#stray kids science fiction

[skzhua]

We Going For the Win

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Bang Chan x Female!Reader

Genre: Zombie Apocalypse!AU, fluff, bit of angst. (The Last of Us vibes)

Word Count: 9,982

Warnings: Violence, swearing, mentions of sex/death/killing, drinking. (Not proofread yet!)

Summary: While being in quest of finding your childhood friend you have lost contact with ever since the start of the infection, your ex fling and ex smuggling partner involves you in a difficult situation. New friends and difficulties are waiting for you.

A/N: Might do a part 2 or leave it as it is... I don't know yet.

"Here." the man simply said while dropping the bag on the table in front of you.

He gestured at his men to open the door behind you as a way to inform you this little meeting was over. However, you didn't budge.

Instead, you took the bag to see the content of it, and frowned. "The deal was 10 silvers and a pack of cigarettes."

"No, no. The deal was 10 silvers and a pack of cigarette if you did the job correctly."

"Which I did."

He started to laugh before taking another shot of whiskey. "I asked you to steal the radio and get SKZ's location from them. You only got the radio. Therefore, you only get the cigarettes."

"You're kidding, right?"

He shrugged, fiddling around with his glass. Not answering your question, he poured himself another drink. Before he could bring it to his lips, you took his glass harshly from his grasp and threw it accross the room.

"What the fuck, woman!" he shouted angrily.

"You fucking asked me an impossible task, plus bringing you a most likely broken radio from the restricted area, made me infiltrate a fucking government base to steal infos and you're thanking me with fucking cigarettes." You slamed the bag in front of him, giving him a glare. "The deal included 10 silvers. I want them."

"Sweetheart, you know it doesn't work like this." he chuckled with a smug smile on his face.

You shut your eyes in disgust of the infamous nickname he gave you. "Don't fuck with me, give me the silvers."

He got up from his seat and signaled to his men to shut the door. The already stinky room was filled by the alcohol's odor, making you want to puke. How could this man drink so many shots without being dead already?

He paused a moment, looking at the ground, before he spoke again. "Do you want to find your little friend or not?"

"What does this have to do with this?"

"Y/N, I know you want the silvers to go across the country to find your friend. That is if he isn't infected yet, of course. What I'm saying is, there is a reason I'm not giving you those silvers."

"That's what this is about? About you not losing your best dealer?"

He laughed, again. "At least you know you're the best. Not only that but we have helped each other so much in the last six years. You're like a daughter to me, I'd hate to see something bad happen to you."

You smiled sarcastically. "And yet, you've sent me away to die thousands of times just so I could do the job for you."

"Because you are the best I have." he pointed out again.

You were getting tired of this. Frankly, you just wanted to get the damn silvers and go to bed. However, you knew the man and he wouldn't let you have what you wanted so easily. With that in mind, you seemed to have only but one option to get out of this.

"Alright then. I guess I'm not leaving today." you sighed, standing up from your chair. "I do want one thing if I don't get the money." He stepped closer with a curious look on his face. "I want to know if Changbin ever sends something on this radio."

He smiled. "Done deal." You nodded before heading towards the door. "And Y/N?"

You stopped on your tracks, rolling your eyes. "What?"

"I better see you tomorrow morning, I have another job for you."

Ignoring him, you resumed your way to the exit. Once outside, the sirens couldn't be any louder. In all of places, you had to be at the worst safe haven of the country where only dealers, smugglers, thiefs and many others lived. You were grateful your uncle was renowned enough for the other rebellious groups to leave you alone, but that also meant you had to do all of his work for him. If not, you were dead meat for sure.

When you arrived at your half torn down apartment, you jumped as soon as you walked in, as you were welcomed by an unannounced man sitting on your couch.

"Yeonjun, what the fuck?" you shouted, closing the door behind you. "I told you to not fucking burst into my place randomly like that."

"I know, but I kind of had nowhere else to go."

This was enough said for you to know he got in trouble, again. "Who was it this time? Beomgyu? Taehyun?" you asked while serving yourself a beer, offering one to your former partner.

He took the bottle and drank from it before talking. "Soobin."

You frowned. "I thought he was off to the west zone."

"So we thought, but turns out he had an encounter with SKZ, and he's been taken hostage. We tried to free him, but fucking stupid Beomgyu crashed into a pole and now all of them are taken away."

"And why are you here?"

He rolled his eyes. "To ask you for your help, obviously."

"No, I know that. But why are you not with them?"

"I jumped out of the car before it crashed. Hid until they all left and came here as soon as it was clear."

You shook your head in disbelief. "No matter how much I'm trying to cut you off from my life, you're still going to involve me in your stupid schemes."

"You're quite literally the best fighter, sniper, liar and also the prettiest I know."

You almost choked on your drink from his words. "We're not going to fuck again, Yeonjun. Stop with the flirting."

He held his hands up. "It was just a joke, relax. But for real, I really need your help."

"I don't deal with SKZ."

"They're just another gang, what's the big deal?"

"They're not feared by the whole country for no reason. I support their whole rebellion shit, but they're taking it a bit far."

SKZ were an anonymous group of rebels. When more people were starting to get infected, the government put the country in war mode. They established curfews, safe zones, duties, everything they could have control on anything that you could think of. As the years passed, they started to like this kind of power, meaning they did close to no research on a cure. Groups against the new regime started to form, but the most well-known of them was SKZ. Apparently, they were formed in the south part of the country, the area with the most infected. They ravaged headquarters, gathered information about the virus so their team could study them in order to find a cure. They had great intentions, but anyone on their way would be one of their victims. And that now included your ex-fling and smuggling partner's own gang.

"Y/N, please."

"No, I saved your butt enough times." You walked to your room and he followed you behind, still bombarding you with 'help me', 'this one time', 'please'... "I said no!" you grunted, closing the door on his face.

You dropped on your bed, sore from your morning task. As you were already starting to doze off, a creek from your door did not allow you to go to sleep just yet.

"Yeonjun, go away." you mumbled, eyes still closed.

The man didn't listen and sat next to your laid down body on the bed. "What if I say I can help you find Changbin?"

Your eyes shot open and you stared at Yeonjun. "Don't." you warned.

"Y/N, I swear I'm not kidding. I know where he is."

"How? You barely go outside of the limits."

"Just... Trust me on this one." he spoke softly. "Look, we've had our ups and downs and I understand how unreliable I am to you. There is one thing that I can assure you, and that is I never would mess with you with this. I know how much it means to you."

He took your hand in his and gave you one last pleading look. You were hesitant. You didn't know if you could trust him, but at this point, who could you really trust? Plus, Yeonjun has always been around. Even if he was a pain in the ass, he might be the only recurrent person in your life other than your uncle and his deals.

"If I learn this is a whole fucking joke-"

"I swear it's not!"

"But if it is... you owe me 1000 silvers, a car and your dead body." you smiled.

"So, you're going to help me?" he stared at you in shock.

"Yeah, sure. As if I have anything better to do."

As you were making your way up the ladder, you couldn't ignore the undistinguished noises Yeonjun was making as he was following you closely.

"Can you shut up?" you half-whispered.

"I didn't know you were thinking of leaving during the night. There is a fucking curfew, Y/N. You know what that means? Agents everywhere and going against the law!" he whispered back quite aggressively. "Also, how the fuck do you know the way to the other side from the sewers?"

"Okay, first of all, a curfew means no one's outside. Less chances of getting spotted. Second of all, we've gone against the law so many times, I don't get why you think it's a problem now. And third of all." you stopped climbing and stared down at him. "I've been outside the limits a few times. Now, are we done? Can we just move and get there before it's morning?"

Yeonjun's eyes went wide as he shook his head in yes. "My bad..."

Satisfied, you continued to climb up. When you finally reached the lid of the manhole, you pushed it up carefully, staying alert in case there would be agents on duty close by. Once you made sure it was clear, you pushed the lid so you could get out. You helped out Yeonjun and you both pushed the lid back into its place.

"Alright, so are you sure they went to District 9?" you whispered.

"For the nth time, yes." he said with annoyance.

"How are you so sure?"

"Dude, I heard them loud and clear."

"They might have said this to trick you?"

"Y/N, focus!"

You tried to remember the quickest way to the fences. Agents were everywhere, and what bothered you the most was Yeonjun not being the most careful, as he kept questioning you on why you knew how to get out.

Finally, you reached a part of the fences that surrounded the city. Yeonjun gasped in amazement, much to your discouragement. Sighing, you headed towards the underground tunner that some kids had dug a few days ago.

"Go first."

Nodding, Yeonjun followed your orders. Once he was on the other side, you copied his action and, soon enough, you both had crossed the limits. Once you got to the other side, you could already feel how different it was from the build closed community. The air was much heavier and actual forms of life were rare. There was already an infected who spotted you, who signaled to his other infect friend there was a meal for them.

"Shit." you muttered.

The monster was already running in your direction, and fast. You took a bar of metal that was randomly (and conveniently) lying at your feet, and you ran to it before swinging your weapon to his head, ripping it off its body. The second infected was next to head toward you and you instinctively pierced the bar through it, making it drop on the ground. When you turned back to check on Yeonjun, he could only stare at you with wide eyes and his breath unsteady.

"Now what?" he gulped.

"Follow me." you said, running towards an old building, visibly abandoned.

Only, it was just that. Visibly abandoned. As soon as you turned the corner, you were met with a bunch of men, four of them, masks hiding the bottom half of their faces while pointing guns at you.

"Fuck." Yeonjun said in a low tone while holding his hands up in the air.

"We were waiting for you." one of the men spoke.

"Oh, so them saying they would be in District 9 wasn't a trap?" you sarcastically asked Yeonjun, pettiness overflowing.

"I was convinced they didn't see me." he said in defense.

"We didn't." the man talked again. "But we knew you were there. Now, mind to follow us?"

"Okay, so now y'all are being polite?" Yeonjun scoffed and you kicked his leg. "Fine, let's follow them bluntly, I guess."

The men led you inside the building, holding onto your arms with guns still pointing at you. This was the exact reason you wanted nothing to do with SKZ, they could catch anyone and they were not afraid to use the weapons they had.

After walking endlessly in a hallway, you reached an elevator. You were surprised it was still functional, as most of the things in the infected zones were destroyed. Once the doors shut, one of the men pushed the button to the basement. Of course, it was the basement. You would've thought they'd be more original with where they kept their hostages.

"Are we meeting your big boss?" you asked in a joking tone.

"You're joining your friends." one responded.

When the doors opened, you didn't waste a second to take the gun from the man who was grabbing your arm, twisting it so he would let go. Hitting him on the head, he fell onto the ground. Meanwhile, Yeonjun copied you and also managed to disarm two other men. As for the last one, he held his gun to you.

"Don't waste my time, give me the gun." you said boringly.

He glanced at his friends on the ground, who were massaging their heads from the hits, and they all seemed to be in agreement to just let you be. They knew the others would take care of the both of you, anyway. You took the gun and didn't hesitate to give him a good punch in the face, making him fall next to his friends.

"Let's go." you nodded your head to Yeonjun.

As he was walking by your side, he started rambling again. "That, right there, was fucking awesome! There was a reason why I came to you for help. If it was someone else, I'm sure I'd probably be-"

"Dead? Yeah, well, you'll be if you don't shut up." you whispered loudly.

By the end of the hallway, you could see a large closed door that was seemingly locked. Pretty convinced it was where they detained the others, you made your way to it.

"I guess that's it." you mumbled.

When you reached it, you searched in your bag to see if you had anything that could help you open the door. Noticing you were short in terms of tools, you figured Yeonjun brought something that might be useful.

"Got something?" you asked, but when there was no response, you looked around and Yeonjun was nowhere to be found. "Jun?" you called out.

Just then you were suddenly tackled onto the ground. You met eyes with a young man with freckles.

"You don't look like an SKZ member to me. Who are you?" he asked, restraining you as you tried to push him off.

"Doesn't matter." you managed to breathe out.

"It does to us."

"I guess you'll have to find out another day."

Kicking him in his lower abdomen, you freed yourself and grabbed your knife from you bag. When you were about to throw it to the boy, a hand grabbed your arm, stopping your motion. The stranger twisted your wrist, loosening your grip on the knife. He took it from you and inspected it for a bit.

"Felix, go see if Minho, Jeongin, Hyunjin and Seungmin are fine." he said, his voice low.

The freckled boy, now up onto his feet, nodded and headed to the elevator you were previously coming down from.

"I didn't expect Yeonjun to bring a friend." he said, now talking to you.

He led you to the door you were trying to open not even 2 minutes ago. In contrary of what you thought, it was a simple empty room with a single lamp as its source of light. He threw you to the ground and closed the door behind him. He sighed loudly before walking to you, crouching down to be at your level.

"Now, as my friend asked. Who are you?" You only stared at him, not a sound slipping from your mouth. "Do you know why we took your friends?" No answer. "Why are you here?"

"For no reason, just to enjoy a different environment I guess, just like y'all do."

He didn't expect you to answer this time. "Looks like you don't know much about us, sweetheart."

You cringed at the nickname. Hearing it from someone other than your uncle was odd. Even just hearing it from your uncle was uncomfortable.

"Maybe I don't. Honestly, I don't give a fuck about who you are." You crossed your arms and gave him a bored look.

"Maybe you don't. Still, I think a little introduction can be helpful. I'm Christopher Bang, leader of SKZ." Unfazed, you were still staring at him. "And you are?"

"Tired and annoyed."

He chuckled at your answer. "I like you." He stood up and started to walk back and forth in the room. "I shall contimue then. SKZ is a group of rebels, as people call us, whose purpose is to take down the government's new policy in order to restore some sort of purpose among the population. We're also trying to find a cure for the infection and we, as you might have seen, have many people against us. Your friends were trying to get to our secret base to steal a drug we use during our experiments. They wanted to sell it to make profit off of it."

"Sounds like them." you huffed.

He smiled at your comment. "We've dealt with TXT before, but you're a new one. I've never seen you, I believe."

"Like I said, I literally don't give a fuck about y'all. I just do my thing on my side."

"Then, why are you here?"

"Ask Yeonjun."

Sighing at your lack of engagement in the conversation, he stopped walking around to turn his body to face you. "You took out half of my squad back in the elevator, I want to know who I'm dealing with."

Half? All this time, you thought SZK had hundreds of members around the country. There were eight of them? This new information was surprising, to say the least.

"Sweetheart?" he called out since you were not answering him.

"How-"

You were interrupted when the door opened. When your gaze shifted towards the door to see who had joined, your met eyes with the person you least expected to see. For a moment, you felt as if time had stopped as you exchanged looks.

"Bin?" you breathed out, your heart pounding.

There stood, alive and well, Changbin. "Holy fuck! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, running to hold you into his arms.

His embrace was warm and felt like home. After so many years, you felt at ease and tears were streaming down your face.

"Where the fuck were you? I searched for you everywhere." you cried out.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm here now, it's all good."

When you finally let go of him, he turned to Chris, who was clearly confused on what was happening. "Care to explain, Changbin?"

"She's her. She's Y/N."

Holding the ice pack to his head, Minho was mumbling some curses, still sore from your attacks.

"I'm sorry." you said shyly and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"So, Y/N." Chris started. "Can we do this interrogation again, please?"

You had moved to a small office, Minho tagging along. With knowing that Changbin was there, you felt more relaxed. However, it didn't stop you from being on your guard. Changbin might be a friend you've been looking for in the past 6 years, but him being part of SKZ changed things a little. You couldn't fully trust those men.

"Sure."

"Good. Who are you?"

"I'm Y/N. Been pretty much alone since everything started. I was a neighbour of Changbin and we grew up together. He was my closest friend. I've been trying to find him ever since the walls have been put up." you said, keeping it honest, but short.

"What I'm getting from this is that you're against the government as well?" he asked and you nodded. "Why were you with TXT?"

"I'm only here because Yeonjun quite literally begged me to help him get his friends. I didn't ask questions, I just wanted the job done."

"There was something in exchange?"

You paused, hesitantly, but nodded. "He said he knew where Changbin was."

From your answer, he got up and walked out of the room, leaving you and Minho alone. You smiled awkwardly at the man, who gave you a glare, still pissed at your previous encounter.

Outside, Chris had joined Changbin and Felix to talk. He didn't know what to do with you, and something was stopping from either releasing you, or finishing you off.

"Changbin." he called out and the man immediately focused his attention on his leader. "You know her. So, what's her deal?"

"I can't know for sure, I haven't seen her in years. She is colder than before, for sure. I doubt she is lying, though, but I can't be certain."

"Okay. What do I do with her? She might be lying and has tried to steal something from us."

"Honestly, Chan, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt." Changbin said.

With that, he went back to the office, encountering a rather uncomfortable silence between you and Minho. He coughed a bit before sitting back in front of you.

"Do you have any reason we should believe you?" Chan asked, continuing the interrogation.

"I'm repeating myself, but I quite don't care about what y'all do, and I am not fond of the authorities either."

"A reason we shouldn't believe you?"

"There are many, but one is that you don't know me."

"Your relationship with Yeonjun?"

"He used to work with me... and sleep with me."

"Have you crossed roads with any infected?"

"Two on our way here. I killed both."

"Did you get bitten?"

"Do you see a mark?

"No..." he trailed off.

This kept going for while, and Chan was strarting to be very precise with his questions, as he was wondering why you were on your own and why were you looking so desperately for Changbin. Until then, you were short with your responses, much to Chan's dislike. After a while, Minho, who had been observing the interraction this whole time, stepped forward to take the seat next to you.

Interrupting the conversation, he grunted in annoyance. "Chan, she seems fine to me. Can you just let her go? We're wasting time here."

