#the GC but like the smaller one

[freeabortionslol]

first day at the lake house (lake house gc x reader fic) feat. jack hughes, luke hughes, quinn hughes, trevor zegras, cole caufield ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

summary: !!this stems from the lake house group chat so if you haven't read those you should!! reader is apart of the lake house friend group, flirtatious with each boy, this fic is pretty crucial to the plot I can't lie, i put in a lot of comedic moments (bc ik y'all love those), TENSIONNN, a little bit of angst towards the end, each guy has their own nickname for her (ex. babe, sunshine, princess, sunny, and bunny) warnings!! cursing, angst, i only proofread once (I think that's it) a/n: ahhhh!!! finally the FIRST lake house fic (I say first bc I cannot wait to write more of these). this one is pretty long which I did by accident so bare w me. please keep sending suggestions they're so fun to read!! quinn & jack lovers, this fic is for you. love u lots <3 wc: 11.4k lake house series masterlist

The harsh Michigan sun slipped through the thin curtains of the lake house, waking you in almost an instant. You grabbed the dark throw blanket off the ground, covering your face to shield your eyes. You shuffled, trying to settle in more carefully on the half deflated air mattress so you could get just five more minutes. You maybe got two hours of sleep last night, being kept awake by Trevor’s snoring from the bed above. Several times throughout the night, Cole got frustrated with his snoring and kicked him. Trevor kicked him right back, sending Cole straight down to your mattress. He never landed directly on top of you as you chose to sleep as far away from the boys as possible, but he did come close. It happened four times (yes you counted) throughout the night, deflating your mattress little by little each time Cole’s body was thrown down. You closed your eyes, balling your body up under the blanket as you quickly let yourself drift back to sleep.

“Oh my god, shut up!” Cole groaned sleepily at Trevor who was too deep into his slumber to hear. You heard the shuffle of Cole’s foot reaching to kick Trevor, rolling your eyes at what was about to happen. You pulled the blanket from off your head, moving over to the side to give Cole some space to land. Just five seconds later, Cole let out a slight scream, falling right next to you on the air mattress. You turned to look at him, anger evident in your eyes as he made himself comfortable on your makeshift bed. You quickly grabbed the pillow your head was lying on to hit him square in the face. 

“Ow! Trev-” He paused, opening his eyes which softened at the sight of you, even if you were furious. “Oh. Hey, baby.” He said with a soft smile, letting his eyes shut again as he reached his arm around to pull you close to him.

You pulled yourself out of his grasp, scooching closer to the edge of the mattress as you sat yourself up straight. “Don’t ‘hey baby’ me!” You groaned, your mind still not fully awake. “You assholes kept me up all night!” Cole kept his eyes shut, nodding his head as he listened to your incoherent words. 

“Should’ve just slept down here with you.” He mumbled through his sleepy state, snaking his arm around your waist to pull you down. You scoffed, moving out of his grasp to stand next to the mattress. You crossed your arms, looking at Trevor who had his whole body splayed across the bed, then down at Cole whose smaller frame still managed to take over your territory. Somehow, the two boys were able to continue their sleep, even with the bright light shining through the window. You stared down at the scene before you, shaking your head in disbelief. It was like babysitting two toddlers who had somehow gained the bodies of grown men. Cole was already softly snoring again, his arm flung over the edge of the deflated air mattress where you had been moments before. Trevor, meanwhile, let out a particularly loud snore, causing him to twitch and sprawl even further across the bed above. You picked up a pillow from off the ground, throwing it at Trevor whose body didn’t even flinch at the action. You took one last look at the boys before huffing out your breath and exiting the room. You walked down the hallway, your legs wobbling slightly through your sleepy state. You were pissed when you found out you’d have to share a room with Trevor and Cole this trip. Normally it was Jack who shared with the two of them in his room, but he decided this year he wanted to “Bunk alone. For the greater good, you know?” whatever that means. The spare bedroom where you slept every year (alone might I add) had been quickly invaded by the two most testosterone filled creatures you knew, and you were not happy in the slightest. The lake house had always been your escape, but this year it felt more like torture. You made your way down the stairs, hair messy, voice groggy as Luke’s Michigan t-shirt fell slightly past your athletic shorts. You walked to the kitchen, grabbing a glass to pour yourself some water. 

“Mornin’” You heard a low voice hum through the quiet of the kitchen. You turned your head slowly, seeing Quinn walking down the stairs to the kitchen. His hair was ruffled messily in his face while the neckline of his t-shirt hung low. You tried your best to send him a smile as you continued to fill your glass at the fridge dispenser. He walked closer, placing a hand on your lower back as he shuffled behind you to get to the pantry which sent a quick shiver down your spine. 

“Morning,” you mumbled back, your voice still heavy with exhaustion as you sipped your water. The cool liquid soothed your dry throat, but it did little to fix the throbbing headache that lingered from your sleepless night.

Quinn grabbed a box of cereal from the pantry, his movements slow and deliberate, clearly still half-asleep himself. “Rough night?” he asked, his tone light but laced with understanding.

You let out a bitter laugh, rubbing your hands against your face. “Rough doesn’t begin to cover it.” You said, leaning against the counter as you looked at him. “Trevor snored all night, and every time he snored, Cole would kick him. Then, Trevor would kick Cole back, sending him flying down to my mattress.” Quinn’s face cringed up as you spoke. “Four motherfuckin’ times. And each time, my mattress deflated just a little more.” 

Quinn chuckled softly, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. “Sounds about right. I told Jack you’d kill him for sticking you with those two.”

“Oh, I’m definitely killing him,” you replied, crossing your arms. “This lake house is supposed to be my sanctuary, not…whatever that was.” You gestured toward the ceiling, as if the chaos of the night was still lingering above you. 

Quinn smirked, grabbing the milk from the fridge and shaking his head. “Jack probably thought it’d be funny. He’s always been the king of passing off the worst roommates.”

“Well, his reign ends today,” you muttered, rubbing your temple. “I’m moving to the couch if I have to. No way I’m surviving another night like that.” 

Quinn paused mid-pour, glancing up at you with a hint of mischief in his expression. “You know…” he started, “My room’s always an option. No snoring, no body-slamming. Just saying.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, skeptical. “Is that your way of offering me your bed while you take the floor, or are you actually trying to convince me to sleep with you?” 

He grinned, unbothered by your teasing tone. “I’m offering you peace and quiet. What you make of it is up to you.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at your lips. “I’ll think about it,” you said, taking another sip of water.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Luke shouted, his voice piercing through the quiet air as he ran into the kitchen. “It’s the first day at the lake! We’re wasting perfectly good hours of sunlight here.” You glared at Luke as you chugged the water, sending him a stern look. 

Quinn sighed, walking over to put an arm around your shoulders. “I think little miss sunshine over here needs a nap.” 

“She looks more like little miss raincloud.” Luke let out with a light chuckle. You quickly stretched out your leg, sending him a kick to the shin. “What the hell-”

“Stop being a dumbass.” You interrupted with a stern tone to your voice. 

Luke rubbed his shin dramatically, his face a mix of confusion and mock offense. “We just got here, and you’re already assaulting me?” 

“Consider it a warning,” you said, setting your glass down on the counter and narrowing your eyes at him. 

Quinn chuckled, keeping his arm around your shoulders. “She didn’t sleep last night. Trevor and Cole made sure of that.” 

“I heard my name, what’s going on?” Trevor came jogging down the stairs looking way too happy for your liking.

You groaned audibly, your head dropping into your hands as Trevor bounded into the kitchen, his grin almost as obnoxious as the snoring that kept you up all night. "Why are you so chipper?" you asked, your voice dripping with exhaustion and irritation.

Trevor shrugged, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl. “Got a great night’s sleep, that’s why.” He peeled the banana, dramatically biting into it. “Man, I feel amazing.”

You glared at him, your patience wearing thinner by the second. “Oh, I’m so glad someone enjoyed their night.”

Trevor tilted his head, clearly enjoying your misery. “What’s the problem? Air mattress too lumpy for ya?”

“She’s mad because you snore like a freight train,” Quinn interjected, smirking as he leaned against the counter. “And because Cole used her mattress as a trampoline every time you kicked him off the bed.”

Trevor laughed, a full, hearty laugh that echoed through the kitchen. “That’s hilarious! Why didn’t anyone wake me up? I would’ve joined in.”

Your jaw dropped. “Are you serious right now? I barely survived the night because of you two.”

Luke, still nursing his bruised shin, smirked from the corner. “You really should’ve just slept outside.”

“That’s it,” you said, throwing your hands up and stomping toward the doorway. “I’m finding Jack. At least he won’t mock me to my face.” 

Trevor called after you, still grinning. “Tell him we need more snacks! Oh, and maybe some earplugs for tonight!” You flipped him off without looking back, earning a loud cackle from the kitchen.

As you stepped into the living room, the sound of Jack's voice floated down from the upstairs balcony. "Yeah, I knew this would happen," he was saying, clearly talking to someone on the phone. "But hey, it’s not my problem."

You stormed up the stairs and into his room, ready to give him a piece of your mind. “Jack Hughes!” you yelled, startling him mid-sentence. He looked up at you, wide-eyed, as you jabbed a finger in his direction. “We need to talk. Now.” 

Jack stared at you, the phone still pressed to his ear as he sat up in his bed. “Uh, I’m gonna have to call you back,” he said quickly, hanging up before you could even see who he was talking to. He set the phone on the nightstand and raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay, don’t kill me. What’s this about?” 

“What’s this about?” you repeated, your voice dripping with sarcasm. “This is about you deciding to ditch Trevor and Cole on me. I know you masterminded this. ‘For the greater good,’ my ass.” 

Jack’s lips twitched like he was fighting a smile, which only fueled your anger. “I didn’t think it’d be that bad,” he said, trying to sound innocent. “I mean, come on, they’re not that annoying.” 

You shot him a glare so intense it could’ve melted steel. “They are exactly that annoying. Trevor’s snoring was like sharing a room with a lawnmower, and Cole-” You stopped yourself, throwing your hands up. “I don’t even have words for what Cole did to my air mattress.”

Jack finally broke, laughing so hard he nearly fell off the bed. “Oh man, this is even better than I thought.” 

“It’s not funny, Jack!” you snapped, but his laughter was contagious, and you felt the corner of your mouth twitch despite yourself. 

He wiped a tear from his eye, still grinning. “Okay, fine, I’ll make it up to you. How about this, you can sleep in my room tonight. I’ll take the couch.” 

You narrowed your eyes at him, weighing your options. As much as you hated giving him the satisfaction, a full night’s sleep in a decent bed sounded like heaven. “Fine,” you said, pointing at him. “But you’re on thin ice. Scoot over.” You quickly walked over to climb into bed next to Jack, making yourself comfortable under the blankets. 

“What are you doing?” He asked, grinning down at you from his sitting position. 

You looked up at him once and then closed your eyes, shifting your head against the pillow. “Taking a nap in my bed.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, his grin widening. “Your bed, huh? I don’t remember signing off on that.” 

Without opening your eyes, you muttered, “You forfeited ownership when you subjected me to Trevor and Cole. Consider this reparations.” 

He chuckled, shaking his head as he scooted over to make room. “Fine. But if you start snoring, I’m kicking you out.” 

You peeked one eye open, glaring at him. “Unlike some people in this house, I have normal human sleep habits. No snoring, no body-slamming, no dramatics.” 

Jack leaned back against the headboard, crossing his arms. “Guess we’ll see about that.”

“Not if you don’t shut up and let me sleep,” you mumbled, already nestling deeper into the blankets. The bed was ridiculously comfortable, and the faint scent of Jack’s cologne lingering on the pillow didn’t hurt either. Within minutes, your body began to relax, exhaustion taking over. Jack stayed where he was, scrolling on his phone and glancing at you every so often. The corners of his mouth tugged upward as he watched your breathing slow, your features softening in sleep. Despite the chaos earlier, he couldn’t help but feel a little smug. As you shifted slightly, your hand brushed against his leg, and Jack froze, his gaze flicking down to where your fingers rested against his knee. A faint blush crept up his neck, but he quickly shook his head, muttering to himself. “Nope. Nope.” Still, he didn’t move, staying right where he was to make sure you got your much needed nap. After all, if you woke up cranky again, he was pretty sure you’d murder someone, and it probably wouldn’t be Trevor or Cole. Jack scrolled mindlessly on his phone, glancing at you every now and then as you slept peacefully beside him. He couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the contrast between your current state and the fiery temper you’d displayed just an hour ago. He was used to your sarcastic remarks and quick comebacks, but seeing you this calm, curled up in his bed, was different. He sighed, tossing his phone to the side and letting his head fall back against the headboard. It was still early in the day, but the lake house was already buzzing with chaos. From the sounds of it, Trevor had probably convinced Luke to start some sort of ridiculous competition outside, and Quinn was likely refereeing with an eye roll and a resigned sigh. Jack was tempted to join them, but his eyes drifted back to you. He knew you’d been looking forward to this trip as much as anyone, and now, thanks to his little prank with the room assignments, you were already worn out. Maybe he’d gone too far this time. You stirred slightly, mumbling something incoherent as you shifted closer to his side. Jack froze, not wanting to wake you, but when your head lightly bumped against his arm, he couldn’t stop the small smile that crept across his face.

 “Great,” he muttered under his breath, his tone dripping with mock annoyance. “Now I’m a pillow.” You didn’t respond, of course, but your fingers curled lightly into the fabric of his hoodie, and Jack’s heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t used to this; being this close to you without the usual teasing or bickering. It felt...nice. 

The sound of the door slamming downstairs startled him, followed by Trevor’s unmistakable shout. “Jack! Where are you? It’s boatin’ time!” Jack groaned, glancing down at you. Your face scrunched up slightly at the noise, and he could tell you were seconds away from waking up. 

Before you could fully stir, Jack leaned down, his voice soft. “Do you wanna go for a boat ride or stay here longer?” 

You let out a heavy sigh, moving your head from Jack’s arm to rub your eyes. “I guess I should probably go.” He smiled down at your sleepy state, running his hand through your hair as you woke up. 

Jack’s touch was light, almost hesitant, as his fingers combed through your hair. “You sure?” he asked softly, his grin teasing but warm. “I can fend them off if you wanna sleep longer.”

You groaned, sitting up and stretching your arms above your head. “If I stay, they’ll just find a way to drag me out of here anyway,” you muttered, your voice still thick with sleep. Your eyes flicked to Jack, catching the way he was watching you. His grin softened into something gentler, and it made your stomach flip in a way you weren’t prepared for.

“Fair point,” he said, standing up and offering you his hand. “Come on, princess. Let’s go tame the animals.” You took his hand lightly, letting go as soon as you stood up. You and Jack parted ways when you reached the spare room. He made his way downstairs to the dock while you put on your bathing suit. You entered the room, not bothering to lock it since everyone was already outside. You let out a dramatic yawn, stretching your arms above your head before grabbing your swimsuit. You opted for a forest green triangle bikini with side tie bottoms. You stared at yourself in the mirror for a moment before taking off your shirt, just looking at your tired eyes. Dark circles had formed and you looked utterly exhausted. You grasped the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head in one swift motion before removing your shorts. You slipped on the bottoms first before reaching for your top. You slipped it over your body first, then flipped the backside to the front to retie the strings. You were topless fiddling with the strings when you heard the door swing open.  

“Hey babe-” Cole stood at the door, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of you with no top. He was like a deer in headlights, making direct eye contact with your breasts. His mouth parted slightly as his eyes widened. 

“Cole! Get out!” You yelled, knocking him back into reality. He covered his eyes with his hands as he let out a slight scream.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He cried out as he stood there with his eyes covered. “I didn’t see anything! I swear!” 

You stood there, flustered as you tried to cover yourself with your arms. “Why are you still standing there?!” You scolded. 

“I-I-I-I don’t know!” He shook his head, still standing there. 

You shook your head, letting it hang for a moment. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” You muttered. “Get out, Cole!”

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” He cried out, still in disbelief at what he’d just seen. He turned his body around, eyes still covered as he walked towards the door. His memory of the layout had betrayed him quickly as his head made direct contact with the door in front of him. You quickly tied your bikini top on before walking closer to him. 

You sighed, torn between annoyance and concern, as Cole stumbled slightly, rubbing his forehead. “Cole, are you okay?” you asked, your voice a mix of exasperation and amusement.

He peeked through his fingers, cautiously lowering his hands when he realized you were now covered. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact as a bright blush spread across his cheeks. “Didn’t mean to barge in…I didn’t know you were in here.” As he turned to leave, the door swung open again. This time revealing Quinn, who immediately froze, taking in the scene. You in your swimsuit, Cole looking flustered and guilty. 

Quinn’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh... what’s going on here?”

Cole stammered, pointing at you as if that would somehow explain everything. “I-it’s not what it looks like!”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, already feeling the headache forming. “Cole accidentally walked into the room while I was changing. End of story.” 

Quinn’s lips twitched, but he fought to keep a straight face. “Accidentally, huh?” He glanced at Cole, then back at you, his teasing smirk forming. “You sure you weren’t just trying to put on a show, sunshine?”

Your face burned as you shot him a glare. “Quinn, don’t even start.” 

Cole held up his hands, desperate to escape the situation. “I’m leaving! I’m leaving!” He practically bolted out the door, muttering apologies under his breath as Quinn stepped aside to let him pass. 

