#should really make some verses tags too cause there's a few

[stepswowdsen]

KuroEne AU: Route Idea where Kuroha baits Konoha using Hibiya

(KuroEne with implied KonoEne)

KuroEne AU rambles. Wrote this a few days ago but forgot to post.

Was just thinking of a KuroEne AU with a Route set-up similar to Manga Route 2 Kuroha/Saeru baits Konoha by using Hibiya, and meets Ene.

Kuroha/Saeru baits Konoha by using Hibiya, and meets Ene. Basically, he baits Konoha on purpose by putting Hibiya (who he's currently possessing) in danger, counting on the fact that he knows Konoha will risk his life for his friends, and then takes the opportunity to jump to possess Konoha's body.

I didn't write KuroEne love/hate sex this time, since these rambles are just SFW, but that'd be fun to write more of, too. Ene should put him in his place!!!

...

I initially wrote these as tags but I'm just gonna copy paste to post them here instead.

My canon-verse KuroEne AU is angsty, but it USUALLY starts more lighthearted and tame then eventually ramps up while approaching the fated date.

But this Route idea really takes the cake omfg

I love writing both fluff and angst… I think when juxtaposed together, they become really interesting. In general, I also think that conflict and tension are the spice of life in ships, so I love writing interesting kinds of conflict and tension and hostility, of the compelling kind.

It isn't KagePro without angst and tragedy after all ^^

But gosh I do think my other ships show how my tastes mellowed out over time cuz my KuroEne AU is so angsty. KuroEne has a delicious set-up and unique context that makes the ship interesting.

While my other fandom ships still have spicy kinds of conflict and tension, they are still very soft and tender and filled with warmth and companionship.

I think KuroEne have moments of tenderness and warmth and companionship, too, but they have the most tense relationship of all my ships due to Kuroha's role and set-up as the big bad evil snake who's the cause of the time loop tragedy.

I put more rambles under the cut, as usual!

Me: (Me while writing for my KuroEne AU)

I love angst!!! And also fluff!!! Yayyyyy!!! 🥰💞

My friends: HOLY SHIT your KuroEne AU is so angst fuel I love it... But you are really so evil for this Sen /lh /j 😭

Context Rambles and Some Thoughts

I decided to add context at the beginning for anyone who'd like to tune into the rambles.

In most Routes, Saeru (Snake of Clearing Eyes) possesses Kenjirou (Ayano's father) and then at the end of a Route (on the fated day of August 15th), the Heat Haze Day, jumps to Konoha's body.

Konoha's body is advantageous for him. Due to the nature of Haruka’s wish to have an “ideal” body to make friends with, Konoha’s body has superhuman strength (ie. Konoha can punch craters into walls, jump across buildings, and heal from fatal wounds).

Because of this, for him (Saeru), it's the ideal body to carry out the "Tragedy" with.

Ty to the KagePro fan-wiki for compiling sm of the lore and resources 🙏 Incredibly useful.

It's also because as Konoha, Haruka’s body is host-less. It doesn't have a human host, so he can jump from the current person he’s possessing to Konoha’s (as long as his current vessel manages to touch Konoha), and overtake the body with ease, overtake Konoha’s consciousness and possess him.

According to Novel Route, due to the wide degree of knowledge he carries, Kuroha/Saeru can even use Konoha’s Awakening Eyes to “rebuild the body molecule by molecule”

In Manga Route 2, even when he’s crushed by a landslide, he can heal and regenerate, no problem. This guy is absurdly OP as Black Konoha.

His extremely cold and calculated way of thinking and usage of "resources" is interesting to me.

But I also think it makes sense that the being who’s basically the embodiment of “Knowledge/Wisdom” can pull these things off.

I would say that it's because it's advantageous to him.

In most Routes, when Saeru possesses Kenjirou, waits until night to possess Kenjirou so that he doesn't draw suspicion.

Kenjirou is an adult male researcher/scientist, so that means that Saeru can gather funds and resources and influence while possessing him. Saeru overtakes the consciousness of the person he possesses, so they don't remember the things he does while possessing them.

It's within the nature of an Eye Ability Snake to works towards fulfilling their current host's wish, so he works towards his host's goals, while also working towards his own goals.

Iirc, it's because of Saeru's influence that the deaths of Haruka, Takane, and Ayano, who all die on the same day, don't get mass reported to the media.

Because 3 high school students dying mysteriously on the same day would be a HUGE thing, but he seems to take advantage of the body he's using to convince others to keep their deaths concealed so that the news is not wide spread.

...

In Manga Route 2, both of Ayano's parents die (instead of just her mother, Ayaka), but Kenjirou doesn't enter the Kagerou Daze in this Route.

So, Saeru has to possess Hibiya (the youngest MekaDan member at 11 years old), and Hibiya's body is much more inconvenient for him, but he still does fine with hiding from the MekaDan cuz no one suspects him until it's too late, and he kills Momo by throwing her off the rooftop in front of numerous MekaDan members.

KuroEne AU: Route where Kuroha baits Konoha on purpose using Hibiya

Would be interesting if there are Routes similar to Manga Route 2 where Kuroha possesses Hibiya's body in a KuroEne AU

Saeru baits Konoha on purpose by throwing Hibiya's body (that he's currently possessing), knowing that Konoha will try to save Hibiya, his friend, due to his nature (good will and selflessness)

If he's feeling especially cruel, then he just throws Hibiya's body into oncoming traffic as he jumps to possess Konoha's body.

Otherwise, he'll just leave Hibiya's body as soon as there's touch/contact between his current host he's possessing, and Konoha's body, and then jump to possess Konoha

Saeru just lets Hibiya get killed when he leaves the body after baiting Konoha, and jumps to possess his body.

I imagine Ene is in the android body in the real world for this one.

Imagine if there's like a scene with KonoEne before where Konoha tells Ene he's going to go after Hibiya and that Ene should stay put and "get away from here as far as possible" and escape to the cyber world, because he doesn't know if the Clearing Snake will endanger any more people.

Ene tears up and stubbornly says, "Idiot!!! I'm not leaving you alone!!! I can't... I can’t lose you again…!" And just thinks to herself how she can't let Konoha slip out of her grasp just like Haruka did 2 years ago.

She's not leaving him alone to deal with the evil snake, someone so dangerous like that, and clings onto him by wrapping her arms around his waist to try and keep him in place, so that he doesn't go.

So Konoha just gently picks her up and finds a safe place for her to be. He gives her a gentle smile and tells her he'll promise to come back with Hibiya safe and sound, and then starts jumping across the rooftops in search of Hibiya.

Ene doesn't stay put and runs after Konoha in the direction he went trying to find him.

Konoha tells Ene that he'll make sure to "save Hibiya and rid him of that evil, no good snake" and runs after Hibiya. Ene tells him to stop and wait cuz she has a bad feeling about this... She can't catch up to his superhuman speed, but runs after him anyways.

When Ene finally sees Konoha in the distance and catches up to him, Ene can only watch as black spirals start to envelop Konoha, and Kuroha emerges from it.

KuroEne AU: Kuroha and Ene's 1st Meeting in this Route (Dialogue Script Ideas)

Ene: What…… Konoha...! What happened to Konoha...!?

Ene: YOUUUUUU...!!! 💢

Kuroha: Hello... This is the first time we meet, yes? How do you do? (^-^)

Ene: Looks like you’ve finally shown yourself… You evil snake!!!

Kuroha: I've been waiting to meet you for a very long time...

Ene: Fine… Let’s talk, Snake of Clearing Eyes.

(Some snippets I wrote above ^^)

KuroEne AU: Rambles

Ene just thinks about Konoha's words to her that he'll be coming back safe with the two of them, and just mutters to herself that he's an "idiot" for not keeping his promise.

Ene realizes that Kuroha/Saeru baited Konoha into coming after him using his selflessness and love for his friends against him.

Ene glares and growls at Kuroha and he just smirks and says that he "likes and feeds off of the hatred in her eyes, strong emotions solely being directed towards him."

Ene is just like "What are you doing!? What kind of monster are you... That boy was innocent... He had nothing to do with this!"

In regards to Hibiya's death, Kuroha just tells her that a little collateral damage in the process feels inevitable, so why stop it? It's much more entertaining this way.

First time they meet in this route? Yes. But not the first time ever, and he knows that. They've been through this "dance" before.

Kuroha also makes that comment because of the time it takes from the beginning of a Route to get to the present day. This mf seems patient af... Yes, he's been waiting to meet her again.

This is honestly one of the most angstiest ways that they [Kuroha and Ene] could meet in a Route, cuz usually, my KuroEne AU first meetings are more lighthearted and tame in that Kuroha finds Ene himself, and decides to play nice at first (in the beginning stages of their relationship, while getting to know each other).

Though, in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body THIS early, does mean that he dumps the body of whoever he was possessing, MUCH earlier compared to canon.

Like he leaves the body he was possessing earlier prior to meeting her, but NOT right in front of her (so she's blissfully unaware). Like he shows himself, and introduces himself to her as Black Konoha.

The Eye Ability Snake acts as a surrogate life for those who've died and obtained Eye Abilities, so him leaving the body just straight up kills the person

[residentdormouse]

When a Good Man Goes to War with Words

(and a few questionable ones…)

Sorry, @mrsmungus , couldn't help the title since wars are really prevalent in my fics. “Red” vs “White”. “Good” vs “Evil”. “Right” vs “Wrong”. Who we are verses the choices we make. Much like the doctor, the majority of them loathe the fighting, but it’s where they find themselves. While an attempt was made to Ninth doctor the whole thing (‘Everybody Lives!’), why it is a rarity made itself clear. Life goes by quick whether you blink or not, and those four knocks come for us all.

But I should stop my nonsense. Take a break before I look in the mirror and have to ask, Don’t you think she looks tired. Cause, yes. Yes she does.

My Words: Scarf, War, Planet, Rose, Sweet

Your Words: Cane, Medicine, Case, Pills, Diagnosis/Detect/Solve (you know what I’m getting at)

(I’d put Lupus, but that would be a stretch. It's never Lupus.)

As always - open tag - if you want to join in. Other fandom keywords welcomed - there’s no rules here really - I don’t know what we’re doing. But we’re having fun doing it, and that’s what matters, right?

Scarf

(Only one use of scarf in everything. I guess it makes the job of picking a section out easy…)

"I think maybe we should get Larry…"

While her interactions with the kid were extremely limited at best, she still felt a kind of understanding in his looks as he stared back at her. And this one was clearly stating, 'That's what we're doing'.

"But, we should turn---"

Another pull to her arm.

"Okay…"

They continued on for another stretch, and Hayden began to feel the cold starting to sink in. She looked over at Joe, who had the foresight to bundle up at least. She had not been adequately prepared for how long they would be out, and missed her fluffy scarf and hat. Luckily for her, Glen gave her a coat before she left; she would have taken off without it. A pair of fingerless gloves was stashed away in her pockets, and was certainly better than nothing.

"Where are we going, Joe? Nobody really lives out this way except Harold…"

Turning the next corner, her question immediately answered itself and she found Larry walking in their direction.

"Sorry for doubting..." She looked down at the boy, before her hands went to the air in a wave, "Hey, Larry!

War

(I’ve made it rule that if I find a word, but skip the segment in place another, only to find the same damn section with another word - Have to use it. Catching not only one war but two, and a bonus rose to fully overachieve.)

There were times that she would stumble, and profusely apologize for things lost in translation while others would have simply been annoyed and moved on at the next chance. It stirred a foreign feeling that was refreshing, and he didn’t realize how much he yearned for this type of connection until he had it. What would his life have been like if he had met someone like her before? Met her before?

“I always feel like I’m back in middle school when I do this.”

He caught most of her words as she wheeled in a table where she had created a temporary shrine to gaming. After she realized the handheld games were a hit, she “raided” the nearby store for him. TV, gaming systems, various discs and devices…

“Everytime something like this came out, we knew Mr. Cartwright had a bit too much to drink the night before. It was always some dull black and white documentary though, and it usually meant a nap, not furious button mashing, but some feelings of nostalgia just override the actual outcome of the event, y’know? TV on a cart? That means a mental break. But give me God of War over World War II aircrafts all day everyday, am I right?”

Nick watched amused as she babled on. This was the dynamic they usually fell into. Something would come up that sparked a long and detailed story that she became overly enthusiastic about. She’d ramble at length. Then she’d apologize for rambling, her cheeks flushing to a rose pink. He’d smile to show his amusement in it, and they’d go back to the original task at hand.

“Sorry.” She handed over a controller, and sat down next to him on the edge of the bed, her face tinged in the familiar shade of embarrassment.

Sweet

(Unfortunately, no sweetie. There are a few ‘sweethearts’, which is my go-to dealing out condescending shit name, and a few ‘sweet buns’ which is some Lloyd bullshit. And since this seems to be a Lloyd section post… caught one of those wars from earlier.)

“Hi, fellas. And fellettes. We’ve been expecting ya. You know, my boss told me when you’d be walking out of that canyon down to the minute. Isn’t that crazy? Its is a crazy fuckin’ world.”

The colors, the attitude, the ignorance… Whether it be willful or not, the person in front of her, for all intents and purposes, seemed like he was ignorant to the kind of situation they were all in. Life and death. Possibly war. Maybe she was reading him wrong; she very well could be. They were in the thick of it now. The players they would see in the game moving forward were going to have power, and there's most likely a reason for that.

But this guy, he seemed blind to any seriousness in life at the moment.

Hayden took a deep breath and began walking forward “Well, at least we can agree on that… crazy fucking world is an understatement.”

He pushed back from the door and made a showy display of stepping out of the way. "Ladies first."

She looked back at Glen. "See how that sounds?"

"Noted."

Shaking her head, she climbed in, with each member of the group following in after her. It was two on each side, and this asshole chose to sit next to her. "Scoot over sweet buns, time for us to be movin' on."

She felt like Harold with the heavy layer of mask she now wore, shooting him a smile that was still outwardly pleasant while also screaming 'please eat shit'.

"Aren't you a charmer..."

Planet

(Another two-fer. Planet and war. Destiny. Also, immediately picking up where sweet left off.)

"Don't you know it." He gave a flashy smile and a couple quick pounds against the divider. "Name's Lloyd Henreid, and I'll be taking your sorry asses into the last place on this fucking planet you want to be."

Slowly the vehicle started to drive off. Once they were at a steady pace, Lloyd took a drag from his ridiculous cigarette, lowering the window to puff out the smoke.

"Last place we want to be? You think we walked all the way from Boulder to not get to Vegas?" Glen raised his eyebrows in a playful challenge, and Lloyd let out a huff.

"You know what I mean. Mister Flagg don't take kindly to folks sending spies and acting all war like towards him. Sure wouldn't want to be you right now, that's all I'm sayin'."

He took another drag on the cigarette, and Hayden took cue from this to pull out her vape. "So there's no problem with smoking here, then?"

"Shit, no! Land of freedom, baby, that's what we're all about here." Glen let out a short breath of laughter at the statement of their 'freedom', and Hayden followed by taking a hit without further hesitation. Lloyd paused a second before he realized just exactly what she had pulled out. "Woah! Hey, what do you got there?"

"I think it's called Ice Cream Sandwich. Couldn't find any more Banana Cream, but this is a pretty good substitute. Want some?" She offered the pen over and raised her eyebrows at the flabbergasted look on his face.

"Is that fucking weed?"

Rose

'This is important!'

The emphasized signs did nothing aside from further exasperating her, and she ripped her arm away. "We don't have time for this!"

Frustration built to a breaking point inside of him. Of course they didn't have time; nobody ever had time! But he'd be damned if he left here without answers, without doing everything that he could. Before he could release his anger in another burst of signs, Gwen came over to a stop directly in front of him. Hands rose up on either side of his face, and eyes bore a hole into his own, burning through his retina and straight out the back of his skull. Transfixed, he stood there. Stood still as she leaned forward, as she pressed her mouth onto his, as the metallic taste hit his tongue. But the sharp bite to his lower lip was what released him from whatever hold she had.

He pushed her back sharply before signing out angrily again.

'What the fuck is wrong with you?!'

"Why don't you say it, Nicky?"

Apparently, she only released her physical hold while the mental one took effect. His eyes grew wide as the words echoed inside his head. Words she said while her lips never moved.

"Cat got your thoughts?"

[papilio-anima]

CHARACTER HEADCANON GENERATOR

generate 10 headcanons and share whether they're true or not! repost, don't rebog.

 is afraid of doing anything without their parent's permission.

Half False - This is one of those it's complicated answers. Hu Tao's parents aren't around anymore to be granting permission for things in the first place. This applies more to her grandfather who took on that role instead during her younger years. She was a troublemaker, but eventually she would feel obligated to follow his advice.

has a diary that they write in with a glittery gel pen.

True - Creative writing is just part of who she is. While her journal contains mostly poetic verses she concocts, there are a few drabbles in which she conveys her inner thoughts. Either way she keeps something like this close to her person.

can't handle criticism.

Mostly False - Only up to a certain point. Initially she takes what is being told into mind. Especially on how she handles her funeral business. Sometimes even working toward correcting herself and her actions. It is only when that criticism gets to the point of constant dislike leaving no room for improvement does she have to put her foot down. Or at times she would isolate herself from them depending on her mood.

can't make the voices go away.

Half True - This is interesting, not going to lie. Mostly cause it depends on the context. Hu Tao works and communicates with spirits. But if we are talking more about her own inner voice. In a way this is true as well. She is very intuitive often with thoughts running a mile a minute.

 favorite color is pink.

False - It's a pretty shade, and the color of some of the silk flowers she often picks. However, her favorite color is a deeper red shade. Crimson and burgundy being among those. Black is also nice as it often is paired well with any other color.

 is oblivious to any and all romantic interest someone may show them.

False - But mostly because it is a very rare happenstance that even happens in the first place. Not many reach out to pursue something romantic with her. So when it does happen, she sees it more as a surprise, even questioning to herself if its genuine. That being said, Hu Tao herself is canonically a hopeless romantic. Just check out that teapot dialogue.

 nearly drowned in a river as a child.

True - there is a headcanon speculation here that Hu Tao actually cannot swim. In fact, it is rumored this near death experience gave her the ability to effectively see spirits. It made her realize just how unpredictable the concept was and that no matter how short life was it should be enjoyed. She doesn't mention truth about her too much to others. Unless she really trusts them with the embarrassing secret.

can't sit in a chair properly.

