#real reacing

[whipplefilter]

@ryanthedemiboy

REDDICK IS MY CURRENT TOP NEMESIS. 😂 (But I'm replying in this fashion because I feel like I need to explain myself and need more than 140 characters.)

I have tried *so egregiously hard* to be a Reddick fan. FOR YEARS. Years!!

Reasons I should be a Reddick fan:

He's from California! Me too! I love Californian drivers! (or try to)

He comes from a dirt background! I love dirt racing!

I rooted for him in Xfinity!

He's part of a team I like! Go 23XI!

His cat died the night of one of his Xfinity championships, which is super sad and is, for some reason, always something I remember about him.

Demeanor-wise, he's a really good guy! Passionate, thoughtful, funny.

(But being a "really good guy" has never kept someone from being a nemesis. I really like Brad out of the car, and I think Joey as a person is phenomenal. I've always found Cindric and Chase Elliott's senses of humor very much to my taste. CBell's probably never done anything wrong in his entire life. These people have all been Top Nemesis at some point or another.)

So when time came to start choosing Youth Generation (Youth Generation 1.5? If Chase/Blaney/Bubba/Danny/WB etc. are 1.0) drivers I wanted to root for, Reddick seemed like a natural pick. Even if it meant rooting for RCR.

Then I saw him win in person. Crickets from my heart.

And frankly, being a reflection of/resurgence of the whole Oscar Piastri and Alex Palou contract sagas should only have improved his appeal, in moving from RCR to 23XI. Silliest season.

Any time he's won, actually. Any time he's been in contention to win. Zero feeling. Zero to negative, in fact.

I've found myself rooting for Joey over him!! JOEY. (I have seen Joey win two championships and I will die if I have to witness a third any time soon, especially if Denny goes out with *zero*--and I'd still root for Joey over Reddick at Phoenix.)

During the Nashville postrace, Reddick offered a devastated interview and I did not feel bad for him at all. Whereas I felt super bad for Ross Chastain, my nominal and long-time Nemesis, after his devastated interview.

I was reasoning this through with @the-kings-tail-fin in the car, and I was like, I feel like part of this might actually be because I like Kurt Busch more than Tyler Reddick, so the 45 was cooler BEFORE; and I like Bubba Wallace more than Tyler Reddick, so I want him to be the best 23XI car, which means rooting against Reddick. And we were like, yeah, that makes sense. I mean, by real-world logic it doesn't. But by sports world logic it does!!!!!

So I thought, well, the facts can't lie, here. Tyler Reddick is my new Top Nemesis. I have no choice. The NASCAR whims have spoken. And so here we are.

TOP NEMESIS TYLER REDDICK

[crockersbian]

it aint the homestuck fandom if even around people i like i’m not constantly being lured to the edge of starting confrontational bullshit over character’s ages or gender or xenosociology-related traits or sexuality or what versions of ships suck ass more than other versions of the same ships or gender or gender or god DAMN even when its shit i superficially agree with someone on gender/sexuality headcanons-wise the nitty gritty details of their headcanons piss me off more often then not like it really just is a fucking genders thing

[reasonsforhope]

"Since it was first identified in 1983, HIV has infected more than 85 million people and caused some 40 million deaths worldwide.

While medication known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can significantly reduce the risk of getting HIV, it has to be taken every day to be effective. A vaccine to provide lasting protection has eluded researchers for decades. Now, there may finally be a viable strategy for making one.

An experimental vaccine developed at Duke University triggered an elusive type of broadly neutralizing antibody in a small group of people enrolled in a 2019 clinical trial. The findings were published today [May 17, 2024] in the scientific journal Cell.

“This is one of the most pivotal studies in the HIV vaccine field to date,” says Glenda Gray, an HIV expert and the president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, who was not involved in the study.

A few years ago, a team from Scripps Research and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) showed that it was possible to stimulate the precursor cells needed to make these rare antibodies in people. The Duke study goes a step further to generate these antibodies, albeit at low levels.

“This is a scientific feat and gives the field great hope that one can construct an HIV vaccine regimen that directs the immune response along a path that is required for protection,” Gray says.

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024. Article continues below.

Vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize a virus or other pathogen. They introduce something that looks like the virus—a piece of it, for example, or a weakened version of it—and by doing so, spur the body’s B cells into producing protective antibodies against it. Those antibodies stick around so that when a person later encounters the real virus, the immune system remembers and is poised to attack.

While researchers were able to produce Covid-19 vaccines in a matter of months, creating a vaccine against HIV has proven much more challenging. The problem is the unique nature of the virus. HIV mutates rapidly, meaning it can quickly outmaneuver immune defenses. It also integrates into the human genome within a few days of exposure, hiding out from the immune system.

“Parts of the virus look like our own cells, and we don’t like to make antibodies against our own selves,” says Barton Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and one of the authors on the paper.

The particular antibodies that researchers are interested in are known as broadly neutralizing antibodies, which can recognize and block different versions of the virus. Because of HIV’s shape-shifting nature, there are two main types of HIV and each has several strains. An effective vaccine will need to target many of them.

Some HIV-infected individuals generate broadly neutralizing antibodies, although it often takes years of living with HIV to do so, Haynes says. Even then, people don’t make enough of them to fight off the virus. These special antibodies are made by unusual B cells that are loaded with mutations they’ve acquired over time in reaction to the virus changing inside the body. “These are weird antibodies,” Haynes says. “The body doesn’t make them easily.”

Haynes and his colleagues aimed to speed up that process in healthy, HIV-negative people. Their vaccine uses synthetic molecules that mimic a part of HIV’s outer coat, or envelope, called the membrane proximal external region. This area remains stable even as the virus mutates. Antibodies against this region can block many circulating strains of HIV.

The trial enrolled 20 healthy participants who were HIV-negative. Of those, 15 people received two of four planned doses of the investigational vaccine, and five received three doses. The trial was halted when one participant experienced an allergic reaction that was not life-threatening. The team found that the reaction was likely due to an additive in the vaccine, which they plan to remove in future testing.

Still, they found that two doses of the vaccine were enough to induce low levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies within a few weeks. Notably, B cells seemed to remain in a state of development to allow them to continue acquiring mutations, so they could evolve along with the virus. Researchers tested the antibodies on HIV samples in the lab and found that they were able to neutralize between 15 and 35 percent of them.

Jeffrey Laurence, a scientific consultant at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, says the findings represent a step forward, but that challenges remain. “It outlines a path for vaccine development, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he says.

For one, he says, a vaccine would need to generate antibody levels that are significantly higher and able to neutralize with greater efficacy. He also says a one-dose vaccine would be ideal. “If you’re ever going to have a vaccine that’s helpful to the world, you’re going to need one dose,” he says.

Targeting more regions of the virus envelope could produce a more robust response. Haynes says the next step is designing a vaccine with at least three components, all aimed at distinct regions of the virus. The goal is to guide the B cells to become much stronger neutralizers, Haynes says. “We’re going to move forward and build on what we have learned.”

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024

[neos127]

love is hard for park sunghoon (or is it?) — psh

office employee!sunghoon x fem!reader; genre. dating for convenience to real love, fluff notes. small drabble based on the manga ‘love is hard for otaku’ bc sunghoon gives nifuji vibes in these glasses!

otaku — is a japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers

sunghoon was positive that he was unlovable. he was a video game otaku who slaved away at his nine to five job and had rarely felt the touch of a woman. that was until you came along, like a bright ray of sunshine moving into his cloudy life. you were very different from him, loud and obnoxious at times with a very outgoing personality. sunghoon claimed that you weren’t his type, but the lie was long forgotten when he looked at your beaming smile and bright eyes.

for some reason that sunghoon couldn’t comprehend, you were interested in him. you talked to him first and were the reason behind the man becoming a flustered mess. sunghoon tried to tell you that being interested in him was a bad idea, his relationships never worked out because of his workaholic attitude and obsession with his handheld gaming device.

“you too? my past boyfriends never understood my obsession with mangas and idols. but it seems like you would!” you said, your voice twinged with excitement. after that you had basically proposed the idea of dating for convenience and oddly, sunghoon agreed. maybe it was because he was just lonely and severely touched starved— or maybe it was because your stunning smile made sunghoon’s heart skip a beat or two. he supposed if the two of you were dating for convenience, it wouldn’t be crazy to actually fall for one and other…right? he was your ‘boyfriend’ after all, it only made sense.

sunghoon couldn’t help himself. you were so understanding and you could relate to his lifestyle unlike people he dated in the past. you also never left sunghoon alone, even when he was furiously smashing the buttons on the controller of his gaming console. you would casually sit behind the man, legs thrown over his as you read your manga.

“you comfy back there?” sunghoon spoke up, readjusting his glasses and clearing his throat. he hoped that you couldn’t feel how hard his heart was beating or the way his body had become hotter under your touch.

“yeah i’m good.” you mumbled, a slight smile on your lips as you nuzzled the side of your face into his back. your eyes never left your manga and sunghoon could tell that you were highly invested.

“did you need anything?” you asked, surprised that sunghoon even spoke. whenever he played his game, he went silent. the only sounds that emitted from his mouth were annoyed grunts and a slew of curses.

sunghoon sighed and turned off his game, detaching himself from you to put his controller away. you whined at the loss of contact which soon turned into a gasp when sunghoon practically pounced on top of you. he took the manga from you, the book seeming so tiny in his large hands when he snapped it shut.

“m’sorry i’ve been neglecting you.” sunghoon mumbled, his glasses slowly sliding down his face. you pushed them up with your finger, smiling at the way they slid down his nose again.

“you don’t have to apologize. we decided to date because we understand how each other operates, is that not correct?” you asked, surprised that sunghoon decided to apologize. you felt it was unnecessary, you were just happy that he allowed you to be in his presence.

“but i want to. you’re…different from other girls I’ve been with…in a good way of course. and for some reason, that makes me actually want to give you my attention.” sunghoon explained, the delivery of his words sounding extremely awkward. you giggled, finding it amusing how inexperienced he was when it came to relationships, but you appreciated his honesty anyway.

“if that’s your way of saying that you’re attracted to me— then I feel the same.” you said, reaching up to mess with sunghoon’s hair. he caught your hand mid air, bringing it back down to his lap before playing with your fingers.

“yeah um, i am positive that i’ve fallen for you. i know we only dated for convenience but, i really do like being in a relationship with you.” sunghoon confessed, avoiding eye contact with you. using your free hand, you grabbed his chin, turning the man’s face to look at yours.

“i really like being in a relationship with you too, hoon.” you replied, a small smile on your face. sunghoon was sure he would’ve combusted on the spot due to the way your nickname for him rolled so easily off your tongue. the man had never felt such emotions before and he was surprised by how much of a hold you had on him. he was sure that he would get down on his knees and beg for you— if you wanted him to jump, he would ask ‘how high?’.

sunghoon smiled, an actual real smile where you could see his adorable fangs. you hadn’t seen much of the expression before, but at that moment you concluded that it was your favorite thing in the world.

“can i kiss you, sunghoon?” you asked timidly, watching as the man’s eyes widened behind the frames of his glasses.

“yeah…yeah of course you can.” he answered, his heartbeat picking up the pace by a tenfold. you smiled at his nervousness, leaning over to place a hesitant kiss on his lips. before you could pull away, sunghoon grabbed the back of your head, holding you in place as he deepened the kiss and forced you to open your mouth a bit more. you let out a low whine, the sound going straight to sunghoon’s gut. he shivered against your body, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you into his lap.

“what are you doing to me?” sunghoon groaned once he pulled away, moving his face to hide in your neck. you chuckled and patted the top of his head.

“it’s just my charm. only a select few can see it so, congratulations! you’re special!” you explained, playfully tapping the man on his nose. he scrunched it up cutely, letting out a small chuckle at your enthusiasm.

“yeah, lucky me.” sunghoon mumbled, his voice monotone as ever. to most people, it may have sounded sarcastic and as if he didn’t actually mean it. but sunghoon’s lovesick eyes said otherwise…and you knew sunghoon better than most people.

©neos127

[bilal-salah0]

With heartfelt gratitude and appreciation, we extend our sincere thanks to the generous donor who contributed 1,000 € to support Ahmed and his family. Your generosity reflects the spirit of cooperation and solidarity that we need during these challenging times.

Your donations make a real difference in Ahmed's life and his family's lives. We encourage everyone to participate in this campaign, whether by donating or sharing it with friends and family. Every share helps bring us closer to our goal and alleviates the suffering of families in need.

Thank you all for your continuous support and boundless generosity. Let's keep working together for the greater good!

@ahmedpalestine

[koolades-world]

hewwo congrats on ur 2k journey! more blessings for you to come :3

can we have a prompt 23 & 24 with Levi?

thank you!❤️❤️

thank you! consider it done :)

this is the last prompt!! thank you for everyone who submitted a request. it was super fun and it was a god way for me to great creative haha. will post a masterlist of everything from the event soon!!

enjoy <3

prompt 23 and 24 w/ Levi

It was well known that Levi didn't enjoy going out. Anywhere outside his room was uncharted territory, and he had no desire to light up that gray part of the map. He was content with only occasionally leaving his room for events out in the real world. Other than that, he enjoyed staying in his room. It was his check point and everything about it was comfortably predictable. He didn't expect the human exchange student to understand him so well.

He'd actually expected to only see you several times max, but you kept going out of your way to do things for him, such as delivering him dinner, or slipping a postcard of his favorite character under the door. Each time, he managed to miss you, but he knew it had to be you, because his brothers didn't care about him or his interests enough to do that for him. The first time he worked up enough courage to thank you, he accidently caught you midway through your act of kindness. Levi felt as if he was he was about to die of embarrassment, but he carried through with the plan and slammed the door on you. He regretted it afterwards, so the next day, he opened the door again to apologize. He hadn't expected you to invite him out to the anime cafe that had just opened nearby. The rest was history.

From then on, he thought of you as another check point of his. Anywhere you went, he felt more comfortable. So, when you wanted to go out, he couldn't help but feel the desire to tag along. He'd tried staying in, but he always felt left out. Because of this, he ended up going with you more often than not. He saw lots of things that he didn't get to see much by your side, such as unfamiliar shops and restaurants that he didn't even know existed. Sometimes, a brother or two of his might be there, but since Levi would be with you, they didn't need to come.

Being out made him nervous, but being alone with you made him even more so. A couple times, the two of you were mistaken to be out on a date. Every time that happened, he felt as if might explode from the overwhelming feelings within. He loved to spend time with you, but you contributed to the building internal pressure he often experienced. Often times, just looking at you caused him to grow shy. You were so gorgeous, and gave him your undivided attention. The intense way you gazed at him while he rambled just got his heart racing, but he'd be damned again before he told you that.

"Earth to Levi!" You waved a hand in front of his face.

"Mc! Sorry." Levi tucked his D.D.D. in his pocket. It seemed he'd been absentmindedly staring at it while he'd been lost in thought.

