#so yeah basically just things for my brain to chew on for inspiration

[cannibaltranssexual]

hi jason! sorry if youve answered this before, but what does aaoc stand for? i love the posts that you tag as such so im curious :]

its my tag for posts that remind me of my wip fic(s) !! i havent 100% settled on what to name the series yet but pretty early on in development i stumbled upon that passage by julian k jarboe (from the book everyone on the moon is essential personnel) that goes

Why does God create grapes and wheat, but not wine and bread? God does this because God wants us to share in the act of creation. To be how you made me, to become how God made me, though you, I can remake myself. You and I: we are already only whole, and shifting towards the divine.

and the author also has a tweet relating this concept to transsexuality and youve probably already seen one or both of these floating around on tumblr already but whatever i just wanted to center my t4t hannigram fic around these quotes cause theyre just. so good.

so yeah it stands for "an act of creation" except it should probably be "#taoc" if i wanted it to match the original quote but i cba to go and change it now which is probably not how placeholder tags are meant to work !! oh well . fic playlist <3

[viperwhispered]

hiiii ner!! throwing you 💭🧪💡and💌 for the fanfic writer ask meme!! -diodellet

Ty for the asks @diodellet! (also good to see you around again, hope the exams and stuff went well!)

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

Tbf, for my reader inserts a lot of it is wish fulfillment - quite often, they’re more or less thinly veiled self-inserts in disguise. Things I’d like to see, things that I personally enjoy, stuff like that. Write what I want to see in the world, basically.

However, there’s also a big part of wanting to elicit emotional reactions in other people. I kinda alluded to this with my previous answers, but like, for me, the important thing is to tell a clear, impactful story - I’m not that interested in experimenting with language, for example, though of course some that comes with the territory, too.

I was an absolutely voracious reader of books as a kid / teenager (until I got my first laptop, oop), and I’d often just chew through books - which means I have forgotten a lot of what I’ve read. However, I still remember one book where the twist in the end hit me right in the feels, and I specifically took a moment to sit with those feelings in order to remember them.

So I just always love it when I can make my writing impactful enough for it to affect someone. I’ve gotten so many great things and highs and lows out of reading, and I want to give some of that back, if I can.

🧪 Do you research for your fics?

If I need to, certainly. I do typically prefer keeping canon-compliant if I can (unless it’s like an au or something we’re talking about), or true to life in general, so I’ll certainly be checking facts and stuff and trying not to get anything wrong. Plus, just refreshing myself on the tone or speaking patterns of a character feels like research, too.

And of course there’s been those times when I’ve been trying to find out when Japan got flip phones or other things like that. I'm totally that writer who goes down a research rabbit holes for like one or two lines of fic.

💡How many WIPs do you currently have?

Uhh… Depends? WIPs I’ve actually put some words in? Two that I’m actively aware of, probably others buried somewhere in the depths of my files. WIPs that I have ideas for… Well, on my list there’s six more or less vague concepts that might or might not become something.

I’m not really one to bounce between wips, so it’s pretty much one main wip at a time for me, rotating in the brain until it gets cooked (or left waylaid).

I suppose it helps that I kind of had a break from writing before Fixation happened so I don't have much of an idea backlog, so to speak.

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

Where do I even start… I mean, with the recent fics, pining sure is high on the list. Just, all the fluffy parts of a (pre-)relationship. For more specific tropes (like only one bed or fake dating or whatever), I don’t think I have strong preferences. Whatever works for the particular story, really.

For my smut I’ve been told I tend to play around with power dynamics a lot and yeah I can’t disagree with that.

(ask game here for anyone else curious)

[orangepanic]

Orange, I don’t know if you’ve already done this but director’s cut of “How I Always Loved You” please. I absolutely adore it. What inspired it ?

I'm so glad you asked about this! One of my favorites.

In short, this is what we call in the fanfic world a "spite fic."

The true origin of How I Always Loved You goes back to a tumblr post I can't find where someone was asking for any headcanons about Yasuko Sato. In the show, all we get of Asami's mother is a photograph, a method of death, and Hiroshi Sato's passion for her memory. This leaves her wide open to interpretation - which you've probably realized by now is my favorite type of character. Just enough canon to chew on and then take off running. So. The first thing I noticed about Yasuko is that the photograph we get of her is black and white. Yeah, she looks a lot like Asami. Everyone assumes then that Asami got her green eyes from her mom. And my contrary brain went BUT WHAT IF SHE DIDN'T??

That sent me down a whole "wouldn't it be cool if?" speculative direction about Yasuko Sato being an ex-Agni Kai firebender, and that the "robbery" we hear about in the show was actually a hit, or an extortion gone wrong. How much more powerful would Hiroshi's hate of firebenders be if it was his wife's past as a firebender that really got her killed? This was mostly me dicking around having fun. Why not? No one cared about Yasuko Sato.

Enter, comics.

I, for the most part, hate the Avatar comics with a passion. So when I heard there was going to be a comic about Asami and her mom I was prepared for it to be the most boring milquetoast rage-inducing interpretation of Yasuko Sato imaginable about to become canon. Asami is bright and well-off and green-eyed and an engineer. Guess what? Her mom is also going to be bright and well-off and green-eyed and an engineer! Because it's not enough for Asami to look like her mom, she basically has to be her mom. Lame. I hated it.

With the comic about to be released I decided I wanted to explore my version of Yasuko before it was officially wrong. That prompted me to think more about what kind of person Hiroshi Sato would fall so desperately in love with that he'd fund a revolution ten years later. Clearly her death wrecked him to the core. And that made me want to explore Hiroshi more as well - not just as a villain, but as a person with a history and personality and motivations. What was he like as a young man before his grief?

I think their personalities fell into place long before I had a plot. Hiroshi Sato as a poor man with big dreams and buckets of confidence, a relentless optimist and extroverted opportunist unwilling to take no for an answer. Yasuko, a quick street-smart compliment to Hiroshi's intellectualism, full of laughter and dancing and always ready for a good time in spite of her circumstances. What a pair they would have made! Talking their way out of trouble. Painting the town red until dawn. Pitching Hiroshi's ideas to the shadiest of investors with a lot less fear than they should. It took exactly that long for me to fall head-over-heels in love with them.

And from there the story basically wrote itself.

[sexynetra]

All the asks that end in 3’s

Fun fact 3 is my lucky number <3

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Oh gosh I feel like it is not consistent 😂 I think usually it starts with me driving or sleeping or waiting for something and I start writing and fleshing out a scene in my brain and then it becomes an obsession and every time I am left with my thoughts I start actively writing it in my brain (like literally writing and revising lines) then I open a document and go to put it in and my mind blanks then I have a lot of breakdowns and then eventually get something written down, then either send it to my beta or post it 😂 for the past few chapters I’ve been making an outline that labels each scene in the chapter and then I can jump around to work on whichever scene I’m feeling the most inspired by instead of having to do the entire thing chronologically which I’ve been loving! But basically my process is very messy and mostly takes place in my noggin.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow

Research! I love researching to make the details as accurate as possible. Plus that’s how I learned about the shark museum in Vegas :)

23. Best writing tip for other writers

Find a random prompt and sit down and write 500 words. That’s literally the first 500 words of rawnsyf, it was a 2 am writing exercise that I planned to write and forget about because it was just a way to get myself back into the writing mindset. And here we are.

33. Do you want to be published someday

Uh uh uhhhhhhhhhh I don’t know. Like yes but also I think the industry would chew me up and spit me out and I am WAY too fragile for that shit

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person

OKAY HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT. I like to torture my characters BUT only the ones I love AND it’s because when I torture them then I get to provide comfort to them too 😭 it’s about the road the journey blah blah blah but yeah I love tormenting them I get very bored writing straight fluff

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both

I used to exclusively read, then it was like 50/50 and now I feel kinda guilty reading when I haven’t finished writing the next chapter so I mostly write at the moment except like one or two exceptions

63. Something you hate to see in smut

Hmmmm I know there’s so many things but I can’t like… verbalize them? There’s some euphemisms people use for the pussy that give me mad ick though

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works

I am NOT the person to ask this to cause I have crazy imposter syndrome about my writing 😂 I do think that the effort I put into my characterization is noticeable (I hope), but this is a better question for someone who has an external perspective of my writing in comparison to others (I’d be interested to hear y’all’s thoughts!)

[lesbianjunimo]

That time you and your demon boyfriend went viral

hi yes hello obey me fandom!! my name is Gabbi and i have never played a single second of the actual game but i have read enough fanon content for the past year to have this idea swimming around in my head and now i am finally letting this accursed thing out of my brain and putting it in yours

also i’m only doing the brothers because any more than that and i’d have an aneurysm probably. oh and shoutout to @obeythebutler and @beels-burger-babe for inspiring me with their works to feel brave enough to write for this fandom

Lucifer:

You and Lucifer go viral on Asmo’s Devilgram story!

You’re in the kitchen helping Asmo with dinner duty and singing along to one of your playlists of human realm music that you like to show him.

Asmo starts filming your cute little dance while you stir the pot on the stove because you are just adorable!

About ten seconds into him filming, Lucifer appears in the doorway with quite the stern look on his face. You know, the one that comes right before a “MAMMOOOOOON” and strikes fear into the heart of all those with functioning eardrums. That one.

He opens his mouth, presumably to tell y’all to shut the fuck up, but then there’s a lull in the music and the eldest can hear your voice ever so slightly above the song’s vocalist and he freezes.

Man stops in his tracks like someone just smacked him in the face with a midair volleyball.

Asmo can be heard stifling a laugh behind his phone.

Lucifer’s face gets so soft and he almost, almost, loosens his metal-rod-through-the-ass posture before you notice him and give a little wave and ask if you and Asmo were being too loud like the considerate darling you are.

Lucifer clears and his throat and says something like, “No, you aren’t. I was just coming to check on how dinner is coming along,” and leaves, after which Asmo immediately presses the post button.

Screenshots of Lucifer’s heart eyes for you go absolutely viral because every demon on Devilgram goes absolutely feral for seeing the eldest demon brother lose his dignified composure. It becomes a meme template. “Get you someone who looks at you like Lucifer looks at MC” and “me at the delivery demon when he shows up with my spicy bat wings” posts become commonplace. (Asmo thinks the memes are totally worth getting strung up with Mammon for laughing at them.)

Mammon:

Much like Lucifer, you and Mammon end up going viral off Asmo’s Devilgram. (Noticing a pattern here?) 

He pulls a silly prank on your asses and honestly I don’t know how you fell for it. But hey, they say “idiots in love” for a reason, so...

You and Asmo are sitting in the common room of the House of Lamentation just chillin. Well, he’s chillin, you’re on the floor studying for an upcoming exam.

The video starts in the middle of a conversation you and the avatar of lust were having.

“No, Asmo,” you say. “Mammon and I don’t use pet names for each other.” Now that’s just a darn lie, and every demon and crow within ten miles of Mammon and you together knows it.

“Really? I find that very hard to believe, MC.~” 

You sigh in response to Asmo’s teasing. “Okay, he has a lot for me but I’m just not much of a pet name person, y’know?” The rest of the exchange goes like this:

“Oh, I totally get it.” *pause* “Hey MC, what do human world bees make again?”

“Honey.”

Cue a sheepish Mammon sticking his head in the doorway at the bluntness of your tone when you answered Asmo.

“Yeah, babe?” he looks like a puppy left on the side of a highway oh my god hUG HIM-

Asmo turns the camera back to his smug ass face and in the background you can be heard tripping on the damn carpet trying to get up and hug your mans. (”MAMMON GET OVER HERE SO I CAN HUG YOU” “W-WHAT? I THOUGHT YA WERE MAD AT ME?!?!?!?!”)

Leviathan:

Streamer Levi? Streamer Levi.

You guys go viral the first time you make an appearance on one of Levi’s weekly (insert cool Devildom streaming service name here) streams. 

It’s completely unintentional. You had been asking him for weeks to play with him on there, but he’s the avatar of envy after all. He doesn’t like sharing his partner, even if it’s with random strangers who have no real access to you.

However, he has his stream on a Thursday instead of a Friday one week, and you come into his room carrying dinner because 1) You didn’t realize he was streaming and 2) No matter what he was doing, the boy needed to eat. It wasn’t unusual for you to bring him dinner, so you had no idea why he was blushing and stammering even more than usual this time in particular. Boy was speaking in beached whale trying to tell you what was wrong.

Then you notice his screen. Oh! “Hi chat!” You wave, setting Levi’s food down on his desk in front of his keyboard. “M-MC!” He full-on whines, slamming a hand over his mouth afterwards when he remembers his viewers could hear that.

Honestly, they’d meme the fuck out of him if it weren’t for the fact that they are FINALLY SEEING HIS HENRY!!! THE MYSTERIOUS MC!!!

Chat is bombarding you with questions while you make Levi eat dinner. And by make him eat dinner, I mean literally feeding this man forkfuls/spoonfuls while he games because you love how flustered he gets when you do that. 

Does it impact his score? Absolutely. Does he care? Not really when you’re pampering him like that.

You start answering chat’s questions about you while he’s chewing so he can’t tell you to stop LMAO-

You’re a natural on stream. The VOD becomes the most popular on Levi’s account in a matter of hours and soon cute highlights compilations of you and him on that stream start making the rounds on Devildom Twitter.

Satan:

There was buildup to Satan going viral, similar to Levi in a way. 

Satan does have a Devilgram, but it’s basically a white woman’s Instagram with added book reviews for variety. Unless you’re a reader his account is pretty boring: candles, books, fireplaces, and cats.

However, after you two started reading together fairly often he began posting pictures of your legs draped over his while you sat together. They’d always be captioned with vague ass pretentious literary criticism. 

This goes on for months, and he gains a lot of (horny) followers after the leg pics start up. He doesn’t really get why but you both joke that it’s because you have some damn nice legs and I mean neither of you are complaining about the new following.

You two go viral when he finally shows your face, entirely by accident.

The post is a video, which is already strange for him and grabs attention. In it, you’re scoffing and reading an excerpt of a book, mocking its understanding of female anatomy.

“I’m quoting here, Satan: ‘her breasts bouncing around like giant pacmen.’ I’M SORRY?? THAT ISN’T HOW BOOBS WORK SIR. WHY ARE MEN ALLOWED TO WRITE?” 

(fun fact that is a very real quote from a very real book I really read last month pls save me)

Originally the camera is focused on your body, with your head out of frame to protect your privacy, but your righteous anger made Satan laugh. Like, a real laugh. The one that makes you and everyone in earshot wonder if he truly was never an angel cause he sure as hell laughs like one but anyway-

When he threw his head back, his DDD angled up just a tad without him noticing, and your face was in view for like .2 seconds. Screenshots of it are making the rounds on Devilgram almost immediately: FINALLY THE LEGS’ OWNER HAS BEEN FOUND.

Satan apologizes profusely but you honestly find it funny and you two opt to just start taking selfies while reading with both of your faces in them from now on. 

Asmodeus:

I’m gonna be real with you: you and Asmo go viral all the time. Pretty much everything Asmo posts can be considered viral because of his social media following and his status as one of the seven avatars of sin.

However, there are some fairly cute highlights to be pointed out among the times you were both featured in a post that blew up.

Your favorite is probably that time Asmo livestreamed on of you guys’ ‘Nail Nites,’ as you call them.

You’re both on the floor, doing your nails and kicking your feet back and forth while talking to chat. A lot of the questions are about your relationship, and there’s a lot of flirting back and forth between the two of you.

A particular clip of the stream does blow the fuck up on Devilgram, though, when someone screen records it and posts it with a bunch of heart emojis edited over it.

“’What colors do you think best describe each other?’ Ooo, that’s a good one, chat!” Asmo claps his hands together excitedly, making sure to be  careful of his nails.

Pretty much everyone expected you to say pink, but you surprised both your boyfriend and your viewers when, after a pensive few moments, you replied with “Hmm...probably yellow or orange.”

“Can I ask why, darling?” Asmo tilts his head in confusion. I mean, yeah, those colors look good on him, but he doesn’t wear them often so he’s wondering about your thought process. 

“Well, in the human world those colors often represent happiness, optimism, and positivity. You’re always the cheerful presence I need in my life when things get hard, so you have the vibe of those colors.”

Asmo proceeds to burst into tears and hug you, messing up both of your nails and prolonging the stream since you both have to start over. But neither of you particularly care. 

Fun fact: Asmo has the clip that demon made of that portion of the stream saved on his DDD and watches it whenever he feels sad.

Beelzebub:

Beel and you probably go the most viral out of everybody. Like this moment is an entire phenomenon across the Devildom internet. 

It’s a video, or well, multiple videos, taken at the end of a Fangol game that Beel’s team had just won. Everyone is cheering and going crazy, yourself included, and you just really wanted to congratulate your boyfriend.

So, like the rational person you are, you elect to climb up onto the railing of the bleachers and wave to get his attention. 

You were absolutely fine up there, and sat all comfortably motioning Beel over to you. He notices, of course, and jogs over, standing right beneath you and looking up. (Back where you were sitting, Mammon is screeching like a hyena in heat and Belphie, who is laying down, has one eye open to glare at him. The youngest knows Beel would never let you hurt yourself; you’re fine.)

A bunch of assorted demons at the game has started filming while you were sat atop the railing since you were rather noticeable. Therefore, there’s a shit ton of different angles of the adorable events that follow:

You slide off the railing, landing right in Beel’s waiting arms bridal style. You’ve got this brilliant smile on your face as you pull his helmet off. None of the DDDs filming can hear it over the crowd noise, but Beel asks you why you just went through all that trouble and you tell him it’s because you wanted to tell him how proud you are.

Soft boy’s chest puffs up and he smiles this big cheesy smile at you reach up to run a hand through his hair. You feel him practically purr at the contact, and with a laugh you pull him in and plant a big ole smooch on him.

The crowd, at least those of them that can see, scream. Everyone is running high on adrenaline and happy emotions; something that cute causes a ruckus!! When you pull away Beel proceeds to put you on his shoulders and you celebrate with him and the rest of his team.

The videos of you two being adorable go completely viral and there are some threads dedicated to stockpiling every single angle taken of the event. Beel is completely oblivious to the attention but you have a lot of them saved on your DDD.

Belphegor:

If you think Belphegor has any sort of social media presence whatsoever then you are sorely mistaken. (Well okay he actually does run some anonymous troll accounts to meme on Lucifer’s posts but that’s neither here nor there-)

Therefore, naturally, you two go viral off of Asmo’s Devilgram. 

Okay so someone in the obey me tag the other say headcanoned that Belphie will go out of his way to nap in ridiculous places and my brain really took that and RAN WITH IT.

So what happens is that Belphie will fall asleep in the fucking weirdest places. I’m talking on top of the fridge, underneath the dinner table, on top of bookshelves...you name it, he has slept there, no matter the effort it takes to get there in the first place. 

And, ever since you two started dating, you would join him. Sometimes it involved putting yourself at risk of great bodily harm, but the little smile he gave when you he saw you fucking scaling the countertop to reach him made it worth it.

So anyway, since Beel adores the both of you to no end, he takes pictures whenever he sees you two napping together, whether or not it is in a crazy place. He sends these to the family group chat because he thinks they’re adorable.

Over a span of weeks to months, Asmo has built up a stock of images of you and Belphie cuddles up in seemingly impossible places. Once he has about ten or so, he posts a compilation of them to his Devilgram with some cheesy ass caption like “The things we do for love <3″.

They become a meme SO QUICKLY. Like UNBELIEVABLY quickly. 

The picture of you and Belphie sleeping on top of a bookshelf, in particular, is a big hit. Memes abound.

“If my girl doesn’t climb up a bookshelf to cuddle my ass, she don’t love me.” “Get yourself a partner who scales bookshelves just to be with your ass.” Etc etc...Belphie doesn’t give a shit but you laugh at a lot of them so he sees that as a good outcome.

[absolutepokemontrash]

ayo!! congrats on 666 <33 I'm not sure if its much of a request but I love how you wrote the demon kids personalities! I was wondering what kids of personalities you would see the other brothers kids having? Hypothetically of course (unless 👀)

BRO- I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while! Fan kids are fun to think about, what can I say? Now, these kids aren’t canon to the Awfully Familiar series, the HOL is crowded enough as is… but I hope you enjoy anyways!

(I’m giving all the kids names just so no one gets confused with which kid is whose)

Levi’s Kid

Uh let’s use probability to figure out how rare children of our snek boy are. The Otaku left the house (unlikely), spoke to a human being (very unlikely), did the devil’s tango with them (impossible)

I’m kidding, but seriously what the fuck why did this human exchange student look so much like Levi? Was that a tail? Hehehe… what a weird practical joke…

(I’m calling this MC Percy. Three guesses as to why)

Okay, onto the kiddo’s personality. I’m picturing them being REALLY hyped and REALLY enthusiastic about their hobbies and isn’t afraid to yammer about them. They’re good at what they do and they’re damn proud of it! They turn their envy into *~inspiration~* and get better at the things they enjoy doing!

In all fairness to Levi, it’s a bit easier for his kid because Percy isn’t literally being eaten alive and consumed by this sin every waking moment of his life… perks of being half human! :D

Percy loves swimming, and the ocean, and fish, and they brought a shark back from the beach- wait hang on a second-

It’s not uncommon for Levi to be hardcore gaming while Percy swims around in the fish tank.

