#so i end up using the savings to pay for it

[postsforposting]

seriously mean

you can see what you like in fiction, blah blah blah, projecting onto characters is fun, etc

though it really seems like i watched a completely different movie from everyone else's deadpool and wolverine. they hate each other??? logan's a short fuse who doesn't control himself???

logan doesn't attack wade or the bartender despite the insults and the manhandling. no one's afraid of him, everyone stayed put instead of running.

logan outright says "talk about something else". not "shut the fuck up", not "you are so fucking annoying". a directive to continue yapping. just not about the suit. that's literally "keep going". he listened for however long they were walking and in the car, and he was actually LISTENING. he wasn't tuning it out. he wouldn't have known about vanessa and the avengers and the previous xmen adventures if he didn't care about what wade was saying.

all the "insults" that are actual insults only happen when wade's killed someone--after johnny dies, after nicepool dies. logan calls him an asshole after the first cassandra meeting, but in the context of his yapping having just killed johnny and nearly themselves too.

but he immediately asks for his input and then lets him yap again in the diner and all the way to the car fight. he doesn't use insults at all until after wade gets johnny killed, even though wade starts out insulting him in the bar and immediately in the void with "ape". though was he insulting logan or was it a compliment to his inhuman half, designed like an insult? logan's the one who gets down on all fours like an animal in the first fight scene, after wade's said "this is gonna be good". from how easily logan takes down sabretooth, we know that fight was pure fooling around.

logan's not mad when he finds out his universe can't be fixed, because he'll happily trade his past for wade's future--twice, going in the reactor and again when he doesn't demand to return to his own universe. a world without wade isn't one he wants. he makes to walk away because he needs to know if wade will call his name, just as logan called wade's in the reactor. and again, wade's an idiot and annoying in the reactor because he's about to kill someone again--himself.

at the end he says the avengers would be lucky to have wade. that's sincere. he was going to walk off, but chose to turn around and stay with wade. not because he had nowhere else to go, but because he likes the guy he just complimented. when meeting al, wade's throwing gross nonsense and logan is FOND and laughing along. that isn't disgust or frustration.

this is without getting into the motif that "taking the piss", aka insults aka verbal assaults, is "pulling your leg"--a joke. it's not meant seriously. it's flirting, foreplay, feeling each other out: physical violence is sex; verbal violence is first base.

so a mean joke isn't seriously like that but it very much definitely IS...."""like that""", in all seriousness. if you're insulting someone, you're "giving them an excuse", a come on to fucking go. an invite to...come....at? on?.....you. wade and logan both see right through the fourth wall, so this isn't only metatextual but also literally textual. they know what they're playing at.

a joke can also be an excuse to say one thing and mean another, like nicepool claiming to be nice while actually being rude. so if you act like you're mean.....you're saving the good stuff for special occasions. for someone who wants to have a go at you. it's why wade gets all breathy flustered in the car as they're....not playing nicely with each other. you gotta be....seriously mean.... if you wanna get under someone's skin....to live rent free with them. like family does. it's a callback to dp1: if you're paying for it, then you're only renting love, it's not a real happily ever after.

there's also a motif going on with costumes and masks making you "a different person", hence why wade and logan have radically different personalities in and out of their suits/masks. it's why wade takes off his mask to say nice things that he sincerely means.

[vershautece]

you and lu watching your own sex tape together :)

the two of you are cuddling in bed - you’re watching a movie curled into lu’s chest, legs entangled in his, while he scrolls through his phone, playing with your hair absentmindedly and pressing soft kisses to your forehead. there’s comfortable silence between you for a while as the movie plays, and you’re starting to fall asleep so you’re not really paying attention to it. you move down his body a little to lie completely on him, head nuzzled into his neck. your eyes start to flutter shut, so content in the moment when suddenly you feel lu’s erection against you. you shift a little against him, seeing if he reacts, and you hear his breath hitch and his clothed cock harden even more. he’s still on his phone, and you sit up on his thigh, wrapping your arms around his neck and looking over at his phone to see what he’s looking at. before you manage to get a look at his screen, he turns to look at you with a teasing smile. ‘just going through my camera roll, beautiful’ he kisses your forehead. ‘every picture i have of you is perfect. you’re so pretty’

‘mm, baby’ you kiss his cheek, moving your hands to his curls. ‘i felt you getting hard under me’ you giggle, and he smirks at you in response, before going back to scrolling through the pictures. his camera roll is basically just you and pictures of his travels - he takes pictures of you whenever he thinks you look cute and sometimes when you’re not looking; he’s got pictures saved that you’ve taken yourself and sent him, and he’s got so many pics and videos of you on your knees for him, of him pounding you into the mattress, of you riding him, for those times when he can’t be around you and needs to see you. of course you’re right next to him now, and he didn’t mean to get hard but he was sorting through his camera roll and ended up lingering too long on certain pictures.

you watch as he scrolls through a few photos of you on holiday in mexico, and you’re blushing at what he says to you. ‘you looked so beautiful in this dress, bambina, i couldn’t take my eyes off you that night. always so perfect.’ and then he scrolls to the next photo, of you guys that same night a few hours later, with his thumb in your mouth while he’s above you in missionary. you choke out a gasp, forgetting he had that picture, and you start to feel your panties dampen because you’ve been sitting on his thigh for a couple minutes at this point and now you’re desperate for his fingers in your mouth. he bites his lip gazing at the picture, a slight smirk evident on his face again. ‘baby - so pretty f’me looking up at me like that. bellissima’ he kisses your cheek, and scrolls again. it’s a video in your hotel room, 20 mins long, and you remember the sex tape you both made that night. you’ve made a handful of them together, including two that went on for several hours, but you’ve never actually watched one back. luigi has, because they’re on his phone and he watches them when you’re away - he hates porn, instead using these videos of you as a healthy alternative to get off.

‘remember this night?’ he looks at you with those pretty hazel eyes, before kissing your nose softly. ‘i love this video, it’s my favorite of us’ he moves his arm around your waist, his thumb rubbing softly on your hip as you start to squirm on his thigh. ‘i’ve never seen it’ you reply, keeping your eyes on the screen as he presses play. ‘i know - you can watch yourself now, beautiful’ he tells you softly.

in the video, the camera is set up to get the perfect view of luigi on top of you while you make out. you’re wearing a tight mini dress, boobs spilling out because he’s pushing your dress down from your chest while he kisses you. watching this, you instinctively open your legs a little on his thigh, rocking on him without even thinking. too fixated on the video, you don’t see how he smirks at the feeling of your slight movement on him, but you do feel him grip your waist tighter. ‘look at your pretty tits, my love, hm’

‘i remember this night so well’ you say, but it comes out almost as a whine as you start to rock your hips on his thigh. ‘yeah, you do? me too, baby, i’m so glad i have it all recorded’ he looks at you, and then a teasing smile forms on his face. ‘mm, you okay, princess? you trying to get off on my thigh, huh?’

all you can do in response is let out a soft moan, and your hands around his neck move to his curls; you’re still moving slowly on his thigh in your tiny shorts as the two of you watch luigi grip and knead your breasts in the video. you start to knead one of your breasts while you watch, and you look down to see how impossibly hard luigi is right now, only turning you on more. he looks back at you: ‘you getting wet watching your pretty tits get played with, hm?’ & you nod, biting your lip as you move a little faster. ‘you need something, dolcezza? yeah?’ his eye contact is insane, and you nod, then respond: ‘mmm, baby, want you to make me feel good’

‘yeah, the way i do in the video, baby?’ he speaks so softly to you, and you can’t ignore the teasing glint in his eye. ‘carry on watching yourself, and you can tell me exactly what you want me to do for you, okay?’

you whine in response, as the video shows luigi, still on top of you, start to play with your clit as he sucks and massages your boobs. you’re both naked now, and the camera angle showing luigi’s muscular back and side profile is too much for you to handle. you can’t take the sexual frustration anymore, so you slip your hand into your panties under your shorts, and start rubbing your clit. luigi is transfixed on the video, hand starting to palm his cock through his boxers, but of course he notices your moans getting louder from beside him and he turns to look at you. the sight of you pleasuring yourself on his thigh sends a rush through his member, and he grips it tighter, while his brows raise at you in amusement. ‘i told you to tell me what you wanted, baby. take your hand out of your panties, if you wanted me to play with that pretty clit you could’ve asked me, my love.’ you whine as you remove your hand, the loss of contact frustrating you like hell, and you’re getting even more soaked as you watch him palm himself through his boxers while he looks at you. in the video your soft moans and his quiet grunts against you are getting louder, and you’re so desperate for him now.

‘cmon, what do you want from me, dolcezza? tell me’ as he speaks he turns his gaze back to the screen again to tease you, pulling his cock out of his boxers. you’re a whiny slut on his thigh, letting out a desperate gasp at the sight of his fully erect member. his hand slowly moves up and down the shaft as he bites his lip, watching how his fingers begin to slip down from your clit into your entrance in the video.

‘want you to play with my clit, lu, want your fingers inside me’ you moan, all you can do is continue rocking yourself on his thigh because he won’t let you do anything else - he knows he can pleasure you way better than anything you could do for yourself. he smirks at your words, pumping his shaft faster as he continues watching the video, where you’re now moaning his name loud, back arched as he fucks you with his fingers.

‘yeah, you want this right now, huh?’ he asks you, a soft moan escaping his throat. ‘mm, luigi, don’t tease me, god, you know i need you’ you’re getting so restless just straddling his thigh, riding it pathetically in your soaked panties and your frustratingly tight shorts while you wait for him to give you what you need. ‘i’ll give it to you, baby, i know. take your shorts off and push your panties to the side for me’

you breathe a sigh of relief that he’s ending the teasing, and you move off his thigh to take off your shorts, before you quickly begin pulling down your panties. as soon as you try to, he stops you by gripping your thigh, looking at you with those pretty bedroom eyes. his hand slows on his cock a little but still maintains a steady pace. ‘i said push ‘em to the side, baby, don’t take them off’ he speaks to you so softly; he’s telling you what to do but in that same honeyed voice he always speaks to you in, and you’ll do whatever he says. ‘they’re soaked, lu’ you say, put you pull them back up and push them to the side like he asked. ‘yeah i know princess, i can see from here, that’s why i want them on, okay?’ his gaze on you is insane, and you feel your wetness start to spread down to your inner thighs. ‘sit against my chest, dolcezza’ he says, caressing your thigh softly with his thumb before you move over to sit in between his legs, back pressed against his chest. you sigh in content as you lean back on him, anticipating how good he’s about to make you feel. it’s difficult to act normal though, when you can feel his 7 inch cock pressed up against your lower back. he smacks it against you a couple times and you giggle, rocking your hips instinctively. ‘luigi, stop messing with me, need your fingers’ you grab his wrist on the hand that isn’t holding his phone, and you drag it to your clit. you feel him laugh softly behind you, and he leans forward a little to whisper in your ear: ‘so desperate f’me, hm? gonna give you everything you need, baby, i’m gonna make you cum, don’t worry. just watch yourself on the screen while i get you there, okay?’ he taps your clit suddenly, and you jolt at the feeling, before leaning back onto him comfortably as his fore and middle finger start to draw slow circles. ‘that’s it baby, just relax, and keep those pretty eyes on the screen, mhm’ he continues whispering in your ear, pressing soft kisses and bites on your neck and earlobe. you’re moaning quietly in content, your hand drifting upwards underneath your tank top to knead one of your breasts. he starts giving you a running commentary on the sex tape: ‘see how beautiful you are underneath me? while i’m fingering that pretty pussy, getting you so close to the edge - yeah, baby, so beautiful for me’

his fingers start to work faster, sliding up and down your slit to collect more of your wetness, and the feeling of his hard cock pressed against your back with his soft moans is literal heaven. the video would be enough to make you cum on your own, but resting against your man as he pleasures you and praises you while you both watch your own sex tape feels surreal. he’s moaning directly in your ear: ‘you’re so wet - fuck, you smell amazing, baby - you’ve soaked my favourite panties’

he moves the phone to rest against a pillow in front of you both so that he can make use of his other hand, to pull down your tank top and replace your own hand with his, kneading one breast at a time. you’re moaning louder than you’d like to admit at this point, your eyes shut, back arched against his chest as you rock against the sheets. you reach up to grip his bicep as the pleasure increases, and each time he looks down at you and notices your eyes are shut, he gently pushes your face back to watch the phone screen, tongue pressed to the side of his cheek in frustration that you keep looking away. you can’t help it though, you’re feeling so dizzy already from just his fingers on your clit. you’re leaking all over his hand, and you don’t know if he’s aware you can feel his precum also leaking onto your back.

in the video he’s taking his fingers out of you and moving you closer to the camera by your legs as you both giggle, and you’re squealing underneath him, drunk from the many cocktails you’d consumed that night at the bar. he slaps his cock on your pussy a few times, sliding it over your clit to tease you, and the camera gets the perfect angle. luigi has seen this video a million times over, meaning he knows exactly how it goes, so the second he’s slapping your pussy with his cock in the video, he surprises you with a sudden slap to your clit while you watch. ‘oooh my god, fuck’ you moan out so loud at the shock, and grip his bicep tighter. in the video he starts to guide his cock into you, and your gaze flicks between his huge size slowly pushing into you and the look on your own face as you struggle to adjust. as you both watch, lu starts whispering in your ear again: ‘you watching how my cock slides into that tight pussy, hm?’ ‘mhmmm’ you moan in response. ‘let me stroke your cock, lu, i wanna get you off at the same time.’ you feel his dimples widen against your neck, and he moves you to sit next to him, both of you against the headboard. he’s fucking you now in the sex tape, so deep in missionary, your legs wrapped around his waist as you scream - you know you pissed off a lot of people in the hotel that night.

now that you’re both sat up, you immediately reach for his cock, wrapping your fingers around his shaft without another second to waste. ‘you wanna feel my cock, baby, yeah?’ he shoots you that teasing smile. ‘let me carry on working that pussy, c’mere’ he grabs your thigh and moves it across his so you’re as close as possible, and wastes no time in slipping in a finger, while his thumb pleasures your clit. ‘oh, fuck baby, yes’ you moan out, gripping his cock tighter as your hand moves quicker on his shaft. ‘oh, fuck, that’s it baby girl, pump up and down for me, so good.’ you adore his moans, not only are you obsessed with the feel of his hard cock in your hands but those soft whiny moans he lets out are so beautiful that you could probably cum from the sound of them alone. you love that only you can get this reaction out of him, only you will hear those angelic sounds in your bedroom. nevertheless, he still tries his hardest not to end up a complete moaning mess for you, wanting to stay in control but he ends up like this for you every time. ‘baby, fuck - your nails look pretty, i like that colour’

‘yeah, lu? thank you for paying for them, i love you, mm’ you try to respond through strangled moans, and he slips in another finger without warning. he’s skilfully thrusting and curling upward two fingers into your pussy, thumb still rubbing your clit. it amazes you every time how skilled he is, so undone for you as you work his cock but able to pleasure you with so much precision at the same time, never slowing the pace. you’re both still fixed on the video, where luigi is on top pounding you into the mattress, your tits bouncing underneath him.

he continues with his commentary on the video as you pleasure each other: ‘look how gorgeous you are, hmm, so pretty underneath me’

‘cum for me, bella ragazza’ his fingers are thrusting into you at an insane pace, and the movement of your hand on his cock slows down because the pleasure is too distracting. you’re so dizzy, rocking against the sheets as you reach your release, and luigi stops watching the video to watch you cum for him. ‘that’s it, baby girl, get it all over my fingers, cmon’ his mouth is open, gazing at you intently as you moan for him. ‘oh, luigi, fuck i’m gonna cum, ohh baby i can’t-’ and then you scream, as you squirt all over his hand and the sheets beneath you. luigi chokes out a shocked laugh, slowing the pace of his fingers to bring you down from your high. ‘fuck baby, i know i’m good but i wasn’t doing anything different tonight’ he laughs. you’re blushing at him, breathless as you try to pick up the pace on his cock again. the sheets are completely soaked underneath you on the side of the bed luigi usually sleeps, but of course he won’t mind, and he slides his fingers up and down your pussy to spread your juices, before bringing both fingers to your lips. ‘open’ he orders, and you open your mouth to suck on your release. his dark eyes watch you intently, and as he removes his fingers you remember you’re supposed to be helping him cum. ‘lu, i’m sorry, let me suck you off, i got distracted’ you move between his thighs, immediately taking his leaking cock into your mouth. ‘oh i know, princess. sorry for distracting you’ he winks, shooting you a teasing smile that fades the second you start to kitten lick his tip. ‘oh just like that, dolcezza, mm’ his whiny moans get louder again, and he tightens his hand in your hair to create a makeshift ponytail, caressing your cheek with the thumb of his other hand. ‘that’s my girl, so pretty with my cock in your mouth.’ you try your best to deepthroat him but it’s impossible, so you work your hand on the rest of him that you can’t fit in your mouth. the sound of you gagging on his cock is bringing him so close to his release, and he starts to buck his hips up into your throat, but slows down a little as soon as he realises he might be going a little too rough. you look up at him with doe eyes, mascara running, watching his pretty face as he gets close. the way you look right now, gazing up at him while gagging on his cock is like something out of a porn video, and luigi knows that’s enough to make him come undone. ‘oh I’m so close, beautiful, fuck, that’s a good girl, make me cum, oh i’m gonna-’ he cuts off his whines with a guttural groan, as his hot cum shoots down your throat. you swallow it all, and give his tip a couple of kisses as you bat your lashes up at him.