"No worries! Our table is ready." The two of you were trying out another restaurant you'd been dying to go to, and as the sucker he was, of course Levi wanted to go with you. He wouldn't let his brothers do it, that was for sure.

"Oh, alright." He followed you through the restaurant, glancing around as he did. It had a very casual, rustic vibe. He sat down across from you at the table for two, and flipped through the menu briefly. You began to talk to him about your next project for your hobby, and he sat and listened carefully. He didn't know how to engage since he didn't know much about what you were talking about, but he could at least ask questions and show you he was interested.

As you were talking, you suddenly stopped and stared at him. He grew nervous under your gaze. "What is it?" He frantically began to wipe his face and straighten his clothes.

"No, it's not that." You leant over the table and swept his bangs aside. You held them there, and clipped them with a couple cute little barrettes. He reached up and touched them.

"What was that for?" He could feel himself growing warm.

"You know how I feel about your hair in your face. You have really pretty eyes, and I hate not being able to see them. Orange is my favorite color for a reason." Levi had to stop and process your words, and once he didn't he had no clue how to respond. You knew just how to get him to feel loved, but so incredibly anxious at the same time. "You don't have to answer that. I just wanted you to know that you're beautiful." You understood him so well, which was part of the reason why the two of you were as close as you were. He found it in him to smile at you without turning bright red.

When the waiter came to ask how the two of you were, and asked if they could get you any drinks, you ordered for the both of you. The two of you got on like a house on fire, because you complimented each other. You knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and instead if criticizing each other, like Levi's brothers might to him, you did what he couldn't and helped him. He hadn't expected to find such kin in a human he hadn't even intended to get to know, but he was glad that he did.

[skz317cb97]

Seo Changbin x thick female reader

Word count: 10.7K

Synopsis: A sequel to Strength Training. After having sex with your new trainer you start to avoid him. When Changbin finally runs into you he asks you out on a real date but your ex-husband is hell bent on making your life miserable.

A/N: 18+ only! Only one more left in the hyung line after this! This is the third sequel in the SKZ x Thick Reader Series pt 2 and NGL this one got a mind of its own towards the end... I don't know who wrote that 👀 ANYWHO! I hope you all enjoy this one! If you do hit the like, the reblog, leave a comment, shoot me an ask cursing me for how horny this made you 🤣 I truly love the feedback and interacting with you guys! 🖤 P.S. peep outfit inspiration here!

Warnings: MDNI 18+ ONLY! Cursing and strong language, verbal abuse (not Changbin), boarder line stalking (also not Changbin), mild violence (shoving, one punch), oral (m&f receiving), deep throating, fingering, a little spit play, a little impact play, anal play with penetration, use of massagers and toys, protected piv sex, praise/body worship, pet names (baby, angel etc), a little overstimulation, squirting, cum eating/coming in mouth, slightly rough sex, Changbin dom/MC sub dynamic, mentions of tying MC up, also I'm not sure if its a warning but Changbin touches MC's feet 2 times, not in a sexual way but I know some people are weird about feet so yea I think that's everything but if I missed something please let me know and I'll add it!

It had been two full weeks since you fucked your trainer in his gym, and you had not gone to a single one of your sessions since. It wasn’t because of him of course, Changbin had been very sweet after, showed you to the showers and let you clean up in private, then gave you some of his gym clothes since he had gotten a bit overzealous with your leggings. After you showered and got dressed it was awkward, well, you were awkward. Changbin tried to make you feel more comfortable by just acting normal while he was actually freaking out inside. 

“So, I’ll see you for your next training session yea?” He was trying to subtly flirt not wanting to make you more uncomfortable, but it seemed to you like he just wanted to get straight back to business, so you followed suit. 

“Yea Changbin sure.” Changbin gave you a bit of a sad smile. 

“Please call me Binnie y/n.” You nodded unable to make eye contact and made a quick exit after that. You were on the verge of tears, and you didn’t feel like making a fool of yourself any more than you had already. Since then, you had not gone to any of your training sessions and ignored every call and text from Changbin. Refusing to even open them, scared of what they may say.  

For some reason or another your ex-husband, Steven, must have been bored because he decided it was a perfect time to start verbally abusing you via text, as if you didn’t have enough on your mind already. Your phone was blowing up with those texts as you were leaving work. He wanted to ruin your night, your weekend, your life. Anything you had planned, he wanted to make you feel like shit so you would just stay home, alone. You were always alone. You were reading through the hateful words on your phone, not paying attention to where you were walking and ran right into someone. When you hit the firm wall of human you stumbled, twisted your ankle and fell back on your ass. 

“Ow! Shit! I’m sorr-” You looked up and much to your surprise, the person you had just run into was Changbin. 

“Hey no I’m sorry. I was scanning faces looking for you and found you the hard way I guess.” Changbin smiled and offered a hand to help you up.  

“Changbin? Wha-how did you know I was here?” He smiled at you and a dimple appeared in one cheek.  

“I’m gonna start to think you don’t like me if you keep calling me Changbin, please Bin or Binnie I don’t think we have to be so formal.” You looked down blushing and nodded. 

“I called Lacey when you wouldn’t answer any of my attempts to reach out. We’re friends outside of the gym as well. He told me you were here.” Changbin wiggled his fingers, and you accepted the hand he held out for you. He gently held the back of your arm while you stood up and when you went to put weight on your foot. 

“Ow ow ow, fuck!” Changbin braced you and looked concerned. 

“What hurts?” You grimaced. 

“My ankle, the left one.” Changbin slid your arm around his broad shoulders and helped you over to a nearby bench. He was warm and firm and smelled so good; it made your head swimmy. Once you were seated, he knelt in front of you, took your shoe off and looked at your ankle. He bent your toes down, not too much pain, bearable. Then he bent it up and once your foot was pressed flat against his palm. 

“Fuck Bin, SSsssOw!” He tried slightly turning it side to side and you winced and came up out of your seat a bit. 

“BIN ow! That hurts!” He nodded and started to gently rub your ankle soothing the pain he’d caused, his hand sliding slightly up your calf gently squeezing in a comforting way as if to apologize.  

“I know I’m sorry, I just had to make sure it wasn’t broken. It's just strained, probably not bad, but you shouldn’t put any weight on it the rest of the night. It probably wouldn’t hurt to wrap and ice it also.” Changbin watched your ankle as he rubbed small circles against your skin, and you watched him with your bottom lip between your teeth. He wasn’t doing anything remotely sexual, but you could feel yourself flushing with arousal at his touch. You started getting flustered. 

“Ch-Binnie, w-what are you doing here?” He sighed, set your foot down, and sat next to you on the bench. 

“You haven’t been coming to your sessions. You’ve already paid me for them.” You just didn’t think you could go about business as usual after having the man’s face in between your legs but you didn’t know how to tell him that.  

“Bin I couldn’t-” 

“You weren’t answering my calls or texts...” You nodded staring at your ankle he’d just had in his hands. 

“Yea I know Bin I didn’t think I could...” You didn’t know how to put it without making yourself sound pathetic. You didn’t think you could fuck him and not fall in love with him. 

“Did... uh, did I do something wrong?” You looked at him surprised he had come to that conclusion.  

“Wha-NO! No Bin you didn’t.” He shook his head. 

“No because if I came on too strong and made you uncomfortable, I’m really sorry... I don’t know, I just... I’m really sorry if I pressured you to do something you didn’t want to.” You felt awful that Changbin thought that he may have done something wrong. Had you answered any of his attempts to contact you and stopped only thinking of yourself in the scenario, you would have known he was concerned he had done something you didn’t want. 

“NO. Changbin. No. You didn’t, I promise I just... after everything I didn’t think I could act like nothing happened. I was uncomfortable but it wasn’t for any of the reasons you think. I just... I had never done anything like that before and you seemed like you wanted to just go back to business, and I couldn’t Bin I just couldn’t.” He grabbed one of your hands in both of his and you looked at him finally. 

“I’ve NEVER done anything like that either! I mean like have sex in my gym... or with a client... not that I just look at you like some customer I’m just saying...” He was getting flustered now, and you found it endearing that this big, gorgeous man was tripping over his words. He was just as nervous as you were it seemed. 

“But we don’t have to act like nothing happened. I don’t want that. I would really like to take you out on a date, if you would go out with me.” You looked at him surprised.  

“Oh you... you want to go on a date with me?” He nodded shyly and you couldn’t help the word vomit that came out next. 

“Why? I mean you're ridiculously handsome with a body like an Olympian god, you’re a ten out of ten and I’m... I’m not Bin. I’m fat and a six in the face at best. You could have any woman you want so why me?” Changbin took a mental note that if he ever got the chance to deck your ex-husband for what he’s done to your confidence, to take it with no hesitation. 

“First off, I told you not to talk about yourself like that. I mean it. There are enough mean people in the world, don’t be mean to yourself. Two, I’m NOT a ten okay, I'm not a god, I’m just a normal guy. I have flaws and complexes and I’m no different than you so please don’t put me on a pedestal like that, like I’m above you, because I’m not. You’re beautiful y/n, like make me nervous, heart flutter, butterflies in my stomach, beautiful, the fact that you have a fuller figure is a non-issue to me. I don’t have a preference over you having blue or brown eyes so why should I have a preference over your weight? It has no bearing on who you are as a person. It's a physical trait, that’s all.” You were in shock. You certainly didn’t expect all that. You weren’t used to it either, you didn’t know what to say. You were used to... your phone started buzzing with an incoming call and right then you remembered that Steven had been harassing you when you bumped into Changbin. You hadn’t given his texts any attention yet and he couldn’t have that, so he was calling you now. Changbin looked down at your phone in your hand. 

“Is that important? Do you need to get it?” You chewed at your thumb nail on your free hand nervously. 

“Um, well... It’s my ex-husband.” Changbin gently squeezed your hand. 

“I’ll step over here and give you some privacy.” He walked over by an aquarium that was kept in the lobby and started looking inside at the fish. You hit the answer button and before you could even say hello, he started in on you. Changbin was trying to give you privacy, but it was hard when your ex-husband insisted on screaming at you over the phone. 

“Look we’re not together anymore Steven so you don’t get to just talk to me like that and expect me to take it.” You hung up the phone and in seconds it started ringing again and again and again. You turned your phone off and called for Changbin to come back over. 

“Sor-” Changbin put up his hand stopping your apology. 

“Do NOT apologize for that asshole. You have nothing to be sorry for. Good for you for standing up for yourself.” You forced a little laugh. 

“Yea it’s only because it’s easy to just hit end call. When he’s right in front of me is another story. I’ve never been able to stand up to him face to face.” Changbin frowned a little. 

“Well forget him, let me help you.” He tried to help you stand up from the bench. 

“Really Binnie I’ll be fine.” He smirked at you. 

“Oh yea? Where’s your car?” You shook your head. 

“I take the subway.” He nodded and laughed. 

“Yea thought so. Look, just let me take you home, please? My car is parked close, and you can’t walk on that ankle.” You pressed your lips together; you knew you should accept the help, but you didn’t want to be a bother. As if Changbin could read your mind. 

“It’s no trouble really, we can finish our talk.” Changbin helped you up from the bench and put your arm around his shoulder again, he snaked his arm around your waist, his hand resting on one of your full hips, then grabbed the shoe he had taken off you. Your eyes gleamed a bit and you smiled at him; you weren't used to being treated so kindly. Changbin’s ears turned red, and he looked away as his smile grew bigger. He liked seeing you smile; he liked being the reason you were smiling. 

“Lean on me, no weight on that foot.” You shook your head no. 

“No Bin, I’m too heavy...” He cocked an eyebrow at you with a challenging look on his face. 

“You trying to say I’m weak?” You looked at him incredulously and he started laughing. 

“You’re fine, really, lean onto me.” You did as Changbin said and he held you up easily then looked down at you smirking. 

“See no problem. Come on this way.” You hobbled to Changbin’s car with his help, and he made sure you got in okay before shutting your door and getting in the driver’s seat. You told him where to go and you were off. You stole glances at Changbin out of the corner of your eye from time to time. Why was he sexy even just driving a car. His hand gripping the steering wheel the veins popping out up his arms. When Changbin cleared his throat to say something, you were pulled from your thoughts and jumped. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” You shook your head with your hand on your heart. 

“No no don’t be sorry, it’s not you. I’m just really jumpy right now.” Changbin glanced over at you and then back at the road. 

“Because of your ex?” You looked down and then away. 

“I’m sorry that’s none of my-” 

“Yes it’s because of him...” Changbin nodded. 

“Is every... are you okay?” You laughed at yourself because you didn’t know. 

“I’m a little worried he may be waiting at the house since I hung up on him.” Changbin looked very worried now. 

“You think he would do that? Has he before?” His voice sounded serious. You shook your head. 

“He’s never done it, but I wouldn’t put a move like that past him. He’s done other things like that and worse.” Changbin gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, his knuckles turning white. 

“Well, I’m walking you up so don’t worry, okay?” You nodded and looked out the passenger window, it wasn’t much further. When Changbin pulled into your driveway he pulled up as far as he could and parked, turning off the car. 

“Wow, this is a nice place!” You gave him a sad smile. 

“Yea it’s nice but it’s big and quiet. I used to have two dogs, Edgar and Allen, but Steven got rid of them when I was gone one day after I filed for divorce. Like that would stop me from leaving him. It made me lonely though, so he was successful in that way I suppose.” That broke Changbin’s heart. That was beyond low but typical for Steven. If his shit was disturbed, he was disturbing yours as well. Misery loves company of course.  

“Sorry don’t mind me and my sob story. I’ll just go ahead...” You were starting to get out of the car and Changbin stopped you. 

“I think not; you still can’t put weight on that, hold on.” He got out and hurried around the car, opening your door. He leaned down and this time you slid your hand across his shoulder feeling the muscle underneath as he helped you out. He walked you to your door and you fished your keys out of your pocket, Changbin waited. 

“You-You’re gonna take me all the way inside?” You asked surprised. Changbin chuckled and shook his head at you. 

“Well, ye- what part of you can’t put weight on this ankle are you missing beautiful?” You could feel your face flush and you looked down at the doorknob focusing on unlocking it before you did something stupid like drop your keys. Once you were inside you weren’t sure what to do. It had been so long since you had anyone in the house with you. Luckily Changbin kind of picked up on that and got things moving. 

“So, where’s the kitchen, I want to get you some ice.” You pointed in the direction of the kitchen. 

“Okay wait here just a second.” You braced yourself against the wall and Changbin ran to get the ice. When he was back your arm was draped across him again and his warm body was pressed into your side. 

“Alright, now, where’s your room?” You hoped it was only you that could hear your heart beating in your ears. You answered quietly. 

“Oh uh, this way.” You directed Changbin towards your master bedroom. Once he had you in there, he walked you over to your bed and you sat down. 

