommate, and if he wanted a real answer out of him, he had to gentle parent him through the conversation.

Sunwoo thought about it so much up to the point that you were all that was in his head. You and your last conversations on Discord which he spent the whole week rereading, you and your house in Minecraft that was left untouched since the last time you two played together (he checked). You and your laugh and the gentle, soft voice you only used with him on your calls– the voice that lulled him to sleep and make him feel butterflies in his stomach, unrecognisable to the hardened tone you used with him whenever you met up in real life when the conflicts he used to stir got the best out of you.

You and your cunning smile. You and your piercing, playful gaze. You and your hair that always kept falling into your face when you were crouched over the keyboard. It’s almost laughable how much he managed to pay attention to you in real life before knowing you were the same person he spent months adoring over the internet– the universe really works in strange ways sometimes.

So really, Kim Sunwoo has thought a lot about you and you two meeting before actually leaving the house; which could also very well be the reason why he didn’t text you to see if you still want to see him in the first place– in fear of being declined, in fear of being rejected by the only person he so deeply craves the validation from.

If you don’t show up, he will just go home and pretend none of this ever happened.

(Or at least he hopes he can.)

The more time he spends standing in front of the coffee shop, though, the more his hope of ever seeing you again gets smaller and smaller. Minutes are slowly passing him by like last summer, and he swears he’s never felt the passing of time more than right in this moment. He feels like he is gaining 5 years every 5 minutes that he’s standing in the middle of the pavement– the clock striking well past 20 minutes of when you were supposed to meet.

He will give it 10 more minutes, he thinks. 20, at most. Maybe he can wait an hour. Maybe you got stuck in the traffic. Maybe you got confused with the time…

Or maybe you’re just not coming, and he has to accept that.

Kicking the rocks under his feet while also trying to get out of the way of people walking past, he puts his hands deep into his pockets. He would rather die than to embarrass himself in front of you by texting you, and so he figures that if he just waits a few more minutes, God will surely give him a sign of when to stop holding back his tears and go back home…

“You look like a kicked puppy,” a voice– teasing, yet also a bit cautious– falls into his ears, making him perk up and look behind his shoulder. God must really love him today, he thinks.

No words escape his mouth for the time being. His brain goes short circuit a little at the sight of you– and in that moment he fully realises that he didn’t actually expect you to come, and that makes him feel even worse about himself. Relief washes over him like a wave of tsunami, the surprised look adorning Sunwoo’s face disappearing in seconds as he tries to manage his racing heartbeat.

“You came,” slips out from between his lips, making the boy immensely embarrassed with his choice of words. 

“I did,” you nod, pressing your lips tightly against each other, an awkward half-smile doing nothing to calm down Sunwoo’s nerves. “I figured you either come and we figure this out, or you don’t and I get something to treat myself to chase down the disappointment.”

You’d be disappointed if he didn’t come. Just the sentiment makes Sunwoo’s heart do backflips in his ribcage– how could he ever think he hated you? 

“Kind of same, actually,” he replies, nodding.

An awkward silence falls over you two like a weighted blanket, making Sunwoo’s stomach churn in discomfort. This is not how he imagined your first meeting to be– but then again, it’s not like he is meeting his online best friend (if he can even call you that anymore) for the first time. He tries to find the memory of your first meeting somewhere in the depths of his mind, but much to his dismay, he is left unsuccessful. He never really deemed it that important before– curse him and his reckless teenage mind.

“Uhm,” you hum, scratching the back of your neck, “I was… the bus was late, by the way. I didn’t purposefully let you wait to like, get back at you or something,” you suddenly explain, your lips stretching into a sympathetic smile.

The explanation doesn’t matter to him anymore. He doesn’t care if you came 20 minutes late and if you took the bus or if you built a portal in the back rooms of the very café you’re supposed to enter in a few minutes– all that matters is that you came and that you’re here, right in front of Sunwoo’s eyes, and you’re not pulling out a machete or an axe on him as a revenge for all the times he acted wrongly towards you in the past.

“Oh, no worries,” he hums almost immediately, “you’re here now, and that’s all that matters,” he nods. 

After another shared, prolonged look between the two of you– one in which he scans you up and down, as if actually seeing you for the first time (and noticing the switch in your usual attire: you exchanged your cargo pants for a skirt, something more fancy, yet telling), a look in which he gets all red in his cheeks, wondering if you noticed the way he did his hair differently today, just to appeal to you– he clears his throat and takes a step towards the café, opening the door for you like the gentleman he tries to be today. “Let’s go in, then!”

You follow his lead, entering the small, yet cozy place. The cold weather outside makes a good contrast with the heating of the café, and when Sunwoo takes a look at the board above the counter, he finds a seasonal menu welcoming him in with a big bear hug. Hot chocolate is just what he needs after all of this, and he won’t deny himself the pleasure of one now.

“Hot choccy?” you ask, smiling softly at the silent figure standing next to you. Sunwoo is caught off-guard with your suggestion and the gentle curve of your lips just the same, warmth spreading to the inside of his heart at the realisation that you know him so well. It’s her. It’s really her, he gasps in disbelief.

“Want one as well?” he asks after nodding, watching you shrug. He takes that as a yes, and since he thinks he did a lot of damage over the course of your friendship, he takes the lead and pays for your drink to try and make up for it– which you don’t fight him over, and he doesn’t find it in him to care. Actually, he thinks he kind of appreciates it. 

After taking a seat in one of the booths in the corner– the cream sofa hugs him in just well, and Sunwoo thinks he might just give this place a 5 star review on Yelp, depending on the way this date- I mean… friendly gathering goes– he is met with another excruciating, suffocating silence. He never really had much trouble talking to you before– surely not online, but also not whenever you were around in real life settings as well, since he always found a way to tease you and make fun of you, giving you most of his undivided attention– but this time around, he thinks keeping up a conversation with you might just be the hardest thing he’s ever had to experience. 

You make him nervous. You make him doubtful. If he wondered about how you’d perceive him after meeting him before knowing you two were acquainted already, he is wondering even more now– do you hate him? Do you wish he wasn’t the one sitting opposite of you right now? Do you want to leave and never talk to him again?

Is he good enough? Does he live up to the expectations– if you even had any?

All previous hatred towards you disappears as fast as a click of your finger, and Kim Sunwoo is left breathless at the fact that you’re right there, in front of him– his online best friend. He thinks he might have still liked you even if you turned out to be a mass murderer. He thinks he might have still liked you even if you were a 50 year old male in a disguise. He thinks the bond you two have built over the internet is much stronger than any mean comments he threw your way before– and the only thing left is to hope you feel the same.

Opening his mouth to speak, he thinks it’s time to have that conversation.

“Listen, I–”

“Were you disappointed that it was me?” you cut him off suddenly, fast as lightning– as if to hurry to get the question out before you chicken out of it.

Sunwoo is left staring at you open-mouthed, shocked. There was not a single minute of his existence where he’d feel disappointed with your identity. The thought never even crossed his brain once, and suddenly, he feels stupid. 

He left you hanging for a whole week– all because he thought you’d hate him. He left you wondering in silence, doubting yourself and thinking you’re not who he would’ve liked– all because of his own insecurities. Why has he not thought of your side of things as well?

“No,” he simply states, watching your face morph into a more relaxed one, eyes softening. “Not at all, no,” he shakes his head.

“I just– it’s…”

“I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way,” Sunwoo utters out. You press your lips together, listening. “Was I surprised? Mhm. Shocked? Yeah, of course I was… but no, I was never disappointed that it turned out to be you. Not for a single moment.”

“I thought you hated me,” you note, chuckling. The words sting on Sunwoo’s skin, but he figures he’s not the one to be hurt right now– and so he sucks it up and hums.

“I was being petty,” he agrees. “And childish. Nothing to be so passionate about as I was,” he admits, forcefully laughing at his own actions. “Nothing to throw away everything we… nothing to throw away the friendship that means so much to me.”

The sincerity of his own words scares him. There is a quiet desperation in him that wants to prove to you that he’s not as bad as he presented himself to be. There is a need in him to fix everything he ruined, to show you that he’s the same Sunwoo you know from the internet, and that all of this is worth it. 

“And I’m sorry, just… just by the way.”

Sunwoo never thought he’d be left apologizing to you– but here he is. Maybe this whole thing taught him something– maybe you taught him something. 

“Ah,” you shrug. “It’s okay. I mean, it was kind of fun watching you be so pressed about nothing, but I’m glad it’s resolved now,” you laugh.

You laugh, and the atmosphere immediately clears. Sunwoo feels like he can breathe lighter, like the cold isn’t so overbearing outside, like he hadn’t just spent the last week locked in his room, contemplating the point of living at all. He didn’t think it would be this easy… 

Something inside of him truly believed he lost you for good. 

“I mean, you were the one that ran out of the internet café without an explanation–”

“You cursed me out!” you argue, kicking his shin lightly under the table.

The boy fakes offense, pointing his finger at you. “That wasn’t directed at you! Just the situation in general.”

“That includes me,” you add.

“Sure, but still– I was just surprised. I really didn’t expect my online best friend to be sitting in the same room as me every week, that’s for sure,” he says, watching as your eyes light up at the title, a cute smile overtaking your features.

“I also didn’t expect you to ghost me for a full week after,” you add, shrugging. “You’re usually so desperate for attention,” you hum, making the boy’s cheeks heat up like a furnace, eyes averting your gaze at all costs. Now, this surely wasn’t on the list of things he wanted to discuss with you today.

Clearing his throat, he makes eye contact with his mug instead, desperately trying to shift the topic of the conversation. “Drink it, it’s getting cold…”

“Sure… Whatever you say, Steve,” you tease. When he looks up at you from under his eyelashes, there’s the same cunning smile on your face that he watched all those times when you won against him at League of Legends– the same smile that used to always drive him crazy, but he now recognises that he translated the implications of his insanity all wrong (because he thinks that maybe somewhere deep inside of his romantic, rotten soul, he might have known all along)– and he wonders if this was the smile you always wore when you made fun of him for falling asleep on the call with you again, the boy using your soft, sleepy voice as a lullaby. 

Sunwoo almost chokes on his drink, pointing an accusing finger at you. “Speaking of,” he starts, “the kids miss you. Go and feed them, miss,” he says, watching you roll your eyes at him. The dogs you co-parent with him in Minecraft  have been sitting near your front door ever since you last logged out, and even though coming to your house felt like an emotional torture in the time you were gone, Sunwoo always managed to feed them like he would with a real animal.

Call him childish, for all he cares. 

“Okay, damn,” you say, rolling your eyes at him. “You only say that because you want me to finally move our beds together, don’t you?” you tease him, referencing the little offering he made for you months ago– the one that’s still secure outside of your house despite many of its renovations.

Sunwoo almost chokes on his drink again. You grin at him– a sight that makes his insides feel like they were threaded with gold. He swears hot chocolate has never felt so sweet before. 

If he wasn’t sure of it before, he’s fairly certain now– you can fall for someone over the internet. And yes, the crush translates to its full form after meeting them in person.

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to it…” he mumbles, not really quick enough to come up with a good comeback now that he’s face to face with you, making you giggle cutely at his sudden shyness. This is not how you know Kim Sunwoo– the sheepish composure is so far of the boy you met online, but also the one that ridiculed you during a casual game of CS:GO weeks ago.

“I’ll decide if it’s worth it after you show me the lights you’ve been talking my ear off about,” you say– and he thinks he won. Because this is an invitation to his room– an invitation for further hangouts. If you keep flirting with him like this, Sunwoo thinks he might just combust.

There is only one problem, though.

“About the lights…”

BONUS // A YEAR LATER

If you would’ve told Kim Sunwoo that he will end up in a long distance relationship only a bit more than a year ago, he would’ve believed you. See, he’s a stranger to denial– he is quite good at accepting his own feelings for what they were, inwardly, at least– and so he was fairly certain he was in love with his online best friend even before he had a chance to meet her. Somewhere along the line, given the fact that his feelings would be reciprocated, he imagined going further with the establishment, no matter how far or close in distance you were from each other.