"No wait." Chan paused, inspecting your traits. "I have some questions, concerning your skills."

"My skills?" you said, confused. "I think you saw them."

"I just know you knocked out my members, killed two infected, do some stupid deals in the city and fucked Yeonjun." he summed up while giving you a blank stare.

"Fucking is a skill?" you scoffed.

"I'm just repeating what you said, sweetheart. Now, skills?"

"I fight, I kill, I spy, I steal, I negociate and I lie." you listed and your last point seemed to grab Chan's attention. "Also, I don't owe shit to anyone."

"Have you thought of joining a group?"

"I told you, I'm on my own."

"But do you like it this way?"

You thought for a moment. Did you? "Yes."

Chan laughed and shook his head. "You're not so much of a good liar there, sweetheart."

You rolled your eyes. "Let's say I do fine alone but being alone can be rough at times."

Minho whined loudly once more. Not only did he have to listen to this whole pointless conversation, but he had to suffer from the tension happening between you and Chris, and he had to see his leader ask a hundred questions before getting to the point. It was very unlikely him, who would usually not bother talk and kill those who are on his path. With you, however, it seemed more like a game. It might be a fun one when in it, but Minho was done observing.

"He's asking you to join SKZ." Minho spilled out, going straight to the point.

"Thank you, Minho." Chan said, giving his friend a death stare.

Thinking about it, being on SKZ's good sad wasn't too bad of an idea. They are great fighters and took care of their business quickly, from what you've heard. Nonetheless, you still had your friends in mind, who remained detained at the moment. If joining the infamous rebels meant you could get them out, you might be able to help them out, after all.

"What do I have in exchange?" you asked, which took Chan by surprise.

"You would join us?"

You shrugged. "Depends on the offer."

"Of course, you'd ask something in return." Chan shook his head. "What do you want?"

"Release my friends. And give Yeonjun 1k silvers, he needs it. Also, I want to choose my own weapons and I still want to be able to do my uncle's deals. Last thing, I want to talk with Changbin, alone."

Chan looked at you curiously. You didn't ask anything for yourself, except talking with Changbin. For a world nearing its end, you were surprisingly selfless.

"Deal."

Yeonjun came to visit you a few days after. He thanked you a thousand times for what you had done for him but you weren't so happy with how things turned out. While you were close to punching Chan in the face, your friend had been nothing but grateful to the man.

"He really wanted to kill us, you know?"

You rolled your eyes while sharpening the knife you were gifted earlier that day. "I'm literally the one who saved you, but sure. Thank Chan for being such a good person."

Yeonjun frowned, hearing your tone. "You don't sound too fond of him."

"I asked for a moment with Changbin, and he still hasn't allowed me to stay in a room alone with him. It's almost been a week."

"You tend to be impatient-"

"I've waited for six years, Jun." you cut him off, pointing the knife at him. "I am patient, but I have limits."

He lifted his hands up in defense and sighed as you went back to sharpening. The building was so quiet, it was almost sickening. While you thought there would be more action in the group, there was almost nothing to do. Seungmin and Minho were in charge of looking into a cure and the remaining of them were mostly simply guarding the place. As for Chan, he and Changbin were nowhere to be seen.

"Do you know why he joined them?" Yeonjun asked.

"That's exactly what I'm wondering myself."

Just then, Felix walked in the room and took the seat next to Yeonjun, waving at you two. You nodded your head at him and focused back on the blade. Twirling it around, you sighed in boredom.

"Doing some training?" Felix asked.

"No, there's just nothing to do in this shithole." you deadpanned at him. "Weren't you on the lookout?"

"Changbin took over."

You huffed in disbelief. "It's as if Chris is doing everything in his power for me to not meet him."

"He will let you two talk eventually." he assured. "He's still on his guard with you, that's all."

"Sure." you spat out as you got up on your feet.

"What are you doing?" Yeonjun frowned, Felix having the same expression.

"I'm going to talk with Chan." you declared, walking towards the exit.

The boys didn't seem opposed to your idea, so they let you leave, although Felix did look more concerned. You had no idea where Chan could be. The building was so huge, you were barely starting familiarize yourself with the ground level. You soon spotted Hyunjin from afar and didn't waste a moment to run to him.

"Hey, Y/N." he smiled, his eyes almost closing.

"Do you know where Chan is?"

Startled by your lack of courtesy, he nodded his head nonetheless as he pointed to a door nearby.

"Thanks." you said as you left him there.

"He's with Seungmin, just saying." he yelled out but you ignored him.

You stormed into the room and the two men at your sudden entrance. While Seungmin got up with his gun pointing at you, Chan reached his hand out to him as a way to tell him to lower his weapon. You stared at him, unimpressed. He motioned for Seungmin to leave the two of you alone. As the door closed, he invited you to sit with him.

"What is it?"

You looked at him, baffled. "That's it? What is it? I know you know."

He nodded. "Changbin, isn't it?"

"Obviously..."

He shrugged. "What about him?"

"Stop messing with me, Chris." you warned, getting up to lean on the desk to get closer to him.

Sighing heavily, his shoulders dropped in defeat. Without adding another word, he stood up and gestured for you to follow him. You were skeptical of how easy it had been to convince him but didn't say anything about it. If you were just about to get what you wanted, there was no way you'd complain.

Chan made you follow for a good ten minutes. Turning left and right, going up and down the stairs... you were almost scared of getting lost. It was all worth it in the end, though. As soon as he opened the door to the rooftop, you spotted Changbin who wasn't doing much other than playing around with his gun.

"Bin." you called out and the man in question turned around, seemingly taken aback from your presence.

You mouthed a small "thank you" to Chris who answered with a quick nod before leaving, closing the door behind him. You let out a sigh of relief and went to go hug your old friend. As Changbin was still on duty, he returned the embrace coldly as he was watching around the building.

"What are you doing here? I thought Yeonjun was visiting you today." he asked.

"Fuck Yeonjun, I've seen enough of his face. What about you? I've nearly said a word to you since I arrived."

He chuckled, visibly still fond of you. "You haven't changed."

You shrugged, fully knowing you weren't the same person he once knew. "I guess I kept some of my old mannerisms."

He nodded slowly before looking to the view of the city you had. A moment of silence felt both good and torturous. He was right there, just next to you, and you weren't talking still.

"So? How did you get here?" you said, breaking the ice.

"Wow, going straight to the point." he laughed. "I don't know. After the evacuation, I was pretty much on my own. I still have no idea where my family is, if I'm being honest. About five years ago, I had a quibble with Han. It was over some food or whatever, I don't remember. Anyway, I beat him but it was cold that night so he offered to go back to his hideout. And that's when I met Chris. The guy saved our lives, I've never met someone quite like him."

You hummed as he finished. You were as much worried as he was about finding family and such. And that's what he was to you, family. The exact reason why you've been wanting to find him for so long. He was your comfort place, your home. Someone who had been there for you far more than your actual family.

"No." he spoke again. "He actually reminds me of you at times."

Seeing the knowing smile on his face, you cleared your throat as you grew uncomfortable. "So you thought of me..."

"Obviously. You were my closest friend."

Nostalgia hitting you right in the face, you smiled sadly to yourself. "These were the good days."

"They were. How did you even survive on your own, anyway? Six years alone, it must have been rough."

You could hear the worry in his voice which you almost took as an insult. You are small and lanky for sure, but you have always managed to do everything by yourself and with success.

"I was with my uncle for the first year before I ran away. I believe I was alone for about two years, which wasn't that hard. I made contacts everywhere and it became pretty handy. Then my uncle found me and we've been having this thing going on ever since. I do his deals and he pays me." you explained.

Changbin scoffed. "He's still around?"

You nodded. "After my dad got infected, he was pretty much all I had left. Except for you, who I have tried to contact for the past couple of years." you said, sending him a glare.

He held his hands up in defense. "It's not my fault SKZ is a secret organization. I would've put the whole team in danger if I answered your radio signals."

You crossed your arms on your chest. "A little sign of life would've been nice, though."

"Please, Y/N. I'm sorry, okay?"

A loud explosion nearby cut the conversation short. Looking to where it came from, you saw Felix and Jeongin hiding behind a wall while a crowd of infected people ran towards them. They had seemingly threw a bomb at them but it was clearly uneffective. Instinctively, you took Changbin's gun and went ahead with shooting the monsters who were the closest to the boys. Jeongin took a moment to spot you before nodding his head as a sign of thank you. While you continued to shoot, he grabbed Felix and rushed him to a building further away.

"Changbin, Y/N!" Yeonjun's voice said as it came from the door Chris had previously gone through. "The building's not safe anymore, come with me."

You rushed to follow him and walked down the stairs to get to a level where you could jump to the building beside. Changbin took his gun back and made sure to beat any infected with whom you'd come upon.

"Are Seungmin and Minho alright with the cure? And Chris-"

"They're all fine, now's not the time." Yeonjun shut you up.

A couple of levels later, you left the staircase to go find a window wide enough to go through. As it seemed to be a quieter place, you allowed yourself to calm down and take a look around. It resembled an old office room where workers would type all day about whatever.

"I never came here." Changbin informed.

"We didn't necessarily need this space anyway." Chris said as he walked in the room, limping slightly. "I've gotten everyone out, it's just us now."

"Where are the others?" you asked.

Chris let out a grunt from the pain his leg was causing but still took the time to answer you. "I don't know but we have a meeting point. We'll find each other again eventually. It is a shame, though, this place has been the longest settlement we've had so far."

"Oh, fuck." Yeonjun cursed before running to the doors, shutting them closed. "We don't have much time and the way to the next building isn't that simple."

"What do you mean?"

Changbin pointed to the hole in the wall. "It leads to a balcony. The plank of wood there can be our bridge."

You went ahead and helped him get the piece of wood, trying your best to get it out as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Yeonjun was trying his best to keep the door closed but as more infected came, it became harder. Chris wanted to help but his leg wasn't letting him. Helplessly, he watched Yeonjun struggle and you and Changbin doing everything to get out fast.

In his mind, he was already dead. He thought about Minho for a moment, hoping he had taught the younger man everything to take over his place as leader. He truly hoped he did. Because he wasn't going to make it. He would only slow everyone down.

"Man, come here." Changbin yelled at him.

"You'll have to go without me." he declared, feeling defeated.

This caught your attention and you went back to Chris. Seeing him so vulnerable, your heart sank. If he was like Changbin had described him, it would be a waste for him to die. With a determined walk, you went to his side and put his arm around your neck to be his support.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving your ass." you rolled your eyes before looking at Yeonjun. "Jun, we can go now."

Your friend's face was fully red, a result of his entire strength used to keep away the monsters. Even if he wanted to, he wasn't going to have the energy to join you and leave. And one glance at each other was everything it took for you to understand that.

"You've been great, Jun." you smiled sadly, not even feeling the single tear that left your eye.

He gave you a small smirk, the best he could give you given the circumstances.

With a heavy heart, you grabbed tightly onto Chris and dragged him all the way to the hole in the wall, and then to the improvised bridge you and Changbin made. The latter was already on the other side but he crossed back to give you a hand with Chan. You sat the man down so he could slide instead of walk. Once safely arrived, you hurried to join them and throw the plank down, preventing the zombie-like creatures to follow you.

Out of breath, the three of you dropped on the floor. You couldn't believe it, you had just lost Yeonjun. Sure, he wasn't your favourite person on Earth but he had never left your side for years. In a way, he was your safe space. An annoying one for sure but it hurt nonetheless. And without saying a thing, you let one more tear drop from your eye while being totally unaware of Chan's gaze on you.

Normally, you would have left the neighborhood entirely. But because Christopher was having an issue with his right leg, this was not an option. Staying at the highest floor of the building next to the old SKZ headquarters, you were pleasantly surprised by the arrangement of the space. Someone had stayed there for a bit but left their bedding as well as their canned food and magazines. Maybe this person died but it didn't matter to you at that moment. You were just grateful to have access to such a luxury.

You all had a long day and deserved a rest, and Chan needed it the most. You had bickered beforehand about who was going to stay awake in case of anything but you inevitably won the argument.

With the light provided by the lamp in the middle of the small room, you read out loud the words written on the pages. Boring was one way to describe the texts but it was better than nothing.

"-the release of the movie had been much awaited by fans from all around the world. At its first screening in theaters-"

"What movie?" Chris cut you off.

"Avatar 2."

He chuckled. "It was a big thing, wasn't it?"

"Movie theaters..." Changbin said dreamily. "Will we ever be able to have this kind if experience again?"

You could only roll your eyes. "This is mothing compared to our movie nights."

"Gosh, I forgot about those!"

Chan frowned. "You two were pretty close, yeah?"

Changbin grinned. "My whole childhood was with her."

"At its first screening in theaters, many complained about-"

"Let's do something else." Chan cut you off, snatching the magazine out of your hands.

"What else do you suggest?" you sighed, knowing there wasn't much to do.

"We can chat a bit, learn about each other."

Changbin shook his head. "We already know each other."

"I don't know her, and you might not be aware of some things about her too."

"Fine. Y/N, how's your uncle doing?" he asked, not expecting much of it.

"Head of the bounty group in the city. He's enjoying power and abusing people but at least he gives me some money from time to time." you answered.

"Let me guess, when you do the job for him."

You nodded and that pretty much shut the whole conversation. Well, for the two of you. Chris' mind was going through a whirlwind of questions to ask. He was fascinated by your ability to remain calm and unfazed but it surely meant you had gone through something that made you this way. He wanted to know what happened. He wanted to dig into your mind to find the troubled girl. He wanted to help her.

"Your parents died, no? How did you deal with that?"

Your jaw clenched and you noticed Changbin was ready to throw some fists. Surprisingly, you weren't mad that he dared to mention your parents. In some way, you had beeb waiting for an opportunity to think of them. Ever since they died, you didn't let yourself take a moment for them.

"I coped the best way I could. I mainly tried to forget about it but I miss them still, you know? And my uncle has always been an ass so it didn't help much that he was still alive, let's say. He's family but I would've rather not if I'm being honest."

Chan chuckled. "He seems like one hell of a persona."

"Believe me, he is."

"It reminds me of my own parents."

You frowned, intrigued. "Are they..?"

"Dead, yes. My sister too. I don't know where my brother is but he most likely didn't make it. I miss them too but I made my own little family now. And I won't lose them."

Your gaze softened at his words. Scary is definitely a good word to describe Chris but deep down, he was a simple guy wanting to do good to protect his friends.

"You're part of it now, you know?"

You cleared your throat, uncertain on how to react. "Right... Uhm, it's getting late. You two can sleep, I'll be on the lookout."

Changbin took the gun from you before you could stand up, sending you a look that said plenty to you. He was going to watch first. You let him do and looked at his back while he went to sit next to the closed door.

"I get why you took Bin with you." you said in a low tone to Chris while settling down on the small blanket next to him.

He laid on the mattress himself as he replied. "Why?"

"He's built like a bodyguard, mentally and physically."

"He is, but he was so vulnerable when I met him. I was in a similar headspace and with Han being the anxious guy he is, we were a unique trio."

You didn't expect him to open up like this about the past, especially not the beginnings of SKZ. The organization might be small, as you know now, but the power they hold is something. Knowing the slightest information about them could ruin their doings. But since you were a member, you guessed it didn't matter now.

"We had a different name back then, 3Racha. We thought we were clever but when the other guys joined, it wasn't a good fit anymore."

You laughed. "Good call on changing the name. Why SKZ, though?"

"Stray Kids, a good representation of us I think. We're wandering around with a purpose but, in the end, we're all children still."

You liked that way of thinking. You were about to ask more in terms of the formation of the group but Chris' grunt took you off guard. Wincing more as he wiggles around more, you sat up and leaned towards his body to check where the pain was coming from. From the way he was holding onto his leg, you could tell this was the issue.

"Can I take a look?"

While panting heavily, he nodded in a hurry as if he was begging you to make the pain go away. Carefully, you pulled the blanket off him and went ahead with rolling his pants up to above his knee. That part of his body had clearly gone through a slight fracture.

"Gosh, what the hell did you do?" you mumbled more to yourself than to him.

"I was pushed down the stairs by an infected, no bites though."

You started to massage his knee a bit but the wince he let out was enough to make you stop. Instead, you ripped a piece of your shirt, one long enough so you could wrap it around his leg.

"I don't know if this will help for sure but it will keep it stable for a bit. The more you move, the more it'll hurt and worsen." you explain was tying it all up.

Chris watched you in admiration. There was something about you that he hadn't seen before, softness. There was worry and care in your touch.

"Thank you."

You gave him a small smile. "We don't want our leader to suffer now, do we?"

"Suffering is part of the equation, Y/N. The sacrifices I make are for the others."

"For tonight, it might be good for you to feel at peace. We don't know what will happen tomorrow."

You said this as if this had not been the case for the last six years. Every day was an adventure with risks. However, now that the team no longer had a safe space, it was much more dangerous to be out in the forbidden zones.

"Sleep well, Y/N." Chan finally spoke up, laying down again.

"You too."

It took two weeks for Chris to be able to walk in some way. In that time, your trio grew to have a routine. You and Changbin would switch places every night for the lookout but he was most often out to get the food and such. That left you and Chan alone together for the majority of the time. You didn't mind, Chris was fun when he wanted to be.

You grew closer which made you both glad. You didn't feel like you were walking on eggshells every time you were around him anymore. Instead, you felt safe. He had the trick with words so he could tell you anything in the wisest way possible. That, or he was flirting.

Maybe it was due to his lack of action in the love department, but he would make flirty comments nonstop.

