#so. give them something to expect. who is this mysterious weird looking individual in the op?

[daz4i]

it doesn’t make sense for bram to appear in the anime this season besties i’m p sure he’s in the new op so sharp eyed anime onlys will see the “there are 5 doa members” and connect the dots

[crazilust]

Analyzing celebrities’ fashion according to their venus signs (pt.1)

I believe you can tell alot about someone just by looking at the clothes they've choose to wear. Let's analyze different celebrities' fashion and their venus sign (as well as the degree they're in) and give you some advice on how you can incorporate it in your own fashion style.

Aries venus

Audrey Hepburn

Even though we associate Aries venus with a very flamboyant style (and trust me, they can be and most of them are), I found important to put Audrey Hepburn as an example of someone who’s mastered the minimal, elegant fashion. Aries are very determinate and passionate individuals and once they have their eyes set on something, they’ll achieve it at all cost. I found it relevant in Hepburn’s style, because to me she achieved the quintessential minimalist fashion. She was able to balance being minimal while not being boring and basic, while staying true to herself. I think that’s one of the main strength of Aries venuses. They have to stay true to themselves, and when they do, they’re able to master their own fashion sense.

Also interesting to note that her venus is in a capricorn degree, which could also explain the more minimalist route.

Lady Gaga

On the other side of the spectrum, we’ve got Lady Gaga who also represents Aries venus perfectly. Her ability to tell a story with her clothes has become something we know and associate her for. Again, even if it’s completely different to Hepburn’s, you can still very much see Gaga’s need to be authentic to herself. Her style is a bit more tone down (see picture on the top right), but it’s still close to who she is as a person. It just evolved. Her willingness to be weird and over the top despite the constant misunderstanding of others and nagging, demands a lot of bravery and if that's not an Aries venus in a nutshell, I don't know what it is.

Her venus is in a Piscean degree (24), which could explain her intrinsic desire to use fashion as an art form and always push its boundaries.

Final take

If I were an Aries venus, I would take a long time reflecting on what I truly like, what type of person I am and how I want to be seen before buying anything. I would forget the trends and start investing in personal development in order to see how I could translate that into my clothes. Am I more a lowkey, mysterious kind of person? Flamboyant and over the top? The moment I’d be able to choose at least three words to describe me, I’d start building my closet around them and remind myself that I can go to extremes if I damn wanted to.

Taurus venus

Princess Diana

As a fellow Taurus venus, I’d be lying if I said that Princess Diana is not one of my main inspiration. To me, she represents perfectly what Taurus venus is all about. Simplicity, elegance and effortlessness. There’s a simplicity here, an ease that is very admirable from Princess Diana. It’s almost like she just threw this on but looks phenomenal as a result. It’s polished, but not forced at all and that’s where Taurus’ strength lies. Making it look easy. I also added her biker short outfit to represents Taurus’ need for comfort, but why not make it look cute? Also monochromatic looks to add that touch of put togetherness.

With her venus in 24 degrees (Pisces), we notice her tendency to break the mold and transcend beyond people's expectations. With today's eyes, it doesn't seem that groundbreaking, but at the time, and especially for a Royal, it was cra-zy (also the first one to be known for her fashion!)

Prince

What I wanted to focus on by putting Prince is his sensuality that I feel is overlooked alot when we talk about Taurus Venus. Or it's taken for granted almost. They have this little je-ne-sais-quoi that is so attractive and again, so effortless. Prince mastered this aspect so much and I find it very interesting. His clothes were a direct translation of how he felt about himself. Showing a little skin there, some see-through blouse here. Nothing extremely vulgar, but you get the message. I also wanted to put him there because whenever we think of Taurus venus celebrities, we always reference the most stereotypical ones like Ariana Grande and Lana del Rey. They most obviously embody the Venusian energy, but if you don't like this aesthetic, you can definitely be a little bit more out there just like Prince did.

With his venus in 7 degree, being a Libra degree, Prince was doubling down on his venusian energy, amping up the charm and sensuality while still being seen as charming.

Final take

What I would do (and should start to do actually) as a Taurus venus is focus on the quality of the clothes I put on my body, no matter the aesthetic or fashion choices. At the end of the day, Taurus look fabulous and effortlessly glam, but in order to enhance this trait, it's going to be important to invest in quality pieces in order to emanate this energy. I understand that not everybody wants to invest in clothes, but there's many ways you can do this without breaking the bank : thrift stores, depop, vinted (it might just take longer). Some signs can get away with cheap clothes, distressed clothing, but as Taurus venus, it definetely looks messy and not necessarily in a cute, grunge way lol.

Gemini venus

Margot Robbie

To my surprise, there's actually a lot of supermodels or sex icons/bombshells who possess a Gemini Venus. I say to my surprise, because I always see Geminis as kind of quirky, but it's true, they do embody the perfect balance of being hot but approachable (the twins archetype after all). It's like they can very well be the nerdy shy girl and the bombshell the next minute. I think you can actually see that in Margot Robbie's style where it's very Girl-Next-Door, but with an edge. The monochromatic pink look is to die for but switch the palette for a neutral look, platform for regular slippers and it's not as eye-catching. Without these two small details, you get a very basic look. I would've expected flamboyance, but from what I saw from these celebrities (ex: Kristen Bell, Sandra Bullock) is that they really embody the Model Off Duty vibes, where everything they put has a little edge to it while still appearing very approachable and mainstream. Which, when we think about it, is very reminiscent of Geminis.

Her Venus being in a Leo degree (8) could explain her tendency to want to be extra, lean more on the glamorous side and wear monochromatic colourful outfits

Megan Fox

Another route you could choose, as Megan Fox did, is to go push that Cool Girl fashion all the way and experiment fully with your closet, mixing and matching pieces with different textures and colours. Fox has always been known for her sex appeal and you can definitely see that in her fashion choices in the beginning of her career, but as of lately, she's been more avant-garde with her choices and honestly more fun. She definitely reminds me of the cool girls in my town walking around like they're just out of the fashion magazine, not giving a F about anything and you can't help but notice them.

Her venus is in 23 degrees, which is an Aquarius degree and could definitely explain her tendency to explore different styles and play with colours. Being very experimental.

Final take

What I would do if I were a Gemini Venus, is that I would learn my colours, my signature style and what goes best for my silhouette in order to put forward my best features. While this can be said for anyone, I think Gemini Venus is still very well thought out and in order to give that illusion of "I just got up", you're gonna have to know what makes you pop. As opposed to Taurus, for example, who can just rock an oversized hoodie and some boots and make it look elegant because that's what their energy gives off, Gemini is going to have to work a little bit harder. Experiment. Alot !

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

That's it from me folks, I'll post part 2 containing Cancer, Leo and Virgo venus very soon :)

[sebscore]

couple of suggestions for leclerc!reader. 1. leclerc!reader gets hit by a car and it's not looking very good, but they make a full recovery. 2. Her brothers hear that their sister has a boyfriend and later learn that the guys she's seeing is f2 driver oliver bearman (or any one of the f2 boys).

A BOYFRIEND? | CHARLES LECLERC

pairings: charles leclerc x sister!reader / arthur leclerc x sister!reader / ollie bearman x leclerc!reader

warnings: this fic is situated somewhere in 2022 as arthur and ollie are teammates in this story.

author's note: thank you so much for the request, my darling! ollie isn't exactly her boyfriend in this, but they're not exactly friends either so i hope it's okay <3 let me know what you think of it!

• • • • • • •

It had been Arthur's idea to invite his family to his apartment in Italy, wanting to show off his newfound independence. Pascale, Charles and Y/N would spend a few days there before going back home to Monte Carlo. Lorenzo couldn't make it due to work obligations, but he would join them another time.

The youngest Leclerc was having a great time, apart from having to share a room with Charles as Arthur didn't have enough space for everyone to sleep individually.

It was mid day when the doorbell rang, confusing Arthur as he wasn't expecting anyone to come over. Charles and his mum were watching tv and his sister was doing whatever girls do alone in their room.

He opened the door and was surprised when he saw Ollie, his teammate. The pair had gotten along well ever since the young Brit had joined Prema and the Ferrari Driver Academy. Ollie isn't allowed to have a driver's license yet, so Arthur would often bring him to places around Maranello.

''Ollie! Hey, how are you?'' Arthur greeted him, a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance. His teammate nervously smiled. ''I'm good, mate! You?''

''Me too, thanks,'' the Monégasque noticed Ollie wasn't wearing his usual Ferrari shirt and had replaced it with a black hoodie, ''so, uh, is everything alright? I don't think we made plans or anything?'' Arthur hoped he hadn't forgotten anything important.

''Oh, uh, I'm actually here for-''

''Ollie, darling, come on in!'' Pascale interrupted the youngster, appearing from behind Arthur and urging him to enter the apartment. Arthur's confusion grew with each second passing, but he moved to the side to let Ollie in.

Charles stood up from the couch as their new guest walked in, just as puzzled as his little brother. He approached the Brit and shook his hand. ''Hi, I'm Charles. Nice to see you.''

''Nice to meet you, I'm Ollie.'' He quickly responded, hoping his sweaty palms didn't bother the Ferrari driver too much.

''Ollie, you want something to drink?'' Pascale offered him, pointing her finger in the direction of the kitchen. ''Oh, I'm alright, but thank you.'' He politely declined.

''Arthur, go and see if your sister's ready yet.''

''Ready for what?''

''Just go check on her.'' Pascale lightly pushed him to his guest room where his sister resided.

He gave everyone a weird glance, but he listened to his mother's orders nevertheless. Arthur walked quickly as he wanted to get answers as fast as possible since the reason for Ollie's appearance at his house was still a mystery.

He knocked on the door, waiting for his sister to give her consent to let him in. ''Who is it?'' He heard her question.

''Arthur.''

''Go away.''

Just like always, he ignored his sister's words and walked into the room anyway. She was spraying some perfume as she saw her brother enter, making her roll her eyes. ''I said go away.''

''Mum asked me to check if you were ready yet,'' he explained his presence, observing his sister as she paced around the room, ''wait- did you put on makeup?'' Arthur frowned, her face looked a bit different than usual.

''Yeah, so?'' Y/N bit back, not in the mood to be teased.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders. ''You want to look pretty for someone?'' Despite noticing his sister wasn't in a joking mood, he opted to tease her anyway.

''What's wrong with you?'' She groaned.

''What's wrong with you, blabla…'' Arthur repeated her words, copying her tone in an overdramatized way.

''Maman!'' Y/N yelled, receiving a push from her older brother. ''Okay, sorry!'' He didn't want their mother to come all the way down there.

It was as if seeing his sister all dolled up switched a gear in his head, it made everything clear. ''Hold on- Ollie is here… you're wearing makeup… mum asked me to see if you were ready… you're not going on a date with him are you?''

''That single brain cell of yours is doing a lot of work right now, Thur.'' Y/N grabbed her handbag and walked out of the guest room, Arthur closely following her.

Ollie had set himself down on one of the chairs as Pascale kept insisting he made himself comfortable, but as soon as the Leclerc girl walked into the room, he stood up. ''Hey, Y/N.''

''Hi, Ollie.'' She blushed, the Brit having an effect on her that made the young girl all giddy inside.

''Alright, have fun you two,'' Pascale motioned for the pair to get going, ''be smart.'' She kissed Y/N's cheek, bidding her daughter goodbye.

''I know, bye.''

She waited until they were out of the door before returning to the living room, where she found her two sons still standing in the same place as earlier. ''Everything okay?''

''When were you gonna tell us our sister has a boyfriend?'' Charles asked, offended that their mother would keep such information to herself and not share it with them. ''And that it's my teammate?'' Arthur added, pointing at himself.

Pascale chuckled, amused by their cluelessness. ''Ollie is not her boyfriend, but they've been on a few dates with each other and she's been really enjoying it.'' She explained to them, a genuine smile on her face.

''She's only 17 years-old, she can't have a boyfriend.'' Arthur argued, cringing as the words left his mouth. ''Okay, she can have a boyfriend, but why does it have to be him?'' He quickly changed his mind.

''What's wrong with Ollie? He's a nice young man and his parents are very good people.'' Their mother defended the Brit, confused as to why Arthur didn't want him as his sister's boyfriend.

Arthur sighed. ''Cause I race against him! What if they get together and then they break up or something? He might push me off the track! Or what if he hurts her? Then I'll kill him on the track.'' The man clarified his disdain for Ollie dating his younger sister.

''You're not killing anyone on track, okay? They're just going on dates, you're overthinking everything.'' Charles calmed him down. He wasn't too keen on his baby sister dating a driver, but he wasn't thinking like Arthur.

''I'm more offended that she didn't tell me anything, how long has this been going on?'' Charles continued, glancing at his mum.

Pascale thought for a few moments. ''A few months, with his racing and her school they can't meet that often.'' She answered.

''MONTHS?!'' Both of the Leclerc brothers chorused, absolutely shocked this wasn't something recent. ''What do you mean months? You're telling me this guy has been trying to get into my sister's pants for months and I didn't know about it?'' Arthur said, flabbergasted.

Pascale scoldingly hit his arm. ''Keep that language to yourself, Arthur! Y/N asked me to not tell anyone until she knew it was a bit more serious between them,'' she told the two of them, ''I don't want any of that negative energy around her, okay? She's always been supportive of whoever you two are dating and you're gonna do the same for her, understand?'' Pascale held a stern look on her face.

Their mother's scolding brought them back to earth. She was right, whether they liked their sister dating a driver or not, they had to support her, just like she has been supporting them.

''You're right, mum. We're gonna be supportive.'' Charles confirmed to her, giving her a hug. They both glimpsed at Arthur, who sighed but eventually joined their embrace. ''Okay, but if he breaks her heart, I'll just lightly touch him with my car.''

Y/N arrived home hours later, right in time for dinner. Both Arthur and Charles weren't home as they were called in to go to the Scuderia Ferrari home for either some meetings or simulation work. It was late in the night when they arrived home.

She was already falling asleep when Charles came into their shared room, trying not to make too much noise, but failing. ''Charles, be quiet.'' She mumbled, her pillow covering a bit of her mouth.

''Sorry, Chérie,'' he apologized, laying down on his mattress that was spread on the floor, ''how, uh, was your date with Ollie? I saw him working out in the gym.'' He asked, curiously.

Y/N had started to doze off again, but his question woke her up a little. ''We walked around Maranello and we got something to eat, and-''

''Did he pay?'' Charles interrupted.

''Yes, he paid.''

''Good.''

''Anyway- it was really nice and we talked a lot, so, uh, I had a great time.'' She finished her answer, closing her eyes again.

Charles simply hummed, trying to find the right words to say. ''That's good to hear, you think that it's getting serious between you two? That it's going somewhere?''

''Maybe, he's a really great person and I like hanging out with him, so I hope it's going somewhere.'' She truthfully replied, feeling weird about saying all of this to her older brother.

He nodded. ''Do you wa-''

''Perceval, I want to sleep.''

''Oh, okay! Goodnight, I love you.''

''...''

''...''

''I love you too.''

''...''

[blacclotusss]

Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before Light

I mainly want to talk about three main things that I gravitated towards in this episode: Claudia & Madeleine, Armand & the Coven, and The Trial. 

Claudia & Madeleine

I didn't expect to be all for this companionship the way that I am, but this relationship is so sweet and as pure as it can get between a human and a vampire turned immortal love. I think their connection and their relationship represent what all these immortal relationships could be. They seem to understand one another and learned how to work with what the other was offering and I think that's the sweetest thing. I knew they would get along and probably form some sort of bond from their first interaction (absolutely loved Claudia in this scene and how she moved). I'm glad Claudia found someone who is all for her without their being any weird animosity, like with the coven, or feeling as if the most important person in her life is choosing everyone else but her. The description of the little scene of Claudia in daylight with her beautiful yellow dress being from Madeleine's mind was so, so beautiful and nearly moved me to tears. Finally, even if it was just a vision, we see Claudia happy and cheerful as she deserves to have been all her life. This woman has been through enough and it stinks that things end for her the way the way they do, at least in other versions of this story. I'm glad she was able to find a companion, even if it were just for a short period of time. Oh how I wish they would have stayed traveling the world...

Armand & The Coven

Let's start with Armand by himself and everything he has going on. Armand is a powerful, yet insecure guy that needs some structure in his life and will fall apart if he doesn't have it. My personal belief is that's the reason why he doesn't let that coven go not does he really get too physical with them, I mean he's got the whole mind thing going on so he doesn't really have to. But, as much as he is insecure and powerful, he's also manipulative. Manipulation is literally this man's day job and it was hilarious when he said "Are you asking me, Maitre?" when he and Louis was like "...okay girl we ain't doing this today." But, he knows how to work a crowd and a room, which we've seen with the dinner and in San Francisco and even in Dubai with the whole "you asked for it" thing. He likes to spin things like he's a DJ playing a set and even I had to come to the realization of just how bad he is. Again, he is a beautifully tragic individual (the third tragic beauty I have attached myself to) but that's a sneaky little thing. 

Now, in regards to him and the coven, Armand was never going to fight that coven on matters regarding Claudia. Louis? Probably. But he has the same goal of getting Claudia out of the way that Louis' previous man did. Not only does he feels she's in the way of their relationship, but she is the living embodiment of a broken immortal law. I think he probably wanted her out from the moment he figured them out, which was day one. I was also trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there was absolutely no way he didn't hear them plotting. Maybe that's why he told Louis they should leave...O don't know! My question is if he will actually interfere with them, and I'm assuming, trying to kill Louis? Like, that's supposed to be his love, I'm hoping he does something. And, I need to know what Louis' reasoning was for staying with him after that, unless it's some more memory stuff. Did he know Lestat would be there? Also, cannot wait to see how Daniel will aid in unfolding all of this. 