‘you like that, lu?’

‘i don’t know what i’d do without you, beautiful girl.’

[winterzsurprise]

Change My Mind [7]

Pairing: BTS x reader

SUMMARY: As a make-up artist, you were expected to glamorize your clients with brushes and products that cost a week-worth of food, not to befriend them outside of work, let alone have them save you from dates yet here you are five years later as one of their closest confidants.

Being a stylist of the world's biggest boyband is no easy feat, someone is doing flips, someone can't stay still and one's asleep but its fine, you can work around their chaos but then one day, you find out they're all your soulmates, a whole different can of chaos you don't think you can handle.

Tags: Soulmates AU, Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Not Beta Read, Slow Build, Polyamory, Attempts at Humor

Words: 8.6k

IM BACK

laptop problem is solved. Shit was shady though (i literally have to pay the guy money for his 'efforts' in lying to get my laptop fixed) but its worth the money so idc. Rushed to finish this so this shit ain't beta read nor proofed, that's for Vuinterro of tomorrow to stress about. Will still take long to post chapters, might take a month per chapter. It really depends since I'm using this fic to fix my horrid writer's block and brain fog but I plan to see this fic through so dwww

also, what do you all think about having purely the boys' pov at some point in the story? Been thinking about having the boys' perspectives once the courting starts but that's prolly just me

lastly, enjoy this chapter. I hope my tired mind was able to write my vision down clearly, I'll fix the mistakes and add more details later on. Pls comment or like, I'm in desperate need for validation lmao

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Jung Hoseok is not scared.

Sure he screams bloody mary at the sight of bugs a thousand times smaller than him, and yeah he’s easily startled but he’s not scared.

Especially not by a piece of paper, that would be ridiculous!

The reason he went to his noona’s house instead of heading straight to the dorms after the news broke out that his Seokjin hyung is tethered to you is because she needed his help on something, and being the dutiful brother he is, swooped in to save the day!

“At least wash the dishes for me if you’re going to hide in my house because you’re being a scaredy cat,” Jiwoo says from the kitchen archway, leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. “I still don’t get why you’re so scared of a piece of paper. The most it’ll do is give you a small cut.”

“Well, that ‘small cut’ still stings a lot!” He argued back, pulling the throw pillow closer to his chest. “And I’m not scared!”

It was irrational how he’s getting cold feet at the thought of the blood result. It’s not like he was hoping to see anything other than ‘negative’ there. 

Jimin would argue that he’s being pessimistic for thinking so but it was the obvious answer if you looked at his family tree. 

From his grandparents’ parents and down to him and his sister, there hasn’t been a single tethered from his bloodline like most of the world’s population. Unlike his Jin hyung who at least had one distant cousin who got a soulmate or his Yoongi hyung who at least had his grandparents as soulmates, his family was barren from such a blessing. His grandpa had joked once, saying their family was cursed for never birthing a single tethered. Ever.

Not even with the people they ended up had ever resulted in having a tethered no matter their family background..

For him to turn out to be a part of your nexus would be a miracle of the highest degree that would make the tales in the bible pale in comparison.

Daring to have himself tested is stupid, he already knew the result and submitting his DNA meant he was hoping.

But hope is nothing in the face of facts, he should be wishing instead; prayer sticks, shaman blessings and all that.

Hoseok knew he was being greedy, wishing to be a part of a nexus relationship as crowded as yours. Growing up with the rest, he knew how much of a handful Jungkook can be on his own, matched with Jimin who now possesses bottomless energy, he has no business trying to squeeze himself in places he can’t fit in. 

Sometimes he thinks he’s being influenced by the fact that he’s being singled out in the group. Now that their oldest has joined the harem, being the odd one out oddly felt ostracizing, being subjected to Taehyung and Jungkook discussing courting gifts, and Yoongi talking to Namjoon about their soulmarks shouldn’t have made him feel bitter but it did. 

“You saying that while pouting on my couch, miles away from your friends who now have your exam result, is not helping your case.”

“If you don’t have anything nice to say to your brother, you shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I’m saying a lot because I care about you. This,” She says, motioning to him to which he replied with an offended look. “Isn’t healthy. The more you’re hiding away, the more this will haunt you.”

“You’re just saying that because you’ll have hyung over soon.”

“That I am, so just get your shit together and go! I planned a night for us but I had to move it because of you.” She shot back but he knew it had no actual snark behind it. She had welcomed him with warm arms after all.

Hoseok had seen how his friends slowly fell in love with you while he continued to look at you and see a best friend. Seeing how everyone seems to have been captured by you, he got curious.

For a long time since debut, Hoseok had stopped perfecting his craft and pursuing his aspirations to pay attention to someone else. It was uncommon but he too once wished for a soulmate until practice, video shoots, and music production began to eat up most of his time and he forgot about his initial wish.

Seeing his brothers be taken by their best friend, his crush, he couldn't help but be curious how it came to be.

Was it because you were closer to their age and, for the lack of better terms, accessible to them that they had begun to seek the comfort of a lover in you?

“Do you think because she's also been busy with us that she began to seek comfort with us too?”

“Tae, just eat your breakfast.”

It was such a random thought from Tae one random morning, and Hoseok would’ve brushed it off like the other time he gets struck with an idea but this one stuck to him like an annoying ex. The idea loomed over him the whole journey to the company and back home. He grew hypersensitive to how he approached you since that morning and he began to notice the miniscule details he would’ve shrugged off any other day. 

From how your touches would linger on their skin, how you’d comfortably lean in closer to them without batting a single eye at how unusual it may seem to others, he took note of them all. It was how he knew their leader’s feelings for you, even if the man himself hadn't noticed it yet. 

Hoseok found his proof in Namjoon’s eyes that restlessly roamed the room until he’d find you in the bustle of the staff. It was also in the way he’d always reach out for you, may it be when you’d turn to leave and he’d catch a drama-esque scene where instead of calling out for your name, Namjoon would reach for your hand and speak to you with that soft look in his eyes and the genuineness in the dip of his dimples when he smiles.

Eyes never lie nor do the dimples on his cheeks whenever he grins, even when the beholder hasn’t realized it yet.

It was then did he realise how odd your relationship is with them and decided to take a step back to draw a line. 

Friends, especially ones whose gender are opposite of each other, aren’t supposed to be as touchy and comfortable the way you and his brothers are. You didn’t say anything when you noticed and wordlessly respected his decision. He was firm on drawing the line, his sister had questioned his actions but he’s determined, nothing is going to stop him from going back on his decision.

At least until he got sick.

Without any of his brothers available to tend to him as they had to leave for Japan the very day he fainted—he had to pass out while talking to the migration officer, so embarrassing!—, he thought he'd power through it alone for a few days. But then you volunteered to stay back to take care of him and everyone just let it happen as if it's normal.

Which is not.

He'd understand taking care of him during the job but to take a leave of absence just to watch over him because his family is unavailable due to the rough weather at the time, in a house far too big for the two of you while the rest flies to another country. It wasn’t appropriate, not normal at all. 

In the haze of his high fever, he had asked you how you were acting as if the situation was normal and in response, you had hit him lightly with the drenched towel you used to wipe his face.

“Don't be ridiculous. You're one of my best friends even if you’ve been acting up these past few days. I'm not about to leave while you're sick and alone in the dorms. If your family could come to Seoul, I would've left with the others so don't overthink. This is just me being a good friend.”

Cooking for him, wiping his face and making sure he's comfortable in bed—It felt far too domestic to be friendly. 

Familial doesn't sound like the right word either. There’s nothing familial about the butterflies in his stomach when you had kissed his forehead good night that day as a joke when Jimin had called you or when you had woken him up the next day.

Oh how beautiful you were that morning.

He knew at that moment that the goddess of beauty had favorites when she made your skin glow softly under the radiance of the rising morning sun like a halo and had your messy bed hair look frustratingly good on you. 

You were borrowing their clothes that day since you had already got your items shipped with the other staff, Taehyung’s white striped polo hung off on you like a dress and Jimin’s red basketball shorts gobbled up your form yet even with the fabrics dwarfing and hiding the curves of your body, he still thinks you’re the cutest sight he has ever had the pleasure of seeing.

You were especially cute in their clothes though.

In his feverish haze, all he could think about was how pleasant it’d be if you were to wake him up every morning like an angel welcoming him to heaven. What he’d give to the world to have you be the first thing he’d see in the morning.

Then you spoke and greeted him in that roughened sweet voice and Hoseok was gone.

Realization immediately had him freezing, tensing up as you let yourself fall across his blanket covered feet to groan about how sleepy you still are after putting down his medicine and breakfast on the bedside table. He hadn’t been able to reply, busy with tampering down the racing heartbeat echoing in his ears. 

Looking back a year later, him falling in love with you wasn’t as odd as he thinks it is, uncommon but still cliche. 

Jiwoo taking the space next to him made him jump, breaking off his line of thought.

“Seriously, just get it over with. The faster you see the result, the faster you can decide whether to move on or not.”

It was the most logical step to take but it felt…wrong somehow. 

He couldn’t imagine a day where he’d look at you and never feel the tickles of butterflies filling his stomach or the warmth your fingers would leave behind after carding through his hair or tilting his chin up to have a better look on his makeup. It felt like an offense to the fates.

Although loving you has its downsides, with your obliviousness to their feelings whether intentional or unintentional often makes him want to pull his hair out, he’d never regret feeling the joy of admiring someone when he’s with you. Hoseok has never felt more motivated to produce music with lyrics far too romantic to come from someone who has never had a lover since pre-debut. Not that you’d see that of course.

He couldn’t remember how many times he found himself wanting to grab you by the shoulders to shake you whenever you teased him about his creations, and hoped it would be enough to let you know that all those cheesy lyrics he had uncharacteristically puked out was all because of you.

“Don’t you go souring your face like that, you know that I’m right.”

“And just because you sound right, doesn’t mean I’m gonna listen to you.”

Jiwoo rolled her eyes and turned to her kitchen, probably to take a pan and hit him upside the head with it or to save herself from seeing the pathetic image of her brother being a fool for love. 

He knew not to hope, he repeated those words to himself but at the same time, he could sense the small, miniscule bead of it hidden within his heart, pushed down to the bottom of the barrel and awaiting its eventual death once he set his eyes on the negative results on his test.

In all of the times he got scared, Jung Hoseok has never been so terrified at the thought of being left out of your nexus. It would be the highest form of torture, a cruelest fate the heavens have dealt. 

How would he function seeing all his brothers do all the things he had imagined himself doing? Due to how sensitive the bond is, he wouldn’t be able to get a feel of your touch for a year, maybe two if the gods deemed it funnier.

What is he going to do then? Die from envy?

He wouldn’t be able to survive, it would ruin him completely. That parasitic feeling would eat him up from the inside and eventually spill out of him, it would damage the relationship he and his brothers had established through hardships and time. Something he too treasured as he does you.

A chime rang out and his eyes immediately fell to his phone on the coffee table. From the familiar set of emojis on the name of the messenger, he reached over to answer to his Yoongi hyung.

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: i know what you’re doing

           [18:23] Me: i don’t know what i’m even doing right now hyung

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: you may fool the others but im not like them

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: jiwoo had already asked me last week about this problem ur supposed to be fixing so dont even try to lie to me

           [18:23] Me: im just worried

           [18:23] Me: you know about my family history right? We never had a single tethered so idk what even possessed me to take that test with jin hyung when we already know the answer

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: i think you’ll be surprised

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: not that i’m spoiling or anything, im just saying that if jesus could turn water into rum, then you can be the first tethered in your family

           [18:23] Me: well im not a son of god am i?

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: don’t get sassy with me

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: im just saying, miracles can happen

           [18:23] Me: i think i already lucked out with our jobs hyung

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: i doubt that

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: come home tomorrow

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: the maknaes are planning a party for you

           [18:23] Me: LOLOLOL WHAT

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: they even bought two different cakes

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: wont spoil what they say 

           [18:23] MinSyuga🐱: come home if you want know

           [18:23] Me: i will 

Despite telling his hyung that he’ll return, he wasn’t sure if he’s going through that decision just yet.

“Did you at least bring a change of clothes with you?” Jiwoo chimes, reappearing from the kitchen archway.

“What if I don’t have any?”

“Then you’re sleeping in those.”

Despite her words, she eventually pulls out a pair of pajamas from her boyfriend’s temporary side of the closet for him to borrow. Sleeping that night was far from being an easy task when he could read and see from the images the maknaes are spamming the group chat, photos ranging from decent captures of moments to a blurry mess where the one holding the phone is running away from a figure that distinctly look like Jimin.

He tried to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of his head and the way his stomach seems to shrunk and eat itself up with every picture and video he sees. He truly does try to ignore the voice judging him for daring to squeeze himself in an already perfect dynamic.

Eventually though, the voices quieten and he falls asleep.

______

Jimin is falling in love with his soulmate. 

It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone but he's actually falling in love with his soulmate. Tingling butterflies in his stomach, skipping heartbeat, tickling warmth in the chest, the whole mile.

What started off as playful admiration where he’d tease you and lightly tug or pull your hair up while you were putting setting powder on his under eye, quickly developed into a giggly high school romance kind of love where he’d avoid your eyes just so his stomach would stop feeling weird and feel the heat of your touch linger from where you last held him.

Now that he’s thinking about it, the whole thing sounds silly because of course he’s going to fall in love with his soulmate.

The morning started as most mornings have begun for him since Jungkook’s birthday, with your face, bare and naked of any products, and the warmth of your body seeping through the fabric of his clothes. More often than not, he’d find himself coming to consciousness feeling your body weight pressing on his arms or your breath ghosting against his throat and he'd just free. 

 Every time it happens, electric shocks would run down his skin and he’d be taking a quick trip to the bathroom to calm his racing heart.

It was insane how often he had to lean over the ceramic sink so early in the morning, breathing heavily to try and ground himself before he reenters the room and sneaks back into his bed, but strictly keeping himself on his side of the pillow fort while careful to take your hand in his once again without waking you up. 

But today, he found himself wishing for time to stop just so he could stare at your face at this very moment.

With the light sheen of the light filtered through the curtains bouncing on one side of your skin giving you an ethereal appearance, he found himself at a loss for words at the beauty presented before him. His eyes traced the lines of the long lashes kissing the apple of your cheeks, the slope of your nose, and down to the plush of your lips. 

Jimin has lost count on how many times he has wondered about how it’d felt pressing against his.

In the peaceful silence of the early mornings, all he did was stare and wait for time to pass while wishing internally for the world to slow just so he could soak in the peace the morning brought.

Eventually though, he had to steer his attention elsewhere. Jimin rolls to the other end to reach for his phone on the bedside table.

He’s been scrolling on his phone for a couple of minutes, lurking in the fandom space—both international and local—when the door creaks open and Taehyung steps in with sleep-lidden eyes and body heavy with lethargy. Forgoing to close the door of their room, he trudged towards the bed like an overworked employee before promptly falling face first to the spot between you and him. He churned in the small space, making himself comfortable by throwing an arm around your blanket-covered form.

For a long while, the only sound in the room came from the occasional videos he plays.

It was weird. Having a soulmate who has multiple soulmates is weird.

He should be feeling disturbed seeing someone cuddle up to his soulmate but he wasn’t. Jimin, contrary to popular belief, is possessive, probably more than Jungkook was in his younger age. Although it wasn’t to the point of killing like people like to showcase in films these days, possessiveness for him is as tame as snaking arms around waists and narrowed eyes. 

Maybe there’s a bit of pulling them aside for a quick reminder in the middle of an event but the point is, he’s possessive. 