“Now, do you have ace bandages in your first aid kit?” You nodded and he turned in a circle looking around. 

“It’s in the ensuite bathroom under the sink.” Changbin ran off to the bathroom and grabbed the ace bandage and a reusable ice bag he found under there as well. He came back over by you, sat on the edge of the bed and sat all of the stuff down. 

“Gimme.” He did grabby hands at you like some kind of buff toddler. 

“What?” He laughed. 

“Give me your foot I’m gonna wrap it, you need to take it easy and keep it elevated tonight. It’s not bad so it should be better tomorrow as long as you relax and stay off it.” You brought your foot up and Changbin gently grabbed it and rested it in his lap. You shivered and it gave you goosebumps to feel his hands on you like that again, they were warm and a little callused from the weights he lifted. His voice got very soft. 

“Is that okay?” You could feel your face heating up again as your foot rested so closely to his crotch and you nodded. Changbin wrapped your ankle, put the ice he’d gotten into the bag, then took a couple of the plethora of pillows you had and stacked them so your foot was propped up. He put the ice bag on top and then stood up. 

“Okay I’m gonna order some food for you.” You shook your head no. 

“No Changbin you’ve done too much already, I can...” Changbin stopped. 

“You need to eat dinner y/n...” You agreed with him. 

“Okay yea, alright but just... there’s stuff to make a sandwich or something like that in the fridge, please don’t go to the trouble of spending money and ordering food.” Changbin could agree with that, as long as you ate something. He made you a sandwich, got you something to drink and then sat and chit chat with you while you ate. The longer you were around Changbin the more relaxed you became. He seemed to have a calming effect on you when nothing else had. When you were done eating Changbin took your plate and cup back down to the kitchen and brought you back a bottle of water. 

“Do you have like some pajamas you want me to grab or...” Your heart started racing because the answer was a bit embarrassing. 

“Umm. No. I... don’t...’ Changbin understood immediately. 

“Oh. OH! Right okay yea.” He rubbed the back of his neck as it and his face both turned red. 

“I guess I should probably go now then huh.” You smiled. 

“I guess.” You replied. 

“Uh one thing before I head out of here y/n?” You looked at him expectantly. 

“A date? Tomorrow?” You smiled and nodded. 

“I would love to Ch-Binnie.” He chewed at his bottom lip and had a little half smile that made his dimple appear again. 

“Okay great! I’ll uh... I’ll text you the details, make sure you answer, okay?” He winked at you, and you laughed. 

“I’ll answer Bin, promise.” He grinned ear to ear. 

“I’ll hold you to it. Do you need anything else before I go?” You shook your head 

“I don’t think so, I’ve got water and I can watch tv until I’m ready for bed. You’re good Binnie.” He was a little apprehensive to leave you, but walked over to you, leaned down and gave your cheek a soft kiss. 

“Goodnight y/n. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You were certain your heart was going to beat right out of your chest. 

“Goodnight, Bin.” Changbin left and you stripped down to your ‘pajamas’. Changbin mentioning texting reminded you that you had turned off your phone. You grabbed it out of the pocket of your pants before tossing them aside. You hit the power button and as soon as it came on the barrage of text and voicemail notifications all started coming in. You started to open the text thread to see what Steven had said but you stopped and instead deleted all of it without reading a single one. Then you did the same with the voicemails, deleted. Didn’t listen to a single word. It might not be standing up to him to his face yet, but you felt good for the first time in a long time. 

The next morning when you woke up your ankle felt much better, but you kept it wrapped up for the morning just to be safe. Right after breakfast your phone started ringing. You assumed it was Changbin calling to give you the details of your date, so you answered without even thinking. 

“Miss me already?” The voice that came over the line was nasty and venomous. 

“Why the fuck should I? That would be an incredible waste of time on an incredible waste of a human.” You winced at his words. Steven always knew how to cut you down so quickly. You heard your other line click as your ex-husband continued to go in on you. You looked and saw it was Changbin calling this time. 

“I don’t have time for this I have to go...” You went to hang up and could hear your ex yelling on the other line. 

“Don’t you fucking dare hang up on me again you bi-” You hung up anyway and answered Changbin’s call. 

“Hey Binnie!” You tried to hide the tension in your voice which was easier once you heard the smile in Changbin’s voice. 

“Hey! How are you? How’s the ankle?” You laughed and told him it was better. You guys had a little small talk and then Changbin got down to the reason he had called. 

“So, we still on for tonight?” Your heart fluttered at the idea of spending a whole evening with this sweet, ridiculously gorgeous man. 

“Absolutely! How should I dress and when should I be ready?” Changbin said to dress nicely, but that it wasn’t formal or anything and that he would be at your place at six thirty to get you. Around four you got in the shower and started to get ready. There was a cocktail dress you had gotten when you were still with Steven for an anniversary dinner that he never showed up for. You decided to dust that off and wear it. When you put it on it still fit perfectly. You thought your hair looked fine down the way it was, so you left it that way and put on a little makeup. The dress was so pretty, you hoped Changbin’s attention would be on that. You put on your chunky Versace heels because why the hell not, dabbed some perfume on your pulse points and you were pretty much ready. 

Changbin knocked on your door right at about six thirty. You answered and when you two saw each other you were both speechless. It was clear you and Changbin had similar taste as he stood there in a sheer Versace button down shirt. It was open and he wore a crisp black tank top underneath. The sheer sleeves showed his muscles, and you were ready to salivate, he looked so good. If you were about to drool, Changbin was about to have a heart attack. You stood there looking statuesque in a black sequined mini dress with loose slightly belled sleeves that were sheer like his own.  

“Holy fuck gorgeous!” You started to blush and smiled ear to ear at his reaction. His eyes were glued to you and not just one single part of your body but all of you. They traveled down the expanse of legs in front of him and landed on your chunky black heels, the diamond accented ankle strap and a tell-tale medusa head charm dangling from it. 

“I’m glad to see that ankle is better and I see you have very good taste. Versace?” Changbin pointed at the shoes, and you nodded. With the chunky heels on it made you quite a bit taller than him and you worried he might not like that. Steven hated when you wore them for that very reason. 

“I can change them if you want.” Changbin’s eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head. 

“Hell no! You look fucking amazing don’t change a thing!” You laughed and dusted imaginary lint off his shoulder as an excuse to touch him. 

“You look pretty fucking amazing too.” Changbin’s smile grew a mile wide and every part of his face and ears were a bright shade of red.  

“Let’s get out of here, I know a place.” You laughed and rolled your eyes pulling the door closed behind you as you left. The last place you had expected Changbin to take you was a jazz speakeasy. You looked around in amazement as the host showed you to your table. When you sat down and Changbin saw the smile on your face he felt his heart start to flutter again. He really liked being the reason you were smiling, he wished he saw it more. You were stunning when you smiled. 

It was such a laid-back place, even with everyone dressed so nicely it was relaxed. You and Changbin ordered your drinks and talked while you listened to the band play. It turned out that you and Changbin had a lot in common and the more you talked the more you liked him. He was charming, and funny, and didn’t take himself too seriously. He seemed close with his family by the way he talked about them, and his sister sounded hilarious. You liked that, you didn’t have any family left and Steven’s family all hated you for leaving him even though they knew what he had been doing to you. A couple of drinks in Changbin spilled a little on his pants. 

“Ah shit, I’m gonna run to the bathroom really quick.” You nodded. He stood, leaned down, and pecked your cheek, then turned before either of you could combust over the sweet gesture. You were just getting to the end of your drink and Changbin had just spilt what was left in his, so it was perfect timing for the waiter to be coming back by. He made his way around from behind you and stopped at your table. 

“Yea I need two...” When you looked up you choked on your words. It wasn’t the waiter standing there, it was Steven. 

“You need to stop hanging up on me like a rude bitch when I’m talking to you.” You looked around, people at the table on either side of you heard him but just side eyed and said nothing. You just sat there and took it; it was all you could ever do when he was in front of you talking down to you like that. 

“What poor sap are you trying to trick with that half assed attempt and this dark ass bar?” Now one of the ladies at the other table looked right over, her mouth agape in shock at his words but still said nothing to try and stop him. 

“Isn’t that the dress you wore for our last anniversary? The one I spent with... what’s her name again? Oh, yea Candi. Looking a little more snug than before. You still packing on the pounds I see. I thought you hired some hot shot trainer? Isn’t he gonna do something about your fat ass?” You just kept your head down as the tears welled up and spilled from your eyes. He was making a full-on scene now. Other tables, not just the surrounding ones, were starting to look now. You were so embarrassed. You had completely forgotten that Changbin was even there and that he would be coming back from the bathroom, and he did just in time to hear the last bit of what your ex-husband was saying to you. 

“Excuse me you're blocking my seat.” Steven turned towards the voice coming from behind him. When he did, he saw a man that, while not as tall as him, was solid muscle. Steven turned back to you. 

“Oh, what did you tell this poor sap to get him here y/n? Or have you finally gotten desperate enough to hire a male escort? That’s it isn’t it?” Changbin closed his eyes, counted to ten in his head, and took a deep breath. 

“Excuse me!” He said more firmly but still quietly. 

“I said you are blocking my seat. So move and stop talking to my date like that.” Steven whipped back around towards Changbin.  

“With all due respect which is none, you have no idea who the fuck you’re talking to.” Changbin was really starting to lose his patience and when he looked over and saw you sitting there practically cowering, mascara streaking your face a little piece of him snapped. 

“I know exactly who I’m talking to Steven, you’re y/n’s shit heel ex-husband and you don’t know who the fuck you’re talking to asshole. Now stop causing a scene and just go.” Steven like the idiot he is stepped to Changbin.  

“Or what? What are you gonna do about it.” Changbin remembered thinking if he ever had the chance to punch your ex-husband he’d take it in a heartbeat, but he couldn’t do that to you, not in a place like that. You were already embarrassed by your ex, Changbin wasn’t going to add to it. 

“Well, I’m a man of jutdae, so I’ll ask the staff to escort you out if you don’t want to of your own accord.” Steven scoffed. 

“Juu what? I don’t give a shit what you ask the staff to do. You aren’t gonna do shit so shut the fuck up already.” Changbin took another deep breath. 

“Jutdae means I am a man of principals something you would know nothing about. Now this is your last warning. Leave. Now.” Steven turned back to you and started in on you again completely ignoring Changbin now. 

“Now listen to me you little bitch...” Changbin was done he put his hand on Steven’s shoulder ready to pull him away but as soon as he touched him your ex shoved Changbin and swung at him, missing. Changbin straightened back up as Steven took a fighting stance. 

“Steven!” You yelled. He turned and you punched him flat. It hurt your hand like a bitch and broke Steven’s nose. He went down like a sack of potatoes and suddenly security wanted to show up to take care of the disturbance, which apparently was you and Changbin. 

“We don’t condone any fighting in this establishment, it is zero tolerance. I’m going to have to ask you both to leave.” Changbin tossed money on the table, the look on his face seething as his hand rested on your lower back and you gripped your sore hand. 

“Yea no problem. If your security had done something about him while he was stalking and harassing my date there wouldn’t have been any fighting, but you allowed one of your patrons to be harassed freely within ear shot of all these other customers and your staff. So, don’t worry we are leaving but it’s definitely not because you told us to. Come on y/n.” Changbin stepped past your ex-husband who was still cursing and whining on the floor and led you out of the bar. When you were both in the car you felt like you could let out a breath finally. 

“Holy fuck that hurt.” Changbin turned in his seat and grabbed your hand inspecting it. He kissed the back of it and your heart started racing for a completely different reason. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner.” You shook your head.  

“It’s oka-” Changbin was really upset. 

“No! It’s not! No one should be talked to the way he talked to you, and I should have been there to protect you from him.” You continued to shake your head. 

“You didn’t know he would show up there anymore than I did. How are you supposed to stop what neither of us saw coming Binnie?” He looked up at you, tears in his eyes and your heart broke. 

“You... I... umm...” He was getting choked up. You leaned in and held his face in between your hands, your palms pressed against his soft cheeks. You pressed your forehead to his, you both closed your eyes taking a few deep breaths. 

“Changbin...” His name was only a whisper of a breath and then your lips were softly pressed together. Changbin’s hands held your face in place as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. Before long tongues and teeth were in a battle for dominance that no one was winning. You finally broke apart breathless and laughing. Changbin pecked your lips again. 

“You know none of that is true right? Not one word of it.” You shook your head, but Changbin could tell you weren’t so sure. He let it go for the moment because right then he was just concerned about you being safe. 

“Why don’t you come back to mine for the night? I don’t want to leave you alone in that house after he just pulled that shit. I can sleep on my couch, and you can take my bed.” You leaned over and kissed Changbin sweetly again, but goosebumps spread over his body and his dick got a little hard when your hand slid across his thigh. 

“Or we could share the bed?” Changbin smiled, grabbed your face and then kissed you again, getting lost in your lips until you gently pushed him back laughing. 

“The sooner we get to yours the sooner we can...” You didn’t have to say another single letter of a single solitary word before Changbin was starting the car and driving to his place as quickly and safely as possible. Changbin lived in a loft style studio apartment. The lighting was warm, and it smelled a little like cinnamon. He led you through his living area towards the steps of the loft, where his bedroom was. 

“You look absolutely gorgeous tonight y/n.” You smiled but it was hard for you to accept the compliment. You looked away but Changbin wasn’t going to let you shy away from the truth anymore that night. 

“Look at me baby.” Your eyes instantly connected with his and he smiled sweetly. 

“Good girl.” Your panties were already wet but that sealed the deal.  

“I’m implementing a rule tonight, you must follow or be punished.” You looked at him with an eyebrow raised. 

“Punished?” He smirked and winked at you. 

“Yes punished. Now would you like to know the rule beautiful?” You shied away again when he called you that. 

“That. There. You have to accept every praise I give you tonight. Every single one. If you don’t... well... we’ll deal with that if we get to it. I’m gonna call you beautiful.” Changbin kissed your cheek and you started to blush but didn’t turn away. 

“I’m gonna tell you, you’re a goddess.” He kissed your other cheek and that time you did look away. 

“Aht aht ahh. Eyes.” You looked into his eyes. 

“I’m gonna tell you that you’re sexy.” He threaded his fingers into your hair and kissed your lips passionately. 

“You’re so fucking sexy.” He kissed you again and you were more breathless by the minute. Finally, Changbin forced himself to stop. He held your face as he chewed at his kiss swollen lips. 

“We’re gonna take our time tonight baby. I’m gonna kiss and lick every inch of this gorgeous body while I worship it. I’m going to make you cum again, and again, and again.” He kissed down your neck between his words. 

“Are you okay with all of that y/n?” He was looking at you seriously, the stern assertive Changbin that had just been dictating the plans for night was on pause and this was the sweet guy that wrapped your ankle and cried because he thought he didn’t protect you. The man that, when he found out you hated yourself fucked you senseless and told you how stunning you were. 