The pair of them have a very good relationship, Percy is kind of Levi’s hero with how eager they are to get better at the things they love doing and how they almost never self pity spiral. The one issue is… ugh… Percy is a 🤢…. Sorry. Percy’s a 🤢 🤢-

They’re A FUCKING NORMIE. THEY DON’T LIKE ANIME!

Other than that, the two get along swimmingly. (Ba dum tisssss)

Percy’s reaction to Levi’s cool military titles is basically “WOAH! YOU HAVE BOATS?! CAN I GO ON ONE?!” And Levi would be a monster to decline.

Percy wore a pirate hat despite Levi telling them numerous times that they were a part of the navy, they CATCH pirates. Which are apparently still a big problem in the Devildom…

Also, Percy and Lotan absolutely adore each other. It makes Levi very happy

Satan’s Kid

Satan’s a pretty charming guy, and it’s canon that he’s amazing at seductive speech craft so it’s no surprise that he was able to seduce a human.

You know what is a surprise? The fact that Satan, the smart one, didn’t think to use protection! Like- DUDE I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU.

Whatever, anyway, when this kid slammed onto the floor of the assembly hall no one had time to react when the kid suddenly grew horns… and fangs… and a tail… OH FUCK THE KID WAS GOING THROUGH THEIR FIRST TRANSFORMATION WHAT THE FUCK-

(For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to call this kid Lyssa, mainly because of the meaning of the name)

The first thing Lyssa did was launch themselves straight at the first person they saw, and I ask you to guess exactly who sits in the middle seat of the assembly hall. That’s right… Satan… yay…

This kid nearly clawed his face off in the span of two seconds and it took Lucifer and Beel working together to drag them off of him and then Asmo had to step in to use his powers to calm them down. Well. That was eventful.

So Lyssa has a volcanic temper and they’re honestly really bitter and upset at everything, which is something that’s supposed to come in adult life, not so early. So what’s up with this kid? Well, when you’re born with a burning rage deep inside you that can be set off at even the slightest inconvenience and because of that everyone around you immediately assumes you’re dangerous or crazy can really do some damage to a kid.

So who oh who is Lyssa going to blame for this…? Hmmm… who is responsible for the anger? *Side eyes Satan*

“Wow, this kid is blaming me for passing down my wrath even though I couldn’t control giving it to them and if I had the choice I would have made sure they wouldn’t have to live with it and they’re mad at me for subjecting them to existence itself… wow this feels so bad :( who would treat someone like this..?” “*Dad sigh*”

The two of them do eventually get along. It’s actually Satan who extends the olive branch and offers to help them control their anger. As the two spend time together, Lyssa’s intense hatred slowly subsides.

So… what’s Lyssa going to do now? They’ve spent so much of their life being defined by their anger… who the fuck are they????? U-uh… cats! Cats! Lyssa likes cats! Is liking cats a personality? No? Okay… um… Music! Music is relaxing! Lyssa likes music! Um… um… ooo- look at that! They like space! And stars!

You knew what they don’t like? School. Lyssa doesn’t like learning in a controlled environment where they’re being told what to learn. Leave them alone so they can go read about space.

Beelzebub’s kid(s)

*munch* *munch* *chew* *chomp* huh, *chomp* why does the takeout- I mean the human look so much like him…? They’re his kid..? *choke* *cough* *cough* …Huh. Want some chips?

Surprisingly chill first meeting. Well, Beel and the kid were chill, everyone else was freaking the fuck out.

I’m calling this kid Pepper. Why? Fucking guess.

Pepper themselves is just… chill. They’re sort of like a capybara, their vibes are just so immaculate that everyone wants to hang out around them.

Unlike Beel, Pepper’s penchant for food mainly comes from “food is good.” instead of “my body is literally eating itself alive every second of the day and I need to be eating something at almost all times in order to stave off a rampage.” Beel is very happy that his kid doesn’t have to live with food constantly on the brain.

All was well until three days into the exchange program when Pepper asked at the dinner table “so when are we bringing my twin down here?”

…twin genes man… twin genes…

Second kid, I’m calling them Cane. (CANE PEPPER, GET IT?! GET IT?!) this kid is less like a capybara and more like a honey badger. They don’t give a shit.

Here’s the thing though… they’re identical twins.

Cane is basically Beel but smaller. They follow Beel to the gym and usually get stopped at the door. “Kids aren’t allowed in the gym.” Ha, the rules don’t apply to Cane, they just cross their arms and raise their eyebrows and whoever is stopping them just steps aside. Don’t fuck with the honey badger kid.

Pepper and Cane are super close though, but don’t ask if they have a telepathic link or something, Cane will fuck you up and Pepper won’t be able to stop them. (I know a pair of identical twins, and the amount of times they’ve been asked if they can read each other’s minds is enough to make anyone homicidal)

Belphegor’s kid

*squints* how’d this happen..?

Whatever. When Belphie’s kid woke up on the floor of the assembly hall everyone took one look at this kid and collectively went “shitballs”

Belphie was in the attic and his kid was wandering around the house like they ran the place! What the fuuuuuuuuck was Lucifer supposed to do with this????

Anyway, meet Arien.

Arien, how does one describe this little hellspawn? Well, one would call them the brood of Lucifer or the spawn of Satan but that would be false because this manipulative evil devil-child that crawled straight out of a teacher’s nightmares is BELPHIE’S kid. And it fucking SHOWS.

This kid won the demon/human genetic lottery and they’re going to make it everyone’s problem. Basically, they’re sin is sloth, but unlike Belphie, Arien’s is more voluntary, if that makes sense. They sleep and slack off because they like not doing work, not because they’re always tired. They have this sort of lazy relaxed facade that vanishes the second it’s not needed, it’s honestly kind of terrifying.

They quickly learn that if they just pretend to be having troubles with being constantly tired, the rest of the house will go easy on them if they miss their chores and schoolwork.

Jeez Louise when this kid met Belphie…

They both just stared at each other for a solid five minutes before anyone said anything. Belphie somewhat nervously started up his “oh woe is me get me out of here :(“ charade, and the kid played along for a few weeks, until of course, they got suspicious.

You remember how Belphie guilt spiralled with L!MC? Yeah imagine that but 40 times worse, and he hadn’t even done anything yet.

But yeah, blah blah blah Arien breaks Belphie out, they don’t die, family’s back together, happily ever after. But not quite. Arien’s “oh no I’m sorry I’m sleepy…” charade was found out and boy howdy was everyone pissed.

Surprisingly, it was Belphie who gave Arien the wake up thwack, but Arien called Belphie out on his laziness so Belphie was forced to become a better example.

The way they fixed Ari’s behaviour? Extra chores, extra schoolwork, extra everything, and the boys did nothing to help. Basically, “this is how we felt! Deal with it!”

It worked… thankfully.

[astriiformes]

hi, i’m sorry to bother you, but do i remember correctly that you or scribe made your emotional support Flapjack yourselves, ages ago? if so, do you have a pattern or anything you would/could sell/pass on to me? i have virtually zero handcrafting experience, but i am motivated by the concept of an emotional support Flapjack.

also, thank you for Constantly putting Hunter on my dash so i’d keep telling myself i’d watch TOH for the traumatized kid; i binged the entire thing in literally 3 days when the neurodivergent brain cells aligned. am i absolutely wrecked, ruined, and destroyed? that’s completely beside the point.

anyway, no pressure to answer this ask or anything! i hope you spot something beautiful today

Oh yes I made him myself! (Scribe made Clover to go with her Willow costume, and also most of Viney's palisman for my sister).

Tragically I don't have a good pattern to pass on; he's needlefelted, so it was really more a matter of stabbing the roving into a bird shape and going "Yeah that looks pretty bird-shaped" -- but! He was also my very first needlefelting project and turned out really well, so I would say to not be intimidated by giving the same thing a try! Needlefelting is really cool and not to hard to learn; I imagine there's probably some good online tutorials for making simple shapes when felting and I basically pieced Flapjack together from combining and felting together a few different simple shapes anyways.

I have also seen several people (here on tumblr and also one person at a con) who have made sewn versions of Flapjack. He's not the most complicated shape and you could probably find a decent bird pattern/base online somewhere pretty easily (probably even for a cardinal specifically, since they're fairly iconic birds). If you go that route I'd probably recommend sewing him out of fleece or felt, which are somewhat more forgiving/beginner friendly and soft and good for plushies to begin with.

The one big challenge I've run into is the feet -- I've been making them out of pipe cleaners and sewing them in and then felting over the stiches, but they keep getting pretty chewed up or torn out and I've had to replace them several times (right not the poor little guy just has one wonky foot, which I'll need to try to fix soon!). The effect is still great and I've liked how the feet have turned out every time, but it's something to keep in mind maybe. I imagine if I wasn't taking him everywhere and tucking him in pockets and things they'd probably take less of a beating, so there's also that.

Anyways, I'm so glad to hear you got into the show because of me and enjoyed it, I always love hearing that from followers, and I wish you luck with your Flapjack crafting endeavors! It makes me smile knowing I'm inspiring other people to make and carry around little emotional support buddies, considering folks have really been a fan of mine, and I'd love to see the finished product when you're done.

[gyllenhaalstories]

A bit outside of the insanity that is Jake's wardrobe... This is not a request, I just want to talk to someone about writing fics. I kinda want to go back to write something (Jake, Chris Evans, Andrew Garfield, and Henry Cavill are my current muses). Are you still writing? Do you have any ideas you've been thinking of (situations, AUs, etc.)?

okay so i was not sure if you wanted this to be answered privately or not, so if you would rather have this not remain out on my blog and be a private conversation just tell me (especially the throwing ideas around part), i'll remove it as soon as i can! 💕

my blood pressure does need a break from the insanity especially with the photos being released when i wake up, this is not good 😂 talking about writing but NOT writing, my favourite!!!! YES PLEASE WRITE AGAINNNNN i remember your writing was amazing, and i'd love to see more of it! and i'd love to see your take on those other actors! i'm sure you'd write them as beautifully as you did for jake, and the remaining 3.5 fans of jake fanfics need your talent! (the rambling begins so i'll hide it under a read more for everyone's well being)

i'm still writing........ in theory. i wrote 1,4k words recently, stopped and then i can't get back to it or set up drafts and make them look all neat but i can't write a word or more often than not forget what i had in mind so i'm just left with voids of nothing 🥲 i've slowed down on drafting but not on ideas. to be fair most of my ideas are things i already did/included because i have -1 originality but yeah, i've got the ideas but not the brain power and as of now, not the time. i'd love to get back in the writing groove, as anxiety inducing as it is, writing a fic is just ✨ different ✨ and my 80+ drafts would love that too, i'm sure of it. i have the big flaw of being a one shot kind of person, i need to write most if not all of a fic in one go or else it's doomed, i either forget my ideas, lose the particular tone i set up or i just read what i wrote and go wow this is good and then never live up to that level and that's on performance anxietyyyyy 😂

there are a few fics i'd love to finish like the one that's almost done that is different from what i've written and the other one i started as mentioned above that is also different, more sugar daddy!jake for my own pleasure because there is no such thing as too much sugar daddy jake and i have so much inspiration to write the developments of their relationship, more characters i'd love to remove all their canon elements to make them the same sentimental soft teddy bears i love so much, A FUCKING DAVIS MITCHELL FIC HELLO??? i love my davis but writing for him is hard he's giving me nothing and everything at once this is not helpful mr peanut m&m man. i'd want to write more for david loki but loki is a special one and i can't do him justice. TOMMY MY BOY TOMMY it would go so well with the last fic i wrote but nope, nothing. basically every jake character minus a few i'd love to write for and probably have ideas for. it would also help if i started with something easy, soft, a few kinks since smut is my default mode now, nothing too fancy but no i need like 20 kinks and a plot so complicated i have no idea what i'm wtiting 😂 i'd love to finally give broadway!jake a go, i bit more than i can chew with him but i would love that, the only good thing the lifetime i dedicated to glee (derogatory) could be to write for broadway!jake. or go trashy with like best friend's dad, just something!!! the number of times i stare at my drafts and just walk away sadly is well SAD. but i think my priority would be to finish the fics that i already wrote for and wrote a LOT for, and davis. davis davis davis davis i am the president and probably the only member of his fanclub and i don't mind davis i will buy you all the m&m's you want no need for a sketchy woman stalking you </3 so to ACTUALLY answer your questions, i'd love simple ideas, like 1500 words finished done, and simple concepts and situations too, but one teacher i had once said why go simple and when you can make it complicated and yeah... why have fun when i can suffer and make all my drafts suffer. i'm hoping to post one of the two fics i started soon-ish, but i really can't tell! i get the urge to write at 5 am when i had countless mental breakdowns run off 2 sips of water and i can't even spell my name correctly!

but please if you write tag me tag me tag me I WANT TO BE ON THE FIRST ROW!!!! especially with jake, henry or chris (i don't know anything about andrew but i'd still be down!). I TALKED SO MUCH I AM SOOOOOO SORRY i told you talking about writing but NOT writing was my favourite! i literally said so much but also said nothing at the same time wow yay me. 😂 but do YOU have ideas? something you've had on your mind for a while, or something completely new? a character of theirs you would like to write for? i'm so curious!!!! i'd read anything involving those men and especially some jake writing from you 😭 NO PRESSURE THOUGH I'M NOT PUTTING ANY PRESSURE!!!!!! i'm just so happy to know you want to get back into writing!

i want to apologize for making you read all that I HOPE YOU DID NOT NOTHING OF VALUE IS WRITTEN IN MY RAMBLING but if you did read go get yourself a cookie you deserve it!!!!

[nightshade-minho]

-Embers- (2)

warnings: heavy-ish suggestiveness, future smut, themes of heartbreak and pain, mentioned parent death, jealousy, angry fathers.

wc: 5.7k

Heartbreak.

It's something you've thought about, in theory. You've wondered how it feels to be heartbroken, especially when you were younger, when almost everything was of interest to your curious brain. Could a heart break? What exactly did that mean? 

Mr Yang's novels were your first introduction to characters who'd gone through that pain. His books had described it as a perpetual feeling of hurt, one which a person would never get over. You wondered if it was even possible to experience pain like that. Pain so bad you felt your heart shattering.

You still remembered that day you thought about it properly for the first time.

***

You shut your book and looked over at Minho, who had been cloudgazing as he waited for you to finish it. Days like this were common. Minho would get you a new book every week, and the two of you would go to the lake and laze around in the sun. You often worried that Minho would find it boring to sit next to you while you read, having nothing to do. On the contrary, he was quite content with the way things were. He liked how warm the grass felt against his skin, and how calming the sounds of rippling water were as he rested his head against Aeracus’s side.

"Wow. That definitely didn't end on a good note." You shook your head, letting out a sigh and laying back.

Minho glanced up at you, sitting up slightly. "You finished it? So soon?"

"Mhm. I got a little too invested in the story."

"Ah. If I'd known you would read it this fast, I would have borrowed more than one from him."

"It's okay, I can wait a few days.' You say, your tone reassuring as you placed Mr Yang's precious book next to you on the grass, carefully. The man put great care into binding and writing his books, all by hand with no one to assist him. You didn’t want to be the one to soil his hard work.

"Good, cause I'm not going back there so soon. There's three girls who have basically set up camp outside Mr Yang's to catch a glimpse of me."

You rolled your eyes, playfully shoving him. "You act like you're a celebrity or something. We get it, you have a lot of fangirls."

"And fanboys. Some of them are quite cute actually. Just last week a dude proposed to me."

"No way. He proposed?"

"Yeah." He let out a low chuckle. "I think I recognized him from the docks. Seen him once or twice, but I've never said a word to him. I felt bad though, he was actually pretty."

"You should have said yes." You pouted, holding back a giggle. "I've always wanted to be maid of honor at a wedding."

Minho shook his head, sitting up and scooting over. Grabbing your waist, he pulled you into him, so that the both of you were curled up against his sleeping dragon.

"Maid of honor?"

"Yeah! I mean, what's the point of having a best friend if you don't get to play that crucial role in their wedding?"

Minho sighed, looking over at you with a fond smile as he bit his cheek. "Oh Y/n, what am I going to do with you? Maid of honor." He chuckled again at the exaggerated pout you flashed him, poking his side. “What’s so funny?”

There was silence for a few minutes as he looked up at the sky, eyes running over a cloud that looked a little like a five-pointed star. Humming, he leaned in a little.

A short inhale before he whispered into your ear, lips brushing against the shell of it and making your hairs stand on end.

"I hate to break it to you Y/n, but you'll never be maid of honor at my wedding." He mumbled softly, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear.

"Cause you'll be the bride."

For a minute, a stunned look passed over your face as you comprehended his words. It took a whole 60 seconds for you to process, but soon you swatted at his hand, descending into a fit of hopeless giggles at his cheesy line. "Shut up!"

"Hey! I was being serious." he had an offended look on his face as he held your chin, making you face him again.

You looked at his expression and stopped, your cheeks flushing as you realized he meant it. Your heart was racing, your eyes blinking rapidly as your mushy mess of a brain tried to figure out what an appropriate, mature response would be.

Quickly you pushed him off you, stumbling to your feet and beginning to run. So much for being mature.

"Race you home!"

Minho watched you run, shaking his head and sighing to himself as he slowly picked himself up. If only you knew how sincere he was.

If only he knew your heart hadn't stopped pounding for the rest of the night.

Mr Yang's books had been the main contribution to your adolescent fantasies, to be honest. As the local librarian, he supplied you with a regular supply of books, but none were as satisfying as the ones he wrote himself. His writing was descriptive on another level, and pulled you in like no other author could. He was your greatest inspiration, which was why his description of heartbreak had been the one to stick with you the most, all the way to adulthood.

It was described as a lingering emotion in the back of your head, staying with you your whole life to remind you of what could have been. It was nauseating, painful and everlasting. He'd written about the emotion so intensively, that at the time you almost felt like you did truly know how it felt.

You were wrong.

Heartbreak, real heartbreak, was a lot less pain and a lot more emptiness. Yes, it did feel like all those things mentioned before- but there was more to it than that. Your heart, which had been brimming with excitement and happiness not too long ago, felt void. Dark, lifeless. It had been so sudden, so out of the blue that your emotions were a confused jumble.

Of course, there was pain too- agony, more like. Ripping through your entire being as you watched him kiss her cheek yet again. It was so all consuming, so terrifyingly excruciating.

You were across the dinner table by your father's side, the spoon in your hand held in a tight grip as you tried your best to avert your eyes from the sight. After all, you were currently sat at the table with three other chiefs and their families, as well as a few advisors and high ranking guards. You had to look refined and elegant, a person befitting the title of Ember’s heir- not a gawking, bitter girl staring at your once lover canoodling with his fiancée.

Finally managing to tear your eyes away, you let your eyes run over the guests that would be staying with you for the next few weeks. You reminded yourself that you were in no position to be a dejected, woeful and pathetic individual in front of all these important people. Appearances had to be kept up, or you would face dire consequences. Your father’s pride was hurt enough as it is, what with his daughter being the only one who couldn’t participate in the championships. You didn’t want to give him any more reasons to hate you.

Next to your father was the Aqua chief, his wife and their daughter- Minho’s fiancée. They were dressed in blue silks, dripping with sapphires and lapides lazuli. The royal blue draped around them was deep, the fabric clearly expensive and not too unlike the dress you were wearing currently. 

The Aqua heiress was the spitting image of her mother, both their faces round and their features pretty. She was dressed similarly to her parents, with a tiny diadem upon her brown locks, her gown objectively fancier than yours. She continued talking to Minho, the plate of food in front of her untouched.

Minho.

You hated how beautiful he looked, dressed in white and grey. His uniform was simple, all clean lines and crisp edges. It suited him perfectly, like it was made for him. Which it probably was. 

The two of them seemed to be in their own little world as Minho whispered something into her ear, making her giggle yet again. Your throat felt clogged. Blinking, you quickly looked away from them, your eyes landing on Minho’s father. He looked the same as he always did, except now slightly frailer. He was wearing the same uniform as his son, although he didn’t quite fill it out the same way. You chewed on your lip, glancing at him one last time before turning to the Terra family. 

The Terra chief was a rotund, pot-bellied man who had his attention completely focused on his plate, not contributing much to the conversation the three other chiefs were having. You couldn’t blame him, really- the maids had cooked up a delightful feast. You were sure you’d have devoured your entire plate by now if circumstances had been different. The empty feeling in your stomach was making it hard to savour the roast beef, which you reluctantly ate. 

He and his wife were both dressed in earthly, neutral tones combined with deep greens- and positively covered in every kind of jewel found under the Earth. The rubies on your dress looked like chili flakes in comparison to the twinkling emeralds and gems on the Terra family.

Their son, the Terra heir, looked just as miffed as you, to be honest. He wasn’t as bejewelled as his parents, wearing a shade of green that provided you comfort as you looked at him. It reminded you of the grass near the lake you and Minho once frequented.

He caught your gaze suddenly. Smiling, his heart-shaped lips curving upwards. He shot a glance towards Minho and his girl, and then back at you, raising an eyebrow.

