#the shirts and the dice are also really cool but the buttons were made to appeal to me specifically. i am not immune to marketing

[silverislander]

im gonna be so sad if those arcane pins arent ever sold here... i love buttons and pins and its literally like the Only thing theyve made w caitlyn

[skellebonez]

Because I'm sure this is going to be inevitable, how about some angst for the Chaos Trio (Mei, Jin and Yin)? With 61 and 52

Oh I have been looking forward to Chaos Trio angst since you sent me this, anon. Despite how they act in show... I think Jin and Yin are not exactly harmless. Especially if you mess with people they start to consider family.

The Cursed AU and the Chaos Trio in it come from @winterpower98!

Warning: blood and head injuries, enemy demons limbs (not detailed).

That is not a good hiding spot./I am a really bad actor.

Things had been going pretty well, all things considered. Jin and Yin had no problem getting Mei to join them in a little bit of... let's say "competitive insurance" as it were. They had to make sure they were secured in their own little tech related ventures, and after some financial setbacks they needed extra fallback. They’d planned the whole thing out with her help, more than 2 steps and everything! She was good at that.

The problem was that someone got a lucky hit.

They would have made it out with no problems, if they all hadn't decided going on Mei's motorcycle as a group (which, now that Yin thought about it, was probably incredibly dangerous and illegal with 3 of them on it... not that they cared about legality for themselves but somehow when it came to Mei that suddenly made them concerned). But nope. 1 bike. 3 people.

One lucky shot to the rear tire.

The three of them went flying, Mei landing very impressively on her feet whole Jin and Yin bounced on a bush and thanked anyone listening that demons were sturdier than humans. They didn't thank anyone for the pieces of bike that came flying at them all, and they were certain that they heard a piece make contact with something hard, maybe the nearby light pole, but couldn't be sure.

By the time they looked up they just knew they had a group of very angry demons that were pissed they stole and then wiped their code for... something, didn't matter to the twins what it was. They just wanted their competition out of the way. For solely selfish reasons. Nothing else. Not like they wanted it to see what it was and maybe figure out a counter attack so that certain overpowered people with monkey motifs would have an easier time in the future.

Not a chance.

As they fought off the attacking demons they insisted to themselves they didn't care that much.

"That is not a good hiding spot!" Jin yelled across the battlefield as Yin ducked behind crates. "Just chuck it for now and beat em with the blunt end of something else!"

"Just give me 2 seconds, I can fix it!" Yin yelled back, trying his best to reassemble a part of his sword hilt that had broken off.

"Come on, these guys ain't so tough!" Mei laughed out, easily dodging projectiles and backsliding and slicing and dicing as she went. No one was actually killed, but they were lucky because the only reason for that was the young woman wasn't exactly out for blood. They'd be feeling every single hit well into morning though! She was doing much better than the two of them. "Grab a pipe or something! Wish I had MK's magic building power though, I'd rather not be here all-YIN!"

The younger twin looked up from where he had been crouched, eyes widening as he saw the form of a much larger demon hulking over him and ready to batter him with a club.

Things had been going well. All things considered. Then someone got a second lucky hit.

Right as Mei dove in to push the younger silver twin out of the way.

For a second the fighting stopped. There was just the sound of wood hitting hard plastic and fiberglass as the club was sliced in half by her sword and the lopped off half continued it's trajectory and slammed into Mei's head to lead to her crumbling on top of Yin. Jin stood on too of a pile of crates, watching as a line of red seeped through a crack in her visor and stained the white of her suit.

And then his entire vision was red as he lunged at the demon and sliced, sending his arm flying in the opposite direction.

The demon screamed, holding the stump that was his arm from the elbow down, backing away as quickly as he could. "W-what the hell!?"

"Mei," Yin said softly, carefully clicking the emergency release button to make her helmet digitize away. Her eyes were closed, blood dripping from a slice running along her scalp... but as far as he could tell it was from part of the helmet being cracked and cutting her. She was most likely knocked out from the impact, breathing odd but steady in her unconscious state. "You... we're going to get you to the hospital."

His tone hardened as he carefully laid her on the ground, standing tall as he grabbed his broken weapon and a nearby piece of broken steel.

"You. Are going. To pay for that," Yin said coldly, stance no longer lose and half playful as it had been the whole battle. His stood tall, eyes wide and cold and the demons surrounding them felt a chill run down their spines.

Jin stood in front of him, blood from the other demon splattered across his face and chest in a stark contrast to his orange visage.

This... this wasn't the pair of Gold and Silver Demons they had heard about before. They were known for not taking almost anything seriously, making bad deals and pacts and weird blood oaths they wasted on bizarre favors. They were known for being good at tach but not much else, most demons in the area knew vaguely of their history with the Monkey King but even that ended in failure. Their plans were half baked, goofy, and lately they'd heard they'd gotten roped in with the Monkey King's successor and renewed flame of the Six-Eared Macaque.

The two standing before them did not look like the demons they'd heard about.

Mei hadn't wanted to seriously hurt anyone. The demons heard her yelling as much on the battlefield. But now Mei was hurt.

And the twins did.

It happened fast. They wanted to get it over with quickly. Mei had also not wanted to kill anyone at the very least the twins could do was keep up their promise from earlier in the day to avoid that. And they did.

That didn't mean there weren't lost limbs. Hands and arms. A leg or two. More than a couple eyes were lost. Someone lost an ear. Another a tail and horn.

Injuries they could recover from meant as warnings.

All it took was 3 minutes and the entire storage area they crashed in was a mix of grey and brown and red. Demons holding their injuries or running off.

The one who had attacked Yin and hurt Mei stood in awe and fear, looking down at the smaller twins who has decimated an entire group so fast.

"I-how!?" He yelled, backing up slowly. "This isn't possible, you're not this strong!"

"Who told you that?" Yin asked slowly, tilting his head and watching as the demon realized... he'd never heard they couldn't fight. "We don't fight like this because we don't want to. Never meant we can't."

"Why?"

"We are really bad actors," Jin said, wiping the blood off his weapon on an unconscious demon's shirt. "Why bother trying to hold back when we can just hide it by not trying?" He turned to the demon, glowering coldly as he watched his brother pick Mei up carefully. "Tell anyone who asks nothing. We'd like to keep it that way. Unless you want a round two where someone else doesn't hold us back."

And then they were gone.

~

"What in the actual hell happened?" Macaque asked in an even tone. Practiced even. A dangerous even.