Turns out, life is funny in many ways and his online best friend, the proclaimed love of his life, lived just around the corner with her roommate Aeri. She still doesn’t like him that much, but Sunwoo puts effort into visiting his girlfriend at her place often, in hopes that her best friend finally warms up to him a little– he thinks it’s almost like approaching a stray cat. The Sylvanian families shrine the two girls hold in their living room is also fascinating to him– he didn’t think someone with a stern look like Aeri’s could stare at something so adorable and small so lovingly.

“Sunwoo, once again, we are not in a long distance relationship,” you say over the speakers of his sister’s laptop that he borrowed just so he could call with you, making him mourn into the poor-quality microphone. 

“We are! You’re so far away right now, how can you justify it not being a long distance relationship?” 

“We literally saw each other a week ago,” you deadpan, “and we will see each other again after we come back to uni, you moron.”

See, Sunwoo’s definition of a long distance relationship is a bit warped. As long as you’re not in the same town as him, he considers you too far away– and in any other circumstance, you would find it cute (bless his heart), but when you’re trying to enjoy your break with your family that you haven’t seen in a while, it’s becoming just the tiniest bit overbearing.

“That’s too long.”

“You’re being a baby,” you grunt, making your boyfriend pout at the other side of the call, seen by his web camera. You were against turning your own on, but were forced to nonetheless– Sunwoo’s ‘I need to see your face or else I’ll die’ was too convincing not to. You know he won’t, but at the same time, the poor boy could turn a little manic at times– you had to make sure he will survive until your next meeting.

“God, a man can’t even miss his long distance girlfriend in peace–”

“I am not your long distance girlfriend. We’re literally only like 4 hours away from each other right now, that’s not even–”

“If you think about it,” Sunwoo cuts you off, making you sigh. “It’s like we’re back to square one. Y’know, before we started dating.”

“Not really…?” you try to argue with him, planning to point out the fact that back then, you used to call on Discord and not Whatsapp, with no camera on and using fake names, but the boy cuts you off fast, knowing that you’re right and he just can’t let you have the point.

“I miss your kisses, that’s all.”

Still hung up on the previous comment, you sigh. “We weren’t even kissing back then, Sunwoo.”

The boy stares at you for a second, blinking, before he breaks out into a huge grin. “Well, maybe not you. Me, however, I was kissing the screen everytime your character showed up–”

“I’m going to end the call,” you warn him. Why are you even dating him? He has a bitchless loser energy– maybe you should let him live up to it.

“No no no– okay, I’ll be normal.”

“I find that hard to believe,” you sigh.

If you would’ve told Kim Sunwoo that he will end up in a long distance relationship only a bit more than a year ago, he would’ve believed you. After seeing the little heart shaped altar in front of your house in Minecraft every time he plays– your beds now stuck together, making him sense that he finally made it– he truly wouldn’t find this accusation hard to believe.

Truth be told, though, he’s much happier with having a normal relationship with you.

One where he gets to hold you, one where he gets to kiss you. One where you finally come over and he gets to impress you with the LED strip he finally got off a proper electronic place instead of a cheap online store, investing money into the device he gets to use behind the locked doors of his room for atmospheric purposes whenever you two–

Anyways. 

Maybe Changmin was right and he was always being just too overly-dramatic. He was also right when he accused Sunwoo of having a huge crush on you online, after all. 

Still, Sunwoo wouldn’t change it for anything. Despite the history you share, he actually thinks you’re pretty fucking cute.

And real. And his. 

And thankfully, not a thousand miles away. (Although it may feel like it right now.)

[afterartist]

HELICALTALE MAIN CAST LINEUP!!

(Not ll of the characters but the most important ones to the plot)

‘And now: AU Infodump

BUT BEFORE ANYTHING!!

I will be answering any questions (within reason) any of you have about the au, even if it’s about some random side character only three people have ever heard of before

I live world building and any chance to expand on this world are treasured

I’ll probably answer with fun little doodles as well lol

So ask away :D!!

Basic AU overview:

Helicaltale is NOT a classic based Timeline.

The AU is set in a world where Mt Ebott was destroyed during the war, leaving a desert crater in its place, no protection for the Monsters to retreat and nowhere to seal them underground. In response, the Human mages put a spell on Monster kind, ‘Helios’ Curse’, forcing them to be unable to touch sunlight or else they’d burn (think Vampires or Minecraft Mobs)

The main story takes place 87 years after the war ended and 29 years after friendly communications between the two races begun, with the Monsters settled in a camp like city, made of tents and canvas buildings, around the oasis that formed in the desert that was now known as Ebott crater. Humans and Monsters have achieved peace between the races, regular trading routes and communications set up between the two cities.

Now all that was left was for both Humans and Monsters to find a way to break Helios’ Curse for good.

(None of them can touch Sunlight (minus the humans) but the ones more lightly dressed (Gaster, Alphys, Asgore) all live in the city, with proper buildings not at risk of being blown over at any second so can afford to not be covered up 100% of the time)

Locations:

Ebott City-

The capital city of the country, Ebott is a massive human settlement, overshadowing old ruins left by the war. It’s currently the main base of conferences between human and monster relations.

The Oasis-

The Monster settlement, made from tents and interconnecting canvas sheets, from above it looks like a colourful cluster of a campground, large sheets stretched over the streets. From within it’s only lit by lamps and magic, the sky completely blocked out by tarps and canvas to avoid accidentally getting burned by sunlight, to those not familiar with the city it’s a labyrinth, others, its home.

(A major inspiration for the Oasis is the Kowloon walled city, for those interested in a more accurate visual of the Oasis)

The Great Fence-

While the name conveys grandeur, the fence is a simple chain link fence acting as the border around the entire Oasis, topped with barbed wire and adorned with tarps, it’s designed to protect the residents against wild animals like Coyotes and be a barrier against sandstorms more than it is to keep people out, one of the most regular jobs for the Royal guard other than being general peace keepers is to uphold the fence, often sending patrols out after heavy storms to keep everything in order.

Central Oasis-

A mix between Newhome and Waterfall, it’s the main hub of the town, the Royal family living there along with the majority of schools and recreational areas, most Water based monsters (ie: Shyren, Aaron ect ect) also live in this area, a large lake of water being the centerpiece of the city.

Lights district-

To the west side of the city is the main shopping hub, while much more open than the majority of the Oasis, many stores foregoing walls on their tents entirely, its full of stores and restaurants, the most well known being Grillby’s and Muffets joint restaurant, many visitors to the Oasis come for the night life of the lights district, the monsters that live in that area making the camp around them as flashy and attractive as possible, neon lights and dancing flames lighting up the darkness of the district, the Celebrities Mettaton and Nabstablook have also been alluded to frequent the region and perform for onlookers.

Sandbank-

The Snowden equivalent of the AU, having gotten its name due to its position at the east side of the city, being the least protected by the walls of the crater, Sandbank often gets the brunt of the sandstorms that hit the desert, leading many of the Royal Guards live in this area in case of an emergency during the storms.

Southside (the Black Market)-

Technically not its official name, the Southside of the Oasis is whispered about in the dark of night, rumours telling of an illegal market place and shady monsters working in the south, many a monster wandering in and never coming out. While most likely just old wives tales, its best you keep your distance, just in case.

(Yeah I made the Black Market an actual real marketplace because that will never not be funny to me)

Hotlands-

The north most section of the Oasis is best known as Hotlands, given the name as it’s the highest section of city but also the most shielded by the crater walls, leaving it boiling without any wind to seep out the heat’. There’s been speculation that Hotlands actually sits over an underground chamber of magma, adding to the blistering temperature.

Characters:

The Dreemurrs:

Frisk- (Any Pronouns)

Frisk is an 11 year old kid, a runaway from one of Ebott City’s Orphanages, known for its less than legal treatment of the children. Having joined Chara as the eldest helped them both escape, Frisk followed Chara into the desert, looking for shelter from CPS.

During the trek however Frisk falls sick with an illness, most common in Monsters but able to infect anyone with strong magic, called Icarus syndrome.

With Icarus syndrome being effectively Hyperthermia of the soul, any physical treatment is ineffective, needing a particular medication to have any hope of survival, leaving the crater as not just refuge but possibly their only chance of survival.

Chara- (They/Them)

Chara is 16 and the orchestrator of the escape from the Orphanage with Frisk, after having been in contact online with a kid from the Monster camp that offered assistance. During the escape Frisk fell ill, forcing Chara to locate and purchase the rare medicine. Ending up in the Monster equivalent of the black market, Chara found a monster begrudgingly willing to help, trading a magical glass eye, a prosthetic their grandfather made for both humans and monsters during the war, for a small vial of medicine. The trader warning them to keep out of the black market before dropping the two kids off safely at the center of the Oasis.

Asriel- (He/Him)

Asriel is the firstborn son of the Dreemurrs and heir to the Royal throne, at 16 he made contact and became friends with a kid online, the other telling him of the danger they and their sibling were in at the Orphanage. Quickly offering up his home, knowing both his parents had fostered and cared for many children in the past and wouldn’t turn away two more. Upon meeting them in the Oasis he makes fast friends with both Frisk and Chara, practically adopting them as siblings on the spot.

Toriel- (She/Her)

Queen of the Oasis at 143 years old, Toriel has seen her fair share of bloodshed and peacetime, giving her the knowledge to recognise that protecting young children is the best way to ensure their future, guiding them to Mercy and pragmatic solutions instead of Fighting. One of the first things she did after Monsters had finally settled into the Oasis being starting up a school, becoming the primary teacher for a good few years before other parents eventually began to join her staff. Though, with the two new children her son had brought to her doorstep, she’s begun to realise it’s not just the children of Monster kind that need protection.

Asgore- (He/Him)

King of the Oasis and 146 years old, Asgore grew up at the front lines of the war, the heinous acts shaping him into the pacifist he is today. Currently away from the Oasis, Asgore has turned his sights on communications with the Humans, staying at the city while conferences with the city leaders on trade routes and transportation commence. He is also overseeing the Monster half of the Science team, working closely with the Royal Advisor and Scientists Gaster in developing a cure to Helios’ Curse. He remains in frequent contact with the Oasis, making the trip back every weekend to see his now growing family and make sure Toriel isn’t overwhelmed with responsibilities.

-

The Fonts:

Dr. Gaster- (He/Him)

At 140, Gaster has spent his life developing weapons for war (the Gaster Blaster being his pride and joy) and perseverance for Monster Kind, having a massive distaste for all Humans and most Monsters. The sudden change from war efforts to restoration efforts throwing his life in disarray. Jumping at the chance to use Human equipment on government funded experiments, Gaster didn’t hesitate to leave his sons Sans and Papyrus (9 and 4 at the time) back at the Oasis to move to the city and begin work. He’s had a hand in creating many inventions helping Monster kind (both helping with the medicine for Icarus Syndrome and a magic Sunscreen that can briefly minimise the effects of the sun) and the head of the Selene Project, the project to break the curse.

Sans- (He/Him)

28 and thriving, Sans has made a name for himself as both the comedic slacker of the Royal guard and the savvy businessman as one of the Black Markets best traders. Having been forced to raise both himself and Papyrus from a young age, Sans became intwined with the black market at the age of 12, after Papyrus caught Icarus Syndrome and receiving no help from Gaster off in the city, Sans was forced to find his own way of getting medication. At the age of 12 he found his way into the black market, ending up trading his right eye, and subsequently some of his shortcut abilities with an underground doctor in exchange for the medicine, to this day he hasn’t told anyone what happened to his eye. From then on he found himself going back and getting into trading as a way of making money as a side job while both he and Papyrus worked to get into the Royal guard, quickly becoming infamous in the criminal world of the Oasis, though he had a rule that no kids were to ever be found trading in the market. A rule that quickly got broken when a young human kid stumbled into his shop, begging for help, offering a magic glass eye as payment. Unable to send the kid off without help (or turn down the irony of selling the meds for an eye) he made the trade before guiding the kid and their sibling to the Oasis center.