One time, Changbin left to see if he could get a hold of some medicine for Chan's leg. The moment he left, Chris was at it again.

"Now that he's gone, that leaves us alone again." he had said with an eyebrow raised.

This had to stop, now that you were on the move again. The sole focus had to be finding the other boys, and only Chris knew where to find them.

On the run again, you left your little temporary hideout that morning with only a couple of belongings with yourselves such as food and weapons. You were far away from the city now, leaving you wondering where the hell Chris had planned to go.

"Are we there yet?" you asked with a whine on purpose.

"No, I've told you." he answered calmly.

His patience was impressive but you were testing his limits. "How long do we have still?"

"More than expected if you continue complaining like this."

Changbin held back a laugh. For him, seeing the new dynamic his friends had was entertaining. The growth from being distant to joking around all the time was the last thing he would've expected from the two of you.

A couple of miles later, you settled down in an abandoned convenience store to take a small break. To your luck, some snacks were still intact as well as some beverages. This brought back memories from when you would demand sodas from your father and he would repeatedly tell you how bad it was for your health. Let's say it didn't matter anymore. Food was food.

"Look! They got ramen." Chris said, bringing a box full of them.

"Jackpot." you cheered, taking one pack for yourself.

"If only we have boiling water." Changbin pointed out but Chris coming from the back of the store with a boiler shut him off real quick. "Nevermind."

"It almost feels like we're robbing someone's safe place, this store has everything."

Chris shrugged. "We're not staying for long, just to refill our stomachs. We'll continue after."

Your eyes widened. "You mean we won't sleep?"

"Not tonight, we slept plenty last week. What, did you want to cuddle with me?" he winked at you.

"As if." you scoffed.

Changbin, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the tension, started to get the food ready. In the meantime, you and Chan kept an eye outside just in case. In no time, the three of you were on the ground, slurping on your noodles loudly. This might had been the first good meal you had in a long time. You really took instant noodles for granted back when you had easy access to it.

"Are you done?" Chris asked as he finished his bowl.

You and Changbin hurried to finish and you were back to walking again, not forgetting to pack a couple of items from the store.

It felt like you had been advancing for eternity without getting much closer. You were mostly silent, that didn't help. You were growing more and more bored by the minute and, visibly, both boys felt the same.

"Truth or dare?" you suddenly spoke, startling the guys.

"Uh, Y/N?" Changbin said, confused.

"Might as well make the most of this trip." you shrugged. "Truth or dare?"

Chan was the first to answer. "Truth."

"Do you really think we'll find a cure?"

He gave you a look, as if to tell you that you were being weird. "I think so, but it won't be a thing done by the snap of my fingers. Bin?"

"Dare."

"Hum the hapoy birthday song."

"Boring. Y/N?"

"Truth."

Changbin smirked at you, a sign he was uo to no good with his question. "Who's the most handsome in SKZ?"

You cleared your throat, keeping your eyes in front of you. From the side, you noticed Chan looking at you as he expected your answer more excitedly than he should.

"Uh, do I have to say?"

"Yes." both men answered.

You breathed out loudly and stopped on your tracks to look at them both. "You're all good-looking in your own ways but... uh... Chan is pretty nice to look at." you mumbled quickly before walking again.

Chan's smirk crept on his face before he jogged to catch up with your speed. Meanwhile, Changbin proudly tapped his own shoulder to congratulate himself.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear properly." Chris questioned, though you knew he had heard it perfectly.

"Don't make me repeat it."

"I'm pretty nice to look at? This might be the best compliment I have ever received." he snorted in a sarcastic way, earning a glare from you. "If it can help your case, you're pretty cute too, you know?"

If you could control it, you wouldn't blush. Never would you accept a compliment from Chris, even less after you were forced to give him one.

"Let's go back to walking in silence, shall we?" you suggested, ignoring the man completely. "Changbin, can I walk with you?"

He shrugged. "Nah, I'm good in my bubble."

You wanted to rip his head off at this instant but refrained yourself from doing so. Evidently, you had no choice but to continue to trip with Chan next to you.

"Ignoring people is rude."

"I'm not ignoring you." you defended, although it couldn't be any more false.

"It's not such a good look on you, baby."

Your eyes went wide immediately. In the spur of the moment, you shoved him to the side and fastened your speed of walk. You weren't even mad at the nickname. In fact, you kind of liked how bold Chris was. Anywho, you had no time to flirt, even less with the SKZ leader. Trying to recollect yourself, you focused on your breathing to being it back to a normal pace.

Only for Chan to show up again.

"It was a joke, I'm sorry."

"Uhm." you hummed, still not acknowledging him.

"Y/N..."

"It's fine, don't worry."

Feeling defeated, he didn't push it further. So you continued to walk, only hearing the wind and the sounds from your footsteps.

The warehouse was most likely a place they had previously chosen as a base. The equipment was still functional and tons of weapons had been hidden in a safe place under the floor of the basement. Heavy barbed wire all around on top of high fences, you wondered why they even left this place to begin with.

"Not discreet enough." Minho answered your question, which you had seemingly said outloud. "With all the heavy security mesures here, we are easily spotted by enemies. Sure, it's safer but we prefer places where we can work hidden from anyone."

You were glad the whole group made it to the safe meeting point. Jisung immediately went about taking care of Chan's injury while everyone gathered to figure out what to do next.

"We can always travel to the east part of the country?" Hyunjin suggested.

Seungmin, however, disapproved. "With an injured leader and a newbie on the team, we might want to stay close to the city."

"There's always TXT's hiding place." Jeongin shrugged.

It pinched inside to hear that group. You missed Yeonjun, more than you would have imagined.

"It's too small for you all." you argued.

"Yeah, I need the equipment for the research." Minho added.

"We'll stay here." Chan announced as he came back with Jisung. "We are almost done with the formula, we need a couple more weeks and it should be ready to test. I doubt we'll have issues until then."

"I added traps all around the base while we were waiting for the threesome people, we should be safe." Jisung precised before slumping down on a couch.

"Threesome people?" Chris repeated in a mumble.

"Yeah, like how Changbin was surely going to sleep with Y/N and Y/N and Chris keep eye-fucking each other nonstop."

"We got the point, thanks Jisung." Jeongin stopped him, which you were grateful for.

"She's like a sister to me, that'd be so wrong." Changbin continued.

You sent him a glare but he ignored it. "No one's slept or will sleep with anyone."

"Hmm, you'd be surprised." Hyunjin argued.

"I don't want the details."

Chan clapped his hands together, shutting the conversation. "Can we get back to work?"

Everybody went to their position: Felix and Jeongin on the lookout on the roof, Changbin at the entrance, Jisung and Hyunjin in training, Minho and Seungmin on the cure...

You were left alone with Chris in his new office. With a radio at hand, you were trying to catch any signals of new research found about the virus of potential visits from enemies that you could prepare for. It wasn't that exciting other than hearing people talk.

"Y/N L/N... works for... reward of..." you heard while tuning in the radio.

You had completely forgotten about your uncle, even more the load of work you still had to execute for him. In a moment of panic, you stood uo and paced around the room, looking for your stuff.

"Woah, Y/N." Chris said, standing up as well.

"I have to go back." you announced, breath unsteady.

"What?"

"My uncle, he's gonna kill me if I don't finish his deals."

He frowned. He had tried to understand why you were so insistent on continuing to work for that guy. From his point of view, nothing beneficial for you. You would receive much less than what you deserve, get treated like shit and live in a shitty torn down apartment.

"You don't have to-"

"You don't understand." you interrupted him. "That man is the reason why I'm still alive. I did all of his work and he allowed me to get by in exchange. I let him down, he can ruin my name. He has contacts, I know he will kot hesitate to-"

"You don't have to." Chan repeated. "You're not there anymore, you're not trapped. Look, I don't know what happened with the two of you but I think he might have manipulated you. Telling you that you owe him for what he did for you? You don't owe him anything, he's the one who owes you. You do all of his dirty work for a few silvers and do it all again the next day. And what if he ruins your name? You can't be found with us. Well, your chances are low let's say. You're safe."

You hadn't noticed he had taken your hands in reassurance until you felt his thumbs rubbing against your skin. This might had been the first time someone had touched you like this, so intimately. As much as it was a foreign sensation, you felt as if there was nothing else but you and him. As if a bubnle had created around you. As tears dropped from your eyes, you took in what he just said. For years, you believed you had no choice but to give back to your uncle for lpoking after you, when in reality, he had never done anything but use you. Chan was right.

You let out a chuckle. "In a way, you saved me. By recruiting me."

"In a way."

You stepped forward, getting closer to him. So close that you could smell him. He smelled fresh and new, nothing like someone who spent years being a rebel. Looking up to stare back at him, his gaze had moved down to your lips. So you looked at his lips too and, slowly, you moved closer to each other until you kissed.

It was nothing like you had experienced before. There wasn't just lust and want in the kiss, there was anger, sadness, relief.... It wasn't a clear mix but it felt good.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to seem to take advantage of the situation or-"

You shushed him with a small peck. "You're not, I swear. Look, I don't do great at relationship stuff but-"

It was his turn to cut you off as he let out a laugh. "There is no pressure."

For a moment, you could only smile and stare at one another. This was simple, easy. You loved it, actually.

"... vaccine in development..." the radip glitched, grabbing both your attention. "... no cure found... coming from yeast... mores tests..."

Chan took a deep breath. "I think the guys are going to like that information."

"What do you mean?"

His smile grew bigger. "We know the source of it now. If the guys can combine the source with the developped molecule, we might find a way to prevent it from evolving."

"So..?" you asked again, still not fully understanding.

"We're near the end of it all, Y/N."

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[kwanisms]

Kinktober 「10:25」 — l.minho

» stray kids menu | lee know menu | kinktober masterlist «

➮ alien!Minho × fem!Reader wc: 5.4k summary: After Minho’s return to Earth, Y/N has spent the last year traveling the galaxy with her alien boyfriend. While exploring a tropical moon orbiting a massive planet in a binary star system, Y/N accidentally disturbs a cluster of bulbous purple luminescent flowers that release a glowing purple dust that sticks to her clothes and skin. She returns to Minho’s ship hoping that the dust isn’t toxic and will wash off but as she soon finds out, the dust is a very sparkly and very potent aphrodisiac and it has a profound effect on not only her, but on Minho as well. genres/themes/au: fluff, smut; supernatural, horror, thriller; non idol au, monster idol au warnings: adult dialogue, female reader, supernatural and horror themes; sexual content (18+ mdni), see smut warnings under the cut! taglist has been moved to reblogs join my taglists! kinktober taglist is CLOSED! Strikethrough means I cannot tag you.  MINORS WILL BE BLACKLISTED & BLOCKED. AGELESS BLOGS WILL ALSO BE BLOCKED.

a/n: *eminem voice* guess who's back, back again. That's right! alien!Minho from Ninsa is back! If you haven't read the first part, you don't have to but you can find it here! This is gonna make y'all soft but only at the beginning. Things are gonna get hairy for our favorite alien-human couple pretty quickly! So glad to be visiting this au again. I love alien!Minho so much )): tomorrow is the final piece for Stray Kids and is also a sequel for Han's part from last year! Thank you so much for reading and as always, this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. for entertainment purposes only. 

smut warnings: teratophilia (aka monsterfucking), sex pollen (f receiving, m receiving), breeding, mild dirty talk, biting (f receiving), minor cumflation (f receiving), impregnation kink, use of pet names (hers: baby, sweetheart, love, cute shit like my star, etc.; his: babe, Min, Minmin, etc.), dom!Minho, sub!Reader, slight brat!Reader. I think I got all of them, but let me know if I missed any! kinks: Sex pollen + breeding dialogue prompt: ❛❛ Baby… you need me that badly? ❜❜

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A soft breeze blew through the trees, the leaves rustling and dancing overhead as you hiked through the dense grass. Glancing to the left, you noticed the sky starting to take on a darker hue. You pulled your sleeve back, checking the dial of your watch that read it was getting later in the day.

You should be heading back; you were heading back. It wasn’t entirely your fault that you kept getting distracted by the scenery. It was unlike anything you’d ever seen in any science fiction movie or show. The lush forest of the alien moon, orbiting a massive desert planet, wasn’t something you could have ever imagined. Minho had said the planet was called Kojar 6, orbiting a large star called Kojar which was part of the Kojar-Faline binary star system. There were 7 planetoids, Kojar 6 being the largest of the pack with two moons.

You had wanted to visit Kojar 6 but Minho had explained that there was nothing on the planet anymore. Nothing but sand being whipped around by the intense winds. Winds that could potentially rip a person to shreds. There were no people, no buildings, no animals on the surface. Only sand.

He promised the moons were much more interesting.

The first moon was an icy wasteland that reminded you of Hoth from the Star Wars series. Minho refused to land there, calling it a frozen and barren wasteland like Kojar 6 only instead of sand, it was ice and snow. That moon was called Ciyebos. The second, the one you were currently visiting, was a tropical world called Zocunia. It was a lush, vibrant jungle world not unlike that of Pandora in the Avatar franchise.

The flora and fauna were both incredibly unique, with very few predators. The few that did exist, you were confident in dealing with should you come across them. Since bringing you along to Ninsa, Minho had been insistent that you learn to defend yourself as he couldn’t always be around to protect you.

Much of the flora was incredibly beautiful, looking like something out of a fantasy world or a science fiction movie. Vibrants blues, purples, greens, and even turquoises, and pinks. Back home, on Earth, the more vibrant something was, the more dangerous it was. On other planets, that rule didn’t always apply.

As you continued to trudge through the knee high thick green grass, something round, bulbous, and bright caught your eye. You froze, turning your head to find nestled at the base of a tree that extended tens of feet towards the sky was a cluster of plants.

You carefully walked over, stepping over exposed roots and boulders. As you reached it, you knelt down, inspecting the plant. You’d long learned not to just touch things after contacting a rash from a flower that looked incredibly pretty and harmless. Minho luckily knew a remedy and was able to get rid of it with relative ease.

You instead raised the camera in your hands, a gift from your alien fiance from his world that he’d given you on your one year anniversary. Your phone could have worked for pictures but the device would only survive space travel for so long whereas this device was much better designed for space travel.

You snapped a few pictures, the shutter clicking as you pressed the button with the flowers in focus.

Looking up from the LCD display screen of the camera, you inspected the flowers with more scrutiny. 

They were glowing, having some sort of bioluminescence that a lot of flora on this moon seemed to exhibit. An evolutionary trait, Minho had explained when you first asked him about it.

“Much of this world’s flora has evolved to glow at night. It’s both a defense mechanism and a hunting tactic. Half of the lunar year, this moon is bathed in darkness, hiding behind Kojar 6. The bioluminescence lets the plants still feed and ward off predators at the same time.”

You loved listening to him as he seemed to be full of knowledge you’d never be able to learn on your own. He’d promised to take you to the libraries on Ninsa when you eventually landed there. Minho had promised that he’d take you to his home world, let you see his life and be part of it.

It took Minho three years to return to Earth and find you after you left Derry and your old life behind. He asked you to travel with him. To leave Earth behind and travel to Ninsa with him. He explained how the three years apart had been hell and he didn’t want to return to his home without you.

The opportunity to travel was one you wanted more than anything so you didn’t need much persuasion and readily agreed to leave behind your life to be with him. To see something far beyond what anyone could ever dream of. It was all you wanted more than anything in the universe.

It wasn’t long after you left Earth that Minho professed his love for you, asking you to spend the rest of your lives together to which you immediately said yes. You had been on an alien planet, enjoying the sunset when he asked you out of the blue. He didn’t have a ring to give you but he promised that the moment you landed on Ninsa, he would get you one.

You tilted your head, looking at the translucent membrane of the bulbous flower, a slight swirling inside, visible only due to the bioluminescence source deep in the center of the plant. As you leaned closer, the light started pulsating and you instantly drew back. “Alright,” you said softly. “Time to go.”

You snapped one more picture before shutting off the camera and pulling at the lens cover to place it back over the lens but no matter how hard you tugged, it wouldn’t come loose from the holder. “Goddamn it,” you grumbled as you tried to pry it off. “What the fu- oh shit!”

Just as you were pulling, it finally came loose but slipped from your grip and fell onto the flowers, bouncing off the bulbous membrane and falling to the ground. You scrambled to pick it up, snapping it onto the lens and looking up with wide eyes as the translucent flower trembled. Before you could draw back, the leaves popped open into a five petal flower, a cloud of sparkling purple dust exploding from the pressure trapped within.

You stumbled backwards sputtering as you waved your hand, trying to diffuse the dust and coughing. ‘Fuck,’ you mentally cursed, looking over your clothes, noticing the glittery dust had settled and as you tried to brush it off, it only seemed to spread more along the gray body suit Minho had given you.

You looked around and sighed before getting to your feet slowly. “Guess I’m gonna need to shower,” you whispered to yourself and started the walk back to camp where the ship was. You could use the outdoor shower Minho had set up for the two of you and hopefully he could grab you a spare suit from the ship.

You used your clean hand to rub your nose, a tickle settling in as you headed in the direction of camp, hoping whatever this dust was that it wasn’t toxic.

Minho took a deep breath, keeping his eyes forward as he watched the third bhunqoi hop closer and closer to his trap. He’d managed to capture two already and needed a third for dinner. The small lagomorph-like critter turned its head in his direction and Minho froze, hoping he hadn’t been made but when it took one more hop, falling into his pit trap, he knew success.

He sighed a breath of relief, getting up and pushing the leaves blocking his body from sight off and making his way over to look into the pit. It would seem the animal landed in a way that ensured it did not suffer. Minho hated hunting but sometimes it was a necessary evil for survival.

