#ok well mario is not really straight but still this is a joke-

[blankalisek]

Love how in The Mario Movie Mario went to heaven for being straight while Luigi went to hell for being gay/j

[el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle]

Things that Could Have Been, but Weren't

So, this post is just to highlight things/scenarios that the novela suggested and could have been but never happened:

Starting off with my fav, Hugo and Armando’s friendship: the episode where Armando goes to the gay bar ti apologize to Hugo lets us see that they don’t really hate each other. They really don’t. In that scene they joke and laugh like they’re the best of friends, until a random person confused them for a couple and Armando no longer wants to be there. Their “rivalry” is mainly strong differences related to work, as well as the influence of the era’s social prejudices/judgments (Armando, as a straight man, could not be seen being close friends with Hugo, an openly homosexual man, without people assuming he’s also gay, which back then was seen as shameful and we all know how much Armando cares about people’s opinions). That scene alone shows us that Hugo and Armando, were not for the social prejudice and Armando’s impossible goals, they could have been friends.

Roman's "date" with Marcela and Patricia. This possibility was just absolutely hilarous, to me, okay? I really wanted to see it: Marcela and Patricia in one of those clubs completely weirded out, maybe even having to dance with one of the guys. Could have been interesting to see more of Roman's character beyong the "brainless Bully" as the episode in which Patricia gets arrested suggests, when Roman says to Marcela that not everyone who isn't of her social class isn't a criminal tryibg to harm her. Could have been interesting to explore this more humbke side of Roman and to see Marcela (Patricia is very bland as a character at this point of the novela so whatever) possibly becoming more humble after spending time with then. (( im definitely going to write a one shot one day about this))

Daniel’s pursue of Betty. I’m not talking about acutally loving her, that’d be a bit too ooc, but the show clearly implied he had attraction towards her, and him giving up so easily after the dinner felt ooc. Daniel is VERY insistent, and he cares very little for a woman’s actual interest or consent.

Dr. Sánchez and Sandra’s date. Look. I just.... think it is too cute to let it slip, ok? Sandra deserved to find love. Dr. Sánchez had his issues with his pringuesitos that’s true, but that man just NEEDS AN OPPORTUNITY, OK? SHE CAN FIX HIM (or honestly they can fix each other because wtf was that of diminishing all short men's masculinity like that)

Betty's letter. We see a scene back when Betty didn't yet know of the plan but was already Armando's lover where she leaves a letter for Armando on his desk. Can you imagine how sould crushing it could have been if it had been a love letter and that Mario were to read it, and then later on he writes the Sinister Letter as a parallel to Betty's love letter? Oh, the drama, the tragedy, the cruelty!

Efraín and Sofía's reconciliation. I don't mean that they get back to being a couple, I mean for them both to forgive each other and have an actual amicable relationship after what happened when Efraín was in jail. Those scenes really led us on to believe they were going to heal; that Efraín was going to admit and understand that Jenny didn't love him. They don't have to even still be in love with each other (although it is heabily implied that Sofia still loves him), just to understand that they weren't right for each other anymore. To truly move on, ans for Efraín to reflect about how he failed Sofía and his own kids. For Sofía to see that Efraín stopped loving her because she was aggressive and distant before he cheated (not a justification for cheating, just explaining his view)

Injust think it would have been great to see all these things more explored jn the novela, because after all, it left it clear that they COULD happen!

[disjenyamembra]

long jenyapost

tldr: birthday went great, arguably the best one ive ever had

yesterday was actually insane. things went my way to an unbelievable extent

first of all, beautiful sunny day. building a faux lego set in the morning while listening to music from mario galaxy felt so good. got a solid chunk of change from my estranged relatives. went out to have breakfast. just a great start to a day. also saw like 6 magpies in the same area just chirping around right next to my house. i dont know how to express how much this stuff doesnt normally happen but it felt like they were wishing me happy birthday ! and of course all my human friends sent me their lovely well wishes too and everyone was very sweet. last year i felt like i hardly knew anyone, what a difference a year makes :)

went to a clothes swap afterwards, got a few cool things, but got somewhat socially drained and had to recharge for a bit. walked around with my friends around town, had some cocoa and got cozy. after that it was off to the concert. followed the local coastline and the sea was so beautiful that evening. it was already dark so you almost couldn't see the difference between the water and the sky. the waves were foaming tall and loud. i had the biggest urge to get in so i just stared at it as we were getting to the gig. it was so quiet that you could only hear the sea and sometimes when we'd walk next to parked sailboats all their hanging bits sounded like wind chimes.

we got to the gig venue super early because the organizers introduced a new punch card system and since we were regulars getting a freebie every once in a while seemed great. so we stand there in the que, waiting for the cards and tickets and see one of the singers. okay, this is normal, shes also the org, we see her all the time. then she looks at us and says hi. ok, still normal ish, happened a few times already. and then

"Congratulations, you won the giveaway for a free tattoo, happy birthday!"

i entered like a month ago and one of the entry criteria was to leave a comment about which band you were going to see and i was just like "all of them because its like exactly on my birthday, what are the chances". i did kind of say it because a) funny and b) "haha what if the decide to be a bit cheeky and rig it". so i was joking the whole day about how everything today is turning out my way and how im the worlds favorite and wouldnt it be sooooo funny if i also won the giveaway. and then it happened and it just felt like a copypasta in real life. i straight up squealed on the spot.

the gig itself was great. my friend got some merch, we had a few drinks. there were some acts ive never seen there before, one just moved here a month ago so i really wanted to show her a warm welcome and just vibed so hard to the music. i was the first one dancing and it was so so fun. when the crowd decided to finally wake up and get moving we moshed to a not at all moshable song and it felt so childish in the best way possible. one of the performances felt straight up hypnotic and we were all just in it together. one of my favorite things about going to concerts is that occasional feeling of downright religious unity with the crowd. like you are all this one thing on the floor at the whims of the music. its like magic every single time it happens. we were screaming their name it was sooooo good!!! and then they announced the headliner and everyone just lost it. we were singing along and just completely swept up in the moment.

i saw the frontwoman play in another band before and it was my favorite thing about this particular event back then. her songs were painful and at the time i was going through it so i connected with them instantly from the first time i went. ever since then i attended partially to sweat and scream out this pain. it helped me a lot but i cant deny in hindsight how heavy the experience was for me. so when she played those same old songs but with new people new sound and new meaning to it i felt healed. i danced and sung for its own sake. i felt like it was finally, definitively over, and i could leave that chapter of my life and all its sorrows behind me. her growth and mine happened to coincide in such a wonderful way. it felt like i was seeing a start of something greater then myself, someone who would go on to play stadiums.

and then the final band came on and i moshed so hard i felt like i was going to collapse at the end of it. as we went home she wished me happy birthday one last time and thanked us for coming. she briefly introduced me to my future tattoo artist and then on we went, out to the street and the sea.

i felt so happy just to be alive

[wiihtigo]

Churro matsu for character thingy

wow! with choro ill have done one of these things for all 6 of the matsunos. crazy. is that something to feel accomplished about

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them

hes so mean and spiteful and violent its so funny how at first everyone was like ohhhh ok so choro is the singular straight man in this band of freaks and as time goes on he just devolves and becomes a mean bitch. also i just always have a soft spot for the straight man trope (watched some gintama a while ago with some friends and instantly liked shinpachi) something about it just makes you wanna root for them, at least to me. If he was just a straight man and that was it that would be all well and good or whatever but the fact hes the most likely of any and all of them to say KILL YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when irritated in the slightest makes him my best friend

Umm actually i talked about ths before in private but im pretty endeared to choro because he reminds me of my youngest brother, both in his fashion and his personality LOL (is it a good or a bad thing that of my two brothers irl they respectively remind me of osomatsu and choromatsu) idk i think his dorky flannel shirt and khaki pants and the way he buttons his button up shirts all the way to the top is so cute to me lol like how hes so clearly dorky but he clearly doesnt even realize it himself. also my brother has a temper as well. i like a lot of things about choromatsu

least favorite thing about them

he has his gross moments. but aside from that is it a crime to say i dont find his over the top otaku moments as bad as a lot of ppl seem to. i just think its funnypathetic usually

favorite line

in s1 ep25 when theyre doing the montage of past episodes but like edited over to be about baseball and hes like THAT NEVER HAPPENED. THIS DIDNT HAPPEN EITHER (jyushimatsu in the mario kart episode scene) OK THIS HAPPENED BUT STILL its sooooooo funny. AH ALSO IN 25 WHEN HE GOT DRUNK WITH OSOMATSU AND STARTED JUST HECKLING THE REST OF THE TEAM WITH HIM. NOT A LINE BUT IT MAKES ME LAUGH SO HARD

brOTP

SOKUDOOOOOOO i love sokudo so much theyre so funny. the tsukkomi and boke. delinquent and honor student but theyre actually both bad. theyre such a duo sometimes i forget choro isnt the second eldest and then proceed to feel really bad for karamatsu. bringing my own family into matters again sokudo really reminds me of myself and my brother. i know what its like. (touches shoulder) i know what its like.

aside from them just being funny i just love how theyre such a team. moments like them getting drunk in 25 and osomatsu helping him calm down from an oncoming panic attack in the mt takao episode are such nice moments and im not even delving into everything with episode 24. so much to unpack there. i just raelly love those two

OTP

alex trebec poster

nOTP

again. not a hater but ppl who put him with that dayon girl or nyaa chan bcuz they need every matsuno with a woman are so funny to me. actually i am a hater about the nyaa chan one

random headcanon

unpopular opinion

not enough ppl utilize how mean he is in fanworks

song i associate with them

stress - jims big ego

makes me think of when he lived away from home/how neurotic he is

favorite picture of them

joke that made me scream laughing when i first watched it

[welllpthisishappening]

Feeling As Good As Love

Emma is excited about this weekend.

It's always good — this thing they do, with the house and the ocean and the friendship that seems to stand the test of time. But now, there's an added bonus. Because this year she and Killian aren't just coming to the house on the beach with that friendship moniker hanging over them. They're coming as a couple.

A real couple. That kisses. Regularly. And Emma's excited about that too.

She just didn't expect her friends not to believe her.

----

Rating: Teen, with kissing and some friendship-type swearing Word Count: 5.8 K AN: Listen, this is absolutely the fault of @shireness-says​​ who I realize I keep blaming for things, but she keeps sending me prompts and like...it’s her fault. So basically the prompt was “Okay but like what about a reverse fake dating trope? Like, two people who are together and go home to their families at Christmas but can’t convince anyone that they’re really a couple & everyone thinks it’s a joke.” It’s not Christmas, because it is May right now, but no one believes Emma and Killian want to kiss each other right on the mouth. At all times. I’m me, so naturally they set out to prove otherwise. 

And I think this puts Panic! At the Disco in the lead for lyrics as titles. 

Also on Ao3 if that’s how you roll

----

“You know, you don’t actually have to do this.”

Emma doesn’t let go of the plate in her hand, but her eyebrows furrow slightly and Mary Margaret actually has the gall to blush. There are soap suds on her elbow. “Wash the dishes?” Emma quips. “Nuh uh, I’m totally doing this, then I won’t have to do it the rest of the weekend.”

It’s a thing, this annual thing they do — renting a house out East, after Memorial Day, but a few weeks before the tourists descend on the Hamptons and the beaches and the vineyards on the North Fork. And it’s fun, it’s always been fun, college friends and an almost ridiculous amount of alcohol, although none of it ever comes from those vineyards on the North Fork because they’re not actually made of money. 

It’s also the first time Emma has brought someone with her. 

Kind of. 

Killian always comes with them, has been part of the group for as long as she can remember, because he’s been friends with David for as long as she can remember, but this not-so-annual thing the two of them are doing, is pretty new and even more exciting and she might actually be in—

They’ll get there, she’s sure. Presumably after she finishes washing the dishes. 

And once Mary Margaret stops staring at her like that.

“Ok,” Emma sighs, shaking her hair off her shoulder for fear of her own issues with soap suds. “What’s your damage?” “Are you quoting things at me?” “Yes, because I don’t understand what’s happening and when I am confused I fall back on tried and true movie quotes. So, c’mon Winona Ryder, what’s your damage?” “Her name wasn’t actually Winona Ryder in the movie,” Mary Margaret points out. 

Emma rolls her eyes. With her whole head. “I know you’re not drunk yet,” she says, “because Scarlet and Phillip aren’t back from the liquor store yet—” “—Them having to go to the liquor store at all seems to suggest that we’ve already blasted through our liquor supply. Which, you know, that’s kind of troubling. For us, as people.” “Did you say blasted?” Emma asks, and whatever sound she makes is less a laugh and more like general misunderstanding. Maybe Mary Margaret has been body-snatched. “Like that’s a genuine word you used in this real-life conversation. That the two of us are having.” “Yeah, speaking of two of us…” “Were we?” Mary Margaret grabs a glass. With maybe a bit more force than absolutely necessary, all but yanking the towel off her shoulder, and Emma’s not moving so it’s almost impressive when it feels like her mind trips over itself a bit. While trying to figure out what the hell is going on. 

There are footsteps coming towards them. 

“Ah,” Ruby says, leaning against the kitchen door frame. “Are we doing this then?”

Emma’s jaw cracks when it drops open. 

Mary Margaret grits her teeth. 

She’s totally going to break that glass. 

And that will inevitably piss off Regina. She’s the one who booked this house. AirBnB, whatever. All Emma knows is that she made sure both her and Killian’s payments were Venmo’ed to Regina almost on time and that her nearly-serious boyfriend who she might genuinely be in—whatever with has a habit of over packing socks. 

Killian brought no less than twenty-four pairs of socks with him. For one weekend. Four days, three nights. With her. In one room. 

It’s the first time they’ve ever been away together. And now this is happening. Whatever this is.

“That’s not an answer,” Ruby continues, five steps  and one jump until she’s perched on the edge of what may actually be a marble counter. “He’s playing some stupid video game with David, anyway, so it’s not like we’re going to be interrupted.” “What video game?” Mary Margaret asks. Neither she nor Ruby flinch when Emma throws her hands in the air. 

Soap suds land on several different cabinet doors. 

There are an obscene number of cabinets in his house. 

“They’re really serious about Mario Party,” Emma says, like it’s obvious. It kind of is. She knows for a fact that David had texted Killian about bringing his DS with him that weekend, mostly because she was lying next to him when he got the text. “And seriously—what is going on with you guys? Was this conversation preordained?” Ruby clicks her teeth. “More like a discussion was had in passing, but—” She cuts herself off when Mary Margaret’s cheeks flames. “Look at you,” Ruby accuses, “you’re not helping at all. Emma is going to think we were gossiping.” “Weren’t we?” Mary Margaret counters. 

“I mean—well, gossip is such a dirty word and this...Em, you don’t have to fake on our behalf.”

Emma blinks. Once. Then does it again. She flutters her fingers, which only leaves a bit of moisture clinging to her pants, and that’s a little annoying. Not as annoying as the prospect of her two best friends gossiping about something she still doesn’t understand, but that’s neither here nor there. 

“Say words,” she demands. “In something vaguely resembling a sentence.”

Ruby squeezes one eye shut. “It’s just—ok, we know that there are couples up here and Regina and Locksley are in the middle of full-on wedding plans, which is—you know, it’s annoying and opulent. Is that a good word?” Emma lifts her eyebrows. 

Mary Margaret’s cheeks look like they’re half a second from combusting, they’re that red. 

And Ruby isn’t done. 

“Plus, y’know me and Dor are obviously pretty fucking cute and M’s and David stare longingly at each other every moment of every day.” “That’s not true,” Mary Margaret objects, but both Ruby and Emma make near-identical sounds of disagreement and she suddenly seems very preoccupied with her feet. 

“All we’re saying,” Ruby adds, “is that we get it if you felt like you had to show up with—you know, someone special. But...this is—” “—Silly,” Mary Margaret finishes. 

Emma can’t move her eyebrows any more. If she does her actual eyes are liable to fall out, and then Regina won’t get her deposit back and that will only end badly. 

Eyeballs on the kitchen floor presumably aren’t covered in incidentals. 

“What” Emma breathes, “are you talking about?”

Ruby scrunches her nose that time. “It’s just—you and Jones? Really? Like, c’mon, if you were going to pick someone to play boyfriend, there had to be someone better.” Emma is going to have to write Regina a check for damages done to this house. Whatever rushes down her spine is a mix of sudden and rather jarring anger and complete disbelief at what she’s just heard, the words bouncing around her brain like they’ll be able to find a more legitimate order that way. 

Head on a swivel, Emma gapes at the two other people in the kitchen, dimly aware of what sounds like an exceptionally competitive round of Mario Party. 

“You can’t be serious,” Emma says, voice low and, she hopes, as threatening as possible. 

Ruby shrugs. She’s running the gamut of bodily-movement reactions, it seems. “You guys have known each other forever and now you’re going to date? You hated each other when you first met. When’s the last time you and Jones spent time together alone?” “When I spend the night at his apartment. Like last night.”

“Nah, c’mon, who do you think we are, Em? Idiots?” “Apparently,” she shouts, and there goes any sense of threat. Now she just sounds a little unhinged, the word practically snapping out of her and Mary Margaret visibly recoils. Emma pinches the bridge of her nose. “So, wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight. The two of you,” she waves an aggressive hand between them, “legitimately believe that Killian and I are faking our relationship because I feel bad that Robin and Regina are disgustingly in love?”

Mary Margaret lets out a breath, even as her eyes flit towards Ruby. “Not just them,” she reasons. “Everyone’s always kind of paired off here and you’re…” “Oh my God.” “We’re not trying to be insulting.” “And yet,” Emma grumbles, tugging her hands down either one of her cheeks and no doubt leaving angry red streaks in her wake. That’s good. She’s angry. And confused. And angry. And she’d kind of like to make out with her boyfriend. 

This was supposed to be the weekend she got to make out with her boyfriend. And tell her friends that she and Killian had been dating for months. 

There’d been a plan. 

They'd talked about it. 

Nowhere in that plan did either one of them expect their friends to think they were lying. 

That’s a confusing sentence. Emma is very confused. 

Maybe she’d been onto something with the body-snatching idea before. 

“This is insane,” she mutters, mostly to herself and at some point she’s started pacing. “This is—you know Killian and I have been dating for like..a really long time. It’s not like we’ve tried to hide it. You guys are just unobservant.” Ruby doesn’t look convinced. “Name one date you have been on.” “Excuse me?” “One date. Name one date that you have been on with Killian.” “I don’t have to prove myself to you! Or my relationship.” “And yet,” Ruby echoes, expression turning particularly pleased. Emma resists the very real urge to knock her off the counter. 

Emma screws her mouth shut, mind racing to find something really good, but she hadn’t been entirely prepared for show-and-tell and the noises in the living room are actually starting to get very loud. 

Ruby makes a pitying noise in the back of her throat. 

“No, no, no,” Emma stammers, gaping at her and a still-flushed Mary Margaret. “I just—ok, ok, I had that police officer’s dinner. Two weekends ago. Fancy dress and ties were required and all that? Killian came with me.” “As a date?” Mary Margaret asks. “What else would he come as?” “Your friend,” she suggests. “Like he’s done for the last three years.” “Yeah, but there was no ripping off of each other’s clothes those other years! It was—passionate! Heated, even. No, God—Ruby stop laughing, this isn’t funny.”

Ruby holds up a hand in what Emma can only assume is surrender, but then she notices just how much her shoulders are shaking and she’s definitely trying not to laugh so, like, game on or whatever. “No, no, definitely not funny,” Ruby agrees. The words wobble out of her. “But like—heated, honestly. You and Jones?” “We can be heated! We can be hot! For each other, specifically.” “Em, this is almost getting embarrassing.”

“I will kick you,” Emma warns. “Like, really hard.” Mary Margaret rests a hand on Emma’s shoulder before she can take another step forward, an expression that’s in the realm of motherly and comforting and it might be the worst thing in the world. At least on Long Island. Possibly the Tri-State area. 

“This is not embarrassing,” Mary Margaret promises. “That’s not a word we agreed on.” Emma growls. “So it was preordained?” “We just want to make sure you’re happy. And that you and Killian don’t feel like you need to—” Another shrug. One of them is going to dislocate a shoulder sooner or later. “Put on airs for us. It’s just us. No judging.” “Say that again,” Emma challenges.

Mary Margaret exhales. “We’re not judging. We only have your best interests at heart, both of you. And it’s not as if you two have ever really showed you were interested.” Of all the things that could possibly be the last straw in this conversation, Emma is almost pleasantly surprised to realize it’s that particular sentence. 

She rolls Mary Margaret’s hand off her. 

“We are constantly touching each other,” she hisses, a little concerned by the red that’s started to cloud the edge of her vision. “He is always putting his arm around me. I sat on his leg when we were drinking before!” “But that’s just normal,” Ruby argues, and Emma genuinely has no idea what she does at that. It hurts, at least, the sound that races out of her and the burst of heat in her chest, which can’t be healthy and presumably is what, finally, draws Killian to the kitchen. 

His eyes sweep the scene as soon as he steps on the linoleum floor, one side of his mouth ticking up when he meets Emma’s gaze. 

“You ok, love?” “No,” she sneers. “Can you tell these idiots that we’re into each other?” “Wait, what?” Emma waves both her hands again, snarling at her friends. Ruby barely blinks. “We were only telling Emma that we, uh—” “—They don’t think we’re dating,” Emma finishes. Killian freezes. From the top of his head to his obviously sock-covered feet. 

He stops and stares and stares some more and then—

He laughs. Loudly. Uproariously. Head thrown back and shoulders heaving, desperately trying to catch his breath while the laughter bounces off the kitchen walls and settles into Emma’s soul, which is admittedly a little melodramatic, but this has been the strangest fifteen minutes of her life and she still really wants to kiss her boyfriend. 

It’s nice to know she still has her priorities straight, at least. 

“What is happening right now?” Mary Margaret murmurs, as Killian wipes away the tears that have fallen on his cheeks. 

“Sucks not to know, doesn’t it?” Emma snaps. “Wait, wait,” Ruby says quickly, “is this laughter at our question or at the prospect of dating Emma, because if it's the second one, that kind of seems like a dick move, Jones.” Killian scoffs, and it only takes three more steps for him to be in Emma’s space with his arm around her shoulder and his lips ghosting over the top of her hair. She widens her eyes at Ruby. “It is not laughter at the prospect of dating my girlfriend, no,” Killian drawls. “Are you double checking on us, Lucas?” “You guys can’t be dating.” “Says who?” “Us,” Ruby cries, nearly falling off the counter when her limbs flail several different directions. “That’s—M’s you’ve got to back me up on this! It’s weird.” “Weird,” Killian echoes. “That I’m dating the person I like?” “When did you start liking Emma?” “I don’t think I have to tell you that.” Ruby lets out a triumphant sound, like she’s won something and Emma can’t imagine what the prize is in this situation, but it might be the genuinely ridiculous amount of alcohol Will and Phillip have seemingly just gotten back with. 

“Where is everyone?” Will yells, what looks like an actual crate propped up on his hip. He narrows his eyes when he takes in the kitchen and the half-finished dishes, gaze darting Ruby’s direction. 

She curses. Loudly. 

“Not exactly subtle, is he?” Killian mutters, mostly to Emma. She turns into his side, curling both arms around his middle, so he’ll kiss the top of her hair again, but maybe to prove a point and Mary Margaret may never stop looking at her feet. 

“You guys going to be weird about this?” Will asks. “Now that we know you’re faking?” “No one is faking anything,” Emma objects. “Sure you’re not. Did you come up with a relationship backstory on your way up her? That’s kind of rom-com, don’t you think, Em?” “We didn’t have to come up with anything! We are living the rom-com.” “You and Jones?” “Me and Killian.” “You know you guys only have one bed in your room,” Ruby chips in, apparently missing some form of self-preservation. “Is that going to be a problem?” Killian shakes his head. “We’re definitely going to use that one bed. Thoroughly.” “My brother is here,” Emma mumbles. He smirks at her. “But,” she adds, “we’re definitely going to use that bed. With the condoms that we brought.” Mary Margaret makes a strangled noise, Will chuckling while Ruby continues to curse and David demands to know why isn’t anyone giving me something to drink so I can fuck up Wario right now?  

“He brings up a very good point, Swan,” Killian grins, and Mary Margaret sounds like she’s choking now. Serves her right. 

Emma hums. “Is that even how the game works?” “Only one way to find out, right?” “Something like that, for sure.” He flashes another smile, eyes bright enough that for half a second Emma forgets everything that’s happened in that kitchen and she still has dishes to watch, pressing up on her toes as soon as Killian ducks his head. 

Their friends boo. 

She flips them all off. 

And it’s honestly not bad for the rest of the night — there are more discussions of how to properly play Mario Party and an almost alarming amount of alcohol, most of it horribly mixed by Aurora and Ruby, but no one mentions fake dating again, and Emma’s grateful for that. Until they all traipse upstairs to go to bed and there’s really only one bed and both Regina and Mary Margaret stare just a little too long before Emma closes the door behind her. 

It takes her about fourteen seconds to get mad again. “Go ahead,” Killian chuckles, dropping onto the edge of that one bed so he can tug off his socks. She seriously cannot cope with his socks. 

“I’m sorry, what?” “I know you’ve been waiting to curse them up one side and down the other, so let’s have your worst.” “It’s stupid that you know that.” 

He nods, lips pursed as he crooks a finger at her. Emma huffs, but moves into the space between his legs almost immediately, Killian’s hands on her hips and hers on his shoulders and she takes far too much joy in how quickly his eyelashes start to flutter. His head falls to her stomach. Top-tier, peak relationship status. 

“I know everything,” Killian mumbles, mostly into her shirt. “And I know that it’s ridiculous they think we aren’t in—” She doesn’t dare breathe when he cuts himself off, both of them dancing around something big and important and it’s almost an appropriate amount of time, but Emma is Emma and she doesn’t want to fuck this up and maybe that was why she’d been so nervous to admit that Killian Jones is ridiculously good looking. 

Like almost painfully good looking. 

She cards her fingers through his hair. 

“I have an idea,” he says. 

“Yeah?” “I think we should go all in. All those romantic comedy tropes Scarlet was talking about. Lean in to every single one of them.” “How many tropes could there possibly be?” Killian makes a noncommittal noise, glancing up which is really unfair because his eyelashes are almost offensively long. “We’ll make a list.” “Just like that?” “Just like that,” he repeats. “Why? You have other things to do tonight?” “Oh, you’re a menace.” He nips at her hip, Emma jumping and possibly giggling. Killian’s eyes are definitely getting bluer. Maybe it’s the lighting in that room. Their room. Together. 

She can’t believe he brought so many socks. 

“That will be thing number one, I think,” Killian said. “Blatant and obvious flirting.” “You don’t think we flirt enough?” “Not constantly because we’re not animals, but—you know, could probably do with a bit more. Tell you that I think you’re stunning? Regularly?” Emma gags. Killian keeps going. “Bewitching? That I’m fairly certain your hair has magical properties? Regarding its ability to reflect light?” “Oh, yeah, use that one,” she laughs, and it’s not very hard to get him to lay next to her on the bed. Which may actually be made of feathers, if its overall level of comfort is any indication. “What else, then?” “Endearments, naturally.” “Naturally.” “And, uh—” He clicks his tongue, eyebrows shifting in a way that undoubtedly defies the laws of gravity. “PDA.”

“Say PDA again,” Emma challenges. Killian blushes better than Mary Margaret, she thinks. Presumably because she wants to kiss Killian more than she wants to kiss Mary Margaret. 

There’s been a disappointing lack of kissing so far. 

“Public displays of affection,” Killian says, pausing between every word until Emma’s whole body shakes with the force of her laughter. “I’m going to constantly touch you.” “Could be worse.” “Oh yeah?” “I mean—” Emma drags her fingers up his side, shifting his shirt until she reaches skin and the plane of his stomach and— “Shit, stop that,” Killian grumbles. “It tickles.” Emma’s eyes widen. In perfect tandem with what feels like a rather large expansion of her heart, another burst of heat that isn’t quite as jarring as it was in the kitchen. And Killian shifts half an inch backwards. “Don’t,” he warns, but Emma swipes her tongue across her teeth. “Swan, c’mon, that’s—” Pouncing is a very ugly word, but Emma is way too busy discovering other areas of her boyfriend's body and Killian stops talking rather quickly. As soon as her tongue is in his mouth. 

And they do make a list. An actual physical list, with bullet points and a plan, that Killian keeps in his pocket because Emma doesn’t have pockets in her dresses and it’s easier for his hand to squeeze her knee if she wears dresses. 

That’s bullet point number six. 

There are seventeen. 

It becomes something of a game for them — Killian making sure to call Emma love at the end of what seems like every sentence, while she alternates between babe and sweetheart, but that second one kind of sets her teeth on edge and, one time, on Saturday afternoon while they’re picking badminton teams because that’s something they do on this weekend, he calls her—

“C’mon, darling,” Killian says, slinging an arm around Emma’s shoulders. “We’re going to absolutely destroy Nolan and Nolan.”

Every one of their friends groan. 

Emma very nearly passes out. 

The word ricochets off her soul, or something less ridiculous. Even after Killian and David finish debating the proper terminology for the shuttle-thing. She’s never been a darling before. Darling is for committed relationships and longevity and happily ever after and her racquet nearly flies out of her hand when she tries to return Mary Margaret’s serve. 

“You ok, Swan?” Killian asks, and good that’s good. A much-needed return to normal. 

Emma nods. She can’t seem to do much else. 

Somehow they win the match. David decrees it’s called a match. 

And Killian seems to take the public displays of affection fairly seriously — pulling Emma onto his legs when they sit around the fire on Saturday night, nosing at the back of her neck or that one spot just above her shoulder blade that makes her shiver. She almost constantly has her fingers in his hair, tracing idle patterns with her nails. There are absent-minded kisses and kisses that make her toes curl, standing on sand or in the hallway or...well, anywhere really.

It’s something almost close to wonderful, which isn’t really a change of pace for Emma and Killian as a couple, but this level of couple’dom is—

“You’re laughing,” he accuses, but the words get lost between their mouths and there's not much space between their mouths. 

Emma shakes her head. “I’m having fun.” “That was the point of this weekend. It always is.”

“Yeah, but I mean—” She grits her teeth, neves creeping up her spine and taking root in the back of her skull, and she hates that it happens. Emma is the worst kind of pessimist. Or, rather the best kind, depending on how you look at it. 

“I like you too,” Killian says.

“Presumptuous.” “Tell me that’s now how the sentence was going to end, then.” “Well, ok yeah, but—this is just...being full-on relationship, it’s been good, right?” “Are you double checking?” “A little,” Emma admits. “I—this was the plan, and I know it was the plan. That we were going to stop trying to hide and—”

“—I really don’t think we were ever good at hiding it.” “Tell that to the rest of our friends. Mary Margaret and Ruby staged an intervention. It’s...I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m glad you were willing to prove how stupid into me you are.”