-

(Bonus:)

After dropping the kids off, Sans makes an attempt to use the prosthetic eye, yet upon fitting it into his socket, the magic activated and bonded with his soul, causing the eye to become fused with his being, immovable. Along with the eye he’s suddenly able to see things he, by all means, should NOT be able to see, including text bubbles from the creators (similar to error sans)

He also finds, magically in his pocket, a small golden key, only figuring out its use after stumbling across a door in the middle of nowhere, upon using the key on the door he finds himself in an entirely different AU, door closing and disappearing behind him.

This is what leads him to discover the Multiverse and travel between AUs (inconveniently ending up in Nightmares Castle more times than he’d care to count)

-

Papyrus- (He/Him)

The Great Papyrus, second in command of the Royal guard at the younge age of 23 (you may applaud now)

Having grown up with just himself and Sans, Papyrus always wanted to become something great to make his brother proud, despite Sans’ insistence that he’s already proud of him. When he was 13, while Sans was out getting food, Papyrus had been targeted and hunted down by a group of bullies from the Southside of town, the group of teens taking turns in beating him up, eventually escalating to the point where one of them pulled a mirror from their pocket and used it to reflect a beam of sun directly onto his face, leaving a permanent scar,

He was saved however, when a teen he recognised from the Oasis center came charging out from one of the nearby tents, picking up handfuls of sand and hurtling it at the other kids before beating them up with her fists alone. Once over, the girl had turned, helped Papyrus up and took him to see her grandfather, the current head of the Royal Guard, a job she loudly proclaimed she was going to have one day,

Ever since then he attempted and eventually got into the Royal guard, along with Sans and the teen, Undyne.

-

Gersons:

Undyne- (She/Her)

29, Captain of the Royal Guard, Wife of the best woman around, living the high life! Having been raised by her grandfather Gerson for longer than she could remember, she’s always looked up to the Royal Guard, no matter how her Grandfather told her it wasn’t all glory. She’d been sneaking out and training with one of the Royal Guards for 8 years by the time she was 19, stumbling across a fight, six of her classmates beating down on a young skeleton. She’d jumped to defense before she’d even registered it, helping the kid up and getting him patched up where eventually the kids brother, Sans, one of Alphys’ friends found them and thanked her profusely.

The three became fast friends, practically siblings, both of them there at her and Alphys’ wedding and her promotion to Captain of the Royal guard.

Alphys- (She/They)

27 and already one of the best Scientists in the whole country. Alphys’ having grown up in Hotlands would have never dared to dream she’d be working with a whole team of like minded scientists, especially not in the human city, though not being able to see her Wife as often was a dampener. Dr. Gaster was also a bit, overzealous, with the project, it was only a matter of time before the madman created some temporal superflux that blew up half the block, even if she wouldn’t be anywhere near as prestigious without his guidance, despite Sans’ reservations for letting them near him.

(I will be adding more to this AU btw, it’s in my top 3 faves lmao)

Bonus:

Animation I’ve done for Helical Sans to explain how his AU hopping works

[neoarchipelago]

And They were Roommates (Part 14)

A/N: THIS IS LONG. LIKE THIS TAGLIST ok so, again, thank you so, so so much for the tips guys! it helps so much and they make me so happy! I am so so so happy of the way this story has grown on you guys, the art you guys been making and the comments just make my day.. THANK YOU.

So this is the first time we see the new characters they will be in next chapters as well!

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT, SEXUAL CONTENT, SEMI PUBLIC? FEAMLE READER.

You walked around the mall with the many men running and babbling around you. Simon had kept his promise and taken you shopping. The boys had obviously heard about it and asked to come with you. You had shopped for a few pieces of clothing and now you just roamed around while the boys walked into almost every shop along the way. 

Simon was getting frustrated. 

"Why are we babysitting?" Ha had grumbled.

"Simon we're not-" you wanted to counter. 

Gaz's laugh rang as you both turned to see Soap with what seemed to be a full Pikachu onesie on. You bit your lip and tried not to laugh too hard as Ghost looked absolutely done. 

You had walked past a lingerie shop and decided to check it out, Gaz and Soap had tried to follow you, Konig looking everywhere but the shop's display. Simon had grabbed the two men by the back of the collar, pulling them back like two toddlers. You had looked around before flashing on a perfect little a piece of black matching bra and panties with garters. 

You had bought it, skipping your way out of the store with a silly smile on your lips. Simon had glanced at your bag before sending you a dark look that promised good times. 

You had passed by a GameStop, the boys getting lost in video games. You, as promised, had bought the full pack of Sims for Konig who had been thrilled but decided to also buy him the Minecraft creeper plush he was eyeing, eyes glittering. Ghost kept repeating that you should stop mommying him, that he was a full grown man, a scary predator on the field. You had completely ignored him and happily watched Konig's eyes lighten up as you handed him the bag. 

You also decided to walk into a makeup shop. Simon had followed you with curious eyes. He looked at everything you looked at. He looked even more curious when you grabbed a dark red lipstick. 

"Are you going to buy it?" He asked. 

"Hum… I don't know. I like the color but-"

He softly took it out of your hands and walked straight to the cashier. You looked, astounded, as he walked back to you with the small bag. 

"S..Simon?" You whispered to him. 

He grabbed your hand walking you out of the shop. 

You were tired when you finally got home, almost around dinner time. You had gone to your bedroom to put down all your brand new things as the boys offered to cook dinner. Simon remained with them to stop anyone from trashing the kitchen. You were putting the new pieces of clothing in the washing machine, your mind wandering around the laptop in your room. You had kept Darkends computer. You had not opened it yet after the last time. 

You turned on the machine before walking back to your room. You sat at your desk opening the laptop. You bit your lip, torn between finally digging into the mind of the sick man or simply letting the IT's take care of it. You decided to let your curiosity win. You looked around, most files were encrypted, lots were with viruses. You had to be honest, the asshole was good. But you had patience, and skills. You decided to connect one of your hard drives with a little program you had coded yourself. It'd dig out a lot of hidden files but wouldn't try to decrypt them. You'd do that on your own, just in case he had programmed the files to erase themselves. 

You got up, deciding to leave that to run on his own before walking downstairs to the team.  

After dinner you walked back to your room. You had managed to find a lot of hidden files. You grabbed the laptop sitting down on your bed. A knock on the door made you look up. 

"Come in." You rang.

Simon walked in, taking off his mask. Your breath still caught in your throat every single time.   

"What are you doing darling?" He asked. 

"Hunting. As always." You smiled at him. 

He let himself fall to his knees on your bed, taking off his shirt. You bit your lip, the sight was divine. Did he knew it? He let himself fall down next to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. You chuckled. He buried his face in your waist and you melted, pushing away the laptop further at the bottom of the bed. 

"You alright?" You asked. 

He hummed against you. He wanted to just rest like this so you let him, grabbing the laptop again. You let one of your hands massage his scalp. He groaned, holding you tighter. You alternated in between massaging his head and softly scratching his back. You kept searching through the computer. Decrypting the files. Simon's breath steadied. You smiled down at him. He fell asleep. 

You melted. You gave up on the laptop, closing it and putting it on your night stand. You laid down, Simon adjusting himself in his sleep. You held him close to you. You smiled to yourself, a content sigh leaving your lips. You were happy. Yes. You were absolutely thrilled. And you decided to let yourself fall into the most peaceful sleep you've even got. 

The next morning you woke up to Simon dropping kisses to your neck. You were nested in his arms, he had thrown a blanket over you. You giggled. 

"Goo'morning.." you mumbled. 

"Good morning bunny…" his morning voice raspier. 

You blushed. You'd lie if you said it didn't turn you on. He felt it. 

"My little bunny… I can feel you melt under my touch…" he teased. 

He dropped another kiss on your neck. You closed your eyes, humming. 

Knock knock knock.

He groaned, biting down on your soft skin, sucking there. You moaned out loud from shock. You felt his body shake from a silent laugh. 

"Hum…" Soap's awkward voice rang from behind the door. 

He let go of your neck, now looking annoyed. 

"Yes sergeant ?" 

"We … have to be on base in an hour." 

He sighed. 

"We'll be up in a minute, thank you Soap!" You said with a smile. 

Soap sauntered away as you lost yourself into Simon's eyes again. 

"I have to go to the base too…" 

"You got work?" He asked. 

"I have to get back. Got to talk to Hopkins about something." You answered. 

He lowered himself, pulling you in for a kiss. You sighed against him, relaxing into his touch. It felt desperate. Deep. When you separated you saw his eyes shine with worry. 

"Simon.."

"It kills me"

"What..?" 

"Having this sword over my head at all times…" 

You frowned. What was he talking about?

"Not… being able to protect you." 

"Simon. You're scared that I'll go back to work?"  

"Not scared. Worried." 

You kissed him again. You grounded each other in a kiss, in a touch. 

"Simon.." you whispered against his lips. "We both have dangerous jobs… I am… as terrified as you to lose you. But I'm right here. Right now, we're here. Let's not think about the 'what ifs'.." 

He kissed you again. His hand traveled against your skin, squeezing and rubbing every inch of you. 

"Simon.." you chuckled. 

He hummed, kissing down your neck. 

"We have to get up… come on.." 

He sighed, stopping in his tracks.

"Fine.." he mumbled against your skin. 

You smiled down at him, kissing his cheek before escaping him, heading for the bathroom. 

You were on base around one hour and half later. You were late. But it didn't matter. The boys headed off to their occupations as you went to the IT quarters. Everyone seemed happy to see you again. You had brought Darkends laptop with you, determined to dig and find Intel. 

You had notified Hopkins that you wanted to meet with him later in the day. He had agreed for a 3pm meeting. It gave you time to decrypt and search a few things. You let yourself fall back deep in work, finally finding the comfort of the binary codes and scripts you've been so used to. You had managed to crack open lots of information. About the different types of trades this guy was into.

Drugs, guns, biochemicals. He ran deep into a lot of various things. You sent the IT team all you could find on the different trade locations or storage of the cartel. The more you digged the more you found. And it made you happy. You were finally getting there. 

Unfortunately, what you had feared became real. Darkends wasn't alone. He seemed to have a whole team behind him, keeping a lot of sensitive Intel hidden and secured. You sighed. There wasn't much you could do on your own. 

You went to lunch, taking a break from work. You met the boys, Price patting your head as he saw you. You exchanged information about the mission. They had also found more intel. You had kissed Simon's mask before skipping away back to work. Laswell passed by the quarters, taking in the new stuff you had found. 

"You can still walk away from this Sparrow…" 

"I know. And we both know I won't." You smiled at her. 

When 3 pm almost rang you the IT team. You headed for one of the meeting rooms to wait for Hopkins. 

He walked in right on time. You had intended for it to be a very private meeting. Only the three of you were there. Firstly you had exposed all of the new clues and files you had dug out. When the moment of  Darkends team came, you had prepared your demand. 

"I want my team." 

He frowned. Laswell looked at you, trying to read your thoughts. 

"Your team?" He asked.

"Yes. My team. Remember? All of the amazing agents you have, that I brought to your ranks or that I taught many things to. The amazing hackers that you have working for you because I wanted them to be protected." 

You had taken a tone you hadn't heard in a little while. The protective mama bear. 

"Hum.. alright. That can be done." 

"I have other teammates to add. I'll need full immunity." 

"Listen-" he started.

"You owe me." You reminded him. 

He sighed, throwing his hands in the air. Laswell smirked. 

"Fine." He agreed. 

"I have something else." You said, leaning forward on the table. "We have noticed how much you suck at protecting someone on your own base." 

Laswell's face fell, Hopkins looked away awkwardly.

"But Sergeant Gallegos is currently in a delicate situation." 

He frowned.

"The..? Alright… hum-" 

"Do your work. I don't care. But keep. Her. Safe." You warned. 