You tried your best to smile back, or give him a knowing wink, or something. But all you could do was stare blankly, your emotions having been sucked out of you. You still failed to comprehend what had happened, your brain seemingly giving up on you and leaving you alone with nothing but your broken heart for company.

Soon enough, the smile melted away from the man's face, and he looked back down at his plate, a little dejected. You felt a flash of regret, fleeting however as you suddenly felt a sharp voice whispering in your ear.

You looked up in confusion at your father, who had previously been immersed in a conversation with Minho’s father and the Aqua chief. Now his face was right by your ear.

"Number one, stop staring. You’re lucky I’m the only one who noticed. Number two, stop by my office before you go to sleep tonight, okay? It’s important." He said, voice stern.

Gulping and nodding, you watched as he turned away, diving right back into the conversation he was having. What did he possibly want to talk about? You rarely talked to your father these days, unless arguments could be counted.

You spent the rest of the meal in contemplation, staring down at your plate. Your hand moved methodically, shoving food into your mouth without actually tasting anything; All you could taste was regret.

It hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. Despite not looking up, her giggle still pierced your ears from time to time, stabbing you deep in the heart. You'd seen it...the way Minho had been looking at her. He'd once reserved such looks for you and you only. Turns out, every meaningful word he'd said back then were lies. Every promise of forever had been empty.

A small part of you reminded yourself that it wasn't his fault he was kicked out from your village. He’d thought you didn’t oppose your father, and simply watched as he and his father was humiliated. Were you being irrational in expecting him to have stayed single until he came back to you? Hell, was it stupid to think he could even bear to glance at you after what your father had did?

Life was unpredictable, nothing was written in stone. How could he even have known he'd ever be in the same room as you again?

No. Y/n, don't do this. Don't force yourself to make up excuses for him. The man had barely cast a glance at you since he arrived. His eyes had been cold and stony the only time you'd made eye contact. 

Besides, if he really knew you, he would have known you wouldn’t betray him like that. And if he really loved you, he would have waited. He wouldn’t have moved on so easily. 

It was still fresh in your mind, despite having happened a few hours ago, now. The way you’d felt your hopes and dreams shattering to the ground in a million pieces, all in a span of a few seconds. Your heart, vibrating so fast it was almost going to implode.

As you continued drowning in your emotions, reliving the pain you'd felt, you suddenly felt a pair of eyes burning into you, sharply. Confused, you looked up, expecting the Terra heir to be the one looking back at you.

It wasn't him.

Minho quickly looked away before you could react, going back to talking to the heiress. It had only been for a second, but you’d caught him.

He’d been staring. At you. For a second, the tiniest flash of hope lit up your heart. But it was gone quickly, as the Aqua chief started laughing boisterously at a question the Terra chief's wife had asked.

"Yes, Jisu and Minho are deeply in love, Calandra. Honestly. Why would they be getting married otherwise?" He smiled, looking over at the two who had stopped talking to listen.

"This one-" He ruffled his daughter's head, chuckling. "She was so smitten. Kept sneaking out past the border to meet him. Of course when I found out, I was more than happy to let them join hands. I couldn’t imagine a son better than Minho to marry my little girl."

"That's sweet." You glanced up at your father as he said the words. He seemed to be gritting his teeth in slight vexation, the annoyance on his face clear. At least, to you it was.

"The wedding will take place a month after the championships." Minho's father said suddenly, smiling proudly as he grabbed a glass of wine. "You're all invited, of course. It will take place at my village. Now, raise a glass for the happy couple!"

A few claps sounded as everyone at the table raised their glasses. You carefully avoided Jisu's shy smile and Minho's confident smirk, his arm wrapped around her shoulder firmly. As if she would break into a million pieces if he let go.

You hated that you knew exactly how he behaved when he was in love. And now you weren’t on the receiving end of his adoration. 

You weren’t used to this. 

Yes, you’d lived your life as normally as you could without him for the past few years...but this was different. He was right there, and yet he wasn’t yours. So close, but you couldn’t touch him. Couldn’t feel him. Couldn’t kiss his lips and tell him how much he meant to you.

Your eyes darted about as they tried to find an appropriate thing to focus your gaze on. You raised your glass like everyone else, downed the amber liquid a little faster than the rest. You refused to let yourself look at the two.

Your eyes landed on the Terra heir after a few seconds. You weren't completely sure what his name was, but you have a vague recollection of your father telling you everyone’s names. Of course, at the time you’d been too overcome with excitement to digest the information.

Felix? Yes, that was it.

He seemed sweet. Friendly, even. His smile was a little sympathetic as he looked back at you, and that threw you off. You decided to put a smile on your face immediately, trying to conceal the pain that you’d hoped wasn’t evident.

Your mind flitted back and forth as everyone’s plates gradually cleared up. What were you going to do after this? 

Originally, you'd been planning to go to Minho's room tonight. Fuck, you’d dreamed of how tonight would go for months now, ever since your father had told you the news. But how could you now? 

Everything was fucking disintegrating.

***

You walked down the hallway to your father's office, your heels clicking against the stone slabs. Your dress was starting to feel itchy, and you couldn’t wait to take it off. You resentfully recalled how excited you’d felt when your maids had helped you into it. How all you could think about was Minho seeing you in it. You’d never expected him to barely acknowledge you.

Sighing, you passed through the hallway, stopping when you heard a high-pitched giggle come out of nowhere.

Furrowing your eyebrows, you glanced around you in confusion. 

Another laugh, this one deeper, followed by what seemed like a...moan?

The pain came back full force, hurtling through you and overtaking you completely. As you walked, the sounds started to feel closer. You wished you could cover your ears to block them out, but at the same time you were consumed with curiosity. Was it what you think it was?

Suddenly, you heard another sound. Now, it was clear where they were coming from.

The sounds were from beyond the door that led to your father's old bedroom, the one he used to share with your mother before she died. You frowned, puzzled as you walked closer to the door.

Had he really given away that room to Minho and his fiancée? It hadn't been used in years, and had always been covered up and inaccessible. Even the maids weren’t allowed to clean in there. It was the biggest bedroom in the house, and the thought of it occupied by them was causing fresh tears to prick at your eyes. 

You felt the lump in your throat make itself more prominent, blinking rapidly as your heart pounded. Suddenly, your legs started moving of their own accord.

Before you knew it, you were stood in front of the large door, your hand raised and knocking firmly on the gilded wood as you swallowed.

There was complete silence for a second or two, but then there were scrambling noises, along with the sound of rustling bedsheets. You tried to calm the beating of your heart, as you waited for the door to open.

When it finally did, you felt like your heart was almost about to burst out of your chest.

She was the one who opened it. She was clearly half naked, having pulled on a blue robe hastily. Running a hand through her hair, she greeted you, her voice a little shaky.

"Oh- um, hello…” She pressed her lips together, glancing behind her for a second. You followed her gaze, to Minho on the bed.

He was shirtless, his hair messed up and his eyes carefully trained on the wall beside him, away from you. You swallowed again, tears threatening to spill past your eyes as you quickly tried to turn your attention back to the woman in front of you.

Too late. She'd noticed. She frowned at you, subtly moving to the side a little to cover Minho from your view.

"I know we haven't formally met yet. I'm Choi Jisu, the Aqua heiress. I’m sure you know." She smiled, albeit a little forced. "And I did want to thank you for letting us stay-"

There was an impatient grunt from behind her, and she looked behind back briefly before turning to you once more.

"Um, I don’t know if you noticed, but I was kind of in the middle of something. Sorry." She tried her best to hide her smile, her voice heavily insincere. “Let’s talk later, Y/n. And maybe next time you won’t be interrupting anything.” She smiled, beginning to close the door.

"Later." 

You just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing how to reply. Your face was passive but your brain was overrun with thoughts. The tears would spill any minute now. 

She frowned at your reaction, tilting her head before gently shutting the door in your face.

You just stood there for a moment. You could hear Minho's voice, muffled as he said something to her.

A part of you wanted to press your ear to the door and listen, but you already looked pathetic enough to the guards standing in the hallway, one of them already having flashed you a sympathetic look. You were really having enough of all this fucking sympathy.

Sighing, you dragged your feet away, trying to push everything down, but to no avail. There were too many enotions, and they were too heavy to even let you think. 

You thought back to her behaviour. You'd definitely picked up on her attitude, which had soured after she’d caught you looking at her fiancé. Jisu wasn’t a fan of you, that much was clear. And neither was the person who’d once declared himself your biggest fan. Ironic, really.

***

“Who was at the door?” Minho asked carefully, although he’d already seen you. Standing there, looking at him. 

You’d looked smaller, vulnerable. So, so different. Almost alarmingly so.

He tried to best to keep his tone even, eyes trained on Jisu as she slunk back to the bed, having shut the door.

“The Ember heiress.” She said, a slight sting to her tone. “Why do you think she came?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“I...don’t know.” Minho muttered, staring at the bedsheets. His heart was clenching, hands starting to shake a little. 

No. Not in front of Jisu.

“Weren’t you two ‘best friends’ once?” She asked carefully, having picked up on his icy behavior. Jisu knew, of course. Despite Minho and you trying to keep it a secret, at one point the entire village came to know the two of you were in love. The information had even spread across the village, to others. 

Of course, the chiefs were the only ones who’d been clueless, only finding out after they’d been separated.

Minho scoffed, shaking his head. He gestured to her, hooking his fingers under his boxers to pull them down. “Forget that. Come back here, baby.”

Jisu raised an eyebrow, looking like she wanted to say more. However, Minho’s almost naked body was difficult to resist.

Shrugging, she slid her robe off, letting the silk fall to the floor as she straddled him. His hands ran up her hips, watching her, feeling her. 

His brain, however, felt like it was a million miles away.

***

The tears ran down your face. You were no longer able to hold them back. Realizing you were probably about to break down in the middle of the hallway, you walked faster towards the office- 

Until you bumped into someone on the way, almost knocking them over.

“Woah, woah, slow down.” Felix chuckled, holding onto your arms to keep you on your feet.

You looked up at him, blinking as you registered what you’d just done. “Fuck- I’m so sorry-”

“No, it’s okay.” He smiled, realizing his hands were still on you. He quickly took them away, tucking them into his pockets. His cheeks were dusted a light pink as he cleared his throat, looking at you in concern.

You quickly wiped away your tears, but Felix had unfortunately already noticed.

“Hey, are you okay? I noticed... I noticed you didn’t seem so happy at the dinner.” He said softly, looking down at you. 

You remained silent, staring at the floor as you wondered how to reply. You didn’t want to seem any more pitiable than you already were.

“Uh, it’s okay if you don’t want to say anything. I’m sorry if I overstepped.” He shook his head, stepping back slightly. His voice was almost more nervous than yours. “Um, I’ll leave you be now. Sorry-”

You looked up, sighing. “Wait…” 

Felix looked back, an expectant, almost hopeful look on his face. You didn’t want to let him down, you really didn’t...but it was difficult to pretend like you were okay. You were shivering, biting on your lip. You already felt humiliated enough.

“Sorry. I...I need to go, I’m sorry.” You mumbled, quickly walking away from a bewildered Felix. As soon as you turned the corner, you breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall as your body shuddered. 

You’d never cried like this, not even when Caeli had died. Not even when Minho had left, because back then you’d still possessed some kind of hope. Hope that just wasn’t there anymore.

Rubbing your cheeks, you managed to get rid of the tear stains. You hoped your eyes weren’t too red- you weren’t ready for any comments from your father today. Breathing in, you continued walking, still massaging your eyes in a desperate bid to get them dry.

You groaned as you noticed you’d reached your father’s office quicker than you thought you would. Inhaling deeply, you tried to pull yourself together. You really didn’t like showing weakness in front of him, but lately that was all you did.

You knocked on the door carefully, waiting for him to open the door.

“Door’s open, come in.”

You pushed open the heavy oak door, stepping in.

"Y/n. Finally. Where have you been?"

"Nowhere important." You said quickly, clearing your throat. "Um... you said you wanted to see me, dad?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes." He rearranged the files on his desk quickly, standing and coming over to lean on the front of his desk. He sighed, screwing his face up in thought as he wondered where to start.

"I can’t believe Lee really scored a marriage for his son. Do you know what this means? A heir marrying an heiress? They'll possess power we can’t even begin to imagine." He paced back and forth, clenching his fists in barely concealed anger. You rolled your eyes slightly. Of course your father thought it was a ploy to gain power. He’d never believed in love, and most probably never will.

“So?” 

"So? So?!” He shook his head. “See, this is exactly why the villagers think you’re too incompetent.” He glared, making you cower. Your heart pounded quicker, your lips pressing together. No more tears, you had to control them.

“Look, Y/n...I’ll put it plain and simple. Ember has been the most powerful for centuries. We’ve always had the strongest dragons, and the sturdiest men. Our village is the largest in the country, and all eyes are on us.”

He pinched his forehead. “Do you know how embarrassing it is that Ember’s heiress, the one who should be the most powerful of all, is nothing but a lovesick, pathetic little girl who doesn’t even have a fucking dragon to compete with?!”

You blinked, sniffing as you stared at the floor. You could always count on your father to reinforce negative emotions. His eyes burning into you, chest heaving in anger. 

He sighed, watching as your shoulders shook slightly. Softening a little, he inhaled. It always went that way. He’d blow up at you, and subsequently regret it. He couldn’t take back anything he said, though.

“Sorry, child.” You remained silent, looking up a little. His face seemed sincere enough.

“Hm. I have an idea..." He mumbled, placing a finger on his chin. You could almost see the cogs and gears turning in his brain.

"What did you think of Felix? Nice boy, isn't he?"

You frowned at your father's words, his expression seeming innocent...but his intentions clearly weren't.

"The Terra heir?" You asked, sighing. "He seems nice. Why are you asking?"

"No reason." He shrugged, fiddling with the Ember figurine on his desk.

You groaned, rubbing your forehead. "Dad...don't tell me you want to marry me off to him."

"What?? No!" Your father shook his head vehemently, still playing with the figurine and avoiding your eyes. "I was just thinking. Uh-"

He looked back at you and sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry. But...just consider it, okay? An arranged marriage...an alliance between Ember and Terra could be phenomenal."

You pursed your lips, flashes of Minho and Jisu running through your head as you thought it over. Fuck it, why not? It wasn’t like you had any reason to oppose him. "Fine, dad. I’ll think about it, but I’m not promising anything. Besides, I don’t even know if he’s interested in me."

"I saw the way he was looking at you from across the table, child. He definitely has some curiosity, at the very least.” He hummed. “Anyway, that's actually not why I called you here."

You raised an eyebrow, confused as he went back to his seat, sitting down and pulling up a large, dusty book.

"Look...I'm worried. There's something ominous about this. Their marriage...it poses too many conveniences and benefits for both the chiefs to be a mere coincidence.”

You frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

He looked to be deep in thought. When he heard you speak, he snapped back to attention, shaking his head. "I’m not sure yet. Now, even if I managed to convince Farran to get his child married to you, it still doesn’t provide us power directly. Without a dragon, it’s likely they’ll make you reside in the Terra village once this is all over.” He hummed, looking like he was talking to himself rather than addressing you. “No...we need a reason to make you stay here. You’re an Ember heiress, the future chief of this legendary village. However, you definitely need to look the part. You need to prove to everyone that you’re powerful, Y/n. Shatter their expectations...and mine.” He smiled, gesturing for you to come closer.

 “I was wondering...do you want to participate in the championships?"

Your eyes widened impossibly, your words stuttering as you moved forward. You couldn’t believe your ears, not one bit. It sounded too good to be true.

“Wait- really?”

“Yes.”

“But...but I don’t have a drag-”

“You can participate with Aeracus.”

No. No way. For the first time since the welcoming, you felt true happiness overtake you. Jumping, you squealed in delight, barely able to hide your glee. “Oh my god, thank you, dad! Thank you so so much.”

He chuckled as he watched you, flipping a page. “This has never been done before, so expect some backlash. I’m sure once they see the bond you have with Aeracus though, they’ll change their minds.”

You couldn’t believe it. Your father, the most skeptical dragon purist the world had ever seen, was acknowledging your bond.

“But...what about Minho?”

“Aeracus is no longer his dragon, Y/n. He has a new one.” Of course, you’d noticed. The huge black dragons he and his father had been riding. You felt a sensation of unease drift through you as you thought about the creatures, the likes of which you’d never seen before. 

New lover, new dragon. He’d really left this place behind.

“Something’s off about those dragons.” He voiced the exact same concern you had. “They’re up to something. I just don’t know what.” He turned back to his book, taking his quill back up. “I’ll find out, though. Somehow. Now, go to sleep, kid. You have a big day tomorrow, now that you’re actually participating.”

You nodded, excitement coursing through your veins. “Sure, dad. Have a good night.” You bowed and turned around, your steps a lot lighter as you headed to your room, which was close by.

Reaching your room, you pushed open the door, smiling as you noticed Sylvia fast asleep at your dressing table. Moving slightly closer, you gently nudged her awake.

“Wha- I-” She shot up, mouth open as she bowed to you. “I’m so sorry, ma’am, I was just arranging and-I’ll help you out of your dress, now-”

“Sh, it’s okay. Tonight’s been tiring. You deserve the rest.” You said sadly, patting her shoulder as a yawn left your mouth. “Go to sleep, and don’t come by tomorrow. I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself. I want you to relax, okay? Head to the docks, or buy yourself some bread in the square.” You opened a tiny drawer and handed a few coins to her, enough to get some sweetbread from the bakery.

She nodded thankfully. “You’re the best, ma’am.” She giggled, accepting the coins from you. 

“What have I told you about calling me ma’am? We’re the same age, Sylvia, it makes me uncomfortable. It’s Y/n to you.”

“Fine. Y/n.” She smiles, heading to the door. “Good night, Y/n.”

You grinned widely at that. You loved how easygoing she was, unlike Ann, your head maid. You weren’t royalty, and hated being treated as such. A friend was all you needed, to be honest. And Sylvia managed to fill the best friend sized hole Minho had left behind, somewhat. 

She closed the door behind her, and you sighed, flopping down onto your soft bed and beginning to slip off your heels and the heavy dress, carefully placing it on a rack. The moon shone extra bright today, and you noticed the streets outside were still lit up with lanterns. Soon, they’d be turned off, and the streets would be quiet once more, except for a few drunken stragglers that didn’t want to stop celebrating.

And you would be left alone with your thoughts.

You slid yourself underneath your covers, sighing as you stared at the moon. In the distance, you could see a few dragons and their riders, flying through the air. They were quite far away, possibly near the outskirts. 

Tomorrow, you’d be able to ride Aeracus like that, after so many years. Every time Minho had let you climb atop his dragon, it had just felt like it was meant to be. Deep down, you felt bad, though...for Caeli, for Minho. However, it was just the plain truth.

You smiled as you decided to buy Aeracus a bunch of treats tomorrow. Ostrich eggs, phoenix meat- you were planning to go all out. He deserved it, after all.

In a way, tonight had possibly been the worst night of your life, and simultaneously the best. Your heart felt pulled in two, as you closed your eyes and willed yourself to sleep.

You had a big day tomorrow.

[sinninginpurple2-0]

Rite of Passage - Chapter 10

This was completely and utterly inspired by an ask sent to @clairelutra and her response to said ask. All credit for the basic idea goes to her.

Buy Me A Coffee?

AO3 <<Chapter 1  <Chapter 9   Chapter 10   Chapter 11> 

Confessions

“You’re staring at me, aren’t you?” Marinette asked, eyes still closed as she regained her senses completely.

Adrien grinned mischievously and moved to lie down next to her again, propping his head up on his arm as he did so. “How could I not stare at you when you look the way you do?” he asked, snickering a little when she opened one eye to peek at him, “Half naked and sweaty and delicious? Good, was it?”

“Oh God, you’re about to be unbearable right now, aren’t you?” she asked with a sigh, “You look so pleased with yourself. Like the cat who got the cream.”

Well…That pun was enough to uncomfortably stoke his imagination. His eyes trailed down her partially naked body to the juncture of her legs, slick with her own moisture. He licked his lips.

Noticing his gaze, Marinette rolled over onto her side to face him, propping herself up in the same way as him. He turned back to face her as she tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows inquisitively.

“What?” she asked, “What is it?”

He gulped. Did he really want to tell her this? It was sort of embarrassing, but they had never lied to one another before – not except to protect their identities – and he didn’t want to start now over something as stupid as sex. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. Then he spoke as honestly as he could, in spite of the way his shoulders crawled upwards to try and hide his flaming ears.

“I want to go down on you. Like, I really want to. You have no idea how hard I am thinking about it.”

He watched as Marinette’s eyes widened before she averted her gaze in embarrassment. There was no noticeable blush this time, but her skin was already a permanent rosy colour, so perhaps she had simply reached her capacity.

“Really?” she asked, her nose wrinkling a little as she glanced back at him, “‘Cause I’m not too crazy about doing the same for you.” She suddenly looked horrified for a moment as the words her mouth had spoken without her brain’s input reached her ears. “Not that I wouldn’t!” she squeaked, desperate to reassure him, “You’d like it and I’ve never done it before, so who knows how I’d feel after trying it? But I can’t help thinking it’s a bit icky and-”

He leaned forward quickly without warning and kissed her deeply, quieting her ramble before it picked up too much speed. “You don’t have to,” he told her, “I mean, I’d like you to, but there’s no pressure. Maybe we could try that later? Or another time?”

