#the fun thing about a comedy is that anything is true if you want it to be and nothing is true if you want it to be!!

[skateboard-theta]

with rvb especially i love picking and choosing from canon and official non-canon at will. idc that the only Grif OCD mentions are in an Epsilon simulation and a PSA. he has OCD to me

[andy-wm]

I have thoughts on Jimin's SGMB

It's the gayest thing I've ever seen.

And by that I mean it's joyous, light-hearted, bright, and fun.

We can all agree, I think, that this is a happy and totally harmless song. Who could criticise Jimin for declaring his love in such a sweet and innocent way?

Of course not everyone will like it, and that's fine. You don't have to like everything he does - or everything BTS does - you are an individual with thoughts and feelings of your own - I hope. But putting that aside you'd have to be a troubled person indeed to take offence at anything here.

So, it is definitely a fan song, right? Jimin is singing to his fans... isn't he?

Maybe.

But if it is (I and I'm not convinced) it's not just a fan song.

It's sweet, so sweet, but....

Maybe it's a little too sweet?

We know Jimin is CUTIE SEXY LOVELY and LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY, but let's be honest, he's also a grown man. And Army are not children (mostly). In fact we have had many many conversations about how ARMY are not children.

But this whole production is pushing the sweet and innocent barrow so hard that I can't help wanting to look underneath and behind and inside to see what's really going on because it's so sweet it's hurting my teeth.

Compare the sophistication and self awareness of FACE to the bouncy, bright and child-like song-and-dance in the SGMB music video. They are WORLDS apart and we were told very specifically that the albums were linked.

"Following his first solo album, “FACE,” where he sought to explore his true identity, “MUSE” documents his journey in search of the source of his inspiration." said the Weverse notification.

So what's really going on here?

What are you doing Jiminie?

And more importantly, why are you doing it?

You could call it a pageant, or a carnival, or a circus - with Jimin as the ringmaster.

But my view is:

This a pantomime. And it's very clever.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a pantomime is "A dramatic entertainment,  originating in Roman mime, in which  performers express meaning through  gestures  accompanied by music." Yes, that describes it.

Merriam-Webster tells us "[A pantomime] is an ancient Roman dramatic performance featuring a solo dancer and a narrative chorus" That also makes sense.

Oxford also specified that it's a modern BRITISH tradition. "a theatrical entertainment, mainly for children, which involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy." It's a perfect fit.

The British link is already there - Jimin clearly told us he's influenced by The Beatles' Sergeant Peppers Album. There's also the styling of his suit. The stovepipe pants, narrow tie, and fitted jacket are very 1960s (and 1980s) British pop.

There's something old-school about a pantomime. It harks back to childhood, and to the nostalgia of holidays. And the styling of the MV is in keeping with that nostalgic feel too - from the Mountain scene with the vintage film title, to the intertitles - or title cards , to the circular frame of the opening scene.

But back to the Pantomime itself...

A quick google search told me the following are important elements of pantomime. And we have most, if not all of them in this production.

Gender role reversal - TICK

Slapstick comedy - TICK

Colourful costumes - TICK

Audience participation - TICK (the children ARE the audience)

Exaggerated facial expressions - TICK

Take another look at the music video - it's all there.

Wikipedia tells us that pantomimes traditional told fairy tales or folk tales - often love stories - and that the primary role in a Pantomime was:

The 'Principal boy', a hero or charismatic rogue, traditionally played by a young woman in men's clothing.

Smart, very smart. With all the other conversations we've been having a round gender this is totally on the money.

Wikipedia goes on to say "Another pantomime tradition is to engage celebrity guest stars... Contemporary pantomime productions are often adapted to allow the star to showcase their well-known act.... If the star enters into the spirit of the entertainment, he or she likely adds to its overall effect"

Welcome, Loco.

(yes, I know collabs are de rigueur, but that doesn't change the fact that it fits - celeb guests are an established practice in Panto.)

So if this IS a Pantomime (and I'm not saying it definitely is but it looks like one to me), then it's intended to be a sung-story, told as much through dance and gestures as through words.

If it's a pantomime, what is it about?

I'm glad you asked! This little charade is the story of a young person called Jimin who is looking for love. He finds romance easily enough...

but real love takes a little longer.

Fortunately for our hero, he's brave (he will confess to his lover) and he is patient (he encourages them to do so too).

In between, there are shenanigans and goofing...

But our Charismatic Rogue is charming (if devilish) and wins the hearts of the audience - and his lover.

Let's take a closer look at how the story unfolds...

At the start of the MV, as the initial credits appear, Jimin is on stage vibing with his band. Loco is chilling on a rock like a lizard in the sun.

We get the ye olde intertitles, welcoming the audience and introducing.... SMERALDO Garden Marching Band

It's not Smeraldo Garden - Marching Band. It's Smeraldo *pause* Garden Marching Band. Smeraldo (secrets) has the emphasis.

After the intertitles, the scene opens on a group of children - they are ostensibly the audience of the band. They're playing paper-scissors-rock to see who will call for Jimin's attention.

The children run over to him and the tale begins.

Jimin, the main character of this story, immediately launches into song.

He starts off singing about Bangtan - mentioning their harmony (song and personal I think), he shows the Bangtan hand gesture we all know so well, and he sings "we gift happiness every day".

But he mentions June 12th.

Why June 12th?

Why not 13th, their debut day?

BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A SONG for ARMY. He's making it clear that at this point he's referring to Bangtan specifically, not the whole juggernaut of the fandom and fame. June 12th precedes ARMY.

He's made it clear from the start - this is NOT ABOUT ARMY.

Then he leans in and whispers to the children - and the camera -"lets talk about us".

Look at the kids' faces - they're miming shock. Ooooohhh! This is a big secret he's about to tell them - and us.

Look at Jimin's expression - he's just a tad smug. This is not a shocking secret to him, this is a fun secret.

Yes, he is indeed the charismatic rogue of this story.

He sings:

"All the things we couldn't say before

And your hidden feelings too (just for you)

Don't you worry anymore

Since we're together now**

Let's be a little more honest."

So it seems our main character has a LOVER. Someone who couldn't be revealed and who hid their feelings.

<Wow, I have no idea who this could be...>

Hang on, what's happening in the MV??

On his journey, it seems our young hero has a few short-lived romances. And if you look carefully, they are all with men.

He accepts the rose from a man, and plants himself on the bench right up close to .... a man. He jumps up unperturbed, and gifts the rose to (you guessed it) another man.

Jimin manages to sidestep (or completely ignore) all the women except one, who he sends graciously into the arms of a random man before continuing on his journey.

Wait one moment... his romantic partners were ALL MEN??

ALL MEN??

ALL MEN?!!!!!

Yes darling, all men. Let's continue.

So, it seems none of Jimin's previous romances grew into anything more, but he takes his own advice with his mysterious lover and confesses first.

He smirks. He flicks his jacket with pizzazz. He's ready.

He sings:

"Ooooh I love you babe,

I'll come closer to you

I want to hold your hand,

I want you babe (yessir)

Please note the hand gesture in this choreo - it's another one we've seen many times.

The dance ends and Jimin scans the surroundings and spots his old friend...

[Enter stage left: Loco]

Oh look, the friend is a rapper a few years older than Jimin. They seem to have a lot of fun together, Jimin and his rapper friend. There are ZERO romantic overtones here. This guy happily goes along with all the goofing and silliness even though he looks a tiny bit mortified. Either they are both very good actors, or a lot of the time, Loco was holding in his laughter. And Jimin seems incredibly amused by that.

They hang out together until.... something in the atmosphere changes:

The colours become richer, light become warmer, and oh look....

It's *The Golden Hour*

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP, PEOPLE. HE REALLY DID THIS.

Jimin leaves Loco, chasing the golden light as he sings about "the dazzling sky." Golden confetti (champagne, anyone?) falls all around him and then ...

fucking sunflowers bloom.

SUN FLOWERS.

BLOOM.

FOR HIM.

<I need to lie down and process this>

SUNflowers...

Remind me again what sunflowers are known for? Oh yes, they are symbolic of the sun. Guess what else? They turn to face the sun.

Yup, the sunflowers all turn their faces toward the camera. I'm not crazy, okay?! I'm not.

SMH... let's move on.

Jimin re-joins his band, and the sunflowers do their sunflower thing, and Jimin sings:

"So tell me how you feel,

let whatever you feel

wash over you"

Then he sings

"I love you babe, (yessir)

I'll come closer to you

I want to hold your hand,

I want you babe (yessir)

Please note the hand gesture again

👉 👈

The bridge is next, and Jimin takes us back to Bangtan. As all the stars appear (that ocean of purple light that surrounds them at concerts) and everyone takes their place on stage, they turn up the music. <Are my eyes watering? Perhaps>

"I think we're ready now

<NGL I may have shed a tear here>

Lets begin 1, 2

<Ok fuck, I bawled at this point. Goddammit Jimin!>

Put your hands up"

*cute wiggle-dance commences* and Jimin spots his good friend the rapper again, hiding on the sidelines. He pulls him into the chorus line and they do more silliness and everyone is having a great time.

Confetti- flower petals fall, there's laughter and happiness all around, and they bow and bid us good bye.

The show is over.

*THE END*

But wait, I am not done.

A few more things bear mentioning here:

I saw quite a few comments saying this song is for ARMY.

It is categorically NOT for ARMY. Besides the fact that we already have Closer Than This - a fan song - on this album, Jimin specifically chose a date before debut - before ARMY existed - to place in this song. No mention of ARMY at all. Accept it graciously, this is not for you.

I wanna hold your hand

This lyric is a reference not only to the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand", It's also a common theme with Jimin and Jungkook. We see them finding any feeble excuse to hold hands, shake hands, touch hands. Yes, we see you two...

I am you, You are me

The gesture used in the choreo when Jimin is singing his confession - I failed miserably to catch it in my screengrab but there's no doubt it's their "I am you, You are me" gesture. Take a look for yourself.

All Jimin's romantic moments happened with men.

I'm not saying in his life, I am saying in this MV. All of them. The only interaction he has with a woman is one brief moment where he grabs her wrist as she passes by and he swings her into the path of a guy behind him. He even scoots around the women and sidesteps them. That can't be accidental. He's making a point.

The addition of 'yessir' in the lyrics makes it clear that he's confessing to a man.

I cannot see any reasonable way to refute this. The BH subtitles include it even though you have to listen carefully to catch it. THAT IS A CHOICE, NOT AN ACCIDENT.

"Even though we're together now"

These lyrics could mean theyre an established, committed couple. But if we think a little broader than that, and a little more literally, who is he together with right now?

It's strategically brilliant.

This is his 'tell all expose' but he has built in a rock solid escape clause by using the panto format. Staging the whole love story - including the prior boyfriends and the man he's now in love with - as an over the top comedy show makes it easily dismissible as pure fiction. By including the fantasy/magical elements he just makes it more so. Deniers will be able to come up with a dozen reasons to reject this... 'It's a fantasy story', 'not all songs are autobiographical', 'he's making a point', 'he's raising LGBTQIA+ awareness'... all true maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that this is HIS song, about HIS muse. If you've been paying attention (and even if you haven't) you will know this is certainly not pure fiction.

AND FINALLY....

The most important one, I left till last. I actually want to scream this, in all caps, in the biggest font possible. But I will restrain myself.

The song is bookended by references to BTS.

That is hugely important. For those who may not be aware, this is a literary device. Bookending a story provides a start and end reference point. Here, the Bangtan bookends provide context for the rest of the lyrics - they frame the lyrics within them. That means the events happening in the song, happen within the context of Bangtan. Reading between the lines, the person he is singing to/about is within Bangtan.

This is not reaching. This is like mixing blue paint and yellow paint together. You will get green paint.

💛+💙=💚

So yes, this song is the gayest thing I've ever seen.

And I DO mean it's joyous, light-hearted, bright, and fun.

But yes, it's also absolutely and totally really really GAY

🏳️‍🌈🐥🦄🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌻🐰☀️🏳️‍🌈

Thank you Jiminie

[blackholesun321]

Shanks Doesn’t Have A Dream! And I Can Prove It!

Ok, y’all, can I talk my shit again? Because I have thoughts and feels about our good old one-armed favorite disaster of a party pirate, Akagami (Red-Haired) Shanks. I’m going to be completely honest: I may have had this rant before, but I can’t find it, and no one else has this take. I need to talk about my vision of him that I’m like 60/40 percent sure is correct canon-wise and would explain so many of his—let’s call them quirks.

I think one of Oda’s beliefs and the teachings that One Piece has so blatantly told us about, such as personal freedom, charting your own destiny, and making your own adventure along the way, are a reflection of Shanks’ character as someone who never got that chance and never would. That, to me, makes him one of the saddest characters in One Piece.

Let me cook here. I’m not going to cite anything because I don’t want to, and I do that enough already in college, so we’re running on trust me: I’ve read the manga and watched a lot of theory videos. So lock in because this is gonna be long.

Anyways, back to my thesis. Shanks is a character of contradictions. He was the youngest person to ever become a Yonko (but then Luffy came in), probably one of the strongest men of his generation. He regularly fought the world’s strongest swordsman for fun. He has a crew whose members each have over a million bounties on their own and are so physically or politically strong that they can stop a war in its tracks just by waltzing in and saying "stop." Not only that, he stopped Kaido in his tracks and made him turn around. His father was the Pirate King and claimed him as his successor; he could even be tied to the Celestial Dragons. He’s charismatic, and when things need to get done, he gets down to business.

On the other hand, he’s also a goofy guy who regularly gets blackout drunk, has a horrible sense of pant style, parties his life away, and thinks bullying kids is the height of comedy. He cares about his kid to the point that he forgets to be a responsible Yonko but also wants to fight him for the One Piece. He seems so blasé about everything but is obviously, in the background, making connections and being all sneaky about something; he has plans but also didn’t decide to go after the One Piece until after his prime. He’s been stagnant but moving and shaking around the world, all for some big ideal, some big plan, something huge.

It is my stance, idea, theory, if you will, that all this makes sense if you look at it from the viewpoint that nothing—not the planning, not stealing the fruit, not the power growth, or making his way to Yonko status, not building his crew, even the hurry-up-and-wait—he’s been doing all these years, his whole life? Is because he’s hasn’t made a single decision for himself since Gol D. Roger died.

Outrageous! You cry! Shanks, a man who supposedly spouts on about being free and charting your own course and being a pirate? Is none of those things? Impossible, you will say. I will ask you how you got into my house and to please leave. But aside from the pirate bit, yes, and I can prove this. Calm my chili-baby’s and listen.

Yes, Shanks had his life taken from his adventure, his destiny set and marked right before the Loguetown execution. It is my belief that all this can be laid at the feet of—drumroll, please—Gol D. Roger himself!