You groaned, dropping onto the edge of the bed. “If anyone makes one joke about this, I’m throwing them off the boat.” You looked up at Quinn who was wearing a perfect, teasing smile. He had his yankees hat on backwards, his canucks shirt fitting perfectly over his build. If you weren’t stressing about the moments just before, you’d be absolutely drooling over him right now. 

Quinn chuckled, pushing off the door to walk closer. “Don’t worry, I’ll back you up. But for the record...” He sat beside you, tilting his head to catch your eyes. “I don’t blame Cole for freezing. You’re kind of hard to look away from.” 

Your heart skipped a beat at his tone, and you playfully shoved his shoulder. “You’re impossible.” 

He laughed, standing up and extending a hand to you. “Come on, Sunshine. Let’s go make sure Trevor hasn’t capsized the boat yet.” 

You rolled your eyes but took his hand, letting him pull you to your feet. “If he has, we’re throwing him in the lake.”

Quinn grinned, his hand lingering in yours for a moment longer than necessary. “Deal.” Quinn led you out of the room, his hand brushing yours as you both descended the stairs toward the dock. Outside, the sun glinted off the water, and the sound of laughter and splashing filled the air. Trevor was already in the lake, standing on the edge of the boat, waving his arms dramatically. 

“Come on!” He yelled. “We're losing precious hours of sunlight!” You scoffed and rolled your eyes as you and Quinn made your way down to the dock. You slipped one of Cole’s t-shirts over your head that you’d swiped from the room before heading down, not wanting to be fully exposed just yet. “O’captain o’captain,” Trevor started with a terrible fake British accent. “Come to ye mighty wheel and commandeer this ship from lord Luke.” 

You made your way onto the boat, sending Trevor a nudge that almost pushed him into the water. “Shut up.” You mumbled, taking your spot in one of the seats, isolated from everyone else. You tucked your legs underneath yourself as you leaned your elbow on the edge of the boat. 

You looked over at Trevor who rebalanced himself, jumping back into the boat with a smug grin. “Heard about your ‘bodacious rack’.” He said with a slight laugh. Your face flushed and you scoffed, turning to Cole who sat in front of you.

Fear struck his eye at the sight of your glare. “You told them that?” You scolded. 

“No, no! T-That’s not what I said.” He let out with a nervous laugh and a sheepish smile, straightening his posture. 

“Uh, that’s exactly what you said.” Luke chimed in, taking a sip of his beer. 

Your jaw dropped, a mix of shock and irritation bubbling up as you glared at Cole. “Seriously?” you said, crossing your arms. “Cole, you’ve got about five seconds to explain yourself before I toss you in the lake.” 

Cole raised his hands defensively, his face already bright red. “Wait, wait, wait! It wasn’t like that- I swear! I didn’t say it like that.” 

Trevor, of course, was grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Oh, but you did, buddy. Don’t try to backtrack now.” He mimicked Cole’s voice, dramatically exaggerated. “‘Man, I saw everything. Her whole top was down and she’s got this bodacious rack.’ Classic, Cole.” 

Luke snorted into his beer, clearly enjoying the show, while Quinn groaned from the driver’s seat, his head falling back slightly in exasperation. “Trevor, do you ever stop instigating?”

Trevor placed a hand over his heart, feigning innocence. “I’m just here to deliver the truth.”

Cole stammered, his words coming out in a jumbled mess. “I-I didn’t mean it like- like that! It was…it was an observation, okay?!” His hands flew up as if that would somehow help his case. “I was just- it slipped out, and then Trevor-” He gestured wildly toward Trevor, who was enjoying this far too much. “He made it worse!”

You raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Oh, so it’s Trevor’s fault now?”

“Absolutely!” Cole nodded enthusiastically, latching onto the lifeline. “Trevor twisted my words!” 

You rolled your eyes, biting back a laugh despite your irritation. Turning to Quinn, who was still steering the boat, you said, “Can we leave Trevor and Cole stranded on an island somewhere?”

Quinn smirked, glancing at you over his shoulder. “Tempting, but then who would provide the entertainment?”

“Jack can,” you quipped, giving Jack a pointed look. “He’s just as bad.” 

Jack raised his drink in a mock toast. “Guilty as charged.” You looked over at Trevor who was still wearing a wide smile. You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you settled further into your seat, occasionally glancing over at Cole.

“Now I feel like I can’t take my shirt off.” You mumbled, adjusting your sunglasses on your head. 

Luke laughed slightly, walking over to sit next to you. “Don’t be ridiculous, bunny. You can take off your shirt.”

You looked over at him, a glare in your eye as he made himself comfortable next to you. “I really can’t.”

“It’s fine.” He said, his voice low. “You’ve done it a million times before, what’s so different about today?” You sighed, rolling your eyes once again. Reluctantly you grabbed the bottom hem of your shirt, pulling it up your body. Once you had the shirt halfway up, you glanced over at Cole. He was staring, watching as you slowly removed your shirt. His mouth was parted slightly and you could've sworn drool was going to slip out. 

“Nope, nope.” You said, still holding your shirt up. “Can’t do it.” You said glancing over at Luke. 

Jack groaned from his seat, tossing his head back slightly. “You're such a baby.”

“Look at Cole!” You pointed toward Cole, whose wide-eyed stare was a dead giveaway. 

His face turned even redder, and he immediately scrambled to defend himself. “I wasn’t- I wasn’t staring! I swear!” he stammered, his hands flailing wildly as if that would erase the moment. 

Trevor burst out laughing, practically doubling over. “Oh man, Cole, you’re making it so much worse!” 

“Exactly!” you shot back, lowering your shirt again and crossing your arms over your chest. “This is why I can’t take it off.”

Jack, who had been observing the chaos with growing impatience, groaned again. “For the love of god, we’re on a lake. You’re wearing a bikini. Just take it off and let Cole get over it already.”

“Easy for you to say!” you snapped, narrowing your eyes at him. “No one’s staring at you.” 

Trevor perked up, his grin widening. “I could stare at Jack if it makes you feel better.” 

Jack threw a bottle cap at him. “Shut up, Trevor.”

Luke, meanwhile, nudged you lightly with his elbow. “Come on, Bunny. You’re overthinking it. It’s just us.” You sighed, glancing between Luke’s calm expression and Cole’s absolute mortification. Despite the teasing, you knew Luke was right. You’d done this a hundred times before, just not after that incident. 

“Fine,” you muttered, your voice begrudging as you peeled the shirt off in one swift motion. You avoided Cole’s gaze entirely, tossing the shirt onto Luke’s lap for good measure. “There. Happy?” 

Luke smirked, casually picking up the shirt and tossing it toward the front of the boat. “Much better.” 

“Get me a drink?” You asked, pulling your hair into a bun. Luke nodded his head, walking to the cooler and returning with a peach high noon. He handed it over before returning to his spot next to you. He splayed his arm across the back of the boat behind you as you tucked closer into his side.  You leaned back on Luke's side, your legs tucked up in front of you as you cracked open the can, staring at Quinn pulling the boat from the dock. “This is nice.” You said with a sigh of relief, leaning your head back to look up at Luke. 

Luke glanced down at you, his lips quirking into a soft smile as his arm shifted slightly to rest more securely behind you. “Yeah,” he said quietly, his voice low enough that it felt like it was just for you. “It is.” The boat cut smoothly through the lake, the gentle hum of the engine blending with the sound of water lapping against the hull. The sun was warm, the breeze just cool enough to keep things comfortable, and for the first time in what felt like ages, you felt completely at ease. 

“Hey, Sunny,” Trevor said, walking over to sit next to you.

“Oh my god.” You groaned out as he took his spot. You lifted your legs so he could sit, then rested them on his lap. “What do you want?” 

Trevor lifted his hands in mock surrender, a smug grin forming across his face. “Just wanted to apologize.”

​​You raised an eyebrow, skeptical of Trevor’s sudden attempt at sincerity. “Apologize?” you echoed, crossing your arms as your legs remained draped over his lap. “What’s the catch?”

​​Trevor placed a hand over his heart, his grin never wavering. “No catch. I just felt bad about earlier, you know, with the whole…‘bodacious rack’ thing.” He paused dramatically, glancing at Luke, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. “I realize now that my words may have caused some…discomfort.”

“Oh, you realize now?” you said, your tone dripping with sarcasm. 

Trevor nodded solemnly, but his playful expression betrayed him. “Absolutely. So, to make it up to you…” He leaned in closer, his grin growing wider. “I’m offering you the first push when we inevitably throw Luke into the lake.”

Luke snorted, shaking his head. “You’re really working hard to shift the blame, aren’t you?”

“Trevor, the human deflection machine,” you muttered, shaking your head as you took another sip of your drink. “Your apology could use some work.”

“Hey, I’m trying here!” Trevor said, leaning back dramatically as he adjusted your legs on his lap. “But seriously, Sunny, no hard feelings, right?” 

You studied him for a moment, his ridiculous grin and puppy-dog eyes impossible to stay mad at for long. Finally, you sighed, rolling your eyes. “Fine. No hard feelings.” 

Trevor pumped his fist in victory. “Yes! See, Luke? That’s how you handle things like a mature adult.”

Luke smirked, his arm brushing against your shoulder as he leaned closer. “Pretty sure you wouldn’t know maturity if it hit you in the face.”

“Bold words from the guy who’s about to be pushed in,” Trevor shot back, winking at you as if to say game on. 

You couldn’t help but laugh, shaking your head at the chaos brewing. “You’re both children.”

“Children with impeccable charm,” Trevor quipped, holding out his fist for you to bump. 

You ignored his fist but gave him a teasing shove instead. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” Trevor let out a gentle laugh as he leaned back in his seat. You shuffled your position, lounging further into Luke’s side. You glanced over at Cole who sat awkwardly as he talked to Jack, looking uncomfortable as ever. You frowned slightly at the sight. You were used to Cole constantly hitting on you, showering you with compliments, and you wouldn’t admit it but you missed it. “Cole!” You shouted in an attempt to gain his attention. He quickly whipped his head over to you, his face flushing slightly. “Those swim trunks look nice on you.” You said with a smirk before pushing your sunglasses further up the bridge of your nose, leaning your head back to look up at the sky. 

Cole’s eyes widened, his posture stiffening as a flush crept up his neck. “Uh- thanks,” he stammered, clearly caught off guard by the unexpected compliment. His gaze darted to Jack, who smirked knowingly, giving him a little shove.

“Relax, man,” Jack teased. “She’s just messing with you.” 

“Am I?” you replied, tilting your head slightly, your tone teasing as you kept your sunglasses on. You didn’t bother looking directly at Cole, but you could feel his nervous energy from across the boat. It was almost too easy. 

Trevor let out a low whistle, leaning forward from his seat. “Rare occurrence to see her flirting with you. Not even gonna attempt one, Caufield?” 

“Yeah, normally you treat her like she’s the love of your life.” Luke chuckled, his arm shifting slightly. 

Cole let out a heavy sigh, his face turning bright pink which he tried to cover with his sunglasses. “Alright,” He started, his voice shaky at first. “Come over here, hot stuff.” A satisfied smile wiped across your face as you got up from your spot leaning against Luke. Cole’s sudden confidence caught everyone off guard, including you. As you made your way over, you couldn’t help but smirk, your sunglasses hiding the glint of amusement in your eyes. 

“Hot stuff, huh?” you teased, standing in front of him with your arms crossed. “Big talk for someone who’s been blushing like crazy all day.” 

Cole leaned back slightly, regaining some composure now that he’d committed to the bit. “Gotta keep you on your toes, don’t I?” he replied, his voice steadier but still tinged with nervous energy. He patted the spot next to him. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging.” You glanced at the others, all of whom were watching with varying degrees of amusement. Trevor was practically bouncing in his seat, grinning insanely hard. Jack looked seconds away from gagging, and Luke raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of Cole’s sudden bravado. 

Sliding into the seat next to Cole, you leaned into him slightly, your tone dripping with mock seriousness. “So, what’s the plan now, Mr. Smooth Talker?”

Cole chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh… I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Trevor erupted into laughter, slapping his knee. “Oh man, this is gold. Caufield finally shoots his shot and fumbles it immediately.”

Jack groaned, leaning back with a hand over his face. “This is painful to watch.”

You shook your head, biting back a laugh as you leaned closer to Cole. “Relax,” you said, your voice softer now. “You’re doing fine.” 

“Fine?” Cole repeated, his confidence returning slightly. “I think I’m doing great, actually. You’re sitting here, aren’t you?” 

Luke, who had been quiet for the past few moments, finally chimed in. “Don’t get used to it, Cole. She’ll be back here in, like, two minutes.” 

You turned your head, narrowing your eyes at Luke. “Oh, really?”

Luke shrugged, his smirk smug. “Yeah. You’re just messing with him. I know how this works, Bunny.”

Cole crossed his arms, leaning back as he grinned at Luke. “Jealous, Hughes?”

Luke rolled his eyes, but you caught the slight flush creeping up his neck. “Hardly,” he muttered.

Trevor clapped his hands together, clearly living for the drama. “Alright, let’s settle this with a little wager. How long does she stay over there before she’s back at Luke’s side?”

Jack groaned louder this time, standing up. “I’m jumping in the lake. Someone let me know when this disaster ends.” As Jack dove off the side of the boat, the group erupted into laughter, the tension breaking as you leaned back against the seat, still smirking. 

“You’re all ridiculous,” you said, shaking your head.

Cole grinned, nudging you lightly. “Yeah, but you love us anyway.” You couldn’t argue with that.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

After a long day of sitting in the sun, swimming in the lake, and dealing with Trevor, Quinn finally pulled the boat back into the dock. The sun was already setting when you stepped off, Cole’s hand out gallantly to help. You took it gratefully as you stepped onto the dock, the air already cooling down which left you freezing in your bikini. 

“Cold?” Treavor asked, walking up next to you.

Your teeth chattered as you tried to warm your arms with your hands. “Very.”

Trevor let out a soft laugh, looking over at you. “Race you to the house.” He said before taking off, sprinting through the yard.

“Not fair, Trevor!” You giggled, following close behind him. As you took off after Trevor, the cool grass tickling your feet, you couldn’t help but laugh despite the chill creeping into your skin. The fading sunlight painted the yard in shades of orange and gold, and Trevor’s exaggerated sprint ahead of you was just enough motivation to push you to keep up. 

“Come on, Sunny!” Trevor yelled over his shoulder, his voice full of mischief. “Can’t let me win that easily!”  Trevor reached the porch first, dramatically throwing his arms in the air. “Victory is mine!” he declared, spinning around to face you as you came to a stop, slightly out of breath. “Man, you’re slow.” 

You rolled your eyes, still laughing. “You had a head start, idiot.” 

Before Trevor could respond, Jack jogged up from behind, tossing a towel over your shoulders. “Here,” he said softly, his voice a stark contrast to Trevor’s boisterous teasing. “You’re freezing.” 

You gave him a grateful smile, pulling the towel tight around yourself. “Thanks, Jack. At least someone’s a gentleman.” 

Trevor feigned offense, holding his hand to his chest. “Wow. That hurts, Sunny.”

“It’s true,” Luke said as he strolled up the steps, shaking his head. “You ditch her in a bikini to sprint to the house, and you think you’re winning points?” 

Trevor shrugged, unapologetic. “She had fun.” 

“I’m gonna hit you,” you said, your voice light despite the threat. 

“Promises, promises,” Trevor quipped, dodging past you and into the house before you could retaliate. As you stepped inside, the warm air enveloped you like a hug, and the sound of the others following behind filled the space with a cozy buzz. 

Quinn wandered in last, shaking his head at the lingering chaos. “Do you guys ever relax?” he muttered, though there was no real annoyance in his tone. 

You plopped onto the couch, wrapping the towel tighter around yourself. “Relaxing is overrated,” you teased, looking up at Quinn. “Right, Quinny?” 

Quinn rolled his eyes but smirked as he tossed a sweatshirt your way. “Here. Before you start whining about being cold again.” 

“Whining?” you repeated, feigning shock as you pulled the sweatshirt over your head. “You’re lucky I like you, Hughes.” 

“Luckiest man alive,” he echoed dryly, shaking his head as he disappeared into the kitchen. You let out a sigh, sinking into the warmth of the couch. You sat back for a moment, watching Trevor and Jack laugh about something on Jack’s phone, Cole mumbling the lyrics to ‘Cardigan’ by Taylor Swift, Luke and Quinn searching the fridge for water bottles, just admiring the scene. You couldn’t have been happier anywhere else, and you were glad you finally made it to the lakehouse. 

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” You said, standing up from the couch. “Cole, please don’t barge in. I’ll lock the door just in case.” 

Cole, mid-verse in his rendition of Cardigan, froze, his face turning red as everyone burst out laughing. “Don’t do that!” he protested, his voice tinged with mock offense. “It was an accident!” 

Trevor smirked, leaning against the back of the couch. “Doesn’t mean we don’t expect it, lover boy.”

“Trevor, shut up,” Cole grumbled, glaring at him. “You’re the one who can’t go two minutes without harassing her.” 

“Hey, I’m just here to make her day a little brighter,” Trevor quipped, winking at you. “I’d never cross the bathroom boundary.” 

You rolled your eyes, grabbing the towel Jack had draped over you earlier. “Good to know the bar is that low. Thanks for clearing that up, Zegras.” 

Jack looked up from his phone, smirking. “Lock the door anyway. These guys are like wild animals.”

“Speak for yourself!” Luke called from the kitchen, holding up a water bottle like it was proof of his innocence. You giggled, ruffling Jack’s hair as you made your way up the stairs. 