True - A bit more a niche headcanon here. Hu Tao has the tendency to sit anywhere, -but- a chair. It's kind of like an ingrained part of her personality.

likes being alone

Half False- She doesn't mind it. It can be a good way to concentrate on a ritual or project. But Hu Tao is a people person. Or more so she is an extrovert. Ambivert? Well something in between the two. As long as it isn't for a very long stretch of time. She admits she craves interaction with others.

has an incredible spice tolerance.

True - Hu Tao absolutely loves spicy foods. She is a pyro vision user. Though she does like to balance her meals with 'dynamic' (spicy, bold) and 'static' (sweet, comforting)

stole tag from @oficeandwind steal it from me y'all

[mikaharuka]

Haha, looks like it's time for me to explain the Annie-Barbara thing!

This is a long and super hilarious story, that involves Salty writing a brilliant fic (linked at the end of the post), so strap in for the ride XD

(Annie being @udaberriwrites, Barbara being me, as you can see lol)

The tl;dr is that it's Salty's (@tsunderewatermelon) fault for creating the name and mine for using it so much that everyone adopted it.

Thanks to us, many are shocked to learn that Annie isn't her real name! Nor is it one of her two usernames - Alhaira and Udaberri)

[Tagging the chaos family and those who asked me about the "Annie" thing - @tsunderewatermelon @kayedium-writes @axolotlsupremacyowo @hylianjo @alpaca-clouds @precambrian-sea-pancake @danceswithdarkspawn @lena-hills @mrsmungus @sliebman10 @oceangirl24... and the main star, @udaberriwrites]

So... a few months ago on the server, when we were really learning about how chaotic we were, we created 'The Chaos Family'. It started with Salty and Momo as the chaotic twins, then JoJo as their mother and Kay their dad. Then I ended up as JoJo's sibling along with Pearl (who isn't on Tumblr)... and somehow, Alhaira became my drinking buddy/friend because, of course, we were deep in DMs. Shoutout to Lena, for being the master lurker that she is, the entire time XD

Of course, since then, the family exploded to include so many others, but this story is very specific to the six of us, since it was still a new thing at the time. Heck, the Europeans had *no idea*... except for Annie, since... as you guessed, we regularly ramble chat in the DMs.

Anyways... we were doing the usual - causing and/or suffering through chaos. I don't remember how, but at some point, we decided that creating our own meta 'Chaos Family' verse was a genius idea... and Salty, the genius he is, went and actually wrote a fic for the verse. Or should I say that the rest of us cheered him into it? And it fit perfectly with the January server prompt - 'watching paint dry'!

Well, 'Letting it Sit' is amazing and hilarious. Y'all should check it out! (the fic is linked at the end of the post - I totally recommend it XD).

Of course, we all had to take on pseudonyms, so... Salty went and did that. Salty became Jalty, Momo became Yoyo, JoJo became SoSo, Kay became Fray, and Pearl became Opal.

I... was given an interesting distinction.

Since I'm often found with Salty and Momo... he gave me the name Bazuka. Rhymed with Mizuka and a pun with Bazooka. But obviously, I had to have a real name. He thought it'd be hilarious if my name was something completely unlike me, and settled on Barbara.

At this point, everyone knew about me and Alhaira regularly DMing, so Salty was like "haha, she's your drinking buddy and 100% has to be in the fic" and decided she needed a name. But of course, the rest of us had names. He gave her... I'll just quote the fic here. It's wild!

After she finished her explanation Bazuka suddenly spoke up with a hiss, “Oooh, hey sorry, we have to get going!” “Aww, where are you going?” Yoyo asked in an uncharacteristically small voice. “I have to meet up with my friend in a bit and Opal is my ride! Promise I’ll see you guys later on though, so don’t worry about that!” The two aunts exchanged quick hugs and handshakes with the other family members before making their way out the door, Jalty calling after them, “Have fun with the Annihairlator!” A small chuckle of recognition came from Bazuka as she replied, “We will! I’ll make sure to tell her all about your guys’ antics tonight!”

...yes, you read that right.

Salty, the madman he is, chose Annihairlator to match my own Bazuka! But of course, that nickname was too long and wordy, so it shortened to... you guessed it. Annie. That's how the name happened!

(also, this is why my Discord name is "Mizuka the Vamp-zooka" XD)

Or rather... that's how the name originated. It would've stayed within this silly little verse alongside the other names... except, of course, I found it hilarious and blabbed rambled told Alhaira all about it and not only was she amused, she was a bit salty that she was missing out, since this was going down while she was asleep.

One thing led to another (me rambling about chaos shenanigans) and I was constantly calling her Annie in the DMs... which in turn spilled into the main chat, where I was still calling her Annie all the time.

Then everyone somehow picked up on it, because apparently, I'm the perpetual enabler and trend-spreader. Somehow, a lot of stuff I say (including fic ideas) just somehow... permeate through our circle.

And here we are. Annie = Alhaira = Udaberri because Salty's a hilariously creative writer and I'm a rambly trend-setting enabler.

That's it! If you read this whole thing... go read Salty's fic! I love it!

Mizu, Mizuka, Bazuka, Barbara

Pfft, I'm still so amused that somehow, the name Barbara landed on me after the whole meta-fic deal! I love that contrast, ngl XD

But yeah - the other three are ones I expected from the get-go~

[brgrchld]

some important / unimportant stuff about louise’s sp verse as a treat 🙄

the belchers had to sell the restaurant/apartment . moving to sp in the hopes for an affordable living. buying a house with the little money left in their savings (and dipping into the kids college fund) and leasing a building for the restaurant 

louise wasn’t originally all that excited about moving until she found out she’d finally have a room with a window in it 

that was the ONLY thing louise was happy about for a while

she liked playing in the snow the first week but is tired of it and the cold now 😐

her regular attire switches between this & this

louise keeps to herself for the most part , doesn’t have a steady group she calls close friends... she bounces to whoever makes her feel wanted

she gets detention on purpose a lot to keep from having to work at the restaurant and even after she’s dismissed, she wanders around town for a bit coming home with the excuse that she got lost on the way home :)

that mysterion kid is overhyped in her opinion :/

she’s not prone to pick fights with other people but if she sees someone being an asshole to another person she’s not just gonna be quiet about it 🙄

[xpeachesncream]

bands | thirteen

[ series masterlist ]

summary: jeon jungkook has it all: the looks, the fame, the money, the women. being considered the sexiest man in the industry, he finds no complaints about the way his life is going nor does he find any reason to apologize for the way he approaches it. he is a force to be reckoned with - until he meets you.

pairing: stripper!reader x idol!jjk

genre: (18+) strip club/nightlife au, post grad au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 3.9k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, slight degradation, trouble stirring behind the scenes if you squint, yeonjun and soobin (txt) make an appearance but also as reg 18 yr olds lol

tags: @brightcolorsoffendme​ @min-nicoleee​ @eggbutnotyolk​ @ra-mun-e @miinoongi​ @jimidol​ @ppeachyttae​ @thebeebi​ @bluesharksandfish​ @kooafraid​ @liriaus​ @thisartemisnevermisses​ @ggukkieland​ @preciouschimine​ @sunniejinnie​ @cypheruby​ @cyb3rbab3​ @masterlists101​ @awhnamjoon​ @redhedhoseok​ @wooya1224​ @taeismydeath @jikookiekosmos​ @un2-verse​ @aynsx​ @wearenot7withu​ (please message me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

"BTS' Jeon Jungkook rumored to be dating stripper from nightclub!"

"Jungkook is no longer single, ladies!"

"Jeon Jungkook is dating a stripper? Why the hell is he doing that?"

"Who the hell does she think she is? I bet she's not even pretty."

"Jungkook fell for a stripper? Out of all people? Damn, and I thought he was better than that."

Jungkook has been tired, the rumors constantly being spread day in and day out. But, it still didn't mean he was gonna say shit to prove himself to people out there. He didn't need to give anybody answers. Hell, this was strictly between you and him and that's how he wants to keep it.

Fuck every single one of you who didn't wanna be behind him and support him. Don't even think about calling yourself a fan of his if that's your mindset.

He could truly care less. He was happy and he felt ten times better than he has in a really long time. It's unfortunate how people love to stay narrow minded. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that it was so unfair for you - how they stuck to that stripper image, rather than really getting to know you beneath the surface.

But it's not like anyone else deserved to know the real you, not after all this shit. And he was gonna keep it that way, and protect you.

"Hey, don't listen to any of that shit, okay?" Jungkook says as he meets you in your car in the BigHit building garage. "None of that matters to me."

"I know, but Kook." You look at him. "Your career, BigHit literally might not even want me here and-and—"

"Then I'll make sure they understand it's not an issue, because it's really fucking not." He says, getting irritated only at the thought of the company giving him issues over you. He watches as you slightly frown, causing him to sigh and soften his own facial expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just annoying how people are narrow-minded. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." You give him a small smile. "Come on, I'll walk you." You silently nod and hop out of your car. You follow beside him, your stomach in knots having to meet with their performance director. This meant you'd also most likely run into the rest of Bangtan.

In which happens to turn true pretty quickly.

"Jungkookie!" Hoseok says loudly down the hallway as he approaches the both of you. He does nothing besides smile, curiosity definitely filling his eyes.

"This is Y/N. Y/N, Hoseok hyung." He holds out his hand for you to shake, his head tilting ever so slightly because you know he's familiar with your face. He's just trying to remember from where. Or, he has recognized you, but he's trying his hardest not to say anything.

Cause they have seen all of you, especially in that fishnet bodysuit.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! You can call me Hobi for short. Are you meeting with someone?" You nod.

"Yeah." Is all you can reply with as you shyly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Nice, goodluck!"

"Is everyone else here?" Jungkook asks, making Hobi nod.

"Yeah, but they're still running through some stuff in the dance studio. I just ran off to take a break."

"Okay." Jungkook looks at you. "Follow me, he's in one of the private studio rooms." You both part ways from Hoseok, the need to clutch onto Jungkook's arm immensely strong right now. You hold yourself off though, because even with passing a few female staff members, you catch them looking at you oddly with the way you're walking side by side with Jungkook.

Nope. Don't even think about it, Y/N. It doesn't matter.

Jungkook knocks softly on a door, the middle of it being made up of entirely frosted glass so it's difficult to see inside. Their performance director opens the door swiftly and welcomes you in with a warm smile, stepping aside to let you in.

"I've got it from here, Jungkookie. Thank you." Jungkook nods but tries to peek through the door to get one last glimpse of your face before he shuts it fully. "How are you doing, Y/N?" He sits in front of you, leaning onto his knees with his hands fully clasped together.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good, tired." He chuckles. "Thanks for taking my call earlier and for meeting at such short notice on a weekend. I had a couple of things come up and didn't want to push things off until later." You smile.

"It's no problem."

"Jungkook tells me a lot about you."

"Does he now?" You chuckle and tilt your head to the side.

"Says you're a really good person. Super hardworking. Told me a little bit about your situation with your brother."

"Mmyeah, it's a little complicated."

"It's alright, no need to get into the details." He smiles before letting out a small sigh. "It's incredibly rare for me to hear Jungkook speak like that. In general. He's usually very closed off, doesn't like to let people in much. He really respects you, you know? Cares about you a whole lot." You slightly blush.

"I'm still getting used to it." He chuckled.

"Look, I know you've been worrying because of where you've been and all that, but I want to reassure you that none of it matters. I don't like to focus on all that. You're here as you, not her." He says, putting another pronoun to your stripper persona.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He nods. There's a small pause before he begins to speak again.

"I could really use some help around here if you're still interested? The boys are becoming a lot for me to handle."

"Ah-uh, yeah! Of course I am." You found yourself stuttering at the sudden offer. Was this fucking real?! "But, you are aware of where me and Jungkook are at, right?" You ask, trying to be completely transparent and honest about their relationship. He nods and waves his hand out.

"As long as you keep it professional here, right?" You nod.

"Right."

"Come, let me show you around really quickly and have you formally meet the boys." You swallowed the lump in your throat. Fucking great. He definitely didn't know they've all seen your titties and pussy out during Yoongi's birthday, and now here you were - about to meet them again in this environment. Hobi was awkward enough even though he tried not to be.

Surprisingly, Jungkook wasn't waiting outside in the hallway like you thought he would be, but the tour commences and the PD is taking you around pretty quickly. You feel even more awkward and somewhat alone [even though you weren't] without Jungkook nearby, but you chug along and say your hello's to the people you're introduced to. He finally brings you into the dance studio, where there's loud ass music blasting, Jungkook, the boys and some backup dancers in front of the mirrors fooling around.

"Aye boys, come here real quick." You and Jimin lock eyes and your body suddenly gets tense. The room feels 10x hotter than it already is, especially when he slowly walks over and clenches his jaw. He is literally seeping with hate right now, maybe actually disgust, and he doesn't even try to hide it. Most of them for sure recognize you, but they seem to brush it off and give you a big wave/smile anyway.

"Last, that's Jimin - Jimin, Y/N." You give Jimin a fake smile, and the only thing his ass can reciprocate is the smallest, tight-lipped smile you have ever seen. You've never even seen your mom do that when she got mad or upset with you.

"Hi." Is all you can say.

"Sup." He looks at you before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Ooookay?" Namjoon furrows his brows as he watches Jimin walk away so rudely. "The hell was that about?"

"I knew that was Kookie's girlfriend! Maybe Jiminie remembers seeing her titties and shit too, needs to walk away before he gets his ass beat by him." Yoongi says lowly behind Namjoon.

"Yeah, like you're any better." Namjoon says, looking at Yoongi weirdly.

"I mean, we did see her practically naked." Jin says, chiming into the discussion.

"I touched her." Yoongi's mouth slightly hangs down. "I touched her."

"Go ahead, say it louder so Kookie can hear you." Jin nods sarcastically. "Go, say it!"

"No, stop." Yoongi's cheeks turn red while shaking his head and laughing. "He'll literally launch me out the window with one hand."

"Good."

"You asked for her to sit on your lap too, bro!"

"I was joking, and it's not like she did it anyway!"

"Whatever, I'm keeping my birthday deep in my memory storage."

"Clean slate for her so it should be for you too, my guy." Namjoon says as he has enough of their conversation.

You look at Jungkook who is silently standing there, looking like a big dork with a huge smile on his face and his thumbs up. You give him the tiniest nod before proceeding to follow the PD out.

"So?!" Jungkook dashes to meet you in their waiting room area, where an abnormally large picture of Jimin posing oddly hung up.

"He said he'll send me all the info and papers and stuff!" You respond excitedly as Kook hugs you and quickly swings you around.

"See, I knew it would work out!" He puts you down. "Are you gonna tell Kai?" You shook your head.

"Not today at least, it's his birthday and I don't wanna take away from that. It's his day." Jungkook smiles at you.

"Text me when you've picked him up? I should be home by then."

"Okay." You blush and back away, making Jungkook look at you with confusion. "I have to keep it professional here, duh."

"Ah I see." He chuckles. "That won't last very long."

"Jungkook." You whine.

"There's a lot of private rooms here and—"

"I'm not listening, sorry. I think Kai is suddenly calling me." You cover your ears as you begin to walk away, giving him one last smile before leaving him to the rest of rehearsals and whatever else they're doing. He laughs to himself as he waves you off, excited to get through the day so he can just spend time with you and Kai.

As the hours go on and it's about time for you to pick Kai up, you quickly stop by the store because you're a procrastinator and didn't buy Kai's birthday gift any earlier. You felt bad you weren't able to find the shoes he wanted, but you at least snagged the video game he had been talking about for a couple of days now. Before walking into the arcade, you made sure to write your birthday card and slip some more money into it before shoving it in your bag to give to him later.

"Your pretty sister is here." Yeonjun grabs Kai by the shoulder as he finishes up a game.

"Yeah, and you're too young for her."

"Age is nothing but a number. It's only like.. 6 years apart."

"Besides, she's taken, dude. Sorry." Kai snorts as he watches Yeonjun's smile fade. "You would have never had the chance."

"You're mean."

"I'm mean, or you just have really high, unrealistic expectations?" The rest of their friends laugh as they follow Kai over to you.

"Hey!" You smile at all his friends.

"Hiiiiii Y/N." They all say in unison, some waving in awe, while the others shyly dug their hands into their pockets. "Birthday boy, you all good to go? Got some good Loco Moco waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Happy birthday again, Kai! Get online later!" Soobin yells out.

"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving them off as he follows you out to your car.

"You guys run through the entire arcade?" Kai laughs.

"Pretty much." He sinks into his seat, legs damn near touching the glove compartment with how long he is. "I'm honestly so excited for Loco Moco. It's been years!"

"It has not been that long." You laughed.

"You're right, it's been months." Kai looks out the window. "Wait, you're passing the road to get to our go-to shop though?"

"Cause I found a better place."

"How is there a better place when that one was already supreme?!"

"Hey, trust me on this okay?" You laugh. Kai starts telling you about his day and how so many people he knew from school had been messaging him happy birthday. He truly looked his happiest today and it was all you could ask for. Though at the same time, your heart slightly sank at the fact that he'd be going off to uni soon and staying at the dorms. He was just growing up way too fast, and you wanted to spend as much time as you could with him now before he was too occupied being a college boy.

You slipped yourself past Jungkook's security, parking in the one guest spot they have in the garage that's closest to the elevator. Kai doesn't really question it and hops out anyway, his hands in his pockets as he follows you into the elevator and onto Jungkook's floor.

"You ready, kid?"

"Is this some like, Michelin Star Loco Moco restaurant?"

"Ah, I guess you could say that." You knocked on the door, hearing music playing in the background. Jungkook opens the door and Kai's eyes widen.

"Oh shit, that's Jungkook?" Kook laughs and steps aside to let you both in. "Sis why—what—how come you didn't tell me we were seeing your boyfriend? I look like a mess!" He says lowly.

"You don't!"

"Hey Kai! Happy Birthday!" Jungkook says smiling, making Kai actually blush. He's cheeks are tinted with a rosy color and he suddenly gets all shy.

"Thanks."

"Your brother's tall." Jungkook looks at him up and down.

"Looking at an 18 year old 6 footer."