"Well-" "You see boss-" "we kinda-" "-there was-"

Jin and Yin tried to think of a reasonable excuse, faltering as everything they thought of sounded worse and worse in their heads.

The two sat in Mei's hospital room, towels draped around their shoulders. They’d been smart enough to stash Mei's bike somewhere safe and wash off in the ocean before coming to the hospital, less covered in demon blood meant less scared humans when they rushed in with Mei in tow, and it was easy to make the nurses believe them.

Simple bike accident, friend hurt, help please.

With Macaque staring them down with his patented death glower, shadows growing and warping around the room in response to him, it was infinitely harder.

Of course Mei's emergency contact was MK. Of course MK could call Macaque before her parents (who were apparently on their way back from some kind of dragon family business trip when they learned). Of course Macaque would show up almost immediately and begin asking questions.

"It was my fault," Mei chimed in, voice slightly off from having awoken with a nasty concussion. "I thought it'd be fun to go on a joy ride late at night, I've done it before without issues! But, uh... I've never had two passengers before... and we hit something. Don't be mad at them?"

Macaque looked like he believed Mei as much as he believed Tang would lose interest in the Monkey King and switch his field of study to obscure methods of basket weaving. Which is to say: he didn’t. But he sighed, giving Mei a small smile as the shadows returned to normal.

"Ok," he said softly, tone much more gentle with the dragon descendant as he reached out to brush loose hair out of her face. "I won't be mad at them. I'll be very disappointed-" his tone hardened for a second at those words as he turned to the twins with a glower again. "-but I won't be mad. Do you need anything?"

"Maybe a candy bar from the vending machines outside?" Mei asked with a smile.

"Sure," Macaque laughed and shook his head, moving to the corner of the room. "I'll be right back."

He sunk into the shadows, a cool trick that the twins would always be impressed by, and they breathed a sigh of relief at knowing they were alone. For now.

"You didn't have to do that," Jin said, frowning at Mei in concern. Maybe it was just because he was now the eldest in the room, but some kind of protective feel pulled at him.

"I know," Mei said with a tired laugh, laying back into her pillow. "But you guys are like... my bros. I gotta stand up for my bros."

And that made both Jin and Yin pause. They looked at each other, eyes widening as they both came to a realization that was probably a very long time coming at that point.

"Yeah..." Yin said, a soft smile forming on his face. "We'd do the same for you... you know, if you didn't take that hit for me you probably would have kicked everyone's ass way better than us! We barely got out by the skin of our teeth!" A full truth and a blatant lie, but he hoped Mei wouldn't pick up on that second part.

"You know it, boi!" She didn't.

It was odd for him in particular. Yin had never really thought of himself as an older brother before.

First time for everything.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

One Night🌙6

Warnings: noncon sexual acts (to be warned later in series), nocturnal playtime, unwanted touching.

This is dark!Andy Barber and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: One night changes your entire life.

for @kittykatlow​‘s 200 Follower Celebration

Note: I’m working on more drabbles and Eye of the Storm! But for now, enjoy some Andy.

Hope you enjoy it. Thank you. Love you guys!

Please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

Your appointment went as well as it could have. The doctor ran bloodwork and several other tests as Andy nodded knowingly as if to say ‘I told you so’, which he also did aloud several times after. The drive home was a reiteration of what you should, and more enthusiastically, what you shouldn’t do. 

It was really starting to feel like he believed you were an actual child. Your own father had never talked to you in such a way. You couldn’t say the same for your mother but even she could reel it in long enough that you didn’t feel like a complete moron. Andy just seemed to latch onto every mistake you made and sink his teeth in until he tasted blood.

And like the teenager he treated you as, when you got back to his house, you stormed up to the guest room and slammed the door. You fell onto the bed and screamed into the pillow. Oh yeah, that long lost adolescent rage returned. Then it all drained from every inch of you and you rolled over to stare at the ceiling.

You could hear Andy below. You listened to him moving around, the decisive click of his polished leather shoes. He climbed the stairs and you heard him stop outside your door. He sighed and retreated to his own room. Your day off an you’d spend it like this; raging at your new warden.

The knock on your door made you flinch. 

“Hey,” Andy’s voice sounded decisively through the door. “I’m going into the office for the rest of the day. I’ll be in around six.” He paused and the handle jiggled but didn’t turn. “You know where everything is.”

You didn’t answer him. You waited until he left, the footsteps on the staircase, the front door, the soft rollover of his car engine. You sat up and pulled out your phone. A single voicemail; your parents’ number.

“Hey, kiddo,” Your dad’s voice rose from the speaker. “Your mom wants to know when you’re getting the rest of your stuff.” A slight pause and a cough. “You know I don’t care and you take your time but if she asks, I told ya to come get it… Love you.” The line buzzed. “And your mom loves you too but she’s just as stubborn as you, you know? Well, anyway, uh, bye.” Another glaring silence. “Oh, and it’s still my house. I’ll be happy to see ya, kiddo.”

You saved the message and dropped your phone to bounce on the mattress. You put your head in your hands as you tried to resist the overhwelming swell of sadness that overcame you. You didn’t care about your stuff and you couldn’t bring it here. You wouldn’t. Sell it, toss it, you didn’t care.

You sat up and dropped your hands to the bed in defeat. You were such a fuck up.

🌙

You avoided Andy for a few days. You found excuses to stay in your room when you weren’t working and even spent a good deal of time in the backyard, weeding the overgrown garden. It didn’t matter. Autumn was close and most of the plants were dead. It must have been her job, or maybe a cherished hobby.

Aside from Andy’s prickly nature, she made it harder. That stranger; Laurie. You were an imposter in her place; usurping her as she laid in a hospital entirely unaware. You only knew what the press put out. He never said much about it. Did you really expect him to? All he ever spoke about was you, the baby, and everything you did wrong.

After a rather long day at work, made longer by your suddenly returned appetite and the smell of cinnamon and coffee, you returned to the house and found yourself back in the yard. You sat at the patio table and scrolled through your phone. 

Felicia wanted to meet up the next night. You hadn’t told her yet. If she took you for drinks, as she always did, she’d figure it out pretty quickly. Well, why were you hiding it? You wouldn’t be able to for much longer. You already felt a little bigger, wider at least. Would it be so bad to tell? To not be alone?

You swiped away her text and bit your thumbnail. You’d think about it and send your answer before you went to bed.