You loved the lake, but if you were being honest, it made you feel disgusting. Sitting in the heat all day paired with swimming in water where you couldn’t see the bottom was bound to shake you up. You stepped into the shower, letting the hot water entrap your body, washing away every germ on your body. The steam from the hot water filled the small bathroom, cocooning you in warmth as the water cascaded over your skin. It was a relief, both physically and mentally, to scrub away the day’s grime. The mix of sunscreen, lake water, and sweat felt like a distant memory as you lathered soap over your skin, enjoying the sensation of being truly clean again. You tilted your head back, letting the water soak your hair, rinsing away the tangles left by the wind and water. The faint scent of your favorite shampoo filled the air, calming you further as you massaged it into your scalp. The day had been fun, filled with laughter and a little chaos, but this moment, just you and the hot water, felt like exactly what you needed to recharge. You stepped out of the shower, throwing a fresh towel over your body as you walked out of the bathroom. You headed down the hallway, hearing the faint sounds of everyone laughing. It was like music to your ears. You slipped into the spare room, making sure to lock the door behind you this time. You dropped the towel, taking a moment to fix your hair in the mirror before throwing one of Trevor’s Ducks sweatshirts over your head, along with some small athletic shorts. The soft fabric of Trevor’s sweatshirt engulfed you, its faint scent of laundry detergent and cologne oddly comforting. You smiled to yourself, knowing full well Trevor would make a big deal out of you “stealing” his sweatshirt the second he noticed. But for now, it was your little secret. You padded back down the stairs, the wood creaking softly under your bare feet. The living room came into view, and sure enough, chaos was in full swing. Trevor was standing on the couch, dramatically reenacting some story, while Cole was doubled over in laughter. Jack looked utterly unimpressed, scrolling on his phone, but the corners of his mouth twitched like he was holding back a smile. Luke was sprawled across the floor, throwing an occasional quip into the mix, and Quinn leaned against the wall, shaking his head but clearly amused. You walked over to Quinn first, wrapping your arms around his waist for a hug. You leaned your head against his chest, taking in his fresh scent. Judging by his wet hair and the warmth of his clothes, he’d also showered, unlike the other guys. 

“I’m so exhausted.” You croaked out, digging your face further into his chest.

Quinn chuckled softly, his hand instinctively resting on the back of your head as he returned the hug. “Long day, huh?” he asked, his voice low and soothing. 

“You have no idea,” you mumbled, your words slightly muffled by his shirt. “Between the lake, the sun, and Trevor being Trevor, I’m wiped.” 

He smirked, his hand brushing gently down your back before he pulled away slightly to look at you. “You still gonna have energy to deal with round two tomorrow?”

You groaned, leaning against him. “I might need to sleep for like, twenty hours first.” 

He shook his head, his smirk softening as he looked back at you. “Go sit down before you fall asleep standing up.” You nodded, letting him guide you toward the couch where Jack quickly shuffled to make room. You plopped down beside him, tucking your legs under you as you pulled Trevor’s oversized sweatshirt tighter around your body. 

“Nice sweatshirt, Sunny,” Trevor said, raising an eyebrow as he finally noticed. “Looks familiar.” 

You glanced up at him with an innocent smile. “Oh, this? No idea where it came from.” 

Jack snorted. “You’ll never get it back anyway. She’s stubborn.” 

“Exactly,” you said with a grin, leaning back and resting your head against Jack’s shoulder. “It’s mine now. Deal with it.” 

Trevor rolled his eyes but grinned, clearly enjoying the banter. “Fine. But only because it looks better on you.” 

“Everything looks better on her.” Cole let out with a soft smile as he laid back on the couch.

You raised an eyebrow, giving him a pointed look. “Smooth, Caufield. Very smooth.” The group erupted into laughter again, and you couldn’t help but smile, the exhaustion of the day melting away as you relaxed into the warmth and chaos of this little family. 

“Alright,” Quinn started, raising a hand as he stood in front of the couch. “First night at the house, what’s for dinner?”

“Pizza!” You shouted, raising both your hands in the air. 

Jack chuckled, putting his arm around your waist to pull you up closer. “Yes, pizza!” He yelled.

Quinn smirked, shaking his head at the sudden burst of energy. “Alright, pizza it is. Who’s calling it in?” 

“Not me,” Trevor said, holding his hands up defensively. “Last time I ordered, you all complained about the toppings.” 

“That’s because you thought anchovies were a good idea,” Luke quipped from his spot on the floor. “You’re banned from ordering.” 

“Hey, anchovies are a valid choice,” Trevor shot back, pointing a finger at Luke. “You’re just uncultured.”

Quinn sighed, already pulling his phone out. “Fine. What do we want?”

“Pepperoni,” Jack said immediately, his arm still casually draped around you. “Keep it classic.”

“Hawaiian,” Cole suggested, earning groans from most of the group.

“No pineapple!” you and Jack exclaimed in unison, making the others laugh. 

“Alright, alright, pepperoni and maybe a veggie for balance,” Quinn said, ignoring the chaos as he dialed the number. “Anything else?”

“Breadsticks!” Luke called out, raising his water bottle like it was a toast.

“And wings!” Trevor added, clearly back in high-energy mode.

Quinn sighed but nodded, pacing to the corner of the room as he started placing the order. “You guys are lucky I’m feeling generous.”

You leaned back against Jack, letting out a contented sigh. “See? This is why you’re my favorite, Quinn.”

“Careful, Sunny,” Trevor teased. “Jack might get jealous.”

Jack scoffed, giving your side a playful squeeze. “Please. I’m her favorite, and we all know it.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, pretending to think. “Debatable.” The group laughed, and the warmth of the moment settled over you like a blanket. The boys continued their chatter as Quinn called the pizza place from the corner. You pulled out your phone as Jack moved to the corner of the couch, pulling you along with him. You rested your back against him, his arm draped around you, tracing careful circles on your skin. As you scrolled through your phone, you couldn’t help but feel the soothing rhythm of Jack’s fingers tracing lazy circles on your arm. It was a small gesture, but one that anchored you amidst the playful chaos surrounding you. The hum of the boys’ voices filled the room, their laughter punctuated by Trevor’s dramatic retelling of some ridiculous story, likely exaggerated for effect. You scrolled on instagram, catching a post by the Devils of Nico and Timo. Your curiosity took over as you pressed on Nico’s tag, beginning to scroll through his profile. You smiled, looking at pictures of him back home in Switzerland. One of him crouching next to a dog in a flower field made you blush as you zoomed in on his face. 

“Why are you looking at Nico’s instagram?” Jack asked, his voice quiet.

“Why are you looking at my phone?” You snapped back, leaning your head up to look at him. 

Jack raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching into a smirk. “You’re on my teammate’s profile, zooming in on his face. It’s hard not to notice.” 

You huffed your breath, setting your phone down. “Maybe, if you just let me have a shot at him I wouldn’t-”

“Oh no, no, no,” He interrupted. “No way in hell am I gonna let you do that. We’ve been over this.” 

You raised an eyebrow, leaning back to fully face him, his arm still resting loosely around you. “Excuse me?” you said, your tone dripping with mock offense. “Let me? Since when do you get to decide who I can or can’t date?” 

Jack’s smirk faded slightly, replaced by a stubborn set to his jaw. “Since it’s Nico,” he said firmly, his voice low. “He’s not some random guy you can flirt with. He’s my captain. My teammate.” 

“And?” you countered, crossing your arms. “What does that have to do with me? It’s not like I’m asking for your permission.” Jack groaned, running a hand through his hair. “What, are you worried I’d distract him? Or embarrass you?” 

“No!” Jack said quickly, but the flicker of guilt in his expression made you narrow your eyes. 

“Wow, that’s exactly what it is, isn’t it?” you said, your voice laced with disbelief. “You think I’d embarrass you.” 

Jack sighed, his hand still tracing slow circles on your arm as if trying to calm the brewing storm. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” you pressed, your voice softer now but still holding its edge.

Jack hesitated, his eyes flickering down to where his hand rested on your arm. “I just…It’s complicated, princess. Just- shit I'd rather not get into right now.” He said, his hand moving to rub his face. You softened slightly at Jack’s uncharacteristic hesitation. It wasn’t often he struggled to find the words, and the way his hand rubbed his face told you he was trying to bury something deeper than the surface-level teasing you were used to.

“It’s complicated?” you repeated, your tone quieter now, curiosity lacing your words. “Jack, you know that’s not gonna fly with me. Just spit it out.” 

Jack sighed, dropping his hand from his face to rest it on the back of the couch. “It’s just… weird, okay? You and Nico. I can’t explain it.” 

You tilted your head, studying him as he avoided your gaze. “Weird how? Like, you’re protective of him? Or…?” You trailed off, waiting for him to fill the silence. 

Jack let out a frustrated laugh, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, alright? I don’t want to see you with him. It’s not about Nico. It’s about…you.” 

Your stomach flipped at his words, but you kept your expression neutral. “About me?”

Jack finally met your eyes, his gaze steady and uncharacteristically serious. “Yeah. About you. I’m used to having you around, and I don’t want anything to change.”

You blinked, caught off guard by his sudden vulnerability. “Jack-”

“It’s stupid, okay?” he said quickly, cutting you off before you could say more. “Just forget I said anything.” 

You shook your head, sitting up straighter. “No, it’s not stupid. Jack, if you’re trying to tell me something, just say it. I’m not gonna bite.”

He groaned, leaning his head back against the couch. “It’s not that easy.” 

You reached out, placing a hand on his arm. “Then make it easy. It’s me, Jack. You can tell me.” Jack sighed again, his eyes flicking back to yours. For a moment, he looked like he was on the verge of saying something, but then Trevor’s loud voice broke through the tension. 

“Hey! Pizza’s here!” Trevor yelled from the front door, his excitement cutting through the quiet.

Jack immediately pulled away, the moment dissipating as he ran a hand down his face again. “Saved by the bell,” he muttered, standing up and avoiding your gaze. You stayed on the couch, watching him go as your mind raced. There was something there, something he wasn’t ready to admit, but the weight of his words lingered, leaving you wondering what exactly he was holding back. 

“You good, bunny?” Luke asked, standing in front of you as you processed the interaction with Jack.

“Yeah, yeah. I-I’m good.” You stammered out, getting up from your seat on the couch. 

Luke smiled, placing an arm around your shoulder to pull you close. “Good. We have a pizza to demolish.” He said, shaking you slightly in his arm. ​​You laughed softly, allowing Luke to guide you toward the dining area where the rest of the guys were already gathering around the table. Trevor was handing out plates with exaggerated flair, Cole was busy inspecting the pizza boxes like he was on quality control duty, and Quinn was unboxing the breadsticks with the precision of a surgeon. Jack was leaning against the counter, his arms crossed as he watched the scene unfold. His expression was unreadable, though his gaze lingered on you for a moment before he turned his attention back to the pizza. You felt a twinge in your chest, but Luke’s arm around your shoulders helped ground you.

“Sunshine, c’mere.” Quinn said from the counter where he unboxed the breadsticks. You escaped Luke’s grasp, skipping over towards where Quinn stood. You got up next to him, putting your face close to his as he looked down at the box. 

“What’s up?” You asked playfully.

“Got these just for you,” He said, holding up two small containers of ranch. “Don’t let Cole see ‘em.” He laughed quietly before slipping them into the pocket of your hoodie.

You beamed at Quinn, his quiet thoughtfulness making your chest warm. “You’re the best,” you said, slipping your arms around his waist for a quick hug. 

“Don’t let that get out,” he teased, patting the top of your head affectionately. “Gotta keep my reputation intact.” 

Trevor, never one to miss a beat, leaned against the counter dramatically. “I feel like I’m missing out on a secret conspiracy. Sunny, spill the tea.” 

“Um there is no tea,” you replied, grabbing a slice of pizza and making your way back to the table. “Unless you count Quinn looking insanely good handling those breadsticks.” 

Trevor’s jaw dropped in mock shock as the rest of the table erupted into laughter. “Whoa, whoa, pause. Is this the first time you’ve hit on Quinn outside the group chat?” Trevor asked, pointing dramatically between you and Quinn. Quinn, unfazed, smirked and shook his head, placing the breadsticks on the table.

Jack, who had been leaning back in his chair, finally chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yeah, princess, tell us more about Quinn’s breadstick skills.” 

You rolled your eyes, biting into your pizza. “Don’t be jealous, Hughes. It’s not a good look on you.”

Jack’s smirk faltered, his brow arching slightly as he stared you down. “Jealous? Of him?” He gestured toward Quinn. “I don’t need breadsticks to be the favorite.” 

“Debatable,” Luke quipped from his spot, grinning. “Quinn’s got the ranch hookup. That’s game changing.”

“Thank you, Luke!” you said, gesturing toward him with your slice. “Finally, someone understands the value of ranch.” 

Cole, however, narrowed his eyes suspiciously, leaning forward in his chair. “Wait. Ranch? Where’s the ranch?” 

“Uh, nowhere,” you said quickly, pulling the hoodie pocket closer to your body. Cole’s gaze darted toward Quinn, then back to you.

Quinn raised his hands in mock innocence. “Don’t look at me, Caufield. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“There’s no ranch,” you said firmly, though the slight smile tugging at your lips betrayed you. The dinner consisted of stories about past summers, laughs over things Cole had said, Luke attempting to do a backflip in the kitchen which ended with a face plant to the floor and a “You’re gonna get injured before the season even starts” from Quinn. You smiled, taking in the scene before you, just grateful you made it to this moment. After you all finished with dinner, everyone made their way to the back deck for a bonfire while you and Quinn stayed back to clean up. The soft hum of laughter and chatter drifted in from the back deck as you and Quinn gathered plates and empty pizza boxes. The kitchen felt warm, not just from the remnants of the oven’s heat but from the lingering joy of the evening. You caught Quinn’s eye as he stacked a few plates, his expression calm and content.

“Hey, is Jack acting…weird- to you?” You asked, cutting Quinn off guard as he finished stacking the plates. 

Quinn paused, his hand hovering over the stack of plates as he turned to look at you, his brow furrowing slightly. “Weird how?” he asked, his tone steady but curious. 

You shrugged, trying to sound casual. “I don’t know, he’s just been... quieter than usual. And earlier, he said some stuff that didn’t really make sense. Like, he wanted to say something but couldn’t.” 

Quinn tilted his head, considering your words. “Jack’s always been a little hard to read. But yeah, now that you mention it, he did seem a little off tonight.”

You leaned against the counter, crossing your arms. “It’s like he’s holding something back, but I can’t figure out what. It’s...frustrating.” 

Quinn’s eyes softened as he studied your face. “You two are close. Maybe he’s trying to work through something but doesn’t know how to talk about it yet.” 

“Maybe,” you murmured, your gaze drifting toward the back door where the sound of Trevor’s exaggerated laugh carried through. “I just feel like there’s something I’m missing.”

Quinn set the plates aside and turned to face you fully, his expression calm and reassuring. “Give him some time. If it’s important, he’ll talk to you when he’s ready. Jack’s stubborn, but he’s not one to keep things bottled up forever.” 

You smiled faintly, appreciating his steady presence. “Thanks, Quinny. You always know what to say.” 

He smirked, bumping your shoulder lightly. “Someone’s gotta keep the peace around here.” The two of you stood there in silence for a moment. Quinn, glancing down at the floor, fiddling with the keys in his pocket and you, crossing your arms as you stared into the living room entryway. “Listen, sunshine,” He started, breaking the silence. “There’s something i’ve been wanting to talk to you about-”

Before he could continue, Trevor’s voice rang out from the deck, louder than before. “Sunny! Quinn! Stop being lame and get out here! The marshmallows are calling!” 

Quinn let out a sigh, pushing off from his spot against the counter. “We’ll talk later.” You nodded, though curiosity flickered in your chest at Quinn’s abrupt pause. He gave you a small, reassuring smile before heading toward the back deck, the sound of Trevor’s persistent shouting growing louder as he opened the door. You followed close behind, filing the moment away in your mind to revisit later. The deck was alive with the glow of the fire and the warm energy of the group. Luke was busy toasting marshmallows, though half of his attempts ended up charred. Trevor was narrating his process like he was on a cooking show, while Cole argued about the correct marshmallow-to-chocolate ratio for the perfect s’more. Jack, as usual, lingered on the edge of the chaos, leaning against the railing with his hands stuffed into his hoodie pocket. You grabbed a chair near the fire, letting the warmth soak into your skin as the cool lake breeze rustled through the trees. Jack’s quiet demeanor didn’t escape your notice, and your earlier conversation with Quinn lingered in your mind. After a while, Quinn sat beside you, nudging your knee with his. “Feeling better?” he asked, his voice low enough to stay between the two of you. You nodded, glancing at him with a faint smile. 

Trevor’s loud laughter broke through your moment, drawing your attention back to the group. “Jack!” he called, pointing dramatically at his friend. “Stop brooding over there and make a damn s’more.” 

Jack rolled his eyes, pushing off the railing and walking over. “I’m not brooding.”

“Sure,” Luke said with a smirk, handing Jack a marshmallow. “That’s why you’ve been staring at the fire like it owes you money.” Jack snorted, but his gaze flickered to you briefly before he sat down across the fire. You caught his look and held it for a second, a silent question hanging between you, but he quickly turned his attention to skewering the marshmallow.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

The night air had grown cooler, and the flickering embers of the fire cast long shadows as you stretched, feeling the day’s exhaustion settle into your bones. Cole and Luke had already disappeared inside, their playful banter fading into the house as they headed to bed. Quinn had followed not long after, muttering something about being the responsible one and making sure the fire was fully out. You, Jack, and Trevor were the last to carry your tired bodies inside. You walked into the house next to Trevor while Jack followed not far behind. You rubbed your eyes, ready to get a real goodnight's sleep, unlike the night before. 