Gasp! Crying! Fainting in the audience! I know, what a twist. Let me explain. In a flashback, we see Roger talking about Ace. It was Roger’s belief that Ace (his child) would be the savior of the world, the new Joy Boy, destined to destroy the World Government with what they learned from the Poneglyphs and Laugh Tale. He believed their generation was too early and that the next would usher in the new world. Ace would be his true successor. A little narcissistic, but a man like Roger probably couldn’t help but be. Not just that but it probably felt prophetic he found Laugh Tale of course that had to mean something?He was also dying as it was and put things in place for Ace to survive. He told Garp where he was so Garp could take him away with Rouge—a safety net, that sure was useful. Once she ya know, died.

With the understanding that the next generation would usher in the new age, Roger took aside a thirteen-year-old Shanks and revealed everything. He told him about the birth of the new Joy Boy, everything about Laugh Tale, and how he believed his son would usher in this age. I believe he gave Shanks this purpose: to pass on the straw hat to his son and help him become a man strong enough to fight the World Government. I think little traumatized Shanks, who is about to lose his father and has had the weight of the world put on his shoulders, takes it to heart and buries everything he is to fulfill his captain's last wish. And that’s horrible. I’ll get into the psychological implications later, but holy shit, Roger, what the fuck? He’s thirteen! And about to watch you die!

But yeah, doesn’t this make sense? Why the hell when Buggy wanted to go after the One Piece, did Shanks hold back and say they should wait, losing his brother because he has a secret his captain entrusted him with. Why the hell did they know about the Gum Gum Fruit and were searching for it? Why did Shanks spend so long on a little island like Fousha in the East Blue? Not only was he looking for the fruit, but he was also looking for Ace! (And maybe Rouge.)

Why has he been making all these connections but doing jack shit with them? Why did he become a Yonko but claim no territory for fucking years on end and do nothing really with his status? Why does he rely on such a small crew of such powerful individuals? Why does he party his life away, seem almost aimless, and not start to go after the One Piece until Luffy reaches Gear 5?

Because he’s the one to pass on the legacy; he’s the placeholder, a cog in the proverbial machine that is fate. He made sure Joy Boy would exist. And now that the dominoes have been placed and are falling fast, he’s going to challenge Luffy and make sure he’s strong enough to fight for it—strong enough to take on the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and Imu—and then hand him a big red button to help do it afterward. That button will be all the sneaky shit he’s been doing in the background.

He’s been the bridge between his captain and this new age. Sure, it was too early, but his influence rippled out through the people he trusted and touched in his life. The same way Rayleigh trained Luffy, knowing what he was preparing him for in the next part of his journey, waiting years for him to arrive at Sabaody.

And all that needed to happen was the dreams, adventures, and sacrifices of a young boy. It’s almost poetic—a son for a son (or sun, in this case). My therapist says I make light of dark shit so I don’t have to emotionally feel the pain.

And now we get into the sad portion of today’s episode. Prepare the tissues because this is why I think Shanks is one of the saddest characters in One Piece.

Because think about it: Shanks’s life was charted for him; his adventure and future were stolen, decided with the reveal of Laugh Tale and all the secrets around it—everything, all so the next generation could one day rise up and bring a new dawn. Shanks never got to have a dream because it was stolen from him. He’s a walking, talking empty automaton, fulfilling his captain's dying promise made by a grieving thirteen-year-old.

He is dreamless, and for a man who is, in some sense, the freest in the world—can go anywhere, can do anything, is powerful enough to stop wars—he’s still trapped, chained to a future he can only wait for.

I don’t think he knows who he is outside of this. I don’t think he thinks he’ll live beyond it. (Which like I will fucking cry because this is gonna be kinda true.) I don’t even want to call it an ambition. Duty, maybe. Damned promise, more likely. And it’s ruined every relationship outside of it he’s ever had. Aside from one—

(Don’t even get me started on him and Mihawk and miscommunication, failed expectations, and Mihawk being the epitome of everything Shanks isn’t. With his dream chasing to the ends of the world, ending up unfulfilled and alone. Finding companionship and what he thought were similar drives in each other, but once Shanks lost his arm and his hat, he realized Shanks was never fighting for something he wanted. And it broke him a little; it broke their relationship—one of the only relationships Shanks chose for himself, with nothing to do with his mission.

And Buggy—he gave up his brother, was forced to leave him alone, and couldn’t say anything, couldn’t tell him the truth, couldn’t destroy his dream. And he couldn’t even be selfish enough to make him stay. Like, oh my God, the drama.)

Doomed yaoi aside, the only thing and person I think that messed up his perfectly made plans is Luffy.

Sweet baby Luffy wasn’t so sweet before the Red Force arrived. In the manga, it is mentioned that he was an angry, bitter child, lashing out almost like Ace to a degree. But Shanks, by just being kind, by being good, and by reaching out and teasing this little ball of anger, transforms him, saves him in a way. He gives him a drive, a dream, and a morality to live by. He gives him everything he never got—everything stripped from him. Shanks turns him into the type of person a special kind of Devil Fruit might call out to and get eaten by.

Nika chose Luffy because Shanks saved him by just being good and kind, giving this kid something beyond his anger and bitterness. Shanks gave Luffy the idea of freedom, and in return, he allowed Shanks’s perfectly clear mission to shatter. I think this Shanks makes the first real decision in his life: he goes, "Fuck, well, we’re backing this horse now," and Luffy becomes his child—not his captain's, but his future to bet on and help grow.

And I fucking love that. Luffy saves him just as he saved Luffy, in a way. And that’s his kid, his successor, more than it ever was for Roger. I will die on this hill. (If you want, you can even look at it as Shanks finally choosing a dream all his own and it’s Luffy.)

Will Oda see it this way? Probably not. He has a habit of brushing off stuff like this; I think he’ll make Shanks’s character into a noble man dedicated to stopping the World Government and not even think about the implications of tying all that to him at such a young age. But I do think Shanks expects to die when Luffy comes to fight; I think he wants to, just how Mihawk wants to die from Zoro’s blades. Because what is there beyond this? (And again, parallels!)

And I believe he will live! (Not Mihawk—he's gonna die.) Shanks will live, and symbolically, Luffy will free him from this self-imposed duty, this promise made by a child. Shanks will have made, even unwittingly, the thing that would free him, allowing him to move forward in a world where all the purposes he needs to find are his own.

And holy shit, that’s a lot for him, but then Blackbeard will happen, and he’ll die only having known freedom for a short while. Luffy will cry and create a new dawn, and it won’t be for nothing—except it will be for everything to Shanks.

In conclusion, Shanks doesn’t have a dream of his own. He never had a dream; if he did, it was squashed out of him in order to fulfill a promise set by his father, Gol D. Roger.

He loses his brother, loses his control over his destiny, and as his father sets such things into motion, Ace, Roger’s child, will become the new Joy Boy.

He makes a connection with someone outside of that mission and purpose, and in doing so, creates the opportunity for his own freedom and his own choice in Luffy.

Later down the line, Nika/Luffy will eventually free him in the same way he created his own freedom back then, giving him a new choice going forward. They will free him from the mission that was placed on his shoulders as a thirteen-year-old child, and afterwards, he will consequently be killed by Blackbeard, and everything will be horrible, and we will all cry. The end.

I hope everyone enjoyed this thesis on Shanks. Feel free to use it and steal it to your hearts content. I would love to write more if anyone has any questions or things they want to ask; I will be opening up my ask box for questions. I would love to go into more detail on his relationship with Luffy, his rivalry with Blackbeard, and how that ties into all of this, as well as his relationship with Mihawk (fuck man the parallels!!) or maybe Buggy. (Which I have less on it’s just really tragic.)

[makeitmingi]

The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 23]

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy

Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho

Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?

Word count: 3.3K

"So, I went on a date yesterday... With Yunho." You finally said, glancing over at Seonghwa from the passenger seat. You had no intention of hiding it from Seonghwa, you were going to tell him.

"Oh, how was it?" He asked back. Seonghwa didn't look all too surprised, did he know?

"Wait, you're not surprised or shocked. Did you already know? Did Yunho tell you?" You blinked. Not that you expected Seonghwa to be appalled or anything. You were just curious about why he had a lack of expression or reaction.

"No, I didn't know, he didn't tell me. Well... at least, I didn't know about the date. But I did know that Yunho has feelings for you." Seonghwa explained.

"Is it that obvious to everyone?" You mumbled. After Jongho told you that he notices Yunho following you around with heart eyes, you have been wondering if you're just oblivious to these things.

"Yes, it is. Plus, he told me." Seonghwa revealed. Now, you were the one who was shocked.

"Wait, wait, he told you? When did he tell you?" Now it was your turn to be the shocked one.

"Yes, he told me. He told me the day that I said I ran into him when I was out. I think it was that day off after we cooked for the parents." He explained.

"And all this time, you didn't tell me?"

"(y/n), as close as we are, you know it's not my place to tell you about his feelings. That's just not right for me to be exposing his feelings to you like that. And would you have really wanted to hear about his feelings from me rather than directly from him?" He asked back. Seonghwa was right.

"Yeah, I know, Hwa. Why did he tell you though? Or why did he tell you before he even told me?" You asked.

"That I can tell you. Funnily enough, poor guy felt guilty for having feelings for you because he thought we were together. Some bro code about having feelings for your friend's girl." He chuckled.

"He thought we were a couple?" You cringed. Seonghwa hummed in confirmation.

"Well, I guess that's normal. At some point, everyone we've met thought we were a couple." You shrugged.

"That's true. But back to the main point, yes, I knew that Yunho had feelings for you. And I guessed that at some point he would ask you out. You didn't have to hide your date from me."

"I wasn't trying to hide it... I would have told you like I am now. I was just really stressed." You sighed.

"Stressed? Why? Do you not feel the same way towards him?" Seonghwa asked.

"I think I do? I had Wooyoung sort out my feelings for me when he came over that day and we concluded that I do have feelings for him. But it's scary, Hwa. You know, I don't like my feelings. And I'm scared that I can't meet expectations." You revealed.

"Sweetheart, there are no expectations, okay? You shouldn't feel guilty or pressured into feeling a certain way just because Yunho told you his feelings." He advised.

"I know but-"

"And I know it's daunting to have such feelings for another person. But I see how you are with Yunho, without even knowing, you do care for him a lot. Just take it step by step, at your own pace." He said.

"But did you enjoy the date? Tell me more about it." Seonghwa probed.

"I did, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. We went to the aquarium and went for dinner." You said briefly.

"You always wanted to go to the aquarium when you were little. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'm sure Yunho made it even more fun." Seonghwa chuckled.

"He did. I realised how observant and thoughful he is. You can tell he really tried his best to make sure that everything went well and that I had a good time. Everything he did, he did it with me in mind and I appreciated it. I felt bad that he didn't let me pay or do much for him." You laughed.

"So after dinner, he was still hungry so I made him a snack at mine. He did research for a nice degustation place but the servings were small and just like you, his appetite is too big." You added.

"Tasting menus always have too little food." Seonghwa scoffed.

"But doesn't mean Yunho did all these nice things to show his feelings for you, means you must reciprocate those feelings, okay?"

"Alright, thanks, Hwa." You smiled gratefully. Seonghwa put the car in park and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you to his chest. He stroked the back of your head.

"Yunho is a good guy. It's okay to trust him." He whispered.

"I know and I will, slowly." You said. Someone knocking on the car window made you and Seonghwa pull away.

"Hey! No cuddling in the parking lot!" Wooyoung shouted with a frown. You laughed and unlocked the door to open the door. Wooyoung grinned but was shoved aside by Jongho, who held a hand out to you to help you out.

"YAH!" Wooyoung yelled. Jongho ignored him and smiled at you, squeezing your hand. You leaned back into the car to retrieve your bag and slung it over your shoulder.

"Wow, no one came to help me out of the car?" Seonghwa joked as he locked the car.

"You're not princess." Jongho rolled his eyes. The 4 of you headed to the restaurant, entering the dark kitchen.

"Let's get the caneles going first since they'll take the longest." You said as everyone put on their aprons and prepared their stations to start the bakes.

"I can do it with Seonghwa hyung?" Wooyoung asked. The oldest nodded and went to wash his hands.

"After they go in the oven, can you guys start the peach roll cakes? I'll start on the Opera cake. Jong, can you do the German chocolate cake?" You asked. Jongho nodded and went to the pantry.

"Alright. Let's start." You all went into baking mode right away.

"Caneles are in the oven. Wooyoung is good on the peach roll cakes. What should I do?" Seonghwa came over to you. You slid the list over to him so he could pick what to do. He did the pumpkin spice muffins with streusel-topping. There were too many layers to the opera cake, you were stuck on that.

"Good morning." Yunho came in.

"Morning." The 4 of you greeted back. Yunho's eyes narrowed in on the back of your head and a smile formed on his face. He was excited to see you again even if you just saw each other yesterday.

"Alright, lover boy. Don't block the way." Wooyoung said, pushing Yunho so he could get to the pantry.

"Wooyoung!" Seonghwa scolded. Your head sunk further, all the more you didn't want to turn around to face Yunho now.

"I..." Yunho grew flustered, running to the locker room to hide and cool down his burning cheeks. You whipped your head around to glare at Wooyoung.

"Shut up." You hissed.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, jagi." Wooyoung pinched your cheeks and cooed at you. You elbowed him in the ribs and went back to fixing the cake. Yunho emerged again, with an apron on. He went over to where you were.

"Hi, (y/n)." Yunho greeted softly as he stood beside you. You didn't stop your movements, focusing on the cake.

"Good morning, Yunho. Want to help me make coffee syrup for my cake?" You asked.

"Sure. What are you making?" He asked back.

"Opera cake. I need 300mL of strong coffee in this glass container for the syrup. And I need 100mL of strong coffee in a cup, I'll mix it into the buttercream later." You handed him the vessels.

"I can do that." He nodded and went to the front. You continued to mix the Joconde sponge and lay it out onto the backing sheets.

"I'm done." Yunho came back in with the two containers of coffee that you needed.

"Check the recipe card for how much sugar to mix into the glass container for the syrup. Leave the other one aside to cool." You told Yunho as Jongho helped you load the sheets of cake into the oven.

"I'm back." You came back to your station, where Yunho was mixing the sugar into the hot coffee to make the syrup that will go over the sponge cakes. You set a timer for the cakes and tucked the timer into the pocket of your apron. As you made the other components for that cake, Yunho assisted you.

"My cake is waiting to go into the oven. What's the last thing to do?" Jongho asked.

"French toast bake." You replied. However instead of using regular brioche bread, you decided to use leftover croissants, cut them and pour the egg-custard mixture over to bake it.

"What goes into an opera cake? It looks like there are a lot of components." Yunho tilted his head.

"It's thin layers of sponge cake then we paint syrup over it. We layer it alternating between coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache."

"That sounds difficult to make." He chuckled.

"It's not the easiest cake. But when you pour the chocolate glaze over and cut into it, seeing all the layers is really satisfying." You laughed. Yunho nodded, understanding where you were coming from.

"Morning!" Soon, the other boys arrived too. Although they didn't think much of Yunho standing at your station, talking and assisting you, Mingi sure knew the underlying meaning. After all, he was the only one that knew about the date that happened.