The screen door clattered and you sat up straight. You looked up as Andy emerged and strode across the deck. He had a beer in hand and placed it on the glass table as he neared the other side of the table. His tie was gone, his top button undone, and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows.

“Here you are,” He said as he pulled out a chair and sat. “How was work?”

You shrugged and turned over your phone. “It was work,” You sat back and crossed your arms. “Do I ask you? Is that the right thing to do?”

He chuckled and popped the cap of the beer and took a swig. “Well, it was an exciting day. Had a defendant attack the judge. Didn’t get very close but a they took him out,” He turned the bottle on the table. “He got me good on his way out, even if he missed my face.”

You let your arms fall to rest over your stomach. You didn’t know what to say. Did he want pity? Surely you couldn’t relate to his courthouse crusades.

“Well, that sounds… scary.” You offered.

“It happens. Not a lot but you can never predict people,” He took another gulp of beer. “What are you doing out here? It’s gonna rain soon.”

“Yeah?” You looked up at the grey clouds. “I never minded the rain much.”

He was quiet as he picked at the label of his bottle. His toe tapped and he pushed his shoulders back.

“Your mother came to see me,” He said gently. “Said something about tossing your stuff out on the lawn.”

“Shit,” You winced. “She shouldn’t have--”

“You haven’t talked to her?”

“And say what, exactly? She made her feelings about me pretty clear.” You played with the case of your phone as you turned it over. “My dad called me but… I don’t care about all that shit.”

“We can go get it. It’s not--”

You laughed and shook your head. “Why? You’re so eager to erase my former life, why would you care?” You threw your hand up and planted your elbow on the table. “It’s just books. A few stuffed animals. I never really could afford much of value. The poor pauper girl.”

“I never--”

You stood and slid your phone into your pocket. You still wore the plain black shirt and matching pants from work. Your fly was half undone to relieved the pressure and your shirt had caught in your waistband. You pulled the hem down and pushed in your chair.

“I’m hungry. I’m going to get changed and make something to eat.” You said.

You left him there and went inside. After slipping into some leggings and a loose tee, you swept into the kitchen and surveyed your options. Some linguine with chicken and spinach. That didn’t sound too bad.

You pulled out a chicken breast and the cutting board. You put the water on boil and heated the frying pan. You started to chop up the chicken into chunks as you heard the back door. Andy appeared and set his bottle down across from you as he stood on the other side of the island. It gave a hollow clink; empty, already.

“So, what are you making?” He leaned on the marble.

“Pasta,” You answered curtly. “You have any hot peppers? Hot sauce?” You opened the fridge. “I wouldn’t mind something spicy.”

“Check the door,” He said. “You must be past the nausea. You know, I always heard the cravings were the worst part. I never really considered pickles anything to drool over but---”

“Stop, please,” You interjected as you turned back with a jar of banana peppers. You could dice them up and mix them into the sauce. “It’s miserable. All of it.”

He sighed and stood straight. He rounded the counter and opened the cupboard. He added oil to the pan and it crackled. He put it back and turned to grab the spinach and rinsed it in the colander. He set it on the counter and turned back to watch you slice the chicken.

“You gonna keep this up?” He asked.

“What?” You set the knife down and dumped the chicken into the pan and washed your hands..

“You gotta try to meet me halfway,” He turned.

“Meet you halfway? Andy, christ,” You spat as you stirred the chicken and seared it. “How much more can I give you?”

“Bit of courtesy, maybe,” He said. “I’m trying here but you won’t even--”

“There you go again, speaking to me like a child. I am not a child. Let’s start there,” You pointed at him with the spatula. “You should know that.”

He considered you, his blue eyes drifted then returned to you. He gave a small smile. “I definitely know you’re not a child.”

“I’m serious.”

He nodded and exhaled. “Alright, I’ll try to ease off.”

You squinted at him. “I really wanna believe you will.”

He scoffed and brushed past you. He went to the fridge and grabbed another beer. He flipped the cap off and leaned against the door.

“I’m a lawyer. I can’t help it.” He shrugged. “But for the sake… of the baby, I’ll take my foot off the pedal. A little.”

“Cool,” You set the spatula down. “So you won’t mind if I go out tomorrow night. My friend Felicia wants to have dinner.”

“Dinner?” He repeated. You raised a brow. “Yeah, fine. That sounds like fun.”

“Great,” You smiled and grabbed the linguine noodles. “And you know, you’ll get a night to yourself. Win-win.”

🌙

You texted Felicia after dinner and for the first time in a while, you felt excited about something. So excited you found it hard to settle down. A bigger problem because you had an opening shift the next morning and you were already constantly exhausted.

You laid in bed and tossed and turned. You stared at the ceiling, then rolled over and stared at the window, then tried laying on your stomach until your leg fell asleep. It was at least an hour of endless turmoil, trying to force yourself to doze, before you just resigned to blinking into the dark.

You listened to the gentle spatter of rain. As always, Andy was right. It was really annoying. You sighed and peeked out the window as the rivulets streamed down the glass. The moonlight shone through the droplets in silver orbs. You turned onto your side and counted them, hoping it would coax you to sleep.

Then you heard it. At first, you were certain it was nothing. The wind, maybe. But it continued, steady, slowly mounting. The heavy breaths coated with sultry groans. You froze and craned your head to look over your shoulder as you listened. You’d left your bathroom door open without thinking and could hear a little too much through the one at the other end.

You dropped your head back to the pillow as the voice continued; deep and drawn out. It wasn’t hard to guess what was going on; what the only other person in the house was doing. Andy was only human after all. Well, you’d fucked him almost on sight. You were no saint. Yet it felt so wrong, hearing him like that. Worse that as you closed your eyes, you could only imagine him in the other room with his hand…

You pulled the duvet over your ear and pressed your head to the pillow. You felt a tickle between your thighs and squeezed them together. Ignore it, just listen to the rain. But his voice only got louder and louder until it finally peaked in a sharp grunt. Your lips parted and you shuddered. He was done, thank god.

It was silent for a few minutes, all but the gentle patter of rain. Then the bed groaned through the wall and soft footsteps. You were tense as you listened, moreso as you heard him near the other side of the bathroom door. 

Shit, he had to clean himself up and… 

The door opened and you heard his feet on the tile. He let out a growled and cranked the sink on. Your door was still wide open. It sounded as if he was right beside you as the water flowed and his breathing evened out. He turned off the faucet but lingered in the bathroom.