Trevor let out an exaggerated yawn as he reached the spare room, quickly moving to give you a side hug. “G’night, Sunny.”

“Night, Trev.” You said, your voice raspy as you craved sleep. You released yourself from Trevor’s hug, mirroring his yawn as you walked. You made your way to Jack’s room, your hand just barely touching the doorknob before he spoke up behind you.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his voice low but laced with a sort of sterness you’d never heard from him.

You turned to face him, your eyes narrowing slightly. “Uh…going to bed?” You replied with a sassy tone. 

Jack rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “That’s my room.”

You scoffed, moving away from the door. “Yeah, obviously. This morning you said-”

“Yeah, but I decided I want to sleep in my bed tonight.” 

You raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms in defiance. “Oh, so now you’re kicking me out?”

Jack shrugged, leaning casually against the wall. “Pretty much.” 

You groaned, throwing your hands in the air. “Jack, I’m exhausted. Just let me crash in your bed. You can take the couch.” 

“No.”

You sighed, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to not make eye contact. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you tonight,” You said, tilting your head back down to face him. “I don’t know what kind of shit you’ve got going on in your life that you won’t talk to me about, but don’t take it out on me.” 

Jack pushed himself off the wall, his expression growing meaner. “The kind of shit I've got going on doesn’t concern you.” (IT TOTALLY DOES) He said with a nasty tone as he moved closer to you. “Go sleep in the bed you were given at the beginning of this trip.” Your jaw clenched at his words, and you could feel the sting of them settle in your chest. Jack had always been quick with his sarcasm, but this felt different, harsher, colder. You took a small step back, crossing your arms tightly across your chest like you were shielding yourself. 

“Wow,” you said, your voice quieter now but still firm. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to care about you anymore.” Jack flinched at your words, his mean exterior cracking for just a moment. He opened his mouth to respond, but you held up a hand, cutting him off. “Whatever,” you said, shaking your head as you turned toward the hallway. “I don’t need this right now, Jack. Sleep wherever the hell you want.” You heard the door slam as you made your way down the hallway, your blood boiling with every stomp of your foot. You made it to the spare room, cracking the door slightly to get a look at Trevor and Cole. Trevor was man-spreading over the entire bed, snoring even louder than last night. You looked down to see Cole on your air mattress which was fully deflated at this point. You let out a sharp sigh, not knowing where to go.

“My room’s always an option. No snoring, no body-slamming. Just saying.” Quinn’s words from this morning echoed in your mind as you took in the scene in front of you. The thought of Quinn’s offer lingered, a tempting alternative to the chaos of the spare room and the sting of Jack’s harsh words. You closed the door quietly, leaning against it for a moment to steady your racing thoughts. The day’s exhaustion tugged at your body, and all you wanted was a peaceful place to sleep. With a deep breath, you pushed yourself off the door and made your way toward Quinn’s room, your steps quiet as the house settled into silence. When you reached his door, you hesitated, your hand hovering over the handle. Is this a bad idea? you wondered, biting your lip. But the muffled sound of Trevor’s snoring and the image of your deflated air mattress pushed you to turn the knob. The door creaked softly as it opened, revealing Quinn’s room in complete pitch black darkness.

You carefully walked over to the edge of the bed, seeing Quinn with his eyes closed and his hair tousled against the pillow. “Quinn,” You whispered. He stirred slightly at the sound of your voice, his eyes fluttering open as he turned his head toward you. The dim light from the hallway illuminated his face just enough for you to see his sleepy confusion.

“Hmm?” he mumbled, his voice groggy. “What’s up?” 

You quickly moved your knees onto the bed. “Scooch over.” Quinn let out a soft smile through his closed eyes as you pulled the comforter over your body. “Cole took over my air mattress.”

Quinn let out a low chuckle, his voice still thick with sleep. “Of course he did,” he muttered, shifting slightly to give you more space. His arm brushed against yours as he adjusted the blanket, the warmth of his presence instantly comforting. 

“Thanks,” you murmured, sinking into the mattress. The bed was far more comfortable than your deflated air mattress had ever been, and you couldn’t help but sigh in relief. 

He turned slightly, lying on his side to face you. The faint glow from the hallway cast just enough light for you to catch the gentle amusement in his eyes. “You gonna steal all the blankets, or are we sharing?”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “I’ll share, but no promises if I get cold.”

Quinn chuckled again, his hand tugging the comforter up over your shoulders. “Fair enough.” As the silence settled between you, the warmth of the bed and the quiet intimacy of the moment began to sink in. You shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable, and your leg brushed against Quinn’s. The faint contact made your heart skip, but before you could move away, his arm slid around your waist, pulling you closer. 

“Better?” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Your breath caught for a moment, but the warmth of his touch and the steady rhythm of his breathing calmed you. “Yeah,” you said softly, relaxing into his hold. “Much better.” Quinn’s fingers rested lightly against your back, his touch gentle and unassuming. You let your head rest against his chest, the steady rise and fall of his breathing lulling you into a sense of calm you hadn’t felt all day. His other hand came up to rest lightly against your shoulder, holding you close but not overwhelming.

“You’re warm,” you mumbled, your voice heavy with exhaustion as you nestled closer. 

He let out a soft hum, the sound vibrating through his chest. “Guess I’m good for something.” You smiled against him, the tension of the day melting away as you let yourself relax fully in his arms. His presence was steady, grounding, and you couldn’t help but feel safe as the quiet of the room wrapped around you both.

“Goodnight, Sunshine,” he murmured, his voice filled with a quiet fondness.

“Goodnight, Quinn,” you replied, your words barely audible as sleep began to pull you under. With his arms around you and the warmth of his body against yours, you finally felt at peace.

[anheliotrope]

Rambling About C# Being Alright

I think C# is an alright language. This is one of the highest distinctions I can give to a language.