Shit, he thought, biting his lip, eyebrows pulling together in sudden uncertainty.

“That is…if you wanted to do this again sometime?”

Marinette stared at him for a moment and Adrien began to worry that he had ruined everything. Why could he never be satisfied with what he was offered? Here he had been given this wonderful opportunity. The chance to show his Lady his love for her without the need for words. To let his adoration bleed through his physical touches and sensual kisses. Every neuron firing, carrying the message to his nervous system to paint his feelings across her skin and pray his worship was absorbed into her very being. And he might have killed that opportunity by daring to ask for more.

Marinette didn’t seem to be as oblivious to his inner turmoil as he had once been to her feelings for him, her hand reaching up to stroke through his bangs hanging down towards her before resting on his cheek tenderly. She caressed his skin with her thumb gently, a concerned look appearing in her expression. “You’re worried this is a one-time thing,” she said.

He dropped his eyes from her face to her collarbone, chewing his lip more harshly as an outlet for his dejection. He started when her thumb suddenly teased free the abused tissue from his teeth, glancing back up to her face to see the softest smile looking back at him.

“Adrien,” she started, “Chat. After today, I would be ecstatic to do this again. Maybe we could also…” her eyes darted away for a moment before returning to his face. He watched as she took a deep breath, a look of determination taking over her face as she continued. “Maybe we could get dinner? Then go to the cinema or something?”

Adrien’s self-imposed misery swiftly slipped away from him. Like ink floating through the liquid sweetness of her words, he felt it swept away by the current of her equal desire for more. Overcome by exhilaration, he pressed his lips to her own with alarming pressure, desperately trying to push all of his joy and devotion into the kiss. She responded with equal intensity as soon as her surprise at the sudden action wore off.

“I would love to go on a date with you. On one condition.”

“What?”

“We go on lots of them. And you let me pay. And I get to spoil you with lots of gifts and we cuddle in front of the TV sometimes instead of going out.”

“That’s more than one condition.”

“So, sue me, Maribug. Will you be my girlfriend?”

She smiled in a way that warmed his heart so thoroughly, he was sure he would never be cold again. In fact, he was sure to radiate that warmth now so that all places he travelled to would remain safe from inclement weather.

“Of course, I will, Chaton,” she replied, her hand cupping his cheek as she leaned forward to drop another chaste kiss to his lips. Her hand slid down his face to his shoulder, continuing to his chest where she applied the faintest pressure, nothing more than a hint of what she wanted from him.

He obliged by rolling back to lie against the mattress as she continued to smother his lips with unconcealed affection.

She pulled back slightly, and his eyes opened -still half lidded- to see the only girl he’d ever felt this strongly for, his Lady, his Marinette, hovering above him. She was watching his face closely and a strong wave of emotion was evident between them.

“I love you,” she said in a thick voice, “I love you so much.”

She loved him? He knew from what she’d already admitted to that she liked him, was definitely attracted to him and had been so for quite a long time if the way she talked was anything to go by. But for her to be in love with him? It was something he hadn’t yet considered.

His eyes felt hot and he pulled her down to him and buried his head in her shoulder to hide his face until he could control his urge to cry. “My Lady,” he sobbed, “I love you too. I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“Kitty, are you alright?” she asked, the concern in her voice evident as well as the soothing hand rubbing at his scalp.

“Yeah,” he sniffed, “I just…I’ve waited for you to say that for so long and part of me thought it might never happen so I’m…I’m-”

“Shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you,” she told him tenderly, shifting slightly to hold him more comfortably.

As emotional as he was, the crinkling noise caused by her movement evoked the curious cat in him and he experimentally brushed his own chest against hers a little to confirm. Yup, there was that strange plastic sound again. He pulled back from her shoulder to glance down at the origin of the noise and spotted it at once.

There, tucked tightly inside the small pocket on the front of her pyjama top was a square plastic packet. He recognised what it was at once and the beginning of a small smirk appeared on his face.

“Was this all an excuse to look down my top?” Marinette asked with a giggle, incorrectly guessing at the direction of his stare.

He looked back up at her for a moment before the grin intensified. “It wasn’t, but since you mention it, it’d be rude not to.”

She sat up before he could glance down again, and he laughed at her feigned disapproval despite himself.

“You know,” she started, drawing his attention with the way her arms crossed over each other to grab hold of the hem of her top, “if you wanted a look, you only had to ask.”

She pulled the garment over her head with a minor flourish before she attempted to throw it to the side of the bed with the growing pile of clothes they’d shed already. She would have been successful if Adrien hadn’t shot out his arm to grab the soft fabric before it could get out of his easy reach.

“Nice,” he said, turning back and really it was nice. Marinette had forgone her bra as well as her underwear when she had changed, so now she sat completely bare before him. Aside from the obvious exhilaration of finally getting an eyeful of her boobs, Adrien found he was completely awed at every inch of skin revealed to him. Hers was almost flawless and he was sure that most models he’d worked with in the past would kill for skin as soft and beautiful as hers.

He reached out for the only visible line he could see, a thin white scar -obviously a very old, healed one. It was offset from her right breast ever so slightly and led out towards her breastbone and he traced it in reverse with his thumb, stopping just short of his destination in order to glance up at her face for approval. She looked nervous again which confused him for a moment until she spoke.

“I fell off my bike as a kid and there was a stone in the road which cut me,” she explained, though he hadn’t asked, “I know it’s kind of ugly, but-”

“It’s not,” he told her, “There isn’t a single part of you that’s ugly and you don’t have to hide it from me. You know that right?”

When she didn’t respond he pushed himself up to place a kiss to the edge of her scar, delighting in the gasp she made at the contact. Again, he glanced up at her face.

“More?”

“More.”

He acquiesced, gently running his tongue along the fine line by feel alone and continuing further along her breast until he reached her nipple. He closed his mouth over it and sucked, encouraged by her breathy sighs. His other hand came up to reach for the other breast dropping the top he had still been holding to the bed beside him as he did.

He spent some time moving between breasts, experimenting as he was unsure what else to do due to his inexperience. He left trails of kisses, sucked and licked. He tried a light nip to her nipple at one point and immediately worked out never to do that again, as Marinette gave a hiss of discomfort and pulled away a little. He eventually fell into a rhythm of using the tip of his tongue to leave little secret messages across her, tattooing his feelings for her into her skin with words of affection.

She giggled after a while and he pulled back to look at her for clarification.

“Are you doing the alphabet trick?” she asked with a grin, “I thought that was for other places?”

“What? I-I wasn’t-I was just-” he began to splutter nonsensically, and she gave a snicker at his embarrassment, “I was writing that I love you, if you must know.”

“Aww, Kitty. That’s so sweet.”

The barely restrained laughter made it hard to believe her.

Adrien decided that if his Lady was enjoying teasing him, then maybe it was time for a little payback. Leaning in to touch his forehead against hers, he reached out with one hand to fish the little packet from the pocket on her top whilst the other one reached to cup her between the legs distractingly.

“I could always write those little love notes somewhere else for you, if you wanted,” he purred, enjoying immensely the immediate effect he had on her as she whimpered in response.

His other hand successfully extracted its prize and he brought it up to their faces to present between two fingers for her examination.

“Though I also kind of want to know where you got this condom from.”

Buy Me A Coffee?

[razorblade180]

Twin Snowflakes 26: Preparation

[part 2 of 2]

Another day, another classroom bell. As far as Monday’s go, today was pretty harmless for Summer. Classes went by fast, Veronica only nagged her about what to eat for lunch, and P.E. was used for tournament announcements so she didn’t have to change. In a few minutes she’ll be able to walk out of the student council meeting and go home to escape-

“We’re all staying after school today, all of us.” Eliza said, filing papers.

Summer planted her head on the table. “Why do you hate me!? I’m nothing but kind to you.” She whined.

“Stop crying! Did you expect to go into the tournament performance cold turkey? This isn’t one of your concerts. Multiple things need to work at once. Which is why Harriet was kind enough to keep a platform up to act as a stage in the gym. You and your brother will have the band’s support.

Nick’s face turned to terror. He could see Summer’s face begin to get excited. “Summer, I know that look. Please remember that neither the band nor I are as skilled as you. Don’t go full dictator on us.”

She could only laugh and smile energetically. “That won’t be a problem if you hit the notes.”

“Not what I wanted to hear, Summer!”

Veronica got up from the table and packed her things. “You all have fun. I’m gonna get started on that outfit. The materials should be at your house by now.”

“Not so fast.” Eliza interjected, “Did you forget that you’re filling in on the cheer team? Their practice starts in fifteen minutes.”

“B-But my fabrics!” She gasped.

Eliza folded her arms confidently. “Sorry, tough luck. Harriet saw your moves and she gets what she wants. If only Amber didn’t twist her leg.”

Nick let out a snicker before hiding his smile from Veronica. Karma is a cruel mistress.

“I myself will oversee everything as best as I can while leading my own rehearsal. Don’t think twice to come find me, or the President, who should really be the one leading this meeting.”

“Nah you’re on a roll.”He smiled.

She gave him a glare before continuing. “Anyways, I also need somebody to let Valerie know the water heater is screwed up again and also that she should at least help with hauling supplies to Amity Arena; since she so rudely skipped this meeting.”

All of the council and other student body members turned to Nick instinctively. It was warranted but man did it blow. Summer glady stood up to take the bullet.

“I will tell her everything she needs to know, after rehearsals.”

“Works for me. Let’s move people! Time is ticking.” Eliza gathered her belongings and went out the door with the rest of the staff. Summer and Veronica gave him a nudge as they walked by. “You two still have enough time to do the outfit?”

“I fixed your sister’s uniforms in no time at all. I already have all her measurements I need so the annoying part is over.”

“What she said.” Summer added. “At this point I guess I’m being moved to wherever I’m supposed to be. Eugh, after school, even the name hurts my throat.”

“Think of it like this. We get to spend all day with Eliza!” Nick yelled out the door cheekily.

“I will answer none of your questions!” She yelled back, knowing she basically has to spend the entire day around Nick. She hadn’t told him yet but she was going to accept his offer. Her curiosity about his plan was too strong. The tournament was quickly approaching. Every step forward counts. Time to kick things into high gear.

Nick found the strength to leave the table and face judgment. “Alright, let’s get this pain over with.”

“Quit exaggerating! I will be a humble singing instructor.”

xxxxx

“COME ON NICK! YOU CALLED THAT A HARMONY!?” Summer was not humble, or quiet for that matter. “I know you can do better!”

Nick endured the criticism as he sipped his water. He was prepared for this but obviously the band wasn’t. Summer had everyone in their group scared stiff and onlookers watching in awe. This might be the first time they’ve heard her speak in school, let alone emote.

Her fiery nature was on full display and it’s intensity was higher than her ponytail. Free from uniform constraints, she wore compression tights and a thin long sleeved shirt that hugged her frame. Summer looked more sporty right now than she has in her entire school life.

The many eyes on the twins' practice didn’t seem to bother her. “Let’s take it from the top.” She grabbed her guitar and began to play immediately. A quick glare to the drummer snapped him out of his trance and got him to play, making the rest fall in line. Live practice was never a thing she did often. People ceased the opportunity all around the gym to watch magic be created before their ears.

Some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold.

But you will remember me~

Remember me for centuries~

She nodded to Nick and he gripped his mic.

And just one mistake... is all it will take.

We’ll go down in history~

Their breathing synced up.

REMEMBER ME FOR CENTURIES~

Summer raised her fist, silencing the band. The performer turned towards her brother and band. A fraction of a smile crept onto her face. “Better. Not perfect, but much better.” She took a sip of water. “Not to be tyrant-”

“Yet here we are.” Nick said, earning a few laughs from the band and a glare from his sis. “What!? I’m boosting morale!”

“I know. It’s the only reason I’m not chewing your head off. Here I was about to compliment you too.”

“The biggest compliment you can give me is letting us finish the song completely. We’ve only gone about a fourth through it. Everyone knows this song.”

“Anybody can know a song but few feel it. I know you know this. The crowd at the tournament is gonna want hype and they’ll most likely sing along. Our job is to cultivate it to its peak. We are the opening of the event. I picked this song for a reason. If we come out firing on all cylinders then I know we can ride the wave through the whole song! Let me feel your hype, your energy!”

Nick pursed his lips. “If you want energy, then you let these guys have fun! Ice breaker time!” Nick spun around and pointed to the band. “Give me a funky beat!”

The members looked at one another, shrugging before kicking in a fun, funky classic; Billie Jean!

Nick let out the biggest “Yeah~” then started moonwalking around Summer. “Come on Summer, you can’t resist the beat!”

“Really? Of all the songs you think I’m just gonna-” She kicked her leg out and then twirled to the microphone.

She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…!

Nick hopped with joy before chiming in as the band jammed out. Eliza watched the two from off stage with her color guard troop in disbelief, joined by Veronica seconds later in her cheerleader uniform. Eliza waved her hand to her group. “Guys, take ten. I guess it’s break time.”

“Those two seem to be having a ball. They always like this with council stuff?”

“Hardly. It’s the only reason why I’m not yelling at them right now. Can’t remember the last time they looked happy to participate. They can laugh their lungs out as long as the work gets done. Might motivate the others. Anyways, how are you holding up?”

“Oh you know, as much as a newbie could be in this situation.” Veronica shook her pom-poms for dramatic effect. “Feels nice to do something like this again though. It’s like wearing an old glove.”

“History with cheerleading?”

“Gymnastics, my ribbon work doesn’t stop with a needle. That was some time ago but I digress.”

“I see. Well...you move like a pro.” Eliza said, a little stuttery. She played with her hands a bit while focusing on the twins.

Her elevated heart rate rang like a bell while her movements reminded Veronica of herself whenever she first met Coco Axel. “So...a little birdy told me I got a fan of my work here? Got any clue who?” She teased, enjoying Eliza's jump a little. Poor girl's cheeks went red.

Eliza felt a crushing betrayal. “Which twin opened their big mouth?”

“Is the ‘who’ that important?”

“Ah so it’s both?”

Veronica tucked her lips in. “Uhhh I won’t confirm or deny that. To think I’d have a fan all the way up in Atlas?”

“Please, we don’t have to discuss .”

“Why not? No reason to hide it. I’m honestly flattered by it. Civil rights movements don’t attract the right kind of like-minded individuals typically. Then there’s the obvious regional differences.”

“Huh? Regional differences?” Eliza tilted her head. “Have faunus here been giving you a hard time?”

“No, but that’s because I’m making zero effort to approach them. Faunus here as a whole are treated crueler than other places. An outsider like me coming in and trying to ‘relate’ never goes over smoothly.”

Eliza was surprised. She had never heard of that before. “Oh, I guess I was being a bit presumptuous. Apologies.”

“No it’s fine. It’s just one of those annoying little things. A lot of the preach about wanting a voice and equality but sing a different tune when those voices start speaking because they aren’t the ones those people had in their heads. Sigh, we faunus are fickle creatures.”

“Boy, sounds like you hate your job?”

Veronica laughed, “Haha! I wouldn’t go that far. Maybe it’s my unique circumstance but as far as my personal beliefs go, Faunus and Humans are basically the same. They both hate and judge others far too viciously due to bias. I may advocate for our rights, but I’m not above calling ourselves out. It’s probably why the elders especially don’t care for my efforts.”

Veronica turned to Eliza and smiled. “Sorry, rambled for a bit there. Hope I’m ruining your hero perception of me. That is if I am a hero to you?”

“No. Wait! I mean it’s not ruined! You’re definitely inspiring to me. So much in fact that I got a cool magazine cover of you!” It took a minute, but Eliza’s brain registered what she had just said. “I…why did I tell you that?” Eliza facepalmed.

Vee was in shock. Her jaw slowly fell open. “Wow, you are a total fangirl right now. I didn’t think you could look embarrassed. Ha, you’re adorable blushing!”

“Please don’t talk about it…”

“Can I see the magazine cover? I’ll be honest. I rarely pay attention to those puff pieces. My mom handles all that.”

“Really?” Eliza patted her pockets before pulling out her scroll. “It’s from your rally in Vale.”

Veronica had a peek. “Oh I remember this!” The picture was from a year ago. Vale’s rally was pretty huge and loud. The photo was taken right when she had stood proudly on top of a car with a megaphone, protesters following her to city hall. “Not to toot my own horn but look so cool in this.”

“It’s surprising you’ve never seen it.”

“My eyes are usually glued to my sketchbook or a threaded needle. If I’m looking at myself then it’s in the mirror to see how fabric falls onto me or someone else. Speaking of clothes, maybe I can make you an outfit? First one is free. Just wear it to an event; tell your friends about it.”

Eliza lit up, but then immediately started to cringe. “An event is no problem. However...uhhh, yeah, rain check in the whole friend part. A social butterfly, I am not. Don’t have friends.”

“Uh Nick and Summer?”

“Gross.”

Veronica could barely stop herself from laughing out loud. The speed in which Eliza answered was swift to say the least. “Wow, and I thought the twin’s aunt was blunt? Are you sure that message is clear to them, because I’m positive they think you’re a friend.”

“I’m friendly, but not a friend.”

“Do you have their number?”

“Yes.”

“Sad to say you’re their friend. Don’t fight it.”

“What!? That’s not how- what!? From what I understand you and Summer aren’t friends, but I’m positive you have her number.”

Veronica nodded. “Yeah, but that’s necessary for multiple reasons. Besides, we actively shit talk one another. I reckon you don’t. I’m not saying you three are tightly knit. Just that you’re close enough.”

Eliza folded her arms and huffed. “I suppose so. That’s...annoying.”

“Look on the bright side.” Veronica grabbed Eliza’s scroll to put her number in. “Now you aren’t alone. We can complain about their antics together.”

The grin Veronica gave Eliza made her Eliza sheepish. The abrasive girl took her scroll back. “That...sounds nice.” She laughed under her breath.

Veronica couldn’t stop examining Eliza. This girl was all over the place! It was a little funny, awkward, and yet flattering. “Is this how the twins feel meeting fans?” The young lady could get used to this.

“Your last name is Marigold right? I’m so used to such a fierce expression that seeing you like this feels a bit unusual.”

“Used to? I take it you’ve spoken to my aunt then?” Eliza lit up.

“Not really. She’s been at events my mom dragged me to before. Didn’t speak with her directly but she looked pretty interesting. Her and my mom worked together before. You both and your father have some strong genes. I bet the mom must be jealous.”

“I...doubt it.” Eliza said, her tone drifting. The smile on her face faded back to neutrality. A silent breath escaped her lips while her eyes gazed into distance. Her change in attitude didn’t go unnoticed. Veronica’s ears fell watching her.

“Shit, did I...bring up something touchy?”

“It’s okay, honestly. I just wouldn’t know how my mom feels since...I’ve never had one.”

“Oh. I had no idea. Do you wanna talk about it or…?”

“Not really. It’s really not that big of a deal. You just caught me off guard since I’m used to people knowing that part of my life.” Eliza raised both her hands and gave her face a light slap to get out of her funk. Moping about nothing is pointless. Right now she was talking to Veronica, a person she admires! This was supposed to be exciting! “Phew! That’s better. Let’s change the subject. I don’t know much when it comes to fashion, but I have read about some of your involvement in contests.”

For a moment it felt like Veronica’s body had been hit by a truck. The muscles in her body constricted at once and her stomach felt queasy. “Have you now?”

“Just a little bit. It came up from time to time when I learned about your work with your mother. I gotta say your outfits definitely have your personality. More so than some of your contestants.”

“Heh, that’s not what judges think.” Vee uttered. “Not a first place prize to my name.”

“That may be true but that doesn’t make your designs less interesting in my opinion, but I know how you feel. It stings entering contests and sometimes not even making it to the end. Still, I really thought one dress in particular had it in the bag but…” Eliza silenced herself suddenly. She had forgotten the topic of this particular contest may not be light at all. “You...got disqualified?” She finished, cringing at her own stupidity.

“Yep. I got disqualified. No medal at all for that one.”

The air felt dead. Eliza clicked her tongue. “I had forgotten that part. The article never said why though, so it stuck out to me. If..if you don’t mind-”

“I actually do, a lot.” Veronica’s sharp response made Eliza jump a little. A few people passing by took notice of the aggressive tone, making Veronica mentally kick herself. “Shit, that wasn’t supposed to be so...I’m touchy about that day.”

Eliza waved off the comment like she was the one in the wrong. “It’s fine! I should’ve known better.”

“I guess we’re both even now huh?”

“Even!? I wasn’t trying to get back at-”

“Haha, relax before your heart explodes. It was just a tease.”

Eliza’s for got red. “Oh...of course.”

“You weren’t kidding about not having friends. I thought I was bad at small talk.”

Eliza held her head down. “I’m like a dumpster fire…”

“Ha, I can see that. I guess I’m fortunate to do speeches often. Easily the savior of my social skills. My parents are great but I wouldn’t say they aren’t the most elegant people in conversations. At least not ones that aren’t in front of a camera where they have to be. In a regular conversation they are as uncoordinated as they come.”

