#still not 75 worthy but very nice

[scarah-screeeaaammss]

went to the toy show today and got the Jane i have been after for what feels like a millenia. I bought the frankie first and then my favorite seller had part of her dress! Serendipitous

[spiral-lemur]

OK THE ANNUAL’S OUT AND I JUST NEED TO BABBLE ABOUT STUFF SOOO SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT UR OWN RISK ETC ETC ETC

OK STORY NUMBER 1.

Ok wow. No it’s fine really. Go ahead. Go ahead and BREAK MY FUCKING HEART right off the bat. They don’t even know later in they’re subconsciously Still following the path Starline mapped out for them by still aiming to replace Sonic and Tails. Like yeah this time Eggman is on the chopping block for real which would make Starline lose his gay little mind but GODDDDDDD

Also it’s really funny that the general perception is that Kit is the more mellow of the two. Appearance wise? Yeah. Mannerisms? For the most part yeah. But deep down this little guy is FUCKED UP.

Like every so often the comic just reminds you “see this cute little guy? he can and will drown you for nothing more than surge’s happiness if he sees fit.” Lil dude does NOT care. Genuinely curious as to how this plotline will develop later on since Kit is clearly misguided. Yes he wants to help Surge and she’ll be happy for a while with this arrangement…as long as she doesn’t find out. What happens when she finds out though? I doubt she’ll be very happy to know all her “accomplishments” were part of a carefully constructed narrative set up by the very person who was meant to support her. I’m just RRRRRRRRGGHRGGHHHRTHHHHHH about them yknow? Also I think it’s interesting that this is set sometime after issue 75; very curious about what “he had to drag them out of there” means for the safety of Restoration HQ and I’m even more curious about where Surge and Kit are right now. Are they still there? Bunking somewhere else? What happened with them and their ties to Clutch and Mimic? Lots of questions to wait and find out. Very excited to see how this goes.

Now for the Knuckles story; admittedly this one isn’t spinning around my brain as much because of the other two stories, but it’s still a lovely read. It serves as some insight for Knuckles’ thoughts about his current life and relationships with his friends and it brings a good ol’ smile to my face.

The art FUCKS as usual when ABT is involved. Like this page? This page right here. Gorgeous. Would be a very fun redraw I think. And I feel it says a lot about how Knuckles feels about these characters without having to say anything which is nice. Rouge, for all the trouble she gives him, also gives him an outlet to blow off some steam and a reason to keep up with his training(aside from Eggman of course), and she obviously wouldn’t be there if he didn’t respect her to some degree. Sonic is someone Knuckles views as a worthy rival, but he’s also a treasured friend alongside Amy and Tails. They may clash, but he knows that at the end of the day they’ve got his back, and he’s got their’s. The Chaotix are a little trickier to pinpoint, but they’re here for a reason. I believe they add a dash of excitement and companionship to his life. They might be a bunch of clowns, but they’re HIS clowns and he cares about them just as much as everyone else here. He knows he can depend on them when it comes down to it, which is what I believe the Master Emerald was trying to get at here.

Also Sonknux enjoyers got a little snack here. A little treat even. But it’s nice to see that just like these guys are still on Knuckles’ mind, he never left THEIR minds either. It’s nice to see that they aren’t just trying to get his help for something and just giving him a friendly visit because 1.) We get to see Knuckles and 2.) The dude could use a day where they don’t bring trouble to his doorstep LOL

Also what the FUCK happened to the Tornado guys I JUST said you weren’t bringing trouble to his doorstep you better keep it that way—

And then it ends with the gang catching Knux up to speed on their latest shenanigans. Like I mentioned earlier I think this story serves as a look into how Knuckles views his current situation, and it’s very heartwarming in my opinion. I think this sequence really sums up the big takeaway from this story:

sorry the quality is ass it’s hard to do these things on a phone

There was a moment where I thought that bright light echidna was Tikal, and I’m a little disappointed it wasn’t. It’s still nice but if it’d been her, you’d best believe I’d have a lot more screamy words about it. It’s not a bad story at all though, and if you’re a Knuckles fan who loves digging into his deeper thoughts I think this story is a good read for you. Also YIPPIEE KNUCKLES CONFIRMED FOR ISSUE 80!!!

Now for the story that I(and I’m sure many others are) am currently foaming at the mouth the most over. It’s no surprise at all that a look into Mimic’s backstory would be something I eat the fuck up as a massive fan of Tangle, Whisper, and everything relating to them. But holy WOW this story had everything I could’ve wanted and I will be using this as fuel for my Diamond Cutter Autism™️

Okay, starting off with him being an actor before joining the Diamond Cutters. This may not seem as relevant to people compared to literally everything else in this story BUT you guys. You guys. When I tell you I lost my shit. Why? BECAUSE I FUCKING CALLED THAT SHIT.

This excerpt is from a (now scrapped) fic where I tried tackling a possible redemption arc for Mimic. We hadn’t had any backstory for Mimic so I’d tried making one up that tied into his shapeshifting. I ended up scrapping the whole thing because Mimic kept getting worse/more irredeemable as a character and I didn’t feel like trying to keep it going; and I feel the need to bring up that Tangle and Whisper would’ve never fully trusted or forgiven him(like. at all), he just would’ve gotten over trying to kill them by the end. I swear I wasn’t aiming for a “you did this horrible shit but it’s ok you feel bad about it so we’re buddies now :3” type deal. Anyway, that useless bit of info aside, I wrote this thing back in 2022. It’s not EXACTLY the same way obviously, but seeing this after having written him as a former actor made me actually stop and gape for a second before scrambling to find that old draft. I guess I could just SMELL the washed up actor on him. And yeah maybe it was the most plausible thing, but I’ve been given an inch and just this once I’m going to run this mile in circles.

After the whole acting thing, the war started, Mimic wanted to show off, left some other teams for dead, etc etc and then he met THEM.

This…houghhhhhhhhh

Do you think Whisper ever thinks back to this day? Do you think it’s ever crossed her mind that if she’d never invited him, her friends might still be alive? Do you think this thought eats her alive on bad nights? Whisper honey I am so fucking sorry. It’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known how fucking shitty this guy really was. You didn’t deserve that.

FUCK!!!

Ahem. It’s really bittersweet looking into how these guys acted not just as a team, but as friends. We got a better look as to how these guys were personality-wise and it just stings knowing that this little found family is no longer here because one of them just couldn’t handle vulnerability. Smithy was like an older brother—wise, but just as goofy and playful as the rest of them, and just as ready to tease his little twerps. Claire was like an older sister; similar to Smithy, always looking out for the others, but just as ready to make fun of them. She was probably the straightman in a lot of their antics, but with that loving “oh, you” sense to it. Slinger was the goofy, cocky younger brother. Ready to go for the biggest thing he could find, and usually needing to be saved from his own ambition. He’d make up for that trouble by bringing in a lifetime supply of laughs for all of them. And Whisper…honestly I’d go as far as saying Whisper back then was just like Tangle is now. Optimistic, eager, bubbly. I wonder if that might be why she gravitated towards Tangle rather than the other characters she was friendly with; even before their miniseries. I’d show more images for this part but apparently I can only use 10 images on a phone and my computer still isn’t up so that’s just SWELL. For the last image I’ve got, I’ll just use this:

It just stings so HARD when you really think about what was taken from her. We might have gotten the Whisper we know and love because of it, sure. She may not have met any of the people she holds dear now if it hadn’t gone the way it did. But the fact that she had this little family, the fact she loved them so dearly, the fact she’d put so much trust into them—only to have it ripped away in one selfish decision? That’ll hurt forever. That’ll haunt her for the rest of life; it’ll haunt me too. God the Diamond Cutters sting so good.

Now let’s get Mimic’s little monologue in here. Ahem.

“I got what I wanted. Did I just crave validation? Was it ever about the spotlight? I can’t be myself around them. They don’t know what I’ve done…friendship is supposed to feel good. Solid. Like a foundation…so why does it hurt so much? They don’t see I’m a walking contradiction. One look p-past my facade and I’ll be thrown away! I can’t afford to be so fragile. I look back at my acting days with a soul-wrenching truth staring back at me. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s a rehearsed charade! They are all mirrors, saying what I want to hear until they get what they want. They can’t be trusted. I refuse to play this game anymore.

The moment an opportunity to be rid of these nuisances came, I readily took it. The Diamond Cutters would be gone from this world and mine. I could clear my mind and never feel such visceral pain from their fake smiles. Attachment was erased, like weeds pulled from a garden, as they perished. The pain inside nearly vanished, a good sign for my healing journey. Yet…there was a single, terribly annoying headache left to deal with. I can’t fix what that team did to me until I shatter every last one. Only with this knife, will I finally be cleansed.

I can’t think straight tonight. What is the point of reflecting on all these memories? Am I afraid? Or am I just…tired? Soon, that pain deep within myself will be washed away. And this can all be a bad, bad dream. I’m selfish, arrogant, and colder than a frozen lake. I enjoy the chase, watching others struggle, and I love that about me! I know what I am, so…who are you?”

Man…a LOT to unpack here.

Mimic is a coward. There’s certainly vitriol to my words, but it’s also just a fact based on the evidence we’ve seen. He’d been burned so many times chasing the spotlight in the past, he’d grown to view it as conditional. No one ever truly valued his contributions in his eyes. He was just another part of an act, and when that act was over, no one would need each other anymore—so whenever he felt done with putting on the “show” of contributing to a new team during the war, he quickly cut ties. Some ways more permanent than others—we’ll never know for certain if he got those people killed like the Diamond Cutters, but he certainly didn’t care if he did. The show was over. It didn’t matter.

Then the Diamond Cutters came along. The show was going well, it was a broadway smash! Then the actor’s nemesis began to creep in; imposter syndrome. Mimic knew deep down, he didn’t deserve this success. How many people did he really cut down as he chased the spotlight? How many people had seen his previous work? How long until that all came back to bite him? He didn’t know. It terrified him deep down, judging from the moments of hesitation he’d shown in his monologue. Surely it began to gnaw at him more and more towards the end. He can’t trust them, his smiles were fake so they all had to be faking too, right? There was no way there was such a thing as genuine friendship, teamwork, or any of the like. If it didn’t exist in his world, it couldn’t have existed at all. It began to be kill or be killed; and Mimic intended to be the one doing the killing. So he cut them down too.

But Whisper survived. Whisper was a present reminder of the horrible, selfish things he’d done. As long as she’s around, he can never fully ignore what he’s left behind. He can never truly run away from all of it. So he has his sights set on her; killing her will surely solve all the pain within himself. It has to. It has to.

And he still hesitates. Maybe it’s the way suppressed guilt is manifesting itself, maybe it’s being overly cautious, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t care. Perhaps once there was a time he could’ve gone back on everything and reinvented himself, but it’s gone now. And he’ll run away from that possibility for the rest of his life. He just has to get rid of that last poster before he can move on to his next big show.

Or I could easily be reading way too much into it but who cares I’m having fun this way! Really enjoyed this story—easily my favorite of the three if you couldn’t tell from all that word vomit. This annual might just be my favorite of them all so far, and I’m excited to see how these characters continue to develop as the comic runs on. That’s just about everything I can think of to say, so that ends my babbling. Thanks to everyone who read this far! I don’t normally get so wordy but this annual really just activated something in me.

[ivanttakethis]

Tov’s OC Intimacy Levels

Based on the character intimacy percentages from the art book.

This covers Tov’s intimacy levels with other characters she has notable relationships with or is connected to in some way.

Inspired by @lookatmysillies’s Character Intimacy Levels posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Himei (100%) - If soulmates exist, I believe we are a pair. There is no me without you. I would give anything to change your fate.

Tallis (100%) - You see me in a way no one else does. I cannot hide from you, but I find that I don’t want to. It’s okay if it’s you.

Nyx (90%) - My bothersome little brother. You’re stubborn in your belief that you are not worthy of love, but I’m more stubborn in proving you wrong.

Dian (80%) - Although you can be a persistent thorn in my side, you’re one of my closest friends. You keep me in check and I return the favor. I know you have my best interest at heart.

Moran (75%) - I miss our talks and the time we spent together and your views on the world. You were so much more than a puppet waiting to play their part. We are tied together in the stars.

Flor (60%) - Your heart was far too kind for a cruel world like ours. I try to view your death as a mercy. I don’t know if it’s working. I miss you.

Solei (59%) - Thank you for allowing me to be your shadow. I will always keep your secrets. Hopefully we can meet again one day.

Aurien (57%) - I know you were the one who made our class’s star charts. I appreciate you sharing them with me. Please stay safe, fellow stargazer.

Wren (50%) - There’s something odd about you. I suspect you know more than you let on. Despite that, you were there for me at my lowest, and I’m grateful.

Lang (40%) - Tallis and Nyx loved you so much. Over time, I came to care for you too. I wish things could’ve been different.

Stasya (39%) - More than an acquaintance. A friend perhaps? You didn’t deserve what happened to you. I hope you’re drifting in a nice river somewhere.

Azure (30%) - It is not lost on me that this odd fondness I feel for you only runs one way. Even still, I do not regret mourning you. Your life and death were never a waste of time.

Akane (20%) - I’ve always respected you as my senior. Maybe we could’ve been friends. I see you every night in the moon.

Castor (18%) - I often found you to be annoying and unserious. But you were very important to Nyx, so I tolerated you. I hate how badly you hurt him, but we both know there was no other way.

Elias and Prem (17%) - I still don’t understand why you’re risking so much to help me. Is my benefactor really that important to you? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Lark (15%) - Even though I know there was nothing I could do, I still feel like I failed you in some way. Did you know I was there when you were dying? I held your hand the whole time.

Minori (10%) - I’m sorry. I should’ve looked. I should’ve dignified you in your last moments and I didn’t. It is one of my biggest regrets.

Daiki (8%) - I’ll never forgive you for how you spoke about Tallis. But I understand wanting to live for someone you love.

Noora (6%) - You were always such a sweet girl. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand what made you snap. I’m sorry about Lark. Are you together now?

Min (5%) - You saved Himei’s life. For that alone, I am in your debt.

Cirrus (5%) - We have very similar backgrounds. If we spoke, I think we’d find that we have a lot in common. Part of me knew it would end this way.

Tagging: @lookatmysillies (Himei, Tallis, Castor), @rockwgooglyeyes (Nyx, Dian), @geospiral (Moran), @sotogalmo (Flor), @solei-eclipse (Solei), @aurienneirua (Aurien), @its-langgg (Lang), @billwasnot (Stasya), @azureitri (Azure), @aakaneeee (Akane), @kamersona (Lark, Noora), @minori-dash (Minori), @daiki1k (Daiki), @starry-skiez (Min), and @yunoftheclouds (Cirrus).

[orangetintedglasses]

Wolfwood doubts that Vash bothers celebrating Christmas, and he can't blame him. He doesn't really either, he just does the gift-giving part. Usually the people celebrating the holiday worship the two Angels, and while Wolfwood will gladly get on his knees for Vash, he'd rather not think of him as some holy deity, thanks. Angelic, yes. An actual angel? Well, he'd expressed discomfort with the idea in the past, so an angel Vash is not. Finding a gift for someone who doesn't ask for anything other than a box of donuts from time to time is harder than it seems. How's he supposed to pick out a gift that fits perfectly between the 'casual' and 'you may as well propose to the guy' categories? He hasn't even had the courage to tell Vash how he feels about him yet either, so maybe this would be a good opportunity to. Maybe. Hopefully. It'd also be a good time to give Vash a different kind of present, but that's neither here nor there. Trinkets of any decent quality are rare finds on Noman's. Rarer still are the ones without any kind of religious inspiration. Eventually Wolfwood finds an eclectic collector's shop with myriad baubles. Immediately, what catches his eye is a whiskey flask with the words "Holy Water" printed on it, so he of course needs to pick that up as a little gift to himself. It'll probably ignite one of Vash's contagious laughs—a brilliant light in an endless dark void. What in the world is worthy of being given to Vash the Stampede? He grumbles over this for some time before the owner of the shop takes pity on him and approaches, concerned. Immediately, she picks him out as a 'boyfriend getting his partner something for their first Christmas' type. As embarrassing as it is, Wolfwood relents, which leads to the present moment, when Vash convenes with him at their hotel room: "I know you… probably don't care about Christmas—I don't really either—but I wanted to get you something," he begins, nervous as all getup. Wolfwood pulls a gift bag from behind his back, then offers it to the blond. "I like to do stuff for the kids, you know? But this time I had to give a gift to you as well. You're pretty hard to shop for, has anyone ever told you that? Jeez…" Inside the sparkly red bag is an instant-print camera and a brand-new journal—oversized, presumably, to fit photos into. "I know you got a photographic memory, but… thought it might be nice to, uh, keep some, I guess. You know, in case you go forgetting stuff again. And also for the sake of those of us who don't have the ability to remember what they had for dinner 75 years ago. Might be nice, is all." He turns away to avoid watching Vash's gaze, but remembers that he's absolutely guilty of wanting to see the way those blue, glassy eyes glimmer with excitement, so he braves the fear and meets them head-on, determined. "I… have another gift for you but I still… need to wrap it. Go get us some hooch or something and come back in an hour." @forgivenpunishment

Well now! Didn't that put his little gift idea to shame?

In a funny way, of course-- Vash didn't actually think of it like that. It was just kind of a funny coincidence that Wolfwood had also gone out to find him something for the whole holiday thing, and apparently had a difficult time of it. Which was fair; he'd been told quite a few times that he was hard to get gifts for in the past. Partly because he didn't really ask for or openly want anything, and party because he was happy with anything people were willing to give him, which apparently just made that even more difficult? But even just thinking about him was more than enough--

This, though, this gift was... not only very sweet, but extremely thoughtful. Both of which had seemingly caught the Plant a bit off-guard as he looked into the bag.

"This is..." even just those two words, ushered out with the tail end of an exhale and barely audible, sounded completely awed by what Wolfwood had found. Vash lifted his gaze from the contents of the bag; summer sky blues positively sparkling with adoration as they caught the light at that angle.

Then Wolfwood mentioned having another gift, and that sent dark brows shooting straight up.

"Something else...? Y-you didn't have to-- I mean, this is more than-- I--" the poor thing blustered, flushed and a bit all over the place (and a little confused: he needed another hour to wrap something else when this had been put in a bag?) now that the situation called for his brain to be put to use. Eventually he caught himself, and just... nodded. Smiled and nodded. Beamed and nodded, really-- "y-yeah, okay. An hour. You got it~."

He did still have to set the gift down for safekeeping (no way was he risking bringing this outside yet!) and grab the rest of his cash before he set off as requested... buuut not before stealing a quick kiss from the undertaker; catching his upper lip in something sweet and warm and, again, quick--

"Thank you. Seriously, this is... really amazing, Wolfwood." he said. Decent as he usually was at withholding his lovesick glances until Wolfwood's back was sufficiently turned, the blond just couldn't help himself this time. His moony gaze drifted slowly from his boyfriend's light blue eyes down to his mouth, then back up again before he finally pulled away to get himself sorted and headed out the door.

The Plant was reluctant to part, but Wolfwood had specifically asked, after all.

"Be back later, yeah?"

[rosaetae]

no sweetness

☇ “It’s funny because you remind me exactly of this drink I made last night. Yeah, yeah, it was the black tea with boba. Bitter, with tiny balls.”

➣  pairing: reader x jungkook

➣  genre: fluff, comedy, bobarista!reader, lacrosseplayer!jungkook, e2l!au

➣  word count: 23k (of pure disgusting e2l fluff) 

➣  warning!: slight implicit smut 

➣  a/n: header title credit to the loveliest @yehdayums​ !!! a sweetheart for making this cute header hehe <3 also support small businesses! 

➣  summary: jungkook has a thing for pretty girls who work with tiny balls, especially the new fiery bobarista at his favorite boba shop, whom he finds absolutely adorable, but finds out later that she’s just as sweet as she made his milk tea order— not sweet.

Jeon Jungkook is absolutely whipped as cream.

Why, you may ask?

His favorite boba shop at the very edge of the outskirt of town hired a new bobarista, and her name—supposedly— being ___. Jungkook made it a mental note to ask for it when he goes into Pleasantea with his friends, but word goes around and it out of the many words there are in the world, it's her name that catches his ear.

It is no doubt that Jeon Jungkook comes off as a flirt to every living species he encounters, but seeing that the new bobarista wasn't as happily taking it in as most people would, he was shocked that someone didn't have much interest into him. Sure, call him egotistical, but he was captain of the lacrosse team and he was pretty damn good at almost— well, everything.

The first time he goes into Pleasantea after hearing the news of a new duckling in training was after another win that Friday night. He's there with his group of friends, raiding the popular boba place with cheers while greeting the familiar workers behind the bar.

On Friday nights, it's Luna, Dahlia, and Jihyo working the closing shift, making the drinks and providing impeccable service, especially to the rowdy group of college students that come in almost every Friday to hangout or just to celebrate. Luna's pretty good with taming them down, especially when other customers are there. Dahlia likes to yell at them— she likes to yell at people in general. And Jihyo nurtures them like babies.  

They've gotten close to Jungkook as Luna happened to be in his communications class first semester. He recognized her first, but Luna, being oblivious in all ranges of settings, faked a recognization of his name and face, and gave him a discount anyways. Because of this tiny occurrence, Jungkook came back, then with friends, and eventually with his whole lacrosse team to support the business.

"I'm guessing another win, Team Captain?" Jihyo rhetorically yelled over the cheering voices towards Jungkook who followed behind the group with a smirk. Her doe eyes peeks over the bar where her height was significant from the taller men on the other side, eyebrows raised and awaiting for the cocky response Jungkook can muster.

"What can I say?" Jungkook laughed sonorously, followed by a few encouraging and prideful pats on the shoulder from his teammates. "Wouldn't show up tonight with the boys if I didn't make that winning shot."

Rolling her eyes at the sound of the booming, testosterone-filled voices of his teammates and his vibrant ego, Jihyo scoffed away to work on other orders that Luna and Dahlia were speedily making before Jungkook's teammates and good friends come up to him, ready to order their drinks.

"What should I get?" Yoongi asked Jungkook, eyes scanning the menu of different drinks.

"Dunno. Get the usual," Jungkook advised, crossing his arms over his chest as he pondered what he should get too. "Your matcha milk tea with boba."

"Aight," Yoongi nods before he paused. The pause wasn't obvious enough for Jungkook to look his way, until Yoongi went ahead and nudged Jungkook, taking his complete attention away from the menu. "New worker."

"Hi, welcome!" That odd cheery voice didn't seem to come from the usual cashier he knew as Luna, nor Dahlia, throwing him off a bit. He does a double take behind the counter, finding a girl hurriedly filling a cup up with boba before she's running to the cashier, doe-like eyes widening in surprise at how many people she has to take orders of.

Her eyes catch Jungkook's, and it immediately clicked in his head that the word circling about the new Pleasantea worker were true. Pretty much all of them were aware, but it didn't seem to catch their attention as much as it caught his. Maybe it's the unfamiliarity of having someone foreign in a place he likes to call a second home. Maybe it's the odd satisfaction of meeting the so-called bobarista who's name somehow runs laps around his brain. Really, he was merely curious.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked with a warm smile. Jungkook's worked at a retail shop before, and he can tell good customer service apart from just a single sentence.

Jungkook peered over at the boys, watching Yoongi motioning at the others to go order, but seeing that they were also too busy eye-goggling the new girl behind the counter out of curiosity, Yoongi let out a sigh and ordered first. A smile bursted on the new girl's face when she's nodding to Yoongi's order. Her eyebrows furrowed as she works the register all before Yoongi whipped out his trusty credit card and does the procedural routine of inserting the card, tipping, signing, and saying "no thanks" to the receipt, dropping in a spare dollar or two into their "college funds" tip jar.

The boys filed in line after they've decided on what they wanted that night all while Jungkook started to overthink what he wanted to get.

Jungkook likes to change up his drink from time to time. After practices, he'd like something more refreshing to quickly chug down. After later practices, he'd get something more caffeinated to keep him awake for a night full of assignments. After games, it depends on the outcome of the prior— losing, he wouldn't order anything. Winning, however, he likes Pleasantea bobaristas to choose for him.

It's a good thing they won tonight.

When the line of his teammates dispersed and they all maneuvered into the back where their usual spot was,  Jungkook realized it was his turn already. He didn't notice that he let all the boys go in front of him  on purpose and he was the last of the group to order. However, he does take mental note of how New Girl keeps up a good face after each customer, something that Dahlia lacks because each customer removes a layer of her niceness as they come and go.

Jungkook slides closer to the register, his eyes never leaving hers as her own form into crescents— a silent, but welcoming greeting.

"Hi, what can I get for you?"

His lips forms a smile to hear her voice clear as day. "Do you think you can surprise me?"

The favor evidently takes her by surprise before she lets out a laugh, nodding. "Yeah, I can. Is there anything you're craving specifically?"

"Nope," he shakes his head. "You new?"

She smiles in return. "Yeah. Yesterday was my first day. Still getting a hang of it."

"You got a favorite drink..." Jungkook dragged out his sentence to look at her name badge, realizing that her name really was what he has been told. "___?"

The bobarista hums in thought before she lazily shrugs. "I haven't had many drinks, yet, but I really like the plain milk tea."

"I'll just get that then. Large, boba, light ice."

She nods as she puts it into the register as Jungkook patted his black jeans, searching his pockets for his wallet. In his head, he's pondering about the amount of tips to tip her.

"Sweetness level?"

Jungkook, without even processing he's said it, goes, "you." It takes him by surprise just as much as it took her, but he decides to roll with it. He even mentally pats himself, because damn, that was pretty smooth of him. He noticed that her fingers paused in tapping on the pad, just before meeting his expression consisting of a (douchebag) smirk and kind eyes. She raised her eyebrows before letting out a light chuckle, shaking her head.

"Cute," is all she said before placing the order and directing him to insert his card. As Jungkook mentally fist bumps himself, he decided to tip her the ten dollar bill laying in his wallet into the tip jar, before she glanced up at him with crescent eyes once more. "Your order will be ready at the other end of the counter."

As Jungkook thanked her, he lingered for a bit as she disappeared behind the bar where she met the three other girls shuffling around to finish the end of the night shift with dozens of customers waiting inside and outside. He shoved his wallet into the back of his pocket as he met up with the boys who took up the entire back of the shop where a long table basically welcomed them with open arms.  

"What you get this time, Captain?" Jaehyun made a single nod towards Jungkook.

"Just their milk tea," Jungkook responded.

Jungkook has had the plain milk tea before. It's what Pleasantea was known for. It's their signature drink. A roasted flavor with just the right amount of sweetness with just 75% sugar. However, responding with reference to her as a sweetness, it might be a bit sweeter with just 100%. But it doesn't matter. He managed to get a "cute" from the new bobarista at Pleasantea and he intends to share it with his lacrosse team.

"New worker called me cute."

Jaehyun let out a snort, while Yoongi excitedly leaned in to add onto the list of other cringe-worthy pickup lines Jungkook says to girls. "Did you make another boba pick-up line? Remember when you tried to flirt with Dahlia but ended up only getting roasted by her?"

"Yeah, well, ___ called me cute. She just asked how sweet I wanted my drink to be," he explained. "I answered back with, 'you'."

It's the shove and nudge coming from both directions and the bursted balloon that held crazy laughter coming from not only Jaehyun, but Yoongi and Jaemin who listened to the terrible conversation they were most grateful to not have witnessed first hand. Jungkook grinned widely, pushing off his teammates who were disgusted by such a revolting experience.

"God, you are terrible," Yoongi covered his face with his hands, hiding from sheer embarrassment as Jungkook chuckled broadly. "I hope she spits in your drink because that was god awful."

"She thought it was cute, actually," Jungkook tooted his own horn— something he loved doing. Cocky isn't a pleasant trait on him, but he somehow makes it work.

Jaemin shook his head in mild distaste. "Man, get the fuck out of here."

"Boys!"

The familiar sound of Jihyo calling out a broad name as an endearment to the only boys that she has a love and hate relationship with catches the lacrosse teams' ears, having them get up in excitement. Half of the table decides to go while the other half stays and saves the spot, wanting to spend about half an hour there to settle.