"Did you sleep well?" Yunho leaned over, asking softly, just for you to hear.

"I slept well with Yunnie by my side." You admitted, clearing your throat in embarrassment. You ended there, of course you wouldn't include that you hugged the manatee the whole night.

"Alright, front crew. For the french toast bake, it'll be inside on the warming plate." You said as you came out of the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am." The 4 boys straightened up, paying attention to you.

"Then drizzle some maple syrup over and put a scoop of the mixed berries before serving. I'll leave the jug of syrup here." You placed the jug down on the counter.

"We can do that. Thanks, (y/n)." San smiled, his cute dimple popping through. You chuckled and headed back in.

"I mentioned mixed berries earlier, can you do that?" You spun on your heel, facing Yunho.

"Uh, yes?" Yunho leaned back slightly from how you suddenly spun and were nearly body to body with him. You smiled and nodded in approval before going back to the opera cake you were working on. Yunho stood there, dumbfounded. Honestly, he had no idea what he needed to do.

"Raspberries, blueberries, quarter the strawberries and half the blackberries." Seonghwa said as he walked past Yunho to go to the walk in to retrieve an ingredient.

"Right. I knew that..." He laughed nervously and went to the walk in, behind Seonghwa to get all the berries.

"Took you long enough." You teased when he returned to your side with the berries, a small chopping board and a paring knife.

"You made me flustered and just left me there all alone without helping me." He complained.

"Well, you said you knew what to do so I assumed you really knew what to do." You argued with a shrug. He let out a small 'hmph' before he began preparing the berries.

"First batch of caneles out." Wooyoung announced.

"You! You're not a part of the kitchen team, come out here to help when you're done." Hongjoong said, pointing at Yunho. Yunho pouted, he didn't want to leave your side. But he knew he needed to as the owner of the place.

"Finish up here and go help your team." You nudged him slightly, mixing the chocolate glaze for your opera cake. Yunho nodded obediently and continued his task.

"I have time before I'm assembling my cake. Anyone need hands?" You turned to the rest.

"I need help rolling the other roll cake." Wooyoung said.

"Hwa hyung, your timer is up. I'm pulling the first batch of your muffins out." Jongho said. Seonghwa nodded and helped Wooyoung with filling the canele molds to put the second batch in the oven.

"Roll cake is pre-rolled and resting in the towel. Where's the filling?" You asked Wooyoung.

"Whipped cream is in the walk in. The peaches have been skinned and are in the metal bowl at my work station." He informed.

"Got it." You nodded. Turning around, you saw that Yunho had already gone outside to help them set up for service. You knew you needed to focus on getting the morning bakes out so you did that. The boys and you pushed out the first round of stuff to put in the display case, giving some to the boys as breakfast.

"The muffins are good." Mingi said, breaking into one and giving Yeosang the other half.

"I like the crunchy top." Yeosang added, his mouth full of food. San put drinks on a tray for the kitchen crew and brought it into the kitchen, placing them on the middle island.

"Thanks, San hyung." Jongho came over first.

"You're welcome." He smiled. You took the iced coffee and took a sip, sighing blissfully as the taste of coffee.

When all the morning bakes were done and the restaurant was opened, you went out to take a break, wanting some fresh air before working on dinner stuff.

"Back from my break. Go ahead, Yunho." Mingi patted his best friend on the shoulder.

"Thanks, man." Yunho grabbed his coffee with him and headed straight for the kitchen. He didn't even need to check, he knew where you were, making a beeline for the back door. There you were, sitting on the curb like always. You turned around when you heard the door.

"Oh, Yunho." You visibly relaxed, a small smile on your face when you realised that it was him. That small gesture made Yunho proud, that he could get you to 'relax'.

"Hey, do you need your space? I can go somewhere else." Yunho politely asked first.

"No need. I don't mind you being around." You said, patting the space beside you like always. He sat down and smiled at you.

"What?" You chuckled as you took a sip of coffee. Yunho shook his head and ducked down to rest his head on your shoulder, the top of his head nuzzling your cheek like a puppy would.

"Is this okay?" Yunho cautiously asked. You let out a hum in response.

You both didn't know what kind of boundaries there were after the first date but individually, you were both more comfortable with showing affection to each other.

"Do I make work awkward?"

"No, you don't. I think it's normal to feel a little lost seeing each other outside of the date, especially at work. I don't know how much you want to tell San, Hongjoong and Yeosang, assuming Mingi knows almost everything already. But Wooyoung, Hwa and Jongho know about the date." You informed.

"I wanted to ask you before telling the rest. I wasn't sure if you were comfortable with that. But if you are okay with it, I'll tell them." Yunho said, lifting his head. You felt touched at how respectful he was.

"I'm fine, Yunho. You can tell them." You smiled at him.

"So, what's this about you thinking I was dating Seonghwa and that you were breaking a bro code?" You teased.

"He told you?! I mean, of course, I knew he would tell you. But you guys are always together so I just thought that you were dating already." He whined.

"It doesn't help that he calls you 'sweetheart'... Even Wooyoung calls you 'jagi'!" He added.

"Well, Wooyoung calls everyone 'jagi'. And I'm just teasing. At some point, everyone thought we were dating." You giggled.

"You're always teasing me." He playfully glared at you and jabbed your side.

"Seonghwa and I are just close. Like I told you yesterday." You assured him. A part of you wanted to add that he was the one you liked but you hesistated, it felt too fast and too soon to be blatantly declaring that to Yunho now.

"Anyway, next week, the Spring Carnival is coming. Would you like to go with me?" Yunho invited.

"As our second date?" You asked. He nodded his head, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Was a carnival too corny or childish to go to for a date?

"I'd love that." You said. Deep down, you knew that you would have a good time with Yunho no matter what you did or where you went.

"Although, I have something planned at noon. We could go afternoon or evening." You informed.

"I could pick you up and we could go from there if you'd like." Yunho offered. However, at his offer, you froze a little, it was as if he could see the cogs turning in your head.

"It's okay, I'll meet you at my place instead... Let's say 3?" You suggested. Yunho nodded, not insisting but he couldn't help the curiosity he felt. Especially when you had such a reaction.

"Alright. It's a date." Yunho let out a cheeky laugh of excitement, his eyes turning into cresent moons. One new thing you realised was that you would never get tired of looking at Yunho's smile. Unlike others, you didn't find his smile annoying or overbearing. It made you want to smile as well.

"Ah..." You threw your head back with a groan, shocking Yunho slightly.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"Sorry, I just... I don't know..." You let out another groan of frustration. Yunho slightly ducked down and hugged you. You slowly hugged him back, arms wrapped around his neck.

"You know, usually the dog is the one with big feelings. Not the cat." Yunho chuckled, his chin resting on your shoulder.

"Did you just call me a cat?" You asked in disbelief. You felt Yunho nod, making you scoff.

"Cats and dogs traditionally aren't friends, you know?" You pointed out but you still made no move to pull away from the hug. Yunho didn't want to either, his arms wound around your waist.

"It's okay, we'll be the first cat and dog to become friends and then a couple." He joked.

"You're unbelieveable." You rolled your eyes. Seeing that the two of you had been out here for too long, you both went back in. Seonghwa shot you a look with raised eyebrows while Wooyoung nudged you teasingly.

"Stop it, let's prepare for dinner." You told them, grabbing your knife. The 3 boys snickered but obeyed. Yunho walked to the front, meeting the judgemental gazes of all his friends.

"What?" Yunho blinked.

"What do you mean 'what'? Yeosang caught you two cuddling out back. Since when?" Hongjoong asked.

"Okay, firstly, we weren't cuddling. It was just a hug. And secondly, we just had our first date yesterday. Nothing is official yet." Yunho sighed as he explained.

"And when were you going to tell us?" Yeosang crossed his arms.

"When (y/n) was ready for you guys to know. You know she values her privacy and the last thing I want to do is make her uncomfortable or awkward." Yunho replied. Mingi nodded in agreement.

"Wait, you knew? And you didn't mention anything?" San pointed an accusatory finger at Mingi.

"Hey, man. It wasn't my place to tell, you heard him, he's waiting for her to be ready to tell. And of course I knew, I'm his best friend since forever. Plus, it's just a date. Everyone goes on dates. Why are you so invested in Yunho's date?" Mingi shrugged. San, Yeosang and Hongjoong facepalmed.

"You know, Mingi ah, sometimes I'm glad you're the way you are." Yunho laughed, patting his best friend on the shoulder.

~

Series masterlist

[bloggingboutburgers]

I admire you so much for being able to share your experiences as an aro ace. It’s so funny, because most of my community knows I’m aro ace, but like, I’m so scared of sharing my personal experience and I think it’s because of how much it hurts to think of that part of my life.

The number of years I spent thinking I was broken because I didn’t feel any kind of attraction to others, forcing myself to date in the hopes that it would “just click” like people kept telling me, getting stressed and mentally distraught when I tried to force myself to show any sort of affection… It’s a hard thing for me to relive a lot of that. I very distinctly remember trying to kiss a guy I was dating that I didn’t want to kiss, but felt I needed to. I spiraled into such a bad panic attack that I drove two hours in a terrible blizzard just so I could get back home to what I felt was a safe place.

I think the hardest part for me was people not understanding my aro ace-ness. The difficulties of simply having a male friend around and having to listen to people constantly ask me if I have a crush on them, then acting as if I’m being coy when I say no (even though there’s no indication of that in my voice). I started dreading inviting my friend to events for that specific reason.

When I did try to date, all it did was add more stress to my life. I was constantly expected to be spending every free moment I had with these guys, and I didn’t want to do that. I don’t think it clicked with my family until I broke down in a hysterical sob one day because of how much guilt-tripping was being done to me when I told them I didn’t want to hang out with him.

And the icing on the cake… the number of times I’ve been told to find a partner because “they don’t want me to reach 50 and be alone and miserable.” To be told that romance is the only way you’ll find true happiness… it’s painful. To be told that the things that bring you joy are not true happiness, that your platonic relationships mean nothing in the grand scheme of things… it hurts far more than anyone realizes.

I should probably stop here, ‘cause I’m getting all choked up, but I guess the bottom line is, thank you so much for sharing your experience and making me feel validated. It means so much to me. Keep being awesome, my friend 💕

I'm so sorry for all the hardships... I recognize myself so much in a lot of what you're sharing. I hate in particular that people act like "ending up alone and miserable" is 100% on you, like THEY don't have a say in that and a role to play in that and they're not basically actively contributing to that alienation RIGHT NOW. If people cared about anything beyond a sexual or romantic partner and kids, if people remembered that friendship is a thing and it's a thing that oughta matter, that would solve the problem much better than forcing everyone to conform against their will.

The only reason I feel comfortable enough to say I'm aroace at this point is because one day when I was 21, a girl I told it to just replied "Oh, okay", which was the first time in my life I ever got a reply like this and not a slew of questions or dismissal. That made my brain explode. In a good way. I'll always be grateful for her, she probably will never know how much. She opened up the door for me to be vocal about myself more confidently and build the invaluable support system of friends, and my partner, and my family, that I have today, and that in turn works as a virtuous circle.

And the only reason I feel comfortable sharing it in the form of comics now is because I did once in 2022 during asexual awareness week just to try some vent art for fun, and people didn't ignore it, or didn't dismiss it, but actually reacted positively to it. That encouraged me to make more. The reason I'm this comfortable and vocal about it online today is thanks to you guys here reading this. Having a positive reaction to what IS pretty much vent art disguised as comedy also shows me I'm not alone. This whole thing is mutual. So thank YOU, and thanks to anyone reading my stuff, for also making me feel validated.

[artbyblastweave]

🔥 Textually "political" superheroes, ala Green Arrow being a leftist and Flash being a conservative, Bastion being cancelled, etc.

Rapid-firing your specific examples- half the fun of Green Arrow is the tension between his leftism and his absurdly privileged status as a billionaire superhero. I wasn't actually aware Flash is a quote-unquote conservative- I'm assuming this came up in that godawful comic that tried to map out how the League would vote in the 08 election- but honestly this is kind of a "he's a white midwestern cop" moment, I feel like the politics associated with his job are always a little bit of an elephant in the room for the Flash Fandom. Bastion is his own post I've been meaning to make for a while, but the short version is that Bastion is a really, really funny dark comedy beat, if you choose to apply that lens.

Circling back to the Flash specifically, though- I get the sense these days that big-two superheroes are rarely characterized as meaningfully politically conservative, in the quotidian manner in which many, many real life people are. I certainly get why they shy away from that, I'm not saying that I want them to pick a couple leaguers who seem like The Type and have them start flying Gadsden flags, I'm just saying it has a certain impact on the verisimilitude of the setting when nobody on these teams has the generically shitty politics of that coworker you roll your eyes at or the Uncle you dread seeing at Thanksgiving. I think it was Memecucker that had a post a couple years ago about how you probably couldn't get away with anything analogous to that thing they once did where Hal Jordan was expressly racist as a character flaw that he had to overcome- you probably aren't gonna get an A-lister who's transphobic and has to be taught the error of their ways, for example. I'm not entirely certain how true that is- pretty true in my reading experience, but then again, there are a lot of comics, so maybe someone took a swing at that hornets nest and I just missed it and I've been talking out my ass for about 800 words.

(I did hear rumblings that they tried to do like, a coming-out-to-tepidly-accepting-parents metaphor with Franklin being a mutant during the Krakoa thing? I don't recall people talking about that beat in a positve light, which makes sense. "Have you tried not being a mutant" has always been a fraught analogy no matter which group is being referenced.)

Anyway my final takeaway is that indie cape things, by virtue of not having to keep everyone in their casts sympathetic and marketable in perpetuity, generally have way more leeway to depict superhero communities with a much wider spread of (potentially horrific) personal politics. Bastion being an example of that- if he showed up in Marvel or DC, he'd be, like, a bit character who shows up in a two-shot issue to get demolished or shown-up by Actual Superheroes (tm) but in Worm? Nope. There's no decades-long protagonist like Spider-Man or Batman through whose lens we view this setting by default. Bastion's as much a superhero as anyone else we've met, he's exactly as real, weighted exactly as much as the rest of them. And he sucks.

[koolaidoverwriting]

NORMAL LJ x reader headcanons because the other one is full of secks :(

GENERAL DATING HEADCANONS

CHARACTERS: Laughing Jack, Gender Neutral Reader

Here it is! SFW headcanons for the little guy (he's gigantic). :3

CW: Basically Nothing, Other Than LJ Being Possessive, But He's Just Like That

LAUGHING JACK

If you're in a relationship with Laughing Jack, you're probably accustomed to his crazy antics. LJ has a curious and excitable personality; there's not a single LJ loves more than having fun — other than you, of course.

He likes involving you in his "schemes". Albeit, his schemes involve causing trouble to the mansion people, or the occasional citizen. Sometimes you're pulling pranks together; sometimes it's worse. Either way, LJ makes it fun, and he thinks you're fun.