Silence fell for a second. 

"Are you threatening a general?" He asked. 

Laswell tensed. 

"No. But do realize that if something happens to her, I will wreck you. And we both know I'll make it out of it without a single reprimand. I will. And that, is a threat. End you." You spoke, without a hint of worry in your voice. 

He cleared his throat after a few seconds. You smiled finally, relaxing. 

"Great talk! Can't wait to see my babies again!" You cheered as if nothing happened. 

Laswell shook her head but didn't comment. You bid your farewells in a very professional way. Laswell walked with you back to the IT wing. 

"It's been a while since I've heard you threaten someone." She noted. 

"Yeah… well you know. I didn't think I was working with an idiot who couldn't background check some guy." You taunted. 

You smiled at her. 

"It's alright, you know I don't hold you accountable for anything that happened Kate. But this isn't about me. Melissa is alone. I can't let her get hurt." You explained. 

She nodded, leaving it at that. You fell back into work until around 6 pm. You texted Simon telling him you were heading home. He was training a bit before joining you so you'd wait for him there. 

The house was incredibly empty without them. You had noticed how much it weighed on you now. You had gotten so used to them, to the noise, to their presence. You smiled to yourself. You decided to take a shower before figuring out something for the night. 

You headed upstairs, feeling your mind still stuck on your work. You needed to get it out of your system before you got obsessed, which was never a good thing. 

Around two hours later you had showered, dried your hair and slipped into one Simon t-shirt. You had turned on some random sit-com on TV and you were cleaning around your bedroom. The little bag with red lipstick attracted your gaze. You grabbed the little box, opening it, letting the little tube out. You hadn't tried it out yet. You decided now was as good as any other time. You opened it, rolling it and bringing it to your lips. You applied the dark red color on your lips, pressing them together to spread it evenly. 

You actually liked the color. You heard footsteps in the hallway, now noticing the voices of the boys downstairs. Simon walked in, knocking softly on the door. He looked sweaty and tense. He threw his tactical shirt over his head as he spoke.

"Hey baby, can I take a sh-"

He froze, hands on his pants as he noticed your lips. You smirked. 

"Of course darling!" You answered cherfully. "Let me just… get you a bit dirtier first…"

You stepped closer to him, lipstick still in one hand. You saw his muscles flex as your other hand touched his chest. He bent down as you got on your tippy toes. You dropped a kiss on his mask, leaving a red print of your lips. You left another kiss on the other side. You smirked, playing again and again, leaving kiss marks over his skin. First his neck, slowly towards his collar bone. His hand fisted in your hair but didn't stop you. He tasted salty from sweat. 

You applied more lipstick once in a while to make sure the marks were visible enough. His chest, down to his abs. He flinched when you kneeled down, kissing his navel, the little beginning of hair trailing down into his pants. 

Unfortunately for him you got up. He let go of your hair, you dropped more kisses on his wrist, forearms, shoulders. Time was frozen as he let you cover him in pretty little red imprints. 

You walked behind him, planting more soft kisses to his shoulder blades, on his spine, down his back. He turned around grabbing your chin as he lifted his mask. His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you to him. His lips met yours, lipstick smearing, but none of you could care less. You moaned against his lips. He separated, you were surprised there was barely any lipstick on his lips, you had probably used it all on his back. You dropped a kiss at the corner of his mouth, a faint mark left there as well. The hand on your chin kept your gaze on him. His thumb hovered on your lips. 

He smeared the reddish color down at the corner of your lips, pupils dilating at the sight. 

"LT-" 

The door had stayed open. You couldn't see him, but you knew Gaz was at the entrance, probably frozen at the sight. Probably frozen under the very cold gaze his lieutenant was throwing. He stared at the man through his lashes, furious to be interrupted. 

"What's going on-" you heard again. 

This time you bit your lip, closing your eyes at Soap's voice. 

"Daaaamn… he just got home Y/N!" 

You blushed heavily, hiding your face in Simon's chest. 

"Get. Out." He threatened.

The boys ran away. You laughed a bit, stepping back to admire your work. 

"You like the sight? " He asked in a dark voice. 

You bit your lip, nodding innocently at him. 

"Good. Look at it. Cuz this. Is yours." 

He stepped forward, taking your hand to bring it to his stomach. 

" All. Of it" 

You swallowed hard, feeling a breakable tension forming between the two of you. 

"My mind. Body. Flesh and bone. It's all yours. Do you understand?" 

You were lost in his words, you faintly nodded. 

"Use your words bunny." He ordered. "Do you understand?" 

"Yes sir.." 

"Good girl.." he praised. 

He captured your lips one more time before separating, heading to the bathroom. 

You whimpered, falling down again. You were exhausted. You wanted to go home. You were sure you'd be bruised. You had been working for a few days now, and Simon had insisted on giving you some self defense training. You had begrudgingly agreed to reassure him. 

"You alright baby?" He asked. 

"No! I want to go home!" You groaned, pouting at him. 

He was barely out of breath. Yes. You knew a few things. After all, you had been on the run for a little while so you had to learn a few things. But you were not used to it, and against Simon, you didn't even manage to last a good minute. 

He chuckled, pulling you up again. 

"Come on… one more time." 

You whined but got into position anyway. The sparing wasn't exactly rough, but he made sure to get you by surprise each time. He had said it was 'good training for you to expect anything from your opponent'. But you were tired and frustrated. Because even if he was sparring against you, you could feel the heat spreading through you as his forearms flexed. At the way he manhandled you so easily. He had noticed of course. 

You were now holding his arms with your thighs, flush against your chest. You were both on the ground, he flipped you around, taking you by surprise again, freeing his arm. You backed away from him, crawling the best you could but he grabbed your ankles pulling you to him. You decided to catch him by surprise too, trapping his head in between your thighs and squeezing. 

His hands met your waist, grabbing the waistband of your leggings and throwing you up. He fell back. He had probably intended to totally throw you away from him. But here you were. Sitting on his face. You gasped, eyes widening in shock. 

"Simon!" You yelled. 

You tried to get up, but the hands on your hips held you in place. 

"No..nonononoo… wait!" 

You felt him bite through the leggins, grazing your clit. You moaned. You blushed, hoping no one would come to the training room. He played again using his nose and masks to apply pressure and rub you even through the pants. It felt good… god it felt good. 

Your hips started rocking against him. You moaned his name faintly, trying to hold in moans. You didn't know if you were trying to make him stop or begging him to keep going. He flipped you around making you fall on your back as he towered over you now. 

"Fuck.." he cursed. 

He pulled down your pants and panties leaving them around your knees. He lifted his mask to his nose.

"Simon! Anyone could walk in.." you whined. 

He wasn't listening. He pushed your legs to your chest diving down to taste you. A long moan escaped your lips, his soft tongue licking through your folds. 

"You're so wet baby… do you like it when I'm rough baby?" He questioned with a smirk. 

You blushed, unable to answer as he went back to circle your clit with the tip of his tongue. He chuckled at your silence. He reached your mouth with one gloved hand. You already knew, and you obeyed as if it was an automatic command. You pulled on the fabric with your teeth, taking out his glove. His hand dived down. 

He wet his finger with your juices before pushing one finger in. You threw your head back, moaning a bit louder. He pumped slowly in and out, stretching you slowly before adding another finger. You felt yourself clench on them, the heat you were feeling washing away any worries of who could walk in on you. His fingers curled inside making you buck your hips into his hand. You felt yourself getting closer and closer. He felt it. His tongue being careful to lick the way your body liked. 

"Si.. Simon.." you called through moans. 

He knew it. He curled his fingers a few more times, unfastening the knot that had built itself deep in your stomach. You felt your orgasm wash over you like a tidal wave. 

He let you ride your high on his tongue until you were too sensitive to keep going. He straightened himself, sitting on his knees. He looked down at you, eyes wild. He unbuckled his pants, the fucking sound of it always sent a delightful chill through you. 

You were going to tell him you couldn't, you didn't have a Condom before he reached for his pocket to get one out. You smirked at him as he ripped it open with his teeth, his other hand freeing himself. You felt your heart jump in your chest. He pulled the transparent thing over his length, pumping himself a few times before grabbing your legs and throwing them over one of his shoulders. His tip at your entrance rubbed up and down, coating himself with your juices. 

"You ok bunny?" He asked. 

You nodded impatiently. He smirked at you, slowly dipping into your heat. His arm held your legs tightly together and against his chest. Slowly he filled you up, making you gasp. He stopped himself. 

"Fuck… so perfect for me…" 

You melted under his praise. Moaning out. Once you felt a bit more comfortable, you wiggled your hips for him to move. He didn't wait any longer, his own impatience taking over. He thrusted slowly in and out, throwing his head back. The more his cock dipped into you, the faster he got. The pace was restless, desperate. You chanted his name again and again as his eyes worshiped you. The way he looked at you made you clench around him, your own body letting him full control over you. 

Your heart felt like it'd burst. The tears filling your eyes. 

"So pretty…" he groaned. 

He wouldn't stop staring at you, reverence in his eyes. A sound was heard not too far. You looked to your left, breath itching. His other hand reached for your chin making you look at him again. 

"Eyes on me." He ordered. 

He pounded deeper into you, making sure to emphasize his words. 

"Fu..fuuuck… Simon ! Someone…" you tried. 

"Fuck that." 

You closed your eyes, not believing it. 

His hand wrapped around your throat, squeezing lightly. 

"Eyes. On. me." He ordered, this time marking every word with a thrust. 

You whined, eyes falling into his. 

"Focus on me bunny…only on me" he growled. 

He moaned, your walls clenching around him. His hips slammed into you, the sound echoing through the room, mixing with your moans and names. He changed the angle of his hips, making sure to thrust right into your sweet spot. Your eyes rolled back, feeling yourself being overstimulated. It burnt. Fuck it burnt and you loved it. You could feel yourself at the edge. 

"Oh baby fuck… gonna cum…" he moaned. "You gonna cum with me? Huh? You want to be my good girl?" He groaned in between pants and moans.

Shit. He didn't even need to ask. 

"Yes…y-yes… please… oh pleeeease" you moaned, way too loud for the actual place you were in. 

He lifted your hips, thrusting deeper, almost pulling out the entire way before slamming right into you. You fell off the edge, stars filling your sight, rushes of pleasure crushing you. His hips thrusted a few more times before he groaned, eyes looking into yours as he came. It made your orgasm last longer, the simple fact that his eye contact made you way too hot was embarrassing.

You caught your breaths, panting. He pulled out, quickly dressing you again. He cleaned himself afterwards, taking out the condom and dressing himself back up. He kissed your lips, your cheeks. 

"You ok? Sorry darling… I.. I Lost my shit again.." 

You smirked, still breathing hard. 

"Please.. do. I won't… complain." You teased. 

He chuckled, pulling his mask down again. 

"Alright. Training is over, let's go home." 

The excitement was eating you up. After a week and half, you were finally informed that your team was coming. You had explained the situation to the boys and they were almost as excited as you. You had not seen them for a long while and you had missed them.  You were skipping around the house waiting for the time to go to base. Their plane was scheduled for 2:45 pm. Only 45 minutes left. 

"Bunny, calm down…" Simon tried in a soft low voice. 

"I'm so excited!" You said jumping up and down in front of him. 

His eyes softened instantly. Your smile had that power over him. 

"Alright, let's go! Price's waiting for us on base." Gaz said heading for the door. 

You grabbed Simon's hand pulling him toward the door. 

You were quick to arrive there, meeting Price, Laswell and Hopkins. 

You were all chatting when the plane finally arrived. The crushing wind made your hair fly. You were so excited though. 

You rushed to it as it finally turned off the motors. 

You waited patiently. The civil plane contrasted with all the military equipment. The small white jet was too normal. The door opened, the stairs falling into place. The first face to show up was a woman, a child in her arms. It was probably around 5. You jumped up and down, her face lighting up once she saw you. 