Killian barks out a laugh, tongue finding the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, that’s totally what I am.” “I knew it.”

Those same friends, however, don’t seem to get the memo. 

Maybe they need new friends. 

“I don’t know,” Will says, halfway through a Sunday afternoon BBQ that could feed a small army. “I’m still calling shenanigans.” “Shenanigans,” Emma echoes. 

“You heard me the first time. It seems like you’re trying too hard.” “To be in a relationship?” “Yuh huh,” Will nods, flipping more than one burgers at the same time. “You see that? That was impressive as fuck.” “You’re a poet,” Killian mutters. He must have some kind of Emma-focused sixth sense too, because she feels an arm curl around her middle before she can get into any sort of pacing groove, grunting when he pulls her back against his chest. 

And kisses behind her ear. 

Regina quirks an eyebrow. “I don’t know, actually. There has been a pretty good amount of eye making, even before we got here.”

“I don’t make eyes,” Emma argues. “No, but he does.” Killian’s cheek brushes the side of Emma’s head when he nods. “That’s true, I’ve been making eyes for quite some time.”

“See,” Regina says, “This is—if this is fake, it’s a serious commitment to the cause.” “The cause of kissing my boyfriend?” Emma challenges.

“Yeah, that one. Ok, pop quiz. Killian, when was your first kiss with Emma?” He doesn’t tense. He doesn’t flinch. His hand might tighten a little, but Emma chooses to believe that’s actually a positive and she’s very glad for it. If only because that’s the main reason she stays upright. 

“Junior year of college,” Killian replies.

Will drops the tongs. It’s patently absurd. 

“Hold on, when?” David demands. He’s already half standing when Mary Margaret levels him with a look, flopping back into the plastic chair with enough force it nearly breaks. “Junior year of college. I thought you started dating a few months ago.” “Yeah, we did.” “And?”

“And,” Killian repeats. “We’d gone out, you and Mary Margaret left early. So I walked Emma back to her apartment, it was raining. We hit all of those rom-com tropes. She even had my jacket on.” Emma can’t catch her breath. Which is really ridiculous since she’s not moving, but she was always fairly positive she was the only one counting this as their first kiss and—

“You were drunk,” she cries. “You can’t possibly remember this!” Mary Margaret audibly gasps. That’s more ridiculous than Emma’s breathing issues. 

She twists against Killian’s chest, meeting his steady gaze with something that can only be described as ever-increasing and seemingly inevitable insanity. He smirks. 

The bastard. 

“Trust me,” he says, “I’ve spent way longer than I’d be willing to admit remembering just that. You took your shoes off as soon as we got into the lobby.” “Because they hurt my feet.” “Mmhm.” “What happened after that?” Aurora asks sharply, elbows on her knees and chin on her hands and no one has noticed that some of the hot dogs are starting to burn. 

“She’s a very good kisser,” Killian replies. Easy as that. Emma’s back to not breathing. “Told me it was nice that I walked her home, I said I probably deserved some kind of reward, she glared at me, I waited very patiently and she—” Emma remembers the rest. She doesn't need to hear it. She reenacts it, instead. Her hands fly to his shirt, fingers curling into fabric that’s different than it was when they were twenty and buzzed on alcohol that was only marginally worse than what they’ve spent all weekend drinking and Killian is absolutely smiling when she kisses him.

The bastard. 

Part two. 

And she resolutely refuses to acknowledge any sounds from the peanut gallery, pushing up on bare feet so it’s easier to sling an arm over his shoulder and push her fingers into his hair. He tilts his head, lets his tongue sweep along her lips and she might sigh, but he might also groan and he definitely closes his eyes. 

Emma’s always liked that about him. Killian closes his eyes when he kisses her — like he’s uninterested in anything else, like anything else means less than nothing when he can nose at Emma’s cheek or drop his mouth along the curve of her jaw. It also gives her half a second to stare at the overall length of his eyelashes, so it’s kind of a win-win for her. 

He’s just as out of breath as she is when they pull apart, color in his cheeks and Emma’s heart threatens to burst out of her ribcage. 

That’s probably not covered under incidentals either. 

She’s got to stop thinking so violently. Especially about her own body. 

Will whistles. 

“You guys suck,” Emma announces, and that’s not the first thing she planned on saying, but nothing has really gone according to plan that weekend and she has thoughts on that. 

Patent pending. 

“First of all,” she says, holding up one finger. Will is trying very hard not to laugh. Ruby isn’t trying. “Killian and I have been dating for months. Genuinely months. And, ok, yeah we kissed one time in college, but we didn’t start dating for awhile, and that—” 

Emma is still holding up her finger when she turns again. Killian’s smirk is going to stay permanently etched on his face. “That was kind of stupid, wasn’t it?” “Your words, not mine,” he chuckles. 

“I definitely thought you were good looking in college.” “I desperately wanted to date you in college.” “No shit.” “What is happening right now?” Phillip yells. Emma doesn’t have an answer for that. It’s less disappointing than it was on Friday night. 

“No shit,” Killian repeats. “You were—I don’t know, this force of nature. But you were also David’s sister and—” “—She’s still my sister,” David interrupts. Regina throws something at him. It might honestly be her sandal.

Emma doesn’t bother double checking. She’s rather busy swooning, after all.

Killian kisses the bridge of her nose before he continues. “You never take anyone’s garbage, love. Mine included and that wasn’t really why I was stupid into you, but it was a big part at the start, and then we kept hanging out and you’re—” She doesn’t mind when he shrugs. Probably because of the previously discussed swooning. Honestly, Emma is swooning so bad. “You’re the smartest person I know. And stronger than anyone else, on some existential level.” God, she hopes she doesn’t start to cry. 

That’d be kind of lame. 

And, somehow, there is more. 

“I worry about you, you know. Every time you leave my apartment and go save someone. It’s—I count minutes from when you text me that you’re on the train until I hear the lock click. It’s insane. Might be affecting my blood pressure, really.” “She has a key,” Ruby whispers. Not very well, but something about the thought Emma assumes. “She really has a key?” “I really have a key,” Emma answers. “I wasn’t kidding about spending multiple nights a week at his apartment.” “We could probably do something about that,” Killian adds. Will whistles again. 

Emma’s jaw drops. That’s kind of disappointing, really. She wishes she had some kind of sweeping something to respond with — romance on another level of romantic-type expectations, but she’s still her and she’s still a little pissed they haven’t been dating since their junior year in college. 

“Em, Em,” Ruby presses, “I’m pretty sure he’s asking you to move in with him.” Killian hums. “She’s annoying, but she’s right.” Ruby sticks her tongue out. “But, but,” Emma stammers, “that wasn’t on the list.” “You guys made a list?” Regina balks. “None of you believed us! Which, honestly friendship demerits. Negative friendship standing. We are a good couple, and we like hanging out and we’d been hanging out forever, and this just kind of...happened. It should have happened before, maybe, but our first date was getting ice cream in the Village because none of you will go to the Village with me and I—Killian always will.” “That’s kind of how boyfriend’ing works,” he chuckles. “Is that a word?” “Absolutely not,” Mary Margaret says. “Should we apologize now?” “Probably,” Emma sighs. “Because it’s—none of this has been fake, and we’ve been on relationship overdrive for the last forty-eight hours and I mean...is it so shocking that we could be in a relationship?”

Silence. 

None of them answer, and Killian is still staring at Emma because, she realizes rather belatedly, she hasn’t actually told him she wants to move into his apartment with a bed that’s even more comfortable than the one here or that she also counts down the minutes because she sleeps better with him than she has in years, so naturally she tilts her head up and—

“I love you,” Emma says. Killian’s eyes bug. “And I think I have for a really long time, but we were always friends and—” “—That’s not going to change, love.” “Well, yeah, that’s how good relationships work. Are you just going to gloss over the sentiment?” “Absolutely not,” Killian mumbles, gruffer than usual. And probably because half of the letters get lost in more kissing, a distinct arch to Emma’s back when he actually dips her like some goddamn romantic comedy. 

Mary Margaret might take a picture. 

Emma kind of hopes she does. It’d look good in a frame on the wall. Their wall. 

“I’d like to move into your apartment,” Emma says, and she definitely giggles that time. There’s no way around it, not when Killian’s lips drag along the side of her neck and pepper every inch of her face. 

Several people awwww out loud. 

As they should, really. 

“I love you too,” Killian says. 

“Ok, good.” “Good.”

There’s more kissing after that. As there should be, really. Part two. “So, uh,” Will says, and he’s picked up the tongs at some point, “you guys want celebratory hamburgers or…” “If you don’t put cheese on my burger, I’ll throw your fucking tongues in the ocean,” Emma guarantees. 

Killian crows. Or something. It’s nice, and that’s really all she cares about. “That’s my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ruby groans. “We’ve heard. Do we toast to the happy couple?” “Absolutely,” David says, reaching into the cooler to grab wine coolers. Like they’re juniors in college. They toast several times. 

And Emma doesn’t sleep much that night, but that’s something she’s willing to concede. Especially when Killian lets her pick the music on the drive back the next morning. 

Like any good relationship. 

[heungtanbts]

Quarter Life Crisis

pairing: jungkook x reader

genre/warning: slow burn friends to lovers!au, friend zoning, being dense AF, swearing & sarcastic bantering, a smidge of angst, explicit implications of smut

word count: 25k 

A/N: guys. i’ve never written something this long and in depth before and i honestly don’t know how to feel about it. but i do know i have a newfound respect for fic writers. i poured so much time and effort into this, and can only imagine what other writers go through so please remember to show your fave writers love for all their hard work! 

In the movies, the recently graduated, mid-twenties protagonist sets off on the journey of life and seems to immediately land a fantastic job, find a stellar unit in an even more luxurious apartment complex, gets a fancy car with a name that’s impossible to pronounce, is in a long term relationship from college and is going to receive a proposal within the next few months (but doesn’t know it yet), and basically, has life all figured out. If movies are going to portray young adult life like that, then that’s ideally what your twenties should be like, right? Being young, educated, ready to take on the world, further discovering yourself and finding true love.

This, however, is not what you imagined your mid-twenties to be like.

Sitting in a comfy pair of capri leggings and an oversized college t-shirt, you sink into your sofa and suck in a labored breath. You really shouldn’t have finished that last bit of Shanghai fried noodles. T’was a mistake, a horrible mistake. Rolling down the waistband of your leggings, your belly pops out, set free, and you finally feel like you can breathe again.

“Wow, you’re really packin’ heat there, huh Pillsbury?” A low voice calls mockingly from across the room.

“Shut up, I’m proud of my life achievements okay.” You immediately retaliate, not even bothering to look at the other potato potato-ing at the opposite end of the sofa.

You hear him snort incredulously. “Ah yes, because ‘he who achieves the pudge, achieves in life.’ Definitely heard Yoda say that one somewhere.”

Letting your head lull to the side, you can’t stop yourself from snickering at the sight of Jungkook sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce, hands held up in OK signs, eyes shut and head bobbing from side to side ridiculously in what you deem to be an extremely inaccurate impersonation of Yoda. Why you continue to hang out with this dweeb and allow him to put his nasty feet up on your coffee table right after hitting the gym for two hours is beyond you. Must be because it’s Friday night, affectionately known as Fat Friday, and he’s always the one who brings take out, like it’s a peace offering of some sort. That’s why.

At this age you would’ve never imagined that life would consist of a weekly Fat Friday “take out and a movie” routine with your best friend from college. As a young adult, you know you’re fortunate to have a stable 8-5 job that you don’t hate, a clean and cozy apartment unit in the city (with in unit laundry machines, bless up) and a small group of friends that stand by you through thick and thin. But after spending so many days and years like this, you can’t help but question it all.

According to those damn rom-coms, you should be out going on adventures, mingling with new people, sipping on over-priced drinks, showing up to the club with your posse and, maybe if you’re lucky, waltzing out with a newly acquired friend for the night. But here you are instead, having a chopsticks war with Jungkook over the last crab rangoon Kung-fu Panda style, even though you’re so full, the delicious fried appetizer might just have to sit in your throat for a while until your digestive system can make room for it. Living in your twenties is wild, just absolutely wild.

“God, please don’t tell me you do this when you go on dates.” Jungkook looks at you in both disgust and awe as you pop the last crab rangoon in your mouth, chewing noisily on purpose to rub it in his face while simultaneously enjoying the crunch.

“What, eat?” A speck of crab escapes and lands on your chin. Now Jungkook definitely looks more grossed out than amazed as he reaches out to thumb at your chin, removing the bit of artificial seafood and making a face as he wipes it on a nearby napkin.

“No, this isn’t eating. This is straight up a clip from the Discovery Channel about predators swallowing their prey.” He deadpans. “It’s like you’re training to be a food fighter, or something.”

You suddenly look up, eyes beaming with enlightenment, “That’s it, a food fighter, of course! That’s what I should be pursuing in life! Jeon, for once, you and your one brain cell have managed to come up with a brilliant idea.”

Jungkook doesn’t even seem phased by your insult and just moves to make himself comfortable, kicking his feet up on the coffee table as per usual. “You know, I actually think you could do it. With the way you eat- no, inhale food, you could show the world your one and only talent – gluttony.” He grins victoriously only to have to whip his neck from side to side in order to avoid the used chopsticks you spear at him, the wooden sticks clattering onto the linoleum floor. You scowl openly from having missed, settling back onto the sofa with your arms crossed over your chest.

“I could start my own muk-bang stream.” You think aloud, seriously considering the occupation for a moment. “Look cute, eat ten packets of ramen, answer questions about my life from the millions of die-hard fans watching – I could totally live that life.”

Jungkook chuckles at the mental imagery he gets, “Yeah, and then majestically throw up for your two whole precious fans to witness. Real cute.” His lip quirks upwards, “Those two poor fans, scarred for life, never able to heal from the trauma.”

You glare at him. “Just wait until my boyfriend hears of this, he won’t stand for this kind of abuse you give me. Is this even friendship? Where’s the love? The support?” You clutch at your chest dramatically, “Where’s the camaraderie, best friend? Where’s the-” You’re so rudely cut off by a pillow to the face, thrown by none other than your so-called best friend.

“Puh-lease, Park SeoJoon is way out of your league. I said it. Sniff sniff, cry cry, get over it, babe.”

You frown, shaking a closed fist at him. “One day, Jeon, you’ll see. One day.” With a defeated sigh, you flop onto your back and throw your feet up onto Jungkook’s lap, ignoring the “ugh your feet smell” comment he makes and instead, focusing on the dreary white ceiling of your unit.

The both of you know it’s just harmless joking when you refer to Park SeoJoon as your boyfriend and whenever Jungkook makes fun of your eating habits and pudgy food babies. To strangers, the way you two interact may seem a bit harsh and pretty immature, but for the two of you, the playful insults and level of savagery are just right. It’s a relief that you can bicker and banter with him and know there are no hard feelings, that you two know each other well enough to know where the lines that should not be crossed are. But it hasn’t always been this way.

When you first met Jungkook freshman year of college, he was ridiculously shy, probably one of the most soft spoken and just plain awkward people you’d ever met. So much so that, being the decent, civilized human being you were, you felt completely obligated to be nice back, mostly because you were afraid he might cry if you accidentally looked him in the eye or something. He seemed so delicate, perpetually wide eyed and fearful, and for that reason, you felt a little more distant from him and closer with the other guys. You were able to freely throw around insults and make all the snarky jabs you wanted around them. Jungkook was just too quiet, and thus you were too nice to him. That is, until one day, your mutual friend Taehyung proposed the idea of having a Mario Kart tournament out of boredom, and somehow it ended up being just you and Jungkook in the final race. Spoiler alert – you beat Jungkook. Blue shelled him right at the finish line and cackled like a disney villain as you cut right in front and took first place. You’ll never forget that moment – it was the first time he ever swore at you. Actually, that was the first time you ever heard Jungkook swear period – ears red at the tips, cheating accusations and demands for a rematch flying around chaotically. But ever since then, that weird wall between you two came crashing down, and that is how your beautiful meme of a friendship came to be.

In the comfortable silence, some random Marvel movie on in the background, you glance over at your best friend, lips involuntarily curling up into a smile. You’re more than glad that those walls came down that day, that you were able to spend majority of your college days attached at the hip, that now, as annoying as he may be, Jungkook is still by your side to this day, eating greasy take-out with you and spending what should be a lively night out, at home instead, vegging out and pigging out. A very nice Friday evening in, with a blubbery food baby. And Park SeoJoon as your imaginary boyfriend. You suddenly groan at the thought and shove your face into the pillow Jungkook just threw at you. It’s been approximately three years since your last relationship, but for some reason it feels like it’s been so much longer than that. That relationship with your then college boyfriend ended shortly after graduation and you can’t believe that was truly the last time you dated someone. You remember spending two weeks ruining Jungkook’s shirts one by one with your snot and tears while hugging tubs of melting ice cream to your chest. Three. Whole. Years. Ago.

You let out another groan and it’s louder this time, even with the pillow muffling your mouth. You’re unable to control your train of thought as it travels to a more stressful place, ruining your once zen state of mind on this lovely Fat Friday evening. What are you even doing with your life? Or to put more accurately, what are you doing wrong with your life? Are you doing something wrong? It just feels like at this point, you should you be doing something more, chasing after your goals and dreams, or at least have some more adult characteristics to your life. While it’s very true that you already have so much to be thankful for, for some reason it just feels like you’re doing something wrong – or something’s just missing. Everyone else seems to have it all together, so why do you still feel like you’re ten steps behind?

You must’ve groaned a couple times more without even realizing it because moments later, the pillow is abruptly snatched away from your face, revealing a very puzzled Jungkook.

“What are you moaning and groaning about?” He asks, raising a brow before giving you a look of utter disbelief. “Is it because of what I said about Park SeoJoon? Woman, for the last time, you just gotta accept the fact that it’s not gonna happen and move on with your li-”

“Jungkook,” You interject, voice quieter than normal. “Am- am I just doing this all wrong?”  

Jungkook abruptly comes to a halt, his mouth still hanging open silently from when you cut him off. A slew of jokes and insults remains lodged in his throat as his chocolate eyes closely study your face. You can tell he’s internally debating on how seriously he should be taking your words. Like is this a “reply with another joke” kind of situation, or a “sit down, tell me what’s wrong” kind of conversation that’s about to happen? It feels like this is always how conversations are between the two of you, they can switch from childish insults to pondering the meaning of life in the blink of an eye. Luckily, Jungkook’s used to it by now – having sudden and unexpectedly deep conversations with you doesn’t terrify him anymore like it used to in the past.  

“What do you mean by that?” Jungkook inquires, deciding it’d be best to tread carefully. He uncrosses his legs and places his feet on the floor, elbows resting on his knees in a much more serious posture.

Over time, he’s gotten so good at feeling you out and directing the conversation as needed, even though he used to have internal melt downs every time you would open up to him. He’s gotten so much better at having conversations period – he handles them like champ now.

“What are we doing Jeon?” The words come out as a deflated sigh, an accurate description of how you feel at the moment. “It’s Friday night and while people our age are spending way too much money getting drunk and having fun taking over the city, we’re upholding a Friday tradition that consists of eating pure oil and poking at our food babies.” Jungkook immediately glances down at his own stomach before meeting your eyes again.

“Uh, I don’t have a food baby so you’re kind of alone on that one.” Jungkook corrects you, rubbing his hand up and down against his flat stomach. You shoot him the deadliest glare you can conjure up. It’s not your fault your body was made to cling to blubber in order to have babies and produce life in this world.

“What, you wanna just go out then?” Jungkook suggests, ignoring the daggers you send his way. “We always have the option to go out and get drunk, you know. If that’s what you wanna do, let’s just call some people up and go then.” Giving the glare a rest, you shake your head, arms and legs splayed out like a starfish as you stare up at nothing, another sigh heavy on your chest.

“That’s not it, Jeon. I just- ugh, I don’t know.” You twist around and smack your fists and feet against the sofa cushion, like a child throwing a mini tantrum. “All I know is that I’m young, I’m single, with all the time in the world and yet here I am, living life like a retired grandma.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with being a retired grandma? That’s like the ultimate goal in life.” Jungkook tuts, leaning forward to grab his bazillionth fried egg roll of the night. That boy is an intergalactic blackhole when it comes to food, yet he never has a food baby, damn damn damn.

“When I was 18, I remember wanting to hurry up and grow up and be in my twenties already.” You reminisce, still focusing on the popcorn pattern decorating the ceiling, “I figured by the time I was 26, I’d have discovered my true passions while exploring my twenties, that I’d be married, settled down after having fully lived out my younger years, maybe on the way with a little one or two, I don’t know.” You bemoan. “I guess adulthood just isn’t what I expected it to be.”

“So what you’re saying is you want to get pregnant.” Jungkook’s smiles mischievously as he leans towards you, flashing you a wink, “That can be easily arranged.”

“Pervert,” You jokingly shove him away, and he just chuckles. “You know that’s not what I meant. Plus I’m not ready to have kids, could you even imagine it?” Your eyes widen comically in horror, “I can barely take care of myself – God knows if I’d be able to keep a tiny, fragile human being alive.” 

“True, those succulents you got for your birthday last year barely lasted two weeks,” Jungkook raises his cup to his lips, coughing under his breath before taking a sip, “even though they’re like the easiest plants to raise.”

“Please, rub more salt on my wound Jeon, I insist!”

Jungkook gives you a satisfied smirk before his demeanor morphs into something more serious, fingers rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong,” He muses, eyes flicking upwards to meet yours as he gives you one of his gentle, heartwarming smiles – the rare kind that comes out when he’s done joking and ready to comfort you.

“Think about it, you’ve pretty much met majority of the societal standards there are for being a young adult in this day and age. You’re educated, you have a job with a steady pay, got your own place, and you lead a pretty stable lifestyle.” He absentmindedly plays with the cup in his hands. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with still not knowing exactly what it is you want to do, or what next steps you want to take. Like so what if you’re single, lots of people are.” Jungkook shrugs. “Who even says that has to be the next step you take? I think it’s still okay that you are,” he looks down at his hands, expression soft, “that we are, still trying to figure things out, one day at a time, you know?”

You hum in agreement, Jungkook’s words bringing immediate comfort to your restless mind. He’s right. It’s not like you’ve made any grave mistakes or have some monumental life-or death issue to face. It’s not a sin to just do your own thing and not follow the “standard” steps of life people usually take. It’s just that the concept of it all, the topic itself, makes you feel like a baby – a very lost, disappointed, overgrown cry-baby because you don’t really feel put together or like you know what you’re doing. But like Jungkook said, that’s okay. It’s alright that you’re still trying to figure it all out, at your own pace – you’re slowly creating your own path.

“Since when did you get so wise, huh Jeon?” You smile, spirits lifted and already feeling a lot better than just a few minutes ago. Jungkook just always seems to know what to say to make you feel better.

He just shrugs with a jokingly cocky pout of his lips, “I’m the quarter life crisis guru, come to me with all your first world problems and you shall find enlightenment.” His words automatically make you punch him in the arm lightly and all you can afford is a weak insult muttered under your breath with a small smile on your lips.

If you were to have this conversation with anyone else besides Jungkook, you would probably die before admitting such embarrassingly trivial, quarter-life-crisis complaints. It hurts your pride, being an adult and having to admit you don’t really know what you’re doing with life. But because this is Jungkook, the insecurities of your heart come out so easily. No matter how much you joke around or annoy each other, he’s your closest and most trusted confidant. He’s actually a great listener – so honest yet gentle with his words (when he’s being serious, of course), and with him, figuring out life’s problems isn’t as daunting of a task. With him, conversations flow, anxiety is immediately blanketed over with a comforting peace, solutions are developed more smoothly, plans get put into action more proactively. He may still be salty every time he sees a blue shell and still gives you hell for it to this day, but if he was really that annoyed by you, he wouldn’t be sitting on your couch, listening to you complain and trying to help you figure out your life. That’s Jungkook for you – good old reliable Jungkook.

“Did someone say quarter life crisis?” You both whip your heads toward the door at the familiar voice that suddenly calls out of nowhere. “If it’s ___ we’re talking about, then she just needs to get laid. Problem solved.” That same voice lets out a yelp when a bunny slipper comes flying at his head.

“We have intruders.” You mutter as you look down at your one bare foot, the moment completely ruined. “I knew I shouldn’t have given you guys a spare key.”

“But you did, and it comes in handy in times like these.” Another voice, lighter and higher pitched than the first, pipes up. You allow your eyes to close, as if trying to take in the last bits of comfort from your conversation with Jungkook as jackets and bags are rustled around, the sound of footsteps growing louder and closer to you.

“How long have you guys been standing there?” Jungkook questions the newly arrived guests.

“Long enough to know that ___ needs to get some.” The first voice replies teasingly. Eyes still closed, the couch quickly sinks down next you, and an arm is thrown around your shoulders, “So, the well’s a bit dry this season, huh?”

“Oh my god shut up, Tae.”

“It’s drought season and the crops are in need of a good ol’ watering, ayy?”

“I’m seriously going to punch your face in.”

“Moses parted the Red Sea and then just left it parted, huh? Tsk tsk, the cruel man.”

Back in college, once those barriers between you and Jungkook came down, they seemed to come down with everyone else as well. As you and the others really started to get to know Jungkook, you quickly learned that he was the complete opposite of how he initially presented himself. He wasn’t shy at all, or timid in the least – the boy loved to joke around and once he was comfortable, would shoot playful insults left and right and make all the sassy comments just as much as you did, if not more. Because of that, he could be a real pain, since he seemed to thrive off of messing with you and seeing your reactions. But if you thought Jungkook was a pain in the ass, then Taehyung proved himself to be a real thirty-six-foot flagpole up your ass. No one ever guessed that timid little Jungkook would click so well with Taehyung and that together as a team of evil, they would cause you so much misery. It was to the point that everyone knew better than to leave the three of you alone together for longer than five minutes – for the sake of world peace. Though after growing up a little and leaving college, Taehyung stopped mucking around as much, and he seemed to calm down even more once he and Hari got together. But the little shit-head spirit still lives on inside of him to this day – it’s a light that no one can snuff out. Bless Hari’s heart for continuing to keep tight reins on him and love his sorry ass.

Before you can show him the fullness of your wrath, Taehyung gives you a shit-eating grin and quickly bounces over to the other section of the couch where his girlfriend, aka your closest gal pal and college roommate Hari has taken a seat, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“She’s being awfully scary today, what’d you do Kook?”

Jungkook lets out an offended huff, and he’s right back to his normal, sarcastic self. “The hell did I do, I brought her highness take out on my way back from the gym and we’re watching her favorite Iron Man again for the umpteenth time.” He crosses his arms over his chest, “I’ve done nothing wrong.” 

“You love Iron Man as much as I do, bitch. Don’t even try me with that shit.”

“See? Major case of the grumps.”

Hari peels Taehyung’s arms off and gives him a scolding look when he whines before making her way to your side. She places a comforting hand on your back, peering down at your distraught face. “You alright, ­___? What’s up?”

“Ugh, it’s nothing, really.” You hide your face in your hands, “It’s literally not a big deal, I’m just a little irked, I guess.” Though it hurts your pride, you decide to be a little more honest, since they’ve already heard bits of your conversation with Jungkook. “Just debating whether I’m living my 26-year-old life right or not, that’s all.”

Hari raises her eyebrows, as if she can’t believe what her ears are hearing. “You’ve got a grown ass man who brings you take out all the time and willingly gives you free reign over his Netflix account. Looks to me you’re living the life, bub.”

“I think that was supposed to make me feel appreciated, but it just made me sound whipped as hell.”

Hari waves a hand dismissively at Jungkook, who scowls and starts reconsidering his life choices. “So what, you wanna go out and do something then? Something to make you feel better? Or in general, how can we,” She gestures to the three of them in a circular motion, “help convince you that you’re doing life just fine?”

“I’m telling ya, she just needs to get boned.” Taehyung mumbles while happily chewing on a fortune cookie. “See, even my fortune cookie agrees with me – thou must get the D in order to succeed.” You abruptly stand to your feet, turning to him with poisonous daggers shooting from your eyes.

“That’s it, get your punk ass over here, you little-“

“A boyfriend!” Hari suddenly clasps her hands together, an imaginary light bulb flickering over her head, “___ needs more than just a one-night stand, babe – we need to get her a mans.” You halt in your forward lunge towards Taehyung, who’s curled up in fetal position with his hands covering his head, and turn to her, your eyebrows knitting together in disbelief.

“You really think getting a boyfriend’s going to make me feel better?”

She nods eagerly, looking utterly convinced. “Let’s consider the facts for a moment, shall we? You’ve been out of school and working for a couple of years now, you’ve got this pad in the city all to yourself and nothing to do but eat junk and re-watch old superhero movies,” Your mouth falls open to protest, but Hari puts a finger to your lips, shushing you effectively. “And you’re having all these quarter-life-crisis symptoms. Maybe the issue is that it’s time for you to move on to the next chapter of your life, which in this case could be—”

“—finding a bae.” Taehyung finishes for her, his eyes wide as saucers as he uncurls from his fetal position to sit up on the couch. “Makes sense to me! HyukJae was what, three years ago? And you’ve been single ever since. Now that you’re an established, independent woman, there’s nothing holding you back from finding someone to do life with.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you.  

There’s a beat of silence, but you wonder if the others can hear the gears turning in your head as you contemplate this proposal. It literally goes against everything Jungkook just said, finding a boyfriend just because it’s the proper “next step” you should be taking. Plus it’s not like you need a man to make your life complete – you’re already happily successful in sustaining yourself and your relationships with what you’ve got right now. But, you have to admit, a special someone could help spice things up a little, make life a little more fun and a little less drab. Maybe this person could help push you out of your comfort zone to go explore the city, find some new hobbies, get out of the apartment and try something new period. Maybe this significant other could help pave this new path for you and your life, because if lazy people were an army, then you would be the head chief in command, so God knows you need the help. So maybe, maybe you just need a little outside push to get you going.

The more you think about it, the more convinced you are that it’s at least worth a shot, and the determination slowly begins to grow inside of you. You know what Jungkook said but you figure taking this step is better than doing nothing at all. You suddenly stand up and pump your fist in the air like it’s a declaration of war, and you end up startling the others with your abrupt actions.

“Okay, let’s do it.” You announce, finding a new sense of motivation within you. “Let’s go and find me a mans! HUZZAH!”

Hari jumps up and squeals, immediately grabbing your phone off the coffee table and gushing about helping you make a dating profile and about which apps would be best for you to use. In the midst of all the commotion, Jungkook remains silent, his eyes trained on the floor, expression hard to read. But the excitement is too dizzying for you to notice. You just can’t help but have a good feeling about this next step in your life.

- - - - - 

“Okay, bread, check. Rice… check. Veggies, strawberries, bananas, check check check.”

“Don’t forget my Lucky Charms.”