“Yes, Binnie I’m okay with that.” He smiled and his thumb traced your cheek. 

“Good, good girl. Let's start with you sitting on the edge of the bed over here for me.” Changbin led you to the huge custom bed that took up most of the loft and had you sit. He knelt in front of you just like he had the day before, and just like the day before took your foot in his hand, the very one you had twisted. His fingers delicately handled the clasp of your shoe as he undid it and slid the clunky heel off your foot. He gently pressed his thumbs into the sole of your foot and pushed up and down. After a moment of massaging, he placed your foot down and when he went to grab the other. His eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the apex of your legs that hid beneath that sexy ass dress you had on. He bit his bottom lip, then grabbed your other foot and removed that shoe just as gently, pressing his thumbs back and forth in the sole of that foot as well. 

“Stand.” It was not a request. You did as you were told quickly and Changbin smiled at you sweetly. 

“Good. The dress, take it off.” Again, not a request. You had hoped something like this might happen tonight, so you had come prepared. You turned facing your back to Changbin. 

“Unzip me please?” That lip of his was going to be raw if he kept chewing on it that way. 

“God you’re so sweet aren’t you. Asking so nicely. Yes, baby I’ll unzip you.” Changbin’s fingers grabbed the tiny zipper and pulled down, then he stepped back. You pulled it down the shoulders of the dress, took an arm out of one of the sheer sleeves, and then the other then you slid it down and let it fall to the ground. Changbin was already speechless, and you hadn’t even turned around. When you did, he had not been properly prepared for what he saw. There you stood in a green lace bra and garter belt; how had he not seen those garters? The bra you wore had garters of its own in a way, towards the center of each cup there was a strap that connected to your shoulder strap. Changbin loved the way the opening let your soft skin show through. Seeing you in it made him want to tie you up really badly for some reason, but that would be for another time hopefully. 

“What’s this beautiful?” You almost looked away but stopped just before and Changbin smiled. 

“I wanted to wear something you would want to take off with your teeth.” Changbin turned his head, closed his eyes and bit his knuckles.  

“Fuck baby. If that’s what you want, that’s what you get. Let’s get some of these clothes off of me too hmm?” You nodded and licked your lips at the thought of seeing his firm, broad chest. 

“Do you want to do it?” Changbin asked with a smirk. You smiled back and shook your head. 

“Well go on beautiful. Have your way with me.” You laughed and then started pushing the sheer shirt off of him. When his arms were free of it you tossed it on a chair in his room. Next was the tank top. You grabbed the hem and looked up at Changbin with those sweet doe eyes. 

“Arms up please.” He lifted his arms, and you pulled the tank top up and over his head. As soon as the soft skin of Changbin’s chest was visible you couldn’t help but place kisses across his neck and collar bone. He enjoyed it for a moment and let you but then stopped you. 

“We’ll get to that baby, but for now, lay back on that bed for me gorgeous.” You sat on the bed, slid back, and laid down just like Changbin had said. 

“Fuck you’re such a good girl.” Changbin climbed on the bed and propped himself over you. His deep brown eyes bore into you for a moment before he gently kissed you. He ran his hand gently across your cheek. 

“If anything gets to be too much you just say red, and we stop everything immediately, okay?” You nodded. 

“I need words for this baby. If it's too much...” You finished the sentence. 

“Say red and we’ll stop.” Changbin kissed you softly again. 

“Good.” His hands started migrating as he crawled down between your legs. 

“You know what’s the most fun about lingerie?” You shook your head no and Changbin unsnapped one of your garters with his teeth. 

“Taking it off you.” You could feel yourself getting wetter with every word coming from him. He kissed your soft thigh and then unsnapped the other garter, kissing that thigh as well. He rolled your stocking down and off, tossing them aside. Changbin laid between your legs his face hovering right over your cunt. He placed a kiss over your panties. 

“So sweet. Lift up those legs for me baby I’m gonna get these panties out of our way and I want to see that pretty pussy. You’re soaked for me aren’t you baby? I know you are cause these panties are drenched.” You could feel your body getting warmer and lifted your legs. Changbin slid your panties off and shoved them in the pocket of his pants. 

“I’ll just hold onto those.” He pushed your thighs apart a little and you jumped when he ran his tongue through your folds unexpectedly. He hooked his arms around your thighs and pulled you close. 

“Yum.” Was all he said before diving back in. He started going down on you like it was his only purpose in life. He would gently lick your clit and then suck and hum hard against your cunt.  

“Oh my god Bin, FUCK! That’s so good baby, PLEASE don’t stop!” Changbin drank in every bit of what you gave him and then slid two fingers inside you causing your hips to try and buck up. He splayed his other hand firmly across your soft tummy and held you down as he played your pussy like a harmonica and finger fucked you into a mind-blowing orgasm. 

“FUUUUCKfuck fuck! Yes, oh my god yes that... right there... fuuuuck!” Changbin gently licked you through your peak and only stopped when you stopped shaking. He kissed his way back up your body. Your soft tummy rolls, he pulled the cups of your bra down and your breasts poked out through the strappy openings. Changbin sucked one nipple into his mouth swirling his tongue around it and then gave the other similar attention both perked and hard by the time he was done. He unhooked your bra and tossed it aside with the rest of your clothes. His trail of kisses continued up your chest and neck until he was propped over you again. He leaned down and kissed your lips, his tongue invading your mouth, his teeth pulling at your lip. Changbin’s lips hovered over yours closely and when he spoke, they ghosted against yours. 

“Such a good girl coming for me like that... so sweet on my tongue. A fucking goddess look at you lay there like an angel. Now beautiful I have a question for you... have you ever tried anal beads?” Your breathing hitched and Changbin wanted to be clear. 

“If you don’t want to just say no. Seriously. I just think you would love it if you tried it with me but if that’s out of your comfort zone we’ll can move on no problem.” You chewed on your lips and considered it. 

“It won’t hurt?” Changbin shook his head no. 

“It might feel a little funny at first but then it’s going to feel really good. I have beginner’s beads too do you want to see what they look like?” You nodded. You never thought you would be into anything to do with anal, but you remember how good it felt when Changbin rubbed your asshole the last time he fucked you, so you were intrigued. Changbin got up from the bed for a moment, walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a couple of things then took off his pants and the black briefs as he made his way back over to you on the bed. When Changbin set his arsenal down you saw what he had grabbed. There was a small set of silicone beads strung together, one just a bit bigger than the next, the biggest only the size of a grape. He had brought a bottle of lube, some condoms and there was one other thing that had you clenching, ready when you saw it. A finger vibrator.  

“Does everything here look okay, anything you want me to take away?” He wanted to be sure you were one hundred percent on board with everything. 

“Everything looks fine Bin.” He smiled and then the Dom side of him came right back. 

“Bend over on all fours for me pretty girl.” You turned over and got on your hands and knees presenting your ass to Changbin. He pulled your garter belt over your ass and off then spanked your ass cheek enough to leave a handprint. You squealed a little and laughed. Then he spread your ass cheeks leaned down and gently flicked the tip of his tongue against your asshole. It made you clench around nothing. 

“Fuck Binnie! MMmm that feels so good!” He pulled away a second. 

“Told you baby.” Changbin sat back up and spit on your hole before grabbing the beads and lube. He squirt a generous amount on the beads and rubbed some around your asshole too. 

“You sure baby? You ready?” You shook your head. 

“Yes Binnie, want it.” Changbin started to push the first few beads in. It felt a little funny like he said but good too. He pushed a few more in and it felt even better. 

“Mmmm fuck Changbin that feels good baby!” He rubbed your ass cheek as he pushed the last few beads in a pull ring now protruding from your asshole. He grabbed a condom and rolled it down his shaft before lining up with your soaked pussy. He teased the entrance with his tip, and it made you clench again but this time with the beads in your ass it felt amazing. 

“Fuck stick it in Binnie PLEASE!” Changbin pushed the tip of his cock in, and you could feel how he rubbed up against the toy in your ass. It was a mind-blowing sensation. Changbin bottomed out in you and then pressed his hips into your ass slightly adding pressure to the beads making you clench around his dick. 

“Does that feel good hmm?” He spanked your ass again and again the feeling you got from the beads inside you sent waves of pleasure pulsing through your body. You clenched on his cock again and this time Changbin let out the most delicious sounding moan. 

“Fuck baby girl if you don’t stop clenching like that, I’m gonna blow way too soon.” He laughed, pulled out and pushed back in and fuck did it feel amazing. Every thrust felt better than the last. Changbin started out fairly easy on you, a steady pace and an ass smack here and there but the more worked up he got the harder he fucked you the more sizzling the spankings became. You leaned forward on your elbows arching your back and pushing your ass out. Two beads came out and it felt unreal when Changbin pushed them back in while he kept fucking your hard and fast. 

“You take my cock so well pretty girl, fuck so sexy, arch that back more, good girl, fuck, my beautiful goddess, my sweet angel.” Changbin grabbed the ring on the beads and pulled them halfway out this time. 

“FUCK! CHANGBIN FUCK!” He smirked and pushed them back in again and you let out a guttural moan that made his cock twitch so hard he thought he was going to cum.  

“Hold on baby.” You gripped the blanket on Changbin’s bed as he grabbed your thick hips with both hands and started fucking you hard sending you reeling into outer space. Your brain turned into fog and disappeared as you came on Changbin’s cock. He grabbed the ring of the beads with one hand and held onto your hip firmly with the other and continued fucking you hard and fast as he started to slowly pull the beads out one by one and then pushed them in again. 

“Oh, my oh my oh fuck fuck Bin fuck I-I'm cuFUCK! I’m coming!” Changbin started to slow down when your legs started shaking from the over stimulation. He massaged your ass in small circles, slowly dragging his cock in and out, the condom coated in your cum. When he pulled out you whined missing the full feeling you got when Changbin’s cock was inside you. He chuckled and tutted at you. 

“Don’t whine now. Be my good angel and get on your back and spread those legs for me. I wanna see how well I just fucked that hole open.” You rolled over onto your back planted your feet and spread your legs wide for Changbin. He crawled between them and spread your pussy lips looking at your entrance licking his lips. 

“Fuck beautiful how are you still this tight. I guess I’m just gonna have to give you this cock again hmm?” You nodded eagerly and wiggled closer. 

“Yes! Fuck me Bin! Need you inside me again.” Changbin left the anal bead lodged in your ass and started to sink into you again. You both rolled your eyes back and moaned at the feeling of the other. Changbin caged you in between his arms and kissed you as he pulled his cock out and pushed back inside you deep. 

“Fuck baby girl you’re so fucking tight, sucking my cock in every time and look so fucking sexy taking it. You like taking my big cock yea? Fuck look so fucking good underneath me like this.” Changbin started to fuck you harder, his cock rubbing up against the beads inside your ass again that you had almost forgotten about until then. 

“You’re being such a good girl for me, taking my dick hard, letting me play with your asshole, I think you deserve a treat baby.” Changbin reached over and grabbed the finger massager, slid it on his finger and turned it on. 

“Get ready to blast off gorgeous.” Changbin’s free hand gripped the soft roll above your hip as he sunk into deep and hard then he pressed the vibrator against your clit, and it felt like static electricity was surrounding your body.  

“That’s it beautiful let go fucking let go on me, fucking cum do it! Cum for me angel!” He kept fucking you deep and hard, his cock hitting your g spot and the anal beads inside you, his hips thrusting against you pushing them deeper into your ass and the vibrator he was firmly pressing against your clit buzzing throughout your whole body. 

“Bin! Changbin! I’m I... It feels... FUCK!” You couldn’t get another word out before you started coming and squirting all over Changbin. The force of the intense orgasm started to push out a couple of the anal beads and forced Changbin’s cock out of your pussy. He grabbed his dick and slapped it against your clit as you shook and convulsed through the best orgasm of your life. 

“Fuck baby I didn’t know you could do that!” You laughed as you tried and failed to catch your breath. Your big breasts heaving up and down with your breaths. 

“Me either! FUCK!” Changbin laughed, leaned down and kissed you sweetly. 

“You need a break?” You shook your head no and pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. 

“No it’s time to make you cum now Binnie. You made me feel so fucking good now I’m gonna make you cum for me.” You grabbed Changbin’s cock slid it through your juices and then sat on it. Changbin threw his head back into the mattress when you took his cock whole like that. You leaned over and braced yourself on his firm pecs as you started grinding and riding him like you were a part time porn star. 

“Fuck baby girl I’m not gonna last long like this FUCK!” You doubled your efforts riding him faster. It felt so good for you too. You were so sensitive still and Changbin’s cock constantly rubbed against your g spot and the anal beads in this position. It was a good thing he didn’t think he’d last long because you knew you wouldn’t. 

Your orgasm crept up on you suddenly and you shook on top of Changbin as he grabbed your hips and pushed you back and forth forcing you ride it out for as long as possible into overstimulation again. When you came back down from your fourth orgasm, you reached back and started rolling his balls in your hands as you sat on his whole cock. His balls were drenched in your cum and Changbin was losing his mind underneath you. 

“FUCKFUCKFUckfuck!” You smiled and kept at it, loving the reaction you were getting out of him. 

“Are you close for me Binnie baby? Are you gonna cum? Where do you want to cum Bin?” His eyes shot open surprised to hear you ask that. He just assumed he’d bust in the condom this time, but you were opening the door for an option Changbin had fantasized about with you. 

“Gonna cum FUCK! W-wanna cum in your mouth, wanna watch you swallow my load and show me.” You smirked and got off of Changbin and got on your knees on the bed. Changbin stood up and pulled the condom off. You grabbed his cock firmly and took him into your mouth. 

“FUCK! Oh, my goooooood fucking suck me yes! Play with my balls baby yes!” Changbin threaded his fingers into your hair and gently thrusted into your throat. You gagged and he started to pull out, but you took him further gagging and drooling on his cock. You pulled off and stroked his cock hard and fast looking up at him sweetly while he pet your hair, pushing it out of your face. 

“Cum in my mouth Binnie wanna taste you.” You stuck your tongue out and rubbed the tip of his dick against his as you continued to jack him off.  

“Fuck I’m gonna cum baby open up.” Changbin grabbed his cock and started stroking the head quickly as he aimed for your open mouth, your tongue stuck out eager for his load. He held your head with his free hand and started coming. The first streak hit your lips and nose. He aimed down, and the rest all filled your mouth. Changbin gave you a big load. You held it all in your mouth with your head tilted back, showing him. 

“God damn fucking goddess of my dreams Jesus fuck!” He twitched and shook. He looked down at you swiped the cum from your nose and lip and pushed it into your mouth with the rest of his load. 