“I can see that. Yang’s sister does live here after all. She definitely has her own way of holding a conversation.”

“Pfft, that’s one way to put it. Just shake it off. We’re all kinda tone dead I guess.” Veronica laughed. This was fun. This was actually fun. Talking casually, who would’ve thought? She grabbed her water bottle to drink.

Eliza was also having a pleasant time. She was running low on conversation starters though. There had to be something that shouldn’t go horribly wrong. That’s when it came to her…

“So your head over heels for Nick right?”

Water sprayed out of Veronica’s mouth. How did each question keep getting her!? It shouldn’t even have been that bad yet here she was, choking over the most basic thing that everyone knew! Normally she hated being touched but feeling Eliza pat her back was gladly welcomed.

If Eliza didn’t feel bad before, then she definitely did now. “I am so sorry!” her voice was so spastic it would make Summer look calm. “I told you I’m terrible at this!”

“No, agh, no… this one is me!” Veronica coughed. “Damn, that really hurt my chest. It’s like the entire gulp went down the wrong pipe!” A few more coughs and another sip of water cured the promise. Veronica rubbed her chest and tearfully looked at Eliza. “Yeah I’m into him. Why do you ask?” Her desire to act like she didn’t nearly die was strong. “Wait, don’t tell me you like him too!?”

Water wasn't the only thing that was gonna be on the floor with questions like that. Eliza made a face that looked like she may have gagged out of spite. “Ugh, not a chance.” She folded both her arms aggressively.

“Cool, that would’ve been weird.” Veronica thought. Then Eliza began rubbing her chin. That was never a good sign.

“Weeeeeell…” Eliza said.

Veronica deflated like a balloon. “Here we go…”

“Huh? No! It’s not what you think. I don’t like him like that, or much at all really. However, I can’t deny he is...charming to put mildly. I can recognize that. As a whole, I don’t like Nick that much. There’s too much that grinds my gears. That said, there is a side to him I deeply appreciate. Don’t tell him that or I’ll deny it.”

Her tidbit made Vee’s cat ears wiggle. “You gonna leave me hanging like that? Elaborate a little.”

“Really? I didn’t want to diss him in front of you or anything.”

“Tah! Nick doesn’t need anyone coming to his defense and I’m not gonna bite your head off over an opinion, most likely.” She had to add that last part. Veronica doubted Eliza was going to say something that would be unapologetically mean but you can never know what a person could say. “Speak your mind.”

Eliza looked towards the stage to watch the council president in question adjust some light equipment to put on his sister. “That boy is...selfish in the wrong way.”

That sure was an answer. Veronica tilted her head. “I...don’t follow.”

“Nicholas Schnee is a people pleaser, yet he goes out of his way to do things on his own and inefficiently. He has the qualities of a great leader but doesn’t truly lead anyone. Instead he bends over backwards. This entire concert was his idea yet he chose not to fill anybody in on this for weeks; leaving us in the dark when we could’ve been further along. All that money, trust, and influence, yet I fail to see him use it with the care I know he knows how to do. It’s so annoying! Agh, I wish I had a fraction of what his name has.”

“Sounds like to me you’re a little envious?”

“A bit, but that doesn’t change my view of him. You know him. Am I wrong?”

“I’m the last person to judge right or wrong here, but I see what you mean. Nick definitely has his faults, no argument there. I told him the other day he was a bit pushy at times and overbearing. Still, I wouldn’t say those qualities are bad. Nick is… a man on a mission.”

The administration in Veronica’s eyes was clearer than air to Eliza. “Opinions aside, his heart is good. The love he has for family and friends is undeniably. I respect that.”

“Is that the part you deeply appreciate?”

Eliza shook her head. “No, that quality is a given. The side I like is one few people see. I witnessed it for the first time at a red carpet event several years ago. It was our first time actually speaking. I stubbornly declared I’d beat him in a tournament and show everyone how beneath me he was.”

“Wow, your social skills really are rough.”

“Cut me some slack. I was fourteen and cocky. Anyways, I expected him to laugh it off and give that fake smile he gives to the public. Instead, he gave this smug smirk at me and said ‘I can’t wait.’ It was actually chilling. I could tell from his eyes that he was threatening, no, intimidating me. He had no problem letting me know he wanted to take me down, and that’s exactly what he did on tournament day. However, right before our match, Nick took me to the side to chat. It was my first tournament. The anxiety I had was a plan on my face. Instead of using that weakness, he gave me tips to calm down. Having him focus solely on me in that ring was thrilling, different from his usual self. There’s an honesty about it I like. No way somebody can be nice all the time.”

It was for that very reason Eliza knew she had to hear Nick’s offer out. Whenever that look comes out, it spells trouble for who caused it. To think the plan involved beating Valerie? What could he possibly be up to?

Veronica rubbed her chin, intrigued. “So that’s your reasoning. Hmm.” She snapped her fingers and smirked. “Masochistic.”

Eliza bugged out. Her jaw dropped and she was seconds away from protest, until the snickering from Veronica let her know she was teasing again. A smile slowly formed and Eliza playfully elbowed Vee. “Shut up.” She laughed. “Talk about a mood killer.”

Veronica stuck her tongue out before breaking out into laughter when Eliza. Hard to believe the key to being social was being kinda bad at it? It was nice making a friend. Veronica didn’t say it but they were glad to be here.

Across the room, the gym door opened. “Well look who’s having fun!?” A voice bellowe, the condescending echo gaining everyone’s attention. To many’s displeasure, it was Darren sauntering in with his silent partner Max behind him. “Sounds like a real party here. Care if I join? Maybe shake things up a little?”

The upperclassman paced like he owned the place, watching. “Hard at work for my big day?” His eyes go to the stage. “Well if it isn’t the Jester of the School!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Very original. I’d love to hear more of this comedy act but unfortunately the gym is closed for regular students. Please take your friend and your clown makeup somewhere else.”

“Pfft, you diss like a child.”

“Said the man who called me a jester.” Be it a deity or the universe itself, people should count themselves lucky Nick had high tolerance for stupidity. Darren’s presence was grinding it down however. Punches and nearly getting a friend hit by an asshole’s car did that to an individual.

Summer could see the sparks fly between the two. Grabbing the microphone from Nick with no hesitation, Summer took the lead. Unfortunately for Darren she didn’t have her brother’s tolerance, and she was on her favorite spot in the whole world. “You’re interrupting our practice and wasting my time. Beat it.”

The gym went silent. Did everyone hear that right? Summer Schnee...was rude!? Darren blinked twice, stunned. “Excuse me but, nobody was talking to you.”

“And nobody invited you. Scram.” She shooed him away as if he was a bug.

“Now is that anyone to talk to a superior? I don’t care how famous you are or what your last name is, you little princess. You just keep singing like a little songbird; it’ll be the only good press you get that day before losing to yours truly!”

Summer out of this expression of confusion. “And your name is…? Sorry, I just have a really hard time with faces when they don’t even rank in the top five.” Multiple ‘oooos’ and chatter started going. “Is Dean? Dunce? …..Dumb and Dumber?”

Max let out a simple “Hmph” while Darren got pissed. “So you got jokes huh?” He said through his teeth. It only took one step closer before Nick immediately stepped in front of his sister. Before either could give the audience a glimpse of tournament match l, Eliza flicked the lights off and on to gain everyone’s attention.

“HEY! Knock it off, all of you.” She demanded. Darren’s gaze came her way and towards Veronica by extension. Eliza took a step between the two, stopping a problem before it could start. “Na uh, eyes on me. One word to her and I might let Principal Coal know. May I remind you that after recent behavior it would behoove you to act like a respectable upperclassman, or else-”

“Hey hey hey there, little one, I just came in here to mingle a little; shoot the breeze and all. I’m not the one who got all bent out of shape and started insulting people. Ain’t that right Max?”

Unbothered, Max put his hands behind his head. “That is what happened; dumb jokes or not.”

“Yeah that’s- hey! You aren’t talking about my jokes are you!?”

Eliza took a deep breath. “Consider the breeze shot to hell. Now if you would kindly be on your way so-”

“Uuuugh, you’re so boring, acting like a lifeless doll and shit. Even her frail and tone deaf highness behind me showed some backbone for once.”

“Tone deaf!?” Summer yelled. She would’ve thrown her microphone if Nick didn’t take it from her. “Oh I really hope your bite is at least half as good as your bite. This ‘Princess’ thinks you deserve a public beat down for the world to see, personally delivered!”

“See you at the tournament!” Nick added.

Darren pointed behind himself. “See? At least they’re interesting.”

“If getting egged on by your limp insults is what you want then why should I even bother?” Eliza stepped to the side. “Best be on your way. You can earn my wrath whenever you feel man enough to enter a solo tournament instead of hiding behind your partner.”

“Oh yeah?” Darren glared. “Tough talk from a-” The back of his shirt was pulled by Max.

“Time to go. You’ve had your fun, and I’m getting a headache. No use talking. Let the tournament do all the bragging.” Max began dragging Darren to the exit until Darren brushed him off to walk himself. He gave Eliza one last pissed off look before giving a smug face as he walked away. “Tsk, drug baby.” He mumbles.

Loud footsteps and the sound of metal clanged behind him. Darren quickly turned around, ready for a fight. “Well I guess you can get ma-”He didn’t move. What he thought was Eliza losing her cool was actually her defending him with her baton from a very pissed heir with an Arma Gigas.

“He’s quicker than he looks.” Max grabbed Darren again and all but tossed him out the gym before any actions became an incident.

“Care to tell me why you wanna fight my battles?” Eliza complained.

“I’m not fighting your battles. My patience just got a little restless.” Nick unsummoned his blade and walked away. Thoughts of last night suddenly came to mind, making him sigh. “Sorry. Overstepped a bit. I’m gonna cool off.” He groaned.

Eliza rubbed the back of her head. That was...off. Nick must’ve been more ticked off by Darren than she was aware of. “Just don’t get so jumpy. The last thing I need is you not being able to kick his ass because you got suspended.”

“Haha yes ma’am.”

Eliza clapped her hands loudly. “Okay everyone! Get back to business!” She shouted, returning everything to normal. Thank the gods for at least giving Eliza cooperative staff members. Her body slumped over. Why can’t any event be peaceful! Damn that Darren! Now she wished he was in the solo bracket. Her head lifted to look at Veronica. “I take it if Nick heard that then so did you?”

“Little bit. I can pretend I didn’t. Makes no difference to me.”

“Don’t sweat it. Who likes beading around the bush anyways? You asked about my mom earlier. Now you basically know. To make a long story short, my dad in his younger years spent his money in...less than responsible ways. Who needs love when there’s plenty of clubs and corners with people looking to make a quick buck? My mother just so happened to get a little more than just lien.”

Veronica’s face scrunched up. “Yikes. That’s a lot to unpack.”

“Not really. Never had a mom so it’s not like I’m yearning for a connection when there never was one to start with. One day my dad noticed her pregnant and like you said before, I have strong features. A woman parading around with no home, every drug under the sun, and a potential baby that looked like the CEO of a company one kingdom above is a recipe for ruin. Many board members thought it best for my father to deny anything and everything. Apparently a few of them along with some kind individuals thought it best to move my mother in with him. This way the baby, me, would at the very least be healthy.”

“What about your mother?”

“Ultimatum. Fall in line with this new society and learn to act like a high class citizen, or take a generous amount of money to keep quiet. I don’t look like her so spinning a story wouldn’t do her well, and high class society didn’t mean she could get high any hour of the day. Took the money and never looked back. Tabs were kept on her for a while but she eventually became white noise among the gutter trash of Mantle. A druggie with tons of cash is never good. Most likely ended up in a gutter from overdose or somebody who caught wind of her spending habits.”

“Eliza that’s...I’m sorry that happened.”

“Eh, I’m not losing sleep over it. Not like I got a bad deal either. Contrary to what people might say about my name, my father is a decent man and cares for me as well. He’s by no means perfect but who is? Aunt May told me once that if nothing else, my dad doesn’t make problems bigger than what they have to be. I didn’t ask to be born, so resenting me would be shallow. We get along and that’s all that matters family wise. Though...it’s not like he got a raw deal out of it.” Eliza conjured a small flame in her hand. “He took the high road and learned he got Remnant’s first magical daughter in ages. Talk about good karma.”

“Way to look at the positives.” Veronica said.

Eliza put out the flame. “It’s just the facts. Unfortunately rumors floated and not all people were happy with the decision, so little tidbits here and there got learned. As you can see with Darren’s mouth almost getting him into trouble. The only thing bigger than his mouth is his ego.”

“Yeah, I’m familiar with his type.” Veronica said with annoyance. She was too familiar with it.

“Anywho, I should get back to practice. Thanks for chit chatting. And people say it’s bad to meet your heroes and stuff. I guess they’re meeting the wrong ones.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I mean I’m pretty rad but you know...modesty and all that. I’m no Blake Belladonna or Yang Xiao Long. Just little ol’ me.” Veronica chuckled. “See ya around?”

“Sooner than you might think.” Eliza twirled her baton and went on her way.

Veronica watched the girl leave. No wonder Nick chose Eliza to be the one to keep an eye on her. She was tough as nails; with or without the uniform! A shame Darren outed her like that. Veronica felt a little dirty learning something Eliza didn’t want to tell her. Veronica was surprised that Eliza didn’t ask for her to return the favor. Then again, it would’ve been pointless. Veronica knew herself. She wouldn’t say a word regardless of fairness. She might have even lied. The girl let out a sigh, taking a moment to look down at herself before heading back to practice. Some things are just better left unsaid.

[foxykey]

Friendly Favor

HoshixOC

Rated: M (smut, language)

Word count: 5.5k

Count on Soonyoung when you need some experience to provide a friendly lesson.

A/N: This is my first SVT fic! It’s a little under 5.5k words of pure creakhead smut. Thank you to @jeonsyn​ for being an amazing beta and also giving me loads of ideas/inspiration!

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“And you’re sure you’re okay?”

Nahyun looked up from where she was seated on the couch. Soonyoung was standing before her, remote in his hand. She had been chewing her lip, playing with the frayed edges of her sweater sleeve, but she stopped and gave him a look.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said again. “Why? Why do you keep asking?”

He raised his brows with a skeptical tilt of his head and stepped over her to sit beside her on the couch. “Because you don’t seem fine.”

“What does that even mean? How do I not seem fine? How would you know anyway?”

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Soonyoung stated as if it was obvious. “You’re not your normal self today.”

“My normal self,” Nahyun repeated. “What’s my ‘normal self’ supposed to be like anyway?”

“Lots of energy, cheery, bossy, loud…”

“Loud? Loud? You are calling me ‘loud?’ That’s rich.”

Soonyoung laughed and shrugged as she shoved him. “I’m not saying I’m not loud, I’m saying you’re usually peppier and more demanding. ‘Make popcorn,’ ‘bring me a blanket,’ ‘there are too many lights on,’ ‘your taste in shows is garbage, Hosh…’”

Nahyun glared and pouted at him before crossing her arms defiantly and facing the television. “I’m not demanding. I just know what I want.”

“Do you not want to watch this anime? We can watch something else if-”

“No, dude, for real, it’s okay,” Nahyung interrupted. “Just go ahead and play. I swear, I’m fine.”

Soonyoung gave her a look, still unconvinced, but relented, pressing play. “Okay…” He stared at her from the corner of his eye for another long few seconds.

“Could you stop? I said I’m okay,” she demanded.

Instead of giving him a chance to respond, she shoved his shoulder again before settling her head comfortably on his lap to watch the show. Soonyoung stiffened a moment at the action, but as she settled comfortably, he relaxed again and let her be. He began gently playing with her hair as the show began, fingers dragging soothingly through the loose strands.

They were halfway through the second episode before she knew it and she didn’t even pause to think about how she had not paid attention to a single second of the show. Nahyun spoke up suddenly.

“Have you ever given head?”

Soonyoung coughed suddenly, caught completely off guard. “What?!” he asked, regaining his breath after almost choking on his own saliva.

Nahyun sat up and turned to look at him. “Like oral sex. Have you ever done it? Eaten a girl out or whatever.”

His eyes were as wide as they could go and he looked about as confused as possible. “Yes? I mean, yeah, I… um? What? Wh-why are you-?”

“Do I come off as a huge virgin?”

Soonyoung took in a breath that almost sounded like a whimper. “What the fuck is happening right now?!”

“Okay, I was with Jiwoo and Chanmi earlier. We started talking about boys and that devolved into old boyfriends which devolved into sex stuff and like… they kept sort of teasing me and saying I was ‘too baby’ for all the sex stuff. It got really annoying.”

“Okay….” he drawled, still confused. “I still don’t-”

“And then I started getting kind of self conscious? I don’t know, I just felt like, what if they’re right?”

“Right about what?”

“What if it’s this vicious, self-perpetuating cycle of coming off as big time virg and that making people think I don’t or won’t know how to do things and that ending up as not seeing me as anything but some stupid, weird adult-child.”

“Nahyun,” Soonyoung began, shoulders loosening at last. “That’s crazy. You know that’s nuts.”

She nodded, but didn’t look completely appeased. Nahyung considered for a moment, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought, then shifted to tuck her legs under herself as she came to a decision.

“We’ve been friends a long time,” she began, repeating what he himself had stated earlier.

“Yeah.”

“We’re comfortable with each other, right?”

“Um, yeah?”

“I can trust you.”

Soonyoung swallowed hard. “I don’t know if that’s a question or-”

“No,” Nahyun cut him off firmly, looking him straight in the eye. “I can trust you.”

It was a statement, but he answered with a nod just the same. “Of course. You can always trust me.”

“I need a favor.”

“...Okay? What favor?”

“You know I’m not a virgin. I mean, I’ve had sex before. It’s just, I don’t have all that much experience. And I’ve never really done the whole foreplay thing. It was always just sort of… the basics?”

“Nahyun, why are you telling me all this?” Soonyoung asked, eyes widening again as his brain began to race.

“Well, I’ve been sort of freaking out all day because what if when I finally give head, I suck at it really bad?” she admitted, leaning forward in her anxiety as if to cement her point.

“Is that supposed to be a pun?”

“Hoshi!” Nahyun whined out the nickname with a smack on his arm. “I’m serious! What if I start blowing a guy and he laughs? Or he’s totally grossed out by it or he thinks I’m an idiot because-”

“That’s impossible,” Soonyoung contradicted quickly, shaking his head vehemently.

“No, but-”

“No, Nahyun, that’s not possible. It just isn’t. Trust me. No guy is gonna think any of that stuff, I promise.”

“But what if they do? I don’t want to embarrass myself, either.”

“I’m telling you, it-” he cut off suddenly and looked back at her fixedly. “Wait. You asked for a favor… Nahyun… wh-…what was the favor?” She chewed on her lip and scrunched her nose. “Nahyun…”

“Teach me to give a blowjob,” she burst out.

Soonyoung’s jaw fell open and he sputtered at that. “Tea-teach- what?!”

She clung to his arm and when she touched him, he looked down at her hands as if she had burned him.

“Soonyoung, please,” she begged. “Just show me what to do!”

“What exactly do you expect me to do? Get a banana or something and do a demonstration? I’ve never blown a guy!”

“But you’ve been blown!”

“Yeah, but-” Then it clicked in his brain exactly what she meant. He licked his lips, looking a little like a trapped animal waiting for the killing strike. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes a moment before speaking very slow, his tone deep. “Are you… asking to blow me?”

Nahyun fought down a blush and set her mouth in a determined line. “Yeah.” He stared in silence and after a pregnant few seconds she raced on. “I mean, it would just be for the experience. You’d be helping me out… as a friend. I can practice going down on you and you just tell me what to do and how to make it feel good. I know it’s a pretty huge favor, but-”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Nahyun repeated, brows raised in pleasant surprise.

He nodded, fists clenched where they lay against the back of the couch. “Yeah, okay.”

“Okay. Good.”

She sat back on her heels, hands on her thighs, knuckles digging in nervously. Nahyun subtly let out a shaky breath, telling herself to calm down. Just relax. It was just Soonyoung, her friend. He was doing her a favor and she was just getting experience. It didn’t have to be weird. It was just… a platonic blowjob. Just a little head between pals.

Soonyoung had brought his arms down to either side of him on the couch, palms flat against the seat and he was staring at her. Nahyun cleared her throat and pushed past the awkwardness.

“Well, I guess we should just…” she began, getting up from the couch and standing before him. His eyes followed her, unwavering, as she knelt before him, fitting herself carefully between his legs. “So, like, how do I start? Like, what if it’s… soft?”

“Soft?” Soonyoung asked, sitting up straighter, spreading his legs a little more to give her room.

“Yeah, like, now for instance, I guess. We weren’t, like, kissing or doing anything or whatever, so you’re-” Nahyun reassessed her word usage, “it’s not going to be up, right? So, do you get yourself ready or is it something I should do? How do you even get it up?”

“Just touch it,” Soonyoung said bluntly.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, just start touching it.”

“But, how?”

“By touching it. Literally, just start rubbing it.”

Nahyun gulped and slowly lifted her hand towards his crotch. “What if I do it wrong?” she worried, pulling her hand back and glancing up at him.