But he couldn’t find a single cell in his body who was bothered by the presence of someone else in the room. 

This soulmate thing is weird.

When he laughed at a post, Taehyung dragged himself up to shoulder level just to see what he was laughing at before giggling himself. Suddenly, you push yourself up and turn to them with squinted eyes.

“Good morning, noona.”

“Tae? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Seokjin hyung sent me up here to wake you both up—”

“It’s still too early!” she groaned, stretching her arms above her head. “I’m not built for working this early!” 

“— he said if you don’t go down before seven, he’ll eat the can of smelly fish you bought for him in Sweden as a joke.”

You paused, the threat successfully shutting you up before you let out an exaggerated groan and dramatically burying yourself back into the pillow.

“Can’t a girl rest? I have a bad headache, and I don’t even know if the beating is Namjoon’s or mine.”

It’s easy to forget how there’s six different soulmarks affecting her all at the same time. From how she’d hear their leader’s heartbeat no matter how far, to the altered taste due to his Seokjin hyung’s mark, and to his Healing Touch. He couldn’t even fathom how much of a nightmare it is sensing everyone.

They eventually dragged themselves down to the dining room after a quick bathroom break. Jin had immediately greeted them with heaps upon heaps of pancakes with maple syrup drooling over the side and scrambled eggs on the table. 

Yoongi and Namjoon were already nursing their cups of coffee on the table—with Joon hyung taking his rightful spot on one end of the table as the leader, Seokjin hyung taking the seat on the opposite side, and Yoongi next to their leader—Seokjin was occupied with his food when they arrived, one scrolling on his phone while the other crazily scribbled on his journal.

“You didn’t even try to at least cook me waffles, hyung. I’m hurt!” He exclaimed and the man rolled his eyes.

“In another life, if you were my soulmate, maybe I would’ve considered it.” Jin then flashed a smile at you before skipping back to the kitchen.

Jimin couldn’t help but notice how you shifted uncomfortably on your seat at the noticeably more generous portion on your plate and he switched his plate with yours, immediately shoving one into his mouth before his hyung returned. An action noticed by everyone in the room.

“Jimin,” Yoongi called out, voice gentle as a whisper. “Give me one.” 

He followed, standing up to bring his plate closer to his hyung and passing it over, adding the eggs into the equation when Yoongi motioned him to add it. Seokjin returns when Jungkook has trudged out of his room and taking the empty space next to Taehyung.

Jungkook immediately noticed the generous amounts on his plate and immediately reached out for two pancakes with his fingers and plopping it down on his plate before taking three more from the middle dish and practically drowning his towers in maple syrup. As if it wasn’t enough, he reached for the softened butter.

When Jin returned, it was with another dishful of bacon and slices of apple. If he noticed the change of plates, he said nothing. 

For a long while, they all occupied themselves with their food. A companionable silence 

“What’s the agenda for today?” Jungkook was the first to break the silence.

“Yoongi hyung is coming with us to buy furniture for noona.” Jimin replied.

Taehyung then stops slicing his pancake and jutted out his lips towards Yoongi’s direction.

“Can I come with you?”

“I need your voice for the new song I’ve been working on.” Namjoon replied, looking up from his journal with a stern stare directed at the pouting boy. “You’ve been gone for so long, I have a couple for you to work on.”

“I can do that tomorrow, hyung. Let me go just for today? Hm?” 

“I can go right? Since you need Tae’s voice instead of mine.” Jungkook sleepily chimed in, eyes still half closed and a hand raised halfway.

“You’ll do the carrying?” Yoongi challenges.

“I’ll even do the talking.”

Jungkook held his gaze with a small, playful grin, waking his face up which Yoongi matched after a couple seconds passed.

“Alright, you’re going with us, kid.”

“I have a touch-based soulmark, I need to come too!” Taehyung argued..

“It's not as drastic as Jimin’s. Even then, you’ve recharged enough.” Seokjin responds, pointing his fork at him.

But before Tae could reply, a shrill notification sound pierced through the air and Y/N pulled her phone out of the pockets of her sleep shorts. Eomma <3

Shit.

Seeing how fast the entertained lilt in her expression drops into dread, the table falls into a hush. As if sensing the approaching tsunami of words from her mother, Yoongi takes his mug and walks out of the room with Seokjin following close behind. 

_____

“What did I hear about you getting a soulmate? You ungrateful child, I carried you for nine months and raised you with my blood, sweat, and tears yet this is how you treat me?!”

That was how your mother had begun the moment you had accepted her call. Her voice, despite being carried through such a small device, had blasted out, her uncontainable rage far too grand to be limited by the phone’s initial features. How a small woman could hold such an explosive anger and powerful voice is a wonder no one in the world has the answer for.

Hearing her voice through the speakers had Seokjin, Yoongi and Namjoon fleeing the scene, but not without karma immediately hitting their leader who had accidentally checked his shoulder on the wall on his way out.

Jungkook followed quickly, dunking his milk in one go and taking his plate with him as he jogged to follow his hyungs, Taehyung behind him.

Jimin had tried to leave but was stopped by both your entangled hands.

“So damn ungrateful you are! Didn't even tell me what was happening, a fucking lawyer knocked on my door and there I find out that my child is tethered. What was my daughter doing to forget to tell HER mother she had soulmates? Why did I have to hear it from someone I don't know?!”

“Did you really think you could leave me alone here?” I whisper-shout at him.

“Noona, let me go. I know we can go for five minutes now.”

“You’re really gonna risk our health for that?”

“At least don’t turn the camera at me, let me hide under the table.”

“Is that my new son-in-law Jimin?” Your mother had chimed, her tone taking a sudden turn. I turned the camera to him despite the insistent shake of head and wide eyes. “When you said you were also trying to find a husband for my daughter, I didn’t think you’d mean you and your brothers!”

“I know right?! Who knew I’d be one of the husbands I’ve been talking about, right auntie?”

“Already talking about marriage, huh? Y/N!” You turn the camera to you and find her smiling so wide you feel your cheeks ache for her. “Your soulmates got good heads on them, already thinking about marriage this early on!”

You shake your head. 

While marriage had once been an issue you lost sleep on, you knew it was impossible to attain as idols. They still got stadiums to perform in, songs to compose and perform for the ARMY. Bangtan would continue on for years as long as they sing and dance or as long as their passion remains alive and roaring. They had worked hard to get where they are now, with the taste of glory and power that comes with their rise in fame, retirement is a far away dream when they’re just getting started. 

Not to mention, your brain still struggles to accept your new reality despite the very apparent a red string connecting you and Yoongi over the table, and hearing Namjoon's heartbeat at the back of your mind. Hoseok hasn’t even checked his test result yet but your mother is already looking decades ahead.

“Ma please, you know that’s after they retire which is thirty years from now.”

“Jimin,” she calls out, lip jutted out in a pout and he leans over to get into the frame. “Are you guys going to make this old woman wait to see her daughter be a bride? I’m not gonna last long you know? My bones hurt every morning and my appetite is beginning to weaken.”

Jimin laughed nervously, eyes wide as he turned to you for help but you're not going to jump in when his face has calmed the raging beast. 

“Don't think for one second that I'm done with you, you ungrateful brat! You haven't even told me why you broke it off with Guwon when he was about to propose!”

“D-does it really matter now?” You winced when Jimin narrowed his eyes at you. Suddenly remembering what was drowned out by the sudden revelation of your soulmate links.

“It doesn't, global popstars sound much better than a lawyer anyway but would it hurt you to tell me what happened exactly? Don't you think your mother deserved an explanation at least after I toiled away trying to find you a husband?!”

“Don't you worry about it anymore, auntie,” Jimin says, voice like a gentle caress trying to tame her fierce anger. “Noona now has seven to care for her now, we'll get to that bridge when it comes but for now, how about we treat you girls to a nice spa out in Jeju?”

“Oh? I wouldn't want to impose on your bonding period, but I'd like to take that offer later. How so nice of you, Jiminie.”

“It’s not the best of gifts but I assure you that there’s plenty to come. Expect a couple of fruit baskets from Yoongi hyung and other stuff too from the others.

“You seven better take care of my daughter, it would be a shame if you all mucked it all up and I have to resent you all.” Your mother sighed, feigning sadness. “Anyways, expect a visit from Soo-in soon dear daughter. She will deliver my heartfelt joy in my stead, your father still needs my help around the house, damn pride of his, he shouldn’t have mindlessly tried to fix the roof himself.”

A shiver wracks down your spine at the thought of your mother’s gift after ghosting her and Soo-in for almost a week now. 

The last time your sister had visited, it was after Jungkook had ‘ran-into-the-sunset’ with you on his shoulder and him covered from head to toe in black. The vile wrench had switched your sugar and salt, hid the lids of your tupperwares, hid lego in your shoes before eventually ending her wickedness by hiding the wires of your charger and the wifi router’s adapter.

If your mother only threatened to hang you upside down, Soo-in made sure everything in life became irritatingly inconvenient.

“She won’t be pinching my ears?”

“She’s classier than that, I raised her first so expect more. I love you, dear daughter! Visit us soon with your seven soulmates!”

__________

[Today, 12:42]

           [12:42] The BADDEST💅: so let me get one thing straight and two things gay

           [12:42] The BADDEST💅: ur linked with bangtan?

           [12:42] The BADDEST💅: THE ENTIRE ROSTER?????

           [12:43] The Mother😌: congratulations Y/N, I’m so glad you finally found your soulmates😊

           [12:43] The Mother😌: always knew you’d be tethered

           [12:43] The PRETTIEST🌸: so who’s the biggest?👀

           [12:43] The BADDEST💅: girl I don’t even think you got the libido for two

           [12:43] The BADDEST💅: how tf are you gonna handle seven?!?!?!

           [12:43] The BADDEST💅: she was in the hospital u fiend @The Prettiest

           [12:43] The BADDEST💅: she needs to be worrying about a different type of d to receive

           [12:44] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: SHUT IT MINHYUK

           [12:44] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: hoseok isn’t confirmed yet so its just six for now

           [12:44] The Prettiest🌸: bet you wish he’s your soulmate too

           [12:44] The Prettiest🌸: cuz the way that man thrusts his hips in baepsae?

           [12:44] The Prettiest🌸: 🥵

           [12:44] The Mother😌: have some faith in her, she’ll manage

           [12:44] The Mother😌: gift giving for your birthday just got a whole lot easier though😊

           [12:44] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: wdym by that @The Mother😟

           [12:45] The BADDEST💅: NO BUT SRSLY

           [12:45] The BADDEST💅: HOW TF ARE YOU GONNA MANAGE SEVEN

           [12:45] The BADDEST💅: ONE DICK PER DAY??? SEVEN DAYS A WEEK??/ 

           [12:45] The BADDEST💅: lowkey wish that for me BUT

           [12:45] The BADDEST💅: HOW?????? 

           [12:46] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: MINHYUK PLEASE

           [12:46] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: JIMIN IS LITERALLY NEXT TO ME

           [12:46] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: NABI CONTROL YOURSELF

           [12:46] The PRETTIEST🌸: don’t scold me when ik ur thinking about it too

           [12:46] The Mother😌: when’s the soulbinding?

           [12:46] Queen Oblivious😮‍💨: Jihae please, its only been a few days

           [12:46] The Mother😌: back in my days, people bound themselves and completed the bond on the first day…

           [12:47] The PRETTIEST🌸: @The BADDEST i think you're forgetting the best part out of this

           [12:47] The BADDEST💅: wut?

           [12:47] The PRETTIEST🌸: imagine alexa’s reaction when she finds out our dearest @Queen Oblivious is Seokjin’s real soulmate

           [12:47] The BADDEST💅: OH

           [12:48] The BADDEST💅: she better HOPE she’s not in bighit anymore the moment the NDA expires

           [12:48] The BADDEST💅: im going to be the most annoying fucker she’ll ever meet

[Today, 13:02]

           [13:02] The BADDEST💅: no but srsly how?

           [13:02] The PRETTIEST🌸: R I P that pussy ayee

________

There’s nothing more infuriating than picking furniture with your soulmates, you decided.

Yoongi wanting everything to be practical and of the greatest quality matched with Jungkook’s penchant for only liking soft things, it was hell to be stuck in a furniture warehouse with the both of them. Jimin had never looked so godly when he insisted on letting you pick the brownish-red persian rug to be placed under the wide round canopy bed you had eventually settled with after a long debate with the rapper and the youngest.

What started as Jimin towing you around the shop to place you in front of every furniture before a mischievous grin spread across his lips, and the strength of the bed frames immediately turned sour when you both found your other two companions calmly arguing about the color of the curtains—they both eventually settled with thick white, and beige curtains, to Jungkook’s dismay.

He wanted black-out curtains for when he eventually ends up sleeping in your bed, he claimed.

The current dilemma, however, had you going silent as the prickles of irritation began to itch your skin.

Yoongi wanted to commission a carpenter he knew for a custom desk made for you and is insisting on you to skip shopping for tables and shelves, and take the cheapest one for now but Jungkook thinks it’ll take too long and wanted the boho vanity table set with a huge round mirror with stained glass around the edges. The rapper wanted the place you’d be doing work on, to be built with the practical features while keeping it organized but Jungkook, although he saw his hyung’s vision, refused.

“Imagine waking up with a canopy, great quality bed, amazing decor, then you have to stand up and work on a rackety blue plastic table because you have to wait months for that desk. How does that sound, hyung?”

Jimin not picking sides only added to the pounding headache you’re having.

While you understand both sides of the argument, either of those options didn't make you feel less guilty about having them skip work to spend all this money for your room, even if you knew how barely of a scratch their collective funds will take.

If Taehyung hadn't had the foresight to hide your wallet while you were in the shower with Jimin, the guilt would've been lighter.

You envy Jin who has been prickling your tastebuds with honey glazed fried chicken back in bighit, the lingering taste on your tongue making your stomach uncomfortably churn in hunger.

The disguises could only last for so long before people start noticing how familiar your soulmates’ eyes are, seeing as they’re plastered everywhere in the major cities. For the public to see your hands entangled in the pocket of Jimin’s coat would fuel the press for a year; hell, a century even with how the media moves these days.

As Jungkook’s voice picks up, you reach for the red string and Yoongi halts, looking down at the connecting line before gently grabbing it too.

‘Head hurts’

‘No more’

The rapper lets out an exhale and Jungkook stops.

‘Sorry’

‘Forgive?’

“Ok, so how about we take the set and I commission my guy then we’ll change it out once it's done?”

“Deal.”

Next to you, Jimin sighed in relief. “Thank god that’s settled, I thought I was going crazy listening to them debate on what’s better.”

“I don’t think either of them has ever fought for something they wanted that much.”

You turn to Jimin and a teasing smirk grows on his face.

“They love you like that, noona. Wanted nothing but the best of the best for you.” 

In a different context, you would've easily brushed off his comment but having the warmth of his touch thrum from your hand to your toes, the healing touch always at work, your cheeks flushed dark and you lightly slapped his arm.

Ever dramatic, he clutched his bicep and winced.

“Why are you hurting me like this?”

“Please, we have regeneration as our soulmark. You're barely hurt.”

“I'm gonna bruise and the fans are gonna see it then I'm telling them how much you like hurting me!”

________

When Hoseok arrived it was with a chorus of loud bangs!. The man had leapt at least a foot or two from the shock as confetti rained on him. 

Once he recovered though, he rained curses on the mischievous maknaes—and surprisingly, Yoongi and Namjoon too but they were spared due to one having his hyung privilege and Namjoon having retreated to the kitchen before his hyung had recovered from the shock.

Jin had clapped him in the back when he entered the dining room, fitting the huge and frilly birthday hat on his head and taking a picture of his dumbfounded reaction before the man could even realise what was happening.

Seeing them celebrate such a small thing, an odd feeling settles in your heart. You try not to be a killjoy but you couldn't ignore the mass settling on your gut.

Everything continued on as normal, everyone acted like they had before Jungkook's confession. They find out their links to you and suddenly, the past is behind them. As if you hadn't—although unintentionally—led them on and hadn't rejected three of them. A soul link appears and every fault was forgiven.

It wasn't only you who seemed to be feeling this way though.

Namjoon too it seems, seeing how he had kept his distance. Not in a bad way but rather a respectable, perfectly platonic way. You guessed it'll take long before the information would sink in for the non-believer, he was the one who had treated you more professionally than the others. You'd feel his concerned eyes ever so often but other than that, he'd treat you like a fragile glass.

Never to be touched and never to be perceived too long, fearing the weight of his gaze is enough to make you crumble.