Then he stood in the door to your room. You could feel him there, looking at you. You were thankful your back was to him. Slowly, he crept closer and you felt him looming over you, just at the side of your bed. Your nerves were on fire, every hair on your body was on end.

The blanket moved just a little as he tugged at it. You made yourself stay still as he paused, waiting for you to react. He let out a long breath and yanked harder to dislodge the duvet from under you. You squeezed your eyes shut, terrified. You should say something, do something, tell him to fuck off!

He bared your leg and the cool air raised goosebumps along your skin. Your shorts offered little coverage and had ridden up your ass. He let the blanket rest on the other side of your leg and his fingertips grazed your calf and thigh. He touched your ass and pressed more firmly against it.

Then suddenly he recoiled. You heard him swallow and he pulled the blanket back over you. He turned and retreated into the bathroom, your door clicking closed behind him, the second which led into his own room. The silence was pierced by his muffled voice.

“Shit.”

[bangingoutthetunes]

Snowfall.

A drabble in which you walk home with your boyfriend in the snow and get to cuddle + braid his hair. 

Word count: 2.3k

tags: hair braiding, fluff, bokuto is a human puppy 

~

“Come on, (name)-kun! It’s literally so cold out here I might die!” Kotarou pulled your hand forward and you almost tripped at the sudden jerk. He looked back over his shoulder, puppy-dog eyes wide and shining. A cheerful grin had found itself onto its face at your smile. 

“It’s not like I want to be out here in the cold, Kou! I just need to catch my breath, we’ve been running for the past ten minutes and although you’re wearing pants, I’m wearing a skirt and tights. Gimme a break!” If just for a moment, you felt burningly jealous of the pants the Fukurodani’s boys uniform required; they would’ve definitely kept you warm. Panting from the exhaustion, you trembled in his grip a little bit. He walked over to you and pulled you into his chest, chin resting on your hair and arms wrapped around your waist. He smelled like soap and vanilla and like the best parts of cold December afternoons. 

Peering to the left of his arm, you took in the scenery around you; snowflakes had begun to blanket rooftops and adorn the naked trees, minivans would drive by full with mothers and their children’s friends, bike riders would exhale dragon puffs of condensation, and some other classmates were huddling at a corner shop to pick up some hot chocolate and coffee to continue on their way. 

Having moved from the Miyagi prefecture in early March of this year, you hadn’t gotten to experience snow in a small town on the outskirts of Tokyo. This was of the first times you got to enjoy the gentle fall of friendly snow without having to worry about negative repercussions, and in this moment you wouldn’t rather be anywhere else or with anyone else than Bokuto Koutaoru, the six foot puppy that wanted to take you to his house through the long route so you could catch sight of all the wonderful sights his town had to offer. It was bitter cold outside, but the warmth inside of your chest, slowly spreading to your limbs, was enough to keep you running. 

“Are you ready to keep going, princess?” he mumbled into your forehead, absentmindedly doodling on your back with his mitten-covered fingertips.  

“Yeah, I’m all warmed up now!” You smiled into his chest, burying your nose into his vest and planting a kiss there as a silent thank you. 

“Great, because tag,” he booped you on the forehead with his index finger and stepped back,” you’re it! Last one home owes a cherry soda!” He laughed, brilliant like the sun stretching its fingers through the clouds. The corners of his eyes crinkle and he wrinkled his nose,  clearly pleased with himself. 

“Oh, it’s on!” You chased after him, having committed the route to memory from walks home so many times before. You ran at a quick pace, but your legs were so much shorter and his training was so much more intense that you could barely stay at fifteen feet behind him. Damn  him and his stupid volleyball captain gig! 

He slowed down, if just for a moment, to let you catch up to him. He stretched his hand out to you, beckoning for you to hold it. “Come on, let’s get there quicker!” Once you laced your fingers into his own, he yanked you forwards. In no time, you made it to his doorstep. He fished for his keys in his coat pocket and unlocked the door with his left hand, tugging you into the warmth as soon as the door flew open. A gust of hot air flew out of the house, peppering your face in kisses and very welcomed heat. Kotarou stepped inside, and you followed suit behind him, the two of you placing your bookbags on the floor. You began to kick your uniform shoes off when he sneaked up behind you, wrapped his hands together at your belly and pulled you up into the air. “H-hey!” He laughed at your surprise and pulled your back into his chest,  waddling with you towards his room. 

“Give me a sec, I’ve just gotta get the door-” he placed you down on the flooring while he fiddled with the handle and the door slid open at the kick of his foot. He ushered you inside. “Come, sit on the bed! Get comfortable and change out of the uniform, you’re probably freezing right?” Concern laced his voice as he walked over to where you sat and he cocked his head to the side. “I think I’ll get into something more comfortable, thank you baby!” You reached over to grab his hand and gave it a kiss behind his knuckles,  and you could swear you saw him shiver from the ghosting of your lips. 

“You’re welcome! I’ll be back in a bit, I’m just gonna get some clothes from the dryer and bring us some snacks. I went out with ‘Kaashi the other day and we picked out some things for you!” Before he walked out of his room, he turned back to wink and blow you a kiss. You giggled at him. God,  you’d be damned if he wasn’t the cutest thing to walk this earth. Stretching your arms above your head and wiggling out of the cold, you looked around his room to try and figure out where exactly he had his pajamas. You took a shot at his dresser, and it took a bit of digging but you found the perfect outfit: an oversized grey shirt with old sweatpants would do just fine to warm you up. You slipped out of your blazer and wiggled the skirt off while admiring the decorations in his room; he had some volleyball posters, some framed pictures of him with his sisters, and atop his dresser you saw some papers that made your heart flutter; he had your first movie ticket, Weathering With You, framed and the post-its you’d slipped into his locker decorating the outside of the frame. To the left, he also had a printed out picture he took of the two of you on his phone while you shared a chocolate ice cream cone (with extra sprinkles, of course). 

You’d been to Koutarou’s house before, but you hadn’t gotten the chance to walk around his room; since his parents were out working, you’d come after school (on the rare days he didn’t have practice) and cook with him. One of your favorite memories of trying to cook with him was when you tried teaching him how to finely dice scallions; the poor boy couldn’t cut thinly if his life depended on it, and whenever he saw the knife get close to his thumb he would flinch. 