Looking up from your phone, you cock your head at the man with the messy wavy hair casually leaning on the shopping cart rail, a look of disbelief painted on your face. “I still don’t get why I have to include your favorite cereal on my grocery list, Jeon.” Jungkook makes a funny face at you, one that makes him look dramatically offended, the cart coming to an abrupt stop.

“Um, first of all, Lucky Charms should be everyone’s favorite cereal, including yours. And second, I need to keep a box at your place for when we do delivery ‘cause I need something to eat right after working out or else I feel like I’m gonna die – literally.”

You roll your eyes and ignore the way Jungkook shoots a grin your way as he continues to push the cart. “You’re a grown ass man who makes his own money, get your own sugary cereal.”

“Do you want your best friend to starve to death? Is that the kind of love we’ve got here?”

“And you call me dramatic.”

Pausing at the cereal section, you internally groan after seeing that some jerk just had to put all the boxes of Lucky Charms up on the top shelf. You need to have a word with the grocery store manager about discriminating so openly against short people like this.

“So speaking of bananas, how’s the dating app thing going?” Jungkook asks casually, whistling along to the song they’re playing at the store. This time you groan externally, lowering your head down to rest it on the other available half of the shopping cart handle.

“You did not just use bananas as a segway into this conversation.”

Jungkook hums in indifference, pushing the cart along and smiling to himself when you continue to walk with him, still face down and leaning on the shopping cart. He suddenly comes to a stop which results in you hitting your head against the metal bars where infants are supposed to sit, and you mutter a curse at him, rubbing the sore spot as you meet his eyes with a glare. He just arches a brow innocently and points up at the shelf, looking all too smug for your liking. “Found the Lucky Charms.”

You let out a huff before nudging Jungkook out of the way. “I mean, it’s only been three days, but it’s going alright, I guess.” You inform him, making your way towards the shelves. “I’ve only talked to like two guys so far, but honestly it’s just, kinda weird? I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel natural at all, so that’s been rough.”

It’s only been a few days since your little eureka moment about seizing the day and giving your adult life a re-vamping. It’s been strange, having small talk conversation with potential dates with only having a few pictures and some witty captions and quotes on their “About Me” pages to go off of. Technology has certainly reinvented the way people date nowadays, but you can’t help but miss meeting people naturally through mutual friends or at a social event or something. Nevertheless, Hari’s been harping on you every day about any new matches you’ve made and keeping close tabs on your conversations with your matches, but it surprises you that Jungkook’s suddenly taking interest in this whole spiel. He’s seemed so uninterested in this from the start, which was a bit disappointing if you’re being honest. You had hoped you’d be able to talk to him more about it and get his opinions on your matches and who seemed good and who seemed like a left-swipe, only to get less than enthusiastic input from him. So for him to suddenly bring it up on his own volition is certainly an unexpected surprise.

“Mmm, I see.” You don’t even notice the way Jungkook’s voice dumbs down a notch from behind, too busy staring up at the colorful rainbow box above your head as determination settles in your stomach. If you just believe in yourself, you can do it – you will reach that goddamn box of cereal for your goddamned best friend and his childish taste palate, even if it kills you. This isn’t for Jungkook – this is for all the other shorties in the world.

You make your first attempt to reach the cereal. You’re up on your toes and then come straight back down, your fingers not even coming close to reaching the stupid box when Jungkook finally speaks up again. “What- what do you even look for in a guy, anyways?”

You pause for a moment, stopping yourself from jumping up for your second attempt to turn and face Jungkook. Even though the two of you are best friends, you realize you don’t really talk about this kind of stuff with him. Hari is always your go-to friend for these types of conversations, and it dawns on you that not only does Jungkook not know what your ideal type is, but you also have no idea what his is either. You’re surprised to discover something you don’t know about your best friend.

“Well, for starters, I’d appreciate it if he wasn’t a serial killer.” You muse, tapping your index finger on your chin thoughtfully. “I also feel like I like guys who are tall, have nice hair, who keep themselves fit and know how to dress well. You know, a guy who knows how to be a basic human being.”

“Oh, so basically me.” Jungkook quips, “I’m flattered, babe, really. Didn’t know you were so into this.” He sticks his tongue out when you smack his arm in response.

“Someone who wears anything besides hoodies and basketball shorts.” You emphasize jokingly, sticking your tongue out right back at him.

Jungkook raises his brows. “So wearing nothing? I could dig the nudist life, sounds chill.”

You snort, “Please, Jeon, spare us all.” Turning back to the shelves, you continue to think aloud. “I don’t know, I just want someone who’s easy to talk to, like a friend, someone who likes to joke around, but can be serious when needed. Someone who’s passionate about his ambitions in life and is a real go-getter, unlike myself. Someone who will be romantic and loyal – not like all the cheese you see in the movies, but in his own special way. You know,” you shrug, coming up onto your toes as you take another unsuccessful swipe at the box of cereal, your fingertips grazing the edge of it, “someone who will just love me right, I guess.” With a little hop, you accidentally push the cereal box an inch backwards and it pulls a frustrated noise out of you. But you are determined to stay here all night if it means you’ll be able to get this cereal box down yourself. Fucking Jungkook and his cereal needs. 

“What about you, Jeon?” You grunt out, this time reaching up with your other arm, as if it’ll make a difference. “What’s your type?” A rush of excitement comes over you when you manage to sneak the box back to its original spot, and now you can almost get two fingers around it.

“I…don’t really know.” You hear Jungkook say softly behind you, but you’re too zoned in on those damn Lucky Charms to notice the change in his demeanor. “I agree with a lot of the traits you named off, I guess.”

“What, you want someone tall, athletic, and well-dressed too?” You can most definitely hear Jungkook roll his eyes at that comment, and it makes you smile, even as you continue to struggle to make contact with the flimsy cardboard box, muttering incoherent complaints under your breath.

“I mean if he isn’t Park SeoJoon, then I’m not interested.”

Still facing the shelves, you can’t help but laugh at his mocking tone, even though you know he’s mimicking you. “Okay seriously though, I just realized I don’t know really this stuff about you. And come to think of it, I haven’t seen you date someone in like years.”

There’s a short pause in the conversation when suddenly you feel something warm press up against your back, and it startles you. You crane your neck upwards at a diagonal to see what it is and nearly let out a yelp. Jungkook’s face is merely inches away from yours, his eyes fixed on the box of Lucky Charms above. The scent of light soap and clean laundry detergent mixed with something slightly musky overwhelms your senses as he leans forward and presses himself against your back even more, the sensation causing a breath to become lodged in your throat. Without even having to rise onto his toes, he easily grabs the dumb box of Lucky Charms, finally ending your misery in more ways than just one, and before your body can even experience a full-on proper reaction, he’s already moving, a sudden chill replacing the warmth on your back as he moves to toss the cereal into the cart.

“Yeah, last time I dated was Ji Soo my sophomore year. Damn, that was a long time ago.” Jungkook recalls, leaning on the cart and continuing to push it down the aisle, not having any clue what he just did. He has no clue that your heart is suddenly thumping wildly in your chest, and that a heat is starting to spread across your cheeks, and you have to physically pinch yourself to snap out of it before Jungkook can notice something’s off.

Whenever Jungkook is physical with you, it’s almost always tied in with a joke or is just a part of the platonic comfort you two share with one another. Ruffling your hair, having his head or feet in your lap, pinching his cheeks – none of that is out of the ordinary. But feeling his back against you, his body so close and radiating heat onto your skin, breath puffing over your cheeks – this is all uncharted territory for you. And as his best friend, you’re not quite sure how to process the physiological effects you’re experiencing from it. You’re still in a bit of a daze, and you end up trailing a few steps behind him, close enough to keep up with the conversation but far enough to allow your body calm down. It’s sad how worked up you got just from your male best friend pressing himself up against you so suddenly. Maybe Taehyung is right and you’re just in desperate need for some physical intimacy or something.

“Ground ginger’s next on the list.” You mumble timidly, following Jungkook as he rounds the corner and into the next aisle. “B-but yeah, Ji Soo – feels like that whole month-long shebang happened eons ago.” You almost curse out loud when you see rows on rows of all kinds of spices littering the bottom shelves, and the one spice you need up on the damn top shelf once again. Starting next week, you will wear heels to the grocery store. Or stilts – whatever it takes.

“Yeah,” Jungkook chuckles to himself, “I still can’t believe she liked me so much that I just decided to go with it. Young dumb Jungkook definitely learned early on that that’s not how relationships work.”

“Cocky bastard.” You scoff, shaking your head. But he just shrugs, as if to say “it is what it is.”

“So how come you haven’t dated anyone since then?” You inquire, hoping Jungkook hasn’t noticed where the ground ginger is located because this time, you are hell bent on just snatching it up and calling it good already. You’ve had enough strange, foreign bodily reactions for the day.

“I…I don’t know.” Jungkook admits as you sneakily side step towards the shelf, standing up on your tiptoes while he’s busy staring off into the distance. His expression is reflective, and almost a little solemn as well. He really seems to be contemplating and taking this whole conversation quite seriously, even though it wasn’t intended to be that way. Maybe he still misses Ji Soo or something, the poor boy.

“I guess… I’ve just been waiting for the right person to come along.” Jungkook finally states after another few moments of silence, which you unceremoniously break after landing on your feet too loudly in a sad attempt to quietly jump and grab the bottle of ginger, which obviously didn’t happen quietly or at all, period.

A long list of all the expletives you know in multiple languages runs through your mind as you feel the warm plane of Jungkook’s chest press against your shoulder blades again. This time his fingers brush against yours along the way, and it almost feels like he lingers there for a second, but it’s probably just your imagination because before you know it, he’s already backing away and tossing the ground ginger into the cart, just like before. You really must be on something today – your raging hormones and galloping heart need to get their shit together and calm down already.

“I-I’m sure you’ll find her soon, one day.” You manage to stutter out, an awkward smile on your lips, “Someone who will accept you, even though you have the taste buds of a five-year-old.” You joke in hopes of lightening the mood that has somehow changed drastically in the last few minutes. Whether it’s because of how pensive Jungkook’s suddenly become or because of your inability to control your bodily functions at the moment, the air definitely feels different compared to five minutes ago, and it’s not very comfortable – at all. Fortunately, the joke seems to do the trick because a smile slowly spreads across Jungkook’s face, and all the seriousness and weird angst seems to vanish almost immediately.  

“Least I don’t still dip my oreos in my milk when I eat them. Heck, I don’t even eat oreos anymore.” Jungkook scoffs teasingly, eyeing the blue package of cookies in the cart, “Seriously what are you, a child?”

“See? You’ve got such shit taste buds, Jeon.” You shake your head pitifully at him. “Just watch, you’re gonna end up dating a huge foodie or a professional food blogger who will properly roast you for having such awful taste, and I’d pay just to watch it all go down.” The imagery itself makes you laugh, and you take advantage of the newly livened mood to snag the cart from Jungkook and head towards the cash registers. “Let me know if you’re ever interested and I’ll help you hunt one down, yeah?”

You pause to flash a cheeky grin towards Jungkook, and the way he chuckles in disbelief is satisfying enough of a reaction for you to turn back around and make your way towards the self-check out area. But you miss the way Jungkook’s laughter quickly dwindles, transitioning into a soft sigh as he watches your figure walk farther and farther away.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely let you know, someday.”

- - - - - 

“Welp, that’s number six in the books. Check. Done-zo. Fin. Es todo. Hip hop’s dead, y’all – it’s dead!”

“Uh, I take it the date went well?” Jungkook peeks his head out from the kitchen, a spoon hanging from his mouth and a jar of peanut butter in his hand (the super smooth, liquidy kind, like the weirdo he is. Who eats anything but chunky?) as you trudge your way inside his shared apartment with Yoongi and Namjoon, your old college friends who are also part of the same producer team as Jungkook, and throw yourself onto the sofa face first. You grumble something inaudibly into the cushion, but Jungkook doesn’t need to ask to know you’re probably saying some not so positive words under your breath. He holds his snack to his chest and walks over to lift your feet up, placing them on his lap and making himself comfortable.

“So, what went wrong this time?”

“He wath jmmf brrrurng.”

“Sorry, I don’t speak cave man.”

You lift your head up from the sofa and crane your neck back to glare at Jungkook, long messy curls covering half of your face and killing your intimidating factor. “I said, he was just boring.”

Jungkook makes a noise of understanding, unscrewing the lid and digging his spoon into the jar. He brings the rich cream to his mouth, smacking his lips with an obnoxious pop. “I mean, at least he wasn’t a creepy 58-year-old who lied about everything in his dating profile. Compared to that, ‘boring’ doesn’t sound half as bad.”

Giving up, you re-smush your face back into the couch cushion, mumbling some more incoherent words and phrases your parents would be shocked to hear you say.

It’s been about a month since you embarked on this journey of exploring the world of dating apps. Hari said so herself that she personally knew of four happy couples that met through dating apps and insisted that it’d be a breeze for you to find someone. So maybe it’s just you, maybe you have rotten luck, or maybe you’re just not a dating app kind of person, because Date #1 could not stop talking about himself – the only question he asked was if you were going to finish the rest of your dinner or not. Date #2 ended up being a sugar daddy type of deal, and although the figures were tempting, it just wasn’t what you were looking for. You nearly filed a restraining order against Date #3 for being way too inappropriately touchy and creepy throughout the entire date. You even had to text Jungkook to come rescue you from that whole mess and he nearly knocked that creep’s lights out for being such a sleaze bag. Date #4 was the 58-year-old who lied about his dating profile and said he was 28 when in reality, he had a daughter your age. YOUR. AGE. Date #5 was such a turn off with how rudely he treated the waiters and pretty much all the other restaurant staff – an automatic swipe left. And now Date #6.

You roll over onto your back, curls fanning out around your head. You probably look like Medusa’s ugly sister right now. “He just didn’t... talk. He was the total opposite of Date #1 who couldn’t shut up long enough to let me excuse myself to the restroom. This guy barely said anything and honestly, I don’t know what’s worse.” You mutter a quick apology to Jungkook who squeaks after you accidentally dig your heel into his thigh while ranting, hitting a spot that’s a wee bit too close to a very sensitive area for him. “I kept asking questions to try to get to know the guy, only to get one-word answers from him every time.” You indignantly point at the clock on the wall. “That’s why I’m back so early, it took like forty-five minutes tops for me to run out of patience and questions to ask.”

“Mmm, sucks.” Jungkook mumbles half-heartedly, seemingly more interested in licking the spoon completely clean. “So you basically ate tacos and talked to a wall for forty-five minutes.”

“Exactly! And the tacos weren’t even that good!” You sit up, waving around exaggerated gestures before falling back onto the couch, draping an arm over your face. “You know what, that’s it. It’s obvious these are all signs that I’m supposed to be a nun. This must be my fate, my inevitable future, and I see now that I can no longer avoid the path that has been so clearly paved for me.”

“My god woman, you are dramatic. Has anyone ever told you that?” Jungkook pokes you in the stomach with the heel of his spoon, and you to flinch from the ticklish sensation.

You peek out from under your arm, “Should’ve gone into acting, huh? Seriously, damn all my life choices, damn them all!”

Jungkook chuckles, clearly amused by your theatrics. “Maybe you should take a break from the dating apps, give the potential dating pool some time to refresh and replenish a bit or something. Or, you could actually take my advice for once and stop putting so much pressure on yourself to find a boyfriend and just roll with the punches as they come.” The look he gives you is jokingly stern, though there’s some seriousness in his tone, and it makes you sigh. Maybe Jungkook’s actually onto something, as proven by your current not-so-hot track record. The past month has been more draining than fun, and so far it’s all been for nothing. Maybe you just need to give it all a break, and give yourself a break, really. Or seriously start considering entering the convent – either one, really.

As you continue to contemplate your life choices, you watch as Jungkook brings another spoonful of PB to his lips, only to dribble a straight line of it down his precious white t-shirt. He mutters an expletive under his breath and sets the jar and spoon down on the coffee table, rubbing away at the stain with his fingers. His efforts prove to be futile when the ugly brown smudge remains and without warning, he stands up and pulls the shirt off over his head, revealing the perfectly chiseled muscles of his back and shoulders. You involuntarily gulp at the sight of his sunkissed skin and the way his muscles ripple as he moves to throw the shirt into the laundry bin.

“Yeah, maybe...you’re right…” Your breath comes out in a quiet whoosh.

It’s not like you haven’t seen Jungkook shirtless before. There was that one time you went hot tubbing on the ski trip you and your friends took in college, or the few times you had to barge into his dorm room and drag his half-naked ass out of bed so he wouldn’t be late to lecture. But Jungkook’s always been a lot more conservative than not, and he didn’t exactly have the greatest confidence back then either. He used to be absolutely mortified in those moments and would hurriedly grab at anything nearby to cover up his body. Even though so many people agreed he was one of the most handsome and sought after guys on campus, he was still so self-conscious of himself. But as he went through college, he started to become interested in exercising and eventually made the commitment to hit the gym to change not only his body, but his confidence and perception of himself as well. The Jungkook now, with his sculpted physique, lean muscles, and much larger, more dominating stature, is totally different from the skinny, insecure boy you knew back in college. With the way he built himself up over the last few years physically, mentally, and emotionally, he just oozes confidence with now, which is great, but also not so great – for you, at least.

You chastise yourself every single time, but you can’t help but ogle openly during these rare moments his sweet glory is revealed to you. It’s so wrong to look at your best friend like this, you know it is – he’s just very comfortable around you and knows it’s no big deal to walk around like the half-naked god he is because it’s just you. But it’s kind of impossible to not gawk, not when his body is practically screaming to be worshipped (and is 100% worthy of it). It’s times like these that you’re reminded he is not just the jokester and bunny boy you call your best friend – he’s a fully grown man, and just so happens to be a very physically attractive one. And with the way the sight of his mouth-watering build makes your lower stomach feel, you realize once again that you’re a grown ass woman as well – a woman who has needs.

“Hey, eyes up here, perv.” He says with his back still turned to you as he grabs a hoodie hanging on one of the kitchen chairs. “And you might wanna wipe off the drool while you’re at it.” That snaps you out of your reverie as you quickly avert your eyes and sit up clumsily on the couch, making sure to scoff loud enough for him to hear.

“For your information, the world doesn’t revolve around you and your penchant for indecency, you cocky bastard. And jokes on you, there isn’t anything worth looking at, son!” Out of the corner of your eye you see him pull on the hoodie and turn back towards you, a knowing smirk tugging on his lips.

“That’s pretty much what you say every time I catch you staring. But hey, I don’t mind having an audience.” He squeezes himself next to you, draping an arm over the back of the couch and his eyes are twinkling. “But you should either fess up that you think I’m hot or come up with some new excuses, ‘cause yours are starting to get real old, babe.”

You wrinkle your nose, ignoring the way the pet name weirdly makes your heart stutter for a second. “Don’t call me babe, you baby.”

“Baby?” He leans in, his nose just a couple of dangerous inches away from yours. “I’m only like eight months younger than you, babe.”

“Whatever, you’re still a baby to me.” You grunt, folding your arms in an attempt to maintain the very little space left between your bodies. His gaze is dark and challenging, and it alone makes the heat pooling in your lower abdomen grow. “Don’t make me bring out pictures from college, Jeon. Sit down, be humble.”

“But I’m already sitting, babe.” Jungkook remarks, his tone sarcastic.

“You know, I bet Soobin wouldn’t be happy to hear her boyfriend calls other women a name that should be reserved solely for her.” You click your tongue in disapproval, secretly relieved with being able to change the subject as you quickly brush away the lustful thoughts in your head. “How are you guys even doing, by the way? Will I ever get to meet this mystery woman? Like, she’s really not just some imaginary girlfriend you made up?”

Something flashes across Jungkook’s eyes, but it’s gone before you can determine what is, and you forget all about it when he makes a face and pushes your forehead back with his index finger, “No, I’m not you, Miss ‘I’m Park SeoJoon’s wife.’ And it’s only been like less than a month, okay, chill. I just want to make sure she fully prepared to meet the freak-shows I call my friends.”

Jungkook must’ve been inspired by your new mission to find a boyfriend or something because once you started going on dates, the man apparently decided to make his own dating profile as well, surprising pretty much everyone by his sudden jump into the game. No one even knew he was interested, and he didn’t tell anyone, not even you, that he was on the apps. But that’s how he found Soobin, this mystery girl he’s apparently been seeing for the past few weeks. She’s actually a total mystery though because he hasn’t said a peep about her and how it’s been going. He’s oddly secretive about it all, which is strange because normally he tells you everything. But not this time, even though you pry and pry and pry. For some reason he just won’t budge.

“Jeon, if she can’t handle us right now, she won’t be able to handle us period, so you might as well introduce her already.” You shrug nonchalantly. “We gotta deem her worthy or weed her out.” As his best friend, you feel the need to meet this girl and see what she’s like for yourself to make sure she’s good enough for Jungkook. It’s not your fault that you want to meet her so bad – you’re just looking out for your best friend’s well-being.  

There’s a brief moment of silence as you catch Jungkook chewing on his lower lip – a habit of his when he’s feeling nervous or unsure about something – and you immediately begin to feel concerned. Maybe you pushed too much. Seeing him like that makes you feel a little guilty for prying so much without even considering that maybe something is up.

“Hang on, is something the matter?” Worry laces your voice, a hand coming to rest on his knee, “Is there a reason why you’re not saying anything?” You search his eyes for answers, but he just shakes his head vigorously, lips tightly pursed together. “Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Yeah seriously, none of us even know what this chick looks like. Why’re you keeping her such a secret from all of us?”

You hang your head backwards over the back of the couch and see Namjoon padding into the living, carrying what you assume to be an empty coffee mug in his hand. Namjoon’s always been someone Jungkook has greatly admired. He was the one who really encouraged the younger to pursue music and follow his dreams, rather than go into business like his parents wanted him to. If there’s anyone he’ll listen to, it’s Namjoon, though you continuously pray Jungkook won’t ever adopt the older man’s horrible sleeping habits. The dark shadows under his eyes and hoarseness of his voice indicate just how tired and in need of caffeine he is from most likely another all-nighter in the studio. But then again, the big producer man always looks like he runs on nothing but caffeine and no sleep. What a life.

Still hanging upside down, you give him a small wave and a “hi-yo” to which he copies your greeting adorably, his droopy eyes lighting up slightly.

“Hyung, not you too.” Jungkook whines defeatedly, running a hand down his face, “Look, she’s no secret, okay. I just, I don’t know, I just—”

“—don’t want to scare her off, yeah I get it.” Namjoon calls over his shoulder as he scuffs his slipper-clad heels towards the coffee machine in the kitchen. “It’s a new relationship, you’re still testing the waters, and we can be a lot to handle, so I get it. And by we, I really mean ___.”

“Hey!” You protest as Namjoon starts the machine before he comes out of the kitchen and strolls towards you, affectionately ruffling your already mussed hair.

“I say that with all the love in my heart, you Tasmanian devil.”

You scowl at him. “I hope your coffee is just as bitter as I am right now.”

“Anyways,” He turns to Jungkook, ignoring your griping. “Yoongi and I just got word that Slow Rabbit’s throwing some sort of PR event this weekend. He told us to invite the whole gang and any other friends, help boost our publicity a little.” Namjoon gives the younger man a pointed look. “Basically, it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce bae, if you want to, that is.”

“Oh, this is perfect!” You jump up and clasp your hands together excitedly. “We’ll finally expose Jeon for making up some fake ass imaginary girlfriend, and maybe I’ll finally be able to mingle with some normal guys for once.” You pause, turning to Namjoon, “Your producer friends are decent guys, right?”

Namjoon gives you a wary look and a half-hearted shrug, “Uhh, sure, I guess?”

“Awesome!” You chirp, “I trust you Joonie, it’s always been you and only y-” You let out a yelp when a pair of arms grabs your waist and spins you around so that you’re falling face first onto the sofa. The hands holding you hostage begin to mercilessly poke into your sides, forcing what sounds like a combination of choked laughter and cries for help out of you.

“Fake ass imaginary girlfriend, huh?” Jungkook growls, digging his fingers deeper into your love-handles, and you immediately howl in surrender. “I’m gonna make you throw up your tacos, you wench.”

From the sideline, Namjoon just sighs at the noisy commotion playing out in front of him, shaking his head as he watches Jungkook flip you onto your back and dive for your stomach, lips curling upwards mischievously. The wide grin on your face and ringing laughter in between yelps for mercy prevent Namjoon from feeling like he actually needs to intervene and save you. He does, however, feel disappointed (but not surprised) that you both can’t even see what’s happening here. He decides to just leave you two to duke it out, quietly sighing and shuffling into the kitchen to grab his coffee.

Maybe one day.

- - - - -   

It’s the following Friday night and guess where you are?

Not at home in your pajamas watching Black Panther while eating Thai take-out that Jungkook brought, that’s for sure. The thought alone makes you so incredibly sad. Because instead, in cruel reality, you’re sitting at a table inside a very dimly lit club called the Sound Bar, which is surprisingly clean and roomy, waiting for this PR event to start already. You know this is how all the hip young adults live out their lives in the movies, but now you’re seriously beginning to regret all that complaining about wanting to go out.

A few people have arrived, and you recognize them as some of Yoongi’s friends that you don’t know too well yourself. They linger around the bar in a huddled group, sipping on beers and chatting away with the man himself, who also looks like he doesn’t particularly want to be here either. That’s because you and Yoongi know what’s up – comfort is king and living under a rock is the only way to go. The thought pulls a sigh from your lungs as you turn to scan the venue. Besides them, it looks like you and your closer group of friends make up majority of the crowd currently, but people are really starting to file in now, steadily filling up the spacious area with body heat, boisterous conversation, and a lot of different smells. It makes your nose twitch.

Strangely enough, you don’t see Jungkook and Soobin yet, and you keep craning your neck to watch the door like a hawk for their entrance. While you were getting ready with Hari hours prior, you made Jungkook double pinky swear to not bail and to actually bring Soobin so you could meet her and confirm that she’s real. (“If you don’t come, I’m actually going to spread the rumor that you have an imaginary girlfriend.” “You’re the actual spawn of Satan, I swear.”) You know he’ll come regardless – he wouldn’t just leave you hanging like this. It’s finally time to figure out why he’s keeping this girl on the hush hush, and what exactly is going on with him.

“Whoa.” A baritone voice brings you out of your thoughts. Swiveling around, you see Taehyung gaping openly at you, a hand covering his mouth. “Seriously, like whoaaa.”

You scrunch your nose. “Tae, don’t even start – you’re literally so embarrassing.”

“Hey, if Hari is your number one hype woman, then I’m your number one hype man, okay, just let me be!” He stretches his arms out towards you as if he’s showing off an award, holding up jazz hands and everything. “Just look at you, queen! My baby Hari did such a great job, you look like a total hoochie mama!”

Your cheeks burn a scarlet red. “Oh good, because it was totally my goal to look like a hoochie mama. Thanks Tae.” Now you also regret letting Hari squeeze you into this skimpy black two-piece set. It was a bad idea from the start, but Taehyung’s reaction just confirms it. The short noodle strap crop top tightly hugs your bust and shows off more of your midriff than you would ever prefer. You keep wanting to cover it up with your arms out of reflex. But luckily the shorts are comfortable, though a bit short for your liking. Your hair flows down in beachy waves and a deep burgundy tints your lips, and the silver dollar-coin sized hoops hanging off your ear lobes are over the top in your opinion, but Hari threatened you to wear them out, insisting the outfit wouldn’t be complete without them. If anything, it’s Hari’s fault you apparently look like a hoochie mama.

“No problem!” Taehyung grins, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He catches whiff of your unhappy demeanor and nudges you playfully, his expression softening. “Aw, c’mon ­­­__, lighten up a little! You look hot, seriously.” He pulls away to examine the state you’re in. “Do you need a drink? Actually yeah, you definitely do. I’m going to get you one.” Taehyung spins around on the stool to head to the bar, only for a hand to clamp down on his shoulder, stopping him mid-spin. Your eyes drift to the side and you’re surprised to see Jungkook giving his friend a silent but very clear warning, tilting his head intimidatingly. “No, I’ll go get ­it. God knows how many types of alcohol you’ll ask Hoseok hyung to mix into her drink. Then you’ll be responsible for dealing with the mess afterwards.”

Glaring at Taehyung’s sheepish smile, Jungkook’s slate eyes land on you and immediately widen, his jaw going slack when he sees the little (emphasis on little) black number you’re wearing. It’s probably because he’s so used to you wearing only leggings and oversized shirts and hoodies all the time that seeing you like this is a shock. That’s certainly how you felt looking at your reflection in the mirror at home. But you can’t help but shift uncomfortably in your seat, suddenly feeling the need to cross a leg over the other and place your purse strategically over your midriff from his gaze alone. Seconds, minutes, hours could be passing by but his glare doesn’t falter one bit. It’s almost seems like he’s angry or something but it’s also not quite that – you can’t seem to put your finger on it. Fortunately, the lights are dimmed low, and you just hope it’s dark enough to hide the blush that’s suddenly crawling up your neck from the way Jungkook keeps staring. At this rate he’s going to end up burning a hole straight through you.

“Doesn’t she look smoking?” Taehyung whistles low, giving his friend a nudge to the ribs. He barely moves and just continues keep his eyes glued on you.

“Hari did this?” Jungkook ignores him, finally speaking up after a few tense moments. His voice sounds much deeper than normal.

“Yeah,” You squeak awkwardly, looking away from his heavy gaze. What’s his deal? “So uh, where’s Soobin?” You try to change the subject, clearing your throat slightly and pretending to look around for this girl you don’t even know. You think it works, but then Jungkook catches you off guard by suddenly shrugging off his jean jacket and reaching around to drape it over your shoulders, the denim fabric engulfing your figure. It automatically feels a lot stuffier and ten degrees warmer, but you’re not sure if it’s because of the jacket or because of Jungkook’s unrelenting glower. You suddenly feel jittery.

“Dude, I could use this later when I’m drunk and cold and waiting for an Uber, not when it’s like a bajillion degrees inside.” You joke as you jump down from the stool and move to take the jacket off, only for his hands to keep it firmly in place on your shoulders. You look up at the man towering over you and have to consciously keep yourself from physically cowering away. Jungkook looks pissed. But for what reason, you have no clue. He just looks annoyed beyond reason, and not like when you normally mess with him and call him a fatty or something. It’s different, and it’s intimidating enough to make you swallow your pride and obey his next words.

“Keep it on.”

He lingers for a moment longer before dropping his arms and stalking off, disappearing among the crowd that has grown significantly in the last ten minutes, probably to go find Soobin. What’s disturbing is how your chest rises and falls rapidly, your heart hammering against your rib cage like a trapped bird that wants to be let out. You have no idea what the hell just happened here. It’s not like Jungkook to ever despise your outfits, let alone even care about what you wear in general. Maybe he fought with Soobin on the way here and is in a bad mood? Or worse, maybe you did something to upset him without realizing it. You shake your head as if to brush aside all the conflicting thoughts, and pinch the bridge of your nose. Yeah, you do need a drink, pronto.