“Swallow for me beautiful, show me that tongue.” You closed your mouth and swallowed Changbin’s cum then opened up, stuck out your tongue and showed him the pink muscle in your mouth. You fell back on the bed after and Changbin knelt back down and followed suit flopping down next to you on the bed. You both laid there catching your breath for a minute then you both started to laugh hysterically, slap happily from all the endorphins released. Changbin sat up, pushed your hair away from your face again and kissed you softly. He started to get up and go downstairs. You sat up quickly. 

“What are you doing?” He smiled back at you. 

“I’m gonna run us a bubble bath I’ll call for you when it’s ready.” He blew you a kiss and you fell back on the bed again still chuckling a little. When the bath was ready Changbin called you down. You carefully made your way down the stairs on your legs made of jelly. Changbin got in first and then you sat between his legs. You rested against his firm chest, and he helped wash you. The bath was perfect and exactly what you needed after that super intense sex. While you dried off Changbin went to change the bedding and when you got back up to the loft, he was already back in bed waiting for you, looking half asleep already. You crawled into bed and next to him. He wrapped his arms around you and kissed the top of your head. Changbin watched as you drifted off to sleep in his arms. When he was certain you were asleep, he kissed your forehead and whispered a sleepy bedtime confession before passing out. 

“I think I’m falling in love with you y/n.” 

You were standing in front of a mirror in an outfit that you never thought you would wear again. Your champagne-colored wedding gown was as extravagant as you would imagine for a Seo wedding. A full skirt and train, the most delicate beading, with a scoop neck corset that came off your shoulders. Changbin just wanted you to feel like a princess on your day and you did. A thin veil matching the color of your dress was being adjusted by Changbin’s sister, who was your maid of honor. You had become friends fast after she had crashed a date of yours and her brother’s and introduced herself to you. You’ve been each other’s accomplice ever since. 

Changbin smoothed the shoulders of his champagne-colored shirt, pulled down the hem of his burgundy double breasted waist coat and threw on his matching blazer over it, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. He wasn’t scared to get married; he knew more than anything, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, but he was going to have to read his vows to you in front of a lot of people and that made him nervous. His friends being there helped, they would be standing up there supporting him and you, you would be up there. God he couldn’t wait to see you. His sister said your dress was amazing but that’s all she would say not wanting to ruin the surprise. As Changbin adjusted his cufflinks the best man, Chan, came back into the room. 

“Well, they said they’re ready for ya Bin. You ready brother?” Changbin nodded. 

“Since the day I met her hyung. Let’s go.” He affectionately clapped Chan’s shoulder as the groomsmen and him made their way to their positions in the venue. You, Changbin’s sister and a few of your closest friends got into your positions as well. Two huge wooden doors were now the only thing blocking you from the man you loved. You heard Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s Over the Rainbow start and you knew it was all about to happen. When you were at this point at your wedding with your ex-husband you remembered having cold feet, a voice deep inside you telling you it was a mistake. Right now, as you were about to walk down the aisle, your feet were made of fire, you had never been so certain of your love for another person as you were of your love for Changbin. 

The large doors opened outward and the moment Changbin saw you tears started to rim his eyes. The song that sang of wishing upon a star was perfect because Changbin had been a dream come true for you after years of suffering and torment. Changbin blinked, fat tears rolled down his cheeks and you could feel your own eyes betraying you at the sight of this gorgeous kindhearted man crying. He looked absolutely unreal in his suit, but Changbin couldn’t breathe, you looked so beautiful. Chan handed him a hanky and he dabbed the tears from his face and sniffled a bit. When you stood in front of Changbin he leaned in and kissed your cheek softly. 

“You look...” He teared up again and you grabbed the hanky from him and gently wiped them away. You kissed his cheek back. 

“You too Binnie.” He smiled at you and his dimple popped out. The ceremony began just like any wedding ceremony does and then came your vows. You both decided you wanted to write them, the others were nice and all, but you wanted these words for each other to come from your hearts. Changbin went first. 

“y/n I didn’t realize I had a piece missing in my life until you. The first time we met, I knew I would marry you one day. Then every day after just strengthened that certainty. I played the long game baby and I’m definitely the one winning the prize. I was always told that true love was loving every piece of your partner, even the hard to love parts. Well, they were wrong. I love every piece of you y/n, there is not a single part of you that is hard to love. You are so selfless. You take care of not only me but our home and our dogs. You have strong jutdae. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, and I can’t believe that I get to call you my wife after today. I love you y/n.” You had tears streaking your face, Changbin took the hanky back from you again and wiped them, then gave you a kiss on the nose and you laughed. Then it was your turn. 

“Seo Changbin, at my lowest point in life you showed me something inside myself that I had lost. It was not an easy task, but you tackled it head on with jutdae and showed me how to love myself again. Not only did you do that but then you showed up on my doorstep with Edgar and Allen. I was certain I was dreaming. I had searched everywhere for them and had no luck and there you were with my boys. I knew right then that I was gonna spend the rest of my life with you. Changbin, Binnie, you work on yourself everyday inside and out. You might have big muscley arms, but I have no doubt that your heart is the biggest muscle you have. You love me so completely, so wholly, there is no room for doubt inside me anymore. So, thank you my sweet husband for loving me even when I couldn’t love myself. I love you Binnie.” Changbin’s bottom lip quivered as tears streaked his face it was your turn to peck his nose and he wiped his eyes. You both held each other’s hands and looked at your friend Minho who was officiating the ceremony. 

“Do you Seo Changbin take y/l/n y/n to be your wife for now and always?” Changbin had the biggest smile on his face. 

“Yes, always.” You could feel your face flush still to this day when he smiled at you like that, beaming. Chan handed him your ring, a white gold diamond ring in a double halo setting, and he slid it on your finger. 

“Do you y/l/n y/n take Seo Changbin to be your husband for now and always?” You nodded immediately. 

“Yes, always.” Changbin bit his lip as he smiled uncontrollably while you slid his ring on, a simple white gold band lined with diamonds across the front. 

“By the power vested in me, for some reason, you are now Husband and Wife. Bin you can kiss your bride.” One of Changbin’s arms wrapped around your waist and he dipped you as he cupped your face and kissed you deeply. Cheers and applause erupted from the guests and the wedding party alike. You and Changbin turned to the crowd of your friends and family. He raised your joined hands in the air and announced very loudly in typical Changbin fashion. 

@caticorn61 @acciocriativity @caroline-ds-world @chansynie @ughbehavior @jquellen27 @hyunelixies @fixation-dump @lachinitaaaaa @rinrinndou @bangchans-angel @laylasbunbunny @owo-manii-uwu @armystay89 @b00dyguts @purplenimsicle

“I just got married! Let’s PARTY!!” 

Please do not repost or translate any of my works. My blog and stories are NSFW and 18+ ONLY! Minors, ageless, and blank blogs will be blocked!

[warabidakihime]

Resilience in the Rain

Characters: ADA!Dazai x Reader Synopsis: Amidst the downpour of life's trials, they found solace in each other's embrace within the quiet halls of the deserted Agency office. Alone, their love became a shelter in the storm, nurturing their resilience and kindling a flame of hope that could withstand any tempest. Trigger/Content Warning: This story contains themes of emotional distress, self-hatred, guilt, vulnerability, suicidal tendencies, self-harm, and suicide. It explores complex emotions and may depict scenes that involve these sensitive topics. If you or someone you know is struggling with these issues, please reach out to a mental health professional or helpline. A/N: I wanted to take a moment to chat with you about this fanfic. As someone who struggles with mental health, I've got a personal connection to the topic, and I really want to explore it in my own way. Mental health is important, and I want to raise awareness and offer some comfort to anyone who's going through a tough time.

Now, I gotta be real with you. This story touches on some heavy stuff. We're talking about emotions running wild, self-hatred, guilt, and all that messy stuff. It even dives into subjects like suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and suicide. But listen, I'm not here to glamorize or make light of these things. Instead, I wanna shed light on the struggles people face and emphasize the importance of seeking help and understanding.

While you're reading, please take care of yourself. If anything gets too overwhelming, reach out to a mental health pro or helpline. Remember, you're not alone, and there are folks out there who care and wanna help.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. Let's spread some awareness, empathy, and support for mental health, one chapter at a time!

P.S this wasn't proof read, so i'm sorry for any inconsistency. i was making this in the office lol.

-

The rain poured relentlessly, drenching the streets of Yokohama as the Armed Detective Agency headquarters stood steadfast amidst the downpour. After a particularly grueling mission, you couldn't contain your concerns and frustrations any longer. You found Dazai nursing his wounds in a dimly lit corner of the headquarters, a faint smile dancing on his lips. Meanwhile Kunikida and the others have already returned to their respectful dorms.

You approached him, your voice laced with worry. "Osamu, until when are you going to keep this up?"

Dazai glanced up, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "Ah, my dear Y/N, are you worried about me? How sweet. But rest assured, I'm always one step away from the edge, and yet, I remain standing."

Dazai, with his usual nonchalant demeanor, brushed off your very valid concerns with another dark joke, but this time, it only fueled the fire within you. Your frustration reached its boiling point, and your voice rose, shaking with sheer frustration.

"Osamu!" you shouted, your voice echoing through the room. "Enough with the jokes and deflections! This isn't a game! Do you even realize how much your self-destruction tears me apart? How useless it makes me feel that I can't do anything to help you, despite giving my all?"

Dazai's mask faltered, revealing a flicker of vulnerability as your words struck home. But before he could respond, you continued, your voice filled with raw emotion.

"I love you, damn it! I love you more than anything, and yet you push me away with your reckless behavior. How can you disregard your own life, knowing that I'm right here, willing to stand by your side? It hurts, Osamu, to see you care so little about yourself, even when you have someone who would give anything to keep you safe!"

Your voice wavered, tears streaming down your face as you poured out your heart. The room grew heavy with silence as the weight of your words hung in the air. The truth had been laid bare, leaving Dazai with no choice but to confront the pain he had inflicted.

Dazai's eyes widened, his carefree facade crumbling further. He reached out, but the words escaped him, his throat tight with remorse. The realization of the magnitude of his actions crashed over him like a tidal wave, shattering the walls he had built.

"I... I didn't..." Dazai stammered, his voice barely a whisper.

But you weren't done yet. You took a step closer, your voice filled with a mix of anguish and determination.

"I can't watch you destroy yourself anymore, Osamu," you said, your voice firm. "I can't keep picking up the pieces of your shattered soul, only for you to throw them aside again. You need to make a choice, for your own sake and your sake only. Don’t you think it’s time to break this vicious cycle?"

Dazai's eyes glistened with unshed tears, his mask finally crumbling completely.

Venom started to bubble in his throat, causing him to hesitate before opening his mouth. Regret, self-hatred, helplessness, and guilt devoured him as he gazed at you through seemingly indifferent eyes that now glistened with unshed tears. The weight of your words, the pain etched on your face, and the love that had long been overshadowed by darkness crashed over him, leaving him vulnerable and broken. 

In that moment, the walls he had built around his heart crumbled, and the armor he wore so proudly shattered, exposing the rawness of his emotions to the one person who had managed to touch his soul. You watched him, your heart aching but also hopeful. This was the moment of reckoning, the catalyst for change. You reached out, your hand hovering over his trembling shoulder, a silent offer of support.

"Osamu, my love," you said, your voice soft yet resolute. "You and I both know this can't go on. Sooner or later, we have to move forward. I'm not rushing you to heal, but I am urging you to start. Not just for me, but most especially for yourself."

The room fell into a heavy silence as Dazai wrestled with his emotions. Tears welled up in his eyes, the weight of his actions crashing down upon him. He sank to his knees, his trembling hands covering his face, trying to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to consume him.

In that vulnerable moment, you approached him, your heart breaking for the man you loved. You knelt down beside him, your hand gently resting on his shoulder. Dazai looked up, his tear-streaked face revealing the pain he had long kept hidden.

"I'm sorry, Y/N," he choked out, his voice raw and filled with regret. "I didn't realize how much my actions were hurting you. I never intended to make you feel useless or unimportant."

You swallowed the lump in your throat, your own tears mingling with the raindrops falling outside. "Osamu, it's not about being useless. It's about sharing the burden and supporting each other through the darkest moments. I can't fix you, but I can be there for you. But you have to let me in."

Dazai clutched at your hand, his grip desperate yet filled with hope. "Y/N, I know where you're coming from; it's just that I've been a coward, avoiding the truth about myself and my emotions. I've been a bigger idiot for finding comfort in stagnation. But I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to face my fears, confront my flaws, and become the best version of myself."

The weight of his words hung in the air, a fragile promise of a brighter future. You both knew that healing wouldn't happen overnight and that the journey ahead would be filled with challenges and setbacks. But as you looked into Dazai's eyes, you saw a newfound determination, a flicker of the man he could and can become.

The rain had finally ceased, leaving behind a tranquil atmosphere in the aftermath of the storm. The Armed Detective Agency headquarters, once filled with tension, now carried a sense of calmness. You and Dazai found yourselves seeking serendipity in each other's presence, finding comfort in the quiet moments shared between the two of you.

As the last rays of moonlight filtered through the window, casting a gentle glow across the room, you approached Dazai. Your eyes met, and a silent understanding passed between them. Without a word, you reached out and cupped his face tenderly, your thumb caressing his cheeks.

With a tender smile, you closed the distance between you, your lips meeting in a gentle yet passionate kiss. It started as a simple connection, a way to affirm your love and draw strength from one another, as well as a promise that you would never, ever leave his side. As the kiss deepened, fueled by the pent-up emotions and desire, it threatened to escalate into something more fervent.

Yet, in that moment of intense connection, you pulled away, your breath mingling with Dazai's. You gazed into each other's eyes, your chests rising and falling in synchrony. You continue to graze your fingertips on Dazai's cheek, tracing the lines of his face as if committing every detail to memory.

He leaned into the touch, a soft sigh escaping his lips. The weariness of the day, both physically and emotionally, weighed heavily on you both. The two of you had weathered the storm together and fought your battles, and now it was time to find solace in each other's arms.

His eyes searched yours, his gaze filled with a mixture of love, possessiveness, and a tinge of insecurity. His emotions, usually hidden behind a facade of nonchalance, were now laid bare before you.

"I love you, Y/N," Dazai whispered, his voice tinged with a hint of desperation. "More than anything in this world, I can't bear the thought of losing you."

His words, filled with a newfound intensity, sent shivers down your spine. His usual cool and collected aura had transformed into a mix of passion and a touch of distress.

But instead of being scared or overwhelmed, you welcomed and embraced his heightened emotions. You understood that Dazai's love for you was profound, a force that consumed him and left him vulnerable. And you were more than ready to reciprocate, to ease his worries and soothe his restless soul.

"Osamu," you whispered, "I'm here, right here with you. I'm not going anywhere."

His grip on you tightened ever so slightly, as if afraid that you might disappear if he let go. You leaned in, your lips grazing his ear as you whispered, "You are the only one for me, Osamu. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

As your words sank in, Dazai's tense posture began to relax. He realized that his fears and insecurities were unwarranted and that you were steadfast in your love for him. With a mix of relief and renewed determination, he kissed you once more, his lips conveying a mixture of passion and adoration.