As expected, you're much smaller than LJ. You'd have to use a step-ladder just to reach his head. But that makes you the perfect height for cuddles. He does poke fun at you for being "short". It's all in good spirit, though, since he finds you adorable. "You are just the sweetest little thing!" he'll exclaim before pulling you into a tight hug.

He's not best with kisses. Getting into the relationship, you'll have to teach him how to kiss correctly. This means having to calm him down because he gets super flustered. Same with pet names. The first time you ever call him "dear" or "love", he blushes like a fool.

Your laugh is just the cutest to LJ. He'll entertain you the best he can, save his best jokes for you, and do anything to make you happy. LJ maybe doesn't know everything about love, but he knows he never wants to lose you! So it's best you stay!

Usually when people cry, LJ looks at them weirdly and tells them to stop immediately. But with you, he's much more caring. He wipes your tears with his sleeve and tries to cheer you up with his silly acts. Or maybe he'll turn your rant session into a comedy routine, telling off the things that upset you in his witty way — but that's only if you let him.

One major thing you'll get out of this relationship is learning new clown-tricks. LJ is loaded with acts and gimmicks he's willing to teach his lovely partner! Once you're trained enough, you bet you two are putting on an entire act for the mansion.

LJ would love to go to an amusement park with you! The fair has always been one of his favourite places, but getting to go with you? Oh, a dream come true. You'll go on all the rides; feed each other snacks; and he'll win you any and all prizes you want!

However, circuses are a whole different thing. LJ will get jealous if you admire clowns that aren't him. So instead of taking you to any circus, he'll just put on a show for you himself! Where he plays every role! Isn't that much better? Come on, you don't need another clown! You have Laughing Jack! He's whimsical and fun, right?! The only clown you'll ever like?!

...

Don't leave him.

!!! if you read this and thought i was doing some yandere stuff, no i am not!!! i'm actually not comfy with the yandere trope. LJ just has a bit of abandonment issues... and he loves the reader lots!

[sadceline]

THE ENHYPEN HOST || 12

|| Reverse harem || ft. TXT, Mingyu (Seventeen) & BTS

WARNINGS: foul language, explicit content, group sex, humiliation, sex in public, threesome, foursoome, rough sex, red flags, immoral acts, unprotected sex, morbid jealousy, comedy, parody, possessiveness, violent quarrels, arguments, betrayals, lies, femdom sometimes.

GENRE: +18, reverse harem, comedy, enemy to lovers, friends to lovers

SUMMARY: You moved to Seoul to start over after a bad experience, and everything seems to be going well, you even manage to work for HYBE. You discover, however, that you owe them almost a billion won, money you don't have and don't know how to recover: but don't worry because Hybe itself offers you a solution.

Your body in exchange for paying off your debt.

Do you accept?

TRAILER 1

TRAILER 2

PREVIOUS CHAPTER:

FIRST CHAPTER:

Heeseung didn't understand what I said to him, and I don't know if it's because my korean isn't that good, as much as because maybe I didn't know what I was saying either.

"Heeseung, what you want from me?" I sigh, tired not of him, but of this weight I feel on my heart.

"Tomorrow.. don't fuck Niki too." He says it directly, even a little too directly.

"Except that with Niki, I wouldn't do it regardless, since he is a kid, but... what do you care? If you don't want to fuck me because others use me you certainly would have behaved differently tonight."

Heeseung suddenly moves closer to me, my breath stops. "I told you I made a mistake. I made a mistake."

"Why are you wasting your time like this? - I ask him, incredulous. - Heeseung on my room was a giant poster of you because it's probably true that I'm in love with you, because I've been betrayed and I don't have anyone else, so yes I probably clung to you, to your idea, but I didn't think I would ever really know you.- I sigh, look into his eyes and see that he is really surprised, really confused. - What I mean to say is.... if you want to have fun, then let's do it, like tonight if you like, but please stop making me think you care about me."

Maybe it's because I need sleep, maybe it's because my mind is too foggy, but at this point I can only be blunt. How dare he say that he is wrong? That he regrets it? A mistake?

Heeseung does not answer the merits of the question, however, he lifts a hand to caress me. "Why were you crying before? - He asks me, and for a second I think I just imagined giving that speech, but then I look at him bitterly. - I can't think of anything else, sorry." He says it bluntly.

"To... To the fact that I was crying?"

The young singer nods. "He... hugged you. He said it was just to fuck but he was hugging you."

"Heeseung!" I call to him angrily, he needs to stop.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. I'm sorry... for every fucking thing. - He says, suddenly nervous, turning away from me and deglutinating. - It's true you could have refused but... why the fuck did I do that?"

"Heeseung, I don't understand you."

He looks at me confused, then seems to become lucid again. "I'm sorry you chose this path, Amanda."

Is he crazy?

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know... - He sighs, confused, nervously scratching the back of his head. - So you're not going to fuck Sunghoon, are you? And not Niki either? Jay is with your friend now, so..."

He's not wrong... but if I don't want to do it with Riki it's really because we're four years apart and I'd feel dirty.... Sunghoon let's not even talk about it, I can't tell if I'm angry or not about.... while Jay, it's true that he's off limits now...

"What if Sunghoon wants to fuck?" I ask him, annoyed. He's basically doing the opposite of what I asked him.

"You'll tell him no."

"I won't promise." I say, avoiding his gaze.

I'm actually serious, I don't know if I can promise it, but I do know that I want to see how far this shallow, scatterbrained guy in front of me will go.

"Are you kidding?"

"Only you can decide that he fucks me?"

"Amanda!"

"You pronounce it wrong."

"Don't change the subject."

"Heeseung can we get engaged?" I ask him point-blank, he looks at me shocked, seriously doesn't know what to say?

"Amanda..."

I smile, I smile because the way he says my name has an almost patronizing tone, I smile because I already know what he was going to say. "Exactly Heeseung, I don't promise. I can leave the apartment and find the money to pay but that will still never bring me to you. I can't risk leaving, I don't want to live for years just to repay that debt...and then.... We had a good time, didn't we?"

I no longer know what to do or say, I just want to sleep and forget every word exchanged with Heeseung, every kiss, every bite or caress...forget everything. I already feel heartbroken now, and the closer I am to him, the more it will hurt. The more I hear him say misunderstandable things, the more painful it will be.

Heeseung walks back to me, looks at me, then gives me a really sad look, and my heart trembles because of him.

"I want you to have fun only with me. No matter how much I think about it..."

I watch him in silence, not knowing what to say. I don't think he's lucid yet, he's talking a lot of nonsense and especially he hasn't listened to a word I've said. That's okay, maybe I should just think about protecting myself.... Heeseung, you, right now, seem much more dangerous than Sunghoon.

"It won't be like that, though." I answer, my voice trembling, but I manage to say it anyway.

Heeseung stares at me, surprised and annoyed. "Then it's not true that you are in love with me!"

"But do you always reason like this?"

Reasoning is perhaps not the right verb, since up to now he has acted as if he hasn't thought for a single second.

"Amanda..."

"Call me by my name when you can pronounce it."

"Teach me how to do that!"

"Lee Heeseung doesn't strike me as one to remember the names and pronunciations of his fans."

He looks at me again surprised, speechless this time. He doesn't respond, who knows what he's thinking...I lower my gaze first, turning away from him to leave and head for the bathroom.

"Amanda... even if I mispronounce it, I don't think I can forget your name." He says, with his back to me.

A shiver runs through my whole body, but when I turn to him I see him motionless as he continues to have his back to me. What should I say? What should I do? I feel like crying, I want to hug him and kiss him but.... Heeseung is simply not thinking tonight.

After all, he too is just a young kid, after all, he too will be shaken by the way things went tonight.

"I'm going to wash up." I just say.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

I pause briefly, biting my lip. "No."

I leave the room and close the door behind me, at which point I seem to be able to get air again, now that I am away from him. I collapse on my knees, sitting on the floor in the dark hallway, alone.

What if Heeseung is really naive enough to fall for a girl like me? Then I really have done everything wrong since I came here.

What are these tears? Sadness, disappointment? Or anger? What if they are all these things together?

After a very long shower, though tentative I return to Heeseung's room. He is still not sleeping, he is in the bathroom of his room - only he and Jungwon have one. I didn't want to go to Jay's room because that would be weird, so I'm still wearing Heeseung's sweatshirt.

I don't know which side I should sleep on, so I simply sit on the bed. The minutes go by and the fatigue becomes more and more unbearable, it was definitely a tiring day from the beginning.

Eventually I end up falling asleep, I don't even realize it because I lay all over the bed and who knows how long I continue sleeping. When I open my eyes again it is morning, although the light seems very dim behind the almost completely closed shutters of Heeseung's room.

He sleeps beside me, almost completely naked. When I notice this I jerk on the bed, but he does not notice and continues to sleep. As I suspected, I find myself practically in the middle of the bed, Heeseung seems to have fallen asleep on the edges so as not to wake me up.... but what.... does that mean?

Why does he pretend to be so sweet?

It's cold in the room, the air conditioner is on and it's very strong, if I feel cold then... he wearing only boxers, letting me see his magnificent, massive, slender body, will die of cold.

I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway seeing him -- like that. I get up being careful not to move the bed too much, get a blanket from the closet and put it on him, as I do so I can't help but stare at his beautiful face as he sleeps. He is so beautiful.

As I leave the room I look at Jay's bedroom door and sigh, I need to get some things... but should I do? I know it's not a problem for Ester, but should I?

I go to the kitchen, I need a water first. I have a headache and my mouth is dry, it tastes like alcohol and sex. I hear the sound of pans, I hear the sound of burning stoves - there is someone.... and why Jay?

He looks at me expressionless as he adds spices, then back to his stove. "Early bird."

I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water. "Good morning."

"Morning." He answers coldly, I shiver.

"Ester... did everything go well?"

But why was that the first thing I asked? Because I'm a good friend, right? He looks at me almost tenderly, as if he almost feels pity, then smiles.

"What exactly do you want to know?"

I look away before drinking from the small bottle.

Jay chuckles again. "Did you have a good time tonight?"

Should I tell Jay what happened tonight? No... what good would that do? He seems like a completely different person with me by now, and maybe I should have expected that....

"You're not one to take advice, are you?"

I swallow, lowering my face. "You're so different..."

"And that surprises you?" He asks in an incredulous tone.

"I'm sorry."

But why am I apologizing? And for what?

"You said I looked different to you - he smiles, I can see that - but maybe you just thought I was an idiot."

I look at him surprised, not expecting that. No, it's all wrong. I've always-... always held him in high esteem, I've always thought he was really a genius, one of those who doesn't even need to put in the effort to do it, though, because his minimum is still the maximum compared to many others.

Why does he say things like that?

"It's not like that, Jay!" I say, but my voice is shaking.

"Ah no?"

"W-What was I supposed to do? Why are you all o-obsessed with screwing other people? That's why I'm here!"

What am I saying? Am I throwing myself down even more?

"Is that why you're here? - I see him smiling again, but he doesn't really seem amused. - Then I should use you too."

How can he say such things while simply cooking breakfast? I... I am so surprised that I don't even know how to react to his statement.

"Did you... Did you do that, with Ester?" I ask, again.

WHY do the words come out of my mouth on their own? Damn it Amanda, does this really seem like the time to do this?

"Yes, it was great. - He replies, sighing in amusement as he removes some pots and pans from the stove. - Wow, she's really, really bendy for such a little one."

I swallow nervously, why is he telling me these things? If what he says is true, then the idea of using me shouldn't even touch him--not Jay--not him, I don't allow him to be an asshole.

"G-Good for you." I say, taking a very long sip of water.

"She told me you're very chill with each other and it's not a problem if you fuck the same guys." He says nonchalantly.

I look at him even more surprised. "Not... not at the same time."

"She didn't say that. - Sighs Jongseong, after washing his hands, looking at me serious. - So let's not worry about it."

strike!

No, he needs to explain what he means! His idea sounds really perverse, I'm not going to participate against such a close good friend like her - but I don't have time to ask him that Sunghoon enters the kitchen and I stiffen.

Even he is surprised to see me, given the way he looks at me. I look away and so does he, saying nothing for the moment. He makes himself some coffee, doesn't even say good morning, the rude man.

Jay comes up to me, pushes me toward the chair. "Come on, eat."

Sunghoon glances sidelong at us, then sips his coffee in silence while looking at his cell phone.

"I'm not hungry..." I admit, under my breath, though I sit down anyway.

Jonseong glares at me. "No, you have to eat now. You drank a lot yesterday."

I lower my gaze, my stomach really clenched -- how could I eat after all that has happened? "I...okay..."

Sunghoon takes his of plate and sits in front of me, not saying anything, just starting to eat.

Jay doesn't sit with us, he eats from the stove, quickly. "I'm going to go now. - He explains, as he sets up the stove. He looks at me seriously. - Be careful today."

I have the chills, again. Today is the fourth shift, Niki's. Jay leaves, only Sunghoon and I remain, as soon as I hear the front door close I get up and leave.

"Eat." He says to me, after a while.

I don't even look at him. "Don't worry about me."

"Instead I do, do you want to stop me? Can you do that?" He is aggressive from the early hours of the morning.

"Did you sleep well?" I smile nervously.

Sunghoon laughs. "Actually no...my sleep was disturbed."

"Really? - I ask, my voice still shaking, but I'm also annoyed. I take some rice, bring it to my lips but don't eat it. - How come?"

He watches as I eat my bite, then sighs. "It was so hard that I couldn't sleep."

What. WHAT.

Sunghoon? What are you saying? Have you gone crazy too?

I look at him stiffly, surprised, confused, damn, even horny.

Entering the kitchen Jaeyun, already ready to leave, looks at me and literally my stomach clenches. I lay down my chopsticks and look down, Sunghoon witnesses the scene and snorts, again.

"So much noise tonight." He exclaims, sweeping me away.

Sunghoon laughs. "I didn't hear anything."

In fact, Jake's room is the closest to Heeseung's.

"Good morning." I say embarrassed.

Sunghoon seems to get impatient. "Yah, do you want to eat?"

"Stop saying that, it's not like I'm a child. If I'm hungry, I'll eat."

"How can a person not be hungry after... - He stops, laughs, laughs really amused, then quickly recomposes himself. - After four days, come on don't be a fucking kid."

Jake sits next to me, after getting his breakfast, his dishes are different from ours, maybe he doesn't eat normal things? Is Jay in charge of all this? Wow...he is so thoughtful....

No bad person would do things like that. But then what happened just now? Was he serious?

"The important thing is that you're okay." Jaeyun says relaxedly.

Sunghoon looks at him with disgust. "What?"

"Keep eating, come on." The boy tells him.

Not understanding what's going on, I sigh and grab more rice.

"Eat the meat, too." Sunghoon complains.

"Do you want to try this? - Jake asks me handing me a bite of his browned vegetables maybe, he brings it close to my mouth and I spontaneously open my mouth. - It's good." He says, as he watches me chew, after narrowing his gaze curiously.

"It is." I comment, surprised.

Sunghoon sneers annoyed, I savor the taste of Jay's cooking. Of course he's really good at cooking... his wife will be lucky.