It takes them a minute or two to have all of them come back with max two drinks in hand and while half of the boys passed out the variety of drinks to the others who saved their spot, Jungkook scrolls through his phone as Jaemin places his drink in front of him, a straw on top. Like second nature, Jungkook grabs the straw and stabs the plastic wrap, his jaw preparing to chew the sweet goodness of tapioca pearls.

However, it's not that that he was anticipating prior that made him furrow his eyebrows at the taste. It was the odd flavor that came before the pearls that made him retract the drink from his mouth to look at the label of what type of drink he got.

At first, he furrowed his eyebrows because he thought he had received the wrong drink. But it's in the middle of wanting to ask Jaemin if the drink he got actually belong to him, that he realized where he fucked up. Jaemin was curious as well, arching an eyebrow and turning the cup to its side to see if Jaemin actually grabbed the wrong drink.

It's the hysterical laughter coming from Jaemin's mouth ringing in the air that made Jungkook's lips part, but in all honestly, Jungkook wasn't as surprised. He watches his teammate share the cup around, laughter suddenly becoming louder at what has been witnessed— a rise and downfall of their own team captain.

The mocking sniggering that dispersed into air echoed throughout the boba shop's walls and inevitably, the new bobarista girl must be hearing it crystal clear, probably a playful smile on her lips as she heard the laughter grow at her own doing.

Eventually, Jungkook snatched the drink back and chugs it down anyways, shaking his head. Each time he took a sip, he looks at the side of his cup and wrinkles his nose in disdain.

MLK TEA. LESS ICE. 0% SWEET.  

two days later.

The unfamiliarity of the road just near the outskirt of the town heading towards your new part-time job grows familiar each shift you are scheduled to work. The swerve and crooks of the road, the uneven pavements, the tiny dip as you enter the plaza— your mind becomes used to it, no longer using your GPS to know your way around the roads.

You arrive to your shift about a minute late, hurrying out of your car into the shop where Dahlia only greets you with a welcoming smile behind the bar. You take the marble colored hair clip you had in hand and clip your damp hair no thanks to your last minute morning shower you had to take after skipping your nightly routine. In theory, you had to blame the overwhelming paperwork you just had to wait last minute on for your lack of sleep and lack of hygiene.

"Hi, sorry, I'm late," you apologize, clocking in. Dahlia waves you off, passing by you into the back room where the sink was running. As you met her gaze, her lips portray a warm smile.

"You're all good. Sunny went to Orange Valley, so it's just you and me for awhile."

"Orange Valley?" You raise an eyebrow. "Why did she go to Orange Valley?"

"To restock. That's where our supplier of lavender and fresh fruits are. She usually has me or Jihyo pick it up, but thank god she had me just watch over you," Dahlia explains, turning the faucet off and pouring what you assumed was freshly rinsed boba in a large strainer into a bin of sugary water. "How was your morning? Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Nope, not at all," you respond, washing your hands in the sink just behind the bar.

"I can tell," Dahlia laughs, her voice more apparent as she appears from the back, two hands carefully holding the boba bin of where tiny black spheres float in sweet water that is only about to get sweeter once Dahlia pours the honey in. "Load up on some of the coffee and you'll be fully recharged."

"What type of coffee do you suggest?"

Dahlia pauses, looks up excitingly, and says from the top of her head, "Cold brew. Two pumps of the white chocolate, shake it, and add oat milk. That's my go-to for my 8 am's."

Wrinkling your nose, you go ahead and grab one of the metal shakers and take it apart in front of you, grabbing the ounce cap and the bottle for the white chocolate syrup. "You take 8 am's?"

"I like to get out early. Like 11 am early so that I can sleep for lunch," she says as she stirs the boba in continuous loops. "Plus, I can fit more shifts into my schedule."

"You're so brave," you sarcastically state, filling the cap with the syrup twice and pouring it into the shaker.

You'd like to say you're getting the hang of it. It's only been your third shift, but the register has been pretty good to you in terms of taking people's orders. The drinks were slowly getting there, but at least you can make the flavored teas without freezing and having to look at the ratios placed on the fridge. That only occurs with the more complicated drinks. Even then, you'd rather ask Dahlia or Luna or Jihyo for help.

Dahlia asks you if you had any questions or any difficulty with memorizing. And while you honestly tell her that some drinks are hard to remember, she agrees wholeheartedly and encourages that you'll eventually get it. She also throws in with her encouragement while in preparation of the shop opening that she has some sort of quizlet for the drinks and that she'll send it to you to help you memorize.

As you thank her, you decide to make that cold brew drink she recommended, repeating her instructions in your head like a mantra. Dahlia curves around the bar to flip the sign to open as well as bringing out a stand that promotes a a buy three get one free drink deal just a few feet away from the door.

She comes back in and checks up on your drink that you were currently just shaking together, only then that the particular movement of the glass door swinging open captures your attention from the coffee machine, your mind immediately registering that a new customer has entered the shop, causing you to pause on your current doings. Sauntering over to the register of where the point of sale system sits, you immediately make eye contact with the customer.

And once that you realize that that customer just happens to be Jeon Jungkook, the dumbass that thought you were worth a coy, yet terribly executed coquetry dripping from his mouth, you internally groan.

He makes the same eye contact with you, eyebrows shooting up as if he didn't expect to see you, especially after the 'first' encounter with each other that one night, working. You hope that he saw the way your face falls into sheer distaste while he makes it plan to order because as he opens his mouth, you immediately halt him in his tracks, putting a finger up and shaking your head.

"Give me one second."

Without a second glance thrown into his direction again, you take the time to run behind the counter, unseen, tapping Dahlia's arm, tutting your tongue and nodding towards the register in which Dahlia could only laugh to herself at how easy it was for you to do that. She drops the shaker she was making of the mango black tea for the customer waiting by the bar and silently motions you to take over, in which you pleasantly do so, so long as you don't ever get to interact with Jungkook.

Trust, it isn't the confrontation of that night where you made his drink revoltingly plain, but it is more of the initiation of cutting any type of contact attached to him, as that night of the winning lacrosse team isn't the 'first' encounter with him.

Jeon Jungkook is the acquiring taste of dark chocolate. Like the bitter yet sweet taste, you know of the infamous Jeon Jungkook from your own past experiences, having to have encountered him multiple times along the road of lengthy university years up until now. He's introduced himself to you multiple times, but guessing he was completely shit-faced drunk each occurrence, your name and face has probably went over his head as he wakes up with another name and face beside him in bed.

The first time was during your first year, a visit to a Kappa Sugma Ligma frat party where the face of second year Jeon Jungkook was pretty prominent. (And by that, he was shit faced drunk and kept insisting to dance with you. But as a prude first year, you stuck with babying your friends instead). The second time was at a more mellow kickback the summer prior to second year, introducing himself again right after getting kegged. He stole your friend away from your group to dance, but you didn't really notice that you've already met him until the tiny revelation hits one afternoon when that so- called friend announces that her and Jungkook are supposedly fuck buddies. The third time he's introduced himself to you again was when he was smashingly drunk. The other times were just as sublime, but this one was what kicked you off your rocker because not only did he end things with your friend who grew an emotional attachment, he managed to introduce himself to you by puking all over your new pants.

Jungkook is the exquisite taste of dark chocolate; while he may be known for his good looks and "long-stick shots" and his supposed 'kind' demeanor, a lot of people do happen to like him. However, you aren't those lot of people who enjoy the taste of dark chocolate, hence why he leaves a strong dreadful taste on your tongue.

There's a mild surprise sparking from Jungkook when he realizes that Dahlia takes over, but nevertheless he orders his drink of a passion fruit green tea with light sugar and light ice. And with his whole chest, he loudly enough goes, just for you to hear behind the bar, "Can you tell her to actually add sugar this time?"

And a light scoff at his indirect, you roll your eyes as you pour the previous drink into the large cup with boba for the other customer, a response coming out of your mouth channeling the same energy as his.

"Don't worry, I will."

It's not long until you've rejuvenated through the suggested cold brew drink and began washing dishes that Dahlia comes in with a devious laugh escaping her throat. She leans against one of the fridges of where the basic teas of ranged from black to green sat in, her head shaking as she marvels at you with glimmering eyes. You raise an eyebrow at her in curiosity, confused as to why she was giggling.

"How many ounces of syrup do you put in the flavored teas?"

Her laughter kind of dies down, but she bites her lip to suppress another giggle making its way up. Drying your hands with the green dry rag hanging to the side of the sink, you turn your body to face her and answer swiftly, "3 for larges, 2 for regulars."

And then her smile grows to the point where it reaches her eyes. "And how many ounces of passion fruit did you put in Jungkook's tea?"

The question takes you back in time just about 10 minutes ago when you finished making Jungkook's desired passion fruit green tea with light sugar and light ice, only after he decided to throw in with such ambition to "actually add sugar this time". You debate on telling Dahlia the truth, only because you haven't worked with her for awhile to trust her just yet, but seeing how she was very amused as she asked the question, you shrug.

"Why?"

Dahlia giggles once more. "Jungkook complained about it and asked me to make him a new one." You roll your lips inward, stifling a laugh. "It's okay, you can tell me. I won't snitch. Seeing him ticked off was pretty funny."

And that was enough for you to trust your sweet co-worker. "Six. And a half."

It's then that she bursts all of her laughter out, both of you basking in light laughter about your own doing. "Brilliant."

"Why, he didn't like it? I added sugar."

The light laughs coming from her mouth ultimately leads into tears as she wipes under her eyes. Shaking her head, she points a finger at you. "You are terrible. Absolutely terrible. First the milk tea— which was a pretty genius comeback— and now the passion fruit? Gold."

To that, you shrug. "Thanks. Sorry you had to remake his drink, though."

"Girl, you're fine. To see him all annoyed about it was worth it," she smirks. "Are you guys like... I don't know... archenemies? Frenemies?"

"I'm not exactly fond of him," you answer truthfully. "I'm guessing he's never met me before— or at least, he doesn't remember we've met before, but I've met him plenty of times. One of which is when he puked all over my new lilac pants."

Dahlia's mouth flies open, a hand slapped over her mouth in complete shock at what she was hearing. Maybe you are tampering with the impression of a well adored guy that everyone at Pleasantea (hell, the whole town) seems to love, but hell, Jungkook was not handmade by the gods to be loved by everyone.

"Jungkook puked on you?"

You nod your head in response. "Third time in meeting him and each impression does not progressively get better."

"Now I see why you put no sugar in his milk tea the other night," Dahlia laughs. "Jihyo was a little mad at the move, but she admits his flirting tactic was dreadful."

"I'm sure he's tried flirting with you guys? I'm not the only one who experiences it?"

"Oh yeah," Dahlia nods, letting out an amused puff of air. "Flirted with Luna first because they were in the same class. She's never interacted with him in school, so once he found out she worked here, he suddenly became all flirty, but you know Luna, she's blunt and she told him that she has a girlfriend."

You nod, staying quiet as Dahlia goes on to continue. "Then it was Jihyo, once he started bringing all of the lacrosse team here. But Jihyo's like... basically engaged. Promise ring and everything. Then it was Ryujin, but Jungkook realized he made her uncomfortable." To that, I snort. "Then me, but personally, I've been eyeing Yoongi and he backed off when he found that out. So yeah, he's a very flirty man with a taste in boba girls. It's your turn now!"

"Does he have some sort of boba fetish? Does he need help?"

"Probably," Dahlia shrugs, smiling amusedly. "But you're not exactly helping him with that."

You let out a chuckle. "Well, it's a no from me."

"Figured as much," she nods in agreement. "He's nice when he's not trying to get your number."

"You mean when his ego isn't eating him up and he suddenly thinks that every girl is going to fall for him at first sight?"

Dahlia rolls her lips inwards before nodding once more. "Precisely. But hey, hella tips."

Jungkook comes in again while you're working a week later, but this time with his friends, Yoongi and Jaehyun following after him, strutting inside the minimalistic shop with what you assumed to be their practice attire just by the sweat and glow on their facial structures caused by the aftermath of exercise.

You're guessing that Jungkook's been avoiding you, and he has been pretty good with it if you can recall that the last time you've seen him in the shop was a week prior. When Jungkook peers up from his phone after you greet the group a, "hello, welcome" loudly and scurry behind the register to take their order, he couldn't help but to groan obnoxiously.

"Great," he mutters in hopes that only his friends would hear, but due to the lack of distance and your exceptional hearing, your eyebrows shot up.  

"Woah," you put your hands up in mock defense. "No need to get all irked. I won't tamper with your drink again."

"Right. Annoying brat," Jungkook mutters to himself half-heartedly as you smirk. As his eyes look up to the menu to give it a few sweeps despite how often he comes here, you think about how much he dreads having you work here and to be taking his order, and while it's not exactly the best customer service, it was very amusing.

"Just don't mess up while ordering, and we'll see what happens," you tell him bluntly. His eyes glued onto the menu above you flickers down to meet yours, a false vendetta of your eyes disappearing into crescents as his your lips turn upwards to greet him, his head shaking in response. Audibly, his friends snicker behind him.

"Go, Jungkook. Tell her that you want your milk tea as sweet as her again."

"Or that you'd want your drink to actually have sugar in it."

The taunts eliciting out of his own friends' mouth set Jungkook into straight annoyance, his eyes snapping behind them to throw presumable death glares at them over his shoulder while you patiently wait for him to hit you with a brand new drink that you can practice on making under 30 seconds thanks to your competitive mindset.

The teases make you chuckle as you shake your head. You notice Jaehyun take a step forward to rest his hands on the tense Jungkook, attempting to give him a friendly pat before Jungkook nudges him off.

"Fuck off," Jungkook scoffs, Jaehyun cackling beside him in response before he turns his direction towards you and gives a single acknowledging head nod.

"How's a going, Shortstack?" Jaehyun asks, pulling out his wallet beside Jungkook whose eyes are roaming the menu up and down, top to bottom.

"Doin' alright, Jaehyun," you smile, politely. "How's anatomy for ya?"

Jaehyun lets out a sarcastic, nervous laugh— one that takes the attention of Jungkook and you're unsure if it's because of his own friends' laughter or because he is surprised to know that you and Jaehyun know each other from your guys' microbiology lab class last semester. "Kicking my ass, but I've been using your notes as guidance. Hey, thanks for those by the way."

"No worries. Hopefully that'll do some work and help you pass," you encouragingly say, a smile on your face as he gives a single thumbs up. You know Jaehyung as the sarcastic ass when he fucked around in microbiology and always picked fights with your lab professor. But even then, he was nice to you, other than the fact that he made fun of your height. "Decided on what you want?"

"Yeah, can I get that lavender milk tea? Extra boba, please."

"Got it. Regular ice and sugar?"

"Yes and yes," he nods, pulling out his wallet. Once he finishes the transaction and Ryujin, your other coworker whom you barely work with, comes out from the back to start on the drinks, Yoongi steps up as you take a glance at the wandering-eyed Jungkook.

Facing your attention back to Yoongi, he carefully orders an iced green tea with light sugar and regular ice, emphasizing that he wants no toppings with that order as he wants something to chug down. From his energy, you take that he's very easy-going, not someone hard to talk to by how aware he was when he sounded annoying emphasizing that he didn't want any boba in his drink that he apologized. He drops in a two dollar tip into the box and as you thank him, he gives an easy smile.

As it was Jungkook's turn, he lets out a long "um" before dragging his eyes down to you from the menu. His friends wander to their usual spot in the back, leaving Jungkook behind to finish up with his order that he seemed to be taking centuries making up his mind with. He quirks his lip a bit as you stare expectingly. "Swear you won't mess with the drink?"

"Not the one making it," you point towards Ryujin behind you before smirking. "None of that flirty business and you'll get your drink in perfect condition."

This time, Jungkook laughs, and it's warm. It's like a light scoff, but there was something velvet about the way it rolled out of his throat, followed by a shake of his head. "Was it that bad?"

"Pretty bad," you agree, honestly. "If you wanted my number, you could have asked."

"Really?"

"Not that I'd actually give you my number," you warn, teasingly. He lets out another laugh and this time it was more audible and clear. Something that makes you want to hear again. "But, tacky pick-up lines don't really tickle my peach."

"Then what does?"

Jungkook holds your gaze for a moment, expecting an answer that could help him in the near future. Maybe if the register wasn't the only thing separating you two, it would be mistaken for an intimate moment, but because you know your place as the bobarista talking to a customer and this is strictly a professional environment, you decide to go with, "Ordering your drink. Have you figured out what you'd like?"

It takes a second for him to realize his standing point as well, shaking his head as he realizes your answer, one that he is impressed by because not only did you not cower away with an awkward response, you weren't that easy to give him what he wanted. The response you gave him was nothing short of clever, and he realizes that each encounter with you reinforces his idea of you that is solely based off of the sly, clever, and beautiful boba worker of Pleasantea.

"I'll have the regular guava green tea. Light ice, light sugar," he says, his hand digging into his back pocket, fishing for his wallet.

As he slides his card and finishes up everything with his transaction swiftly, you go and hurry over to Ryujin who has finished all the other drinks of Yoongi and Jaehyun's, expectantly looking at you to finish Jungkook's drink.

Ryujin quirks her lips as she leans back against the ice dispenser, nodding in confirmation as I point at the receipt of Jungkook's order staring flatly at you. "It's your boyfriend's drink. You should make it."

"Not my boyfriend," you tell her as her lips twitch up more. Taking the shakers and preparing to make his drink, you focus on pouring the syrup into the shaker before speaking up towards her. "Didn't he flirt with you too? He's yours, isn't he?"

Ryujin crinkles her nose, shaking her head vigorously in disgust that her hair bun shook on top of her head with her. You start chuckling to yourself at her reaction, the look on her face was filled with distaste, as if she associated Jungkook with a bad memory. "Nope, never. He's all yours, babycakes."

"Nuh-uh. I don't go for guys who have a fetish for boba workers."

"He just has great taste," Ryujin half-heartedly defends him with a wink, throwing an imaginary hair strand over her shoulder before taking a cap for the cups and popping it on to finish it. "Can't blame him. I mean, we're all pretty hot."

To that, you let out a snort, shaking your head. Ryujin takes the cup and calls out for Jungkook's name, the sound of the echoing shuffling of his footsteps fading in closer as he comes to the counter. Instinctively, you beat Ryujin to the dirty shakers used for the drink and go into the back to wash them, avoiding any more interaction with Jungkook for that day.

"Oh, so sorry to do this."

Jungkook wasn't really sorry, but he feigns innocence in his attitude a couple days later while you work an opening shift with your boss. It doesn't help that you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, annoyed that you didn't wake up as early as you hoped to, and ended up being a couple of minutes late to your shift, with Sunny raising an eyebrow at your delayed presence.

She wasn't all that disturbed by it, but it made you annoyed for the first hour of opening as few customer came trickling in. To make matters worst as you were just dying down from your self-annoyance, Jungkook comes in.

It wasn't his order or the way he ordered that ticked your rocker off, but it was a good 30 seconds right after you'd finish making his drink order that he gives off an innocent customer façade as if you weren't the barista that he flirted with before.

"But I asked for light sugar?"

Blinking at him, you felt your eyebrow medially twitch. For a moment, you don't know what to do, and of course, Sunny's behind you, watching your every move carefully. An apology slips through your mouth as you take the drink and nod, feigning a smile at him as he replicates one of his own. "Oh, was it too sweet for you? I'll fix that for you."

Sunny is silent from the other side of the bar as she observes you remake the drink, being careful with the sweetness and your mind mentally shooting daggers at Jungkook's doe-like eyes while you perfect the drink. As you hand over the refurbished tea to Jungkook, he had the audacity to try it again in front of you, as if he was some critic for the Boba Review. Pausing to see if the taste was enough to be satisfied, he shakes his head and lays it in front of you, nudging it with the knuckle of his finger. "It's still a little too sweet."

Biting your tongue, you feel your eye twitch as Jungkook smirks at you, taunting you with the customer service you're forced to veil. And it's within the third drink you made for him, only for him to taste it and shake his head again as if you were in servitude to him. But knowing Sunny and how she is strict on Pleasantea's saying of, 'making the customer satisfied', you smile through the annoyance and the mental stabbing, Jungkook probably amused at how your right eye was twitching after he taunts you with purpose.

And on the fifth drink, you purse your lips as he finally take a sip of it— one that was dramatic and off the top— before he gives a satisfied nod, showing off his pearly whites to you as he takes the drink half-heartedly. "Thank you, it's just right."

Should've spit in that one, you thought.

"Sorry about that. Thank you for being patient," you grit through your teeth as he smirks winningly before trotting off outside into his damn red Jeep that makes you consider keying.

Unexpectedly, once the door shuts, Sunny starts to laugh at the other end of the bar, shaking her head as you turn towards her with two dirty shakers in hand. Concerned, you scrunch your eyebrows, "what's wrong?"

"You both are..." The way that Sunny scrunches her nose as she thinks makes you pause in your stance, wondering what she could say about you and Jungkook to be in the same category. "Something else," she observes, walking away with her head down to her iPad.

With Jungkook, it became banter here and there.

Most of the times, it's just silent banter, one of which he gives you a side eye, you simply taking it in every time he orders, but at least his friends don't feel the same way. You only familiarize yourself with Jaehyun the most out of Jungkooks' friend group, but even then, the entire group weren't strangers. Dahlia tells you about how they come here all the time and she can breezily list off their usual orders from the top of her head and eventually, it didn't become hard for you to befriend them.

Jungkook takes note on how your voice drops about the 5th time he's came in when you were working. It was more prominent after having dealt with a customer before his group of friends and him. He notices that you've taken a comfortability with them to be given the privilege to talk to them in your casual voice rather than the higher pitched voice that exudes customer service.

After the incident that you falsely laughed to him the next time you saw him at the shop of which he used Pleasantea's promise of making the customer satisfied against you and had you remake his drink five times, there were a lot of promising moments between the two of you. Dahlia witnessing one too many times that she keeps a stick note near the register and tally marks under "Jungkook and ___ Pleasantea tension". It made Sunny amused enough that she even tally-marked for the time he made you remake his drink.

There was this one favorable moment that Dahlia deemed deserves two tally marks because Jungkook just happened to come in and order a drink right before your shift ended. And while you assume he was going to pick a fight with you again, you notice as you're about to clock out, he was flirting with a girl. You don't think too much of it, until you notice the girl looking uncomfortable.

The dark-haired girl presses her lips into a fine line, almost forced as she tries to politely back away and silently hope that Jungkook would leave her alone. It isn't until she's laughing nervously and Jungkook following in her fleeing steps that you take the situation into your own hands and quietly wave goodbye to Dahlia who was in the midst of taking another customer's order.

Sweeping past around the bar, you approach the girl, politely laying your hand on her arm with a smile on your face.

"Hi! Thank you for waiting for me! You didn't have to meet me at work, I could have just picked you up!"

Jungkook, in the corner of your eye, furrows his eyebrows at the seeming connection between you two. The girl's face morphs from being startled to understanding your motives before she nods and follows in suit. "Oh, no worries. I wanted to get a drink anyways."

"Here, I'll walk you to your car and we can figure out where to eat," you kindly urge as she responds with an agreeing nod. When you peer over at Jungkook, he could only arch an eyebrow at the situation he was standing in front of.

"Jungkook," you acknowledge, a single nod heading his direction.

"___," he says your name with the same intent, watching as you and the girl he was unknowingly making uncomfortable slide past him, leaving him to grab his drink that was waiting at the other end of the counter, dumbfounded.

After that day, you made a new friend, her name being Jisoo. She gives her thanks as you walk her back to her car for saving her from that uncomfortable situation and you, in turn, having to explain that Jungkook is a little airheaded at times. You gave her a comforting hug and announce that you hope to see her soon in different circumstances in which she wholeheartedly agrees and while not only did you make a new friend that day, you also gained two new brooding tally marks on the pale yellow sticky note that stared back at you at your next shift.

Along with tension, Jungkook remains reluctant when he orders.

A roll of your eyes and a reassurance that tampering his drink was a one time deal— until he opened his mouth again, and it wasn't so much a one time deal— would be in check. But even after that second time you messed with him, you didn't bother with the third time, although he makes it very tempting to. "It's not like I'm going to continuously ruin your drink every time you come in here. I heard you're the reason why this place picked up business."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. Star of the lacrosse team, well-known in the town, bringing your teammates— that's what Dahlia tells me."

"Give Dahlia my thanks for her appraisal," he smirks and you snort at how quickly his ego has sky-rocketed by your simple statement.

"How can Sunny tell me that you're the most humble person on earth, yet you proceed to continue with cocky, yet cunning statements?"

"All apart of the charm, baby," he winks and clicks his tongue.

The "charm" makes you internally want to vomit. "Watch it, baby. I heard you're allergic to almonds. I'm not afraid to put almond milk in your milk tea."

He sucks in a deep breath at your threat, raising an eyebrow in challenge. The way you were so quick to use one of his weakness against him has him merely impressed, but nonetheless intimidated. "You wouldn't."

"Tempting," you hum to scare him off, but you shake your head. "But you're right, I wouldn't. However, you call me "baby" one more time, your next drink will have a little surprise with a side of an ambulance, just in case."

A handsome smile conquers his face, before shaking his head. "I'll just keep my mouth shut and hope you accept my tip."

"Tip accepted. Will that be all for you?"

"If I ask for my receipt, can I have your number on top?"

"Jungkook—"

And just then Jungkook cuts you off by hitting "print" on his screen, causing the long receipt to print from your end, an amused smirk on his face while you take his receipt and glare at him. Letting out a defeated sigh, you take the pen right next to the cashier and begin to write numbers on the top. "Just because you asked."

Jungkook raises his eyebrows at your notion and immediately acts calm when you look up to hand him his receipt. Internally, he was shocked that you actually put your number on it, followed by a heart and a comforting smile from your end as he didn't think it'd work. Jaehyun and Yoongi were just as surprised as well, but they shrug it off, thinking that you'd actually fall for his flirty tactics one way.

That was, until he calls the number that night when he gets home. He waits specifically until 9:23 PM and calls your number, hoping that you weren't asleep so that he could whip up a random and cheesy statement in the heat of the moment when you'd answer. However, when he hears the line pick up, he is first met with surprise, then confusion, then absolute hysterics as even he couldn't help but laugh to hear that you had given him a fake number, one so intricate that it led him to hear a man's voice saying, "so sorry, man. But they're not interested. But plenty of fish in the sea, right?" and then the voice mail message immediately ending.

Jungkook laughs in his kitchen, staring at his phone with an amused smile like an idiot. Even his roommate who walks into the kitchen to grab something from the fridge asks Jungkook why he's staring at his phone like a psychopath. Jungkook could only shake his head in realization that something as simple as to asking for your number wouldn't be that easy.  

"I didn't think I'd see you here," Jungkook approaches you with ease, giving a head nod towards his lacrosse mates that he'd catch up with them later as he pauses to stop in front of you. Just then, he points at the drink you were holding. "You brought boba?"

"Came from work," you shrug. You didn't think you'd show up to this party last minute after getting a text from Chaeyoung that she'll pick you up at your house after you get home from your shift, but in an odd spin of events, you're at the party and sponsoring your job's signature milk tea. "It's my chaser."

He lets out a sonorous laugh, one in which he gives you a look as if you were pure genius. It slowly disappears when he gives a subtle nod of his chin to prep his next topic change. "Hey, just wanted to let you know that if you were jealous of me talking to your friend the other day—"

Widening your eyes, you retract your mouth from your boba straw and attempt to swallow down the sweet taste before you choke on it. "Slow your roll, cockface. I interrupted because she was evidently uncomfortable with your presence."

He hums in denial, making you roll your eyes at his obliviousness.

"Trust me, Jungkook, your flirting isn't all that great," you scoff, putting him in his place. "Just because you're Mister "Long Stick Shot", doesn't mean you're Mister "Long Dick"."

Jungkook lets out a laugh, evidently amused by your rhetoric. "As if you've seen one for good measure."

"Do you really want me to respond to that?"

And just as he snorts in response, you couldn't help but let a smile creep onto your face at the sound of his amusement. Unsure why, but you just want to continue hearing it and be satisfied that you're the reason for the laugh that elicits out of his mouth.