The Trial

This whole thing is really a damn headache and I hope every coven member gets burned down to a crisp, especially that bleach blonde heifer parading around like he's the best actor to walk the earth. I'm glad Armand AND Louis yoked him up! Buffoon! I always knew there was something with that man, he gave too many mysterious looks for me as if he was trying to pick them apart from the inside. He even goes on to try and get close to Claudia just to put her on trial for killing her abuser. Guillotine! Go meet you maker, thesp! And speaking of abuser...it's so funny how they bring Lestat into this whole thing when he's definitely a part of the problem. Aside from all of the nonsense and abuse he's put Louis and Claudia through, he also broke one of the rules by turning Claudia at 14 years old all because his miserable self couldn't bear to be alone or without Louis. Are they going to try and kill him, too? Or is he their God just like Armand once was? This is sarcasm if you didn't catch it. It's just...very questionable that they overlook everyone else's faults to get rid of her. And why is Madeleine on trial? That girl ain't do a thing to them people. Will they torture Armand as well by making him watch? I'm just rambling my thoughts at this moment, but I can't help but notice...something about the way these people move. 

[syrupspinner]

i completed the demo for metaware high school

shoutout to beloved mutual autistic nari for selling me on this, and sorry for forgetting to make this post until now lol. thisll be a long one so strap in!

so i think its safe to say that ddlc really shook up indie gaming from a cultural standpoint. first is that it helped people figure out that visual novels have value as a medium, inexplicably. theres been this weird holdover in western gaming culture at large from like, the 2010s xbox era, where visual novels dont count or something. if people engage with them at all, its dismissively, and people come away with the idea that everything is a sound novel and therefore boring. but like... not only are sound novels good, but ryukishi07's work is the only example of a vn not having an interactive component. dating sims are basically stat managers, detective games require attentive puzzle-solving, and a lot of vns outside that have interesting gameplay hooks like va11hallas drink mixing

all this is to say that i feel like ddlc was designed in a lab to be a 'hiding medicine in the balogna' situation, where people can say that it may be a visual novel, but its totally worth it for the funny viral scares. well, im glad it did, because now it feels like people are very very slightly more receptive to visual novels

but, more importantly, it brought more attention to the postmodern potential of video games as a medium. this isnt the first time that gaming has borrowed aspects of postmodern literature (characterized by interacting with itself and intentionally subverting audience expectation) such as stanley parable's famous use of a unreliable narrator within the context of a controllable story. but ddlc makes it feel ludonarrative. games like oneshot and imscared already paved the way for games that interact with the player as computer files and use this context to create puzzles and simulate a haunted computer, but ddlc was one of the first games to make a character aware of the fourth wall and interact with their negative feelings on the matter. traditionally, 4th wall breaks are treated as comedic, seen best with characters like gwenpool. but... wouldnt knowing that not only is everything in the world fake, but there is only a single person who actually matters? a player that has agency that you are designed to lack, a sole audience member that you are asked to perform for. thatd fuck anyone up.

hence, metaware high school. fun fact, because of how much i associate VNs with high school settings with japanese culture, i keep wanting to pronounce it metawarAY, but that ruins the pun of the portmanteau of meta and aware. i played fucking めたわれ bro.

so its pretty clear that this game is iterating on ddlc, only in the context of being in a demo. in addition, it takes more of a character studying approach to how individuals understand their world. nari gives into despair and helplessness knowing that she is helpless to fight her scripted actions. hope takes a very relaxed and lackadaisical "its just a demo, bro" outlook, izzy is obsessed with fulfilling her role but anxious because she doesnt know what the full game is. the idea that they dont know the full game is interesting, because it brings to mind religious undertones. christians, as children of god, are 'supposed' to live godly lives, and seek fulfillment from something that they can only trust is invisibly real. the difference is that the player is different from the creator. i didnt make izzy, but its still her purpose to demonstrate the game. what is the punishment for failure? what does failure even look like? is it worth the risk to find out?

going back to nari and hope, i find their dynamic really interesting. the game presents nari as a mysterious character to begin with, hardly talking except for the end of routes. personally, i think it makes sense for her to have such a connection to hope. i should capitalize her name so you dont get confused, huh. its funny because nari has a pretty hopeless disposition, resigned to her fate and disillusioned from her surroundings. i dont think she has completely dehumanized the other characters in the same way monika saw the other club members as meaningless code. my view is that nari is just as real as her friends, and any disregard of them is just from post-realization depression. the player isnt more real or more important, at least outside of the demo's machinations that nari is forced to work within, but instead a lovecraftian intruder from outside their schema of reality. Hope sees them as more of, like, some fella. weird glowy thing. i wonder if they like mochi. this isnt out of stupidity or callous disregard, we are shown scenes of Hope being emotionally considerate and using the structure of reality in creative ways (the "what word am i thinking of" gate), so we as the audience know that Hope is making the personal choice to acknowledge the world in a more positively nihilistic way. yeah, its a demo. thats what the world is. wanna get mochi? i like mochi

i think if Hope werent so roxy lalonde flavoured, Aspen would be my fave. nari reacts with despair, Hope reacts with a casual smile and a shrug, izzy reacts with concern and anxiety, then aspen reacts by thinking about how they can directly benefit from the situation. the second they find out the player knows about the future, they sequester you into a very long series of questions. like, im convinced if the the apocalypse was happening, aspen would cheer and go full mad max. i think this extends to why they want the game to be a dating sim so much, because that would be the genre that directly benefits them the most. like, if its a detective or mystery game, theyd have to solve a mystery or die or whatever, but if its a dating sim they get a cool ephemeral entity to date!

and then theres chris. shes something of a mascot for the game demo, so i expect her reaction to reality (read: her personal philosophy) to be pretty important. from her route, we learn that she loves visual novels, and from that she wants to make the player enjoy her visual novel (demo) too. i think this is interesting on its own: if you learned that the world was a game, wouldnt you want that game to be good? especially in the context of the player messing around and taking the piss, where she gets upset that youre not taking her effort seriously. if izzy is the stage director, chris is the lead actor, at least that's how she's appointed herself. actually, her contrast with izzy is interesting, because theyre both the only characters who feel dedicated to performing their roles appropriately. with izzy, it feels more negative, but chris feels more like a sincere and intrinsic dedication. she wants to make the world better, just because shes enjoyed so many other great worlds and wants to spread that feeling to others.

so yeah, this feels like a more exploratory expansion of ddlc's concept. but upon reflection, i dont think theres anyone who copes with their circumstances the same way monika does. monika goes through a sort of philosophical derealization where the player becomes the only thing thats real, but nobody in metaware feels the same level of disconnection in my opinion. nari gets the closest of course, because she has the most intimate awareness of the games code and script, but shes uniquely powerless and is forced to recognize that, in addition to the aforementioned realness of her friends. so she CANT be a yandere, she hates the player for essentially being spoiled by having the whole world live and die by their convenience. ddlc's player is the most important person (positive) while mwhs's player is the most important person (negative, in naris perspective). it reminds me of how everhood positions itself as a response to undertale, building on its interaction with games as an artistic medium by building on its themes without presenting itself as a correction. i also just love the fact that since the world being a demo is a known truth, no characters perspective is presented as definitive, which does a better job of inviting the player to engage with the world and come to your own conclusion on what reaction would be the most justified

oh, and the ending... its like every character is confronted with the ultimate culmination of the world, as a direct challenge to their personal outlook. Hope's playfulness dissolves into panic, because she never seriously contended with this and used her casual playfulness as a coping mechanism that doesnt work anymore. nari meanwhile is totally nonreactive, this has been a forgone conclusion for her for a long time, such an innate inevitability it may as well already have happened... which doesnt make the moment any more enjoyable, shes panicking as much as Hope. izzy's biggest concern is her friends, the ones shes been panicking at the whole game until that point, the ones shes been relaying her concerns to and desperate to force into line to try and Play Their Role as theyre supposed to, just in case. but shes alone anyway. aspen reflects on their efforts to extract meaning and benefit from their circumstances and lements never having real control. chris romanticizes their memories and just expresses thanks for everything, ever positive. its an interesting analysis of their culmination of all their philosophies. like, hope and nari were pretty opposed, but they feel pretty similar in the end. chris's optimism cant hold up in the face of oblivion and fades into the same mournfulness and regret as her friends. end the end, regardless of outlook, its hard to change the basic human reaction to inevitability and tragedy

metaware is immaculately crafted, its a wonderfully made exploration into human reactions to fundamentally inhuman circumstances. the characters all feel unique and reasonable, memorable yet realistic, but still with a thematically relevant twinge of scripted performance. anyone who doesnt like visual novels can kiss my ass, youre gonna play this and youre gonna like it.

so yeah, excited for the full game! i hope its a roguelike deckbuilder

[ciitrinitas]

fire emblem engage.

finished it last night, so brief revival to log it whilst my thoughts are still clear.

okay, i don't want to lean that hard into comparisons with three houses, but damn, engage was distinctly different from fe16 in such a good way. while there could be some insane clipping (SOMBRON, PLEASE!! THE ENDS OF YOUR HORNS ARE IN YOUR CHEST MORE OFTEN THAN NOT!!), the models were much cleaner and crisper than fe16's. the static backgrounds used in cutscenes also felt correct in regards to perspective. (i still don't understand what happened with that in fe16! the static backgrounds were consistently warped at the wrong angle and looked wrong.) the gameplay was much sharper and with better variety. and alear bepis--i actually like bepis! renaming them as "bepis" had me giggling at the Divine Dragon Bepis all the way to the end, but i grew fond of them. i really prefer when fe does a proper, albeit very typical, character for a protagonist instead of the weird hybrid character/self-insert thing byleth got. i like shipping bepis whereas i recoil from byleth ships.

the gameplay in general...chef's kiss! it had great fe game feel. units felt individual while still being heavily customizable. i really enjoyed the new mechanics like engaging and the break system. the maps were nicely varied, and nothing ever felt like a slog in the way replaying fe16 four times for every route did. i played on normal classic (per usual!), but i might do hard classic on a replay due to how fun and balanced the game felt to me.

engage is definitely more ambitious in the gameplay department than in the story department. fe16...tried to do something more political and involved, but sort of fell flat on its face due to the wonky world building for me. blue lions/azure moon was a borderline euphoric high for me when i played! but it can't carry the rest of the game when it's a more contained narrative about dimitri and isn't as reliant on the mysteries and world building hitting home. so, i'd definitely put bl/am above engage, i would also put engage above fe16 as a whole. i'm leaving engage feeling much warmer about it than i did towards fe16 by the end.

that last chapter was such a delightful cheesefest! i wish it had leaned into that more at times and developed the main royals and bepis' group dynamic more, but the cheese really worked for me. engage's story has all the subtlety of a shounen friendship speech being thrown as a brick at your face, and it goes whole fucking hog into that. bepis gives so many friendship speeches! it's great. not at all perfect, but i had way more of a blast than i expected.

sommie, my beloved. hortensia, my best girl. and goldmary...the unit i decided to feed every permanent stat-boosting item to once i realized Boob Big and who became a nigh-unkillable tank for me.

edit because oh my god, i have to mention lumera. she managed like maybe two scenes that weren't dripping in incest subtext between her and bepis. i didn't expect to ship them as much as i do lmao.

[purpleyoonn]

Masterlist

Individual Masterlist 

One Shot Masterlist

This is my main poly bts master list and will include all of my poly bts works including fics, one shots, and drabbles. 

Key:

💕 poly relationship                 💣mafia                    🔥 smut 

🐥 hybrid                                 ❤️‍🩹 angst                   🌹 soulmate

🦕 slow burn                            💜 fluff                     🌙 yandere

🐺 werewolf                             💼 ceo                       🧛🏻 vampire

SERIES

the Little Fox 💕 🐥 🦕 💜 ❤️‍🩹 🌹🔥

“The idea of being free was a foreign concept. Being free meant having choices, having opportunities. Being a hybrid meant never being free.”

Just as you escaped the Little Fox, a bidding house, you find yourself at war with your thoughts, not wanting to go to another shelter. You didn’t expect yourself to find a home anywhere, especially not with the men who found you, and their pack.

Status: Complete 

Ethereal  💣 💕 ❤️‍🩹 🔥 🌙

“She’s mad but she’s magic.

There’s no lie in her fire.”

~ Charles Bukowski

After leaving your home in need of a fresh start, you open a bookstore with the hopes that the words you read could bring you solace. You never realized that the books you loved would bring you home instead.

Status: Complete

Petrichor  💕 🐺 💼 ❤️‍🩹 💜 🌹 🦕 🔥

Petrichor /ˈpeˌtrīkôr/  (noun)

“a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.”

You had been working at Bangtan Corporation for almost two years now, and not once have you ever laid eyes on your bosses. That was, until you met them when out with some of your coworkers. Now, you almost wish you hadn’t. Almost.

Status: Ongoing

baby (you complete us)   💕 ❤️‍🩹 💜 🌹🔥

Soulmates were a common occurrence, so common, in fact, that the world sought an easier way to find your other half: A bracelet that would scan your mark and match you with those who shared your mark. Within recent years, soul groups were becoming normal, and your own bracelet said you have seven matches.

Or where you wear your bracelet for ten years, and finally give up the hope you would find your soul group, only for BTS to put theirs on and see what they were missing.

Status: Ongoing

Dance of Time  💕 🧛🏻 ❤️‍🩹 💜🌹🔥🌙

“A love like that was a serious illness, an illness from which you never entirely recover.” -Bukowski

You were finally back in the hometown you left right after graduation, researching the mysterious manor that laid outside of the town limits. Your family was acting weird, and the owner of the manor seemed to know more about you than he should. Everything changed when you entered the manor, and you weren’t sure your dance with time was going to last very long.

Ongoing (random updates)

The Line Between Love and War ❤️‍🩹 💕 💜 🔥 🌹

“It is said that the night sky is made up of tiny wishes that humans were never able to fulfill. That the stars only became bright by the fulfillment of those wishes. In your eyes, the stars that shine never seemed real, your childhood wishes dark and dim as you grow. But now, now you understand the twinkle in their eyes as they look down at you.”

Your experiences told you that soulmates were something you would never have the pleasure of having; something not given to you because of who you are, despite the soulmark that resides on your inner left wrist. During your solo trip to Los Angeles, you find out that you are more than capable, that your soulmates had been waiting for you for a long time, and would not be letting you go anytime soon.

Status: Ongoing (random updates)

enchanted   💜 🔥 🌹❤️‍🩹

“I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you.”

The realm under King Min’s rule had been under war for over thirty years, a war within the inhuman species with origins no one knows. Your presence was brought into awareness when found by the king under the rubble of your home. You are plunged into a world you had only ever seen from the outside, and don’t know how long you can last.

status: ongoing (random updates)

A Comforting Hand  💕🐥💜 ❤️‍🩹🌹🔥

“A comforting hand is one that can soothe any situation. Arriving here, and being able to breathe freely without fear of making a sound, you decide then and there that Taehyung had become your comforting hand.”

You had begun to lose all hope of ever seeing the outside of your cage again. A new neighbor arrives and slowly begins to break down your heavily guarded walls, his growls providing your safety as you both face what it means to be an animal.

Status: On Hold

A Bond Made Of Love  💕🐥💜 ❤️‍🩹🌹🔥

“I will protect you from all around you. I will be here don’t you cry. For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm… ‘Cause you’ll be in my heart. Yes, you’ll be in my heart. From this day on now and forever more. You’ll be in my heart no matter what they say, you’ll be here in my heart always.”

-Phill Collins

Your last owner had almost beaten you to death, leaving you at the very shelter he had adopted you from. This time, two tall men walk in, immediately drawn to you as you rested in your small cage. You couldn’t help but become attached, just hoping you wouldn’t be abandoned once again by the idols you grow to love.

Status: On Hold

DRABBLES

From the Little Fox Universe:

This Is Halloween 

It was your first Halloween with the boys and you were adamant about choosing your own costume for Trick-Or-Treating. Despite some setbacks, you were able to choose your costume and get some treats. 

Out Now

From the Ethereal Universe:

Hocus Pocus

Once you found out the boys had never celebrated Halloween before, you decide to throw them your very own Halloween party, fit with spooky snacks and scary movies. You were determined to show them why Halloween was your favorite holiday. 

Out now

From the Little Fox universe:

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

For you first Christmas with your mates, you had wanted to shop for and wrap the presents on your own, unsure if they would like the presents or not. However, after you end up using almost all of the wrapping paper you had bought trying to wrap a single present, you enlist the help of one of your mates.

Out Now

00:00

“and you’re gonna be happy…and you’re gonna be happy. when everything is new, zero o’clock”

When everything seems to go wrong, you come home to the comfort of your boys and realize that maybe the universe isn’t against you.

Out Now

-------------------------------------------------------

ONE SHOTS

mean kitty, soft kitty

Your injured form was the last thing Jin had expected when waking up one morning. But after healing you, and watching you leave, he wished he would wake up to you again, if only to see if you were okay. The rest of his home felt the same way, and when a storm comes, it brings you back to the men who made you feel safe.

posted 04/22

---------------------------------------------

Crumble

“You are ours, little one. And we would crush the world in our fists, watch it crumble to pieces just to make sure it remains so.”

You had decided to make a change, not realizing your men would notice. The consequences bring to light your own insecurities, with which the boys decide it’s time you realize how precious you are to them.

posted 09/06

Eye Of The Beholder

As you begin to notice minute details unseen to you before, you start to realize that what you thought was the truth, was anything but. The people you thought were acquaintances had different ideas of their meaning in your life, and needed to show you who they really were to you. 

Posted 09/12

--------------------------------------------

© 2021 purpleyoon. All rights reserved. 

These works nor any part of their content may be republished, reproduced, translated or used in any manner without the express permission of purpleyoonn. These are works of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. 