"Must be nice."

"Go sit." Kai silently nods as he sits awkwardly on Kook's couch, while you go and check in on him in the kitchen.

"Is he always that shy?"

"No. Just with you, apparently. He's not even that shy around girls." You chuckle as he places a quick kiss on your head. "Need my help?" You still ask even though the plates are neatly prepared already.

"Not really." He smiles down at you. "You hungry though?"

"Starving, actually." Your eyes light up at the plates. "Ouuuuuu, yum."

"Honestly, I think this batch might be better than my first."

"Still honored to be your guinea pig." You carry a plate over to Jungkook's coffee table in the living room.

"Oh shit, that looks amazing." Kai says, slipping himself down from the couch to the floor so he could get a good whiff of the plate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook hands you the remote before walking into his room. "Pick something."

"Here, birthday boy. Help me choose."

"Let's watch Soul on Disney+." At this point, Jungkook comes out of his room with a wrapped present, his eyes locked on the TV.

"Ooh, I keep seeing this everywhere! Niceeeee." Jungkook says, smiling with Kai nodding and already digging into his plate. "By the way, this is for you." You shoot him a look as he sits on the floor by you, watching as Kai unwraps the present. Kai's eyes light up as he sees a shoebox underneath the wrapping, quickly flipping the lid open to reveal those blue Air Jordans he wanted.

"Kook?!" You say lowly, making him smile at you and gently pinch your side.

"Holy shit!" He holds out a shoe, only for him to immediately shake his head and close the box again. "Jungkook, I can't take this." Kai says.

"No, it's your birthday."

"Yeah, but isn't this expensive? You've already done so much for me and my sister, I-I don't want to—"

"Kai, it's cool. If it's one thing you can do to repay me, it's to take my present." You literally want to cry at how sweet Jungkook is being with your brother. He had been good to you, no doubt, but this was one thing you didn't expect from him at all. Quite frankly, you had forgotten you mentioned the shoes to him. The fact that he actually remembered and kept his word.

"Okay." Kai says, gently setting the box down aside before looking at Jungkook with a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Like, even with the food and everything. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." You give him a soft smile before digging into your food while Soul was already off to a start. Kai and Jungkook devour their food together, with you following shortly behind as Jungkook brings over a small ice cream cake from his fridge for Kai to blow his candles on. After the boys had helped themselves to a good serving of the cake, they started getting hyper and pulled up Smash Bros on Kook's Nintendo Switch [as if Kai hadn't played enough games today]. It started to get intense; the boys jumping and yelling everywhere, bouncing off of the walls, with you getting pulled into the competition every now and then. Even though you knew you'd lost over and over again, you happily joined in anyway, seeing how excited your brother was - plus, it was always a bonus to hear Jungkook's loudly obnoxious, nerdy laugh.

"I WIN!"

"Hey, hey, hey. I let you win because it's your birthday." Jungkook said, making Kai laugh as he crashed to the floor.

"Sure." Kai huffed and puffed. "Crap, I'm tired. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. We should start heading out, bubba." You patted Kai's chest gently.

"What? No, it's late. Why don't you two just stay here?" You suddenly remembered you've had Kai's shit in your trunk since you dropped him off at Yeonjun's this morning. You didn't have any change of clothes, but that could easily be fixed with Jungkook's closet.

"Only if the queen wants, she's driving."

"It's late, baby." Jungkook says to you softly. "No way I'm letting you two head out there."

"Okay." You give him a small smile before handing your keys. "Can you do me a favor?" He chuckles.

"What is it?"

"Kai's duffle bag is in my trunk." He nods and takes your keys.

"I got it. Kai, you can take the guest room or my office room." Jungkook says with his 3-bedroom apartment having ass. "I have my computer in my office room though, and a pull out bed. I don't know how comfy you'll be."

"It's cool, I'll just take your guest room. I always bring my laptop and switch whenever I sleep at my sister's." Kai says getting up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook says, toothlessly smiling at the both of you, completely endeared at how alike you two were - even down to the fact that you both said thank you for every little thing. If this was a result of Kai being close to you and having you as pretty much his mother figure, then Jungkook wouldn't know what to do with his feelings. He felt butterflies every time he thought about how cute and sweet you were, and he was always excited to be around you.

Jungkook does a quick jog to your car, grabbing Kai's Nike duffle from your trunk before jogging back to the elevator and back to his apartment. He walks in to see Kai helping you clean up the remaining dishes in the sink, tidying the rest of the things in his kitchen.

"Thank you." Jungkook says himself, a little unfamiliar with saying such a thing to be completely honest.

"You're welcome." You say softly, wiping your hands on his hand towel. "Off to bed, or are you gonna go online with your friends?"

"I'll see what they're up to, but I'm pretty beat. Today was fun." Kai smiles at the both of you. "I really appreciate it." You ruffle his hair a bit before gently pushing him towards his bedroom for the night.

"Bathroom's right over there, help yourself to anything you need."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Only if you aren't too loud." You gasp while Jungkook laughs out loud.

"Kai!"

"Hey, I'm just being honest. Please remember that I'm right in this room."

"Oh my god, go to bed." You shove him inside the room and shut his door. "Don't even say a word." You look at Jungkook shyly as you hurriedly brush past him to get into his room - even though Jungkook is literally right behind you with those long ass legs of his, making every stride so much easier for him to catch up to you.

"What's your outfit of choice tonight, pretty lady?" He shuts his door behind him as you start to make your way into his closet.

"Hm, I'll just wear this plain black--" You unfold it. "Balenciaga? Okay, I definitely can't just wear this to sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because this is like, name brand and everything."

"So?" He shrugs. "Just wear it, babygirl. It's not gonna make much of a difference, you're wearing it either way." You do a slight pout before you start to slip out of your clothes to get into his shirt. You make his way to his bathroom to take a little tinkle when you notice another toothbrush sitting next to his. A pink toothbrush, next to his blue one.

"Why do you have two toothbrushes?" You wash your hands as he comes in to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed.

"That's yours." Your eyes light up at his statement.

"Mine?"

"I figured since you'd be over more, it'd be easier for you." He furrows his brows lightly. "Unless.. you didn't want--" You press a kiss against his lips, his hands resting on your arms to keep you close.

"No, I did want that. Thank you."

"Of course, baby." He pecks your forehead.

"By the way, way to make me look like such a bad sister!" You say as you start getting your toothbrush ready.

"Why? The shoes?"

"The shoes, the Loco Moco, the games, the ice cream cake." You laughed. "I literally got him a video game and some money."

"I mean, he is turning 18. I wanted to help make it as memorable as possible."

"I appreciate you a lot. Really."

"I appreciate you too." Your eyes widen as you brush your teeth.

"Waaaaow, say thaht wun mohr tiyme." You say, pulling a Jungkook while brushing your teeth.

"Eye apprushiate yoh toh." You giggle. The both of you finish getting ready for bed before slipping into his warm sheets. Jungkook never goes to sleep early, however, he makes sure all the lights are off and that the show he's watching isn't too loud. You have no idea what's going on in his show, but you lay on his chest to watch for a little bit until you feel yourself getting a little more sleepy. He's holding you close, his hand brushing through your hair softly, causing tingles to ripple through your body.

"Kook."

"Yes, baby?"

"You make me happy." You say sleepily as you hung him tighter. He smiles down at you, your eyes now shut close as you slowly start to drift into a deep sleep. He presses a light kiss against your head, fingers still in your hair.

"You make me happy too, sweetheart."

[couchpotatoaniki]

ATEEZ MTL: Most likely to date a curvy Latina

This is requested by @mingisbride (sorry, tags ain’t working properly)

Most Mingi San Yunho Wooyoung Hongjoong Yeosang Seonghwa Jongho Least

Explanation under the cut

Okay so, like with my previous ATEEZ MTL post, this would’ve been more for ranking how quickly or easily they would get into a relationship with someone who is culturally different (since I’m sure the boys would be with the person they really love no matter the differences). However, since that’s already been done, I’ll be focusing more on the body type. Again, just to reiterate, if they really love someone, they would be with them more for their personality than anything else. Also, upon looking back, I realise that it kinda turned into slight scenarios than cold-cut reasoning, and I slowly get carried away with each one... Sorry 😅😅.

That being said, the first one on here is Mingi. Can’t explain why, but he just gives me the vibes of someone loves warmth and comfort. Boy is a precious baby. From experience (’cause I’m curvy myself and I’ve been told this by my friends), curvy people are very huggable and we also give the best hugs too. So that warmth of being in someone’s arms would be something he would like to see in a partner--that comfort and love they can provide with such a simple yet intimate gesture. Simple answer, Mingi would be one of those love-sick people who would count the seconds until he could see you again--more importantly, have you in his arms again.

San. Second verse same as the first, because let’s be honest here; he’s also another precious bean. The only reason he’s lower than Mingi is because I feel like he isn’t as in-need of receiving that warmth and comfort since he provides quite a bit himself. San’s a giver--a lover, and an intense one at that. So I don’t think he’d be in as much need of it than Mingi, but he’d definitely wouldn’t mind at all. If anything, he would probably search for someone who’s as much of a giver as he is--someone who will give him bear-hugs at random times in the day, someone who would run their fingers through his hair when he’s stressed, someone who loves skinship as much as he does.

We’ve all seen Yunho’s hands. Look at how damn big they are. Would you ever expect me to believe that those hand’s don’t itch to have something to hold? No, you wouldn’t. Yunho just screams that person you see when you’re just chillin’ in public--the one who’s constantly holding onto their s/o’s waist, thighs, butt, hands--anything they can get their hands on (obviously, this should happen respectfully and must be okay with both parties involved). Yeah, that person that makes you want to puke and fawn at the same time and remind you that you’re so single it hurts--Yeah, that’s enough of that. Point it, being curvy would be the best thing for him because his hands just get very trigger-happy at the thought of feeling you in them. Again, being part of the Precious Bean Squad, he’d ask if it would be okay since he’s still very soft-hearted and doesn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. 

Now, Wooyoung in my eyes is a playful lover, making him one of the affectionate types. He likes to hug, to grab, to hold (kinda like Yunho, but a lot more light-heartedly). He likes to throw his body on top of yours when you’re lying down, looking at your phone peacefully--too peacefully. Wooyoung is just as needy as the boys above, but what sets him apart is because of how playful he is. He’s not as much of a giver as San, nor is he in-need as Mingi, or grabby as Yunho, but he certainly loves to have fun with his s/o. Body type doesn’t matter as much to him since as long as he just enjoys being with you--most of the time that would include wrapping you in his arms or any other form of movement constrictions so you just stay with him and hear him ramble about his day (I don’t think you’d mind much though). Being curvy just makes the experience softer, and warmer.

Hongjoong, ma boi. I’m sure we all know how open-minded he is. Hongjoong sees the beauty in everything, not from looks but from personality. Be it skinny or curvy, as long as you’re a good person and your personalities compliment each other, he’d fall for you so fast you’d get whiplash. I’m not joking. Being curvy would have it’s own benefit though, since he would definitely need comfort after a long day(s) holed up in the studio, hunched over his computer like a man on a mission. Coming home to you, letting his tense, rigid body relax against your much softer one would be like having his own portable body pillow. He’d even bring you to the studio but it would end up with him being at war with himself to get some work done or the very tempting offer of relaxing with you.

And then there’s Yeosang. Lil baby is shy, there’s no doubt in that. And purely because of this, he’s lower than Hongjoong. He’s too afraid to get into a relationship--too shy around you to even consider that you might want to be in a relationship with him. With Yeosang, it takes time and patience. There’s something wired in him which makes him seem blunt and sarcastic when he actually wants to compliment you. For example, the thought “you look beautiful today” would translate to “you look decent”. He tries though, and that’s when you can see it; it’s when you realise that he’s not just a natural asshole, but just has some trouble communicating. But with you, he makes that extra effort because he knows about all the insecurities you get (especially about your body) and he’d much rather throw himself off the moon than hurt you (ignore the physics of gravity and space for me and just roll with the metaphor). Patience and a bit more communication is needed with him, but once you two are there, you’re set for life.

The meticulous Seonghwa is second-to-last because, honestly, it was process of elimination. Thinking on it, he’d be less shy than Yeosang, but he’d have a harder time with communication. He’s the Mum of the group and so out of habit he’d end up being your mother in the relationship. That is, until you show him that you have a mind of your own and have been able to look after yourself, especially being an ‘ethnic minority’ in the very western media. Being curvy had given you certain experiences (good and bad) that’s helped shape who you are inside and how you deal with things. Don’t get me wrong, being coddled by Seonghwa is nice, but you feel a bit of sympathy and would rather just help him relax instead. So, now I think I can put my finger on why I put him so low down; he’s apprehensive about being loved and cared for because loving and caring is all he can remember doing. Let him feel that it’s okay to hug you not just for you, but for him too. You’ve just got a lot more love to give than the average person.

Jongho is even shyer than Yeosang and even more of a tough cookie than Seonghwa. Personally, I see him as the kind of guy who’ll keep his thoughts of romance to himself and try to get on with life without causing too much hassle for the both of you. Problem is, he enjoys being with you, and you, him; it’s just sorta become something strange. Not quite lovers... not quite friends either. A best friend would be close but still, there’s a bit more passion, a bit more touchy-feely between the two of you (obviously consensual, ‘cause we love that jazz). After a long few hours in the gym, he’s thinking of going over to your place, of lying down on your sofa, your bed, and just breathing in the same scent that appears to be some sort of drug for his mind. Then he shakes his head and decided against bothering you this late at night, until you pop up behind the  door he just opened--already knowing his schedule like the back of your hand--with a food bag of some of your ethnic food in one hand and your car keys in the other. It’s because you have this sense that he needs you today a little more than before, but at this point, you already know he’ll be just as closed off--especially when it comes to being with you. A stress reliever to him, you’ve come to understand, since you can’t help but feel the tension in his muscles melt away when his arms wrap so cosily around your body. Like they’re meant to be there.

[san-fics]

COZplay

Felinette

Ao3

[Authors note: This story is called is gonna be an emotional ride, so make sure you went through tags on Ao3 before reading it - fluff, angst and smut in a crazy mix, but I will mark the smut-chapter with 18+ sign, so if you want avoid reading it you can, it won't give too big impact on the plot of the story, but I want to warn you that the straightforward moments are woven into the main plot as well, so I suggest you read it if you are ready to at list Teen And Up-Audiences rating for hot 18+ marked parts]

Part 2

Coz: so, where do i enter?

Marinette: oh

Marinette: right!)

Marinette: u see, i’m so distracted all the time!

Marinette: anyway

Marinette: we want them to speak in verse when they meet on their secret dates

Coz: i see

Coz: is there an approximate content of their dialogues?

Marinette: very approximate…

Coz: so more like free writing

Coz: which doesn’t have to be a bad thing

Coz: maybe something like

Coz: Your blue eyes are beautiful even at night

Coz: I’m scared that it turns out that I am not right

Coz: That I am not worthy of kissing your lips

Coz: This moment will suddenly end in an eclipse

Marinette: wow

Marinette: did u just write this?

Coz: it came to my mind when i imagined this couple on a secret date

Coz: this is a very rough sketch, but u need to start with something, right?

Marinette: a rough sketch???

Marinette: these lines r so good!!

Coz: not good enough

Coz: some words require clarification

Coz: and the fourth line needs to be corrected ‘cause of the rhythmic error

Marinette: what’s rhythmic error?

Coz: in verse, all lines should have the same rhythmic structure

Coz: stressed syllables alternate with unstressed ones in a certain order

Coz: otherwise the rhythm breaks

Coz: just like it does at the end of the fourth line

Marinette: wow

Marinette: Adrien was right

Marinette: u r really good at that

Coz: i guess i was good once

Coz: but i stopped writing a long time ago

Marinette: it's a waste

Marinette: it’s obvious that u have a talent

Marinette: besides, u also understand what u r doing!

Marinette: so like u can do it both with ur heart and ur mind

Felix wasn’t feeling right.

Marinette would never tell him all those compliments and give all this support if she knew it was him. And though they kind of were enemies — not that he had a reason for it, Felix was more like following her lead every time she started arguing with him — he would prefer her to say those words to his face, which would never happen.

Felix was self-confident and usually did not need outside support for his undertaking, but for some reason such open admiration from this girl hit him to the core.

He stopped writing poetry after his father’s death and didn’t think he would have an inspiration to ever write again. But this story touched him, as if it was written about himself...

Marinette: i have to ask though

Marinette: why does she have blue eyes?

Felix blinked.

He reread the lines and realized that when he imagined the masked couple on a secret date, the eyes looking back at him from behind the mask were her eyes.

Marinette.

Felix shook his head. This was getting deeper than it should have.

Coz: blue is good collor

Coz: do u have something against blue?

He wrote, trying to cover his tracks.

Marinette: no, no

Marinette: i don’t mind

Marinette: my eyes r blue as well

Marinette: i was just curious

Marinette: for me it sounds perfect

Marinette: i can associate myself with a heroine better

Marinette: so it’s gonna be easier to write about her feelings, i guess

Felix sighed.

Accepting compliments while hiding under the guise of someone else from a girl who hated him in real life was more than enough for him to also identify with the character in this story.

It remains only to fall in love with her for the full picture!

Marinette: so thank u again

Marinette: u also explained me about rhythm in verses

Marinette: and wrote few lines for our story

Marinette: and even explained me about turning bad luck into good

Marinette: u r just a treasure!

Marinette: i don’t understand why Adrien hid u for so long!

Marinette: maybe he was afraid that you would take away all his fans?

Marinette: with ur writing talent, u don’t even need to be a model for that

The reminder of Adrien upset him even more. The more she praised him, the more she would hate him when she knew it was Feelix. And the presence of Adrien in this situation guarantees that at the latest when Marinette finds out the truth is at school tomorrow.

Felix himself did not notice when this fact began to upset him.

Marinette: can i call u?

Felix read her message again.

Looks like the moment of truth will come sooner than he anticipated.

Of course Felix could say that he couldn’t speak right now or try to change his voice. But what will it give? Few more messages about poetry?

At least this way it will happen outside a crowded place and the issue will be closed.

Felix pressed the call button himself.