The small appreciation is well buried the minute you freeze for a single moment when you see a figure you've done so well to avoid.

A 61-day streak of not running into him, but who's counting.

A groan pasts your lips, followed by a scrunch of your nose that makes you want to chug down a bottle of Fireball rather than make the slightest interaction with your ex-boyfriend of two years, Kim Taehyung.

Admittedly, you were doing so well as to not running into him after that one incident at the grocery store. While you were with your roommates, they advised you to hide behind the apples and then covered you when you went into the tampon aisle.

Though it's been four months since Taehyung and you have called it a quits— more so on his end because he claims he had 'lost feelings overtime', it still bothers you to be in the same place breathing the same air as him. He wasn't the most revolting character in your mind, but if he were the last person on earth and there was only a bucket of water left, you would not share the basic human necessity with him.

Jungkook shoots an eyebrow at your irked presence, pondering if his existence standing only a foot away from you was that disgusting to you that you had to groan the minute he lets out a single breath. However, he notices the way your eyes flicker from the bottle of Jameson to your right to a certain person in the crowd a couple times, taking it into his mind of his own to look past his shoulder, trying to dictate which person is making you want to chug down a bottle of Jameson so badly.

"Who are you—?" As he turns his head back to your taciturn behavior, he was expecting you to have disappeared, but he did not think that he would see you, a cup of boba in one hand and the other, a bottle of Jameson being directed down your throat as your neck evidently takes in multiple chugs. Widening his eyes, he immediately brings his hands to the bottom of the bottle and retrieves it back from you while you take in every last drop before the bottle of the wretched liquid is retracted from your every grasp. "Are you insane? Slow down, babe."

You bring your boba straw into your mouth, driving off the pungent taste of what will come up again later on the night with your well thought out chaser, a few boba balls to chew in between your teeth before wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.

Jungkook stares at you as if you grew two heads, placing the bottle down before someone else takes it with a glare shot at you for drinking nearly half the bottle in one go.

"Don't call me that," you let out a burp, one that makes Jungkook chuckle, shaking his head at how sporadic you can be. "I need to forget someone's presence tonight."

Jungkook wasn't dumb, he knew it had to be someone that's making you want to regret a fun night altogether. "Ex-boyfriend?"

You nod your head in the direction of where you previously stared at before doing something reckless in confirmation. Letting out a giggle, you wait until he scrunches his eyebrows his confusion for your clarification. "Of two wasteful years, the award for best douchebag is Kim Taehyung!"

He hums in response. "Ah. You know chugging down Jameson is only going to make you forget your name, not his."

Shrugging, your lips form into a smile. "That's alright, I'm not a lightweight. Don't worry. It'll take awhile for it to do its job."

"Not the job you want—"

"Shush," you stop him for a moment before taking one last sip of your boba and place it down onto the countertop, giving it a silent goodbye as you know better not to pick it up again after it has been set down. "You up for dancing, Long Stick?"

"What?" He chuckles, before he realizes that you've taken his wrist into your own fingers, tugging it as the loud speaker plays another Mac Dre song that has the crowd repeating, 'get stupid!' over and over again with the beat.

Jungkook wasn't dumb. He knew that you pulled him to dance with you in subtle hopes that Kim Taehyung would notice that you're cozying up to someone that wasn't him. He knew you could care less if it were either him or another guy in the party, but to Jungkook, in his mind, better him than any other blood thirsty, testosterone-filled guy that would take advantage of you and your badly drunken state from the wrath of Jameson.

He knows he may not be the best option to have you rub up against him as you slur the lyrics of Mac Dre's Thizzle Dance with his hands holding onto your hips, but as annoying as he can be with his coquetry, he knows that morally he cannot and will not take advantage of you after witnessing you chug down dark liquor that even he has bad memories tied along with it.

It doesn't take long before you're closing your eyes from the dizziness you were feeling from each sway and bump of your hips. It doesn't take long before everything becomes a blur and you're having to blink multiple times to keep your gaze in focus. You think you stumble over your feet a couple of times, but you can't tell if you're standing upright anymore. It doesn't take long before you feel yourself against someone, eyes closed as you find odd solitude in a stranger who holds you carefully in their arms. It doesn't take long that you indeed forget your own name, trying to steady your breathing. It doesn't take long before it's become black, and there is nothing for you to remember all through the night.

"Oh fucking hell."

There's something frightening about the first time you wake up and you register that you are somewhere that is nowhere near recognizable. It's not your own bed, maybe your own sofa, or even your friend's sofa— it's somewhere completely foreign. The realization after blinking the drowsiness away is what gets to you, and your heart races when the blood has gone cold as ice throughout your body.

That is exactly how you felt when the ceiling had a dark wood fan hung from it, when you felt that the bed was springy than your usual tempurpedic mattress, when you saw that the walls were not your room's decorative green, but a boring beige, when you realized that your bed was not only empty, but Jeon Jungkook sleeps soundly with his body turned towards you.

The worst part is realizing where you don't know where your things are. You distinctively remember you brought nothing but your phone and keys to the party right before you recall chugging down the devil's water.

As you sit up on the bed quietly to roam down your pockets of your jeans, you realize something that also makes you want to freak out as your breath has halted. You were also missing your jeans.

Peeking under the sheets, you must have gone pale to see nothing but your bare legs and your cherry printed underwear just below your waist. Thankfully your shirt and bra was on, but the night was too hazy to even tell what could have happened and that was enough to make you feel a vitriolic taste climb up your throat.

You turn your head in hopes to find something of your belongings, realizing with each sweep of the foreign room, you find your black jeans on the floor just at the foot of the bed. Gulping, you carefully and silently flip the sheets off of you, noticing that Jungkook didn't have one inch of the sheets around him and you wonder if you hogged it all last night. As you swing your legs off the bed, you make a queasy face each second as you stand up, the sound of the springs not helping you sneak off without waking up Jungkook.

Tiptoeing to your jeans, you snatch them and hope to find your phone in the back pocket, only to feel a bit of relief to find your keys, but not your phone. Closing your eyes at the fact that you might have to roam around the house to find your phone, you take your jeans and carefully, one by one, slide your feet into them.

And just then, as you take a peek at Jungkook, he shifts and stirs in his bed, a slight moan coming out of his mouth before you realize that he is just waking up. You watch in silence as his arm slings over to where you lied, as if searching for you, and after a few unsatisfying pats, he drowsily opens his eyes to where they trace up to you.

Both of your gazes meet and with your heart completely stopping, you let out a meek, "Hi."

In that moment as your pants are midway being pulled up along your legs, you suddenly forget how to move. Every inch of your muscles head to toe has completely frozen over and without even being punched in the gut, the wind was taken right out of you.  

Jungkook notices how you freeze so much so resembling a dog, he stifles a laugh, a tired chuckle emanating out of his lips as he sits up with one elbow propping him up. He rubs his eye with a curved index finger before sliding the pad of his thumb under the tip of his nose. You can't help but notice how good he looks just arising from his slumber, while you were in the midst of taking a walk of shame. You cringe when you realize your makeup is probably smudged under your eyes. "Hi. You alright there?"

"Uhm..." You blink, mouth becoming dry. "In all honesty, I really don't know how this usually works because I don't usually do one night stands—"

Jungkook lightly scoffs at that, shaking his head. "___."

"Can we forget this happened? Like can we just totally forget that I woke up next to you and that we—"

"___," he cuts you off, a laugh following after. He's amused by your panic, your immediate assumption making you run off in sentences that were flying off the walls this early in the morning. "We didn't do anything."

You blink again, your already dizzy mind running circles all over again. "We didn't?"

"You were pretty piss ass drunk, babe. I asked around for your friend... Chaeyoung, was it? to take you home, but I'm guessing she went home with Jaemin." The look on your face was probably amusing because there's a quirk of his lip evident. "I was also asking you where you live to drop you off, but little miss "I'm not a lightweight" could not form proper sentences by the end of the night, so the safest bet? I asked Yoongi to lend me the guest bedroom for you." He pauses to see your reaction, but seeing that you were more anxious to hear why the hell your pants were off, he lets out a sigh and continues. "You removed your pants because you said it was hot. Not because I removed it, or because I or you were insinuating anything. You basically threatened to use your "one week free trial of Muay Thai" on me if I laid a finger on you."

That made you cringe. "Good to know that drunk me can still defend herself."

"Yeah, if that means verbally threatening someone to break their arm and then blacking out mid-threat is considered defending yourself."

His little add on was responded with a glare from your end. "I'll break your arm right now, Jungkook."

"Funny. You said that last night before you pulled me into bed with you."

And your eyes widen again. "What?"

"Mhm," he says nonchalantly before letting out a dragging yawn. As he scratches his head, he continues, "you apologized for being mean and then asked me to stay with you. Didn't even plan on leaving, babe."

"Okay. That's enough embarrassing me today. I don't want to know the rest."

"You sure? Because you also said—"

"Piss off."

Jungkook, hysterically laughing at your quick annoyance to his own tease, contemplates in his head if he should tell you that you both had just happened to share a kiss that night. But seeing that a coral color was formulating along your cheeks and you were biting down on your lip, he mentally decided against it.

The embarrassment would grow immensely if he told you that though drunk you can defend yourself, drunk you also revealed to him that his lips looked, quote on quote, "soft and kissable". And just when he was in the middle of explaining to you to use the code word "boba" to indicate to him that you needed to throw up, you took him by surprise and kissed him. Would he be a fool to kiss back? Yes. To kiss back gently and memorizing your lips? A thousand times yes— a complete idiot, at its finest form.

Too bad that you just happened to be fool's gold— and Jungkook just happened to like shiny things.

Of course, Jungkook had no intention of taking advantage of you that night, especially when you were piss ass drunk and in any continuing second, you might've had to use the code word "boba" without any warning. So, he pulled back, and while he was worried that you might've realized what you've done, there was a smile on your lips, your eyes slightly opened in a daze. When he says your name in caution, you hiccup and tell him, "your lips are soft and kissable".

Would he be a jerk to just casually throw it in there while you are nearly freaking out and slightly disturbed by the whole scenario of waking up next to him pants-less at that moment? Yes, a big one. To maybe keep it in silence for awhile so that he may use it against you one day? Oh yeah, definitely. Ultra Platinum Jerk 3000.

But if he was going to fall for fool's gold, he might as well be the Ultra Platinum Jerk 3000.

"Why'd you even stay?"

Jungkook snaps out of his thoughts, realizing that his eyes had somehow wandered down to your legs without much notice. You didn't mind, mostly because it didn't seem like he was checking you out, but more so in deep thought. Plus, your legs are pretty killer.

"What?" He asks, causing you to lightly scoff.

"Why'd you stay?"

His nose crinkles as if that question was a terrible question to ask. "To watch over you? I'm not that terrible of a guy to just leave a very vulnerable girl alone in a bedroom in a house she doesn't know."

You purse your lips, a bit surprised at that considering that this is cocky "long stick shot" Jungkook. "Well... now great, that just make this super awkward."

"No sweat," he waves you off easily, hopping off the bed and running a hand through his tousled bed hair. "Here. I can take you home."

You pause, blinking. Your now still movements caught his attention, an eyebrow raising in question to your reaction to his gesture. "Are you sure?"

"You'd like to walk home instead, babe?"

Rolling your eyes at his question to answer your question, Jungkook smirks. "Thought so. Put your pants on and let's go."

When you get out of the room, you follow him downstairs, only for him to stop at the midsection where the stairs turn the other direction. You halt in your footsteps as well before he dives into his pocket and reaches out a phone with your familiar blue phone case on it. "Here. Saw it sticking out of your pocket and I knew you were going to lose it somehow."

As you take it in your hands, you felt a big wave of relief flood over you as you realize you had obtained everything important that you almost had a heart attack about losing. You and Jungkook share a small smile, him acknowledging that that was your way of thanking him, but not being able to say it, but if you allowed yourself to, you'd throw your arms around him for caring just a bit. However, the thought disappears when he continues on going down the stairs, a moment delay in your head to process before you continue following him.

There's shuffling down the hall when you reach the floor, and while you can barely make out what was happening because you managed to remove your contacts and discard them somewhere, all you hear is a very recognizable voice.

"Holy shit, you fucked boba girl?"

Jaehyun.

"Jaehyun—"

You groan and throw an annoyed middle finger at Jaehyun, cutting off Jungkook who seemed just as irked by Jaehyun's blunt question. "Fuck off. No, we didn't. As if I'd ever let him." You roll your eyes at the Jaehyung's assumption, but Jungkook could only quirk his eyebrow at your add-on. "How about you? Were you fucking Yoongi?"

A snort is heard next to you, Jungkook looking the other way to stifle his laughter.

"Woah there, Shortstack," Jaehyun bemusedly smirks, throwing a towel he was holding over his shoulder and crossing his arms over his chest. "And if I did?"

"I might have blacked out, but it's not hard to miss your screams for Yoongi's name down the hall," you announce, sarcastically. No, you were too blacked out to remember anything. Another snort coming from next to you as you let out an irritated sigh, your head just now pounding in indication of your hangover, is heard, but you were too drained to mentally high five yourself.

"Well, good fucking morning to the lot of you, assholes. I leave for one second and I'm suddenly dragged into a conversation about how I was getting fucked in the asshole by Jaehyun?"

"It's okay, Yoongi," Jaehyun turns to Yoongi, taking a step closer to him as he coos, "we don't have to deny it."

Yoongi rolls his eyes in annoyance and swats his friend away. "You guys are making my hangover worst."

"I've always known you were a bottom," Jungkook chimes in, making you, in turn, laugh. You mentally fist bumped him for that one.

"Yeah, and I could say the same for you," Yoongi throws back as it was your turn to snort.

You nod in counterfeit confirmation. "Oh, he's definitely a bottom."

In a breaking moment, Jungkook rolls his eyes and reaches down to grab your wrist hastily. "Would love to continue this wonderful conversation, but I have to take her hungover ass home." It catches you off guard when you realize after being tugged at the arm that it was Jungkook at the origin of the other end, making purposeful contact with you.

You let out a fake gasp, a bemused smirk playing your lips. "Ah, little Jungkookie is a bottom, huh?"

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" He challenges as you shake your head, laughing.

You pat his shoulder that was lifted while his hand extends to the back of your head seat as he reverses out of the driveway. "You see, it'd be an interesting experience, but two bottoms don't make a top."

He opens his mouth to say something— probably in regards to the open sentence that you just threw out there that confirmed you were— at least, preferably— a bottom. Knowing him, he would've said a snarky reply or a very sexual joke, but instead, there's a small smile on his face that you don't miss. It's out of amusement and while you've seen plenty of smiles like that in response to your own misfit of reactions coming from him, you don't miss the way his lips just curl with ease and how his eyes form crescents even from that minuscule facial muscle movement. Before he gets too suspicious of your staring, you look away, glad that your blind eyesight focused on his facial expressions, a fine resolution of a simple Jungkook smile arising on his face imprinted in your brain.

Jungkook comes in a couple days later. This time, he's accompanied with a backpack. You notice that he was intentionally staying at Pleasantea to study, making use of the bar and bar stools placed by the window.

You work with Dahlia that shift, her tapping the sticky note near the register in translation that she is predicting another iconic tension moment between you two, but it doesn't happen when admittedly, waking up to Jungkook beside you and him showing an ounce of care has made you warm up to him by a smidge. There was no walk of shame and he was good at making sure you had everything before you left his car. Not only that, he stayed in front of your home until you were inside safely.

It's the bare minimum, but truthfully, it's not something you expected from him.

When Jungkook usually comes in, he normally only waves to the other workers who wave back, and today was a bit of a groundbreaking moment when he first waves to Dahlia, flickers his eyes over to you and waves. A wave directed towards you and you only responded with a mere smile.

He orders something new. A peach green tea and when he went to pick it up at the other counter, he raises his eyebrows and silently smiles at you. In hindsight, it'd be a weird moment for Dahlia or for anyone who didn't know what happened a couple nights ago, and even to you, it's kind of different, but it was also refreshing.  

Everything goes swell and dandy until you notice the door swing open from the back, the words "hi, welcome" becoming lost in throat when you notice who walks in. Similar to a storm nearing a field of daisies. A dream turned nightmare instantaneously. Instantly, you tap Dahlia's arm without a single word, swiping your hand back and forth near your neck in signal of who it was. Dahlia immediately taking note of it, nods and gestures you to hide in the back.

It's an odd feeling. You know that you're over him and you've been over him, but you can't help but wonder why your body is in fight or flight mode and why your breathing has become ragged. The air has suddenly become heavy and the walls seem to be caving in.

At a mental cross roads, you feel yourself heave breaths, simple tumbles of calm affirmations to stagnate your heartbeat runs circles around your mind. Few reminders of breathing in and breathing out, a mere countdown from 10 to 1, fingers tapping each other. You are trying so very hard not to struggle in the ocean as you had just been caught in the riptide. Out of the blue, completely unheard of, not a single sign, an abrupt happening— there is nothing to do but to not be scared. An evident showcase of fear, the water just knows without a doubt that you're struggling. It'll pull you in if you go against it.

Just then, in your moments of self-assurance, Jungkook's form magically shows up in the back room. Eyes widening at his presence, you're taken aback at how breezily he walks in an employee restricted part of the store.

"Hey."

You suck in a deep breath, feeling your chest rise and lower as you roll your lower lip inwards. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw who walked in," he simply explains, taking a step closer to you. "Dahlia said I can come in here. I wanted to check up on you."

"Oh," you breathe, not really comprehending his motive behind his actions and not really finding the effort to. "I'm fine, just... hiding."

Jungkook glances down to meet your eyes as you immediately avert your attention to your knees, tapping your fingers on them in a rhythmic fashion to settle your nerves. "You alright? I can ask Dahlia for a cup of water."

"That's okay," you shake your head. "Uhm— thanks for checking up on me."

"No need to thank me," he shrugs and in a blink of an eye, he sits in front of you, arms resting at his knees as he runs a hand through his hair.

"You don't have to do that."

"I'll wait until he leaves. I'm not leaving you alone."

You stare at him for a moment. At first, you find it wholly odd that he connected two dots when he saw Taehyung coming into the store and found it, to his own discretion, to accompany you, the person who is most affected by the presence of someone no more than a stranger to Jungkook. It's peculiar to think that there's just this smidge of care for you within him, but your past experiences and encounters with him thinks quite otherwise. And while he makes himself comfortable, meeting you eye-to-eye in an attempt of support, you let out a defeated sigh.

"So, how's work? You know, before he came in?"

You inhale sharply at his way of starting small talk. "Fine. Can't wait to get off, though."

"You got plans after your shift?"

Shrugging, you pull your knees closer. "I wanted to catch up on sleep."

He arches his eyebrow, taking note of how you built your walls higher and stronger. "You haven't been sleeping?"

In an honest gesture, your shake your head, shrugging. "Midterms."

"Hm, gotcha," he nods understandingly, letting it drag out into silence.

In all honesty, (and you won't admit it) his presence just happened to comfort you. He didn't have to say a word and just him being there— Jungkook taking the thought to care and stay with you was a matter of solace you didn't think you'd appreciate as greatly.  

"You know what I'm craving?"

You lift your head up to meet his eyes, the pair that glistened with slight amusement to keep the spirits high. Wordlessly, you arch an eyebrow as he quirked his lip, answering his own rhetorical question.

"A big ol' hearty bowl of tomato soup and grilled cheese," he says with great yearning. He closes his eyes for a second as if to imagine the flavors just fulfilling his cravings. "And a nice slice of peach cobbler for dessert? Vanilla ice cream on top and everything."

Jungkook says it with such a dreamy voice that it makes you snort, a laugh coming from his end as he nods.

"Is that so?" You ask in between your tiny fits of chuckles.

"Yeah," he gushes in an obvious tone. "Does that not sound mouth-watering to you?"

Shaking your head, you couldn't help but let out one more chuckle before rolling your lips inward. "I'm craving gyozas. I could eat fifty of those in one sitting."

"That's a bet I'm willing to make, sweetheart," he raises his eyebrows, impressed.

Lips curling, a sudden gasp escapes your lips as your mind reawakens a craving you haven't had in awhile. "Ooo, and tiramisu gelato," you mull, shoulders falling as you think about the creamy texture of the heavenly goodness. "When I went to Italy a couple of years ago with my mom, I would always make her stop by every gelato shop we passed by so I could get tiramisu gelato."

Jungkook smiles. "Just tiramisu?"

"I mean, I dabbled in other flavors, but tiramisu—"

"He's gone now."

Your sentence is cut off when Dahlia's sweet presence briefly peeps from outside into the back room, Jungkook turning his head over his shoulder as Dahlia glances between you and him amidst your conversation on the ground. As Jungkook turns back and begins to stand, you don't miss the growing grin on Dahlia's feature as you know very well that she was going to add another tally mark.

Glaring at he, your eyes flicker from her and then to Jungkook who has his hand in front of you. Mindlessly, you grab it as you pull yourself up with a bit of a tug coming from him, a mere "thanks" coming from out of your mouth as he gives you a single nod.

"You alright?" He inquires as you give him one last nod, a smile growing on your face as a silent reassurance just right before he exits out of the back room and proceeds to finish studying.

20 minutes later, he makes his leave and waves goodbye at both Dahlia and you.

"Hola."

"Why are you still outside?"

It is 9:06 PM, Pleasantea closing at 9 PMs on the weekdays and Jungkook just happened to come in at 8:51 PM on Wednesday to teasingly spite you. However, as he left once he saw you turn the 'open' sign to 'closed', you realize while you are sweeping the lobby that his car is parked out in front of the shop. The red jeep with the top on sitting in front staring back at you, as well as his form sitting in the driver's seat, his face illuminated by his phone screen in his lap.

Confused as to why he was still outside, you call him from your phone. You happened to have his number after Dahlia just happened to slide it to him one day while you were off the clock, a random text notification sparking curiosity in you as you realized that the only person who would text— hey babe, didn't see you at work today—  to you, would be Jungkook.

You watch the way the white light morphed into a dimmer light counteracting his face before he brings his phone to his ear. Doing so, he looks up and sees you through the window, the broom you were sweeping with standing right against you as you raise an eyebrow in question.

"I'm waiting for you to finish closing," he answers, his pearly whites coming to show even from afar. "By the way, loved the dancing to Blondie."

Your cheeks grow red in your realization that as it hit 9 PM, you blasted Blondie in the store speaker, and danced while cleaning all the tea tubs and sweeping the back to Long Time and The Tide Is High. "Piss off."

"You didn't say, 'please'."

Scrunching your nose, you stare at him as he is amused by your annoyance of him. "Jungkook, you don't have to wait for me."

"I know I don't. But I want to," he tells you, his voice sounding caring and concerned as he doesn't let his gaze off of you while he keeps you on the line. You let out a sigh before his lips curl upwards. "___, do you realize what happens to people at night when they're alone? Bad things happen. And while I'm still upset that you forgot to put boba in my drink—"

"I gave it to you in an extra cup!"

"I called Jihyo and apparently, you're the only person available to close tonight and I'm just purely making sure nothing happens to you while you finish closing."

"Jungkook—"

"Better hurry up, babe. At this rate, you won't be able to leave early."

There's a groan when you glance over at the clock, and Jungkook takes the time to smile at the way you stare back at him through the glass window, a middle finger adorned with a gold ring on your finger sent his direction before you let out another defeated sigh. "Fine, but come inside. Don't just sit in your car and watch me like a stalker."

"Aw, you want me to keep you company?"

"No, I just need a dance partner when Heart of Glass plays."

"You ask me to dance with you once, and suddenly I'm your dance partner."

"Precisely. Should've seen what you were getting into after I asked you to dance at the party," you say, a smile on your lips as you hear his laugh through the other end, his mouth open in amusement. "Now come inside. Maria's almost over."

You could not believe you were here.

In fact, you could not believe that you let a stinkin' pearly toothed and politely asking Jungkook convince you in the first place, and now you're sitting on your bed, realizing that the knot in your stomach is a reminder that you are not only lost, but also very anxious in the upcoming setting you put yourself in.

Last minute plans were never your thing. Sure, some spontaneity can be refreshing, but this was a prime example of reasons why you should not allow yourself to agree with such sporadic decisions without even a basis to work off with. Now you're sitting at the edge of your bed, staring at your closet, jaw slacked and mind running in circles, wondering if you're overthinking an outfit to wear amongst a bunch of people.

Besides, it's not like Jungkook's going to care. Not like you would expect him to— or want him to.

Recalling the last time you went to a game, you wore a plain white shirt and jeans, but you remember being cold that night— but those were autumn nights. Your mind tries to think of wanting to wear something, but the possibilities clashes and you result into groaning at your flavorless closet, knowing very well that there's gotta be at least something, but your mind was not coming up with anything.

Throwing your body back to be cushioned by your mattress, you close your eyes and cringe, retracing your idiotic steps earlier today on how you brought yourself into this mess.

"Hey, ___, wait up!"

Jungkook calls after you as you bid your farewells to your co-workers, pacing up to your form as you stop in your tracks, waiting for him to reach up to you. As his face comes into view, you pull your lips up into a small smile, eyebrows furrowing as to why he called for your name. He smiles back, a small peep of his bright smile before he places his elbow against the counter next to you.

"Come to the game tonight. We're going against UFenesy."

Hearing the invitation roll out of his mouth, you were slightly taken aback, but nevertheless practical when you shake your head. "I'm good, thanks."

He pulls his eyebrows together, though his inviting smile never leaves his features. "Why not?"

You shrug, unsure yourself as you pull your falling bag over your shoulder. Jungkook nearly reaches over to catch it for you, but seeing that you beat him to it, he flickers his eyes back onto yours.

Jungkook narrows his eyes in plain suspicion. "You haven't been to one, have you?"

"No, I've been to a game," you defend, eyes wandering as you finish your sentence honestly. "Just not a lacrosse game."

"Great," he grins, eyes sparkling. "This'll be your first."

Helplessly, you let out a laugh. It sounded more like a scoff, if anything— one that was in disbelief. "No, Jungkook. I have to finish an assignment and I have an exam on—"

"Is it tomorrow?"

"No, but it's on—"

"Come on, babe," he pokes at your side, making you take a step back as you narrow your eyes at him for his sudden poke. "I need my number one boba worker there."

You nod your head over your shoulder. "Then go ask Jihyo, not me."

He laughs in a way where his eyes crinkle, shaking his head. "No, come on. I asked you for a reason. Listen, I'll give you cash and you get yourself a hearty corn dog with extra ketchup and ranch, and you'll stand at a perfect view—"

"Jungkook, why does it sound like you're treating me as your trophy girlfriend?"

Jungkook frowns. "I'm not. I just want you to be there, okay? Even if that means buying you a corn dog and keeping the best spot in the stadium open for you."

Pursing your lips, you cross your arms. "I don't even know how lacrosse works. I'll probably end up cheering for the other team."

"Unless the other team has a teammate named Jeon Jungkook, then don't let out a peep. Just cheer me on specifically and you'll be fine."

"Self-absorbed," you inform him as he pokes at your cheek, making you look at him with an arched eyebrow. He smile reaches his eyes once more, hoping that you'd agree to go to the social outing just for him.

"Is that a yes?"

You pause, weighing your options. To stay home and procrastinate or to drag yourself into a social setting and experience a college game. "Will you give me a ride home?"

In hindsight, the former was probably a better option for your nerves, but admittedly, it was more so the most comfortable option.

And as if the universe has heard your regretful decision, your friend, Jisoo texts you in perfect timing if you wanted to go to the game with her tonight. First, you feel elated because now you have someone to go with, but you feel yourself groan for agreeing to something you regret. As you text her in agreement, you continue to have an internal battle with your thoughts for an outfit.

"There goes Jeon again with the long-stick shot!"

Jisoo picks you up when you tell her that you were already having a ride home— only if Jungkook remembers— and she was gladly to take you to the game. Though just only having to have met her, she explains how her friends don't really go to games and she usually goes alone. While you nod and reassure her that she has you now, you mentally thank the universe for her keeping your nerves at bay.  