"You look a little pale - Jake sighs as he looks at his plate - did Heeseung do something to you that you didn't want?"

"N-N...No..."

"You wanted it, didn't you?" Sunghoon asks amused.

I snort in annoyance. "Why do you have a different breakfast?" I ask, changing the subject.

"I asked Jay to make something light, I didn't feel like meat." He explains quietly.

"Jay takes care of you, doesn't he?" I ask, looking at the dish - even the plating is pretty.

Jungwon also enters the kitchen, is sleepy, rubs his eyes, and then gives me a cool smile. It's refreshing, it makes me feel better so I involuntarily reciprocate.

"Good morning." Says the leader.

"Good morning..." I smile briefly, going back to eating.

Jungwon approaches the kitchen and looks at the dishes in wonder. "Woah, today looks better than usual."

"It must be that he was in a good mood since he screwed Amanda's friend last night." Says Sunghoon, who eats slowly, as if he is not hungry.

I don't respond, I know he's provoking me. Wait... but how does he know they slept together? Was he listening to us or did Jay tell him? Or did he simply suspect it, knowing Jay much better than I do?

"Eat this too." Jake says, putting some condiments in my bowl.

I look at him, sighing. "Thank you Jaeyun..." My voice comes out thin, broken.

I feel guilty, but he doesn't seem angry. The guilt I guess is toward myself.

"How kind." Sunghoon clicks his tongue, observing us.

I take some of the seasonings he gave me and take a big bite. "Wah.. Jay is great."

Jungwon sits next to me, looks at my plate then smiles and starts eating. "Had a good night?" He asks me.

I can't tell if he's teasing me or if he's really naive, but if I'm wondering... it's probably the first.

"Yes, thank you..."

"Has Heeseung been harassed? He usually sleeps naked. - As I was swallowing the mouthful, choking, Jungwon amusedly hands me the water bottle opened by him. - Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

He says this, and I notice that he has different eyes, very different from how I've always seen them from photos, from the Weverse live he does. Jungwon... he doesn't look as innocent as I thought, and the way he looks at me proves it. I'm... honored? embarrassed? I don't know, but he is really very handsome and has a really elegant face.

"I told you to eat." He reminds me of Sunghoon as I continue to stare at Jungwon's profile.

"Are you worrying now? Are you being thoughtful?" Sighs Jake, annoyed.

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

Before the situation worsens, Niki also arrives in the kitchen, who - unlike Heeseung - not only sleeps almost naked but also walks around in it. He is undoubtedly quite a sight....

He makes himself some coffee without bothering to say good morning to anyone, to tell the truth I don't feel particularly agitated, perhaps because I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a damn about spending time with me.

Fortunately, I dare say.

"Did you wake up early? - Niki asks me, not actually looking at me as he speaks but I'm sure he's addressing me. - You should have rested well, considering the day ahead."

His deep, warm voice, completely discordant with the fact that he is only a kid, truth be told, makes me agitated. He will turn 19 in december but he remains a child, however ethereal, enchanting, simply breathtakingly beautiful.

"What?" Jake asks instead of me, taking the words out of my mouth.

"What?" Niki asks, his expression serious but his tone almost ironic.

"You... what are you planning to do today?"

"I have to go sign some releases, then I have to stop by Hybe to meet a lawyer. - He explains quietly, eating breakfast standing behind the counter. - Then I have a lunch and a few other commitments in the afternoon. I need a secretary..."

Jungwon looks at him surprised. "A lawyer?"

"A lunch with whom?" Sunghoon asks.

"My lawyer is no good anymore, he's been creating a lot of damage for me lately."

"Aren't you going to answer me?" The ice prince asks again.

I can't believe it. Has everyone gone crazy? I don't know what to think, unless it's all a dream, I just don't understand.

"Isn't enough for you to know that they are my friends?" The japanese boy asks.

"Just because of that."

"Ah, hyung - sighs the maknae, amused. - You make me really want to hang out with my shady friends."

Sunghoon gets up from the table, glaring at him. "What friends? And why does she have to come?"

"What? You guys can carry her around like a puppy but I can't? At least with me she will really fulfill her duties...you are just annoying her."

Jake pulls his plate away from the front, smiling nervously. "Are you finished? With your skit I mean."

"What duties are you talking about?" Sunghoon asks again, completely ignoring the rest of the speech.

I look at him dumbly... why is he doing this? Couldn't this reaction of his perhaps give me some clues? Niki's friends, actually are the TXTs, but he probably has lots of other friends so it seems unlikely to me that it's lunch with them.

But Sunghoon?

"You know which ones I'm talking about." Niki laughs.

I paralyze myself. He's joking, it's obvious but why am I uncomfortable anyway?

"You can't carry her around." Jaeyun says.

"I'll say she's one of the staff."

"Isn't she a little too pretty to be one of the staff?" Questions Jungwon, who just said I'm cute! Oh he is so sweet... or not?

"Just cover her face, but as for clothes - says Riki, addressing me in that sensual warm voice - wear whatever you want."

"No, she can't wear what she wants." Sunghoon replies, annoyed.

"Yes, we will be careful."

I made a mistake once by dressing provocatively while "dating" Heeseung but now that I know Riki's plans, and the fact that he wants to go to the agency, I will have to dress very anonymously...so the discussion is pointless.

"Don't worry about my outfit." I sigh, eating the side dishes... I no longer crave rice...I prefer to enjoy the cooking, the preparations of the side dishes prepared by Jay's hands.

Now that I know him permanently away from me, now that I know that an irreparable chasm has formed between us, I feel very lonely. No matter what Heeseung says or how much Jake or Sunghoon pretend to care about me, I feel lonely without Jay.

Perhaps because he seemed to be the only one who could be trusted.

I guess he just wanted to scare me a little because I let him down....

"Go get ready noona - Riki tells me, biting into a slice of toast - let's go soon."

"She's still eating breakfast." Jungwon says.

I stand up, actually, maybe it's better to stop eating the stuff Jay prepared, every bite seems to break my heart. "No, it's okay.. I'm done. Thanks for breakfast." I say, taking my plate.

"Are you hurry to go have fun with your customer today?" Sunghoon asks me, obviously making me uncomfortable.

The leader glares at him. "Come on, don't be an asshole."

Jake sighs annoyed. "You always have something to say, don't you?"

"What, are you her knights that you have to defend her?" The ice bastard laughingly asks.

"How childish you are." Sighs Jungwon, though he is amused, I can tell.

Why do I get these strange vibes from him? Yet until today I thought he was a naive, sweet boy.... But now he doesn't seem so innocent.

"I feel like you haven't understood that you don't have to talk when I'm around." Sighs Niki, setting down his slice of bread.

Sunghoon walks around the table, going next to the younger man. "What the fuck did you say?" He has a serious, full voice.

"Hey hey!" Jungwon calls them back, placing a hand on Sunghoon's chest.

I stand in front of the japanese man who looks like he's about to go at him, looking at him sternly. "What are you doing?"

"Aren't you telling him anything?" He asks me, confidentially.

I am surprised but also... happy? "Forget it... he's just a hypocrite." I say, pretending to be calm.

Sunghoon sneers in disbelief. "Sorry, what?"

"Do you really have the nerve to ask that?" I ask him.

Sunghoon seems to calm down physically but continues to give me a nervous expression; he is not uncomfortable he is simply pissed off at me. He is just mad but why?

"I'll go get ready." I say, tired.

I've had little sleep, I'm pissed off as well, plus I don't know what to expect from Niki. Still, though, he strikes me as someone you can talk to... maybe he's just playing up to his hyungs.

Riki comes with me, leaving the kitchen, however instead of returning directly to his room he follows me. I only notice when I get to Jay's room, he is smiling strangely.

"Noona, wear a short skirt today." He whispers to me, amused.

I pale, surprised, backing away. "What?"

"It's hot outside."

I remain silent, not quite sure what to think. "Why?"

"I like skirts. I also liked the dress you had on last night--wear something like that."

"Niki so I'll catch your attention right away!"

"I'll give you one of my coats, it's so big to covers you all over. - He says, running his tongue across his perfect, white teeth. - You won't even get out of the car most of the time anyway."

"But...then why should I dress like this?"

He looks at me seriously for a second, as if he doesn't understand what I just said, then smiles again. "We have to go to lunch later, shall we?"

Um, I'm scared. I don't feel like dressing skimpily while I'm in a restaurant with him... isn't that simply and obviously too dangerous?

I swallow, backing away a few more steps. "You're not going to.. do strange things, are you?" I ask him, alarmed.

Niki thins his already very sharp gaze, seeming to be annoyed by the question. "They don't seem so strange to me."

I...don't know what to say. How am I supposed to argue if he keeps giving me half-answers?

"I'm... serious."

Niki comes up to my ear and touches it. "Just go get ready, noona. Put on something nice, don't make me bad impression." Niki's voice is warm, but when he whispers... he seems to touch all the way to the fucking soul.

Make a bad impression on whom? Ah, maybe his friends. Of course, someone like Nishimura Riki must have friends of TXT's caliber, surely many others of his own idol generation... I should make myself look good no matter what.

"O....Ok..." I say, feeling...small, but I'm older than him.

Riki goes back to his room, I.... I have to maximize my time, I can't take two hours like yesterday. I get underwear from Jay's room, take an outfit from Heeseung's room (who is still asleep), and then get ready in the bathroom outside.

I am quite satisfied with my outfit:

guys sorry for the bad quality with shein logo but it's just an experiment

It's sexy, but it's also cute, plus I don't have any fancier stuff with me so this is the best I can do. I wonder for several minutes whether I should wear a bra or not, the shirt being very tight and with a somewhat transparent fabric, but the truth is that I don't want.... maybe also because it was Heeseung who told me not to wear it, so as not to ruin my breasts.

I would rather not wear it, so I don't. It certainly won't be a bra that will instigate Niki, I'm not going to do anything with him, that's my position and I'm not going to change my mind.

When I come out of the bathroom, prepared and perfumed, I look at myself in the mirror and don't know how to get into Heeseung's room, since I left my cell phone charging. I pull myself together and go in, he is no longer in bed and the door to his bathroom is closed...should I leave without even saying goodbye? That seems a bit excessive to me....

But isn't calling him just to say hello just as inappropriate? What should I do?

Meanwhile, I go to get my cell phone, which should be on the bedside table but isn't there. I am...surprised? In fact I might as well have imagined putting it on charge, however my charger is actually attached.

"Looking for this?" Heeseung asks me, seeing me crawling to check under the bed and between the bed frame and the mattress.

Holding my cell phone, I glare at him. "How did you unlock it?"

"I saw when you were entering the code. Whose date of birth is it?" He admits bluntly as he approaches me.

I rise, sighing. "You shouldn't take someone's phone without their permission."

"But how did you get dressed? Where are you going? - He asks me, noticing my attire; he is still in his pajamas. - Are you going with Niki?"

"Yes but look we're not going to do anything." I sigh - but what do I do? Do I justify myself to him? Why do I feel so in awe?

"You tell me dressed like that? And then the bra-"

"Didn't you say not to use it? - I smile. - And I don't owe you any explanation anyway. I've told you too much too."

Heeseung looks at me stunned for several seconds, wow.... it's so beautiful already from the morning, it really leaves me at a loss for words. Stop staring at me like that... you're simply irresistible.

"Really?" He asks me, serious.

I swallow confused. "What?"

"You're not going to do anything with him?" He asks again, moving closer to me as his eyes narrow sensually on me.

"Riki is just a k-kid, I d-did tell you." I stammer, unable to ignore the fact that I want him so badly, even at this moment, and he is so close....

He caresses me, the tips of our noses touching. "Wouldn't you like to do that with everyone? - He asks me in a whisper. - Wouldn't you like to be used only by me, all the time?"

Oh fuck. My knees almost give out and how hot all of a sudden.. He notices that I am flustered, but instead of pulling away and letting me catch my breath, he kisses me. He kisses me as usual, using his tongue in such a...dirty...way.

"He...Hees..." He doesn't leave me time to speak.

He squeezes my breasts as he begins greedily licking my neck too, kissing me, biting me. "You can also just be my...little slut."

Damn this little kid! But how can he be horny 9after all the times he... came... last night? And why does he have to be so good, too? Why do I want to sink into him the more I'm in his arms?

"Hees..seung...st...stop..." I moan, he will end up smearing my makeup, and now because of him my nipples are so hard, besides being completely wet.

"You said you won't do it with Niki, right?" He asks again, biting my nipple and making me wince in pain.

"No...I don't."

He knows full well that sucking on my shirt will leave a halo of saliva, but he starts to do it anyway, I plug my mouth as I moan softly. I don't want them to hear us, again.

"I like when you're obedient." He says, amused, as he slips a hand between my legs and begins to masturbate me.

I gasp, embarrassed. "Stop it."

They knock, rather impetuously, too.

Heeseung does not move his hand, in fact, he moves it faster, I cover my mouth with both hands.

"Amanda, come out. We have to go."

"She's coming." Heeseung answers for me, continuing to masturbate shamelessly, while outside poor unsuspecting Riki waits. The door is not closed, but the young man has not opened it.

"S-Sto..." I whisper but eventually only moans come out.

"Look I'm going in in two seconds."

Heeseung sucks on my skin at the level of my collarbone, leaving yet another mark, the deranged man is seriously branding me but I'm letting him, as I enjoy his fingers.

"Where will you go?" Heeseung ask.

"To have fun." He only answers, Niki, and the ace seems to mind his mysteriousness, he's just going faster and faster and deeper with his fingers inside my pussy, as my pleasure wets both my panties and my shorts under my skirt, I'm about to have a clitoral orgasm

What is it that you can't do, Lee Heeseung?

"When are you coming back?" He asks again.

"Who knows."

Heeseung bites my nipple again, hard, it really hurts but then.. he starts sucking on it, continuing to make me enjoy myself, I am upset again because of him. I cling to his shoulders as I come, red in the face and my eyes out of their sockets.

My God.

"All right, I'm coming in, then." He says.

I, startled, push Heeseung away, turning my back and falling to the floor like a damned idiot. "Fuck!" I exclaim.

Niki enters the room, seeing me on the floor, reaches for me and so does Heeseung, both of them suddenly holding out their hands to me. I stand staring at their hands shocked...what the... hell?

"Noona, did he hit you?" Riki spontaneously asks me, as if it were a perfectly probable thing.

The older man looks at him offended and indignant. "Do you want to die?"

"No...I fell, sorry." I say, using my hair to hide my nipples and the damn hickey.

Since I don't take either of their hands, Niki grabs me by the wrists and lifts me up as if I weighed nothing -- lifting me up, however, my chest is totally under his gaze, as are the patches of saliva around my stiff nipples. He looks me in the face and then shakes his head contritely.

"Aish, noona...can't you just be good?"

Would that be my fault? Well, maybe...a little bit.... No! What am I saying!

"Yah, I asked what time are you coming back?"

"I said I don't know." Sighs Riki, placing a hand on my hip, very close to my, uh, ass.