“Oh, hey!” Marinette exclaimed into the phone, but he heard that she was trying to speak quietly. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure you could talk. It’s pretty late already, my parents are asleep, so I can’t speak loud. But I really wanted to hear your voice.”

“I see.” Felix said also in a low voice and sighed, preparing to take the hit. At least she won’t scream so as not to wake up her parents. “Now you heard it.”

“You have an even, calm voice. I like it.” Marinette said.

What?

Not a day went by that they didn’t yell at each other at school. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize his voice, unless…

Marinette was used to his loud, rough voice. Plus, she doesn’t expect to hear HIS voice here. And how not to believe after that that people see and hear only what they want or expect?

“Your voice is nice too.” Felix said finally. ‘When you don’t use it for yelling at me,’ – he added in his head.

“We never met, but I had this feeling that I know you.” Marinette admitted. “So I wanted to hear your voice too, you know, maybe to shake that feeling away?”

“Did it work?” Felix asked.

“Not really.” She laughed softly. “It actually didn’t, ‘cause now it feels like I know your voice too.”

Here it comes, Felix thought.

“Maybe it’s one of those cases when you meet someone for the first time, and it feels like you know each other forever?” Marinette suggested. “I only heard of it before. Don’t you feel something similar?”

“Kind of.” He replied evasively .

“So tell me, why Adrien has a photo of a red-haired dog instead of your picture in your contact?” Marinette asked.

‘It’s because Adrien knows that Ladybug gave the dog miraculous to me instead of him and he still hasn’t settled on this subject, because he has a crush on her, and I stole her yoyo with all the miraculous, so you can imagine the situation for him…’ – that would have been hell of an answer, Felix thought.

“It’s a long story.” He said instead.

“Hmm… Now you are like a mystery to me.” Marinette said. “But someone taught me to use bad luck and make a good out of it.” She added, and Felix could hear her smiling.

The corners of his mouth twitched into an unconscious smile in response.

“And what good is it in not knowing the face of your interlocutor?” He asked.

“I can imagine you the way I want.” She explained.

Felix smirked.

Marinette was learning fast and could have a great potential for an interesting company.

Too bad their conversation will soon have to be interrupted.

“And how do you imagine me?” Felix asked, deciding to enjoy the moment, since such an opportunity was presented to him.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Marinette replied. “But I'll tell you when I do.”

[part 1] ... [part 3]

.

Felinette Tag list (ask me to join)

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[spacedikut]

starstruck ; spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid (criminal minds) x f!reader

summary:  “Can I request some age gap Spencer x reader. Maybe he’s nervous about approaching her for a relationship bc she’s younger, but he’s so goofy for her it’s he’s in love obvious. Pretty pls 🥺💕” 5222 words

a/n: i didn’t specify ages cause i wasn’t sure what people would be comfortable with so i just mentioned an age gap and leave the rest up to you!! i would happily date someone twice my age but i also have daddy issues so :)

masterlist

The day has finally arrived.

Mollie can call you a nerd all she wants, but you know the second she lays eyes on Derek Morgan or Emily Prentiss she’ll change her tune.

This event has been in the university’s calendar since the beginning of the semester. At least two members of the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit were promised to give a talk about their department, even taking you through a solved case like an interactive documentary, to encourage students to consider joining the academy post-graduation. There was whispers they’d even stick around after to answer some questions.

Your other friend, Jen, the one that understands your excitement, wrote your names down for tickets immediately. You’ve had a countdown on your phone ever since.

“They’ve announced a last-minute guest,” She beams, just as giddy as you. You’re wasting time at the coffee house near the auditorium, waiting for Mollie to arrive.

“Oh, really? Who?”

“Doctor Spencer Reid.”

You almost drop your cookie in shock and stare at her, pupils blown.

“You’re a big fan?” She smirks.

As nonchalantly as you can, you lean back in your chair, “I’m a fan of his work, yes.”

“Oh, his work?”

“Don’t start.”

“I bet you love his work.”

“He’s well-versed and his papers are super interesting-“

“His papers are super interesting-“

“You are a child.”

Just then, Mollie appears, checking her watch. You wish you could kiss her in thanks for saving you from the teasing that would likely never end. “We’re gonna be late for your morbid seminar if you two don’t stop bickering.”

Jen downs the rest of her drink, you shove the last of the cookie in your mouth. Mollie watches your excitement in amusement – your heart starts pumping, whole body buzzing, the same nervousness you felt when you were a preteen right before your first ever One Direction concert. It’s the kind of nervousness that makes your palms sweaty.

Is it evolution or devolution to go from sweating over One Direction to sweating over FBI profilers?

+++

The seminar goes on for an hour, including the questions people ask throughout. It’s everything you could’ve asked for, entertaining and so, so informative and although you weren’t considering joining the FBI before, suddenly it’s all you can think about. Guest speakers have that affect, don’t they? They make you wonder if you should drastically change everything you’ve been planning.

Even Mollie, who you had to threaten to tag along, ended up enjoying herself. “Maybe I learnt a thing or two,” She’d said, rolling her eyes playfully.

You and your friends are some of the last to leave. There’s quite the bustling outside, which you assume is just post-seminar chatter, but you and Jen falter in your steps when you see the exact profilers that had been onstage several minutes ago in front of you, happily interacting and talking to fellow students.

“Oh, man,” Jen whispers, her and Mollie making eye contact across you. “I have to see if I can talk to Emily.”

Mollie encourages her with a frantic, “Go! Go!” while you’re rooted in place. Mollie jabs you with a pointed nail, “You in there, Y/N? I’m sure you have loads of questions for them-“

You stutter and shake your head, “N-no. I’m good. You can try and hit on Derek, if you want.”

You give a half-attempt at a smile, barely lifting the corners of your lips. Mollie recognises that look. She wants to stay with you, check you’re not too overwhelmed, but you shoo her away and send her towards Derek. You breathe a sigh of relief – you’ve been friends with her long enough that she knows when you need space.

There’s something about seeing people you admire so abruptly that totally throws you for a loop. All you had prepared for was seeing them from afar and subsequently talking about it forever, but nothing beyond that. In some circumstances, it’d be a pleasant surprise, but for someone that struggles around strangers and especially around people as admirable as profilers, you are not mentally prepared for this and have therefore shut down.

But then you see him.

He’s shuffling in place in the corner of the room, close to a large potted plant like it’s his only friend. He’s nibbling his lip as his eyes flutter around, never staying somewhere for longer than a second, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

Why is no one talking to him? He’s Spencer Reid.

There’s a couple of people surrounding Emily, fully entranced by whatever story she’s relaying, another few people around Derek, chortling at a joke he just made. Spencer glances between them and their audiences, and you can’t help but wonder why he isn’t right next to them, chatting away, too.

Does he not want to talk to anyone?

You should talk to him.

No. He probably wants to be alone.

Or what if he doesn’t and no one else is talking to him which means you can have a one-on-one conversation? What about that?

Are you insane?

…

You have to talk to him.

Before you can change your mind, you’re approaching him with a tight grip on the handle of your bag, pushing it higher up your shoulder. He spots you and makes eye contact just as you stop in front of him, and you notice he momentarily tightens his grip on his satchel.

Was this a bad idea?

“Hi,” You breathe, “I’m Y/N. A big fan.”

His eyes widen a fraction, which you don’t understand because why else would you be here, but he smiles nonetheless, “Hi, I’m, uh, Spencer Reid.”

“I know.”

“Yes, you know. That makes sense, because you were in the seminar. I saw you.”

Now you’re shocked. For as long as you can remember you never sit in the centre of a room, where most attention seems to go, so how did he-

“I-I always scan the room I’m in its.. it’s not a creepy thing, I swear. I’m not creepy.”

A laugh escapes you at that, making him visibly relax. “I don’t think you’re creepy. There was just.. a lot of people in there, so I’m surprised you remember my face.” You shrug.

I couldn’t forget such a beautiful face.

You don’t know what happens, but Spencer suddenly tenses up. His back straightens and he looks alarm, stiff.

Did he just think that? What.. why did he think that?

You wonder if you’ve said something wrong, so you try to change the topic.

“I-I have a question, if you don’t mind answering.”

Spencer nods with an of course, and when the question rolls off your tongue, his mind is still reeling from subconsciously calling you beautiful in his head. It’s not untrue, but it feels.. inappropriate. He doesn’t know why. But you are beautiful.

As he scans your face, now much closer than in the auditorium, he realises yeah, you are incredibly beautiful.

You wave a hand in front of his face, “Doctor Reid?”

“Sorry, yes, sorry. What are you studying?”

There’s a light in your eyes that Spencer recognises when you say, “Psychology.”

“Thought so.”

“You probably talk to a lot of psychology students. I-um. I almost went to Caltech,” Spencer raises an eyebrow, "After I read your dissertation, it really inspired me to look into it – your dissertation is incredible, by the way.”

Spencer smiles bashfully, a futile attempt to not allow the grin to overtake his face, and thanks you, “I appreciate it. Actually, I was sixteen when I wrote it.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Your eyes widen, “You’re insane! You’re amazing!”

The praise bursts from you, and his blushing face makes you oddly proud. On the other hand, Spencer feels like you’ve set him alight, his blood pumping loudly in his ears, as he’s unable to tear his eyes away from your smile.

He desperately needs to change the topic.

“To answer your question…”

Derek notices you two interacting across the room. Mollie sees him looking and hums, “Oh, that’s Y/N, my best friend. She really likes Spencer.”

Derek raises an eyebrow, “Looks like he really likes her.”

“Don’t tell her that. She’ll collapse.”

They both watch you for a second, Spencer flailing his arms as he explains, you eagerly adding to his rambling, asking a question here and exclaiming some kind of encouragement there. It’s sweet, Derek thinks.

“Hey..” Mollie begins, a scheming look in her eye, “We’re planning to hang out in the campus bar later. It’s open to all and the drinks are cheap. If you and Emily happen to find yourselves looking for something to do and you drag Spencer along.. I’m sure Y/N would like it.”

“I like the way you think,” Derek says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

+++

“She’s getting hit on. Again.” You giggle, gesturing for Jen to turn around and witness Mollie get your drinks paid for by a random guy.

She’s always been a people person – it’s saved you hundreds on nights out.

All Jen does is glance over her shoulder, scoff, then turn her sceptical eyes to you.

“I saw you and Spencer Reid.” She says, twinkling eyes. She’s trying not to look smug.

“I almost proposed to him.” You joke, taking your drink from Mollie with a mumbled thanks.

“Oh, I bet you did,” She laughs, “You two looked sooo good together.”

“Alright,” You slide a shot to each girl, “I know you’re making fun of me, but I’m taking that compliment and cherishing it. Spencer Reid is cute, what of it?!”

You clink the shot glasses with your friends and down them, all wincing at the taste and giggling at Jen when she takes a gulp of her cocktail to wash away the taste of straight vodka.

“How did talking to Derek and Emily go?”

And then Jen starts chattering away.

You miss the bar door opening behind you, But Mollie notices. She’s been watching the door since they got here, conveniently choosing the table with the best view, just in case some profilers decided to stop by.

Derek catches Mollie’s eye and winks.

“Well I never,” Mollie fakes shock, “Look who just walked through the doors.”

You turn and choke on your drink. Emily and Derek look relax, like they’re home, but Spencer?

He looks just like he did earlier: like there’s a million places he’d rather be.

He’s lost the blazer he was wearing earlier, leaving him in a fitted purple shirt with a matching tie. With the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, you can see his firm hands and the silver watch that rests on his wrist – is it possible for a watch to be sexy? Or maybe it’s just cause he’s sexy?

That shot must be getting to you.

“What the hell are they doing here?” You hiss, a sharp whisper piercing the air as you turn and (terribly) try to hide your face.

But Spencer’s seen you. He spotted you the moment they came in – he recognised your clothes and your hair – and the second he did he turned right back around to exit the bar. Derek’s arm stopped him at his chest, like he does to unsubs, forcefully turning him around and laughing when Spencer tensed up.

“What, Reid? Scared of a pretty girl?” Derek teases, much like he’d been doing since he spoke to you earlier.

“I am scared of college girls, yes. Last time I was in a college bar I was twelve and downed shots of apple juice.”

“What?!” Both Emily and Derek stop short, looks of disbelief at the revelation. “You’ve never mentioned that.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“We,” Derek places his hands on Spencer’s shoulders, directing him to your table, “Are just gonna have a few drinks and talk to a few people, and then you’re gonna explain that apple juice story in explicit detail- hey ladies!”

Jen and Mollie look overjoyed at the new company, while you stare rigidly with distinctive what the fuck eyes.

“Would you mind if we joined you?” Emily asks, with a sparkling grin that no one could say no to.

“Of course not,” Jen grins, like it’s the most obvious answer.

The empty seat next to you is taken by Spencer (Derek discreetly shoves him) but right before he’s firmly placed on the stool, Emily calls out, “Spence, why don’t you get us some drinks? You still owe us after you lost that game of gin..”

“I didn’t lose.” Spencer huffs indignantly, “You cheated.”

Despite his grunts, he stands to make his way to the bar, but not before-

“Y/N!” Mollie beams, “It’s your turn to get the round, if you’d be so kind.”

You know that look on her face. You hate her, you realise, but you also love her because being alone with Spencer sends a thrill through you.

Alone with Spencer. What the hell are you supposed to say to him?

You follow him to the bar. He leans against it with an awkward smile.

“Hey, Y/N.”

“Hey.”

“It’s uh.. it’s been a long time since we’ve seen eachother.” It’s a half attempt at a joke, followed by instant regret. But then you giggle and everything feels right in the world, even Spencer’s sucky joke.

“It has been a while, Doctor Reid.” You say. The bartender approaches, takes your orders, then you turn to Spencer, “What brings you to a college bar, of all places?”

“Well,” Spencer glances over your shoulder to your table. He makes eye contact with every single person there, all watching you two interact, and they all sharply turn and try to play it off like they’ve been talking casually. Spencer’s brows furrow a little. “Derek said the drinks are cheap and our hotel is only a couple blocks away. I don’t know, maybe Derek likes college girls.”

You laugh again, and Spencer has to take a second to realise you’re not laughing at him but at what he said about Derek. “Yeah, Derek seems like a real ladies man.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Spencer grins, “We once timed him to see how long it would take to get a girls number and he did it in five minutes. And he said he was having a bad day.”

The drinks are placed in front of you. Neither of you notice.

You unconsciously lean closer, saying, “Have you timed it to see how long it takes for a girl to approach him? That’s gotta be, like, maybe ten minutes?”

“Eight minutes and twenty-three seconds.”

“Well damn. Has he always been so…” A hand gestures in the air, looking for the word.

“Promiscuous?”

“I was gonna say free.”

“Free?” Spencer giggles, “That’s very nice of you.”

You shrug, “I don’t judge.” Spencer agrees, and it slips out, “What about you?”

You wish you could shove the words back in your mouth. Even more so when his expression changes. You can’t entirely make out what it is, but even in the dimly lit bar you can see the flush of heat that spreads through his cheeks to his ears.

“Are you asking me if I’m free with the ladies?” He murmurs, suppressing a grin.

You give an awkward laugh, wondering if you’ve overstepped a boundary, “Yeah. But that’s kinda weird to ask, so-“

“I’m so popular with the ladies it puts Derek to shame.”

You can’t hide your surprise. “What? Really?”

Spencer caves. “No. Is it that hard to believe I’m a ladies man?”

“Compared to Derek? Yes.”

Spencer scoffs.

+++

“As adorable as they are, it’s been thirty minutes.” Emily sighs. “I want my drink.”

“They’re bonding,” Jen sends a wistful look, “I’m so proud.”

“I’m guessing Y/N isn’t the most social either?” Derek asks, proudly watching you interact.

“She’s the best, just a little shy sometimes.” She smiles at you, even though you can’t see, “She’s an idiot, but our idiot, you know?”

Both Emily and Derek laugh airily, nodding with a, “Yeah, we know.”

At once, three phones vibrate throughout the bar – Emily, Derek and Spencer. They’re instantly filled with disappointment; Derek can’t watch Spencer attempt to flirt with a girl he’s obviously interested in, Emily still hasn’t got a drink, and Spencer has to leave you and he can’t think of anything worse.

He’s clearly hesitant when he looks at his phone. How does he say goodbye? Does he ask for your number? Would that be weird? That would be weird.

“Uhh…”

You channel every ounce of liquid courage you have in your body and offer, “Would it be weird if I gave you my number? Just.. for anything. Anything at all.”

Spencer nods, a gentle look in his eyes and a smile on his face, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

You mumble an alright, accepting Spencer’s phone and creating a new contact for yourself.

Please text me. You think. Please text me.

+++

He doesn’t text.

It’s been a week. A week. You know how cases are, some take longer than others and some are solved in literal hours, but it’s been a week, Spencer goddamn Reid, so why haven’t you texted me.

That’s when the doubt creeps in. Your friends keep telling you he’ll text, that he’s just busy (“He’s an FBI agent, Y/N. If you start dating you’re gonna have to get used to lapses in contact.” To which you’re too distracted choking at the mention of you two dating), but you can’t help but wonder if he took your number simply so he could leave quicker. He had a case to get to, after all. He had people to save.

Now you feel guilty. You forced your number on him, didn’t you? Oh God, he hates you. He hates you and you forced your number on him and he hasn’t texted you because he’s filing a restraining order against you because he hates you.

Mollie tells you you need a nap.

+++

Spencer spends the time on the jet back from the case staring at your number. He has it memorised, of course, and has had it memorised from the first time he read it, of course, but he can’t bring himself to do anything with it.

All he’s done is change your contact picture from the standard first letter of your name to a cute picture of a frog Garcia sent him. It reminds him of you.

Derek lowers his headphones, “You texted her yet, Pretty Boy?”

“Huh? Uh, no. I don’t think I will.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” Spencer shrugs, locking his phone and placing it face down. “I don’t think anything would come from it.”

“Kid,” Derek leans forward, eyebrows furrowed, “You two talked for well over thirty minutes in the middle of a college bar about God knows what. Maybe I’m easy to impress, but that seemed pretty special to me.”

“How is talking in a college bar worth anything?”

“Because you’re Reid, who, most of the time, has to be physically dragged into a bar. You hate talking to strangers about anything other than work. Y/N? A stranger. What did you two talk about?”

“We talked about you a little.”