The world around you faded away, leaving only the two of you immersed in a bubble of love and trust. The room seemed to melt into a blur of colors as your bodies swayed with an unspoken rhythm, your connection deepening with every touch and caress.

As the kiss finally broke, you both were left breathless, your foreheads still pressed together. Dazai looked into your eyes, a mixture of vulnerability and adoration shining through his gaze.

"I don’t deserve you; you’re way too precious for someone like me, but thank you for loving me despite my flaws and for seeing the best in me. I promise to cherish you, protect you, and be the best version of myself for you," he murmured, his voice filled with reverence and devotion.

As tears welled up in your eyes, you were overcome by the profoundness of his words and the genuine emotion in his voice. "Deserve is such a powerful word, Osamu. There are countless individuals who are just as imperfect as we are, yet that doesn't automatically make us inherently wicked, right? I love every aspect of you, the parts you deem as flaws and virtues alike," you declared, your voice brimming with unwavering love.

Your words hung in the air, wrapping around them like a promise. In that intimate moment, both of you found strength, renewal, and a shared understanding. You knew the path ahead wouldn't be easy, but together, you were ready to face the challenges and forge a future built on love, trust, and healing.

With a smile, Dazai leaned in once again, capturing your lips in a gentle yet passionate kiss. It was a celebration of your love and an affirmation of the bond you had forged through the trials you faced.

And in that transformative moment, Dazai Osamu felt the weight of his burdens lift, liberated from the shackles that had bound him for so long. And it was all thanks to you.

-

After an eventful day at the ADA office, you and Dazai finally retreated to the comfort of your apartment, seeking peace and quiet. The chilly evening air prompted you to opt for a heartwarming hotpot dinner, a perfect choice to warm your souls.

As you set the table with an array of fresh ingredients and fragrant broths, Dazai made a sly gesture, revealing a hidden stash of sake. Your eyebrows shot up in a mixture of surprise and amusement, realizing the ungodly amount of alcohol he had squirreled away. With a deadpan expression, you couldn't help but playfully scold him for his excess.

You knew that part of Dazai's healing journey involved acknowledging and breaking free from his unhealthy habits, and excessive drinking was one of them. With genuine concern, you made it clear to him that going forward, he needed to be mindful of his alcohol intake. Dazai's playful pout surfaced, but beneath it, he understood and appreciated your intentions. He promised to be more mindful of his health, realizing the importance of taking care of himself.

As the evening unfolded, the apartment filled with a harmonious symphony of laughter and lighthearted banter. You and Dazai reveled in each other's company, sharing inside jokes and good-natured jabs. The stresses of the day melted away, replaced by a sense of comfort and contentment.

With every hearty slurp of hotpot and every sip of sake, the bond between you grew stronger. The shared meal became a symbol of nourishment not only for the body but also for the soul. As the day drew to a close, you found solace in the simple pleasures of being together, basking in the warmth of laughter and the undeniable connection that bound you.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I know everyone has done different circumstances of birth but I raise u one more

One where all of the humans r sent back to earth (including norm and max sorry guys) AND THEN they find spider

The opportunities r endless - in this universe jake sully has no choice but to adopt him because he's the only one who knows anything about humans (though this is pre neteyam so he still has no idea about baby's) neytiri and her acceptance is up in the air atm, I like to think she'd be a good step mum if not an actual mum to him - at least until the humans come back and she drifts from him

Ugh!!! The angst potential of him maybe still getting kidnapped, 2ould they still run away, how would he reac to being around all these humans (he really would be full navi) i need this in my soul

OH I LIKE THIS, I am very sad about Norm and Max tho cause I am a HUGE Norm Spellman stan, the man is truly an icon.

HOWEVER.

Making sure he had the technology to survive would be crazy. It would really have to be one of those fucking blessed by Eywa fics because why would the humans have left supplies laying around, and there aren't masks that are baby sized? So if he's not blessed then Neytiri, Jake, and Mo'at are taking turns living in Hells Gate to watch Spider until he can wear a mask. Spider and his daily guardian fucking around in the empty shell of Hell's Gate is such a bittersweet idea. I think he's the clans baby tho, especially if he's blessed. We'll focus on him being blessed, because it's easier.

He's Mo'at's little helper particularly, because before Neteyam Jake and Neytiri were really busy rebuilding and working, so Mo'at is just working with Spider just strapped to her chest or playing by her feet. He's a comforting little presence by her side. She didn't usually have someone with her all the time after Sylwanin died, Eytukan was always busy and Neytiri was never good at sitting still. But Spider gives her focus, and she knows he is a gift from Eywa to them all. For her, he is Sylwanin's warmth beside her learning to heal. To Jake, he is a reminder of his past and a vision of his future. For Neytiri, he is a chance to let go of immense pain.

If you come to get help from the tsahík you tell her what's wrong while holding the baby. Emotional support Spider, he's got a tiny tiny hand on your cheek and then the cut on your arm doesn't hurt as much. All the children that survived the war are obsessed with him, because he did too. He's a miracle, proof that you can get through anything (sometimes with a little help from Eywa), and I think it gives them a little comfort.

Neytiri takes a long time to warm up to him. She helps Jake and Mo'at care for him because she can see how much it helps them, how much he means to them. She likes him, he is cute and sweet and she sees how positively he affects her mate and her mother. But she can't look him in the eyes for almost a year. I think when she does, and she Sees him, it's after Neteyam is born and she sees the way Spider pats his cheek or cries when Neteyam is taken away from him. She remembers being upset when Sylwanin was gone when she was younger. I think after that she's ride or die for him, because Neteyam has a sibling, and that means the world.

Maybe they don't know who his father is, or his real name. Without Norm and Max and the other humans, Jake wouldn't know shit about how to check lol. Jake named him Spider because when they found him he had crawled out of the makeshift crib he'd been hidden in. Maybe they find out when the humans return, and Neytiri finds herself unable to look at Spider again. She's devastated, because he's been her SON for so long. She thought she was past this. She tries to hide it from him, talks to her mother and to Jake, but Spider notices. He spends the night with Mo'at and she cries to Jake thinking he hates her but he actually just didn't want her to have to see him, it's very emotional. Lo'ak tries to get his mind off of it by taking them to visit the old shack, to learn more about his real dad. Boom capture. Devastating, truly. They try to go after Spider but he's already at Bridgehead, and Jake comes to the horrible realization that going after him would mean more casualties than recoveries.

Spider in capture thinking his family hates him now and he's stuck with the man who caused it all, Neytiri in Awa'atlu thinking Spider hates her and she caused her family to be torn apart. Ultimate angst everyone.

[miracles-and-butterflies]

When will Camilo's friends get a proper slap and some poisonous plants?

Maybe at some point.

Not now though.

Kinda hard when the rest of the family don’t have their names.

~~~~~~

“—And the rest of us are all left walking on eggshells. I couldn’t stand it a moment longer.”

“Well, you can stay here for as long as you like,” Mariano offered.

Dolores smiled in gratitude. “We both know I can’t. I’d rather be here though. But I have to go back… they are my family at the end of the day.”

“You could always go spend time with Antonio and your grandparents. I’m sure they’d let you.”

“I doubt it. If anyone is going to be needed over the next few days, it’ll be me and my gift.” Mariano opened his mouth and Dolores shook her head. “It’s been too long, Tía Julieta can’t heal her.”

He winced. “Ah, that’s… not great?”

“Mirabel will get over it. It’s not like she does much beyond sewing and reading. She won’t notice much difference physically.”

“I’d send her some ‘get well soon’ flowers, but I don’t think it would go down well with Isabela.”

“Just buy her some wool. She’ll be much more amused.” Dolores chuckled. “Or you could read to her for an hour. Luisa’s already shattered her voice.”

“What? Again? Didn’t she do that last week?”

“Yes. To prove she could sing higher than Isabela. She couldn’t. It was not pleasant.”

Mariano laughed.

Dolores did too.

“It can’t have been that bad. Your cousins can both sing.”

“No. It is like nails on a chalkboard.”

He shook his head, sighing.

“How are your parents taking it?”

“My parents?”

“It’s their son who… you know?” Mariano prompted. For all his poetry, he was struggling to put the action into words.

“I don’t think they know how to handle it,” Dolores admitted. Drumming a pencil lightly against the desk. “Mama thinks he is completely innocent, of course - he can do no wrong in her eyes. And Papa clearly doesn’t want to believe it but can’t argue with the evidence, nor is he sure what to do himself. And the focus somehow always falls back to Antonio because he’s the youngest.”

They didn’t say anything for a while.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Mariano asked.

“Of course.” Dolores asserted. “Just a bit stressed is all.”

“…But?”

“But… why didn’t I hear it?”

~~~~~~

“What noise do you think a doe makes?” Lorenzo asks, turning to his sister.

“They bleat, don’t they? Like sheep?” Rebecca responded.

They glanced back at Mirabel, who kept her elsewhere. Trying hard not to let it show how terrified she was (though knowing she was failing on that front).

She sniffled. “You can’t hurt me.”

“It’s not like you’re going to stop us.” Rebecca shrugs.

“You think we’re just gonna let you skip off and tattle on us?” Mateo asks, looking sincere for a moment. Then he cackles, “God, this isn’t the school playground, you idiot!”

Felicia steps forward, “Even if we did, it’s not like anyone is gonna believe your side of the story. You’ve already proved to be a pretty unreliable witness.” She reaches out, grasping the back of Mirabel’s hair and tilting her head up. “Don’t remember? Let’s see… it was a child’s fifth birthday party, someone cried the building was breaking and the miracle was dying, but when we went to look there wasn’t a crack or any rubble in sight. Ring any bells?”

Mirabel didn’t say a word, not daring to look away from the leaves on the ground.

Something is forced into her earlobe. It snaps in place painfully, burning against her skin and heavy. She wails. Turing around in wild confusion - when did Ignacio get there? But what catches her eye the most is the bright yellow thing hanging there.

“There’s something real for you to cry about,” Sola taunts. Felicia and Rebecca laugh.

Ignacio moves again, going for her opposite ear.

Mirabel tries to curl in on herself, away from the onslaught of pain, away from this torment, but her body is soon being held taut by Lorenzo and Felicia.

There’s nowhere to go.

“What’s the matter? I thought you Madrigals were so brave and invincible,” Rebecca comments, trying to get a reaction.

Felicia thought for a moment. “Then again… she was never a real Madrigal, was she?”

Ignacio shoves the other tag and clips it in. She thinks he caught some skin as he did, there’s a nip that didn’t happen the first time.

Mirabel is dropped, landing on her hands and knees briefly, then collapsing onto her side. She doesn’t attempt to stand, but she tries to sit up and adjust her glasses.

Rebecca harshly swatted her hand away, pinching the glasses at the bridge and pulling them away.

“Animals don’t get nice things,” she explained.

Mirabel doesn’t see where the glasses go but she assumes from the giggling between Rebecca and Mateo, they are definitely broken.

Lorenzo cooed at her suddenly, looking down and petting her head. “What a pretty, little doe you are!”

“And now that you’re all marked up, everyone will know what an important deer you are.” Felicia added. “It must be nice for you to finally be worth something now, isn’t it?”

[ddejavvu]

Puppy!steddie being needy and mischievous and deciding to play a game to see what they can do without waking you up. You wake up to small nips all over your body, drool everywhere on you, your collarbone and neck exposed with what you guess spread your scent, for some reason sodden sleep panties, licked hair, Steve’s cock just leaking solidly like a faucet, and Eddie humping into your hand

this post is 18+ and dark, minors dni. (somnophilia -> dubcon) (cw: hybrid au with dog hybrid!steddie x reader. don't like don't read.) // hybrid au faq

this is my wet dream. UGH you're always grumpy when they wake you up in the mornings and you beg for five more minutes so after they wake up and peer around you to see if the other is awake and greet each other with wagging tails and a sweet little nose-to-nose nuzzle over your chest, they debate waking you up. they're hesitating 'cause they want you to be able to sleep but they're bored, they wanna get on with the day and maybe knot you once or twice before you get up 🤭 but then you shift in your sleep, craning your head back and exposing your bare neck. it just looks delicious, they can't help but have a taste <3 they dive for it and lap up the sides, sucking softly on patches of skin covering the column of your throat, lapping and slobbering all over your exposed skin until their drool is pooling in the dip of your collarbones and dripping down the sides of your neck to stain the sheets. they watch a bit of it trail down the valley of your breasts, and from then on out they're determined to see what they can do to you without you waking up.

steve yanks down the neckline of your sleep shirt and out pop your tits, nipples stiffening and pebbling at the cool air. they take care of that right away, each latching onto one and squeezing/massaging the flesh there while they suck and lick and lap at your nipples. you shift the thigh that steve's leaning on and it catches his attention, so he licks down your chest and stomach, biting into the soft flesh of your thighs before nosing at your panties. the way that you react, a soft, breathy moan, means that steve won't be able to lick you out for real or else you'll wake up :( so he has to do it over your panties, his tongue warm and wet and joining with your slick to soak the fabric from either side. the taste of your slick cunt drives him insane, only made more intense by the fact that he's tasting you through your panties, meaning he can smell you full force, but he's just barely not tasting you fully. it drives him crazy, he licks harder and deeper and faster in a desperate attempt to just taste you already. he's moaning and groaning and grunting and eventually his cock gets so stiff in his boxers that he has to take them off, and his hard cock slaps against the back of your thighs when he does, leaving a sticky stain behind of precum. he bends back over the bed, cock rutting against the mattress, and licks it away.

meanwhile eddie's still sucking your tits, switching between his and the one that steve was licking earlier, then drags his tongue back up your neck to bury his nose in it and smell their scents combined with yours. it gets him all hot and bothered, as well as the wet sounds of steve trying to lick a hole through your underwear, and he feels pressure against his cock as he tries grinding down onto the mattress. turns out he'd been hovering over your open hand, and he nearly buckles at the feeling of your palm rubbing his cock. he gets a good rhythm going, bucking into your hand while nipping at your neck. eventually, he needs a little something more, and he trails his tongue up your chin, lips on your own in a kiss that finally wakes you. your eyes flutter open to see eddie's already watching you, and your hand tightens momentarily around his cock as you realize what's going on. he moans into the kiss, tongue smoothing over your own as his drool pools around your teeth. then you feel steve burrowing his face into your cunt and reach down to move your panties aside alerting him to the fact that you're finally awake. he's ravaging you faster than you can process, tongue inside of your leaking hole before you can even finish tugging your panties out of his way. he laps up your slick like a man starved, a combination of his drool and your wetness coating his chin as he sucks it out of you. you realize that he must have been going at it for a while, because you're already almost cumming, and all it takes is a harsh suckle to your clit from steve and a soft pinch to your nipple from eddie to have the knot inside of you burst completely, and for a sweet moan to bleed into eddie's mouth while he licks yours out. eddie leans down to help steve clean you up, and as a thank-you for waking you up so nicely, you offer them each a hand, and you let them fuck their red-tipped, leaking cocks into your fists until they cum, and they aim for your face so that you're splattered in their cum. you lick your lips but they're already on it, tongues lapping at your cheeks to clean their cum off of you. of course it ends in a big sloppy group kiss, cum on their tongues as they lap it off of your lips. it's a very messy morning, but it's definitely worth the clean up <33

[thegreatobsesso]

a scene from The Insuppressible Electra Ray, because it's been awhile :)

A sweet little scene between Electra and Peter, ~24 hours before she becomes famous for killing him 💙

--

🔖 tag list: @avrablake​ @adie-dee​ @dontjudgemeimawriter​ @ryorine​ @thelaughingstag​ @winterandwords​ @afoolandathief​ @asomeoneperson​ @cedar-west​ @diphthongsfordays​ @lowslore​ @poetinprose​ @cilly-the-writer​​​​​​​​ @harps-for-days

--

Electra POV

It wasn’t like either of them chose it. She and Peter just ended up on a couch together in front of a crackling fireplace, him sitting up and her head in his lap, like ivy around a trellis. Like they just grew that way. 