Warning: This post is verbose and rambly and probably only good at telling you why someone might like C# and not much else.

~~~

There's something I hate about every other language. Worst, there's things I hate about other languages that I know will never get better. Even worse, some of those things ALSO feel like unforced errors.

With C# there's a few things I dislike or that are missing. C#'s feature set does not obviously excel at anything, but it avoids making any huge misstep in things I care about. Nothing in C# makes me feel like the language designer has personally harmed me.

C# is a very tolerable language.

C# is multi-paradigm.

C# is the Full Middle Malcomist language.

C# will try to not hurt you.

A good way to describe C# is "what if Java sucked less". This, of course, already sounds unappealing to many, but that's alright. I'm not trying to gas it up too much here.

C# has sins, but let's try to put them into some context here and perhaps the reason why I'm posting will become more obvious:

C# didn't try to avoid generics and then implement them in a way that is very limiting (cough Go).

C# doesn't hamstring your ability to have statement lambdas because the language designer dislikes them and also because the language designer decided to have semantic whitespace making statement lambdas harder to deal with (cough Python).

C# doesn't require you to explicitly wrap value types into reference types so you can put value types into collections (cough Java).

C# doesn't ruin your ability to interact with memory efficiently because it forbids you from creating custom value types, ergo everything goes to the heap (cough cough Java, Minecraft).

C# doesn't have insane implicit type coercions that have become the subject of language design comedy (cough JavaScript).

C# doesn't keep privacy accessors as a suggestion and has the developers pinkie swear about it instead of actually enforcing it (cough cough Python).

Plainly put, a lot of the time I find C# to be alright by process of elimination. I'm not trying to shit on your favorite language. Everyone has different things they find tolerable. I have the Buddha nature so I wish for all things to find their tolerable language.

I do also think that C# is notable for being a mainstream language (aka not Haskell) that has a smaller amount of egregious mistakes, quirks and Faustian bargains.

The Typerrrrr

C# is statically typed, but the typing is largely effortless to navigate unlike something like Rust, and the GC gives a greater degree of safety than something like C++.

Of course, the typing being easy to work it also makes it less safe than Rust. But this is an appropriate trade-off for certain kinds of applications, especially considering that C# is memory safe by virtue of running on a VM. Don't come at me, I'm a Rust respecter!!

You know how some people talk about Python being amazing for prototyping? That's how I feel about C#. No matter how much time I would dedicate to Python, C# would still be a more productive language for me. The type system would genuinely make me faster for the vast majority of cases. Of course Python has gradual typing now, so any comparison gets more difficult when you consider that. But what I'm trying to say is that I never understood the idea that doing away entirely with static typing is good for fast iteration.

Also yes, C# can be used as a repl. Leave me alone with your repls. Also, while the debugger is active you can also evaluate arbitrary code within the current scope.

I think that going full dynamic typing is a mistake in almost every situation. The fact that C# doesn't do that already puts it above other languages for me. This stance on typing is controversial, but it's my opinion that is really shouldn't be. And the wind has constantly been blowing towards adding gradual typing to dynamic languages.

The modest typing capabilities C# coupled with OOP and inheritance lets you create pretty awful OOP slop. But that's whatever. At work we use inheritance in very few places where it results in neat code reuse, and then it's just mostly interfaces getting implemented.

C#'s typing and generic system is powerful enough to offer you a plethora of super-ergonomic collection transformation methods via the LINQ library. There's a lot of functional-style programming you can do with that. You know, map, filter, reduce, that stuff?

Even if you make a completely new collection type, if it implements IEnumerable<T> it will benefit from LINQ automatically. Every language these days has something like this, but it's so ridiculously easy to use in C#. Coupled with how C# lets you (1) easily define immutable data types, (2) explicitly control access to struct or class members, (3) do pattern matching, you can end up with code that flows really well.

A Friendly Kitchen Sink

Some people have described C#'s feature set as bloated. It is getting some syntactic diversity which makes it a bit harder to read someone else's code. But it doesn't make C# harder to learn, since it takes roughly the same amount of effort to get to a point where you can be effective in it.

Most of the more specific features can be effortlessly ignored. The ones that can't be effortlessly ignored tend to bring something genuinely useful to the language -- such as tuples and destructuring. Tuples have their own syntax, the syntax is pretty intuitive, but the first time you run into it, you will have to do a bit of learning.

C# has an immense amount of small features meant to make the language more ergonomic. They're too numerous to mention and they just keep getting added.

I'd like to draw attention to some features not because they're the most important but rather because it feels like they communicate the "personality" of C#. Not sure what level of detail was appropriate, so feel free to skim.

Stricter Null Handling. If you think not having to explicitly deal with null is the billion dollar mistake, then C# tries to fix a bit of the problem by allowing you to enable a strict context where you have to explicitly tell it that something can be null, otherwise it will assume that the possibility of a reference type being null is an error. It's a bit more complicated than that, but it definitely helps with safety around nullability.

Default Interface Implementation. A problem in C# which drives usage of inheritance is that with just interfaces there is no way to reuse code outside of passing function pointers. A lot of people don't get this and think that inheritance is just used because other people are stupid or something. If you have a couple of methods that would be implemented exactly the same for classes 1 through 99, but somewhat differently for classes 100 through 110, then without inheritance you're fucked. A much better way would be Rust's trait system, but for that to work you need really powerful generics, so it's too different of a path for C# to trod it. Instead what C# did was make it so that you can write an implementation for methods declared in an interface, as long as that implementation only uses members defined in the interface (this makes sense, why would it have access to anything else?). So now you can have a default implementation for the 1 through 99 case and save some of your sanity. Of course, it's not a panacea, if the implementation of the method requires access to the internal state of the 1 through 99 case, default interface implementation won't save you. But it can still make it easier via some techniques I won't get into. The important part is that default interface implementation allows code reuse and reduces reasons to use inheritance.

Performance Optimization. C# has a plethora of features regarding that. Most of which will never be encountered by the average programmer. Examples: (1) stackalloc - forcibly allocate reference types to the stack if you know they won't outlive the current scope. (2) Specialized APIs for avoiding memory allocations in happy paths. (3) Lazy initialization APIs. (4) APIs for dealing with memory more directly that allow high performance when interoping with C/C++ while still keeping a degree of safety.

Fine Control Over Async Runtime. C# lets you write your own... async builder and scheduler? It's a bit esoteric and hard to describe. But basically all the functionality of async/await that does magic under the hood? You can override that magic to do some very specific things that you'll rarely need. Unity3D takes advantage of this in order to allow async/await to work on WASM even though it is a single-threaded environment. It implements a cooperative scheduler so the program doesn't immediately freeze the moment you do await in a single-threaded environment. Most people don't know this capability exists and it doesn't affect them.

Tremendous Amount Of Synchronization Primitives and API. This ones does actually make multithreaded code harder to deal with, but basically C# erred a lot in favor of having many different ways to do multithreading because they wanted to suit different usecases. Most people just deal with idiomatic async/await code, but a very small minority of C# coders deal with locks, atomics, semaphores, mutex, monitors, interlocked, spin waiting etc. They knew they couldn't make this shit safe, so they tried to at least let you have ready-made options for your specific use case, even if it causes some balkanization.

Shortly Begging For Tagged Unions

What I miss from C# is more powerful generic bounds/constraints and tagged unions (or sum types or discriminated unions or type unions or any of the other 5 names this concept has).

The generic constraints you can use in C# are anemic and combined with the lack of tagged unions this is rather painful at times.

I remember seeing Microsoft devs saying they don't see enough of a usecase for tagged unions. I've at times wanted to strangle certain people. These two facts are related to one another.

My stance is that if you think your language doesn't need or benefit from tagged unions, either your language is very weird, or, more likely you're out of your goddamn mind. You are making me do really stupid things every time I need to represent a structure that can EITHER have a value of type A or a value of type B.

But I think C# will eventually get tagged unions. There's a proposal for it here. I would be overjoyed if it got implemented. It seems like it's been getting traction.

Also there was an entire section on unchecked exceptions that I removed because it wasn't interesting enough. Yes, C# could probably have checked exceptions and it didn't and it's a mistake. But ultimately it doesn't seem to have caused any make-or-break in a comparison with Java, which has them. They'd all be better off with returning an Error<T>. Short story is that the consequences of unchecked exceptions have been highly tolerable in practice.

Ecosystem State & FOSSness

C# is better than ever and the tooling ecosystem is better than ever. This is true of almost every language, but I think C# receives a rather high amount of improvements per version. Additionally the FOSS story is at its peak.

Roslyn, the bedrock of the toolchain, the compiler and analysis provider, is under MIT license. The fact that it does analysis as well is important, because this means you can use the wealth of Roslyn analyzers to do linting.

If your FOSS tooling lets you compile but you don't get any checking as you type, then your development experience is wildly substandard.

A lot of stupid crap with cross-platform compilation that used to be confusing or difficult is now rather easy to deal with. It's basically as easy as (1) use NET Core, (2) tell dotnet to build for Linux. These steps take no extra effort and the first step is the default way to write C# these days.

Dotnet is part of the SDK and contains functionality to create NET Core projects and to use other tools to build said projects. Dotnet is published under MIT, because the whole SDK and runtime are published under MIT.

Yes, the debugger situation is still bad -- there's no FOSS option for it, but this is more because nobody cares enough to go and solve it. Jetbrains proved anyone can do it if they have enough development time, since they wrote a debugger from scratch for their proprietary C# IDE Rider.

Where C# falls flat on its face is the "userspace" ecosystem. Plainly put, because C# is a Microsoft product, people with FOSS inclinations have steered clear of it to such a degree that the packages you have available are not even 10% of what packages a Python user has available, for example. People with FOSS inclinations are generally the people who write packages for your language!!

I guess if you really really hate leftpad, you might think this is a small bonus though.

Where-in I talk about Cross-Platform

The biggest thing the ecosystem has been lacking for me is a package, preferably FOSS, for developing cross-platform applications. Even if it's just cross-platform desktop applications.

Like yes, you can build C# to many platforms, no sweat. The same way you can build Rust to many platforms, some sweat. But if you can't show a good GUI on Linux, then it's not practically-speaking cross-platform for that purpose.

Microsoft has repeatedly done GUI stuff that, predictably, only works on Windows. And yes, Linux desktop is like 4%, but that 4% contains >50% of the people who create packages for your language's ecosystem, almost the exact point I made earlier. If a developer runs Linux and they can't have their app run on Linux, they are not going to touch your language with a ten foot pole for that purpose. I think this largely explains why C#'s ecosystem feels stunted.

The thing is, I'm not actually sure how bad or good the situation is, since most people just don't even try using C# for this usecase. There's a general... ecosystem malaise where few care to use the language for this, chiefly because of the tone that Microsoft set a decade ago. It's sad.

HOWEVER.

Avalonia, A New Hope?

Today we have Avalonia. Avalonia is an open-source framework that lets you build cross-platform applications in C#. It's MIT licensed. It will work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and also somehow in the browser. It seems to this by actually drawing pixels via SkiaSharp (or optionally Direct2D on Windows).

They make money by offering migration services from WPF app to Avalonia. Plus general support.

I can't say how good Avalonia is yet. I've researched a bit and it's not obviously bad, which is distinct from being good. But if it's actually good, this would be a holy grail for the ecosystem:

You could use a statically typed language that is productive for this type of software development to create cross-platform applications that have higher performance than the Electron slop. That's valuable!

This possibility warrants a much higher level of enthusiasm than I've seen, especially within the ecosystem itself. This is an ecosystem that was, for a while, entirely landlocked, only able to make Windows desktop applications.

I cannot overstate how important it is for a language's ecosystem to have a package like this and have it be good. Rust is still missing a good option. Gnome is unpleasant to use and buggy. Falling back to using Electron while writing Rust just seems like a bad joke. A lot of the Rust crates that are neither Electron nor Gnome tend to be really really undercooked.

And now I've actually talked myself into checking out Avalonia... I mean after writing all of that I feel like a charlatan for not having investigated it already.

[whyse7vn]

KIM NAMJOON

RANDOM 01:

!gc namjoon who has never experienced peace since joining the group

!gc namjoon who feels like being in the group has aged him 50 years

!gc namjoon who despite this would rather drop dead than have not met all of you

!gc namjoon who knows every single member like that back of his hand

!gc namjoon who often worries his members find him boring

!gc namjoon who forced everyone to download life 360 while on tour because you all wouldn’t stop getting lost and it was stressing him out

!gc namjoon who has a fun fact about everything like fr everything its kinda crazy

!gc namjoon who still to this day checks the life 360 app (that thank god none of you have deleted) every morning afternoon and night to make sure everyone is safe

!gc namjoon who has now reconsidered his position on having kids if parenthood is anything like looking after his members you can count him out actually!

!gc namjoon who on one random night in 2017 went to an equally random art gallery on his own “impulsively” and definitely NOT because you briefly mentioned you needed “artsy guy” in your life

!gc namjoon who after the “impulsive” art gallery trip which he actually did enjoy way more than he expected to seemed to have a complete personality shift finding interest and beauty in the smaller and simpler things in life

!gc namjoon who won’t admit this out loud but one of the reasons he hasn’t learnt how to drive yet is because he enjoys the fact that you drive him everywhere, you’ve even given him the silly little nickname of “number one passenger princess” that makes him feel all giddy inside

!gc namjoon who always puts his members first

!gc namjoon who wouldn’t of minded having you as his roommate but when 21 year old jungkook came to him all puppy eyed and nervous asking namjoon if you would like the idea of living with him all joon could do was smile “that’s a great idea kook! i’m sure she’d love it”

!gc namjoon the most patient man you know

!gc namjoon who buys you flowers for every single major holiday without a fail

!gc namjoon who once set you and jungkook’s kitchen on fire

!gc namjoon who has almost asked you to be his girlfriend a total of 5 times so far

!gc namjoon a true gentleman and romantic at heart

!gc namjoon who gets so upset when you refer to him as RM whether it’s a joke or work related it’s joon to you always and forever

!gc namjoon who for every piece of artwork in his home from paintings to poem books can relate said artwork to one of his members, he finds comfort in collecting pieces that remind him of his favourite people

!gc namjoon who genuinely freaks out if the group chat isn’t active at least once everyday

!gc namjoon who went through a really intense gym phase and would genuinely force all his members to wake up at 6 am and go on runs with him. however the whole group run thing only ended up lasting around 3 days turns out yoongi is really not a morning person and jimin surprisingly was (at the time) and that does not mix well !! long story short yoongi punched the shit out of jimin while tae recorded, you and jin laughed, hoseok was on the brink of passing out, jungkook was crying… for some reason? and namjoon was stressed safe to say group runs or work outs never happened again after that and namjoons intense gym bro lifestyle slowly mellowed itself out

!gc namjoon the groups designated decision maker no matter how small all large the issue what joon decides is right and final an unspoken agreement between the members

!gc namjoon who often wonders how you all put so much trust in his words and decisions honestly it scares him a little a LOT

!gc namjoon who hates boba

!gc namjoon who allows you to meal prep for him, he thanks the lord you do this for him actually saving him from having to cook for himself most days

!gc namjoon who is really good a board games

!gc namjoon who talks in his sleep

!gc namjoon who is quite a traditional man

!gc namjoon who doesn’t believe in hookup culture, flings and friend’s with benefits

!gc namjoon who prefers cute dates, long walks and sharing interests

yet !gc namjoon who lets you lead him into an empty room away from the obnoxiously loud party thrown for jungkooks 24th(?) birthday

!gc namjoon who from then on lets you steal kisses from him

moments with him

!gc namjoon who doesn’t believe in “casual”

!gc namjoon who can’t do “casual”

!gc namjoon who is aware of his feelings and of everyone’s feelings

!gc namjoon who knows his members like the back of his hand

he knows their realising their own feelings

each others too

he knows jaehyun was a wake up call not just to him but to everyone

!gc namjoon who knows he’s running out of time

!gc namjoon who wishes he was selfish

wishes he was an asshole

a self serving piece of shit

who wishes he could just shout from the rooftops how utterly obsessed and fuck he’ll admit it at this point in love with you he is

he wishes that he could love you without hurting others

!gc namjoon who has become a casual in your life

a casual kiss

a casual fuck

a casual dinner

casual moments

!gc namjoon who has become accustomed to being your romantic casual because despite initially not believing in the concept namjoon is more than willing to throw away all his morals and beliefs if it means he gets to have you hold him for a night, kiss him for a night, be with him for a night

namjoon is willing to do pretty much anything and everything to be a part of your life, a temporary go to, name it and he’ll fill that role no questions asked

kim namjoon is willing to be

your casual.

—

tags: @piw6n @92jinnies @birdie-vhs @kooksmilitarywife @hob3loveofmylife @jujubiism @bloopkook @ratchetpizza1 @myntalks @arloo00 @watamotee33 @y2kcy3brz @taiwan0618 @freyadanvers @gguksbeloved @raetf @bbsantc @winuvs @medicinemybish @bxnnyhime @leleluvsbts @baetukki @zyaaaszn @thelilbutifulthings @jazminethecreator @k4ngelz @jmnscutie @sopebubbles-replies @cynicalyoongs @lightningpussy54 @eunthv @gigiiiiislife @lowkeykin @elissasimp

[lara-prisma-avm-ask-blog]

Overreaction - An AvM Fic

[This was done with the full intention of stopping the villainization of the GC in relation to the recent episode!]

The applause began to gradually subside, the audience thanking the incredible show that was put on for them and saying goodbye to the sticks on the stage.

That is, with the exception of one.

A little after the curtains closed as they had initially opened, the four friends got together and dug through the rubble in the center of the stage, pulling out an unconscious Green.

Bringing him back from the stage they sat him down in a seat as they settled in for the tiring day.

Nothing went as planned, but that doesn't mean they didn't have fun. Even Second Coming had fun, and they usually bother with a lot of noise, especially when it's time to sleep.

They talked for a few minutes until Green began to regain consciousness, Blue had placed a bag of ice on his head knowing that it might be hurting. Green opened his eyes looking around to see the others, talking friendly as if nothing had happened.

"Green! You're awake, thank goodness." Blue celebrated by placing a hand on his relieved chest, he knew his friend would be fine but he still worried.

"F-fine?? Today was a disaster!!" Green raised his voice, feeling pain and squeezing the ice bag lightly.

"Green, look on the bright side, everyone loved the show!" Red extended his arms while Yellow removed his bow tie, trying not to be hit by the younger's arms.

"Yeah, a show I didn't plan!!" He crosses his arms frustrated looking to the side.

"Well, we did what we could, we stole the show back from those silverfish and it was actually fun!"

"Fun? FUN??" Green stood up, his tone becoming more serious and loud, "this has nothing to do with fun, everything was supposed to be perfect!! that square rat ruined my show that I worked for MONTHS to give the most perfect performance ever!!" Red shrank into their seat, feeling smaller compared to Green who was raising his voice more and more.

"Green, I know this was important to you, but we had fun, we asked you to join us and you didn't want to!" Blue takes Green by the shoulder asking for his attention.

"And also, one of the things about working on a stick is, in unplanned situations, improvise!" Yellow continues, placing a hand on Red's calming them, "and that's what we did, the silverfish were attacking you and we made a distraction for them to change their focus, and it worked!" Green looks at her in surprise, his frustrated expression changing to a sad one.

"Green..." Second, who had been silent for a while, takes a step forward, "We only accepted this because we wanted to make you happy, but especially because we wanted to have fun with you." They break into a smile, brushing Green's cheek with their thumb.

"Yeah, man. So what if it didn't go as expected? The important thing is to have fun!" Blue strokes Green's back gently, making him even more silent.

Green was so obsessed with perfection that he didn't think much about how his friends felt about everything. They saved him from the silverfish, they saved the show, everyone loved what they did, maybe he should just rest, it was all making his head hurt more and more.

"I... My head hurts..." Blue laughs putting his arm around him. Green felt his eyes watering, upon noticing this Second just hugged him.

"I'm sorry it seemed like we didn't take this seriously." They say with a smile, "But sometimes you don't need to make everything perfect either, no one will judge you for making mistakes." This makes Green look at them, wiping away his tears as he hugs his friend back.

"Sorry for being a pain in the ass..."