"BISHOP!" You called. 

The dark haired woman walked down the stairs. Her bright blue eyes were shining. Her pretty reddish lips made her look like a porcelain doll.  

"Oh my god Sparrow!! It's been such a long time!!" 

She hugged you, the child whining at the crushing hug. 

"Sorry, hi Tyler!" You smiled at him. 

He smiled at you, waving. 

A second face popped at the entrance. More like a mask. The fox-like mask hid their face. Their blond reddish hair curled their way to their shoulders. 

"They haven't lost their shyness." Bishop commented. 

"Hey Grim!" 

The person's head perked up, now walking down the stairs to you. You smiled at them as they headed to your arms. You tightly hugged them. 

"I'm sorry to drag you into this… I promise you're safe…" 

"I know" the shy voice said. 

You held their hands squeezing comfortingly. 

"God! Sparrow, you get me out of my basement for this?" 

You turned to the man walking down the stairs. The chubby man with glasses grumpily looked around. 

"Hey Carkeys." You called in a chuckle. 

He rolled his eyes at the nickname making Bishop and Grim laugh a bit. 

"You'll love it here I promise!" 

"I doubt that.." he groaned, now pouting like a child. 

The two last person's walked down the stairs, now looking around until they reached the rest of you. 

"Hi Aquila!" you greeted.

The short white haired girl looked at you, throwing you a smile. The scars across her nose and lips moved with the action.

"Hi Sparrow" she greeted back with a smile. 

You looked at the other person. The redhead's eyes filled with tears. You embraced her. 

"Hey Liza…" you whispered. 

You hadn't seen her in years. The last missions you were in together had ended badly. She was sent to the UK for protection ever since. 

She smiled at you. 

You smiled at everyone, looking at them. 

"Come on, Sparrow, don't start!" Car-Keys warned. 

"Aww look at her looking at us like we're her kids." Bishop added. 

"Aren't we?" Grim added. 

"We are..?" Aquila questioned. 

You laughed a bit. 

"Alright, come on!" 

You walked towards the rest of the squad now waiting. 

"So guys, here's Sergeant John Soap McTavish." 

You noticed Bishop's eyes looking at Soap intensely. He returned her look. You smiled. 

"Here's Konig." 

He waved shyly. 

"This is Kyle Gaz Garrick" 

He winked at everyone. 

"Captain John Price" 

This time it was Liza, or Coyote, to blush under Price's gaze. 

This was promising to be interesting. 

"And… this is…" you bit your lips as he looked at you. 

"Lieutenant Ghost Riley…" you instructed, eyes never leaving him. 

"You guys hooking up?" 

You slowly turned to Carkeys. Everyone smiling. 

"Yes. Actually. He's my boyfriend." 

Bishop and Coyote cheered, Grim and Aquila congratulating you a bit more calmly. 

"Where can I get one?" Bishop asked. 

"Well you know… I'm free" Soap flirted openly. 

You shared a look with Simon. 

You turned to your team and presented them one by one. 

"Well. I hope everyone gets along. You'll be working on this mission." Laswell added. 

"The house right in front of mine was prepared for you guys!" You jumped happily. 

"Let's go!!" 

The team was given time to settle in their new space. Car-Keys kept mumbling about his brand-new PC and how  all the care in the world wasn't enough. Most of them had insisted on bringing their own equipment which you completely understood. 

You had started working 4 days after they arrived. Meanwhile, they'd spend almost every evening over at your house. You were truly happy with how everyone was getting along. Simon was a bit overwhelmed, this time it was too much in the house. 

He found comfort in the moments of peace, once everyone was sleeping, cuddling in either his or your bed. 

The more you worked with the team, the easier it was to untangle all of the information. It became clearer to see there was more than one cartel involved. Two were extremely close, the two cartel bosses being brothers. They worked closely with other cartels. This was a gold mine.  If you caught these two, and got their Intel, you'd be able to take down several cartels. Unfortunately. The new Intel and new information was enough to send the squad on the field. 

The news had fallen as the boys were training. You were anxious. Worried. You were on edge and it showed. 

That night once you were home, you walked into your room, hiding there for a little while. Simon had come to check on you. 

"Y/N, tell me what's wrong." He asked as he sat next to you on the bed. 

You bit your lip, not knowing what to say out loud. 

"I'm.. scared." You admitted. 

He took off his mask, looking at you. 

"What are you scared of?" 

"Are you… going to push me away… again?" 

He blinked a few times before it clicked. 

"Fuck baby… no… of course not." 

He picked you up, making you sit on his lap. 

"No… I'm not darling." 

He kissed you, relieving the weight on your shoulders. 

"I'm also worried… about the mission. This is dangerous." You explained. 

"I know darling… but you got to trust me… this is going to be ok." 

You smiled at him, anxiousness still present. You let him cuddle you, slip his fingers through your hair. You let him comfort your heart. 

The next week you jumped in between work and spending time with Simon before he left. You wanted him to stay. You were worried. Something felt heavy. 

You sat on his bed as he prepared his bag. You watched silently, the crush of sadness filling the air. 

"Darling. Breath. It's ok." He said in a soft voice. 

You sighed. 

"I know. But I'm anxious." 

"I'll be back. You know it." 

"Promise?" 

"Promise Darling." 

You smiled. You watched his big hands grab pieces of clothing, spares masks. 

"Good. Cuz I got plans for us." You teased. 

"Plans?" He chuckled. 

"Yes!" You giggled. 

"I'm curious. Tell me more." 

"We'll have a pretty house." You started. 

He stopped his actions, looking at you. He was glued to your every word. 

"Not too far from the boys, so we can have barbecues and movie nights!" You smiled. 

He shook his head but kept watching you. 

"We'll have a big bed… we'll wake up to each other too. I'll make us breakfast while wearing your shirt." You told, like an old fairytale, that it just made sense. 

His eyes softened the more you spoke. 

"We'll have pets!" You sat up excited. 

"A dog." He spoke, leaving little room for compromise.

You laughed. 

"A dog! A pretty dog we'll play fetch with and cuddle." You smiled at him. 

You felt your heart race at the look of adoration in his eyes. Adoration for you. 

"Ok." He said. 

You stared at each other. A silent vow linking each other in a promise your souls bound each other to. 

"Ok." He repeated. 

You felt tears drowning your sight as you jumped from the bed to his arms. He held you tightly, for a long while. He let his forehead touch yours, breath dancing on each other's lips. The taste of them was a mix of bittersweet and soft craving. Something that deep in your hearts engraved each other's names. He backed you up until he lowered you on his bed. He topped you, owning your lips. Legs wrapping around his waist. You separated with pants and bedroom eyes. 

"Simon… I… listen. I need to say it." 

He looked confused. 

"And, you don't have to say it back. But…" 

You loved this. The way you could have his full attention with just a few words. The way he was on his knees for you. 

"I love you…" 

His breath quickened. You weren't expecting an answer. 

"Fuck…" he cursed. 

His lips found yours again, much more desperate, claiming. He wouldn't say it. Not yet. But fuck. He'd show you. How he had built a throne in his heart where you sat prettily. He'd make love to you until all you could remember was his taste on your lips. His touch in your dreams. The way he made you feel when filled you. He'd bite every inch of you, leaving little red marks so you'd remember him each time. 

He'd make sure these bed sheets smelled like you. Like him. Like the two of you. You didn't know. But he'll show you. What those words did to him. 

He'd love you more than words could ever describe.

----------

Also... be prepared. you are going to hate me so hard

[ivors-potion]

THEYRE HERE!! Go get your very own minecraft story mode charms and stickers!! Very soon I’ll be releasing batch number two including:

Radar

Stella

Gil

Maya

Xara

Gabriel

They should be up next week as pre-orders!

[bumblinv]

--- 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨 !

daily life as a part of the phantom thieves

contents akira, ann, yusuke, makoto, futaba x gn!reader

forgetting to bring an umbrella in a rainy day means arriving home soaked, cause you and ryuji both ran through the rain. his blazer he used to shield you both barely keeping any of you dry

imagine teaching makoto how to gossip cause missgirl doesn't understand the fun of it

thinking of bonding with futaba by beating minecraft together. you two got the ender dragon down after just 10 hours of gameplay, with full on enchanted diamond armors and swords. she had done this countless time you dont have to worry about a damn thing

yusuke takes modern art seriously, like he would shot ryuji an offended look if he laugh or talk about how ridiculous any of it looks

at some point of time, after they got back from the nastiest, stinkiest, most shitty smelling part of mementos, akira would bathe morgana despite his protests. he doesn't want any of that on his bed

yusuke lets his brushes marinate in a jar of water for months

window shopping with ann... imagine going through the entire mall for hours without actually buying anything and ending the day at her favourite crepe place

ryuji loosing banks cause everyone keeps beating his ass at mario kart 😭😭

try encouraging makoto to open up more. despite her being the best listener, she never really got anyone to share her thoughts and stories to

i know futaba is that one person ordering nuggets and fries when the rest are having boiled seafood

despite people viewing him badly cause he got a criminal record, akira still attracts many chicks at school and he knows

ryuji was the famous class clown, but everything went downhill for him after the track team incident

i can see makoto being the mother of the group, making sure everyone is well fed and will heal everyone's injuries when infiltrating palaces. her scolding would rip through the air everytime someone does something reckless

[kebriones]

Classical athens minecraft server:

Pericles and Pheidias have built the spawn town, the nether railway and all the farms. Pericles has a tax system and he WILL collect the taxes or you'll lose everything. Obsessed with safety, you won't find a dark corner missed in the entire spawn town. They've made some fancy buildings out of blocks of netherite as a flex.

Plato only comes on the server to complain. He has a stone house and he secretly frees villagers from villager farms/trading halls.

Aspasia is the moderator and server owner. Everyone's afraid of her, but sometimes she gives nice gifts to people. She's usually flying around in creative mode.

Socrates is chronically broke. He keeps dying and losing everything. He's usually running around without armor on and hasn't really bothered to build a proper house. He just has some chests, a bed, half a wall, a ceiling and an eternally cold strider for some unknown reason. He hates mining and building but will spend hours fishing while talking with friends.

Alcibiades has a fancy complex base, and a fancier backup base in a secret location. He will summon the wither with zero regard for anyone around him whenever he feels like it. Sometimes he does it as a joke. He hoards diamonds and then impulse-spends them on stupid things like skeleton horses or blue axolotls. He has a bunch of dogs, a ton of horses and an army of axolotls. He is the designated ocean monument cleaner of the server. If you need an ocean monument prepped, he's your guy. He's always giving Socrates free netherite gear and food. He's the reason Socrates isn't starving to death most of the time. He's always begging for more texture packs and mods to be added to the server.

Nicias logs into the server rarely, but he's the one who ran a massive operation to breed a blue axolotl. He occasionally helps with moderation.

Hipponicus is the one who's in charge of the villager trading hall.

Xanthippe and Hipparete have cute houses by a river. Xanthippe has given Hipparete tridents to throw at Alcibiades whenever he bothers her. They have a flower and dye shop and have two hundred bees that hipparete has named with enormous care. She used to live with Alcibiades but he was always picking fights with her bees and not letting her build anything in their base.

Thucydides is the lore master of the server. He is very loyal to the lore and will get upset at whoever is ignoring his sacred server canon. He is always in need of book-and-quills and storage for them.

Aristophanes' base is a frog haven full of booby traps and practical jokes. He hates everyone and doesn't interact much with others on the server.

Euripides makes life size dioramas with trapped villagers and other mobs inside that tell tragic stories. He's the one most excited to play his lore part properly and he is always leading the storyline to drama.

Diotima has dug the largest strip mine underneath everything. It's tens of thousands of blocks in each direction. Nobody knows about it. She has a massive stock of diamonds and other ore. Her XP level is the highest in the server. She only hangs out with Socrates. Nobody knows what she does on the server, she never speaks to anyone else but she's almost always online. Digging. Nobody knows she had beaten multiple wardens using, you guessed it. Ladders. She also beat the ender dragon but never told anyone so now everyone thinks it was Alcibiades that did it.