At the bar you order a vodka-cran and send a weak smile to the bartender Hoseok, who’s a friend of Namjoon’s and an acquaintance of yours, requesting for him to make the drink a bit stronger than normal. He smiles back and doesn’t question your request, immediately whisking away to make your order. You would hug the man if you could, God knows how much you need a nice strong drink right now.

“___!” You hear Hari giggle and she plops down on the stool next to yours, looking very giddy and flushed in the face – a tell-tale sign that she’s had a few drinks already. At least someone’s having a good time. “Where’d you get the jacket? I kind of like the addition, it’s a bit grungy but in like a sexy, hipster way, you know?”

Remembering what happened with Jungkook, the jacket suddenly feels twenty pounds heavier as you shift it around awkwardly on your shoulders. “Uhh yeah, Jungkook gave it to me ‘cause, uh, I was cold.” Yeah, that’s why he acted the way he did. He was just angry because you might be cold…because that totally makes sense. You sigh inwardly.

“I don’t know about cold, it feels like a hundred degrees in here.” A voice chimes in, making you and Hari turn your heads simultaneously to the right. Dressed casually in a white button-down shirt that’s rolled up loosely at the elbows, a man sits on the bar stool to your right, sporting short jet-black hair, thick but neatly groomed eyebrows, a small, polite smile, and these beautiful obsidian eyes that are currently locked in on yours. Even though he’s sitting, you can tell he’s literally the definition of tall, dark and handsome, enough so to make you wonder why the hell he’s talking to you.

“Oh yeah, it’s like a god-awful sauna in here. In fact, let me go tell Joon, maybe he can get someone to crank up the AC or something.” Hari hurriedly blurts out, jumping from her stool with a knowing twinkle in her eye. She gives your arm a quick squeeze, a silent “good luck!” before taking off, making sure to look back at you every other step of the way. Very subtle.

Just before an awkward silence can ensue, Hoseok comes by to deliver your drink, which you immediately grab and begin to chug hastily, all the while silently praying this guy won’t end up being dud #7. Even if he does, you’re still going to need all the alcohol you can get to survive the rest of the night, what with Jungkook acting all weird, not having even met Soobin yet, or not having mingled with other people yet. The glass still at your lips, the thought causes you to wave your hand in a haphazard signal to Hoseok for another vodka-cran.

“Bit thirsty, aren’t we now?” Damn. Tipping back the last bits, you set the glass down and take in a deep breath, alcohol steadily dissolving in your blood as you ready yourself for whatever is to come. “Ha-ha, yeah,” You croak awkwardly, fidgeting with the glass, “just needed to cool down, ‘cause you know, it’s so hot.”

“Didn’t you just say you were cold?”

You glance down at the light acid wash jacket and momentarily shut your eyes in regret. If it was humanly possibly, you’d kick yourself in the shin for sounding so stupid right off the bat.

“This,” You open your eyes after re-composing yourself and put on a one-hundred-watt smile, “is merely a fashion statement. I was going for the grungy, sexy, hipster look, that’s all.”

“Ah, right, like your friend just said.”

You bite your lip. Okay, it’s official – you fucked up. You should just get up and walk away right now. Save some face and talk to someone else before this gets any more humiliating than it already is. You decide that this can’t go for much longer or else you’ll literally die and wither away from embarrassment. A goodbye is already on your lips and your legs itch to make a run for it when the guy suddenly starts to laugh, his shoulders shaking, while wearing a grin that undoubtedly looks really good on him.

“Wow, alright then.” Looking positively amused, he stretches a hand out to you. “Hi, I’m YoungHo.”

“And you think I’m totally bizarre.” You mumble back, wanting nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die. But YoungHo shakes his head, letting go of his drink to wave his hands at you as well.

“No I don’t, really.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, causing him to cock his head to the side, a lopsided smile on his face.

“I just think you’re kinda… quirky?”

“Oh God, you might as well tell me to go join the Ripley’s Believe It or Not crew.” You groan, propping your elbows on the bar and burying your face into your hands. He’s just being nice and trying to make light conversation and here you are looking like a total buffoon with half a brain cell left. There’s just no way he doesn’t think you’re at least a little insane. Your cheeks feel like burning pieces of coal, the heat effectively setting the rest of your face ablaze along with them.

He laughs again, the sound so deep and rich and honestly quite pleasant to listen to. But sensing your mortification, he quickly begins to cough, clearing his throat to rid of the laughter.

“You know,” He continues, seemingly more composed now, but a smile still twinkles in his eyes, “I used to not be able to understand why people would go see shows like that. They just didn’t seem all that appealing to me. But then I watched The Greatest Showman and man, it totally changed my views. Now I’m dying to go see a show.”

Your ears perk up after hearing the name of one of your favorite movies and you lift your head from your hands, the embarrassment slowly starting to fade away. “Isn’t that movie just amazing? And I totally get what you mean, I wasn’t a huge fan of stuff like that before but now I’m just waiting for something like Ripley’s to come to town so I can snag tickets and reminisce.”

He hums in agreement, “It also hands down has the best soundtrack out there. I think it’s definitely up there with the Lion King and Hamilton.”

You rest your chin on the palm of your hand, your muscles starting to relax a little bit now. “Hamilton tickets are seriously impossible to get. You’ll never guess how many email accounts I made just to try and win lottery tickets.”

“How many?”

“Eleven.”

“Get out of here.”

“No, seriously!”

Before you know it, more drinks are being poured and the conversation is taking off with its new set of wings, all embarrassment now left in the dust of the past. You two continue to chat about movies, which leads to talking about hobbies, favorite places in the city, the best pizza parlor in town (it might just be the alcohol or you’re just really that passionate about your pizza opinions because you two even end up getting into a very heated debate about thin crust versus deep dish). You’re honestly surprised by how natural it feels. Time flies through bouts of laughter and light conversation, and it all ends up being so much easier than you originally thought it’d be. And, this guy has yet to prove himself to be a dud yet. He’s actually very nice – attentive, funny, finds you funny. No joke, the man seems to really enjoy laughing at you. But he assures you that he’s not laughing at you – he’s just laughing at your antics, the peculiar things you say, the never-ending sass tank you’ve got fully loaded and on hand at all times.

At one point when you slam your fist down and insist that deep dish pizza is the only way to go, he tells you to prove it, smoothly asking you out on a pizza date so you two can compare thin crust and deep dish. You almost can’t believe it when he hands your phone back to you, “YoungHo :)” and a phone number illuminating on the bright screen. Things actually seem to be working out for once – you might’ve actually found a normal match!

Two hours of drinks and conversation breezes by before YoungHo tells you he needs to run to the restroom. “Watch my drink?” He smiles, a hand gently resting on the small of your upper back. You nod more furiously than you anticipated, but he doesn’t seem to notice and thanks you, turning to squeeze his way through the crowd.

It feels great to know that things seem to finally be looking up, you would cry if it wasn’t for the fear of ruining Hari’s wonderfully done make up. You do figuratively pat yourself on the back, though. You really did your drunk, 26-year-old self some good by putting yourself out there like this.

YoungHo seems like a decent guy, really. But in the short time you spent getting to know him, you still made sure Hoseok just kept the drinks coming, because no matter how nice of a conversation it was, you were still a little nervous the entire time. With your luck and current track record, things could go wrong at any time, so you needed the help of your good friend alcohol to get you to loosen you up a bit. But it’s only now that you’ve let your guard down a little that the effects of the drinks seem to really be kicking in full force. Only now is the room is starting to spin, your head feeling a lot fuller and fuzzier than before. You swirl Youngho’s whisky glass absentmindedly, sleepily observing the ice spin round and round at the bottom, the motion soothing, almost hypnotizing. If you keep doing this you might actually be able to put yourself to slee-

“You hanging in there alright?”

You startle from your drowsy haze, eyes uncoordinatedly searching for a bit before finally landing on a familiar figure to your right. It’s not YoungHo – this time, it’s a much more familiar person.

“Jeon-bun!” You excitedly coo, cupping your chin with your hands and leaning forward on your elbows to get closer to your best friend, who plops down on the seat next to you. You blink lethargically several times, a dopey grin hanging on your lips. “Why isn’t it my favorite boy, my baby, my love child, my little tulip.”

Jungkook whips his head toward you, the once stoic look on his face now morphed into one of bewilderment. “Tulip? Love child? What the actual- how many drinks have you had?”

“Psh,” You wave a hand carelessly at him, “Like, Monday.”

“Shit, this is bad.” Jungkook groans, carding a hand through his hair. “Monday’s not a number, stupid.”

“Oh, I meant seven, seeeevvveeeen, hehehehehe.”

You’d argue you can handle your alcohol pretty well, with six or seven drinks being your limit. But then again, it’s not like you remember much after having that many drinks, so you can’t really say for sure. According to Jungkook who’s witnessed and endured majority of your drunk episodes with you, that is definitely not the case, but what does he know?

You watch as he squeezes his eyes shut, as if pained about something, and the sight makes you frown. You don’t like seeing your Jungkookie sad, mad, upset or frustrated about anything. Not on your watch.

“HEY!” You shout, startling some people nearby as you press your index fingers onto the corners of his lips, pushing them up until they form a constipated looking smile. “No frowning allowed, nuh uh. My love child is not allowed to be sad. You’re ugly when you’re sad.”

“Oh gee thanks, real confidence booster.”

You let go and pinch his cheeks before letting your arms drop, swaying your head as you hum along to the music that’s playing. You recognize it to be one of Namjoon’s original songs from one of his mixtapes, and it also happens to be one of your favorites, the tune upbeat and catchy. It just serves to lift your drunk spirits even higher. 

“YoungHo’s great, did I tell you that?” You suddenly announce. Eyes closed, you continue to hum as you wait for Jungkook to respond. It feels like it takes longer than usual for him to respond to you, but that could just be you and your impaired sense of time. But he eventually answers, his voice low and even.

“The guy you’ve been talking to all night, his name’s YoungHo, huh.” 

You bob your head up and down, “Yeah, he likes pizza. And I think he likes me. Actually I don’t know yet, we’re gonna go get pizza next week so I’ll find out then.” You giggle, turning from side to side on the bar stool. Sighing happily, you suddenly swivel around to face Jungkook, knees bumping up against his. He flinches at the sudden contact.

“Jungkook-ah.”

“What.”

“I’m so happy.” You sigh again, staring off into space with a dreamy look on your face, not noticing the way Jungkook tenses up, gripping the beer bottle in his hand.

“That so? How come?” He says calmly, though his body reacts in the complete opposite manner. He nervously taps his fingers along the glass of the bottle and bites down on his lower lip, worrying the flesh between his teeth. But you don’t pay attention to it, his actions cloaked by the drunken spell that’s been casted over you.

“Because,” You tilt your head to the side, giving him an even more wistful smile, “pizza exists, Fat Fridays are the best, I finally met a guy who isn’t 58 or a total creep, I have the most amazing friends, and an even more incredible best friend and I love you, Jungkook.” A hiccup mixed with a chuckle escapes you. “I love you, best friend. You know I wouldn’t be able to do life with you, right?”

On a regular night out, drunk you includes the following: increases in smiling frequency, steadily rising volume of laughter, increasing amounts of shouting and passionate declarations, ensuing of blabbering nonsense, and finally, sleepy sappiness to end the night. Basically alcohol brings out your normal personality and amplifies it a few thousand times. Normally, Jungkook’s used to experiencing all your drunk symptoms and isn’t even phased by all the cheesy sap or ridiculousness that tends to spew from your lips. But this time your words hit differently – they strike his bones from an angle he wasn’t prepared to take a blow from. It causes him to swallow past a lump in his throat, and he quickly takes a swig of his beer to help force it down.

“Thought you said you were tired of Fat Fridays, said they made you feel like a retired grandma.” He manages to get out, eyes flitting around nervously.

You place a hand to your chest in feigned offense, “Who, me? I would never say such a thing, Fat Fridays are a blessing from above.” Reaching over, you give Jungkook’s hand a friendly squeeze, his eyes focused on where your hand lies. “I’m just saying that things are perfect the way they are right now, okay. YoungHo and I are getting married, you and I will keep the Fat Friday tradition alive, and everything will be happy and wonderful for the rest of our lives.”

“Married?!” Jungkook nearly spits out the sip of beer he had just taken and chokes back on a cough. “I think you need to take like eighty-six steps back and stop jumping to conclusions for a second, ___.” He scoffs in disbelief, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You barely even know the guy.”

“I know enough about him, trust me.” You drunkenly wave his judgment away. “Anyways, where’s Soobin? You did bring her, right? I want to meet her already, you asshole!”

Jungkook sighs and fights the urge to roll his eyes, even as you give his arm a spiteful pinch. “Calm down, she’s using the restroom. I’ll introduce her once she gets ba-”

“I’m here, babe.”

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, your eyes shoot open. You immediately spin around and hop off the bar stool, steadying yourself on the seat cushion once your feet hit the ground because apparently alcohol has the power to turn your legs into jelly. You squint a little in an attempt to get your vision to focus. Through the drunken fog, you’re able to make out a set of cat-like eyes, pink thinly pursed lips, a cascade of perfect ringlets of caramel curls, and a tight blue body-con dress hugging a slim, petite figure. This must be her, this must be-

“Soobin!” You squeal elatedly, taking the girl’s hands into yours, proceeding to shake them up and down furiously. “It’s soooo nice to finally meet you.” You let go of one hand to jerk a thumb at Jungkook. “This asshat’s been keeping us in the dark for so long when it comes to you, so I’m so happy to finally be able to meet you!”

You look back and forth between Jungkook and Soobin like an overly excited puppy that needs to pee. But you can’t help it, you’re finally meeting the girl that Jungkook has deemed worthy of his affections, so of course it’s a huge moment for you, for all of you. Best friend meets girlfriend, girlfriend meets best friend. It does makes you feel a little weird though, seeing the person who is apparently his girlfriend stand by his side. Whatever this feeling is, it’s definitely…foreign. But you’re too caught up in the excitement to really care – you just hope it’s a moment you won’t forget because of your frenemy Mr. Vodka-Cran. Screw him.

“Um, hi, it’s nice to meet you too.” The girl says uneasily, leaning a bit closer to Jungkook. “You must be ___.”

Your jaw drops open unattractively as you jab a finger at your own chest. “You know who I am?!”

“Jungkook talks about you a lot.” Soobin states matter-of-factly, her demeanor cool and calm – almost too cool and calm. You feel the need to introduce her to Mr. Vodka-Cran.

“Aw, does he really now?” You affectionately pat Jungkook on the cheek, who rolls his eyes when you coo at him. “I’m his best friend – actually, the best friend he could ever ask for – so I’m not surprised. But still happy to hear it.” You focus your attention back on Soobin, your eyes sparkling. “So, tell me about yourself! How did you and Jungkook meet? Oh wait, silly me, I already know you met on Tinder, duh! What I meant to say is, how’s it going? Are you guys happy together?” You suddenly gasp, “Are you guys going to get married?! Oh my gosh, congratulations! I can’t wait to tell the others-”

The rest of your words come out as a muffled, unintelligible mess from behind Jungkook’s hand. He knows better than to let the “blabbing nonsense” stage get any worse. It takes you an extra long second to register what’s happening but when you finally do, you give him a repulsed look before licking his palm in revenge, causing him to draw his hand back reflexively.

“O-kay, I think that’s enough ‘getting to know each other’ time.” He cringes, wiping the spit off on his dark denim jeans. “Uh, so yeah, ___ this is Soobin, Soobin this is ___.” He turns to Soobin, looking apologetic, “Sorry you have to meet ___ when she’s butt-drunk like this. Normally she’s a little off her rocker but I swear she’s not this crazy all the time.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Well that’s kind of a bummer to hear.”

Cheeks flushed, you whirl around and are greeted by another one of YoungHo’s amused smiles and he leisurely strides over to where you guys are standing. It feels like he’s been gone for forever; you nearly forgot about him for a second there. You wonder if he was really in the bathroom for that long or if alcohol just slows time down that much.

“YoungHo,” You beam, raising a hand up in salutation, before directing it towards the couple beside you, “this is my best friend and pet bunny, Jungkook. And this,” you gesture towards Soobin, “is his girlfriend Soobin! Aren’t they just precious?”

YoungHo bites his lips to hold back a bout of laughter, obviously having not expected your level of inebriety to increase this much in the few minutes he was gone. But he lets his manners go ahead of him, extending a hand out to Jungkook. “Pleasure’s mine, I’m YoungHo, a… new friend of ___’s.”

Jungkook stares at the man’s hand like it’s his first time seeing a hand and he doesn’t quite know what to do with it. He stills, the booming music and surrounding chattering conversations blurring together messily in the background. You may be far from sober, but even you can feel the palpable awkwardness, and you frantically wonder why he’s just letting this stretch of silence pass on by without saying anything. It’s so awkward, YoungHo’s expression starts to shift into an uncomfortable one, his outstretched hand wavering slightly. Your eyes quickly flicker to Soobin, who looks just as puzzled as you feel, and out of anxious discomfort you inwardly start to chant you shake it, you dimwit, shake it!

After a few more excruciating moments of tension, the man seems to finally figure out how to operate his own hand and takes YoungHo’s into his, the handshake looking really firm – almost painfully firm. But at least he finally shook his damn hand and put all of you out of your collective awkward misery.

From beneath slightly narrowed eyes, Jungkook makes silent eye contact with YoungHo before he mutters a greeting and briskly lets go, shoving his hand into his pocket. You remind yourself to give Jungkook a lesson on basic manners after this night is finally over with.

“Allllllrighty then!” You chirp, clapping your hands together to break up the strange atmosphere. “Friends, girlfriends, tulips – everyone’s been introduced. This calls for celebration! And more alcohol!” In your trek back towards the bar, you somehow manage to trip over your own foot, gravity pulling your body forward in a sudden jerk that has you falling towards the gleaming wood surface. But luckily a hand, no, two hands grab your arms and quickly hoist you up, your eyes rolling around dizzily in your head from all the movement. Blinking in a daze, you turn to your left and right and see Jungkook and YoungHo holding onto you, wearing similarly concerned expressions on their faces.

“Well thank god I have the two of you to save me from banging up my face, haha!” A hiccup leaves your lips, but soon turns into a giddy giggle, followed by more hiccups. At this point, you don’t have enough sober left in you to even think about feeling embarrassed. You just grin stupidly, happy as can be.  

“Okay, no more drinks for you. I think it’s time to go home.” Jungkook enforces sternly, pulling you away from the bar and consequently out of YoungHo’s grip as well. The event must really be taking off now because it’s much more difficult to hear his voice over the pulsating bass and rowdy cheering than before. In the distance you see a circle of people cheering on a group of break dancers who are spinning around on the floor and showing off their fancy, intricate dance moves. More and more people are squeezed onto the dance floor now, swaying their bodies to the music in one massive clump of body heat and sweat, the beat and blanket of intoxication fully taking control of the atmosphere. There’s just no way you’re can leave now, not when the party’s just getting started.

“No.” Jungkook says scoldingly, reading your mind before you can even think of protesting. “I already know what you’re thinking. Trust me, you’re gonna thank me tomorrow when you get a full night’s sleep and your hangover is ten times better than it would’ve been.”

“But Jeonnie,” You whine unapologetically, giving him an annoyed pout. “Just because you want to go home doesn’t mean I want to go home yet. Some of us just want to live our lives, you party pooper!” You swing your hand at his chest but completely miss, stumbling forward when you hit nothing but air. This time YoungHo is quicker to react and his hands are on your waist before you even realize you’re falling, his grip steadying you on your feet.

“Actually, I think that might be a good idea, ___.” YoungHo agrees gently, trying hard not to smile at your sulky frown that just grows larger and cuter by the second. “Might be a good time to call it a night, gotta keep you from breaking an arm or something. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” In your drunk stupor, you still get startled when Jungkook suddenly steps forward, wearing an expression you don’t think you’ve ever seen on him before.

“No it’s all good, I’ll take her home.” Though he stands tall, his words come out in a nervous rush. The nervousness in his voice sounds so unlike him, so uncharacteristic of him. He must realize how hasty he sounded because he’s suddenly scratching the back of his neck, eyes flitting around awkwardly. “I mean, I’ve taken care of her drunk self plenty of times in the past, so I’m used to it. She can just be a real beast to deal with once the alcohol fully hits.”

Your face twists in offense, “Uh, excuse you Mr. Jeon-balaya-”

“No really, it’s fine,” YoungHo cuts in, stepping forward as well to match Jungkook’s stance. “I don’t mind at all. I’m completely sobered up and my car’s parked right up front. Besides,” he eyes Soobin who’s been standing there all along, quiet as a mouse, before shifting back to Jungkook, “you should take care of your girlfriend, no?”

Maybe it’s just your eyes playing tricks on you, but you swear you see Jungkook’s hands ball up into fists at his side. He looks ticked, again, just like earlier when he first saw your outfit. But at the same time, your best friend, whom you can usually read like a book, faces the other man completely stone-faced, blank of any real emotion, and truthfully it comes across as a bit scary. This night just gets stranger and stranger by the minute. 

You think the unbearable awkward tension is back, but this time you can’t really tell for sure. They continue to stare at each other like there’s some sort of show down to be had, and it soon becomes too much for your inebriated brain to comprehend. All you know for sure is that just as Jungkook predicted, the alcohol is really starting to hit you now. You know you’re standing still but it feels like the world is tipping sideways on its axis just to throw you off balance. The strong bass hammers in your ear and shakes you from the inside out in a way that makes your stomach churn uneasily, like Mr. Vodka-Cran is about to take his revenge on you. For the first time that night, you agree with the both of them – maybe it is time to go home.

“Jungkook,” Soobin suddenly speaks up after not having said a single word in the last ten minutes, “just let the man take her home. You were planning on staying at my place tonight anyway, no?” You bring a hand to your head as if it’ll help alleviate the headache that’s starting to pound away at your skull. Why does Soobin sound upset too? Did you do something wrong? What the hell is going on? Where are your goddamn pajamas ‘cause you really need to pass the fuck out ASAP.

Sensing your growing discomfort, YoungHo reaches for your purse on the bar stool and slings it over your shoulder, looking down at you worriedly. “_­__­ really doesn’t look too good, I think we should head out. I’ll let her friend know we’re leaving, and I’ll be sure to get her home safe. It was nice meeting you both.” With a hand on the small of your back, he leads you away from a shell-shocked Jungkook and an equally upset-looking Soobin, moving forward through the hordes of people, not letting you turn back to look even once. You just hope all of this, whatever this was, will be cleared up by morning.  

- - - - -   

Things aren’t the same after that night at the Sound Bar.

Thankfully, you wake up the next day alone and in your own bed, the other half of it empty and fortunately unoccupied. You end up nursing a nasty hangover for the next two days after that night, your recovery weekend filled with lots of pedialyte, tylenol, and soup to keep your poor stomach at bay. It’s frustrating because no matter how hard you try to remember, that night is just one big drunken blur in your memory. Luckily Hari, who had been nearby at the time and witnessed it all go down, helps fill you in on everything that happened. You immediately spam Jungkook’s phone afterwards with apology texts, asking him to deliver your sincerest apologies to Soobin as well for being so rude and insane that night (you swear to never talk to Mr. Vodka-Cran ever again, that bastard). But strangely, there’s no reply. You vaguely remember him saying he was going to spend the night at Soobin’s place, so you figure he’s just busy spending his weekend with her. It’s no big deal, he’ll get back to you in a few days and things will soon be all settled and forgiven.

He eventually texts back to tell you it’s fine, but that he’s got a busy week ahead of him. The deadline for his demos are coming up, and apparently he’s super far behind and has a ton of shit to catch up on. You were hoping he’d be free so you’d be able to at least apologize to him one more time, in person. But you don’t get to see him, and Fat Friday doesn’t happen that week. Again, not the end of the world. He’s an adult, he’s got adult responsibilities to take care of, and it’s totally normal to not see your friend’s face for a week. Well, not normal for you, but you figure it’s normal in general.

The following week, Jungkook says he’s still swamped with work. You tell him you’ll go to his place to keep him some company in his misery, promising not to distract him too much and even offering to bring take-out, which happens maybe once in a blue moon. But he declines your offer (he says no to take-out!) and insists he really needs to be alone and concentrate. Though his rejection leaves a slight sting, his reasons are understandable – the producer life isn’t an easy one and knowing how much of a perfectionist Jungkook is, that life is probably just that much more difficult for him. It’s a very reasonable excuse.

Before you know it, two weeks go by, and it’s onto week three. His text replies are becoming sparse and each successive one sounds less and less like him. His apologies are half-hearted at best and he repeatedly blames it on the stress he was dealing with. But he says the demos are finally in, and that he’s free for the next few weeks before he starts up on another project. You ignore the fact that he’s been acting off, your desire to see your best friend trumping his unusual behavior, and text him to get his “fat ass ready for wings and some Thor action, cuz it’s Fat Friday baby!” hoping deep down inside that he won’t turn you down again this week. But to your utter shock, he does, this time with the excuse of needing to tend to his very neglected girlfriend. Another slap of rejection. But it makes sense that if he didn’t have any time for his own girlfriend, then he definitely didn’t have time for you. Of course he’d want to spend quality time with her to make up for the time he was gone. Of course.

So in those three rather empty weeks, you fill your time in other ways. The day after meeting at the Sound Bar, YoungHo texts you to set up your pizza date. Instead of lounging around at home like you normally do with some superhero movie on Netflix and Jungkook hogging up majority of the sofa with his body, you spend the evening going to two different pizza places with YoungHo. It ends up being a nice first date, one which concludes with you reluctantly admitting that thin crust is actually pretty bomb too (but you still pledge your loyalty to deep dish forever). The conversation still flows nicely with him as you both continue to get to know more about one another. Turns out, YoungHo’s a friend of a friend of Namjoon’s and works as some fancy business manager for some even fancier big-shot business company in the city. Strangely enough, this new tidbit of information makes you instantly think of Jungkook, who in his college days, once passionately declared he’d rather die than be stuck at a boring office job for the rest of his life. He sure is a man of his word, seeing how he kept to it and now is doing what he truly loves to do – producing and making music.

The second week, YoungHo surprises you by taking you to see Hamilton, the musical. Apparently, his company offers discount prices on certain events like musicals, and he managed to get seats in the orchestra pit for dirt cheap. He was worried it’d be too fancy and serious for the third date, but you’re just thrilled that you finally get to see the musical in real life, rather than just listening to the soundtrack on Spotify on repeat and creating an imaginary musical inside your head. The show ends up being even more amazing than you could ever describe with words. The songs, the dialogue, the characters – it’s a night that will be forever embedded in your memories. You know you just have to take Jungkook to see it the next time the Hamilton crew is back in town – you know he would love it just as much as you did.

The third week you offer to make YoungHo dinner at your apartment for date five, to change things up a little. He’s been so generous and proactive with planning all the previous dates, you feel like it’s the least you can do to show some effort on your part. So you invite him over and prepare a fancy steak and roasted vegetable dinner that you copped off a Tasty recipe. After dinner, you turn on the Hamilton soundtrack as YoungHo pours out two glasses of wine and continues the conversation about favorite childhood memories. He sits up properly on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other as he animatedly reminisces about the time he accidentally called the fire department thinking he was calling his mom. You smile and nod at his story and make sure to laugh at the right times, but for some reason, you can’t help but think about how he’s sitting. It’s an odd thought to have, but it bothers you throughout the night – it just looks too proper, too upright. If Jungkook were here, you think, he’d be sprawled out all over your couch, legs and arms hanging over the edges and you’d have to shove him off or prop his feet up on your lap just so you could sit. Then you’d make a comment about his feet smelling like a dead animal and he’d pounce on you and tickle you until you’re breathless and admitting surrender. But that’s if Jungkook were here. He hasn’t been here in weeks.

The days, hours, and minutes, crawl by at a snail pace until it’s finally week four since you’ve seen Jungkook. Now, there’s just – nothing. No legit or even half-assed excuses to explain for his prolonged absence. It seems like he’s even given up replying to your texts, seeing as though you were left on read three days ago.

You start to think that maybe this is just what it feels like to grow up. That adult friendships are just starkly different from younger ones, where you have all the care-free time in the world to hang out and talk and do nothing together. Maybe this is how adult friends end up becoming more distant from each other. Life starts to demand too much, significant others are put at the higher end of the priority list, and something has to suffer for the new change in the hierarchy. If that’s the case and that’s what this is, then you conclude that being an adult sucks, and you want no part of it anymore.

You don’t even realize you’re lost in your own thoughts until YoungHo says your name, snapping you out of it and back to reality. He was in the middle of explaining what was going on in the baseball game you two were watching at his place when you started to space out, traveling down the sad, dark rabbit hole you hate to admit you’ve kind of been living in for the past month. Now that your head is out of the clouds, you wince at the sight of the baseball game on the TV. Jungkook loves baseball. You wonder if he’s out there somewhere watching this game too.

The TV suddenly goes black. Youngho’s hand lowers the remote control onto the coffee table before he turns to you, one leg crossed over the only, polite and proper as usual. You can already tell by the look on his face that he has a question on his lips, ready to fire away.

“What’s been going on with you lately, ___?”

You blink a couple of times, not liking where this conversation is going. “What do you mean? Nothing’s up.” Even you don’t think your words sound convincing to your own ears.

YoungHo sighs. “These past few dates, I’ve caught you staring off into space multiple times, looking so sad and out of it.” He furrows his brows in concern. “Do you not even realize it yourself?”

You bite your lower lip. You know you’ve been feeling a bit gloomy and really out of it these last few weeks, you just didn’t realize you were blanking out that often – especially in front of YoungHo. And even if you were, you thought you were at least hiding it well. Guess not.

“Alright,” He shifts to sit closer to you, folding his hands in his lap, “Tell me what’s really going on.”

You almost laugh at that because frankly, you don’t know what’s going on yourself. Work’s been the same, you’ve been sleeping alright – not as soundly as normal but getting enough to function – and maybe your diet has been a little cleaner now that you haven’t had any greasy take-out food for the last month, but honestly that’s the biggest recent change you can think of – Jungkook’s absence. Just the thought of him makes your heart twinge. You miss Jungkook’s stupid face so much, the thought of him and his stupid voice and his stupid comments and his stupid presence have had you tossing and turning at night for the past few weeks. Every time your phone rings, every time you crave take-out or come home from work and just want to pass out on the sofa with a movie, you automatically think of him and wonder how he’s doing, if he’s doing okay, if he got enough sleep while pulling his hair out over deadlines – you wonder if he even remembers you exist anymore.

You shake your head, squeezing your eyes shut momentarily to block out the pain. “I- I really don’t know, honest.” You admit the half of the truth, because you really aren’ts sure what to make of these thoughts and feelings you have for your best friend yourself. But it’s like YoungHo can read your mind, or maybe, you’re just that easy to read.

“It’s Jungkook, isn’t it?”

Shocked, you look up at him, lips parted to match your expression. “W-what?”