(Or was it just you turning something that was normal before into fuel for your restless mind with the soulmarks now in the picture?)

You knew Namjoon is just having a hard time settling down with the fact that he's in a nexus connection with you but the ugly voice at the back of your head whispered a different tale. All of them are negative and judged far too harshly than you normally do yourself.

Jungkook bets his hyung will break after the third week, Tae says a month, and Jimin slyly says next week. You think it'll take Namjoon at least half a year before he properly processes him being tethered to someone, a non-believer.

The thumb that began to caress your knuckles snapped you out of your thoughts and you immediately found Jimin’s concerned eyes.

“You okay?”

You nod but he knew you better. Luckily, he lets it go.

“Open it, open it!” Jungkook chants, bringing everyone to gather around them.

Hoseok nervously laughed, placing down his car keys, phone, and wallet on the table before flipping the envelope’s flap. 

Unconsciously, you leaned forward as he carefully tears the paper, the sound seeming to echo loudly in the silence of everyone’s nervous anticipation. As his brothers had gone from standing at a respectful distance to noisily looking over the main dancer’s shoulder, Jimin had tugged you closer to join them, standing in front and peering over as Hoseok flips open the first fold.

Then out of nowhere, Yoongi had a burst of energy and screamed.

Everyone jumped at his sudden burst of energy making Hoseok’s hand shoot up to his heart and the three maknaes snapped their head to their hyung. The man in question laughed noiselessly, satisfied with the reaction he garnered.

“Hyung, why did you do that?! I just got out of the hospital and you want to send me back again!”

“You’re practically invincible, what are you talking about?” Yoongi shot back.

“Just open it, all I’m seeing is your information hyung and that’s boring!” Taehyung cuts in. “I already know what your blood type is, your last name—”

“You go open it then—”

His words died on his tongue when Taehyung snatched the paper up from the envelope and pulled it open. But before he could start reading the result, Hoseok took it back.

Waiting as he read through his results felt like watching the presidential race on the tv, heartbeat rising every time the opposing candidate gained more than the man you elected. You worried your bottom lip with your teeth. His eyebrows furrowed, his frown deepening as his eyes wandered lower and you began to panic.

Why are you even nervous? 

Aren't you being too greedy for wanting to have Hobi too?

Hoseok then crumbled into the floor, curling up to himself as he clutched the paper to his chest. Instantly, everyone panics as his heart shattering sobs echoed in the living room.

Suddenly, the colorful decorations hanging on the wall and the balloons scattered on the floor made

“Hoba? What’s wrong?”

“Hyung come on, don’t make me nervous like this!”

“What did it say?”

Jimin falls next to him, your hand momentarily forgotten to comfort his hyung and Jungkook follows, hugging the sobbing man while Seokjin reaches for the crumpled paper peeking out of Hoseok’s curled up form, a grim expression on his face.

“I am writing to inform you of the results of your recent soulmark evaluation and tethered status assessment. After a thorough examination and review of your diagnostic tests, it has been confirmed that you are,” Seokjin takes a deep breath then releases it shakily, a wide smile spreading across his lips. “Indeed tethered.”

You let go of the breath you had unconsciously held in as everyone in the room began to celebrate. Jimin pulled Hoseok to stand, laughing as the man continued to weep before reaching up to fix the birthday cap Seokjin had slipped onto his head. Jungkook, unable to stop himself from ridiculing his hyungs whenever he could, pulled out his phone to record them.

“How do you feel knowing you’re the first ever tethered in your family?”

Taehyung follows by placing his phone under Hoseok’s chin like a mic.

“You must be so happy being the first Jung to have a soulmate since the dawn of time, sir. Please tell us what you’re feeling right now.”

“Get that fucking… camera off my face or I’ll break it.”

Hearing this, Namjoon turns to the maknaes. “Stop teasing him, Seokjin hyung isn’t even done reading it.”

Despite this, Jungkook didn’t stop recording but Taehyung had skipped over to look over Seokjin’s shoulder.

“I think you’ll want to read this one yourself, Hoba.” The oldest says, handing the paper over to the sniffling man.

With his result back in his hand, Hoseok straightened himself, clearing his throat as Jimin gently wipes his tears off of his cheeks.

“This means you have a soulmate, a unique and profound connection that is both rare and significant. Furthermore, based on the characteristics of your soulmark and the energy patterns observed, there is a high probability that your soulmark is of the altering type.”

“They have the technology to figure out the soulmark type too?” Yoongi asks, surprised.

“Unfortunately, the global fated registry haven’t figured out a way to pinpoint what soulmark our patients have. It is with our deepest—”

“Didn’t know that, had mine cancelled when I figured it out before the results came.” Seokjin replied. Beside him, Taehyung pulls up his phone to rapidly type out whatever he had in his mind.

“I wonder what kind of altering mark it is. There’s a lot of documented ones but what if it’s also a new soulmark? A revived one from the 19th century like Jimin’s?”

“That’s unlikely.” Yoongi refutes.

“You don’t know that.”

With the initial elation ebbing away, everyone continued the celebration seated around the dining table where Jimin had parted from you to take out the congratulating cake from the fridge to light up and serve in front of their hyung who had almost toppled over with how hard he laughed seeing it.

Yoongi had insisted they also take out the apologizing cake so it wouldn’t go to waste. Upon hearing this, the group broke out in laughters, unbelieving until Jungkook brings out the ube flavored cake with the sentence “sorry your family nerfed your potential to be a lover boy.” placed on top in red icing.

The excitement never faded away through the night, dinner was lively, as if they had swept the four daesangs on both award shows. But instead of being influenced by the joy you feel down the red line from Yoongi and the practically vibrating maknaes sitting across you who keep cutting through conversations with suggestions on what soulmark their hyung might have, you find yourself standing behind a tall wall.

When everyone cheered and raised their mugs to toast, you only felt yourself mentally retreat further as a mass settled deep in the pit of your gut.

Seeing the men around you with wrists decorated in thick bands of gold that cost more than your yearly wage, faces flawless from careful maintenance, and names carrying the weight of their country’s pride, did you really deserve them? 

You, who was a nobody staff they just happen to gravitate to due to the closeness of age, matched with the members of the world’s biggest boyband. They weren’t just out of your league. You’re the human on earth wishing to reach the stars from another, far away galaxy, yet by fate’s generosity, you were given the chance to see the beauty of them from up close.

How does one come from dating sleazy men with oily hair and faces akin to an infant’s drawing to being tethered to superstars everyone in the world would sacrifice a life for a chance to talk to them?

When everyone had begun to retire for the night, Jimin had silently guided you back to his room. The sensation of him pressing a kiss on your forehead cuts off your thoughts, his arms wrapping around you in a tight hug grounding you further.

“Are you with me now, noona?”

“Of course, I always am.” You answered with a scoff, pulling away and he frowned.

“I could sense your feelings the entire dinner, don’t try to lie to me.”

Even in the shades of his room bare of any bright lighting, you feel Jimin stare past your physical body and peer into your soul. In the harsh darkness with only you and him standing in it, you felt exposed, stripped to the barest bone under his gaze.

Never have you ever hated having a soulmate than you do now with someone perceiving your feelings openly, sensing the slightest shift in your mood with a brush of skin. It's annoying, scary yet at the same time relieving that there’s someone who could hear the tune of the noise in your brain. 

Not many people have the same luck you have, seven soulmates with one of them granting you what technically is immortality, who else wins at life like that?

But do you really deserve it? Deserve them?

“Stop that. You deserve this, deserve all of us. If someone thinks otherwise, tell me their name and I’ll go beat them up.”

You laugh. “You can’t do that, that’ll stain your image.”

“I don’t think you understand just how important you are to me, noona.” He says, pulling you closer to him. “Before you think about it, I’ll beat someone up for you with or without the soulmarks.”

The image of someone with the face of an angel and a sweet demeanor like Jimin jumping someone in the parking lot to fight for your honor shouldn’t have made you cackle the way you did. The warm rumbles from your linked hands spread across your body and the thoughts were immediately silenced.

“I know you wouldn’t like it but I’ll be telling the other guys about this. I don’t like how you think you’re undeserving of all this when you do, in fact, deserve this bond after sticking with us through thick and thin. You saw all of our flaws and helped us in our bad days, you may think you haven’t done much to warrant this kind of luck but you do.” 

Jimin pressed his lips on your forehead and your heart skipped a beat.

“Namjoon hyung might have a problem expressing it, Yoongi hyung might not show it openly like Jungkook and Taehyung does, but they share the same sentiment. It’ll take them time to be more expressive so I hope you find it in yourself to be patient. We’re still in the adjusting phase so if anything bothers you, don’t hesitate to tell us.”

Tears were streaming down your face at this point, eyes burning as they poured out like a waterfall. The softness in his voice has eased its way into your heart and dispelled the gloominess surrounding it, replacing it with a crashing wave of relief followed by the warmth provided by the soulmark.

You didn’t realise how much your thoughts had been wearing you down until tonight. Comforted by his words and the tightness of his hug, the dam finally breaks and you falter in his hold.

“Shh, cry it all out, noona.”

“I-I shouldn’t be crying over something so stupid like this.”

He shakes his head. “It's not stupid. Don’t say that.”

There’s a tug on your pinkie and you feel the string grow heavier. Immediately, Yoongi’s concern bleeds into you.

‘Why crying?’

‘What happened?’

“Let’s go lay down, noona. I’m feeling the ache in my muscles bending down like this.” He says lightheartedly, giggling. “Don’t worry about answering the others, I’ll handle it later.”

Guiding you to the bed, Jimin tugs you to fall into his arms and you let yourself be pulled into his chest.

Between the sound of Jimin and Namjoon’s heartbeats, and his fingers tracing slow circles on your back while the other hand massaged your scalp, it was easy to be lulled into sleep. In the echoing sound of your sniffles and hiccups, his sweet humming permeates through the air. His song was familiar yet your sleep addled mind took a second to realise what it was.

Serendipity, your mind eventually supplied.

For a moment, in the solace his arms offered, the world became quiet and you fell asleep, forgetting to worry about what chaos yesterday will bring.

_________

TAGLIST: @wildestdreamsblog @canarystwin @prettywheenicry @jmnscutie @sassy-snassy @misuguru @11thenightwemet11 @yoongibaybee @rinkud @bri602 @igetcarriedawaywithyou @marvel-potter-1d-korea @comingupwithacoolnameishard @sooha-neul @juju-227592 @coffeewanderer @x-uno @diamonddia-mond @eggsysstuff @dearmyfavoritepeople-bts @sld88 @katsukis1wife

[heykaya]

Happy to see you posting again!

Can I ask why Alex is your favorite?

hehe glad I was missed :3

Reasons I love Alex:

Gives you a job.

Gives you part of his farm.

Gives you a safe place to live and a room of your own, even before you romance him.

Will never rape you.

Will drop everything to run over and save you.

DOL-town royalty is threatening me (a teenager)? Lol let me tell Remy to fuck off.

Will also tell Bailey to fuck off to protect you, even to his own detriment.

Hard working and muscular.

Muscular.

Muscular.

Cooks you breakfast every morning, even at Max dom.

Gently bumps his head against yours.

Will spank you (at high dom).

Will eat you for breakfast (at low dom).

Scenic horse riding dates.

Smart enough to make drugs.

Comes from a family of farmers, still humble enough to listen to PC’s Tending tips.

Introduces you to his father who gives you $10k.

Actually has social skills and isn’t afraid to talk to people on the phone.

Is funny + can dance.

He’s such a good dad 😭

(Also I’m into that housewife tradlife thing. I used to go for Eden but he’s pretty boring tbh. Plus, Alex cooks you breakfast while Eden feeds you his leftovers. seriously wtf is up with that?!)

Like his dad says, he is dogged (super stubborn and persistent). PC has the option to stop Alex from being so fucking insane. Pulling him back from fighting a group of Remy’s goons, discouraging him from drinking so much and dealing drugs - they all reduce his Love. It doesn’t make him happy, but imo it’s what’s best for him. But since this is a game where even the bad ends are temporary, I join in on the crazy shit.

His biggest flaw is paying PC less at high dominance. I’m willing to overlook this because of the super hot spanking scene + you can make a shitload of money from the fields anyway. If he makes you mad you can call him a weak little bitch during encounters lol (his insecurity is strength).

Fr despite all of Alex’s abilities, I don’t think he’d be able to flourish and protect the farm from Remy without PC’s help. An orphan and a struggling farmer. One found a safe home and a family, the other made his dreams a reality. And together, they lived happily ever after :D

As happily as you can in DOL-town, at least.

(Also to comment on the others)

Robin:

Initially found him cute, but the more I got to know him the less I like him.

Literally PC's babies are less demanding than Robin.

Robin does not deserve confidence.

Whitney

The only thing he awakens in me is violence.

Dismissed every time no mercy gg

I agree he's super hot though. I'll enjoy him via fanart instead.

Eden

(see above)

Avery

He shows up once a week, gives me money, and fucks off. Very appealing!

I think he's OK. Just remember that he's incapable of truly loving PC.

As a source of income he's fine. As a lover no because of above + his dates are really repetitive.

Kylar

This guy should not be outside.

Sydney

He's very sweet and I get the appeal, but he's not my type.

[insomniadreamzz]

Is this real?

Arcane Alternate Ending Fanfiction

Contains Jinx x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of death, blood, angst

Jinx can still remember the moment that made her heart shatter and the little glimpse of happiness in her fade away forever. You were about to help Vander with Victors help but the Noxians had to destroy your hope of a family reunion. The moment Isha grabbed Jinx‘s gun, rushing towards Vander and aiming to shoot, you running after the girl, knowing she meant so much to Jinx but then there was the explosion and Vi dragged her sister Jinx away from the explosion, wanting to save her.

The explosion was the last thing she remembered before everything went down. Jinx had lost the two people she truly loved and who gave her happiness for once. Now it was all gone and she couldn’t help but blame herself for this. She should have saved you and not letting Vi drag her away but all she could do in that moment was scream your name and scream for Isha. There was no point for her to keep going. Jinx gave up, letting the Enforcers put her into jail for everything she did in the past, paying for all her crimes. Being alone in that cold cell without shoes, without her belt weapons, it made her feeling lost. The silence was very loud, Jinx started hearing voices again, getting back to her old behavior since the two persons who silenced them are gone now.

She fumbled with her braids until she undid them fully, her long blue hair spread across the floor, fingers bloody by the non stop pinching on the skin around her nails. As if that wasn’t enough, Jinx even starved herself. The food wasn’t even disgusting at all, it was good compared to what you would get down in Zaun but Jinx had to will to live at this point anymore, spending the time sitting curled up in the corner, hurting herself and crying a lot until there were no tears left to cry anymore.

…

„Come on you can do this!“ You said as you carried the little figure in your arms, Isha’s and your own clothes being smeared with blood as you rushed home. You didn’t know what happened to the others, you only knew they weren’t here. Jinx wasn’t here. This didn’t matter right now, you had to focus on taking care of the girls wounds first and then think about finding Jinx.

Isha had a wound on her head and stomach but she wasn’t the only one being hurt. Since you tried to get the gun away from the little girls hands, the explosion damaged your hand. All that was left on your left hand now was only your thumb and ring finger, all the other three fingers got damaged too much, your small finger got blown off completely whily your index and middle finger got halfway blown off. These conditions you were in made it hard for you to take care of Isha’s wounds since you needed two hands. „Fuck!…“ You grumbled under your breath, ignoring your own pain as you focused on cleaning Isha’s wounds with your right hand.

„May I help you?“ A familiar voice echoed through Jinx’s hideout, it wasn’t your lover but someone you knew you could trust.

„Sevika!“ You shouted, tears in your eyes as you saw the older woman getting close to you. It was really her.

„Damn kiddo I know the feeling of losing limbs caused by explosions.“ She continued as she looked down on your left hand, making a hurtful expression, scrunching up her nose, knowing the pain.

„It don’t matter. Please take care of Isha first. I can use my right hand to stop the bleeding until you can help me wrap it up okay?“ You mentioned and Sevika just nodded, taking care of Isha‘s wounds. „Youre lucky. Her wounds aren‘t that deep but I guess she fainted from the shock which is understandable for a little girl.“ Sevika mumbled under her breath, soon finished cleaning the little wounds and wrapping them up before putting a blanket over her little body, then she focused on your wound.