You wiggled into his shirt and plopped onto his bed. He had a plush vabo-chan and a horned owl plushie resting in between his pillows. You kicked his throw blanket up so it could cover your legs and shut your eyes for a bit, nothing on your mind except for your angel’s smile and his kisses peppering your forehead. You could feel yourself slipping into a comfortable vibe and it was so nice to be able to rest your body after running in the snow for such a long while. At a knock on the wall, your eyes fluttered open and your gaze traced your boyfriend’s form, hair damp (but drying) against his forehead, long-sleeve shirt tight against his chest, eyes blown wide and smiling, and packs of sour gummies and dark chocolate in his hands. He bumped his body against the light switch to turn the lights in the room off, allowing only the soft glow reflected from white snow to enter from his window.

He ran over to the bed and threw the candies at its foot as he wrapped you in a bear hug. “You look wonderful in my clothes, baby!” He chirped, voice dripping with adoration, as he admired you in his clothes. He was so warm and soft against you, and you wrapped your hands together at the base of his neck and pecked his lips. They tasted like hot chocolate and chapstick and felt surprisingly soft for the cold weather. Even if his lips were chapped, you still wouldn’t have wanted to kiss anyone else’s. You pulled away from the kiss to gaze into his eyes, color reminiscent of sunflowers and sunshine, and your heart fluttered in your chest as his gaze lidded and his eyes smiled. 

“What do you want to watch, princess? After all, movie night was your idea!”

You thought for a second, “Hmm, I saw that there was a cool documentary on netflix about international chefs! We could learn a thing or two from it so we can cook the best meal ever, right?”

He threw his head back in laughter and scooched closer to you on the bed, wiggling his feet beneath the blanket and pulling it up so it could cover the two of you.  He turned the TV on, remote in hand, and clicked through the buttons until he saw the Netflix app. Flicking over to the Documentaries, he paused when he saw some about food. “Is it the Street Food one?”

“Yeah, baby. We can watch a couple of episodes, the order doesn’t really matter anyways.”

“Cool! I want to watch the one about Argentina! I’ve heard they have amazing steak down there.” For some reason, you hadn’t expected his favorite food to be steak and instead for it to be something more like pure sugar. It had nothing to do with his energy level…

In spite of the absolute fact that he was always riled up and lively, in this moment with his head rested on your right shoulder, he looked at peace. His eyes were glued to the screen (or so you thought, because his gaze was really fixed on your arm as he tried to count all of the freckles there), his breathing was even, slow, and his fingers were gently grazing against the side of your left arm. He really did look like an angel, a piece of expired heaven that fell into your lap and promised to be forever yours. You smiled down at him in a lazy fashion and bent your neck to give him a kiss on his scalp. It smelled crisp and clean, and your belly fluttered when he looked up at you from quirked eyebrows. His hair looked amazing when it was down and, if anything, you almost preferred it to the spiky owl look. 

He shifted his weight so he could instead lay his head on your lap. You laced your fingers into his two-toned hair and lightly scratched his tresses. He had been gifted with many things, and among them was a thick head of hair; his locks were silky and plentiful; every meander of your fingers led to more strands  resting between them. He seemed to lean into your touch and sighed contentedly when you scratched at a spot at his head that was left of center. He really seemed to like when you would twirl his locks on your fingers, and it made you wonder…

“Kou?”

“Hmm?”

“Could I braid your hair?”

He let out a hearty laugh and turned his head to look up at you. “I’d love nothing more, (name)-kun. Go ahead.”

You sighed, running both hands through his scalp and feeling the silk slide in between your knuckles was so unexpected but so so welcome. He leaned into the touch and tilted his head forward to let you play with more of his hair. 

“(name)-kun, it tickles!” He laughed at the foreign sensation and his eyes crinkled shut. He was the sun. 

Scratching his head with your fingerpads, you ran the fingers of your right hand up his arm to let him know that he was safe and that the  new sensation was just that, something he should begin to get used to. He leaned into your touch, trusting, peaceful, calm. You separated three locks in between your knuckles and began to twist the center and right pieces together. Then, you twisted the right and left ones together, then the left and center. It was difficult because of his shaggy layered haircut, but you could tell from his staggered breathing and the nuzzling of his nose into your thighs that he was absolutely loving this. The first braid looked so pretty because of the contrast between his black roots and silvery locks, and you took a scrunchie from your wrist to tie it in place. Granted, it took five twists and the braid looked SUPER clunky, but you felt like that gave it so much charm. You tugged on the hair behind his right ear and began to weave it together like Arachne weaving her master tapestries, and braid begot yet another until the right side of his head was all tied up in a knot that you would (hopefully) be able to detangle. Hair tucked behind his ear, you noticed that he had a dusting of freckles on the pinna that trailed down to the nape of his neck. The black dusting of freckles against pale skin looked like stardust. He was beautiful. 

His breathing steadied, and it seemed like he had fallen asleep at the behest of your touch. A smile was painted onto his face, his nostrils flared and his lips half-parted as if he were having a pleasant dream. This was too much, it was too cute. You shifted around for your phone and took a picture of him in your lap, face glowing from the chatter and brightness of an argentine street restaurant. He looked perfect. You sent his phone the picture and saw it buzz on the bed, screen illuminated with a picture of him giving you a kiss on the forehead. You began to smile, and a look out the window proved that the snowfall had gotten heavier.  Your own exhaustion from the day began to settle in and take you prisoner. In between the soft whirr of the heating, Kotarou’s steady breathing, the soft background noise of steak sizzling and Spanish chatter, and the delicate dance of the snowflakes outside, you began to slip into a peaceful slumber. This would be the first of many naps with Bokuto to come. 

[pillow-anime-talk]

congrats on 1k bb !! ur writing is amazing <3 can i ask for number 40 with near (dn), fem pronouns pls !!

# tags: scenario; current relationship; light romance; getting caught; bit suggestive

includes: female reader ft. nate river {death note}

author’s note: thank you so much!

40. A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party.

You and Near were alone in a big, bright room, and your boyfriend, as always, was arranging the white-black dice into huge, really stable shapes. You were looking at him, sitting on the comfy, black armchair and drinking hot tea, but after a long moment you put the cup down on a small plate and moved towards the white-haired man, calling his real, first name. He turned around instantly and smiled a little as he shifted his body on the hard floor to give you some space. You’ve been observing his buildings up close and you find out that it is a small version of England, namely Winchester and Wammy’s House. You smiled gently as you remembered Nate telling you about his orphanage, about the children there, about L and the situations that took place there.

You sat in a pleasant silence for a long time, but after two minutes Nate moved a little closer to you and rested his head on your shoulder.