“___, you can’t fool me.” YoungHo sighs again, looking obviously frustrated, but he somehow manages to maintain a level tone, and his eyes look gentle as ever. “Ever since our first date, you haven’t been able to stop talking about him. Jungkook this, Jungkook that – it was never ending. I know you two are best friends and all, but honestly I was shocked when all you would do is talk about your male best friend ninety-five percent of the time even while on a date with another man.” He pauses for a moment, his gaze softening. “Not to mention you just look so down nowadays, I figured it must have something to do with him.”

Your eyes are still saucer-wide as YoungHo searches them carefully, his expression sullen. The way he does it is scarily similar to how Jungkook does it. Maybe this whole time you were wrong and Jungkook was actually the one who could always read you like a book, and not the other way around. But like your best friend, YoungHo seems to find whatever answer he needs as he inhales, the sound a bit shaky, as if to compose himself for what he’s about to say next.

“You love him, don’t you?”

It’s more of a statement than it is a question. In fact, the way he says it makes it sound like it’s so obvious, like hey the sky is blue, dogs are cute, you love Jungkook. It rolls off the tip of his tongue like a cold, hard fact rather than just a mere hypothesis that needs further testing. It shakes you at your core and makes your head spin, and the confusion is simply overwhelming.

It is an obvious fact that you love Jungkook – he’s your best friend, the one who’s been by your side for so many years now and knows you better than anyone else, even more than Hari or your own parents. He knows what makes you tick, and then he knows what really makes you tick and goes the extra length to make sure no one ever gets to that point with you, including himself. He always knows just the words to say to comfort you, or just the joke to crack to lighten up the mood and make you smile. Without fail he’s like your giant Care Bear, just maybe less fuzzy wuzzy up front. He’s dealt with drunk you, post-break-up-crying-over-ice-cream-you, low self confidence you, lost in life you, all the parts of you that you didn’t even want to bother with – Jungkook embraced them all. He’s been the most stable constant in your life. Yet in the past, you never really considered him in a romantic way, mostly due to the awkward start you two had and how long it took to get over that hill. And even after you did, then you started dating your college boyfriend. There was no time to even think about looking at him in that way – so you never did.

But YoungHo’s words ring unmistakably loud and clear in your ears, and suddenly there’s so much pulling and pushing of your emotions happening all at once. It’s like the boulder of sorrow weighing on your heart lightens up only to hang down even heavier now after hearing his words, like a fog has lifted to unveil your true feelings while your heart still runs around in circles, frantically lost, so confused and caught off guard. His words are a real sucker punch to the gut that you didn’t see coming, one that leaves you breathless, because never did you imagine that this would be the issue you would have with Jungkook. Arguing over what to get for take-out? Of course. Bickering over who the better looking person is? All the time. Cussing one another out in Mario Kart? A regular occurrence. But falling in love with your best friend? Never in your dreams.

You clench your hands into fists on top of your thighs. It almost feels like you’re going to cry for some reason, maybe from just feeling overwhelmed by it all. But whether they’d be tears of joy or frustration, you have no clue. It just doesn’t make sense. You can’t just wake up one morning and suddenly love your best friend in a completely different way, it doesn’t work like that. But the more you think about it, the more you realize it didn’t happen overnight – none of this did. No, all those times he let you cry on his shoulder, whether it was because of your college boyfriend or because of a bad grade, all those moments he paused his video games just to talk with you about life, about nothing, til the wee hours of the morning, all those times he fought with you for the last crab rangoon like his life depended on it, only to give in and let you have it in the end – it’s in all these little moments that you didn’t realize you were slowly falling for the boy with the doe eyes, the smart mouth, and a heart of pure gold.

YoungHo is right – you are completely and undeniably in love with Jungkook.

These last four weeks have been hell, missing Jungkook so much more than you ever thought you would. The feeling is ten times worse than that one time junior year, when he went to a music camp for two weeks in the mountains with no phone service or wifi signal. You koala-ed him for nearly a week after he came back and demanded he never lose contact with you for that long ever again. This time is definitely much worse. This time, his absence had been constantly gnawing at you – a bitter, lonely, slow spreading infection eating away at your insides bit by bit, eventually leaving a gaping hole that wouldn’t be easy to patch up. It’s strange because the more time passed without his presence and the more you saw YoungHo’s face instead, the more often Jungkook’s would pop up in your head, as if to torture you even more in your misery. But now it all makes sense why that was happening.

Even in this very moment, you still miss those big, brown, doe eyes of his with all your heart, and the way his nose wrinkles adorably when he laughs or smiles, along with that brilliant smile itself– seriously, when was the last time you even saw the light? You miss the sight of his big hoodie clad figure splayed out on your couch and being able to banter with him and make him snort with the ridiculousness that spews from your mouth, you miss calling him names and immediately getting insulted back. You miss having his head or even his feet on your lap with Hulk playing in the background. You miss him so much, it hurts.

So much that you finally decide that enough is enough.  

“YoungHo,” You begin after who knows how long, your voice sounding more stable now. “I think I- I need to go.” Too busy filtering through the complicated web of thoughts and emotions, you didn’t even notice the way YoungHo’s expression completely changed since the start of the night until now. His expression is soft but there’s a sense of solemn acknowledgment in his eyes, and you can just feel his disappointment, the weight of reality sinking down on his shoulders. But his lips pull up into a somber smile as he stands up from the sofa and watches you follow his motion, your head hung low in shame.

“I’m so sorry, I’m a horrible person,” You blubber, feeling genuinely guilty, “I’m sorry I’ve wasted so much of your time and efforts and that I’m dumb as fuck and didn’t realize this sooner to avoid all this unnecessary misery. But I just want you to know that I had an amazing time hanging out with you. You’re an awesome guy, YoungHo, and I mean no bullshit when I say that I hope we can stay friends.” You find the courage to look up and directly into his eyes, eyes glistening with remorse. “I really mean that with all of my heart.”

He offers you a smile and it’s small, but to your relief, it’s genuine, and that helps to ease the guilt a little. “Whenever you’re craving thin crust, I’m always just a call away.” He cocks his head towards the door, “Now get out of here and stop being miserable already. Go, before I change my mind.”

You stand on your tiptoes to leave a light peck to his cheek, giving his arm a squeeze before you’re out the door, rushing towards the elevators while fumbling around with your phone to call an uber.

Jungkook may be busy and have more important people and things to tend to, but that doesn’t change the fact that that bastard neglected you and your friendship for an entire month now, that just the thought of him still makes your stomach churn with something miserable and painfully empty, though it feels different in the light of these new feelings you’ve discovered. But at this point, your feelings don’t even matter. And screw all of this “normal progression of adult friendships” crap. All you know is that no matter how you feel, no matter how he feels about you, in the end, you just want your best friend back – you need Jungkook back in your life.

- - - - -   

[7:34PM] You: joon

[7:34PM] You: where the hell has jeon been lately?

[7:35PM] You: bugger won’t reply to my texts and i rly need to talk to him

[7:36PM] Joonie: uhh, lately?

[7:36PM] Joonie: at home

[7:37PM] Joonie: playing overwatch

[7:39PM] You: ……

[7:40PM] You: what

[7:40PM] You: the actual

[7:40PM] You: fuck

[7:42PM] Joonie: what?

[7:44PM] You: for the last 4 weeks

[7:44PM] You: i thought he was busy dying over his demos and hanging out w/ soobin

[7:44PM] You: but he’s been ditching me for OVERWATCH?

[7:46PM] Joonie: well he was dying

[7:47PM] Joonie: he just turned in his demos not too long ago

[7:48PM] You: i’m gonna kick his sorry ass

[7:50PM] Joonie: wait

[7:52PM] You: what

[7:53PM] Joonie: you mean you don’t know?

[7:54PM] Joonie: jungkook didn’t tell you?

[7:55PM] You: ugh what now

[7:56PM] Joonie: dude

[7:58PM] Joonie: jungkook and soobin broke up like a month ago

- - - - -   

“Jungkook!” A breathless shout leaves your lips as you barge through your best friend’s bedroom door, flailing it open and simultaneously scaring the living daylights out of the owner of said bedroom. His hunched figure at the desk jumps up and whirls around at the sound of your voice as his headphones slide off one ear haphazardly.

“Holy Widowmaker, yes hi, hello, shit you scared me.” He exhales all in one breath, eyes still enlarged and mouth hanging slightly ajar. Judging by the look of surprise bordering sheer terror on his face, he definitely wasn’t expecting you. But then again, he doesn’t look like he was expecting anyone, really. He’s wearing a black hoodie that’s one size too big for him and matching colored basketball shorts, the oversized hood pulled up over mussed chestnut hair, and it honestly looks like he hasn’t moved to shower, change, or just move at all. But he still somehow looks so good like that, bits of his wavy hair falling into those warm hazelnut eyes, plump lips parted slightly – so unfairly and effortlessly handsome. It’s a mystery how you faced this man for so many years and somehow remained immune to his gorgeous looks alone (well, as long as he was fully clothed).  

“Wow,” You manage to get out between rapid breaths from quite literally running straight to Jungkook’s apartment from YoungHo’s place. You glance at his computer monitor before focusing back on him. “You really are playing Overwatch.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “Uh, why yes, I am?”

The urge to smack him for giving such a lame and frustratingly obvious answer is strong, but since he doesn’t understand the context from which you state this, you decide to spare him from your wrath for the time being, putting away the fists of fury for now as you march over to where he’s sitting in his fancy black and red, almost half cocoon-shaped gaming chair.

“How are you Jungkook? How’ve you been lately?” The questions roll off your tongue icily, eyes narrowing into slits that are meant to be intimidating, but it doesn’t look like it does all that much to Jungkook. From the way his eyes are still bulging out comically, it seems he still hasn’t fully gotten over the shock from your grand entrance as he mumbles a dazed “uh alright, how ‘bout you?” under his breath.

“Oh good, I’m glad, just so glad.” Sarcasm drips from your voice, and it’s hard to keep it from shaking. “And me? Oh well I’m just peachy – feeling fan-fucking-tastic.”

“You sure ‘bout that?” He queries, crinkling his nose in disagreement and looking too cute for his own good, “‘cause you sure as hell don’t sound or look like it.”

“Oh no, really, I’m just dandy!” Hands on your hips, you raise a brow at him and click your tongue once, “I’m just thrilled to see my best friend again after he avoided me for four weeks straight without any solid explanation as to why. It’s nice to see you’re still alive and kicking virtual ass, that’s all.” Slowly slipping his headphones off and setting them besides his mouse on the desk, Jungkook hesitantly rises to his feet, looking guilty, apologetic, but also slightly frustrated as he approaches you. He chooses to stand a few feet away, hands slipping into his pockets as he shifts his gaze to the floor. You can just feel this new barrier separating the two of you, and that realization hurts, especially since you still have no idea why he’s been acting so damn weird around you lately.

His lower lip is caught between his teeth, his eyes flitting around nervously as he contemplates what to say, how to explain the mess that was the last four weeks in order for it to make sense to you. But you’ll wait as long as it takes to hear him out and to resolve this issue. You’ve already waited four weeks, what’s another couple of seconds, minutes, or hours more? What else do you have left to lose?

You decide to help him out, though. You’re not sure it’s the best move to make, but you know it’ll get the job done and get the ball rolling for sure. So you bite the bullet and go for it, your voice much quieter and timid than before.

“How- how have you and Soobin been doing?”

It goes completely silent in the room safe for the almost inaudible sound of breathing and your heart beat pounding against your ear drums; besides that, it’s so quiet you would probably be able to hear a pin drop if one did. A thick tension begins to cloud the air that lies between you two as you wait for him to answer, for him to finally admit that he’s been lying, for him to stop with the bullshit and tell you what’s really going on with him. And after a few more excruciating moments, you begin to see him come around. It starts with how he squeezes his eyes shut and bites down on his lower lip even harder, staying like that for a few moments, the regret so evident in his expression. He knows he’s been caught red handed – that there’s no more escaping this conversation.

“Who told you?” Jungkook finally grits out, a low murmur under his breath as he trains his sights on the floor boards.

“Well, not you, that’s for sure.” You answer, the soft tone of your voice contrasting the sting that accompanies that comment. “Since you weren’t replying to my texts, I asked Namjoon about where the hell you’ve been lately, and he just suddenly dropped the bomb on me.” When all he does is continue to stare at the floor some more, you sigh, trying to cover up the way your lip quivers. You hate this weird awkwardness between you, and you want nothing more than for things to be okay again between you two – it’s driving you absolutely insane.

“What’s been going on these past few weeks, Jungkook?” You push on, silently begging for him to just give in already.

“___, I,” Jungkook stutters, raking a hand through his hair, the movement pushing his hoodie off his head to fully reveal his face. When the dim light from the lamp hits his face, only then do you realize just how haggard he looks. It’s almost like he hasn’t been getting very good sleep, much like yourself this past month. “I’ve just been… really busy.”

“Wrong answer, try again.” You refuse to lose to his stubbornness, not when you’ve come this far, not when things have escalated this much, not when your friendship feels like its dangling on its last fraying thread. He’s stubborn, but you’re a Taurus, and you are hell-bent on getting answers out of him, even if it means just standing there staring at him all night. You need to break down this new all he’s built up against you – it’s all you can think to do to get your best friend back.

Jungkook must sense your unwillingness to back down because he suddenly runs a hand down his face, a heavy sigh resonating from his chest. He knows this is all unavoidable – that now’s the time to lay it all out on the table. So he does, and nothing can prepare you for what he’s about to say.

“I was scared.”

Not expecting that answer at all, your brows furrow together in concern, and you feel your hands itching to just reach out and hold Jungkook, who can’t seem to lift his head and for once just looks so small. “Scared? Of what?”

“I, I thought I had more time,” He peeks out from under his eyelashes, lips forming a grim line, “more time left with you.”

Confusion fills your expression. “You make it sound like I’m dying and only have a few days left to live or something. What do you mean you thought you had more time?”

Jungkook clenches his jaw. It’s obvious that bringing all of his thoughts and feelings to the surface is proving to be a lot harder than it may seem. His hands keep curling into fists and unfurling over and over, the movement full of anxiety and tension. But then to your relief he finally speaks, breaking the silence with his quiet confession.

“For so many years, it’s just been me and you, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He starts off, voice soft and hesitant. “Even after college, we still somehow made it a routine to see each other at least what, twice a week? And then somehow Fat Fridays became a thing, our thing, and just having you by my side became enough for me. That’s all I ever needed.” His expression twists into one of distress, his brows knitting together, “Then all of a sudden, Hari and Tae convince you to start searching for a boyfriend to help with your quarter life crisis, and before I can even blink, you’re off on your first blind date who ends up being some dude that doesn’t know how to shut up to save his life.” You cringe inwardly at the thought of Date #1, doing your best to not let it show on your face for fear of interrupting Jungkook’s flow. Luckily he doesn’t seem to notice it and continues on, taking a cautious step towards you 

“So what choice did I have left? I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I somehow ended up downloading a couple of those dating apps you were using and made my own profile. And as you know, that’s how I met Soobin.” Jungkook smiles sadly, scoffing quietly to himself. “I – I had to fill the void somehow. And she seemed cool, liked anime, and she was pretty so I figured, why not give it a shot? If you were out there giving all those losers a chance, I might as well do the same.”

“Wait,” You interrupt him, pinching the bridge of your nose in confusion, “so you only dated Soobin because I was dating other guys?” He nods solemnly, shame filling his expression. “But why? Just because you thought I wouldn’t have time for you anymore?” Heart clenching inside your chest, you reach out to take a hold of his hand, “Jeon, you should’ve talked to me about this instead of avoiding me like the plague. You need to know that no matter what, I will always have time for you. You’re my best friend, and there’s no one else I can do Fat Fridays with – there is always time for you in my life.”

“No, that’s not it.” Jungkook interjects quietly, shoulders sagging like the energy is being sapped out of him. The sadness etched in his eyes make your heart sink even further – it makes you afraid to hear the rest of what he has to say.

He inhales deeply, involuntarily tightening his grip on your hand. “I was always afraid it’d happen one day, losing you to another guy. But honestly, I thought I still had time. When your first few online dates flopped, I was so relieved because it still meant I had time left with you. But then,” He exhales, his expression hardening slightly, “this YoungHo guy comes out of nowhere and sweeps you off your feet, makes you laugh and looks at you like he’s hit the jackpot and it just made me feel sick to the stomach. Then he offers to take you home,” Jungkook lets out a short laugh, the sound incredulous and wounded at the edges, “and that was the cherry on top. In that moment, I didn’t care if Soobin was there, I didn’t even care that she was my girlfriend at the time, as horrible as that may sound – all I knew was that some other guy was taking you home, and I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“It felt like all of my worst nightmares were coming true. You looked like you were so into him, and he looked just as smitten with you, and when he left with you that night, I thought ‘wow, this is it.’” Jungkook closes his eyes briefly in anguish, as if just saying the words themselves is painful for him. “I thought ‘this is how I lose her – this is how I officially run out of time with the one girl I need in my life. I’m such a coward for not saying something sooner, for not taking the risk and just going for it. This – this is it.’”

Jungkook slowly looks up to meet your eyes, watching as tears gather at the corners of your eyes, threatening to spill over at any second. All this time, your best friend was fighting in a silent battle against his fears and insecurities, and the worst part is that those fears and insecurities involved you. You were so dumb and blind and really had no idea this is what was happening to him this whole time. But it’s all starting to make sense now. Why he was so upset that night at the Sound Bar. Why he was making up excuses to avoid you. Why he’s been hiding for the last month – it was to avoid having this very conversation. He thinks this is the last night he’ll ever have with you.

“That night, I went back to Soobin’s place and man, she let me have it.” Jungkook chuckles, the sound not happy in the least bit. “She was pissed, and rightly so. She told me she didn’t get why I was even dating her in the first place when it was obvious that all I cared about was you.” Giving your hand a gentle squeeze, Jungkook steps closer so that now, finally, his toes line up with yours, his body towering over you and dark eyes searching yours intently, as you take in his scent that smells like home, and it helps to ease the sharp sting in your heart a little. His other hand finds yours so that he’s holding them both, so gently within his palms, thumbs tracing your knuckles gently, affectionately.

“If you don’t get it by now, even after all I’ve said, then you’re a real idiot.” Jungkook jokes lightly, but his muscles are tense and shoulders hang heavily in stark contrast to his words. “But you’re also a moron for not realizing that I’ve been in love with you ever since you kicked my ass in Mario Kart freshman year of college.”

It took you all these years, a quarter-life-crisis, several horrible blind dates, and even a potential boyfriend to get your eyes to finally open and truly see what Jungkook has just confirmed for you. It’s just that when someone is by your side that often, that regularly, it becomes natural to have them there, to have their presence nearby almost at all times and it’s so nice not having to question it. It’s so easy to get comfortable and not consider any other ideas or feelings because why do that when what you’ve got is already so good? Why venture into dangerous territory when life is great in the safe zone? But that’s exactly what Jungkook did. He embraced those very ideas and feelings and kept them bottled up and neatly tucked away all these years, knowing what you two had was so good, knowing it wasn’t worth risking the friendship you two had built up and nurtured over time. He never pushed his feelings onto you, or held you back from anything just because he felt a certain way about you. All he did was stay by your side the entire time, protecting you, silently loving you and figuring out life with you every step of the way. It’s always been Jungkook – it’s always been him.

“You know, you’re gonna need to thank YoungHo after this.” You mutter after a brief and tense silence, a tear escaping to trickle down your cheek.

Jungkook, who still has worry and stress scribbled all over his face, visibly recoils at the sound of the name of the man who was once after your heart as well. “And why would I ever need to do that?”

Not letting another moment go to waste, you suddenly perch up onto the tips of your toes, letting go of Jungkook’s hands to cup his cheeks and press your lips against his. Hands snaking through soft, wavy locks, you press yourself further into his plush petal lips, moving your mouth gently against his as he remains frozen in place. It takes him a few seconds to react, and in those few moments you can imagine what he must look like – shell-shocked doe eyes, eyebrows raised in astonishment because is his best friend really kissing him right now? But then slowly he begins to melt into your touch, brushing against your flesh hesitantly, as if he can’t believe this is all happening, his hands finding the small of your back to pull you flush against his chest. You capture his top lip between the two of yours and gently suckle on it for a moment as if to reassure him that this is real and that it’s all okay now. He seems to take the hint because then he’s suddenly sliding a hand up your sides to cradle your head, lips fervently chasing after yours, tongue swiping at your bottom lip, begging to be let in. With a small moan, you allow him to lick into your mouth, the wet muscle hurriedly fighting for dominance with yours in a way that makes heat pool in your lower abdomen.

You never knew it would feel so right to kiss Jungkook like this, to feel him moan against your skin and graze his warm hands all along the curves of your body. The more accustomed you become to his touch, the more you want him – the more you crave him. But before it can get any more heated, he slows his movements before pulling away, slightly breathless, more strands of hair scattered messily on his forehead to frame his gorgeous face, the stupid stupid face you’ve missed with your entire being.

“Please say it.” Jungkook breathes out, chest rising and falling as he tries to catch his breath, his eyes dark and dripping with want. “Before we move on, before anything else happens I just- I need to hear you say it.” Feeling his hot breaths fan against your skin, onyx eyes fixated on yours, it’s in this moment that you realize you would do anything for this man. That even though he gazes at you like you’ve got galaxies in your eyes, he’s the one who owns every inch of your stubborn and stupidly blind heart. You don’t blame him for wanting, no, needing, solid affirmation after everything he’s been through, after everything the both of you have endured. And you yourself don’t want to hold back any longer either. But despite how overwhelmed you are with emotion, a playful grin twitches at the corners of your lips. Because this is still Jungkook you’re dealing with here – and you plan on dealing with him the way you would any other day.

“I…” You stutter, watching Jungkook’s eyes widen with anticipation as you utter the words he’s been waiting for years to hear.

“I love Park SeoJoon.”

You make the declaration playfully, unable to contain the wide smile that fully spreads across your face. There’s just no other way you could ever imagine this moment playing out. And to your delight, Jungkook growls at this and presses your body tightly against him, causing a laugh to slip past your lips. It feels so euphoric to finally be able to actually laugh and joke like this after spending these past few dismal weeks without your best friend – without the love of your life.

“Don’t make me make you say it.” His threat is empty, and it shows in the way he leans his forehead against yours, eyes crinkled at the corners and twinkling brightly even in the dimly lit room. And the way he looks at you has the words falling from your lips before you can even think to say them.

“I love you, Jeon Jungkook, more than just a friend. I love you so much more than just that.” Your cheeks feel like they’re going to split from how much you’re smiling. “And I’m sorry it took me a whole ninety-eight light years to realize it. I’m the village idiot.”

Jungkook turns his head to snort and you expect him to say something sassy back like he usually does, but instead he just beams with a radiant glow you don’t think you’ve ever seen on him before, or on anyone else, for that matter. He gazes at you like a man who, after endlessly searching far and wide for miles and years on end, has finally met the end of his sufferings and is being rewarded for his hardship – like a man who has finally returned to his home.

Completely satisfied with your answer, Jungkook pulls you back into his embrace, the shape of his lips immediately molding to fit yours. He tastes sweet with a hint of bitter saltiness from the one or two tears that escape as you close your eyes to meet his kiss with your own, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. These are tears of relief and joy – a sign that everything is going to be okay from now on.

Suddenly you jump up and hook your legs around his waist, and he lets out a small grunt from your unexpected attack, but he reacts quickly and catches you with no effort required, his hands immediately finding and supporting your bottom as he leans back in to kiss you, caressing your lips with his own like he just can’t get enough of you.

“Are- are you okay with this?” Jungkook murmurs between kisses, giving your ass a tentative squeeze, to which you just sigh into his lips, giving him a small nod before you reclaim his mouth. With a kiss to match every step he takes, Jungkook carries you to his bed before gingerly laying you back, his lips still attached to yours, only parting to trail kisses along your jaw and up the column of your neck until he finds a sweet spot right behind your ear. The feeling of his lips gently nipping at the sensitive area there has you arching up into his chest, your fingers finding their way under his shirt to stroke up and down the skin of his back in a light, feathery motion.

“You really, really have no idea how long I’ve wanted this,” Jungkook whispers against your skin, catching your earlobe between his teeth, “How long I’ve wanted you.”

“Jungkook,” His name comes out in an airy breath, your eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of his hands exploring your body, gently skimming down your sides and eventually lifting the hem of your shirt.

“Mmm, babe.” His hands slip beneath the fabric to caress the skin of your torso just beneath the swell of your breasts, head lifting from the crook of your neck to meet your eyes, a teasing lilt in his voice. “I am allowed to call you that now without getting beaten up, right?”

“Jeon, if you don’t hurry up and strip and get the show on the road already, I’m gonna do more than just beat you up, baby.” You snap jokingly, but it’s impossible to ignore the need and impatience clearly embedded in your voice, your dark pupils blown out and full of lust. You hold back a giggle at how Jungkook’s eyes go saucer wide, a visible confirmation for how he interpreted your words as a flush quickly creeps up his cheeks as well, making him look so cute, it’s almost unbearable. But he immediately shuts down all those thoughts as he rises up to his knees to pull off his hoodie, tight abdominal and pectoral muscles greeting you as he stares down at you, his gaze potent and heavy.

“Holy cheezits.” You exhale, eyes hungrily raking over the honey-glazed skin and the intricate lines that make up the map of his toned body. This time, you have no shame in openly gawking at all the hard work and dedication that has obviously paid off for him as you admire the lean muscles of his shoulders and arms and the way two particular crevices at his hip bones create a sharply defined “V” shape, the lines narrowing and then disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts. He seems to notice your lack of shame too and chuckles darkly at the sight of your wide eyes drinking him in.

“What, are you hungry or something?” He laughs, and the sound is like music to your ears after not having heard the beautiful sound for so long. “Like, do you really have to bring up food right before I’m about to make you forget everything but my name?”

You suck in a breath and just hold it there at his bold words, words you never thought you’d ever hear him say, especially to you. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

He smiles before bending forward to leave a gentle kiss on your lips. “It’s whatever you want it to be, baby.”

That night, it felt like all hell broke loose, and the truth was finally brought to light. That life changing, very over-delayed night, Jungkook made sure to take his time with you. After several weeks apart and countless years of stuffing his emotions down his own throat, instead of rushing and letting it all end up as one big blur in his memory, he made sure to etch every kiss, every fluttering touch against your warm skin, every breathy moan and call of his name deep into his memory, to fully indulge in your warmth and the weight of your body against his. He teased you slowly with his touch, his mouth, the press of his body, while embedding the feeling of your smooth skin into his finger tips to remember forever, even though he knew he’d have many more opportunities to do so. He let himself come unraveled in front of you as you teased him right back, drawing your name from his lips in sweet low moans as you pleasured him and made his deepest, darkest fantasies come to life. You brought each other to your highs over and over again, kissing, caressing and exploring every single inch of skin available. Countless I love yous were pulled from your lips as he rocked into you, slowing down and then speeding up his pace, bringing you to the edge of your high only to bring you back down,  whispering even sweeter confessions and promises against your skin as you came for him, satiated him, and loved him with your entire existence.

At the wee hours of the morning, the two of you finally spent and tangled up in one another’s arms, breaths and heart beats matching and slowing to a sleepier pace, you pressed light kisses to his bare chest as he tucked your head under his chin, pulling you even closer against him, the feeling so indescribably perfect, like that’s where you have belonged the entire time. And in the few moments of consciousness before sleep took you captive for the night, Jungkook lightly stroking his fingers against your naked back, it dawned on you in that moment that what you’ve been missing the entire time was never an exciting, wild nightlife or having new hobbies to try out all the time. It wasn’t even going on dates or just having any old boyfriend and living life as the other young adults do. You realized that Jungkook’s always been the so called “missing piece” you felt you needed, even though he was always right there in front of your eyes all this time. He was just a piece of your puzzle of life that’s been sitting in the wrong spot – until now. It was him that you needed, and not just his friendship, not just his company, but his everything, Jungkook’s entire being – you just needed Jungkook.

With this in mind, sleep finally claimed you prisoner as you felt one more I love you whispered against your skin, a smile left on your lips as you slowly faded away into unconsciousness.

Being an adult wasn’t turning out to be so bad, not when you have everything you could ever need in your arms – not when you have Jungkook, your everything.

- - - - - 

[Loser’s club group chat]

Hari: ___ where are you?

Hari: why you won’t pick up

Hari: your apartments empty

Hari: AND WE’RE LATE FOR BRUNCHHH

Hari: srsly anyone know where she at?

Tae: let her be bruh, maybe she just got laid or something

Hari: why are you texting me i’m standing right next to you

Hari: and omg wait, could it be?

Yoongs: i can’t believe i had to sleep in the studio last night because of them

Joon: yall know i normally sleep like the dead but not last night holy shit

Tae: omg IT FINALLY HAPPENED

Tae: THE RED SEAAA

Hari: um excuse me

Hari: WHOS THEM???

Joon: PSA – jeon’s a very verbal lover

Joon: and a moaner

Joon: like a LOUD moaner

Hari: JEON??

Hari: LIKE ___ AND JEON??!!?

Hari: OR IS THAT JUST YOUNGHO’S NEW NICKNAME OR SOMETHING??

Hari: IT FINALLY HAPPENED??? WHAT THE FUCK????

Yoongs: seriously took em long enough

Yoongs: been eye fuckin each other for years now

Tae: HALLELUJAH FELIZ NAVIDAD YALL

Joon: so all it took was ___ going on a couple of blind dates huh

Joon: should’ve done this ages ago then

You: uhh

You: good morning everyone

You: i honestly

You: don’t even know what to say

JK: what can i say folks

JK: i tend to leave em speechless ;)

Hari: JOON

Hari: YOONGS

Hari: TAE AND I ARE COMING OVER LEAVE THE DOOR UNLOCKED

Hari: YOU HAVE A SHITTON OF EXPLAINING TO DO MISSY

Tae: don’t worry guys ill stall her

Tae: so you can get dressed and shit

Tae: or don’t. your choice ;)

JK: its all good

JK: ___ still has a lot of explaining to do for me as well

JK: we’re all waiting babe

Hari: BABE?!?!?!