You hissed every time the cloth with alcohol hit your wound, the stinging pain making you want to scream but you kept yourself back from that. It took Sevika a little time to wrap the bandages tight enough your hand so the blood will stop running, it hurt you but you knew it’s only for your own good. „Damn you really saved a life. I am proud of you.“ Your eyes widen at hearing Sevika saying this. You expected anything but that. „Thank you…I just couldn’t let this happen…but I need to find Jinx.“ You said and Sevika gave you a understanding nod. „Please take a rest. If not for yourself do it for Isha because she needs the rest. Then you can find Jinx.“

You weren’t satisfied with that, knowing Jinx was very unstable and might do something, you can’t let her think you are dead. „No Sevika I am losing time. Please stay here with Isha I beg you. Take care of her until I come back and I promise I will take Jinx with me.“ You insisted and Sevika just nodded in response with her arms crossed. „Fine but take care of you kiddo.“

…

Jinx heard footsteps getting closer, thinking it was just one of her hallucinations or a guard. She didn’t even care to look, keeping her head buried into her arms that rested on her knees. The only thing causing her head to snap up was your voice.

You felt your eyes water at the sight of Jinx being in there, all alone on the cold floor. It broke your heart. „Jinx…?“ You carefully said, her head snapping up to look at you, eyes wide, her dark makeup all messy under her eyes. She looked like she cried for days and you know she didn’t just look like it, she did cry for days.

„Stop…n-no. No you are not real.“ Jinx panicked, she already had a hallucination of Silco before and now you? No way she couldn’t take it. „Go away! I beg you get out of my head. I can’t do this anymore!“ She held her head, hands grabbing a fist full of her own hair as she shook her head, body shaking in fear.

„Hey…it is me. I am real. I know you think I died but I am alive, I am not dead.“ You tried to explain but Jinx clearly shut down. It was impossible to get through her like that so you used the keys Vi gave you and opened the door to her cell. Stepping inside, you saw Jinx looking up with fear at you which made your heart ache but you already knew her in that state so you did what you always do, being calm as you crouched down in front of her. „I will give you time. Just calm down…“ You said with a low, calm voice.

Jinx muttered something to herself, not really audible for you but you didn’t mind, staying there until she noticed you weren’t going to leave, making her slowly look into your eyes and then look down at your damaged hand. „You…are hurt…“ She mumbled and you gave her a little sad smile, nodding. „Yeah…the explosion caused it. I am sorry you thought we are dead. I wished I could find you earlier but…I needed to take care of Isha.“ You told her and when you mentioned Isha, Jinx‘s eyes widened. „Isha! Is she…?“ You interrupted Jinx with a smile. „Isha is alive.“ With that, Jinx cried but this time out of happiness as she leaned forward to hug you so tight, her fingers clutching onto you as if she was scared you would slip out of her hands. „God! I was so scared…“

You hugged her back, keeping your love as close as possible. „It’s okay Jinx…it’s all okay. Isha is with Sevika she is taking care of her while I went to search for you.“ You reassured her, happy tears running down your cheeks as well.

You kept staying in each other’s arms for a while before she pulled back, cupping your cheeks to admire you. „It is really you. You are real. You are not just in my mind right?“ Jinx was still not fully believing this. You out your hands on hers, keeping on smiling at her. „Of course it’s me. The real me.“ You said once again and there it was again, the happy spark in her eyes before she crushed her lips against yours, kissing you so deeply. You immediately kissed back and both of you shared a loving, deep kiss, never wanting to part again.

…

It wasn’t over yet. Jinx and you spend a lot of time preparing for the last fight after you got her out of jail. She was ready to use her knowledge for building things for good. After Jinx made sure to see Isha again, she got even more motivated. Her happiness came back again after the emotional reunion, having Isha back into her arms again, seeing she was doing well except the little scratches on her body. Thanks to you, she survived and all three of you were together now and Jinx swore to herself she won’t ever let anything part you.

Jinx made you mechanic fingers just like she had which was, like she said ‚something she can fix‘. And you loved them. You adored how much she wanted to help you and do good things, not only building weapons to kill.

„Now it’s time to kick some Noxian asses don’t you think babe?“ You heard Jinx‘s voice, turning from painting the last things on the balloon which will help this whole old fan to fly. When you looked at Jinx, your eyes widen. She literally cut her hair short, only her long bangs being left of her old hairstyle, you immediately noticed the little pink colour in them, referring to Vi. „Wow someone really want to change things up huh?“ You chuckle, loving to see your girlfriend like that, she looked perfect to you no matter which hairstyle.

„Yep! But we need to make some more changes.“ Jinx said with her usual cheery voice before she ripped your shirt, making a crop top out if it. „Wha-…“ You started to complain but she cut you off with a little kiss on your lips. „No talking toots! We need to focus.“ She said before taking off her own shirt, replacing it with her belt to cover her nipples and part of her breasts, leaving you speechless.

„No way you gonna look this sexy in front of Isha.“ You managed to say but the blush on your face told her you really liked the view and wanted to eat her and kiss all over her body but there was no time for it.

„Ah fine.“ Jinx was easy to convince which was a surprise but you didn’t mind. Instead you wrapped a bandage around her chest before spraying a pink ‚x‘ on it, smiling satisfied at your work. „There better.“ You mentioned and with that you brought her to another idea. You both ended up chuckling as you painted on each other’s bodies and clothes, leaving kisses every now and then. It was a beautiful intimate moment you shared, something that meaned even more than sex. It was just beautiful.

When both of you were finished with your little doodles on each other and making matching hoods for each other that looked like a shark which was her favorite, you finally were done to help the others getting rid of the Noxians which caused enough trouble between Piltover and Zaun like you already had.

„Are you ready my love?“ You asked and Jinx smiled with a nod before pecking your cheek. „Yes I am and I won’t let you out of my sight, we either win or die together.“ Jinx said but you shook your head. „We will live together. Both of us will stay alive I promise that.“ You stated, squeezing your lovers hand gently.

You were so ready for this.

[wasp-smoocher]

On the Walls of The Cave

Summary: Caleb has taken care of you forever. Protecting you was easier as children, when threats were everywhere, but as you become more capable, Caleb has to find new ways he can rescue you. Zayne, ever-concerned about your well-being, wonders if you’re aware that the biggest danger is asleep in your bed.

Warnings & Tags: Threesome (M/F/M), Snuff (sort of (Caleb has a little baby snuff kink because he’s desperate to save and protect you)), Oral (m! receiving), Asphyxiation, Choking, Dubious consent, fem! reader

Word Count: 4.8k

A/N: This idea has been plaguing me every time I smoke, so I wrote fanfic for the first time in like 6 years and made a whole new sideblog to deal with it.

EXPLICIT: MDNI

Caleb has always protected you. Since the cold, sterile days in the lab, strangers poking and prodding, he’s been by your side. After the catastrophe, when Gran took you both in, he protected you from threats big and small. From spiders dropping down before your eyes, to neighborhood bullies, he swept you out of harm’s way each time. He chased off potential suitors, made sure all your friends kept you at arm’s length. Every threat, each danger that dared to bare its fangs at you was banished before it could sink its teeth into you. A privilege reserved for him alone.

Protecting you used to be easy. Spiders, other children, your classmates, all of these were easily dealt with. Now though, you’re stronger. You’ve grown into a capable hunter; strong, resilient, clever. He’s seen you fight, fought alongside you as you tear through wanderers. He knows how capable you are. A part of him, hidden deep, knows that you don’t really need him. He’s left you before after all, and in his absence you conquered untold dangers, eliminated threats lurking in the dark, chased shadows into the light.

It’s a relief to know that you’ll be okay in those painful moments he has to part from you.

But he misses saving you. Truly rescuing you from danger; the only one who can protect you. Feeling the fear rolling off you, seeing the terror in your eyes, the way you’d cling to him. The terror transforming to relief and gratitude as Caleb, the only one who can, sweeps you to safety.

Caleb has always protected you. No one else can take your guard down like this, all soft smiles and relaxed muscles.

It’s because of this that you ended up here. Caleb in your kitchen, wearing the frilly pink ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron you had bought just to embarrass him, the one he wears every time he cooks for you. You can hear the running of water as he washes dishes. You’d finally made good on your promise to invite Zayne for dinner. He’s sitting on your sofa, as relaxed as is possible for the ever-restrained surgeon. He gazes at you with rapt attention as you ramble about your day. He doesn’t say much, you would almost think he wasn’t paying attention if not for his eyes locked on to your face. Zayne offers a small nod, or a soft question every few minutes, but his stare on you is impossible to ignore. You sip from your glass, the last drops of red wine rich on your tongue.

You hear the sink drain, and soon after Caleb emerges from your kitchen, apron and gloves removed. He refills your glass before you get the chance to ask him and settles behind you on the sofa. Zayne spares him a brief glance, before his eyes settle back on yours with determination. Caleb’s fingers slide down your arm before gently taking your hand to place your glass in it. His chin settles on your shoulder, arms wrapped around your waist, and though you can’t see it, you can feel him staring Zayne down. Trying to intimidate the intruder who’s trying to steal you from him.

You’re not oblivious to the tension between the two of them. Both childhood friends, both with their own claim to your heart. And now you bear witness to petty rivalry again. They’ve been behaving themselves for the most part; Zayne silently picking around the extra carrots in the dish Caleb made, and now how he ignores Caleb’s blatant affection in favor of listening to you. He’s familiar with how possessive Caleb is with you. He can see the ravenous need in his eyes like he’s standing before a mirror. It’s easy to recognize another man consumed by his own desire. But with his eyes on you, Zayne can’t tell how much you really see. Are you aware that the beast you so willingly snuggle up to is a far more dangerous predator than any threat lurking in the dark?

Lost in his thoughts, Zayne returns to the present to see your brow furrowed in concern. Caleb is nuzzling his nose in your neck, Zayne can see the thin sheen of saliva left behind by sloppy kisses as Caleb stares him down. Your glass is empty again. How long was he wandering in his own mind?

He doesn’t get the chance to think about it before you’re moving closer to him. Zayne feels a swell of pride as you gently pass your glass to Caleb, leaving his space in favor of fussing over your dear doctor. He can feel the heat radiating off of you as you move to straddle his lap. Your warmth is pleasant, a balm to soothe the ever-present chill in his bones. Zayne feels his face prickle in discomfort, and he doesn’t need to look to know that it’s Caleb burning a hole into his head. He can practically hear the glass creak under the strain of fingers no longer trying to be gentle for your sake. The rush of being envied fills him, but he sets it aside to focus on you.

“Are you alright, Zayne?” Your fingers flutter over his face, up his cheeks to brush his bangs out of his eyes.

He hums, eyelids falling heavy as he basks in your affection. His hands settle gently on your hips, thumbs drawing soothing circles into the soft material of your clothes. Desire spikes in Zayne’s chest, yearning to feel the heat of your skin unobstructed.

“I’m okay,” the words come out like molasses on his tongue. Sweet, heavy, slow. Against his will (or is it, really?), he finds himself leaning into your touch, pressing a gentle kiss to your palm resting on his cheek.

A small shift and a subtle swell of warmth is all the warning Zayne gets before your lips meet his. You taste of the wine you drank, rich and bitter. As he licks across the seam of your lips, into your mouth, the sweetness of the dessert he’d brought washes over his tongue. Chasing that taste, his hand pulls you further into him. Chest to chest, your hands knot in his hair. The obvious desire consuming Zayne consumes you in turn. The warmth filling your belly from the dinner Caleb made and the wine he selected is transformed into the heat that Zayne brings out of you.

When you feel the desperate tug of your lungs urging you to pull away for air, you ignore it and chase Zayne further. He feels the familiar urge to scold you about your self-preservation instincts, but settles for pulling away from you with a gentle hand pressed against your collarbone to hold you in place. He doesn’t stray far, soft, hot breaths mingling in the narrow space between you.

The peaceful bubble around you is broken as Caleb comes up behind you. His left hand settles on your hip, occupying the empty space Zayne left to push you away. His right caresses up and down your spine, thumbing at the gentle arch of your lower back. Zayne can see your attention being pulled away from him. Caleb nudges his nose against your jaw, and you turn to kiss him deeply. You’ve always fawned under his attention, let yourself be spoiled by his care. Zayne has seen how Caleb’s affection makes you helpless. He’d never considered you particularly cautious, but he can see how any remaining fear washes away from you. You could hardly fathom anything bad happening to you, not when Caleb’s here to protect you. Even now, you’re content to ignore the threat he poses to you, your loyal, violent predator.

He knows he should say something. Zayne wants you safe, healthy, cared for. Caleb can provide an illusion of these things, luring you in with false promises as he snares a trap around you. Caleb doesn’t frighten him anymore. Cold glares and vague threats won’t be enough to keep him away from you anymore. Zayne is confident that he could win, if it came to that. But what would you do? If they forced your hand and made you choose between them, would you pick him? A flicker of doubt flashes in his chest.

Forcing himself back into the present, Zayne takes advantage of Caleb moving to suck deep bruises and bites into your neck. A cold, steady hand on your cheek draws your attention, and he kisses you once more. His other hand slides up your waist under your shirt, and the chill makes you squirm. Your hips press flush against his, soft rocking movements as the heat between you rises. You’re beginning to pant from exertion, chest rising and falling in shallow, rapid movements.

A sudden jerk of your hips and a whine muffled by his mouth catches Zayne’s attention. He pulls away to check on you and his eyes find your heavy gaze before his own drift down. Caleb’s still gnawing at your neck, indentations of his teeth decorating your tender flesh. But below that, he finds Caleb rubbing gently at your clit over your clothes. The touch surprised you, but now, through the layers of your clothes, it’s not enough. Your hips roll into his hand, chasing the feeling you know he can give you. Your head rolls back against his shoulder, limp and pliant, waiting for Caleb to take care of you, like always.

“It’s rude to forget about our guest, pipsqueak,” Caleb finally pauses his assault on your neck to provoke you. His eyes flick to Zayne, who’s been consumed by the implication of the word ‘ours’ as though Caleb lived in this house. As though it was him who spent late nights on this sofa, soothing your mournful tears. Zayne helped you pick up the pieces after Caleb ‘died’, helped heal you, as he’s sworn to do. Caleb abandoned you, left you behind just to return and pretend he’s saving you.

Before hot rage can overtake his desire, you return your attention to Zayne. Mindlessly obeying Caleb’s silent command, you kiss Zayne long and deep. Your hands come up to pull at his shirt collar, drawing him further into you. When you begin to paw uselessly at the buttons, his hands, ever-steady and capable, come up to undo them for you. Once his chest is bared to you, your hands skate over the expanse of skin, flushed from your attention. When your hands venture down and meet his belt, your fingers curl into the leather and fabric.

“Off.” You swallow heavily, breathing hard between kisses. “Want you to fuck me.”

No longer having the patience to be coy, you reach one hand up to grab his, insistent. As he moves to remove his pants, Caleb shifts behind you to pull your shirt over your head, then dragging his hands down your body to tug off your pants. As soon as your clothes hit the ground, Caleb’s tugging his own shirt off to press his chest against your back. You can feel the heat of him behind you, slightly sticky from sweat. The cold metal of his necklace pressed against your spine send a shiver through you.

“C’mon doc, you heard her,” Caleb turns his gaze to Zayne once more, eyes unreadable. A smile plays across his face, self-satisfied. Like this, he looks more like an obedient puppy, only wanting to keep his master happy. Zayne catches a shadow across his face, sees a hint of the predator lurking in the dark, waiting to strike.

You press needy kisses to Zayne’s neck, palms pressed against his chest, hips rolling into his. He can feel his desire to please you winning out over any sense of jealousy or danger. He reaches down to help guide his tip to your entrance. Before he can reach out, Caleb’s hands are pressing your hips down, filling you with Zayne’s cock. Desperate mewls fill the air as Caleb moves your hips for you. He bats away your hand attempting to paw at your clit, and you resign yourself to the teasing rhythm he’s decided you deserve.

It’s only a few short moments before your need overtakes your self-discipline. Yes, Caleb knows just how to touch you, how to tease and sate you. But he’s not the only one who knows how to play this game.

“Zayne,” your voice is thick with desperation. “Want - mmm - want you to fuck me, please,” You suck a deep bruise below his jaw, over his pulse.

Zayne takes the bait you laid for him. How could he not? With one hand grabbing your hip, and the other on the back of your head, he maneuvers you to lay on your back, head resting on plush pillows over the arm of the sofa. He leans over you, pressing his hips to yours with the pace and pressure he knows you like.

“It’s alright, love,” Zayne’s words are a balm smoothing over you. Still needy, overwhelmed with desire, but not as desperate. You feel yourself relax at the assurance that Zayne will take care of you. The vows he’s sworn to himself serve to soothe you back to complacency. He’ll always take care of you, so long as you just let him.