“I used to think all magicians could fly,” he said. 

She laughed. “The fuck brought that up?” 

“Santa,” he said, playing with the furry ball on the end of the hat she forgot she was wearing. “I remember thinking when I was really little that he must be a magician, to fly to all the houses in the world in one night. And that that was like, what a magician was.” 

She giggled, imagining him as a little kid, expecting to grow up and turn into Santa Claus. And then there was her, who learned about Santa Claus via crouching on the stairs and listening to her parents argue. For fuck’s sake, Gabriel, let her have one normal thing. 

Normal? Her father’s voice, a soft echo. The way it got quiet after that. The way it was worse than the noise. 

The memory settled cold on her skin like a thin sheet of ice and she shook it off, burrowing into his thighs instead. “You flew me,” she said, facing him with a teasing smirk. “You should try it. Make your childhood self proud.” 

There was something weird about him tonight. The way he looked at her, like he’d just woke from an afternoon nap.

“Can I kiss you?” he said. She blinked. Nobody had ever asked her that before. He flickered in the orange glow of the fireplace. 

Say no. De-escalate. Run for your fucking life. “Yeah,” she said. 

He bent down to meet her lips where she laid frozen on his lap, and even then, he did it slowly enough for her to back away if she wanted to. 

She didn’t. She didn’t. She didn’t want to stop him so she didn’t and it didn’t take much before her paralysis broke and she was the one making things happen. Her arm wound itself around the back of his neck and she pushed herself up to meet him. 

He felt like a winter’s day. Snow falling outside, making everything fresh and white and clean again. 

Quiet. Soft. Everything she wasn’t. And it was so, so - 

“You’re beautiful,” he said, when they were both well past the point of no return. And she should have stopped it before they got here - before they got up from the couch, went to his room, took all their clothes off and crawled inside each other, but she hadn’t. “I like you. I just, really like you.” 

She couldn’t string together more than a single word right now to save her life and if she had to look him in the eye for one more second she was sure she’d burst into flames, so she buried her face in shoulder and arched her back and made a noise she’d never admit to as long as she lived, the brittle cry of some soft little woodland creature as its back was broken. 

The curtains fluttered. Papers flew off the desks. The windows were closed. It was just Peter, doing another thing she’d never seen him do - losing control of his power. And even now, that’s all it was: a gentle breeze. 

She’d never never never been so grateful the lights were off. She didn’t want him to watch as she came to the crushing realization that there was no coming back from this. The way he’d touched her face afterward, like he couldn’t believe she was real. The way she allowed him to shut his eyes and lie down next to her. 

She stared at her own hand sticking off the side of the bed. There was a little tremor there, starting in her wrist and going all the way down to the chipped red polish. 

If she didn’t get out of here she was going to die. 

“Hey,” he said, half-asleep. “Hey, where you goin’?” 

Her arms were reaching for her clothes on their own accord. “Sorry,” she said. “Sorry, I just, uhh. I gotta go.” 

“Hey,” he said again, more awake and more concerned. He encircled her, his arms around her like the safest, warmest tower in the whole castle. “What’s the matter?” 

She didn’t know how to tell him that he was wrong about her. That everything he thought he saw was just a lie. That she’d just let him fuck her, knowing it was a lie and not stopping him. 

“Nothing,” she muttered. “I’m just, uhh, gonna go sleep in my own bed. Yours is hard as a rock.” 

“Electra.” 

He didn’t make a single move to stop her. He didn’t tighten his grip. He just said her name like a plea and it was only when she turned back to him that he laid a hand over hers. 

“You don’t have to lie to me.” 

She struggled to catch her breath in the tiny curtained room with him just a heartbeat away. I have to lie to everyone, she nearly said, but it died in her throat. “I just need some space,” she tried again. A couple words strung together in a configuration that was objectively true. “But it was... really nice. This. Umm. So, thank you. I’m sorry I’m so... full of issues.” 

He pulled a sort of sad smile that almost broke her into pieces. “I know you said you don’t-” He stopped, reconsidered. “It’s not about Simon, is it?” 

If she didn’t feel so fucked up, she would have laughed – she hadn’t thought of him for one second all night. 

“No,” she said simply, yanking the hem of her dress down over her hips. “Christ, not even close.” 

She wasn’t trying to hurt him. She wasn’t. She just didn’t know how to extricate herself here because she was a fucking idiot. She felt raw and exposed and inexplicably embarrassed, more than she’d been at Halloween, more than she could remember being in her whole life. 

She leaned in and kissed him again, on the cheek - a pathetic little watered-down peck that probably said it all. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She paused, forcing herself to hold the eye contact he seemed to have no trouble with. “Right? Can we just... see each other tomorrow?” 

He reached down and pulled the blanket higher, past his stomach. “Yeah,” he said, and that made whatever was crushing her chest feel a little bit lighter. “Okay. Definitely. See you tomorrow.” 

The halls were empty at this hour - silent, but for the crackling flames that lit the way.

That was good. If someone saw her right now, they might be able to read what she was scared of all over her face and understand it before she did. 

[cinematics123]

So… there is a lot. And I will probably save some of it for a more focused/personal Buddie post.

First, if you were on the Buddie train (and I am) you were not wrong. Secondly, despite no Buddie, this was an excellent finale. Even the pacing was mostly on point. It was… good tv. If they were going to get cancelled (and they thought they were) this was the canon ending. We’ll call this CanonA. Let’s look at the CanonA ending.

For many of our mains, the firefam, it’s a good ending. Bobby and Athena are both healthy and get their cruise. Maddie and Chimney are planning their legal escape from the IRS wedding.

Hen and Karen story picked back up a thread about a baby, which is very interesting, but… we didn’t really get anything else on Denny and his Dad? Is that story line… done? Are they ok? It seemed like there was more conflict because of how the hospital scene let Nathaniel in but with some real distrust. It feels like they dropped one (meaningful) thread to grasp at another. It’s good, but not great.

Buck’s ending is more mixed; Eddie’s is downright tragic. Buck’s CanonA ending is that he got close to the answer and got the wrong one. Any wonder that his math power crapped out on a date with Natalia? People have said that growth in the show is non-linear. People don’t always learn, people don’t always grow. Buck makes the same couch mistake he did with Taylor. In CanonA, Buck may never know how close he got to that special ending. Instead in CanonA, instead of finding happiness, he goes down the Lev path from 6A. Happy-ish. Girlfriend, maybe kids, life gets busy, maybe finding the meaning at the end. Not bad, but not what “The Age of Absolutely” was about either.

Eddie’s is… tragic. We’ve gotten trickles of Eddie’s real story, but 6B confirmed so much fandom speculation. Though he had met Shannon before, they got together senior year, right into kids and marriage - and Eddie runs away for at least 2 deployments. He bails. He later dates Ana, sees the ready made family - and breaks up with her. He is putting wanting a wife and mother over his heart - that’s canon.

Eddie fawning over Buck in the poker scene and all of 6B is equally canon. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe their last deep talk together is… about how Natalia sees Buck. Eddie says the experience had to have changed Buck. Not only does he see Buck… but implies something has changed between him and Buck. With Nat and Buck dating, Eddie rushes to find anyone to date - and basically ends up with Ana2 (instead of Chris’ teacher, she helps him find glue for his project).

It seems like… Eddie’s realized that while he sees Buck, Buck… doesn’t see him. And Buck is not seeing Eddie in that scene. In a kind of parallel to “Buck is in the room”, Eddie needs Buck there too… but this time Buck goes the other way and Eddie doesn’t say a word. Instead, Buck goes… and Eddie goes back to his heteronormative fantasy. Despite saying he wants to get better “for me” he’s after a wife and mother for Chris, Chris is even there with him on the date phone call. It’s not just lack of progress, Eddie got to the very threshold of opening himself to Buck - if only admitting it to himself. Instead back into the closet. That’s Eddie’s CanonA ending. It’s grim. It doesn’t “get better” for Eddie. He gets to the edge and chickens out.

If you think you were misled that Buddie was a romantic plot, you’re right. When looking at our firefam, Buck and Eddie were constantly paired alongside the other couples. We didn’t just see them through a romantic lens, that was how they were presented. In the CanonA ending, there is not even a last scene with Buck and Eddie tighter as friends, it’s Buck&Nat and Eddie/Chris talking to Marisol. The pairing of the two as a couple/family is broken. In itself, that’s sad. Them laughing over beers or Buck being there encouraging Eddie on while he talked would not have broken the “coupling” lens. They deliberately chose to do so.

So much like how Eddie reaches the point of understanding only to hesitate and withdraw back into heteronormativity, so does 911 on Fox. It clearly got to the point of understanding Buddie as a couple, presenting Buddifer as a family, and then… pulls back and gives them last minute female love interests. Like Eddie, it chickens out and loses out on giving Buddie CanonA happy ending. Instead what it gave then was… realistic and everyday bad relationships. They got close, but in a case of life imitating art, like Eddie it settles for being convention and traditional at the expense of its own growth and happiness. I hope 911 on ABC does them better.

[j-psilas]

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” – A Victorian Fairy Tale

Off and on, I’ve been thinking about Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

A few years ago, it came to light that, according to Dahl’s widow, “His first Charlie that he wrote about was a little black boy.” This comes as some surprise to those who know the history of the novel, since the Oompa-Loompas were “pygmy Africans” in the first edition, and remained imported slave labor in all subsequent editions and adaptations.

The writer of the linked Guardian article seems to think that making the Oompa-Loompas orange-faced and green-haired somehow erases this fact, but come on now. Regardless of whether they’re a real people, the very premise of importing an entire population into your factory as labor is colonialist as can be, and coding them with uniform physical features is both racist and racialist.

This in itself is nothing new, but lately I’ve been reevaluating these parts of the text in light of the news that Charlie was originally black. The Guardian, predictably, only cares about Dahl’s reputation, but we should take it further. How does a black Charlie change our reading of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory itself?

Charlie was black, and the Oompa-Loompas were also black. Narratively and thematically, what do these two facts say in conjunction?

Suddenly, a lot of pieces fit together more tightly than they ever did before.

It's a story about the Faustian bargain that a person of minority status must often make with the powers that be—powers that trace their lineage back to empire.

Art by Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl’s official illustrator

Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is a microcosm of the British Empire itself. It’s a titanic palace of industry, producing wonders never before seen in all the world—and it does so through the labor of enslaved non-white people, never seen and never spoken about. Wonka’s magical candies capture the magical feeling of going to the sweet shop as a little English child, but Dahl also heightens the dark reality of how that idyllic childhood fancy was produced, as well as the cruel and paternalistic morality that oversaw it. The rules of the English colonies govern Wonka’s workers, while the rules of the English schoolhouse and nursery govern Wonka’s visitors.

And on that note, it's worth mentioning that while the naughty children's punishments are rightly regarded as extreme by today's audiences, the morality behind them is not rejected outright. “That’s what you get! You shouldn’t be greedy or rude or undisciplined,” etc. Conventional parenting still shows its Victorian roots in countless small ways, and not just in the fact that some people today still spank their children. Moral goodness is measured in obedience, and in conformity to a very confining model of behavior. Veruca Salt might have been a spoiled little tyrant—but what did Violet Beauregard really do? She was rude and excitable, and chewed with her mouth open. You know, things that children do because they’re children. Yet these behaviors were strictly managed and punished in nineteenth and early twentieth century English society. 

Anyway, I’m getting away from the main point...

Into this world enters Charlie, a poor black boy who lives in a slum with his mother and his four grandparents. He, like all the other children, sees the hidden secrets of the factory. He sees the miraculous candies, the chocolate river, the pink candy boat. He sees the Oompa-Loompas. He listens, like all the other guests, to Willy Wonka’s stories and speeches and eccentric quips.

Yet while the other children buck against the rules of Wonka’s little kingdom, Charlie obeys. Like a poor black boy does in a world run by wealthy white men, he makes himself small and polite. Yes, he’s more virtuous than the other children by consequence of how he was raised—but he’s also conforming to a social script on which his survival depends, something that the spoiled little white children have never needed to do. This is how he reaches the end of the tour unharmed.

This is also the reason why, when offered all of Wonka’s empire as inheritance, he accepts it. The choice is no choice at all. On the one hand, he can inherit a morally bankrupt system that churns out wealth on the backs of imported slaves... and on the other hand, he can refuse, and allow his family to continue starving in the slums.

And that choice carries much more weight when Charlie Bucket is black himself. 

When Charlie is black, his story lays bare the moral quandary at the heart of modern capitalism. When Charlie’s skin is the same color as the Oompa-Loompas’, you can’t help but see it. The only way to make a better life for yourself is to embrace an economic system that began in an era when companies traded human beings as property, and that has still not cut ties with the wealth made from those grave moral crimes. When your very life is at stake, you have no choice but to make a compromise with these entities. And the more you stand to gain, the bigger the compromise you must make.

An extra layer of dark irony comes from that fact that Willy Wonka himself is probably the reason why Charlie’s family is poor in the first place. Not only is he part of the capitalist class, but he doesn’t even circulate money back into the economy, like other capitalists claim to do.

The Oompa-Loompas don’t get wages which they then spend out in the surrounding community. They’re paid in cacao beans, a cheap resource that Wonka has aplenty. All the business profits go directly to Wonka, and this money never leaves his factory except in the purchasing of more materials. His factory is a huge economic drain on the area, and Charlie’s family is likely impacted by it directly.

Anyway...