“Uhuh. About how good I am at my job?”

“God, no,” Spencer scrunches his nose, “We talked about your charm with the ladies.”

Derek falls back in his chair and scoffs, “I’m flattered, but that doesn’t sound like work-talk to me. So you’re comfortable with her. I saw you laughing, so she makes you laugh, too. Sounds pretty great to me.”

Spencer stares. Derek’s right, but..

“So what is it, Reid?”

Spencer licks his lips. “Do you think she’s too young for me?”

Derek rarely looks taken aback, but he does now, “Too young?”

“She’s in college. I’m-I’m-“

“A legal adult. As is she.”

Spencer slumps. “A 2014 Current Population Survey found the average difference for a heterosexual couple is two-point-three years, with the man older than the woman. Even if you double that, that’s still less than me and Y/N-“

“Four years isn’t a lot, Spence,”

“You just.. you don’t think it’s weird?”

“No. Do you?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.”

Derek’s conviction gives Spencer some reassurance, but he can’t help himself when he thinks that.. maybe.. you’ll find him boring. Most people seem to, with all his statistics and figures and facts, but with the added element of you living it up at college.. how could he compete?

“I think you’re worrying over nothing, Reid. You haven’t even texted her, and you’re already worrying about stuff like age gaps?” Derek crosses his hands and looks at Spencer with determination, “She gave you her number. She initiated it. She knows who you are, so she knows how old you are and it doesn’t seem to make her uncomfortable. So, why should it make you?”

Spencer just grunts.

“Are you worried people will say things?”

“I guess.”

“People always say things. You know that better than anyone. So screw ‘em.”

Spencer feels a smile creep onto his face.

And Derek relaxes. He’s planted the seeds, that Spencer is fretting over nothing, now all he’s got to do is wait for Spencer to let it sink in and allow the flowers to bloom and, next thing you know, Spencer’s gonna have himself the perfect girlfriend.

And Derek will take too much credit for it.

+++

“Heeeeeeeeey my precious Doctor…”

Garcia looks like her hand was caught in the cookie jar.

Spencer’s back straightens. “What did you do?”

She looks embarrassed, fiddling with the fluffy pen in her hand. She smiles awkwardly. “Derek may have told me about a pretty little college student that captured your heart, and then he told me you also haven’t texted her yet, so I did a little digging and…”

“You cyber-stalked Y/N?” Emily asks, casually. JJ seems unphased at the discussion. Does everyone in the office know about you?

“I did. I’m guilty. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.” She’s speaking a mile a minute.

Emily spares Spencer a glance, “Did you find anything?”

“Well…”

Concern fills Spencer. “Did something happen?”

“I just found some stuff she’d probably only tell a close friend and I feel really bad about it.” Her shoulders are by her ears as she tries to fold in on herself out of guilt, “But other than that she’s a genuinely sweet girl who volunteers at pet shelters and the college library in her free time and we have really similar music tastes so I think we’d make great friends.”

They all look to Spencer, waiting for his reaction. What? Is he supposed to be surprised that you’re the epitome of perfect? He’s not. He studied you the entire time you spoke.

“She’s also written several incredible papers on child development that I think are revolutionary and I totally emailed them to you because I think you should read them. She’s also a genius.”

Spencer’s hand twitches. He ignores the sudden need to check his email.

It’s silent as they just stare at him. He doesn’t say anything and tries not to react, but he does. They notice how his eyes flicker to his phone, how his leg fidgets, the longing in his eyes.

Emily brushes her hair back calmly and asks, “Hey, Pen, when does Y/N work at the college library?”

Penelope doesn’t catch on at first, casually replying, “Oh, basically every day from five pm onwards. They’re a twenty-four hour library and she combines working and studying.” When she sees Emily pointedly look at Spencer, she goes ohhh.

“Good to know,” Emily nods, “Good to know.”

+++

Spencer finds himself at the college library that night.

He wants to say it was an accident, or that he just happens to know there’s a special edition of a specific book here, but he’d be lying. He read your papers between reports, and found himself having a deep appreciation for the way you write – he wants to ready everything you’ve ever written. Every essay, every note, every formal and informal piece of work you’ve ever done.

He’s already fallen in love with the way you write. He doesn’t think he’s far from falling in love with you.

He wanders around the lower floor of the library. It’s impressive, he must admit, and he’s disappointed in himself for not visiting earlier. There’s students everywhere, but he notices some other people mixed in too – professors, businesspeople, as well as parents with their children.

He feels a little less weird for creeping around now.

Not that’s he’s creeping. He’s just.. there. To see a certain someone under the guise of looking for a book.

He moseys for a while, from the fiction section to the non-fiction to comics to autobiographies. You’re nowhere to be found – not between the rows of books, not working on any of the desks, not at the centre reception desk.

Until you’re suddenly behind him.

“Spencer?”

He jumps, looking up from the book he’s reading. Your voice is as calming and smooth as always.

“Y/N. Hi.”

“Hi,” Your brows are furrowed, but you’re not disappointed by the unexpected visitor. “What are you doing here?”

He lifts the book he’s holding, an Arthur Conan Doyle, giving a light lipped smile. “I’m just looking. I didn’t realise the college library was so plentiful – did you know the oldest library in the world dates from the seventh century BC?”

“I do, actually.” You point to a poster behind him, which displays that exact fact, “I thought dotting facts around the library would be interesting for the kids. They seem to like them.”

“Learning in young children is socially mediated, so good quality learning environments outside of their schools is crucial for children’s development. So, in a way, you’re enriching their lives beyond understanding.”

You’re flattered at his somewhat far-fetched attempt at complimenting you. It makes your heart flutter.

Why didn’t you contact me, you dimwit?

You open your mouth to ask another question, ask if there’s something he needs help finding, when he beats you to it.

With a firm grip, he slams the book he’s reading shut and says, “I’m lying.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t come here to.. look around. I came here to see you.”

“Oh.”

Spencer doesn’t know what to make of that. You haven’t awkwardly looked away, or stepped back to increase the distance between you. That means something good, right?

“You didn’t text me, so I assumed you weren’t interested.” Your brows twitch, and you back-pedal, “Unless you purposely didn’t text me because you actually weren’t interested and you might be here to see me but for something book-related rather than me-related and I’ve totally humiliated myself.”

“No, no. You’re right. You’re right.” He fiddles with the book in shame, “I should’ve texted you. I just didn’t know what to say and.. Well, it’s stupid.”

Your head jerks a little to the side, something he’s noticed you do a lot, looking patient and too pretty for him to handle. “I’m sure it’s not stupid.”

Spencer thinks back to his conversation with Derek, specifically the reminder that you gave him your number which means you initiated this so yes, you are interested in him.

It’s just.. when he looks at you, he struggles to believe it a little. You’re breath-taking.  

“I’m worried I’ll bore you.” He starts light, easing you into what’s been troubling him. He’s emboldened by the fact you’re clearly frustrated he didn’t text you.

You give him a look of horror, “The first time we met I told you I loved your dissertation on geographic regression. I definitely do not think you’re anything anywhere near boring.”

“Okay,” He nods, “What about our ages?”

You’re confused. “What about it?”

Spencer mirrors your expression. “It doesn’t.. bother you?”

“Does it.. bother you?”

Usually, answering a question with a question is a sign of deflection, a sign of hiding something. However he doesn’t know why, but Spencer trusts you with his life. Maybe not his life. Maybe his heart.

“Does that silence mean yes?”

He shakes his head, “No. It doesn’t bother me. I just worry that, you know, college years are the so-called best years of your life and I don’t want you to regret being with me, someone older than you, and resent me for it, or something-“

“I think you’re getting way in your head, Spence.” You laugh a little, “We haven’t gone on a single date and you’ve convinced yourself of so much already. For the record, no, your age doesn’t bother me in the slightest. It never has and I doubt it ever will. I think you’re the most fascinating and interesting person on this planet, and if anyone is getting bored with anyone I’m pretty confident it’ll be you getting sick of me. And,” You take a breath, “I think I’m old enough to know what I want, who I want, and what I want is you. If you want me, too.”

Spencer shoves the book back into the bookshelf with a satisfying sound, then turns and quickly places a kiss onto your cheek. It’s completely unexpected and, quite frankly, not something you’d expect from Doctor Reid, but you blush and there’s a definite red colour to Spencer’s cheeks, too.

“I will never, ever, get sick of you.” He says, voice small but firm. “But I don’t want you to regret being with me. Promise me you won’t.”

You give him a look that tells him you think he’s ridiculous. “I promise that I won’t regret being with you. I’d like us to last as long as possible, if I can be picky.”

“I’d like that, too.” He murmurs. The thought of you wanting him for as long as possible almost sends him into a frenzy. He wants to kiss you all over.

You stand close and talk quietly for a while, a little more discussion on a possible date that weekend and a constant stream of compliments from you to Spencer and vice versa, before you realise the time.

“I should probably go. I have a paper to finish.” You smile sadly, a tiny pout forming.

“I understand. Do you think I could read it? When you’re done?”

Your eyebrows shoot up, “Do you know how terrifying the idea of the Spencer Reid reading my work is? But yes, anything for you.”

Anything for you. Are you trying to kill him?

You turn to leave, refusing to admit how sad leaving Spencer makes you feel, when you stop, “One more thing.”

Spencer hums. He’s not fully paying attention, praying to whatever Gods exist that killers take a break on the weekend so he can take you out on the sweetest date.

“If age is a sore area for you,” There’s mirth in your eyes and Spencer prepares himself, “Does that mean the nickname old man is off the table?”

His lips purse and move towards his nose as he narrows his eyes, giving you a look of faux annoyance, “I am not an old man.”

“Sounds like you’re sensitive, old man.”

As you walk away, you jokingly blow him a kiss to add insult to injury. His pretend glare lasts until your back is turned and he feels his gaze softening to something akin to love.

Spencer thins if the rest of his life is this, you teasing him with that twinkle in your eye and smile on your face, then life is truly the most beautiful thing.

[kazeofthemagun]

Should you fight Black Wind?

[tagged: I see people do this so I shall, too]

[tagging: @shiroi---kumo @cursedfortune (@ofmanytxngues ) depends on if you wanna do a writeup]

[Anyway, let's get on with it: Should you fight Kaze?]

[Realistically? He's the God of Destruction's vessel, no you should not fight him. Jokes aside:]

Anime Kaze

At least with this one, the Magun is wounded and asleep so unless you both happen to be near a potent source of Chaos that will wake the gun up, you will not be blown up by a godly and/or demonic creature. In this version, Kaze is almost completely unable to use the Magun, which includes manifesting the engine blades. Really, his right arm is solely a bludgeoning weapon. Seriously, that thing weighs a figurative tonne, stay away from it.

Despite being incapable of using his Main Thing, Black Wind is a highly trained Windarian general, and is all about guns. Gun-mage, remember? He has a double-barreled, spring action shotgun with heavy caliber rounds that pretty much guarantee a kill upon impact by making sure your body is turned into mincemeat. If you're hit in a limb, that limb is going to be decimated. If you're hit in the main body you're toast. This gun possesses an indeterminate mag size of anywhere between 10-20 and please do not ask me how it works, this thing is more fantastical than the Magun itself.

When fighting long range, the best strategy would be to try and get him to waste his ammo until he has to reload, though he could very well bluff and surprise you with a few more shots. When he does have to reload, however, he has to do it onehandedly and it takes a while. Getting in melee is your best bet, but now you're facing a 6'8" humanoid alien with superhuman strength who is more than capable of snapping your neck (and everything else). Despite his heavy Demon Weapon, he is surprisingly fast and skilled with the use of the dagger he keeps at the backside of his belt. Absolutely will fight dirty, trying to sweep your leg and utilizing more underhanded tactics as the fight goes on.

This version of Kaze's stamina is notably worse than his after-series counterpart. He hasn't eaten in a long time and the magical Demon Weapon is the only thing keeping his body functional. Despite his height, he is quite the twig, and despite the Windarians' racial strength, could probably be contended with by a physically powerful human. Can be off-balanced somewhat easily due to the Magun's immense weight bending his spine and causing his center of mass to shift to his right. Also, any version of Kaze is weak to water magic and extremely weak to Blue Elenium, if some still exists in Wonderland.

After Kaze (Main Verse Kaze)

Noooope. You're fighting an awakened Unlimited, which is Bad. No ordinary human stands any semblance of a chance here, similar to a fight with White Cloud. These two? Gods' vessels, and have the power to show for it. The Magun is well awake and capable of unleashing potent magic (and its blades) at a moment's notice. When fighting this version, you will have to contend not only with summoned Espers, but Spiral magic. Sand alone is coarse, rough, and irritating, but have you ever considered magic soul sand? Soil comes in a variety of colors and elemental properties, and when it starts to stir, you will be assaulted by a magically volatile sandstorm and any hard-hitting attacks of your own will be blocked by the Soil hardening into near-unbreakable glass walls. Glass walls that can well explode outwards like frag grenades. All the while, you will be shot at.

But none of this is nowhere near as terrifying as what an Esper can do. Sure, if you can get past rampaging Soilwind you could probably throw a wrench into Black Wind's summonings. Certain spells could interrupt him and force him to fold the Magun's engine avoid damage. Still, if you find yourself unable to throw your biggest attacks to stop this process, you'll be forced to fight an entity known as an Esper. There are many Espers, and each has a different set of abilities, but one trait they do share - being am unparalleled force of utter destruction. Good luck.

If you still survive, you probably know what to do. Prevent the gunmage from casting his funky lil spells and you may stand a (temporary) chance because yup, you can't kill an Unlimited in any way that will stick. If you can use your own magic to manipulate Soil in any way, you can throw off the Demon Weapon's mechanisms and cause it to overheat faster. Similarly, going through 4-5 summonings in quick succession is nearly guaranteed to overheat the gun and cause it to shut down. Kaze's blood serves as its coolant, so this is more than likely to be a kill.

Congratulations, you've beaten who's probably one of Final Fantasy's most OP characters. Now go fight Kumo and see if you can get that one achievement for besting the both of them.🏆

Gun Dragon form

...Don't even think about it.

[gunterfan1992]

Interview with Half Shy (the songwriter of “Monster”)

For the last few months, I’ve been collecting information for a second edition of Exploring the Land of Ooo that will also cover the production of Distant Lands. This means that I’ve started to look into the new songs that we have been graced with this year, and this of course includes “Monster,” the beautiful track from the masterpiece that is “Obsidian”. And so I reached out to the song’s writer, Half Shy, who was kind enough to chat with me via email about the songwriting process!

(Photo courtesy of Half Shy)

In many ways, Half Shy is living the creative Adventure Time fan’s dream: She got asked by Adam Muto himself to write a song for “Obsidian” after he heard her music through Bandcamp! (I’ve dabbled in fan music before, and the fact that someone from the show might listen to it just blows my mind.) What an opportunity; I am so excited for her!

Since a second edition of my book won’t be coming out until after all the Distant Lands episodes air, I thought it would be best to share my Half Shy interview now. Read on for the fascinating behind the scenes story of how Half Shy and “Monster” came to be..

GunterFan: What is your origin story? How did you get involved in music, and how did the Half Shy project come to be?

Half Shy: I’ve been making music pretty quietly since I was in high school with a keyboard and guitar. I played one or two shows a year after college when I could find a friend or my brother to get up on stage with me, but I don’t really have that performer gene in me naturally. I get too much in my head and forget what the lyrics are to the song I wrote, or what the next chord is. Total brain freeze. So that whole experience is a bit of a mental drain. It’s something I think I’d like to dig into and figure out, but right now I’m really enjoying the time writing.

Even playing a song for my friends I still get pretty nervous. That’s where the name Half Shy comes from. I’ve always been interested in making things that by their nature draw a bit of a spotlight, but at the same time, I am just really quite nervous about the attention.

I recorded my first songs under my old name Hey V Kay in my bedroom and started putting them up online one at a time. When I got enough I thought about packaging it up into an album, but then got really distracted by learning how to fix up motorcycles and going to automotive tech school. When I eventually got back around to it I named the album Gut Wrenching.

After a few years I realized that I didn’t want the day-in-day-out life of a mechanic, I just wanted to know how to fix cars for myself and to have that knowledge in my back pocket. I got back into making music but grew frustrated at the process of writing and recording songs. I felt like I wasn’t able to capture the ideas I had in my head. Like trying to draw on your computer with a mouse. Doable, but it’s not going to come out like you’d hoped.

So these last couple of years I’ve focused more on learning the technical aspect of it, from the initial ideas and lyrics, to the recording and mixing. During that process I put out Bedroom Visionaries, and while writing I happened upon the name Half Shy in an old Thesaurus which felt instantly right. Learning all of that has been fun, I even went as far as to create my own book to solidify a daily writing routine (lyricworkbook.com). All that has been a bit of a tangent from actually making much music though. I should be getting my books in December from the press so I’m really looking forward to getting back into making more music instead of dealing with printing presses, setting up websites, and sourcing ribbon suppliers.

GF: What is the story behind "Monster"? How did the show get in contact with you?

HS: I keep a log of “Song Starters” with neat things I’ve heard in the world, and I would look through it every now and then and notice just how many came from Adventure Time. Eventually I thought well, I have to make a song about this show that just keeps breaking my heart. It was around the time I was nearly done with the first [Adventure Time-inspired] song “In My Element” that I got an email from Bandcamp saying “someone bought your album (Bedroom Visionaries).”

I get maybe one or two of these a month at most so I love to go in and say hi to the person and say thanks, be curious about who they are, [and] what they’re all about. Turns out it was Adam Muto, the executive producer of the show. (I asked and he has no idea how he happened upon my stuff. He guessed that I must have tagged something #adventuretime and he just happened to see it.) So I sent him an email saying, “Hey wow thanks for checking out my tunes. Also... holy crap you’ve made the best show I have ever seen in my life.” [I] played it real cool like. After finishing up writing my second [Adventure Time-inspired] song “Betty” I couldn’t help but fangirl real hard [and I sent him another message saying], “I’m sorry this is probably awkward, but I really love your show and I wrote these songs about it.” He was incredibly kind and shared them with his Twitter Universe, and a while after that I got a random email from him saying basically, “Hey, I’m working on this thing I can’t talk about, would you be interested?” I was like… well you know I’m pretty busy working at a sign shop so I’m gonna have to pass on this once in a lifetime opportunity (J/K. Obviously I fan-girl squealed and said yes immediately).