[16ciggy]

types of piercings the jjk characters would get (wlw included, some sex scenes a lil, i kinda got carried away and wrote an entire story for sukuna bc i love him.... mb guys)

reader is in love with piercings btw

[ NOBARA , YUJI , MEGUMI , GOJO , TOJI , GETO AND SUKUNA INCLUDED ]

SATORU GOJO

i think bro wouldn't really wanna 'mess' up anything much and would go for normal ear piercings (if he wanted it) and that's that. "piercings? on my face or body elsewhere??? why would i do that?" he'd say, his face turning sour when being asked if he would pierce his face or body in any way. he doesn't want some metal pierce through his body or face at all, he'd definitely feel grossed out too by knowing something is within his skin and staying in there FOREVER. you both had a conversation about how gojo might enhance his appearance if he were to get piercings and he immediately said 'no'. buuuuttttt that doesn't mean he disregards your passion and love for piercings either, he has come by your shop to watch you pierce your clients or discuss with them on the desired piercings your clients wants. some of them even ended up becoming your friends too–gojo is in awe when he sees on how much of a social butterfly you are, he's proud of your work and he is in love with the way you do things with piercings too. he always asks on how were the piercings that you've done for your clients and you'd always give a full on detail on how it went, sometimes he can't even believe his own ears on what types of piercings you did—let alone, them even existing...

TOJI

hmmmmmm.... eyebrows piercing for SURE. i can imagine it,, he would even like it too. he'd grin at himself as he admire his piercing through those eyebrows of his. he'd probably have a king's crown piercing too (a ring pierced through the head of the dick) and he'll talk so much of it, but why? he just wants to add some extra feeling for you when he fucks you down on that ol'rotting couch of his—you could feel it too and it felt a bit weird at first to experience your boyfriend's ring inside of you but you gradually got over it and agreed that it helped to spice up the sex.

SUGURU GETO

he never really thought too much of having piercings but he wouldn't mind more. one day he decided to get a tongue piercing to reduce the taste of the cursed spirits he swallows because he couldn't falter the taste of them, the tongue piercing did help somewhat but he was also afraid that he might end up swallowing the piercing too—but you reassure him that nothing bad will happen, he smiles and kisses you, "god, your lips are the best to taste after every cursed spirit."

NOBARA

either snake or spider bites tbh (two rings either pierced by the side or opposites by each other on the lips) she says that it makes her look cool and she HATES IT whenever men are like "no one is gonna want you with those piercings.. it makes you less ladylike.", she HATESSSS IT. because, shes's doing it for YOU because you liked them. even though she seems like a heartless jerk, she loves like a golden retriever. you can't count how many times she has done these cute things like building a house for you in minecraft or buying your favourite desserts when you're on your period. "baby, im going for a mission, i'll be back later. love you, my angel." she kisses your forehead so gently before walking out the door and only for her lip piercings to be returned back to you. you were never given a reason on what happened, not even one ounce of word spoken by these random group of sorcerers. one shibuya night turned into a nightmare and you never saw your girlfriend ever again.

YUJI ITADORI

he'd have his tooth pierced with your initial on it and he lets everyone know it by flashing a big smile almost all the time. you warn him of smile lines and he'd simply just grin at you and laugh, "at least these smile lines were mostly by you!", you ruffle his hair as he laid his head on your shoulders before pulling your waist in closer to his body. he was never a big fan of piercings either—until he met you, an individual whom was fond of piercings and he decided to just have your initial pierced right on his tooth; his strongest appearance happens to be his smile too.

MEGUMI FUSHIGURO

ooooohh..... hot take.. but he'd definitely be a quiet punk when hes not a sorcerer in the day time. he has nipple piercings, ear piercings, eyebrow, lips—you name em. there's no specifics too because he has a LOT of them. he defo paints his nails black too. when you both bumped into eachother in shibuya at night you did not expect to see gojo's son just having those amount of piercings and even hid it perfectly WELL. your hormones were suddenly RAGING when you saw him, you just had to fuck him so badly otherwise you'd go feral. megumi didn't mind tho because he kinda had a major big crush on you and he wasn't worried about his dick but thats when you got even surprised. because.... well... he got piercings on them too, he really did follow his biological dad. "aw, you scared im gonna eat you or sum'thing? cute." he smirks, getting closer to you and your heart racing even more when his cock is just getting nearer to your face—next thing you know, you were getting choked on it with the metal piercings just gauging down your throat as it hit every walls within it. "fuck— never knew you could suck dick—" he grunts, trying to hold in his moans with his hands clutching on to his mouth for dear's life.

SUKUNA RYOMEN

ear piercings + septum piercing. his face is already scary enough and with that nose piercing already adds in a whole'nother fear when people glances or even looks in his direction. "tsk. it's just a nose piercing, why does every human gotta act like a brat?" he sighs. heavily. he's deeply annoyed in how everyone is afraid of him, he's trying to be a bit nicer now because of you. but that isn't anyone's fault to be afraid of the king of curses either. he sits up from his throne and walks down the flight of stairs to look for you. when he spots you cleaning the hallway with a half assed broken broom, he walks towards you quietly and calls out your name loudly which scared you, "(Y/N). My room, now.", you nodded quickly and thought he just needed to relieve himself. when you arrived into his room, you locked the door behind you and got to undressin— "stop that. that's not what i asked you to come here for." he states, clearing out his throat while he prepared what to say next, "Am I terrifying?" he asks. you just stared at him and the corner of your lips started to curl into a smile, then slowly a giggle. "is this why you asked me to come? yes, you are terrifying." you smiled and he grumbled in annoyance. "then??? how am i suppose to become 'gentle'?!" he roars, jolting up from the edge of the bed, "gentle? why do you want to be gentle?" you asked confusingly, staring into his dull eyes until it clicked. you told him a few weeks ago you were into men who were gentle and not rough, was this why his sex style changed too? this is the man who pounded your back everyday of the week until you were crying from pleasure, now he's kissing your neck and gently holding your thighs up as he's thrusting into your pussy until you're soaking wet when you are getting fucked lately. "it's because on what you told me!" he cocks his head in annoyance, his feet slapping the floor constantly while his arms were crossed. you laughed non stop until he felt embarrassed, you touched his arm and he quickly jerked away from it. "don't be like that, you can still look scary but be gentle, my love—", you wheezed, trying to get a hold of your breathing but you just.. couldn't. this shit was too funny. "people looks at me differently with the septum piercing. do i look more scarier with it??" he asks, he looks so serious—you can't- no way, no way in hell he is acting like a kid over what you said. you comforted him in the end after you stopped laughing but he was still mad at your reaction.

[aphverse-confessions]

Maybe this is too obscure but I'm kinda disappointed by the lack of polyam characters/art in this fandom. The "has two hands mentality" literally changed my life and when I looked at Aphverse stuff, especially Minecraft Diaries with Garroth, Laurance and Aphmau and it just feels like the obvious solution to me. I just feel like there's a lot of untapped potential for polyamory in these stories especially given how much the fandom loves shopping.

.

[dazzlerazz]

Ways Razz Has Made His Gaming Experience Worse

-Use exactly one single gun in Fallout 4, never mod it ever, got it early game and somehow found enough ammoto reach level 83 (still have not beat the main story)

-Forgot reclassing was a thing in first Fire Emblem Engage playthrough. Went through the entire game only at base classes at level 20. Never ingrained any weapons, never upgraded any weapons, never used potions or meals or any items, because "might need it later". Never got bond rings, never got emblem skills either

-Use exclusively stone or wood tools in Minecraft despite having access to better materials also because "I might need it later"

-Never use any weapons better than steel in Fire Emblem Three Houses, beat the game five times

-Never made a single device in Tears of the Kingdom because "I'd waste the materials". Inventory is consistently maxed out

-Barely upgrade anything in Hades, somehow beat the main story in 42 runs

-Ignored parrying entirely in Breath of the Wild, only learned after speaking with a friend when leaving game paused for a break in the middle of the Ganon fight

-Dark Souls

-Almost never upgraded ship in AC4, somehow took down two legendary ships

-Kept using bamboo pole in Stardew Valley until level 10, then bought iridium pole out of just sheer frustration one day. Also never used bait nor bobbers for a while until after browsing some wikis

-Almost never used items in Octopath Traveler 2, relying excuslively on level ups even into the 60s. Also never bought a single thing from a shop until the final chapter of the game

-Using bare fists in Fallout New Vegas

-Played a visual novel that used hearts as a currency to unlock extra scenes. Still had 300 hearts when it discontinued, average extra scene cost was 12

-Played on Hard Mode for Fire Emblem Three Hopes, vowing to get S rank in every battle, including notoriously difficult endgame maps. Never bought shit from the store. Played through six times without not one unit going down ever even in casual mode

-Refuses to sell ANYTHING in Palia except for stuff I can easily get again. My 50,000 empire was built exclusively off the back of cloth selling

-Gets paralyzed by making choices in Mass Effect. Elect not to play it.

-Never once used a potion in skyrim outside of health potions. Never enchant, never do alchemy, barely buy from shops. Have beat the game multiple times and will continue to do so

And probably much more from my childhood that I am forgetting

[green-guy-showdown]

Who is the greenest guy?

Official Bracket! (posting polls soon)

i split it into two cause there were so many characters but we’ll just pretend they’re in the same one but wave 1 and 2.

full list:

wave 1:

1. The Green Giant (Vegetables) vs Larry the Cucumber (Veggietales)

2. Tsuyu Asui/Froppy (BNHA) vs Sergeant Frog (Sergeant Frog/Keroro Gunso)

3. Rex (Toy Story) vs Yee Dinosaur (yee)

4. Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors) vs Poison Ivy (DC)

5. CATS (Zero Wing) vs Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck)

6. Shego (Kim Possible) vs Fjord Stone (Critical Role)

7. GIR (Invader Zim) vs Green Cat (Tumblr)

8. Venus McFlytrap (Monster High) vs Bulbasaur (Pokémon)

9. Duo (Duolingo) vs Midori (Your Turn to Die)

10. Green Crewmate (Among Us) vs Dipsy (Teletubbies)

11. Peter Pan (Peter Pan) vs Link (Legend of Zelda)

12. Clover Cookie (Cookie Run) vs Ralsei (Deltarune)

13. Peridot (Steven Universe) vs Riz Gukgak (Dimension 20)

14. The Riddler (DC) vs The Onceler (The Lorax)

15. Toph Beifong (Avatar: TLAB) vs Lloyd Garmadon (Ninjago)

16. Tinker Bell (Peter Pan + More) vs Lucky the Leprechaun

Wave 2

1. Foo Fighters (JJBA) vs Flayn (Fire Emblem)

2. Lettuce (Tokyo Mew Mew) vs Sailor Neptune (Sailor Moon)

3. Scourge the Hedgehog (Sonic) vs Duck (DHMIS)

4. Gumi (Vocaloid) vs Murdoc (Gorillaz)

5. Izuku Midoriya/Deku (BNHA) vs Gon Freeccs (Hunter x Hunter)

6. Shrek (Shrek) vs The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

7. Shaggy (Scooby Doo) vs Bruno (Encanto)

8. Pidge (Voltron) vs Cringer (He-man)

9. Snufkin (Moomin) vs Mike Wazowski (Monsters Inc.)

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (yea) vs Vector the Crocodile (Sonic)

11. Ashton Greymoore (Critical Role) vs Zoro (One Piece)

12. Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street) vs Elphaba (Wicked)

13. Yoda (Star Wars) vs Luigi (Super Mario)

14. D’Vana Tendi (Star Trek: Below Decks) vs Venti (Genshin Impact)

15. Yoshi (Super Mario) vs Tiana and Naveen (Princess and the Frog)

16. Creeper (Minecraft) vs Test Tube (Inanimate Insanity)

[mama-qwerty]

The Big List of Qwerty Writing

This combines both my Snippets and Shorties lists, and separates them by category. So if you have a bigger interest in Eclipse stories, or Knuckles angst, it'll be easy to find what you're looking for. (The categories are in alphabetical order.)