Hari: omg i could cry i never thought i’d live to see this day come

You: ………

You: it’s gonna be a long day

[sternenteile]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

tagged by:  @battleshell​  ;  we all care blue, u do, i do, we all do tagging:  holy shit my whole dash because exorbitantly long memes are the BEST. i aint even sarcastic when i say that, i love this kind of shit. u GOTTA do it.

my muse is:  canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. [ he is in two fandoms, in fact. he is both a fan-favorite from super mario rpg, the very first in the line of mario rpgs we’ve gotten over the years, and a pretty popular smash bros. request. he even got a mii costume in 4 and a spirit in ultimate as a result of the love. he’s very beloved, to the point that i’d, even as a geno fan myself, deem him a bit overrated. why? b/c where is all the love for all the other smrpg characters!!! they are all good. i love them all. ]

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. [ i mean ?? i’ve met and seen many people who have/had crushes on geno so ??????? but i don’t think it’s like. that. ghfskjhgsg??? ]

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. [ oh yes, he is undeniably very strong, both in personality and in battle. he is often seen as the level-headed straight man of the party in smrpg (which, in the case of my geno, is... semi-applicable LMAO), a star spirit with unwavering bravery and confidence. his in-battle stats are also pretty crazy, favoring geno as a glass cannon and enemy sweeper. he is also the only character in the game to have a move that will insta-kill any enemy besides bosses. well, and exor. idk why exor, but there ya go. needless to say, pretty much everyone in the fandom agrees that geno is a powerful mfer. why wouldn’t a literal, living star be? ]

Are they underrated?  YES / NO / IDK. [ as i mentioned before, there is no shortage of him being underrated in the fanbase. i’d even say he’s a little overrated. some people treat smrpg as ‘that game with geno in it’ rather than everything else it has going for it. i love star boye as much as the next gal, but pls appreciate smrpg as a whole. it’s such a vibrant game with a colorful world of characters to love. ]

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. [ he is actually, completely central to the plot. the subtitle of smrpg is legend of the seven stars, which directly relates to geno’s core mission: to find the seven star pieces and restore star road. the rest of the gang had different ambitions, but they all ended up banding together over geno’s objective. one could argue he mostly is the exposition-granter and could be replaced with anyone else, but i feel he’s irreplaceable. smrpg would be so different without him, like it or not. ]

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. [ i wouldn’t say he is the protagonist, obviously, as that is very much mario’s spot. that being said, he is a pretty obvious deuteragonist for smrpg, given how much the plot revolves around him. he’s relevant to mario, for sure, as well as peach, mallow, and bowser. he’s relevant to many characters beyond them. he represents the fight for everyone’s wishes to be able to come true. he’s, uh... very relevant rofl. ]

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. [ the star spirits are somewhat known in the mario universe as entities capable of granting wishes, kinda like fabled gods with a tinge more evidence and reality to them. geno himself isn’t a known name, not like the seven star spirits of star haven, but his people are decently known. he, however, is not. ]

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. [ he is basically the epitome of ‘good’ until you overthink star society like i do lol. not all wishes can be granted, what constitutes as a ‘good wish’ is subjective, why some good wishes still can’t be granted anyway, etc. it puts him more towards neutral good with a dash of lawful and an undercurrent of chaotic, given his rebellion against his superiors. ]

How strictly do you follow canon?  —  i mean, it isn’t hard to be strict to mario canon when there isn’t that much of a foundation to work with anyway lol. it’s all rather simplistic until you get into the nitty gritty of it ??? that said, geno is built on a lot of headcanon. like, a lot a lot. star society and its rules for star spirits of his kind, his relationship with rosalina (a matronly figure), his relationship with the seven star spirits, the fleshing-out of his basic personality traits shown in smrpg, etc.? headcanon upon headcanon.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  a star possessing the form of a children’s toy, like toy story but with more cosmic pew-pew. a chill and sassy guy still learning the ways of how earth (and other planets) work on a more intimate level, meaning there will be lots of adorkable moments as this curious one makes discoveries. sometimes attempts to innovate with what he learns to be ‘ahead of the curve’, leading to interesting results. (he likes to sip bubble tea, but replace the tapioca pearls with star bits. good result. mopping a counter-top because it would be ‘more efficient’? not-so-good result, got him lots of stares.) straight outta the 90′s, so be ready some of that rad 90′s slang and know-how from back in the day. (what do u mean they’re bringing back dunkaroos? that’d mean they stOPPED MAKING THEM?!?) very intrigued with new technology, became stuck to his smartphone upon discovering them, fell into the time-sink that is animal videos on youtube. he’s humble and likes to relax, have a good time, and relax w/ the squad. video games, netflix binges, the whole nine yards, he’s gotchu. he is a hell of a fighter and loves to fight, as well. help him push his abilities, and he’ll help you with yours.  likes being a little shit for fun, only to an extent (harmless moments of impishness, not serious, hurtful pranks). has a sense of humor that is easy to tickle, even with stupid dad jokes and classic puns. the brother-friend that will fire lasers at ur enemies for u. likes to play violin. cute. super cutie. v. tiny in his star form. almost five whole feet of sparkly, twinkly fun. likes super soakers.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  despite intrigue to learn more about the world around him, there is only so much that he does know. societal norms are often beyond him, and there are just so, so many earth hobbies he is not aware of. without handing him a bone, it makes him a little more limited than someone who’s more savvy. he is prime slice-of-life material, but that may also make things rather dull in an rp without an extra twist to spice things up. (thankfully, his being a total SNOT sometimes helps with that.) in canon and strictly in canon, geno doesn’t really have much personality, something that this geno has plenty more fleshed out. a good chunk of fandom finds him to be incredibly boring and droll, to which i personally disagree, as there are little things in smrpg that hint towards him having more to explore.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  funnily enough, seeing smash bros. fandom railing on geno fans + hyping him up all at the same time made me revisit smrpg after having only played it as a teenager. i expected geno to be a boring slate of nothing like fandom often portrays him, but i found that i was terribly wrong. with a newfound perspective on him, noting little details that defied my expectations for this li’l guy, i decided to give him a geno whirl and see what kind of expansion i could do with his character. the amount of lore i came up with him and started wondering about piled on and on and on, and i realized that he had so much more potential than what nintendo and square properly tapped into. (some of it is also a matter of being timely, though, meaning later mario materials such as rosalina, star haven, etc.) i wanted to flex out that potential and see how much i could fill this little doll up with, and lo and behold, i rp him today with extensive amounts of development poured into him with love. to put it simply, there was so much untapped potential that i wanted to share with the world, to show geno the love and in-depth exploration that he deserved, to show that he was more than what he was given.

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  chattering about mario lore with pals, whether it relates to geno or not, reading, watching shows or videos that remind me of him, learning more about cosmology and the universe we live in (and boy, i’ve learned a lot of neat stuff!), revisiting my childhood (the 90′s) since it’s very geno-appropriate, drawing The Boye, literally anything to do with playing, watching, or doing ANYTHING with smrpg/paper mario 64/smg1&2, and probs a lot more. i’ve got a lot of fuel in me for this guy lol.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO? [ on one hand, of course i hope that i do! on the other hand, i mean... nintendo and square don’t do jack for him, so i think almost anyone can do him more justice than they have, lbr. it’s... not hard... :’) ]

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF? [ ok i gotta just copy-paste what blue said in her response because my god, she nailed it: “you know when you have a concept and in your own mind you can see it clearly, without fuzziness or confusion, but you can’t seem to put it clearly into words without it turning into an essay because you need to connect all the other points that’s in the single concept you envisioned? yea.” basically, this but in spades, because i have a huge amount of headcanon and lore that i’ve either not gotten around to writing about yet or am purposefully staving off (wink wink). i have written a lot for him, though! it’s just... comparatively so little to what all i’ve thought up over-time. ]

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO [ not! often! enough!!! ]

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO [ all i know is fine dining, breathing, and adorkable starman. ]

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF? [ funny enough, i’m pretty damn confident in my portrayal, albeit still very modest. i mean, i am at least confident that i give depth to a character that had so little, and i feel like geno is just... real. (not literally ofc i mean like, he FEELS realistic.) he’s got character perks, character flaws, strengths, weaknesses, personal issues, ongoing obstacles, relatable themes where appropriate, interests, knowledge (or lack thereof), daily routines... i could go on. if nothing else, i at least feel good about trying to make geno feel less like some exposition character and more like a person. considering he wants to achieve personhood that most of his kind never gets to find, it’s oddly poetic lmao. ]

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO. [ eehhhhh. i mean, i guess it’s fiiiIIINE, but i often feel like i lack a certain pizzazz, something that’ll keep people interested and intrigued with what i write, giving enough material for them to adequately bounce back. on the same token, i like to babble with my prose, so i often worry about going on and on and on way too much. stale, quantity over quality, substance-less writing is what i fuss over the most. ;; ]

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. / SORTA. [ sensitive to empathy and other peoples’ emotions, yes. i’m an insanely empathetic person, and i have a lot of love to give. that said, with only few exceptions, i have a pretty iron-clad skin. sometimes, i daresay it’s to the point that i often misjudge what other people can take, and i feel i can end up being too harsh and forward. that being said, it is also a good thing at times. harsh or not, if i feel a certain way about something, i make that shit known and i make it known as loud as it necessarily should be. i don’t beat around the bush; rather, if i have a beef, i will make that beef known. consequently, if i have love to give, you damn well better be ready to swim in a pool of hearts and your favorite kind of cookie (if applicable). ]

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  as long as it isn’t complaints with lack of substance/reasoning, yes! even if i may not always agree and may take things with a grain of salt, i am insanely receptive to criticism, even over the pickiest things. it’s something i’ve grown used to due to prior rp venues being particularly harsh. i will never throw a fit or act like a child if there is something i could do better with geno. in fact, there always will be! i’m not perfect, and i love to hear about ways i can improve and do better. it’s paramount in a hobby like this.

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  LET’S-A FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  sure, i’d love to know! it can make for some neat conversation!! c:

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  that’s a’ight. i’m sure there are things about my geno that won’t resonate with everyone, especially given he’s a very sentimental character for old fogies like me lol. as long as there is no disrespect thrown this way, it’s all good. this stuff is subjective, after all.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  oh, a lot of people really hate geno lol, but i’m guessing this means personal portrayal only. in such a case, i would be curious as to why, admittedly, but i acknowledge that i am not owed anyone’s reasoning. if they really, absolutely hate my geno, then it’s their prerogative, whether they want to give a reason why or not. again, it’s all good unless immaturity and disrespect rears its head. i won’t tolerate that and will ignore any such behavior.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  sure, it happens to the best of us!

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  i’d like to think that i am! i’ve often had people tell me that i’m very nice and mature, but of course, i have no right to say how i come off to other people. that is not in my territory to judge, only theirs. that being said, it’s not easy to upset me or anger me, and i’m more often willing to listen and pal around than not. i’m the living embodiment of (shrug). i am just (shrug).

[bearpillowmonster]

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Review

This game has been out for years now so if you haven't played it, you either don't have a Switch or don't have enough interest in it. So I will try and give you reasons why to play this game and spoil some gameplay details along the way but will save what the bosses are.

This game doesn't appeal to me, "Mario and Rabbids: Battle Kingdom", I mean Rabbids are basically the original Minions. I've heard it called a "Baby's first XCOM" and I, for one, am not about strategy or turn based combat. So, then why is it that when I got my Switch, this was the first thing that came to mind that I wanted to get? 

I haven't played many games on the Switch yet but I can tell that there are games that are best played on the TV, best played on tablet, and best played with the Joycons loose, some fall under all of the above such as Super Mario Odyssey. This falls under the best kind of tablet game, it's like it was meant to be played port-ably and is something you can play a level here and there, casually, or seriously and play a whole chapter's worth.

This is pretty much as clever as it gets, it's no wonder they got Grant Kirkhope to compose it, it has the humor of Banjo Kazooie, it's not even Minions-like humor, it's charming to the max.

There are times where you'll play a stage and just go guns blazing but you need to be careful because sometimes there will be a gauntlet of levels and you will either have to find a mushroom or just go straight to another level before it heals you again. Of course later in the game you can switch up the characters (that have more health) but you shouldn't always assume it as a fail-safe, especially for a boss, so if you're low on health and haven't found a mushroom, change BEFORE you get to the level, that is if you keep your other character's stats and weapons, good and balanced.

Ok, I hear this and that about how everybody loves Rabbid Peach and while her gameplay has a lot of perks, Rabbid Luigi was instantly my favorite and I tried to use him for every battle, I mean he has a Yo-Yo and his hat is on sideways, how can you not love him? I made him a beast with his 'Vampire' ability which allows you to slide into enemies and take some of their health to add it to yours. There is a Fridge boss that it's strongly recommended not to use him but I sure as heck tried. So you will more than likely get attached to a certain character but it's up to you who it will be towards and remember that you might not be able to use them EVERY time. You can choose to have 3 different characters at a time but one of them has to be Mario, he's a default and you can't exchange him. There have been multiple times where all my other characters have died and all I have left is Rabbid Luigi and I pull a clutch with that Vampire ability, making a clean sweep and finishing the level alone, I wasn't really able to do that with any other characters (though I valued Rabbid Luigi more so maybe I didn't try hard enough). And don't worry, even if you don't have a character in your current party, they still obtain skill points for the skill tree so you won't have to grind for a character once you unlock them or anything.

So, how do you make your character stronger if every level is right in front of you and not really an RPG style of sidequests? Well, there are little puzzles you can go around, collect coins, hidden chests, some cannons that you can shoot out of that take you to a Red Coin type level (except blue coins) and you get a new weapon out of it. Also you can go back to worlds you've completed and complete challenges, I usually hate doing stuff like that but it's all good in this game. And it's not required, this game is pretty balanced, it's not too hard but not too easy either, there's no difficulty setting so that's good to hear. Sometimes I would play a boss just to kind of test them out and see what they did and then adjust for my second playthrough for them when I inevitably failed. There are definitely some levels I would spend a few days on, usually those bosses and I would lay in bed thinking of different strategies to beat them, some of those were the most satisfying after beating. Now that may sound like a lot of thinking and seem repetitive but it doesn't force you to come up with a strategy, do you think I actually did stuff intentionally? Not really, I used trial and error and it never even got tired, I usually fail the same level of a game just a few times before putting it down and say "I can't do this." because yeah, I am kind of a baby when it comes to some of these games but I feel accomplished when I beat stuff like this. This is where the 'Baby's first XCOM' comes into play, if you're not into that genre, this is the right game for you but if you are into the genre, you're experienced and it may seem a bit more tame but it's still a good play, Win-Win.

Given that topic, if you feel "too challenged" then it will offer you extra health for a level so it will heal your party up and add some extra, but I like to think of it as the chicken hat in MGS5, only use it if you need it, and even if you do need it, it's not ridiculously easy once you have it. I HAVE failed using the extra health before, sometimes you're just not using the right characters or weapons or need something from the skill tree, it's not a bail out free card, it's just a boost. I've played the ending gauntlet many times and each time it was different, some times I would do great until the third wave, sometimes it's just left up to chance whether your shot hits or not because if they're hiding behind a wall, it may not hit and are you hitting the enemy with the right character? Maybe you need a different order for maximum damage. It's a lot to process but you're not forced to think about it too hard, you have time, that's why it's turn based, I am describing it in a lot of detail but don't think that it's overly complicated or anything, if it was, as I mentioned, I wouldn't play it, it wouldn't seem so darn good of a game to me if it was.

And before you think that enemies get too easy or anything because you just upgraded everyone, they're constantly introducing new ones so it's always even with where you are in the game. Some of these enemies need to be handled differently because of how they attack such as the big ones without guns, they usually have a big stone or log or something and if they get close to you then they'll do a hefty amount of damage so it's always entertaining, keeps you on your toes, and brings me to my next topic.

I suppose it's easy to think that they all just have similar blasters but that's wrong. Most weapons come with a status effect such as honey which prevents them from moving on the next turn, ink which does the opposite and prevents weapons from being used, flame which catches them on fire and and makes them run around until they are extinguished, this ability is especially cool because if they hit another enemy, he will also be on fire, that doubles for you though so be careful with placement. There are also some other abilities but I'll get back to this topic in a minute. Not only are there different variations, which really just fit your preference, but there are also shotgun types which only have a short range but a higher amount of damage, rubber-duck grenades, yes you heard me right, and they're even decorated, there's even a Sam (King)Fisher one from Splinter Cell, not even joking. There are hammers which can get multiple enemies at once if you're within range, and these things that are called sentries but don't shoot anything, they're more like rolling bombs, they can be used to divert an enemy's attention away or can be used similar to a grenade but with more power, and then there are rocket launchers which can fire farther and machine guns which are a bit of an odd ball because you shoot a bunch of weaker bullets vs one big blast but you have more of a chance of hitting due to it's ability to instantly break a wall that an enemy may be hiding behind, leaving them open for the next person. I also wanted to mention that before you attack, aiming at an enemy shows you how much damage you'll do, I guess that's easy to look past or expect but given I haven't played a tactical game of this nature, I want to be thorough.

It tosses it up with a few different types of missions, rather than just walking from area to area to fight the next battle, you actually get some landscape to look at, some puzzles which are actually quite fun, I like a good puzzle and it makes me want to try Captain Toad, but there are also escort missions. Most players dread escort missions in games because they take forever to follow you, this is in a different genre though. It will give you a goal and all you have to do is get that character (most of the time it's Toad) to the goal, sure they can't attack or anything and you have to rely on your other characters to defend but you don't have to defeat all the enemies like most stages, just get to the goal and you control the escort just like you would any other character so they don't drag behind. My only slight complaint with this is that Toad or whoever, isn't be able to use a teammate to bounce like everyone else but it's still fine. Same with the bosses, the only requirement is to just beat the boss, there will be other enemies too though. Before you think you can cheese it that way, most bosses have multiple health bars so you may take out their first form tanking hits with guns blazing but will you have enough to last the second and third form? Probably not so you need to take out those side enemies first because for one, they make it harder, and two, once the second form comes, the boss will bring a second wave of enemies and if you don't have the first wave beat yet then it will stack.

Ok, so easily the best thing about this game is the atmosphere, every little detail feels so good to just walk around in, they didn't have to make the world so good but they did, this accompanied with Grant Kirkhope's music is splendid even the different versions of classic Mario tracks. My favorite one would have to be "Exploring the Mine". With that, the designs for characters, enemies, and such will be added as collectible models throughout the worlds, it's a fun little thing to look for if you're into that sort of thing, I made sure to get a few for the bosses I liked the most. This goes double for the music tracks, you can collect them and go back and play them in the museum. But back to the way it looks, it looks so good that there will be points where Beep-O (who is kind of the guide and serves as a reason this tactical map exists) will have a magnifying glass option and if you press it, he will bring attention to certain landscapes and sights such as a Rabbid in a hot tub burning himself or a Bullet Bill with Underpants on his head, it's all in good fun and really makes you see the vibe they're going for with this fusion between worlds. The landscape for battles includes these pipes that you can travel between to slide kick enemies easier and get a better piece of ground to defend, it's really cool when you get a chain of attacks for example: With Mario, you can stomp on top of enemies, so you slide kick an enemy, bounce off of a teammate to get farther, land by stomping on another enemy then finally make your destination where you want to shoot, so much damage can come from just one turn if you really know what you're doing. And about those effects like flame, there will be different boxes around the stage where if an enemy is stationed behind them and you can't see them good enough to get a hit in, you can fire anyway and hit the box, making the effect hit the enemy so it wasn't a wasted shot and may even make them vulnerable enough for another character to shoot.

Some characters have something like "Hero-Sight" or "Steely-Stare", this is amazing, it's up there with the Vampire ability for me. This comes in handy for those bulkier enemies with the stones and if you have a weapon that has "bounce" it's so freaking satisfying because you can use the ability, fire at the enemy and if they make an attempt to get closer then your character will shoot a few more times.

There is a bit of a problem when you don't properly close the game however because sometimes I would just leave it open on the home screen then shut the console off and come back to it later. Yeah only do that once or twice, don't leave it on standby every time because what will start happening is that the models for some of the items and characters will glitch and turn into blocks, it's not a performance based issue, just visual but it was my fault in the first place for not closing the game for so long so I can't really complain.

There is a bit of DLC that I'm actually considering getting (if it wasn't as much as the base game, crimeny!)because it expands off the story and revolves around Donkey Kong, so that's cool. Speaking of after the game, there is end game content. Throughout you unlock puzzle abilities such as moving crates, picking up totems to put them on pedestals so you can unlock new areas, break blocks, and drill a hole. You can go back to each of the worlds and finish some puzzles you weren't able to before because you didn't have one of those unlocked, if you're going for 100% that is or even if you're just trying to make some extra moolah during the game.

[criminalhotch]

Both Teams~An Ethan Dolan Imagine

Hey, can you do an Ethan smut where he is best friend with a lesbian? She is in a relationship with a bisexual girl that has a crush on him sooo she ends up asking her best friend to have a threesome with her and her girlfriend. Base idea is Ethan having a threesome with 2 girls 😂

A/N: So that was the request but I ended up mixing them up and Ethan is friends with a girl who is bisexual and I think the way I wrote it may be less stereotypical especially after I had someone say something about it. On the other hand, a lot of you voted for this so I hope you like it. Again I do not mean to offend anyone. This is fictional therefore it is fake and only written for entertainment purposes. 

A/N: Also shout out to @rockstardolan  for making sure this didn’t suck but this is nowhere on Peaches level so sorry to disappoint.

Warnings: Smut, MFF Threesome, swearing, coming out 

Word Count: 3,258

Ethan Dolan has been my best friend for almost three years now. He and Grayson were both very sweet and accepting people. I hid something from both of them for a long time. Something very important yet personal about me. It was only a year ago when they became friends with James and that is when I realized they would still love me for me. A little over a year ago I told them that I was bisexual. I mostly dated guys but girls tended to catch my eye more than I originally thought. Being bisexual was hard. You were always told that you were wrong or a whore that couldn’t pick which team to play for.

It was right before they went home for Thanksgiving in 2017. I decided to tell Grayson first because we weren’t as close as Ethan and I were. Ethan was caught up playing some boring video game so I pulled Grayson to the side. “Hey, G?” I asked. “Yeah?” he replied. “Can we sit down and talk about something?” I asked sincerely. “Of course but can I ask why you aren’t going to E?” he asked. “It’s complicated” I answered simply. “You like him don’t you?” he asked. “No, you ass clown. It’s something I need to tell you both individually” I explained and he nodded then sat down. “So you and E know that I have had some boyfriends over the last couple years” I started. “Most of them being deadbeats but yeah, go on,” Grayson said. “What you don’t know is that I have talked or dated girls in the past but I never told you guys. I was scared of what you would think or say” I explained. “So you’re bi?” Grayson asked. “Yes,” I answered. “I don’t care who or what they are, just know E and I will kick their ass if they hurt you, you know that right?” Gray asked. I laughed and then I nodded. He wrapped me in a warm Grayson bear hug. Soon enough I pulled away and he looked down to me. “Why did you think we wouldn’t accept you? You’re our best friend and we are also friends with James” he said. “I know, I’m scared when I tell anyone no matter who it is but I should’ve told you guys sooner. I should’ve known that you would love me either way” I admitted. “You should’ve but I’m glad you’re telling us now. Like I said E and I are always going to protect you no matter who you introduce us to so keep that in mind, Y/N” Gray explained. “I know, Gray, I know” I laughed as I hugged him. “You should go tell Ethan now” he urged. “I will, I’m more worried about this one” I admitted. “He’s still going to be your best friend,” Gray said. “Yeah, but he’s going to have a lot more questions,” I said. “You’re right,” Grayson said as I started heading to Ethan’s room. Well here goes nothing.

“Hey, E? You busy?” I asked. “Not really, what’s up?” he replied. “So I just told Grayson this and don’t be mad I told him first. I saved you for last because I know it’s going to be a deeper conversation” I explained. “Ok?” he said as more of a question. “You know that I am attracted to men but what you don’t know is-” I said as he interrupted me. “You like girls too?” “How did you know?” I asked. “I’m your best friend, I watch your every move. I see when you check a guy out and I especially see when you check a girl out. You always comment on how pretty girls are on Instagram but you very rarely say a whole lot about guys. I knew you weren’t straight but I wanted you to be comfortable with telling me” he explained. I engulfed him in a hug and began crying almost immediately. “I love you, E” I sniffled. “I love you too, Y/N” E said. “How long have you known?” I asked. “I could ask you the same thing” he sassed back. “I’ve known since way before we were friends but I didn’t want anything to change between us” I explained. “No matter when you told us nothing would’ve changed but I started figuring it about a year ago” Ethan answered. “You never said anything to Grayson?” I asked. “No, it wasn’t my business to tell and on the off chance I was wrong I didn’t want it to turn into chaos,” he said. “You really know me better than I know myself, Grant,” I said using his middle name as a nickname. “Damn straight,” he said. “Maybe it’s time I change it to damn, bisexual?” he joked. “I fucking hate you” I groaned while rolling my eyes. “No, you don’t. Now can I kick your ass at Mario Kart?” he asked. “Oh, it’s on Dolan. Where’s your brother? I need to kick both of your asses” I said as I yelled for Grayson and we all began playing Mario Kart.

Ever since that day I knew I could trust both of them with anything I sent their way especially Ethan. There would be days we would just hang out and talk about what girls we thought were pretty or if these guys were worth my time or just fuck boys. Being in LA for so long Ethan had learned a lot. One day I found a girl on Tinder, her name was Hannah. I swiped right and then we matched instantly. I became so excited and Ethan was excited for me as well. We talked for a month before we went on a date. We went on quite a few dates before she asked me to be her girlfriend but today the twins are meeting my girlfriend and I am a little nervous.

“So when is Hannah going to be here?” Ethan asked. “In an hour, E,” I answered. “So is she bi too?” Gray asked. “No, she only likes girls” I replied. “Well try not to make out with her in front of Gray he may get a boner” Ethan joked. “Fuck off, E,” Grayson said as he cheeks grew red. “Gray maybe you should stick to searching boobies on the internet” I joked as he groaned. “I’m never going to live that down am I?” he sighed as he pulled his hand through his hair and I shook my head no.

An hour later Hannah showed up. “Let me answer the door before you two scare her off” I suggested. I opened the door to see Hannah standing there. “Hey” I smiled. We hugged then I turned to the twins. “So you may mix them up for a bit but the one with the dangly earring and bigger muscles is Grayson and the one with the darker hair and dopey look on his face is Ethan,” I said pointing to each of the twins. “My face is not dopey” Ethan pouted. “I said dopey-looking” I corrected and Hannah laughed. “I’m glad she laughs at your jokes” Ethan sulked. “Well, it was funny” Hannah shrugged. “So I am going to just get right to it and say that even though you’re the first girlfriend Y/N has ever introduced us to we will still kick your ass if you hurt her,” Ethan said. “ETHAN GRANT!” I scolded. “No, it’s fine. I don’t plan on hurting you so we have nothing to worry about” Hannah said as she kissed me once. “So you’re probably pretty good at giving head huh?” Gray asked. “GRAY!” I shouted. “I don’t know, ask Y/N” Hannah smirked as Grayson screamed. “AHHHH FORGET I ASKED” Gray yelled as he ran into the other room. “I’m so sorry they are being weird” I apologized. “Oh no, it’s fine. It’s all very amusing” Hannah admitted.

This was all about 8 months ago. Hannah and I are still together. We hang out with the twins often and we all get along pretty well. Hannah and I’s sex life was pretty good but the other day I wondered if there was a possibility of us having a threesome. “Babe?” I asked as she walked into her kitchen while I made some breakfast. “Yes?” she replied. “What would you think of a threesome? It’s always kind of been on my bucket list” I asked. “I’ve never really thought of it, I guess it depends,” she said. “Depends on what?” I asked. “Well male or female?” she pondered. “Which would you be more comfortable with?” I questioned. “Honestly I think it would be hot to see how a guy can pleasure you differently than I can” she answered. “So a male?” “I mean which did you want?” she asked. “I just wanted to know if you’d be interested and it sure seems like you are” I admitted. “It seems like fun. Do you have anyone in mind?” she asked. “Not really” I replied. “What about Grayson?” she asked. “Oh god, no. I couldn’t. He’s too sweet, we’d ruin his innocence” I responded. “Ok, then Ethan?” she suggested. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought of E that way” I answered honestly. “Even better” she shrugged. “I’ll ask him tonight when we all hang out if you want me to,” I said. “If that’s what you want to do,” Hannah said.

That night we were at the twins’ house. Grayson had left with Bryant to go get us food and Hannah had fallen asleep on the couch. “E can I ask you something in the kitchen?” “Um sure,” he said hesitantly. “So Hannah and I were talking about our-um sex life. Which it’s good and all, no worries there but I asked if she’d be interested in a threesome and she thought it would be interesting seeing how a guy can pleasure me differently than she can” I rambled. “What’s your point Y/N?” he asked. “Well she suggested Grayson and I shot that down. Then she suggested you because we both know and trust you so IwaswonderingifyouwantedtohaveathreesomewithmygirlfriendandI” I said in one breath.  I looked at Ethan as he wore a huge smirk on his face. “I cannot believe you are asking me for a threesome” he taunted. “Yes or no, Ethan?” I asked, my voice filled with annoyance. “Oh, fuck yeah. I’m totally up for that. I’ve always been curious about what makes you squirm” Ethan growled. “Don’t start, Grant” I warned as he laughed it off.

----

Hannah and I were hanging out at my house when she started toying with my shorts. “Don’t, E’s on his way” I warned. “Who cares, we can have that threesome? Isn’t that what you want?” she purred. Oh, I can not handle all of this. Before I knew it she was on top of me, kissing me roughly. Her hips grinding into mine. I was so focused on her actions I didn’t notice Ethan’s arrival. He stood there in shock, his dick already hard from watching us make out. “Two girls making out too much for your little dick to handle?” I teased. “You won’t think it’s so little when I’m blowing your back out in a little bit” he winked. “Ethan why don’t you just sit and watch for a minute seems how you seem to be doing pretty good at that already” Hannah instructed as Ethan nodded. He sat in the chair across from my bed. I ripped my shirt off and threw it across the room. Then Hannah slipped my shorts down my thighs. She trailed kisses up my legs, dragging her lips slowly, inch by inch, teasing me. She placed a single kiss to my clothed clit before running my panties down my legs then flinging them at Ethan. She immediately attached her lips to my clit making me moan loudly at the sudden contact. She continued to suck and nibble on my clit. She then entered one of her petite fingers inside of me. “Fuck” I hissed. I began grinding my hips on to her nimble fingers yearning for more pleasure. “Stop or I’ll stop what I am doing then I’ll make Ethan go home” she growled. I whined as she continued moving her finger in out of me as she relocated her tongue to my pussy lapping up the juices already spilling out of me. I looked at Ethan and he looked painfully hard. Like he could bust just watching us, which he probably could.