Heeseung, visibly irritated, grabs me by the arm and pulls me away from him. "I saved my number on your phone - he says, moving closer to my ear - I also took some pictures. Don't think strange things and be careful, no one has my number."

Riki doesn't like that we keep talking because he grabs me by the wrist and drags me away, I can only stay staring at Heeseung as long as I'm allowed. Really? Do I have his number now? Lee Heeseung's number?

All while Nishimura Riki drags me along?

Never mind, I'm really starting to believe I'm dreaming.

"So... - I ask, after he gives me his coat, even though it's way too hot to wear it, and after we get into the elevator, we go straight to the parking lot. - What's up?"

He looks at me surprised, then turns around offended. "Don't talk to me, noona."

"W-Why?"

"You were letting Heeseung touch you during my shift."

"This is grown-up stuff, Riki..." I sigh, tired.

"Don't treat me like a child just because you're a few years older."

"Did you want a serious answer?"

He doesn't answer me, he proceeds first and I follow in silence, I think I've annoyed him. I thought Niki was a little less crazy than the others.

Instead I end up being shocked when I see his incredibly attractive driver. He's a really good-looking middle-aged man, I can't stop looking at him... he looks like an actor but he's just Niki's driver.... This is unbelievable.

The man looks at me and I swallow, Niki opens the door behind me and waves me in, I comply.

"Do you really let Heeseung treat you like that? What about Sunghoon? - He asks me, after he too has taken a seat and waved the driver to leave. - Just because you want to fuck them? Or do you just like it because they use you and then insult you?"

I blush at his language, perhaps because I really see him as little more than a teenager. I... I can't honestly deny it, but I refrain. "Niki, I honestly don't get it."

He huffs, is offended but strangely says nothing more and gets on his cell phone. I look at mine and still can't believe I have that fool's number! Does he really? Why does he keep raising the bar?

It will get more and more painful, but for the moment, I am so infatuated with this whole situation that I cannot lucidly draw the obvious conclusions.

During the morning, we stop at two different places, but I practically stay in the car the whole time, alone with the driver...it's very awkward but he remains professional and never turns toward me, so I can observe him the whole time quietly.

By mid-morning I feel deeply bored, moreover, I thought I would enter Hybe but he left me in the car again.

I suddenly remember that Heeseung said he had taken pictures! I run to open the gallery and....

Ah.

Heeseung you are a pig.

Oh my... but this is the first time I've seen him so well, and he's just magnificent. He's got the color of his skin, he's thick and homogeneous, he looks like... sort of like a.. baguette?

Even the fact that he's holding it with that beautiful hand of his, with his thick fingers, while you can see veins on his wrist. Oh my... ok...I'm really turned on.

I close the phone, I just turn it off. Oh my god.

Damn it Lee Heeseung, is that really all you think about? And why the hell do I like it?

I turn it back on shortly after because while waiting I don't know what to do.

When Niki gets back to the car he has two glass, they look like bubble tea - it's actually a japanese drink, so I smile thinking that still he remains a kid from Okayama who likes snacks from his area.

"Here, I didn't know what flavor you preferred so I got a fruit one and a classic - he says, making himself comfortable next to me. - Pick the one you want, I like both."

I love this drink, I like it all ways, however I would actually prefer fruity flavors, I love green tea, in short... I think I have already chosen.

"Can I really?" I ask him, visibly excited.

Riki doesn't answer me right away, just stares at me and then coughs. "Yes."

I take the more colorful glass, then Riki waves the driver to start up again. Wow, this bubble tea is really outstanding, I love the gelatinous texture of these bubbme, I'm really enjoying it. Even Niki notices, as he looks at me amused.

"Do you like it?"

I compose myself, sitting up nicely. "Yes, quite."

"You make a very cute face when you drink it. I'll buy it for you more often."

I smile spontaneously, not only because I like bubble tea but also because it would be nice if Niki and I could be friends, right? Maybe this is the one thing that could maybe actually happen.

"Ah...thank you."

"I'll pick up something from a friend now and then we'll go to lunch." He tells me, looking back at his phone.

I get a message, a shudder thinking it might be Hees.... No, it's Heeseung! He saved himself in the phonebook as "Star boy".

Star boy: What are you doing for lunch, where are you going?

I don't know what to answer - I don't know how I could answer him. Am I still in awe of him despite the fact that he has literally fucked me in every way? What kind of strange chemical reaction is this?

Niki takes the phone out of my hand, looking me annoyed. "I'm talking to you."

"Excuse me! - I answer quickly, surprised by my own reaction. - I don't..."

"Do you want it? - He asks, bringing my cell phone closer to me with one hand. - Why don't you take it?"

It seems playful, joking, I see no harm in it. Although he says it in a terribly sensual way, it's not her fault, it's her silly, deep, sexy voice.

"Come on... - I laugh naively, approaching him and trying to take it but without too much agonism, I know he'll give it back to me in a little while. - Don't be like that, I swear I won't use it-" I paralyze myself seeing him shove it inside his jeans.

"Come on, noona, take it."

Out of the corner of my eye I look at the driver, this time, from the mirror I see he's looking at me too. Oh no, what! What is Niki doing in front of this man? In fact, what is Niki just doing!

"Riki but what are you... are you doing?" I laugh, nervous, uncomfortable.

"Do you want a hand? - He asks me, then unbuttons his own flap. - Here, you do the rest."

"L-Look, I'm much older than you! And then - I whisper - in front of this man?"

Niki grabs me by the waist, pulling me closer to him, then starts squeezing my nipples, and I like an idiot do nothing to stop him, while the driver, keeps looking at us.

"Stop it Niki!"

"Just call me Riki, noona." Says the kid, grabbing my hand and bringing it to his cock, I feel the phone.

"Look.. I.. - I try to talk but he kisses my neck and he's really good for just a little kid. - Ri..Riki..."

"You like it, don't you? - He asks, amused by my humiliation, here's yet another sadist. He pulls away my phone and insert my hand in its place, forcing me to move it along his erection to give him pleasure. - You really like it."

"No... Riki I don't want to." I try to force myself, pulling away but he prevents me and I realize he is laughing, laughing heartily.

"Noona... why are you resisting? You know too that the only thing you want is to be fucked all the time...do you want to refuse today? That's fine with me, but next week I'll fuck you twice as hard, to the point where you won't even be able to stay up."

E-Eh?

Did I really hear... did I really hear right? Is this guy with the expression of a mad kid in front of me really serious? Judging by how hard he is, I think so.

"Noona... you're here to let me use you too, and I'm looking forward to it. If you fight it, it's just more fun for me.. in fact, maybe you should do it."

NEXT CHAPTER:

[smosh-fessions]

the menendez brothers bit in the latest tntl was so disgusting and if a true crime content creator said the same shit they'd be cancelled so fast. yall need to hold your favs accountable bc, nope, that's not "comedy"

If a true crime content creator made an offhand joke about the Menendez brothers telling their story again after years of refusing to speak to the press, they would not be cancelled. What are you talking about? People who've known about the case for years were surprised to know that a special was being made about it, and the special has led to the Innocence Project themselves looking into getting the case overturned or retried because the legal proceedings were severely botched.

Angela and Amanda didn't say a single negative thing about those two men. Tommy is the one who took it to a deeply inappropriate place by referring to them as sexy boys. He very easily could have picked the "Menendez burger" and made a joke about "Now I can show you what it is you've missed during your time inside" or something, but he didn't.

Amanda reminding Tommy after his inappropriate comment that they are indeed older men now (they're in their fifties) isn't inappropriate either.

When something bad happens to somebody, people seem to think that anything relating to them is forever off limits and that isn't the case. As a survivor of violent abuse, if people treated me with permanent safety gloves and essentially treated me like my trauma is the only thing about me, I would be furious, as would many other survivors. You are not what happened to you.

If they had said anything about the abuse they suffered or belittled them, that would be one thing. They instead made a joke about serving food that has now been given their names, probably to garner interest in the case, which is what the press did to the Menendez brothers for years and is the reason they stopped talking to them in the first place.

I would like to point out that the way you've worded this makes it sound like they made fun of the abuse they went through and said some deeply out of pocket shit a la Keith and Diddy, and they didn't. Your purposeful vagueness to try and stir anger isn't appreciated here or wanted.

[prettyrealm]

taylor swift & travis kelce dynamic reading

this reading is a paid commision, thank you so much for trusting in me! <3 celebrity commissions • personal commissions

overall:

honestly, this dynamic is giving PR-adjacent, it doesn’t feel like it’s technically solely PR but that at the same time, the media and their reputations are basically the sole reason for being together (and they likely do a lot of things for the media too, maybe even calling the paparazzi on themselves and stuff similar to that). both of them (taylor especially) entered this relationship with the media and optics in mind. taylor felt she needed an image boost (almost in a desperate way, she really wanted people to see the good in her and liked this opportunity). taylor and travis are not happy together at all. they take this “relationship” day by day and it feels painful, not painful as in gaslighting or infidelity, but painful as in the feeling you get when you wake up in the morning and you know you have to clock into your terrible job in less than an hour and you don’t know how many more weeks you can realistically handle it. they’re both just waiting for this to be over but for some reason don’t think they can leave yet. they feel drained and both feel they could be doing better things with their time. at first, they thought this would be easy but now they’re just terribly bored. they have nothing to talk about or (anything fun) to do together, they have zero of the same interests and find it hard to even hold basic conversations with the other person. not only do they not have anything to talk about, they can actually leave the conversations they do have feeling pretty bad at times, travis has a way of accidentally triggering taylor (and he may even tease her at times which she doesn’t appreciate, though she also seems to not say anything about it either). she has a long term plan with this relationship though, so she’s okay with dealing with temporary discomfort if it’ll make her future brighter. while they both entered this relationship with image in mind, taylor was more calculated about it and travis saw more actual potential in it (and still sometimes thinks so), when it ends it’s likely that taylor won’t be hurt at all, but travis may feel a bit slighted. zero romantic feelings here. they are definitely not each others soulmate, that’s for sure.

how travis kelce sees taylor swift:

travis sees taylor as the greatest pop star in the world right now, and he has a hard time seeing past her image (blonde all american girl, songwriter that writes about her exes) and viewing her as an actual person. i think he only ever really sees two sides of her, pop-star taylor and business woman taylor. so when he isn’t stuck on her image, he just sees a strong, powerful (but bossy) woman (who’s friendly enough and good at networking). he thinks she’s a true business woman and really gets to see the extent of how business-oriented and career driven she is behind the scenes (he can tell she has a lot of knowledge here and knows what she’s doing). travis definitely wants the relationship to keep going more than she does because he knows she’s the most famous and powerful person out right now (he sees how much money her name moves), he likes being tied to someone so famous.

how taylor swift sees travis kelce:

taylor sees as on the same page as her when it comes to their overall goals (for ex. it’s not like she calls the paparazzi on them unbeknownst to him, he knows exactly what’s going on). overall however, she thinks he’s super stupid. she’s had problems explaining things to him because he just doesn’t understand it and she doesn’t get why. she thinks he’s super immature and literally acts like a teenage boy, which is super unattractive to her - this is not her type of guy at all. she thinks he’s weird and the things he thinks are funny are bizarre and strange to her (it’s like someone belly laughing at a comedy movie you think is extremely corny and bad). she’s shocked that someone can even be this way, he leaves her baffled often. she also worries about him saying the wrong thing to other people in case it reflects badly on her (since she thinks he isn’t a smart or tactful speaker). she’s often shocked at how relationship-y and coupley he tries to act with her at times and she thinks it really crosses the line (for ex. if they do call the paparazzi on themselves he might really play up the affection or something and she’s like, “ok you know you don’t need to be doing that much”). but this can also even happen behind the scenes, which confuses taylor even more, for ex. say they’re at an event and she’s talking to another guy, later he’ll be like, “so who was that guy?” and she’s like “??? why are you even asking me that when you know what this is? are you really trying to act jealous right now?”. he frustrates her often.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007) [Skipping for now until I can get access to it], Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985).

Today I will be talking about

D.E.B.S. (2004) dir. Angela Robinson

[Run Time: 1:31, Language: English] [Content Warning: there is one use of the r word] Summary: Plaid-skirted schoolgirls are groomed by a secret government agency to become the newest members of the elite national-defense group, D.E.B.S.

Cast:  -Sara Foster as Amy -Jordana Brewster as Lucy Diamond -Devon Aoki as Dominique -Jill Ritche as Janet -Meagan Good as Max ___

This write up will not be very long because this movie is not working with substantial, in-depth, layered messaging. BUT HOLY SHIT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. This is a shitty little cult classic that sees a paramilitary agent (who was recruited from some secret questions in the SATs) and a supervillain falling in love and running off into the sunset together. 

So, I’ve seen low budget films that have quite a lot to say and know it can be done, so I was curious about how in-depth this film might go into discussions of law enforcement, mostly because in the evil lair there is a sign that says The Only Good D.E.B. is a Dead D.E.B. But this is a light hearted comedy piece so though we do get Amy literally saying she’s a cop, there is not a whole lot of like anti-cop sentiment or anything in the film. 

The premise is a spy and a supervillian literally crash in to eachother, have some level of instant connection, the spy has her queer awakening and runs off with the supervillian, is rescued essentially mid coitus, and the supervillian is inspired to start returning all of the things she’d stolen over the years in an effort to get Amy to leave D.E.B.S. and just be in love with her. It’s riddled with hilarious sound effects, forcefields made of plaid, and a SECRET TUNNEL! 

What it does is show that the world’s most wanted supervillian is pretty chill, very gay, and has maybe been portrayed as more ruthless than she actually is (yes that is in fact Madam Super Villan dancing with her henchman in the gif above). What it does show is that little Miss Perfect Score on the secret spy test does not want to be a spy but felt obligated to do so because she was good at it. I did enjoy the repeated questioning of standardized testing, Lucy asking what the spy test tests for and Amy realizing that she doesn’t know and never bothered to ask yet that test was deciding her entire future. 

But again this was SO. MUCH. FUN. to watch and I would recommend it to many people even as just like a silly little wind down film if they were in need of a quick pick me up.

Also there was lots of gay kissing, which I feel is important to note. 

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment was Lucy breaking in to the D.E.B.S house to see Amy the first time. What an iconic piece of comedy: the plaid forcefield around the property that matches their school uniform, Lucy cutting a hole in the forcefield with what legitimately looks like a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who, jumping over laser detectors on the grass that are also plaid, and climbing up the wall with those like hand-held suction cup things with the most hilarious and incredibly incorrect popping motion every time she sticks the suction cup to the wall. 

Favorite Quote 

“Yes, well, the poster child doesn’t know it yet but she’s into me.” 

I love when queer people recognize queer people, and appreciate that because Amy is young and was just getting out of a relationship with her boyfriend that she might not know her own sexuality yet or have a full understanding of what she is feeling. But Lucy Diamond is an established, adult, queer woman who definitely sees the way that Amy is acting around her and understands immediately what is happening. 