“Huh. You’re tired, baby? Maybe you should get some sleep?”

“No. It’s alright.” He grunted, moving his face closer to your cheek and then placing a gentle kiss on it. You chuckled under your breath as you turned to him and grabbed his sensitive skin so that you could kiss his lips more comfortably. You purred contentedly feeling how soft and sweet his lips were.

You didn’t even notice the moment when you pushed the boy into the cool tiles and continued to place small kisses on his whole, beautiful face; on the pale cheeks, on the forehead, under the curly hair, on the tiny nose, on the chin, and on the lips you loved so much.

At one point, you unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt to also kiss the skin on his delicate neck and collarbones, which always had a few red or purple marks on them from your own mouth and teeth. He looked very pretty with them, and the pinkish colors contrasted perfectly well with his pale skin, fair hair, and clothing that was always immaculately snow-white. You felt a light grip on both hips and then on your waist, so you moved slightly on the man’s body, which made the twenty-one-year-old grunt contentedly, closing his both eyes.

“Sweet.” You smiled as you stroked his jawline with your fingers. “The sweetest... Your girlfriend will take good care of you, I promise.” You added after a short second, bending down to place another, longer kiss on his lips, but in the same time the elevator to the large room opened and Miss Lidner, Mr. Gevanni and Mr. Rester came out from inside. So you both looked at them, causing the two men to look away, and the blonde woman coughing silently apologizing to you and the great detective. You blushed, quickly stepped away from your boyfriend, also apologizing for your behavior.

Near, on the other hand, smiled under his breath, asking what brought them three to headquarters and at the same time adjusted your soft hair, as well as his own shirt, which was currently extremely creased because of you.

But of course, Nate wasn’t mad at you. How could he be angry with the angel you were after all?

[captainkappa]

Fanfic :: Icebreakers

Me? Publishing writing? It’s more likely than you think.

But yeah, holy crap, I finished something! That hasn’t happened in a long time, so please enjoy this zukka modern au fic where they’re both attending college now!

While taking online classes, Sokka and Zuko are paired up for icebreakers.

Preslash Sokka/Zuko, college AU

AO3 link

-=-=-=-

Sitting down in front of his laptop, wearing the sweatpants and tank top he slept in, this was not how Sokka expected to start his third year of college.

Well, he didn’t expect be forced online for the spring semester of his sophomore year as well, so technically that was a bigger surprise. At least this time, he was better prepared and built his schedule with distance learning in mind; a film course for his last elective, two engineering courses that weren’t reliant on lab, and two math courses. He tried not to think about all the labs he would have to take in the next year and a half, but for now, it was worth it to have a manageable schedule during a pandemic. For now, he was content to live off campus with Aang. He could’ve stayed home with his dad and Katara, but because Aang didn’t have any family to speak of, the executive decision was made for Sokka to keep his lease on the apartment with Aang and video call with his family at least once a week to make up for it.

It wasn’t that bad. They got one of the few places near campus that allowed dogs, so Aang’s shepherd dog, Appa, made the whole situation less dreary. Plus, his elective was right after his thermodynamics course, which gave his more of a reason to get up for the 9 o’clock engineering course.

So, here he was, not listening to the professor go on about “unprecedented times” and “academic honesty,” the same things he’d heard in his earlier class. Glancing at his own camera, he saw Aang not so sneakily open his door. He quickly muted and took out one of his earbuds.

"I'm ordering groceries,” Aang said quietly, “need anything else?"

"No, just whatever I put on the list."

"Got it!"

Aang closed the door and Sooka turned back to the computer, unmuting himself. The professor was about to move on to syllabus, when Sokka noticed a white blur out of the corner of his eye. He barely had time to think about the fact that Aang hadn’t fully closed the door, when he was knocked out of his chair with a crash.

"No, Appa, no! Down boy!" He said, fruitlessly trying to get Appa down off him. Appa paid no attention, continuously licking at him.

From the one earbud still in his ear, he registered his classmates laughing and the professor asking, "Are you alright?"

Appa was still not letting up so he just threw up a thumbs up in what he hoped was in frame of the webcam. "Yeah, sorry about that. My roommate’s dog hasn't seen me since March. Let me just-" with a flourish, he muted himself.

“Now Appa,” he said, gently holding the dog’s face in his hands, “if this incident haunts me all semester, I’m only getting you kitty treats for a month.”

Appa’s tongue lolled out of his mouth, completely oblivious.

“Alright now, up! Up!”

That seemed to do the trick, or it was the whistle from Aang in the other room. Either way, Appa graciously got off Sokka, trotting out the bedroom door much more slowly than he’d entered.

Sokka righted his chair and settled down and saw that even though the professor had moved on, everyone was still giggling at him. He took it in stride, taking a bit of a stretch.

The professor soldiered on, explaining how she found PDFs of all articles needed for the course (sweet), how she got them all copies of the movies on her website, and the schedule for the semester.

"Ok, now that the housekeeping is over, I'll put you all into breakout rooms for ice breakers. You’ll be in a room with one or two other students. Tell each other your name, major, why you're taking the class, and a fun fact about yourself. You'll introduce each other to the rest of the class in 5 minutes."

Sokka sighed, having hoped that at least one professor would forgo icebreakers considering the online format for the class. No dice. He clicked on the breakout room pop-up and anxiously waited for the other person to join the group, looking at his camera in the meantime. It was only then did he realize he’d been sitting in class for half an hour with his ponytail all askew. He tugged out the ponytail holder, shaking his hair out and pulling it back up so the sides he’d shaven himself were on display.

He looked up and a second person had silently joined the breakout room. Sokka immediately recognized him as one of the students who initially caught his eye. He wasn't conventionally attractive, with the massive scar covering the left side of his face, but he was certainly striking, with his floppy black hair and short-sleeve button-up shirt. It must’ve been a trick of the light in his room, but it looked like he was blushing.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“I-It’s okay,” the other guy said, seeming a little bit distracted.

Sokka could guess he wasn’t a fan of being online, so he continued, "Ok, then I'll start. I'm Sokka, junior mechanical engineering major. This is the last elective I need, but really it was the only one available that wasn't too advanced. My fun fact is I invented submarines."

That seemed to snap the other guy out of his reverie. "I... what?"

"Well I thought I did. I had these whole schematics for underwater cars with telescopes sticking out from the top to look for ships, but then my uncle Bato brought me a book about submarines for Christmas and I cried for two days."

The other guy was silent.