[plus-size-reader]

Weird

Stu Macher x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2755 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Stu developing a little bit of a thing for Randy’s coworker at the video store

Just a weird little thing my brain cooked up, with not too much intricate plot to speak of. 

—————————————————————————————————

He’d been staring at you for an hour.

If he didn’t knock it off soon, Stu was sure that it would start to get creepy but he couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t like he could just walk right up to you and start a conversation.

You probably wouldn’t even recognize him.

Besides, Stu wasn’t a super good conversationalist to begin with. He always got tongue tied and made inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times. There was no telling how it would go, especially with you.

Stu’d had his eye on you all this time, and while he had never had trouble making friends, it was different with you.

All he could do was walk around the aisles of the video store, doing his best to look busy as he browsed the video selection.

He had always liked movies, and wasted away plenty of  night watching tapes with his friends but as of late, the movies had little to nothing to do with his frequent visits to the Woodsboro rental, and everything to do with you.

At first, it was innocent.

One night while he and Billy were looking for a couple blockbusters to occupy their time, he noticed you behind the counter where he typically would have found Randy.

It should have ended there, but because Stu was Stu, of course it didn’t.

The next day at school, he had given his strangest friend the third degree about who the hottie in his place was and found out that you were new.

Randy didn’t know too much about you, other than the fact that you chewed gum the entire time you were on the floor and that your favorite movie was Frankenstein. 

It was hardly enough to get to know a person, but it seemed to appease the man enough to end the barrage of questions.

At least for a while.

It wasn’t until he came in six or seven times without his partner in crime that Randy started to get suspicious over just what Stu thought he was doing here. 

After all, he had a girlfriend, a very hot girlfriend, who he could be spending time with instead of stalking you at work.

Not that he actually went out of his way to ask the blonde right away.

While his being there so frequently definitely looked weird, there were plenty of explanations for what Stu could have been doing, and in all honesty, he kind of freaked Randy out.

Besides, if all he wanted to do was look through the VHS tapes, there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. Billy and Stu were both good customers and as long as they kept renting movies, it was all good.

If you just so happened to be there when he came in, that was just how it was.

After all, you worked there so you were bound to be there pretty often. That meant that, coupled with the amount of time Stu and Billy spent there looking for good stuff to watch, you were bound to run into them quite a bit.

There were a lot of regulars.

Woodsboro was a relatively small town and you got familiar with people’s faces, especially those you saw all the time, but that didn’t mean you really knew them. You had begun to recognize Randy’s friends, but they were little more than that to you.

Maybe that was why you seemed to be so oblivious to Stu’s constant attention on you. To you, he was just another customer, one that you were even less familiar with then most of the others because Randy handled all of their business.

You very rarely even interacted with them at all.

Not to mention that you were extra busy tonight with the murders and all that. The residents of this town had taken that terrible act as inspiration to have their own blood-soaked horror movie nights in the comfort of their own homes.

There were so many people here tonight that you weren't even sure you would have had time to notice any individual person at all.

You may not have had time, but Randy certainly did and he’d had enough.

Not only was what Stu was doing inappropriate because he had a girlfriend, but it just made Randy feel kind of weird. You were a really cool person, sometimes Stu would have known if he ever bothered to say hello to you, and you didn’t deserve to be gawked at while you were trying to work.

“You’ve been looking at that for a while, you need help deciding?” Randy asked, less than subtly catching Stu in the middle of his ogling, not that the latter seemed to care in the least. Randy worked with you all the time, surely he saw what Stu saw.

You were hot.

That wasn’t his fault.

All he did was notice.

“Nah man, I’m good” he hummed, even going as far as to wink at Randy, making it painfully obvious that he knew exactly what he knew. There was nothing wrong with checking out a cute girl, and if anything, he assumed that Randy was just jealous.

After all, Stu was sure that he hadn’t made a move on you yet.

“You know Y/N’s a person right? you could just go talk to her” Randy scoffed, snatching the tape from Stu before he could argue.

This whole thing had been going on for too long and it was starting to get ridiculous.

Stu didn’t say anything for a second as he thought over what Randy was proposing. It couldn’t have hurt to actually talk to you, even with as nice as just staring at you for the last hour or so had been.

There was a small chance Billy wouldn’t like it, with the threat it would pose to their long con it would pose, but when the blonde glanced over at his friend to find him chatting up a few girls of his own, he made up his mind.

It wasn’t like talking to you would be the end of the world or something. It was just a conversation and it was like Randy said, you were a person after all.

You had been stacking VHS tapes on the displays around the store for the last few hours, filling in gaps here and there, and by this point, it was like muscle memory. You didn’t really think about it as you put each case on the wall, hardly paying attention to your surroundings.

This was just supposed to be a job to help pass the time and give you a little bit more walking around money, and you didn’t get paid enough to cater to every customer's every need.

That kind of thing was much more up Randy’s alley, who treated this job like the greatest thing to ever happen to him. If someone had a question about a movie, you pointed them in his direction and kept on stacking.

...but that wasn’t always going to work.

Out of nowhere, you heard someone clear their throat behind you, too close to be directed at anyone that wasn’t you.

Naturally, having worked here for a while, you assumed that it was just someone with a question about where to find something and turned around. Helping people find the things they were looking for was literally your only job, after all.

What you could have never expected was Stu Macher, standing there with an almost expectant grin on his face.

“Can I help you find something?” you asked, practically reciting from the script you were given when you were hired here. He was probably looking for some movie full of Jamie Lee flashing her tits, just like every other guy around here was.

Whatever it was he needed though, he needed to get to it.

You had to restock all of these shelves with titles from the back, a task that would surely keep you here until midnight anyway. 

The longer he took to get to the point, the more behind you would be.

Besides, it wasn’t like he needed you specifically for that. He could have just as easily asked Randy for whatever horny horror fest he was searching for.

Not that such a simple idea had struck Stu in all the time he’d been here, doing whatever it was he was doing.

“I’m actually just looking,” he hummed, shrugging in a way that should have sent him back to where he had previously been browsing, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it was a complete and total lie. 

Stu was only here for one reason, and one reason alone.

He had to make a move.

If he didn’t, it was becoming clear that Randy was thinking about it and there was just no way the blonde was going to let that happen.

“You come here often?” he tried after a few seconds, letting himself lean a bit over you, consuming all the space that your height didn’t occupy.

It was quite the line, you had to give him that, not that it was anything other than awkward given his clumsy, goofy delivery and the dopey look on his face.

He wanted to be cool about this whole thing, and to come off mysterious and suave, like Billy always did, but it wasn’t working. Obviously, because as soon as he said it, you laughed.

You actually laughed.

It was hardly the reaction Stu had been expecting from you, or any guy could have expected under the circumstances, but he assumed it was better than you just shutting him down right off the bat.

At least if you were laughing, you weren’t walking away.

“What?” he laughed, an almost unsettled edge to his desperate attempt to salvage any part of this interaction. Given all the time that he’d had to prepare for what exactly it was he was going to say to you, it should have been much better than that.

...but you had to give him some credit.

As awkward as this was, he put himself out there in a way that took a lot of courage, courage that most guys around here didn’t have. Normally, they would just make some crude attempt at sexualizing you then call you fat when you rejected it.

Stu was already vastly ahead of the douchebags you were used to.

“Nothing, that's just much more of a line than I was expecting, Randy put you up to it?” you questioned, catching sight of the way the male in question was gawking over at the two of you, not even bothering to pretend he wasn’t snooping.

It wouldn’t have surprised you if he set it all up to be funny, but Stu didn’t seem to find the same understanding. In fact, he was almost insulted by the idea of what you were suggesting. Like he couldn't just hit on a pretty girl without a reason?

He’d done it plenty of times before without cause.

“Nah, I just wanted to get to know you a little better” he shrugged, continuing to talk even as you leaned down to gather a few of the movies from the storage boxes, headed to the rom com section to stock them on the shelves.

It was sweet, in a strange way.

He was really weird, you couldn’t act like he wasn’t, but there was also something about him that was almost endearing.

“Well, I’m a captive audience until six so ask away” you allowed, a small smile on your face as you tried to focus on doing your job while also maintaining a conversation with the man in front of you. You were trying really hard to keep it as professional as possible, but it wasn’t exactly easy.

After all, he was laying it on pretty thick, making it overly clear just how interested in you he was even though he was trying to convey an air of casualness.

“Okay, what’s your favorite movie?” came Stu’s voice again, accompanied by the tapping of his fingers on the shelf.

You thought over his question for a second or so, doing your best to figure out what he wanted you to say before you decided to just go with it. Talking to Stu wasn’t the worst thing you would have to do today, and based on how it was going, it might actually help pass the time.

At least he was entertaining.

“It depends on what genre you’re looking at, I guess. I like all kinds of stuff” you decided, standing up briefly to find him leaning over the shelf separating the two of you, his face in his hand.

If nothing else, he certainly seemed to be pretty enthralled with this conversation.

It was something you didn’t get super often, and it would be a lie to say that it didn’t feel nice to have someone so interested in every single word that fell from your lips.

It was no wonder he was so popular.

“I’ve always been a horror guy myself. Like any of those?” he asked, tapping his fingers gingerly on the shelf as he spoke, syncing up his words rather nicely as he grinned at you. He was hoping, not so secretly, that you did.

As much as he was clearly attracted to you, his obsession with gore was a big part of Stu’s life and he didn’t want to miss out on it in any way.

It would just be a huge bonus if you liked watching them with him, so that you could watch them together for date nights and stuff.

It would be a good time, not to mention the fact that he and Billy only ever really did that.

“Yeah, I do. That’s actually why I started working here” you informed, thinking about just how quickly you had applied for this job once you found out they were hiring. Of all the places you could work in this town, it just felt like the place.

It was perfect.

“That’s great, I was hoping you'd say that” Stu allowed, smiling at you as he thought about it. All in all, this was going a lot better than he could have ever assumed and now that he knew he could check the horror block with you too, he was thrilled.

You couldn't have been more perfect for him.

“Maybe we could watch some sometime, at my folks place?” he offered, a twinkle in his eye as he finally got to the point that he’d been waiting for all this time.

The two of you had never really had a conversation alone before now, because his friends were always tagging along. However, it wasn’t as if he’d made too bad a first impression, as strange as he was.

You were kind of lost as to what could have brought this on so suddenly but watching a movie or two at his house couldn’t have been the end of the world.

He was harmless, and besides, it could have been fun to get to know him better.

You stopped, straightening up to look him in the face, that same sly grin there that he hadn’t been able to wipe off his face in this entire time.

“Yeah, we can do that. You can just get my number from Randy and call sometime” you smiled, turning back away to finish up the last of the box from the back. The sooner you finished this up, the sooner you could start cleaning up from the rush.

For you, it was a simple enough suggestion. Randy and the rest of your coworkers all had your telephone number and seeing as they were pretty close, it would just be easier for him to get it there. 

If your manager found out you were flirting on the job, you would never hear the end of it.

Though, for Stu, it was far less innocent. He had only really just interacted with you in this new way but now that he had, he wasn’t exactly a huge fan of Randy already having your number.

Especially not knowing how much the male in question likes you.

“Cool, cool, I’ll talk to you later then” Stu nodded, turning around to find Randy still watching intently. He seemed to really think that he had a shot but now that Stu had made up his mind, there was no way he was ever going to let that happen.

You were too good for him to just let you go so easily.

[makeste]

BnHA 323: “I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People”

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all, “Izuku, I’m sorry.” Bakugou Stans were all, “[sobs for a week straight and tearfully awards him the Nobel Prize for character development].” Deku was all, “[faints in Kacchan’s arms].” Iida was all, “[trying to decide if Ochako genuinely tried to kill him a few minutes ago].” Horikoshi was all, “NO TIME FOR HUGS WE MUST GET BACK TO UA.” The civilians holed up at U.A. were all, “WE TOOK A VOTE AND DECIDED THAT WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE JERKS ABOUT THIS AND MAKE A BIG FUSS ABOUT YOU LETTING DEKU BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.” Deku was all “[stands there looking like he expected nothing less and breaking my heart more and more with each passing moment].” Ochako was all, “that does it, looks like I’m gonna have to do something about this... next chapter, that is.”

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal is all “I just want you all to know that I spent nine million dollars turning U.A. into a giant Battleship-style grid that can burrow underground and zoom around in a giant subway maze because Horikoshi lacks a grounded understanding of both civil engineering and economics.” Back in the present day, Jeanist is all, “EVERYONE TAKE HEED, MY COMRADES AND I HAVE DEEMED IT EXPEDIENT TO CONVEY THIS AUSPICIOUS YOUTH BACK TO THIS STRONGHOLD. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE MAY DEPEND UPON YOUR GOODWILL AND ACQUIESCENCE TO THESE TERMS.” The civilians were all, “NO.” Ochako was all, “EMPATHY, MOTHERFUCKERS, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!” The civilians were all, “oh shit.” Anyway so Ochako is a giant badass, but I’m a little worried that she’s going to get struck by lightning. Please come down from there.

so before we start this chapter, I would just like to apologize for having not posted the ch 321 recap yet, and would like to reassure everyone, and especially Iida who is staring at me with Sad Wobbly Guilt Trip Eyes, that I will get to that as soon as I can

OMG FLASHBACK??

yes please Horikoshi please show us more of class 1-A and their Deku intervention strategy jam sessions

oh dear

Iida you are too pure and good for this cruel world. [sprays the U.A. civilians with a water bottle] NO. BAD CIVILIANS! NO OSTRACIZING SCARED AND EXHAUSTED CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE

EXCUSE ME RAT PRINCIPAL WHAT’S WITH THESE MIXED MESSAGES

???

RAT PRINCIPAL: he’s free to return to us at any time!!

ALSO RAT PRINCIPAL: but it’s too risky for him to return to us

?? ??????? ?????????????????????

so now he’s going on about how strong the U.A. Barrier is, and how it’s comparable to the defensive capabilities of Tartarus. this would have sounded a lot more impressive before chapter 297 lol

OH!!!! HELLO, WHAT’S THIS!!!

A TIMELY CALLBACK TO A CERTAIN MYSTERIOUS EVENT WHICH HASN’T BEEN REFERENCED SINCE USJ? [U.A. TRAITOR MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

so now Rat Principal says he upgraded U.A.’s security systems with his own “modifications”, whatever the fuck that means. I mean look, I’ve been saying for a long time now that U.A. is the best place for everyone to hole up, don’t get me wrong. but that was mostly on account of there not being any other practical alternatives. but you’re making it sound like you figured out a way to actually make it Decay-proof or some wild shit like that

-- hold up, DID YOU ADD A FORCE FIELD. DID YOU TRICK THIS SCHOOL OUT WAKANDA-STYLE YOU CRAZY MARSUPIAL. HOLY SHIT. because that would actually be perfect

LMAO

WHAT KIND OF GALAXY BRAIN BULLSHIT. “NAH THERE’S NO NEED FOR A FORCE FIELD, LET’S JUST PUT WHEELS ON IT”

oh okay so the whole campus is basically capable of burrowing itself underground. that’s insane lol I wonder how they pulled that off. probably got poor Cementoss working overtime

blah blah blah so basically the entire campus is split into a grid and each section of the grid is capable of its own independent movement. lol this is just the Merone Base from KHR. you thought no one would notice this casual plagiarism ten years after the fact, but YOU UNDERESTIMATED YOUR AUDIENCE, HORIKOSHI

“joke’s on you imma just lampshade it” WELL ALL RIGHT THEN

“look at me I’m so fucking self-aware” fucking swear to god. I can’t believe this man is my favorite mangaka of all time smdh

“excuse me, I wasn’t finished describing all the rest of this bullshit yet,” Rat Principal breaks in impatiently. “we also added a steel wall all around the underground of the campus that’s 3000 steel plates thick. that’s fifteen fucking meters of solid fucking steel just fyi. and if anyone fucks around with any part of it the defense system will activate immediately! and also all of the plates are independently motorized, whatever the fuck that means!! in conclusion you’re gonna need a fucking tower crane to suspend all of your disbelief by the time I’m through with this paragraph”

“also Shiketsu is almost as reinforced as U.A. but not quite because we still had to make sure we were better.” but of course. and apparently the two schools are connected via a secret tunnel as Hagakure mentioned earlier

LSDKFJLSDKJFLK

“WAIT WHAT” LMAO YOU HEARD HIM, NOW INASA CAN VISIT YOU BOTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE WEIRD DREAM HE HAD. GOD BLESS YOU HORIKOSHI

(ETA: moment of appreciation for Shouto and Katsuki having the same thought at the same time and making Knowing Eye Contact and saying the exact same thing out loud in perfect unison like the best friends they are. what a blessed day.)

so Tokoyami is all “but wait if you engineered all this shit all the way back during the Band arc how did you even know that Tomura’s quirk awakening would become a thing, Horikoshi -- uh, I mean, Principal Nezu”

and Rat Principal is all “lol idk”

“basically I just woke up one morning and was all ‘say, you know what this school really needs? a fifteen-meter-thick underground steel wall, and the ability to break up into little pieces that individually zoom around wherever the fuck they want.’ jesus christ. lol if money and common sense were apparently no obstacle why didn’t you just teleport U.A. to the fucking moon or something. maybe I should shut up before I given him any ideas

dsfaelkjldkjgl

you heard it here first, folks, all of this cost a grand total of nine million U.S. dollars. well technically it cost “more than” nine million dollars. never has that distinction been more important lmao. are we sure this barrier was really made of steel and not cardboard? who the hell sold it to them, Ea-Nasir??