Caleb, pushed aside by Zayne’s movements, feels the familiar sting of envy. He sees how you look up at Zayne like he’s saving you from Caleb’s torment. The relief and gratitude in your eyes should be his. Everything about you should be his. A well-angled thrust presses into you, forcing your head back and your mouth wide in a desperate cry. Caleb seizes the opportunity to grasp your hair, not as gentle as he usually is. His head tilts as he looks down at you, studying your face. A frown twitches at the corners of his mouth when he sees your eyes, full of love and adoration, but not what he’s looking for. He wants to see the fear and panic fill your eyes as the threats in the dark make themselves known to you. More than that, he wants to see the relief and gratitude when he comes to your rescue. Never mind who was making the shadows on the wall of the cave you share.

He feels desire consume him. Desperate need to protect and provide fills his chest, makes him tense. There isn’t danger here, not really. For all that Zayne might glare at him or mutter dryly about him, he wouldn’t really try to drive you and Caleb apart. Zayne knows that it would break your heart to lose him again, so a chilly tolerance has been built between them. You’re safe here, both your heart and your body. You’re stronger, more confident than when you were children. If there was danger lurking outside your door, you could handle it and be back between them before they even felt the chill of your absence. Caleb feels a small voice tug at the back of his mind. Play nice, it urges. But the ravenous need soon fills him again, and before he can resist, he’s guiding his cock into your mouth.

You take him in eagerly, your tongue laving over his tip. Zayne’s thrusts into you force eager moans from your lips, muffled now by Caleb’s thick length in your mouth. You, familiar with Caleb’s routine, eagerly arch your neck towards him, trying to guide him down your throat. He obliges, one large hand on the side of your head, the other grabbing harshly at your chest. Caleb starts a steady, slow rhythm, kind enough to ease you into it. Zayne feels a sense of watching a frog in a pot of slowly heating water. Your eyes flutter closed, fists clenching at your sides as you fight the urge to gag. With Caleb looming over you, consuming your senses with his presence. He slows slightly, pulling himself from your throat until his tip is just resting on the back of your tongue. So close to making you gag, but just shy of it. You feel warm with the kindness and care you receive. Zayne’s mind fills with the thought of a predator playing with it’s prey. Before you can get too comfortable, Caleb presses back into your throat. A surprise, this time, though you quickly ease into it. Your body tenses, struggling with the effort of holding back gags and trying not to choke. You can just barely breathe through your nose when he pulls his hips back.

“Relax,” Zayne, not one to be forgotten, speaks. You can’t see him, and he sounds muffled with Caleb’s hand over your ear, but you feel the soothing chill of his palm over your heart. You feel your tense muscles relax, the overwhelm threatening to take you over dissipates under his attention. His hand skates down your front slowly, easing the searing heat of your body. Satisfied that you’ve calmed down, he draws wide, lazy circles around your clit. The teasing motion stands in sharp contrast to his firm, steady thrusts into your core. It’s a mind-numbing sensation, almost enough to distract you from Caleb’s cock filling your airway.

Blissfully, you begin to feel the steady build of your release under Zayne’s careful ministrations. Your back arches sharply. The sensation of Zayne taking you apart is overwhelming. As your hands desperately fly to his, needing to feel him under your palms, your fingers intertwined with his. As soon as Zayne takes his hand in yours, your body starts to relax again. Climax still building, but calm, no longer fighting against the intrusion in your throat. Caleb’s not ready to let you relax yet, though. Not before you panic a little. Not before you feel your heartbeat pounding at your temple, strong and fast, before slowing down just slightly. If your eyes were open, you’d see the slight fuzziness at the edges of your vision. He can’t let you up until he knows that raw, mortal fear has chilled you with it’s embrace. He wants you to worry, just a little, that maybe he won’t let you up this time. Why would he? That fear, that he could really kill you, won’t even cross your mind. Not really. There’ll be a faint shadow flickering at the edge of your awareness but it is chased away by the warmth that embraces you. Of course, Caleb would never really hurt you. He’s killed others for doing even less, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he really hurt you, right? Caleb presses his hips as far as he can, cock so deep down your throat, balls pressed up against your nose. He places his palm over your throat, feeling the outline of himself buried so deep inside you. He feels your throat constrict around him, sees the familiar lurch of your chest as your lungs desperately beg for air. He’s watching you intently, waiting. He knows you, better than you know yourself. He knows what you can take, how to push your limits without you realizing.

But Caleb’s not the only one watching. Zayne, previously lost in pleasuring you, but pulled back to the moment once your chest lurches silently. His thrusts slow, focusing on where Caleb is hilted in your throat. If you’d been more aware, you would’ve whined and dragged his hand back to your clit, heels pressed into his lower back encouraging him to keep fucking you. But your body is occupied with your own suffocation. Zayne drags his gaze up to Caleb’s face, sees the hungry look in his eyes. He feels that prickle on the back of his neck, the same sensation he’s been feeling all night. The same thing he felt before, when every attempt to get closer to you was met with a menacing glare from behind you. A guard dog protecting its master. A predator claiming its prey.

“Ease up.” Zayne’s voice is firm. It’s only been a short few moments, not nearly long enough to do any damage, but that look in Caleb’s eye tells him that he wants to try.

Caleb doesn’t even look at him, eyes fixed on you. “She can tap out if she wants to,” he supplies easily, as though he’s got you pinned after a spar, rather than suffocating you.

Your hands fly to Zayne’s arms, gripping tight. You smooth your thumbs in stuttered circles up and down his forearms. He knows what you’re telling him, you do the same whenever he chastises you for being reckless, for pushing yourself too hard. You reach out, caress his scars gently, almost absentmindedly, and you tell him I’m okay. I’ll be more careful next time. Zayne can’t focus on your attempt to comfort him. He’s too preoccupied counting the seconds until he pushes Caleb off of you altogether.

Ten. Zayne feels your grip on his arms tighten.

“Caleb.” His voice is low, warning.

Twelve. Your fingernails dig into his skin. Caleb stares down at you, caressing your hair, your throat, your chest with a tenderness that feels almost out of place, but any sense of wrongness is washed away with your lack of oxygen and your desperation.

Fifteen. Your chest lurches again. Zayne doesn’t feel the sting of your nails in his arms, numbed by his own panic. His arms twitch, urging him to push Caleb off of you, but you only grip him harder.

“She can take it.” Caleb’s voice is cold, devoid of any emotion. He knows you can’t hear him right now, not with enough awareness to remember, anyway. There’s no need to fake any niceties or behave for your sake.

Seventeen. Zayne’s blood pounds in his ears.

“That’s enough,” Zayne’s throat feels thick, that heavy molasses choking him now.

Nineteen. Your grip on Zayne’s arms loosen, just slightly. Before Zayne can react, Caleb is withdrawing himself from your throat, grabbing the back of your head and holding your head steady as you gasp and cough. His gaze stays on your eyes, now open, as he fists his cock over your face. Your vision, still blurred and hazy from asphyxiation and tears, begins to clear and you see Caleb standing above you. His moans echo in your ears as your hearing returns and your blood stops rushing through your head.

Zayne looks down at your face, finally seeing what Caleb’s been looking for. Your lips, soaked in spit and swollen, are stretched into a blissed out smile. Your body, still heaving for breath, relaxes into his grip. There are hearts in your eyes as you look up at Caleb.

Zayne takes a deep breath and shifts uncomfortably. The panic fades as his mind catches up. You’re breathing. You’re safe. You’re okay. The words float in his head like a mantra, soothing his frayed nerves. The motion, subtle as it is, catches your attention. Head still held in place, your gaze snaps to Zayne. He feels the emotion in your gaze collide into him like a kick to his chest. Your eyes are wide with the echo of fear, but more than that, he sees relief. He’s seen that same look in the stray cats in the alley by the cafe after he chases feral dogs away from them. The terror of that drooling, gaping maw of sharp, strong teeth, made to bite and tear and break, is gone now. In it’s place is the relief of an animal that thought it was dead already finding itself miraculously alive. He sees you possessed by gratitude for your rescuer that placates you into obedience. Zayne finds himself relieved as you blink, freed from the restrictive binds of your gaze.

When Zayne looks back up, he finds Caleb’s purple eyes boring into him. They’re dark, cold. Zayne knows that look, too. It’s followed you for as long as he’s known you. She’s mine, it says. You can’t have her. The two men have been in a stalemate since you were children, neither willing to risk your ire or broken heart if something should happen to the other.

The tension is melted away when your hands grip at Zayne’s arms again. He feels, just as he’d thought about before, your heels press dully into his back, urging his hips to thrust into you again. Ever your doting caretaker, Zayne obliges. Within moments, he’s resumed his steady pace thrusting into you. Caleb keeps your head fixed, palming himself over you. He tugs at your hair, urging your eyes back to his, masking his rage with that familiar affectionate look. As your climax builds and your attention drifts, he tugs again, keeping you focused on him. Zayne doubles down, rubbing firm, quick circles into your clit. Your hips buck into him, chasing your own release, and Zayne grips your hips harder, holding you still and forcing you to let him take control. As your back arches and your body tenses, consumed by your own release, Zayne presses deep, hot cum spilling inside you.

Your body relaxes and the tension in your muscles releases. Your eyes are still on Caleb, now furiously chasing his own orgasm above you. They both know what you’re going to do before you do it. They can see it, practically in slow motion, as you bat your eyelashes up at Caleb, opening your mouth and letting out a soft “please”.

Caleb, still fighting to hide barely contained rage, smiles down at you. You’re as you’ve always been, waiting for Caleb to take care of you, soft and obedient. He feels the burn of Zayne’s vigilant stare, waiting for him to step out of line. As though Caleb’s rough treatment wasn’t exactly what you needed. Still, he resists the urge to press back into your throat, settling instead for nestling his tip in your mouth as he strokes himself. Between your tongue lavishing him in attention, your sweet noises escaping your mouth at the taste of him, your lovestruck gaze staring up at him, he reaches his climax quickly. You moan and your eyelids flutter as the familiar heady taste of his cum floods over your tongue. He rides out the final waves of his orgasm before pulling himself out of your mouth. He feels his cock twitch when he sees you swallow his cum.

“Attagirl,” the familiar praise makes you smile, welling with pride.

Caleb pulls away from you and Zayne seizes the opportunity to gently maneuver you into a seated position on the sofa. He pulls your back into his chest, smoothing cool hands over your heated skin, easing the aches that have begun to form. Comfortable silence washes over you, seemingly oblivious to the tension between your two lovers.

“Drink.” Caleb is first to break the silence, holding a glass of water towards you. As you reach for it, Zayne’s hand covers yours, helping you bring it to your lips. Caleb wipes away the stray drops that escape the corner of your mouth, tracing their movement down your chin to the ridge of your collarbone. You feel your body grow heavy, breathing slowing as exhaustion creeps up on you. When you begin to still, eyes lidded, Zayne and Caleb hold you tight between them. Your head is full of gentle caresses, sweet kisses, and whispers of praise and affection. Whatever tension there was is set aside as they clean you and wrap you in soft, fluffy blankets.

Later, long after the sun has gone down, Zayne puts his coat on to leave. You’re long asleep, tucked into bed. Caleb holds you close, pressing gentle kisses to your temple. When Zayne walks past your bedroom, he freezes. A flash of something in the dark, the reflection of eyes set his hair on end. In the soft glow of light spilling in from the hallway he can just barely make out your face. You’re relaxed, brow smooth, a small content smile on your lips. Unaware of the snare you’ve been caught in. Tight around, Caleb’s arms hold you close. In the dark, as their eyes meet, Zayne feels the same threat that’s been following him since the day he met you. A predator, lurking in the shadows. This time though, Caleb breaks his stare first in favor of looking affectionately at your face. The message is clear. Zayne’s not a real threat, he never has been. None of his sweet affection could compare to the doting of your beloved Caleb. He’s been there to protect you from the start, always taking care of your every need. He knows what’s best for you, after all. He’s warm, comforting and bright enough to sooth your fears and banish the shadows cast on the walls to frighten you. When danger lurks in the dark, Caleb is there to protect you. Zayne wonders if you see who drew the monsters in to begin with.

Writers run on reblogs!

[fourtyforever]

I knowwwww I'm supposed to be working on emergency care but I have the absolute brain worms for the ballet au from opening night so here's 3.5k of ballet max verstappen being the bane of ballet nico rosberg's existence

---

The worst year of Nico’s professional ballet career was also the same year they moved that prodigious blonde freak up from the junior company, which in hindsight might have had something to do with it. 

He showed up to the first rehearsal of the season in his uniform shirt and black tights from the junior company, even though company dancers were allowed to wear anything they wanted, and he stood ram-rod straight at the barre while the rest of the company lounged around waiting for class to start. He had the ugliest haircut Nico had ever seen, but he was good--good enough that Nico understood why they brought him up early, even though he knew that must have sucked big time for the other dancers in the junior company who were his age. 

It hadn’t really registered to Nico, because there had been bigger things on his mind. Things that spent the whole class on the opposite side of the studio from him, looking, frankly, upsettingly good in a loose tank top with the arm holes cut even wider to show off the muscle he had built at that summer intensive in Brazil. Lewis avoided eye contact with Nico, and Nico did the same, but it was a little impossible not to look. Their last season hadn’t ended well, and it didn’t feel like time apart had healed any wounds. Still, Nico didn’t really have attention left over to pay to the new kid until Seb mentioned him after class.

“That boy’s going to give us all a run for our money this year,” he said, following Nico out of the studio to the dressing room. The kid in question was still gathering up his things just out of earshot, totally oblivious to the conversation about him going on just a few good steps away. “Are you worried?”

“No,” said Nico, very confidently, which turned out to be a mistake. “There’s always new dancers. He doesn’t seem that special.”

“He’s good,” grunted Kimi. 

Seb nodded. “I can see why he got moved up on his own.” He looked over at Nico out of the corner of his eye as Nico tried his best to ignore him. “Do you think Lewis is worried?”

Nico shouldered open the door to the dressing room, trying to let it close in Seb’s face. It didn’t work. “I don’t think any of us need to be worried about some moderately good teenager,” he said as Kimi and Seb pushed through the door behind him.

“You’re talking about Max?” asked Daniel. Like usual, he was butt-naked in the middle of the dressing room, forcing Nico to make very pointed eye contact. “He’s pretty good, isn’t he?”

“Someone ought to take him under their wing,” said Seb, elbowing Daniel in the ribs.

Nico scoffed. “Nobody ‘took us under their wing’ when we were starting out, and we turned out fine,” said Nico. 

“Michael,” said Kimi, simply. 

“Yeah, you’re really gonna sit here and say Schumi meant nothing to you?” added Seb, and Nico had to acquiesce. But it had been years since Michael retired, and these days he didn’t feel all that advantaged by the older dancer’s mentorship. 

“We also didn’t get moved up to the company by ourselves out of nowhere,” said Daniel. He looked thoughtfully back at the door that neither Max nor Lewis had come through yet, dick still out for all the world to see. “Must be tough. He could probably use a friend.”

“Save your pity for the kids that didn’t get moved up,” grumbled Nico. He had hoped to get to bitch about Lewis to Seb a little bit, who was always a good listener even though Nico knew he talked with Lewis just as much as he did with Nico. But if everyone wanted to instead focus on the new wunderkind, that was, well, whatever. Nico didn’t care.

---

Nico certainly noticed Max at their first joint mens’ class with the junior company, because it was impossible not to. The kid was a freak. Nico had always been a turner, but Max very nearly matched him when they did à la seconde turns side by side. Then he put the whole junior company and a good chunk of the senior company to shame when they did jumps across the floor, hitting the kind of split in midair that Nico usually only saw from the company ballerinas or from Lewis. His musicality was kind of shit, and his port de bras clearly needed work, but there were certainly worse things to be bad at. 

The only time he made eye contact with Lewis was when Max replaced a single pirouette with a quadruple out of nowhere, meeting and matching Lewis’s shocked face out of force of habit. He regretted it as soon as he looked, but there was a weird sort of comfort in knowing that Lewis was just as unsettled by this new guy as he was. At the beginning of last year, which felt like a lifetime ago, he would have been standing next to Lewis and whispering under his breath about how insane the new kid was. For now, though, he had to be content with stolen glances and ignoring Daniel’s appreciative whistle from behind him. 

---

At the company mixer and pizza party, Nico sat across from Lewis at the same table they always sat at since they started in the lowest level of the junior company, entirely ignoring each other. Max, of course, sat right in between them, with Seb on one side and Daniel on the other. 