Right before the game started, a random person comes up to you while you were discussing with Jisoo about the classes you were planning to take next semester. "Are you ___?"

"Yes?" You answer, raising an eyebrow at the girl with hair in braids. "Who's asking?"

"I'm Essie," she smiles. "I'm one of the water girls for the team. Jungkook wanted me to give you this—" Essie pulls something from her back pocket and it's a twenty dollar bill. Before you could even let out a word of protest, she grabs your hand and places the bill in yours, retracting hers swiftly before she lets out a chuckle. "Jungkook said to do that because you would refuse. Also, he wants me to show you your seats."

"Wait, wait," you shake your head, eyebrows knitting closely together as you glance at Jisoo who tries to refrain from laughing. "Jungkook asked you...?"

"Yeah, he asked me to give you cash for a hot dog and to show you your spots because he said he promised you the best seat in the stadium. There's an extra seat for your friend, too," Essie glimmers a quick eye smile before giving a single nod, turning around and leading the way past the crowd of people to get to the so-called "best seat in the stadium".

Essie leaves you and Jisoo with a happy farewell after leading you to a seat where two other girls move after Essie waves at them for saving the spot.

"Enjoy the game!" The girls who were sitting at the spot smile at you and Jisoo before taking their spot that they were supposedly saving for you.

As the girls have left and left you and your friend dumbfounded, Jisoo was the first to laugh.

"Was Jungkook your boyfriend this whole time?" Jisoo inquires beside you, more so amused rather than angry as she sees your reaction to her question. Your mouth gapes open as you vigorously shake your head.

"He was never my boyfriend from the start," you scoff and she nods, laughing.

"Oh? And he promised you a seat at his game?" She curls her lips upwards curiously, jumping on the immediate implication that Jungkook and you have something stirring.

"He promised me a good seat if I went tonight.... And a hot dog. You want one?"

Jisoo lets out an amused giggle before shaking her head. "Maybe later. Game is about to start."

She explains which team is which and that UFenesy were called "Phoenixes", chiiming in that she's never seen the opponent play, but she heard they were a pretty good team that made it to championships the prior year. You nod as you try to figure out how to analyze the game just by listening on and off to the commentary from the echoing speakers to Jisoo's added explanations thrown in sporadically here and there.

It takes a couple of minutes, but you finally spot Jungkook, broad letters of "Jeon" imprinted on his jersey above the number "3". Finding comfortability of finding him on the field, you watch the whole first quarter solely on him and his moves. His stature was built and tall along his teammates, his speed and stamina was endless, and the way he would shoot and score each time was impressive— it was no wonder why the girls next to you screamed out his name every time a shot was made.

Home: 5

Visitors: 4

You watch attentively as his teammates all roughly gather up to Jungkook after making his second signature long-stick shot of the night, all of them hastily patting his helmet and shoulder while their testosterone-filled cheers were accompanied by the crowd's.

"Are you guys a thing?"

Nearly snapping your neck at the question, Jisoo doesn't tear her eyes apart from the field in front of her, her dark eyes looking around before she felt your gaze on her was when she meets your eyes. Innocently, she smiles.

"No, we're not," you answer honestly, a nervous chuckle coming out of your throat.

"Oh, so he just likes you," Jisoo turns her head back onto the field, nodding in thought. "That's cute. He had the water girls find you and save you a spot."

Scoffing, you shake your head. "Please, he's probably done that to a lot of girls. I'm not anyone special."

"I'd beg to differ," she hums to herself, amusement glinting her eyes.

As intermission at halftime arrives, Jisoo volunteers to stay at the seats while you go on and buy two hot dogs. One with ketchup and mustard, and another with extra ketchup and extra ranch. Thinking about it, you weren't sure as to how Jungkook knew you liked hotdogs with ketchup and ranch, but you ignore it as you take the hotdogs in both of your hands and walk down the steps to find Jisoo.

And when halftime ends and the third quarter speeds on by, you're in awe at how Jungkook talks to his teammates when they huddle. It's nothing that you can hear from where you and Jisoo stand, but from his stature and hand gestures, a pat on one of his teammate's helmet, you can see how much he cares about his teammates and how easy it was to motivate and inspire them. A true team captain at work. They release a mini cheer amongst each other before heading off to the last quarter of the game.

"Jungkook likes you and you can't convince me otherwise," Jisoo states out of the blue about ten minutes into the last quarter, making you turn your head at her once more. "Oh, come on, don't give me that look. He gave you money for a hot dog and saved you the best seats in the stadium."

"You don't think he'd do this for anyone else? If you gave him your number that day, he'd probably do the same for you, too."

"Maybe," she sings, not denying how flirtatious Jungkook was being to her that day. "But it proves that you may like him, too. Why else did you come?"

"For the—"

"The hotdogs are not that great, honey. Don't say it's because of the hotdog."

It was true, the hotdogs were so and so. Pursing your lips, you shrug. "Well, he just convinced me."

"Because you like him."

Jisoo was being stubborn about it, but so were you. "I don't like him. He doesn't like me."

"Oh, he definitely likes you," she laughs, shaking her head at your denial.  

Wondering why she was so convinced about Jungkook liking you or vice versa, your mind drifts off to the time at the party when you asked him to dance. It wasn't meant to insinuate anything other than try to remove your mind off of a dreadful presence at that party, but you wonder why did he stick with you that night? Was it odd to think that that a simple expectation of sticking with someone under the influence— let alone a woman— should be common sense for him?

You'd think of him as a friend now— someone who is not consistently trying to badly flirt with you who causes your eye to twitch every time he comes in.

Admittedly, he's been pleasant to you. And undeniably, you're aware of such "tension" between you two, but you thought of it nothing more than just you being annoyed by his tactics. Did he actually have intentions of liking you? Sure, he's attempted to flirt with you, but overtime you didn't take it seriously? Why are you suddenly getting so affected by this? It's not like—

"North Stars and Phoenixes are tied."

The commentary snaps you back into present time, a quirk of an eyebrow while you flick your eyes to the scoreboard makes you realize that the commentary was correct.

Home: 10

Visitors: 10

"30 seconds on the clock— and there's Jeon with the ball."

Fixated on the man with the number 3 on his back, you watch as he zips through the opposing team like flying colors, flashing through like lighting as he keeps the stick right at his shoulder. He picks up the pace when he feels someone cutting through from his left, dodging and leaving them at the hands of one of his teammates to slow them down.

The clock ticks downwards with every anticipating bones of the crowd shaking, leaning in, clenching. Hushed whispers of, 'come on, come on' are heard from behind as you subconsciously clench your fists tightly until they were white.

It's not until he's close to the opposing side's goal, the opposing defensemen running towards him like moths surrounding a beacon of light— your hands intertwine with each other almost in prayer, heart rate speeding up as you watch his feet kick behind him and in an instant—

"Here comes Jeon—"

The ball hits the net.

"There it is! Ladies and gentlemen, Jeon again with the winning shot for the North Stars!" The sports commentary becomes overpowered by the loud screaming of the crowd, Jisoo included when sue stands next to you jumping up and down with raised fists and clapping hands. For you, you didn't realize how anxious you were feeling when you let out a sharp breath of relief, a laugh eliciting from your throat as you watch Jungkook run through the field haphazardly, his teammates scurrying over to him to engulf him in hugs and pats.

What set your heart off the rocker was that when his helmet is pried off from his head, his eyes go off on a flurry search onto the crowd, immediately stopping when they meet your eyes from the screaming and wild crowd. It's like he instantaneously ignores his teammates shoving and sharing loving pats around him when he meets your gaze, an ethereal moment of how time just completely stops around you both as you share that gaze with him.

A smile so handsome and pearly stretches along his face before the god gifted moment was pulled away too soon, and he is pulled away by being lifted into the air by his teammates, sonorous chants being audible enough to hear from the stadium.

"Cannot convince me otherwise," Jisoo nudges you with her elbow, causing you to roll your eyes despite your coral pigmented cheeks growing dangerously evident.

As people began to trickle out as the game was officially over, the parking lot becoming filled with cars leaving, Jisoo waits with you voluntarily for Jungkook. When you try to convince her to go on and go home, she rolls her eyes and announces all of the "what if's" ranging from being abandoned to someone kidnapping you. Sighing defeatedly, you both wait for Jungkook who takes awhile, but you don't mind— you loved Jisoo's warm presence.

Jungkook spots you first before you spot him, calling your name from a distance before his teammates— you recognizing Jaehyung and Yoongi behind him— run up and jump on him, sharing fits of laughter before you smile and look at Jisoo.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out now. Give Jungkook a winning kiss for me. And make sure he gets you home safely. Text me, alright?" Jisoo gives you a hug before you roll your eyes and squeeze back lovingly, her parting away and heading towards her parked car in the lot.

As you head over to the sweaty Jungkook in his casual attire, his friends shove his arm and laugh.

"See you at the after party, Jungkook?"

"Maybe," he nods towards Yoongi who asked the question. "Gotta take her home tonight."

"Whaaa?" Jaehyun nods his head towards me, placing both hands on his team captain's shoulders. "Not comin', Shortstack?"

"Opening tomorrow," you reason before grinning at him. "If you want hangover boba, just pop right in."

"Sweet," Jaehyun cheers, giving Jungkook one last shoulder pat before heading off a different direction with Yoongi. "Take her home safely then, Kook. You comin' afterwards?"

Jungkook pauses, a slight glance given your way as you obliviously quirk an eyebrow at him. He gives an outward point of a chin before letting his teammate know his answer. "We'll see."

Eyebrows raised, you purse your lips at his answer.

"What?" He asks when he notices your facial expression.

"You're not gonna go? I live only like 10 minutes away from campus with driving. You can still make it."

He laughs, shaking his head. "Nah."

"If you think I'm letting you into my apartment—"

"No, I was not thinking that at all," he lets out a chuckle at your wary assumption. "It's just—" he pauses and he lets out a sigh. "Do you need to be home now? Can you spare an hour or two?"

His question makes you narrow your eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

"You said were craving tiramisu gelato, right?"

"Yeah, a couple days ago," you furrow your eyebrows, recalling the moment when you disclosed your craving in the odd circumstances that was when you were mildly panicking, eyes nearly watering, and to save your sanity, you began talking to him about what was going through your head all thanks to his calm approach of making small talk.

Tiramisu gelato circled your mind.

"I know a place with the best gelato. Closes at midnight. You up for a little gelato action?" He smirks, you walking beside him towards his car.

You let out a small chuckle, a bit flattered that he remembered that you were craving gelato. "Sure. But I'm paying for yours."

"Why?"

"Because you're driving."

"Psh. That's nothing."

"Jungkook—"

"Keep your money in your purse or else I will take it and never give it back to you."

"But— Jungkook!" In a wrapped up instant, he hastily grabs your bag from your shoulder, dashing as fast as he could resembling his previous run across the field to make the winning shot. Seeing how he was gone in a blink of an eye, you run after him, calling his name.  "Jungkook!"

And just like how he started running, he halts, causing you to bump into him when your momentum was too fast to stop a second early. All at once, he collects your force, a hand at the small of your back to keep you from knocking both of you guys over. The physical contact makes you shiver under the night, and the realization that you were close to him as he was close to you makes everything ini your mind stop.

He looks down at you amusedly, his chuckles fading out as he realizes that you were staring up at him, the level of proximity you two were at with no one around you guys but you two suddenly becoming well aware in his mind like headlights. He didn't want to let you go, he stops and it's this moment where you two are close and you kind of stare at him and sigh. "Fine. I won't pay, but can I have my bag back?"

"You may." He gladly gives it back under your touch, taking a step back to amusedly make the previous proximity obvious. Once your bag was back in your grasp, you narrow your eyes at him before you take a step forward and give him a jab at the arm.

"Ouch," he laughs, rubbing his bicep of where you punched him. "I gave you your bag back."

"That was for making me chase after you," you huff, sending him daggers through your eyes. "You know I hate exercise."

He throws his head back in complete bemusement before leading you to his signature red Jeep.

When reaching to the gelato place that took awhile to travel to as it was near the beach, located next to a small theater and a pizza place, you furrow your eyebrows at how unfamiliar the place seemed to you.

As you gather your bag, you realize that Jungkook had disappeared from the driver's seat to reach the other end of your door to open it, his chivalry exuding from the gesture. Surprised by this, you give him one small acknowledging nod and thank him, a laugh eliciting from your throat as you tell him that he didn't have to that. But before you even finished that sentence, he opens the door to the gelato shop for you, a teasing, toothy smile on his face as he awaits for you to go inside.

You take a moment to scan through the flavors, all of them sounding appetizing before your heart is set on the tiramisu flavor just sitting at the very end beneath pistachio. You don't hesitate to ask for a scoop of tiramisu in a cup, an excited childish smile on your face as Jungkook keeps you close.

He goes ahead and orders the double chocolate gelato after looking at the flavors, you taking the cup the worker already scooped for you in your hand and taking a small spoonful to taste. Your mouth instantly waters.

Peering up at Jungkook as he watches you attentively fulfill your craving, you purse your lips. "Don't you usually go to Pleasantea after winning a game?"

"Yeah," he nods, shrugging. "The team and I deserve winning drinks."

"Then why are we here getting gelato?"

"I mean," he clears his throat, plucking a blue spoon from the jar of blue, red, and purple spoons. "I got the winning girl with me, it trumps a winning anything."

His statement makes you snort. "An excuse to break tradition?"

"An excuse to spend time with you," he nods with affirmation, bringing his spoon to his mouth. Rolling your eyes to that, he gives off his winning smile all while biting his gelato spoon. It was such a picture perfect moment, you mentally snapshot him before his attention is torn from you to grab his scoop of gelato. "Besides, I begged you to come to the game anyways. It'd be a dick move to just abandon you afterwards."

"True," you agree, before you stop in surprise at how Jungkook smoothly takes out his wallet and pays the worker with a ten dollar bill, putting the rest into the tip jar as you both leave your grateful thanks to him and leave. Jungkook goes again and opens the door for you, stepping beside it to let you out. You narrow your eyes at him once more and murmur a thank you in which he gives a chivalrous nod.

Instead of walking to the car, he leads the way to somewhere, you following suit beside him. You don't question it, mostly because you were distracted with your tiramisu gelato and the fact that you've grown so accustomed to Jungkook that you let your feet match up this pace.

"Good job out there, Long-Stick. Now I know why all the girls swoon over you," you tell him once you both settle over the rails that overlooked the beach. It was a vast opening, the ocean was almost as ebony as the night sky, but the moon was the glimmer that differentiated what was the sea and what was the sky. It was romantic itself, but you don't let the venue label your current experience with him. While it was beautiful, you don't let it get to your head.

Your appraisal makes him laugh lowly. "That was nothing."

"Against UFenesy? I'm pretty sure that's something," you recall what Jisoo told you. "Plus that last shot had everyone on the edge of their seat. Including me, and I didn't know what was going on for the half of it."

He lets out a fit of chuckles at your honesty. It makes you feel warm and appreciated that you're able to make him laugh. For some odd reason, you feel like his laugh is as rare as diamonds, and it is so beautiful once found. It's contagious and just as pleasing as yawning and you just want to hear it more and more.

However, once his laughter dies down, you chew on the inside of your cheek. "Don't you want to go to the party tonight?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. You made the winning shot, Long Stick," you shrug. "Don't you want to celebrate by getting drunk or high?"

Jungkook, shamelessly, stares at you closely as if you were hiding something. "You sound like you want to go home really badly. Just tell me up front and I'll take you."

"No, it's not that. I just don't want to be holding you back from anything or changing up your plans for the night."

"___," he laughs hearing this, shaking his head. "Relax. You're not holding me back from anything. I'm a big boy, I can change my plans as they go." You give him a nudge, one that follows with a laughter coming out of his mouth. "Besides, I'm with my winning gelato and my winning girl with a Blondie obsession at the beach. I don't need to go to a party to feel this high."

"Is that so?"

"I'm on top of the world, babe. You wanna try my gelato?"

He brings a spoonful of his gelato towards you and usually you'd hesitate from trying a shared portion of anything from someone, but there was a level of comfort that exuded safety, one where you allow yourself bring your mouth to his spoon and taste the rich flavor of milk chocolate gelato along with with biting down onto a dark chocolate bit.

Returning the gesture, you bring a spoonful of your tiramisu to his mouth, one where he happily eats it off the spoon and nods approvingly of the flavor that you were craving a couple days ago.

As you let his gelato flavor melt in your mouth and you bite down on the bit, something floods your thoughts— dark chocolate wasn't too bad.

Jungkook's mind is engulfed by you.

When he dropped you off that night, he felt the luckiest he's ever felt— somehow his lead to multiple victories have all been trumped by simple quality time with you. It wasn't at all romantic, but he somehow can't unwrap his mind around you. You are tattoo ink, your name written all over his mind and his brain as a constant reminder that you are very much alive— a living, breathing form he has grown to be submerged into. An addiction, an obsession.

He likes the way your eyes form crescents every time you are introduced to a new customer. He's convinced it's no longer your customer service persona, but your general nice appearance that is sweet and approachable. And while you may argue that you aren't as sweet as you may be given by the first encounter with the dull milk tea, he knows that you are as sweet as the tiramisu gelato you are so very fond of.

He won't tell you, but he remembers every drunken spill you unraveled to him that night when you thought it was a good idea to drown your mind out of a certain someone.

When Jungkook first brought you inside the guest bedroom and helped you sit on the bed, you let out a slurred threats of using your muay thai free trial if he ever touched you, but only giggled afterwards when you expose yourself of quitting because people made fun of the way you jump-roped— "princess jump-rope", as you liked to call it.

You like fun, printed underwear over the lacy see-through ones, and while he didn't catch a glimpse of the ones you wore that night, you made it an announcement and proof that you were wearing cherry printed ones. You were craving a hot dog that night, almost bursting to tears because you wanted a hot dog with extra ranch and extra ketchup so badly, but sucked it up when you started staring at him. You have a lip tattoo— an impulsive and drunk decision walking by a tattoo parlor with your friends at 2 AM— that says, 'ur mom'. You also admitted that you didn't want him to leave you— not that he was, he was only going to lock the door to prevent people from coming in— and that you like his presence no matter how annoyed you may seem by him.

And while you were drifting off to sleep, you let out spills about Taehyung.

"When Taehyung and I broke up, it was because he lost feelings. I mean, I guess it was also mutual because I felt the same way, but, uhm... I was so convinced that we would last. I think I'm more mad at the fact that I didn't end it first. He stopped making me feel loved about a year in. Honeymoon phase was over, I guess, and I don't know— I guess I just lost that security and love with him. I should be relieved that he ended it, but I'm just mad that I wasted two years of my life being with him when I should've just ended it first."

He didn't say anything in response to that— it's not because he didn't want to, it's because his mind could formulate such words that would console your drunk mindset. And before he could even let out a peep, he hears a light snore.

He doesn't forget everything you said that night though. He couldn't. Not when it's the most you have ever disclosed to him.

As if you weren't occupying his mind enough, you somehow show up at times he merely forgets about you.

One time, you were working a closing shift and you decided it would be nice to surprise Jungkook with a drink, remembering he would be staying up that night to finish an assignment. You went out of your way to ask Jaehyun for his address to drop it off, Jungkook very confused to see a text message with "come outside" and to see you with one of your crafted drinks in hand and your hair flowing down your shoulders as you released it from your work bun.

"A bit stalkerish, isn't it?"

"Hey, you asked Dahlia for my number. This is merely an innocent act of giving you a drink because I know you're staying up," you defend with a smirk. "It's a strawberry and guava green tea. It's not heavily caffeinated, but it'll keep you up for a bit because you should also get some sleep while you can."

Jungkook, to your misfortune, couldn't sleep that night, and it wasn't because of the strawberry and guava green tea or the amount of homework he had to finish, but it was because you had swarmed his mind the whole night. The overall surprise from you in which you went out of your way to ask his friend where he lived, to remember he was staying up to finish an assignment, to handcraft a drink that wasn't on Pleasantea's menu, the text of "come outside"— it is all small gestures that accumulate and create a supernova in his mind. All the vibrant colors and specks of stardust trail to you that it was impossible to sleep. And even when slumber did come to him after dragging hours, you were in his dream.  

Another time he likes to recall was when he came in while you were working and that day, you were particularly happy, and he'll never forget it because you went, "Welco— Jungkook! Hi!" in the most sweetest tone he didn't think you could ever muster, but the way that you smiled and how your features were accentuated with a bit of makeup made his heart skip a beat.

He was going to order something that same day, but you shook your head and stopped him. "Here, I made this drink the other day and I think you might like it. It's on me."

And gratefully, he liked it. Even if he didn't like it, he would've pretended to just for you. And when he asks what it was, you wouldn't tell him what you made it with, but what really caught him off guard and made his insides turn to gooey liquid was that you called it the "Jungkookie Tea."

Jungkook doesn't miss the way Dahlia overhears what you named your drink for him, meeting Jungkook's eyes with an entertained smirk as she hides away to the back room, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Hi, I left a surprise for you on front door," you called him one night. Jungkook just came home from his lacrosse practice and as he arrives home, there is a large paper bag that has his name written on it in neat, cursive lettering that makes him question who his secret admirer is before he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He answered it immediately when he saw your name on it, an immediate announcement that you were the one that left him that surprise on his doorstep.

"You're scaring me here, babe."

"I just like keeping you on your toes," you smirk, as you laugh into the phone. Jungkook opens his front door and kicks off his shoes, walking into the kitchen and flickering on the lights excitingly to open your gift to him. "Just open it, you'll like it."

"No way."

"Way," you laugh into the phone. "I baked it this morning after I came home from the farmer's market. I bought some peaches and remembered that you were craving peach cobbler a couple weeks ago. There should be a pint of vanilla ice cream in there, too. Do you have roommates? You can share with them, too."

"Hell no, I am not sharing your god sent dessert with my roommate."

"You haven't even tried it yet, idiot! Be nice."

"Nuh-uh. It smells too good. I'll probably end up finishing all of this up tonight. Thank you so much, babe."

"Anytime, baby," you coo, his mind stopping immediately when he hears you call him 'baby'. "I'd like to keep you on the phone, but I'd rather listen to Blondie on the road."

"Okay, drive safe."

"Share!"

"No promises."

"Jungkook—"

"Bye," he sings before hanging up. And as much love you put into it, he ate it with all the love he had for you.

Small moments with you fills his mind up to the rim and he is as elated as ever. Jungkook prides himself for being able to be at a level where you sort of expose him of your previous past introductions with each other, all of those in which he couldn't remember. You tell him of all the times from the first encounter at the frat party, to the embarrassing moment of when he threw up on your new pants. It made him groan as you cackle beside him in his red Jeep in front of your house.

Obviously, it flew past you, but you tell him that truthfully you weren't very fond of him during the whole distasteful plain milk tea with no sweetness ordeal, and anytime after that, but he lets out a laugh with a simple apology flying out of his mouth for the past encounters that really did not work on his first impression with you.

However, there was this one moment that irked him a lot. So much so that he couldn't really hide it from you.

Sunny asked you to go to Orange Valley to restock and while you would've happily obliged, your car wouldn't make it very far if you were to drive, so she offered asking Jungkook to drive. Jungkook, at first, was ecstatic that you asked him as an alternative to drive you there— a road trip with you probably wanting to change the songs multiple times until you were satisfied or you snoring away in his passenger seat until you both get there.

However, he was silent while on the freeway, unsure of what to really say. And you weren't dumb, so you caught onto his aura when you sat in his car.

You try to make a joke to lighten up the mood about this one customer who wanted a fruit tea without the fruit in hopes you could witness a laugh from him, but only a light scoff was the result of your efforts gone to shit. Knowing that there was no good on having a grumpy Jungkook driving you for the rest of the day, you let out a laugh. A veiled laugh, one that makes him question you silently.

"It's funny because you remind me exactly of this drink I made last night." He glances at you as you nod. "Yeah, yeah, it was the black tea with boba. Bitter, with tiny balls." Your laughter dies along with your analogy you throw in the air. Your arms sternly cross over your torso, an arched eyebrow awaiting him when he gives you a glance. "Mhm, yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

His lackadaisical answer was too quick for your taste, anticipating very well that he was going to dodge it the minute you bug him about it. However, you were too stubborn enough to not let it go. "No, I want to know."

Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath, shifting his previous position of two hands at three and nine of the wheel, to move one arm to prop against his window, leaning his head on it. "___, it's nothing—"

"Then why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

Scoffing, you shake your head at his purposeful obliviousness. "Distant. Cold. Bitter. I don't know, but it's giving me bad vibes."

Jungkook signals to merge onto the carpool lane, you noticing that his speed rising on the speedometer with haste that it makes you shift in your seat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jungkook, stop acting like that," you state in a softer tone. It sounded more like a beg if you listened carefully, but you straighten your shoulders against the seat to not come off that way. "Did I do something wrong?"

He immediately takes notice as to how you immediately take blame onto yourself, making his previously tense body soften at the way your voice had gone soft and how you were no longer staring ahead at the road, but at your knees that were pressed together. He wonders if this was the result of your past relationship where you were convinced that you were always the one to blame. He adjusts his position again behind the wheel, one where he returns his free hand back onto the wheel, more relaxed as he releases his foot from the gas slightly to keep a steady speed along the road. Jungkook now felt bad.

He stays quiet before you try one more time, poking at his arm in which he gives you one more sideways glance and lets out a sigh. "You called Jaehyun to pick you up instead of me."

Jungkook notices how your eyebrows knit together. "What?"

"Last night, at the party you went to. You called Jaehyun to pick you up and take you home."

"Oh," you nod slowly. "If you're upset, just know that him and I didn't hook up or anything—"

"No." Jungkook cringes. It's first the thought of you, someone he has began to feel things for, being with one of his best friends and teammate in a sexual way that made him want to gag. It's then the realization that that was your first immediate thought as to why he was upset that made him realize he's explaining it all wrong. "No, it's not that. It's more because you called him, but you didn't call me that upset me."

"Oh," you nod once more. "Oh..."

"It's not a big deal—"

"But you were busy last night—"

"I know," he says, tapping his finger against the wheel. "I can't get mad because I told you I was busy, but..."

He notices that you turned your attention to him, which caused him to sweat a bit. "But?"

"I would've dropped everything if you called me to pick you up. I know, you didn't want to bother me, but I want you to know that you can depend on me, too. If that means dropping a late night lacrosse practice with the defensemen for you to be home safe, then I do not mind."

Hearing this created pangs in your heart, your cheeks ultimately flushing before you couldn't help but smile up at him. "Is that the only reason why you're so Mr. Grumpy today?"

"Not a big deal, ___—"

"I'll call you next time," you cut him off before he takes back everything he says. "I thought you were getting annoyed driving me everywhere."

"No, just the opposite," he smirks. "I just want you to know you can depend on me. Calling Jaehyung wasn't bad, but call me next time."

"Okay, I will," you promise, a smile never breaking from your face. "Thank you. Very sweet, very thoughtful," you muse, bringing a hand to teasingly comb your fingers through his fluffy raven hair. "Now will you stop being a Debby Downer? I'll put you as my personal chauffeur in my contacts so you can stop being so sad for the whole trip."

"Fine, sorry." Jungkook, without thinking about it, grabs your hand and adjusts it so he can intertwine his fingers with yours, kissing the back of your hand that left butterflies in your stomach. He lets out a laugh before meeting your eyes for a spare second and then back onto the road. "Am I still the black tea you made?"

"Not at all."  

To you, Jungkook was anything but bitter from what you have learned about him in the past few times you've shared moments. He makes you laugh and makes you feel appreciated that you can't help but want to do the same for him.

"Woah, hey. What are you doing here?"

Jungkook's bewildered, but it comes off as just subtly surprised to you. After a good day of practice, with his last game tomorrow, he wasn't expecting to get a text from you telling him that you're pulling up in 5 minutes in front of his house. And here you are, climbing out of your car as he takes in your form, a quick sweep up and down of the 12 AM you in nothing but your Gryffindor t-shirt just barely covering your pajama shorts that exposed your legs that he had to consciously remind himself not to glance over at too frequently. Still, he couldn't help himself with a few stolen looks.