this is my favorite manga series of all time. yes I am ashamed

“in conclusion please do your best to reach Deku-kun” SO WHAT WAS ALL THAT NONSENSE ABOUT IT BEING TOO RISKY THEN. anyway thank you for this super informative and edifying flashback, Horikoshi. I will cherish it always. I don’t even want to read another translation of this absurdity lmao, there’s something special about it just the way it is. pretty sure Horikoshi just had a cracked out fever dream one night and transferred it to the pages of the manga verbatim

anyway so back to the unruly mob

not their finest moment. please excuse me while I cover poor Deku’s ears and give him a good shoosh pap

oh wow the parents are out here too

is Mitsuki trying to hold Inko back?? that’s the last thing this fandom needs right now is more Mitsuki discourse fffwlkjs. and even Jiroudad, scientifically proven to be the best dad in all of BnHA, is just standing there silently looking vaguely unhappy. way to rise to the moment you guys

MONOMA

so this settles it for me that Aizawa is not at UA. I know a lot of people have been wondering about his whereabouts, and if I had to wager a guess it would be that something happened with Shirakumo/Kurogiri. I can’t think of anything else -- even the loss of an eye and a limb -- that would keep him from his kids at a time like this

anyway but this is excellent Monoma content right here though. I love that he apparently adopted Eri after a single interaction with her. also WHERE IS SHINSOU DAMMIT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW

and Kouta’s there too looking like he wants to run over to Deku but Ragdoll won’t let him :/

it’s gotta be pretty upsetting for him to see his hero like this and not having anyone stand up for him. [taps megaphone] IS THIS THING ON. OKAY YEAH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AHEM. PAGING URARAKA OCHAKO. GONNA NEED YOU TO GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND MAKE THAT BIG DRAMATIC SPEECH WHICH YOU ARE CLEARLY DYING TO MAKE. IF YOU DON’T DO IT SOON I’M GONNA HAVE TO STEP IN, AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT ME TO DO THAT SINCE MY SPEECH WILL NOT BE VERY GOOD OR INSPIRING, AND WILL PROBABLY JUST CONSIST OF “HELLO, YOU ARE ALL STUPID, PLEASE SHUT UP AND GO AWAY”

so now Mic is telling them to calm down. at least someone’s speaking up here, geez

OH MY GOD

MY MAN JEANIST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST: MAKING EVERYONE FEEL GUILTY AND JUDGED

OH MY GOD HE IS GIVING SUCH A LONG AND BORING SPEECH LMAO IS YOUR STRATEGY TO PUT THEM ALL TO SLEEP OR WHAT

truly in awe of this man’s ability to take messages which could easily be conveyed in ELI5-speak, and stubbornly convert them into incomprehensible language the likes of which you need a graduate degree in order to understand

“hey guys, so originally our plan was to use Deku as bait for the villains, but that didn’t really work and also we realized it was kinda dumb and was probably gonna get him killed, so we brought him back here instead.” was that really so hard, Jeanist. also are we all really just gonna sit back here and watch Jeanist take full credit for Bakugou’s plan just like that lmao

(ETA:

WHERE DID ENDEAVOR GO AND WHO IS THIS DIABOLICAL MASTER OF DISGUISE. lol I genuinely didn’t notice this because I was too busy digging through thesauruses trying to rewrite Jeanist’s speech; many thanks to @class1akids​ for pointing it out and making my day immeasurably better. take it easy there Dick Tracy.)

“anyway so please stop being dicks and let him fucking rest so he can save all your ungrateful asses” what an impassioned and inspiring plea. time to see if the masses will listen to reason

narrator: they did not listen to reason

oh my god finally Ochako is doing something. YEAH OCHAKO WOOOO SHOW THEM HOW IT’S DONE

hmm

this entire chapter is truly and utterly nonsensical to me lol

(ETA: on my second readthrough I’m fucking dying at how she stole the megaphone right out of Mic’s hand lmao. and how Kacchan is all “fuck yeah nothing I appreciate more than some quality fucking larceny.”)

oh I see she was jumping on top of the main building so as to scream down at them all more impressively

“ANYWAY DEKU IS PRETTY COOL ACTUALLY, YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN” couldn’t have said it better myself Ochako

lol uh

gotta say I did not have “Ochako reveals the secret of OFA to the entire U.A. Citizen Clown Parade” on my bingo card for this week. it’s a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off

SDLFKJSL

“NO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIM YOU GUYS. YOU THINK HE LIKES RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A RUSTED OIL DRUM?? HE DID THAT FOR YOU YOU UNGRATEFUL SLOBS”

so she is basically explaining the entire Deku Angst arc to them and explaining what a good and selfless protagonist Deku is, YES, PREACH

OMG IT’S THE GIGANTIC FOX LADY

not to insinuate anything, but what exactly were you doing standing out here with the hysterical mob, Gigantic Fox Lady? you’re better than that

-- KACCHAN SIGHTING!!

sdlkfjl. thanks for weighing in with that helpful and important observation. where have you been for the last five minutes. were you asleep. was it Jeanist’s speech

never mind, now he’s yelling at the civilians so I instantly forgive him

THE FUTURE NUMBER ONE HERO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. HE’LL BE HERE ALL WEEK

“anyway so I’m just going to end the chapter here” lmao seventeen pages truly do go by so fast. at least he didn’t try to force in a cliffhanger at the end this time. dare I say, growth

so I guess the civilians are either gonna have a Kamino and/or Fukuoka-esque moment where they remember how to be decent people and apologize to this poor young man, or else they’ll remain unpersuaded, and so Kacchan will have to knock a few of their heads around until they become more inclined to be reasonable. either option is fine by me lol

[glitter-oracle]

look at me

summary: Bucky's been dying to let you know about his feelings, but he's not so sure about how you may feel.

warnings: curse words.

notes: expect feelings I guess. this is totally mine, please don't repost, translate, copy or any variant.

One thing is for certain: Bucky was smitten, utterly enamored by your mere presence. The way that his chest was constantly with this tight feeling whenever you were around, or the fluttering in his belly whenever he got to make eye contact with you, even if it was just a coincidence and you weren't really looking at him. Ever since being free of HYDRA, (hell, and other 70+ years where he hadn't had the chance to feel this way), you were the first person he truly felt was capable of keeping him on the edge of his seat constantly. He had made his own attempts to hide them though, to hide his affections for you, and so far it has been a disaster. Steve seemed to be the only one who wasn't aware of the way Bucky behaved around you.

"Wait, really?", Steve said to him on a saturday evening by the lake, his brows furrowed and looking completely confused.

"Old men truly are the worst", Nat had murmured as she pinched her nose bridge and closed her eyes. Obviously, Natasha had been the first one to decipher the strange behavior Bucky was having around you, and for others to not see it at this point was blatantly ridiculous.

Sam followed Natasha, then Clint, Tony, Rhodey, Wanda and Vision, and even that weird tiny-big man who was not really living at the Compound. Bucky really thought he was being subtle: having the redhead to know was something he could live with. Natasha was capable of knowing things even before anyone could actually experience them. But the rest of the team? Already? To say Bucky was mortified at first was an understatement. He was already having a hard time trying to not let his voice waver whenever you asked him something, but it all came down to the (relieving?) conclusion that it didn't matter if they knew, because you, by no means, seemed to be aware of it.

That, or you didn't know how to spare his feelings and decided to just play dumb around the brunet.

Ever since you joined the team, you were remarkably a highly skilled asset. You started for the police station, just to have a few years later the title of Lieutenant and the praise of very important people around the NYPD and beyond. Nick Fury included. Your level of sharpness and professionalism was unparalleled, you were remarkably someone to be looked upon, having also served at the most important Intelligence Agency of your home country before you decided to settle in New York. You were ruthless and perseverant, yet your current job at the NYPD wasn't exactly what anyone would deem fitting for you. Nick Fury, for instance, thought you could do better, so he didn't doubt to recruit you to the Avengers, giving you time to settle in the new ambiance by giving you a few months of training. You didn't even get to finish the training months along with the rest of the SHIELD agents because you managed to outgrow them. You were ready for the team, and the team no doubt was more than eager to fight alongside you.

You have adapted well, you fighted fiercely and worked well both individually and paired. Every agent walking in the Compound knew who you were within your first weeks and you were a highly respected figure. It didn't help anyone's case the fact that what you had as ruthless you also had it as cold.

And that, even if at the beginning was kind of mysterious and oh-so-sexy to Bucky, was starting to drive him mad.

You were a rock. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Your voice tone never seemed to doubt anything that you could say. You were precise, only speaking when it was inevitable, but most of the time you decided to keep things as cool as ice could be. It didn't help that you also didn't let any emotion touch your surface. Always so formal and calculating. Funnily enough, your distant and professional attitude was playing a big number on Bucky. Fuck you, he would curse your name in his head as he unconciously pouted watching you from across the room to something on the window of the common room, fuck you and your dreamy eyes, and your soft-looking lips, and your nice hands and that round ass too. Your ass is really nice though... Bucky, focus. He wasn't going to fall for someone that seemed uninterested in him. He should have dignity, he would scowl himself as he absentmindedly would prepare your tea, just how you like it, because he is that weak.

That was the root problem. He wasn't sure if you really were uninterested in him. People these days and in the 40s would call it mixed signals.

You see, it would be easier to just curse you and kick you out (mentally, of course) of his life if at least you were an asshole to him. But the thing is that you weren't, and that plus the fact that you didn't seem to react to his advances were leaving him in a total nowhere with you. You were by no means affectionate or a bubbly friendly type to Bucky, but in his defense you were not like that at all.

"Sergeant Barnes", you greeted him one day, some months after you were officially working with the Avengers.

"Please", he would call your first name and throw an awkward smile, attempting to make small talk with you, "just call me Bucky".

You have looked at him as he had grown two heads. It was obvious to him that you had an extensive history of not-so-cute things to see, adding the fact that you seemed comfortable with the bare minimum interactions, but to say he wasn't feeling even an itty-bitty nervous was a lie. Some part of him understood your need to put walls around you, eerily remembering him of his first time as a civilian in Romania where he would only talk to the plum vendor in his most robotic voice just to get out of there fast and mind his business. Bucky decided to let it go at first as it was clear you weren't into it.

But you weren't always like that. Not to him. You still weren't Suzy Sunshine but you would do little, certain things that would leave him reeling on the feeling. He had his reasons, as dumb as they sounded, to think he was being lead on these mixed signals.

Once, for example, you let him sit beside you. Believe it or not, it was a really important thing that Bucky could not ever let go. You were extremely careful with your surroundings and who you let close in proximity to you, one would think it was a thing just reserved for the field, but no. You were just that careful and untrusting. If Bucky had already assessed a room one minute after stepping in, you were probably done doing that by the time he had finished. Every one of your touches were just as you, precise and calculated. It wasn't weird for the team to be gathered around the kitchen sitting and you being the only one standing, just to not sit with someone.

"Do I have lice or something?", Tony had asked you on one of those occasions. Luckily, you were already at the point where you knew he was joking from left to right, yet you didn't doubt to clear his mind as the rest of the team indulged in the food. Bucky had been munching like a chubby squirrel, his eyes throwing subtle questioning looks at you, eager to hear you say something. Anything.

"I'm not really comfortable being so close, Mr. Stark", you curtly said, your gaze fixing on Tony, and then on his shawarma, and then back to him. It was still funny hearing you talk like that when you were wearing your pajamas, but you were the one who decided to not go by first name basis. "I have to keep an eye on the rest of the room. I hope you understand and don't take it as an offense"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it, Game of Thrones", Tony rolled his eyes. Your attitude really could be off putting by times, yet the team would still cherish their time with you.

So, when you actually did let Bucky sit next to you, let's just say he wasn't the only one who noticed.

It had been a debriefing. You usually preferred to sit on the end of the table, that way you could have eyes on everything. The mission was an exhausting three day op in Croatia where you went along with Sam and Bucky in order to gather intel. To say you guys were exhausted after returning was an understatement, and that was what Bucky used to grasp whenever that moment happened.

You were probably so tired, he still remembers your sweaty forehead and the way you licked your lips, the faint sound of the AC as background noise in the pristine room. Bucky had been first to enter the conference room to meet Fury, Sam following and opting to sit across from him. And then you came in, and from all eight seats availables to watch the room in the comfort of your formal distance, you decided to sit next to Bucky.

The way Sam had raised his eyebrows was forever ingrained in his mind.

Bucky said nothing to you, of course. What could he possibly have said in order to defend his rapidly increasing itch? Yeah, you sat next to me on a debriefing after you made it very clear you were willing to throw hands and since that day I jerk off to that moment.

To Sam, however, that moment did set a before and an after.

"Dude, I think...", Sam had started that night, finally alone with Bucky, his tone sounding so doubtful, his frown so light. He didn't even know what to conclude from his friend. "I can't tell you what's going on that head, you know that neither of us know"

"I know", Bucky conceded in defeat.

"However, though, I'd tell you to not give up", Sam shrugged before patting Bucky's shoulder.

The moments that were to come were still as cryptic as that one. Better than the first months, yes, but Bucky was only human to the way you navigated around him. Did you like him as much as he liked you? Could he shoot his shot with you? What words of the thesaurus would you use to reject him if things don't go well?

To be honest, that moment really set a before and an after. You wouldn't always sit with Bucky, but his heart always jumped whenever you did, and you conceded him eventually to small talks. Small talks escalated to something alike, but more deeper than the usual small talks, it was kind of blurry to him. At some point you even accepted to call him anything else but Sergeant Barnes: you decided to call him James instead and he was willing to work with that. He would see you everyday and you would throw knowing glances in his way. You would chat from time to time about his life, you would accept to talk a bit about yours, but you seemed to indulge asking him about what he remembered, who his family was, and more details about his life.

The situation has been going so good between you despite your latent attitude, he couldn't let himself be kept in the dark anymore. It didn't matter how flustered you made him feel, he had to do something before it was eating him alive.

Bucky felt this inexplicably connection with you even if you didn't seem aware of that, you had to say something at some point. But you didn't. You always kept a soft smile in your face whenever he was talking to you, playing with a ring you always carried, telling him to go on in every of his antics, yet you didn't say anything else to address the giant elephant in the room, and Bucky would go and repeat the pattern every day. In those days it seemed as if you and him were the only ones in Earth, not even a needle dropping could be heard.

He didn't even remember how time had gotten him so fast. Weeks with you became months, months became years, and soon year one became year three and he still hadn't said a thing. The years with you around felt like they were passing on a heartbeat, so it was only fair when he decided that he wouldn't stand another single day with his feelings unconfessed. Just the thought of you maybe reciprocating him, feeling the way he does, makes him all sweaty and in need of someone to help him walk.

This is it, Bucky. This is the moment you've been waiting for. He would gulp loudly as he watched you, your form sitting tranquil on the couch, eyeing the TV as you pressed the buttons of the remote. Bucky sighs and his heart skips a beat. To him, you had never looked more beautiful and radiant as today, and he has seen you plenty of times on plenty of occasions. You look so innocent as you change channels as if you couldn't kill a man with just your two thumbs, your cute pink tongue poking through your lips in concentration. Bucky calls your name, and it's then when he decides to stand up and go to you. Your gaze immediately falls on him as he gets closer, and you let yourself sigh in his presence as you scoot aside to let him sit with you on the couch.

God, he really hopes he doesn't mess this up.

"What is it?", your voice is not that firm and sharp this time. The blue-eyed man feels himself getting tender. He takes a deep breath, and suddenly he can't look you in the eye as he would like to. He doesn't need a mirror to know his face is beet red, the warm doing its job.

"What has you so flustered, Jamie?", you chuckled. Even then, Bucky can't seem to redirect his gaze on you. If anything, the nickname only serves him to feel his heart going crazy.

It's now or never. He can't fathom the idea of having to retire soon just for the sake of a normal life without at least telling you the truth. He even had prepared a written speech he had left in his room, hoping to read it to you someday. Guess this will have to do, he just hopes he remembers everything he said in his letter.

"I know this may seem out of the blue to you. And I want to say sorry in advance if I had read things the wrong way", Bucky begins, and his chest makes him feel as if he's going through some sort of high-priority mission. Your eyes, however, are as patient as only you can be. You had ceased pressing the remote, it being left in the little table in front of you as the news sounded faintly in the lowest volume. You have a sweet questioning look in your eyes that makes Bucky want to kiss you breathless, and for a moment he thinks he saw you gulping from his side glance.

"I've been in love with you", Bucky whispers, his blue stormy eyes fixed on the way your hands rest on your legs, "ever since I've first laid my eyes on you"

"I know you have seen us only as your team and nothing else, but I also know that you have been acting differently with me. Sam noticed too", his tongue is dry but he can't seem to look at your face at that moment, "And even if he hadn't said anything, I feel like you and I understand each other. You and I... we became so close, it's impossible for me to not feel this way about you whenever we get to be together in moments like this one".

Bucky chuckles breathily, and goes on. He tries to ignore the blatant silence from your part, even if it's all it takes for him to feel his hopes shattering.

"We don't even have to be on missions for me to feel this way. All so tingly and blushy like a goddamn schoolboy. I feel everything just from seeing you, so casually sitting and relaxing, or when you decide to put on music just to make me feel good. You are special, Y/N. You are so incredibly special to me and to think about another day watching you and not telling you how I feel is complete torture. I can just hope you feel the same about me"

Bucky finishes hesitantly. His face is still incredibly warm and he allows himself to close his eyes for a moment. You've been silent this whole time, but he could still feel you right beside him, gaze fixed on him, long deep breaths mixed with the whispers of the television.

"James, I...", you begin, and Bucky swears he has never heard your voice so delicate, as if you were handling something extremely fragile. Yeah, his feelings.

Please, let me down gently. Please. His throat constricts as he swallows.

"Jamie, look at me", you say and your hand comes to his flesh arm, nudging him to look up.

"No", he whines almost childishly, still refusing to look. His eyelids are scrunching shut. To be fair, he had to cope some way or another after your impending rejection. He gets to deal with it how he wants it to be. Damn professionalism, damn be the bigger person.

"Why won't you look at me?"