Soonyoung shook his head. “There is no wrong. If you’re touching it, you’re not doing it wrong.”

She licked her lips and then, before her nerves could get the better of her, Nahyun pressed her hand onto his groin. He jolted at the sudden contact, but stayed put, looking down at her hand on him. Carefully, she circled her palm down onto him. He let out a tight breath, but she couldn’t focus on that, too surprised at finding the outline of his dick through the material of his pants more prominent than she’d imagined. Nahyun glanced up at him quickly.

“Are you up already?” she asked, surprised.

“Not fully, but kinda, yeah…” Soonyoung admitted.

“Why? How?”

“You asked to go down on me and you’re talking about getting me hard and stuff! Of course I’m half up!”

“But we haven’t even done anything. I just touched you now!”

“Yeah, doesn’t matter. Guys are easy to get going,” he huffed and she noted a blush on his cheek as his eyes darted away from hers. “Doesn’t take too much usually.”

Nahyun dropped it, looking back down at her hand still resting between his legs. Hesitantly, she moved it again in a slow stroking motion.

“So, this is okay?” she asked.

Soonyoung licked his lips, glancing back down again. “Yeah, just use a little more pressure. Push down a bit. Yeah…” the last word half devolved into a contented sigh.

Nahyun had adjusted the force of her hand and continued rubbing. Curiously, she subtly pressed her fingers down around the outline of his cock, getting a better feel of it and dragging up and down the shaft. Her fingers ran along the line of his dick several times, eyes following the movement of her hand in a sort of enthralled trance. She looked up when she heard a small breath pass his lips. Soonyoung had titled his head back a little, eyelids drooping, and Nahyun saw his throat work with a swallow. Her gaze shot back down to her hand as she felt blood rush and tingle in her ears.

“Okay, so… you’re,” she pressed her lips together and backtracked, “I mean, it’s hard, I think.”

Soonyoung nodded quickly, glancing down as she gingerly moved her hand from his crotch to his thigh. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m- it’s up.”

There was an awkward beat of silence and then she cleared her throat. Nahyun tucked her hair behind her ear.

“So, what now?” she asked.

Soonyoung looked confused. “Huh?”

“I mean, what do I do now? How should I, you know… proceed?”

“Oh, um…” He licked his lips and sat up a little in his seat. “I guess you could just… take it out.”

“I take it out? Like I pull down your pants and pull it out?”

“Yeah, basically.”

“And guys like that?”

“Well, I do,” Soonyoung said quickly. After the words had come out, he swallowed hard and began to backtrack, attempting to straighten up further. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, it’s not-”

Nahyun was working on his button and fly before he could finish stammering out the sentence. Without giving herself time to overthink the decision, she pushed the material of his jeans open wide and tugged the fabric of his underwear down over his cock. Soonyoung took in a sharp breath when she automatically closed her fist around the base of his dick. She swallowed a moment, caught somewhere between a thrill of excitement and trepidation, before raising her eyes to his face. He was blinking rapidly, looking flustered and like he was holding something back and she wasn’t sure if to be concerned or not.

“Is this okay?” Nahyun asked quietly.

Soonyoung nodded quickly. “Yeah, it’s good.”

“So do I just… go in? Or should I maybe use my hand a little?”

His eyes fluttered as she tightened her grip unconsciously before nodding again. “You can use your hand. Tease a little. Teasing feels really good.”

Slackening her grip until she almost had a featherlight touch on his shaft, she slowly pumped his cock once, then twice. “Like this?”

“Yeah,” he grunted, swallowing a groan. Soonyoung melted against the back of the couch. “Yeah, just like that.”

Nahyun watched as her friend’s expression clouded, eyes drifting closed, tongue flicking over his lips, his arms spread over the back of the sofa as she touched him. She ghosted her hand up and down, getting a good feel for him. It wasn’t like this was the first time Nahyun had been around a dick, but she had never spent so much time actually detailing it out or playing with it. All her experiences with her ex had pretty much gotten straight to the point and he’d taken care of getting himself ready, always seeming to be in a rush. Soonyoung was deceptively warm and the weight of him felt nice in her hand.

“Can you…” he began hesitantly. “Can you tighten your grip? Ungh… yeah. Like that. God…”

She obeyed, sliding her hand carefully over his cock, hand closed firmly. After a few pumps, she curiously ran her thumb over the head of his dick, tracing its shape for a moment. A breath of air hissed through his teeth even at the soft, fleeting touch and she tried the move again. Soonyoung’s hips lifted ever so slightly and he let out the breath he had just inhaled so desperately.

“Th-the tip is really sensitive,” he explained. “If you- fuck!”

His sentence ended in the loud exclamation when, after hearing his explanation, Nahyun firmly ran the pad of her thumb across the slit at the top, digging in a bit.

“Oh my god,” Soonyoung panted, wiggling under her hand.

“‘Oh my god’ good or ‘oh my god’ bad?” Nahyun asked, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

“Good, just… too much.”

“Too much?” she repeated, sweeping her thumb one last time over his tip just to watch him squirm. Precum was beginning to collect at the head, staining her finger, but she backed off, moving back down to his shaft again. “Hmm… good to know.”

“I think…” Soonyoung said, chewing his lip after another minute, “I think we can move on now.”

“Why, am I doing something wrong?” Nahyun asked, worried and a little self-conscious.

He was quick to shake his head. “No, no, not at all. It’s just dry, so it’s getting kind of uncomfortable.”

“What do you mean ‘dry?’”

“Well, we don’t have lube or hand cream or anything so it’s kinda chafing. There needs to be something slick, something so your hand can slide during a handjob.”

“Okay. So, what now?” she asked, looking up at him and waiting.

“I mean, you can just start, um, sucking if you want… or you can use your tongue first a little bit,” Soonyoung responded, cheeks flushed.

“What do you like?”

His tongue flicked out over his dry lips as he stared at her. “Tongue,” he rasped, voice gravelly in the back of his throat.

Teasing, Nahyun thought to herself. He likes teasing.

She shifted forward, lips just parting when he stopped her with a quick, “Wait, wait, hold on!”

“What?” she said, sitting back quickly.

“Your hair.” When she looked confused, he continued hurriedly, “Do you have a thing to pick up your hair? Like, one of those little rubber bands? So I can see. I mean, guys like to watch.”

“Oh. Yes! Yeah, I do. Gimme a second.”

Nahyun darted away quickly, scurrying over to her bag by the door and began rifling through the front pocket where she usually kept an assortment of random items. Please, god, let there be a hair tie in there. Fuck, it wasn’t there… she’d used it last week and had forgotten to put in a new one. But… aha! Her fingers closed on a little clip. It was better than nothing and she brandished it at Soonyoung. She twisted her hair up and back as well as she could with the clip and came to kneel in front of him again.

Soonyoung hadn’t moved from his position on the couch. The only move he’d made was when Nahyun had gotten up, he had replaced her hand around his dick with his own, on reflex. Now, as she settled between his thighs once more, he chewed his lip nervously, hand still gripped around himself tightly.

“Okay,” she said finally and she stared at his hand for a moment, waiting.

Hesitantly, Soonyoung unfisted his grip and exposed himself fully once more. Nahyun didn’t waste a second. Before either of them could overthink, she threw herself fully back into the moment. She grabbed the base of his cock and ran her tongue along the underside in a long lick.

“Oh fuck,” he cried, his head falling back as sudden pleasure traced a path up his spine with the action.

The exclamation was reassuring and Nahyun repeated the motion, but slower. Soonyoung had recovered from the initial onslaught to watch as she flattened her tongue against him. She worked her way towards his tip, swirling her tongue around him as she remembered reading about that somewhere once. His chest was rising and falling heavier and heavier as she went. As she ran her tongue along the frenulum, he jolted and a little laugh escaped him at the sensation.

Nahyun placed a few kitten licks along the head. “Is this okay?”

He nodded, eyes glazed as he watched her. “Yeah, it’s good. It feels really good.” She hummed before swiping boldly over the tip, pressing firmly against the slit and tasting the bitterness of his precum on her tongue. He groaned at that, eyes fluttering, and she did it again with a slight variation. Trying hard to focus, he spoke up again, “Whenever you want you can just p-put it in… your, um… your mouth.”

She instantly opened her mouth and took the head of his cock between her lips, suckling lightly. Heat rose inside her as he moaned a low, “Shit,” under his breath. She carefully moved to take more of his dick into her mouth.

“God, yeah, that’s…” he petered off in a groan, eyes fixed firmly on his cock disappearing into her mouth. “S-suck a little harder. Fuck, yeah, like that… just like that…” He hissed suddenly and jerked back, eyes snapping open. “Teeth, your teeth… be careful not to scrape.”

Nahyun pulled off a moment to mumble a quick, “Sorry,” and swallow the excess saliva pooling in her mouth.

He shook his head. “It’s oka-hay…”

She instant latched onto the tip again, making sure to keep her jaw wide, and hollowed her cheeks. The tip was sensitive, he’d said, so she focused on it, swirling her tongue around it to make up for her mistake. It seemed to do the trick, Soonyoung’s head drooping with a moan, the muscles of his thighs flexing. She dug her tongue into the slit, just to see what would happen, and he jolted with a grunt, hips stuttering back at the overwhelming stimulation.

“Nahyun…” he groaned, almost whining her name out. His tone was somewhere between pleading and pouting, his breathing heavy and labored at this point.

Nahyun released some of the pressure around his head and slid down his cock to take him in deeper again before sucking hard once more. Finally feeling more comfortable, she began to bob her head up and down, starting up a hesitant rhythm.

Soonyoung’s hand, which had been fisted on his thigh, lifted suddenly, as if he was going to grab the back of her head. He caught himself in time and stopped. Before he could lower it again, however, Nahyun reached out and took his hand in her own. He stared a moment, confused, until she lifted his hand to her head and held it there. He took the hint and when she felt that he wasn’t going to drop it, she let go, bracing herself against his open thighs as she began bobbing her head in earnest.

He tangled his hand tightly in her hair, pulling and mussing up the haphazardly pulled back strands. A lock of hair escaped the clip, but Soonyoung didn’t seem to mind.

“Nahyun,” he panted out, sounding a little desperate. “C-can you look at m-me?”

Her eyes flicked up to him instantly and she pulled off, pumping him once with her hand. “Is something wrong?”

“Eye contact,” he said, shaking his head at her question. “Eye contact makes a huge difference.”

“So… you like it when I’m looking at you,” she reaffirmed.

He gulped and nodded. “Yeah.”

Nahyun held his gaze, locked onto his darkened, fucked out eyes and lowered her head to lick a slow stripe up his cock again. Soonyoung took in a shaky breath, pushing the loose lock of her hair back behind her ear before entangling his hand in her hair again. She felt the pressure of his fingers digging in lightly at the back of her skull and she submitted to his subtle prompting to take his dick back into her mouth. She hollowed her cheeks as she went down, having noticed that he seemed to like that a lot.

“Shit, you sure this is your first blowjob?” Soonyoung laughed, grabbing a fistful of her hair as she pulled back until only the head was still in and pushed her tongue against the underside. “Because you’re doing re-really well.”

“You’re telling me what to do and how you like it,” Nahyun reminded him, dropping a kiss to his tip before taking him in again.

“Yeah, fuck, but-” he cut off to lick his lips, watching as she bobbed her head again, “but you’re doing a lot of things I’m not telling you t-to do that are amazing. I think y-you’re a natural.” She gave a hum of approval. Soonyoung swallowed hard again, fingers curling in her hair before he asked, “Could… do you think you can go deeper?”

She moved to comply, taking in more of him, but her pace was too quick and as he neared the back of her throat she gagged violently. She coughed and pulled back, tears welling in her eyes. Nahyun swallowed and wiped her mouth of the saliva that had pooled with the action. Soonyoung cradled her head carefully between his hands, eyes flickering across her face in distress.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry,” he insisted guiltily. “I shouldn’t have-”

Nahyun waved his apology away firmly. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I feel bad for asking.”

“I swear, Hosh, I’m okay. Just got a little too eager and you’re pretty big, so.”

“Shit, Nana, don’t say stuff like that,” he growled, pushing her hair away from her face once more.

“Stuff like what?”

“That I’m big and all that.”

“Why?” She had been questioning the process basically the whole time to get a good idea of what to do, but this time she was teasing more than anything. “What happens if I say stuff like that?”

“You’re seriously asking me what happens to a guy when you tell him you’re too eager to have his big cock in your mouth?” he repeated, eyes hooded. His fingers dug into her scalp again and she suppressed a shiver. “They’d go feral.”

She held his eyes for a long moment, his gaze causing a pang of lust to flare in her center. Her hand wound around his dick once again and she squeezed, making him twitch against her palm.

“I wanna try again,” she said huskily.

“Nahyun, you don’t-” he began.

“I wanna take you in deeper. Show me how.”

Before he could try to dissuade her she had fit her mouth around him, working him up once again. He grunted, fisting his hand in her hair again.

“You need to open your throat and breathe through your nose,” he explained.

Nahyun wasn’t too sure about how to open her throat, but she did know how to breathe through her nose, so she focused on that part. She lowered her head onto him slowly. His tip hit the back of her throat and she gagged a little, but didn’t pull off.

“Relax your throat,” Soonyoung repeated. He was beginning to pant again. When, after taking a few seconds to control her gag reflex, Nahyun managed to follow his instructions, he pet her hair. “Like that, perfect. God, you don’t know how badly I want to fuck your throat right now.”

She moaned unintentionally. His words fueled the fire that had kindled in her core into overdrive and she felt wetness beginning to pool between her legs. She began to move and he tapped two fingers weakly against the back of her head.

“Slow, go slow,” he sighed, brow furrowed in pleasure. “Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Nahyun didn’t want to obey, but she did because she was afraid if she didn’t she’d loose control again. She managed to set up a steady rhythm. It was hard to keep him so deep for so long, so she had to alternate between going down until her nose almost touched his pelvic bone and hollowing her cheeks out as hard as possible when she made more shallow movements.

Remembering what he’d said about eye contact, Nahyun flicked her eyes up to look at him through her lashes. The sight of his clouded gaze made her bold.

“Fuck my throat.”

His eyes widened, breath caught in his lungs. “What?”

“I want you to fuck my throat, Soonyoung.”

He stared a while longer, caught off guard, but Nahyun slipped her mouth down over him as far as she could go, his cock hitting the back of her throat, all without breaking her gaze from his.

Soonyoung bit his lip as he rocked his hips up shallowly the first time. Nahyun breathed out through her nose, concentrating on keeping the muscles of her throat relaxed. He grunted at the feeling and thrust his hips forward again. The pace he set was on the slow side, careful not to overwhelm or choke her. She could tell he was holding back and it made her a little upset. She wished she was good enough to let him do as he pleased, but she was limited by her inexperience, her lack of practice. Nahyun settled for sucking hard every time he pulled back and was rewarded with a wanton moan from him.

Nahyun glanced up at him again. Though he wasn’t looking back anymore, she kept her eyes fixed on him. It was a view she didn’t want to miss. Seeing him like this… it was mesmerizing. Soonyoung’s eyes were squeezed shut in pleasure, brows furrowed tightly. She felt his hand holding her head in place as he thrust his hips in rhythm. His lower lip was caught between his teeth, then let loose as he moaned, then captured once more. His fine, black hair was falling over his forehead, the dark strands dotted with sweat. He looked amazing; fucked out and sexy and Nahyun wondered how she hadn’t noticed before.

And then there was the power… it was intoxicating, it filled her to the brim. Seeing him so worked up, on the edge, swallowed up by lust and pleasure and knowing it was all because of her - her mouth, her tongue, her - made her feel powerful in a way she’d never felt before. Knowing she could elicit such responses from him… she wanted to push him as far as he could go.

Soonyoung’s hand had knotted in her hair and he tugged, trying to pull her away. She stubbornly stayed put, hollowing her cheeks and he grunted.

“Nahyun, stop,” he panted, tugging once more. “Stop, stop…. I’m… fuck, I’m gonna cum. I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum. If you don’t stop, I’m gonna cum in… in…”

Nahyun pushed his hand away from her head and lowered her head as far down as she could go. She gagged around him, but she didn’t care. Soonyoung let out a strangled, high-pitched moan as her throat clenched around him and with one final suck he came.

Bitterness splashed against the back of her throat and she gagged again, but she forced it down. When she felt that he’d finished, Nahyun carefully pulled herself off of his cock, mouth full of his release.

“Oh shit, oh shit,” he cursed. “I’m so sorry!”

Soonyoung pushed the sweat soaked hair from his forehead and frantically tucked himself back into his pants. Nahyun stood from her position on her knees and he practically launched himself off the couch to stand in front of her.

“Wait, just spit, uh,” he looked around for something, anything she could use to spit into and then gave up and held out the bottom hem of his shirt towards her, “you can just-”

Soonyoung froze in place as Nahyun took a deep breath and swallowed. She coughed and managed to swallow again. The taste certainly wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t the worst thing. She glanced up at him to find him staring, jaw hanging open. She wiped the corners of her mouth a little self-consciously.

“Did you just swallow my cum?” he asked in a low voice.

Nahyun hesitated, a little unsure. She nervously pushed her hair behind her ears in an attempt to straighten it. “Yeah… I thought-”

Soonyoung had grabbed her wrist before she could think to react and yanked her towards him. His mouth was hot against hers, tongue instantly prying her lips apart to stroke behind her teeth. Nahyun grunted into the kiss, but returned the pressure of his mouth. She managed to twirl her tongue around his own once before he was pulling away again.

“Sorry,” Soonyoung panted a little awkwardly, pushing his hair back again. “That was just really hot and I sorta just reacted.”

“Me swallowing your cum was hot?” she asked, blinking at him.

“Fuck yeah.”

“Oh. Okay.” She bit her lip. Then added, “And boys don’t mind making out after… doing that? They like that?”

“Well, I do.”

They stared at each other for a minute. The sweat was drying in his black locks already, sticking up in places where his hands had mussed it. Maybe this hadn’t been the smartest idea after all. How could she look at him again without remembering what he’d looked like when she’d had her mouth around him? Nahyun’s gaze dropped to his lips for a moment and then she shook herself out of it. She forced a wide smile.

“So, how’d I do overall?” she asked him with a laugh. “Will I embarrass myself?”

He licked his lips and visibly shook himself out of the haze that had taken them over for a moment. “Definitely not. You were really awesome. Like I said, a natural.”

Nahyun nodded again, but still a strained awkwardness hung over them. He pressed his lips together. She ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to tame it.

“Well, I think… yeah, it’s pretty late. I should go,” Nahyun said.

“Yeah, okay,” Soonyoung agreed.

He followed behind her slowly as she headed towards the door. He opened it for her as she gathered her bag. 

Nahyun paused just past the doorway to look back at her friend. His gaze was still dark, something swimming in the depths just beneath the surface. She chewed her cheek and smiled at him again, less forced friendliness and more hesitant trepidation.

“Hey, um,” Nahyun began, letting out a breath. “Thanks for, um… for helping me. I know it was a big ask.”

Soonyoung stared back at her. Then he gave a short nod and dropped his gaze. “Yeah, no problem.”

With one last wave she started out. She was halfway down the hallway when Soonyoung spoke up again suddenly.

“Nahyun,” he called. She turned to look at him. He was standing in his doorway, a serious look on his face. “Maybe you can return the favor and coach me some day.”

Nahyun’s lips parted as her jaw dropped. She blinked at him, frozen in her spot. She thought maybe he’d laugh like he did sometimes when he was teasing.

But Soonyoung merely ducked his head and went back inside, leaving her shell shocked in the hallway.

[alice-dont-break]

Heyyy I’m back with another one shot! This one is little heavier and talks about anxiety attacks, so please proceed with caution if that content could negatively affect you in any way. I wrote this a while ago inspired the first time I really struggled with my anxiety, and my big sister was there for me. It makes me smile a lot so I hope y’all like it!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter | Janthony One Shot

tw: anxiety

After a long day at the studio, Anthony had to run up the stairs to his front door because he couldn’t wait another moment to see his family. It was almost eleven o’clock, so he’d only be sneaking into his daughters’ bedrooms to kiss their sleeping foreheads, but it would still be the highlight of his day. When he walked inside, however, he frowned at the light illuminating the kitchen and his eldest daughter’s slouched silhouette at the counter.

“Hey Cass, what’re you doing up?” He asked quietly, not wanting to startle her, while approaching her from behind to rub her shoulders and kiss the top of her head.

“Hey dad,” she grumbled, “just studying. History test tomorrow.” Her eyes stayed fixed on the textbook pages that were painted with neon yellow streaks.

“It’s pretty late peanut, you almost done? Even that super smart brain of yours needs some rest to perform at its best,” Anthony reasoned, continuing to knead the taut muscles in his daughter’s upper back.

“Mhm, just need to re-read these chapters one last time.”

Anthony thought about pushing her more to go to bed, but he recognized the steel-cut look in her eyes from many similar conversations with her mother. When these girls were determined, it was near impossible to get them to lighten up. Instead of arguing, he walked around the counter to fill a glass of water, then set it down beside her books.