He collected the animal and moved back to his hiding place, grabbing the cloth bag with the wild fruits and vegetables he’d gathered before heading in the direction of camp. He’d allowed you to go off on your own and explore the perimeter surrounding their camp, making sure the stakes were still standing after the storm the night before.

He knew tropical storms on Zocunia were bad this time of year which is why he chose to pick a spot in the forest instead of on a beach or grassland. The trees provided an extra shelter over the ship, not that the hull really needed it. 

He’d upgraded his ship upon returning to Ninsa after leaving Earth the first time, ensuring that in the event of any more spontaneous crash landings, the hull would still remain intact. 

The Kojar was starting to set, bathing the landscape in an orange-ish golden glow, shadows becoming elongated and more pronounced as he finally reached the ship. His foraging hadn’t taken him far from camp, and hunting had brought him closer as he tried to stay within the perimeter.

Minho reached your base camp relatively quickly and immediately started a fire and prepared the meat for roasting while wondering where you could have gotten to that you would still be gone from camp. He tried not to fear the worst, knowing he prepared you for time on your own but he couldn’t help it. This was an alien planet and while most of the animals were docile, he really didn’t want another incident like the alien wolf encounter.

You had spent a couple days on a beautiful alien planet with him where he couldn’t hold himself back and asked you to marry him when you both returned to his home world. It had been spontaneous and spur of the moment but he meant every word when he said he never wanted to be without you again. 

He wanted to start a life with you on Ninsa, get married, buy a house, all the domestic things his friends were starting to do. He wanted all of that with you. Children was another topic you would have to have at some point because while he knew you were biologically compatible, there were other ways of having children. Other ways of starting a family.

As he set up the bhunqoi to roast in the flames, he sat in one of the chairs he’d set up and waited for you to return while he peeled and prepared the fruits he’d managed to forage. He was sure the conversation would happen sooner or later and when it did, things would be much clearer on where you both stood.

You were getting closer to camp as you walked, noticing the small signs you set up for yourself as you trudged through the forest. “When did it get so hot?” you whispered, wiping a bead of sweat from your forehead. As you walked, your body started to feel hotter and hotter. Almost like you had a fever.

Maybe it was the dust you’d come into contact with but you couldn’t be certain. Minho would know more. You just needed to get back to camp. ‘Almost there…’ 

You stopped briefly to lean against a tree, letting out a pant as your breathing started to increase, your heart rate rising as well. You weren’t sure what was going on and you really hoped whatever was affecting you wasn’t some sort of toxin and that you might be able to sleep it off. 

Reaching up, you unzipped the neck of your bodysuit down to the top of your bust, letting out a sigh of relief as the cool air hit your skin, a thin layer of sweat starting to form. It wasn’t much but it was something. You pushed off the tree, starting your hike up again and hoping to reach the camp before the sun set, despite the very pretty bioluminescence.

Your panties were starting to stick to you and though you hoped it was just the sweat, the heat settling in the pit of your stomach told you otherwise. You couldn’t understand it. You were alone in the middle of a jungle on an alien moon. What could possibly have worked you up so much when Minho was somewhere else entirely.

You tried to push the images of your fiancee from your mind as your body started to burn and ache for his touch. ‘Just to help me feel better. Not because I want to fuck or anything,’ you told yourself. You just wanted the heat to end and your body to settle down. ‘Minho will know what to do.’ 

Minho’s ears picked up on the sound of twigs snapping and looked up, seeing a form moving through the shadow of the canopy, a smile forming as you entered his line of sight, ambling along. His silly, clumsy, little human fiancee. He watched as you finally emerged from the understory, a smirk on his face. “Welcome back,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

His smile fell immediately as you stumbled forward, nearly falling. It was then that he noticed the feverish look on your face. There was no way that was good. “Y/N, sweetheart?” he asked, voice laced with concern as he got up and started to walk over, crossing the distance to catch you as your knees gave out. “M’okay,” you murmured, fingers gripping his biceps as he held you up.

“Like hell you are,” Minho growled as he helped you back over to the ship. “What happened?” he asked, helping you into a chair by the fire. “I-I don’t know,” you breathed heavily, swallowing the lump in your throat. The burning sensation had spread, an ache settling between your thighs, the gusset of your panties was beyond soaked by this point and you knew it wasn’t from sweat.

Minho pressed his palm against your forehead, clicking his tongue as he measured your temperature in the most basic of ways. “You’re burning up,” he noted. “You need to get in the show--” his voice trailed off as he noticed a purplish glittery dust on your clothes. Glancing down, he could see that it had transferred to his hands and clothes. “What is this?” he asked, glancing up and noticing the dust on your cheeks and nose.

“I dropped the camera lens cap into this cluster of flowers,” you panted. “I took pictures of it,” you added, pointing at the camera case. Minho shook his head. “Don’t worry about that right now, my star,” he said softly. “Let’s get you into the shower.”

Minho helped you up, leading you over to the outdoor shower he’d set up and helped you peel out of your suit before heading for the ship’s entrance, taking your suit with him and putting it in the wash. He stripped himself, adding his clothes to the wash as well and changing into some spare clothing.

Once back outside, he returned to the fire, turning the roasted bhunqoi over and sitting back.

He was thankful he’d taken the suit off as he started to grow warm. He sat for a moment, the heat settling in his senses, spreading throughout his body. It was a burning desire unlike anything he’d ever felt before. ‘What is wrong with you, idiot?’ he berated himself. Was it the thought of you being naked in the outdoor shower? It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to being intimate with you. 

Since leaving earth and setting a course for Ninsa, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off you at all. It was nothing new. So why was he so hot right now? His thoughts were interrupted as his eyes fell on the camera case and got up, crossing the distance to grab it and unzipped the pouch, pulling out the camera and pressing the button to turn it on.

The screen lit up, displaying the brand logo before going black, a little window popping up to remind him that the lens cap was still on. Minho ignored it, opening the gallery instead. He scrolled through the photos, a small smile on his face as he saw what you had seen.

He cleared his throat, feeling his pants tighten. ‘What the hell?’ he asked himself as he looked down. He tried to ignore the obvious tent growing in his pants, uncertain of what was causing it. It’s like his body was acting on its own accord. The thought of joining you in the shower crossed his mind and he grimaced. ‘This is hardly the time,’ he told himself as he tried to push the thoughts aside.

He returned his focus to the camera, scrolling through the pictures until he stopped on an image of the flowers you must have been talking about. They weren’t like anything he’d seen before. The bioluminescence was familiar, but the translucent milky membrane and the swirling purple glitter inside were not.

‘Is it some sort of toxin?’ he wondered, zooming in on the picture to inspect it. Minho turned the camera off as he heard the outdoor shower turn off and set the device aside, getting and grabbing the spare clothes he'd grabbed for you and walked over.

You pulled back the curtain, peeking out at him. Your eyes were glossed over, not unlike when he had you spread out underneath him. “I brought you some clean clothes,” he said softly. “And this.” He held up a clean towel. You thanked him, taking the towel and dropping the curtain back in place as you wrapped yourself up.

“Did you bring any shoes?” you asked, pulling back the curtain and looking up at him. Minho nodded, holding out the slides you'd brought with you from home. You thanked him, slipping them on and stepping out of the shower. The cool air felt nice against your burning skin, heat still coursing through your veins and pooling in your belly. 

Minho tore his gaze from the exposed skin of your shoulder, trying to ignore the way the droplets of water rolled down your skin. He handed the clean clothes to you before reaching his hand up to feel your forehead. His hand was warm against your skin as he pressed his palm against your head. “You're still burning up,” he murmured.

He took your free hand in his, raising it to press a tender kiss to the back. “Go inside and lie down. I'll come get you once it's done.” You leaned into him, resting your forehead against his shoulder. “Mm,” you hummed. “Come with me.”

Minho chuckled, taking your face in his hands and raising your head. “I'll burn dinner if I do that,” he said with a grin before leaning in to press his lips to yours. He intended for the kiss to be soft, gentle. What he hadn't expected was your reaction.

You leaned into the kiss, pressing against him and moaning. It made his cock twitch against his pants and he had to force himself to pull back. “It's getting chilly out here,” he murmured, rubbing your arms. “Go inside and get dressed,” he added, gently pushing you in the direction of the door.

You grumbled, almost getting what you wanted before Minho took it away. Begrudgingly, you made your way into the ship, the door shutting behind you. You walked over to the bed, setting down the clothes and slipping off the slides. As you started to unwrap the towel, an idea planted itself into your head.

You'd just have to deal with it yourself.

Minho pulled the roasted bhunqoi from the fire, inspecting it carefully. Pleased with the results, he removed both from the fire and got up, setting them aside as he made his way to the ship. The whole time you'd been inside, he'd tried to calm himself, tried to will away the intrusive thoughts of following you inside and having his way with you. 

He still didn't know what had gotten into him but the longer he tried to ignore the intense burning desire to fuck you, the stronger it got.

The door to the ship opened with a soft hiss, allowing him to step over the threshold. Once he was clear, it shut with the same soft hiss and Minho walked further into the depths of his ship.

“Dinner's ready,” he called, turning the corner. “Are you feeling any--” he trailed off, eyes widening at the sight before him. “Better?”

You were sitting on the bed, towel still wrapped around you as you looked up at him, eyes wide. Your clothes lay forgotten on the floor. It wasn't just that what had made him freeze up. It was the fact that your hand had disappeared between your thighs.

He'd walked in on you in the middle of touching yourself. “What are you doing?” he asked, eyes dipping to your hand that was currently being squeezed between your thighs and back up to your face. Your glossy eyes looked back at him, a pout on your lips.

“M’sorry,” you whined. “I thought I'd be done before you came in. I'm just so hot. I couldn't take it anymore!” Minho felt his pants tighten as his cock strained against them, aching to be buried inside you instead of your fingers. He'd heard you, but his mind went blank as the scent of your arousal hit him, his rainbow irises flashing once before shifting to purple.

“Spread your legs,” he ordered. Your heart jumped into your throat before settling back in its place, hammering against your ribs. “Wh-what?” you asked as he walked over. “Spread your legs,” he repeated, lowering himself to his knees in front of you, eyes dipping down to look at your thighs and then back up.

“Now.”

You did as he said, slowly spreading your thighs. Minho grabbed your wrist, pulling your hand away from your sex and inspecting your fingers coated in your own arousal. You watched as he glanced up at you and back at your hand before taking your fingers in his mouth, groaning at your taste. “You thought you'd just get yourself off in here when I'm right outside?” he growled, dropping your hand and grabbing your hips with both hands.

You let out a gasp as he scooted you closer to his face, your ass barely sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thought you'd keep all this to yourself?” he whispered, licking his lips as he eyed your pussy. “As if I wouldn't eat you out the second you asked me,” he added with a scoff. He leaned in, licking up your sex slowly, eyes shut as gently savored the taste. He groaned, pulling back to look at you.

“Lie back,” he said, bringing a hand up to push against your shoulder, dragging his fingers down to loosen the towel and free your chest. “M'gonna fuck that fever out of you.”

You leaned back, propping yourself on your elbows as Minho lifted your thighs over his shoulders. He buried his face between your thighs, making you cry out, head falling back as he immediately went for your clit. You were already so wet, your cunt clenching around nothing, aching to be filled.

“Min, baby,” you whined, moving one of your hands to comb through his hair. “You know I love it when you use your tongue, but I really need your cock.” Minho groaned, the lewd sounds of him licking and sucking your clit would normally make you shy away but right now, you didn't care. You really just needed to be fucked.

“Minmin,” you cooed, combing through his hair again, fingers knotting in his hair as he flicked his tongue against you. “Please, baby, please give me your cock,” you whimpered, hips moving in tandem with his tongue. He pulled back, looking up at you with those bright purple irises, his lips and chin coated in your arousal. “Aw, baby…” he murmured, fingers skimming up the inside of your thigh. 

“You need me that badly?” he asked. You nodded fervently. “Yes baby,” you breathed. “Please.” Minho couldn’t deny you when you begged so sweetly. He could get used to that. You, lying on your back before him, begging him for his cock.

“You think you can take it so soon?” he asked with a chuckle. You scrambled up, letting the towel fall to the floor as you turned away and bent over, knees spread on the mattress as you all but presented yourself to him. “Yes,” you replied breathlessly. “Want it so bad. Take me.” You could see your boyfriend's eyes gloss over as he was face to face again with your sopping cunt.

“Fine,” he growled, getting to his feet and ripping the shirt off over his head. “No prep, but I don't want to hear you whining about it later,” he added as he hastily unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them along with his underwear down.

His cock sprang free, softly hitting your ass as he grabbed your hips, the tip already leaking. He spat into his hand, coating his length with it before guiding the tip to your hole. Letting out a groan, Minho cursed in Ninsan as he pushed deeper into you, his grip on your hips bruising.

You whined, pushing back on him as sheathing more of his massive cock inside you. The stretch was unlike anything you'd experienced with him before. There was no pain though. Minho stopped and you groaned, finally feeling full. The satisfaction didn't last long though and soon the heat was spreading again.

You needed to be fucked and you needed it now.

“Minmin, please,” you whimpered. “Please fuck me.”

Hearing your soft cries for him spurred Minho on, forcing him to pull back, half of his cock sliding out before he thrust into you, filling your cunt in one motion. He choked back a moan, nails digging into your skin as he hissed and cursed again. “So fucking good,” he moaned, thrusting again, making your body shift forward, even with his tight grip on your hips. “Taking me so well.”

“Minhooo,” you whined as he set a steady pace, pumping in and out with measured thrusts. “Don't hold back,” you gasped, walls clenching around him. “Fuck me like you mean it.”

Minho groaned, head dropping as you squeezed him. His hips stuttered to a halt. “You can't be serious,” he panted. “Angel, I don't wanna hurt you,” he continued. You shook your head, your skin burning and a thin layer of sweat already coating your body.

“God damn it, Minho,” you snapped, looking over your shoulder at him. “Fuck me like you mean it. I want you to fuck me until I can't walk!” Your tone must have flipped a switch in your boyfriend and he let out a growl, one hand moving to your shoulder and forcing your chest down against the mattress.

Without answering you, he started to thrust faster, hips hitting your ass with renewed attention. He'd been holding back, not wanting to injure you but when you snapped at him like that, it made his mind go blank and the only thing he could think about was fucking you.

Well, fucking you and breeding you.

“Oh my god,” you gasped as he leaned over, now both hands on your shoulders as he kept your chest against the bed, ass up and bouncing with each thrust. “Fuck, feels so good,” you moaned. Minho said nothing, grunting in response as your walls gripped him tighter. “Shit, yes. Just like that!” you mewled, feeling the head of his cock bump into the soft spot inside you, making you see stars.

“Hng, right there! Don't stop, baby!”

Minho let out a growl, hips never faltering for a moment. “God, yes, holy shit!” you gasped, your orgasm washing over you like a tidal wave. A rush of euphoria swept through you but Minho wasn't done. He'd slowed down, fucking you through your orgasm but as you came down from your high, he kept going, hips smacking into yours, the sound of skin against skin drowning out his pants.

“Min, baby?” you moaned, sliding your arms under you to push yourself up. “No,” Minho growled. “Not done!” You let out a moan as he pushed you back down. “Breed,” he growled. “Need to breed.” You groaned loudly as he continued to thrust into you quickly.

“Gonna fill you up. Gonna breed you,” he hissed. Your fingers dug into the sheets, moans turning into cries with each harsh thrust. “Breed, breed,” Minho murmured. You felt his cock twitch inside you, letting out a wanton moan as he slammed into you from behind. “Mm fuck!” he cursed. “Breed, breed, breed,” he chanted softly.

Tears slipped from the corners of your eyes, the pleasure both overwhelming and incredible. Your thighs trembled as a second orgasm loomed. “Th-that's right,” you groaned, playing into his words. “Breed me, Min, fill me up. Put a baby in me.”

Minho let out an animalistic growl, fingers curling over your shoulders, nails digging into your skin as he somehow thrust even harder and deeper, making you scream into the sheets, your own fingers curling into the linens. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” you heard your boyfriend snarl. “M'gonna cum. Gonna fill you up so much.”

“F-fill me up, Minho, please!” you cried out. “Fuck me. Make me your breeding bitch, Minho. Do it!” Your boyfriend let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a growl and a groan, thrusting into you a few times more before you felt the warm gush of his load spilling into you. “F-fuuuck,” you groaned.

You could feel his cock pressing into your cervix as he pumped you full of his cum. At the same time, you felt the base of his cock swell. ‘Well that’s new,’ you thought as you lifted your head. “Whassat?” you mumbled, letting out a groan as your walls stretched around him.

“S'okay,” he mumbled, leaning down to press kisses all over your shoulders. “Have to keep it all in,” he added. You only then processed that he was still pumping you full of cum. “Minmin?” you asked, trying to push yourself up but he quickly and gently pushed you back down. “Shhh,” he whispered. “Just lie still, baby,” he continued. “Have to stay still. Just for a little while.”

You felt your belly slowly start to swell, more cum filling your walls than you'd even experienced before. You felt one of Minho's hands move to your belly, just under your navel where it had swollen slightly. “Have to stay still, yeah?” he whispered, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. “Stay still and make sure it takes.”

“Make sure what takes, Min?” you asked softly.

You felt him rub your belly soothingly, his cock twitching inside you. “You said breed you,” he reminded you. And your eyes fluttered shut. “Minho,” you sighed. “We aren’t compatible,” you added as a reminder. You felt him press a kiss to your shoulder. “I know,” he murmured.