All of this is to say that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was conceived of as “a Victorian fairy tale,” but not as an unthinking reproduction of Victorian values. Roald Dahl was all about subverting and undercutting expectations—sometimes with an overt twist, as in the story “Genesis and Catastrophe,” and sometimes with a subtle, growing unease that never resolves. Though he clearly backed down from this in the final version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the vestiges of a dark satire remain. As it turns out, Charlie himself was the missing piece to this, turning the factory’s vague tonal undercurrent of wrongness into pointed, directed criticism.

I would love to see a black writer, someone in the vein of Jordan Peele, extract this stuff from where it has been buried under layers of editing and editorializing, and put it on the screen or the stage.

[sisilafami]

2023

Rap:

Sexyy Red - Hood Hottest Princess & (Deluxe)

Veeze - Ganger

Babyface Ray - Summer's Mine

MarijuanaXO & Joe Pablo - 30 Mil No Deal

BabyDrill - MadMan

SME TaxFree - Standin On Bidness / Im Still Industreets / Just Like Brothers (w/Big Homie Dre Cash)

Lil Yachty - 2023 singles

BandGang Lonnie Bands - Bam Bam / Provisions / Can't Ban the Bandman 2

Wizz Havinn - Super Wizz / Super Wizz_ The Sequel

Paco Panama - The Wire Vol. 1 / The Matrix / Faces of the Hill (w/Deemuney)

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Niontay - Dontay's Inferno / Demon Muppy

ICYTWAT - Siddhi World (Deluxe) / Final Boss / HAVE MERCY ON US /G4ost 2 / 4 tha Troopz

youngfootsoldier - Life Of A Young Soldier / Most Wanted

KP SKYWALKA - GRANDMA HOUSE (DELUXE) / Rhythm N Bip

YT - #STILLSWAGGIN

LUCKI - s_x m_ney dr_gs

Tae Rackzz - Who is Ju

Smoke Chapo - Over The Counter (Deluxe)

Ken Carson - A Great Chaos

YTB Fatt - Who Is Fatt / Foxes Only

Ethan Uno - Bachata Jersey Youtubes 2023

Mariboy Mula Mar - Effortless / Bitty Breaker / No auto mar 2 / Mula ova errthing

2Sdxrt3all - FUCK SCHOOL / Stop Holdin Nuts / gotta be geeked

Mari Montana - Outstanding Member

Lil 2 Dow - 21 Gun Salute

RRB Duck - Half Man Half Dog / Back In Da K / Scrooge McDuck Vol 1 & 2

Glokk40Spaz - Took The Biggest Risk 

Baby Osamaa - Tank Girl

D30 - Sorry 2 My Fans / Trappers & Scammers

WifiGAWD - Been Bout It / BLOCK MUSIC

OsamaSon - Osama Season / Flex Musix

Mike - Burning Desire

TisaKorean - Let Me Update My Status

CEO Trayle - The Collection Vol. 2

Slimesito - Paid N Full / RSG

HM:

454 & SURF GANG - FAST 5

786 Ju - 786 Year

Akai Solo - Verticality/Singularity

Anycia - EXTRA

BabyK turnt - $tack Or Starve / Rich B4 A Deal

Bb Trickz - Trickstar

Bear1Boss - Lil hotsauce / GlacierGuru

Beatking - She Won't Leave Houston

Bigskiis - MR. Ouuweee Scusemee

Billy Woods - Maps

Bucky Malone - DERREN

Cash Cobain - Pretty Girls Love Slizzy / Slizzy Day

Chavo - Chavo's World 3

Che - Crueger / Closed Captions

Chloe Hotline - jouissancé

Chicken P - BussaBrick Vol.3 ReallyRich4eva / Ain’t Lost Shit

Dani Kiyoko - REAL $tREET RUNNA 3

DaeMoney - Slae Season 3

Dai Ballin - 844 pt.3 / 448 Pt. 2

Durkalini - PYRO THE PASTOR

Four50 - DRUNKEN STYLE

Devstacks - Scriptures

Earl Sweatshirt - VOIR DIRE

El Cousteau - Dirty Harry

Funny $money - Dont Talk 2 Much, Vol. 2 / Trap Money (w/ Trap Baby)

HavinMotion - Bang Music

J Billz - Streetz Hottest Young'n

Ju Swipin - #786FreeBro

L5 - Blood on switch st

Lil Gray - Swipe Renaissance

Lil Tony Official - TKEY / Chasin Pape deluxe (w/PCF Jaey)

Lilqua 50 - Only For The Fans

Los - War On Drugs 2

Lucille Ghatti - BLACK BALLED

ManMan Savage - For Players Only

Moh Baretta - Unorthodox

NBA YoungBoy - Don't Try This At Home

NeedNoName - All Off Backendz 2 Deluxe

Popstar Benny - University!

Raised Round Bosses - Ain't NuN Better Den A Cracking Phone Vol 2

Reace Sosa - Till I Touch The Ground Again

RealYungPhil - Victory Music

Reed - Downtown Chronicles

Rob Lee - Level Up

Rx Papi - Marlo

Rylo Rodriguez - Been One

SCY Jimm - Trench Baby / Highly Favored

Sérane - SGPM

Shaudy Kash - On The Yeah Side 2

Sideshow - DON’T JUST STAND THERE!

SparkHeem - Survivors Guilt

Starlito - LOVE DRUG

Subiibabii - Subiworld / swagg school / WEBB

Super Throwed Dave - Smacking Fire

Talinwya - BiRDMAN & Deluxe

Teeglazedit - The Blueprint

TrapKane - Free My Team

Tree - FREE TREE

Yung Threat - Se Grim Reaper

Valee - CAR TOONS

Vayda - breeze

Wiki - 14K Figaro

Contemporary : 

Lionel Marchetti - MÉANDRE(S)

Eva-Maria Houben - Toccata et Fuga (celebrating our disorientation)

Ayami Suzuki & Leo Okagawa - while it's warm

Graham Lambkin - No Better No Worse Vol 3

Stephen Yip - By Moonflowers

Jim O'Rourke - Steamroom 61

Atte Elias Kantonen - a path with a name

Natasha Barrett - Reconfiguring the Landscape

Action Pyramid & Jack Greenhalgh - Mardle: Daily Rhythms of a Pond

Véhicule - Aubusson

Antoine Beuger & Anastassis Philippakopoulos - floating by

Mordecoli - Château Mordécoly

Jana Winderen - The Blue Beyond

Kate Carr - on cabbages, salt, bacteria and transformations

MP Hopkins - Misting

Maddalena Comunale Massaro - La Religione Degli Insetti

Zizia - Genera

Sunik Kim - Potential

DDK Trio - A Right to Silence

Damon Smith, Louis Wall & NNN Cook - Fire Point

David Velez - Beta Vulgaris

Digital Beats :

Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E

Ghost Notes Worldwide with billdifferen_ Funk Special mix 24/08/2023

Nidia - 95 MINDJERES

Tropa do Bruxo - Baile do Bruxo (DELUXE)

Dj Nigga Fox - Gás Natural 2 (Dedicação ao Nagrelha)

Nondi_ - Flood City Trax

Olof Dreijer - Rosa Rugosa EP

jaijiu - SET ULTRARRÁPIDO DE 10 MIN FUNK 260 BPM

DJ Manny - Hypnotized

Maryyx2 - Silent Noise (The Album)

Speaker Music - Techxodus

HiTech - DÉTWAT

Amal - PRESSURE

Emma DJ - g0drm2

DJ Smiley Bobby - Dhol Tasha Drum Exercises from Maharashtra

Dj Wesley Gonzaga - Antidepressivo

R’n’B:

Amaarae - Fountain Baby

Brent Faiyaz - Larger Than Life

Lucille Ghatti - Tears from a clown

Jim Legxacy - homeless n_gga pop music

Vontee the Singer - LOVERS & FRIENDS

Other stuff: 

John T. Gast - SINEAD MEMORY TAPE (2015)

Canva6 - Cco2

Model Home - endless spool / SMMR MMRY / 20 / JuJu MineField

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five_ In the garden

Nourished by Time - Erotic Probiotic 2

Jeff Tobias - Music from Milky Way Underground

Aprxel - tapetumlucidum_3

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

Rắn Cạp Đuôi - *1

Sbatax - Spires

NewJeans - Get Up

Babsy Konate - Tounga

New old :

Black Rob - Life Story 2

Don Cherry & Jean Schwarz - Roundtrip (1977) (Live)

Hiroyuki Onogawa - August in the Water- Music for Film 1995-2005

Jon Hassell - Further Fictions [Rec. 1989]

Lil Kev - Lil Kev Mix 04-18-12 (Full Mixtape) (youtube)

Main Source - The Science

Primetime and Digga - PRIMETIME & DIGGA GREATEST HITS

Various Artists - Unruly Records Anthology - 1991-1995 (The Early Years)

[whisperprime]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Hob isn’t certain what Dream has cooked up in that pretty little head of his when it comes to theories about what happened, but he can tell this response wasn’t even on his list.

“2189?”

He sounds carefully reserved. The fact that he doesn't outright disbelieve such a thing might be possible leaves the once mortal human with some serious questions.

But those are for a later time.

Right now, Hob nods. He had long since decided that if questioned about this, he would tell as much of the truth as he felt he could. He would explain the meeting with The Other Man, the seal, maybe even where and how he’d spent those 106 years.

He would not share that Dream had been the being who'd been originally summoned. Nor would he mention Dream’s death. There was no point in either. One hadn’t happened in this timeline. One hadn’t happened yet and dwelling on it would do no good. So.

Hob presses his hands into his thighs to still them. “I was sitting in The New Inn when a stranger approached me.” He smiles, some true amusement leaking in. “Seems to be the story of my life.”

Dream has narrowed his eyes at him, searching his face for any tells that this is all a fabrication. He won’t find one because Hob is all too serious. “In the year 2189?” When he finds no lie, that at the least the story teller believes this all to be true, Dream leans forward. “Are you proposing you've time traveled?”

The immortal human wishes he were more into science fiction, because this was already a bit over his head and trying to explain this to someone else feels like a task. He can still barely believe it all. And he lived it. “Sort of? He called it ‘destroying a timeline’?”

“He?”

Hob spreads his hands out, a bit helpless here. "Did I mention that story is filled with mysterious strangers who often fail to mention their names?"

His friend ignores the slight, raising his hand, but it seems more to stop himself from continuing this particular thread of inquiry. "I interrupted. Please begin again from this 'New Inn'."

Hearing the name of what had become such a dear place to them both said without shread warmth or recognition hurt like swallowing shards of glass. One felt like it had lodged in place in his chest and Hob has to resist the urge to rub at it.

"I initially told him I wanted to be alone, but then he knew my name - my real name," Hob still remembers the chill of hearing his name on the lips of someone other than his friend, especially at a time no one was supposed to know it. "He said it was important, so I gave him a chance. Better to know if I was going to have trouble and needed to leave, you know?"

Dream give a curt nod, showing he understands.

Hob swallows and wishes he'd remembered to bring a drink with him. "Then he started talking about how he shouldn't have existed, but did? And it was because of the premature end of the universe or something?" He pauses, then scoffs. His eyes drops to the table as he tries to remember as much of the encounter as he could. Wishes he'd understood what was said more. "I thought he was nuts, honestly, especially when he started talking about time travel, but. Well." He shrugs, again. "He had a compelling arguement."

Dream considers this. Hob is a little surprised he is even entertaining all of this. "What did he want you to change?"

Hob considers his options. "Have you heard of a Gabriel Richards?"

His friend gets a bit of a far away look to him and Hob wonders how well the whole knowing everyone thing actually works. It takes a moment or two, but Dream comes back with, "He is known for discovering gialium. His daughter discovered how to use it as a cleaner, more safe energy source to any previous resource."

"Huh." Hob has never heard of 'gialium' before, but a safer energy resource is always good. He isn't certain how this element not being discovered could possibly lead to the end of the universe, but then The Other Man had said it was a chain reaction sort of thing. He gestured to Dream to indicate that this was the answer and added, "He said Richards was supposed to do something but didn't. Now he has."

Dream raises an eyebrow, but doesn't look satisfied with this at all.

"Look, I don't know how to prove it any of this-" He breaks off, because he does know how to prove it. He's just unsure how this version of his friend will respond to such a Knowing if simply calling him lonely had been enough to send him running. When he hadn't had every bit of solitude he could ask for until it choked him before he came back.

"I've seen Death," Hob says, quotes. Can see Dream recognizing the reference and waiting to see where he's taking this.

Sees when he decides to bite. "Oh?"

Hob stares off just to the right of him, the memory still bright in his mind in the way a beloved photo that has been looked at time and again is remembered. He can still hear the laughter of his friends, even if he can't remember their faces. Still remembers this beautiful stranger, dressed all in black save his insanely large ruby, approaching their table. Remembers him glancing at someone, although by the time Hob had thought to look, they'd been gone.

"She was there with you the day we met." Hob catches the slight flicker of surprise out of the corner of his eye. Knows he's caught him this time. "It was her doing that granted me this long life. Her and your bet over if I would give up on this life if I had enough to drown in it." His eyes flicker back to meet Dream's eyes. Says, albeit not unkindly, "She was the one who bet I wouldn't."

Dream takes the hit. Accepts it and nods in acquiescence. He had indeed lost that bet. Several times over. Had only asked at the time of their parting those last few times because it had become part of their ritual.

Hob takes the victory and let's go of it along any pride he may have gained in it. "I met her a couple more times in that other timeline." He's unsure, but he thinks he might see some like alarm flash in those blue eyes, but it's gone before he can be sure. "Once at one of those horrid Ren Fests and again while she was mortal?" Hob pauses, wonders, "Is that something you all do? She made it sound like it was just a thing she does."

Dream leans back on the couch. He clearly finds that subject to be one he has difficulty with, going by how he sounds like he is choosing his words carefully. "Every one hundred years, for one day, she allows a part of her to become mortal and then meets it like any other mortal being. To better understand them when she comes to meet them."

That clocks with what she'd said. Figures she couldn't have just explained it like that. Or maybe she had and Hob and been a little too wigged out by spending time with a mortal Death of the Endless (or a part of her) to catch it. Either way.

Hob shifts, braces himself as if he were about to walk into a storm. "I know you're her little brother."

His friend-who-isn't-his-friend stares back at him out of eyes that were no longer blue, but rather as dark as the night sky, light only by galaxies no human has ever seen. "You would claim to known me, Hob Gadling?" Hob hears the words, you dare, from that night in 1889 as they lay between them, unspoken, but a heavy weight regardless. Did Hob dare to claim he knew any creature such as this one?

Yes. Hob dared. He'd dared that night and every day he'd held to his hope with near blind faith where perhaps he should not have.

"Aye, I know you." Hob meets that gaze, holds it, and names him, "Dream of the Endless."

Dream shudders, lightly, at the sound of his true name. All doubt has vanished from his expression, but what has it cost Hob to play this card?

Part 9