“Who do you think will be the cavalier this year?” he asked, his mouth full of pepperoni pizza. He had loaded up his plate with nearly half a pizza, fucking kids and their impossible metabolism. He wasn’t about to break a nearly-a-year vegan streak for some subpar pepperoni pizza, but that didn’t stop him from feeling a little jealous. 

“It’s barely August,” said Nico, hating how Lewis looked up at the mention of the Sugar Plum cavalier role. He probably thought the part was as good as his, secure in two years of being cast in the top role while Nico was passed back and forth between Snow King and the Nutcracker prince. The Nutcracker didn’t matter as much anymore, but Nico couldn’t afford to give anything less than his full effort, not when casting for the spring performance came out barely a week after the last Nutcracker show. “It’s too early to be worrying about that.”

“Auditions are in a month,” said Max. “I want to be prepared.”

“Playing guessing games isn’t going to make you more prepared,” said Nico.

Max shrugged. “Neither is being so uptight, but we of course all have our own strategies.” 

He stuck another piece of pizza in his mouth, and Nico fought the urge to get up and slap his paper plate across the room. He had to settle for glaring at the top of the kid’s shitty hair. Lewis went back to his phone and his vegan mushroom pizza which he wasn’t even pretending to enjoy, while Seb smiled that toothy smile that meant he could sense drama unfolding and Daniel laughed like Max had told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Pathetic. 

“You know what we all used to call him?” said Seb, a truly mischievous smile spreading across his face. 

“Nico?” said Max. “No. What?”

Nico kicked Seb under the table, but it made no difference. “Britney. Because of his pretty blonde hair.”

Honestly, Nico could not imagine what would possess Seb to tell the awful child that. His eyes lit up as Daniel giggled and even Lewis looked up at the mention of Nico’s nickname. “Britney,” Max said, the name sounding already way too comfortable on his tongue. “Like Britney Spears? I can see it.”

“I’m not doing this,” announced Nico, picking up his plate and storming off to join a random gaggle of junior company dancers at the next table over. 

---

Nico was cast as the Sugar Plum Cavalier, but he still couldn’t really enjoy rehearsals, not when Lewis was getting just as much of the praise as the Nutcracker Prince. He especially couldn’t enjoy the full-company rehearsals where he had to watch him dance, graceful and majestic as he’d always been. 

“Why do Britney and Lewis hate each other?” stage-whispered Max from behind Nico. He was doing such a bad job at being quiet that Nico almost thought it was meant for him to hear. In any case, it was enough to distract him from watching Lewis rehearse the fight scene with Fernando. 

“There’s, like, history between them,” was Daniel’s just-as-loud whispered response. History was an incredible oversimplification. Lewis had been the first friend he ever made in ballet, the only other boy in his beginning dance class when he first started out who made him feel like he might actually belong there. They had been each others’ rock moving up through the dance school and then the company, the only constant in the chaos of that world. He had been Nico’s first crush, the first person to know he was gay, his first kiss, first everything. 

Not that any of that mattered now. 

“What kind of history?” whispered Max. “Were they, like..?”

Nico couldn’t see what kind of gesture Max did to finish that sentence, but he could guess what it was based on Daniel’s barely muffled laugh. “Uh, yeah,” said Daniel. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“Oh,” said Max. “Well, that is very stupid, then. What, did they just break up and now they can’t talk to one another?”

Nico wanted to turn around and give the shit child a piece of his mind before he realized that the absolute last thing he wanted was for either of them to know he had been listening in. “I guess it was a little more complicated than that,” said Daniel, at least doing the bare minimum of coming to Nico’s defense. “But hey, I guess that’s what you get for dating a fellow dancer.”

Maybe he was right, Nico thought. Maybe it was a doomed idea from the start. Maybe that was something Nico should have realized when Lewis had reached for his hand that first time and Nico had taken it, that this would hurt them in the long run. It made something wrench in his chest to think that, something small and bruised and soft but still alive no matter how hard he tried to squash it, that cried out that what he and Lewis had had to have meant something. But it was hard to believe that now, when they could barely look at one another. 

“I think they might just be stupid,” whispered Max. “There’s nothing wrong with dating a fellow dancer if you’re not stupid.”

Incredible. Nico had to close his eyes and count to ten to keep himself from punting that blonde bastard straight across the studio. The Coffee Princes dance that Max and Daniel were both in could not come soon enough, he thought.

---

It was nice that the studio tended to hire the same handful of guest choreographers every year. The jockeying for their favor was always a little less pronounced when everyone knew who they would pick as their favorites. 

However, that meant that everyone--Nico included--was completely fucking blindsided when Horner picked Max out of all people to have a solo in his latest contemporary piece, passing over Nico and Lewis and his former favorite Seb to put the kid in the front and center. It was completely out of nowhere. Nico had been expecting to be competing with Lewis and Daniel for the top solo in a Christian Horner piece, but not once did he imagine being overlooked in favor of fucking Max. 

He didn’t even develop an ego over it, which was kind of the worst part. Dancers that got a taste of success and then walked around like they owned the place were sure to crash and burn at the slightest provocation, and Nico would have been happy to let the terrible child wear himself out and then fade back into oblivion. But Max acted like it was the most natural thing in the world, like he was used to getting all the best roles and therefore wasn’t especially affected by this one. And the worst part was that in Horner’s position, Nico might have done the same thing. Max continued to be unreasonably, unbearably good, in a way that sometimes made Nico want to pull a Tonya Harding on him, bash in his kneecaps after class (though he’d have to do it in the rare moment where Daniel wasn’t annoyingly attached to him). The only consolation he ever got was that Lewis looked just as happy to be there as Nico was, which was not much at all.

Though sometimes Nico thought that Max was more aware of his unique position than he let on. “I really don’t know why everyone always complains about the contemporary pieces,” he said one day while they were getting changed after rehearsal. “I think this is actually a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, I bet you would,” Nico muttered. He thought he might have heard Lewis snort under his breath at that from the other side of the dressing room, but he wasn’t sure. He would obviously never look up to check. 

“What was that?” asked Max. It was impossible to tell whether he was being genuine or not, which was even more aggravating. 

“Don’t mind Britney,” said Daniel, putting an arm around Max’s back that was maybe a little bit too friendly. “He’s just jealous of you.”

Nico was going to kill them all, including Seb for telling Max that fucking nickname. He threw his shorts into his bag with a little more force than necessary. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” he sneered, aiming it more at Daniel and reveling in the sudden look of confusion that came over him before storming out, slamming the dressing room door. 

---

The spring show was Don Quixote, and for some asinine, unbelievable reason, they had decided to double cast Lewis and Nico in the role of Don Quixote, so that they had to go to all the same rehearsals and switch off every other run. Maybe they thought it would be better for the two of them to be in equal standing, but all it meant was that every single rehearsal was like reliving their falling out from start to finish. It was made so much worse by the fact that Max was cast as Basilio -- way higher of a role than anyone should expect for their first spring show. 

“You need to move forward here,” Max told him after they finished a run but before Nico could swap back out with Lewis for the next one. “Always you are in my way, and if you don’t move I might crash into you next time.”

It was a little much to deal with while Nico was still catching his breath. He still couldn’t understand why Max was never so much as winded after this much dancing. “What?” he gasped, just to give himself a little more time to breathe.

Max huffed indignantly. “When you’re finished with your solo. You need to move out of the way faster, because I’m starting my next part right behind you.”

“He’s got a point,” said Lewis, staring directly at Nico. 

Nico sneered at him. “I only have three steps before the last couple of jumps to get across the stage. I am already traveling as much as I can.” He spared a look at Lewis, looking him up and down and pointedly lingering on his legs that were shorter than Nico’s just because he knew it would hurt, twisting that particular knife. “I doubt you’ll have an easier time getting there.”

He could see that he had struck the nerve he was aiming for, Lewis’s lip curling just the smallest amount. Part of him wished it hurt more to hurt Lewis, instead of the sickening satisfaction he was left with. But there was still ground to be gained--they hadn’t yet chosen which of them would get to dance 7 shows and who would only get 6--so Nico didn’t really have sympathy to spare. All he felt was bitterness, whether he did better than Lewis or worse. The fact that they were forced to be so close together made it harder for Nico to feel anything else, the love he had for dance that brought him here almost foreign to him now. Sometimes it felt like too much, like the horrible wanting he felt--wanting to be better than Lewis, wanting to hurt him, wanting him back, wanting to prove something, wanting things to go back to the way they were--was poisoning every moment he spent in the studio. 

“Well, you need to be farther forward somehow,” said Max, putting his hands on his hips. Nico could strangle him. “Otherwise I’m going to run into you one of these times.”

“Boys,” said Toto, looking back and forth at the three of them disapprovingly. Max backed down slightly at his voice, but not very much. One of the only things Nico had to look forward to was the day that kid finally mouthed off to Toto (or god forbid, Director Wolffe herself) and got absolutely eviscerated. Nico would laugh. Lewis might laugh with him. “We only have time for one more run tonight. Max, begin your solo farther upstage. Lewis, swap with Nico.”

Max rolled his eyes, but did as Toto said. Nico didn’t meet Lewis’s eyes as he stormed back to the corner of the studio to watch the two of them dance. 

---

It was all too much. Nico needed someone to vent to. 

It couldn’t be Lewis, for obvious fucking reasons. He found Seb in one of the smaller studios, but he was busy teaching the townspeople dance to some of the junior company dancers. “Sorry, I really have to finish this,” he said. “You can complain to me in half an hour, though. Or you can go talk to Kimi?”

“Kimi’s not going to let me complain,” said Nico.

Seb laughed, and some of the dancers around him laughed too. They followed him around the studio like ducklings, and sometimes Nico was jealous that Seb had been able to move so peacefully from the studio’s top dog into more of a mentor for the younger dancers. “I think Daniel’s done, though. I just saw him going into the dressing room on my way here.”

“Perfect. Thanks,” said Nico, shutting the door to the studio and stomping off towards the mens’ dressing room. He and Daniel were okay friends, and he had a reputation as the friendliest guy in the company for a reason. He might have to leave his gripes with Max out of his rant, but that was fine when his complaints were more to do with Lewis anyway. Maybe he could even get some gossip about the kid out of him if he played his cards right. 

The studio was loud with the sounds of concurrent rehearsals going on in studios all around them, so Nico didn’t have any warning about what he was walking into until he opened the door--which was a little stuck, but the old doorknobs always opened eventually if you jimmied them the right way--and stopped dead in his tracks. Seeing Daniel Ricciardo’s bare ass in the dressing room was not even slightly out of the ordinary, but what definitely was out of the ordinary was seeing him pinning someone to the wall, pale, muscled legs wrapped tight around his waist and hands buried in his curls as he thrust upwards, his shorts discarded on the floor next to a suspiciously familiar white T-shirt and pair of black leggings. The person he was fucking against the wall of the dressing room lifted their head from his shoulder, and Nico was shocked, dismayed, and horrified to be looking into the eyes of Max fucking Verstappen. 

Daniel, at the very least, had the common courtesy to look mortified when he turned his head and shoulders around to see who had walked in on them. Max very much did not, looking almost pleased with himself as Daniel scrambled to cover both of them with his body. “Shit--fuck, sorry Brit--Nico, sorry, I thought I locked the door.”

Nico slammed the door shut. After a bit of shuffling, he heard the old lock click shut and heard a metal chair screech against the floor until it was resting in front of the doorknob, and then the sounds--which he hadn’t been able to pick out of the rest of the noise of the studio before, but which he could definitely hear now--started up again. Nico fought the urge to scream. He didn’t even have a leg to stand on to yell at Daniel, not when he had been among the small group who walked in on him blowing Lewis in a dressing room at the theater back in junior company.

Fuck this, then, he thought. He stormed back the way he came, passing Seb as he walked out of the other studio. “Don’t go in the dressing room,” he growled, picking up his ballet bag and marching straight out to his car. 

None of it really mattered, in the end. He would perform Don Quixote and prove for once and for all to Toto and to Lewis and to whoever else that he was and always would be the best dancer at this fucking studio. Then he would attend every summer audition he could find, take the first offer he was given, and get the fuck away from this place and hopefully never see Max Verstappen’s fucking face again.

---

also on ao3 

[jirishnesensei]

Mirio Togata x Reader | Isekai AU [18+]

Warming up to you ch4. Forgiven

⊱ Pairings - mirio 3rd year student x reader

⊱ About - Boku No Hero Academia was your favourite anime. You watched it every week when a new episode came out, but what if you were transported into the world? Having no clue how you got there and you're being accused of being a part of the League Of Villians. Suffice to say, it's not the best way to start the show.

⊱ Warnings/tags - 18+ (eventually), fluff(for the most part), angst, smut, fem reader, romance, pining, SLOW BURN, swearing, friends to lovers, death, jealousy, she falls first he falls harder, mirio is mean (with reason), first everything, sassy mirio, fangirl reader, unrequited love

⊱ status - ongoing

⊱ chapters - 4/x

⊱ word count - 2.7k

"You do understand how difficult that is to believe, right?"

"I know, I know. I wouldn't even believe me but it's the truth! It's a whole fandom like I can tell you every person's name that you bring through that door. Their quirks, their life-" You tried to explain, but the look on Sir Nighteyes face is telling you that if you don't give him something substantial right now you're going to be walking out of that said door. He sighed as he rested on his palm.

"Okay, tell me where the Shie Hassaikai hideout is." You swallow what felt like your heart.

"I-I know it's in a normal looking house that has a huge under ground base, that part I didn't really pay much attention to...but I know what happens when you go-" You stopped mid sentence, realizing that if this conversation goes any further, Sir Nighteye will know that he dies. Luckily for you, he didn't catch onto your unease.

"I don't think you're a part of the League Of Villians," He says, leaning back in his chair. This made your heart leap with relief. "but I don't believe that you can help us with the investigation." Then your heart sunk to your feet. You didn't know why the rejection effected you so much... maybe because you could tell them everything they needed to know once they got there, maybe even because you could save Sir Nighteye and prevent Mirio from ever losing his...losing his... What does he lose again?

"Wait, I remember something!" You stood up from your chair in revelation as a whole new slew of memories suddenly unlocked in your brain, keeping your balance on the table with one hand.

"Drugs! That's what Shie Hassaikai is focusing on right now." you started. Peaking Sir Nighteyes interest. "They're making a drug that destroys your quirk completely! Amajiki Tamaki gets hit by one when he goes out on patrol with Hero Fat Gum and Red riot!"

Sir Nighteye looks at you over his glasses suspicously. "That's a very big accusation to make."

You shook your head at his response. "It's not an accusation. It happens. Luckily the bullet that is used on him is only a proto-type so he only loses his power for a few hours. But that's what they are using Eri for!" You speak with more flare in your tone.

Sir Nighteye pauses for a second, probably concluding something in his head before he stood up from his chair. "They are going on patrol tomorrow. If this happens... then I might consider you an ally in this investigation."

You can't help but smile unaturally wide before the pro hero infront of you. You were very close to nearly jumping right onto the man, but decided against it. "Thank You."

Sir Nighteye then suddenly made a slight disgusted face when he sniffed.

"What is that smell?" His tone becomes pale. Your cheeks instantly burn pink at what he was implying and you started to back away from him with embarrassment.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I haven't showered ever since I got here, It's so disgusting of me!" You apologised profusely. You absolutely hate the idea of not showering. You felt just as dirty as you smelt. Sir Nighteye held his nose as he tried to shoo you off.

"You can wear Bubble girls spare clothes. Turn left when you reach the end of the corridor and you'll see a shower room."

"Eh? A shower room? You have a shower in this place!?" You echoed as Sir Nighteye pushed you out of his office and out into the hallway before slamming the door shut in your face.

Rude.

You followed his directions and walked down the corridor then turned left, just like Sir Nighteye instructed and much to your surprise, there really was a shower room there!

You took your time as you showered. Leisurely scrubbing off all the dirt you could possibly scrub with a floral scented soap while the water was stinging hot, releasing vast amounts of steam that was probably condensing on nearby surfaces.

You still couldn't fully grasp what was happening. Was this happening as the anime was playing in your world? Or is this place an entirely different world all together? With how huge the universe is... it could be plausible... but so could the idea of you just dying in your car and your deepest desires came true. Although you were positive that your deepest desire was to be reincarnated as a hippo.

Which puts you back to square one of having absolutley no clue as to how you ended up here.