“But imagine if we were,” he whispered in your ear. “Imagine what cute babies we’d make.”

The idea of a mini hybrid of you and your alien lover made you smile, a soft sigh escaping you as he continued to press tender kisses to your neck and shoulder. Your eyes opened and you turned your head slightly to glance back at him, resolved to play into his fantasy.

“What if it doesn't take?” you asked softly, a slight pout on your lips. Minho reached his hand up, turning your head more so he could kiss you, pressing kisses to your lips quickly. “If it doesn't take,” he muttered in between kisses.

“Then we try again. After all, I'm still hard and have a lot more cum to give you,” he added with a smirk. “Wanna go again?” you asked, clenching around his cock. “Just to be sure it takes?”

Minho chuckled, pressing a kiss to your cheek as he slowly pulled back, the swelling at the base of his cock having gone down. He gave you a tentative thrust, ignoring the gush of purplish liquid that spilled out of you and ran down your thighs.

It didn't matter if some spilled out, not when he was about to fill you again and again and again. Even if it wouldn’t take, he could dream, right? After all, he figured out halfway through the first session that what you'd come into contact with was an aphrodisiac and he knew it would be a few more hours before it finally wore off.

He’d better make the most of it.

©️ kwanisms 2024 | all works on this blog are protected under copyright. Do not repost, continue, or translate my works. All graphics made by me.

[twisted-dork]

Jason Meets May Parker (AKA The Woman of His Dreams Because She Beat Up the Joker)

Jason Todd wasn’t a romantic.

He wasn’t the type to believe in love at first sight or fate or any of that Hallmark crap. (He may read romance books but that’s fiction therefore it has different rules so it doesn’t count!)

But standing in front of May Parker for the first time—the woman who had, without hesitation, beaten the absolute hell out of the Joker—he thought, Yeah, I’m in love.

He hadn’t planned to meet her like this.

After all, he had questions.

Who the hell was she? How did she take down the Joker with nothing but a baseball bat and sheer rage? Why did the kid she was protecting act like this was just another Tuesday?

So, naturally, he did what he did best.

He followed her.

Which, in hindsight, might not have been his best idea, because when she caught him lingering outside the library where she worked, she hit him in the chest with a hardcover book.

Hard.

May: “You gonna tell me why you’re lurking like a creep, or do I need to hit you again?”

Jason, stunned, looked down at the book she had just used as a blunt weapon.

Jason: “…Did you just hit me with ‘War and Peace’?”

May: “It was the closest thing I had. Want me to try ‘Moby Dick’ next?”

Jason, for reasons he couldn’t explain, grinned.

Jason: “Well I would appreciate it if you didn’t, you pack quite the heat.”

Jason didn’t lie that hit actually hurt which only made him more curious on just how strong she is.

May: “Well from what I’ve seen here in Gotham I think that’s a good thing?”

She smirked putting her hand on her hip.

Once Jason convinced her he wasn’t a threat (and after she made him hold out his hands so she could check them for clown makeup because she wouldn’t be surprised if The Joker sent people after her), May allowed him to sit with her inside the library.

She watched him warily over the rim of her coffee cup, the same way one might watch a stray dog that had wandered in off the street—curious, but not quite trusting.

Jason, on the other hand, was watching her.

Because she was different.

She wasn’t scared of him. Wasn’t intimidated by the leather jacket, the scars, the general air of menace that usually made people keep their distance.

No.

She just looked… tired.

Tired, but not weak.

And damn if that didn’t make his brain short-circuit a little. He had only planned to feel her out. Figure out what kind of person she was.

But then (the boy who was kidnapped,) Peter ran up to her, tugging at her sleeve.

Peter: “Aunt May! I finished my book! Can I get another one?”

May smiled, ruffling the kid’s hair in a way that spoke of effortless familiarity.

May: “Sure thing, sweetheart. You want another science book?”

Peter: “Mmhmm! I wanna learn about quantum physics!”

Jason blinked.

Jason: “…You’re like, five?”

Peter (scowling): “I’m sevente—!”

May m: “Careful. He’ll start monologuing about multiversal theory if you’re not careful.”

May cut Peter off handing him a book and smoothing down his curls.

And that was it.

That was the moment Jason knew he was completely and utterly screwed.

Because the kid was hilarious, and May Parker was somehow both the most terrifying and most comforting person he had ever met.

And Jason Todd?

Well.

Jason Todd had always had a thing for dangerous women with big hearts. He didn’t say it aloud, but he knew then and there that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Not just because May had wrecked the Joker like it was personal (which by the way he sees how much she loves the kid it’s unsurprising).

Not just because Peter was the most sarcastic seven-year-old he had ever met (at least he’s not trying to stab him like Damian would).

But because she reminded him of the kind of person he wished he had when he was a kid.

Fierce. Protective.

Unyielding in the face of cruelty.

And even if she didn’t know it yet, she had just gained an unofficial bodyguard in him.

Because Jason Todd wasn’t about to let someone like her face Gotham alone.

Not now.

Not ever.

——————————————————————————————————————

I’ll be making a taglist soon so if you want to be tagged then just comment or ask

[aegisuniversitykrp]

𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 — established 1996 — a fictional university located in Jochon, Jeju Island, South Korea. The university stands as a beacon of knowledge and cooperation, offering specialized programs for 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 to master their abilities while also welcoming 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 who aspire to support them through science, medicine, law, and diplomacy. Mewe based, superhuman, mixture of university and city OC rp. Semi-literate to literate. We will only accept muns that are 20+ but characters / muses that are 18+ are acceptable. Join us and be part of a new era where the extraordinary is 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝!

Lore — Rules — Abilities — Masterlist — Navigation — Apply

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: accepting reservation (11/15) 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: tba. we will be opening once there are 15 reservations! 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭: tba.

Note: We are looking for 1 mod to help us running the place, message us if interested. Thank you!

List of Reserves:

EMPRESS Parunyu Poolnim (Tawan) / tulip

BTS Jeon Jungkook / Rhododendrons

STRAY KIDS Hwang Hyunjin / sunflower

BTS Kim Taehyung (V) / oriental lily

MAMAMOO Ahn Hyejin (Hwasa) / tulips

SEVENTEEN Lee Seokmin (DK) / dandelion

STRAY KIDS Seo Changbin / tulips

SEVENTEEN Hong Joshua / lily of the valley

ACTOR Jeff Satur / wisteria

RED VELVET Kang Seulgi / orchid

DREAMCATCHER Kim Minji (JiU) / lavander

[bengiyo]

23.5 Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

Well, it's taken forever but we're finally here. Let's watch the Milk/Love GL.

Wow are we starting with a UMG joke??

So glad they taught Love how to drive a motorcycle for this show.

Episode 1: The Sun and The Earth

I'm glad this family of sisters has a cousin who's super deep on science and science fiction.

Wow, Ongsa is too gay to function.

I forget how young some of these kids still are. Ford looks like he's grown since MSP.

LOL this teacher is funny.

Whoa! They're reading Ender's Game! Look at the classic cover!!

WELCOME BACK, EURO!!! Please kill these boys.

Oh no. He accidentally hit our girl in the face.

Sun is very cool. I get it, Ongsa.

Classic lesbian content. Both girls' fathers have an affinity for them.

The moon and stars looked like a smile. That was cute.

That roll across the bed was incredible. I loved that.

Bullying in the modern age is so vicious because everyone is always online.

Love that the big sister has enough presence to scare these boys.

Euro has good comedic timing.

I'm okay with GMMTV being unsubtle about correcting bad behavior or reinforcing good interpersonal behavior in their shows.

This IG flirting was so funny. Ongsa is so gay that she forgot that heterosexuality is a thing. I understand and I support her.

This was a fun start! I like the casting so far and I'm curious where they go with two of our girls being misfits.

[peachiejeongin]

The Phantoms Part 4: Flying Solo | Bang Chan

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 (You Are Here) | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Synopsis: Y/n's epic performance has earned her and the phantoms serious credits! Yet, Flynn is still not convinced...

Pairing: phantom!Bang Chan x fem!reader [Occurs somewhat in this chapter] (Minsung as well if you squint)

Genre: Julie and the Phantoms/3RACHA AU, Crack, Angst, Fluffy Moments

Warnings: Arguing, mentions of death

Notice: Hello, my darlings! I want to reaffirm the notice from last chapter: there is slight allusion to Han being gay in this chapter since he represents Alex in the original show. I want to clarify that I do NOT believe Han is gay in real life. This is a work of fiction, and nothing more since I do not know the Stray Kids members personally! As always, I own no rights to 'Julie and the Phantoms' nor its characters. I also want to say I PROMISE the actual Chan x reader is COMING, just not until later chapters unfortunately :') With all of that out of the way, enjoy this chapter, and if you do, I would appreciate if you would like and reblog!!

You scanned the crowd of students, their confused gazes pressing heavily on you, as if their collective curiosity could somehow suffocate the air. Nobody seemed to understand how the boys who had been playing on stage with you moments ago had suddenly vanished. Was it a collective hallucination?

"Were those holograms?" the Dirty Candy member dressed in purple questioned. Your eyes widened at the thought, and a surge of excitement bubbled up within you, so intense that you nearly leapt for joy right then and there.

"Yes!" you immediately responded, "yes, those were holograms! I, uh, plugged a flashdrive into the ceiling projector before I got on stage! I'd explain it but it involves algorithms, science stuff, things I myself don't really get, y'know?"

The crowd of students erupted into a thunderous applause, clearly entertained by your 'concept.' You gave a small nod in their direction, a nervous smile still plastered on your face, though it couldn’t hide the flicker of relief. Meanwhile, the boys who had been performing with you moments ago now stood just offstage, watching with pride as the excitement unfolded.

"That's wild, mates," Chan exasperatedly stated, a tad tired from how hard he had just performed. "They can see us when we play, but not when the music ends."

"We should double check!" Changbin replied, smacking a gentle hand against Chan's chest as he hopped back on stage; subsequently, he began dancing idiotically, moving in weird, stuttery movements. If the student body could have seen him, they would have scrunched their faces in disgust at the unusual behavior. Thankfully, they could not see him, and once Changbin reached this realization, he hopped off of the stage and whispered the obvious fact to Han and Chan.

"I wish I couldn't see you," Han muttered sassily, refusing to make eye contact with the shorter male. Changbin shrugged and made his way to make a one-sided conversation with the purple Dirty Candy member, whom Carrie was currently criticizing for her previous hologram comment.

As the principal dismissed the students back to class, Mrs. Jeon approached you, a grin wide on her face.

"Mrs. Jeon, I am so sorry for not asking for permission," you hurriedly apologized, moving down to sit down in front of her on the stage. "I wanted to prove my place in this school."

"As amazing as that was, y/n," she started, the grin disapaiting slowly, "your spot's already been filled." She motioned to a student who was carrying a cello down the gymnasium bleacher steps; the instrument was nearly twice his size, and it banged with each step down.

"Come on! He can barely lift the thing!" you yelled as your eyebrows furrowed.

"He'll grow into it," Mrs. Jeon waved her hand dismissively. She quickly turned her attention back to you. "I wish I could help, I truly do, but it's not up to me."

"It is up to me," the director added on as she made her way towards you and Mrs. Jeon, her hands clasping together. "Don't get me wrong, I am not in any fashion condoning this little stunt, but I am not going down in history as the director who kicked y/n y/l/n out of her high school music program."

If you were not physically smiling, your eyes sure were.

"Thank you!" you exhuberantly exclaimed.

"But," she contradicted, causing your spirit to dim slightly. "I want a part in your thank you speech at the Grammys." The comment eased your mind, eliciting giggles from both you and Mrs. Jeon.

"Definitely," you reassured as you nodded your head. She reciprocated the head motion as she turned to walk away. Mrs. Jeon looked at you, pride visible in her expression.

"Welcome back, sweetheart."

---

You scowered the hallways in an attempt to find Flynn, who had somehow snuck out of your sights after the performance was over. You found her back in the empty music room, fiddling at the trumpet she had been playing when the both of you had made your way to the gymnasium.

"There you are!" you sighed out of relief once you had found her. "What'd you think?"

"You...did it," she said, surprisingly nonchalant for a girl who had been hyping you up all afternoon. "Good job."

"Are you okay?" you asked out of concern, taking the seat besides her.

"I'm great, what do you mean," she replied sarcastically, never taking her gaze off of the trumpet.

"You don't sound great." You attempted to rest a hand on her back, but she quickly jerked it off of her.

"Just didn't know you had started playing with a hologram band," she told you bluntly, smirking coldly.

"Oh, that!" you nodded, dread suddenly overtaking you once more as you thought of something on the spot to reply with. "It was one song; we aren't a band! I mean, they are a band. A hologram band. For sure holograms!" you put emphasis on the word, hoping she would not be too suspicious at the sudden appearance of the phantoms.

"Noticed that," she sharply commented. "Any reason you've been keeping them a secret?" She finally looked up at you, the look in her eyes dejected, almost depressed even.

"There's a reason!" you instantly responded, your voice wavering out of anxiety; no thoughts came to your mind on how to cover the boys up this time, so you opted for a simple, "But, I can't tell you. They got me back into the music program though!" You waved your hands around flamboyantly, contrasting the stark demeanor on Flynn's face.

"Are you lying to me?" she questioned, her gaze staring intently into yours; your faux excitement quickly faltered as you exhaled deeply.

"Yeah," you admitted. "I am."

"So, when did we start lying to each other?" Flynn kicked her feet at the ground as she questioned you, the sadness on her face now morphing into anger.

"Flynn," you began. You could not think of a proper explanation, still; you knew your best friend would think you were absolutely nuts if you told her the "holograms" were really ghosts. All you could mumble out was an, "I'm sorry."

"'I'm sorry?'" she repeated your words, crossing her arms out of rage. "That's all you've got?"

"You wouldn't understand!" you retaliated, raising your voice significantly higher than intended. Flynn nodded her head before standing up.

"I guess we just don't understand each other anymore then," she said solemnly before marching off. You hopped out of your seat, following after her swiftly into the hallways and calling her name repeatedly; however, you could not catch up to her. The students in the hallways kept blocking your way, either scrambling to get to class or congratulating you on your performance.

"It's true! That was absolutely incredible!" a blonde haired boy came up to you, following a comment one of the football players had said about your performance being similar to Coachella. The boy was Felix, also known as the boy you had been crushing on for years; the mere sight of him made your heart race as you beamed.

The happiness did not last for long, however, as Carrie quickly appeared beside him; the two had been going out for months, and her presence demeaned you in more ways than one.

"It was!" she added onto Felix's congratulatory message. "It was immensely better than the time you flaked on your performance and cried!" You quirked an eyebrow towards her as Felix lightly grasped her shoulder.

"Let's get to class, yeah?" he whispered to her as she scoffed.

"Yeah," you agreed, causing both of them to glance at you. "Then maybe you could study up on some manners!" Felix had to stifle a chuckle at your comment; Carrie, on the other hand, looked you up and down judgingly before walking away. As she made her distance, Felix scolded her on her comments, and you overheard a conversation about how you did not deserve your chair back.

You ignored the comments and turned a nearby corner.

"Y/n!" three voices exclaimed loudly, scaring you out of your socks and causing you to jump.

"Stop doing that!" you shouted, attempting to smack Chan's shoulder; of course, your hand passed through his dematerialized figure.

"Nice try," he smirked, a playful wink following his words that sent an unexpected flutter through your chest, leaving your heart racing. It was the same type of race that sent your mind a-haze as you spoke to Felix earlier.

'No way,' you thought. ‘He’s a ghost.’ You quickly pushed the wild thought aside, trying to reason with yourself, but before you could calm the frantic pace of your thoughts, Chan spoke again.

"Anyways," he began. "Are we not going to talk about what just happened?!" His tone was hyper, exhilerated at the performance the four of you had put on.

"Yeah, the whole school could see you," you restated the aforementioned events. "It's lowkey freaking me out."

"Okay!" Han commented in a relieved demeanor. "It's freaking me out too! Like, you could see us and now people can see us whenever we play music, and my clothes are made of air but I am still getting a wedgie!" You scrunched your face at Han's TMI of a rambling.

"The important thing is," Chan deflected from Han's comments, "we killed it in there! They loved you, y/n!"

"They loved us," you corrected, glancing back and forth between the three before settling an adoring look upon Chan. "That was an amazing song, Channie. Thank you." He smiled, his tongue playing in between his teeth, at the nickname.

"And did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me?" Changbin enlivenly asked. "At least I think they were looking at me." He suddenly grasped Chan's shoulders, turning the older towards him. "Please say they were looking at me." You smiled at Changbin's adorable actions.

"Bin, they totally were," Chan confirmed as he cupped Changbins face, shaking it gently and causing Changbin to explode with thrill. In contrast to Han and Chan's animation, Han still appeared perplexed.

"The afterlife should really come with instructions," he whispered to himself.

"Well, the good thing is that nobody knew you guys were ghosts," you explained to them. "I passed you guys off as holograms. Plus, I got back into the music program." You shoved your hands into your pockets as you said that, your manner becoming saddened.

"That's great!" Changbin cheered. "Why do you look so bummed out?"

"Dude, you're making this face," Chan threw his arms around the two other boys, bringing them closer in as they displayed exaggerated frowns to mimic your own.

"Things just got weird between me and Flynn," you shrugged. "She asked about you guys and obviously I can't tell her that you guys are ghosts."

"Sweet," Changbin replied, surprising you slightly. "Girls are already talking about us." He threw a finger gun at you, winking in a silly manner.