You're panting, and not because you're exhausted or you're that out of shape that getting out of your car took out all the energy from you, but somehow standing in front of him in nothing but your thrifted tee and pajama shorts has made you feel more vulnerable than ever and more nervous than you'd let yourself believe.

"I was just..." your voice trails off, but you taking in one big breath as he studies you carefully. "I was just wondering if this thing I did was just completely stupid or—"

"What?" He asks immediately. "What did you do? Was it that stupid that you decided to come over in your pajamas?"

His questions make you laugh. It's breathy. Airy.

It's your nerves wracking together as you try to figure out a way to formulate words, but it's hard when he's wearing sweats and a t-shirt that hugs him nicely when his arms are crossed over his chest.

"I'm fine. It's just that— uhm," your eyes flicker to his where his eyebrows furrow in concern, making your heart stop when you realize that he's actually listening. "I think I let myself catch feelings for you."

There's this grace period that happens. It's surprisingly excruciating and long. It's like you're watching your own heart get ripped out of your chest before you realize that what has just happened. Jungkook could only pause, and you could only handle silence for so long.

He gives off a single nod, one that makes you blink as you realize that could be his only answer. Nodding, you suck in a deep breath. "Alright, nice, cool. Yeah, good to know that it actually was stupid, uh—"

"No, no, no," he stops you mid-rant as you pause yourself from whipping around to walk back to your car in utter embarrassment. But even as you pause, you hope you aren't completely making a fool out of yourself before you can back out. "Come here."

"You know, it's fine. I don't know what I'm saying and I don't think—"

"___, please shut up for one second and come closer." He watches as you poke your tongue into your cheek before taking a step towards him with your gaze trained on the ground. "Can you look at me please?"

Letting out a preparing sigh, you bring your gaze to look at him, his expression all bland and emotionless.

"There's a few things I want to ask."

"Oh. Uh, okay? Shoot."

"Are you sober?"

The question throws you off for a moment. "I mean I drove here—"

"Are you sober?"

"Yes, I don't condone drinking and driving, idiot."

"Okay," he heavily breathes.

"Is this, by chance, a prank?" This question makes you furrow your eyebrows, not only throwing you off, but making you speechless. "Like, is there a camera somewhere and I'm being punk'd?"

"What?" You ask, astounded by his question just before you're shaking your head and beginning to walk away. "No— okay, you know what? Forget it. I knew this was a dumb idea to be here and actually confess that—"

He grabs your arm, his hand grasping your forearm and giving a slight tug in hopes you'd stay grounded. "I'm not done. Are your feelings real? Or are they just a figment of your imagination to compensate for your break-up?"

Hearing his blunt words, you feel your eyes widen at how easy he can let those words roll off his tongue. You scoff in sheer astonishment, yanking your arm back in attempt to get away from his grasp but he holds a firm grip on you. "God, this was stupid."

"___, answer the question."

Sparing a glance at him, you notice at how his face was not at all hard— not one formed out of pure jealousy, but a refined look of compassion. One that was willing to listen, one that was sparked from curiosity, one that was forged from general empathy and care. Seeing at how his eyes don't hold a single ounce of defense nor offense, you let yourself relax under his touch, a movement that caused him to loosen his grip that wasn't at all squeezing you uncomfortably in the first place.

"Honestly?"

There's a twinkle of light that you don't miss in his eyes, a subtle hint from him to you in hopes you'd continue instead of turning the other cheek.

"I don't know," you breathe out, feeling his hand drop from your arm completely to his side. "But what I do know is that I haven't stopped thinking about you these past few days. And all I know is that every time someone comes into the shop at around closing time, I'm expecting to see you. Either with your friends, or your teammates— I don't know, my eyes are just trained to find yours, I guess? And no, I don't think I'm completely healed from the break-up, but that doesn't mean I never will. And if it's worth anything, when I'm with you, talking to you, or even when you're just... there— I don't feel hurt or, or scared. I feel safe." And happy, and excited. And I might just love dark chocolate now.

"You make me feel safe," you securely tell him with a full heart, knowing very well that it's out in the open and there's no going back. "And you make me not want to leave your side. I just want to be with you, for as long as you'll let me."

Jungkook's head is spinning. There is no way, the girl who claims to not be sweet as his milk tea you made him during the night of his winning shot against Renall University, his number one boba worker, his Blondie fanatic, his winning girl was reenacting a dream that he so wanted to give to you. He imagined he would be the one to pull up to your home outside after having to realize his feelings were too much to contain— too much to endure— right before he lets out words that he probably would regret putting it out there into existence.

This isn't confusion, this is elation.

While he processes each word, digests every sentence, consumes the ever-so subtle nervous smiles and chuckles you elicited within your wholehearted confession, he forgets that he's a physical form of a human, standing right in front of you with nothing short of a blank expression. It makes you let out a nervous clear of your throat.

"I answer your question and you're not going to say anything...?"

The observation you announce aloud snaps his mind back into the realm of what is of you and him in nothing but in both of your pajamas, the night sky shedding light on your vulnerable hearts in the open.

He lets out a speechless breath of air, before he rolls in his bottom lip inside, tongue gliding along the inner lower part from his right cheek to his left. You would be lying if his silence wasn't making your heart beat fast and your cheeks stain red.

Jungkook eventually shrugs. "I knew that my charm would reach you eventually."

The straight vanity dripping from his response causes your eyebrows to shoot up, then a scoff to leave your mouth, and your third instinct to turn around towards your car. However, you are stopped midway when he grasps your wrist and tugs you back to him, his honey laughter ringing in your ears.

"Alright, okay. Bad move," he acknowledges while you scowl. He drags his hands down to yours as he smirks once more. "Just don't make my drink with no sugar again." The entertainment he was gaining from this rather than really responding to your excessive pouring of emotions was irking you to the point that you raise your fist to punch his arm, only for him to avoid that by wrapping his arms around your waist.

Unfortunately, his hugs just happened to make you feel safe enough and your liquids turn into absolute goo that you relax under his touch.

"You're not stupid," he tells you into your hair. "Though it is kind of surprising to see you in front of my house all vulnerable like this."

"Shut up, Jeon."

"Don't worry, I thought about doing the same thing to you," he confesses, watching carefully at how your scowl softens just when he says that. "Mhm. Except it'd probably be more embarrassing. More of begging rather than confessing."

To that, you let out a snort, one of which he cuts you off short as he tugs you closer to his chest.

"However, if you really want to give us a chance," he begins before he pulls his signature smirk. "I'm not opposed to it." You peer up at him and purse your lips. "Does that mean I get a boyfriend discount?"

As you scoff, he laughs along with you, tucking a hair behind your ear as he holds onto the smalls of your back. "Endless boba supply?"

"You're getting a drink with spit in it."

"And baby, I'll be happy to drink it."

Just then, your jaw drops, your immediate reaction to slap his arm lightly. And he laughs, pulling you closer (if that was even possible). "Don't worry, you get a perfect seat at my games and a flying kiss from me before each game."

"Very cute," you muse at the idea.

He stares at you for a long moment, and while you think it's him trying to memorize every bit of your face, his eyes kept flickering down to your lips back to your eyes. In an instant, you realize that he just didn't know what to do next, but he sure as hell was thinking about kissing you, it makes you burst out into a tiny fit of laughter. "You're not so much of a kisser, are you?"

Jungkook scoffs lightly. "Do I come off as an expert in kissing, babe?"

"No, but you're lucky I have some experience."

Groaning, Jungkook lolls his head back while his nose cringes at your sly comment. "I don't want to see an image of the girl I really like making out with her son of a bitch ex-boyfriend."

"Oh, so I went from Annoying Brat to a girl you really like?"

"Yeah, yeah, you leveled up. Did you want a kiss as a reward or what?"

"Yes, please," you smirk as you bring all of your weight to your toes, lifting your heels to give yourself enough height to press your lips onto Jungkook's, slowly and easily. He's taken aback by how much time you dragged along with it, nothing of a sort of the fiery and urgent kiss you first had with him.

He pulls away and he laughs remembering that you have no absolute recollection of the first time you placed your lips on his. Ultra Platinum Jerk 3000 underway. "Not bad for our second kiss."

"Second?" You furrow your eyebrows in complete confusion. "When did we—?" Realization hits you in the face as your jaw goes slack, staring up at him in plain shock. "No, we didn't."

"For the record, you did. I pulled away."

Your arms still wrapped around his neck, you pull back to gape at him. "And you didn't want to tell me about this?"

"I was saving you a lifetime's worth of embarrassment."

You cringe, mentally face palming yourself that you let yourself slip so easily under the influence. "It's embarrassing because you pulled away!"

"Hey, hey, you caught me off guard. I wanted to kiss you back, but not in that current state you were in. You said my lips were "soft and kissable"."

Adamantly, you shake your head. "No, I didn't."

"Mhm," he smirks, bring his hand to tuck a hair behind your ear, his fingertips purposefully dragging down the skin of your neck to create evident goosebumps. "So what do you think now? Still soft and kissable?"

"Jungkook, I'm literally going to make sure your drinks are a living hell," you threaten, scowling at him.

He gives another amused laugh, pulling you closer from the smalls of your back before peppering kisses onto your cheeks, causing you to squeal at his immediate affection. "Alright, alright. Points for Gryffindor, no need to get all feisty."

"Dickwad," you call him, making him smirk. "I'm leaving now."

When Jungkook feels a slight slip of you from his fingers, he grasps onto you quickly to press his lips onto yours once more. Undeniably, you couldn't ignore the way your smile pulls at your cheeks with each peck he places onto your lips, laughter being shared into the air by both of you as you try to wiggle out of his strong grip.

"Jungkook, I have to go," you beg in between fits of light-hearted giggles. "Jungkook!"

"Fine, fine," he sighs in defeat before pressing one more kiss onto your forehead. "See you tomorrow night? At the game?"

"Will my spot be saved?"

"I'll have your name engraved on it," he nods making you smile like a fool. "Gelato right after?"

Eyebrows pulling together, you pat his chest with your palms. "You don't want to get boba with the boys?"

"Nah," Jungkook firmly shakes his head. "Besides, I'd rather break tradition to spend time with you."

[natromanxoff]

11 - Van Halen...

Hi there one and all.

Can I first start by saying farewell to Cozy. I've known him for about fifteen years and would not say he was a close friend or anything, but whenever we caught up with each other there was always time for a beer and chat. He was an A1 guy and will be greatly missed as a person and as a brilliant drummer. When John Bonham died he left the crown for the best rock drummer to Cozy, and I can't think of anyone worthy enough to take over. When Bonzo died we were doing a show at Madison Square Gardens, and as they were going into Champions Fred said, "This one's for John Bonham." The place erupted. If that's Bonzo's song, then I think Cozy should inherit We Will Rock You, because he was THE best rock drummer.

My social life has been quite hectic again. Caught up with Status Quo when they played here recently, they're always good fun to chat with, and they still put on a decent show. Next Sunday I'm gonna see Matchbox 20. Have a listen to their album, it's really good. Last night was the all new Van Halen, and thanks to my mate Nick I had one of those wonderful VIP passes hanging round my neck. I, along with the rest of the world was curious to know what Gary Cherone was going to be like. Brilliant. This has to be the best VH line up yet. The show was being filmed by MTV, so if you see it and the camera pans around to the sound desk, just look for the best looking guy in the building and that'll be me, standing next to him.

Anyway, back to VH. They are still a great rock band, a great live act and great musicians, and I still hate drum solo's. But back to Mr Cherone. We all know what he did at the Tribute, and we all know he's a huge Queen fan, and he's the closest singer to Freddie I've ever seen. His outfit, black satin shirt and flared black satin pants. I seem to remember FM wearing that around 75/76. His mic stand is the FM 'wand', except it's a lot longer. His movements are very theatrical, and dare I say camp at times, with lots of twists and turns, very Freddie. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not knocking him at all, he is an amazing showman and doesn't stop all night, even jumping into the crowd and running up the steps to the top of the arena, and then tumbling down like a stuntman. It's good rock 'n roll, so try and check them out, I don't think you'll regret it. (I've become concert reviewer all of a sudden) At times he even sounds like another singer, but I won't keep on, I'll leave it to somebody else. On the rock station, Triple M, one of the jocks this afternoon said, "He's been watching to many videos of our dear departed friend Freddie Mercury. His movements were exactly like his."

The first time I ever saw Van Halen was at a place called the Circus Krona(!) in good old Munich. I went along to see them with the curly one, and when we got there I had to instantly phone the studio and try and get Rog to come along because it was the biggest PA system I had ever seen in a place that size. When they started the intro tape it was so loud I thought my chest was gonna cave in, the bass just pinned you to your seat. Needless to say Brian was like a pig in shit. Before I tell you my little Queen story, I have to tell you about what I consider to be the best onstage patter I think I've ever heard. David Lee Roth was talking to the crowd between numbers and somebody in the crowd chucked a paper cup or something at him, he stopped talking, looked round in the general direction and said, "Hey man, you can throw what you like at me. Because tonight I'm going to f**k your chick." 20,000 people loved it, and so did I cause I still remember him saying it.

OK. We were touring the States, probably around 81/82, and we were flying to Portland. The band entourage were traveling on a wonderful private plane, and as the crew would have been in the bus for about 24 hrs we took as many as we could with us. The date was Sept.1, I remember because thats my birthday, and when we boarded the plane there was a huge cake with 'Happy Birthday Crystal' on it, and even more booze than we normally had. (Somebody must have expected something) One of the nice things about private planes is that you can make detours and the pilot flew around Mt St Helens a few times so we could see right into the crater, and it was still steaming, an amazing sight. Back to my birthday and a few of us needed some privacy, so Jim 'Mary' Devenney, Jimmy ' Idiot Boy' Barnett, Peter 'Feebie' Freestone, Roger '*******' Taylor and myself stocked up with a couple of drinks and retired to the Master Bedroom for a discussion on world politics. When the plane landed we were still a few thousand feet up in the air, legless is the best way to describe us. Hey, it was my birthday after all. We fell into the limo's and headed to the hotel, and the crew went on to theirs.

On arrival I found out that Van Halen were staying there, and they were playing that night, so I secured a few million passes and went looking for somebody to go partying with. After all it was 4pm and if I went to sleep I'd wake up feeling awful so I had to continue. RT said he was gonna crash, but Feebie and Terry were ready to go, so we said we would go to the first bar we came to. As it turned out it was a topless joint, and needless to say I was shocked and stunned, but a deals a deal. We were drinking shots of peppermint schnapps with vodka and orange chasers, very intelligent. At about 8pm we all shot off to watch VH, and they were great. After the show both bands arrange to meet in the bar at the hotel, but the bar is one of those stupid ones in the middle of the lobby. So there we are, the four Queenies, Feebie, Wally, Tunbrige, Terry and me, and the four Van Halens, all sitting around having a slurp, and VH's minders running around like headless chickens in the CIA. Outside the main doors were hundreds of fans, with a VH gorilla keeping them out, even to the point of stopping Ratty coming in. I had to argue with this moron to let one of our crew in, and he said, "If he goes anywhere near David or Eddie I'll throw him out." I could only answer with that wonderful two worded phrase starting and ending in F. Because it was like being in a fish bowl we decided to leave the bar, and everyone wandered off to various rooms to continue, the biggest bash being in Rogers suite.

At some unknown hour whilst I'm having a very pleasant conversation with a charming lady who called herself 'Naughty Nancy,' Jobby says to me, "I've been looking for you, Tunbridge wants you to call him now, it's urgent, Brians had an accident." Jobby was very drunk and I didn't know if he was serious or joking, so I phoned Tunbridges room and there was no reply. What do I do now? If Brians asleep and I wake him I'm in trouble, and if he has hurt himself and I don't call I'm still in trouble. What do I care? I'm drunk and fearless, so I phone and Tunbridge asks me to get there asap.

When I go in, Brians lying on the bed on his side, with the waste paper bin close at hand, and Tunbrige is grinning and mopping his brow with a damp cloth. Brian was mumbling stuff like "Don't let me die." (I'm sure most of us have been there at sometime or another) I probably shouldn't say this, but I had to grin, I thought it highly amusing. I got an explanation and told Tunbridge not to let him sleep on his back, and call me if there were anymore problems. I then returned to NN.

It turned out that when we all left the bar, Brian had gone to Eddie's room where they consumed huge quantities of Jack Daniels, and Brian not being a bourbon drinker, went to the toilet to worship the porcelain god, and threw up with such gusto he hit his head on the cistern, split his head open and nearly knocked himself out. The following night we played the same place VH did, and Mr May with band aid on head, played a blinder. A couple of years later, in the Rainbow in LA, I met Alex Van Halens estranged wife, and that, as they say, is another story all together.

Crystal

[northoftheroad]

Recommeded reading for Dick Grayson / Robin and Nightwing

This is an updated repeat of a couple of lists with reading recommendations with Dick as Robin and Nightwing (Pre-Flashpoint) that I've made earlier. But since I wrote them as answers to asks, the posts don't have a headline, and I find that they can be easy to miss (for me, when I want to look something up...) So I thought I might as well make a new, single post of them.

The stories are in what I imagine would be an in-universe chronology. They are from all periods, ignoring that the Golden age stories and Silver/Bronze/modern age stories have at times been considered two different universes. Most of them are stories that, at the time of their publishing, were canon and in continuity. None is explicitly Elseworld, so you can certainly imagine that they have happened ;-)

To be honest, not all of these comics are examples of great storytelling. Older superhero comics, for instance, are definitely something else compared to modern comics, for better and for worse. I've picked some because they are "the first time" or significant in some way (e.g. the first time Dick was almost killed, when Bruce has to fight to keep custody, an infamous fight between Dick and Bruce, the most well-known different origin stories, panels that are often quoted); others because they have a cute or fun moment. I have also included some books that I don't like myself but are well-known.

Storytelling has changed a lot since Dick was Robin. Back in the Golden and Silver age, with very few exceptions, comics were stand-alone short stories. In later decades, it's usually arcs that span at least a couple of issues and some stories have consequences for years.

Dick has been an active team member since the 1960s, and he has arguably been at his best in some team titles, but I still don't have a lot of team books here. I find it difficult to, off the top of my head, recall any "special Dick issues".

Obviously, these are very personal preferences, and the list is based on what I've read and remembered best.

Robin the Boy Wonder. Detective Comics # 38 (The original origin story. There has been maaany more since then – I've made a list just with origin stories....) (1940).

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436-439. (An origin story where Dick spent some time at a nice orphanage before he came to Bruce.) (1989)

Robin Annual vol 2 # 4. (Another origin story, where the Gotham authorities remove Dick him from the circus, and he is put in the Gotham City's Youth Center. Not my preferred but it's well known.) (1995)

The Gauntlet. The Batman Chronicles #1. (The test before Batman let Dick start out as Robin.) (1997)

Grimm. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #149-153. (A story set when Dick is new as Robin and still uncertain about his place. For a while, he wants to leave Batman and stay in a children's underground paradise.) (2002)

Robin: Year One. (Traumatic events during Dick's first year as Robin. He was nearly beat to death by Two-Face. When Bruce said he was not permitted to continue as Robin, Dick ran away because he didn't think there was a place for him at the Manor any more.) (2001)

The case of the honest crook. Batman #5. (1941)

The Batman plays a lone hand. Batman #13. (The first time Bruce ended the Batman and Robin partnership and left Dick to take care of himself.) (1942)

Robin studies his lessons. Batman #18. (1943)

Bruce Wayne loses the guardianship of Dick Grayson. Batman #20. (1944)

Clay. Batman Black and White #6. (2014)

Don't know where, don't know when. Batman Black and White #1. (2013)

Dick Grayson, author. Batman #35. (1946)

The Clocks of Doom. Star Spangled Comics #70.

The man Batman refused to help! Star Spangled Comics #88.

A birthday for Batman. Star Spangled Comics #91.

Robin, the Boy Failure. DC #145. (Dick gets amnesia, and Bruce tries to get him to remember that he’s Robin, without telling him outright.) (1949).

The killer-dog of Gotham city. Star Spangled Comics #100. (1950)

The trial of Bruce Wayne. Batman #57. (1950)

Race of the century. DC #157. (1950)

Dick Grayson, detective. Star Spangled Comics #111. (1950)

The strange costumes of Batman. DC #165. (Dick’s first time as Batman.) (1950)

The robberies in the Batcave. DC #177. (1951)

Partner for Batman. Batman #65. (1951)

Batman II and Robin, junior. Batman #66. (1951)

The plainclothes Robin. Star Spangled Comics #112. (Batman forbids Dick from going out at as Robin; he finds creative ways to use it in other ways.) (1951)

Operation Escape. Star Spangled Comics #124. (1952)

The new team of Superman and Robin. World's Finest Comics #75. (With Batman out of commission, Robin teams up with Superman. Batman is a bit apprehensive about Dick’s joy.) (1955)

Batman, jr. DC #231. (1956)

The grown-up Boy Wonder. Batman #107. (1957)

The last days of Batman. Batman #125. (1959)

Robin's new boss. Batman #137. (Dick wants to leave Bruce and get into a new partnership. Bruce is very distraught indeed.) (1961)

Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman #156. (Batman gets PTSD after participating in an experiment and he has to hang up the cowl becuase he is endangering Robin. Doctor Simon Hurt, who became a main villain when Grant Morrison wrote Batman, is the nameless doctor in charge of the experiment.) (1963)

The Olsen-Robin team versus the Superman-Batman team. World's Finest Comics #141. (1964)

The thousand-and-one dooms of Mr Twister. The Brave and the Bold #54. (The first team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad – the first step towards the formation of the Teen Titans.) (1964)

Teen Titans: Year One. (A retelling of the origin of the Teen Titans. The original version was told in Teen Titans vol 1 #53 from 1978, the last issue of the Silver/Bronze age comic book.) (2008)

Midnight raid of the Robin gang. DC #342. (1965)

The Round-Robin death threats. DC #366-367. (1967)

Batgirl breaks up the dynamic duo. DC #369. (1967)

The Nemesis from Batman's boyhood. DC #370. (1967)

Batman! Drop dead… twice. DC #378-379. (1968)

Geometry. Superman #700. (Dick goes out as Robin on his own, against Bruce's order. Superman has to fish him up out the harbour...) (2010)

Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders. Batman #202. (1968)

Operation blindfold. Batman #204-205. (1968)

Angel… or devil. Batman #216. (1969)

Prisoners of the Immortal world. World’s Finest Comics #200. (Dick had moved to Hudson University by now. Together with Superman and a pair of brothers, he's transported to a different world.) (1971)

Daughter of the Demon. Batman #232. (First appearance of Ra's al Ghul, who kidnaps Robin from Hudson as a test to see if Batman is worthy of Talia.) (1971)

Vengeance for a cop. Batman #234-236. (1971)

Night of the Reaper. Batman #237. (1971)

Earth - the monster maker. Justice League of America #91-92. (A story with characters from both Earth-One and Earth-Two, including the adult Robin from Earth-Two who is a member of the Justice Society of America.) (1971)

How many times can a Robin die? Batman #246. (A criminal sets out to revenge himself on Batman by setting up murders of lifelike Robin dummies; since he has kidnapped the real Robin, Batman can't know if the killings are the real thing.) (1972)

The return of the Flying Grayson. Batman #250. (1973)

Color me deadly. Batman #316. (1979)

The Iron solution. DC #487. (1980)

The Man in Black wears Green. DC #493. (1980)

The Lazarus Affair (plus). Batman #331-335. (Another story with Talia and Ra's al Ghul, but also about generation gaps and slum buildings. Robin is angrily opposed to Bruce being with Talia because he doesn't trust her; he seeks out Catwoman to help.) (1981)

Yesterday's heroes. Batman #339. (1981)

To kill a legend. Detective Comics #500. (The Phantom Stranger transports Batman and Robin to a parallel Earth where they have the chance to stop that world's Joe Chill from murdering the Waynes.) (1981)

Who is Donna Troy? New Teen Titans #38. (Dick helps Donna Troy, Wonder girl, to find out where she came from. A great detective story.) (1984)

The Judas contract (when Dick becomes Nightwing). The New Teen Titans # 39-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44, Annual #3. (1984)

Nightwing Year One. Nightwing vol 2 # 101-106. (I honestly don't care much for this story, but it's good to know that it's one of several retellings of how Dick became Nightwing.) (2005)

A Little Nudge, in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special. (An alternate take on Dick leaving Robin to become Nightwing, where Bruce and Dick don’t split on hostile terms – Dick is just a bit annoyed. It is very unclear in what timeline, if any, this is supposed to fit, but I like it a lot better than the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint versions.) (2020)

Trivial Pursuits. New Teen Titans vol 2 # 32. (A nice breather, when the Titans try just to relax together. It goes as well as can be expected.) (1987)

Wrath Child. (A story from when Dick was fairly new as Nightwing.) Batman Confidential # 13-16. (2008)

Batman # 416. (First post-Crisis meeting with Jason Todd) (1988)

The Cheshire Contract. Action Comics Weekly # 613-618 (Dick helps Roy find his daughter.) (1988)

The New Titans # 55. (Dick learns about Jason's death when the Titans return to Earth after a long period in space. He goes to Bruce to talk and what follows is the infamous scene when Bruce hits Dick, says he should never have had a partner and tells Dick to leave and leave the keys with Alfred.) (1989)

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436–439. (Flashbacks with a retelling of Dick's origin, during Bruce's third year as Batman. In the "now", Dick tries to reach out to Bruce and Dick's parents' murderer is about to be set free.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61. (1990)

The New Titans # 65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Total Chaos. (In issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, New Titans and Team Titans.) (Mirage, a woman from an alternate future and who has illusion casting powers, takes the form of Starfire and sleeps with Dick, who is shamed by his team members for being unfaithful to Kory, even though this is rape. So, an important fact to know but not something I would recommend to read.) (1992)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514 and three other titles. (1994-1995)

Nightwing Alfred's Return (Kind of fun, when Dick seeks out Alfred, who left Bruce's service because Bruce wasn't taking care of himself, in London.) (1995)

Nightwing vol 1 # 1-4. (I don't love this, but it is a milestone in that it's the first Nightwing solo series, Dick momentarily decides to leave the hero business, and gets his by now classic fingerstripe suit.) (1995)

Like Riding a Bike. (Donna checks up on Dick.) The Batman Chronicles # 7. (1996)

(Nightwing vol 2 began in 1996.)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 12-16. (Batman pays a visit and Dick makes his custom made car.) (1997)

The Flash plus Nightwing. (Dick and Wally on vacation.) (1997)

Then & Now. Teen Titans vol 2 #12-15. (The original four Titan boys find themselves fighting their past selves.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Detective Comics # 725 (A heart-to-heart between Bruce and Dick.) (1998)

The Technis Imperative. JLA/Titans #1-3. (1998-1999)

The Titans (1999) # 2. (The start of a new Titans team, Dick tells Superman to give them some room.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 32–34. (Dick at the Police Academy.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 35–39. (On a mission from Batman: To take control of Blackgate Prison. Afterwards, he recuperates at Barbara's when her place is attacked.) (1999-2000)

The Titans (1999) #15–16. (The original five Titans try to work out some difficulties.) 2000.