Sokka grinned, "I was 4."

"Oh! I thought you were just weird." He said, before clapping a hand over his mouth. "No wait! I mean-"

"Nah, don't sweat it dude, that's why I tell that story the way I do, for the punchline! Don’t worry about it.

“Oh, okay.”

“Your turn!"

"Uh, well my name is Zuko Sozin, I'm a senior English major with creative writing and theater minors. I’m also taking this for an elective and my fun fact is… I hate fun facts"

He snorted, "Fair, but come on, you gotta give me more than that."

"Um... I’ve trained with swords?”

Sokka gasped. “Do you have them with you?”

“Yes?”

“Show me!”

Zuko’s camera shuddered as he moved his laptop to point at to another wall of the room to show two swords with curved blades leaning against the wall.

“That’s so cool!”

“Thanks, they’re dao swords.”

And then Sokka leaned back and watched Zuko go into the history of dao swords, how they were traditionally used, and how long he’d been learning them. It was like any awkwardness had left Zuko’s body and was replaced with this confidence as he went on about this topic that he clearly loved. It was endearing. As someone who frequently would break out into an enthusiastic TedTalk about what he was doing in his engineering classes, Sokka loved hearing about other people’s passions.

Then, as Zuko was explaining how dual-wielding was much harder than using a single sword, the pop up informing them they would be put back in the main Zoom call in a minute appeared.

“Oh, wow,” Sokka said, “time sure does fly, huh?”

Zuko blinked, “What-? Oh, sorry, I totally took up all of the time.”

“It’s fine! It was really interesting!”

A small smile appeared on Zuko’s face, “Really?”

“Yeah, I only recently started training with a sword.”

That spar returned to Zuko’s eyes, “Oh really? What-”

But then the video cut out and was replaced with a loading screen. Sokka cursed under his breath as he was put back into the larger Zoom call with all the other students in it.

The professor’s video lit up, “Okay, settle down everyone. Now, which group wants to go first?”

While the first group went, Sokka made the split-second decision to start typing in the chat. After double and then triple checking that he was only messaging Zuko, he hit enter.

hey, i know this is kind of forward, but I can talk more about my sword training after class, if you want? here’s my number xxx-xxx-xxxx

Sokka tried to focus on the icebreakers after, but his eyes kept straying to the chat. He and Zuko got through their ice breakers just fine, and Sokka’s fun fact got equal amounts of confused faces and laughs, which was his intention.

And then he was caught up in taking notes on the professor’s explanation of the homework for the next class and then the Zoom call was over. It was only afterwards, as he was replacing the piece of tape over the camera, did he realize he never got a response from Zuko.

He tried to tamp down his disappointment. He had come off pretty strong, he shouldn’t take it personally.

He had a couple of hours until his next class, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. He learned the hard way last semester to keep it on silent, and so he scrolled through Aang’s frantic apology texts over letting Appa get in the room, Hakoda wishing him luck for the semester, and Suki confirming their movie night after her afternoon class. He surprised that in between those texts, there was an unknown number from a couple of minutes ago.

Hey, Zuko here.

Sokka felt his heart stutter and a grin spread across his face as he typed out his reply.

hey! my last class of the day ends at 2, if you want to talk then?

He barely made it into the kitchen before he got a reply.

Sounds good.

Sokka couldn’t get rid of his grin as he typed out Zuko’s name into his contact.

Maybe there were some upsides to online classes.

[itsallavengers]

gee i don't want to bother you you can 100% ignore me but it's been a shitty week panic attacks are stronger than ever and some of my friends keep making fun of my anxiety (i downplay the whole thing so it's not really their fault) could you please give me some light hearted stevetony with italian!tony? ily so much youre a blessing for this world keep being yourself

Steve was going to be honest here: he didn’t like the sun.

 Bucky and Natasha would kill him for slandering the current Mediterranean summer weather like that, but it was true. He was an Irishman. His skin was pale and unused to anything above mild temperatures. Not to mention the fact that it was just damn uncomfortable to sit and sweat with no way to cool down all day. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come on this holiday with his two friends at all, actually. He didn’t like the sun, he didn’t really have the money for it, and he was currently acting as the third wheel to what could have just been Bucky & Natasha’s romantic getaway. But Bucky had asked, and said that Steve needed to take a bit of time off, so here he was. 

Sweating. 

It wasn’t so bad, though. While Nat was off looking around in a little local museum and Bucky was trying to sleep off the hangover from last night, Steve was sitting in a quiet cafe, reading his book and sipping on a latte. He was in the shade to prevent burning, and it was early enough in the morning that the heat wasn’t unbearable. It was actually quite nice.

There was also an incredibly beautiful young man sitting on a table a few feet to his right, nibbling a sandwich and working in a scruffy-looking notebook while he shot Steve occasional furtive glances. That was very nice too. 

He looked to be in his early twenties, and clearly native to the town. They hadn’t picked a touristy spot, which was good for the culture, but bad when it came to the language barrier. And the man didn’t sport any of the typical touristy items; instead lounging around in a breezy white cotton shirt with a few buttons undone, tucked into a pair of form-fitting navy slacks and then ending with some expensive-looking loafers. Atop the dark mess of curls were some aviators, and he wore a black ring on his forefinger that contrasted wonderfully against the olive of his skin. The way he held onto his pen made his fingers flex, and occasionally he would run it over his bottom lip in thought, suck it in, frown for a second before he wrote something else down. 

Yes, Steve may have been staring for a long time now. But in his defence, the man was stunning. Steve could admit he was more than a little enthralled. 

He checked his watch briefly, wondering at what point this was going to get weird and he would have to either approach the other man or leave. He could order another coffee, he supposed-- but too much caffeine gave him a headache. Maybe the man was a regular here. Steve might get to see him tomorrow, maybe smile at him or something.

“hai intenzione di stare lì a fissarmi tutto il giorno o vuoi venire qui?”

Steve blinked, watching the man as he pulled the pen from his mouth and then leaned his head backward, apparently speaking to no one in particular. But then his neck rolled, and he looked Steve right in the eye, his mouth curling into a gorgeously cheeky smile. “I take it you do not speak Italian then?”

Oh. Oh, he was talking to Steve. Fuck. Okay. He spluttered a little and then sat up, resisting the urge to push his hair back or smooth out his shirt. He was calm, he was suave. “I...no,” he stumbled, shaking his head, “was that... sorry, were you talking to me?”