"Stop. I'm serious," you nearly whined out due to dejection. "I can't tell her about you guys so she thinks I'm lying to her."

"You kind of are," Han replied.

"Not the point," you held your hand up dismissively. "If I tell Flynn you guys are ghosts, she'll think I've gone off the deep end." At that time, a janitor rolled a cleaning cart through the hall way, looking at you as if you had gone insane; after all you did look as if you were talking to yourself.

"That guy definitely thinks you've gone off the deep end," Changbin pointed to the janitor as he walked away. You could not help but smile at the circumstance.

"I gotta get to class," you commented, moving past the blockade of boys; Chan moved out of your way, forgetting you could not make contact with him.

"Later, y/n," Changbin waved. "Oh! Can you set me up with one of those cheerleaders?!"

"Make sure to tell them that he's dead!" Han hollered after you, causing you to giggle.

"No, leave that part out!" Changbin opposed, turning around to meet a slammed-shut door.

"And, she's gone."

---

Han was pacing back and forth in the studio, stressed out of his mind as he pondered anxiously.

"I think he's practicing his model strut," Changbin whispered to Chan.

"He's so nervous that it's making me nervous," Chan nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, you guys know I don't handle change well," Han motioned to them as he stopped racing. "Death? That was a change. Becoming ghosts? Another change. Now, we can be seen whenever we play with y/n. Big freaking change!"

"Yeah, but it was a good change," Chan countered. "With her, we can be on stage again. Be the band we never got the chance to be. Come on, you guys gotta be down for that." He looked to Changbin for approval, and the latter smiled in assertation.

"Duh, who wouldn't be," Han's nervy tone contrasted his assurred statement. "I just wanna know why."

"Forget about the why," Chan commanded. "In fact, I say we invite y/n to join 3RACHA." He suggested as he stood up.

"Absolutely!" Changbin stood up as well, agreeing with the older. "I mean think about it: with a new lead singer, we'd be legendary."

"Hey!" Chan boomed in Changbin's face, causing the younger to jerk his head towards Chan. "I'm our lead singer."

"Dude," Changbin retaliated. "That girl has the voice of an angel. Plus, she can make us visible. Without her, we're just background noise."

"You don't gotta be so mean about it," Chan faux pouted; meanwhile, Han began walking back and forth once again. "And we're back on the runway!" Chan commented as he noticed his friend's dread-filled motions.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Han halted in his steps, looking down at the ground as he sighed. "I gotta get some air." He rushed towards the doors to the studio, attempting to grab the door handle; however, his hand passed straight through, making no contact with the object.

"You know you can just poof out, right?" Changbin questioned.

"Don't tell me how to ghost!" Han nearly yelled at the bassist, causing him to whistle surprisingly; despite his comment, Han did as Changbin had stated and warped out of the studio.

---

Han walked for a long time, seeing all of the people who could not see him. He felt a sense of disappointment as he reminisced on the nearly thirty years he had missed out on. So much had changed, from technology to trends; he felt like an outsiders in multiple aspects.

He kept his gaze focused dejectedly on the ground; as such, he did not notice nor hear the male approaching behind him until they had collided into one another. The unknown clutz had been on a skateboard, riding through the streets of Sunset Boulevard without a care in the world.

The two males coughed and groaned in pain, the unknown one of the two standing up first and inspecting every inch of his board.

"Dude, you dinged my board!" he exclaimed, his gaze full of rage towards Han.

"Dinged your board?" Han asked in disbelief. "You dinged me! You're lucky I don't-" Han paused, realizing the reality of the situation at hand. "You. You dinged me. You could touch me, hit me. Are you a ghost?"

"Yep," the guy replied bluntly. "Ever since I realized the hard way that skating in traffic was bad." He took off his helmet, allowing Han to steal a good look at him. He had short brown hair that was curly in the front; his face was perfectly round, complimented by fair skin and matching chocolate eyes.

'He's ethereal,' Han thought to himself, the look turning into a prolonged gaze.

"Hey, uh," the guy began, snapping Han out of his burning stare. "Sorry I ran into you. I honestly thought you were a lifer and I would just pass right through you."

"A lifer?" Han stammeredly questioned, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Yeah," the boy responded. "Just a word for living people. I presume you're new to the whole ghost thing?"

"Am I being too obvious?" Han nervously smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"Just a little," the boy chuckled. "Hey, uh, I'm Minho." He held out a hand for Han to shake, the latter of whom took it gratefully.

"Han." The two boys smiled at each other for a prolonged period of time, both of their cheeks dusted pink as they longingly stared at one another.

The next few minutes consisted of nothing but small talk, including Minho asking Han his business in Hollywood, Han explaining his minor afterlife crisis, and Minho telling Han he could help as long as Han kept up with him on his skateboard. Han chased after the skater boy, giggles escaping him every so often.

He had no idea the impact Minho was about to have on his afterlife.

---

"Changbin, what do you think about this riff?" Chan inquired as he strummed his guitar with precision; the two bandmates had been working on a melody all day, a method they hoped would get you to join 3RACHA.

"Sweet, I'm feelin' it!" Changbin exclaimed. "Then I can come in with a little." Changbin followed his sentence up with an adorning bass riff.

"Then y/n comes in with her killer lyrics!" Chan continued.

"And 3RACHA is reborn!" Changbin finished as the two began playing. At that time, you entered the garage, your calm expression soon morphing into one of disappointment.

"Guys!" you called out to the two, causing them to halt in playing their instruments. "You guys aren't supposed to be playing alone out here."

"But we're not alone," Changbin retaliated playfully as Chan wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "because we always have each other!" You rolled your eyes at his response, a smirk daring to play at your expression.

"We only had our amps on volume one," Chan explained, his Aussie accent thick in respondance.

"But we rocked it on level ten!" Changbin followed up. "Wanna hear it again?" You replied to Changbin's question by unplugging his bass from the nearby amp. Changbin and Chan nodded in understanding, setting their instruments down on their stands.

"We actually have some huge news for you," Chan stated abruptly. "We had a band meeting earlier, and," as Chan pointed to Changbin, the latter began to draft a drumrool by patting on his knees.

"We want you to join 3RACHA!" Chan exclaimed, excitement present in his voice. "Don't worry! This isn't a joke." You widened your eyes, mouth slightly agape.

"Oh," you responded nonchalantly, instantly causing both boys' expressions to diminish.

"'Oh?'" Chan repeated confused. "That's what you say when you get socks for Christmas, not when you're invited to join the most epic band ever!"

"I'm sorry," you deeply exhaled as you genuinely apologized. "I'm honored, truly, but I can't focus on anything besides Flynn right now. She's still mad at me and won't return any of my texts." Changbin rubbed his hands together and Chan put his hands on his hips, both of them doing what they did out of both awkwardness and sympathy.

"Yeah, you're in a tough spot," Chan stated, sort of dismissively. "So you wanna join the band?" You quirked an annoyed eyebrow.

"Read the room, Chan," you told him before attempting to walk out of the studio.

"Oh come on!" Chan called after you. "We need you, and you need us because you need music." His statement made you halt in your tracks as you turned slowly around, your expression hinting him to explain farther.

"Look, Binnie and I found this poem you wrote, and we added this cool beat to it! It sounds awesome!" You glared at the boys now, furrowing your eyebrows as your gaze shifted to the paper.

"Where did you get that?" you interrogated the boys, causing them to look back and forth at each other with guilt present in their faces.

"Uh," Chan stuttered. "Definitely not from your Dream Box!" Chan shoved Changbin in front of him as a defense measure; as a result, Changbin smiled nervously at you as you dashed towards Chan, and he instinctually moved out of the way.

"You went through my stuff?!" you screamed at Chan as he escaped to hide behind the piano.

"Yeah, we can do that now!" Changbin obliviously commented.

"No, you cannot!" you argued. "Boundaries, remember? Give it back!" you attempted to snatch the paper out of Chan's hands; however, he jerked his hand back quickly, hopping on top of the grand piano.

"No!" Chan denied, his tone of voice condescending yet encouraging. "You need to realize the insane amount of talent you have! Listen to this: 'If somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too. And my life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo.'" Chan harped on the last part of the poem, turning it into lyrics in order to fit the mental melody he and Changbin had created.

"Oh-oh!" speaking of Changbin, he complimented the end of the lyric with his own sonata.

"It’s a killer melody," Chan remarked, his voice soft and breathy, a tone that you found undeniably attractive. Your cheeks flushed faintly, warmth spreading across your face as you tried to ignore the effect his words had on you.

"I wrote that about Flynn when she was helping me through my mom's death," you explained, your expression quickly shifting from Chan's captivity to sorrow as you reminisced on the tough time with your friend. "I need to go," you said as you walked away, opening the studio doors.

"What about the band?" Chan questioned as you stepped outside, his eyes going sad.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" you responded, giving Chan a tad of hope. "Stay out of my room!"

Consider that optimism lost.

---

Chan and Changbin stood at the piano, humming the lyrics to your poem and questioning the part about "deep dish" and whether it referred to pizza or secrets. All of a sudden, Han appeared in between the two boys beaming the day away.

"Hey, man!" Changbin grinned back. "Where ya been?"

"Kind of everywhere, honestly," Han admitted. "I met a new ghost friend, and he answered a lot of my questions."

"Yeah? Like whether or not y/n is gonna join the band?" Chan asked sarcastically.

"Well we didn't really discuss that," Han responded in a perplexed manner, turning his attention immediately back to Changbin. "But, I figured out why we're here! All ghosts have some sort of unfinished business that we need to complete before we can pass over to the afterlife." Han smiled brightly as he explained all of the concepts Minho had told him about.

"Why would we do that?" Chan questioned, shocking his bandmates. "I'm just saying this is like a second chance for us. We just need to get y/n to play with us."

"Yeah, turns out the girl can write just as well as she can sing," Changbin told Han. "Chan and I made a killer melody out of a poem she wrote." As Changbin finished his sentence, Chan handed Han the paper containing your lyrics.

"Ah, without your drummer," Han noted disappointedly.

"Drumming is so 90's, Han," Chan replied.

"Well you know what else is so 90's?" Han retaliated. "Being rude. Get woke, Chan. These are sensitive times." He finished his reprisal by slapping the paper against Chan's chest, his hand coming into contact roughly with Chan.

"I learned that from my ghost friend," Han whispered to Changbin with glee.

"Woke," Changbin repeated while laughing. "Weird word. What's it mean?"

"No clue."

---

It took a long time for the guys to convince you to play the song with them; eventually you came to a compromise: you would play the song if you were able to use it as an apology to Flynn.

It took even more convincing to get her to come over to your place; however, she quickly obliged once you told her the "holograms" she had seen perform were actually ghosts. She was both amused and a bit concerned, intrigued to see just how far the act from your end would go.

After hours of rehearsing, you texted Flynn to come over; she arrived fifteen minutes after the initial text, rapping on the door harshly. You opened the door in excitement, smiling slightly towards your friend.

"Thanks for coming," you told her. "We did our best to perfect the song, which no song is perfect, but I still think you'll enjoy it."

"Oh, no!" Flynn retaliated. "If I'm going to hear a song from your imaginary ghost band, it needs to be perfect. So, get back in there. You too!" She motioned to an empty space of air, pretending she was speaking to an unseen spirit.

"They aren't out here," you replied, chuckling slightly.

"Oh, I know," Flynn smugly replied, stepping forward and softly patting your shoulder. You rolled your eyes, closing the doors to the studio.

"Alright, guys. Y'all ready?" you inquired the boys, receiving excited nods from all three of them. Flynn stood in the middle of the studio, unknowingly close in proximity to where Changbin was setting up his bass amps.

"Oh, can you sit down here?" you gestured to a nearby chair. "Changbin needs some space to rock out, and he feels weird walking through you." Changbin gave you a thumbs up in response; in contrast, Flynn coldly giggled.

"Boy, when you create a world, you sure do live in it."

"Just sit!" you demanded of your best friend, gripping onto her shouders from behind and nearly shoving her into the chair. "As you can see, there is no technology present that can produce a hologram. Feel free to check it out." Flynn glanced around the ceiling of the garage, snarkily pursing her lips together and crossing her arms.

"The guys took a poem I wrote about you and turned into a song," you began to explain.

"Awe, I wish I didn't have to talk to your dad after this," she tilted her head in half-concernment and half-sarcasm.

"It's called 'Flying Solo,'" you lightly chuckled, dismissing her statement. "I hope you like it." With that, you began to press tempo keys on your keyboard in order to make a beat before you started to press the physical keys, singing your best friend the apology:

"If I leave you on a bad note Leave you on a sad note Guess that means I'm buying lunch that day I know all your secrets You know all my deep-dish Guess that means some things they never, they never Change We both know what I, what I, what I Mean When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me"

Flynn rocked her head to the catchy melody of the song, lost in the world of musicality; so lost in fact, that she almost did not notice when the guys appeared out of thin air. When she did, however, she nearly fell out of her seat. You chuckled at her actions as you and the 3RACHA members sang the chorus.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you Hey, yeah Hey, yeah My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you"

You knelt in front of Flynn, her face a mix of confusion and a subtle hint of fear. You offered her a reassuring smile, the warmth of it meant to ease her uncertainty, before you seamlessly continued into the next verse.

"Yeah, you know who I'm likin' Way before I liked them, duh Cause you liked them first And if somebody hurts you I'm gonna get hurt too That's just how we work, yeah, that's just how we work It will never Change We both know what I, what I, what I Mean When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me"

You repeated the chorus, barely holding back laughter as Flynn’s bewilderment deepened with each passing moment. She stared in utter confusion at each phantom, from Han to Changbin, and finally Chan, completely lost in how they were all standing there in front of her. Between the choruses, you playfully guided her to each member, struggling to contain your amusement. She flinched when Chan suddenly jumped at her, and you could not help but laugh, while you vibed with Han, who was fully immersed in his energetic drumming. When you finally led her to Changbin, she hesitated before waving a hand through him, her eyes widening as her fingers passed right through him, meeting no resistance whatsoever.

"Weird, right?" Changbin asked her, noting the astoundment on her face.

"They're ghosts!" Flynn exclaimed, affirming the point you had tried to get across to her all day.

"Uh, we prefer musical spirits," Han corrected, earning an assured point and nod from Changbin.

"So does this mean you're joining our band, y/n?" Chan caught your attention, amping up his guitar riff as he asked.

"Um, I think you are joining her band," Flynn retaliated, her demeanor laced with joking sass.

"I'm gonna go with what she said." You wrapped an arm around Flynn’s shoulders, feeling the warmth of her presence beside you. As you did, you caught a sneaky smile from Chan, one that made your heart skip a beat and a flush spread across your cheeks.

Flynn looked at you two, knowingly with a smirk. You had yet to accept your feelings for Chan as of yet, but that was not the focus of today. Today was about your best friend and exemplifying your love for her.

You led her back to the studio floor as you finished out the last chorus, dancing and goofing around with Flynn as you ended out on a high-note. Your forehead was pressed against Flynn's, grins plastered on five faces in the room. You broke away from the contact, care present in your expression.

"Believe me now?"

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #36 – Life Does Not Allow Us To Meet by He Xi

I read this basically entirely because it got a hugo nomination, and assuredly would never have tried it otherwise – I literally wouldn’t even have heard of it, let alone be able to get my hands on a (digital) copy. So I went into this with frustratingly little context. Overall I’d call it an interesting read if not necessarily a loveable one.

The story follows a trio of explorers being sent to the colony of Caspian Sea, decades after the previous attempt to check on its progress was lost in a freak FTL accident. The planet, seeded with a population of genetically engineered ‘pioneers’ - humans modified to thrive in its environment - needs to be graded for suitability, and the colonists introduced to advanced technology and welcomed into humanity. Unsurprisingly, things do not go according to plan – the last mission’s destruction wasn’t as reported by the lone survivor, and the population has strayed increasingly far from the plan the Constitution of Earth demands.

Its heritage is of course entirely different, but the story was just incredibly reminiscent of old Golden Age American sci fi to me. The reason is some combination of style and content, I think. It’s overwhelmingly a novella of dialogue and exposition – pages at a time are dedicated to one character explaining a principle of the story’s science or technology to another. With the exception of the very final reveal, the whole plot is dialogue explaining the laws which the story is an expression of or decisions that they had already made – ‘action’ in any sense is in very short supply (despite the genocide). Reminded me of reading my dad’s ratty old paperbacks in the basement as a kid. Oddly nostalgic reading experience.

Prose-wise the story does come across as slightly stilted? Or maybe distant is the better word. Characters emote and have strong reactions, but in nearly every case it felt a bit tell-not-show. I’m not sure how much of that is from the original and how much is an artifact of translation (such is life for the tragically monolingual). While I mean, I’m fairly certain the translation could have been more graceful in places (I simply do not believe that referring to the original colony ship as Big Ship as a proper noun reads the same in English as whatever the original Mandarin was), but beyond that.

Speaking of being in translation – this is a story that made me desperately wish I was more properly familiar with the Chinese SF scene. If only because my initial reaction to it is that it’s obviously in conversation with the whole Three Body Problem series, but also those are literally the only two works of Chinese science fiction I’ve read so I really have no knowledge at all of the wider context they’re both swimming within.

Regardless, Life’s presentation of alien life absolutely does rhyme with Three Body’s, right down to the same examples of historical genocides being used to make the point. The xenophobia is presented as policy rather than an actual law of history, but it feels like a very intentional reference (and the story clearly considers it at least plausible if not necessarily self-evident). Which is what drives the central moral drama of the story – that despite the most careful possible genetic engineering, stellar radiation has left the pioneers of Caspian Sea incapable of reproducing with earth-born humans, and so made them functionally a different species. And thus, by the constitution of earth, axiomatically a potential threat to the survival of humanity that must be exterminated out of hand.