We chatted a bit about what the project was going to be and the direction. He mentioned there [would be] two Marceline songs in the special, [and he asked if I] would I be interested in giving the love song a try? Trying real hard to suppress my instant imposter syndrome I was like, “Yea, totally I’d be into giving that a shot!” So I read through the story and loved the idea of the dragon mirrored in Marceline, thinking through how they’ve both built up a protective shell, how she grew tough for a reason, but now she can open up and be vulnerable with PB.

From there I wrote the initial demo with the first two verses mostly intact and we went back and forth a few times editing it down into the final version. I recorded the final parts for the show in my little home studio in Seattle.

GS: When you were writing the song, what emotions, thoughts, or ideas were you channeling? Was there any sort of memory of event that you were trying to artistically "catch" or "recreate" with the lyrics or music?

HS: As far as channeling an emotion, generally I’d say just the experience of existing as a human. It can be so hard to open up and be vulnerable. I can remember that feeling even as a young kid—getting really excited about something and having someone completely trash it or look at you like, “Why are you so interested in that? It’s dumb.” [It causes us to grow] a little more weary to share ourselves because we know that hurt and embarrassment. The pain of being misunderstood is something I think a lot of us can relate to. Then having to decide whether to keep sharing those vulnerable parts of yourself or think, “They’re just not going to get it, I’m going to get hurt, so why bother?” and then stop putting yourself out there. You lose a lot with that thick armor though. You might feel protected, but you’re not feeling a whole lot of anything else other than the weight and chafing of it (I had a whole lot of armor-related metaphors that I didn't end up using.).

I struggle with this in songwriting too. I’m not the bolt-of-lightning type. There are pages and pages of cliches, total garbage, bad jokes, and cheesy lines that I have to get through in order to get to something that I am excited to put out there into the world: “Here I did this thing, I know it’s a little (this or that), but I made it... What do you think?” It’s hard to open yourself up to hearing the other end of that question.

I filled about 5 little pocket notebooks just thinking through the story, ideas, and trying to get this song right. I wanted it to feel familiar and honor the past songs of the show ([e.g.,] using the ukulele and referencing a few of the familiar chords from “I’m Just Your Problem”) but also be pretty open and vulnerable and different for [Marceline]. [I wanted to] show that she’s going through some tough emotions but also figuring herself out and growing.

GF: I feel like “Monster” is, at its core, an ode to the “Bubbline” ship. How do you feel about your song being intimately connected to one of the most famous LGBTQ+ relationships in animation? Do you have any general thoughts on Marcy and PB, Bubbline, etc.?

HS: Oh, I’m a total fan girl of Bubbline. The whole story of how Rebecca Sugar and Muto slowly morphed it into this deeper relationship is just great. As a part of the LGBTQ community myself it really means so much to see the representation of characters like yourself portrayed in an intelligent way. Growing up I was too young to fully understand what was going on but I saw Ellen getting cancelled, and [I] heard people around me saying they’d never watch her show again after she came out. That stuff sinks in as a kid and so to have these characters who are not only intelligent, but funny, complex, and unapologetically strong who also happen to be queer is really great. I love that the story here isn’t about their orientation, but that they’re people struggling with how to be open and vulnerable in a relationship.

It feels like something sci-fi and animated shows do so well—to show that ridiculousness of limiting who a person should and shouldn’t love. Marceline is a 1000+ year old half-demon/vampire and PB was born from the Mothergum of an apocalyptic radioactive world, but you’re going to get hung up on them loving each other? It sort of brings it into perspective in a really interesting way.

GF: Do you have any other thoughts about the experience that you'd like to share?

HS: Just how lucky, thankful, and honored I feel to be a part of my favorite show, writing a song for one of my favorite characters. It’s also incredibly cool how the people on the show are so willing to connect and collaborate with their fandom. Everyone [on the production crew] was very open and a real joy to work with.

I’d like to give a huge “Thank you!” to Half Shy for agreeing to participate in this interview; she really was quite amiable! If you’d like to hear more of her music, check out her website and her Bandcamp. You can also follow her on Instragram here and on Twitter here. And of course, here is Half Shy’s awesome video of “Monster”.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

What are the major details that confused you about the Hound blurb? The major one that stood put to me was the "way of the farmer opposed to the sword" thing which felt very...un-Cú Chulainn. Also, if you don't mind expanding further, which details didn't you question/be confused by?

and also for anon:

okay so it is like. 2am so there are not going to be any sources here but i can't sleep so here goes!! i will go through this blurb line by line and give youse my thoughts

In 50 BCE,

reasonable. this is roughly the right time period for when the ulster cycle is set. maybe marginally earlier than i'd place cú chulainn, but i'm talking a few years, nothing to get worked up about.

Morrigan, the goddess of war,

fine. normally i'm wary of pantheonising impulses with regard to irish characters (almost none of them can be identified as a god of anything in particular, it doesn't work like that) but tbh the morrigan is like, the most plausible exception to that, so whatever. normally her name has the definite article attached to it because it's kind of a species term as well but whatevs.

has become restless as a long-lasting peace settles over Ireland.

dubious. closest i can think of to peace being reference in any texts is togail bruidne da derga talking about conaire mor's reign being like, prosperous and peaceful and whatever, and even there you've got díberg (plundering/reaving) which is what eventually fucks him over and starts the otherworldly hell spiral situation. that's roughly the right period here but conaire's doom proves you don't have to do much to nudge peace into war, and connacht and ulster are at each other's throats for years before cú chulainn comes on the scene anyway

Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward.

hmm. i mean. like, this isn't the WEIRDEST choice they could have made. it's still completely made-up, don't get me wrong -- cú chulainn has a lot of different foster parents in different texts and they don't agree with each other but none of them ever mentions the morrígan. but like, they do have a connection of some sort, as evidenced by their conversations. and there's that one moment in the r1 boyhood deeds where little cú chulainn is out on the battlefield and hears her (not sure which name is used here) calling out to him and it like. motivates him to do some deeds or whatever, and i guess you could extrapolate that into some kind of teaching capacity.

so like. could be weirder. if you're gonna pick anyone, you could do worse. still seems weird to me! but not on its own a major issue, i could get past this and consider it a Fun But Unorthodox Creative Decision

(the fact that she tries to seduce him in the táin probably wouldn't get in the way of this considering sleeping with his teachers/foster-mothers is far from unheard of where cú chulainn is concerned)

After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan—The Hound of Cullan.

weird spelling choices, they could have at least bothered to use the genitive properly. also the hound isn't a demon, it's a ferocious watchdog -- making it sound all Otherworldly and Hellish like this kinda confuses the issue of why he would need to take its place. he needs to take its place because the cattle and people still need protecting because it is a watchdog!! but whatevs, again, it's a brief summary so they can't exactly give us all the details and this is not actively objectionable

As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him … and a great darkness.

ugh boring. this makes it sound like he's going to be ~tortured~ and angsty about it. give me an unapologetic murder teen please. is the ríastrad dark? sure i guess, if you're going to be boring about it. it's more like, grotesque neon in my head

When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword,

this would fucking never happen on like five different levels. obviously like anyone who has ever read anything about cú chulainn can see that this is not in his nature. he is never going to choose a quiet life. this is the kid who tricked his way into taking arms before everyone thought he was ready. also juxtaposed with the "darkness" comment makes it sound like he would Angst his way into this quiet life which. again. have you seen this kid. he is an unapologetic murder teen

the only thing i can think of that might make him temporarily want to walk away is connla's death which... depends where you position that in the timeline really, he does seem a bit fucked up by it and maybe he'd want a holiday although i can see that lasting precisely 5 minutes before someone pissed him off enough for him to murder them. but if he's being raised by the morrígan i can't see him going to train with scáthach so then he'd never meet aífe and therefore connla would never be born so that wouldn't happen. so like. whatever.

but also like. he would not become a farmer. he just wouldn't! it doesn't work! the ireland of the stories is super hierarchical, right? and this blurb has already fucking told us that he's the king's nephew (canon) so we can tell that being a farmer is Not His Place. when we see upper class figures becoming menial labourers in texts, like in cath maige tuired, it's because Things Are Fucked, Shit's Gone Wrong. people don't just decide to change their entire social class on a whim lmfao

if cú chulainn really wanted to turn his back on being a warrior he could probably make recourse to certain other Suitable Professions ... his grandad's a druid so he might have a route into that, though his dad's not so that might fuck things up a bit bc it's one of those things that's usually inherited. he does give "wisdom" in at least one text though and we also know he can write (he carves riddles in ogham in the táin) and he composes verses on various occasions so idk, maybe something in a poetic direction, though again, usually requires two generations of inheritance to be a real poet and not just a lower-class bard. warrior's kinda the main thing he's got open to him tbh. but farming? i'm not a legal expert but as far as i'm aware based on what i have read, that would fuck shit up

more likely an upset cú chulainn would just go off in search of an adventure somewhere conveniently far away until he'd calmed down (alba, or the tyrrhenian sea, or -- if we're going to get early modern about it -- somewhere like india, which frequently gets thrown into the texts with absolutely no cultural context and it's always hilarious)

Morrigan, angry at the betrayal,

of the entire social order, yes,

instigates an invasion of his homeland

i mean. if they intend this to be the táin then.... táin bó regamna does kinda make the morrígan responsible for it? not in the sense of triggering the pillow talk argument that it's in the book of leinster -- it's her getting up to her usual cow-nicking behaviours for shits and giggles. [note to readers: it is probably for more than shits and giggles but did i mention it's 2am]

but all in all, not particularly out of character that she would be at least some way responsible for this so i can vibe with this. echtra nerai also supports the TBR explanation with her fucking around with otherworldly cows and pissing people off so, yeah, whatever. the morrígan engineered this. sure.

and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself

this is probably a controversial stance but fate feels like a difficult concept to apply to medieval irish texts. like are people sometimes Doomed? yes. there are prophecies, there are gessi, there's all manner of otherworldly fuckery that can trip you up. is that the same thing as fate? no idea. considering cú chulainn comes out alive from the táin though and his doom prophecies don't catch up to him for like, at least another decade, maybe 16 years depending on who you listen to, hard to see how that would apply here

to keep the goddess at bay.

again like she IS causing fuckery in the táin but also it's like... one time. really not the main character. but she or maybe just some crows, hard to say, do get implicated in the death tale so maybe they're doing what people often do and conflating the two? even though there's like 10-16 years in between them?

anyway as you can see i don’t think it’s wholly terrible / i’m not completely thinkshaming it. like, having cú chulainn raised by the morrígan is unorthodox but it could be a fun and creative direction so i don't object to it. making cú chulainn get sad about murder and choose to be a farmer is just fucking laughable tho, and makes me doubt their characterisations in general. so that's offputting and would probably make me think twice about buying it, if that had ever been on the cards.*

and of course sure, their cú chulainn can be a Sad Boy Who Likes Sheep, but that means he's not the cú chulainn of medieval irish lit / irish myth, because that cú chulainn is a feral murder teen who keeps killing his friends and also is way too high social status to ever be a farmer, and whose only relationship to livestock is as the watchdog who kills anyone trying to harm them (which is an important role on a farm! but like. not the same thing as Being A Farmer. mostly because it involves more murder and is essentially just an extension of his role as a warrior. or rather the other way around. he promises to protect mag muirthemne as a watchdog and this like. gets extended into him becoming its sole defender)

this has been my analysis of this blurb i hope you enjoyed it

it's now 2.30am i should try and sleep now that i've exorcised a few thoughts from my head

*as i mentioned in the tags of my other post, i don't tend to read graphic novels due to disability stuff. they're much harder for me to understand and follow than prose, to the point where some are incomprehensible, so i don't really enjoy them. there are a few i've read, but they tend to be short ones, and i'm usually not reading them in order, just admiring the art separately from the text. so it's unlikely i would read a graphic novel of this size anyway.

[ickle-ronniekins]

it was all yellow

request from nonnie!!! “hi love, wanted to throw out this request before camping ;u; only if you're up for it, for either of the twins: i'd love something fluffy inspired by one of my favorite text posts on this site: she guessed my favorite color first try.. but between me and u.. i didnt even have a favorite color until she yelled out yellow! she was hella excited n smiling like a little kid, so i told her she was right and i havent seen yellow the same since, its in everything. i could probably live in it now. 🌻”

pairing: fred x hufflepuff!reader

word count: 3k

A/N: love me a good cheeky fred. also this prompt was FUCKING adorable and i did try to incorporate the actual quote into my writing but some of it didn’t flow.. so i hope it’s still as good as you’d imagined?? also def listened to coldplay’s “yellow” whilst writing this x

tag list: @mintlibri @seppys-return-to-madness @how-do-life-does @fopdoodledane @fredd-weasley @iprobablyshipit91 @semmelsemi @cottageoflove @laneygthememequeen @snakesonaplane-7 @lupinsx @keoghans @helloallthethingsilove @waschbiber @dreamer821 @the-hufflepuff-of-221b @62442-am @wtfweasleyy @obsessedwithrandomthings @thoseofgreatambition @harrysweasleys @sleep-i-ness @shadowsinger11 @shadychaoticcollection @haphazardhufflepuff @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @hood-and-horan @letsfightsomeorcs @theweasleysredhair @purpleskiesstorm @hxfflxpxffs @wand3ringr0s3 @finecole @angelinathebook @highly-acidic | message me to be added, loves!

“Mr. Weasley!”

Umbridge’s voice is shrill, and it immediately pulls Fred out of his daydream-like state, but not quickly enough for him to turn his attention toward his professor and avoid making incredibly embarrassing eye contact with you. The entire class, much to his dismay, turns to glance at him -- you included. It’s unlike him to feel so insecure, so embarrassed, but alas -- here he is.

“Yes, Professor?”

“Is there a reason,” Umbridge hisses, the edges of her lips curling into a rather evil smirk, “that you’ve chosen to completely ignore me during the lesson?”

Fred considers this for a moment. He could take this opportunity to explain to his professor that yes, now that you mention is, there is a reason. A huge reason. He could then proceed to tell you about all of the overwhelming feelings that have seemed to take over him the last few weeks. It could be a grand gesture, couldn’t it? Scooping you up into his arms, sliding a hand around the back of your neck, telling you just exactly what keeps him up at night -- that adorable smile of yours, and the pineapple scent in your hair. It’d be all the castle would be able to talk about, wouldn’t it? Plus, to be able to ignore Umbridge even more and do something so utterly abysmal in the middle of her lesson and have the rest of the students cheer him on, well -- it’s something Fred’s always dreamt of.

“I’d love to see the look on Umbridge’s face if I ever chose to cause mayhem in the middle of one of her lessons,”

“Easy there, Freddie. Don’t want to go getting any more detentions, do we?”

“Darling, mischief is my middle name. I need to prank. My life depends on it.”

“That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it? Just trying to look out for you, is all.”

“You’ve really got that Hufflepuff stereotype of ‘loyal’ down -- you know that, right?”

He supposes, when he thinks about it now, that you were right. You’re always right. He reckons it wouldn’t be such a good thing to cause such an uproar, especially since Umbridge is nearly always on his tail, and is one step closer to knocking Dumbledore out of his post as Headmaster. Fred doesn’t want to give her any more of an edge, does he?

Next to him, George brings Fred back, yet again, from another daydream with a quick kick to his knee. He grips the desk tightly and hopes that his face isn’t flushing bright red. Umbridge’s smirk grows even deeper, and Fred, ignoring his instincts to grab you and run out of the lesson right this instant, merely clears his throat. “No. There isn’t.”

“Good,” Umbridge hisses again, turning her attention back toward the board. “Now, to continue..” Fred relaxes a bit and slumps in his seat, feeling rather grumpy, but his spirits lift almost immediately, and his insides seemingly twist into a tight knot when you send him a soft smile from across the room.

-- -

Fred is shaken awake, only to be face to face with a very cheeky looking George, who then proceeds to throw a notebook straight into Fred’s cheek.

“Oi!” Fred shouts, coming to, bringing his hand to his jaw. “What the bloody hell was that for?”

“You do realize it’s the middle of the day and you’ve fallen asleep directly in the middle of the courtyard, yes?”

Fred kicks the younger twin with his foot, and George and Lee begin to laugh. Fred had been having quite a lovely sleep, thank you very much, and is now annoyed that his brother and friend had chosen to wake him. As he sits up from the bench, adjusting his loose tie and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Lee offers, “You talk a hell of a lot in your sleep, mate.”

Much to his horror, Fred freezes. This whole talking-in-his-sleep thing is relatively new -- he’d never, ever done that before. It seemed to have happened to him a couple of weeks ago, when he began repeating the days’ events -- ones that included you -- over and over in his mind before falling into a peaceful, and rather deep, slumber. It seemed to have happened when he started to look at you in a new light.

“And what exactly was I saying?” Fred asks, trying to shrug off his nervousness.

George and Lee both suppress a laugh and share a cheeky exchange, and Fred feels his heart leap into his throat. “Oh, you know.. mumbling on about lessons, and things. Bits of parchment you need to finish. Normal musings.”

Fred sighs rather dramatically before relaxing again. He hates this whole being-on-edge thing that comes with having a massive, over-the-top crush on you. “Oh,” George continues, his grin only growing larger, “and something about Y/N being the colour of sunshine, or something?”

As Fred’s eyes widen with embarrassment, George and Lee’s laughter only seems to grow louder and it echoes across the courtyard. This grabs your attention from across the way, and you smirk at Fred. You seem to be working on a bit of homework -- you’re leant against a large tree with your bag and robe next to you on the ground. Your hair is pulled back and you’ve got the end of your quill in your mouth, as if you had been pondering something right before you met Fred’s gaze.

“Thank Merlin she wasn’t over here, or you would’ve scared the poor girl away,” Lee says in a mocking sort of voice, which only seems to intensify Fred’s nerves.

Fred can’t help but fall into a bit of laughter with his friends too, even though the mere fact that he’d been talking in his sleep, about you, in the middle of the courtyard, makes his entire body hurt. ‘Thank Merlin’ is right.