Transference. Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11. (2000)

Nightwing vol 2 # 45-46. (The Hunt for Oracle.) (2000)

Action Comics # 771. (Nightwing and Superman hang out and work together – what's not to like!) 2000

Gods of Gotham. Wonder Woman # 164-167. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 52. (Yet another example of sexual assault when Catwoman kisses Nightwing, in an effort to make Batman jealous.) (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 54-58. (Blockbuster, Nightwing's main adversary in Blüdhaven, hires an old enemy of Dick's to deal with the vigilante: Shrike. A character from Robin Year One.) (2001)

Matatoa. Batman: Gotham Knights # 16-17. (Bruce adopts Dick.) (2001)

Who Is Troia? The Titans (1999) # 23-25. (A visit from the Titan's children from the Kingdom Come universe.). (2001)

Retribution. Batman: Gotham Knights # 20-21. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 64. (Nightwing as Santa's elf.) (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (in several titles). (Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes friction with for instance Tim. Also, a big fight between Dick and Bruce when the latter says he is going to abandon his Bruce identity.) (2002)

Nightwing vol 2 # 75. (Flashback's to Dick's early years with Bruce. Plus the first appearance of Tarantula (Catalina Flores; a controversial figure in Dick's history, she straddled the line between vigilante and villain.)) (2002)

Hush. Batman # 608–619. (# 615 for Dick, but it might be confusing only to read one issue.) (2002-2003)

The Obsidian Age. JLA vol 1 # 68-75. (The Justice League members disappear, Dick leads a new team for a few issues. In # 73, Bruce is quoted: "The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."). (2002-2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (Donna is killed. Dick is devastated and declares that the Titans are finished.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 80-83. (Deathstroke is in Blüdhaven to kill someone close to Dick. Bruce asks when he will quit the force, Dick wants to stay as a cop, but when he saves Amy Rohrbach, she recognizes that Dick is Nightwing and fires him.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 86. (Dick, forced to rest after being injured, solves crimes on America's Most Wanted and drives Barbara up the wall.) (2003)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 1 (Roy talks Dick, who dissolved the Titans after Donna's death, into leading a new team, promising they will not be a family.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 87-100. (Definitely one of the darkest periods points in Dick's life pre-Flashpoint. Tarantula breaks up him and Barbara. Blockbuster destroys his circus, his home and kills people just for talking to Dick. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and Nightwing is too exhausted to prevent it, and afterwards, he has a panic attack and she rapes him (# 93). Not necessarily something I would recommend to read, but fans discuss it a lot.) (2003-2004)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 11 (Roy is angsting about going back to the hero business after narrowly surviving being shot to death, sparring and heart-to-heart with Dick follows.) (2004)

Under the Hood. Batman # 635-641, 645-650, Annual # 25. (2004-2006)

Supergirl (2005) # 3 (Supergirl has a huuuge crush on Nightwing... ) (2005)

Silent partner. The Outsiders vol 3 # 21-23. (Dick goes ballistic when he realizes Batman has been funding the Outsiders, Roy admits Batman has been feeding him information. Only it wasn't Batman – it was Deathstroke in disguise.) (2005)

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy  # 1-4. (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 107–117. (Dick leaves Nightwing, starts working for the mob and trains Deathstroke's daughter. I think the author has some kind of resolution to the crisis Dick had gone through the last years in mind, but Infinite Crisis got in the way. Blüdhaven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.) (2005-2006)

Infinite Crisis. (DC had planned to let Dick die, he is central to the story even if he's not very visible.) (2005-2006)

Targets. Nightwing vol 2 # 125-128. (Dick hunts for a day job in New York and gets buried alive, which leads to some retrospection on his behalf. There's also fights with a guy with a weaponized armour.) (2007)

The Brave and the Bold # 15. Nightwing and Hawkman. (Deadman, inside Hawkman, says that Dick Grayson is the one guy that every crimefighter trusts.) (2007)

Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Boomerang. (It ends with Batman telling Dick: "Go back to the good fight, Dick. Leave the bad fight to us.") (2007)

Freefall. Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146. (Dick starts freefalling as a new hobby; Bruce is not pleased. And he gets a new daytime job, as a museum curator. Oh, and there's Talia al Ghul, too.) (2008)

Robin # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

Superman/Batman # 55. (Batman has got Superman’s powers while Superman loses his. When Batman starts to get out of control, Nightwing tries to stop him.)  (2009)

The Great Leap. Nightwing vol 2 # 147–151. (Two-Face wants Nightwing to save a life.) (2008-2009)

Titans (2008) # 10. (Dick leaves the Titans because he needs to go back to Gotham and "take care of my other family." (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 152-153. (That time when Ra's al Ghul called Dick detective. And Dick packed up and left New York to move back to Gotham.) (2009)

Batman # 682. (Just for the line about how Dick made colour come into their monochrome lives ;-) ) (2009)

Detective Comics # 85, Batman # 684 (Dick mourning Bruce) (2009)

The Secret Six # 9. (Some of the members of the Secret Six feel they should be the new Batman.) (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (2009)

If you don't mind reading comics that are not in the main comic universe, there are also a lot of fun reading in comic books that are tie-ins to Batman The Animated Series, and in Batman '66 which builds on the tv show from 1966. There is also Dark Victory from 1999–2000 – and tiny Dick is adorable in Batman/Scarecrow: Year One from 2005. Dick has about two panels in Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier from 2004, but I think it’s kind of worth reading just for those. 

[musings-from-mars]

Rosebloom AU - part 4

Monday came around slowly, and school that day went by even slower. Every class, Ruby thought about her date(?) with Weiss that evening, and all the ways it could possibly go wrong. It’s not that she thought Weiss would do anything wrong, no. It was herself she was worried about, her and her anxious awkwardness that made it almost impossible to talk to anyone she didn’t already know well.

That made her all the more thankful for their little hangout at DQ. Ruby had rambled and rambled about the Red Hallow Manor podcast for an hour, and Weiss had said she enjoyed it. She even wanted to hang out again. That meant Ruby was doing something right. Right?

She never once saw Weiss around during school, which wasn’t really a surprise. Weiss was two years ahead of her, so they had completely different class schedules. Ruby wasn’t sure if she should feel disappointed or relieved about that. She would have loved to have seen Weiss, but what would she have said? Ruby wasn’t good at small talk. Or any talk.

The final class period ended, and Ruby was off to anime club. Yang used to go with her, but ever since she joined the soccer team (“A great sport for us unarmed folk!” She likes so joke), her afternoons Monday through Thursday were booked. Ruby was thankful for that today. She knew Yang would take any chance to tease her about Weiss.

Why did that bother her so much? Ruby wasn’t sure. All she knew was every little joke her sister or father made about her possibly having a crush felt like another internal organ dying a sudden painful death, only to quickly return to life in case it need to die again from embarrassment. She knew they were just trying to be supportive, which Ruby appreciated, but gosh...she really wished she could just tell them to stop. But she didn’t want to seem weird...

They were just watching a Studio Ghibli movie today, which Ruby was glad for. If there was one way for her to get her brain to turn off and just be, it was watching movies like this. She generally hated movies (who wants sit still and watch a thing for 90+ minutes? While doing nothing?), unless they were animated, then they were okay. After that, she headed to the school parking lot to wait for Yang. Soccer practice usually ended around the same time as anime club.

Sure enough, she hadn’t been waiting long when she saw her sister approaching from the field house near the football field. She waved at Ruby as she got closer, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, hair still up in a ponytail from practice. Ruby waved back, and silently hoped Yang wouldn’t go straight into the teasing.

“Ready to go?” Yang asked.

Ruby nodded and put on her helmet. “Yeah.”

“Cool.” And without another word, Yang let her hair down, put on her helmet, and started them on the way home. Thank goodness.

Ruby wasn’t so lucky with her dad. When they arrived home and walked into the kitchen from the garage. Their dad Tai, who was busy frying something on the stove, beamed at his daughters as they entered. “Hey girls!”

“‘Sup dad,” Yang greeted as she walked by him, making a beeline for the fridge and pulling out a carton of orange juice.

“Hey!” Tai yelped. “Glass!”

Yang had already chugged several gulps of juice straight from the cartoon. “I need the electrolytes!”

Maybe Ruby could slip by unnoticed? She tried, but was caught out before even reaching the stairs. “Getting a head start on your date preparations, Ruby?” He asked with an affectionate chuckle.

Ruby’s gut twisted in a knot, but she did her best to match his good-natured tone. “Just gonna do some homework before I go,” she fibbed. She didn’t really have any homework, she just preferred to stew in anxious isolation until it was time to go meet Weiss.

“Well, just be sure to have some stir fry before you go,” he said. “Unless you’ll be having dinner with her.”

Ruby gritted her teeth for a moment but nodded. “I’ll have some.” She had no idea if Weiss had food for her at her house, but figured she’d have some light dinner here just in case she didn’t. She then hurried up the stairs before anyone could say anything else. That wasn’t too bad.

She spent an hour playing Minecraft, then got a text from Weiss: “Hi! Are you ready to come over?”

Ruby responded: “Yeah! I can get my sister to give me ride.”

Weiss: “Oh, I was going to send you a ride. Which would you prefer?”

Another Uber? Ruby got the impression that Weiss was from a wealthy family, so she could afford to just Uber everywhere. But Ruby somehow still felt bad about her spending money on her. Then again, Yang not driving her meant less teasing. And taking an Uber would at least make her feel a little more grown up.

Ruby: “Thank you, you can send me a ride. You’re so nice!”

Weiss: “😊”

Weiss: “The driver is on his way to you, should be about fifteen minutes.”

Oh. That meant Ruby had fifteen minutes to prepare.

What should she even wear? Should she be formal? Well, not formal, but like, nice? Or should she dress more like herself? Was a hoodie and skirt appropriate? No, she should wear a nicer top. Oh fuck, her hair was a mess.

The next fifteen minutes were a mad scramble. She tried on various garments and left the rejects strewn about her already messy room. She had her lower body all sorted; black leggings, red plaid skirt and brown boots, but besides hoodies, she had no clue of what to wear besides plain t-shirts. Why did 75% of her tops have to be bargain generic t-shirts from Joann??

She settled on one of the few shirts she had that was actually form-fitting, which came with it’s own drawbacks. While she looked decently fashionable, that muffin top though...

It really wasn’t much, but to Ruby it stuck out. She used to be insanely skinny, like, she could eat so much food and nothing would happen. But now...she was still skinny, to be fair. Just not as much so as she used to be. Why couldn’t she get squish like this on her legs instead? Did she need to work out more like Yang? Yang had some meaty thighs. Ruby wouldn’t mind having meaty thighs.

Fifteen minutes had passed. Why was she thinking about meaty thighs? She still needed to do something about her hair!

She got a text from Weiss: “Your driver says he’s arrived!”

“Frick,” Ruby muttered as she peeked out the window. Sure enough, there was a car idling by the curb. A...very nice looking car. Was this, like, a Super Uber or something? This car looked like something out of a spy movie.

Ruby quickly looked herself over in the mirror. Her hair was all over the place. It wasn’t horrible; it was her usual controlled chaos, but it definitely wasn’t date worthy. Well, this wasn’t a date, but Ruby had been preparing like it was. She couldn’t stop short at her hair! But the driver was here, and she didn’t want to keep Weiss waiting...

A knock at her bedroom door startled her. “Wha?! Huh?”

“Uhh,” Yang began. “You know anything about the fuckin’ Bentley out front?”

Of course Yang knew what kind of car it was from a distance. “Uhh, that’s the Uber Weiss sent for me.” Ruby went over to the door and opened it, since she was heading downstairs anyway.

“That’s an Uber?” Yang asked, then blinked at Ruby. She smiled and leaned a hand on her hip. “Ohhh, look at you! Cute!”

Ruby blushed and chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I think her family just has a lot of money.”

“Hm.” Yang nodded and was silent for a second. Ruby wasn’t sure what that meant. “Well, just be safe! Don’t let her whisk you away to some Italian Riviera or something. Well, not without letting us know first!”

Ruby scoffed and moved past her. “I don’t think she’s that rich.”

Once downstairs, she walked through the kitchen, only just then remembering her dad’s stir fry. Well, there was no time for that now. “Bye dad!” She called, hoping to make a quick get away.

Her dad, who’d been cleaning cookware at the sink, scoffed when he saw her rush past. “Eager to see your not-girlfriend, sweetheart?” He teased, beaming brightly.

Ruby lingered at the front door and chuckled nervously, her face burning. “She’s...just my friend, dad.”

“I haven’t seen you blush this much before,” he noted with a grin. “Just be safe! And don’t take things too fast, you’re only fifteen.”

“Take things too fast?” Ruby asked. “What do you mean?”

Tai simply giggled as he began to dry off a pan. “Don’t decide you two are gonna run away together right after graduation. In an Uber, apparently,” he joked.

Ruby contained herself for a moment before coming up with a more measured response. “Why would I run away with her if she’s just a friend, dad?”

Tai shrugged. “I’m just teasing. Just have fun! If you spend the night, just shoot me a text before it gets too late.”

Yang entered the kitchen as well, picking a sliced bell pepper out of the bowl of stir fry and rice with her hand and eating it. “Need a sleeping bag if you do? Or are you and Weiss going to share?” She teased, making Tai snicker.

Some sort of limit had been reached, and Ruby’s mask faltered for the briefest moment. “She’s just my friend!” She said, a little louder than she meant.

Tai and Yang both seemed surprised at first, but Tai smiled and nodded. “We know, sweetheart. Just have fun and be safe. Love you!”

Ruby sighed, feeling guilty and embarrassed for blowing up, as slight as it had been. “Love you too,” she said, then quickly left the house and briskly walked to the awaiting car.

[shijiujun]

Hi! Is it okay to ask you for a small advice? I started reading Thousand Autumns recently (currently on chapters ~85-88) and I'm having a bit of a problem with Yan Wushi's character. I am so turned off by his behavior towards SQ for the whole novel up to this point and I just wonder - is it gonna get better...? I can't stand seeing him openly abusing SQ and treating him like shit, I'm sorry (1)

I know he's evil and it's expected of him to be bad but with future romance prospect I'm really struggling to like the relationship between him and SQ; and if in the first half of the novel I didn't expect big changes, now I keep hoping to see something different from him but I'm not seeing much. He keeps treating SQ horribly. I'm not sure if I can forgive him for what he's done and has no remorse whatsoever - (2)

- abusing SQ and manipulating him, using him as an experiment as if he's a toy to play with; selling him to a r*pist knowing he'll be tortured to death...! And after everything that happend I still barely see anything good in his attitude towards SQ. I can't help but think SQ deserves so much better. I suppose I should try to have some hope for the upcoming chapters to be better? Is it worth it to continue reading or nothing will change? Excuse me for writing so much, Thank you

---

Heya! Oooof okay so you’re totally valid, Yan Wushi isn’t like a character for everyone - so let me break it down with the first part and then the second part where his attitude turns for the better XD

Spoilers under the cut

Before SQ goes to save him:

Yan Wushi does have a goal which is to play mind games with Shen Qiao and (1) throw him into despair (2) try to see if Shen Qiao is a worthy opponent - sure, he’s an asshole with an agenda of his own. YWS doesn’t believe that there is any good in anyone - he thinks Shen Qiao is a hypocrite and that everyone will turn evil given the right circumstances, and so YWS doesn’t trust anyone, or even considers anyone as an equal to him.

He wants to see Shen Qiao become evil basically and does everything he can to direct him towards that but I’d say his actions (with two exceptions) fit his character and the two motives above pretty well and I’m not sure I’d count it as abuse (based on my understanding of abuse, feel free to disagree). I think it’s easy to forget that Shen Qiao is not delusional or naive or ‘innocent’, and he does not paint YWS as some saviour or a friend (at least in the beginning) - he knows who YWS is, knows that he’s insane, not compassionate, totally evil etc. even from the start the moment he realizes that YWS and his disciple lied to him.

1. He lies to Shen Qiao that he’s his shizun, and then sends him to kill someone, but he’s not there to enforce it

2. Throws him out on the streets without his memories, but Shen Qiao is anything but a weak youngling, once again, YWS doesn’t do anything to him

3. YWS turns up at the temple and has Shen Qiao read the scripture - SQ’s not sure what’s going on at first but he more or less figures it out, but also the scripture reading inadvertently helps to heal him (and YWS knows this)

4. YWS flirts with Shen Qiao for a reaction for a while, he’s not genuine of course, but Shen Qiao knows he’s not genuine

5. YWS doesn’t help Shen Qiao out when he’s faced with an opponent while he’s still injured just to see how long Shen Qiao can hold out for - but firstly, Shen Qiao never really expected him to help in the first place, because he has no delusions about the man - and YWS ends up helping anyway, of course not out of the kindness of his heart, but I don’t see why I should hold that against him XD

6. Stands by and watches as Shen Qiao and his shidi Yu Ai have their confrontation - Sure, he’s there to watch the drama, but it’s Shen Qiao who makes the decision to go with him - the lesser of two evils

7. Forces Shen Qiao to fight him while he’s still injured because he wants to see if Shen Qiao’s recovery level has reached a certain point, enough to be an adversary worth dealing with - yes, he’s forcing Shen Qiao to fight when he’s still blind and weak, but throughout the fight you realize that YWS is right - it’s that very battle that basically lets SQ recover his previous abilities by a bit. He’s not hurting SQ for the fun of it (out of sadism or shit) - he purely (or evil-ly) wants to know if SQ is every bit of the skilled warrior he’s heard about 

The exceptions are these: (1) When he plants the demonic seed thing in his heart (2) When he trades SQ to Sang Jing Xing for his sword, knowing full well that SJX has a habit of sexually torturing his prisoners - I feel like YWS was almost warming up to SQ when his habit of distrust and everything kicked in and he reverted back to his cynical self - Not an excuse for what he did though, because yes Shen Qiao especially didn’t want the demonic seed thing firstly (and YWS knows this), and then he despaired at being left to SJX. This is the incident that has SQ basically give up on YWS and allows him to erase any notion of him ever becoming friends with YWS. I’m also rather curious how exactly SQ kind of like got over this - but in the settings of the book, I guess it’s explained away with (1) SQ actually fully recovering as a result of this incident (2) SQ has a big heart, and forgives YWS after - but whether or not that’s convincing, that’s up to every reader.

After SQ goes to save him:

1. So after the SJX incident - where he chose to self-destruct and die, taking SJX along with him but ended up surviving and being able to cultivate properly again from the start (previously he couldn’t because he could only recover to a certain extent as there was some blockage etc., but the blast in this incident clears the blockage) - and after he’s sort of recovered like 50-75%, he hears of an ambush on YWS by the leaders of like 5 other sects, and decides to go forward to save him 

2. Not because he harbours any like delusions on YWS, but to show him that despite all YWS has done to him (especially with SJX), SQ is still SQ, and he still adheres to his own principles, that YWS did not make him change his mind about being good basically

3. YWS’s views of him starts to change because of this - YWS has never found someone with this much grit to stick to his own principles etc., to still be kind and righteous basically despite being betrayed again and again. Of course this does not excuse the fact that YWS did indeed deliberately leave him to a potentially painful death with SJX - and SQ doesn’t forget either. 

4. SQ saves YWS, and then his heart melts because while YWS is recovering from the ambush, he has two other personalities that show up - so YWS when he was much younger, then YWS when he was a teenager, and YWS now. So YWS as a kid and teen are more trusting and open, and SQ likes kid YWS a lot (like as kid brother), and now-YWS wakes up occasionally from the switch in personas, he realizes that SQ likes kid-YWS and starts thinking about why SQ hates him and likes his kid self.

5. Even then, YWS still does try to jump ship once and leave SQ and other evil people behind in a dangerous cave, but thankfully teen/kid-YWS personas fight to turn up in time, and then YWS goes back for SQ

6. SQ knows this - he doesn’t think YWS has had a sudden change of heart or shit, and knows full well that if it was now-YWS, if kid-YWS didn’t turn up, he would probably be left to think about how to leave the cave on his own

7. YWS’s behaviour towards SQ does a 180 - now that he knows he cannot sway SQ, he starts to listen to SQ, and despite all the barbs on the surface, even if he disagrees with SQ’s positive outlook, he makes an effort to contribute and consider SQ’s opinion even if he doesn’t, intrinsically, believe in it. Starts putting himself in front of SQ, and of course SQ doesn’t believe this all the way to the end, where he realizes that he actually, just that tiny little bit, has started liking YWS and doesn’t want him to die.

8. Then they confirm their relationship in the extras, and YWS does do that hot-and-cold thing once so SQ figures out his feelings for him properly - It’s SQ that initiates the confirmation at the end I think

---

I think at some level, YWS cannot stand how naive Shen Qiao is, and some of the things that he’s leading Shen Qiao to think about/discover are valid - And throughout the book it’s proven true - SQ is kind to Chen Jing, but Chen Jing sells him out (not just once but thrice). He’s kind to and has always doted on Yu Ai, but Yu Ai sells him out too. The elders in his sect - some of them obviously turned to Yu Ai over him despite SQ never having given them reason to doubt him. I don’t think YWS is being deliberately cruel (or abusive) - he’s forcing SQ to look at reality, a reality that YWS sees and lives in.

He always asks Shen Qiao why he trusts others so easily, and afterwards, Shen Qiao does admit that YWS is right in this aspect - he won’t give up his ideals and how he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, but through YWS, he realizes he needs to be able to think ahead to protect himself and the ppl around him.

Doesn’t excuse the SJX thing YWS did, and I’m sure SQ doesn’t conveniently forget about that either, but in terms of how/why they got together, I guess it’s because despite everything they do know each other best, and are soulmates (tho not only in the sugar-spice-and-everything-nice way i.e. SQ does think YWS is handsome and YWS thinks SQ is the cutest thing ever later). SQ has seen the worst of YWS, and YWS has seen the worst of him - and SQ is made to realize that what he was before was not the best path he could go on because of YWS, but he adjusts his attitude slightly and holds on to his ideals sufficiently. 

On the other hand, YWS still does not believe everyone except his Ah Qiao can truly say they’re good and keep to it in every way, still thinks the worst of a lot of people if not all, but he stops to consider SQ’s POV and input now, whose opinions and every action now mean more to him than anything else ever will. Of course he has to prove himself and earn SQ’s trust back, but I guess he also doesn’t expect SQ to reciprocate, even after he developed feelings for SQ, knowing full well that he’s a mofo and SQ has every right to hate him after all he did.

They don’t fix each other, they’re not each other’s salvations, but they fit and come sort of to a truce, despite having differing views and principles.

Manipulation? Sure, but I think we forget that Shen Qiao is not a victim (except the part where he’s given to SJX) and his agency in every situation is apparent - He’s pretty clear-minded, he knows what Yan Wushi is doing, knows what his character is like, knows that he’s doing/saying things all to get a reaction out of him. He doesn’t expect YWS to help him either, because he knows YWS is here for fun and games. He doesn’t go along with YWS just because, either. He just made a wrong call by trusting that YWS reciprocated his feelings of friendship (not that it’s his fault at all), but that is certainly a moment of weakness he probably regrets.

---

In summary, I personally wasn’t all that put off by YWS’s behaviour, altho I agree the SJX incident is pretty much unforgivable. For me I read this more from the SQ perspective, because his strength shines in every moment and interaction with YWS and overshadows YWS by a lot, which is why the end makes sense to me.

In response to your question - yes YWS does get better when he’s finally totally convinced that SQ is not a hypocrite (although yeah it takes him a while to get there). And for me it’s nice to see Shen Qiao figure out himself, and also his feelings for YWS after, but also never once compromising himself for YWS.

But YWS is definitely less palatable than most other characters in danmei, so it’s natural if you dislike him and remain unconvinced! It happens XD If you hate this, I suggest you try Wu Shuang! Set in the same universe and timeline, and actually doesn’t have much angst - full on bantering between the main CP, constant veiled insults etc.

[egg-emperor]

Merry Eggsmas, I hope everyone is having a good day/night! I'm going to show off the Eggman/Sonic stuff I gifted myself as a reward for getting through the year. I'm sure you can guess what most of it consists of heheh

I got:

The 25th anniversary Tomy classic and new Jakks Pacific modern plushies! 💖💕💜

I almost got the Tomy plush in 2016 but I didn't have money on me, he was sold out the next time I visited the store, and he became pricy on eBay. But I finally found him for a good price! He’s one of Tomy’s better quality Sonic products and I love the shiny look to it. The Jakks Pacific modern plush is beautiful too! He's small and simple but still an adorable and worthy addition to the collection! The material of his coat is nice and soft.

I already bought the bigger Jakks Pacific Eggman figure a few months ago, so I now have the mini one too.

The paint is slightly off on mine, especially on his nose but I’ll touch it up when I can. It looks great for a smaller figure! The size comparison is funny. I love them both! 💜

This unofficial Eggman Lego mini figure and official Nanoblocks figure!

The Lego has such impressive detail and paint for a bootleg! I wish there was an official figure for the beautifully round Eggman in Lego Dimensions though, because he was supposed to be a big figure rather than a mini one. But I still love this! As for the Nanoblocks, it was a pain in the ass to build because it's so small and complicated but it looks cool!

I have Tubbz Ducktor Roquacknik at last!

It’s easily the best looking of the set because it was really weird how Sonic, Tails and Knuckles had noses and hands on top of beaks and wings. The mustache on the beak for Eggman works perfectly!

This neat mug with Sonic Mania Adventures art! It’s my second Eggman mug since I got one of Eggman’s head last year lol

It's been a while since I've brought any kind of physical comic or book so I decided to get this Universe #75 variant cover and a sticker activity book!

I don't need physcial copies of Archie or IDW since I own them all digitally. But I had extra cash, so I bought one of my favorite variant covers of Eggman demanding the spotlight he deserves! I'm slightly disappointed that they reduced the amount he’s spitting in the final version but I still love it. XD The sticker and activity book doesn't have as much Eggman as I hoped for but it's pretty good! I might show the contents sometime.

I also got some stocking fillers like a face mask, pins, keychain, dangler, magnet and gloves. If you couldn’t tell already by the very small Eggman socks I have in my collection, I don’t care if the items fit me or not. I just want to grab literally any Eggman merch I can!

A couple of days ago, I finally went into a store for the first time since like February or March and found Metal and Knuckles in store. The Eggman trap spring is my favorite accessory yet because you can actually push it in!

I finally decided to get the Cable Guys Tails, since they still haven't made an Eggman. When there’s only team Sonic merch available, I always go for Tails. I would trust him the most out of them to take care of my devices.

On a Sonic Official stream they said they weren't sure if they could make a Cable Guy Eggman work because of his big belly. But his arms are long enough to put out in front of him to hold things! Especially if it was modern because they’re longer, but I’m sure classic could work too! Plus, I think his belly would be great for devices and controllers to lean against. So that's no excuse! XD

That's all the stuff that arrived in time for Eggsmas! There's still something that hasn't arrived yet, but I'm happy that most of it was here today. I'm pleased with the amount of modern and classic Eggman because they're always what I want most! I hope there's more new merch for the two best designs for the anniversary next year. :D

I'm eager to see how all of this will look on my Eggman shrine once I'm done rearranging it. I'll make a new up to date post to replace my current pinned when it's done!

[mbti-notes]

Greetings, I am a 75 year old grandma. I am writing because my grandson who is in his 20s won't work. I have been involved in mbti for many decades. I'm an ENFJ. My grandson is still living at home well into his 20s. When I tell him to get a job (over many years) he just tells me to cut him off and that he will be fine without a smartphone and sweet foods. He is very bright. Graduated with a 3.7 from University. He tried various interests, but nothing sticks. Do I kick him out? Its not my nature

[con’t: The actions I've taken to help my grandson is to show him various resources like holland code, personality theory, etc. so that he can find some direction of where to commit. Instead he just takes the holland code over and over again, and happily shows me that his interests vary everytime he takes it. Same with personality theory. He goes on your blog all the time to prove that he doesn't fit anywhere. Based off of that statement he sounds like IxFJ. My grandson resembles Ti loop (IFxJ), but he does not resemble any other aspect of being an FJ. He is relatively well decisive when it comes to everything in his life. The only issue is getting a job, getting on a path, but he rejects this. If he at least helped around the house it would be something, but he can be quite selfish and uncaring, yet at other times very caring. It vacillates. Anyway, please help if possible, I am perplexed.]

WRT His Type: 

I can’t draw a conclusion about his type without a full type assessment. Everything you’ve described is quite consistent with INFJ and Ni-Ti loop. It seems that you don’t understand tertiary loop very well. Ti loop is an unconscious repudiation of feeling, responsibility, and eventually, conscience. It amounts to a refusal to be the things that make FJs good and admirable people. Basically, the more severe the case of Ti loop, the more arrogant, narcissistic, and callous the INFJ becomes. 

If the INFJ is only at the stage of trying to suppress the vulnerability of feeling life, there is still a fair chance for them to turn their life around by developing better emotional intelligence to address the emotional immaturity. If the INFJ has reached the point of refusing personal responsibility, they will be preoccupied/obsessed with finding any excuse, and even creating enemies, to blame for the poor state of their life. At this point, they are impervious to facts and don’t respond well to advice. If the INFJ loses all self-awareness and manages to convince themselves that they are “special” and not subject to conventional rules and ethical boundaries, then the time for you to distance from them is nearing, as chronic Se grip will set in and produce reactive, aggressive, or extreme behavior. 