"You weren't, you just have to see things on the positive side."

This makes Green smile lightly, Red also hugs him, placing his arms around his neck.

"But seriously, my head hurts, I just want to sleep for now..." the others laugh and start to come out from behind the stage.

"In fact, if you want, I can ask the silverfish to apologize!" Red states with his arms behind his back but Green just waves it off.

"Nha, it doesn't matter." he says in a slight inconsistent tone rolling his eyes, he was still mad at the mob, but at the moment he only thought about one thing, sleep.

In the end, none of them were really to blame, and Green could never resent his dear friends, after all, without them he would never have escaped the silverfish. 

It's not like they were the ones who brought the mob to the stage, they were probably just curious about the music and wanted to participate, like them when they discovered the note blocks for the first time. 

So as much as he still doesn't like the mob, he couldn't blame the little creature for being curious and wanting to have fun, and honestly, what a talented opponent, Green hasn't seen such a talented mob since the music universe, which reminds him.

"Oh damn it! Purple and MT!!" he facepalms, remembering that their friend was watching the whole thing, "I don't know what they thought of the show!!" Blue holds back his laughter, patting Green on the shoulder.

"Okay, MT seems to have just been shocked by the power of the staff, and he probably regrets giving it to us..." Yellow replies, lowering her head in embarrassment. 

Red and Second laugh while Green blushes in embarrassment.

"Green!" Purple's voice echoed from across the room, "Ah, I'm glad you're okay!" They smiled seeing them, MT was right behind him with a worried look.

"You children should be more careful the next time you use the staff, I almost had a heart attack!" he clutches the suit close to his chest.

"Ha, I should have seen what happened months ago-" Red covers Blue's mouth before she can say anything else, looking at MT with a nervous expression.

"Okay, just don't cause the end of the world because of that one thing." He sighs in relief, sliding his hand across his forehead to the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry the show wasn't what you expected." Purple holds Green's hand gently between theirs, Green could only laugh nervously.

"It's ok, at least I tried..." he looks to the side, still visibly upset, "but who knows? Maybe next time it won't be a disaster?" he laughs and Purple smiles.

"That's great, but let me tell you, it was really fun to watch you fight that silverfish! Especially when you did that little dance!" They laugh and Green blushes embarrassed, they didn't expect them to focus on that dance.

"Anyway, I had fun, even if it wasn't perfect." Their smile calmed his anxiety, and looking at the others he could see that indeed his reaction, though justified, was unnecessary.

After saying goodbye and going their separate ways, Green was taken back to their house and threw himself on their couch, Blue sat next to him while Second took a blanket to cover him.

Slowly as the others gathered around him, he fell asleep with his head lying in Blue's lap, smiling knowing that his friends would always be there for him, even when he made mistakes.

[wolven91]

Unafraid

The belligerent ursidain growled at the vulptanis behind the suddenly thin feeling screen.

The smaller administrator was merely doing their job correctly, asking for ID, confirming there were no outstanding warrants, all standard procedure. Yet there were those that no matter how many times they had to do this when changing station, they hated the process and wished to take their anger out on someone. The ursidain was one of those.

"I've done what you want! Stop wasting my time!" Bellowed the giant, spittle running down the transparent screen, the only thing separating the giant from the nervous agent. It suddenly felt as if the illusion of protection had been shattered. Good. The more the ursidain made the agent feel uncomfortable, the more likely he'd get through quicker.

"Sir, I-I..."

"Oi!" Barked a sharp voice from the side. "Step away from the screen and manage yourself." Ordered the canid in the resplendent attire of station security. The ursidain's giant head swung around to lock on to the speaker, and the new target of their aggression. It was important to keep the outrage going, to not be distracted, otherwise they'd force him through the whole slow process. The ursidain turned their body with plodding steps before swinging their arms out wide.

"I ain't done anything! And this one is wasting my time!" The ursidain gestured at the visibly relieved vulptanis behind the screen with a jerk of his head.

"Processing takes time. Step away from the screen and manage yourself. Lower your voice, now." The canid ordered, arms hung low, no weapon in sight.

"Or what? I aint afraid of you." Growled the giant.

"Or we'll interpret your actions as 'hostile' and defend the station." Replied the canid without a hint of emotion colouring his words. A bluff. Had to be.

The ursidain glanced around and saw the rest of the pack already appearing from different directions. The ursidain had dealt with canids before, they were all bluster. He was an ursidain! Largest of the bipeds! He could take anything they dished out, but that wasn't even a worry. He couldn't be intimidated. He'd done this dance countless times before. The GC was the same everywhere, they wouldn't harm a single strand of fur on his body.

"Step away from the screen and manage yourself or you will be managed. Last warning."

Unbeknownst to the ursidain, the crowd waiting for processing had already taken several steps away, but decided to take a few more, just to be safe. The ursidain was confident, no one liked having bad press and usually making a scene was enough to get ushered through, just to get the one causing an issue out of the way. This was unusual, but despite all the fearmongering of canids being the big bad of the GC, the ursidain had yet to actually see a canid in action. They wouldn't do anything to him, he was a citizen, this was just an attempt at intimidation.

"I want through! Do you know how I am?! I'm-" The ursidain, as he was talking shoved the canid in front of him against the shoulder. The immediate slash across the back of the ursidain's legs sent burning pain through him, but it wasn't enough to topple him.

He swung an arm around behind him, turning as he did, but hit nothing but air. The canid that had slashed him was scampering away, his knife-like claws bloodied.

The ursidain screwed up his face in indignant rage! How dare they even touch him! He was bleeding! He'd have their hides!

Having no intention of backing down now, the ursidain breathed in to bellow, only to feel teeth, clamp around his throat, and a weight pulling him forwards and twisting his neck at an odd angle. To the crowd, the canid that had been issuing the warnings had leapt forward the moment the giant had stopped paying attention to him and had used his own teeth to pull the giant to the ground, bracing his legs and body against the creature's wide chest before pulling and twisting. The ursidain had to follow the pull and twist or risk causing more damage to himself. He toppled forwards and was thrown to the ground with an echoing 'thud'.

The jaws that had clamped around his neck released and the ursidain was looking up at the lead canid, glaring down at him. A large paw reached up and touched against his neck and winced. Pulling the paw away, it was splattered with blood, his own.

"You are bound by station law and are to come with us. Will you comply?" Growled the canid, vicious in tone.

"I-" But the guard cut him off.

"Understand, if you are not completely cooperative, I have the authority to remove any and all threats to the station with lethal force." The canid crouched and grinned, his teeth pink with the mixture of his own saliva and the ursidain's blood.

"Please resist, I haven't killed anyone in three days, I need this." The canid bluffed loud enough for everyone to hear.

To the shocked and nervous crowd, the ursidain nodded his head and was swiftly bound and led away into a side door. A door that was not used by anyone but the security team. There was a quiet, nervous energy as the lead canid glanced back at the crowd, looking for anything or rather anyone who might also cause an issue.

It didn't matter who had an ego in that crowd, the canid would not hesitate to force them into compliance.

It was well known that the canids were the weapon held in the Galactic Community's arm. The GC's own personal cudgel. Parents told children horror stories of the canids to get them to behave and the canids did nothing to dismiss or debate these claims. Some of them were true.

It took public moments like this to remind the trillions of citizens around the galaxy that just because the day to day lives of the average citizen was without worry or blood, did not mean that the canids could not step in if they got cocky.

There was good reason the canids were interacted with at arm's length by the average person. Canids were one step away from being outright feral. Knives for fingers and an appetite for violence. The boogiemen of the GC.

== 0 ==

Melrash the canid sighed as he threw the tool belt down on the side as his home's front door slid closed and locked. It was the end of the day and it had been a long one. Three chintian smugglers, two felinoids after a decency complaint, two taurians in a bar fight and an ursidain in processing. That was the final tally of occupants of the station that Melrash had, had to physically detain. Over half had to see their own blood before reality set in.

Oddly, it was the smugglers who were the ones that had come quietly without issue. Melrash growled as he didn't trust that. He'd missed something, they'd got him away from there too quickly, he'd not sniffed around or questioned it. Tomorrow he'd-

"Mel?" Came a voice from within, perking the canid's ears up.

"I'm home." The canid called back, still not used to having someone waiting for him at home. As a canid, he had his pack, and he spent a large chunk of his time with them. Whether at work or blowing off steam. But even the pack needed time away from one another at the end of the day. This 'guest' in his home was still a new feature, but one he'd learnt to enjoy.

The tiny frail furless creature came pottering around the door frame with the gait that looked like it was about to fall over at any time. It had taken effort on Melrash's part to stop following the thing round with his paws out, ready to catch the human.

The fleshy creature wiped his hands of moisture on an oversized, to him at least, towel before putting it over the back of the sofa. The canid said nothing, then the human bee lined for Melrash.

The canid stood there, perfectly still and weathered the 'attack'.

The human looped his arms around the canid's middle and pressed himself into the canid's fur. It was so dense and the human so small that the creature partially disappeared. The canid very carefully draped his own arms and paws over the human's shoulders and gently pressed the human into himself.

He'd barely used any of his strength, but he both felt and heard the human's spine crunch and click before Melrash's eyes shot wide and he crouched down, shocking the human with the speed while he checked the frail creature for harm.

"I'm fine! Honestly, I needed to click my back, I feel looser." The human argued, batting the canid's worried hands away.

Melrash growled and glanced to the scarred flesh on the human's arms. A perfect quartet of lines, that if anyone looked too closely at, would perfectly match to the spacing of Melrash's fingers. Carelessness and hard lessons.

"I still don't understand how you aren't scared of me. Everyone else is..." Grumbled Melrash, not upset that he was feared by the masses, but almost frustrated that he hadn't been able to get the same response from Yanis. Still... as the human looped their arms around the canid's neck and pushed his face into the canid's messy mane, Melrash had to admit he enjoyed this.

"Because I know you're a friend. Always did, as soon as I met you. Maybe more than that now...?" The humans hands came up to the opposite ear and began to scratch the shorter fur there, Melrash 'hunnn'ing in response.

The human breathed the canid's scent in despite the canid knowing that Yanis was scent blind. Melrash smiled and tilted his head, sandwiching the human into his shoulder as the canid used one arm to hold the human in place and stand back up. Yanis squawked in surprise, but the canid ignored him and his wiggling in a vague notion of trying to escape.

The canid carried him without effort back into the kitchen, but not before plucking the wet towel off the back of the sofa.

"You keep telling me off for doing that." The canid growled, his whole body rumbling the human as Yanis merely guiltily laughed. The canid grinned, not the worst defence for someone's actions he'd heard today.

Melrash, along with his pack, secretly liked how the humans didn't fear the canids... it was a pleasant change...

[r/WolvensStories]

[Ko-Fi]

[drop--pop--candy]

ok. making a lore post i can't be insane in secret anymore. let's talk about Kohina Watabe.

Kohina Watabe is a woman in her mid thirties who's been a family friend of the Fujiwaras for many years. she co-owns a small cafe with a little built-in stage for live music, but the other owner (her brother) doesn't even live in Japan anymore so she is essentially the sole owner. she went to school for music, because she wanted to be a professional musician but there were,,, unforseen complications, let's say. you'll understand soon.

she's been Chika's mentor since Chika was in middle school, and less officially she's been teaching both Fujiwara sisters some basics + helping occasionally with their music stuff since they were really little.

as for more information on Kohina herself, she's a kind and easygoing woman who tends to take it slow. she takes her dog, a golden retriever on the smaller side named Sunbeam, with her everywhere. her only surviving family member is her aforementioned brother, who travels all around the world for work but finds time to visit Kohina if she ever needs anything. she lives very close to the cafe, and has two bedrooms in her house, one for herself and one for a guest.

Kohina is important in the story pretty much immediately, as she's name dropped several times in the main story and introduced to the whole band in chika1, the second event. from there on out, she serves as a mentor to the whole band and the real-world adult they confide in for their band stuff.

Misaki in particular confides in Kohina, preferring to talk to her than one of the vocaloids. Misaki's parents are never at home, so Kohina is sort of like a maternal figure to her. Kohina's house/cafe is the one place Misaki knows she'll never be turned down.

in one of the early third events, misaki is the 3*, and in that side story she asks Kohina why she takes her dog everywhere. Kohina answers that Sunbeam is her service dog, since she has a heart condition. before Misaki can get super worried about it, Kohina reassures her that she's never had serious complications before and having a service dog is just a precaution (this is a lie. she has had complications before but she knows that Misaki tends to worry too much so she doesn't want to tell her that)

it really can't be overstated how important Kohina is to n✧g. she cameos in several cards, and she cameos in EVERY card in maho4. she's mentioned in more than a handful of area conversations. she's basically the girls' first (and for a few of them, only) person they go to for advice and help and literally anything.

cut to after the timeskip! this is when maho4 happens, and Kohina cameos in all of these cards because maho4 is something of a celebration of all the progress the band has made, along with moving up a year and all that. the band is in separate classes now, with Chika and Haruka in one and Maho and Misaki in the other. Haruka and Misaki are both student representatives for their respective classes now, Chika's on the gardening committee, and Maho's on the animal caretaking committee. basically this whole event is a celebration at Kohina's cafe, so she's featured in all of the cards. she talks a LOT in this event and its side stories, which is sort of ironic considering. the very next event.

misaki4! everyone cheered! (sound of very distant sobbing)

so misaki4 starts with her going to Kohina's cafe, but she's not there. so she goes to her house, and she's not there either. Misaki texts the band gc and asks if anyone knows where Kohina is, and Chika texts back that Kohina's in the hospital, but she's probably just there because she's having a checkup or being monitored or something. Misaki decides it would be nice to give her a surprise visit, so she brings Kohina's favourite flowers and heads over to the hospital. when she gets there, the receptionist tells her that she can't visit Kohina because Kohina's in critical condition. Misaki, dazed, sits down in the hospital waiting room next to Sunbeam, and at some point later a doctor comes out and tells her that Kohina is dead. she tells the rest of the group as soon as she can and basically this whole event is just them grieving their mentor.

and now we're at chika5, titled "For Whom the Bell Tolls". two weeks after misaki5, chika hasn't shown up to school or band practice at all. she's not responding to texts and she hasn't left her room since. this is the first event Chika gets a crying model in, and it only happens when she's completely alone in her room. chika's card name is "Alone Again", and aptly she's the only card in the set without a cameo. the event story cuts between flashbacks of Kohina and her, throughout her life, and the present day, where she's falling behind with school and band stuff and cutting everyone off and even ignoring the vocaloids that try to talk to her until they go away.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for yelling at my friend?

this ones a long one.

bg info

so we're both 15, and he's done this thing a couple times where he'll create a new groupchat and exclude certain people who he's not as close to.

to me, this is mean, and i've spoken to him calmly about it before but he kinda just brushes it off and says he's just including close friends.

its also relevant that previously i may have enabled him. like, theres a girl neither of us like and we'd make fun of her sometimes, though not to her face, which is probably worse. i'm trying to be nicer to her but i dont get along with her very well.

on top of that, the origin of the gc we use now is that there was a bigger one and he told me "i just don't feel comfortable with some of these people". so i created a new group chat and let him pick who got added, with the agreement that we'd have to come to an agreement before adding more ppl, just for the sake of everyones comfort.

not sure if this is actually relevant or if im just salty but he doesn't spend time with the people in the gc at school, he sits with a group of juniors n seniors for lunchtimes and only comes around every so often. not sure if he's just spending one-on-one time with everyone or if he's actually not hanging out with us anymore.

into the actual inciting incident

today, we were talking about the groupchat to a friend we'd made recently and added today. he offhandedly mentioned one of the smaller groupchats he'd made for closer friends, and how no one had used it. i got really mad about how casual he was about something i thought was mean of him to do, so i told him something like "i just think that it's a rude thing to do."

and he said something like "well im just including our close friends", we kept going like this for a bit, and I yelled at him "why are the only people that matter the ones YOU like?" and there was more of a kerfuffle i don't remember, but i did in fact cry (self-provoked, he didnt say anything). i apologized for being so dramatic, and he left. it was class time so i left too, and my sister drives me and she had work so i left school really fast.

we have a little routine where we watch a show together on call though and he said yes when i asked about that. after asking him abt our show, i texted him n apologized for yelling at him n asked to talk but i said that i still thought that the way he treats people kinda sucks. no response.

what people irl said

like one person said that i was brave? and that they shoulve said something. the girl we added didnt say anything, and my other friend asked if i was okay after it was all over

why i might be an asshole

i think im being kinda on a moral high-horse when ive enabled and even kinda participated in this behavior before and ofc, yelling was very much an overreaction on my part

additionally, its not exactly a choice to not get along with some people?

why he might be an asshole

excluding people on purpose and ignoring my attempts to talk things out.

with the bias filter on, this behavior is pretty self-centered, because he doesn't hang out with us much at all, and he's never very invested in any of our interests or issues, but he still gets to dictate who gets to be in the "close friends" group chat?

for any advice

i really don't want to drop him as a friend, not just because i like spending time with him, which is most of it. the other part of it is that im really scared of what will happen if he gets mad at me, because i don't want to break up the friendgroup into people taking sides, and to a lesser extent im scared that if that does happen no one will take my side in that conflict. it just doesn't seem worth it to get into a blowout with him about this when i don't want to lose anyone.

thanks for reading all that, this is mostly just to organize my thoughts. render moral judgement at will.

What are these acronyms?

[fitgirlfemdom]

After reading the other guy's post that you published and your own about small dick humiliation, I wanted to tell my own story, and I hope you'll like it. Part of it is similar to the other guy. In my early 30s, I was a gym rat, and while I wasn't bulking up, I was lean at 160-165 lbs, and I was just shy of 5 inches. I started dating a girl and then a storm hit that knocked out power for close to two weeks, and between those two things, my gym days were over. Once my routine got throw out of wack, I never recovered. I'm in my early 40s now and weigh around 210-215 lbs (I've been in that range for a few years now), and I've lost nearly an inch of length. I'm barely over 4 inches now. Between the weight gain and the loss of length, sex sucks. It's a huge part of why I turned to gooning.

As far as my size, I've always known that I'm on the smaller side, but it didn't become a kink for me until OCT or NOV of last year. I actually used to post cum tributes for years, and never once got a negative comment on my size. Anyway, I was chatting with this girl on Discord and one of the things we bonded over was exhibitionism/public nudity. It's something I've never been into doing myself, but seeing girls engage in it is super hot, and she would tell me about some stuff that she's done, or we'd watch stuff together. One day, we're chatting, and I mention that I'm in my backyard. She asks for proof, so I send her a pic of my yard, and she tells me to strip. I was immediately turned on and there's a small area of my yard where I could get away with it without having to worry about any neighbors seeing me, so I recorded me stripping. My heart was beating like a jackhammer and I sent the video. Her first comment is, "damn, you have a small cock." I was absolutely crushed, and it broke something inside me. I wasn't expecting her to tell me it was the hottest thing she had ever seen, but I guess I was expecting a little bit of validation. "Nice job," or "I can't believe you actually did it," something like that.

Since then, small penis/dick/cock humiliation has become a major kink for me. I've had dozens of girls online degrade me after I send them a pic or video. I've gotten everything from laughter to mean comments to poor ratings. I have a few regulars that I chat with that are absolutely brutal towards me, and I love it. I reblog captions and use the #small dick humiliation hashtag on my blog. You mentioned in your post about a guy that jerks off with only two fingers, and I do that now. A couple of different girls have encouraged me to do it, and it feels so humiliating and looks so pathetic when I send them videos. At this point, two of my biggest fantasies are to experience SPH in a group chat, and IRL.

You had said that you wished more of your inbox messages were like that other guy, so I hope this fits that.

YES!!! MORE SMALL DICK INBOXES!!!

yes, for some reason, some of us girls find guys jerking off with only two fingers really hot in a pathetic way. it's mainly because it's how we play with our clits, and seeing a guy do it is like watching him wear heels and put on makeup--its so emasculating. i love it.