Soon enough Hannah stopped everything and I whined at the loss of contact. “I think it’s Ethan’s turn to pleasure you while I ride your pretty little face” Hannah suggested looking towards Ethan as his eyes lit up. He sauntered over to me. “You sure about this?” he asked. “Hurry before I change my mind” I joked. Hannah slowly lowered herself onto my face so I began kitten licking at her clit as I anticipated Ethan’s touch. Before I knew it he had two fingers pounding in and out of me making my body jerk. “So responsive with just a couple of fingers, just imagine what it’s like when it’s my dick pounding into you mercilessly” he teased and I groaned into Hannah’s folds making her moan on top of me. “You guys have no idea how hot this is” Ethan groaned right before he licked up my folds making me moan once more. “Fuck, E” I moaned. Hannah climbed off of me as she strode across the room. She sat in the chair putting her legs on either side of the armrests. She began rubbing her clit. She was teasing me because she knew there was nothing I could about it. “You think you can handle a third finger?” E teased. “Oh I know she can” Hannah spoke up while smirking. Ethan entered a third finger inside of me. “How much longer is this going to last?” Ethan asked. “I want to see Ethan make Y/N cum with just your mouth and fingers” Hannah admitted. “Don’t have to tell me twice” Ethan smirked as he dove right back into my pussy. Slamming his fingers in and out of me, his tongue lapping up and down my folds, and the slight scruff on his face rubbing my thighs. Every time I managed to look up Hannah was toying with herself only making things worse for me. I started to feel my walls contract around Ethan’s fingers and I knew I was close. “Fuck, E” I moaned. “She’s close” Hannah added. “I can tell, she’s tightening around me like she’s never been fingered before” Ethan added cockily. “Fuck you both” I groaned. “Kind of the whole reason we’re here” Ethan smirked. His pace picked up once again. “C’mon, cum for me. Cum around my fingers. Who is making you feel this good?” Ethan egged me on.”Oh fuck, E-E. Ethan” I screamed as I came around his fingers. His face down by my thighs lapping up the juices flowing out of me. “Damn, Y/N. Who knew how good you taste” Ethan said. “Oh, I do. Sweet as a peach, huh, E?” Hannah said walking back across the room running her hands through Ethan’s hair tugging loosely at his dark strands. “Tonight’s all about you, Y/N. So I’m going to go back over there and let Ethan fuck you senseless but first off pretty boy needs to put a condom on, we don’t need any little ones running around here” Hannah finished explaining as she walked back over to the chair. “Face down, ass up. I’m here to blow your back out with my quote ‘little dick’” Ethan teased. He ran his tip up and down my folds teasing me. “Please, E” I begged. “Look at you begging for me” he taunted and I rolled my eyes at his snarky comment. “You ready for me?” Ethan asked. “Yes, fuck me, Ethan, please” I begged. “Your wish is my command princess,” he said ramming himself in and out of me without any warning and not letting me adapt to his size. “Oh my god, E” I moaned as his speed never slowed.His hands attached to my hips for stability. All of a sudden he pulled all the way out of me as I sighed from the emptiness that accompanied me. “Smack her ass” Hannah added. I groaned at the thought. Ethan slammed back into me and added a harsh slap to my ass causing me to clench around his cock. “She’s like a little whore, wrap your hand around her throat” Hannah requested. I could feel Ethan smirk from behind me. He reached around causing his dick to go even deeper inside of me. I felt his hand wrap around my throat restricting my airway just enough. “F-f-fuck, E” I muttered out in between breaths. “K-keep going” I begged. “As you please” he said going even deeper which I didn’t think was possible. “E, I’m so close” I gurgled out. “Hmm, why doesn’t your girlfriend come over here and rub your clit while I fuck you senselessly so we both make you cum, huh? How does that sound, little one?” Ethan asked. “Fuck, yes. Please. Hannah” I groaned. I heard her footsteps then shortly after felt her soft fingertips on my clit and her lips pressing gentle kisses to my body. I could feel my orgasm approaching but it felt different than it usually does. “Oh, fuck” I said as Ethan repeatedly hit my g-spot. I could feel myself clenching around him with every stroke. “You’re close Y/N. C’mon, cum for me. Cum for us” Ethan begged. “C’mon, babe. Show us how we made you feel tonight” Hannah said. That’s all it took for my orgasm to wash over me but it was more than that. An urgent rush washed over me too. Ethan nor Hannah ever stopped what they were doing until they knew I had finished. “Who knew my best friend was a squirter” Ethan smirked as he pulled out and admired his handy work. “Oh my god” I groaned. “Damn, babe. Now, why don’t you suck Ethan off so that he gets to cum too” Hannah suggested. I looked at Ethan who was still supporting an aching hard-on. “You want me to fix that for you?” I asked gesturing to his dick. “Uh could you?” he asked. I went down to my knees. I knew he couldn’t be that far from the edge because we had done so much. I sucked at his tip gently which made him groan. “Fuck Y/N” he moaned as I took more and more of him in my mouth and hollowing my cheeks. I reached down and gently massaged his balls in my hand. I could feel his tip hit the back of my throat causing me to gag slightly around him. Every time I gagged around him he would moan at the contact. “Oh fuck, Y/N. Keep going, I’m close” Ethan groaned as I began bobbing my head faster. “Oh shit, Y/N” he moaned as his cum spurted down my throat. “This was a lot of fun,” Ethan said as he began putting his underwear back on. “Yeah, I’d have to agree with you on that,” I said. “You know, we could make this a frequent thing” Ethan suggested. “Oh, hell no. You can leave now, E. We will see you later” Hannah said shooing him out of the room. Well, I definitely think that playing for both teams is the best thing that’s ever happened to me especially after tonight.

[sims-psycho]

I’m pretty sure I already asked you the hella cute questions for Billie 🤔 So odds for Luna and evens for Kit! 💕

ok, so, this took me so. fucking. long. but I love you for it cuz I’m shit at char development so thANK YOU FOR ASKING ANGEL!!! ♡ ♡  

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? ~ Kane of course

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? ~ I know this probably isn’t what you mean, but I have a meeting with the drama teacher at college today to see if I can help with the costume design for the musical and I’m pretty excited *smiles*

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? ~ I know he would because he may or may not have had to in the past *blushes*

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? ~ Yes, me and Kane are really good

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? ~ Depends on who it’s with

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? ~ ‘Yeah sure, do you need anything else?’ to my mum, she wants me to grab some stuff from the shop on my way home

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? ~ My hair gets really tangled so not really

15. What good thing happened this summer? ~ summers not over yet! *giggles*

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? ~ Absolutely, even if it’s just a shred of bacteria, the universe is to extensive for use to the be the only ones

19. Do you like bubble baths? ~ Ooo, yes, a lot *laughs*

21. What are you bad habits? ~ I’m a bit of a workaholic, so I guess that’s sort of a bad habit

23. Do you have trust issues? ~ I don’t think so, thankfully

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? ~ My nose is really wide and, yeah i know it’s silly but everyone has their insecurities i guess

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? ~ Not at all, I love my skin tone and my heritage

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? ~ I’ve only really been with Kane

31. If your hair long enough for a ponytail? ~ I guess, but it’s not really ‘long’ more just big

33. Spell your name with your chin. ~ ,ljna *giggles* I tried

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? ~ As much as I love a good Netflix binge I’d have to say TV, music is just so good in so many different situations

37. What do you say during awkward silences? ~ Depends on the situation, but I normally try and say something positive, if not that I just stay quiet

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? ~ I only really buy second hand clothes, or I make them so I don’t really know

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? ~ Yes, the core of someone never changes, but how they view the world does

43. Do you smile at strangers? ~ Sometimes *smiles*

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? ~ I guess I just always have stuff to do

47. Have you ever been high? ~ Maybe….*looks sus*

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? ~ Yes *looks uncomfortable*

51. Ever wished you were someone else? ~ When I was a young teen, but I don’t think that’s that unusual

53. Favourite makeup brand? ~ Milk makeup

55. Favourite blog? ~ n/a

57. Favourite food? ~ Any kind of caribbean food my mum makes

59. First thing you ate this morning? ~ Crumpets *cute smile*

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? ~ Omg never, that would be the end of my life right now

63. Ever been in love? ~ I am right now *blushes*

65. Are you hungry right now? ~ Not really

67. Facebook or Twitter? ~ Facebook

69. Are you watching tv right now? ~ How did you know!? *looks shocked* I’m halfway through sex education and it’s hilarious *giggles*

71. Craving something? What? ~ I could always eat dark chocolate, it’s my favourite

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? ~ Yeah…..my little bunny *blushes*

75. Favourite animal? ~ I like deers,  just think they’re really elegant

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? ~ Vanilla

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? ~ It’s like a pinky red sort of colour

81. Favourite tv show? ~ I really love Killing Eve

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? ~ Who even likes mean girls 2!? *scoffs and laughs*

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? ~ Gretchen *giggles*

87. First person you talked to today? ~ My mum

89. Name a person you hate? ~ I don’t think I really hate anyone

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? ~ No!!

93. How many sweatpants do you have? ~ Only a couple pairs, and I only wear them in the house

95. Last movie you watched? ~ Me and the gang watched birdbox last weekend, it was really creepy

97. Favourite actor? ~ I don’t think I have one

99. Have any pets? ~ We have a cat called Beanie, technically she’s my mums cat but she’s also kinda the family cat *smiles*

101. Do you type fast? ~ Oh yeah, it’s like fire comes off my fingers *laughs*

103. Can you spell well? ~ Uhh, yeah *smirks*

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? ~ I’ve been to a bbq party with family, but I don’t think thats the same *giggles*

107. Have you ever been on a horse? ~ Yeah, me and my sisters used to go to a horse riding club when we were little *smiles*

109. Is something irritating you right now? ~ Nope

111. Do you have trust issues? ~ No, I don’t have any reason to distrust anyone I know

113. What was your childhood nickname? ~ Little moon, or sometimes just lune

115. Do you play the Wii? ~ Me and my sisters used to play the super mario wii all the time when we were kids *smiles*

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? ~ Yeah, it’s alright

119. Favourite book? ~ The Art of Faminisim

121. Are you mean? ~ I….I don’t think so

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? ~ Can anyone? *laughs*

125. Do you believe in true love? ~ Yeah, I think I do

127. What makes you happy? ~ Luckily, a lot. Off the top of my head, my family and friends, Kane, fashion and art and music and good food and a lot of other things *smiles sweetly*

129. What your zodiac sign? ~ Cancer

131. Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? ~ Be incredibly confused because Eli’s gay *laughs*

133. Favourite lyrics right now? ~ “You and I, wide awake / With the sky falling down / As we wait for the morning / Is there a place in the stars / Where the sky goes to sleep? / We got no way of knowing” Feel by Jacob Collier and Lianne La Havas

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? ~ Oh I can’t remember, I’ve probably told some dumb ones to my parents when I was younger though

137. How tall are you? ~ 5′7

139. Brunette or Blonde? ~ My hair is brown

141. Night or Day? ~ Day

143. Are you a vegetarian? ~ No, but I wouldn’t say I’m a huge meat eater either

145. Tea or Coffee? ~ Tea, I have lots of herbal teas that I drink depending on my mood *smiles*

147. Mars or Snickers? ~ Ooo, snickers

149. Do you believe in ghosts? ~ Yes, sadly it happens to unrested spirits *lowers head*

2. Are you outgoing or shy? ~ I’m super outgoing dude *laughs*

4. Are you easy to get along with? ~ I’m so chill, what are you sayin, of course *winks*

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? ~ Oh man, anyone who’s fit straight off, but people who are just ‘out there’ y’know

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? ~ I saw a spunk on the beach last night, she disappeared before I could introduce myself

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? ~ Kasper, he lectures me all the time

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? ~ Ooh, that’s a toughie, uhhh, Cake by the Ocean, Funky Duck, Feels Like Summer, Andromeda aaanddd…..Wonderwall *laughs*

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? ~ Sure, why not *chuckles* a lot of crazy shit happens everyday man

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? ~ No joke, don’t know the last person I kissed, oops *laughs, embarrassed*

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? ~ Nah

20. Do you like your neighbors? ~ They’re a’ight. They don’t really leave there place though

22. Where would you like to travel? ~ I dunno, I’ve been to a lot of places, don’t really know where I want to go next

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? ~ I normally skate to the cafe Billie works at most mornings and grab a smoothie

26. What do you do when you wake up? ~ Jerk off *smirks*

28. Who are you most comfortable around? ~ Andie for sure, she sucks a lot sometimes, but she’s my sister and no one really gets me like she does

30. Do you ever want to get married? ~ Meh, maybe someday, but not for a loooooonggg time *chuckles*

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? ~ you have no idea how happy I am i got this question *laughs cheekily* Chris Hemsworth and Cara Delevingne, I wouldn’t need to get any for like a year if that happned *laughs*

34. Do you play sports? What sports? ~ I surf and skate a lot, it’s kind of all I do tbh, me and Kas box together sometimes too

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? ~ Yup *smirks*

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? ~ Someone adventurous and confident who can put me in my place *winks*

40. What do you want to do after high school? ~ Man, no one has asked me about school in like, 40 years *laughs*

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? ~ I’m never quiet *smirks*

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? ~ Defo bottom of the ocean, I bet theres a lot of my shit down there *laughs*

46. What are you paranoid about? ~ I dunno, sometimes I freak out because the government is fucking up our planet and shit but Maya always tells me one day we’ll be the ones pulling the strings and it makes me feel alright

48. Have you ever been drunk? ~ *laughs* oh yeah

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? ~ Pink i think *chuckles*

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? ~ I’m perfect, what are you saying *smiles cheekily*

54. Favourite store? ~ Theres this tiny sakte shop across town that sell all sorts of cool shit

56. Favourite colour? ~ Like a greeny-blue kinda colour

58. Last thing you ate? ~ I think like an apple or something

60. Ever won a competition? For what? ~ I’ve won a fair few surf competitions in my time *smirks*

62. Been arrested? For what? ~ I know have, but I can’t remember what for, hasn’t happened in a while, I’m obviously not trying hard enough *winks*

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? ~ pashed my p.e teacher in the kit room, that shit was hot *smirks cheekily*

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? ~ n/a

68. Twitter or Tumblr? ~ Twitter

70. Names of your bestfriends? ~ Andie, Kapser, Teegs, Erik, Maya and Max. I’ve got some friends back in Oz but I haven’t seen them in forever

72. What colour are your towels? ~ Black, cuz we emo in my house *laughs*

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? ~ None, i got this scraggly monkey thing that hangs from my rear view mirror in my car though *chuckles*

76. What colour is your underwear? ~ You wanna take a look yourself darlin’? *winks and smiles cheekily*

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? ~ All of them, I fucking dig ice cream so much, especially ben n jerry

80. What colour pants? ~ You really into my clothes aren’t you *smirks* I got green trunks on

82. Favourite movie? ~ The original Alien is fun

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? ~ 21 jump street defo, although I did like mean girls waay more than I thought I would when I saw it

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? ~ Shiiiit, I fucking loved that film, haven’t seen it in years though, whats the turtle called again? You know the really stoned one? *laughs* yeah him, or the shark

88. Last person you talked to today? ~ Kasper, I think

90. Name a person you love? ~ Getting all sappy now are we *smirks* want me to say you? I can if you want babe *winks*

92. In a fight with someone? ~ Nah, don’t take a lot to get me there though *smirks*

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? ~ A fucking lot *laughs*

96. Favourite actress? ~ Margot Robbie is hot as fuck *smirks*

98. Do you tan a lot? ~ I’m tan 24/7 bby *chuckles*

100. How are you feeling? ~ High as fuck *laughs*

102. Do you regret anything from your past? ~ Yeah, but I try not to think about it, live in the moment and shit

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? ~ Sometimes, but I normally forget about it within a couple of mins

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? ~ Ahhh probably, have you seen me, how could I not *winks*

108. What should you be doing? ~ Fuck all *laughs*

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? ~ Fuuuck, yeaaaaah

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? ~ I don’t cry around people….I don’t really cry at all tbh

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? ~ I’ve been all over the world darlin’ *smirks* I’m a cultured guy *chuckles*

116. Are you listening to music right now? ~ I’m in a cafe and theres music playing so yeah

118. Do you like Chinese food? ~ I like all food

120. Are you afraid of the dark? ~ Haha, I do most of my wirk in the dark so I fucking hope not *laughs*

122. Is cheating ever okay? ~ No, unless your girl or guy cheated first, then it’s just payback

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? ~ Yeah, I’ve seen it happen

126. Are you currently bored? ~ Nah, you’re very entertaining *smiles cheekily*

128. Would you change your name? ~ Nah, my name’s alright

130. Do you like subway? ~ Not really, I don’t eat a lot of fast food

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? ~ Kasper I think

134. Can you count to one million? ~ I Have to to count the reasons why you and me would make a cute couple *winks and then laughs*

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? ~ Closed, who the fuck leaves it open!?

138. Curly or Straight hair? ~ My hair is kinda wavey, and on other people i like all types, I don’t descriminate *smirks*

140. Summer or Winter? ~ Summer!

142. Favourite month? ~ June duh, it’s my birthday month

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? ~ yes *laughs*

146. Was today a good day? ~ It was a’ight

148. What’s your favourite quote? ~ Maya and Erik spurt some educational shit at me all the time but fuck do I have a ‘favourite quote’ *laughs*

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? ~ the closest book to me right now is in the library across town so no way mate *chuckles

[critterreads]

Brian and Critter convo's

This is just a bunch of convo's that just make this one massive shitpost, Enjoy ;)

_

Me, whenever Brian says anything gay: Are you sure you're straight?

-

Me, giving Brian food in the middle of a recording session: Here is your food, asshat.

"Im in the middle of something."

"You've been in middle of something for the past 3 hours, eat, please."

"I'll cook me'self something when I'm done recording."

"We both know you cant cook for shit. .... Also hello Internet, and bye."

"YOU CANT JUST DO THAT SHIT, GET BACK HERE YOU BITCH!"

the others are probably laughing at the convo

-

Me: I need death.

Brian: YOU ARE DEATH!

-

At the hotel for the convention that we all find out about each other. Brian and me got paired with one of the normal boys (Anthony, Marcel, Lui, Luke or Del [if he did]). We arrived first.

"You two are sharing a bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Ok, but why?"

"Well, one is that two to one when it comes to genders occupying this room. Two, I rather have the couch than a big bed and three, we both know how gay you're gonna be as soon as they get here."

"... Fair poi- WAIT, FUCK YOU!"

"Ik you mean fuck whoever is staying here."

"You're a lil' bitch."

"And you're obviously gay."

-

Me: makes a catholic joke

Brian: looks at me with a slight grin "Did you- really?"

"It's not like you're actually Catholic."

"You do have a point."

-

"Hey Brian, wanna go get Starbucks?"

his eyes widened "Did you say Starbucks?"

on our way back

"You're a Basic White Bitch."

"I know." sips his venti carmel blended latte

"That's not even the good shit too."

"Just cuz you fockin' can't have carmel doesn't mean it's not good."

"It's not just that, ... There is other good places besides Starbucks but you live in Ireland so you have no clue that there is better coffee."

"Ooh, so is lil' miss guardian gonna teleport me somwhere?" in a mocking tone

"One, Fuck tú. Two, I can't teleport. Three, I guess we just have to wait til we go to America."

-

Brian, in a call with the other bois who have guardians. "She calls me a 'Basic White Bitch'."

"Cuz you are one."

-

Brian: says something really gay while recording

Me: busting the door down "HA, GAAAYYYY!"

Also me: yelling from another room "AND THERE GOES TUMBLR!"

-

Me: shows Brian all the screenshots i have of him

Brain: "Omfg, I look good in all of these."

-

Ok, i can see Brian getting realy sick and him kinda panic cuz he hasn't recorded anything for a few days and im just like, "Relax, I can do it."

"Are you sure about that."

"Absolutely. I'll do a 'Reading mean comments video' and maybe do Mario Kart as well."

"You better not!"

"Well it's that or I read fanfics from tumblr."

"Ok, ... fine. You can do the fockin' comments video. Just don't be a asshole."

"No guarantees on that."

"You bitch."

Most of the 'Reading mean comments video' is me defending Brian by saying "As a person who has been living with him for the past 4 months, he's a jackass, but a nice one." Also answering some of the comments that have questions about me.The Mario Kart one is just me having fun even tho i vary with placing in each round.Funny thing is that his subs like the videos i did and keep tweeting him about them and hoping he feels better soon, so finally he gives in and watches them. After that, Brian starts a series on his channel callled "Terroriser vs. Critter" where me and him play 1v1 games and have fun.

-

Brian: sad and depressed

Me: in Waheela form, curled around him

"Dont you fockin do it."

sticks tounge out

"Dont you fockin dare."

licks him

"mumbles you lil bitch."

-

Brian: looking for one of his own merch shirts "Critter, have you seen a black shirt with my logo on it?!?"

Me: wearing it and holding a mug of coffee "I cant confirm or deny that I have."

"Why the fock did you take my shirt?"

"Cuz it's comfortable, ... it also hides my tits better than my shirts. I hate women's clothing."

"Ok then. ... Wait, how long have you been taking my shirts?!?!"

"About a month now, cuz it took me awhile to realize that you're about a size or two bigger than me."

-

Brian calls me into his room

"Do you ever get the urge to howl?"

"Brian, its 3 in the morning, why the fuck are you asking me this now?"

"You still didn't answer my question."

"If I answer it, will you go the fuck to sleep, cuz I cant sleep til you are asleep."

"Yes."

"Ok ... occasionally I do get the urge. You satisfied with my answer, motherfucker."

"Nope." has his cheeky grin on his face

"Don't you fucking think about it, I will make your life hell if you dare howl."

"It's not like you're gonna kill me."

"I will pull a Skye if you do."

stops grinning and rolls over in his bed "ok ... goodnight Critter."

"That's what I thought." finally leaves his room

-

(Im gonna reblog pt2)

[demfutebolimagines]

Marco Reus Imagine: Hard-Ass 

Y/N’s POV:

           “You know there are other things I could be doing than coming and watch you train” I complain as I entered the stadium. “Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do anything without a car?” my older brother Mats teases. “Uber?” I say. “Um no. You know how much I don’t trust you being by yourself and besides I barely see you so it’s a good time to hang out” He says making me sigh exaggeratively. Yes I was the little sister to the one and only Mats Julian Hummels. It’s not easy when your brother is in the spotlight because of the fact he’s basically never around especially since he lives all the way in Munich leaving me alone with Jonas and the rest of our family in Bergisch Gladbach. The only reason I’m seeing him today is because Germany is having a friendly game against Russia tomorrow and today they are training. And lucky me was dragged along since my car broke down. “Ok I’m gonna go to the locker room real quick so you can just wait on the pitch” he tells me. “The what?” I say not understanding his lingo. “Over there” He says rolling his eyes and pointing me in the direction of the field. “Why thank you good sir” I say sarcastically walking towards the field. “Well Harry I hope you entertain me for the next couple of hours” I say referring to the harry potter book that I brought for entertainment.

Marco’s POV:

           “About time you get here Hummels” I say. “Sorry but my little sister had some car troubles and I had to help her out” He explains as he changes into his gear. “I didn’t know you had a sister” I say surprised. “Really? I thought I told you” He says with a confused look on his face. “Well she’s outside if you want to meet her but I must warn you she’s a hard-ass” he adds laughing at the end. “I’ll be the judge of that” I say before walking out. When I talk into the field I see this girl who I’m assuming is Mats sister and I got to say she’s beautiful. “Hey” I say as I approach her. She looks up from her book and shyly smiles while giving a small hey in return. “You’re Mats sister right?” I ask to confirm if it was truly her and she nods her head. “Yup that’s me. And you are?” She asks. “Marco” I reply. I’m a bit shocked that she doesn’t know who I am through news or even through Mats himself. “Y/n” she says simply extending her hand to shake mine. Instead of shaking her hand I chose to place a kiss which threw her off. “Um don’t you have to go train or something” she says turning back to her book. “Yeah but I’d much rather spend my time with a beautiful girl such as yourself” I say trying my charm on her but it has no effect. “So you’re gonna ignore the annoyed looking coach that is looking our way” She says nodding her head towards Joachim who looks like he wants to chop my head off. “Right well until we meet again beautiful” I wink at her and head off to meet with the rest of the team. Mats was right about her being a hard-ass. Any girl would have fallen to my feet with that charm but with her I got nothing and I got to say I kind of like that about her. Hard to get. “Hey so I saw you were chatting with my little sis” Mats says while we’re warming up. “I wouldn’t really call it a chat” I say. “Told you. She’s not one for conversation especially with people she doesn’t know.” He chuckles. “Well what do I have to do to get her attention?” I ask sounding a bit desperate. “Ooh I think Reus here got himself a little crush” Mario pipes up from behind. “Well only if its ok with Hummels over here” I say. “It’s ok with me. She needs someone to have her let loose” He says to my surprise. “Really?” I ask in disbelief. “Yeah bro you got my blessing” he jokes. “Ok I got your blessing now what?” I ask not knowing what on earth I’m going do to make this girl mine. “Like you said before get her attention and show her how serious you are. There’s a reason why she’s the way she is. Guys used to be all over her and ask her out but it was just to get in bed with her and she got fed up. So she started to act be tough around guys and here she is now” He explains and I understood where she came from. “So basically, you need to show her how serious you are. Do something to show that to her” Mario adds. “I think I have an idea” I say as we continue to train.

Y/N’s POV:

           It didn’t take long before I finished my book so I ended up watching my brother and the others. Particularly Marco. Was I interested in him? Yes, but he seems like those boys in my past who will charm their way into bed. I promised myself I would not fall for that type again but somehow I feel like he’s is different. Genuine. But I am still unsure which is why when practice was over I told Mats I would wait near the car to avoid any contact with him. After tomorrow I won’t see him again so it’s better to save myself now from heartbreak.

Next Day…

           “Y/N! Come on we have to be there in half an hour!” I hear Mats yell. “I’m going! I’m just putting on some lipstick!” I shout back. I don’t know why but I felt the need to look good today since Mats’ game is today. “Whoa who are you trying to impress?” Mats asks as he sees me coming down the stairs in my black skinny jeans, jersey, hair done, and a little bit of make-up. “Nobody” I say a little too quickly. “You sure you’re not trying to impress one particular friend of mines” He says nudging me causing me to roll my eyes. “Nope. I just thought I’d look nice for your game since I rarely go to them” I say. “All right whatever you say” He says as he opens the door.

           As we arrived to the stadium most people were already there including the girlfriends/wives of the players. Thankfully I’ve gotten to know some of them so I wouldn’t be alone the whole time. “Good luck and please don’t be reckless. I want my brother back in one piece” I say hugging him. “Don’t worry I’ll be fine baby sis” He replies hugging me back and heading off into the locker rooms. I then make my way to the VIP area to meet up with the with the other WAGs. “Y/N!” I hear Ann shout as soon she saw me. “Ann!” I shout back mimicking her excitement. “I haven’t seen you in forever” she says bear hugging me. “Yeah it’s been a while” I say losing air since she was hugging me like if she hasn’t seen me in years. “We have a lot to catch up before the game like when did you start putting an effort in the way you look” She says looking me up and down before we take our seats. “Oh my goodness stop making a big deal out of this. This is nothing.” I say defensively. “Y/N I have known you for years and I know you rarely go out like this. But I have to say it’s working for you. So who’s the lucky guy? Marco?” she says wiggling her eyebrows leaving me there with my eyes wide open. “What? No. How did you know about that?” I ask. “Well Mario may or may not have told me about yesterday” She says smiling rather suspiciously. “What do you know?” I narrow my eyes at her. “Nothing. Oh would you look at that the game is about to start” she says directing my attention to the field where the players were starting to warm up. My eyes immediately caught sight of the attractive blonde from yesterday and I couldn’t help but let a small smile creep up.

           After both teams finished warming up the game soon commenced and Germany just went at it with trying to score and having full possession of the ball. Within the first fifteen minutes Germany made a goal and made by none other than Marco Reus. The crowd was going crazy especially my section when he came running towards us. He looked at me straight in the eyes, pointed at me, and blew me a kiss so I knew that goal was meant for me. I was a bit shocked actually since I sort of dissed him yesterday but happy to see he wasn’t those guys who gave up easily when they took a hint to fuck off. I felt heat rise up to my cheeks and thankfully my blush was able to cover up that embarrassment. “Aww looks like someone has a crush” Ann teased me causing me to tell her to hush. And it didn’t stop after that goal because he made 2 more goals and repeated the same gesture making your heart beat a little faster. The end of the match came and that’s when I thought it was over until he came running towards me and actually jumped into the stands making everyone freak out. “Are you psycho?! What are you doing?!”I yelled at him for his recklessness but he ignored me and instead leaned in giving me a passionate kiss that I wished would have never end. “Go out with me? Please?” He asks when he breaks the kiss off leaning his head onto mine. Could it be? Finally somebody who is not a fuckboy playing with my emotions? After a couple of seconds I came to say “Yes”. “Thank god all that work was for something” he smiles making me laugh. “I’d say you proved your feelings” I say leaning in for another kiss. “Hard-ass” he joked making me smack him playfully and laugh. No disagreement there.

[khsupergeek1288]

So tell me what’s your thoughts on the new games out so far this year ??

THIS year? There was a lot of games this year so far, but I haven't exactly played them all. Though there are a number of them I looked into.

Donut County - August 28

This game was pretty funny and a little creative with the concept of Raccoons making 'donut holes' even though this was a joke on Twitter in 2012. The characters also were pretty funny, but the main two were the most memorable in my opinion. Overall cute and funny game. 8/10

Mario Tennis Aces - June 22

Another Mario sports game? Fun. Awesome animations from the characters? Cool. A story mode to keep it interesting. Ok. I have nothing against sports games, even if tennis games are actually my favorite thanks to Wii Sports, they can be fun at times, but unless I have friends to play with it's just not my cup of tea. 7/10

Spyro Reignited Trilogy - November 13

There's nothing wrong with remaking old classic games if done right, and was put through enough time of progress. The only game I ever played from the original trilogy was Spyro 3 and seeing it being remade in HD is awesome! However, the overall games itself do carry problems that MANY people can agree. There are bugs in the game that can be either major or minor, at times it's a mix of both, and some changes they did to some of the characters didn't exactly sit right with me. This is a game though I would love on my shelf and play for my enjoyment since it was a part of my childhood. 7.5/10

Dragon Ball FighterZ - January 26

A really cool and well put together fighting game, even for someome like me who's not a humungous fan of Dragon Ball. The fighters are really fun and have unique move sets. However...the story I could do without...it's just weird and makes me questions what I got myself into. No spoilers here I won't ruin it. Overall a good fighthing game, but the story to me kills it. 5/10

Super Mario Party - October 5

I. Love. The. Mario. Party. Series. This is the Mario Party that shows no mercy! It's fun with so many boards to choose from and characters! The difference in the boards and so much fun and makes you think carefully about your choices, and the choice of difficulty just gives you a bigger challenge! Though the game itself can at times be top easy even if you choose hard, and at times someone will get a star for no reason, it's literally a gamble. Super Mario Party is fun to play, but can indeed do some hell. 8.5/10

Marvel’s Spider-Man - September 7

This honestly surprised be when I saw this game, I didn't understood why people were sp hyped about this game until I got a good look at it. There's so much you can explore in this game of New York with almost every detail of the exactly cities, and I love that! You have choices to either go straight into the story, fight some criminals trying to rob a place, or even order a pizza because you can do that. The various costumes are also really interesting and makes exploring even more fun! I will say that some story based missions are withing a time limit and can put others thing on hold, but regardless it's a lot of fun especially if your a big Spiderman fan. 9/10

Red Dead Redemption 2

Ok I never played the first one, but regardless I still enjoyed the game for what it was. The characters, both important and not to important, were really fun and dangerous in some extent. Just like Marvel's Spider-Man, you can explore through out what you want, when ever you want. The only difference us that you can find new missons to persue if you feel the need to. Now with main character you play, yes he's not exactly perfect, but he does this job for his family ESPECIALLY his boy! They all know they're doing the wrong in the story, but mosty of them, and I'm putting it lightly as most of them, have each other's back and do what it takes to make their group stronger. 9.2/10

Detroit Become Human - May 25

Another 'want to be alive' kind of story with robots, but I did actually enjoy this game for what it was. Three separate stories that soon become together, and you have that choice to do so. A lot of fans will say how Connor is best character, and I will agree that he is, but sorry my favorite is Kara and Alice but Connor and Hank are still awesome. The game was put well together, but it does have some problems that can of course be easily ignored. 8/10

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - June 26

This remake was the first Trilogy before Spyro, and quiet honestly I think this sticked more to the original than what Spyro did. Possibly because it's a simple platformer at the time, and the only major changes people can tell is of cource the voice acting which honestly I don't mind too much. It's really fun to play and I'd definitely play it again. 8.5/10

So....hope that answered your question. Sorry if there was a game I didn't talk about for I don't exactly follow all of them, or it could be because I haven't played it yet at the moment. Thank you for your time.