"Because I know what you are going to say", the knot in his throat is almost painful and he feels he's going to cry. "I ain't sorry".

"What would you be sorry for?", you inquire as you get a bit closer, "you have nothing to feel sorry"

"Damn right", Bucky stubbornly says before he finally looks up to you, his nose flaring. He's expecting to find that blank look on your face, but instead you are there... smiling?

And not the pity smile or even the "oh Bucky, I am in love with you too" smile. Not at all. You look like you are on the verge of crying over a hilarious joke he just told you. His heart plummets directly to his stomach and then he takes a bit of space between you two in the couch. The look of disbelief in his face is evident.

"What is wrong with you?"

And then you actually laugh. Well, Bucky thought the worst scenario would be you not reciprocating his feelings. He was clearly wrong.

"Oh no, baby, baby...", you continue laughing, trying to get closer to him again, but he's reluctant to touch you, "Jamie, please, don't be like that...", he's dead quiet and he's once again with his eyes fixed anywhere but you. He can't help the way his eyes water for the embarrassment he's feeling.

"No, James", you insist with your godforsaken smile, and it's then when your hands hold his face, forcing him to look at you. You don't waste your time to show him one of your hands, the one where your usual ring lies.

"You know what this is?"

He shakes his head. He's not in the mood for your cruel mock.

"Baby, this is the ring you asked me to marry you", you say, and it feels as if the tell-tale in his stomach has an enormous pause sign over it.

Bucky furrows his brows in confusion and takes a moment to study your face. And there you are.

Your sweet eyes are sparkling in joy, a radiant smile curls in your lips. But Bucky lets his eyes wander around the rest of your face. Your hair is down, a bit messy, you have soft-looking crinkles around your eyes, around your dimples. You even have whites in your head if he looks beyond.

"What do you mean?", Bucky stops every train of thought as you go for the remote again, only to turn off the TV this time. He follows your movements with his eyes.

The black mirror stares back at him, and he gasps. The metal arm is unmistakably the same, but it seemed as if the years out of the cryo chamber have come up to him. His blue eyes are just as wrinkled as yours, his skin looking as soft and tender as a raising can look. His hair is not as dark as it used to be, peppered with the same whites that cover his beard.

"Jamie, we've been married for almost 30 years. We are far beyond accepting our feelings. Which, by the way, I do feel the same about you", you chuckle waterly, your hand coming to his, intertwining your fingers to his fleshed ones. "I know this might seem a bit confusing, baby, but you have quite an age now. The doctors have said it's the pent up years of your life and out of the cold finally acting up, yet the supersoldier serum is mantaining you in good health. Steve is the same"

"We have two beautiful grown daughters, Jamie. One of them is even carrying our third grandson right now", your soft fingers massage his cheeks, and he feels as if he can breathe again, even through the shocked feeling.

"I-... I did confess my feelings?", he knows right now it's the dumbest question to ask, but to be fair he had come originally with one mission. You laugh again, this time Bucky knows it's not mockery at all.

"Yes, my love. Long time ago", you smile even through your tears, and you close the small gap between you two to give him a soft kiss on his lips. "It wasn't easy, I know I was a hard ass, but no amount of Sergeant Barnes could make me not feel about the way I do about you, baby. You told me after the mission in Kapur. We almost died and you said you weren't going on any other mission without telling me"

Bucky's not sure if what he's feeling right now is the absolute bliss of happiness or the edge of a cardiac arrest. After some seconds, he knows it's not the latter. He lets his own watery eyes close to shed some tears, and after a deep breath he looks up to your surroundings.

No, you weren't at the Compound. How could he have missed it? Four cream walls surround you, in front of you the nice TV you've been watching before, and on the right side of it lies a nice library with tons of books and pictures. Those little ones are kind of hard to see from that distance, but he still can make out the forms in it. In your walls hang paintings of colorful child hands with the descriptions of "Happy Father's Day. Becca" and others with a kind of comical heart made of sparkles, this time only with the description of "Love you lots. Jennie". His heart once again is feeling the struggle just from letting his eyes wander.

"Look, Jamie", he hears you say as you carefully step up from the sofa to get one of the pictures by the shelf. You hand it to him before sitting by his side again, entwining your arm to his, seeking his warmth. His crinkly blue eyes roam the picture, none other than an official shoot of the reception of your wedding.

You were just as he remembered. So beautiful, dressed to perfection. He was less than that, of course, but the huge smile he wore to the picture told him he couldn't really care about anything else in that moment but you.

"I really did it?", it's not really a question, but it sounds like one. Bucky continues to eye carefully the picture.

"You did it. We did it", you confirm, and then he lets the picture rest on the little table before coming to wrap his arms around you lovingly. He takes a moment to inhale your neck.

Oh well, at least he had done something right. Surely nobody else could snatch you up at this point of your newly rediscovered relationship. He was still eager to try and take you on a first date, though.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

I have a theodicy-adjacent question if that's alright. How can I offer prayers of thanksgiving without implying that God "likes me better" than They like other people? For example, I often want to thank God for keeping my loved ones safe through this pandemic, but it feels weird when so many have lost dear ones. I've learned a lot about how to wrestle with God through your ministry, but how to bring your positive feelings to God without toeing the line of a prosperity gospel-esque mindset?

Anon, I feel you! Some point a few years ago I had a similar unsettling realization. I knew that gratitude is important not only for our relationship with God, but for our psychological wellbeing — yet I felt so guilty for thanking God for things i knew others didn’t have. Did attributing the good things in my life to God imply that God wasn’t with those who lacked those good things? 

I brought that guilt and discomfort to God (and still do, whenever it arises anew). asked Them to help me sit with it, accept it, and then transform it into something more fruitful.

guilt transformed to motivation. discomfort transformed to commitment. what i was left with was an understanding that i did not need to stop my prayers of thanksgiving, but to expand them.

i take time to really feel and express my gratitude for the abundance i experience. and then i ask God to help my gratitude move me to a desire for others to experience that abundance too. I ask for guidance in how i can help make that abundance happen in the the lives of those around me and far from me. 

___

i also make time for lament. many of us are taught how to ask God for things and how to thank God for things, but grief and lament are not taught. however, thanksgiving and lament are not opposites, but work together. they enrich one another. we need to take time for both.

a book that helped me embrace lament was Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark. You can read quotes and whole passages from it in my tag over here.

one of my favorite songs/psalms to sing/pray in lament is this one. The psalmist empowers us to question God, to ask why and how and when? and then the psalmist leads us to praise God anyway — to praise in spite of and with our doubts and our questions. 

when we look at all the pain in the world — in our own lives, the lives of loved ones, the lives of those we don’t even know, and in the struggling pulse of all Creation — we feel all sorts of things. Distress, despair, anger, grief. But some of us are afraid to bring those feelings to God. We’d rather avoid the feelings in general, repress them, not sit inside them for a while. (And certainly, we should not wallow in the bad all the time.) Bt when we dare to assign intentional time to sit in those feelings, God sits in them with us. 

And there is a strange thanksgiving in there, too — that we aren’t alone in the lament. We come to see that it is true that God does not will suffering upon any one of us — that the fact that sometimes i experience blessing while you struggle, or you find success while i go without, is not because God is choosing which happy few to bless that day. God really does will abundant life for all, and grieves when sin (individual, systemic, the rot that eats at this world) blocks that abundance for anyone. 

___

in continuing to make time to feel and express gratitude, and then to make time to lament and to both desire and participate in abundance for others, thanksgiving does not elevate me above others as “better” or “more blessed” than they are. instead, gratitude reminds me of how interconnected we are with one another. In the Body we all share, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor 12:26).

___

When abundance wins out in spite of sin, we rejoice! When it is we who enjoy that abundance, our gratitude should not lead to smugness or self-congratulations, but to humility. it should shape us, move us to bring similar abundance to others.

A book that has really helped me understand that concept is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass (which you can read online for free).

Christian texts have told me that the appropriate response to all God’s gifts is gratitude, but it’s Kimmerer’s book that helped me digest and embody just what that means. We acknowledge abundance, and we use that gratitude to connect us to the giver, and to others to whom that giver would also share Their gift.

Here’s one passage from her chapter “The Gift of Strawberries,” starting on page 33 of the webpage linked above:

Even  now,  after  more  than  fifty  Strawberry  Moons,  finding  a patch  of  wild strawberries  still  touches  me  with  a  sensation  of surprise, a feeling of unworthiness and gratitude for the generosity and kindness that comes with an unexpected gift all wrapped in red and green. “Really? For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have.” After fifty years  they  still  raise  the  question  of  how  to respond  to  their generosity.  Sometimes  it  feels  like  a  silly  question  with  a very simple answer: eat them. 

But I know that someone else has wondered these same things. In  our Creation stories  the  origin  of  strawberries  is  important. Skywoman’s  beautiful daughter,  whom  she  carried  in  her  womb from Skyworld, grew on the good green earth, loving and loved by all the other beings. But tragedy befell her when she died giving birth to her twins, Flint and Sapling. Heartbroken, Skywoman buried her beloved daughter in the earth. Her final gifts, our most revered plants, grew from her body. The strawberry arose from her heart.

In  Potawatomi,  the  strawberry  is ode  min, the  heart  berry.  We recognize them as the leaders of the berries, the first to bear fruit.

Strawberries first shaped my view of a world full of gifts simply scattered at your feet. A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward; you cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it.  And  yet  it  appears.  Your  only  role  is  to  be open-eyed  and present.  Gifts  exist  in  a  realm  of  humility  and  mystery—as with random acts of kindness, we do not know their source.

...Gifts  from  the  earth  or  from  each  other  establish  a  particular relationship,  an  obligation  of  sorts  to  give,  to  receive,  and  to reciprocate. The field gave to us, we gave to my dad, and we tried to give back to the strawberries. When the berry season was done, the plants would send out slender red runners to make new plants.

Because I was fascinated by the way they would travel over the ground looking for good places to take root, I would weed out little patches  of  bare  ground  where  the  runners  touched  down.  Sure enough, tiny little roots would emerge from the runner and by the end of the season there were even more plants, ready to bloom under  the  next  Strawberry  Moon.  No  person  taught us  this—the strawberries  showed  us.  Because  they  had  given  us  a  gift, an ongoing relationship opened between us.

...It’s funny how the nature of an object—let’s say a strawberry or a pair  of  socks—is  so  changed  by  the  way  it  has  come  into  your hands, as a gift or as a commodity. The pair of wool socks that I buy at the store, red and gray striped, are warm and cozy. I might feel grateful for the sheep that made the wool and the worker who ran  the  knitting  machine.  I  hope  so.  But  I  have no inherentobligation  to  those  socks  as  a  commodity,  as  private  property. There is no bond beyond the politely exchanged “thank yous” with the clerk. I have paid for them and our reciprocity ended the minute I handed her the money. The exchange ends once parity has been established, an equal exchange. They become my property. I don’t write a thank-you note to JCPenney.

But what if those very same socks, red and gray striped, were knitted  by  my grandmother  and  given  to  me  as  a  gift?  That changes everything. A gift creates ongoing relationship. I will write a thank-you note. I will take good care of them and if I am a very gracious grandchild I’ll wear them when she visits even if I don’t like them. When it’s her birthday, I will surely make her a gift in return. As  the  scholar  and  writer  Lewis  Hyde  notes,  “It  is  the  cardinal difference  between  gift  and  commodity  exchange  that  a  gift establishes a feeling-bond between two people.”

That  is  the  fundamental  nature  of  gifts:  they  move,  and  their value increases with their passage. The fields made a gift of berries to  us  and  we  made  a  gift  of  them  to  our  father.  The  more something is shared, the greater its value becomes. This is hard to grasp  for  societies  steeped  in notions  of  private  property,  where others are, by definition, excluded from sharing. Practices such as posting  land  against  trespass,  for  example,  are expected  and accepted  in  a  property  economy  but  are  unacceptable  in  an economy where land is seen as a gift to all.

Lewis  Hyde  wonderfully  illustrates  this  dissonance  in  his exploration of the “Indian giver.” This expression, used negatively today as a pejorative for someone who gives something and then wants to have it back,  actually  derives from  a  fascinating  cross- cultural misinterpretation between an indigenous culture operating in a gift economy and a colonial culture predicated on the concept of private property. When gifts were given to the settlers by the Native  inhabitants,  the  recipients  understood  that  they  were valuable and were intended to be retained. Giving them away would have been an affront. But the indigenous people understood the value of the gift to be based in reciprocity and would be affronted if the  gifts  did  not  circulate  back  to  them.  

Many  of  our  ancient teachings counsel that whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away again. From the viewpoint of a private property economy, the “gift” is deemed  to  be  “free”  because  we  obtain  it  free  of  charge,  at  no cost. But in the gift economy, gifts are not free. The essence of the gift is that it creates a set of relationships. The currency of a gift economy is, at its root, reciprocity. In Western thinking, private land is understood to be a “bundle of rights,” whereas in a gift economy property has a “bundle of responsibilities” attached.

...

In  material  fact,  Strawberries  belong  only  to  themselves.  The exchange relationships  we  choose  determine  whether  we  share them  as  a  common gift  or  sell  them  as  a  private  commodity. A great  deal  rests  on  that choice.

For  the  greater  part  of  human history, and in places in the world today, common resources were the rule. But some invented a different story, a social construct in which everything is a commodity to be bought and sold. The market economy  story  has  spread  like  wildfire,  with  uneven  results  for human well-being and devastation for the natural world. But it is just a story we have told ourselves and we are free to tell another, to reclaim the old one.

One  of  these  stories  sustains  the  living  systems  on  which  we depend. One of these stories opens the way to living in gratitude and amazement at the richness and generosity of the world. One of these stories asks us to bestow our own gifts in kind, to celebrate our  kinship  with  the  world.  We  can  choose.  If all  the  world  is  a commodity,  how  poor  we  grow.  When  all  the  world  is  a gift  in motion, how wealthy we become.

[nctsworld]

pedal to the metal

✩ jaemin x reader | mall au | arcade attendant!jaemin | fluff | 3.3k

SUMMARY ⇾ when the claw machine eats your money, jaemin, the cute arcade attendant, offers to play a game with you in lieu of a refund. little does he expect you to beat him. | based off of @mistymark​​’s nct mall employees post WARNINGS ⇾ fluff, bit of angst, jaemin is competitive, kissing in the epilogue     RATING ⇾ teen+ 

⇾ gif created by me, please don’t share or repost without credit!

Leaning over the glass counter filled with endless prizes, Jaemin holds out two large plushies, one in each of his hands. 

“Pikachu or Spongebob?” He swivels his head to them individually before beaming down at the little girl in front of him. 

With the alternating supervision of her parents, she’s been one of the recent regulars at the arcade and finally saved up enough tickets fo a decent prize, deciding to cash them in today. Her face lights up and targets in on one particular plushie, already inching towards it with open hands. 

“Pikachu, Pikachu!” she squeals. 

The worker’s smile deepens, “Great choice. Couldn’t have picked better myself.” 

He laughs airily as she squeezes Pikachu like it’s the last thing she’ll ever love, bouncing up and down with joy. Today, the girl’s mom is with her and she holds her ecstatic daughter close to her leg, rubbing her arm warmly. 

“So I guess I’ll see you two next week?” Jaemin asks. 

“If she gets over Pikachu as fast as she did with Olaf, then probably yes,” the mom replies with a defeated head shake. “Thanks again, Jaemin. Say bye to the nice boy.” 

“Bye, Jaemin!” 

The mother and daughter wave good-bye with wide smiles, as did Jaemin. Giving prizes out and seeing the delightful reactions on the recipient’s face was one of the best parts of his job. 

Oh, and so was being able to play all the arcade games for free. 

For Jaemin, being the arcade attendant at the local mall was a dream come true. He was once in the same place as the little girl—always coming to the same arcade every day after school. Although he loved winning prizes (who doesn’t?), he also prided himself in being the best at every game, knowing all the secrets and strategies like the back of his hand. Dance Dance Revolution, Street Fighter, Beatmania, Time Crisis, Super Bike, Pac-Man… You name it, and Jaemin can wipe the floor with anybody. It’s why none of his friends liked to play the games with him, but they still had fun nonetheless.

“That girl is insane!” Chenle exclaims with a point of his thumb, strolling up to the counter. He’s one of Jaemin’s many friends and an everyday mall-goer. Jisung comes up next to him, also a friend and works at the mall’s McDonald’s. The mall was really a second home to them all. 

Jisung bobs his head in disbelief. Then, he turns to face their worker friend. 

“You’ve gotta admit she’s really good, right?” 

The lanky figure cocks an eyebrow. “What are you guys talking about? I was busy giving out a prize to someone.” 

The shortest individual of the three widens his eyes. “There was a girl who was just playing Super Bike. She kept kicking everyone’s ass, even us.”

Jisung nods fervently, “I was telling Chenle that she’s probably as good as you, maybe even better.” 

Jaemin scoffs, running a hand through his hair. “No one can beat me at Super Bike, you both know that.” 

“You haven’t seen her play, though…” Chenle sighs dreamily, perching his chin into his palms, as he drifts off into space and replays the gameplay in his mind. 

“I don’t know, Jaemin,” Jisung shrugs. He absentmindedly fiddles with the bundle of tickets left by the little girl. “It’s about time someone beat you at one of the games.” 

Suddenly, Jaemin snatches the tickets from his hands, startling the younger boy. Said younger boy glances up to meet a pair of slitted, burning eyes. In an instant, Jaemin’s eyes melt and a cocky expression flashes by.  

“Like I always say, I never lose.” 

He begins to count the tickets, but the thought of someone being better than him makes him lose track. 

After he finishes counting the tickets, he casually checks-up on the motorcycle racing simulator to see what all the fuss was about. To his disappointment, he is met with a young boy, playing by himself.  