right now, all i need is a small dick <4in gooner on his knees jerking his little cock while trying his best not to "nnnghhh" and cum in 30 seconds in front of me. i need a pathetic gooner like that begging me to let him cum and calling me mommy while he does it. also i need a zero sugar smirnoff ice. preferably pink lemonade flavor. and maybe a cigarette.

imagine sending your pathetic dick pic to a girl and she adds you to a gc with all her friends, just so they can clown on you for being a degenerate pervert. imagine them sending audio messages, laughing and making jokes at your expense, asking with slight curiosity if you can even fuck anything with that. them asking if companies make condoms in that size, and if you're even fertile. imagine them thinking that's not enough, and forcing you to meet up with them IRL, lest they leak your unsavory pictures online. you get locked in chastity and forced to pleasure these girls for the rest of the night, whether that be through your mouth or your hands, while they spit and laugh at your pitiful dick.

that gives me an idea for a new post. AGHHH thank you for this

[cirrus-grey]

It's that season again so fuck it, TMA Tour de France AU

Jon is a GC contender and the team leader for Ocula-Arachne, a well-funded, competitive team with several previous Tour winners to their name. He was the second-place finisher at the previous year's Tour, and is looking to bring home the yellow jersey this year. He placed well in the Spring Classics, but a bad crash and a fractured ankle have meant he missed the last several weeks of racing. It was uncertain whether he'd even compete in the Tour until the team roster was announced shortly beforehand, and he's coming into it feeling like he needs to prove himself.

Martin is a time trial specialist, but has been made team leader of Solus this year and is competing for the GC. It's his first time riding for yellow - he placed in the top ten at last year's Tour and has been absolutely killing it in the Classics, drawing media attention and pressure for the first time in his career. He seems to be getting better and better as the season goes on, but there are questions on if he's got the team to back him up - their tactics often leave him riding alone, hanging onto the wheels of his rivals rather than protected in the middle of his allies. Rumors of his rivalry with Jon are perhaps exaggerated - they touched wheels in one of the first races they were in together and both crashed out, but whatever grudge Jon held from that has faded as they've found themselves going head-to-head in recent races, and they are often seen chatting amicably as they wait for stages to start or bantering good-naturedly after they finish. Still, building on that early enmity makes for good tv.

Tim is Jon's right-hand-rider and an absolute powerhouse in the mountains, known for being able to drag him up the toughest climbs even when he's having a bad day. There's speculation that he could be a future GC contender himself - he placed fourth in the Tour last year, and possibly could have made the podium if he hadn't had to sacrifice his own race for Jon's. He probably would have been team leader this year if Jon's injuries had kept him from riding, and commentators love discussing if the team made the right decision not to bring him forward. If he harbors any private resentments about being passed over, he's done a very good job keeping them out of the public eye.

Sasha is a breakaway specialist and a former teammate of Jon and Tim. At the end of last season she transferred to team Drugoy-Tsirk - they've got a smaller budget, but they give her the opportunity to ride for herself for stage wins, rather than hanging back to support Jon. There's barely a breakaway attempt made where she isn't one of the riders in it, and she's won most aggressive rider several times already this season. There's no hard feelings toward her from Jon and Tim about the team switch, though they do find it disconcerting how they almost don't recognize her among the peloton in her new red and gold uniform...

Melanie is a sprint specialist for Nemesis-Lancraig, two-time winner of the green jersey and looking for a third. She's received criticism in the past for her aggressive riding style, and been relegated at least once under the accusation of elbowing another rider out of the way during a bunch sprint. She denies it, and the negative press only drives her harder to prove herself. She hates Jon, and it's mutual - in a race early in both their careers, his attempts to gain time in the GC got in the way of her attempts to win a stage via sprint, and vis versa. Both lost, and both still bear a grudge over it.

Georgie is Melanie's chief lead-out rider and recent girlfriend, though they're trying to keep that out of the press. She's got a knack for finding a good line through a bunch sprint to launch Melanie to the finish, and has been courted by several other teams looking to add her to their roster - but she's happy where she is. She tries not to get in the middle of the rivalry between Melanie and Jon - she and Jon rode together before turning professional and helped each other's careers a lot, and they're still on quite good terms when they meet.

Basira is the team leader for Everchase-Z, and the reigning champion from last year's Tour. An experienced professional, she's maintained cordial if distant relationships with her competitors and is well-respected by all. She's here to defend her title, and is favored to do so by all estimates - no injuries, no illness, and an ever-predictive win in the Critérium du Dauphiné mean that she's coming into this race as the rider to beat, and she doesn't intend to let anyone do so.

Daisy is Basira's right-hand-rider and has been so for the entirety of their professional careers. Ever-loyal, ever-dependable, she's pretty much unstoppable when it comes to catching breakaways - she's snatched several wins right out from under Sasha’s nose, bridging the gap from the peloton in a burst of speed and dragging them back to the group - or launching Basira ahead for a solo win. If she's on your tail, it's almost a guarantee that you're going to get caught: marked, paced, and hunted down with the precision of an expert.

I don't have plot for all 21 days of racing, but I do have the pivotal moment in week 2:

Basira has a lead of several minutes on Jon. He's in second, with Martin only 30 seconds behind him for third. Tim is in fourth, only about 20 seconds behind Martin, and he'd probably be ahead of him if he hadn't had to drop back from a breakaway in an early hilly stage to help Jon. Melanie has two stage wins to her name and feels like she's letting her team down. Sasha has one stage win, and is marking the entire Tour as an unequivocal success.

Halfway through week two, they're in the high mountains. Sasha tried for an early break but got brought back by Daisy; Melanie zipped ahead to snag a few sprint points in the foothills, and is spending the rest of the day in the gruppetto, hanging with the rest of the sprinters and chatting (flirting) with Georgie. Early on the penultimate climb Basira got away from the rest of the contenders and gained a devastating lead, putting more than a minute into them before they were even halfway up. Tim managed to hang with her for a bit before being called back to help Jon, who was struggling; Martin, with no teammates to help him, has been chugging along between the two, no chance of catching Basira but dangerously close to pulling into second place if Jon can't find his legs.

Tim drops behind Martin. He rendezvous with Jon, and starts the laborious process of trying to catch Martin again. After several arduous minutes of effort, they do. Tim is beat and has no more to give, so Jon swaps over to Martin’s wheel, hanging with him as Tim falls behind and trying to ignore the throbbing in his still-not-fully-healed ankle. He could just stay here, pace Martin, keep his second place and leave first for another day, but-

Basira reaches the top of the climb and begins the long, fast descent. She's not taking any chances, playing it safe, and Elias (the Ocula team director) is on the team radio shouting at Jon that this is his chance, he's a good descender, if he can get over the top of this climb first not only can he leave Martin in his dust but he can scrape some time back on Basira too, he's still got a chance at yellow-

Jon gathers all his reserves of strength into a burst of speed, passing Martin and charging for the top of the climb. Martin sticks out his tongue as Jon passes, trying and failing to keep up, and Jon grins at him over his shoulder as a gap grows between them. There's enough distance to the top that he pulls that gap to almost 20 seconds before he gets there, and it stretches, elastic, as he starts the descent at full speed and Martin is left still slogging up the uphill behind him.

It's a tricky descent. Lots of sharp corners, narrow roads, pavement slightly damp from a recent rain. Elias is in Jon's earpiece, telling him to push it faster, take more chances, this isn't the time to play it safe, Basira's almost at the bottom but you can catch her-

Jon takes a corner too fast. He doesn't see the paint on the road until it's too late. His wheel loses traction; slips.

The camera on the motorbike ahead of him only sees him start to tip sideways before it's around the curve and out of view. Jon doesn't follow, and every commentator on every TV outlet across the world starts freaking out, asking if they can get a camera in there, what happened, did he crash?? The motorbike can't go backward, though, it would clog up the whole race, so they holster the camera and keep going. They'll slow down if they're needed to track riders coming up from behind, or speed up if the producers want more eyes on Basira. Finding out what happened to Jon will have to be a job for someone else.

Martin makes it to the top of the climb and starts the descent with a sigh of relief. He's alone; for some reason the motorbikes never seem to follow the Solus riders, even if they are in the top three. His earpiece is pretty quiet, too, since Peter (team director) takes a pretty hands-off approach to the whole "directing" thing. He knows his two competitors are ahead of him, though, so he takes a few more risks than he normally would on a descent like this, getting as much speed as he can without losing control of his bike.

Heading into a turn, he sees a bike tangled in the weeds on the outside edge of the road, mangled and broken. He eases up on the speed so as not to repeat the crash, not thinking too much about it.

He's ten feet away when he spots the radio on the ground and realizes the crashed rider can't call in for help.

He's five feet away when he recognizes Jon's bike, and realizes Jon himself is nowhere to be seen.

He's off his bike and running before he even thinks about it.

There's a sharp drop off at the edge of the road, a steep slope covered in thick-growing trees and underbrush. Martin skids down it, cleats digging ruts in the grass as he tries not to lose his balance. One hand finds his radio, he shouts for the medical car, and then all his focus is on the trees around him, searching desperately for a flash of Jon's jersey, calling his name.

It can only be a few seconds before he spots him. His team confirms later, it's a very short time between his first call through the radio and his second. But it feels like an eternity of crashing around through those trees, desperate, panicking, race entirely forgotten on the road behind him, before he finally finds Jon.

He's sprawled on the forest floor in a dip between two trees, his jersey torn to shreds, his helmet cracked in two, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood wells up from a deep gash in his side, and his eyelids are flickering, unfocused, barely-conscious.

"Jon!"

Martin drops to his knees, hands fluttering around, not sure where to begin. Jon's mouth moves, an exhale of breath that sounds almost like Martin’s name.

("I'm fine, Martin." Later, Jon remembers saying the words with absolute confidence, the concussed certainty that he only needed a minute to rest before he'd be back on his bike. "Keep racing, I'll be up again soon.")

Then his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps to the ground, unconscious.

Martin's brain kicks back into gear. With one hand, he presses down on the wound in Jon's side, trying to staunch the blood flow (Oh god, there's so much blood, he must be cut deep-) and with the other he fumbles for his radio again, finally tuning in to the fact that Peter has been yelling in his ear this whole time.

"-crash? Can you get back on your bike? The car's going to take some time, can you keep riding?"

"Medic!" Martin snaps again, not listening.

"Martin!" Peter sounds more exasperated than relieved. "Where’d you crash? Can you keep riding?"

"Not me," Martin manages. "It's Jon, he- Jon Sims, from Ocula, he's- he crashed ahead of me."

"Sims?" Peter sounds baffled. "You're fine, then? Get back on the bike, we've got a chance at second!"

Martin doesn't move. "He's hurt bad. Where's the medical car?"

"A few minutes out, they're behind a few groups on the climb. Look, I've called in the crash, they're on their way, you don't need to worry. Just get back on your bike and keep riding, this is your chance!"

"I can't leave him!" Martin protests. He doesn't know a lot about medical science, but he can see the amount of blood on the leaves around them and how pale Jon's face has gone. He doesn't dare take his hand off the wound.

"Martin-"

He rips the radio from his ear, drops his other hand to Jon's side, and applies more pressure.

(News of the crash spreads over the race radio. In the Ocula car, Elias curses, slamming his hand into the dashboard hard enough to bruise. Then he picks up the radio again, flicking over to the team channel.

"Tim," he barks. "Jon crashed out, we're riding for you now. Try to get as much time back as you can before the finish, we'll reevaluate our strategy tonight."

"What?" Tim claps a hand to his radio - he's been soft-pedaling, waiting for the group behind to catch up so he can have an easier ride to the finish, but now he digs down for reserves of strength he didn't know he had and picks up the tempo. "Is Jon-"

"He's fine," Elias spits, motivation rather than truth. "Ride like a man and you might pull second over Blackwood."

Tim rolls his eyes and removes the radio - he's never envied Jon the kind of pressure Elias puts on the team leader - crests the top of the climb, and starts the descent. When he passes the crash he pays it no mind - Elias said Jon was fine, and he has a race to focus on.)

The minutes drag by with agonizing slowness for Martin. His eyes are glued to Jon's face; his hands shaking where he presses them to his side. He doesn't think he's imagining the way Jon's breathing is growing shallow and uneven, and there's an unspoken terror in his heart as he counts down the seconds until the medical car arrives.

The sound of an engine. A shout in French. "Here!" Martin yells back, whipping his head around. "Er- ici! Nous sommes ici!"

Everything is movement and noise from there. A few paramedics come hurrying down the slope toward them, faces turning worried as they spot Jon. One gently pushes Martin out of the way, taking his place to apply pressure to the wound; the other runs back to the car, shouting something Martin can't understand.

He finds himself standing on the sidelines, leaning against a tree, watching in a state of numb shock as they bring bandages down, start carefully trying to cover the worst of the wounds. He thinks a few minutes pass, but it feels like only seconds before there's the shrill sound of an ambulance siren on the road above and then more people are rushing around, they're loading Jon onto a stretcher, and Martin is following them back up the slope, trailing slowly behind as they carry Jon away.

The vehicles are pulled as far to the edge of the road as they can be to give riders room to pass. A few groups zip by as Jon is lifted into the ambulance and hooked to an IV. A motorbike has parked a little way up the road, and the camera is fixed on the scene, capturing every detail.

One of the paramedics tosses a blanket over Martin’s shoulders and makes sure he's leaning safely against a tree. He barely even notices, eyes locked on the doors of the ambulance as they close behind Jon.

The Solus team car pulls up as the ambulance drives away. Peter gets out, gestures for Martin's spare bike to be taken off the roof and gotten ready. Then he approaches Martin.

"Okay, we've lost a lot of time," he says briskly. "Ocula sent Stoker ahead and he's probably going to take second, but you've got a chance to hang onto third if you get moving now."

Martin turns to look at him slowly. The words aren't really registering, but when the new bike is rolled in front of him he grabs the handlebars and climbs on.

The camera watches as his team director helps him balance, gives him a hearty push to get him going again. He pedals once, twice. The bike slowly wobbles forward, veers to the side, and gently bumps into a tree. Martin tips sideways, not doing anything to break his fall, and is caught by one of the doctors from the medical car, which had stayed behind after the ambulance left.

Peter looks at the doctor, and the doctor shakes their head. He gives a deep, resigned sigh.

"Okay." Peter walks over, helps Martin off his bike, hands him back the shock blanket. "Come on, then."

He's ushered into the team car. A few more minutes are spent clearing the debris from the crash scene, removing the bits of bicycle that are scattered over the road. Then the medical car leaves, and the Solus team car soon after, and finally the motorbike drives off after them.

----

When Jon wakes in the hospital that night, he finds his whole team gathered around his bed, with Martin sitting closest to him and holding his hand. He's flattered that they'd take time out of their recovery for him like this; horrified when he learns that Martin actually dropped out of the race to help him; shocked to realize how bad his injuries are. He thanks Martin profusely, congratulates Tim on moving into second, and falls asleep again soon after.

It's not until the next morning, when he wakes to an empty room, that the doctors tell him he probably would have died if Martin hadn't stayed with him to help minimize the blood loss.

----

A few days later, he's cleared for transport, and they fly him back to London so he can finish his recovery in a hospital closer to home.

Martin books a flight back the same day.

----

They watch the last week of the race together on the tiny television in Jon's room. Sasha pulls one more win from the breakaway; Tim holds onto second by his fingernails, going toe-to-toe against the third place rider on the final mountain stage and winning by the width of a wheel. Basira runs away with first, pulling her lead to almost six minutes, and there's no doubt in anyone's mind that she would have gone home with yellow even if Jon and Martin had stayed in the race.

Melanie sews up the green jersey competition and pulls a final stage win on the Champs-Élysées, outsprinting everyone in a spectacular finish. She yanks Georgie into a celebratory kiss in front of all the cameras, and suddenly no one is talking about Jon's crash at all anymore as news of their relationship goes public in spectacular style.

----

Jon and Martin’s first kiss is a quieter thing, a private moment shared some weeks later on the day Jon is told he'll be able to go home soon.

----

It's when he's relearning how to walk on a slowly-healing leg that they start talking about their futures: what their careers mean to them, what they mean to each other, what they're willing to risk for both.

The news that the two rising stars have quit racing doesn't break until the next season has almost begun, but with the way their teams are clearly prepared to ride without them, it's clear the decision was made much earlier.

----

The television coverage of the next Tour does a little "behind the scenes" package to fill time on the long, uneventful sprint stages. They get team interviews, fan reactions, local color... they catch up with Jon and Martin on holiday by the coast, taking advantage of the lovely beach weather and cheering on the passing racers from among the crowd. They talk honestly about how they reassessed their priorities after the crash, how much respect they hold for riders who can come back from something like that and keep racing, but how the risk of further injury just wasn't worth it for them. When they're asked what their plans are now, they just smile.

"Well, we've got our hands full with wedding planning at the moment," they say, holding up their hands to show off the matching engagement rings. "But we're glad to be taking some time away to cheer on our old teams..."

They drop out of public awareness soon after that, with no regrets. They still enjoy watching the race together every year, and traveling to see some of it in person when they can, but they're more than happy to leave their own racing careers well in the past.

[vannyinthestars]

Bringing back my favorite non-described Trojan Side Character, Emma Swift <3 to drop some little headcanons and tidbits and things that get hinted at in Smoke & Spurs

- She’s from a tiny town near the Arizona/California border

- Grew up on a dairy farm

- Drives a rusted out blue pickup, the thing is halfway to falling apart on the side of the road but she loves it. She also claims that since it looks like a hunk of junk it’s less likely to get broken into in LA (which has been proven right thus far)

- Started playing exy in middle school, trying to have an extracurricular after school because her mom couldn’t pick her up right away and her dad didn’t want to drive all the way into town from the farm

- She was awful at first. She played goalie for awhile because it was the last line of defense and everybody else just worked harder to keep the ball away from her.

- She’d spend hours practicing at the farm, well after dark relying on the lights from the barn and a headlamp.

- By the time she made it to the high school team she was playing as a Striker because she was smaller framed, fast, and had built up a decent amount of strength simply pushing around cattle all day.

- Edgar Allen tried to recruit her during her season her senior year. Thea had come with, being local-ish at the time and knowing ravens like to travel in groups.

- She turned them down simply because she didn’t want to live that far from home. She didn’t realize the bad vibes and totally idolized Kevin, but wanted to be within a couple hours of her mom and dad.

- she didn’t get recruited by USC but listed her sport under her extracurriculars when she applied. They offered her a spot on the line up since they had a lot of senior strikers graduating.

- She’s majoring in Business Law, she wants to help save the small family farms of America from corporations taking up so much of the market share.

- her and Thea got along weirdly well, choosing to keep in minimal contact after Emma’s pestering. She didn’t quite understand why Thea seemed so adverse to it.

- she has a dog named Sparky and a horse named Daffodil that are her phone wallpaper and she shows everybody pictures of constantly.

- The Trojans gc gets the occasional photo of her doing crazy farm nonsense throughout the summer. One time, it was just her riding a cow with 0 explanation.

- Her and Jean don’t click at first and she just off handedly says “It’s weird, Thea says you’re so nice,”

- Jean getting violent whiplash bc how does she know Thea

- Slowly he warms up to her, it’s kind of like the older brother instinct. Except he watches her drop a man on his ass with one punch and realizes he doesn’t need to be protective at all, she’s pretty much able to handle herself.

- Her being a weird Kevin fangirl and then actually meeting him on the court and Jean being like “he is really not that special”

- she teases about Jean’s French accent. He can’t even be bitchy about it because she speaks fairly good French (4 years in high school)

- Jeremy and Emma chaotic blonde striker duo. “The dumb blondes” and her being offended because his hair is bleached. “He’s not even a natural blonde!”

Idk I’m obsessed w/ the idea of her

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Why did Joon posting that song blow up to such an insane degree, but Taehyung mouthing the n-word seems to have made no noise? I’m absolutely not saying I wanted Taehyung to be at the center of a hate campaign, but I’m kind of surprised? If I understood the meaning of the song correctly, Joon really didn’t do anything wrong or offensive at all, but it blew up and was everywhere for days. I saw so many discussions about it on different platforms. But then Taehyung actually DID do something wrong. But it’s just… crickets. I guess I’m just confused? Why did Joon’s thing turn out like it did, but Taehyung seems to have gotten away unscathed?