Going from Children of Memory (a series motivated in large part by wonder and joy at the idea of truly nonhuman intelligence, and possessed of ironclad faith in the potential of cosmopolitan, liberal societies to integrate wildly disparate parts) to this was something of a shock.

The book’s vision of humanity is kind of interesting, honestly. Subspecies modified to thrive on different planets, but capable of interbreeding to ensure some level of biological solidarity or shared destiny or something. Not making drastic changes to the appearance, even if it means awkwardly hiding gills under arm pits or not even trying to colonize worlds that would require exuding a thick mucus layer, basically explicitly to make sure that everyone will still find each other fuckable. Fascinatingly shallow, almost?

Anyways yes, interesting ideas and central drama, let down some by prose and execution. Very Asimov.

[sl-newsie]

American Woman (Thomas Shelby x American OC) Ch. 2: Employed By Criminals

I can’t stand waiting any longer. I’ve been in my new room for what seems like an hour and no one has come to give any further instructions. The time I took to settle in only lasted five minutes, considering all my possessions fit in a small suitcase. So, I decide now I will explore.

I peek through the keyhole and find the kitchen outside to be empty. After opening the door I stick my head out to survey again. Still empty. Where is everyone? The least I can do now is to prepare dinner. After scavenging the kitchen I find some vegetables and spices to work with. No meat, but I’m not going to make a fool of myself around looking for the meat cellar. After I’ve started boiling water and mixed in some herbs I begin to chop the vegetables.

“You’re back,” Finn states as he enters from another side door, looking at the pot with new-found interest. “What’s that?”

“Dinner. Oh, since I didn’t get a good chance to introduce myself, my name’s Verena. Just so you know. Your aunt hired me to be your tutor.”

Finn scrunches his face in dislike. “Ugh. That again? Aunt Polly knows I hate reading!”

“What do you enjoy instead?” I try to sound optimistic as I peel the carrots.

“I like math better, like the math Tommy does for the business. Reading’s too complicated.”

“Not necessarily. What have you read before?”

“The Wind In The Willows, Peter Rabbit, all that kids stuff.”

“Well then it seems to me that you just need to find content you enjoy. Fiction may not be your choice, but you might like books of science, philosophy, or social issues. Have you heard of the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Isaac Newton, or Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein? Maybe The Jungle by Upton Sinclair? Actually-” I set down my knife and rush to my room, returning with a book from my suitcase. “I brought this with me on vacation for light reading.” I hand the curious child the worn book. “It’s the Common Sense pamphlet by Thomas Paine. It’s American, but I’m sure it’s much more interesting than Peter Rabbit.”

Finn apprehensively scans the first page, and I can’t hide my growing smile as a look of interest begins to spread on his face. He starts reading, wandering down the hall while not looking up once. Maybe I’ll make a good tutor after all.

“Alright, enough chatter. Let’s eat.” An approaching voice speaks.

I go back to chopping carrots and don’t bother to look up until the voice speaks again.

“Who are you?”

When I lift my gaze to find the voice’s source, a pair of icy blue eyes are peering into me. The eyes belong to a man with a well-sculpted face that shows both stern and commanding intentions. He’s wearing gray trousers, black dress shoes, white shirt and gray vest, as well as a flat cap that John was wearing earlier. He’s also smoking a cigarette, which has brought a foul stench along with it.

“Who let you in here?” The man asks, not even waiting for me to answer his first question.

“Polly did. Pleasure to meet you-”

“But you can’t be here. I’ll have to talk to her.” Then he walks off and starts pouring himself some water, and I faintly hear him mutter: “We don’t take in strays.”

Excuse me? Since when does this guy get to treat me like dirt? Maybe it’s the American mutt temper, but I’ve got the urge to give him a piece of my mind!

I lean against the counter and look up with rebellious eyes. “Gotta say, your accent is a bit on the tricky side. Mind saying that again?”

The man seems taken back by the tone of my voice, as if he’s not used to people being sassy with him. He’s quick to regain his posture and has a smirk growing on his lips.

“And I’ll say that your American accent is downright pathetic compared to ours. You lot still never got over being independent, did you? Gotta flaunt it about in all our faces!”

My jaw drops. “I never even mentioned that! I think you’re the one holding a grudge based on a war you weren’t even a part of!” He tries to interrupt but I keep talking. “And for the record, we Americans are current allies with you. So instead of arguing about something that happened a hundred and forty years ago, I say we uphold each country’s honor and talk as if we’re on the same level. Do you agree?”

The man keeps staring at me, seeming to ponder whether or not to argue again.

“This book is really good!” Finn interrupts the silence from down the hall.

I grin at his enthusiasm and go back to chopping carrots, ignoring the man’s blank stare.

“Polly said you know Finn, my new student.”

His eyes flick upwards to find mine again. “Pardon?”

“I’m his tutor, or at least I have been for the past hour. Polly hired me, so that’s why I’m here.”

“Interesting…”

Now he’s looking at me in a different manner, as if sizing me up as a potential threat. Why would he do that? The man slowly walks around the counter towards me and removes his cap, allowing me to see he has dark hair in a style similar to Finn’s. He turns it over and sets it on the counter, as if he wants me to get a closer look. What I do I notice it’s got something shiny peeking out of the brim.

“What’s with the custom hat? It’s made of metal, or something?”

The man simply chuckles and holds back the fabric to show- razors?

“You sew razor blades into your hat? Now I’ve heard everything! And I thought Americans were crazy!”

“Is that soup I smell?” Another voice comes from the same way the man came. Another man enters the room and I recognize him as John. When he sees us, his eyes acquire a hint of uncertainty. “Thomas, I see you’ve met Verena. Polly was just telling me about her.”

So this is the Thomas I was warned about? I guess Polly wasn’t kidding when she said he was ruff. 

“Not officially, John. She was just telling about how Polly hired her to teach Finn. May I ask why?”

“Polly says it’s because he needs a proper education. Not one that’s only taught through bookkeeping. Can’t say I blame her. When’s the last time any of us actually sat down with him and taught him something?”

Thomas shrugs. “If he’s going to be part of the Blinders he’ll learn all he needs to know by watching us.”

The name sends a chill down my spine and I snap to attention.

“Wait- Blinders? As in Peaky Blinders…? Oh my God.” I look back and forth between Thomas and John, still holding the knife. “Shelby! That’s the name! Shelby! I’ve heard things about you, what kind of a man you are! Excuse me, but I do not want to be involved with anything surrounding you!”

I grip the knife and dash for the hallway, yanking on the door handle only to find it’s locked. Panicking, I stand in the corner with the knife held out as Thomas Shelby struts towards me- holding a pistol!

“Please, don’t kill me! I have nothing to offer! You’d just be wasting a bullet!”

There’s no answer, only Thomas looking at me with cold eyes.

“Verena! Verena! Polly, where'd she go?” Finn’s voice comes from down the hall. He turns his head and sees me, with a wide grin on his face. God, I can’t let him see me get killed!

“Finn…? Finn! Did you finish your reading?” I speak in a quivering voice.

“Almost. I’ve only got a few more pages.”

I nod shakily still looking between Finn and Thomas, who’s looking at him while still holding the gun up. “Alright, go and finish up and then I’ll be right over.”

Finn heads back into his room, and I look up to glare into Thomas’ calculating eyes. “I swear to God, if you so much as lay a finger on that boy-!”

“You’ll what?” Thomas asks in a laid-back manner. “A moment ago you were begging for me not to kill you. Now you’re threatening me not to kill my own brother?”

My mind stops. “Brother…? He’s your brother? Oh…” I shamefully look to the floor, cursing myself in my head for making such a stupid mistake. “But you’ll still kill me.”

The next few quiet seconds are so suspenseful I swear I can hear my own heart beating. I dare to look back up at Thomas, who now shakes his head.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

My brow furrows at his words. “This means I’m fired then, doesn’t it?”

By now John’s entered the hallway and comes over to stand in front of Thomas.

“Why would we fire you? From what Polly’s told me and what we’ve seen here, you haven’t given us any reason to fire you.”

“But my question is-” Thomas steps forward. “Can she be trusted? How do we know she’s loyal to us?”

I bite my lip and lower the knife I’m holding. “With all due respect sir, you’re technically my employer. That and the fact that you’re temporarily housing me gives me enough reason to be loyal. And if for whatever reason in the future I might not be, you can kick me to the dirt.”

Both men exchange looks, seeming to have a silent conversation while I stand here awkwardly. Eventually John gestures for Thomas to put away the gun, who seems to have forgotten he had it out.

“We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot,” Thomas says in a lighter tone. “What was your name again?”

Now that he’s not holding a gun at me, Thomas actually seems decent. I might dare to even call him handsome. Remember, this is your boss now. Keep it professional. Don’t lose your head.

I stand up straighter and hold out a hand to shake his. “Verena Nora Steenstra. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shelby.” I turn to John and shake his hand too. “You as well, Mr. Shelby. I was told by Polly to wait for any further instructions. In the meantime there is soup in the pot if you’re interested.”

“Wait.” Thomas gets an odd look. “You… made dinner? Why?”

Now that I have more leverage, I hold my breath to squeeze past the two men and back into the kitchen. “I had nothing else to do, and it’s the least I can do since you’ve allowed me into your home.”

Just then, Polly comes into the room. She hesitates when she sees us, giving John and Thomas a certain look. Then she sees the pot on the stove.

“Who cooked? Ada hasn’t made anything in weeks.”

The two men look at each other, then point to me. Polly seems impressed.

“You appear to be a lady of many talents, Ms. Steenstra.”

My face goes pink at her praise and I busy myself by stirring the soup. “I know my way around the kitchen. My family thinks it’s proper for me to be a suitable housewife, so that’s what I’ve been expected to do my whole life. Cooking, baking, sewing, the works. In all honesty, this is the first real job I’ve ever had.”

When I turn back to them, they’re all sitting at the table and appear to all be whispering something. Thomas is the one to speak first.

“So you’re from America, and for the moment you are stuck here?”

“Correct.”

He nods slowly. “Welcome to Birmingham, Ms. Steenstra. Here’s exactly what you’re getting yourself into, love. My family runs a bookkeeping business, and we do our part to keep a close eye on the authorities. People know better not to mess with us.”

“Bookkeeping, like gambling?”

“Correct.”

Dear Lord, I’ve become involved with criminals!

Polly seems to catch onto my panicked thoughts. “You need not worry about being caught up with our work. You’ll only be interacting with Finn.” Polly’s eyes narrow. “If anyone asks, you’re a private tutor and only a private tutor. Do not go asking too many questions.”

I nod shakily and wring my hands together. “Seems to me like a world made up of gambling, drinking, and violence.” I shake my head and give her a skeptical look. “That doesn’t seem like a world I want to be involved in.”

“You won’t have to, and I suggest you don’t.”

By now Finn’s returned and is sitting next to John, but he’s not the only one who’s entered. Over the past few minutes a man with a mustache and a younger woman with short dark hair wearing a red dress are now standing across from me. Thankfully Polly notices my discomfort.

“Everyone, we need proper introductions. This is Verena Steenstra, and she’s going to be helping Finn with his studies. Verena, you’ve met Finn, Thomas, and John. The final Shelby brother is Arthur over there.” She points to the mustache man. “And Ada’s their sister.” She points to the woman in red.

Wow. The Shelbys are a big family. And suspicious ones at that, because they’re all looking at me as if they’re dogs eyeing a piece of meat.

“Polly, no offense, but I don’t like this,” the one called Arthur grunts. “Who says the bitch won’t tattle to the coppers the instant she leaves? How do you know she isn’t a spy sent by the new bloke?” He jerks his head to see Finn eating my soup and he swipes the bowl. “How do we know this isn’t poisoned?!”

“Because I ate it?” I shrug. “Because unlike most people I’ve met here I actually try to be nice? It’s fun, you should try it sometime.”

John starts outright laughing, leaving us all giving him funny looks. “You picked out a real winner, Polly! She’s just like the Americans I met during the war!”

Lord, what have I gotten myself into?

[beifong-brainrot]

Good evening you have the rumors concerning the new avatar series? what do you think?

Good evening (I say as i type this at 13 o clock)

I have heard the rumours and I've read the article I think you're referring to.

I know this has caused a bit of a mixed reaction from the fandom, some folks being excited and curious, while some are more sceptical, if not outright upset with the direction being taken. Personally, I try to never write off a piece of media until I've personally experienced it. So write me down as neutral or cautiously welcoming of the new Avatar.

The article gives us a few hints to the future Avatar. She is supposedly a young homeless girl with an amputated leg. Apparently, her animal companion is supposed to be a large catlike creature, so I have big hopes for the beeeg kitty. I'm glad Avatar seems to be sticking to their guns of representing disabled people, Toph, Teo and Ming-Hua being a very enjoyable change from disabled characters usually being excluded from combat and action scenes in most shows like this.

The character also supposedly has a twin sister, who is powerful in her own right, and apparently trained by the White Lotus. It will be interesting to see this dynamic played out.

Earthbending twins fans stay winning. 🥳 Also if there is no mention of the Beifong twins I'll riot.

[Still not over the fact that atla had Poi and Ping and tlok had... Wei and Wing. The creativity is absolutely astounding.]

The concept of the Four Nations no longer existing is probably one of the biggest surprises to me, as they were always such an intergral part of the show. Apparently some near apocalyptic event had happend, Korra being forced to stop it and restructure the Four Nations into seven "havens". It's possible that this event is what killed Korra, however that's just a theory. A game theory as the kids say.

It will be interesting to see a restructured world, and it will allow us to get to relive the thrill of discovering a new fictional realm. But it also feels a bit bittersweet, since it may feel as if everything all our favourite characters previously worked towards is null and void.

I'm not terribly excited about the likely futuristic sci-fi enviornment the show will probably be set in. It was bound to happen, and I'm sure it will appeal to some folks. I personally rarely enjoy the science fiction genre, as I often find it boring and generic. There are exceptions, like Signalis or Katedra, however these pieces of media have more of an existential horror-y vibe that I don't think would be plausible in the Avatar franchise.

And I worry that thw Avatar franchise will slip into a 'generic sci fi' aesthetic and lose what made it unique as it strays further from the cultural influences that made it so unique and beloved. I hope that they'll be able to maintain what I love about the series. As Netflix's 'Over the Moon' managed to blend sci fi and chinese influences, I hope the next Avatar series is able to blend the cultures they drive inspiration from.

Apparently the designs for the new Avatar and one of her friends have been leaked, here. Though I'm not sure if this is legit, I'm a bit dissapointed. The new Avatar looks adorable, but their outfits look so generic. Like they could be background Voltron characters and I would not bat an eye.

Atla and Tlok had very clear influences with the patterning and cut of their clothings. Tlok merged these influences with early 20th century fashion, but still maintained more traditional clothing for characters not from Republic City.

While the potential new designs bear some hallmarks of the other shows' character design options, such as baggier trousers and longer designs for upper body clothing, they lack most of what made avatar clothing styles unique.

It is a shame if these are the real designs, because other than theit clothing, the character themselves look fine. The potential new Avatar, Pavi looks fucking adorable and looks to be South Asian, which is about time, since the whole concept of the Avatar comes from those cultures. And I will defend her from the racist, misogynists and abelists that may potentially argue that the show about a world entirely made of poc is going woke.

I do hope the best for the new show, despite my reservations, and hope the best for the new Avatar and that she doesn't get too much hate for coming after Aang and Korra. I hope the creators will take notes from what they did wrong in tlok, as well as have more creative freedom due to not being so much under Nickelodeon's control.

I think it's also important to remind everyone that just because we're getting the next Avatar, doesn't mean we won't get to see Korra or the Krew again. Atla comics were releasing while tlok was happening and are still in works at the moment. So it's very possible that we will still get to see Korra's adventures in comics and even potential movies. As the adult Gaang movie is going to probably be in thetres next year, so we may very well get Korra movies too.

Though I'd like to remind everyone that adult Aang's VA in the upcoming movie is Eric Nam, who has expressed pro Israel sentiments.

Having this man play Aang, a genocide survivor is a slap in the face to both the character, his fans and actual victims of genocide, so I will not speak about this movie until he is recast.

[seraphtrevs]

Since I’m a huge fan of your writing, I’m curious: who are some your favorite writers and what are some of your favorite books or short stories??

Oh man, I've done so much reading over my life that it's hard to narrow down. Like I'm for sure going to leave people out.

For fiction: some of my favorite authors are the Bronte sisters (slight preference for Charlotte - Jane Eyre was one of my first loves and hugely shaped me as a reader and a writer), Daphne du Maurier (favorite of her books - Rebecca), Sarah Waters (can't decide between Fingersmith and The Paying Guests), Angela Carter (The Bloody Chamber), Susanna Clarke (Jonathon Strange and Mr Norell), Toni Morrison (Beloved), Robin Hobb (the Farseer trilogy and Fitz's further adventures, but I've heard good things about the Liveship Trader books!), Terry Pratchett (the Tiffany Aching books are particular favorites), and Anne Rice (well, depending on the book tbh, she's not very consistent lol - the first three Vampire Chronicle books are my favs from her), with special shout-outs to Robin McKinley (Beauty), Avi (The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle), LM Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Frank L Baum (I have read every single Oz book - there are a ton of them!) and Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), who were my favs when I was a kid (along with the Babysitter's Club book lol - but they're mostly ghostwritten so I'm not sure who to credit!)