Jaemin makes a mental note to keep an eye and ear out for this mystery Super Bike girl.  

A few days pass. You’re at the mall by yourself to kill some time and to procrastinate on studying. You spent a while at the bookstore already, so you decide to do something a little more fun. 

At the bustling arcade, you’re quickly drawn towards the claw machine with the mountain of plushies. You know the odds of winning are low, but one round couldn’t hurt. Placing your money into the claw machine, you begin to fiddle with the joystick. However, nothing’s moving. 

Your face crinkles in confusion, so you add money again, thinking that maybe it was a one-time fluke. Nope, definitely not a fluke because the claw still doesn’t work. You’re now two dollars down and you didn’t even get the chance to play.  

Walking around the arcade, you try to find a worker, but to no avail. You stand in front of the glass counter, waiting for an attendant. While waiting, you’re peering at all the variety of prizes to be won and wish you were skilled and patient enough to obtain such things. It’s no wonder why the claw machine drew you in, at least that game filled you with a false sense of a fast and easy win.   

After finishing a supervising round in the arcade, Jaemin notices a girl at the front counter. Actually, scratch that, a stunning girl—one that he hasn’t seen in the arcade before. He’d definitely remember you if you had. The ends of his mouth stretch and he strides towards you with a wind of confidence.

“Hi, do you need help with something?” 

Jolting slightly, you’re taken aback by both the handsome figure and the question. You saw him earlier at one of the games, but it never crossed your mind that such a young, attractive guy like that would be the resident arcade attendant. You subconsciously do a double take, eyeing him up and down, causing Jaemin’s grin to become more cheeky.

“Hi, yeah,” You point to where you were previously. “I was trying the claw machine and it took my money, but it didn’t let me play any rounds.” 

“Oh?” He scrunches his face and heads toward the machine. You follow behind. “We just fixed it a few weeks ago, that’s weird.” 

At the claw machine, Jaemin feels around the machine, checking on the knobs and buttons, and even places a coin into it to test out your claim. He tinkers with the joystick, and realizes you’re right; the machine’s only taking money without allowing any plays. 

So he kicks it. Hard.  

You break out into a chortle. “Does that actually help?” 

“Always works like a charm.” 

Another kick, and more chortling. 

Jaemin shifts his head towards you and places a hand on his chest. His eyes waver, searching around him as if someone would be listening, and lowers his voice in a hush. 

“I’m a secret machine whisperer, you gotta trust me,” he says with a small wink, and you trust him by standing back and resuming to observe him with a fluttering heart.  

The attendant tries the machine with money once more, but the kicking evidently didn’t help. This only leads Jaemin to increase the intervals of his kicking. Soon, kicking evolves into desperately shaking the contraption.  

Bemused and shaking your head, you comment, “I don’t think your whispering is working very well.” 

He attempts one last time, but to nobody’s surprise, it fails. He tapes an out of order sign onto the glass. With hands on his hips, he exhales a lengthy sigh.  

“Sorry for your lost money. I can give you a refund.”

“Aw, no. It’s okay, it was only a couple of bucks. I was more so looking forward to playing the game, really.” 

A lightbulb goes off in Jaemin’s head. 

“Did you wanna play a game with me to make up for it instead?” 

Although he enunciates the question slowly, cautious of your reply and potential rejection, there’s a contrasting smug expression on his face. Your teeth tug at your bottom lip, about to answer, but then you pout.  

“Aren’t you working right now though?” 

Jaemin shrugs nonchalantly, “It’s kind of slow at the moment and I can argue that I’m maintaining the game.”

“Like what you were just doing with the claw machine?” 

“Exactly.” 

Both of you laugh in unison, gazes converging together. If only the strong sparks flying between you two could somehow fix the claw machine... but then again, you would’ve never had a reason to speak to the beautiful boy in the first place. 

“Sure, what game did you have in mind?” 

Tapping a finger on his chin, Jaemin runs the possibilities in his head. What’s a game that he can easily impress you with his skills, but is also equally fun for you to play? 

“Super Bike?” he offers. 

You nod with a small smile, “Okay, lead the way.” 

Thankfully, as the two of you arrive at the game, no one’s currently playing. You jump onto the left motorcycle, while Jaemin gets onto the right. He enjoys how you cutely sway back and forth, accustoming yourself to the fake motorbike. He gives you a quick breakdown of the controls, and tells you to focus only on the gas and brake since he’ll choose automatic transmission to make things easier for you. You hum with puffed cheeks, ready to play. 

Following Jaemin’s choices of the easiest map level and transmission settings, the race immediately starts. 

Jaemin can play Super Bike in his sleep, so he starts off the first half of the lap with his eyes on his screen, then for the second half, he looks over at you for a few moments. You’re glued to your screen. The glint in your eyes sparkles with pure amusement and an edge of competitiveness. He breathes in the enticing sight, especially as you bite your lip with heightened focus. 

But then, flashes of red flare upon your face. Jaemin’s heart knocks nervously at his chest because the flashes are coming from the sign above your screen with the words ”RACE LEADER”. He’s dragged straight into the match again, not wanting to lose.  

“Have you played this before?” he shouts over the background noises and music. 

“Only a few times,” you shrug lightly. Your eyebrows raise as Jaemin catches up, trailing almost nose to nose with the end of your motorcycle, yet the finish line is approaching fast. Narrowing your eyes, you accelerate and curve around the last bit of the map without struggle. Before you know it, you reach the finish line right before Jaemin does. 

As the first place win radiates from your screen, you pump your arms in the air and remove yourself from the bike. 

On the other hand, Jaemin’s gaze is stuck on the screen, jaw hanging. The big two taunts him with every flicker.  

“Well, that was fun. Thanks for the game—” 

You’re about to ask for his name, but his odd reaction catches you off-guard. You take a step closer to him until someone cries out:   

“That’s Super Bike girl!”

Swinging your head towards the origin of the cry, you see a boy jog over with a wave of his index finger. Chenle’s voice breaks the arcade attendant out of his frozen state. Jaemin whips his head towards you, still on the motorbike.   

“You’re Super Bike girl?!” he echoes, eyebrows knitted. 

“I already have a nickname around here?” you giggle. “I only played this game once a few days ago.” 

Chenle asks him, “Did Biker Girl beat you?” 

Jaemin avoids the inquiry, darting his eyes and pressing his lips together tightly. The friend passes the question onto you with owl eyes, and you shyly nod. 

“Oh, my God, and I missed it?!” He huffs in disappointment, but then recollects himself as he takes a few steps toward you. 

“Are you free after seven to come back and play again? Our friends need to witness this. This is history in the making.” 

Immediately, Jaemin shoots daggers into Chenle. The daggers definitely have profanities written all over. You catch a glimpse of Jaemin and can practically read every word.  

“Uhm,” you lower your voice, despite the fact Jaemin can still hear you. “Your friend looks pretty pissed. I feel kinda bad to just come back to beat him in front of people.”

“Oh, don’t worry about feeling bad,” the attendant’s friend waves his hand carelessly. “He always makes us feel bad when he constantly brags about how he’s the best at every game in here.” 

“Is that so?” You glance at the boy on the bike with a new perspective. You could definitely see this guy as cocky, but maybe he’s still sweet underneath the exterior. You also wouldn’t mind seeing him once more before you head home, and now you had a reason. 

“Well, count me in. I’ll be back at seven on the dot.” 

With a flutter of your fingers, you say your temporary good-byes to the pair of boys and head out of the arcade. Jaemin finally props himself off the motorbike, getting back to work.   

Passing by Chenle, he half-jokingly seethes, “I hate you,” into his ear. 

Without a care in the world, Chenle frantically messages their group chat to come by the mall later to witness the match of a lifetime. 

“Hey, did I miss it?” Mark pants as he puts an arm around Jeno from behind. 

“No, you got here right on time. Super Bike girl should be coming any time soon.” 

On the backend of the motorbike, Jaemin sits at the edge of it, studying the modest crowd around the racing simulator. Along with Jisung and Chenle, several of Jaemin’s other close friends are here to cheer for his downfall. For those who aren’t there, his friends are equipped with their phones in hand, ready to record the monumental event. 

Weaving through the crowd with mumbles of “Excuse me’s,” you reach your destination and appear in front of the arcade worker. 

The rising buzz of the crowd fades from your ears and into the background within his presence. You melt at him looking so coolly, bending over the motorbike with folded arms, and give him a warm smile. 

“Just because you’ve got a sweet smile, it doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you.” 

You playfully drop your mouth as the people around “Ooooh” in harmony. Your tongue is pressed against your lower teeth as Jaemin spins himself to the front of the bike. You get onto your previous seat from hours ago, grasping onto the fake vehicle as if you owned it.

You watch Jaemin enter the settings in. He’s not underestimating you this time and he executes his promise of not going easy on you—the hardest map and manual transmission are chosen, signaling you to really bring your A-game for this round.    

At first, the match is tight. You’re practically side by side on the map, even having the occasional opportunity to push him off track and vice-versa. Changing up techniques, as the second lap rings in, you switch transmission gears and ease on the brake for a brief moment, hugging the curve of the map. 

With that move, the red light flashes above him. Jaemin believes, no, he knows he’s going to win. Sweet victory is on the tip of his tongue, he can taste it. Ten seconds are left on the clock, ten seconds left until he beats you and continues to reign king of the game.

But, you suddenly speed past him and the game’s over before he can properly process it.  

The screams surrounding you engulf the entirety of the arcade.

Jaemin’s mouth is on the floor as he realizes he lost. 

No, his mouth is six feet under because you’re currently entering a nickname into the all-time best rankings. You beat Jaemin’s time on the map, seizing the new first place rank for the game. 

Everyone circles you in congratulations, but your eyes are honed in on one individual in the crowd. He hops off the bike, brushes past the crowd, and escapes to the counter, continuing his shift like nothing happened. Hastily, you go after him and find him crouching down behind the glass. He’s unpacking boxes filled with what you assume are prizes. 

On your forearms, you lean over the glass counter. “Hey, when does your shift end?” 

Your assumption is answered as you see him restock some of the plushies in the transparent container underneath you. 

“Why do you want to know? So you can beat me again at another game?” he grumbles, the bitterness blatant in his voice. Nevertheless, you persist. 

“‘Cause Super Bike girl wants to get to know the cute Arcade Boy she met today over dinner.” 

He pauses and his eyebrows perk up at the words cute and dinner in the same sentence. His ego is still sore, but he’ll bite.    

“Is it a date?” he presses further with a disinterested tone, continuing to move the items.  

You drag your bottom lip up, drumming your fingers slowly against the glass. 

“Only if you want it to be.” 

Your words bandage his sore ego quickly, but he wants to bathe in his pity a little while longer. He twists his mouth, fighting against the urge to show you his teeth.  

The boy stands up and leans over the counter too. He’s greeted by your strong aura, yet it doesn’t completely reach your eyes; your gaze is soft and gentle. “I get off at nine, so it’s pretty late.” 

“That’s okay. I can play games until then—” 

You peel yourself off from the glass and properly introduce yourself, holding your hand out. He glances at it for a second, then at your tender look. He gives in and can't help himself from grinning. The arcade attendant reaches for your hand and reciprocates the shake.  

“I’m Jaemin.”  

That day, Jaemin learned that losing at the arcade games wasn’t the worst thing in the world. 

EPILOGUE 

Clutching onto Jaemin’s waist underneath his leather jacket with your chin resting on his shoulder, you’re swaying side by side with him on the racing game that brought you two together. It’s his day off today, and both of you thought it’d be cute to spend some time at the arcade before the movie showing later that evening. 

“Ease on the gas!” you dictate. He rolls his eyes at your backseat driving.    

“No, it’s too early!” he protests and goes against your advice, accelerating further. When that makes him go off-road a bit, you sigh smugly while he groans meekly. 

“See, and this is why I’m better at Super Bike than you,” you tease before pecking a kiss on his cheek. Tingles rise to his cheeks.

“Yeah, but I’ve played this game a lot longer than you.” It’s the second lap and he’s inching towards the finish line.  

“Yeah, but who holds the record?” 

After he speeds through it, the list of the best times roll onto the screen. Your nickname still stands proudly at number one from the day you asked him out on a date. 

Jaemin smiles at the not-so far memory. He then twists and extends his neck over his shoulder, sharing a sweet kiss with you. Your grip around his waist tightens, your fingers sinking into his skin. His palm raises and cups your face, deepening the kiss.    

Breaking away for a moment, he says, “Yeah, well, I’m the better kisser.” 

You sweep your nose against his. “That’s up for debate…” 

Your lips meet once more lovingly.  

“Can you guys stop making out in the arcade again?” Jisung groans. “Kids are here, you know. Like me.” 

Chenle cuts in, “I thought you were glad someone beat Jaemin for once.”

“I mean, yeah, but I didn’t expect the same person to have her tongue constantly down his throat!” 

Still lip-locked, Jaemin and you smile into the next kisses from their remarks while Jisung and Chenle run off to play another game, far away from the new couple.

[akaluan]

Kisuke's wings are an aberration in that they don't seem to exist.  Yet he can absolutely still fly and it confuses the hell out of people.  What is actually happening is his wings are made of energy that isn't normally visible to humans/shinigami but hollows can see it.  Ichigo also ends up being able to see them. And is therefore very confused when people tell him Kisuke has no wings.

-- prompt from Discord user Yuurei

---

There’s something bothering Rukia.

Ichigo casts her a sidelong look as they leave the Urahara Shoten, wondering what about the place — or the residents — has gotten under her skin. This isn’t the first time she’s returned from the Urahara Shoten with a crease between her brows and her delicate, ice-pale wings tucked tight against her back, but he still has no idea what she’s reacting to.

Sure, Hat’n’Clogs is an oddball and the definition of shady, but the man doesn’t seem to be lying to them about anything: avoiding the entire truth, yes, but Ichigo hardly expects honesty out of a man like that.

(Urahara seems the sort to have a past, and Ichigo’s seen what that does to a person.)

(So long as the man doesn’t betray them, Ichigo doesn’t care.)

Rukia catches his glance and huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and muttering, “I’ll tell you when we get home.”

“Alright,” Ichigo agrees easily, not in any rush to force Rukia to speak of whatever’s been bothering her; it hasn’t affected their work so far, so he’s content with not knowing.

(Even if it’s driving him to distraction trying to figure out what’s wrong.)

Still, it doesn’t take long for them to get home and head up to his room, where Rukia immediately hurls herself down on his bed and props her chin on her crossed arms. Her delicate wings flutter and then still, and she grimaces a bit as she slants a glance at him and says, “I don’t know how you can just… just not react to Urahara-san.”

Ichigo blinks in surprise, then tugs the chair out from under his desk and straddles it, crossing his arms over the back and resting his chin atop them. “Not sure what you mean,” he tells her honestly. “I react to Hat’n’Clogs being… *Hat’n’Clogs* every time we go there. It’s hard not to, you know?”

Rukia scowls at him. “I mean his lack of wings!”

“His— what?” Ichigo pauses to digest Rukia’s words, wondering what the hell is up that she can’t see Urahara’s frankly gigantic wings. The man doesn’t even attempt to hide them, with the way he constantly rustles and flares and gestures with them as he talks; in fact, Urahara’s wings are a better judge of his mood and honesty than anything *else* about him, which is…

Well, now that Ichigo thinks about it, it’s a bit weird, isn’t it?

In Ichigo’s experience, the shadier a person, the better control they tend to have over their wings. Urahara though is like… like Yuzu, almost, without any real filter between his mind and his wing motions. Between that and the way Urahara’s wings ripple with color as he talks, Ichigo’s been feeling pretty confident on his read of the man lately.

“Do you— doesn’t everyone have wings?” Rukia asks as she sits up a bit. “All the humans I’ve seen so far do!”

Ichigo stares at her for a moment, then slowly asks, “You really don’t see any wings on his back?”

“No!” Rukia exclaims, then narrows her eyes at him and asks, “Wait, you see wings on him?”

“Yeah, I just… thought his whole ‘I’m a shady shopkeeper, look at me’ routine was bothering you,” Ichigo admits a touch wryly. “The disconnect between the words he’s speaking and what his wings are saying can be jarring until you get used to reading him.”

Rukia gapes at him in shock, then tumbles off his bed and darts over to latch onto his arm, practically yanking him out of his chair as she marches towards the door. “Come on,” she demands as she pulls him out of his room. “We’re going back to the shoten and figuring out what’s going on right now.”

“I don’t think—” Ichigo cuts himself off with a sigh and lengthens his stride to catch back up to her, knowing he’s not going to be able to talk her out of anything when she’s in a mood like this. He gives Yuzu a sheepish smile and a wave as they cross the main room and go right back outside.

(He just hopes Urahara doesn’t take offense at anything that’s about to happen.)

(It’s hard to tell with the man sometimes, even with the tells that his wings give off.)

Rukia pulls him to a stop the instant they come within sight of the shoten, and Ichigo immediately sees why: Urahara is outside talking with Jinta, his back to them and his wings partially flared for balance. He seems in a relatively good mood, Ichigo judges as he takes in the crimson feathers laced with gold. There’s no sign of any of the colors Ichigo’s learned to be wary of, though there’s no telling how long that will last.

“Do you really see wings on him?” Rukia hisses at Ichigo.

“Yeah. You don’t?” Ichigo gives Hat’n’Clogs a thoughtful look, trying to figure out if Urahara’s wings are some sort of… who knows. Illusion, maybe?

(But why an illusion that only Ichigo can see?)

(Or maybe that only Ichigo can see through?)

(… no, that makes even less sense.)

“No!” Rukia grumbles as she leans closer, her eyes narrowed and her attention honed down to a laser focus that Ichigo… actually sort of feels sorry about.

If there really is something weird going on with the man’s wings, Ichigo kind of regrets bringing attention to it; he knows what it’s like to be singled out for something he can’t — won’t — change about himself, and he honestly wouldn’t wish that sort of attention on anyone.