Updated 2-26-24

~~~~~

Callie Stuff

A Bad Idea Made Better - (kind of a Knucklesverse piece) New Beginnings - gift for @doomfox - some Callie x Wade Dress to Impress An Evening Yule Remember - some Callie x Wade for ya Chaotix Babysit Badly Base Instincts Shopping with Silver Meeting Robotnik Meeting Sonic Two Dorks Fail at Flirting - check out the comic @katlyntheartist drew for this snippet, it's so goood! Chaotix & Callie The Reluctant Tutor

~~~

Darkling Wade

Feral Days - a preview of a larger story I have in mind but may never get to What's Right In Front Of You At the Lake The Hiss Instincts Qwertyverse Edition Darkling Wade and Callie - this version's based on @stillafanofsonic and @doomfox original Darkling Wade universe

~~~

Eclipse Shenanigans

Guitar Amp Being Godly Bad Memories Eclipse vs Broccoli Minecraft Eclipse and the Post Little and Broken Eclipse Goes Shopping Eclipse Goes Shopping pt 2 Eclipse's Splinter Eclipse in Springtime Eclipse and Dorothy Eclipse and Snow Eclipse's Stuff Eclipse's Favorite Color Eclipse Does Good Eclipse Loses Eclipse Loses pt 2 The Rock The Spat Eclipse vs Lobsters Eclipse Throws Up Eclipse and the Litter Boxes Wade and Eclipse's Pounce Game Mom Said No Eclipse's First Check-Up Eclipse Totally Isn't Cuddling Back Scratch Daddy Eclipse The Truth About the Child Leash

~~~

Knuckles Angst

Corruption Overload The Last Time - inspired by a drawing by @spoiledskullz Possessed Knuckles - inspired by a comic by @knuckie-head Birth of Power - inspired by a post by @movie-robotnik-positivity Soft Comfort Blind Stare Surprise Save The First Loss - inspired by a post by @aphantimes Tainted Energy - inspired by a comic by @guardian-of-da-gay Tainted Energy pt 2 Drained Chaos Knuckles and Child

~~~

Knucklesverse (some links will take you to the @the-knucklesverse blog)

Dark Deception Deep Thoughts A Brush of Comfort Seeking Council Stronger Together Dressing Up The Standoff Same Difference Playing a Round You're Not Me Unintentional Insult The Bonkening A Dark Discussion Callie's Arrival Little Z's Arrival Alone Together

~~~

Misc Pieces

Weird Company - a gift for @anartistwhowrites The Curious Case of Miles Prower - inspired by the art of @dakt37 for a de-aged Tails Lost and Found

~~~

Shadow Bits

After Treatments The Bite Hide the Hog Meeting Shadow

~~~

Wachowski Boys

Knuckles' Pumpkin - inspired by a drawing by @katlyntheartist Wachowski Halloween Poking and Protection - commission for @biconic-disaster25 Tom and Tails Bonding Sneaking In - inspired by art by @quazart Drone Home Sonic Babysits Sonic's 1st Birthday Mom's Done

[thesillyguyy]

Is it me, or are long text posts just better when the text is shrunk? It's just very pleasing to me for some reason, and I really really like it. Makes me feel calm. I'm trying to recreate that, but uh. I'm running out of things to say. So I'm gonna tell yall some stories. But ✨️aesthetially✨️

First story - so I like playing minecraft. And a while ago I was playing this one survival world(I think it's deleted now but I'm not sure). I'm just wandering a snowy biome and trying to get out of it because I fucking HATE snowy biomes. So I eventually come across this ravine thing? It was like a cave with an opening at the top with a river at the bottom I guess? And I was crouched at the edge of the ravine thing, just looking down it because why not. While I'm doing that, a fucking POLAR BEAR comes from behind me and hits me into the fucking ravine, into the water, so that was fun. I almost drowned because that was a really deep river and a very high edge of the ravine so I almost drowned. :) 👍

Second story - so it's like may of 2020. It's covid, we're at home, etc etc. On our front porch, we have a roof thing over it with pillars at each corner of it. In the corners, where the pillar met the roof thing, a couple of birds made some nests. The one closest to our door was beginning to be made by a chickadee or a finch before a bluejay kicked it out and claimed the nest for itself(that's what my dad said he saw idk). The bluejay hung around for a while, occasionally flying away and bringing sticks or going to eat or something. This went on for like, 2-3 weeks. Then, one night, when my sister and I were waiting on the front porch to be picked up by my nana for a sleepover that weekend, we heard some tweeting from the nest. I saw maybe two baby bluejays, but a couple of days later, my mum said she saw at least four. That was pretty cool until a grackle came by and killed and ate three of the babies. I was pretty sad about that. But after that, I was very careful about watching that last baby when the mum wasn't around. After a good week or so, the baby was pretty grown, and I called him Baby because I was a stupid idiot baby then, and I thought, why not. My mum sat on the porch to smoke a lot in the spring and summer, so she saw the baby try to jump out of the nest multiple times, same as my dad when he sat out there with her, just talking. But one rainy day, I noticed that the baby bird was missing from its nest, and I had thought that he had jumped out and soon figured out how to fly. Or so I thought. Because couple of days later, when it was sunny again, I asked my mum if I could go on my bike. She said yes, so I grabbed the keys to the garage and the side gate. I grabbed my bike out of the garage and walked down the short path while talking to my mum(she sometimes sits out on the deck to smoke) about this dead baby robin I found on the sidewalk while biking one day when I realized I almost RAN OVER THE FUCKING BABAY BLUEJAY. the little fucker was just sitting right in the path without a care in the world. I told Mum, and she went inside to get a towel so we could move him out of the backyard because we had three very big dogs(rest in peace, Tank, I will love you forever) that would probably eat him without a second thought. After about 10 minutes of chasing him around, Mum says to leaving him alone where he was(being in the neighbors front garden, I think). So I go biking for a while and when I come back the little fucker is sitting in the path to the side, on one of those things you'd find in garden shops with bags of dirt on them ig? They were proped up against our garage, and the baby was sitting on the bottom part of it, scaring the living shit out of me. After I put my bike away, I come back to him, and I just sit on the ground in front of him. You know what happened. I fucking pet him. Like the awesome badass i am. He didn't even try to bite me or pull away, either. A few days pass by, and every night, he tries to fly out over our fence(and failing, resulting in faceplanting into the fence). After a while, he managed to climb into our lilac tree and hopped/flew into a bigger tree, and left. Didn't see him again after that. I also renamed him BJ. 👍👍👍

Yeah no I'm done with this tonight I just spent the last hour writing these so hope you have fun reading them holy fuck

I might do it again, though :)

[stitchthesewords]

Okay this is not a fully formed idea but I'm gonna put it here anyway -

So you know how empires s2 canonically is like, 1000 after s1. And you know how the hermits are currently on empires because of the rift. And you know how the rift is shown to move through space and time and not really have any rhyme or reason. And you know how all the hermits ARENT currently on empires [mostly because the ones who arent currently there also have other projects their doing {Vault Hunters, Ablockalypse, Create, Etho's singleplayer/inability to upload more than once a month, mumbo's vacation}]. AND you know how i just said I want to write polyhermits.

So what if, right. I'm imagining that the story starts out more minecrafty than fantasy, when it starts on the hermitcraft server [I don't think if I were to seriously write this, I would start it anywhere but when they all go back through the rift, but hear me out]. Think of like, those stories where its like uh, them on the server, and they're still clearly characters who live in this world, but also their lives are clearly playing the game minecraft. THEN when they go to empires, its becomes a little less minecrafty and a little more fantasy. There are villages with villagers in empires, whereas back home on hermitcraft they all just keep villagers in trading halls. There's some politics, a different economy, they're doing more fantasy stuff. And then they go to leave.

Remember how i pointed out empires season 2 is 1000 years after s1

So when the hermits on empires go back through the portal, they come out and its even more fantasy. Grian's basement is overgrown, overtaken. Grumbot isn't working anymore. He's rusted through, his screen is cracked. The content generator vats seemingly broke a long time ago. The whole thing looks like it's been worn down for centuries, cobwebs everywhere, moss everywhere, completely overtaken by the ground. And grian's base is fair no better. Bits of the buildings have collapsed, the one rock is completely overtaken by sculk, everything else is overgrown and the biggest rock is crumbling. Mumbo's vault looks like he built a little bit more onto it but it, too is overgrown.

Everyone's base is either like that or gone completely. Atlantis collapsed back into the sea. The waves have had time to smooth it over. Pearl's alien landscape has spread and it's competing with the natural order of things to grow over Gem and Impulse's bases. Everything is weathered and overgrown and looks like centuries have passed.

The villagers, at some point, escaped. The shopping district is no more, the Crastle is gone - and in their place is a city. It's no one's build style, it looks too...it's both simple but complicated. It's not a hermit's hand, that's for sure. And the place is packed full of citizens, of villagers.

The other thing is that the other hermits, the ones who didn't go through the rift - they're missing. No one can find them and they search everywhere. The Entity is missing too - or, well, not missing. It's planted itself right in the center of the new city, which is certainly not where Grian left it, and its changed. It has new bits hanging off it. It seems like the villagers are worshipping it.

The rift shut behind them again when they came through. It sealed them in this new world of hermitcraft, full of cities and town built in the ruins of their server and it plays by completely new rules - it's more fantasy, even moreso than Empires was, and the idea is that ther Hermits have to A. Get control of their server back if this even is a server anymore, B. Find the rest of their polycule, and C. adjust to life.

I'm picturing a like fantasy/post apocalypse style world and the hermits come back through and they are like. FAR more fantastical than they were when they left - Cleo's whole gorgon thing seems to be working concerningly well; she turned two people into statues on accident and they have to get her sunglasses. Scar's elf ears are back but this time they aren't like a party city costume. Ren and Doc are definitely even more hybrided than they were when they left, Cub has uh. Whatever cub has going on. Pearl and Gem and Impulse are are definitely leaning WAY MORE into their stories than they were [An miss LARPer finds she isn't quite LARPing anymore, these antlers don't come off]. And where did the other hermits go? Are they dead? Can the hermits even find them? Who knows.

[nerdhappenings]

youre a dsmp fan too! any dating headcanons? you can choose who you want. 🤭

I'd love to! I'll just do a few- I know there's so many. 😅 And I am doing this because it is so very very long.