Right now, I'm re-reading (for the millionth time) The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, which is a collection of fairy tale retellings - but that feels like a really inadequate way to describe it. It's very visceral, primal, and poetic. My favorite story from the collection is "The Bloody Chamber," which is a Bluebeard retelling. Bluebeard is one of my favorite fairy tales, but it understandably doesn't get a lot of adaptation. (I'm very curious what Disney's Bluebeard would look like lmao)

I'm also listening to the audiobook of The Vampire Lestat, which is the reason that Anne Rice is on that list. She really lost me with her later books, but listening to TVL reminded me that actually, she can be very good! She really excels at evocative descriptions and conveying emotion - she's very shameless, in a good way. A woman who always writes with her entire pussy, whatever else you might say about her.

But I actually read more nonfiction than fiction. I'm a big fan of memoirs - not celebrity memoirs (although Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died was probably my favorite book I've read this year), but memoirs that are more about someone grappling with the human experience - like, sometimes the author has been through something horrible and they've done a lot of mediation on what they've been through, or sometimes the author is just a very astute and entertaining observer of their own (and other people's) ridiculousness. Some of my favorites are Mary Karr, Caroline Knapp, David Sedaris, Cheryl Strayed, Jeanette Walls, Tara Westover, and Allie Brosh.

If I had to pick one to recommend - all of David Sedaris's books are extremely funny. He writes humorous personal essays, so I guess his books aren't really memoirs exactly (google says he's a humorist), but he usually writes about himself so I'm lumping him in this category lol. Me Talk Pretty One Day is a good place to start with his stuff - you will cry laughing.

I also love pop science and pop history - Mary Roach is a super approachable science writer with a quirky sense of humor. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is so funny and candid - she asks every question you've ever had about dead bodies and then some. I also love Bill Bryson - another very accessible and funny writer - I really loved his A Short History of Nearly Everything, which covers exactly what it says. I ADORE Oliver Sacks - he was a neurologist who wrote so movingly about what it means to be human through the experiences of his patients - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat reads more like a book of short stories, and I weep like a baby every time I read it (I actually started tearing up thinking of a few cases.) (Btw he's also written beautiful memoirs but I like his science writing best so I'm putting him here. Bill Bryson has written memoir too.) Carl Sagan is also approachable and humane - This Demon Haunted World is my favorite of his. Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression is required reading for anyone who's dealt with mental illness, although it's difficult and painful at times (his Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity is also really good, but also difficult and painful - but worth it!)Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses has gorgeous prose and is a great book for artists and writers imo - it gets you thinking deeply about how we interact with the world.

For history, I am obsessed with this book called "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow - it will completely upend everything you think you know about the history of homo sapians. Mike Duncan got his start podcasting - his series Revolutions is about major world revolutions and is essentially like listening to an audiobook, so it's not a surprise his books are pretty fun too. Sarah Vowell has some really fun books about quirky historical topics - her Assassination Vacation is great (she goes on a roadtrip to visit locations in America where famous assassinations took place).

And here are a few other miscellaneous non-fiction writers I enjoy - Sebastian Junger (just finished his In My Time of Dying about his near death experience - super thought-provoking - but it was A Perfect Storm that made me love him), Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Jon Krakauer (Into the Wild), Jon Ronson (The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry)

This was a fun question to think about! I hadn't realized I had such a strong preference for female writers until I actually listed all my favs out, which is an interesting thing to know about myself, so thanks for asking!

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

WT 2024 #20: "Giving Permission to Die"

The Sentry and the Strays - My science fiction universe set in the distant future.

Summary: After a harrowing rescue, Ted gives Charlie permission to die.

WC: 1322

“I’ll watch him.” 

The three words took Kydd by surprise. He craned his aching neck to take in the surprise visitor. Of all people, he was not expecting his chief engineer to be watching from the door. 

“Ted.” He rasped, a little surprised at the intrusion at such a late hour. His hand hadn’t left Charlie's hand. 

“I’ll watch him.” Ted said again, a complicated expression on his face. Kydd’s heart began to pound a little. He knew Charlie was going to be fine - he knew he wasn’t doing any good just sitting by and waiting. But there was something about this kid that got under his skin and etched through his veins. 

Suddenly, Ted was at his side, shifting from foot to foot as though fighting his instincts to walk away as he had done so many times before. Just the fact he was in the room told Kydd he was serious. 

Finally, the man met his eyes. 

“You’re exhausted. I can watch him, at least for a little while so you can eat, shower and get some sleep in an actual bed.” Said Ted, only to be met by a scoff. 

“What makes you think I haven’t been.” Uttered Kydd. 

“Because you’ve been here for days.” 

“You’re not the first person to be telling me that.” 

“Then let me be the first to tell you that you’re not doing anyone any favours by just sitting here. Charlie’s not going anywhere and I know you want to promise him that you’ll stay, but sleep while you can, he’ll need you to be strong for him when he wakes up. I know for a fact that he wouldn’t notice you missing for a few hours.”

Kydd’s eyes filled with tears, and Ted’s face contorted in discomfort and concern. 

“Like how we didn’t notice that he’d gone.” The Captain rasped. Ted’s heart shattered. 

“No. We didn’t.” He amended after a moment. “But running yourself into the ground isn’t going to solve that.”

“You’re- you’re right, I should rest.” Kydd sniffed and stood, still reluctant to let go of Charlie’s hand. Ted slipped his hand between them, allowing Kydd to finally let go. He stood idle for a moment, feeling troubled by being untethered from the boy. He swallowed, thanked Ted with a clap on the shoulder, and shuffled off on creaking knees, allowing his body to adjust to the motions of walking. 

Without thinking Ted took his place in the chair; still warm from days of having someone occupy it. He spent the next few hours just watching, and waiting. It was intoxicating. The anticipation that something could happen at any moment had him glued to the spot, and within minutes he was hooked; he understood why others had spent hours alone with him. It was as soothing as it was disconcerting; to be alone, though not truly. 

Ted took in every detail he had tried to forget since they pulled him from the rubble. The metal brace on his leg created a considerable landscape from under blankets desperate to keep his temperature at a normal level, despite the low level fever that had been present in the last forty-eight hours. 

Due to the harsh nature of some of the restorative medicine they had to hand, Charlie's body was still covered in deep scrapes, bruises and burns that had been left to heal in the open air. His head was their biggest concern. He’d taken a tremendous blow when the station disintegrated around him, and the rooms bled O2 faster than he could breathe, so it was a matter of time before they found out the true extent of the damage. 

Would he remember them? Did Ted want him to remember? The harsh words, the rejection and the expectation for him to just make it on his own? Would he want Charlie to remember the pain? Given the sheer damage caused to his already malnourished body - only malnourished after so many months away from the Strays - would it be kinder to let him go? HIs ribs had already been broken by a previous round of CPR just trying to get him back to the safety of the Arc; another round would surely kill him… 

“Charlie, Kydd would never say this - he’d never want to… but I’ll understand if you don’t want to wake back up. You’ve done enough. You don’t have to give us the satisfaction of being able to apologise to you… you don’t have anything to prove. You showed us your loyalty time and time again. And we owe you everything but I’d understand if you never wanted to take it. I wouldn’t blame you if you use us to fully heal, steal a ship and never look back. I don’t blame you if you want to turn any of us in. I don't blame you if the first thing you do is shout and scream and curse us out. I deserve it atleast. Looking back, I had every opportunity to find out what you meant. I had every means to understand your circumstances but I simply refused because I was angry and- and petty. I mean this with my whole heart Charlie that I never hated you. I hated your circumstances. I hated where you came from so much that I didn’t even get to see the man you had become. I was so afraid of losing everything I knew, that I nearly lost something equally as important. My family - you.” 

Ted didn’t realise he was crying until a terrible sob tore from his throat. 

“S-so I don’t blame you if you decide that sleeping is kinder than the outside world. I do not blame you if you decide to rejoin the stars. One day I’ll join you, if you let me that is… but then I don’t blame you if even in death you prefer to remain alone…

Just remember you don't have to be - not anymore.”

Ted took his free hand to wipe the tears, steading his breaths to at least remain somewhat composed should someone walk in. In that moment, he felt exposed and vulnerable - an uncomfortable feeling nonetheless, only made worse by Charlie’s stillness broken by the occasional rise and fall of his chest from the oxygen mask. Aia said that a positive was that he was now breathing on his own - a huge step up from how they found his lifeless body - yet he was terrified that he’d just stop. Despite every permission he’d just given Charlie, his biggest fear was that the younger man would actually take him up on them. But when was Charlie one to follow the rules? Ever since they met, if he didn’t like or agree with something, he made sure to change it to suit the logic in his mind. He couldn’t complain as the job got done, and over time Ted grew to appreciate the gymnastics that Charlie’s mind went through to get to his conclusions. 

The second Ted stopped trying to correct him, and rather work with him, the easier their relationship became. 

“I see what Kydd means by you getting under our skin.” Ted huffed, somewhat annoyed, though if anyone was there to hear him they’d know he was being far from malicious. The tears began to flow, this time in earnest as Ted’s chest heaved. 

“You are worth so much more than you will ever know, to all of us, Charlie. I know why you did what you did but… It shouldn’t have been you. You didn’t have to fix something you didn’t break. You didn’t have to go to those lengths…”

“But he did.” 

Ted’s tear-filled eyes snapped to the end of the bed, where Yve stood, smiling sadly at the pair. Startled, the engineer immediately stood; chair launching behind him as he tried to smooth his clothes despite the teardrops on his tunic. He cleared his throat.

“He did.” Nodded Ted. “Stubborn bastard.”

[faunandfloraas]

i got tagged by @inloif and @rainknow to share 10 songs I've been enjoying lately 💕

okay cliche but i actually think this is a banger remix

been back on a Billie jaunt and its Lee Knows fault ^^

this one needs the video attached and it's almost certainly not on spotify lol

chrissy amphlett was so hot

underrated ^^

he :]

i'll tag @edgymcgoth @telomirage @sunshineleefelix :)

[starryalpacasstuff]

Tag Game

Tagged by @neuroticbookworm, thank you bestie!

Favourite colour: Blue (the middle school percy jackson obsession was real)

Last song: The Tortoise and The Hare by Stray Kids. I don't care what anyone says, this song is rules and everyone who says otherwise has no taste

Last Book: The last one I finished was The Secret History by Donna Tart (one of the forebearers of dark academia), but I'm rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (The science fiction book)

Last Movie: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, translates to "The way I felt when I saw a girl", a very sweet bollywood movie about a guy helping a girl he meets by chance to come out to her family and avoid being married off to a man.

Last TV Show: The last one I watched an episode of is Love In The Big City

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Depends heavily on my mood, but I'm almost always down for spicy

Relationship status: Single and not planning on doing anything to change it any time soon

Last Thing I Googled: "luce vatican", because apparently the Vatican now has an anime mascot named Luce

Do with that information what you will.

Looking forward to: Ah.. I don't know? There's a wedding I'll be attending in about three weeks, so probably that

Tagging: @anixknowsnothin @tittylover26 @dimplesandfierceeyes and if you see this and want to play, consider yourself tagged by me!

[ao3feed-ateez]

Dying Light

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZOv5rA by MemoreM Seonghwa just stared down at his trembling hands, cursing his bad luck. Not only was he trapped, he was trapped with Hongjoong. This was quite literally one of the worst-case scenarios he always strived his hardest to avoid. He wondered how long his sanity would hold out; how long it would be before the shouting matches would start. It was inevitable. They were entirely incompatible. In which Seonghwa must learn to work with his rival team leader if he has any chance of survival—but feelings stand in the way of their teamwork. Words: 10795, Chapters: 3/3, Language: English Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong, Jeong Yunho (ATEEZ), Kang Yeosang, Choi San (ATEEZ), Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Jung Wooyoung (ATEEZ), Choi Jongho (ATEEZ), Kim Yonghwan | Eden, Bang Chan (Stray Kids), Kim Namjoon | RM, Son Hyunwoo | Shownu Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Post-Apocalypse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Pining, Guns, Blood and Injury, Idiots in Love, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZOv5rA

[kanerallels]

Re: homeschooling. There is ALOT of stigma, but I’ve heard the stigma is much higher in the USA than elsewhere, and this is an American site so all polls results are skewed to an American world view. So there’s that, what fears exist there that influence the vote? I’ll try to summarize. I’d be interested in a poll from everyone else. Also the points I’m gonna cover are just what I’ve heard over the years, and over the border as a Canadian myself, who only homeschooled for a few of my years, so it’s not iron clad or anything. Just some possibilities.

The stigmas come from the idea that it’s bad because there are, unfortunately, a lot of people who don’t do it right, or for the right reasons. The main objections are these kids are completely isolated socially, underprepared to function in the real world, and that they won’t get a proper education - either from ignorance or malice, or both. There may also be unconscious bias that the state (not the American sense of the word, but the institutional sense) knows best and how can parents know what to teach? Which probably feeds back into factors I don’t really have the qualifications to talk about but basically boil down to “if you educated them better they won’t be mindless minions for the capitalist/military/prison grind” - the state does not want that, so they purport the idea that it’s bad (yes that borders on conspiracy theory, not saying it’s true, saying I’ve heard this said). Never mind public education is a fairly new concept, historically speaking (and it is a good thing in many ways! Mandatory, free, basic education has eliminated illiteracy in many places for example. The concept started out with worthy goals, etc - have they strayed from them and why? Lack of care or just resources?)

Obviously, all of that is going to vary by who is doing it and why and if they have the time and resources and desire to do it properly.

Socially, you can absolutely create community elsewhere - when my mom was doing it with us, we went to the library every single week and met up with a bunch of other kids and planned social stuff and educational group trips to places like the science centre and the art and history museums. We mixed our book learning with practical skills - one person knew a sewing teacher, one person negotiated a discount for swim lessons, the library offered French lessons among its many other programs. And of course to supplement grade standard education lesson books, like math, spelling, etc, we were ALWAYS taking out books from the library, both fiction and non fiction. So there are absolutely ways to get a rounded education and a social life. I would say even more so now than when the concept was new for me 15-20 years ago.

But on the other hand, there are the horror stories, and success stories don’t circulate half so well. The people who isolate their kids to abuse them, don’t teach them anything, make them do chores all day beyond age appropriate responsibility or physical ability, etc. also the deliberate obfuscation of certain information or topics because of personal ideology, usually religious, because you know. Somehow education equates belief (sarcasm. Example: I learned people used to think the world was flat. Guess what? I don’t believe that).

These are just some random thoughts, feel free say it doesn’t make sense lol. I do believe if that’s what you want to do, and you have the love and time and ability and patience etc, and financial freedom for at least one parent to do it (someone’s gotta work unfortunately), then go for it. But do it right, and find as many resources as you can. Unfortunately there are people who go into it without preparation and for the wrong reasons and I can see why people believe kids need access to third parties somewhere in their lives, and school might as well be it. Like there’s very much merit and drawbacks on both sides. I think there’s kids who could come out from both systems with abysmal skills, and from both with stellar skills, (I’ve met both types), it’s just really gonna boil down to individual circumstances.

This is all really really interesting, thank you for the ask!! I knew some of this stuff but not all of it. And I don't think I knew you were homeschooled at one point, that's so cool!! (Oh and you're never gonna hear judgement about conspiracy theory sounding stuff from me lol)

[ihavethedreamies]

Hello, everyone!

I want to start by apologizing, because I am going on an indefinite hiatus.

I realize I have three series I have not finished (ATEEZ, Seventeen, and Stray Kids), and I'm not sure when I will finish them.

Part of my hiatus is for my mental health, but its good! I started this blog to write stories to try and get over the writer's block I had for nearly three years.

I had been going to college for Creative Writing and for various reasons, I ended up leaving my school. Because of bad health reasons (I have a genetic disorder), I ended up transferring to online school. My mental health was really bad for a long time. Everything I loved and learned at my first school with my writing teacher there, was contradicted by what my online teacher professed. I hated it, and I lost all confidence due to the way the second teacher taught. It was like I couldn't write what I wanted (Thriller/Fantasy) because what is selling right now is Young Adult Romance/Fantasy. I hate that, and so I just…gave up.

I had been planning a novel series for years, and all of a sudden, it seemed like the work was for nothing. After getting my physical health better controlled, and then my mental health getting way better, I started to write fanfiction. Thanks to everyone's incredible comments and notes, I got my confidence back. I feel, again, like I am a good writer, which I was convinced I wasn't.

November is National Write a Novel Month, and I don't plan on doing the whole book I have planned then, but the goal is 40,000 words. I want to do at least that much. Because I want so bad to work on my novel series, I have honestly lost interest in fanfiction. I want to do what I've been planning since I was ten years old; be a novelist. I want to get all of the stuff for my novel planned out before November, its a High Fantast/Science Fiction/Thriller mashup thing that I've made a world for and everything. I don't just want to start it now, I need to.

This took me several weeks to think about, and I've finally decided. I recently moved, I am going to start working as the IT person for my uncle and father's company, and eventually start a computer repair and custom computer building business. I am waiting to hear back from the SSA to see if I can get Disability so I can do the computer stuff more as a productive hobby. I went from a town of less than a thousand to the Denver area. Big change, and now, I have opportunities. I can actually go to a library, or used bookstore, or even the museum now, because there is actually public transportation (I don't drive). After 13 years of hating where I lived, I came back to the home I always loved and I want to live a life…Touch some grass for once.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me up until this point, and I'm sorry I have left some things unfinished. Please, continue to enjoy and share my work, I'm not taking anything down. I might even post something once in a blue moon.

Again, thank you for your support, and please, continue to dream.

Master-Master List