-- -

The colour of sunshine. Ugh. How could he have been so painfully cheesy? Fred thinks about this all day long -- through every lesson, through every stroll down the corridors, through every bite of the evening feast. He can’t simply believe he’s said this out loud, even though it’s true. The truest words that have ever come out of his mouth, even. You are the colour of sunshine.

Simply bright and beamingly so -- the most beautiful of yellows.

You, he reckons, are pure warmth -- enough to soothe him on even the coldest of days.

“You know,” your voice, now closer than it seems, makes Fred jump and snap out of his own thoughts, much to George’s amusement, “this whole not-being-able-to-eat-with-your-mates-from-other-houses thing is simply stupid.”

“Why don’t you go and give Umbridge a piece of your mind, eh?” George asks you.

Your grin deepens, but you shake your head and begin to shovel dessert onto your plate. “It’s her own fault if she doesn’t notice a Hufflepuff amongst a group of Gryffindors. She’s supposed to be the Hogwarts High Inquisitor,” you say a bit stuffily, as if to imitate the woman in question, “is she not?”

“Brilliant,” Fred replies as he finds his voice. “An uncanny impersonation.”

You flip your hair over your shoulder and Fred notices a dimple appear on your cheek. He finds himself lost in your eyes as you peer at him softly over the top of your teacup, which you’ve brought slowly to your lips.

Fred’s happy to hear when you bring his all time favorite thing about the magical world into conversation and does his very best to hide his ever-obvious feelings. “Rumor has it McGonagall and Dumbledore have been pleading with Umbridge to let Gryffindor play Quidditch this year,” you tell the twins.

They peer at you with confusion. “What?” they ask together. Fred continues, “Why? What’s she going to do -- ban all teams except Slytherin? Then they’ve got nobody to verse,” he lets a laugh escape his lips.

George huffs a bit before sipping his tea. “She’s such a bloody idiot. No, I will say it louder, Ron,” George shoots his younger brother a look as Ron closes in on himself a bit, “she’s a power-hungry, egotistical toad who has no business running a bloody school.”

“The truest statement,” you point at him and then bite into your cauldron cake, “but no worry -- she’s apparently agreed to the whole Quidditch thing. Now you two’ve just got to smack the bludgers straight at Crabbe and Goyle’s heads. They’re certainly large enough -- should be easy targets.”

Fred cannot help the enormous laugh that escapes him due to your joke; in fact, he’s sort of surprised it’s only gotten the attention of half of the Great Hall, because it seems to have echoed throughout the entirety of the large room, reverberating off of the walls. Unfortunately, though, Umbridge notices and makes a beeline right toward the Gryffindor table. You turn to Fred and George, shrug your shoulders a bit and proceed to roll your eyes at the very pompous “hem-hem” that is too disturbingly sweet and high-pitched in your ears. “Miss Y/L/N,” she says in her most mocking tone of voice, “please correct me if I am mistaken but I’ve assumed by the yellow color on your robes that you are a Hufflepuff and not, in fact, a Gryffindor, as you’ve so decidedly claimed yourself.”

You turn toward her, a very large grin painted across your face, and simply reply, “No need for corrections here, ma’am.”

“Good,” Umbridge says curtly before turning on her heel. “Best return to your house table, then, before we slip you lot into detention, yes? I do hope it was worth the embarrassment, Miss.”

Embarrassment? Please. You stand up from your seat and chug the rest of your tea and pop the rest of your cauldron cake back into your mouth. You lean against the table, reaching across to the other end to grab yourself another pastry, and get as close to Fred as you possibly can. He notices a bit of a twinkle in your eye, something that’s suddenly driving him absolutely mad, when you say to him and only him, “Definitely worth it.”

A very cozy feeling sweeps itself through Fred’s bones.

-- -

The Gryffindors are lucky to have such two stealthy beaters on their team, because Fred and George know the ins and outs of the castle like nobody else. This comes in handy after a playful, late night match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, when the twins are able to sneak the entire Hufflepuff team, and even a few spectators, into the Gryffindor Common Room.

And as if he isn’t excited enough already at the pure theatrics of this entire thing, Fred finds himself smiling even more so at the sight of you, nestled in a corner with a few others, a Butterbeer clutched tightly in your hands, your cheeks rosy and flushed.

He’s reminded of a few weeks ago when he snuck into the Hufflepuff Common Room with you -- very late at night --

“Don’t you trust me?” you’d asked, taking his hand in yours.

His heart had skipped a few beats, if he was being honest.

“Merlin, it’s bright in here!” Fred had exclaimed when you’d both entered. The inviting colours had swirled around him. “How you people get any work done is beyond me. I’d never be able to focus --”

You’d laughed and shoved him. “Fred, you can’t focus, regardless.”

He’d just shrugged and sat down next to you near the fire. The entire room was empty except for the two of you. “I’ll give you that one. It’s just -- it’s so much different from our common room.”

“Well, it’s bright yellow. Plus, it feeds to all of the ‘Puffs' personalities. What did you expect, silly?”

He’d smiled at you, nestling himself comfortably against the edge of the couch. I haven’t seen yellow the same since, he’d wanted to tell you, especially because of the golden colour of your hair. “Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, I’ve got to say -- I’m rather fond of it, actually.”

His heart had nearly constricted at the feeling of you placing your head onto his shoulder. He’d been happy you couldn’t see the shock rising on his face in that of a crimson red colour, since you’d been so focused on staring into the flames. He’d suddenly felt warm -- incredibly warm. He’d willed himself to believe it was the fire, and not the feeling of your soft hair brushing against his neck. “Oh yeah? Yellow your favourite colour, and all?”

I could get lost in it, actually. Fred had to force himself to swallow over his own nerves a few times before he’d been able to say, “You could say that.”

Now, in the Gryffindor Common Room, he darts past a very confused looking Neville and plops himself down next to you, completely ignoring the fact that he’s interrupting your conversation with the others. “Hey,”

“Well hi,” you say, turning your attention toward him. He can smell the pineapple scent of your shampoo and is nearly sent into a dizzying overdrive, but he does his best to focus on the feeling of the cold glass in his fingers. “Great match.”

“Even if we did beat you guys?”

“Yeah,” you reply tersely, “Hufflepuff’s saving their strength for your actual match so they can kick your arses.”

Fred laughs haughtily and scoots a little closer to you on the steps as the others around you both disperse and head off in their respective directions. He can hear the steady pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears and decides to take a leap of faith. “Maybe. Although I will say -- you’ve got to be more careful with your leering, love.”

“Meaning?”

“Pretty sure you didn’t take your eyes off of me the entire time. You were full-on staring.”

Fred notices the pink on your cheeks seemingly deepen a bit, but you don’t let on to any embarrassment. He grins at you. “Perhaps I was. And if you’ve noticed, it means you were watching me back,”

His smile only grows at your mock voice. He replies with the same tone, “Perhaps I was.”

“You can’t do that during an actual match though, sir,” you tell him, bringing your goblet to your lips and sipping significantly, “otherwise you’re going to be distracted and I reckon you’ll be hit with a bludger, don’t you?”

Fred twirls his goblet in his hands, desperately trying to read your face and your tone. He’s having a hard time deciphering. “You do make a good point.”

“Besides,” you continue, a small smirk making the edges of your lips curl, “we can’t have you getting distracted. Although, I understand how difficult it can be -- considering I’m the colour of sunshine, and all.”

It takes a moment and a laugh before Fred’s registered what you’ve said, and you glance back down at your goblet, giggling into it a bit, and he shakes his head before turning to look at George and Lee, who seemingly have been watching you two this entire time, because they immediately glance away and immerse themselves in conversation with others around them.

“And we know how brilliantly blinding sunshine can be, don’t we, Fred?”

Someone’s playing very loud music and Fred wonders how Umbridge hasn’t caught you all yet. Or perhaps, he thinks, maybe the booming just sounds louder in his own ears.

“Almost as blinding as love, d’you reckon?”

Fred feels that warm, homely feeling take him over yet again -- but this time, he knows it’s not from the butterbeer, or the raging fire. He doesn’t even try to pretend. It’s all from you.

“Yeah, yeah -- tease all you want,” he says as confidence engulfs him. He reaches out and tucks a piece of hair behind your ear.

You place your goblet down on the step next to you. “I wasn’t teasing,” you say very matter of factly, “so much as I was trying to get you to kiss me, actually.”

He purses his mouth into a very smug smirk and watches as your eyes dart down to his lips, and you bite down on your own. He leans in, the rest of the music and chatter surrounding you both seemingly drowned out by the steady pounding of his own heart, when --

“Oi, Freddie! C’mere, mate!”

Clearly Ron’s incapable of seeing that we’re in the middle of something, Fred wants to tell you. Instead, he pulls away slightly and whispers to you. “Want to sneak up to the Astronomy tower?”

“So late at night? How very scandalous of you.”

“Well it’s why you fancy me in the first place, isn’t it?”

He grabs your hand as you paint a very mischievous look on your face, and is about to stand up before you tug on the collar of his shirt with your free hand, pulling him back to you and pressing your lips to his in an electrified climax.

You try to part, but he pulls you closer to him and slides his hand down your leg. A soft moan emits your lips, and Fred wonders if he’d be able to sneak a Hufflepuff girl up to his own dormitory this evening. “Sorry,” you reply, biting down on your lip again, sending him into a complete tizzy. You whisper cheekily, “Just couldn’t wait.”

He smirks at you, hoping his giddiness isn’t blatantly evident in his exuberance, and pulls you to your feet. “Actually..” you say, playing again with his collar, “instead of the Astronomy tower, how about we head to the Room of Requirement?”

“No? Don’t want to look up at the stars, be all mushy, fall asleep in my arms?”

You actually snort through your laughter, rolling your eyes at him. “Yes, yes, of course I do, you sap. But I reckon we should save that for an actual date. Right now, I’d kind of just like to snog you for a few hours, if you don’t mind.”

He shakes his head at you with admiration. “What has gotten into you?”

Another hair flip from you sends warmth through Fred’s veins. “C’mon, Weasley,” you say, tugging his hand, the yellow fire reflecting in the light of your eyes, “don’t you trust me?”

[kythed]

synopsis: it’s a tragic case of boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl has a boyfriend. [un]luckily for you, semi doesn’t play by the rules... and you don’t really want him to.

tagged: semi eita x reader, fluff, mediocre writing.

commitment level: 2,583 words.

table of contents | next chapter >>

They say young love is a rite of passage. They say it’s fresh and light, it’s wading in the shallows of a swiftly flowing river and letting the deliciously frigid water take you wherever it flows. They say young love comes easily. 

But they don’t tell you youth is not a remedy for pain. They don’t tell you the cold of that water burns your skin, too — it leaves your fingertips numb and kisses your palms an angry red. They say “it’s just puppy love,” but they don’t tell you puppies grow into wolves. 

+

You’re eighteen when you first meet Semi Eita, and he’s twenty-two. It’s not a highly significant age gap, but it’s noticeable enough. 

“She’s a baby,” he says, eyes grey as the southern sea and just as unforgiving. Though he’s young, the weight of an iron giant rests on his slender shoulders. 

“She’s talented, Semi,” says Akamine, tone wheedling. He fiddles with the lapels of his coat — it’s Italian, all cream silk and bronze buttons. “She’s capable.” 

Twenty year old Akamine Keo is a trust-fund kid, born into the arms of an oil empire he’ll someday fall heir to. He’s charming, clever, and sweet, with distinctly expensive good looks, fine features and black hair like raven’s feathers. He also happens to be your boyfriend. 

“That means nothing,” Semi says, peering into your face. An uncomfortable chill tickles the back of your neck as you fight the urge to look away. “There are toddlers who can shred Led Zeppelin, but they’re not musicians. They’re puppets controlled by overzealous tiger moms. They can’t take the heat of the real industry.”

“I can take the heat.” Your words bleed out heavy and sharp, a rough gash through the palpably thick tension. Fingernails leaving painful half-moons on your palms, you clench and unclench your fists down at your sides. “And I can sure as hell shred better than any toddler.”

For a split second, surprise flashes across Semi’s face, only to be quickly replaced by a wry smile. “Brave.” 

You stare at him, lips sucked in and eyes narrowed as Akamine slings an arm over your shoulders and presses a kiss to your temples. 

“See?” he says with a laugh. “She’s talented, capable, and brave.”

“Well,” says Semi, drawing the word out. He cocks his head, giving you one last hard once-over, before extending a hand for a firm shake. “We’ll see. I’ll give you two months. A trial.” 

You accept this compromise, returning the shake. Semi’s still skeptical, you can tell, but you make a vow to yourself — you’re about to blow this sonuvabitch out of the water. As Akamine crows in delight, Semi’s eyes don’t leave yours. 

Good luck, they seem to be saying. You’ll need it. 

You smile, and he smiles back. 

I won’t. 

+

Semi’s a phenomenal bassist. When you’d first started dating Akamine and he’d just joined Semi’s band, he could scarcely shut up about it — “His name’s Semi Eita, and I swear he’s got magic in those fingers, babe.” 

Well, Semi Eita’s about to be dethroned, because your fingers are magic, too. 

For those two months, you’re the band’s lead guitarist, and you pass Semi’s test with flying colors. It takes a couple weeks to fall into step with the other guys — Semi on bass, Akamine on drums, and a quiet college kid called Yasuda on keys — but you’re a quick study, and soon you’re a cornerstone, expertly weaving searing arpeggios of dashed dreams and fiery hopes up and down the band’s underlying tunes. 

(You should’ve seen it coming.)

You and Semi somehow become co-songwriters. He has a knack for melodies, and you have a knack for lyrics. Akamine doesn’t seem to mind the long hours you spend in Semi’s company, working in a whirlwind of messy notes and empty energy drink cans — he trusts you. 

(Sometimes you feel like maybe he shouldn’t.)

“What do you think of this?” Semi says, idly twirling a pencil between his fingers. It’s 10pm on a Friday night, and you’re stretched out on his couch, inhaling chow mein from a greasy paper box. “For the second verse, I mean.” 

“Lemme see,” you say around a mouthful of noodles, snatching the paper from his hand. You furrow your brow. “‘Tear me open like a scarlet letter, cruelly addressed ‘return to sender…’’ Jeez, Semi. Who hurt you?” 

Semi scowls. “It’s a breakup song, isn’t it? It’s supposed to hurt.” 

“You might consider being a little more… subtle,” you suggest, offering him a fortune cookie. He takes it and sets it aside.

“Heartbreak isn’t subtle,” he says, shooting you a look that speaks of throbbing phantom wounds. “It cuts deep. All the way down to the heart. Hence the name heartbreak.” 

“Wow. I had no idea,” you say drily. You swing your legs over the couch and sit upright, snatching his pencil. “I just think we should tackle this with nuance, not just write another ‘eff you’ ballad.” 

“This world can always use another ‘eff you’ ballad,” Semi says humorlessly, resting his chin in his hand. 

You regard his suddenly silent demeanor as he stares, unseeing, out the window. It’s dark outside, and it’s a darkness that speaks less of peaceful sleep and more of emptiness. 

You sigh, nudging him with your foot. “What was her name?” 

“What?”

“Her name. This demon of a girl that hurt you so badly.” 

For a moment, it seems he’s going to argue, to deny ever being afflicted with something so childish as lovesickness. Then he runs a defeated hand through his hair and shakes his head, laughing. “You’re too curious for your own good.”

You wait. There’s a brief, uncomfortable silence as Semi chews his lip.

“...Her name was Aiko,” he says finally, inspecting his nails with a faux nonchalance. “Smokin’ hot. Met her in music school three or so years ago, I think — she was a TA, a few years older than I was.”

“Older women, huh?” you tease. This is new territory — you’re dipping a toe into the forbidden arena of flirtation. A shadow of guilt creeps into the back of your mind as you think of Akamine, but the bright light of Semi’s crooked grin swiftly flushes it away.

“Yeah,” he says, leaning over to flick your leg. “I don’t date babies like you.” 

“Maybe you should consider it,” you say, unthinking. Semi stares at you, eyebrow raised, and you flush, frantically backtracking. “Not me specifically. I’m just saying — well, I mean, ‘cause this Aiko chick was such a bad time and everything.” 

“If you have a crush on me, just admit it,” Semi says. You’re sure it’s meant to come across jokingly, but the way he’s eyeing you twists your stomach into a pleasurable knot. Then he sighs, leaning back on his arms. “She was a great time, actually. It’s the ending that sucked ass.” 

The question lingers at the tip of your tongue, hesitant like an ill-trained acrobat, but before it even attempts the leap, Semi answers.

“It burned.” He looks straight at you, and you can taste the bitterness in his words. “It burned, and not a day goes by that I can’t remember how awful it felt.” 

+

That’s the first of the many secrets you trade with him. 

Later that night, you tell Semi about your first kiss, about how the recipient smelled like Old Spice and tasted like chapstick, how he walked you to your front door and introduced himself to your mom. About how he took your virginity six months later, and how you soon realized there are some things in life you don’t get an exchange receipt for. 

Semi tells you his favorite color is green, and that outer space scares him more than anything. (He doesn’t like thinking about life in other galaxies because he can hardly handle thinking about life right here.)

You tell him you like milk tea with 75% sweetness, and he promises he’ll take you to his favorite cafe sometime. (“Not a date,” he assures you, and you internally scold yourself for wishing it was one.)

He says he once accidentally kicked a stray cat while trying to find a volleyball he lost in the bushes near his house, and that’s why he considers himself a cat person now: as repentance. (He has a pet cat called Haru, and he shows you a picture — Haru is small and black with bright yellow eyes. You say he’s cute, but Semi corrects you: “Not cute. Fierce.”) 

You say you used to wish life had a restart button, so you could turn back time and dance through each year without making a single mistake.

Semi says he still wishes that. 

(Another thing they don’t tell you is how secrets are really currency. Secrets can’t help but pay for familiarity, and familiarity often leads to something more.)

+

It’s a couple weeks later when you have your first gig. It’s at a bar downtown, and Yasuda nabs fakes for you and Akamine, though you don’t plan on drinking. Not much, anyways. 

(Speaking of Akamine, your relationship with him has grown strained over the past month. He’s stretched himself thin between the band and his business degree, and you — well, whenever your phone pings, you can’t stop hoping it’s from Semi.)

Five minutes before show time, Semi turns to you, eyes wide. “We don’t have a band name.” 

“What?”