You suppose so long as they don't dump you on the streets you were okay with whatever happens and with you knowing nearly exactly what happens when they get to the hideout? You could prevent near to no casualties. The idea made you very happy. When Sir Nighteye died, you were horribly sad for the next week. Now actually being given the chance to save him? Even if this was a dream, you'd take it any day over the dull life you had back at home.

You dried yourself off and went to the change rooms. A pair of casual clothes are folded neatly in the chair infront of you with some essentials such as lotion, deodorant etc.

You also took your time with changing and once you were done you left the shower room and walked back to Sir Nighteyes office. Refreshed and clean but before you could knock you heard people talking and could only make out a few words such as 'Quirk destroying' and 'Tamaki'.

You assumed it was Sir Nighteye warning Fat Gum of what you had told him. You were positive it was happening. Which made you even more excited with the idea of helping them with the investigation and you weren't worried about Tamaki since he wins his fight regardless of whether you told them about the drug or not.

You decided to leave Sir Nighteye to speak to Fat Gum and walked around the building instead. It was insanely huge. You had peeked at the elevator and saw the building goes up an entire 25 floors! You stopped at the end of one corridor and nearly squealed when you saw the same Soda machine that Mirio had taken a drink out of when he was waiting for Midoriya to finish his fight with Sir Nighteye. It was the little things that really blew your mind. After admiring the little monument you decided to go back to check if Sir Nighteye was done and luckily he was. You knocked on the door and was given the okay to walk in.

"Hey, I'm done." you cringe at yourself. You don't know why you said that, it was obvious you were done.

"I informed Fat Gum of the incident you claim will happen tomorrow on their patrol. You better hope for your sake that you're right." He warned. You stood firm in your spot and saluted.

"Don't worry, I know my anime."

For the rest of the day Sir Nighteye made you help him with his paperwork, which you thought was his assistants job, but you weren't in the best position to complain. After a while of boring small talk and serious paper cuts, it was nearing 3 in the afternoon.

You heard a knock on the door and Sir Nighteyes clinical 'come in' answers after. You wondered if you'll ever get the priviledge of seeing him differently. Even if it's just a smile. That sounds really nice. The door opens and your heart, without your consent, tightens at the sight of Mirio.

"You called for me Sir?" He asked, glancing your way for just a second before looking back at Sir Nighteye, who was still nose deep in his papers.

"I doubt she is with the league of villains," He explains first and foremost. To which you could visibly see Mirio stiffen towards.

"but I still don't trust her 100% so she will be staying with you till further notice since you are the only one that I trust with the matter." 

"You can count on me Sir!" Mirio voices his diligence to following out whatever order he is given by his mentor. You still remain seated for god knows what reason, perhaps it was how radiant he had looked while answering, until Sir Nighteye glares at you, making you yelp out of your seat.

"There's an envelope there with money in it. Use it wisely." Sir Nighteye instructed. Mirio thanked him and took the envelope on the counter beside the door before leaving with you right behind him.

As soon as you closed the door to Sir Nighteyes office you stood in place, waiting for Mirio to notice, which he does a few steps ahead then he raises a brow at you.

You told yourself you were going to cash in on that hug.

You outstretch your arms with a light smile on your face. Clearly indicating what you were asking for. Mirio's body went rigid for just a second and based off of how he's been acting since you've met him, you honestly expected some wratched pat on the back, but he sighed gently and walked over to you. At this proximity and not being overloaded with pain and confusion, you notice how big he is and for a second you think he might squeeze the life out of you, but instead, he presses his palm against the small of your back and pulls you softly against his chest, cheek resting on his collarbone.

"I'm sorry for misjudging you." He says softly over your hair and you can't control the strands on your arms that rise and your hands that curl into fists on your sides. Once again, you are dumbfounded by how real he felt. Sure, everything looked like an anime, but that didn't matter at all. You could feel his steady heartbeat against your temple and the warmth of his body settling against your own. The fabric against your skin and the random breath of air he would take in.

Your self-control felt dire and non-existent because of it so without thinking you raised yourself onto your tippy-toes and nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck, gripping the soft polyester in your hands. He goes rigid and blushes instantly. But you didn't want to let go for the life of you. His back felt so strong underneath your palms and the scent of his freshly washed clothes consumed you, but you knew you had to let go or so help you, you might never get a hug again.

When you do, you look up at him with one of those wide anime grins, "You're forgiven."

Mirio rolled his eyes and you could tell he was trying to act nonchalant about your hug. He made his way to the stairs again. You following right behind with a bit of a skip to your step. Wishing that whatever landed you here, kept you here.

"Sir gave quite a bit of money so we should get your shopping done now." Mirio gestured towards the envelope as you walked to the mall. You were in awe at the sight of it. This was where the entire U.A class came to do their shopping before their camping trip! As eager as you were to dive in, the setting sun just behind the large building makes you look over at Mirio to ask, "Isn't it a bit too late to do shopping right now?"

He raises a questioning eyebrow at you. "You can go without clothes for another day if you'd like."

You shook your head no. Not even realizing that you still didn't have clothes yet. Or anything for that matter.

Once you were inside the busy mall, you did a full 360 in awe. Mirio looked at you like you were someone that had never seen the outside world before, which made a pang of guilt hit him suddenly. Your situation was kind of like Eri-chans. Except you were more understanding of it considering your age. He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the thought. Sir still didn't trust you 100% so he couldn't let his guard down. Not yet anyways.

You took Mirio's wrist and began to drag him through the mall without his consent, or maybe some of his consent because you doubt you're the one physically dragging him anywhere. You search eagerly for the spot where the entire U.A class stood.

"What are you looking for?" He watches you funnily. You finally stood still, gaping at the large area before you. You turn around to look at him while pointing a finger at the spot that seemed very ordinary to him.

"Oh my god this is where Class 1A stood!! That's so cool!-" you left Mirio's side and sat down on the bench Midoriya and Shigaraki sat down on while swaying like a child in excitement. Mirio walked up to you with a hand on his hip. Definitely judging you from where he stood.

"Are you done now? I still have homework to complete."

You narrowed your eyes at him. "Where's your sense of fun? The my hero fandom would be really disappointed in you."

His eye twitched and you're more fascinated by that than what he has to say. "Then it looks like you don't really know me as well as you think you do. My only concern is making sure you don't get into any trouble. Sir put you under my care because he doesn't trust you yet."

"I get that, I do. But you can whip my ass any day, any time and I don't think I'd even see it coming so what are you stressing for? He put you in charge because of that, right?" 

He's silent for a moment. You watch his chest rise and fall as he takes a breath and for a moment you expect him to apologize and break out in a wide grin, but once again you're thwarted by the way Mirio acts.

"He also put me in charge because he knows I won't get manipulated by your plans or false pretence." 

You blink in disbelief. "False prete-? And what plans! I can't even plan what to eat for dinner. I'm just a crazy fan that's somehow in their favourite anime."

Mirio stares at you blankly. Unphased and unbothered. "You've got the crazy part right." Your jaw drops. "And you haven't been right about anything so far. Now you're either lying or you've gotta be the worst best fan I've ever seen." 

You jutted your chin out and crossed your arms stubbornly. "I beg to differ. Put me infront of every Class 1A student and I can tell you something about them that I shouldn't even know." You dared and Mirio could tell you were being serious, sighing while pinching the bridge of his nose to probably gain some semblance of control. Honestly you weren't sure whether to be proud or offended that you could piss someone like Mirio off.

"That reminds me, Aizawa-sensei wants you to come to U.A tomorrow." he says after a bit.

You gasp, raising to your feet. "Really!?" Were you actually going to be given the chance to meet Class 1A!?

"Really. Now let's get going, it's gonna get dark soon." Mirio doesn't let you answer before he starts to walk away and you can't help the frown that forms on your lips. He still seemed pretty skeptic of you. You wonder if that will ever change. You suppose until then you're just gonna have to show him that you're not threat. 

"Mirio!" You catch up to him, gleaming again as you look around. "You need to point me to the nearest Keychain store. I'm buying me a souvenir!"

⊱ Next chapter coming soon!

⊱ I want to see prev chap!

Taglist - @the-faceless-bride @distinguishedoafbiscuitopera @lostsomewhereinthegarden @baileebrown

Dividers by - enchanthings-a and cafekitsune

[mj0702]

https://www.tumblr.com/mj0702/774954762050371584/bb-and-baby-engen-leon-with-bagheera-hc-please?source=share

Ingrid doesn't even battle an eyelid and forces mapi to deal with toddler tantrum while bb is almost on the verge of heart attack

Ingrid just turns around and leaves... she's texting Caro to open a bottle of red for Caro to go "half glass or full glass?" ... Caro (and in hindsight Marta) got used to Ingrid showing up mostly with a little warning because her home turned into an asylum...

bb locked herself in the bathroom trying to get someone on the phone who removes the black monster from her flat... her first call was her girlfriend who told her that she's in GERMANY and can't just hop on a flight to remove a spider who's possibly tiny... for bb to panic scream "IT'S NOT A FUCKING SPIDER!! I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH SPIDERS!!! IT'S MAPÍS FUCKING BLACK MONSTER CAT!!!"... G dies laughing once she processed the information and bb just hangs up on her... second person of choice was Mearps and while Mearps would've come to bbs aid, she explained that she wouldn't be there before next noon so bb should try and find some closer to her...

so bb calls Jenni... who explained that she's in MEXICO... bb got confused for a hot second asking why she's not in Madrid... where she has a home... Jenni told her while she has a home in Madrid (and in Barcelona) she's playing in Mexico .... bbs solution "don't run away... I'm coming there" ... bb open the door to find bagheera sitting right there meowing a "hola" at bb... never ever had a door been shut so quickly... bb doesn't flee to Mexico....

in the end it's Cata who saves the day... living two houses down the street... but Mapí had to pay a LOT of debt back to bb for making her suffer with the cat in her flat.... there were a lot of Ice cream and dinners... and drinks...

#bbhc

[class1akids]

Not that I don't entirely agree with your take, but I kinda feel like you're over-exaggerating just how Uraraka's "good' treatment is and that it might mostly be misdirected anger?

Like sure her fight with Toga was one of the most well-treated moments of final arc and 431 was unnecessarily centered around her, which sucks because we had more important things to focus on, but honestly I don't think her having it kinda good at the very end of the story makes up for how her character was paid dust for the majority of the anime/manga and how she wasn't allowed to exist in any substantial way beside being the Female Lead™

Like I understand talking about lets say Bakugou or Endeavor (which you do a lot for the later and I respect that) in the way you do, but Uraraka? That poor girl isn't the first person that comes to mind when I think about characters receiving special treatment form the anime or Horikoshi.

Precisely because Uraraka's arc is such a nothingburger for most of the manga, I find it excrutiating how much the epilogue focuses on her so overwhelmingly. She has more panel time than Bakugo and Shoto added together. This is not only about 431. We didn't need 2 out of the 7 epilogue chapters focus on Uraraka. We didn't need more panel time dedicated to Uraraka's shoe in 431 than most Class A characters. We didn't need most of the Volume 42 corrections to be adding more fat to the Uraraka scenes - there were plenty of scenes that needed more corrections or additions. And we certainly didn't need 431 try to convince us how Uraraka is saving the world with a fluffy counselling program, while her higher ranked classmates are all uselessly dying out as a profession.

I also feel a certain meanness how Horikoshi tried to draw Uraraka extra beautiful in 431, while for example, Monoma who pushed her out of the Top 10 got a controversial adult design, along with other male characters (e.g. Shouto).

I think it's normal if fans who stayed around or supported the manga for other characters wanted to see more focused balance, wanted to see their fave succeed and not be used as a cheerleader for Uraraka-sama (like Tsuyu or the UA Big 3 are). It creates resentment and gives a bad impression of Horikoshi, who just decides that now at the end, he can throw away the popular characters who contributed so much the popularity of the franchise.

The anime also gives Uraraka special treatment. I mentioned the OP of S6, but as a Shouto fan I will never forgive bones for cutting scenes from Shouto's climax and cutting the Rising title, while at the same time adding anime-only scenes to the Togachako fight, with the director admitted that she sabotaged Shouto's episode so the emotional emphasis can be on Uraraka, instead of adapting both contents with honesty and let the fans decide. That's not her place.

And yes, I'm angry for all the crappy merch where they insert Uraraka into Shouto-merch to push her, where they force blind merch on fans because she doesn't sell that well. I do feel that Horikoshi was resenting the fandom for not liking Uraraka as much as he does and the epilogue is his pettiness on display as he denies the content fans wanted (like bkdk talk, Shouto getting comfort or hugs from his family, the only hero agency we see is Uraraka's, etc.) for the end.

I compare this with the ending of Haikyuu, where Furadate made sure to give us little glimpses of all the characters post-timeskip, gave all the main ones dedicated chapters and most importantly made everyone feel valid and important for the choices they made.

I feel like Horikoshi is only paying lip service to being grateful to his fans and was not at all interested in giving an uplifting good-bye to his fans in general, only certain fans. And Act 3 Uraraka is the embodiment of this attitude.

The truth is, it's his fault to never committing a theme to Uraraka's character, never making an actual arc for her - always just putting her on unearned pedestals, with fluffy content. Pushing her character so hard in the end just leads to resentment and a feeling of betrayal.

[intheinkpot]

Caius Mercar's LI is Neve, and Caius comes from a well off family so I think he would probably at first lean toward getting Neve things she couldn't afford for herself or that she'd have to save up a while to get. Neve and Taash have a banter about Neve getting another even more ornate prosthetic where Neve says it might be nice to have fashion options so I could see Caius paying for Neve to get another custom prosthetic. I could also see Caius paying for her new clothing - anything she wants - and to have it enchanted to help keep her safe during her work. For these gifts, I think the biggest challenge would be convincing Neve to let someone else pay for her to get these things since Neve is so used to being alone. It would probably take Caius a while to get Neve to accept letting him take care of her in this way. I think he would also pick up things related to the local mysteries of various places he visits. Perhaps something inconsequential for her to puzzle over when she's hit a dead end on one of her cases. For his best friend, I'm torn between Davrin and Taash. They're his bros. Davrin would maybe be some nice tools for his wood carving that he doesn't already have. Taash would be something related to dragons - maybe a really nice statue of one with gems for eyes. Revas Aldwir is with Bellara so I think the most common gifts would be getting Bellara the newest update to her favorite serials and finding new ones for her to enjoy. Revas would probably also occasionally gift Bellara broken artifacts she finds for Bellara to try to figuring out. There's probably also the traditional gift of jewelry when Revas spots some ear rings or a bracelet she thinks Bellara will like.

For her best friend, I think it would be Davrin, but Revas's gift is swinging by his place and going 'hey there's some weird new monsters in arlathan wanna go fight one for your monster hunting guide?' Either that or camping trips.

Goooooood magical morning to you! Today let’s talk about gifts

If your Rook could give their LI + their best friend any gift they wanted, what would they get them? Why? ( you can do everyone else, too, if you want!)

[hakusins]

(vent in the tags) me thinking i've finally escaped financial problems: :DDDDD

life:

[i-reblog-everything44]

The fandom when Anya is nice to jimmy and compliments/butters him up after the crash: obviously this is a fawn response. She doesn’t actually think these things about jimmy, she is simply trying to protect herself against a volatile, unstable person by placating him

The fandom when curly tries to placate jimmy by telling Jimmy he’d fix things, after being very nervous about jimmy’s anger and reaction when talking to Anya right beforehand and his heart racing so hard on the way to confront jimmy that he’s likely on the verge of a panic or anxiety attack: hmm. Obviously everything curly is saying to jimmy here is completely genuine and not motivated by anything. He obviously doesn’t care about the fact jimmy raped Anya and only cares about helping jimmy at the detriment to Anya. He’s a rape apologist. There could literally be no other potential explanation for why curly is saying the things he is saying right now. Let’s take everything curly is saying here completely at face value and not analyze anything else about Curly’s behavior or the rest of the scene.

[seriously why are people only capable of recognizing the fawn response in Anya and not Curly]

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[messangerforthestars]

“We need more morally gray characters” you guys can barely handle topaz and jade.

[tleeaves]

There are two wolves inside me. One wants to embrace a new hobby in dance so I can be active and feel elegant and graceful and strong. This wolf wants to try something new and exciting, finally indulging in something I've always had an interest in.

The other experiences such frustrating emotions on a near daily basis that I want to go back to boxing, which is arguably easier to break into since I've already done it before. This wolf doesn't think of elegance, she just wants to fuck shit up until her body's so overworked and warm it fogs up car windows without having to do anything but sit inside.

Which one do I fucking feed??