Score

10/10 

For this moment alone

THAT SAID. I do feel the need to justify this scoring. I tend to score things by what they put forth, so a show with campier premises and executions like this one would be scored almost exclusively by vibes. Things like The Miracle of Teddy Bear, for example, which takes itself incredibly seriously, has multiple layers of messaging, and incredibly realistic depictions of queerness, homophobia, and domestic violence is something I would score with a number of actual story telling factors in mind. 

This gets a 10 for vibes, I don’t think I had a single critical thought in the entire hour and a half watching it and I was having a fucking BLAST.

[that-ari-blogger]

Wicked's Existential Crisis

Deception is a big theme in Wicked. I don't think this is news to many people. The wizard is a wizard, truth is truth, happy is what happens when all your dreams come true.

Galinda embodies this pretty heavily, but so does Fiyero, although they do so in similar ways. They both lie to others, and realise that they have been lying to themselves later on.

But, you need a baseline before you get to character development. You need a benchmark for everyone to either move up or down from, depending on the genre.

In my opinion, Dancing Through Life establishes that benchmark, while asking a few more philosophical questions as it does.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

"Dancing through life, Down at the Oz Dust If only because dust Is what we come to. Nothing matters, But knowing nothing matters, It's just life So keep dancing through"

Fiyero, buddy, friend, pal... are you ok?

Dancing Through Life is the introduction of Fiyero, and there is a enormous difference between what he is saying and how he is saying it.

That dust line is actually a biblical allusion, with various Judeo-Christian books and prayers claiming that G-d created humans from dust, and that when someone dies, they return to that dust. Hence the "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" saying (source). So, Fiyero is nihilistic.

"Nothing matters, so why bother trying" is such a morbid idea, and its usually associated with emo music, either lots of drums and raw emotions, or quiet and sad. So, when Fiyero sings it as a musical theatre, bombastic full orchestra song, his message flies under the radar because it is so dissonant with the style.

That's the key here. Most of the time, people are nuanced, and stereotypes do not encompass the human experience at all. The emotionally confused or depressed or spiraling person isn't the one who sits in the moonlight writing sappy poetry, it's the person who manages to hide it the most easily because they've been doing it for the longest.

Fiyero is putting up a mask to hide his insecurities, and he is doing it by... not wearing a mask?

Lampshading is the practice of softening elements in a piece of media, letting the audience know that something is out of order or farcical, and turning it into a joke. Overly Sarcastic Productions (@comicaurora) has a video explaining the trope in detail.

In a weird way, this is what Fiyero is doing. He is turning his own crisis into a joke. He doesn't have to hide it if he can poke fun at it. He becomes self-referential, and tells people to move on past the words he is saying and focus on the fun dancing and music.

I see where Fiyero is coming from, here. Purpose is difficult to find in this world, and it definitely seems like neither good or bad are rewarded, and luck will do what it will. But I would like to present a counter point.

Everything Everywhere All At Once was easily the most emotionally powerful film of 2022, and it also discussed nihilism in detail. I don't want to get into plot spoilers, but this movie asks the question: If nothing matters, then what?

And the answer to this is clear: Everything. In a Cinema Therapy video on the film, Johnothan Decker states this:

"If nothing we do matters, then the only thing that matters is what we do."

Actions have whatever meaning we ascribe to them, and if we ascribe no meaning to anything, then everything has meaning on the same level. If nothing matters, then everything matters.

This segways into another core question of the musical and especially this song. Do intentions matter?

Galinda and Elphaba have a comedy of errors with the gift giving, specifically when Galinda sets up Nessa with Boq, and Elphaba arranges for her to receive a wand in return, contrasted with the infamous hat.

Galinda does things for personal gain, and accidentally makes someone's life slightly better for a moment, and Boq kind of does the same. Neither of the two cares about Nessarose, but they bring her happiness in the short term.

"We deserve each other, and Galinda helped it come true."

I mentioned in my post about The Wizard And I that this theme comes up there first, in association with meeting the wizard, and I think there is something else to it than just deception. Don't get me wrong, this is deception at work, Elphaba with the Wizard and Nessa with everyone around her. But that lie has a positive result here, for the moment.

It also separates the consequences from the intention. Elphaba sees the wizard and wants to improve the world, her hopes are on rocky foundations, but her actions are strong, and I have already mentioned what Galinda's actions do.

However, I would argue that intentions do matter, and that this musical agrees with me, and that is with Boq, a person whom I despise.

As a character, Boq is fascinating. He is a direct satire of the hopeless romantic of stereotypical fairy tales, think Ariel from The Little Mermaid, or Lancelot from the 1963 movie, Lancelot and Guenevere. Boq is trying desperately to court someone who does not care about him and has someone who does care fall from the sky in front of him, but he can't see past himself.

Now, pining is all well and good, you are allowed to pine, and if someone is attracted to you, there is no law that says you must be attracted back. But Boq goes a step further.

"It's because I'm in this chair and you felt sorry for me. Isn't that right?" "No! No! It's because you are so beautiful."

Boq had an opportunity to back out of the romance handed to him on a silver platter. He could have said it was just a dance, or even confessed that Galinda put him up to it, if he so desired. But Boq made a choice to keep stringing Nessarose along. He may have his reasons, but I think his actions are not excusable, and the gut punch at the end of the musical when he tells her that he never cared is a betrayal that could have been so easily avoided.

Boq and Fiyero go on to become key players in the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, and they do so for alternative reasons, and it reframes Dorothy's journey.

For a more nuanced explanation of what I mean, consider this: In 2019, youtuber Hbomberguy (Harry Brewis) raised $347000 for a Brittish charity organisation called Mermaids in a livestream of Donkey Kong 64, and he gave a speech in October of that year about why he did such a thing.

"I think secretly, we're always making one of two decisions, and we make that decision even if we don't know we're making it. You're either choosing to make life worse for someone you don't like, or better for people you care about. There is an actual difference, and I didn't realise I made the wrong choice until a lot of people came over and helped change the choice retrospectively."

What you are trying to do matters, because if you keep trying to do good, even if you hit roadblocks, if you are truly committed, you will eventually do some good in the world.

I actually like Brewis' definition of right and wrong here, because it isn't overly philosophical, it pertains to individual actions. You either make someone else's life better or worse.

I have been rambling around my point for a while, so let me make it concise. Dancing Through Life asks philosophical questions about life. What matters? Is it you? Is it your actions? Is it your intentions?

Final Thoughts

There are two other things I need to mention before I finish. First up, the extras are some of the best parts of this musical, and in this song, that is driven home. Everything comes across as so superficial, and not in a "that's bad acting" way, but in a "that's an actor playing a character who is acting" way. This carries over to Galinda's entire style of talking, but the extras knock it out of the park here. It means that the only sincere moments in the song hit with the relevant weight. Those being Elphaba and Nessa's conversation, and the Elphaba dance (something remarkably difficult to find images of).

That dance is the moment I see Glinda x Elphaba (I still refuse to use the Gelphie ship name) actually taking off, rather than in What Is This Feeling, because it's the first moment that the two see eye to eye, and Galinda finally understands Elphaba. She earns her friendship and trust by trying to make up for her mistakes. Galinda talks a lot, but actions speak louder than words, and that dance kicks off a love story.

Next week, I will be diving into Popular, a number that really takes apart the theming to an overt level only matched by one other song, and we will get to that one soon.

Previous - Next

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Hello :D

I wanted to ask if you could pls do yuno w/ a s/o who’s very chaotic, waggish, unserious n silly I think that type of dynamic is rlly cute n funny n if you don’t mind also include some other characters reactions pls!

If u do it thank u <3 but even so it’s alr if u don’t :)

Hello!

I had fun trying to do a "opposites attract" kind of a fic for him ^^ I hope you like it~!

Pairing: Yuno Grinberryal x reader Genre: Fluff/comedy Fanfic type: Oneshot Length: ~0.7k Contains: Established relationship between reader and Yuno, Yuno is a VC in this already, and his prince status is known, there is a kiss on the cheek, teasing, a prank, reader and Yuno are opposites in personality

Yuno Grinberryal, the vice captain of the Golden Dawn, and the prince of Spade Kingdom, was a stoic young man on the surface. Which didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have felt deeply, but he merely wasn’t one to show a lot of his emotions to the world. Partly because, once upon a time, he had decided to not be so sensitive, and thus, he had made an effort to toughen himself up.

But on the other hand, he had been more concerned with his own goals and ideals than the thoughts and opinions of others. Because… if he didn’t believe in himself, who would? Which contributed in him becoming more secure and displaying so little outwards.

The masses judged him, back when he still bore the title of an orphan, for daring to dream about becoming a Wizard King. The opinions of those who didn’t matter, didn’t matter either. And so, why would he have laid out his emotions to those who didn’t matter to him?

Not that hiding away his emotions hadn’t been difficult in the beginning. But he had grown used to it over the years. Up to the point where he appeared to have none. At least to those who didn’t know him.

On the contrast, there was you. A bubbly, wear-your-emotions-on-your-sleeve type of a person, who smiled like the summer sun. But who was always coming and going, and… because of whom more than one thing was left in disarray rather often.

And today was no different.

You giggled as you ran away from the Golden Dawn’s kitchen after replacing the sugar container with salt.

The cook was trying out a new recipe, so they were making a small batch. Meaning that there would be no huge amounts of food destroyed by your little prank. Especially since it had been just the specific sugar container, which had been by the cooks work bench.

“HEY!” You heard while running from out the door, quickening your pace just as soon as you heard the yell.

“Catch me if you can!” You yelled over your shoulder before turning the corner and intending to run into the vast gardens. There’d be enough places to hid-

*Bump*

You collided together with someone, and staggered back.

“Sorry! But I gotta-“

“No you don’t.”

You stopped, recognizing Yuno’s tone of voice.

His amber eyes were peering into you, and his brow was raised.

“What did you do?” The words flowed out of him with the same tone, almost sounding like there was a sigh at the end.

Only that there wasn’t.

You flashed him a cheeky grin. “Just thought that something was too salty, and that sweeter things are better.”

And that was when the sigh left him.

“Unbelievable…” he muttered under his breath with a slow blink.

“Not really,” you gave his cheek a quick peck. “If you know me.”

“I do,” he said while raising both of his eyebrows in a knowing look.

“Well then it shouldn’t be unbelievable,” you teased while flashing another grin to him.

He shook his head, and a sliver of a smile appeared on his lips. “What do I do with you?”

“Hmmm…” you hummed as your grin widened even more. “Beats me,” you shrugged. “But your life would be a lot more dull if it wasn’t for me.”

“I think I was the first to say that.”

“And I didn’t claim anything else.”

His smile widened even further with the admission, the words and the sentiment. Because it was true, his life would be a lot more dull, one sided, if it wasn’t for you in his life. But, admittedly, at times he did hope that you’d calm down a little.

Just so that, now that he was the vice-captain, you wouldn’t be one of the greater sources of trouble with the day to day functions of the squad.

“Just keeping you on your tippy toes!” You laughed, giving him a wink.

But yes, you’d try to give him a little less trouble. Because you did care for him, and didn’t want him to have to worry more because of you.

Just a little harmless fun, and added… spice, in his life.

[boyslit]

HSR Cooking Headcanons!

found a big document of these i never finished but i think they're fun. doesn't include everyone but a vast majority of Belobog+Luofu characters

Trailblazer - not so great with a stove. Pom-Pom has PTSD flashbacks when they offer to help prepare meals and the Trailblazer is thusly shooed from the premises. they're used to foraging snacks and treasures in the trash anyway

March 7th - ADHD disaster. she can whip up desserts mostly but the kitchen looks like a tornado happened afterwards and she'll rope someone into helping

Dan Heng - this boy grew up in a prison and then spent his adult life on the run from his murderous ex, when did he have time to learn to cook? naw, if he's not on the Express it's takeout and fast food for this poor meow meow

Pom-Pom - the esteemed head chef of the Astral Express. they are the ruler of their kitchen and no recipe is beyond their grasp. you might wonder how they can reach the counters and grip utensils when they are so small and bunny-like but Pom-Pom is very good at what they do, so you don't have to worry at all!

Welt Yang - he's an ok cook, like many dads, but he's got a tendency to lean on parental shortcuts like frozen French fries or chicken nuggets (not that anyone ever complains about this)

Himeko - she's best left to her coffee brewing, let's just put it that way.

Kafka - also a disaster, but she has little interest in cooking for herself. this is also the reason the trailblazer can't cook - she wasn't able to teach them

Silver Wolf - no interest in cooking beyond TV meals or reheating leftovers. takeout, gamer supps and snackies take priority 

Blade - somewhere in his muddied floodwaters of memory there's the capability to cook, but it comes and goes and the pain in his hands make it difficult to grip utensils and other implements with the fine motor movements required to chop and whisk and flip. He used to cook for his husband occasionally despite Dan Feng having a personal chef as high elder

Gepard - he does his best… things like breakfast eggs, toast, sausage, noodles, these are easy to accomplish. anything too fancy is a step too far. he's really too busy to practice.

Serval - generally competent. she had to learn to feed herself after getting kicked out of the architects and staying on her own. she's adventurous, always trying new flavor combinations and changing recipes for fun

Lynx - a true outdoorswoman, knows how to forage and trap game and cooks a mean stew. it's unconventional fare, though, and not to everyone's sensibilities. 

Pela - a good cook. sticks to the recipes religiously, and very good at baking because of her precision

Natasha - "knows" how to cook but while she's great at the chemistry behind making medicines, food takes a backseat. grin and bear it if she asks you to try something she made, you don't want to make her sad. she tried really hard for you after all.

Hook - isn't allowed to cook without supervision but she makes an enthusiastic sous chef! helps Dad make dinner and sets a lovely table

Seele - abysmal but I can see her being interested in improving in order to cook something nice for Bronya. when asked why she's suddenly interested in learning, however, the lady doth protest too much. you don't question it further though because you don't want her to make you a knuckle sandwich.

Sampo - unfortunately my own biases cloud my judgement here because I love a man that can cook. but Sampo does seem like the sort of guy who operates on comedy law and that's something I am familiar with. option 1: he closes the door to the kitchen and refuses anyone's help. there's an unholy racket, a cloud of black smoke, some coughing, a Wilhelm scream, and then a few bars of whistling. when he emerges, it's with a pristine plate of gorgeously prepared braised meat and carmelized vegetables with delicate garnish. option 2: he puts on a bit of a show. it's like that cooking porn anime, and onlookers find they have to look away periodically or loosen a tie to keep themselves in check. finally, when he lifts the lid over the plate… the censorship committee has ordered it pixelated so it can still air in the same time slot. (both of these scenarios happen within the same week)

Bronya - she's too busy! she's always working or training or sleeping. luckily, Seele is hard at work learning to cook for her wife hard-working friend

Qingque - Maybe instant noodles, maybe the Xianzhou equivalent of box Mac and cheese. Otherwise she's patronizing the food spots in Aurum Alley and getting takeout ordered to her desk so she can be seen working through lunch (she's not actually working tho)

Fu Xuan - she makes a mean pot of tea but she's so busy she has no time to cook. She subscribes to box meals (like Hello Fresh, etc) so she can feel like she's not surviving on takeout and restaurant meals. She definitely has Girl Breakfast and Girl Lunch though (her favorite bubble tea and two cups of extra sugary tea for that afternoon pick-me-up, respectively) which is not great. Watch out for gastritis, sis.