“Alright Cass, I’m going to get ready for bed but come up if you need anything and try to get some rest soon. I can drive you in the morning so you can sleep in a little, too,” he said, muffled by her hair as he gave her another kiss.

“It’s okay, I’m getting to school early so Ashley and I can quiz each other. Goodnight dad,” she said dismissively.

As Anthony reluctantly walked out, he chewed on the inside of his cheek. Cassidy was in eighth grade, which meant she was in the thick of high school applications. She’d always had incredible marks at school, so she was hoping to attend a fancy Manhattan private school, on a scholarship no less. He and Jasmine were trying their best to keep her calm throughout the process and prove they were proud of her regardless of the outcome, but it was easy to see she was drowning under the weight of her own standards. If she wasn’t spending extra hours in the school library before or after classes, she was cooped up at the kitchen counter, nose buried in a textbook. Anthony worried about her stamina, but she was steadfast in her commitment to studying.

When he got upstairs, he found his younger daughter in the polar opposite position. Clara, now nine years old, was fast asleep in her bed. After carefully opening her door and tiptoeing to the bed, he crouched down to leave a soft kiss on her temple. He smiled as she subconsciously crinkled her nose while staying asleep, exactly the way Jasmine does. Finally, he retired to his own bedroom where he was greeted with a beaming smile from his wife.

“Hey baby,” Jasmine said, sitting up against the headboard in their king-sized bed.

Anthony walked around to her side and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips before pulling her into a tight embrace.

“How was the studio?” she asked, muffled by his chest as she held on for an extra beat.

“It was good... hey did you know Cassidy is still down there studying?”

“Really?” Jasmine pulled back with a furrowed brow. “She said she was almost done when I came up here an hour ago.”

“Hmmm, that’s what she just said to me,” he hummed back.

Jasmine watched as Anthony pulled off his jeans and tee-shirt and climbed into bed next to her with a sigh. “I’m kinda worried about her, babe. She gets real worked up about this school application stuff,” he said softly. He reached over to bring her hand into his lap, needing something to fidget with and knowing she loved when he toyed with her fingers.

“I know, me too. Getting her to go to dance class is basically a fight every day. She just wants to come home and study.”

“She gets that same look in her eye that you do,” Anthony smirked. “That look that says ‘leave me alone while I’m achieving greatness or I’ll kick your ass’”.

Jasmine rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m worried she’s getting all my perfectionist tendencies. I just hope she doesn’t get the anxiety that comes with it.”

“Hey, we’ll be lucky if she’s as hard working, passionate and driven as her mama. We’ve just gotta make sure she knows how to handle it.” Anthony brought her hand up to his lips so he could press a soft kiss to each of her knuckles.

“You’re right,” Jasmine sighed, “I should probably go talk to her.”

Anthony released her hand as she leaned over to steal another kiss. Once she rolled out of bed, she pulled on a robe and slippers and trudged down the stairs.

“Baby girl, what’re you still doing up?” She cooed as softly as she could to avoid waking Clara, and sat down on the stool next to Cassidy.

“Gotta study,” she mumbled back. Jasmine rested a hand on Cassidy’s upper back, rubbing up and down, but it elicited no response.

“Babe, can you look at me for a sec?”

“Mom, I have to keep reading,” she groaned, glowering over at her mom.

“Cassidy, you’ve been studying all week for this test. You were acing the practice tests on Monday and now it’s Thursday. Now you just need rest.” Jasmine reached her other hand over to close the textbook. “C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” she murmured.

“No!” Cassidy shrieked, pulling back from her mother’s soft touch.

“Sweetheart - ”

“No mom! I have to keep studying! History is my worst class and if I don’t get 100% on this test I’m not going to be able to pull my grade up to an A by the end of the semester and then I won’t be able to put a 4.0 on my school applications and then I’m not going to get..get in anywhere and you...you’re all gonna know...know that I fail.. failed.. and I’m stupid and and -“ Cassidy unloaded all her fears without a single pause until finally her breathing was so erratic that she couldn’t get her words out. Jasmine watched with her lips tightly pursed as her daughter’s eyes filled to the brim with hot tears.

“Oh baby girl, come here darling,” Jasmine whispered. She stood up and stepped between Cassidy’s legs to hold her tightly against her chest. Sobs racked through her small frame as Jasmine felt her shirt getting damp with tears.

Jasmine pulled back and let her hands rise to cup her daughter’s face, thumbing away tears as they flooded her blotchy cheeks. She leaned forward to press a kiss to her girl’s creased forehead, but when she looked back, she found fear had flooded Cassidy’s eyes. Her breaths became shallower and her trembling hands reached out to grasp her mother’s forearm for balance.

Jasmine knew these signs far too well.

“Okay baby, it’s okay, just focus on your breathing. Just slowly in and out,” she coached.

“Can’t! I can’t!” Cassidy panted, eyes wide with panic.

Jasmine leaned forward for another forehead kiss, then took both her daughter’s hands and pulled her up to standing. She guided her slowly, one step at a time, over to the sofa, and sat down with Cassidy between her legs. She leaned them both back to open up her daughter’s chest, and placed one hand in her hair with one wrapped around her middle. Cassidy’s hand quickly found her mother’s arm to hold onto once again, as Jasmine used her other hand to smooth down her daughter’s unyielding curls.

“Sweetheart, I want you to pay attention to how my chest rises and falls, and try to make yours do the same. Try to get your air all the way down to your belly where our hands are, okay?”

Cassidy’s breaths became a little slower, though she occasionally choked on her sobs. “That’s it baby, keep going,” Jasmine praised.

Though she noticed the improved breathing, Jasmine was still attuned to the trembling of her daughter’s hands and the tension in her shoulders. Her heart twinged, recognizing the symptoms of her own anxiety that she was now well acquainted with.

“Hey baby girl, we’re going to try something that usually makes me feel a little better, okay? I want you to start by telling me five things you can see. Can you do that?”

Cassidy froze for a moment, but then nodded. “Um... our legs, the TV... the red blanket over there... um... the painting on the wall, and the rug?”

“Perfect, sweetie,” Jasmine cooed, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s temple. “Now can you tell me four things that you can physically feel?”

“Uhhh, your hands, your chin on my shoulder, the couch underneath us, and, ummm, my hair on the back of my neck?”

“Mhmm, good girl, now three things you can hear?” Another kiss warmed the side of Cassidy’s face, and she leaned into her mother’s touch.

“The fan, dad walking around upstairs, and cars driving by.”

Jasmine had smushed their faces together and was nuzzling against her daughter’s cheek. “Two things you can smell?”

“Your tooth paste and your shea moisturizer,” Cassidy replied with a faint smile.

“Classic,” Jasmine chuckled back, “now one thing you can taste?”

“The chocolate I was snacking on a bit ago.”

“That was great baby,” Jasmine murmured, before attacking Cassidy’s cheeks with kisses until she surrender a small giggle. Once they’d both settled, Jasmine rubbed Cassidy’s arms up and down. “You feeling a bit better, sweetheart? Wanna sit up and talk?”

Cassidy nodded, and turned to sit cross-legged facing her mom. “I d-don’t know what that was,” she frowned, “I like, couldn’t breathe and my chest hurt and I’ve never felt like that before.”

Jasmine held both her hands and nodded sympathetically. “I know babe, it really sucks. It looked like an anxiety attack, which I get sometimes too.”

“How do you stop them from happening?”

“Well, it’s hard. I think you and I are both perfectionists, which means we’re really hard on ourselves,” she sighed, rubbing half circles with her thumbs on the back of Cassidy’s hands. “It’s great to have little exercises like the one we just did to help you calm down, but what I’ve found most helpful is talking to a professional. I used to go see someone every week and she’d help me control all the anxiety I had about needing to be perfect all the time.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened as she responded with a slow nod. “That feels like a lot...”

“I know it seems scary at first, babe, and you definitely don’t need to be ready to do that now. It’s just an option for if you ever feel like this is too much. But for now, we’re going to be better about reminding you that we love you and your sister more than anything in this world, and that we are so proud of you because of what is in your heart and your mind. We don’t need an acceptance letter from a fancy school to prove what we already know, which is that our little girl is a genius, in addition to so many other things. You’re kind, and loving, and a beautiful dancer, and a perfect role model for your little sister... and those are the things that really matter.”

“Even if I don’t get in?”

“Even if you don’t get in,” Jasmine smiled, punctuating her sentence with a kiss to Cassidy’s temple. “Plus, if you ever forget that, or have another anxiety attack like this, you’ve just gotta call me or dad. Doesn’t matter if you’re at school, or if we’re working, or sleeping, you just call and one of us will be there to help you through it.”

“Does papa have these too?”

“No, not really. He gets stressed but it does’t manifest this way like it does for me. He’s helped me through loads and loads of them over the years though, so he’s basically an expert.”

Cassidy nodded, then dove back into her mother’s arms. “I love you, mama, thank you” she hummed against Jasmine’s chest.

“I love you too, baby girl. Now come on, let’s get you into bed.”

Cassidy bit her lip, as she looked up at her mom. “Can I just finish the chapter I’m on?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “You have exactly as long as it takes for me to make you a cup of sleepytime tea, and then I am closing that book.”

A few minutes later, Cassidy was following her mom upstairs and into her bedroom. “Mama, I’m okay now. You can go to bed,” she yawned, as they both slipped under the pink floral blankets on her bed.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but with all your studying I haven’t gotten nearly enough Cass and Mama cuddles, so I’m just as happy to stay in here,” Jasmine smirked.

Cassidy rolled her eyes, then shifted over to fold into her mother’s arms. With her head resting on Jasmine’s chest and gentle kisses pressed into her hair, she drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes.

Sleep didn’t come quite as easily for Jasmine. Over the years, she and Anthony had found joy in spotting little pieces of themselves in their girls. First it was the curls, then the freckles, then the way Clara crinkles her nose when she’s loved on in her sleep, but this was different. She didn’t feel a warmth in her chest that would stir up a smile she couldn’t wipe away, but instead felt a churn in her stomach.

She felt her daughter’s warm breath on her neck and prayed it would always be so slow and steady, but deep down feared this might not be a one time incident. Anxiety built four walls around Jasmine when she was around Cassidy’s age, and have tried to cave in on her many times since. Over the years, she’s found different ways to hold them up and cope with their claustrophobic presence, and even found a beautiful partner to help from the outside, but they were always there.

Shards of guilt were gnawing at Jasmine’s mind, wondering if somehow she had passed on the thing that hurt her the most to the person she loved the most. She wanted to fight every battle for Cassidy right now, shield her from any pain or worry, and stop every anxiety attack before it got anywhere near her. Pressing a soft kiss to her baby’s temple, she made a silent promise to teach her every grounding and mindfulness technique she needed, and be present to listen, to empathize, and to love unconditionally. Looking at the girl curled up in her arms, cheeks slightly rosy and curls splayed out everywhere, she found a mirror image of herself, who was a little bit stronger and a hell of a lot smarter. If one good thing could have come from the years of fighting she’d been through, it was that she could now understand her daughter’s struggles and help her through them better than anyone else in the world could. For now though, all she could do was nuzzle in closer to her baby girl, and make sure she knew the warmth and comfort that would always be available to her.

[penguinwithitsarseonfire]

Gave Me the Blues and then Purple-Pink Skies

Part 1 (here we are) | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Pairing: 13th Doctor x Reader

Word Count: 2,501

Warnings: Descriptions of an Earthquake

Summary: You and the Doctor accidentally land on the wrong planet, and, after an Earthquake, come to learn that you can't necessarily leave with the TARDIS just yet.

A/N: Hi there!! So this is my first reader insert ever, I wrote this based off of the amazing @kisstherainwriting​ equally phenomenal 13th Doctors Companion Piece Arrangement because when I listened to it (and if you haven't yet, I really recommend that you do!), it immediately unleashed such a surge of writing inspiration that I couldn't not write, y'know. This is going to be a four part series that I'll be updating every week, I hope you enjoy it!

The heat beat against your bare skin as you squinted at the red sun, framing your hand around your eyes to shield you from its angry glare. “What’s this planet called again?”

The Doctor, who was squatting, ran her fingers through the hot sand, and stood up beside you. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Though it’s certainly not Erinda.”

You hummed, peeling off your jacket; it was already ridiculously warm inside the thing. “Yeah I’m not seeing any pink snow. Just a lot of…” you stood on the tips of your toes, swiveling your head this way and that to gather your surroundings. “Sand. There’s only sand.”

The Doctor sniffed the air, as if she could tell the location by smell – which, knowing her, she probably could. She crinkled her nose. “Yeah I haven’t got a clue,” she said, and rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of her feet. “Shall we find out then?”

Your heart plummeted as you stared out into the great barren expanse of nothing. If you concentrated hard enough, you could almost see the heat lines waving against the yellow sand.

The arid heat made you feel sticky in your clothes and a sudden trek under that hot sun didn’t sound very promising. “How exactly do we do that?” You asked. “There isn’t necessarily a tourist information center.”

The Doctor gave you a look for a moment, as if you’d grown a second head. “What we always do, we’ll explore. The TARDIS must’ve bought us here for a reason, she always does.”

Ah, yep, there it was. A walk.

You hated that you’d called it.

You turned to face the TARDIS. “Speaking of, wouldn’t it make more sense to have the TARDIS scan the planet or something? Then we’d know what we were getting ourselves into.”

If anything, that made The Doctor even more confused, and she scrunched her face up as if there were a bad smell. “Why would we do that?”

You gestured to your outfit, to your thick winter boots and thermal pants, and took a moment to tighten the arms of your winter jacket around your waist. “I haven’t exactly dressed for the desert. I’m pretty hot right now Doc.”

The Doctor blinked, as if just finally realising that you weren’t exactly comfortable right now. She gave you a sheepish grin and flushed slightly. “Ah, right. I’m sorry, I didn’t-,”

The rest of The Doctors reply was lost in the eerie echo that cracked through the dense atmosphere. It almost sounded like thunder, if thunder were the sort to throw itself out from the ground with all the fury of the demons of hell. The sand vibrated at your feet, little granules jumping into the air as if they were dancing with the noise.

Then the ground began to shake.

At first, neither you nor The Doctor moved. Your brain couldn’t wrap itself around the input from your ears and your feet, it was like a sensory overload. The ground was moving and the noise was loud, you could feel it in your toes, running up your legs, and into the base of your spine. Then, like a switch had been flicked, The Doctor’s hand was in yours, and she was pulling you to the ground.

“It’s an Earthquake,” she said, or, at least, you thought she said. You couldn’t quite hear her, but you could make out how her mouth shaped the words. “Stay low.”

You squeezed The Doctor’s hand with your own, your knuckles white with your grip. Her hand was an anchor, tethering you as every other one of your senses went on high alert. It was the only action you could accomplish, the kind that all-consuming, helpless fear creates. You didn’t experience it often travelling with The Doctor – there was always a plan when you were with her, but this time… Well, the small sane part of your brain that was quietly processing this was grateful to have The Doctor to hold on to.

A loud crack ripped across the land, the sound piercing your ears. You watched in horror as part of the landscape, no more than 1000 feet away from you, fell into the earth. A plume of sand shot into the sky, and you squeezed your eyes shut, shielding your face away with your free arm as the sand came crashing down.

Then, as soon as it had started, it stopped.

The ground stilled and your body tingled, as if it still thought that the sand below you was shaking. You stuck your head up, squinting in the light as your ears rang, a low piercing shrill like your mind believed that awful thunderous roar was continuing. You blinked, once, twice, and ran a hand through your hair, carefully sitting up.

Beside you, you felt The Doctor shuffle as she mimicked your movements. 

Neither of you had let go of the others hand.

The Doctor turned to you, her face pulled in concern as she ran her free hand up your arm and brushed her thumb against your cheek. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?”

You shook your head, running a hand through your hair again to shake out some of the sand. “No, no, I’m fine. What about you?”

“Fit as a fiddle, it was just a bit of a shock,” she paused for a moment. “Oh wait, that was a pun! Is it the wrong moment to be making a pun?”

You laughed softly, feeling some of the tension that had settled in your chest dissipate. “No. If anything, it’s the perfect time.”

The Doctor grinned, staring at you with soft eyes. The bed of her thumb tracked lazy circles over your cheek bone, and you felt grounded, safe, in that peculiar unique way that you only did when you were around The Doctor.

Her hair was rather haphazard, bits of it sticking up and the rest of it a bit frizzy. Sand was plastered against her skin and on her clothes, with a thick yellow glob of it streaked across her cheek. She had this bright, buzzing energy about her, the kind she got after an intense adrenaline rush, that made her eyes sparkle and her skin glow. She was gorgeous.

Her eyes drifted behind you and her face fell. With a gasp she shot upwards, pulling you along with her. “Oh no,” she instantly sprung forward, letting go of your hand to make some vague, frantic gestures as she ran past you. “No, no, no, now why would you do that? It wasn’t like-”

You let The Doctor’s voice wash over you, mostly tuning it out as you followed where The Doctor had gone, and felt yourself freeze.

The TARDIS was gone. 

Like, actually, positively, truly gone. 

The Doctor was still talking. 

“It’s not an emergency, if anything it’s only a small inconvenience! There was no need to go and do that,” She pointed her screwdriver into the empty space where the TARDIS had been. “Come on, it was only a minor earthquake - or, well, planetquake, just a little tremble.”

She pulled her screwdriver to her face and studied it with a measured glare, then made a half offended groan, her head dropping to face the sky. 

“Doctor,” you said, trying to keep your voice at least somewhat level. You knew it wouldn’t do any good if you started freaking out, even though, at least, internally, you were most definitely freaking out. “Where’s The TARDIS gone?”

The Doctor chewed on her lip for a moment. “Ah yeah, so, right. I did some repairs. Fixed a couple of things that were going wrong,” she fixed a scowl into the space the TARDIS had been. “Fixed a couple of them a bit too well.”

“Fixed?”

The Doctor sprung upright, facing you. “The TARDIS has a security measure, the emergency relocation system–“

“Emergency relocation system?” You squeaked. The Doctor ignored your interruption.

“–It’s always been a bit moody. It should allow the TARDIS to relocate from any immediate danger without a pilot; should we ever get into a sticky situation; like if she falls into the wrong hands, or if I couldn’t access her, or-” she audibly snapped her mouth closed and made a vague gesture with the sonic. “Or, erm, whatever else could happen.”

The ‘in case I need to get you out of danger’ remained unsaid. 

You swallowed apprehensively, shoving your nerves down with it. “Which is why we’re what, currently stranded on Not-Erinda?”

“Temporarily stranded!” The Doctor amended, and held up her screwdriver. “I’ve got a lock on the TARDIS’ time signature. Basically, as long as we have my sonic, we’ll be a walking beacon. She should re-materialise wherever we are once she realises that there’s no actual danger.”

You nodded, mostly so you could disperse some of the anxious energy that had been building up in your body, with some sort of movement. “Right, alright, okay. This should be fine then, right? All good?”

The Doctor smiled. “Exactly.”

You tried to ignore how stuffy your clothing felt. 

The Doctor looked up to the sun, cupping her hand over her eyes , and hummed. “We should probably find some sort of shade,” she looked to you. “I am sorry about your clothes, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

You chuckled, because, well, yeah. “Ehh,” you drew out the sound. “Pink snow, yellow sand. I’m not seeing much of a difference here.”

The Doctor’s eyes softened, the way they did whenever a plan went up in the air and you both just had to roll with it. At this stage you had long learned that it was just the nature of travelling with The Doctor, nothing was ever as it seemed, and nothing would ever go as planned.

It was part of the reason you loved it all so much.

With renewed vigour you squared your shoulders. “Well, if we’re going to go exploring,” you stuck your thumb out to the side, hoping you were pointing in the right direction . “Should we go see what that earthquake cracked open?”

As the pair of you began your trek to where the landscape had literally tore itself open, that awful red sun beat cruelly against your body. Within minutes there was a thin sheen of sweat that lined your brow and sat sticky in your shirt. It was almost like the heat had wrapped itself around you, as if you were submerged in a hot bath on a warm summers day.

It was overwhelming, and icky, and oh so very, entirely gross. With every step you took your feet sunk into the sand, and you had to make a conscious effort to pick up your legs higher so you could actually get some momentum. You probably looked like some sort of marching penguin, flapping about trying to remain stable.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was acting entirely fine. She had shrugged off her jacket, holding it by the collar and leaving it flipped over her shoulder like the protagonist of an old-timey adventurer novel, but that was the only sign that she was anything less than completely comfortable - and it was wholly unfair that she could breeze through whilst you were floundering beside her.

You felt gross, and it was practically a relief when you saw a bright glow coming from where the ground had split in two. As the pair of you drew nearer, you looked in wonderment as you came across what almost looked like a den, a tunnel that cracked forward on the surface and gently eased its way underground.

The tunnel itself looked like it was made completely of a bluish crystal, that glittered in the sunlight and speckled out into the sand from where the sand met the entrance of the tunnel. You stopped in awe, your breath catching in your throat as you gazed at the tunnel, there was something about them that was just so utterly reverent, like they were calling to you.

You huffed out a heavy breath, leaning over and supporting your weight with your hands on your knees. Your mouth was dry, and there was a mild throbbing in the front of your head, pounding away slightly with every breath you took.