To get out of Ti loop requires genuine humility and reconnection with feeling life. The INFJ must take full responsibility for their decisions, correct the big mistakes that they have made in life, and atone for all the harm that they have caused. He does not seem to be capable of this at the moment. I explain Ti loop not to be an alarmist, but to give you a realistic view of how destructive tertiary loop can be, what rock bottom looks like for INFJs, and the signs to be wary of. If the relationship with him ever reaches a point where his mindset becomes toxic and harmful to you, it is important that you move to protect yourself.

WRT His Problem: 

Getting someone in the right frame of mind to make a change and tackle a big problem is very tricky business because you don’t want to try and fail too many times. If you’re correct about Ti loop, then the more times you try to help and fail, the more likely he is to retreat further into himself (and delusion). To avoid applying the wrong solution, it’s best to do some “intelligence gathering” first so that you understand the problem properly before proceeding.

Neither of you has gotten to the bottom of his “block”, i.e., the actual obstacle that is getting in the way of his advancement. You can’t solve a problem if you can’t identify the cause(s) of it. The cause can be internal, external, or a combination of factors. Getting him into aptitude/personality studies seems like a logical approach to the problem. However, this assumes that the underlying cause of the problem is that he doesn’t really know himself - is it, though? It’s not clear to me, from what you’ve said, that this is the root of the problem. There isn’t enough info for me to draw any conclusion and I don’t wish to speculate wildly about what his problem might be. He seems to have some deeper psychological issues going on. And this lack of knowledge about his motivations is probably the reason that you’re both having difficulty pinpointing his type.

Therefore, the first order of business is to examine the problem in depth to figure out what the true cause of it is. Is the nature of the employment problem practical, psychological, educational, social, etc? Once you have an accurate grasp of the problem, then think on the right solution to it, or get help from someone with the expertise to determine the right solution. Note that if he is already at the point of avoiding responsibility and making excuses to manipulate reality, he himself will be blind to the real problem.

WRT Your Decision: 

The last point I want to make is about you and your feelings. It sounds like he is suffering from some form of arrested development because he still has the mentality of a child. Academic GPA means nothing without emotional maturity and life skills. His behavior indicates that he depends on you but is also spoiled in taking your support for granted. This means that the more you try to support/help him, the more you may be enabling his unhealthy behavior and preventing him from becoming truly independent. 

It is in his best interests to learn how to be a responsible adult because he will not always have someone to lean on in life (especially since Ti loop is very destructive to relationships). This should happen sooner rather than later, because the longer someone stays stuck in a rut, the harder it is to change, as inertia deepens. This is especially true in terms of employment because doors close and opportunities gradually dry up the older one gets. For the sake of his continued personal growth, he has to learn how to face up to his life’s problems and resolve them. But it sounds like he’s not willing to do that without being compelled to. He explicitly said to cut him off, which is basically like telling mama bird that he’s not going to jump off the tree and fly until he gets pushed off. Push him. Yes, he could have some psychological issue going on, but he’s also using your support to avoid facing up to it. If this is true, then you need to step BACK and allow him to step up for himself.

Should you kick him out? I understand that, from your perspective, this path would be the last resort, because it would violate your moral sensibilities and perhaps damage the relationship. But the fact that you’re at the point of considering it means that you’ve been dealing with this situation for far too long without making any progress. Please take some time to address how much this situation stresses YOU. Otherwise, your feelings may eventually boil over and possess you to do something you regret.

The fairest approach to this situation is to treat him like you would treat anyone else. In other words, stop giving him preferential treatment, especially if he doesn’t appreciate it and thus doesn’t deserve it. (Preferential treatment is reserved for people who are putting in their best effort but still falling short due to factors beyond their control.) If he wants to live under someone else’s roof, he has to contribute his fair share, as any adult would be expected to do (rent, bills, food, etc). If he wants to use/share your space, he has to help with cleaning and maintenance so that the workload is fairly distributed, as any adult would be expected to do. If he wants to have a relationship with you, then he has to reciprocate to make the friendship equal, as any adult would be expected to do. If it were anyone else, you would draw lines and boundaries about what kinds of behavior you would tolerate, wouldn’t you? I hope you would. If you're a doormat, it makes your relationship dynamic with him codependent and even more unhealthy. 

**A healthy relationship must have boundaries. Personal boundaries must be respected to justify continued investment in the relationship. If someone doesn’t respect your needs and boundaries, they don’t respect you, and they’re proving themselves unworthy of your continued effort. Until someone proves that they are worthy of your trust and support, it is best to maintain emotional distance from them, for your own safety and psychological well-being.**

It’s time for you to step up for yourself and how you feel. Make your needs and desires matter just as much as his, which means drawing the lines, setting the boundaries, and enforcing the rules that you need for honoring your existence. Yes, it would be nice if everyone just knew how to respect each other, but that’s not the case. If a relationship is hurting you, then it’s necessary to practice proper self-care and correct what is wrong. It’s not about being controlling but about respecting you and what is yours. If he can’t abide by your rules and boundaries, he is an adult and free to set his own rules elsewhere. Don’t forget that if you let him walk all over you, you’re implicitly confirming to him that exploitation is normal and acceptable relationship behavior.

1) Devaluing your needs is a disservice to yourself and puts you in the backseat of this relationship to be hurt and exploited, and 2) devaluing your needs is a disservice to him, because taking advantage of your generosity allows him to continue on with unhealthy behavior. I’ve given a few possibilities above and it’s up to you to take the path that you think is best for both parties.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

❌ So yesterday night Alastor invited over a guest to cook dinner for.

❌ I could tell the second she arrived because I could hear frigging "Be Our Guest" start up in the lobby.

❌ I tried to avoid that whole scene, but from down a hall I definitely spotted a shadow-thing juggling dishes.

❌ He rewrote the lyrics. I didn't catch all of them, but I did hear "Can they sing? Who can tell! After all, doll, this is Hell!"

❌ If you're on the fence about checking into the hotel and you're a musical theater fan: if you come, there's basically a 100% chance that the Radio Demon will do a musical number for you.

((So @autokrates came over for dinner last night, and we decided not to roleplay it out, but we DID write a long semi-pseudo-roleplay summary of how that meeting would have gone, so for any parties who are interested, HERE'S THAT CHAT LOG))

Valera

So! Largely, I believe. Val showing up, a musical number happens, and then ingredient delivery

Alastor

Sounds right.

Then Alastor preps dinner, spends too much time fussing with this Newfangled Modern Machine With Settings And Dials, and they sit staring at a slow cooker for a while.

Valera

Ah yes, nothing like sitting in dead silence waiting for things with someone you don't know! She should have asked Pentious for-- OH YEAH. Slide a pamphlet over. He can busy himself with memorizing that for a little while

Alastor

He absolutely will. And he will politely play showtunes in the background for the benefit of his guest as he reads.

Valera

Ah, just the thing for her to occupy herself with. Quietly stimming by wiggling her fingers and tail to the music

Alastor

He'd probably say thanks for the info but uh why give it to him? (Not that he doesn't WANT it but like, it seems pretty private, he's surprised that Valera—and Sir Pent?—think he's worthy of being let in on where Sir Pentious is this week)

Alastor three days after falling asleep on the floor all tangled up with Sir Pent: haha yeah but it's not like we're CLOSE is it?

Valera

Dumb old men being dumb!!!

Alastor

HE JUST. ASSUMES HE'S WAY MORE INTO THIS THAN SIR PENT...

Valera

Pentious asked her to elaborate to Alastor what was happening, since she's still got a level head and experience with shedding. Which is convenient, because she'd fully intended to anyway. Pentious may want company, and Alastor needs to be prepared.

Alastor

OuO oh so he trusts Alastor that much huh. He will... file that fact away... somewhere in his heart

Valera

Aside from herself, he's the person Pentious trusts most. Casually sips materialized tea.

Alastor

Immediately tries to play it off like HAHA MUST BE A SHORT LIST. ... Which would probably be funnier if not for the fact that, like, it IS a short list.

Valera

She will... Refrain from commenting on the list being Two People long. But she will raise a very deliberate eyebrow at the way he avoids any signs of emotional attachment

Which actually reminds her! She owes him an apology.

Maybe multiple? Whatever.

Alastor

(He might be verbally avoiding signs of emotional attachment but outside of that, like, it's gonna be hard for her not to notice that his attention on the conversation goes from like 75% to 110% the moment Sir Pent comes into it and he drops everything to focus on the Info Pamphlet That Might Be Helpful For Sir Pent)

Genuinely :)? at that, apology for what

Valera

Well, a few things! Pentious shared Alastor's letters with her, which, yes he was asking for input, but it was a bit invasive.

Alastor

Goes from :)? to :]

Valera

And then for, what was it, outing him? The post was taken down, but if Pentious had mixed feelings about it, well. She can't assume how Alastor felt even if she did say it was an Opinion Piece.

Shrug!!

Alastor

Oh THAT? Sure Alastor thinks he saw that go by now that Val mentions it. It's exactly what she said: an opinion piece!!! Why, he's an infamous celebrity! Everyone has an opinion on him and most of them are wrong! He doesn't put much stock in them~

Valera

Regardless! Her bluntness charms some, but it can also be quite inappropriate. She hopes it didn't distress him too much, it was never her intention.

She is a POLITICIAN.

Alastor

Why, he hardly even noticed it.

Valera

Good! Looping back around to her beau, did Alastor have any other questions?

Alastor

... Anything he can send to help out?

(NOW he's all self-conscious, offering to do something NICE. gotta try to be all aloof about it)

Valera

(Wow he really IS like Pentious but Even Worse.. She is amazed.) Send? Oh, no dear fellow. Asking for food today was largely a cover to visit without having Vaggie relay all this information thirdhand. Though he did do quite a fine job of making the food, Pentious will love it.

(assuming, but the Smell)

Alastor

✨💖 Oh will he? That's good. 💖✨

Valera

Yes. Alastor cut the vegetables and meat into the perfect sizes to avoid a texture issue, couldn't have done it better herself. Prr prr

Alastor

(He's like Texture Issue???? but like. He's not gonna ask.)

Valera

She will GLOSS PAST THAT, THEN. Beyond the food, which was a lovely bonus, hmm... No, she's already providing the lotions and voice recordings for Pentious. Unless he's willing to be an in house cheer squad when the snake gets bored and blind, there isn't much he could do.

Alastor

Well, he'd be glad to come over for a visit if it'd lift his spirits—if Sir Pentious would want the visit?

Valera

She expects he will! He's.. Distressed.

Uncomfortable shift. SHE DOESN'T LIKE BEING SO VAGUE.

Alastor

Well now she's got 150% of Alastor's attention.

Valera

Twitchy Tail Time!!! Yes. Well, the pamphlet makes it very dry, but a shed is nothing short of agony. Itchy, painful, it leaves you blind and helpless. If you've already got... experiences with such things. It makes it worse. Pentious is barely into it and he's already ready to attack anything that moves.

Alastor

... Well! Let Alastor know when he can come by.

(He's got trouble wrapping his head around the idea of WANTING company while pained and helpless, but if Valera says he does, then Alastor is going by that)

(... and if Sir Pent gets pissed Alastor came over he's 100% pointing a finger at Val and going "well she said you'd like it")

Valera

(LMAO)

(Val would explain it as wanting a strong person present so you can feel protected and finally relax)

(She's appealed to Pentious' ego with that!!)

Hah! Yes, of course. Though he may need to go to Valera's home, fair warning. She's trying to coax Pentious into laying in her tub to get through this. She's got more equipment to deal with the symptoms, and a larger bathroom by far.

Alastor

Having a near stranger over sounds like something that should worry Valera more than Alastor! For him, it's a bonus.

Valera

OH MAKE NO MISTAKE. VAL'S NOT SURE ABOUT IT

BUT. she's confident Alastor isn't going to do anything dumb in her house

bc Pentious would FLIP SHIT

Alastor

She's already decided that Alastor won't behave himself out of basic decency as a guest or even out of a desire to maybe get invited back but he WILL behave himself solely because Sir Pent is there and he's feeling kind of called out. Called out in his own kitchen, in front of his own crock pot,

Valera

Raises an eyebrow

She's grinning but she shouldn't be when she's acting like a little shit

Alastor

BUT WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAYS IS of course he'll be on his best behavior :) :) :)

WHY IT'S NOT EVERY DAY HE MEETS SOMEONE WITH SUCH FINE TASTE IN THE PERFORMING ARTS, he'd be a fool to be a poor guest

Valera

Glad to hear it! He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman so far, but with the way Pentious rants about other demons, an abundance of caution seems wise. Nothing personal, dear fellow.

Demon culture is very much a mystery to her, and a confusing one at that.

Alastor

COMPLETELY reasonable. After all, everyone is down here for a reason.

Valera

She would agree, if the concept of sin wasn't such an odd one! It comes down to survival of the fittest, at the end. But just because some pompous sky man says he loves you if you follow his contradictory rules, humans are doomed to eternal torment? It's bizarre.

Ah, but excuse her. Her viewpoint is, literally, alien.

Alastor

You make the world, you make the rules. What is the guy powerful enough to give the orders and see that they're obeyed if not "the fittest"? Who has the power to argue if he prints a list of criteria for who he does and doesn't want joining him in his gated community in the sky?

He's told someone tried to argue with him once. And that's how THIS little neighborhood got started.

Valera

Oh, it's not so bad. Heaven is a pretty dull place! All sorts of goody two shoes drinking tea and baking pies in the perfect idyllic weather. Forever.

Alastor

You know, for a time, Alastor used to think that all the "punishment" narratives around Hell were just talk. He had this theory that, actually, humans were sent to the afterlife they were better suited for. The people sent to Heaven are the kind of people who'd LIKE being in Heaven, the people sent to Hell are the kind of people who would be bored stiff in Heaven and just make it miserable for the people who want to be there.

But he was wrong. It really, truly is rotten down here. Not just because of the wilted vegetables and awful weather. Hell grinds at you on a spiritual level. It really is a punishment.

Valera

Well that's.. A lot at once. Vaguely concerned frown.. That she is going to cover with her tea turning to a Nice Dark Coffee. SSSssssssSSSIP.

Alastor

Just thought she might benefit from an insider perspective! She can rest assured: the pie-baking tea-drinkers really are better off.

:) :) :)

Valera

Interesting! She's never spent much time in Hell out of arms reach of Pentious, but that's something to keep in mind for the future.

Alastor

Happy to help~!

Valera

[[ val voice: haha yeah whenever I'm in hell I'm getting doted on but I'll keep an eye out for emotional wear and tear!

Alastor

(It's different for visitors who only come to chat with the convicts)

Valera

(Of course. More for Pentious than herself, she doesn't know a lot of his backstory yet BUT SHE KNOWS ITS SAD)

Now, moving to happier topics! She loves what hes done with the hair. Though it makes him rather fresh faced

Alastor

WHY, THANK YOU!! It was all the rage a hundred years ago! But they do say fashion trends come back around!!

Sir Pentious wasn't as impressed by it, but, hey, can't win them all, can you?

Valera

Ah, don't worry about it. He just takes a bit to come around to change!

... Usually.

Alastor

Well, doesn't matter, he probably won't be keeping it long.

"Usually"?

Valera

She grins!!! Yes, usually. He's remarkably easy to get on board with just about anything if you can relate to something else he likes.

Alastor

Well, naturally! Who isn't?

Valera

The LOOK on her face is like she SUCKED A LEMON.

You'd be surprised.

Alastor

... Apparently so!

he's gone from :) to 8) like what did he just step in

Valera

NOTHING SHE'S GETTING INTO! Now, tell her dear man. What kind of musicals do you like?

Alastor

............... All of them???

Valera

Oh? Everything from Les Mis to Cats?

Anything Goes?

Alastor

Are those the two extremes? Then apparently so! What about you?!

Valera

She has preferences when she's PERFORMING in them, but from an enjoyment perspective, she can appreciate any production.

Alastor

A fan after his own dead heart!

Valera

She can do a MEAN patter song, but she likes being able to dance around while she's belting lines out. Acrobatics are where she can really show off!

Alastor

Well, then he hopes he'll have a chance to see her dancing sooner rather than later! Alastor never received much in the way in formal training in dance, and he's sure it shows, but he likes to think he makes up for it with personality.

Valera

Oh pish posh. Dance is at least fifty percent attitude, he'd be phenomenal on or off the stage. And she can always give pointers, if he's looking for them.

Alastor

He really only does it for his own entertainment—AND for the entertainment of honored guests, of course—but if he ever decides to get back into theater for whatever reason, he'll keep her generous offer in mind.

Valera

Of course! Not like she's going to do a lot of dancing with Pentious here. Her love is many things, but a dancer is not one of them. Snrk snrk.

Alastor

Really. Huh.

So how DID they meet, anyway?? Alastor's been wondering! Hard for sinners to meet many people outside of Hell.

Valera

Oh! Haha, funny story, that. But how much detail does he REALLY want?

Alastor

Well, far be it from him to pry into anything she doesn't think she ought to share, of course. But he wouldn't have asked if he didn't wonder.

Valera

Fair! Alright, well. They met on tumblr, obviously. Pentious was flailing about being combative and intentionally aggressive. You know. Pentious.

Alastor

Naturally.

Valera

She decided to approach him without the immediate hostility so many of her peers were demonstrating. Doesn't everyone deserve a chance to explain themselves, after all? He seemed like he was lashing out, not truly malicious. Nobody had bothered explaining to him that what he did was wrong, or why.

And, you know. If you attack someone, you can't be surprised if they attack you right back. Obviously.

Alastor

Obviously.

Valera

So! Yes. She approached him, asked questions. Asked for his side of things. And they got along just fine! So she invited him over for tea, arguably. But mostly he invited himself over because she made too much tea.

Alastor

So just a chance encounter while adrift among the Internet's airwaves! How serendipitous.

Valera

More or less! Though really, she'd spoken to Alastor more at that point. Other Alastor. He'd been inviting her over to his hell, so she'd likely have met Pentious under very different circumstances if she hadn't approached him then.

But! He came over, and they talked. And they talked a LOT. About their passions, and about how ridiculous people can be these days.

And gods, can they. Then they decided to watch The Mikado! Has he heard of it?

Alastor

Has he heard of it?! One of Gilbert & Sullivan's most renown shows?! Madam! Of course he had!

Valera

Oh good, good good! He continues to impress! So lovely to know there are other people with taste around here. So yes! They watched The Mikado, and it went.. Almost alarmingly well. At the start they were on opposite ends of the couch, and by the end he was sprawled across her lap like he lived there.

Alastor

...... Well!

He warms up to people fast.

Valera

Haha! Perhaps he was simply overly pleased to connect with someone again, and let his guard down? They wound up making out on the couch like a pair of horny teens, so.

Alastor

...... Well!

Valera

Sssssips drink.

Alastor

............ Congratulations! (he has No Idea what you're supposed to say to that)

Valera

Thanks! (She doesn't either) Want to know an incredibly adorable fact about Penny?

Alastor

Sure!!

(he is retaining a Remarkable poker face through all this)

Valera

He likes it when you scratch his hood. Makes him melt in to a happy little pile of scales.

(someone please... Help Alastor....)

Alastor

Ha! Well, isn't that darling.

(The only one who can help Alastor is Alastor himself and he's like "why should I help, what's that bitch ever done for me")

Valera

Very. Should he ever deign to let you try it, the results are best from juuust the very joint of his neck and hood.

(ALASTOR PRACTICE SELF CARE)

Alastor

(FOR THE LAST HALF CENTURY HIS SELF CARE HAS BEEN AVOIDING SEEING/THINKING ABOUT SIR PENT EVER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. He still needs to figure out how to do a self-care that's the opposite of that!)

Duly noted! Alastor's sure it'll never happen, but even so.

Valera

Oh, she isn't so sure! Penny speaks fondly of him.

Alastor

... Hm.

Well, there are different sorts of fondness, aren't there!

Valera

Well, yes of course? She's fond of many people, but she isn't exactly engaged to the vast majority of them. What is his point?

Alastor

That THAT'S the sort of intimacy one usually reserves for someone closer to the "engaged" end of the fondness scale—hold on, engaged??

Valera

Oh? Yes, engaged. Anyway, is it? This must be one of those human things again. There's nothing sexual about enjoying platonic physical contact, there's no reason for it to be relegated to a relationship.

Alastor

Well, what does Alastor know, he's never been a very touchy person. SO, how long have you two been...? Well, probably since before Alastor met either of you, silly question! He just must not have heard.

Valera

Oh, no it's.. Arguably recent? Certainly after he and Pentious started talking. Though don't get too fussed, dear. Pentious has a ring he hasn't lobbed at her yet. They've just agreed to get married, Pentious refers to her as his fiancé. No dates set or anything.

Alastor

Oh, good, so he didn't miss some big announcement. That WOULD have been embarrassing

Valera

He did not! And really, with how he and Pentious get along he might wind up getting asked for advice if a proposal ever actually occurs.

Alastor

... He doesn't know what kind of advice he could offer! He's not known for his expertise in romance, ha.

((suddenly got a flashing glimpse of a possible future where Alastor is the best man, standing like five feet away from Sir Pent trying to hold it together))

Valera

[[ JFDHFKDSHJFKDS HONESTLY.... IT'S LIKELY

Valera

You know, she doesn't think any of them are! Marriage isn't something Veci usually do with aliens, but Pentious insisted he wanted a proper marriage, and kids, and she's not opposed to either if that makes him happy. Though seeing him with the dolls is incredibly endearing.

Alastor

((And I will be FILLED TO THE BRIM with sadistic glee))

The dolls??

Valera

[[ Alastor crying ASMR

Alastor

(("Al are you okay—" "YEAH I'M FINE IT'S JUST. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. ISN'T IT. SO MOVING."))

Valera

Yes! Would you like to hear that story?

Alastor

SURE!!

Valera

Super! So! She doesn't know ALASTOR'S stance on calling women things like sluts and whores, but she herself is.. Not terribly fond of those words. Something about having them screamed at her, just doesn't sit well.

Alastor

One rarely is fond of the words one's been on the receiving end of.

Valera

Indeed. Pentious on the other hand, used them quite freely against any woman he wasn't pleased with.

But! Pentious wants kids someday, and kids are of course, quite perceptive little creatures. And no child of hers is going to grow up internalizing that kind of nonsense, either as a measure of their worth or as something a proper young man calls any lady.

So! She made a few dolls, to demonstrate her point. Pentious wants kids, so she made him some dolls that resemble what his offspring would.

And then hurled abuse at them quite freely!

He didn't take kindly to hearing what random men would call his own daughter, funnily enough.

Alastor

Alastor's like lmao. (IT SEEMS KINDA MEAN AND MEAN THINGS AMUSE HIM... he's half powered by schadenfreude)

Valera

(It WAS mean)

Alastor

And he takes it that worked.

Valera

Pentious can often be found curled up with his little doll family, and he hasn't used a slur since, so! Yes.

Alastor

No surprise there! He is, at his heart, a family man in hibernation, isn't he?

Valera

Not even in hibernation! He's incredibly eager to start a family.

Alastor

Of course. Now that he has the chance. Probably the only man in Hell who does.

Formerly in hibernation, then.

Valera

Can sinners not reproduce?

Alastor

No! Sterile, one and all. The dead do not breed. There are the few rare exceptions who have been supernaturally promoted out of the pool of the damned and made nobility of the same rank as the native Infernal-born or Heaven-fallen demons—Queen Lilith, for instance—but that's not just a thing that HAPPENS. A sinner must be CHOSEN, typically by Lucifer himself. Alastor wouldn't be surprised if it happens less than twice a millennium.

And even at that, to his knowledge these ascendant damned have never bred with each other—only with the Infernal nobility.

Valera

Huh! Fascinating. She really should learn more about the going ons of hell... But good to know! That explains the way Pentious.. Basically went feral as soon as he found out it was possible to have a family.

She's still not sure about the whole "eyes going red" thing, but he's explained it as any peak of emotion.

Alastor

It happens!

... Did you account for the possibility of him being sterile when you promised him a family? Or did you make the promise on the assumption that he's as fertile as any living man?

Valera

Oh, she can reproduce with anyone who has a soul. Pentious IS a damned soul. Ergo...

Alastor

Getting around the usual rules, then! Good. Alastor would so hate to hear if he'd gotten his hopes raised just for them to be dashed again.

Valera

Oh, she was careful to check! Many demons are soulless beings, and she hates to be made a liar of. Though she wasn't even sure poor Pentious even had genitals at the time!

Alastor

Well. Surprise.

Valera

She is Looking Away

Yes... Surprise indeed.

Alastor

He is the picture of :) neutrality

Valera

Val is trying very hard to keep the conversation from going to DARK PLACES. So!!! Subject change time.

Did you and he have fun at your last visit? He tends to give her a summary, but it's nice to hear the other perspective

Alastor

OH. YES. SURE. DELIGHTFUL TIME.

Valera

Oh? Delightful?

Alastor

Yeah, sure! ... Why, did he not think so?

Valera

Oh! He.. Got very drunk. His memories get fuzzy.

Alastor

... Well, that was half of what made it delightful!

Valera

She wouldn't know, but she's very glad to hear it!

Alastor

You abstain? Or not biologically capable?

Valera

Oh, neither. Rarely have the chance to actually relax anymore, too many attempts to murder her over the years. Regicide is very in, you know.

Alastor

Heavy is the head!

Valera

Hah! He can say that again. It's a thankless job. But somebody's got to do it.

Alastor

((I'M RUNNIN OUT OF STEAM... and they chatted about a lot more than I expected, this was productive!! Anywhere else you think we oughta steer the conversation or d'you think it's safe to go And Then They Chatted More, The End))

Valera

[[ NAH I THINK ITS BEEN ESTABLISHED WELL ENOUGH. STEER BACK TO MUSICALS, THEY TALK SHOP, AND THEN WHAM FOOD

[jojo-daydreams]

Hello! Welcome to taking over the world with fan fictions! Here's my request. If you are willing to do the whole group I would like to request the Stardust Crusaders hanging out with their S/O and their just relaxing and chatting until their S/O jokingly says lets take over the world. Would they join in on this chat, make a full blown plot, or just be judging their S/O? Lol. I can't wait to see what you can manage with this. If you can't do the whole lot of them choose who you want to do!

this is my first request :oooo

I hope you like it! I changed up the prompt setting a bit for a few of them just to change things up, I hope you don’t mind! ^^

Jotaro Kujo-

You and Jotaro had just been relaxing in his room.

A long week of finals was finally behind the both of you, and at his request you’d come over to “celebrate” (read: lay on his bed and very nearly fall asleep while casually snacking and chatting)

The two of you had been talking about nothing in particular, the weather, sports, a stupid commercial you saw the other day.

It was just a simple casual hangout, but it was something you realized you desperately needed after the week you’d had, and you could tell the laid-back atmosphere was good for Jotaro too, although your stoic boyfriend rarely showed how stressed he was, you knew he felt just as tired as you did.

You look up at him, his eyes are closed and his signature hat is missing from his head

“You know, when I’m with you I always feel so happy and content, like I can handle anything.”

He snorts at your sudden confession but doesn’t open his eyes

You’re grinning now, “You know what Jotaro, we should take over the world! We could probably do it too, you and me. I’ll be the brains and the beauty and you can be the muscle.”

His eyes snap open at Take Over The World

“No.”

You pout. “Whaaat? How can you shut me down so fast like that.”

“Taking over the world is a serious thing. It’s a no.”

His tone implies the conversation is over.

You sigh, puffing out your cheeks a bit.

It had just been a joke but wow what a crushing reply that had been.

You played with the edge of your shirt as you sulked.

It was quiet for a few minutes after your failed proposal before Jotaro spoke up again.

“And anyway, I’d have to be the brains and the muscle and I’m not doing two jobs.”

“…..HEY WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!”

Joseph Joestar-

Currently you were sitting next to your husband, Joseph Joestar, on an airplane as you accompanied him on a business trip.