“We don’t have a band name.” He looks around, frantically trying to draw inspiration from something in the dimly lit bar. “Quick, think of something.” 

So you think for a moment, chewing your inner cheek, before reaching out and tugging on Semi’s sleeve. “Paper.”

“Paper?”

“Paper.”

Paper is fragile, it’s thin, it’s easy to come by. But it’s also a world of potential on one sheet, a story waiting to be written. 

When the bar owner walks onto the stage and introduces the band, you know you’ve made the right decision. And from the glittering smile Semi flashes you before nodding at Akamine to count you in, you know he thinks so too. 

The show goes on without a hitch, and even though the bar is far from packed, you’re just as proud as you’d be playing in a stadium of screaming fans. The air smells of stale whiskey and fresh beginnings, and as your fingers dance up and down your Gibson’s fretboard, you hear colors — rich teal, smooth mahogany, creamy gold and silver brighter than the stars. Akamine keeps the rhythm like a war drum, and Semi, as always, is perfect. Yasuda, doubling as the main vocalist, sings until his voice gets wonderfully low and raspy, keyboard taking some of the heat as he grins back at you, mouthing how badly his throat hurts.

You’re sweaty when the set’s done, and Akamine buys you a drink, giving you a quick, half-hearted kiss and a tired smile.

Akamine’s always been kind to you.

“I gotta go,” he says, squeezing your hand. “Essay due tomorrow at ten.” 

He looks so genuinely sorry to leave, you almost feel guilty. 

+

You’re packing up your amps into the back of Semi’s van, alone in the parking lot save for the moon many miles above, hanging bright and full in a clear sky. The moon has seen all your most indulgent sins, and she’s going to see one more tonight.

“You did well.” Semi heaves the last of the equipment into his truck before turning to you, wiping his palms on his jeans. “Consider me impressed.”

“Why, thank you,” you say, giving him a mock bow. “So glad I’ve finally managed to impress the Semi Eita.” 

He regards you for a moment, arms crossed. A small sigh escapes his lips. It’s both a sigh of resignation and one of anticipation. 

Then, in one smooth motion, he steps close, reaches out, and pulls you close by the waist. 

You stare up at him, all too aware of the heat radiating from his body. His skin is burning, and his cologne is different from Akamine’s — it’s not expensive, it’s not a multilayered, deep, woody scent. It’s cheap, the sort of cologne a struggling musician can afford, but it smells of home.

“Forgive me for what I’m about to do,” he whispers, sliding a hand up your jaw to cup your face. His hair glows silver and ghostly under the streetlamps. 

“And what are you about to do?” Your voice is deadly quiet, and your chest feels a deathly cold despite Semi’s proximity, refusing to thaw as you await his answer. 

“Kiss you absolutely senseless.” 

Semi’s never been one to make empty promises, and right now is no exception. He presses his lips to yours and you immediately melt into his arms, suddenly craving him and only him. You’re not entirely sure how you’ve managed to avoid devouring him whole up until this point, because he kisses like Eros, full of pomegranate seeds and crimson blossoms, of days spent in clandestine bliss. He kisses like a man on death row, desperate and longing, hands squeezing your waist like your body is his only anchor to life itself. 

Semi Eita wants to be a rockstar, but right now he’s just a boy kissing a girl he’s bound to fall deeply, inexplicably in love with. 

When he finally breaks away, you’re breathless, staring up at him like you’ve just seen an angel. Your hands are still curled in the front of his shirt, you’re still standing on tiptoe, lips just inches from his. 

“Semi…” You swallow hard. “Akamine’s a good guy… I can’t.”

Semi tenses his jaw, taking a finger to lift your chin. “Then why are you looking at me like that?” 

Your voice is barely above a whisper. “Like what?”

“Like you’re hungry.” 

He’s got you there. 

You’re standing on a balance beam splitting two vastly different worlds. On one side there’s the known: Akamine and his bright, blue-eyed optimism, his willingness to shoulder burdens he shouldn’t have to. There’s his sweet touch and soft kisses, his firm words of reassurance and his sunny laughter shedding light on your hidden depths. 

The known is comforting. It’s familiar. 

But on the other side… there’s the unknown. There’s Semi Eita in all his scalded glory, his sharp tongue and headstrong determination. There’s his burning touch, his fingers leaving scorch marks on your cheek and his lips depositing glowing embers in your mouth, ready to ignite at a single inflammatory word. There’s his moonstone enigma, the shadow underlying his every sentence like smudged eyeliner. 

The unknown is frightening, almost overwhelmingly so… but there’s something in you, something willful and terribly thirsty, that draws you to this unknown and the possibility of knowing it. 

“Because I am.” 

And you grab his face and pull it down to yours, impatient, frustrated by months of dancing around that painfully tangible attraction, that magnetism — finally, you allow yourself to fall, hurtling through a chasm of fallen stars and ancient suns, hanging on to nothing but Semi and his carefully guarded secrets. 

You kiss him hard, pouring your soul into his mouth, all your youthful doubt and hope. You knot your fingers in his hair, and he pulls you into his chest, pressing your body so close it’s as if he wants to make it a part of himself. 

And when you part for the second time, chest heaving, you know you’ve fallen completely, entirely, without a doubt. 

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

^^^^^ you reading my request 😏

Luke/Bobby (romantic), Prompt: Don’t read the last line (cause we’re in a Taylor Swift sort of mood)

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED MAKE IT FLUFFY. 😂😂😂

Oh yeah and CONGRATULATIONS my friend. So happy for you. 💜

Thanks friend!!!! This got longer and gayer than I meant it to, lol, so I hope you like it :D

--

Bobby usually leaves the songwriting to Luke. It’s just better for everyone that way, most of all Luke’s ego, because Luke likes to have creative control over the songs of Sunset Curve (even if he claims it’s a “collaborative process”), and if anyone ever tries to infringe upon that control, Luke gets all pouty and won’t shut up about how Reggie’s songs are too country or how Alex’s songs are too depressing or how Bobby’s songs are too—

“Boring,” is usually the word Luke goes with. “Stilted,” sometimes, if Luke can tell Bobby’s not in the mood to be insulted. “Robotic.” “Impersonal.” “Unemotional.” “Bad.”

So anyway, Bobby eventually gave up on trying. Until today, because he and Luke have been doing this… whatever it is they’re doing (not dating, Bobby doesn’t think; they haven’t really talked about it, and Bobby’s not big on labels anyway) for a month now, and Bobby feels like he has to do something to commemorate the occasion.

So right now, he’s seated on the studio couch with a notebook he used for biology last year so it’s still half-empty, and he’s trying to write a song that can express just how much Luke means to him without it coming out sounding like he’s a “pop music lackey hired for the sole purpose of writing whatever lyrics will best appeal to a demographic of twelve-year-old girls and their dissatisfied mothers” (and yes, that’s another thing Luke has said right to Bobby’s face. He’s lucky Bobby loves him or whatever).

He’s got about a verse and a half so far, and he doesn’t think any of it is any good. But he’s already started over eight times, so he’s trying to push through.

Something hard—a pen, he thinks—hits Bobby in the arm, and he shoots a glare across the room at where Luke is lounging in the lawn chair, chewing on a guitar pick and grinning salaciously at him.

Oh, yeah. And it doesn’t help that Bobby’s trying to write an emotional, non-robotic love song while Luke’s sitting right there looking at him. 

“What?” Bobby snaps, trying to sound harsh. He doesn’t think it works, if the way Luke’s grin only widens is anything to go by.

“What are you doing?” Luke kicks his feet through the air. “You’re looking at that notebook like it owes you money or something. What, is your homework that hard?”

“It’s not homework,” Bobby says, looking back down at the notebook in his lap, then winces, feeling a blush start to creep up his neck. He curses mentally. Now Luke’s gonna ask questions.

“What is it, then?” Luke’s voice is bright with childish curiosity. “A letter? A diary?” He gasps dramatically. “Robert Eleanor Bobbins, are you writing a song?”

Bobby looks up again, momentarily distracted. “You want to try that full name one more time?”

Luke ignores him. “Come on, Bobbers!” He vaults out of his chair. “Let me take a look! You know, some say I’m the songwriting expert around here.”

Bobby rolls his eyes. “Oh, yeah? And who says that, Luke? You?”

It’s so easy to tease Luke like this, to banter back and forth like it’s nothing (some might even call it flirting, but Bobby likes to think he’s above such mortal activities). Unfortunately, it’s so easy that Bobby doesn’t even really notice that Luke has crossed the room until the notebook is being unceremoniously yanked out of Bobby’s hands.

“Hey, wait, no—!” he tries to protest, but Luke spins away, lifting the notebook out of Bobby’s reach every time he tries to grab it back. “Luke!” Bobby groans, even as he gives up and sinks back into the couch, crossing his arms over his chest and doing what he thinks is a pretty good imitation of Luke’s infamous Pout. “Fine, just don’t—don’t read the last line, okay? It’s not done yet.”

So of course, Luke immediately reads the last line, an impish grin lighting up his features in the dim studio. “So touch my hair, you gorgeous boy, and…” His voice fades, and his smile right along with it. “And… never let me go…”

Bobby’s face is burning. He swallows, starts to reach for his necklace, stops himself and settles for fiddling with his hands in his lap. He refuses to look away from Luke, though, refuses to be shamed. “Yeah, uh…” He clears his throat. “I was just, you know… trying something.”

Luke cuts his gaze to Bobby, and his expression is terrifyingly unreadable, and then. Then, he beams, an even wider grin spreading across his face, and he says, “Aw, Bobbers! You’re in love with me!”, and tosses Bobby’s notebook aside, and throws himself onto the couch into Bobby’s arms.

Bobby’s startled yelp is soon swallowed by Luke’s lips. He relaxes, pulling Luke closer, smiling into his kiss. And Luke cards his hands through Bobby’s hair and doesn’t let him go.

So maybe Bobby should try his hand at this songwriting thing more often. Apparently, he’s actually pretty good at it.

Send me a pairing and a word or phrase prompt to celebrate my 500th follower!

--

Taglist: (apologies if you get this notification twice, apparently tumblr is dumb and these tags don’t work unless i type them out individually, so I’m editing my last few posts) @whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @nickalicious @reggiescrookedteeth @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @spidergirl0325 @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @cest-la-vie-de-la-lee @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @moreflowersthanweeds @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas 

[honeypirate]

Karaoke Night with Hinawa, Obi, Viktor

Song for Hinawa - Song for Obi - Song for Viktor

I wrote this a while ago and found it in my drafts

Hinawa tag list: @soft-citrus-central also tagging @sabrinamidoriya01 who encouraged me to post it :)

Hinawa -

The crowd cheers when they call your name, the karaoke bar packed with your company as well as a few people from the seventh and fifth as well as Tamaki’s friend Juggernaut.

You take the microphone from the announcer and they queue up the lyrics on the screen before you and you feel your hands shake as you laugh a little before the music starts. You’ve been practicing this song because it’s your favorite jazzy song and you just know hinawa will like it.

You take a deep breath as the music starts and you close your eyes, tuning out the rest of the bar as the sounds of Billie Holiday’s orchestra reach every ear.

Hinawa was watching you this whole time, smiling when he heard the music, taking a drink from his glass as everything else in the room disappears in his eyes, there is only you.

“My days have grown so lonely, For you I cry, For you, dear, only Why haven't you seen it? I'm all for you body and soul” Your voice throughout the bar quiets down every conversation. Everyone turning to look up at you and listen to your soft voice singing this song like it was made for you to sing.

“I spend my days in longing, I'm wondering why, It's me you're wronging, Oh, I tell you I mean it, I'm all for you, body and soul” you’re swaying on stage, your eyes still closed as everyone hangs on your every word. Hinawa’s heart is racing as he watches you sing one of his favorite songs. He didn’t even know you liked jazz and you were fairly close friends.

You open your eyes and look around the room, your cheeks flushing when you realize that everyone is paying attention to you. Your eyes land on Hinawa at your table beside Obi, his eyes filled with stars and you can’t look away as you sing

“I can't believe it, It's hard to conceive it, That you'd throw away romance, Are you pretending? It looks like the ending, Unless I can have one more chance to prove, dear, My life a hell you're making, you know I'm yours for just the taking, I'd gladly surrender, Myself to you, Body and soul”

Obi is slack jawed and grinning the whole time, the whole house staring at you and quiet, but you were too busy looking into Hinawa’s eyes to notice anything else. You finish the song, singing it right to him, hoping somehow he will know it’s for him.

When the music ends, the bar erupts into applause and cheers, Hinawa stands with a smile on his lips and claps for you, bring his fingers to his lip to blow a loud whistle. You hear chants of your name and you laugh, feeling embarrassed and full of adrenaline. You can feel your face heat as you make your way off the stage.

You bring your fingers to your face, hoping to hide some of the blush. You make your way to the crowd to the bar and ask for a water bottle before making your way outside to get some air and cool down, feeling Hinawa behind you.

“That was.. wonderful” he says softly and you take a sip of your water, your heart fluttering. “Thank you Hinawa” you say and he smiles, taking a step towards you “I didn’t know you liked jazz music” he says and you chuckle “I’m full of surprises” you say and he chuckles “I believe that”

After a moment of silence he reaches out and tucks your hair behind your ear “did you sing that song for me?” He asks, bluntly. You feel your face heat as you look down to the ground with a shy smile “I .. I mean. If you liked it then yes” he takes your chin gently in his hand and tilts your face up “I loved it.” He admits and leans down, his lips beside your ear “I’m all for you, body and soul” he whispers before he presses his lips to yours.

Obi-

His cheers for you were louder than anyone in the whole bar. He only had one beer so far but he was so excited you were finally going up to sing. He heard your voice every once in a while when you would sing while you showered and it would echo out into the hall. He knows how wonderful you can sing so he’s been trying to convince you to go up there and show everyone what you can do.

The man announces your name and you stream quietly as you walk up the stairs, taking the microphone from the guy and standing in front of the screen with the lyrics.

You nod at the guy on the computer to your left and the music starts, most conversations in the crowd quieting down.

Your eyes are focused on the words even though you know every one to the rock ballad you take a breath and sing as the adrenaline builds in your body.

The music started and Obi’s breath catches in his throat. He once had a conversation with you about how he loved this song, he couldn’t help but feel like you were singing this to him.

“I should have known better, Than to let you go alone, It's times like these, I can't make it on my own, Wasted days, and sleepless nights, An' I can't wait to see you again. I find I spend my time, Waiting on your call, How can I tell you, babe, My back's against the wall I need you by my side To tell me it's alright Cause I don't think I can take anymore”

It’s a fairly popular karaoke song in the bar but you’re killing it like no other before you. The chorus starts and you look up to where Obi is sitting. Your heart skips and races along when you see how big his grin is! How his eyes are filled with admiration and awe! He’s standing up and making his way from his table in the middle of the room as you sing the chorus

The moment your eyes met his he knew, this song, you were singing it to him. And even if you weren’t he’s taking this as a sign to ask you out.

“Is this love that I'm feeling? Is this the love that I've been searching for? Is this love or am I dreaming This must be love 'Cause it's really got a hold on me, A hold on me”

he reaches the front of the stage and your eyes are locked as he smiles brightly, singing along to the song with you. Your smile grows as you feel like you’re singing the song together. When it ends you don’t even register the applause and cheers because you’re too focused on the man in front of you and the way your heart is racing.

He holds out his hands and you laugh before stepping forward and placing your hands on his shoulders as he grabs your hips. You go to hop to the ground, gasping when he just holds you against him like you weighed nothing.

“I’d love to kiss you” he whispers with a smile and you feel your cheeks warm as your hands move from his shoulders to his cheeks as you press your lips to his with a smile.

Viktor-

You grab his hand “let’s go. Do karaoke with me” you looked at him with such excitement he could not say no. His heart raced with your hand in his, as he nodded “yeah o-okay!” He says and stands tripping over his own feet as he follows behind you.

“We’re gonna sing “The Next Time I Fall” by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant” you say excitedly and squeeze his hand, like you were in a relationship with him and not his coworker that he was helplessly and unrequitedly in love with.

“You’re up next” they say and you grin up at him as they hand you microphones. You drop his hand then and he feels it like a loss to his soul but follows you up the stairs to the stage.

“So you’re the blue and I’m the yellow” you say and he nods, his eyes nervous but he really wanted to do this for you. The music stars and he takes a deep breath as he waits. He’s heard this song from you at the lab before so he’s pretty familiar already.

His voice sounds out, nervous but actually quite decent. “Love, like a road that never ends. How it leads me back again to heartache I don’t understand”

Your voice next and your heart races as you get goosebumps, smiling at how fun this was “Darling I put my heart upon the shelf till the moment was right and I tell myself”

He sings the words, feeling like he’s singing this song straight to you “Next time I fall in love

You reach out your pinky and hook his as you sing with him “I’ll know better what to do

You stop singing as he keeps singing, looking over at you and grasping your hand, lacing your fingers together. “Next time I fall in love

You join in for the ooos, your cheeks heating up as he keeps singing.

“The next time I fall in love it will be with you”

The music fills your ears as you wait for your next verse, he looks at you with a shy smile as he squeezes your hand, his pale cheeks flushed.

Your eyes are locked to his as you the sing the words, this was one of your favorite songs so you know the words already, didn’t need the screen. “Oh now as I look into your eyes, well I wonder if it’s wise to hold you like I’ve wanted to before”

his heart races, he could have sworn you said that just to him. You were telling him you wanted to hold him. His queue is up but he’s not paying attention, he’s looking at you earnestly as you smile softly up at him.

You chuckle and wink at him then pick up where he was supposed to, without looking away from him “-thinking that you might be the one who breaths life in this heart of mine” he laughs and pays attention then, knowing with only a small amount of doubt, that you were singing to him. His feelings weren’t unrequited. He sang with so much passion after that, really singing it to you.

You finish the song together, meeting all the cues as his hand holds yours and your cheeks are both warm.

They crowd cheers and you can hear laughs from your team and he leads you down the stairs and outside of the bar.

Once you’re out I the fresh air and quiet night, he pulls you into a hug “that was amazing” he says into your hair and you laugh, wrapping your arms around him and holding him tight “so you’ll let me hold you like I’ve been wanting to?” You whisper into his chest and he sighs “please” he says with a smile in his voice “anytime you want”