Hat’n’Clogs notices them quickly, his wings closing tight against his back as he rises to his feet and turns to greet them. “Maa, the two of you are back sooner than I expected. Do you need anything else?”

Ichigo eyes the way Urahara’s wings are twitching and the spots of blue-violet that are creeping in across the crimson, then clamps a hand on Rukia’s shoulder and says, “Nah, we were just out for a walk,” despite the offended hiss that Rukia aims at him.

Acid green blooms across Urahara’s wings, though the man’s expression doesn’t betray whatever emotion he’s feeling; a variant on surprise, Ichigo suspects, though he’s not quite sure what exactly acid green might indicate.

(He’s already discarded any preconceptions he has about what colors mean what emotions.)

(Urahara just doesn’t fit into any neat box no matter how Ichigo considers him.)

(Which is perfectly fine, he didn’t really expect the man to, but it still means he’s feeling his way through the dark.)

(Well, he’ll learn.)

“Ah, well, if you do end up needing anything…” Hat’n’Clogs says leadingly, his gaze lingering on Rukia for a moment before sliding back to Ichigo; it’s clear he’s expecting them to say something about his wings — is expecting them to comment on his wings — and that just makes Ichigo all the more intent on not.

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Ichigo declares before Rukia can speak up, then pinches her shoulder just in case.

“Ichigo!” Rukia yelps with a scowl, swatting at his arm.

Ichigo snorts and jerks his head in the direction of home. “Come on, dinner’s about ready,” he says mildly. “You wouldn’t want to make Yuzu sad by missing it, would you?”

Rukia’s scowl deepens and she wavers for a moment, casting a confused look at Hat’n’Clogs, before she gives in with a sigh and pushes past him. “Fine,” she mutters. “But we’re talking about this later.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ichigo says with a shrug, already expecting a long, rambling lecture from her about… whatever it is he’s stumbled across this time. Not that he particularly minds; it’s interesting to try and piece together what Soul Society is like from the hints she accidentally drops during each one. So far, he’s picked up on a rather telling divide between the noble houses and the average Shinigami, along with some disturbing hints on how loosely regulated the Divisions are, and a whole host of other tiny details that he’s pretty sure Rukia has no idea she’s giving away.

He’s pretty sure this will reveal a whole new array of details about how Shinigami feel about an individual’s wings, which will give him some idea on how they’ll expect him to act if he ever meets other Shinigami.

Still… it’s strange that she can’t see Urahara’s wings; maybe he’ll ask his friends, see what they say about it.

(The mystery kind of suits the man, if Ichigo’s being honest.)

(Who knew there were invisible wings out in the world?)

(Weird.)

[nctsjiho]

Comfortable

warnings: none

❀ Lucas being clingy and wanting JiHo’s comfort

It was exactly 11 o’clock at night on a Friday. JiHo had made herself comfortable in bed, a multitude of pillows cascaded on and next to her bed. With no schedules or practises planned for the weekend, she finally had some time to indulge in her guilty pleasure: internet mysteries. She had a full library of YouTube videos she had yet to watch about all sorts of internet mysteries. Whether it was simply about an unexplained, weird social media account or a possible cult running an online organisation or maybe even an arg (alternate reality game, if you don’t know what that is I highly recommend looking it up but you may go down a rabbit hole if you do. You have been warned), JiHo could watch it for hours on end.

Just as she pressed play on her second video and brought a potato snack up to her lips, her door opened with a slam. “Excuse you-” She started, looking at a dishevelled-looking Lucas walk into her room. “Ugh!” He groaned dramatically as he flailed his long limbs around. JiHo decided not to say anything quite yet, maybe the man would explain himself soon enough. He came to a halt right in front of her bed. It made for an amusing image because from JiHo’s angle Lucas looked even taller than he already was.

The two made eye contact for a split second before Lucas fell to his knees next to JiHo with another dramatic groan. He slightly pushed away the laptop that was resting on the girl’s lap and replaced it with his head. The position must have been extremely uncomfortable, but yet again JiHo didn’t comment on that.

When Lucas didn’t get his expected reaction from JiHo - well, he didn’t get a reaction at all - he opened his eyes to find her already looking at him. “Hi.” He pouted at her before letting out a deep sigh. JiHo’s hands automatically reach for the pouty boy’s hair. He closed his eyes once again. “You know, it’s a bit uncalled for to just slam my door open. You could’ve dented the wall.” Her voice sounded rather monotone, but Lucas knew she was just messing with him. Kinda, he still shouldn’t have slammed open the door. He’ll remember that for next time. At this moment, JiHo knew exactly what Lucas wanted, but decided not to give it to him.

After a few more moments of JiHo gently massaging Lucas’ scalp and playing with his hair, the boy opened his eyes once again. “JiHo~” He whined and now sat up, trying to make himself comfortable on the bed. The girl let out a small giggle at the boy’s struggle before she scoots over a bit to give him more space.

Lucas finally settled by laying down next to the girl and resting his head on her stomach. He intertwined their legs and put as much of his weight on the girl to feel as close to her as possible. “You don’t love me anymore.” He mumbled in her sweatshirt and though the comment was meant as a joke, JiHo could feel her stomach drop the tiniest bit. Her hands had found their way back to his hair and she let the strands flow between her dainty fingers.

“What’s wrong? Did Ten scold you again?” It was almost a whisper, but her words were loud enough in the calm atmosphere. Lucas couldn’t help but chuckle and JiHo could feel the vibrations of his vocal cords against her torso. “No...” Lucas trailed off. His hands circled around the girl’s waist now so he’d be able to hold her closer. At the look of the usually loud giant being so calm and soft, JiHo’s heart melted. “What’s wrong then?” JiHo knew Lucas’ problem wasn’t going to be a serious one, but she still felt a bit of worry clouding her mind.

“I just had a bad day with practise and so many shoots this week.” Lucas lifted his head up to glance at the girl for a second but she wasn’t looking at him. Her head was leaned against the wall and her eyes were closed. He knew she was trying to listen intently to what he was telling her. Lucas laid back down and ended his short story. “I’m just so tired.”

JiHo hummed in understanding. One of her hands falling down to rest on Lucas’ shoulder, the other remaining in his hair. “I’m sorry you have to work so hard. I wish I could do something to lighten the load.” Now it was Lucas’ turn to feel bad.

He - and some of the other boys who experienced this before - hated how JiHo always put the members before herself like that. Lucas found it careless of her, because she never considered how overworked she was as well. The whole of NCT was always working hard, there’s never anyone who’s actually free of work because even without a schedule planned, they still practised individually or worked out to maintain their looks. Idol life wasn’t easy, and that counted for JiHo as well. The problem with the girl was that she never notices she is overworking herself until she is bedridden (luckily the members and managers always catch her before it’s too late).

Caught up in his annoyed thoughts Lucas didn’t notice he still hadn’t replied. “If you want I can come practise with you tomorrow.” She bent her head to meet Lucas’ eyes and sent him a questioning look. “I’ve been there during your practises so I kinda know some of the choreography.” Her smile annoyed Lucas even more, it was so genuine. He felt bad how selfless she was being, this weekend was the first in a while that she was completely free and now she wanted to sacrifice it because he came barging in her room to complain.

He didn’t come over for help, he came over to cuddle and just whine about little things. The plan was that he could just hang out with the girl for a bit until he forgot about his tiring day and then go home happily so he could get a good night of sleep.

“JiHo.” The boy sat up not able to look at her. “What’s wrong? Is it really that bad? I’m sorry I didn’t know-” “No! Just stop it okay?” Lucas shook his head aggressively. JiHo looked confused at his sudden outburst. “Stop being so selfless, it gets so burdensome.” He didn’t realise his words could possibly hurt the girl who was just trying to help him until he saw her bite her bottom lip and avoid his eye contact. “I- I didn’t mean it like that.” Lucas quickly grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. “I’m thankful you care so much for other people, but you need to think of yourself too.” He pulled her in a tight embrace mumbling a few sorry’s until he felt her hand push herself away by his chest.

He didn’t expect her to smile at him. Hadn’t he just hurt her feelings? “I’m sorry, I guess I just do still love you... a lot.” She made a call back to his mumbled comment from a few minutes prior. The sudden display of affection startled Lucas, it wasn’t really like JiHo, but it also made him feel fuzzy on the inside.

JiHo positioned herself so she sat next to Lucas with her back against the wall at the head of the bed. She pulled the blanket over both their legs and grabbed her laptop again. “Since you’re here, do you want to watch a movie or something?” She asked absentmindedly, grabbing the snacks from next to her and already putting on in her mouth.

Lucas smiled, he knew what she was trying to do. She was going to act like nothing just happened and offered to hang out and chill just as Lucas actually wanted in the first place. “Yeah I would love that.” He made himself more comfortable next to the girl, slinging an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to his side.

In the end they didn’t really end up watching the show they took way too long choosing, the pair just talked about random moments of their trainee days while JiHo went back to playing with Lucas’ hair (at his request). They laughed the whole night long, teasing each other and gossiping about their colleagues. In the morning Taeyong found them sprawled out on JiHo’s bed, as if they had been out partying the night before and were going to wake up with a serious hangover.

[sweatergirlsposts]

Imagine Being Part of The Wolf Pack and Imprinting on Carlisle (Oneshot)

(A/N: Back by demand here is a longgggg oneshot of this imagine. I’m a little rusty, but I hope you all like it)

Ever since you turned, life had gotten lonelier for you. Living the pack life meant separating yourself from your closest friends and finding only solace in your brothers and sister in the pack, but it wasn’t always enough. No one could know your secret, especially your mother. 

Your mother thought all the stories about turning into wolves was entertaining for children, but to ponder on them as adults was a waste of time. Your father was a Quileute while your mother was a resident of Forks. Your father never turned or imprinted but he did fall in love with your mother and stayed on the La Push reservoir until he died. 

You turned when you found out the news of your father’s mysterious death. The police described it as an accidental fall off a cliff, but you knew your father wouldn’t even be near a cliff, for he had an intense fear of heights. According to a police report, that you stole, they found long wavy auburn strands on his body. Your mother’s first thoughts were that your father probably had an affair, but you also knew that your father wouldn’t even dream about being with any women other than your mother. Least to say, your hypothesis was that your father was murdered.  

Still living in La Push, you come up with excuses to your mother of why you’re always out late and how your friends with everyone in the pack. She thinks it’s weird but tells you that if it gets out of hand then she will ban you from leaving the house. You didn’t see the point seeing as were an adult, but you let her say whatever made her feel comfortable.

Currently, everyone in the pack were getting ready to go train with the vamps, or more formally known as the Cullens. 

You only knew/heard of their family and individual names in passing, whenever Sam or Jacob would rely a thought through the pack connection. One name that you heard all time was Bella Swan, the human girl whom you’ve briefly met, that was involved with them. Everyone in the pack would always recoil at the thought of Bella and Edward, her Vampire significant other, being together. You could give less of a care in the world. The only thing you cared about was if they were to kill another human or if they passed into your land.

“Get ready to head out,” Sam yelled who stripped down to his skimmies like everyone else. To say that you go through a lot of undergarments in a week was an understatement. 

“(Y/N), you take behind the pack,” Sam ordered. Sam trusted you to keep the pack safe from behind, seeing that you were just as strong as himself and Paul. 

“Yes Sam,” you responded with compliance waiting for everyone else to turn before you did. 

You changed thinking of the only thing that could make you enraged, the death of your father. Bursting from your human form, came forth your wolf form. You were covered in thick dark grey fur with highlights of white that reflected when the sun hit it just right.  

‘Let’s go’  is all Sam said through the connection as Jacob howled to let the Cullens know that you all were coming.

Apparently according to Sam and Jacob, the Cullens had offered an olive branch because they need your help to take down a common enemy, rouge vampires. These vampires were coming after Bella and therefore were breaking the treaty of harming humans and would get the punishment the tribe saw fit for this conflict; to be put to death. One of the vampires of their coven, Jasper you believed his name was, said that they could train you to fight against these vampires, for his prior experience with some.

‘What is the point in meeting up with those bloodsuckers! What can they teach us that we don’t already about killing their kind.’ Paul sneered through the connection as you ran as a pack to the meeting spot.

‘It’s not about what they can teach us, it’s about keeping treaty and protecting our people, even if it means working with them for short amount of time’ Sam growled with his hackles raising to assert his dominance. 

Sam was the first to make it over the hill to the clearing the Cullens agreed to meet up at. Still in a protective approach, one by one the pack emerged from the brush. Since you were last, Sam expected that you would circle the perimeter to make sure that there were no unexpected guests.

“They don’t trust us enough to be in their human forms,” you heard from a soft masculine, almost throaty voice, as you soon finished your circle around the area. 

“They came. That’s what matters” said another voice that sounded silky and comforting. You shake the ghost chill that ran through your fur giving you goosebumps as you made your way up the hill.

“Will you translate?” asked the second voice before the first protested.

“Hold on there’s another one coming up the hill,” the voice sensed your approach making it’s way atop of the hill. Finally showing yourself, you observed the clearing in which everyone would practice in.

Your eyes came across each Cullen and Bella. One by one, you surveyed how each one looked with what you assumed to be their companion, until your eyes stopped on who you assumed was their leader that stood in front of your group. 

And in that moment you could feel you heart almost drop out of your body. Your head became overwhelmed and dizzy as if you had rolled down a hill and you were trying to find your equilibrium to stand. Something flowed through your veins, stronger than hormones and more numbingly intoxicating than morphine. As soon as the feeling came hitting you like you ran into a brick wall, it disappeared. 

You knew what you did and oh boy did you regret it. You imprinted on the angelic blond vampire in front of your whole pack and they felt it through the connection.

The vampire with Bella turned his head towards you with a taken aback look but also one of understanding. It was like he was reading your mind. He looked back and forth between you and ‘him’    

‘Oh fuck’ is all you thought after imprinting on the vampire.

“Carlisle we might have a situation,” informed ‘Bella’s’ vampire to ‘him’ while still staring at you before letting him say anything. 

Before you knew what was happening, Sam jumped atop of you knocking you onto your back.

‘YOU IMPRINTED ON ONE OF THEM!!’  Sam ferociously barked in your face, ready to attack in case you resisted.

‘Disgusting!’ yelled another through the connection.   

‘I can’t control it Sam, you of all people know that’ you whimpered meekly. Considering that you usually had a strong demeanor, you’ve never felt so vulnerable and powerless within your time being in the pack. 

“Hey!” called Bella’s vampire, “Let them go, they can’t control it”

You took advantage of this distraction and pushed Sam off of you. Once freed, for a mere moment, Sam caught you by the leg and punctured it with his massive teeth. 

Letting out a yelp at the sudden pain to your hind leg, you donkey kicked Sam in the face with your other leg and ran away limping. You couldn’t believe what Sam just did to you. You needed air, you needed space from your pack, and from him.

All your instincts told you to turn around to be near your imprint, to protect the bewitchingly good looking vampire from your pack in case, but you couldn’t be near him. The shame that your stupid wolfy senses put upon your shoulders was too much to bare right now. All you wanted right now was be alone with your thoughts and to go get help for your leg.

Meanwhile in the clearing, all but one vampire was very confused at what went down.  

“What just happened?” Bella asked being the first one to verbalize everyone else’s thoughts

“They imprinted on Carlisle,” Edward stated confound, “The one that Sam attacked”  

No one was more surprised than Carlisle. He didn’t really know how to take it, especially if the feelings were coming from one of the people they had a treaty with. One thing he knew for sure was he needed to check on you, if that bite got infected while your out in the forest it was going to cause you a lot damage to your human self. 

Reading Carlisle’s mind, Edward knew that he was coming along to track and translate once you were found. 

Carlisle turned to Jasper, “You continue you to show them how to take care of the newborns, Edward and I will be back soon.”

Leaving the clearing, Carlisle followed Edward so he could track your mind to find you. 

You laid on the river bank, still in your wolf form and bleeding from your back left leg. This river was the one that your father would take you to go fly fishing in when you were a kid. It was the river in between the land of both the Cullen’s and the Quileute’s, but the part you were at was far enough down that the pack wouldn’t hear your thoughts from there. 

The pain from your leg hurt like a bitch. You were so livid with not only Sam and the pack, but yourself. 

‘How could you be so stupid to imprint on one of them?!’ you thought to yourself, ‘Of all people and creatures, it had to be the people that your people were sworn enemies to! The pack will never want me back’ 

Trying to distract yourself from your mind, you tried ‘cleaning’ your wound with your tongue as disgusting as it sounds. 

Edward could hear your thoughts of pain as you tried ‘cleaning’ the bite. Werewolf blood was in a way revolting like the smell of them. The blood was still edible but unnecessary to the vampire diet. Both Carlisle and himself, arrived at the edge of the tree line where you couldn’t see them.

“Let’s try not to scare them off. By the substantial smell of blood, if they keep straining the wound, they’re going to pass out soon,”  Carlisle smelt the aroma lingering in the air, “I think you should go first to talk to them Edward”

You could smell that someone else was there. Vampire with possibly more vampires. You try standing up in case you have to defend yourself but stumble backwards.

“Easy (Y/N)” you whip your head to find Bella’s vampire walking towards you slowly from 10 feet away, “I’m Edward, and I’m here to help”

You wondered how he knew your name but remembered that his kind had special gifts, you assumed his was mind reading.

‘I don’t need your help, I need to be alone right now please,’ you growled lowly as a warning.

“I can’t let you do that, especially if you’re bleeding that much,” he said gesturing to your injured leg and how the thick substance spilled from it matting your fur. 

‘There’s more of you here, I smell someone else’

“I brought someone that could help your leg. I brought Carlisle, he’s the one you imprinted on”

You let his roll around in your mind. It sounded like the name of someone who belonged to bloodline of  royalty. Edward smirked reading how you played around with Carlisle’s name. 