[richsretroreviews]

Spyro the Dragon Review.

Release date: 9th September 1998 NA, October 1998 EU.

Developer: Insomniac Games.

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, Universal Interactive Studios.

Ok, I have been putting off doing this for way too long…

 Back in 1999 for my 7th birthday I got my first Playstation as an early birthday present. I remember being incredibly impatient for one reason or another until my parents went “Fine, here, this’ll shut you up and keep you occupied.” And it did. I had already gotten a SNES from my uncle when I was 6 which blew my infant mind, but getting the Playstation had solidified video games being a prominent part of my life.

One game in particular that was special to me was Spyro 2 Gateway to Glimmer (or Ripto’s Rage in the US). I was very possessive of that game as a kid… Then I got Spyro 3.

But I never played the first one…

I remember seeing it in a Playstation magazine after I had got Spyro 2 and for some reason it astounded me that there was another one that came before it. I mean, I was a kid. Anything new would bewilder and fascinate me. I remember it clearly that it was a screenshot of the beginning of the Toasty level and Terrace Village. Also there was a Tekken 3 article in that magazine too of that little dinosaur, Gon.

Anyway, fast forward to about 2012. I had just gotten a PS1 emulator working on my laptop and gotten a PS2 for my dad. I still kept a hold of my PS1 memory card from when I was a kid that still had Digimon World 2003 and a couple other saves on it. And I still got that blue card today. That’s when I decided to get back all the games I had lost as a child to play on the PS2, starting with Spyro 2. BUT, the lady I bought it from on ebay mis-advertised the game and I ended up getting the first Spyro. It wasn’t what I wanted at all, but I had never gotten to play it all these 13 years since I first got my Playstation. So I wasn’t one to complain. I messaged the seller, told her it was the wrong one “Oh, haha, ok send it back and I’ll get you a refund” but it was a Friday afternoon. So before I went to send it back the following Monday I blasted through that game on my PS1 emulator on my laptop and made the most of it. I know I could’ve used the PS2 but whatever.

And I’m so happy I mistakenly got the first one.

It was exactly like being a kid again to when I first played Spyro 2. The soundtrack by Stewart Copeland immediately sticking and playing songs on loop in my head, the atmosphere it laid out, controlling Spyro for the first time in a long while and the first time ever in his first title, setting everything on fire, charging everywhere (because you don’t just walk everywhere in a Spyro game, you have to charge), but also there was a wealth of new things to the game that was very different to what I was accustomed to in Spyro 2.

You go through the game freeing crystalized dragons, collecting all the gems, catching all the eggs, doing the time trials for more gems, beating all the bosses and beating Gnasty Gnorc. By the end of it you can get 120% completion.

 With Spyro’s controls, you charge, you glide, you breath fire, you charge faster, you fly forever until you hit a giant lighthouse, and you plummet to your death at the push of a button.

I was so used to pressing X to glide then triangle to do a little hover for an extra boost of height in Spyro 2 and 3, but that was never a thing in this. You press triangle after a glide and you plop down on the ground. So many times when I first played it did I mess that up, especially in Alpine Ridge. I go to glide across a giant chasm, feel I’m not quite going to make it so I instinctively press triangle for a last bit of extra height and—nope, let’s just turn gliding off.

You glide along, you soar! Whee! It’s fun! Triangle and turn it off. Foomp. Shit…

But honestly it didn’t take that long after a while to learn that triangle=bad when gliding in this. Do it all you wish in 2 and 3 but this, noooooo.

Either way, gliding was just as fun as the other 2 games. I feel like it was refined in 2 and 3 more, obviously, but it was definitely satisfying to do. Which a lot of what you can do as Spyro feels like, it’s satisfying. It’s a joy to run and fly and play around and jump about as Spyro. For the most part it has great controls to play as Spyro and I never had any problems controlling the lovable purple dragon.

Although, if you were to charge down a line of 6 enemies in a row, you see them all lined up and think “Yessss, I know exactly what I’m going to do!” You go to knock them all down but sometimes it doesn’t entirely work because it feels like after you hit one and go to hit the second behind him it feels like you roll off of the enemies and have to almost fight to keep Spyro in a straight line. So you can’t satisfyingly knock down the whole row of enemies like you want to. Otherwise you miss one and it kinda takes the fun out of what you wanted to do.

But yeah, beyond those two complaints Spyro controls so well it feels too good to play around as him, and it’s important that you enjoy playing as the character you’re stuck with for the next 6-8 hours, otherwise what’s the point?

Also, with being able to roll side to side. I don’t understand why they took that out in 2 and 3. That came in so useful against bosses in this game they could’ve easily used that mechanic again in the later games, but they didn’t. I liked it and I thought what the others would have been like if they implemented that move. Oh well…

The soundtrack I’m not sure I could say anything more to it that hasn’t already been said the past 20 years for it (shit, it’s been 20 years already…). It’s good! It’s wonderful! It’s so joyful, bouncy and uplifting and so fitting for the universe of Spyro that it feels almost like no other could’ve done it better than Stewart Copeland. It’s like outside of the Police that’s what he was meant to do. He put so much energy and attitude and enthusiasm and creativity into each track to accentuate the atmosphere and tone of each level he’s done more than a marvellous job of it. And his soundtracks only got better later on for 2 and 3.

But what sold me and captured me was Lofty Castle and Haunted Towers tracks. That’s when I had to stop myself playing to take in what I was seeing and listening to and thought to myself “I am in love with this game.” And I didn’t want the level to end. I hadn’t felt that way about a game in such a long time I felt robbed of not having more frequently felt that feeling.

And for its levels, the Artisan homeworld and its levels available there are perfect opening levels. Easy enough difficulty, access to how each enemy works and a safe enough environment for you to figure out how to deal with them without being too pampering. But the look and design of the Artisan homeworld and its levels are very good. Bright, colourful (throughout the whole game really), inviting and laid out all for you to run about and play in and explore. Which is what the whole game is designed for you to do. To play.

The Beast Maker’s homeworld and its levels I think is the only place I didn’t like. They all seemed a bit murky and muddy and almost grimy. It still had charm and fun to be in, definitely, but with its colour schemes I felt I just wanted to get through them and move onto the next world and hope for something brighter. In fact, while I’m at it, most levels and its designs and even its enemies and bosses do have this “first time doing this” feel to them which can be pardoned given its execution. They got better though.

And that’s when I got to the Dream Weavers homeworld and its levels. Like I already said, once I got to Lofty Castle and Haunted Towers I fell in love with this game and its design. It gave me the warm fuzzy happy feeling I got as a kid and I loved it. Hell, playing the levels again now and even just listening to the tracks makes me feel giddy! Once a game can do that to me in some way or another it has me captivated, I’m helpless to it. That’s what made me a fan of this game.

 Now the boss fights are the most interesting I’ve come across in a platformer.

All the ones I had been acquainted with were Spyro 2 and 3 (ok, I got to stop referencing those I feel), Crash Bandicoot, Mario Sunshine, and numerous others I can’t really think to name off the top of my head. But still, no other game I’ve played had done boss fights like Spyro.

The first is Toasty, who is just a joke and I definitely don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s set out as this scary scarecrow with a fleet of wolves, or dogs. I seem them as wolves. You flame, roll and flame again to defeat the wolves and then you get Toasty all on his own. You flame him and then… it’s a sheep on stilts. You don’t expect that. You’ve gone in all raring and prepared for a tenacious boss fight but then you get this for your first boss and it’s just “Oh… Alright.” I didn’t expect it going in. I went in on this game blind knowing almost nothing about it. But it’s well executed and so funny to come across and for kids I’m sure that would get many a heavy laugh.

Doctor Shemp felt like the first actual boss with a proper video game-y rhythm to him that you had to learn to defeat him. You jump and flame his behind. Easy stuff.

Blowhard was cool but his design didn’t really stand out, same with the rest of them really, Metalhead and Jacques. They were serviceable and the battles themselves are perfectly fine, especially how their levels are laid out as full levels and then the boss battle at the end, but how they look they don’t really stand out.

Metalhead’s battle was cool though. I liked that one.

And then Gnasty Gnorc.

He was honestly pretty challenging at first, what with chasing down the egg thieves to get the keys first. Which! The egg thieves were honestly not that hard to get throughout the game… At all… They were so easy. I can understand struggling as a kid getting them, but these days they’re just not that difficult as you remember them to be. Spyro 3 however, the egg thieves on that, THOSE guys are hard. That’s how people remember the egg thieves to be in Spyro 1 I feel.

Anyway, you beat Gnasty Gnorc charging through the level over some fairly tricky moving platforms flaming him along the way and then he’s toast. Poof.

 After you get 100% you get to raid Gnasty’s Loot and collecting those last little bits of gems and that giant room of purple gems with Gnasty’s mug looking down on you is so rewarding for everything you’ve been through.

 On my first playthrough it took me 6 hours to complete. I wanted to see if I could beat that and in my second playthrough on that same weekend I beat it in 5 and a half hours. Recently I managed to complete it all 120% in 5 hours.

 It’s not too hard a game when you know what you’re doing but for those going in blind and for a child it’ll definitely give reasonable enough challenge, which is good.

Some other things I liked about it, it basically had no loading screens. I mean it technically does when Spyro is flying from homeworld to level, but for a game to do that before Arkham Asylum claimed to not have loading screens is impressive.

Overall, it’s a fun as hell and straight forward adventure platformer. I’d most definitely recommend playing this. It’s dirt cheap to download these days so go for it.

Also, Tree Tops isn’t that hard at all either. It’s fun as hell charging and flying everywhere once you know where you’re going and how to do it. And I know, I understand where the dread comes from and it’s fine. But come on, when you’re a kid it would be tricky but most of us are in our mid to late 20’s now. We can handle a couple slow moving egg thieves and tree top speedways.

 Also also! After sending the game back to the buyer I did buy this game again from another seller later on and this one came with a demo disc too. I still don’t know why I didn’t decide to originally keep it the first time. Maybe it was money. And I did want Spyro 2 more. Oh well…

 Where to purchase: Playstation Store (PS3 PSP); £7.99 (Trilogy) £3.99/$5.99 (single)

Ebay; £14.99-£49 (Even £100!! Why?) $20-$150 (20/08/18)

Amazon; £25.99-£199.99 $19.99-$246.95 (20/08/18)

[huffle-poof-blog]

Things the Hogwarts Houses say

(loosely based on conversations I’ve had/overheard)

Hufflepuff -

"If you don't start singing along to High School Musical with me in under 30 seconds you will no longer be my best friend" 

 "I swear on my chicken nuggets-"

"Yes I made that joke up by my self - no it's not from Spongebob Squarepants how dARE YOU-"

"Speaking of Spongebob can we just take a few moments to discuss how much of a masterpiece that first movie was please"

"Ah yes, it's 3 in the morning, time to get emotional and tell all my friends how much I love them"

"You made me chocolate??? Oh my God I love you so much thank you I'll have some right no - THIS HAS RAISINS IN IT YOU TRICKED ME"

"Oh my God yeah I saw that movie, my favourite part was when - oh shit wait there's this adorable kitten video I meant to show you last week and I completely forgot let me get it up on my phone"

"Sorry I'm late I was up all night watching those videos where kids get surprised with puppies"

"Are you awake? Great, let's start planning our future homes together, I have a pinterest board ready"

"This is my favourite photo album! It's full of photos of all the cats and dogs I've made friends with on my walks, I've even given them all names"

(crying) “Stop calling me emotional God damn it”

Ravenclaw -

 "Of course I remember you said you liked the colour red, you told me at like 1:35 am last year in May"

“What? Simplifying equations? No, I can't help with that but I do know all the words to every Simpsons episode in the first 5 seasons if that helps"

"Sorry I really can't go out today. No I'm fine, I'm just stressed I'm doing something important. I'm trying to memorise all the words to this documentary about frogs - What? Yes of course it's important!"

"I discovered and fully analysed that meme 3 weeks ago, step up your game"

"What do you mean why do I have a folder full of strategic plans on how to succeed at animal crossing, that's not weird?"

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude but I've been doing my own research and you're getting all of this wrong. Well yes I know I'm not the teacher here but - Yes, actually, I'd love to teach the class my self I've already made a lesson plan, thank you"

"No, I won't come and see Jurassic World with you. Because it's completely unrealistic! Do you have any idea what dinosaurs are actually supposed to have sounded and looked like? Even adult velociraptors weren't meant to be that b - OK you know what, I will come, but I'll be pointing out every single problem to you. No, it's too late, you already invited me. I'm buying our tickets right now, don't move"

"You really think you can beat me at Mario Kart? I have spent YEARS studying this game and honing my skills, spending hours upon hours training until my hands cramp and even my tv is judging the amount of time I've spent playing and you think YOU can beat me? Let's fucking go"

"I think these guys think I want to murder them because I followed them home but it's only because I overheard them talking about what would happen if Pokemon is real and I wanted to see how good their logic was"

"Shut up? Shut up? I haven't shut up for 17 years and I'm not about to start now”

(crying) "I just want Shakespeare's ghost to be proud of me"

Gryffindor - 

"I'd love to have a sleepover but it can only be when there's a thunderstorm so we can dance in the rain, let me check the weather forecast"

"Did that bee just try and sting you? COME BACK HERE BEE YOU COWARD I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP - wait shit no run”

"What did you say? Don't touch it? Alright." (touches it as soon as the person turns away) "Sucker"

"Whaaat? Someone wrote on the desk? No it wasn't me I would never do th - My name was there? Well, I'm not the only one in the world with my na - My surname was there too? What are the chances?!"

"Help me I started saying lmao ironically and I can't stop"

"Before you say anything it wasn't me - unless it was something awesome then I definitely planned the whole thing"

"Excuse me? They said what to you? ... I have to go for a second, I just remembered something completely unrelated. No, no, I'm not taking this fork with me for any particular reason"

"Um, did you just tell me it's impossible to sing along to a guitar solo? Stand back. Your mind is about to get blown"

"I am so not drunk! I'm completely drunk! ... Wait shit I meant sober"

“I’M SO PROUD OF YOU AAAH LET ME HUG YOU! I’M NOT LETTING GO FOR THE NEXT 3 HOURS, GET COMFORTABLE BITCH”

“I bet I can stay up for longer than you - what no I’m not tired shut up - nO THAT WASN’T A YAWN I WAS JUST SHOWING YOU WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE IF I WAS TIRED - SEE I DID IT AGAIN TOTALLY ON PURPO - ok fuck you I’m going to sleep”

Slytherin - 

"Oh my God, just tell me what you did already so I can start complaining"

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Did you say STOP saying fuck, or KEEP ON saying fuck?"

"Over your dead body? I was hoping you'd say that"

"If you even LOOK at them one more time I will take a stick as big as your ego and stick it right up your-"

"Don't come near me or - OK fine, we can snuggle for exactly 15 minutes. I'm setting a timer now"

"Hey, I saw you posted a picture of us on instagram yesterday where my eyeliner isn't completely straight? You're gonna have to delete that, if anyone thinks my eyeliner isn't drop dead perfect every day and that I'm not a literal make up goddess I'll lose my reputation as the Regina George of the school"

"But keep the one where I'm wearing no make up so that all those bitches know I still kill it without trying"

“Oh come on, you know I’d never do anything to embarrass you! Speaking of which, that video I posted on youtube the other day of you falling down the flight of escalators in the shopping centre has reached over 1000 views”

“My dad told me tattoos were trashy so I got a giant tattoo saying ‘trashy’ on my back I’ll send you his reaction later”

“I’m not a sentimental person but if you touch my teddy bear I will turn you into a stuffed trophy to put next to him”

“What do you mean I look smug this is my normal face”

[sugarsnap-caely]

Das Gebrochen Arzt (The Broken Doctor): Chapter 3

He woke up feeling exhausted, the precipice of a headache hanging at the corners of his head. He went downstairs and took an ibuprofen before trying to make himself something to eat. He pulled out some vegetables and the carton of eggs, deciding to make an omelette. He figured the protein would help with the headache.

He dragged out one of the cutting boards, setting down a green pepper and chopping it up, hoping he wouldn’t wake anyone this early. Knowing the way everyone else slept, the worry quickly passed.

As he chopped the final bit of the pepper he nearly scraped his skin against the blade. He stood back, holding his hand defensively. Nothing had happened to it, yet the sudden fear of accidentally cutting something vital flashed through his mind.

He shook his head. What was he worried about, he was a surgeon, he had not cut himself with anything in years. He gave a laugh and went on to cutting up some ham (thankful that Robbie had left some last night). However, there was now a bigger distance between the blade and his fingers.

As he sat down to eat, he still couldn't help but feel bothered about what he had said to Jeff. He had made the occasional joke about death, everyone did, but never had he sounded so serious.

But he was angry, and stressed, stress does things to the mind. Not only that, but it was Jeff. He settled on that explanation, ignoring the worry that ebbed at the back of his mind.

He looked at his watch and checked the time. He still had plenty of time to get to work. He always did. He downed his cup of coffee and finished his omelette before heading back upstairs to get properly dressed. He smiled at the thought of his habit. He always did prefer to eat breakfast with his pajamas on.

He flicked the light on in his room, heading over to his closet. He passed by his bed which had a bedspread pattern of doctor symbols. He chuckled lightly, remembering when Jack had given that to him as a Christmas gift. He had gotten one for all of the “egos” as Jack’s fans tended to call them.

He pulled out his light blue work shirt, pants, and his white doctor’s coat, setting them on the bed. He glanced at his dresser, noting the figure of Doctor Strange. While most would consider him a man of seriousness, he wasn't always serious. In fact, he did enjoy quite a lot of fantasy, and much like Jack, he liked superheroes. His favorite happened to be Doctor Strange, and not because he was a surgeon like himself (ok that was partially the reason). He really admired the character for his resourcefulness, tenacity, and respect for people’s lives. Not once had the character wanted someone to die. In a way, they were a lot alike.

Plus the visuals had been fucking awesome.

He pulled on his coat, adjusting the collar, before bending down to tie his shoes. As he leaned over he checked the time on his watch. He was startled to read that he had been there for twenty minutes. He tapped the face of his watch, hoping it had been a malfunction. The digital numbers gently flickered the correct time before going back to the wrong one. He would have to get it fixed, but that could wait for a later date. He didn't want to risk being late.

He arrived at the hospital two minutes early. Nodding to his coworkers as he made his way to the lounge. He tapped the face of his watch again, noting how it had somehow fixed itself. He picked up his clipboard and flipped through what was scheduled for today, going through his mental checklist.

As he walked over to the counter he saw Suzi attempting to reach something on a higher shelf.

“Vhat are you looking for?” He asked, attempting to peer up at the shelf himself.

She let out an annoyed sigh as she turned to him, “Jeff decided to be an ass and put something I needed on the highest shelf. Not only that but I can't use any chairs because the new ones don't come till tomorrow.”

“Perhaps I could help? I could give you a boost.”

She crossed her arms and eyed him, “You're shorter than I am Henrik…”

“Or umm…you could give me a boost and I'll get it…” He replied with an embarrassed smile.

She smiled, nearly laughing as she cupped her hand allowing him up. “It's on the right, the glass bottle with the blue cap. Should be behind the other ones.”

“Alright!” When he finally found the ledge of a shelf he peered up into the cabinet, looking past all of the glass bottles. “Vhat is it supposed to be anyvay?”

“Root beer.”

He reached his hand into the cabinet, shaking his head, of course Jeff would do something like that. Also, why in the world would there be a cabinet all the way up here? Probably Jeff.

He grabbed the bottle, “Got it!”

As Suzi was about to help him down, he slowly felt less and less of the bottle, almost like his fingers were going numb. He looked at them in concern; the feeling began to spread to the rest of his hand. “Umm...Su-”

The rest of the people in the lounge turned at the sound of breaking glass.

Henrik stared at the shattered bottle on the ground, a pool of brown, bubbly liquid gently spread out from the center. His gaze moved to his shaky, open palm. He wiggled his fingers, wincing at the feeling of pins and needles.

“Suzi, are you ok?!”

She was crouched down on the ground, clutching her leg. Blood slowly began oozing between her fingers. She tried to stifle a groan of pain.

“Someone grab zee first aid kit!!” He yelled across the room, nearly losing his grip on the cabinet. When a young intern brought over the kit and a broom he slid his way across the shelf and jumped down to avoid the broken glass. The intern set down the first aid kit and started sweeping up the glass.

Schneep knelt down to Suzi, and began taking care of the injury, carefully looking for any glass that could be stuck in the wound.

“Suzi I’m so sorry I don’t know vhat happened. I vas gripping zee bottle one moment and it vas gone zee next!”

She gave him a pained smile, “Hey, don’t worry, accidents happen.”

He gave her a nod yet the back of his mind did not agree, ‘You could have done somesing to prevent it. If only you had just caught zee bottle or held on in zee first place.’

These thoughts continued to show themselves throughout his time at work.

Surprisingly, he managed to get out of work much earlier than he expected. Staying in late the night before to do more paperwork had payed off after all. With the extra time he decided he would do some errands before heading back home. He took the left turn towards the store; they would need more food for tonight anyway.

As he walked away from his car he triple checked it to make sure everything was in good order. He wasn't sure exactly why he did this but he had a feeling that he should. Upon walking inside he headed straight for the fruit. He remembered needing to buy more of that. He picked up some apples and even some grapes and continued on his way.

He grabbed some chips and popcorn from a shelf. He chuckled at the irony of a doctor buying so much junk food. Then again, he was no stereotype. Or was he? It didn't matter.

As he reached for a package of soda he stopped. He pulled his arm back hesitantly. Maybe they didn't really need soda at home. He stared at it for a moment longer before giving a sigh and picking up the bottle, making sure he had both hands on it at all times.

Henrik headed over to the check out to pay for the food. As he waited in line, a few children’s toys caught his eye. He looked at them and smiled, grabbing three of them. The lady next to him glanced at him, “What’s that you've got there?”

He quickly tried to hide the toys, and averted his gaze. He wasn't certain why he felt the need to do this. “I-it’s nosing…” He moved ahead in line, checking his items and paying. Without looking back he made a brisk walk back to his car. When he got back, he scratched at the itch on his neck.

“Hello everyone I’m home,” Schneep said, pushing the door open with his back as he carried in the groceries. He jumped at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, and turned to find Jackie offering to help him carry things in. He smiled at Marvin who came over as well, holding the door open with his magic.

“Hey, you're early!” Marvin said, picking up one of the bags.

“I got a lot of overdue papervork done last night so I did not have to do as much today.” He passed by Robbie on his way to the kitchen.

“What…having?” The zombie drawled.

“Soup! I sought it vould be easy to eat vhile vee play.”

Robbie clapped his hands like a joyful child, bouncing a little, “Robbie…like soup!”

As he stepped into the kitchen he heard Chase from behind him, “Nice!!”

Henrik turned at the sound of his voice and stared at the sight before him. Chase’s hair was done up with little hair clips and bows, stray stickers covering his face. “I see zat your kids have already arrived,” He chuckled.

As if on cue there was a shrill giggle followed by the padding of little feet on tiled floor. In ran Chase’s three year old son Marshall who was quickly followed by Abigail. As Chase picked them up to give them an affectionate hug Schneep couldn't help but smile. He hoped that, at some point, his little edelweiss could spend a weekend with Chase’s kids. He knew how much they would love it.

He could already see them chasing after each other. He could already see them jumping around, getting into tickle fights. He could see the way they would push each other until one would fall down and start to cry.

He shook his head. Why would he imagine that? He loved these kids. He figured he was still a little stressed from today. That was probably it.

“So,” He gave a cough, trying to start up a conversation, “vhat games are vee playing tonight?”

Tonight was Family Game Night where they would all sit and play board games and video games. They had it twice a month and it was a great way to spend time together.

Jackie replied over his shoulder as he started to put things away, “Well, I thought we could start out with a few rounds of Super Smash Brothers or Mario Kart.”

“Yeah, and Jameson brought up a ton of old board games! I don't think he could decide honestly,” Marvin added.

Schneep saw Jameson adjust his monocle with an embarrassed smile.

“Sounds like tonight vill be a very eventful one! Now,” he pulled up the sleeves on his jacket as he pulled out a pot, “I vould like some space vhile I vork.” He went to the fridge to pull out supplies but stopped short as he noticed all of the glass containers. He glanced over his shoulder, noting Marshall and Abigail running between Chase’s legs. The image of Suzi with the glass in her leg popped in his head.

He turned back to the fridge and delicately pulled out one of the containers, holding it in his arms like a child would hug a stuffed toy. As he worked he constantly checked over his shoulder, worried that someone may walk too close and get hurt.

He saw Chase walk up next to him out of the corner of his eye, “Hey dude, do you need help?”

“No, no I'm fine.”

“Come on, you do so much for us all. Why don't we make the soup?”

“I said I'm fine!” He gave Chase a glare, which immediately softened as he looked down at his hand. His knuckles were starting to turn white as he gripped the wooden spoon. He exhaled, loosening his grip as he did so. “Maybe you are right…”

Chase smiled and patted his back, “Think you can watch my kids while we do this?”

He felt the corner of his mouth pull up into a smile, “No problem.”

“Thanks dude! Hey Jackie, JJ, wanna give me a hand?”

Schneep shook his head as he walked off to the living room. What would he do without these guys?

“JJ why do you keep mashing the same button?!! Move dang it, move!” Marvin yelled at Jameson as he attacked Jackie’s character on screen. Jameson replied with a shrug and a floating question mark above his head.

They were all in the middle of a game of Smash Brothers, and they were currently playing teams. Jackie was with Signe, Schneep was with Jack, Chase was with Abigail, and Marvin was with JJ. They would all switch around every few rounds and Robbie was currently keeping an eye on Marshall. It hadn't been five minutes and there were already stickers on the zombie’s face.

The timer ended on the screen as the announcer’s voice boomed out the winner.

“Oh, Yes baby!! Blue team for the win!!” Jack shouted, giving Schneep a high five.

“Vee do make a surprisingly good team,” Henrik leaned back in his seat, “considering I do not get to play zis game all zat often.”

“Yeah, you were really good! You were all like SHOOM and I was all OH NO!!” Chase made exaggerated hand movements in the air, his daughter giggling beside him the whole time.

Jack chuckled, “Dude, we won on luck alone.”

Signe wrapped an arm around Jack’s shoulder, “And I am going to pummel you in the next round, you big goof.”

The two of them laughed, causing Schneep to giggle under his breath. He could not stress enough how much he loved his little family. He swore though, he was only occasionally jealous of Jack and Signe’s relationship. Not only that but some of them insisted he had a crush on Suzi. He never said yes but he never denied it either. He rolled his eyes at the thought, his family was strange.

“Hey Robbie, wanna switch yet?” Jackie called over his shoulder, “My fingers are getting kind of tired.”

The undead ego slowly turned his head from his game of patty cake with Marshall, his brows furrowed in thought. Eventually, he nodded his head and clambered closer to the television, giving Jack a fist bump as he passed.

“Alright,” Marvin began once Robbie was comfortable, “Jack, Schneep, your turn to pick a stage.”

“Hmm, what do you think?” Jack turned to Henrik, glancing at the screen.

“I am not sure, but I suppose vee could-Agh!” Schneep jumped out of his seat as he saw the images on screen glitch and distort, a sound like cannon fire going off in his head.

“Are you ok?! What's wrong?”

“I…I don't know,” he spoke between deep breaths, “I vas just startled, zat vas all.”

“You sure?”

He nodded.

A speech bubble popped up above JJ’s head, “Perhaps we should play another game?”

Robbie slowly picked up the dice and gave it a roll, moving his game piece across the board, “Howw…Jack channel?”

Jack turned around on the swivel chair, he was currently sitting out this round of the game, “Everything’s going well, I finished Simulacra.”

“Well, I can't wait to see it, that game can get really creepy.” Jackie added.

“Yeah, almost as scary as the voice acting,” JJ’s speech bubble read as he rolled the dice.

“Fuuuck it sooo muuuuch!” Almost everyone, excluding Robbie and the kids, chimed out the signature phrase, and ended with them all laughing.

  As Schneep laughed he had to agree with Jackie, while the game’s voice acting needed work it was otherwise a decently scary game. He hadn't seen much of it, but a few of the jumpscares had gotten him pretty bad. Much like Jack, he too was creeped out by glitchy types of horror. Especially from earlier. He was still confused about that: why had no one else seen what had happened on the tv? It felt like he was the only one who noticed it. And what was that…that sound in his ears? Gosh, he felt like he nearly got a concussion. And he swore something was at the back of his mind when it happened. Now that he thought about it, it sounded like it said death.

“It̷'s your tųr̨̛n”

Henrik jolted in his chair, “Vhat?”

“Dude, I said it's your turn.” Chase, held out the die, “Here, take the d̡̡ie”

“Wh-who’s dying?”

“No…one?” Marvin replied, “Well, ok, no one except Mr. Body, but he was dead before we even started the game.”

“V-Vhat game are vee playing?”

“…Clue. Henrik, are you feeling alright?” Jackie asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He felt dizzy and tired; he couldn't think straight. His head was starting to hurt too…

“I…I’m ok,” He spoke slowly, thinking carefully about what he said, “I sink I have a headache…I sink…I sink I'm gonna call it a night.”

There were exchanges of good night and feel better soon as he stood up from the chair. As he walked down the hall towards his room, the hallway seemed darker than usual. When he finally got into bed he was restless the entire night.

And now, here’s the REAL chapter three! I know this took a while to get out but such is the nature of writing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

I owe some credit to @asrisartarena for inspiring me to add her headcannon!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Totally Legit Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6