Jing Yuan - he's got dad grilling vibes but I can't see this man seriously cooking. at best there'll be weaponized incompetence before he's shooed out of the kitchen, chuckling. since he's the general however I have to assume he has a personal chef. 

Yanqing - tried to cut vegetables with his swords once and was summarily banned from every kitchen

Jingliu - I'm not even sure she eats anymore. Doesn't she just feed off of ambient malice or something

Luka - Mr. Meat Boy knows his way around a grill and a campfire, but try to sully it with vegetables and you're getting the biggest glare he can muster. A boxer can't live on meat alone, and considering you're nihility path, do we think a vegetable may cause less despair?

Guinaifen - does this girl live somewhere? Like in an apartment or something? She seems to be always out and about, busy streaming or performing or meeting friends to do either of the previous. She probably eats like Qingque does, grabbing something from the Alley whenever her tummy grumbles, but otherwise we are on 👏 the 👏 go !

Topaz - this girl is BUSY busy, she's ordering Grubhubs and Doordashes and having her order from the caf delivered by drone bot while she works through lunch. likes big meetings in the conference rooms though, because there's usually pastries and coffee

Aventurine - much like the other hardworking folks, he ends up with a lot of Space Doordashed lunches and late-work dinners. He attempts recipes from internet videos sometimes, for fun and the love of the trend. He doesn't super know what he's doing but it always turns out marvellously.

Ratio - Few things are outside Dr. Veritas Ratio's wheelhouse, and because a healthy diet is required to maintain a healthy body and mind, he's well versed in cooking techniques and healthy eating. Occasionally will stoop to making something less healthy like french toast to spoil Aventurine with.

Ruan Mei - In my head she's got the 'tism that makes her dislike all but like 2 or 3 textures, and those textures are generally desserts she's learned to make for herself - smooth puddings and pastes, soft dough. I suppose the Lifeform Oven isn't technically cooking, however…

Mme.  Herta - [Automatic Reply] I'm busy. The cafeteria is open for this purpose. [This user cannot be replied to.]

Asta - there's a reason Arlan makes fried rice so well 🙃

[imagining-in-the-margins]

A Curious Pair (S.R.)

Summary: Emily and JJ find a curious piece of clothing in the women’s locker room. Spencer thinks he might know who it belongs to.

A/N: Just a funny little blurb about Spencer being a know-it-all, to his detriment. Shoutout to @foxy-eva for always being my muse and helping my indecisive self. Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Fluff/Comedy (Rated PG-13) Content Warning: Underwear, embarrassment, minor allusions to sexual activity Word Count: 900

MASTERLIST

In Spencer’s experience, there was almost never anything good happening when a group of women begin giggling. This was particularly true when they stood only a few feet from his seat, and he could hear every word they said.

“I’m not faulting her for leaving them there, I’m just wondering why the hell you’re wearing that to the FBI fitness complex,” Emily said in what no sane man could ever describe as a ‘whisper,’ “I mean, can you think of a less attractive place to be desired? Honestly.”

JJ, with her trademark sweet smile, shook her head in disapproval.

“Oh, Emily. Jealousy is not a good look on you.”

The frantic repressed energy and incredulity leapt from somewhere deep in Emily, but this time she managed to keep her voice hushed.

“Of course I’m jealous of her, JJ! I’ve got five stacks of paperwork on my desk and you’re telling me there are a pair of young hotshot agents having fun?”

“The audacity,” JJ drawled sarcastically.

Before Emily could defend her position, however, the two scandalized team members turned to three.

“Whoa there, Prentiss. I’m sensing some hostility,” he said with a soft chuckle and a reassuring hand on her shoulder. As always, his presence brought with it a calming, lighthearted nature that touched every person in the room.

Including the boy genius seated a few feet away who really, really didn’t want to talk about a pair of pretty panties.

The astute, observant profiler that he was, Derek immediately picked up on the doom and gloom cloud hovering over his best friend’s head and was quick to make it worse.

With a devilish smirk and eyes never wandering from Spencer, he called, “Judging by how red pretty boy’s face is, it seems like I’ve stumbled upon something fun.”

JJ brought her fingers to her lips to muffle both her giggles and the words as she explained under her breath, “It’s just something we found… in the women’s locker room.”

Spencer’s ears started to burn red, but the others wouldn’t know why. They wouldn’t understand the source of his reddened face wasn’t just an inappropriate conversation about a coworker’s underwear.

No, Spencer’s cheeks, ears, and neck were red and his leg was bouncing because his mind was racing with memories. Memories of you, him, and an empty office. Memories of muffled moans leaking from maintenance closets.

Spencer was not worried or embarrassed. He was just a little… tense, at the thought of a woman — a very particular woman — changing out of sweat drenched lace.

“Oh? What kind of thing?” Derek jeered, already knowing the answer, “Describe it to me. I bet I can find who they belong to.”

“Purple,” JJ said so quickly it was like she had been dying to explain.

“More like lavender,” Emily corrected.

“And lace!”

“—with very little fabric!”

Then, like the climax of the most tense orchestral symphony, JJ and Emily spoke almost in unison, “and in the center there was this little ribbon bow — with a gem in the middle.”

Derek feigned thought for a moment, but in doing so, he missed the light bulb switching on in Spencer’s eyes. As Derek ran through a long list of names, Spencer had already come up with the answer.

Spencer knew the owner of that curious pair. And if he knew one thing for certain, he knew that Derek definitely did not.

That had been true, too. It was obvious from the smug shrug Derek gave before he settled, “Those sound like Stacy to me.”

That wrong answered, proclaimed so confidently and with such condescension, triggered something in Spencer’s mind. He would never know if it had been out of anger, jealousy, his strong sense of justice, or just the pleasure he got from being right… but in that moment, it didn’t matter.

“They’re (y/n)’s,” Spencer corrected.

The whole bullpen fell silent. Or at least, it felt that way to him. In fact, it seemed like every law of physics ceased working at the exact same time. Thermodynamics betrayed him as his red face turned white in a split second. His heart, which had been beating faster than ever, felt as though it had come to a sudden stop.

“Say what, pretty boy?” Derek asked, his tone now matching the same incredulity of the women when this whole debacle had first begun.

Spencer couldn’t speak. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but for all his genius, he couldn’t come up with anything.

He didn’t need to, either. Because before anyone else spoke, you waltzed through the door with a defeated whine.

“You won’t believe what just happened to me,” you cried, oblivious, “it was humiliating.”

No one said a word. The team turned to you, and Spencer turned back to his work as if nothing had ever happened (albeit looking like death had a grip on him).

“You know what, baby girl, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Derek laughed before turning back to his friend, “whatever it was, I think pretty boy’s got you beat.”

Spencer glanced over to the women who had since returned to their hushed whispers and giggling, now with your enthusiastic gesturing alongside them.

Derek, however, closed the gap between the bona fide genius and the group. As he passed behind Spencer, he placed a small pat on his shoulder.

“Seems like you were right,” he conceded.

“Yes,” Spencer whispered through a smile, “I was.”

(Tell me what you thought about this piece here!)

P.S. Did you know Tumblr might be hiding some of my posts from you? Learn how to change this setting here so you can enjoy my more scandalous works (if you want), including my most recent one, which can be found here.

[restlessmaknae]

love & hate [k.s.w]

Sunwoo and you had been at each other’s throats for as long as you could remember. That is until he asked a question that made you reconsider his feelings and yours, too.

➳ Characters: high school senior!Sunwoo x female!reader/you

➳ Genre: high school au, fluff, comedy, enemies to lovers

➳ Words: 1.6k

➳ Warning: -

➳ The Boyz and/or story taglist: @dat-town, @i2kittenz​, @hannieyooon, @winterbeartaehyungbestboy,  @hyunjinswife, @littlestartonightsposts, @koishua, @anime-lover-2020, @ishuayou, @lily-blue​

Ever since you could remember, Sunwoo and you had been at each other’s throats. You didn’t remember if there was a moment that defined the rest of your years together, but you did know one thing: that you would do anything not to see him and it was the same vice versa.

However, no matter how much you tried to trick karma into giving Sunwoo a rather unfortunate kick in the ass that made him leave school or move to another neighbourhood or anything of the sort just so you could stop seeing his stupid(ly handsome) face all the time, you weren’t that lucky. Hence, Sunwoo and you had been elementary, middle school and high school classmates as well. You spent each school day, school event and summer camp together, and there was nothing that could make your blood boil more than seeing his lips turn into a smug grin or hearing his deep-ass voice whenever he tried to outsmart you. Lucky you, he was rather drooling over his textbooks or secretly playing on his phone than studying, so you were actually smarter than him.

What was beyond you was his reason for hating you. After all, you didn’t try to tease him back and you didn’t tell him off (even if you wished to) because you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing you lose your temper. So he could only get frequent eye rolls, huffs and frustrated sighs out of you, nothing more.

When you once lost your temper and asked about his reason for hating you, you blurted out the question rather indignantly:

“What on earth have I done that would make you hate me? For real.”

“I don’t hate you,” Sunwoo shrugged his shoulders, casual as always just like the loosened tie around his neck. Gosh, this boy really didn’t know how to dress up for school properly. You itched to correct his neck tie each and every time you were close to him, but touching him was the last thing you wanted to do, even if you two were the last two humans alive and you needed to save the planet. “It’s just fun teasing you.”

Your lips parted upon hearing his remark, and you felt like it would have been less surprising if he had brought up some random event when you had been 6 and still held a grudge than finding fun in teasing you. Not knowing how to react to that, you sulkily mentioned before walking past him, purposefully pushing his shoulder with yours:

“Grow up, Kim Sunwoo!”

After that, your best friend was practically hung up on (over)analysing everything Sunwoo said and did, going after the answer she wanted, which was Sunwoo actually liking you because why would he enjoy teasing you if he didn’t? To which, you almost spat out the water in your mouth, but feeling that choking sensation in your throat wasn’t pleasant either.

“Are you insane? Why would he like me?” You shrieked, putting down the water bottle and pushing it further from you, so that it would be in a safe distance from you.

“It’s always like this in movies where characters know each other for so long,” she pointed out in her matter-of-fact tone, and while it was true because you had seen multiple movies like that with your best friend, you and Sunwoo’s story was nowhere near an enemies to lovers trope. Why would it be? You hated him, and he hated you. Or well, he was supposed to hate you based on the signals he had given you, alas you were confused with his recent confession.

Sure, he was handsome, but you would have never told him face-to-face because he was already smug as he was. He was also funny, always having a retort to everything others said, but sometimes he took his jokes too far. He was laid-back, and it seemed like not even an earthquake could move him from his seat, but he was the biggest scaredy cat you had ever seen (a funny sight you had genuinely enjoyed during the previous summer camp’s horror night when he had been shouting the organisers’ head off for the scary decoration and jumping-out-of-the-bushes pranks). He was also not making too much trouble, instead, he usually stood up for those who were picked on by the popular kids. He was also probably a loyal friend because he and Haknyeon had been besties since kindergarten.

But no, he was just so not your type, and you were convinced you weren’t his either. Well, not until one day, he posed a question that made you freeze in your place.

“You… what?” You just stood there in an empty corridor after your club activity for the day, after having been asked by Sunwoo to talk in person.

Not that you had anyone with you at the time since your best friend didn’t attend the art club with you, but Sunwoo did. Just another reason you hated going to the same school with him was that he had decided to attend the art club a week after you had done so, after you had no time to re-submit your application, so you had been stuck ever since.

Judging by the surprisingly serious tone of Sunwoo’s when he had asked you to talk, you were expecting some news of him being sick or something, so that you should give him your notes or help tutor him because he wouldn’t get into his dream uni. However, what he asked was far from it.

“I asked if you wanted to come to the prom with me.”

He was talking about the senior prom that you had to attend because you were seniors. Otherwise, you would have definitely liked to dodge it because 1) you hated school events that involved dancing and loud music 2) you had no one to go with since your best friend was going with Hyunjin 3) truthfully, you didn’t want to go because it was just too much of a hassle for nothing.

“I heard you well although I thought I didn’t. I just don’t understand why. Don’t you have girls lining up for you?” You quirked an eyebrow, totally puzzled. Was this another way of teasing you?

“I do, but I couldn’t care less about them,” he shrugged like he always did, but you weren’t in the mood for jokes. With a huff, you threw him a pointed glance and tried to make your way around the boy, but he was faster, and held out his arm to block your way. You tried to go underneath his arm, but he reached for your hand, and slipped a piece of paper into it.

“What is it?”

“Just something I wrote for you.”

“Are you trying to bribe me?” You raised a quizzical eyebrow although the idea of Sunwoo actually sitting down to write something for someone truly took you aback. Sometimes you caught him doodling along the edges of his notebooks, but you had never truly paid much attention to what he was doing. He wasn’t taking notes, that one was for sure.

You opened the folded paper, but there were only two sentences written on it.

“The course of true love never did run smooth (Dante)

Would you be my date for the prom?”

Unbeknownst to you, you started chuckling when you saw the first sentence and didn’t stop until Sunwoo had to get the paper out of your hand to see if he had miswritten something. To him, it seemed like nothing was wrong.

“It’s by William Shakespeare, you fool. It’s from A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” you explained your amusement to him, and there were a great deal of emotions flashing across the boy’s face. Embarrassment, surprise, guilt, disappointment… Then…

“Of course, I knew it. I just wanted you to correct it,” he tried to shrug it off, but he still held onto that piece of paper as if his life had depended on it.

“Sure thing,” you hummed, the chuckles still reverberating through your body. This was the most Sunwoo-like thing to do, and you bet that he had mixed up the quote with the author while researching for it online, but the gesture of him looking up classic books’ quotes to invite you to prom was still somewhat lovely. Cute, but you would never call him that.

“So… what do you say?” Sunwoo looked up from the paper, his eyes searching for your answer in your features. He did seem pretty nervous for someone who was so laid-back, but if he could tease you so much, so could you sometimes.

“My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy,” you quoted from Shakespeare now that you were in the spirit, and for the puzzled look on the boy’s face, it was so worth it.

“W-what does it mean? Do you loathe me?”

“That was a yes poetically, but it seems like we need to work on your literature knowledge,” you told him with a wide, almost teasing smile, and seeing that, his shoulders easened too. The previously anxious boy turned into his usual, casual self, and he let his lips curl into one of his annoying(ly handsome) grins.

“Oh, I love the idea of private lessons!” He cooed as he winked at you, and you rolled your eyes, but this time, it was affectionate.

Maybe you did like him too, and maybe your best friend was right: you did have your own enemies to lovers story.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading the story! It means a lot to me.❤️

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for The Boyz or for other bands, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Have a lovely day/night!