Starting to feel the blood loss, you fall down into a laying position on your side.

“Carlisle!” Edward called over to his adoptive father as he watched you fall to the ground

Catching your breath, you felt two presences over your form, Edward by your muzzle while Carlisle was by your leg analyzing it.

“They’re losing a lot of blood. We’re going to have to get them to turn back so we can wrap a tourniquet around their leg,” Carlisle relays to Edward before turning to you, “I’m going to need you to revert back so I can help you”

You looked into his amber eyes. Even though his colour was similar to Edward’s and the rest of the Cullens, you could see that his had matured longer to be that certain colour. It was like first day break rays hitting rich honey. 

‘I will be nude if I change back. Can I have a cover of some sort?’

“Carlisle, (Y/N) would like to use your jacket to cover up when they turn, if that’s okay they asked” 

Carlisle had no objection there, as a doctor he had seen everything but he understood that you would like to cover any and all modesty. He took off his jacket and placed it over your large form. 

You calmed down and slowly felt yourself shrink back into your human body with the jacket, thankfully, covering enough of your skin. Edward held your head above the rocks, trying to keep you awake. Carlisle took off his blue crew neck sweater, leaving him in a white undershirt, and made the tourniquet on your upper thigh above the teeth gash on your inner and outer thigh. The blood soaked through the sweater but Carlisle didn’t care, his main concern was getting you some where to stitch you up.   

“We should take them back to the house. Edward call Alice to tell them to stay out of the house for a couple hours”

Finally looking to your face, Carlisle had to stop for a second to take you in. Your features were soft yet seemed like they were chiseled in a likeness to statues he had seen in his time with the Volturi. There was only one word that came to how he felt when it came to looking at you in your human form. 

Alive

As if a shock of electricity flowed through him, and jump started his heart he  could see why you imprinted on him. If he was your imprint then you were his ‘true’ mate. 

Similarly to imprinting, when Vampires find their ‘true’ mates an eternal romantic bond is formed, it cannot be broken, and it can be anyone. Esme and himself acted as partners for many years as to not draw attention from the locals, for it would be suspicious that two individuals would raise six adopted children. He too had been lonely for over the last three and a half centuries but he would have never suspected that you, a shapeshifter, would be his true mate. 

Again for the second time today, Edward was astonished but had to stay composed enough for Carlisle and to not drink your blood.

“We should get them back Carlisle,” Edward broke Carlisle’s train of thought back to the fact you were indeed bleeding out. Edward moved away a couple steps so he could get out his phone and call Alice.

“I’ll send you the money for your dry cleaning,” you said to Carlisle, wearily trying to stay conscious.

“No need to do that (Miss/Mr/Mx) (Y/N). Edward and I are going to take you back to our house to give you stitchs”

“I would like that very much,” you slurred feeling the effects of blood loss before falling into unconsciousness.

Carlisle scooped you up into his arms. In perfect contrast, your form burned and he was frigid to the touch. It was comfortable for once not being the temperature of a blast furnace for you, and him to not feel like glacier to others.

Meeting your imprint was far from how some of the pack described meeting their’s, especially with all the blood and confusion. Eventually, you knew that you’d forgive Sam for what he did to you. And he and the pack would come to a place of understanding for their feelings about you and your imprint. For now, you knew while floating in between being conscious or unconscious in the doctors arms, that you’ll never feel truly lonely ever again.

MASTERLIST

(Request are open! Gif Source Unknown)

[gojology]

Clubs Aren’t My Thing. (1/2)

𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆 | i’m REPOSTING this because my already bruised ego absolutely rejects the fact that my writing got 33 notes, that, and i just don’t want to continue this if it doesn’t get any traction. i’m not good at nsfw, so i feel like if not a lotta people wanna read my work, why try hard on something i’m bad at? anyways, this whole club concept is totally from @/mystic-sky or skyfelt on ao3. pls check her out. if anything is inaccurate its prob bcuz the only reference i have is the club penguin dance club teehee. 

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 | mentions of sex, drinking, you’re literally at a club.

𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 | Gojo x Female Reader

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 | 2847

𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 | You’re alone, at a bar, waiting for the end of the night to come. Then again this was bound to happen, as clubs weren’t really your thing, but promises of snacks and money from your friends were really what you came for. A mysterious, yet intriguing white haired man approaches you, and eventually he piques your interest. Little do you know, you had piqued his as well, and he’s having a hard time trying to hide it.

Bright, flickering vivid lights was all the human eye could see from where you were sitting.  You’re sitting at a bar, legs restless and rhythmically bumping against the table. You had come here for a “fun night”, even though they promptly ditched you for the lively dance floor afterwards, you assumed to pick up guys and have some encounters in the bedroom.  It wasn’t quite your thing though, well, you didn’t know yourself, you were far too shy to find out, though.  That’s how you found yourself alone, at a bar, completely sober.   Your friends pushed you, (which was a bit weird since they were no where near you now- so really now, what was the point?) luring you with yummy snacks and treats to come out of your house for once. Hesitantly agreeing, you didn’t expect to have them dress you up as well.   Fighting them off and running for the bedroom door, you hated the very idea of even interacting with anyone. Moaning and groaning like a child that you weren’t getting enough for going to a social event, and not wearing your beloved baggy hoodies and sweatpants.   “Okay, okay!” your friend stood up, hands above her. Shaking her head and letting out an exasperated sigh.   “We’ll add on a free dinner- on us.”   Raising an eyebrow, you scrolled through your phone. This wasn’t a bad deal, not at all. You decided to not reply, though.   “Ugh, (Y/N), Okay. A 50 DOLLAR GIFTCARD TO YOUR FAVORITE STORE. Do we have a deal?” Your friend blurted out, sitting down on her chair with a huff.   The girl clearly wanted you to go to the club.  You grinned evilly, realizing just how much you can get.   Of course, you wouldn’t spend the money without spoiling some of your girlies, but you had gotten even more then you asked for, and well- sure it was a bit mean, but you figured afterwards you could go out with them without the bargaining.   And so, facepalm after facepalm ensued, offering you more and more unnecessary amounts of money and food, you finally broke under the pressure of being a tad too mean. You weren’t planning on torturing your friends for life.   At that point, who could really resist?   Now, enthusiastic with your eyes only on the prize, you allowed yourself to be dressed up just this once. Your friends had whipped up the nicest outfit they could without it showing very much skin (per your request!).   Your friends had let you borrow a rather short white plaid skirt they had paired with a casual simple t-shirt. Slightly sheer, and a warm, yet soft cardigan that was kind of scratchy. Donning a pair of tights that you had picked yourself and your favorite pair of beaten up Doc Martens. You realize that it didn’t look half-bad on you.  For once, you thought you looked nice.   However, it seemed to pale in comparison with the scandalous outfits your friends seemed to prefer. Dresses hugging their curves, showing as much of their skin as possible without being full-blown naked, you wonder how one can hold so much self-confidence. But you ignore the feeling, repeating to yourself that you looked good in your own ways.  You wave for the bar tender, feeling a rush of self confidence as you glance down at your outfit. The rather disgruntled man eyes perked up at the request, rushing over.  “May I offer you something, ma’am?”  You gulp, the self confidence rapidly crashing back down, almost as soon as it had come up. You weren’t quite the drinker, and you weren’t looking to find if you were. Running a hand through your already tousled hair, you stutter out a short sentence.  “Can I have some.. Water? With, uh, ice.”  He nods, seemingly shocked that you weren’t ordering any alcoholic beverages before turning his back on you and quickly whipping up the rather simplistic drink. Well, then again, judging by the outfit, one glance would be enough to tell him that you were forced to come, or shy.    Shocked by how comprehensible you had been when speaking to him, your lips curve slightly into a warm smile. Working around your fear of talking to people in unusual places was good.   Handing the glass of water to you with cold fingertips, you nod back. Skimming his hand as you did so. You grimace, contact felt weird.   Taking a sip, you looked away and hoped not to make conversation.  You heard a rather loud laugh, which was an understatement, because you could hear it even through the mass of chatter and movement of the club.  Curious by who could possibly be louder than the sheer deafening cheers of a drunken crowd, you look towards the other direction, before setting your eyes on a ridiculously white haired man.  He was laughing again now, and your eyes immediately drift over to his very defined jawline. No wonder so many girls were around him, by the looks of it, he looked like a famous model.  His head high above all the females crowding around him, you notice the man next to him. A disgruntled, yet polite looking individual you assumed to be his friend sat next to him.   He was also towering over the women, nodding and smiling at the many girls tempting him with their bodies, but he seemed so clueless that you doubted he even had a clue of what was going on.   Fidgeting and playing with his hair, he was clad in an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. The crowd of women around him wasn’t as large as the white haired man, you noted, but still large nonetheless.  “Oh, him?” the bartender blurted, you turn to face him again, cursing yourself for being so obvious in your endeavors.  Wiping a cocktail shaker down with a towel, he ducks his head, studying the remaining water droplets. You stare daggers at the bartender for interrupting your train of thought, before cursing yourself for being so mean.  “He’s a regular, gets drunk quite frequently, and he’s Prince Charming to the ladies.”  Rubbing the back of your head, you stare back at the bartender. Unsure what to make of his approach on conversation.  Reconsidering like the good person you are, you thought about how annoyed the guy got talking to a bunch of drunk college kids. He seemed like he had good intentions, and talking to someone that was sober was sure to be refreshing.  “Yeah, I can tell, the guy has a lot of girls around him. He looks really... Lively. To put it simply.”  The bartender laughed, relaxing himself as soon as he heard the friendly words leave your lips. He finished wiping down the cocktail shaker and proceeded to the neatly stacked cups which had just been washed.  “No, the guy’s just friendly. Real hit with the ladies, especially his.. Uh, physical attributes. See his friend over there? Lil bit more modest, he started coming here recently. Don’t let that good natured face fool you though, they’re both the same..”  You rolled your eyes, Typical. Taking the last few gulps of your water before you slammed it back down. The bartender took the cup, refilling it hastily and giving it back to you.  You heard several girls giggling, and you glanced back in the direction of the men. The long, raven haired man had his arms wrapped around dozen or more girls, swarming him as if he was a celebrity.  The bartender was right, he looked so bored when you had studied the two, but here he was now with the same army of girls heeding his every call.  That left the white haired man alone.  Shaking his head with a small chortle, he took another swig out of his drink before looking down at the empty glass, he stood up, and by God were those legs long, before walking to the empty stool next to you.  “Yo. Bartender. Refill?”  The bartender set down the cup he was scrubbing down, rummaging his hands through various shelfs, filled with various drinks and add-ons, before taking the mysterious man’s glass.  Curious, you take a small peek at the man, almost jumping back when he was staring unflinching at you, too. Taking this as an invitation to gape at such an incredibly well-fit body. Your eyes stare up at what you could; starting with his collarbones.  Paired deliciously with a simple gold chain, you had to admit, it was a good touch. The simplicity of the chain was enough for you to gape dumbly at anything else that was interesting, and was left dumbfounded by the sheer hotness of... Well, him, and those incredibly prominent collarbones.  You look downwards, and he’s wearing a black, simple t-shirt. Not a wrinkle, nor specks of lint in sight.  Well toned arms, and incredibly strong looking ones at that rested idly against his sides. An expensive watch glinted in the light.  He hadn’t quite said anything yet, so you look down even more without hesitation. Almost like you couldn’t control yourself.   Tucking his shirt in neatly was his belt, you could easily tell it was a high-end brand. Casual, wide flared black jeans, the guy really loved black you noted. The accessories made up for it though, various chains were lazily thrown in, and it made the outfit so much more hotter, especially on him.  “My eyes are up here, girly.”  Feeling your cheeks become full to the brim with warmth, your hands fumble about, words formulating at the tip of your tongue to apologize profusely, you look up.  Circular black shades concealed the white haired man’s eyes, and your heart pounds more. Something about him was so intriguing.  About to blurt out nonsense about actually being very interested at a wall, he held his palm up, a large toothy grin gracing his features.  “It’s okay, I’m into hot chicks ogling me. Especially hot chicks with cute outfits.”  Everything on your mind was suddenly wiped clean, you open your mouth before closing, unsure about what to say.  He thought you were hot?   He thought your outfit was cute?  He laughs, and you snap out of your daze. Muttering a quick thanks when the bartender handed his rather sugary exotic drink to him.  “Saw you looking at me earlier, sweetcheeks.” he hums before tipping the glassware near his glossy lips, sipping the drink, looking down at you as he did.  “No, I think you saw wrong... Are you blind?” you asked, still recovering from the compliments you hadn’t ever received in your life prior to this strange encounter. Desperate to get out of the advancingly awkward conversation, you had never been placed in such a weird setting.  He snorts, taking another deep sip of his drink.  “Nah. People think that, though. People think I’m... Old, for some reason?”  “Hm, I wonder why.” replying sarcastically, you felt yourself jolt up, a mix of uneasiness and excitement bubbling up inside of you. By your experience and tips from your friends, these type of guys seemed to like sassy, teasing girls.  Whipping out your phone from your bag, you try to appear casual, even though your excitement was starting to die down by his silence, turning into dread.  Whistling, trying to look like you didn’t have a care in the world, you physically wince as you realize how stupid you potentially look. Wondering what your friends would say about such an attractive guy seemingly hitting on you, then again, they didn’t seem to really care.  No new notifications, and no familiar faces running up to you with open, friendly arms.  He chuckles again. “I like your style, missy. You come here alone? That’s a shame, pretty girls like you deserve to have someone to come with.”  You look down, struggling to contain the growing smile. Doing a small little victory dance in your head as you realize that he had literally stated that he liked your style.   “I did come with someone, my friends.”  “Where’s your friends?” he inquired.  “Partying at the dance floor, flirting with guys probably.” you nonchalantly reply, struggling to hold your tone, but even then it wavered. You didn’t get hit on often, and when you did they were there to help you.  “That makes two of us, my friend Geto pulled all my chicks, and my pussy for tonight.”  He said it so nonchalantly, you almost spat out your water.  “What are you here for? Some good dick?” he shifted his arm to rest against the table, his hand against his head, lazily looking at you.  You study his figure once more, ignoring his previous question. He looked like he came straight out of a magazine, or a movie. Broad, yet strong looking shoulders.  He looked straight up fake.  He towered over you, and you estimated that he was over 6 foot. His hair seemed soft, and manageable, and so, so fun to play with. A Deep, yet playful voice that would probably make everyone within a 6 mile radius instantly melt.  “Hm, cute. I like straight-forward girls.” he poked fun at you, grinning carelessly.  “I’m not being straightforward in any shape or form, what do you mean?” you flutter your eyelashes innocently at him, knowing damn well what he meant.  “You’re fucking studying me like a textbook before finals.”  “You still haven’t told me your name!” you shot back without thinking, you didn’t want to be caught doing something so scandalous. He winked, you took this as a sign of him following suit.  “That’s what makes it fun, baby.”  “Here, lets trade.”   You had decided that you really liked his style, after letting you off the hook so easily like that. He was shrouded in a cloak of mystery, and you found it hot. That, or maybe he wanted to just fuck around and have one night-stands, which wasn’t your style at all, but you still wanted to see where this would go.  “Tell me your name, and I’ll tell you mine. Fair right?”  He stroked his chin with his unoccupied arm, contorting his face and making you giggle a little, even though it wasn’t very funny. With him, you felt like you could strangely be yourself.  “Hmmmmm....” stroking his chin more, he began to pick up and sip his beverage as if it was a tea cup, holding opposite ends of each other and deeply drinking. He set the cup down.  “Nope.”  Exasperated, you slam your cup down.  “That aside, let’s get back to the point!,” he leaned closer into you, smiling a little as you jumped back. Your confidence when you talked with him had dissolved into thin air.  “You’re really cute.”  Frozen in place, you gawk back at him.    He was straightforward, no doubt it, but you didn’t think he was this straightforward. Most men you knew played a game of cat and mouse, only if you caught them you were rewarded.  Opening and closing your mouth, no sound came out. He snorts, taking another sip and waving the bartender to come back, who was now washing cups awkwardly on the other side of the bar.   You almost pitied the bartender, the guy had ordered so many refills at this point, you wouldn’t be dumb to assume he was either a raging alcoholic or another dumb college kid.  “Refill, again.”   The bartender nodded solemnly in reply, swiftly taking the cup. You realize how overworked the poor guy was, wondering how many refills the mysterious white haired man had gotten before you had even step foot in the vicinity.  “I’d love to take you to the bedroom, baby.” he nods as the bartender returns, sipping and looking back down at you.   You bolted upwards, cursing as you realize you’re slouching, not very attractive. The straightforwardness from him was, though. No doubt it, but you were really not looking to break your heart over a fuckboy.  “Uh, um.”  He tips your chin upward, and your heart leaps out of your throat. There was something so undeniably attractive about this act, maybe it was the way he knew how to make you into pudding, or maybe it was the aura of dominance.   Haughtiness literally radiated off of him, as if he knew he could pull a girl in under 1 minute. Well, then again, he probably did know.  Fuck, what were you thinking, this was a complete stranger that could probably pull chicks more attractive then you, times 100.  “Aw, shy? Cute. Don’t worry, you’re intriguing, and if you’re bad at sex, not to worry. I’ll do it all, and I’m good. Maybe give you a few lessons here and there.” he chirped, tilting his head, curiosity evident.   “But, it’s all up to you, sugar. I’m not trying to force you into this.” the man added.   He did seem hot, and this was really a one-in-a-million chance. No one had really looked at you that way at the level of attractiveness that he had. You didn’t want to regret anything, and getting out of your shell was good right?   What could go wrong?   “...I wouldn’t mind.”   A crooked smirk spread across his face.   “I’ll call an Uber.”