Dream:

-Definitely prefers a casual date at home to going out -Gets the full snack spread -Lounging on the couch -Probably watching football, Youtube videos, streams or binging shows -Playing video games -He's way better at Minecraft than you -He teases you about it -"Did you just try to mine diamond with a stone pickaxe?" "I forGoT, okAY??" "*wheeze*" -He'll give you tips -Very patient -"That's okay, it took me a while to get the portal trick, too. Try again" -Don't even get me started on the manhunts -Will pick you up at any given moment -Bridal style, arms around your waist, whatever -He loves your size difference -Often gets you what you want when you're out shopping -He doesn't always, though -He has some self control and common sense -Will bring you back things that make him think of you while he's out by himself -It could be something he buys, or if he sees a rock or something he thinks you'd like -Very attentive -If you ask him to do something for you he usually will without question -"Sure; where is it?" "What do you need?" "You sure you only want one?" -He notices things, too -If you're having a bad day, he can tell -Takes you everywhere if he can -He feels more at home with you around -His love language is probably touch or quality time -Gives your head lots of kisses -Head kisses all day -I feel like he gives off a decent bit of body heat, too -Casual cuddler -He'll just have his arm on the back of the couch and you slide in -Bounces his music or video ideas off of you -He will sing a song he just wrote to you so you can give feedback -Private concerts -You stop and listen if you're walking by his room and happen to hear him singing quietly -He's written multiple songs about you -He's in the process of secretly writing a song that he wants you to duet with him -It's taking longer than normal because he wants it to be perfect -Definitely texts you "good morning" and "goodnight" every day -He doesn't really strike me as a pet name person -Maybe "baby" or "hun/hon" or something -He's fine with public displays of affection -Usually holding your hand or has his arm around you -You sometimes wear his clothes, but you're swimming in them -They're miles too long -Drista loves you -She shares very embarrassing stories about Dream -Dream is very happy the two of you get along -But he's slightly worried because you're partners in crime -I feel like he also has a good sense of work/life balance -He shares everything with you -You're either his best friend or right behind Sapnap

Sapnap:

-Speaking of the devil... -I feel like Sapnap also prefers "stay at home" dates -Watching basketball -You definitely argue about your favorite teams -"The Rockets are so bad this year, babe" "Oh yeah? The (favorite team) aren't doing so great, either" "Better than the Rockets" -Playing video games -Takeout -He'll sometimes cook for you, though -Sapnap takes you to shoot hoops -Gives you tips whether you need them or not -You play H.O.R.S.E. and he definitely gloats if he wins -If you win though, he always has some sort of excuse -"You were distracting me" "The sun was in my eyes" "You're lucky" -You know he's just teasing though -You tease each other a lot- that's just your dynamic -He also plays chess with you every Thursday night -He greatly looks forward to it -Sometimes you'll play earlier in the week too if Sapnap simply cannot wait -If you mention you like something while you're out shopping he'll make a mental note and get it for you for Christmas or your birthday or something -Very thoughtful, but also practical with his gifts -"You already have one of those" -Generally thinks you look good in everything but is always honest -"I think I liked the other color better" -He also likes flustering you -"I like the shorter one," he'd say with a wink and crooked grin -You'd turn a little red in the ears and smack him with whatever happened to be near you -This man is also always buying food -He'll take you for gym dates, too -He'll spot you if you need/want -Will give guys dirty looks if he thinks they're staring too long -He knows you can take care of yourself, but you know he enjoys his masculinity so you let him unless it's personal -He loves when you get along with his friends -He knows you're faithful, but the poor sweetheart has some insecurities -Will send you silly selfies of what he's doing throughout the day -"I died to a creeper in hardcore mode 😭😒" is the caption of a Minecraft death screen picture -Will also send you pictures of things that remind him of you, no matter how small or silly they are -Sometimes they're totally random -"This rug reminded me of you" (with picture attached) -Probably because he's always thinking of you -Like Dream, he's pretty attentive, but he's more likely to laugh a little, look back at his phone and ask "why can't you get it?" -He's not being mean though- he just can't see a reason you can't -"You have legs", he'd tell you -Love language is physical touch -Change my mind -Always has a hand on you -I feel like he also gives off a ton of body heat -Also is constantly draping himself on you or hugging you -Front or back- it doesn't matter -He will also nestle his face into your hair and/or neck at any given moment -Cuddles. Cuddles forever -Spooning -He just loves holding you -Not really one for public kisses, but he's also always holding your hand -If you're sitting next to each other at the house he'll have his hand on your thigh, holding your hand or his arm across your shoulders -Will sometimes put his legs/feet across/on your lap -If you have your feet or legs on his lap, you better believe he's just resting his hand on them -You also love to stroke his hair -You definitely wear his clothes, too -They are also miles too big, but more in width than length -(We stan short kings) -He knows you love his beard -He makes sure to stroke it a lot in front of you -He will rub his beard against your face a little during hugs or something -Even randomly just for fun and to tease you -Will also speak to you in Greek sometimes cause he knows you love that, too -If he gets riled up his Texan accent will come out -Sometimes you secretly rile him up on purpose just to hear it -I feel like he's one for pet names -Babe, baby, doll, darl', etc. -I gotta stop here before I talk about Sapnap forever

George:

-George is the most likely of the Dream Team to prefer dining out -Your taste in food is so different than his, (he's British), so you guys avoid specialty places -You go on walks after dinner -"Gotta burn all the calories we just ate" -Really it's just to spend more time together -You also get to show George around so he can try to get more familiar with the town -You excitedly point out your favorite places -George only glances at it briefly before looking back at you -He loves when your eyes light up as you talk about something you care about -Doesn't stop him from teasing you about it, though -George will often point at things going "what on earth is thAt?" -You have to explain the American (or your preference) culture -Loves shopping for knick knacks but hates shopping for clothes -"EUuugh. How long are we going to be here?" -Will sometimes get you things when you comment on them -Will also sometimes remark "why would you want that?" -Dude simply doesn't understand -He's also sometimes teasing, though -Will buy you lots of random stuff, even if you only mentioned liking something once -You mentioned one time that elephants are cute? Well good, cause George is buying you every single thing he sees with elephants on them, now -If George knows gossip, you'd better believe he's going to you first -Most likely to tell you "go get it yourself" if you want something -I'm honestly not sure what his love language would be -Maybe receiving gifts or words of affirmation -You get him something once a week because of this -Also because he's always giving you things and you feel bad -George's clothes are also a little big on you, but it's not too bad -He probably only has a couple pet names for you -Darling, love, babe, baby...classic British stuff, ya know-

Karl:

-Karl will flip flop between going out or eating at home -He always wants it to be a surprise what's for dinner -Probably buys you candy or flowers or something -It's cheesy and he knows it -He plays video games with you -He loves trolling you both in the games, making your task harder, and in real life -Definitely pulls a prank on you at least once every few months -He'd do that giggle of his and go "you still love me, right?" with a smile on his face -He knows you do, though -Karl points at random stuff in the store more than you do -He'll pick stuff up and play with it, doing silly voices for whatever it is -If you ask him to do something he'll do it -Will also use it against you in the future -"I got your phone from off the counter for you, you can bring me my shoes" -I'm not sure about love language for him, either -Whatever it is, you make sure to give it to him -You listen to him as he rambles about whatever he's excited about -He tells you things about Banter before he tells Sapnap and George -"We just hit ___ million subscribers on Banter" "We're getting ____ as the guest for Banter next week" -Karl will also hold your hand in public -He'll swing your arms wildly when you walk from place to place -I feel like Karl doesn't use many pet names, either -Maybe stuff like "honey", "love" or "babe" -Karl's clothes are also too long for you

Foolish:

-Will also dine in or do takeout -Loves movie nights -Curling up together with a blanket on the couch -Matching pajamas -Dancing in the living room -Both sweet/slow and silly -Loudly singing off key as the radio plays -He will sometimes quietly sing to you, though -It's very sweet -Loves board/card games -You're way better at them than him, though -You sometimes let him win -Will also take you on gym dates -Has full confidence in your abilities and will sometimes give you more than you can manage -Nobody bothers you because Foolish is kinda tall and a large lad and while he's the sweetest guy ever, people don't know that -Also buys you candy and flowers -He doesn't think it's cheesy, he's just very genuine -He's genuine about everything, let's be honest -You have to rein in Foolish when you go shopping -He wants everything -"Foolish, that's not at all practical." "But it's so cute!" -Also very attentive -He doesn't notice much though, so you have to ask/tell him -Usually will comply without complaint -His love language I would guess is quality time -He always wants to spend time with you -It doesn't even have to be dates -Dude will take you with him to do banking -He uses all the pet names -Babe, baby, angel, love, sweetheart, honey, darling, dear.... -I can hear all of those coming out of his mouth -You love wearing his clothes -They are also large on you but you love it -I feel like if something's bothering him you have to drag it out of him -He doesn't want to ruin your mood just because he's having a bad day -Cuddles -He doesn't mind PDA -He'll hold your hand while you're out -Forehead kisses -He'll kiss you on the mouth if you're out sometimes, too -Very considerate and sweet man

Wilbur:

-Wilbur also will do dine in or takeout, but I feel like he prefers dine in -Loves taking you places -Parks, theaters, some pretty lake that he saw, anything -He probably writes songs about you -"You're my muse, darling" -If you can play an instrument, he'll play with you all the time -If you can't play, he'll perform for you -He definitely takes you on tour with him -"You're my good luck charm" -You wear his glasses sometimes -He talks about you all the time -"She's just amazing, chat" -He sometimes will just randomly quiz you on some fancy words that he knows -Or speak to you in a different language and ask you what you think he said -Sometimes what he said was really sweet -Sometimes it was the most asinine thing you'd ever heard -I can see him just lounging on the couch with you in silence -In one hand he has a book -The other is stroking your hand or something -You're either reading, too, or just enjoying his company -You probably fall asleep cause you're laying on him -He's always wearing sweaters and it's very cozy -You wear his sweaters and the sleeves always go passed your hands -Wilbur makes fun of you for it -"Love, if it's impeding your tasks, why are you wearing it?" -He secretly thinks it's adorable, though -You point out things you like in a store -Wilbur points out things that amuse him (or that he thinks will amuse you) -He'll buy you something you like 80% of the time -He's fairly attentive, too -It depends on his mood, though -And if he's busy -He'll usually get you what you want, asking why you need it as he's already on his way -Love language is probably either words of affirmation or quality time -He lives for you telling him how much you love him -He also loves hearing what you love about him -His public affection is pretty minor, probably -He might hold your hand, depending -Or walk with an arm around your shoulders -But I think he's the most likely to not be huge on it -I feel like he uses a handful of pet names -Darling, (my) love, sweetheart.....probably a few more -I feel like "love" or "my love" and "darling" are his favorites, though -He loves taking you places with his friends

TommyInIt:

-Also probably prefers comfy home-dates -Often orders takeout -You'll sometimes make something, though -Definitely jokes about you doing "your assigned work as a woman" for several minutes before helping you -He's not very good at it -Plays video games with you all the time -Shopping is a chore if Tommy's with you -He is constantly running off to look at things -Will bring you stuff he found to make jokes with -"Put it back, Tommy" -Shopping takes twice as long as it used to -Or needs to -"I'm going to get you a child-leash if you keep this up" -It started out as a joke, but now you're seriously considering it -He's pretty attentive -He'll get you what you want -Will definitely complain about it the whole time, though -He's just messing with you and you know it -He usually notices something is bothering you, even if he doesn't know what -He'll come up to you and yell "self care day!" before dragging you out of your chair to do all of your favorite things -He's really very sweet -Will randomly yell "this is my girlfriend!!" -Love language is probably quality time -He wants to do everything with you -Has made multiple jokes that he's going to handcuff you to him so you can't leave him -I feel like he uses a few pet names -Baby, love, stuff like that -He also tries to come up with his own -"My sweet pickle" "Absolutely not" "My lovely linguine?" "No" "Beautiful bonzai?" "Um...no" -They aren't great -"My precious peach?" ".....That one's not bad" -Some work, though -His clothes fit you pretty well -So you often steal them -He has no idea where they go -Even if he sees you in them, he doesn't put two and two together -"You have a shirt like that, too!?? I can't find mine"

Sorry this took so long! I definitely got carried away....😅😅

[tigwex]

AHOY GAMERS!

Looking for a small Minecraft server to join? Join Creature Craft SMP!

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Creature Craft SMP is a modded, long established 1.18.2 Origins server running on Java that recently turned two years old! We’re a small’ish, 18+ LGBTQIA+ roleplay server with a bunch of cool mods, roleplay, built up factions and locations, extensive lore and most importantly a smallish tightly knit and inclusive community!

All levels of experience with minecraft, modded or vanilla, or minecraft roleplay are welcome, even if you’re totally new to one or all of them!

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► You can choose one of 24 different Origins and play your game with special abilities and downsides. You can also choose classes to further customise your playstyle and characters!

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——————————————————————————————————– The story and lore is based in a post-apocalypse world; The SMP tells the story of three worlds healing from a brutal, reality-rending apocalyptic extinction vent, the radiation-poisoned remains of which continue to be discovered, and which continue to pose danger to the worlds’ inhabitants. Yet even in the aftermath… Life also goes on as usual!

DM me on here for the discord invite! ^_^