***

I just want to say, first of all, that I abhor this sort of ask for two reasons: (1) because it ultimately taps into the incredibly toxic hyper-competitiveness in k-pop, where everything is seen within the lens of comparison and competition - nothing is sacred; and (2) because I'm Black and Korean, and having to explain the intricacies of how this space creates and engages in the sort of prejudice cocktail one uniquely finds here, especially since I've been into k-pop for this long, is annoying and borderline dehumanizing to experience.

But I understand why you asked it. I know you likely bore no malice in asking it and I can see why the stark difference in reactions could be confusing, so I'll use your ask to make a general comment about general fandom dynamics. It's something I've talked about before, when discussing hate and how Jimin doesn't actually get as much hate as a lot of people think, but that he does get huge amounts of certain kinds of hate. I suggest you read that post with this one please, because I won't repeat all I said there, here.

I often talk about the different players in k-pop fandom, how hate can be manufactured, and that various things have influenced previous scandals blowing up. It can get confusing to fully explain, but I'll try not to ramble and will try to outline this methodically somehow, splitting up the factors I think are important into sub-headings.

The Background/Setting

This might not seem obvious at first, but it's important to know what else is happening in k-pop fandom at the time.

In the case of Namjoon's artificial scandal of recommending a Frank Ocean song about Black queer experience, and unrequited love related to religious truama - a song 10s of idols and people had shared before to zero controversy, and a scandal started in a Blinks GC including BTS akgaes (who were Blinks) - the background context was Lisa getting dragged by most of stan twt for an unflattering picture posted on Popbase, Blackpink getting flayed by several k-pop fandoms for not selling out their latest concert venue, and simultaneously NewJeans taking yet another record from Blackpink. This wasn't the catalyst for the hate on Namjoon, but it provided the background noise for why Blinks were so angsty and pissed. All that happened in one day.

You see, before Blinks came after Namjoon, they'd actually gone after NewJeans' fandom in retaliation. A blink hacked the NewJeans Global fanbase following the achievement announcement. Look at the date of that tweet. If you were on Twitter you would've seen "APOLOGIZE TO LISA" trending globally. Well, that's what happened. Bunnies are a much smaller fandom but their group is the top girl group, meaning that fandom dynamics make them an easy target to overwhelm that nobody would care to defend and so their pleas that their fanbase was hacked fell on deaf ears, Blinks easily overran them and practically everything that happened to Namjoon two days later, happened first to NewJeans and their fanbase. But the scandal didn't gain much traction and Blinks were like, raging pissed. I'm talking people screaming in various Twitter spaces mad. Just insane any way you look at it.

Then a day later Namjoon said in a magazine interview that BTS would be returning around 2025. That was the catalyst for the hate. Aside from the additional annoyance for Blinks of BTS, well, BTS-ing, BTS akgaes who were also Blinks, absolutely lost their shit. It might seem like such an innocuous thing, but one thing you'll realize is, a lot of people here are frankly insane. I know I use that word a lot but I actually mean it. Much of what passes for 'discourse' here, is actually fueled by people who are very unstable and cannot manage their emotional reactions to facts outside their control. Such is the perpetual plight of BTS akgaes and one such fact is BTS all saying they intend to return in a few years, and so their attention turned to him and he would've had a hate train sooner or later. It was only blind luck that he shared Bad Religion on Instagram the next day.

To contrast with Tae's situation, Blinks were celebrating various achievements yesterday and today. And so, silly as this might be to say, they were less pissed than they were in the lead up to Namjoon's situation. Also, Blinks and most other shooters were pre-occupied with much juicier drama today, which was the blow-up around Bang Chan's room being suspended. Dives and Stays have been going at it, with Blinks and shooters well in the mix. Scandals sometimes never happen the day of the incident. In fact it's more common for something to happen which an anti or rival fandom notices, keeps away, and then blows up at a more opportune moment - such as during the actual comeback. So it's not like Tae's even in the clear. This could still come back to hurt him (and BTS, because that's how these things always play out), though I doubt it, because of the players.

The Players

The fact is that since Tae started dating Jennie, he has less natural predators within the Blink fandom. He's still hated, just not to same degree he was by that fandom when he accidentally followed Jennie on Instagram a year ago. Also, many Blinks are BTS maknae-line akgaes meaning many Blinks are also taekookers and KTHs. In case anyone was unaware. So Tae is likely never going to get as much umbrage from Blinks as he would from Orbits, for example. But just by being in BTS, he's hated by that fandom.

Rival BTS akgaes are also players here who tried to get the ball rolling on the hate train, but in recent weeks I'd seen sympathy from PJMs towards Tae for his abysmal performance numbers, so not many of them joined in right away. JJKs on the other hand, who have been dealing with a lot of flack for Seven's versions/performance, saw an opportunity to use Tae's gaffe to play off his akgaes and the fandom against other akgaes. ARMYs are a bit stupid, as I've said before, and PJMs are careless, loud, and moronic - they've earned a reputation that makes them easy scapeoats, as I've said before too, so playing those factions off each other was very easy to do.

This all left Black ARMYs, who knew that if this blows up, every BTS member would become a target because of k-pop fandom dynamics, whether that was fair or not, especially for a gaffe like this, to contain this somewhat.

Namjoon does not have the benefit (if I can even call it that) of dating Jennie, his akgaes do overlap with some other fandoms but not Blinks, and his crime was not the sort that was very contagious to other members, so it allowed more akgaes to zero in on him and Blinks to let loose on him.

The Crime

There's no pretty way of saying this, but identity 'crimes' in k-pop fandoms are kind of a bitch and can be tricky to understand. In Tae's case, the fact is that the clips do offer him plausible deniability. I can see how someone could persuade others to think he never mouthed it, though I personally don't buy it. But given the fact that racist charges in particular are very sticky and will be used to target every member, from Jimin to Namjoon even if Tae was the culprit, I can see why the fandom approached it this way.

There's also the very simple fact that a lot of people didn't actually notice that Tae mouthed "nigga". I know the song he was listening to so I know what he said, but I could bet you 40 quid that 80% of the fandom is actually blissfully oblivious. And that's how it usually is with these things. Unless an anti or rival fandom blows it up, it might as well have never happened because few people would've registered that it happened in the first place. And because of (1) the background and (2) the players, it was always unlikely that this could turn into a shit storm today. It could still happen for Tae, but it happening today, in my view at least, was always unlikely.

Namjoon by contrast, had a crime that wasn't even one, but religious sensitivities can be very volatile, and the people who eventually believed he was in error and were fanning the flames, were primarily homophobes and misogynists who justify those beliefs with their religion - in addition to some Muslim fans who perhaps felt genuinely hurt. Not Black ARMYs or Black k-pop stans who have likely dealt with exactly this sort of crime before. I mean, this is k-pop, Shinee and Mamamoo for example, well loved k-pop groups still haven't apologized for doing Blackface and Brownface, they've never even acknowledged it, and yet nobody cares. And so many Black fans unfortunately have a sort of resignation or racism fatigue. In a sense.

One other reason is that, for racist or anti-Black accusations, sometimes other k-pop fandoms could be hesitant to join in and blow up the scandal because they’re aware of their own idols being guilty of the same or much worse, and they know explicitly going after BTS will get ARMYs to drag their faves to filth. It would be something akin to mutually assured destruction but ARMYs would possibly overwhelm with share numbers. Comparatively, accusations around Islamophobia aren’t as common, and so more k-pop fandoms could join in to virtue signal on that basis, and blow it up further knowing ARMYs wouldn’t have equal basis to retaliate towards certain fandoms.

**

I took my time writing all this for a few reasons. One is because I'm very well aware that there's a narrative in some parts of the fandom that Jimin is hated the most and Tae is hated the least. Again as though this is some kind of competition. And that it's very likely for this to be the talking point in this space filled with Jimin biases, jikook shippers, and Jimin akgaes. Not to call y'all out exactly, it's just the reality as I see it. But like I keep saying, if you're listening to akgaes for most anything, you're being quite stupid because you're guaranteed to be misled. In my opinion. There's a lot more things that influence how things play out here, there's so much more nuance into how various patterns develop, that the simplistic and victimizing arguments offered by that point of view, aren't all that helpful if what you want is to actually understand what's happening here.

*

And while I'm on the subject since this post is already too long and I've gotten asks about how to feel about this, I'll copy-paste here what I already told someone else privately:

I don't hate Tae, and as a Black person, much less a Black person who has lived in Korea with family there, this sort of anti-Blackness, while disappointing no matter where its encountered, even more so since it's from a BTS member in this case, is something many Black people live with.

I understand what you mean I think, and though you say you don't know how to feel right now, I know how I feel: I feel disappointed. Tae mouthing the word on camera, not bothering to show more care around how it could look, indicates to me that it's possible he shows even less care in private i.e. he's possibly comfortable saying the word in private. This could be true or false. And while not the worst thing in the world (I don't for a second think any of the guys are perfect people - it's possible there's a high chance they'd behave like typical Korean men in various situations with all the cultural prejudices and ignorance), it's disappointing that this could still happen in 2023. As you've said, it seemed very unlikely. But then again, unlike some other members, Taehyung himself has never come under fire for this sort of gaffe. Where Joon, Hobi, and Yoongi have been forced to grow in their engagement with Black culture as they're the members that have worked very deeply on hiphop, Tae's always had a bit of a peripheral view. He's never been personally impacted by any of that particular scrutiny, and given what I think his personality is like, I won't be surprised if it never really registered in his mind as something to be cautious about, since he'd never been personally really affected by it. Hence one reason I started out that post by calling him stupid, as harsh as that might sound.

Personally, I never expect perfection from BTS, so while this is disappointing, it does not dramatically impact how I feel about Tae or BTS or Layover a week from now. I listen to a lot of music and a lot of hiphop made by artists who have very likely killed before, so my personal tolerance for 'problematic' artists or things like this could be very different from yours. It's unfortunate that Tae's actions could bring very negative attention to the whole group, and people will have feelings - some people being hurt and other people re-offending in a bid to defend or antagonize him, so I'd suggest trying not to get caught in the crossfire. If you still want to support Tae, that's okay. Personally, I'll be checking out his album and plan to support it with streams and some sales. If you're hurt and want to say that, that's okay too. If you don't feel like supporting his project, that's okay too. Process this in a way where you honour your feelings and beliefs first, based on the facts as you have them. And anyone who tries to make your life difficult about it either way, fuck them. In my opinion.

[thebestofoneshots]

Hello darling x

Just wondering if youd be open to the idea of writing a Jily x reader series after Guilded Constellations with reader as a half-breed?? (but its public knowledge instead of hidden like GC reader) Maybe a veela or vampire. I know itll still be a while until GC finishes and you should take a break afterwards but id love to read your take on this grouping as well. Youve done Wolfstar so well, and Wednesdays cant go fast enough to give me my fix (i live in Australia so ch are released late at night mostly)

YESSSS!

I mean, after GC I already have another Marauders series planned out, It's called Point of Know Return, I talked a little bit about it on this ask. But I would love to do a Jilly x reader fic. Maybe not a full-fleshed series, but something slightly smaller with a bit more casual entries.

I'd love to explore especially the hald-bread aspect of reader being public, since I'm sure there would be a lot of nasty bullying thrown in there but she would probably fight back, even more if it's about trying to bring Lily down, like she really would be her Dark Knight.

Also both Veela and Vampire sound fun, Veela bc I love mermaids and Vampire because let's be honest, fangs are hot af. Imagine her having slightly sharper fangs that she's self-conscious about, accidentally drawing bIood when kissing someone? I mean I'm so, so down!

Clearly, I like the idea, of course, there are a lot of details I'd have to flesh out and analyse, but I'd try to map the full plan of the story ready so I don't end up overwriting (as much) as I ended up doing it with GC, but this one seems fun, perhaps, if I had enough time, I could work on it when GC is about to end or while working on POKR.

Would you guys be interested in this one? What else would you like to see happen?

Read Gilded Constellations

[kit-the-gaygent]

Random Obey Me Headcanons

Diavio had no idea how to do laundry

MC hosts "Internet memes, slang, ect" class at RAD once a week on Tuesdays

Lucifer, Dia, Simeon, and Barbatos go to this class so they know wtf Levi and other online demons/angles/humans are actually saying

On the topic of slang Solomon mixes old slang and new slang, "a rose by any other name would smell as poggers" is his favorite

Satan plays a mystery visual novel dating sim

Levi, Mammon, and Lucifer are all scared of spiders, Beel has gotten calls at 2am from the eldest to go kill a spider in his office

Asmo personality likes spiders

Belphie and Beel are indifferent to them

Barbatos really likes charcuterie boards, especially organizing the placements of the meat, crackers, and cheese. Veggies and fruits are a luxury item on his boards

Luke goes to Levi when he finds something new on his DDD that he doesn't understand

Somewhere hidden in one of the many rooms of the HoL is a shrine dedicated to MC

There is only one or two shops that MC can find clothes in their size since they are much smaller than the typical demon

Most of MC clothes that the brothers/Dia/Barb/Purgatory hall give them are custom made

MC has weekly tea time with Dia at the palace once a week, afterward they like to follow Barb around to spend time with the busy man

Luke views MC as an older sibling/parental friend. MC takes the young angle out to eat or to do fun activities around the Devildom, sometimes they have Barb and Simeon with them, and on occasion they go to the human realm for their play day

Whenever MC is about they send pictures of every cat they come across to the cat lovers GC

Beel is really good at history and often helps MC with their homework for the class while he works out (MC is usually on his back while this happens)

When Beel doesn't know something MC gose to Lucifer since he has lived through most of not all of it

Belphie and Mammon help MC with math

And Satan and Asmo help MC with language arts

Asmo has an album of pictures, paintings, poems, letter and other things from past lovers exs. This album also has a digital spread sheet with the dates of first meeting, end of their relationship, and date of death.

Solomon, Barb, and MC have places in this album

Lucifer and Dia have had an off again on again relationship for the past 100 years

They also had a threesome with Barb at one point

All of the brothers show up to Beel's games

Dia makes sure Lucifer can always go to these games

Beel had a few times during these games where he had to sit on the bench because Belphie wasn't there (attic party)

Belphie has a habit of sleeping is the oddest places in the HoL and sometimes even in the palace

It was discovered by Solomon that Belphie was muttering a teleportation spell by accident while he slept

[oneminutefiftysixseconds]

honestly wasn't expecting ag2r to play that big of a part in unchained s2 but i'm glad they did!! still haven't finished the series but i do really like seeing the "smaller" teams with stage win/potentially gc top5 ambitions. and ben o'connor seems a very determined guy. sweary hotheaded australian but he's working on one of those things (the other two can't be helped) and given how ag2r have been doing this season so far i do hope he and felix both get some success 🙏

[pro-cycling-primers]

📊 TYPES OF RACES 📊

A brief overview/beginner's guide to the two primary kinds of road racing, one-day races and stage races:

ONE DAY RACES 📆

These are the easiest to explain: an event that takes place on one day, the winner is the first rider across the line. (That last sentence might sound silly, but when we get to stage racing you'll see it's not always that simple!)

There are literally hundreds of one day races throughout the year, but the most prestigious are the cobbled classics, the Ardennes classics, and the five Monuments. If you're new to cycling, big one-day races will get you quickly acquainted with some of the sport's top stars.

Most one-day races are named after their start and finish towns, or historic equivalents: for instance Milano-Sanremo 🇮🇹 starts in (or near) Milan, and finishes in San Remo. Some are named after the region; De Ronde van Vlaanderen 🇧🇪 and Il Lombardia 🇮🇹 pass through the regions of Flanders and Lombardy respectively.

The difficulty of one-day racing lies in the route and terrain (known together as a race's parcours), whether that difficulty comes in the form of climbing or tricky surfaces like gravel and cobblestones.

Different terrains favour different characteristics: flatter races will favour heavier, more powerful riders whereas hilly/mountainous courses will more often be won by smaller, lighter riders.

STAGE RACES 🗓️

Multi-day events where the winner is the rider with the lowest combined time across all stages. They can vary in length from 2 days all the way up to 21-day Grand Tours.

Each day is known as a stage, usually in the 100-200km range to and each stage has a winner, the first across the line that day. A stage winner doesn't necessarily win the entire race, and it's possible for the overall winner to win without winning a stage, as the total accrued time counts toward general victory.

The leader's jersey is worn each day by the rider with the lowest combined time up to that point, and is a distinctive colour (yellow at the Tour de France, other colours at other races).

To win a stage race, riders must be consistent and slightly lucky - crashes and mechanical problems can cause a rider to lose minutes on their competitors.

Traditionally, a stage would start in Town A, finish in Town B, and the teams stay overnight for the start of the next stage, leaving from Town B to Town C. However, practicalities of organisation - race organisers want to feature difficult climbs/sectors - and financial reasons - start/finish towns often pay for the race's presence as tourism draw - mean there are often transfers between the finishes and starts of consecutive stages.

Riders must finish each and every stage in order to remain in the race - and in Grand Tours the 'time cut' comes into play, as riders are required to finish within a calculated percentage of the stage winner's time.

Left: Miguel Ángel López 🇨🇴 gets into the team car during the 2022 Giro d'Italia; he cannot compete in the rest of the race. Right: Fabio Jakobsen 🇳🇱 races for the time cut during the 2022 Tour de France. If he does not finish before the van (known as the broom wagon), he is out of the race.

Alongside the general classification (GC; standings in overall combined time of all stages) and stage wins, there are jerseys on offer for the overall best climber and overall best sprinter, awarded on a points basis by being the first rider to pass specific intermediate points throughout stages.

The youth classification, the leader of which usually wears a white jersey, functions the same as the GC but for riders under a certain age. For most races this is under 23, but at the Tour de France it is open to riders under 25.

There is also the team classification - lowest combined time of every rider on a team - and the combativity prize, awarded both daily and as a final super-combative prize to the riders deemed by a jury to have ridden most aggressively throughout the race. Neither of these have distinctive jerseys.

The three three-week Grand Tours are the most prestigious stage races, to which teams will bring their best riders, but there are many more beyond these. In fact, the Critérium du Dauphiné 🇫🇷 starts this Sunday (2nd June), one of the last warm-up races ahead of the Tour de France!

To finish: road racing comes in two main forms, one-day races and stage races. The cycling season, which runs traditionally from February until October, comprises both types, and both are brilliant to watch!

[simnthea]

The Brokes, but genetically correct

loooooonnng picture-heavy post ahead :)

Skip to the download: CC-free Sims2Packs + .simpe face templates

Hello all! It's been awhile...I know. Life is life.

I do still love making genetically correct sims and recently I've been wanting to start a new Pleasantview. I like my old genetically correct Pleasantview, but it was a first try and I'd like to give it a bit of a refresh. Plus it's fun for me. :P

This time around I want to slowly work on each family + lots, releasing them slowly at first and then have the combined hood at the end. This allows me to really focus and expand on each one. Plus I'm generally not very motivated, but I think working small parts at a time will help this. All parents extracted from Croconaw/MeetMetotheRiver's Clean Pleasantview template. Offspring created in CAS.

A little refresher on the Newbie-Broke lineage...

To note I only considered the genetics of the previous generation in making the current playables. For example, Betty Newbie's appearance was extracted directly from SimPe. She was not genetically created with recreated Vadim/Fatima Simovitch. I did attempt this, but found that Brandi would look too dissimilar from her original non-gc face. I still want to keep with the general aesthetics of the original faces, just obviously improved, especially for the second-gen playables like Dustin and Beau.

So first, we have the Newbies:

Bob + Betty = Brandi

slight face shape changes, smaller less-bug eyes

The Brokes:

Flat + Flo = Skip, Ruby

smaller Broke nose, forehead/brows from Flo

Bonus! Ruby Broke, Skip's older sister seen in TS3.

"Ruby Broke is thinking about moving out but she enjoys the convenience of having family close by."

I absolutely LOVE her face. I think it's a perfect mix between Flat and Flo. I did garner inspiration for her hair/outfit/eyes from her Sims 3 version.

And finally...the boys.

Brandi + Skip = Dustin, Beau, Unborn Baby Broke

Dustin -

looks completely different, less sad and looks far more like Skip

Beau -

again looks very different...but now actually looks related to Dustin, yet not like twins which I thought I lacked on last time.

and there we are...

I have both the individual sims downloads, a combined package, plus the .simpe face templates that you can use to replace in any Pleasantview or other hood right now

Note: Female sims will take your default replacement makeup or lack thereof. So warning they make look a little bit crazy at first.

Credits:

Tutorial on Facial Structure Changes

Tutorial on how to extract in-game sims

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