Something something property something or other. To be honest you hadn’t been paying attention.

Joseph was a busy man, so when he asked you if you wanted to go with him this time, you’d jumped at the chance without a second thought.

You two were both watching “The Black Cauldron”, a childhood favorite you’d insisted upon when you saw it on the screen.

As a child, the villain, The Horned King, had scared you so terribly you remember sleeping with your parents for two night in a row after.

Now his monologue and evil lair seemed a bit cheesy- you felt like you could probably do it better. In fact….

You turn to Joseph, yanking out one of his earbuds.

“We could do this way better than this Horned King guy, you know?”

“Huh? Do what better than him?”

“Take over the world, raze the opposition in hellfire, make loyal followers of the rest.”

Your tone was so very casual.

Joseph scratched his chin for a minute, pretending to think.

“We’d probably need some extra help. Maybe I could get my grandson on the case as well.” He mused.

You laugh as he plays along, turning to face him fully as much as the airplane seat would allow.

“Jotaro would certainly be a worthy investment in the cause, we could do it on our own but he’d surely increase our efficiency by at least …. 75%!”

“What would our first decree be when we finally finished taking over everything, then?”

This gives you pause.

Wow you never thought you’d get this far. Ruling the world. What should the first thing you do be?

“Um. I’m not sure. I’d probably… take a day off?”

Joseph grins, leaning back a bit.

“Just one huh? What a hard working ruler you would be.”

“Well fine, then what would you do?”

He pretends to think very hard about this again, his mischievous grin never leaving.

“I would make my birthday a world-wide holiday, and then make yours a slightly lesser world-wide holiday, like only half a day off, so that everyone would much more excited for mine.”

You gasp, “That’s so mean Joseph! Maybe you’re not going to be a part of my plans now!”

“Ahh, the world’s new overlords first lover-spat!”

Mohammed Avdol-

“I’m going to take over the world, you can join me, or you can stand aside.”

Harsh terms, but that’s what someone who was going to take over the whole world had to be like sometimes.

Avdol frowns.

He wasn’t exactly sure where this was coming from.

The two of you had been sitting at your kitchen table, eating a peaceful breakfast together and talking about nothing in particular.

Then you’d said something to the affect of “Cereal ALWAYS goes in the bowl before the milk, always.” Which had turned into a small muttering rant and had somehow led to world domination.

“I’m not sure that is a good idea.” he replies, measured.

You finish another mouthful of cereal, swallowing as fast as you can to reply.

“I cannot let people exist out there who are making cereal wrong.”

You shake your spoon for emphasis.

You’re mostly joking but it does bother you a bit when people do that. Its unnatural.

Avdol watches you as you go back to eating, eyes unreadable, and waits for you to finish eating before weighing in once again.

“What if instead of world domination we travelled the world and taught people to pour milk at the appropriate time.”

You hide your smile behind your hand as best you can.

You’re joking about the whole thing of course, but even in this fictitious scenario your ever serious boyfriend is trying to come up with a practical and reasonable solution. Sometimes he was just truly too kind for his own good.

“Well. I suppose I can try that way first, but if I go on this milk peace mission you have to promise to help me when it fails.”

Avdol gives you a gentle smile, leaning over to kiss your cheek.

“If. If it fails. And of course, if it came to that I would take on the world at your side.”

Noriaki Kakyoin-

Readjusting you grip on his hand, you pulled your boyfriend to a stop beside you, forcing him to turn and look at the setting sun with you.

The two of you had spent a lovely evening at the beach, laying around and playing in the waves a bit, but now it was time for your favorite part of beach trips.

The sunset part.

Kakyoin allows himself to be pulled along without any resistance, letting go of your hand only so he could stand behind you and wrap his arms around your waist, resting his head on your shoulder as you both took in the scenery together.

Deciding it was time to break this tranquil silence, you spoke up, perfectly serious.

“This sunset is so pretty, I think I’m going to take over the whole world and keep them all for myself.”

Kakyoin tenses for a moment behind you, arms holding you a bit tighter.

“Take over the world? Where is this coming from?”

You shrug as much as you can in his embrace.

“I just love the sunset, it would be cool to own it.”

“Own…it…” He trails off, unsure how to respond to such a strange idea.

“Well, I suppose if it makes you happy then do what you must.”

“Thank you for the permission.” You reply with a smile, turning around in his arms to face him.

“You know, since I’m quite fond of you I think I’ll let you have all the sunrises.”

Your loving “gift” causes a small smile to blossom on his face, and he turns his head to hide his blush.

“Thank you, but… that was so sappy!”

“Well, I have to treat my trophy husband nicely now don’t I?”

Jean Pierre Polnareff-

You sat across from your boyfriend Polnareff, mindlessly stirring your coffee as you listened to him talk about the cop drama he’d spent all night watching.

You weren’t particularly interested in the show, but you found it adorable how animated he had become as he talked about the characters and the drama, so while you wouldn’t say you were tuning him out, you were certainly more focused on his actions than his words.

“And then he was like BAM BAM and the criminals were forced to face the hand of the law and- hey, are you listening?”

Uh oh.

“Huh? Oh yeah, of course. Bam, justice.”

Polnareff doesn’t seem totally convinced, but he shrugs it off, unbothered.

“Sorry, I know you don’t really care about the show haha, I just get so into it!”

You smile- ‘Oh I know you do’

“Anyways, tell me what you’ve been up to? What’re you thinking about?” Polnareff prompts, leaning forward towards you a bit.

“Me? I was… Thinking about…um. Taking over the world.”

He leans back again, confusion plain on his face, but before you can clarify that it was a joke or, hopefully, change the subject to look at bit less silly, he’s on the move again, throwing himself into the chain next to you instead of across from you and grabbing both your hands in his.

“Baby, you don’t have to worry about that- if you want the world just tell me and I’ll get it for you!”

You blush, unsure of how he can declare something so absolutely cheesy with such sincerity.

“Oh well, um, thank you Polnareff.”

He’s still smiling at you charmingly as gives your hands a reassuring squeeze.

“Anything for you baby! And while I’m at it, I can ask the writers how the main detective is going to beat his rival this season.”

You roll your eyes at that, but lean against his shoulder anyway, offering your silent support of his antics.

[pleasefeedthebirds]

A Relatively Deep Dive Into My “Crème de la Crème” MCs - #1. Mavis Linnet

(From the astonishingly crisp interactive fiction by @hpowellsmith! ...It’s not weird to tag, right?)

Mavis “Miss Linnet” Mallee-Linnet

she/her/hers

Light brown complexion and loosely curled brown hair

Favors conventionally masculine fashion 

Accommodating

Manipulative

Traditional

Exceptional Poise

Noteworthy Wit and Intrigue

Commonplace Spirit

Unremarkable Flair

LOADS more info and spoiler content under the cut!

I envision Mavis as having grown up in a wealthy household, where she was still raised reasonably well about the importance of non-profligate spending. Her parents both taught at Olmstead’s Valley School, where she was in attendance for the bulk of her college-age years. Sailing was manageablely smooth. Mavis got along well in her studies, had time for both dressage and lacrosse, and—for her genuine interest in the subject matter—made it on the good side of many educators there (albeit not as often her fellow students, being for all the world their definition of a teacher’s pet!).

Her life took an abrupt shift in its trajectory when Mr. Mallee, her father, had a shameful affair come to light. Their rural community was small enough that such a thing made waves. Her other father, Mr. Linnet, sent Mavis off to Gallatin with the still-favorable Linnet name, and spent a pretty penny to do so. Primarily, he did this to save her from suffering by association, and was very vocal about these intentions. He’s definitely also relying on her to save their social standing, and despite the point being markedly unspoken, Mavis quietly understands.

So, Mavis feels an immense pressure to make the most of her time at Gallatin. She tries to conform unfalteringly to the school’s every long-winded social expectation, which exhausts her utterly. However, by her proficiency in book research, and her sincere knack for studying people, she has grown excellent at “playing the game” in high society. 

More than ever, Mavis is dedicated to her studies at Gallatin, even when the prescribed syllabus is less than stimulating. She keeps her head down so to never risk rocking the boat. This mode of being doesn’t make her happy per say, but the Gallatin atmosphere has her shoehorned into believing there’s no feasible alternative. She’s cognizant of surface level flaws in the system, but plays along because she thinks she has to. After all, it’s her way out of rural smallmindedness and into an academic world. That said, things certainly can change, particularly when one can’t help but notice atrocities being committed against literal children!

5’10”, with broad shoulders but slender hips. Her body makes an upside-down triangle shape.

Prone to acne, her skincare routines are extensive, and she’s usually up at the crack of dawn every day to get her proverbial ducks in a row.

Her hair is thinner than it looks, and she takes especial care when rationing it about her scalp. She feels vulnerable with it all the way down, so favors hair styles with low centers, such as looped pigtails, a nape bun, or double braids. Also labors to hide her considerable widow’s peak.

A heavy tea drinker. For all of her wits, she doesn’t realize that her mug o’ choice (earl grey) is highly caffeinated. She slugs the stuff down each day without ever realizing, because it “makes her feel better” about mornings.

Though it’s hardly polite, she LOVES gossip, and writes down every secret she hears as her guiltiest pleasure.

Miss Dalca and Mr. Griffith both make her uncomfortable—the former for her extreme progressiveness, and the latter for his gruff demeanor. Mr. Blanchard is her favorite teacher, and I bet she’s accidentally cried in his presence before. She’s scared of Lady Renaldt, and makes herself known to the headmaster only out of necessity.

Virtue: 91%

Popularity: 75%

Coursework Grade: A

Exam Mark: A+

Extracurricular(s): Birchmeier Society and the Gallatin Swans (goalkeeper)

*[Though not doable ingame, I like to think that she overloaded her schedule and dropped the Swans halfway through the semester. Mavis is never the type to drop anything, so having to take that step back was a double-edged blow to her confidence, in addition to being a sheer relief on her stress levels. Since the Birchmeier Society was where her heart truly lay, she managed to build herself back up there with Freddie’s support.]

Entanglements: Romantically engaged to Freddie.

Besties and then some with Freddie. They’re both hardworking scholars with each their own zest for learning, and by preparing for classes, exams, and Birchmeier Society biz in the same shared spaces, Mavis spent disproportionately more time with her than with anyone else. Freddie encouraged Mavis to be a bit less hard on herself, and was brave enough to stand up to her whenever Mavis’s fatigue was turning her curmudgeonly. Mavis helped get Freddie out of her own head on multiple occasions, taught her to break the most overwhelming situations down to deal with day-by-day, and bolstered her confidence anytime it faltered in the face of the Gallatin sphere. The engagement was Mavis’s idea, which she accidentally blurted out in a rare impulsive burst of feeling. After processing the implications, she was ashamed to have second thoughts upon remembering Freddie’s financial situation. It seemed for a while that the engagement was off, following a hard conversation that soured their relationship for awhile. I don’t think Freddie would easily bounce back after having her family standing scrutinized. However, the mine plot—when Mavis had to ultimately turn her back on everything she’d built at Gallatin—spurred character development enough that Freddie deemed her worthy of a second chance.

Friends with Gonzalez, who couldn’t help but respect that Mavis was competent in lacrosse, academically accomplished, and generally pretty nice to people. I don’t think she realizes that Mavis keeps a stiff mask. Mavis found Gonzalez refreshing, albeit off-puttingly honest, and couldn’t find a way to fault her spirited nature. I can’t imagine them engaging much off of the field (i.e. post Mavis quitting the team), but the two were mutually supportive in their interactions, even if Mavis was probably repressing some criticisms of Gonzalez’s fast and loose attitude all the while.

Friends with Max after he tutored her in flair, per Lady Renaldt’s instruction, via a sick dance sesh. I like to imagine him groaning about the task, assuming that Mavis would be a hopeless case, and then being pleasantly surprised at the fact that she can absolutely hit it (even just in the name of compliance with authority). He tried to make a move on her and was politely rejected. I think he supports the idea of her at a distance after recognizing that she’s not trying to breathe down anyone’s neck, and really is a kind, tired gal being squeezed dry by the system.

Friends with Hartmann, who was initially confused about which “side” Mavis was on in her prefectural feud with Max (Mavis shushed him at the opening commencement, which she liked, yet supported Max when he dipped out the common room window). They came to understand each other in the later game, bonding over how ill-affected they both are by the pressures of their respective positions. They don’t “hang out” much, but a couple of key deep conversations put each in the other’s good books.

Pleasant acquaintances with Karson. Mavis rarely went out of her way to talk to them, but whenever they crossed paths, she was good to Karson, and sympathized (albeit at a respectable distance) with their situation as a servant. When trouble in the mines was first coming to light, Mavis got sniffing, and sussed out enough clues that Karson eventually passed Blaise’s note on to her directly, trusting her moral compass enough to do so.

Unpleasant acquaintances with Delacroix. His unconventional take on life, passion for the intangible, and apathy towards collegiate procedure all make her uneasy. In his own right, Delacroix probably takes her for a stuffy, self-centered dud, which after all the times she’s reflexively shut his occult talk down, is pretty fair.

Acquaintances with Blaise. Mavis made nice in the early game because she had to, and was secretly relieved when she “resigned.” This was short lived, and turned into a misplaced sense of guilt after what actually happened to Blaise came to light. Mavis didn’t end up in the mines herself, but she did everything she could to help her, Miss Dalca, and eventually Gonzalez escape. When all was said and done, Blaise still made Mavis uncomfortable, and she let her be to get on with her life.

Approached Rosario at the punch table in an attempt to court the princess in the room… absolutely blew it. Ended up tripping over her own tongue when she realized that the heir is not so predictably wooed by traditional measures as originally anticipated. I like to think of that moment as a point of deeper connection for Mavis and Freddie, where both were totally overwhelmed by the noble sphere at Archambault and turned to each other for comfort. Otherwise, Rosario was a Rosari-no for Mavis.

Was weirded out by Auguste. Mavis fears any authority figures who don’t like her right away, and they’re too close to the ever-frigid Lady Renaldt for her comfort. She did totally trash them (benevolently) at dressage on sports day, though.

Gave Florin the widest possible berth. Mavis wanted nothing to do with that kind of scandal, but definitely found her shallowly cute. 

Some Choice Plot Pieces (cue spoilers):

Gathered evidence against Miss Dalca in compliance with Lady Renaldt.

Had an adequate working relationship with Miss Benton.

Gathered information for Annick against Lady Renaldt.

Endgame (cue SUPER spoilers):

Worked in secret against Lady Renaldt.

Sent Gonzalez to the mines, but most everyone got out (I believe Miss Dalca died?!).

Settled things quietly with Kathrili Burgin.

Went on to study at Gessner.

Joined Freddie for the summer.

[rosaetae]

no sweetness | preview

☇ “It’s funny because you remind me exactly of this drink I made last night. Yeah, yeah, it was the black tea with boba. Bitter, with tiny balls.” 

➣  pairing: reader x jungkook

➣  genre: fluff, comedy, bobarista!reader, lacrosseplayer!jungkook, e2l!au lmaosooo 

➣  word count: 2.1k

➣  a/n: just poppin’ in here as your reminder to support small businesses and also if anyone would like to make my design title header graphic thing for this story, that’d be greatly appreciated bc i’m lazy lmao 

➣  summary: jungkook has a thing for pretty girls who work with tiny balls, especially the new fiery bobarista at his favorite boba shop, whom he finds absolutely adorable, but finds out later that she’s just as sweet as she made his milk tea order— not sweet. 

Jeon Jungkook is absolutely whipped as cream.

Why, you may ask?

His favorite boba shop at the very edge of the outskirt of town hired a new bobarista, and her name—supposedly— being ___. Jungkook made it a mental note to ask for it when he goes into Pleasantea with his friends, but word goes around and it out of the many words there are in the world, it's her name that catches his ear.

It is no doubt that Jeon Jungkook comes off as a flirt to every living species he encounters, but seeing that the new bobarista wasn't as happily taking it in as most people would, he was shocked that someone didn't have much interest into him. Sure, call him egotistical, but he was captain of the lacrosse team and he was pretty damn good at almost— well, everything.

The first time he goes into Pleasantea after hearing the news of a new duckling in training was after another win that Friday night. He's there with his group of friends, raiding the popular boba place with cheers while greeting the familiar workers behind the bar.

On Friday nights, it's Luna, Dahlia, and Jihyo working the closing shift, making the drinks and providing impeccable service, especially to the rowdy group of college students that come in almost every Friday to hangout or just to celebrate. Luna's pretty good with taming them down, especially when other customers are there. Dahlia likes to yell at them— she likes to yell at people in general. And Jihyo nurtures them like babies.  

They've gotten close to Jungkook as Luna happened to be in his communications class first semester. He recognized her first, but Luna, being oblivious in all ranges of settings, faked a recognization of his name and face, and gave him a discount anyways. Because of this tiny occurrence, Jungkook came back, then with friends, and eventually with his whole lacrosse team to support the business.

"I'm guessing another win, Team Captain?" Jihyo rhetorically yelled over the cheering voices towards Jungkook who followed behind the group with a smirk. Her doe eyes peeks over the bar where her height was significant from the taller men on the other side, eyebrows raised and awaiting for the cocky response Jungkook can muster.

"What can I say?" Jungkook laughed sonorously, followed by a few encouraging and prideful pats on the shoulder from his teammates. "Wouldn't show up tonight with the boys if I didn't make that winning shot."

Rolling her eyes at the sound of the booming, testosterone-filled voices of his teammates and his vibrant ego, Jihyo scoffed away to work on other orders that Luna and Dahlia were speedily making before Jungkook's teammates and good friends come up to him, ready to order their drinks.

"What should I get?" Yoongi asked Jungkook, eyes scanning the menu of different drinks.

"Dunno. Get the usual," Jungkook advised, crossing his arms over his chest as he pondered what he should get too. "Your matcha milk tea with boba."

"Aight," Yoongi nods before he paused. The pause wasn't obvious enough for Jungkook to look his way, until Yoongi went ahead and nudged Jungkook, taking his complete attention away from the menu. "New worker."

"Hi, welcome!" That odd cheery voice didn't seem to come from the usual cashier he knew as Luna, nor Dahlia, throwing him off a bit. He does a double take behind the counter, finding a girl hurriedly filling a cup up with boba before she's running to the cashier, doe-like eyes widening in surprise at how many people she has to take orders of.

Her eyes catch Jungkook's, and it immediately clicked in his head that the word circling about the new Pleasantea worker were true. Pretty much all of them were aware, but it didn't seem to catch their attention as much as it caught his. Maybe it's the unfamiliarity of having someone foreign in a place he likes to call a second home. Maybe it's the odd satisfaction of meeting the so-called bobarista who's name somehow runs laps around his brain. Really, he was merely curious.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked with a warm smile. Jungkook's worked at a retail shop before, and he can tell good customer service apart from just a single sentence.

Jungkook peered over at the boys, watching Yoongi motioning at the others to go order, but seeing that they were also too busy eye-goggling the new girl behind the counter out of curiosity, Yoongi let out a sigh and ordered first. A smile bursted on the new girl's face when she's nodding to Yoongi's order. Her eyebrows furrowed as she works the register all before Yoongi whipped out his trusty credit card and does the procedural routine of inserting the card, tipping, signing, and saying "no thanks" to the receipt, dropping in a spare dollar or two into their "college funds" tip jar.

The boys filed in line after they've decided on what they wanted that night all while Jungkook started to overthink what he wanted to get.

Jungkook likes to change up his drink from time to time. After practices, he'd like something more refreshing to quickly chug down. After later practices, he'd get something more caffeinated to keep him awake for a night full of assignments. After games, it depends on the outcome of the prior— losing, he wouldn't order anything. Winning, however, he likes Pleasantea bobaristas to choose for him.

It's a good thing they won tonight.

When the line of his teammates dispersed and they all maneuvered into the back where their usual spot was,  Jungkook realized it was his turn already. He didn't notice that he let all the boys go in front of him  on purpose and he was the last of the group to order. However, he does take mental note of how New Girl keeps up a good face after each customer, something that Dahlia lacks because each customer removes a layer of her niceness as they come and go.

Jungkook slides closer to the register, his eyes never leaving hers as her own form into crescents— a silent, but welcoming greeting.

"Hi, what can I get for you?"

His lips forms a smile to hear her voice clear as day. "Do you think you can surprise me?"

The favor evidently takes her by surprise before she lets out a laugh, nodding. "Yeah, I can. Is there anything you're craving specifically?"

"Nope," he shakes his head. "You new?"

She smiles in return. "Yeah. Yesterday was my first day. Still getting a hang of it."

"You got a favorite drink..." Jungkook dragged out his sentence to look at her name badge, realizing that her name really was what he has been told. "___?"

The bobarista hums in thought before she lazily shrugs. "I haven't had many drinks, yet, but I really like the plain milk tea."

"I'll just get that then. Large, boba, light ice."

She nods as she puts it into the register as Jungkook patted his black jeans, searching his pockets for his wallet. In his head, he's pondering about the amount of tips to tip her.

"Sweetness level?"

Jungkook, without even processing he's said it, goes, "you." It takes him by surprise just as much as it took her, but he decides to roll with it. He even mentally pats himself, because damn, that was pretty smooth of him. He noticed that her fingers paused in tapping on the pad, just before meeting his expression consisting of a (douchebag) smirk and kind eyes. She raised her eyebrows before letting out a light chuckle, shaking her head.

"Cute," is all she said before placing the order and directing him to insert his card. As Jungkook mentally fist bumps himself, he decided to tip her the ten dollar bill laying in his wallet into the tip jar, before she glanced up at him with crescent eyes once more. "Your order will be ready at the other end of the counter."

As Jungkook thanked her, he lingered for a bit as she disappeared behind the bar where she met the three other girls shuffling around to finish the end of the night shift with dozens of customers waiting inside and outside. He shoved his wallet into the back of his pocket as he met up with the boys who took up the entire back of the shop where a long table basically welcomed them with open arms.  

"What you get this time, Captain?" Jaehyun made a single nod towards Jungkook.

"Just their milk tea," Jungkook responded.

Jungkook has had the plain milk tea before. It's what Pleasantea was known for. It's their signature drink. A roasted flavor with just the right amount of sweetness with just 75% sugar. However, responding with reference to her as a sweetness, it might be a bit sweeter with just 100%. But it doesn't matter. He managed to get a "cute" from the new bobarista at Pleasantea and he intends to share it with his lacrosse team.

"New worker called me cute."

Jaehyun let out a snort, while Yoongi excitedly leaned in to add onto the list of other cringe-worthy pickup lines Jungkook says to girls. "Did you make another boba pick-up line? Remember when you tried to flirt with Dahlia but ended up only getting roasted by her?"

"Yeah, well, ___ called me cute. She just asked how sweet I wanted my drink to be," he explained. "I answered back with, 'you'."

It's the shove and nudge coming from both directions and the bursted balloon that held crazy laughter coming from not only Jaehyung, but Yoongi and Jaemin who listened to the terrible conversation they were most grateful to not have witnessed first hand. Jungkook grinned widely, pushing off his teammates who were disgusted by such a revolting experience.

"God, you are terrible," Yoongi covered his face with his hands, hiding from sheer embarrassment as Jungkook chuckled broadly. "I hope she spits in your drink because that was god awful."

"She thought it was cute, actually," Jungkook tooted his own horn— something he loved doing. Cocky isn't a pleasant trait on him, but he somehow makes it work.

Jaemin shook his head in mild distaste. "Man, get the fuck out of here."

."Boys!"

The familiar sound of Jihyo calling out a broad name as an endearment to the only boys that she has a love and hate relationship with catches the lacrosse teams' ears, having them get up in excitement. Half of the table decides to go while the other half stays and saves the spot, wanting to spend about half an hour there to settle.

It takes them a minute or two to have all of them come back with max two drinks in hand and while half of the boys passed out the variety of drinks to the others who saved their spot, Jungkook scrolls through his phone as Jaemin places his drink in front of him, a straw on top. Like second nature, Jungkook grabs the straw and stabs the plastic wrap, his jaw preparing to chew the sweet goodness of tapioca pearls.

However, it's not that that he was anticipating prior that made him furrow his eyebrows at the taste. It was the odd flavor that came before the pearls that made him retract the drink from his mouth to look at the label of what type of drink he got.

At first, he furrowed his eyebrows because he thought he had received the wrong drink. But it's in the middle of wanting to ask Jaemin if the drink he got actually belong to him, that he realized where he fucked up. Jaemin was curious as well, arching an eyebrow and turning the cup to its side to see if Jaemin actually grabbed the wrong drink.

It's the hysterical laughter coming from Jaemin's mouth ringing in the air that made Jungkook's lips part, but in all honestly, Jungkook wasn't as surprised. He watches his teammate share the cup around, laughter suddenly becoming louder at what has been witnessed— a rise and downfall of their own team captain.

The mocking sniggering that dispersed into air echoed throughout the boba shop's walls and inevitably, the new bobarista girl must be hearing it crystal clear, probably a playful smile on her lips as she heard the laughter grow at her own doing.

Eventually, Jungkook snatched the drink back and chugs it down anyways, shaking his head. Each time he took a sip, he looks at the side of his cup and wrinkles his nose in disdain.

MLK TEA. LESS ICE. 0% SWEET.  

[hatmanreviewsmovies]

Mulan

Hat 1- Story: Similar to the original animated film, with some more authentic and mature audience choices, the story focuses on Mulan, a young woman who chose to take her fathers place when China calls for soldiers against an invasion. This is an extremely modern take on the story, stripped of its animated film tropes, no songs, no Mushu, less focus on comedic sidekicks. The focus, this time, is on our main character’s choice to impersonate a male soldier, the consequences of this choice and the larger threat that they are fighting. There are still Hollywood tropes, and its not the most interesting version of this film that could have been made, it would also have done well with a 2 hour run time over an hour 45, but it works very well to retell this story in an authentic way for an older audience. .75/1 hat Hat 2- Performances: A very good effort has been made here to find the best of known Asian actors collected to create a seasoned and authentically cast collection of actors. None of these performances are anything incredible, but the script is not written for that. There was, however, a focus on the actors ability to do the stunts and marshal arts, and it shows. While the dialogue is stiff, the performances underneath are confidant and the action is well performed by a cast that fits the job very well. 1/1 hat Hat 3- Craft: Ok. This. Film. Looks. Stunning. From locations to sets to costumes, make up, hair and computer effects, it’s all top notch work. And you can feel the effort that was put into authenticity of China in that era. There is a perfect blend of authentic look to visual flair, shot wonderfully by  Mandy Walker. 

The action is wonderful. As I said before, many of the stunts are clearly done by our actors, and the choice to focus on this rather than force non stunt actors into these roles, or to overuse stunt actors, is great. The skill in which each actor wields their weapons is awesome to watch and brings a feeling of authenticity even higher. The choice of Niki Caro as a director is a very good one. You can tell that while this was done for a slightly older audience than the previous film, she was still aware that younger girls would be seeing this, and would take inspiration in the women presented on screen. It is what this story needed and this film’s directing choices speaks to the need for this extremely well, never making Mulan inhuman or perfect, but making her the best at what she can do because she has worked for it. This story may be a legend, but the choices made in directing here make the (very thin but still serviceable) characters come to live vividly. 1/1 Hat

Hat 4- Entertainment Value: Look... it’s still a Disney live action film in the 2000s. There is a staleness in the modern Disney format in all of its live action work, and while there are a few nice twists, from a story perspective, it feels the same. There are not so subtle nods to the original that are cringe worthy to say the least. But by the end of it, you are satisfied with what you got. Audiences know what they’re going into with these films, and there is enough in this film visually and from an action perspective to be entertaining and engaging for more than one viewing. Yes it is worth the 30 dollar Disney+ upgrade. .9/1 hat Hat 5- Memorability: This is a modern Mulan for a modern age, and while she doesn’t have the same characteristics that make her engaging as the animated version, there is still power and skill in the film making that it will inspire people. This is a well crafted film among the stale Disney formula and it is the most effective live action remake since The Jungle Book 4 years ago. Ultimately, if know what you’re getting, this is an awesome watch. .85/1 hat TOTAL: 4.5/5 Hats