The Doctor crouched down and stared at the tunnel for a little while longer, before looking back at you. “Well, that’s not something you see every day.”

You were about to respond when you heard it. It was soft at first, you didn’t even realise there was anything to hear, until it grew louder. It was some sort of song, a voice singing from the depths of the tunnel.

It was beautiful.

“Oh,” you breathed. “Doctor, what is that?”

“Them?” She gestured to the tunnel. “I’m not sure. Some sort of crystal, I reckon. But that’s a bit obvious. They’re absolutely brilliant though. Look at their height, the way they’ve gathered and spread; they must be thousands of years old.”

“No, no, not that,” you said. “That music, what is it?”

The Doctor frowned, standing up. “Music, what do you mean?”

You turned to her, sure that you were mirroring her expression. “The music. It’s like this voice, I don’t know – I guess like a siren? It’s like it’s calling out to us.”

The Doctor’s eyes sparkled in interest. “Oh, now that’s something different,” she scanned the tunnel with her screwdriver, looked at the results, and hummed. “My sonic’s not picking anything up,” she looked towards the tunnel, her face suddenly a bit stonier. “Best we investigate the old fashioned way then.”

You took in a shaky breath as The Doctor trekked forwards, and followed her. “Are you sure this is safe?” You asked. “The tunnel’s not just going to cave in on us is it?”

“No idea,” The Doctor said. “But if you’re hearing something coming from here, I’d bet that this tunnel has probably appeared for a reason – not that I’m a betting person, although I did once bet my life on a pretty good game of chess, but that doesn’t make me a betting man or anything, or, well, woman. I keep messing that up.”

You laughed lightly, interrupting her little ramble. “You say that as if we don’t both bet our lives practically every day.”

The Doctor gaped for a moment. “It’s not always so bad! We had a lovely time on Wollgaran Prime 7.”

You couldn’t help but let out another laugh, and you almost felt bad that it seemed to be the only thing you were doing. “Yeah, until those snapping robot’s decided we both had the wrong amount of limbs.”

The Doctor spluttered. “Yes well, that was just poor judgement on their behalf. They should know that it’s not common for humanoid lifeforms to have 4 arms.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way though,” you amended, because really, you loved every moment you got to spend with her. “Being with you is wonderful.”

A/N^2: So I have never ever written a reader insert ever in my life, so I hope it’s alright! I really really need to thank @kisstherainwriting​ for just being so wonderful and so kind when I bombarded her with this, and also @saxonharold​ for encouraging me to post and share my writing!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #480

“the doomsday clock was made by mankind”

Do you support PETA? No, because they are WAY too extreme. Have you ever lied about your gender? No. Have you ever had escargot? NOOOOOOOO. You couldn't pay me to try that shit. Have you played Breath of the Wild? No; Zelda games aren't my thing. I've watched Game Grumps play it, though. At what venue was the last concert you attended? Idr, somewhere in Raleigh. Who was playing at the last concert you attended? Alice Cooper. Maybe one day I'll have a new answer, lol. Do you have any anniversaries coming up? No. Would you try grapes on a pizza? Holy fuck, ew. Have you ever tried an oyster? How would you describe the experience? Oysters look fucking disgusting. Never. Has anyone ever specifically painted you a painting? Not a painting, no, but I've had drawings made for me. Would you ever want to try pole dancing? Nah. Have you ever had any sort of paranormal experience? Yes. Have you ever gotten something stuck in your skin? (ie: glass shard, gravel) Yeah, like splinters. And graphite. Do any of your grandparents live a nursing home? They're all deceased, but none did. Do you have a USB drive that is shaped like anything unique? No; mine is just a solid hot pink. What country would you like to visit most? South Africa. Whose birthday is closest to today’s date? (someone you know) Girt's birthday is the 10th! Do you know anyone in another country? I have Australian and European friends, yes. Have you ever wanted to be on a game show? Not seriously. Do you believe taking a picture of someone is taking a piece of their soul? Ha, this question makes me think of the quote from SOMA. Anyway, no. Do you have any friends with the same first name as you? No. How many states have you lived in? One. Pancakes or waffles? Waffles, so I can spread peanut butter on them. :') What is the saddest book you’ve ever read? Johnny Got His Gun. ZERO competition. What political cause are you most passionate about? Probably LGBTQ+ rights. Really just equality in general. Have you ever considered having children? The only time I've ever in my life thought I wanted kids was when I was with Jason. Hell, I wanted two or three. Now I'm just like... nah man no thank you. Have you ever considered acting? No. Who was the last person you slept next to? Sara. Do you think you can be in love and still cheat on your S.O.? Ha, no. What is the most embarrassing thing anyone has on video of you? I dunno. Did you ever get lost as a child? Once at the grocery store. A sweet old lady helped me find Mom. Do you know how to play any card games? The very basic ones, and Magic: The Gathering. What are you currently most looking forward to? Mom to feel better so Girt can come over. What is the best television show you’ve ever watched? Hm... Fullmetal Alchemist has a pretty bangin' story. What color are your parents’ eyes? Brown. Are you more dependent or independent? I've very dependent, honestly. Are there any stuffed animals in the room you’re in? Yeah, loads. I have a shelf full of my meerkat collection. Do you love animals? I adore them. I quite frankly don't like anyone who doesn't, because... how. How many people have you kissed in a car? One or two? Who made you mad last? My mom. She said something that just really hurt my feelings. How long was your last shower? It was longer than usual because standing, taking steps to turn, propping my legs up, etc. was fucking excruciating because my feet, ankles, and calves were so swollen. It's so fucking infuriating; in a previous survey I mentioned "oh it's because my body isn't used to getting up and down so much! it's improvement! :D", but no. The swelling was from sitting too long at the desk. My legs are so used to being propped up from being in bed that it caused edema when I was finally sitting. I went back to my fucking bed now because Mom mentioned that it could get extremely dangerous if the fluid buildup got too severe. And of course now that I'm back in bed, the swelling is receding. I can't fucking win. Have you ever had a really bad haircut? Looking back, I think the haircut I had before this current one was pretty bad, but at least it showed me I'd like short hair on myself. What’s your favorite DIY crafts YouTube channel? I don't watch DIY. What would be the best surprise you could receive right now? At this moment, just give me the magic answer to losing all this fucking weight and getting in shape and being happy. Do you usually forgive when someone hurts your or try to get revenge? I forgive too much. Were there any subjects in school that were really easy for you? English and most science. Did you ever skip a grade or get held back a grade? No. Was your first car used or new? I haven't had my own car yet. How often do you watch the news? Never. Do you have a fan in your room? I have two. Have you ever hatched an egg? In elementary school, as a class. It was a chick. :') I think it was in kindergarten? Would you like to go to a fortune teller? No, because I wouldn't support them spouting bullshit and lying to people. Do you chew gum on a daily basis? No. I've actually been craving gum for a long time now... For each person you’ve kissed, describe your feelings in one word: My feelings towards them? Jason: Remorseful. Tyler: Eye roll. Sara: thankful. Girt: love. Do you have “friends” that you actually hate? That's some juvenile shit. No. Would you rather get [another] tattoo or piercing? Gimme both, but if I had to pick, a tattoo. If you’re dating someone, how long has it been? It's been just shy of a month Feels a lot longer. If you’re a girl, have you ever had the urge shave your hair? Not shave my entire head, no. Do you live by a forest? Not anymore. :/ Do your parents drink? My dad is a recovered alcoholic, so he doesn't touch it anymore. Mom only drinks lightly for special occasions. Does downloading music without paying make you feel guilty? Yes, and yet I do it anyway. :x Does your house have air conditioning? Yes. What do you believe in more: Ghosts or demons? Ghosts. I don't believe in demons. Do you think they’re making too big of a deal over Michael Jackson’s death? Old survey is old, but no, not really. He was an absolute pop icon that was deeply loved by millions and millions and inspired the genre deeply. I wasn't even a big fan and yet I felt for those who were. French fries or onion rings? The former. I don't like onion rings. Favorite healthy snack? Um. I suppose apple slices w/ peanut butter, especially lately. Or strawberries. ]If you see a bee in your house... are you going to kill it? Bees honestly scare me, so I'm not touching it. Mom will have to get it, and I know she would kill it. Would you feel funny if you kissed somebody of the same sex? Done it before, and it didn't feel weird. If your best friend grabs your hand, what do you automatically do? I'd look at her and ask what's wrong. What’s something you can cook or bake like a pro? Nothing. Do you tend to flirt a lot, even when the person isn’t single? No, especially if the person is taken. Can grills be sexy on a guy? Grills are unattractive on everyone. Have you ever flown first class? Ha, yeah right. Are you the type of person who can shake insults off easily, or do they tend to stick around in your brain & bother you? They stick around for years upon years. Some I think I'll never forget.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #474

Top Ten Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

I am stunned – stunned! – that I’ve not done this one before. I mean, come on! It’s right there.

So there’s obviously a thematic resonance going on here. This weekend – the weekend you’re meant to be reading this – is famous where I come from because of a story where someone came back from the dead. Unlike other holidays – Christmas, Halloween, the release of a Star War – I’ve actually been a little slow off the mark in making lists that celebrate Easter. I’ve done eggs and bunnies, but incredibly I’ve never done resurrections, which really is the day’s whole deal. I mean, if you get down to brass tacks, it’s kinda the big selling point of the entire religion really. I hesitate to say “USP” because, well, it’s been done elsewhere, but it’s still supposed to be one of the big Christian takeaways (there’s definitely a chain of Christian takeaways in the States, isn’t there?).

Anyway, resurrection. It’s actually more common than you might think. Certainly in terms of comics there are probably more characters who’ve “died and come back” than have never “died” at all. But! And this is where I get pernickety. Most characters who “die” don’t actually die. Take Batman for instance: he’s shot in the face by Darkseid, and then Superman ups and finds his charred corpse, but – shocker! – he’s not actually dead, he was just sent back in time, where he Quantum Leaps his way back to the present day, accumulating enough Omega Energy with each leap that by the time he reaches the present day he’s blow a hole in reality. Or something, I’ve not read that story for quite a few years. Anyway: he wasn’t dead. Neither was Sherlock Holmes, or for that matter Dirty Den. Generally speaking, if someone dies in a story and then reappears, they’re not dead. Not really.

So this list here is supposed to be people who actually died. Now, even here, it’s debatable; I mean, is E.T. dead, or does his body just go into some kind of hibernation? If Optimus Prime’s brainwaves survive, does he ever really die? Is a clone someone coming back to life or not? It’s all a bit wishy-washy really, which kind of makes sense when you’re talking about resurrection. And let’s not get onto the chief resurrector, the Doctor; do they die every time they regenerate? Or is the regeneration itself a way of staving off death? When David Tennant turned into Matt Smith, did the Tennant-Doctor die? “I don’t want to go,” and all that; there’s always a subtle (or not-so-subtle) change in personality. Does that count? Well, for the purposes of this list, I’ve kinda decided it doesn’t. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, if you’re a big old nerd like me.

So yeah: people who have died – properly, I suppose – and then come back to life. That’s the list. No fakery, to mistaken identity, no alternate universe shenanigans; they were dead but they got better (no Chev Chelios either; sorry, Stath stans). No zombies either! Or vampires! They’re not undead; they were dead, and now they’re alive again. That’s the rule. Also I’ve seriously tried to limit comic book characters. And I’m sure there are some big omissions (like, I know there’s one from Game of Thrones that’s not on here, but that’s because I’ve not seen that far into the show yet; I know, I know). But I reckon these are the best at being back.

Optimus Prime (Transformers franchise, from about 1987): OP is the OG when it comes to coming back to life. Dying and then stopping being dead is pretty much his thing. Technically the first time he came back from the dead was in the original animation; famously being offed by Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he came back to life a year later. Subsequent media have frequently killed him and brought him back, even in the live-action movies, but I want to talk about the comics. Because the original Marvel run killed off Optimus at a similar time as the cartoon; he’s blown up in slightly contrived circumstances, but his brain is saved on a floppy disk. Two years later he has his body rebuilt and his brain restored and he’s off to the races once more. Then in 1991, when facing down planet-eating mega-bastard Unicron, he sacrifices himself again, but this time his personality has begun to merge with that of his ostensibly-human companion Hi-Q. Hi-Q/Prime is converted/rebuilt into a new body, and he wins the war. So there you go: even in this one sliver of continued continuity – not including off-shoots or spin-offs, let alone other iterations of the overall franchise – Optimus Prime died and came back to life twice. Beat that, Easter.

E.T. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): not much to say here that we don’t already know from the Book of Spielberg. E.T., doddery little alien magic-man, grows sicker and sicker as he’s stuck on Earth, until in a thrillingly-edited set-piece he seems to expire, human doctors unable to help him. “I know you’re gone,” says best bud Elliot, “because I don’t know what to feel.” But then! His heart glows! His colour returns! And he positively yells, “E.T. phone hooooooome!” – and Elliot’s euphoric laugh is just devastating. The whole sequence – what is it, ten minutes? Fifteen? – is masterful in every way, from the technical to the performative to the emotional. Bloody magic is what it is.

Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 1954): Gandalf the Grey famously leads the Fellowship of the Ring across the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where he faces off against a Balrog. After a bit of “you shall not pass” and all that, they both fall from the bridge, battling each other on the way down, before both perishing at the bottom. Gandalf, though, is not really Gandalf, but Olórin, one of the Maiar – basically a kind of angel, I guess. He is returned to Earth by the powers-that-be to complete his mission, and is promoted to Gandalf the White, supplanting the corrupt wizard Saruman. This new iteration of Gandalf is a bit more serious and steadfast, although he does retain his fascination with hobbits. Regardless, he gets a terrific death scene and a triumphant resurrection, and how it ties into Tolkien’s wider mythology is interesting.

Superman (DC Comics, 1993): comic book characters die and come back all the time; it’s pretty much a staple of the medium. I guess Jean Grey/Phoenix is probably the most famous, but they’ve all done at some point (even if, like in my Batman example earlier, sometimes they don’t actually die). Anyway, Superman died, very famously, after getting into a tremendous barney with genetically-engineered super-git Doomsday (as famously, and atrociously, depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). The whole “Death of Superman” arc is interesting and entertaining as an example of mid-nineties big-panel EXTREME storytelling: as the issues tick down to the fateful scrap in Metropolis, the number of panels-per-page is reduced until the final issue is basically just full of splash pages. It’s a terrific, exhilarating rumble, really selling the heft of the confrontation. Interestingly, the comic spends a lot of time afterwards dealing with life without Superman, as a raft of imitators/wannabe successors emerge from the woodwork; these include the best-ever Superboy, Conner Kent, and Steel, who’s basically Superman meets Iron Man. Eventually, of course, Superman comes back, his body essentially having been sent to a Kryptonian day spa to recuperate; he emerges clad in black and with a mullet, so death obviously has some lasting repercussions. Overall, it’s a whopping arc with long-term consequences, and whilst it’s easy to make Christ parallels when discussing Superman, this story doesn’t really hew that way (unlike the Snyder-verse which really goes all-in on that plot point, much to the films’ detriment). One of the better aspects is how, even in death, Superman is an inspiration, which in itself has a long trail; leading, eventually, to Batman’s famous withering diss, “the last time you inspired someone was when you where dead.” Anyway, I’ve gone on about this far too long.

Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984): let’s start by acknowledging just how great Spock’s death is in Wrath of Khan. As a plot point within the film, as a piece of staging and performance, and as a landmark moment in this franchise, it was seminal; a death for the ages (as an aside, it’s crazy to think Star Trek as a whole was only sixteen years old when Spock died; the MCU was eleven when Tony Stark clicked the bucket). Anyway, they built an entire film around how to bring him back, and Spock as we know him is absent for much of it; a presence looming over everything as he rapidly ages, going through his Vulcan super-puberty and everything. It’s actually a rather sombre film as Kirk’s son is killed and the Enterprise blows up; bringing back Spock comes with a very real cost. Trek III is not one of the top-tier films – in the loose trilogy that comprises Khan, Spock, and The Voyage Home it’s certainly the weakest – but it’s still pretty good, often underrated. And, of course, it brings back Spock, which is nice.

Agent Coulson (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2013): Coulson’s death in Avengers comes as a huge shock, one of the fan-favourite characters being brutally offed in surprising fashion. In a film chock full of super-people, it’s the ordinary guy who buys it tragically. However, did any of us really think he was dead-dead? And so barely a year later he pops back up in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. However, his reincarnation became a recurring plot point; his references to spending time in Tahiti (“It’s a magical place”) becoming increasingly sinister as we come to understand even he doesn’t know how he’s back up and running. The eventual truth – Nick Fury using painful and transformative alien tech to basically bring Coulson back to life – may be a bit underwhelming, but it gave Clark Gregg a lot of meat to chew on dramatically speaking, and it underscored a lot of his character development going forward (especially when he, yes, died again, and then sort-of came back, twice).

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2001): full disclosure: I never watched Buffy religiously. I think I just missed it at the start and it was only when all my friends were talking about how great it was that I started tuning in more regularly. Weirdly, I think the most I watched it was around the time Buffy died and came back. It’s fascinating, really, and full credit to the show for the way they explored it; in a series full of magic, the afterlife, and the undead, bringing a character back to life isn’t too shocking. Willow, Buffy’s witchy mate, resurrects her with magic; but in an excellent twist, it turns out that she was in Heaven, and is super pissed off to be pulled out of paradise and stuck back on Earth, leading to her feeling depressed and alienated all season. That’s a great hook for bringing a character back, and leads to some meaty stuff for Sarah Michelle Geller to do.

Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003): do you ever feel that The Matrix has slipped from popular culture a little bit? Twenty years ago it was ascendent, rivalling Lord of the Rings for the title of “the new Star Wars”. Everyone was copying it. but now hardly anyone talks about it. probably because it hasn’t had a multimedia shelf-life comprising dozens of games and spin-off shows. Maybe the new film will change that. But I digress; Hugo Weaving is tremendous as Agent Smith in the first film, and is exploded at the end (spoilers) by Keanu Reeves’ Neo. Unsurprisingly – especially as he’s, well, just bits of code – he’s back in the sequel. However, he’s now been corrupted; he becomes, basically, a virus, self-replicating and threatening not just our heroes but the Matrix itself. This builds across two films, as Neo has to fight dozens of Smiths in the famous “Burly Brawl”, before the final conflict in The Matrix Revolutions when it seems everyone in the program has been Smithed. It offers Weaving a lot of scenery to chew on and makes for some great set-piece battles, even if the films themselves are a little disappointing.

Olaf (Frozen II, 2019): let’s not beat around the bush here – Olaf carks it in Frozen II. Okay, maybe Elsa dies; maybe Anna dies in the first film. They’re frozen, right, but I feel like it’s “magic ice” and there’s something going on there. Do they come back to life or were they ever really dead? Anyway, Elsa is effectively “gone” but we get a protracted death scene for the comic relief talking snowman. He literally fades away, slowly dying in Anna’s arms, and melts into a flurry of snow that blows away. People talk about Bambi’s mum all the time, but mark my words; “Olaf’s death” is going to be cited as a major traumatic incident for twenty-year-olds in 2030. His resurrection, truth be told, is slightly less great, Elsa just straight-up bringing him back to life, reminding us that “water has memory” to let us know that it’s the same Olaf and he remembers everything (including, presumably, dying? That’s creepy). And that, to be honest, is where I draw the line; sentient wind and rock monsters I can handle, but we all know homeopathy is bollocks.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019): look, I hate this. But let’s deal with it anyway, because I have a funny feeling it’s going to lead to some quite interesting stories being told in spin-off Star Wars fiction. I personally feel quite strongly that Palpatine should have stayed dead. And maybe he did? We are led to believe that the Palpatine we see in Rise is a clone; there are jars of stilted Snokes floating in the background. He’s all knackered and broken, eyes blackened and fingers dropping off; clearly he’s not well. So is he really the same character at all? Is his Sith essence somehow fed into this new body, the way Prime’s mind is downloaded from a floppy disk (“run prime.exe”)? Let’s say it counts, let’s say he’s the same slimy Palps we know and love. He is, at least, a sinister presence, and like I say, the whys and wherefores of how he came to be back is quite interesting. There’s a fascinating story to be told about the rise of Snoke and the seduction of Ben Solo – a more interesting story than anything told in The Rise of Skywalker, for starters. Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian seems to be researching cloning and seeks to extract midichlorians from a Force-sensitive being; are we to conclude that this in service of making a new body for the Emperor? All this – stuff hinted at but not explored in the film itself – is, like I say, interesting if not outright fascinating. And I agree, there is a certain degree of circularity in bringing back the series’ Big Bad for the final instalment. But I still feel, hand on heart, that it undoes a lot of the victory of Return of the Jedi (as did The Force Awakens, if I’m honest), as well as throwing away all the development of Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. So: Palpatine is cool, his presence and backstory in Rise of Skywalker is suitably creepy and interesting, but on the whole it’s crap and they shouldn’t have brought him back. The end.

Ten people who definitely died and definitely un-died! What could be more Easter-y? Honourable mention goes to the episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer changes history and ends up not being a hologram, only to accidentally blow himself up in the final seconds.