The man nodded, slipping sideways on his chair and then leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees and his hands were clasped in front of him. He was slim, but muscular. Steve could see the way his shirt smoothed over strong arms as he hunched. And now he was face on, Steve could truly get a feel for what the man looked like. Sharp jaw. Hair that fell artistically over his perfectly-proportioned face. The most beautiful hazel eyes Steve had ever goddamn seen. 

“I said, are you going to sit there and stare all day or are you planning on coming over?”

Steve realised he was being spoken to only a second after he’d stopped watching the way the man’s mouth formed the words, his accent thick, but his English perfect. Steve should probably respond to that, shouldn’t he. “Well, if it’s all the same with you,” he began, before cracking a smile and then standing up. In a few strides, he was at the man’s table, slipping into the seat opposite. He was in the sun here, but he figured that he could make the sacrifice, just this once. 

There was a second of silence, and then the man turned to face him again. His eyes were alight, shining in the sunlight and mingled with intrigue. “Was that an Irish accent I heard just then?” He asked, and God, even his voice was beautiful. Steve had never thought voices could be beautiful until today. 

He nodded. “It was. Born and raised there ‘til my mam moved us over to America. We don’t fare quite as well in this sun as you though. Hence the shade I was in.”

“Oh. We can move?” The man waved his hand backward, but Steve was quick to shake his head, simply smiling in reassurance. 

“It’s fine. I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Ah. I’m Tony.” He smiled and leaned his head into his hands, looking across the table at Steve with that fiery smile of his. His fingers traced idly over his notepad as he eyed Steve, and the writings he’d done were absolutely foreign- not even because they were written in a different language, but because they were all just complex-looking equations and diagrams and things Steve couldn’t even name. He didn’t dwell on them though. There were much more interesting things to be looking at just then. 

Leaning back in his chair and throwing an arm casually across the backrest-- and no, not to flex his muscles like Bucky tried to say whenever he did that--  he let his eyes walk slowly up and down Tony’s body, before stopping for a second at his mouth. The pen was back again. A brief thought crossed his mind, and he swallowed it down hastily. That was most definitely not appropriate for the first conversation. 

But Tony looked like he knew exactly what Steve was thinking anyway, because the smile widened and he took the pen back out from between his teeth again, spinning it in those agile fingers of his. “So tell me- what is an Irishman who doesn’t like the sun doing in Italy right now?” He asked, one eyebrow rising curiously. 

Steve explained the situation easily, talking of Bucky and Nat, the vacation they’d all planned, Steve’s need for a little break. In turn, Tony explained how he’d ended up here, him having come from America too, but much longer ago, back when he was a child and his parents had divorced. He talked emphatically and used his hands when he spoke, and Steve found himself hanging on to every word, Tony managing to make everyday events seem like film-plots. Their conversation came easily, like one would with a long-time friend, and soon Steve realised that a whole hour had passed since he and Tony had begun talking. He blinked in surprise at his watch and then felt the back of his neck. “God, I’m gonna burn,” he muttered to himself, popping his collar up. 

Tony pulled a face, clearly unimpressed by the weakness of his pale skin, but then it turned into a smile as he jumped from his seat and grabbed for Steve’s hand, tugging him upward. “I know how to cool you down,” he said enthusiastically, and Steve found himself being pulled into standing and guided out of the cafe. “How much time do you have?”

Well, Natasha wanted him to join her in the museum about ten minutes ago, so-- “no plans for the day,” he said easily, letting Tony guide them through the winding streets, their bodies brushing and their hands linked together while they navigated the people and market-stalls. Tony greeted locals as he passed them by, the Italian words rolling off his tongue easily. Steve hung on to every word he said, not knowing what he meant, but willing to listen to Tony talking like that for the rest of the goddamn day if he wanted to. It was like music. 

Eventually, Steve realised Tony was leading them to the coastline, and he frowned. “I haven’t bought any swim-trunks with me,” he said warily, but Tony just laughed, turning around and walking backwards while he looked up at Steve. 

“Just wear your boxers, they’ll dry off quickly once you get out!”

“I... I don’t--” but Tony was already leading them down a rickety set of wooden steps, winding down the cliff edge. It was a secluded place, and when they reached the bottom, Steve looked around in awe at the beautiful cove he’d been brought to. There was a small outcrop which slid off straight into the sea, and a few feet onward, a dusting of sand covered by the shade of a tree.

Tony beamed at him. “I come here to do work sometimes. Come, come. The water is lovely.” Without a moment of hesitation, he toed off his loafers and then skidded over the outcrop, where he then started to untuck his shirt from his pants. Steve could only watch, somewhat shocked at the man’s lack of embarrassment, as Tony quickly stripped down into his underwear, finally ending with chucking his sunglasses on top of the messy pile of his clothes. His eyes shone with knowing amusement as he looked over his shoulder at Steve. “My eyes are up here,” he commented, and in mortification, Steve hurriedly dragged his gaze away from Tony’s ass. 

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t--” but Tony had already turned back around, stepping off the outcrop and then splashing into the water, being submerged immediately. He came up a second later with a gasp, slicking his curls out of his face with one hand while the other clamped around the outcrop. He swam closer to Steve, who was still stood at the sidelines, a little bamboozled by the recent events. 

“You joining me?” Tony asked, his arms folding on the rocks as he cocked his head at Steve. “I might need-- ah, come se dice.... a water-guard?”

“Lifeguard,” Steve said with a small grin, remembering the conversation he’d had earlier about his part-time job as a pool lifeguard when he’d been a kid in order to afford his first ever car. “And you seem to be doing okay right now.”

Tony hummed, and then very dramatically began to flail around, head dipping under the water. “Oh no!” He declared, “my legs have suddenly stopped working! If only I had someone trained to handle a situation like this to come in and save me!” He sunk below the water again, and Steve rolled his eyes and just tried not to laugh as his hands went to his shirt. 

If Tony didn’t seem to think this was strange, then neither did Steve. 

Once he was down to his boxer briefs, he slid in a little more calmly than Tony had done, bracing himself against the rocks and looking at the other man. Water clung to his skin, making crystal trails, pooling at the dip in his collar-bones. His hair was slicked back, but a piece had fallen into his eyes, and he tucked it behind his ear as he tread the water a few feet away. 

He was right though. It really was lovely and cool. 

Steve smiled, sinking under the surface for a moment in order to wet his hair. He could just about touch the surface, but Tony was considerably smaller than him, so he would have to stick to treading the water. Steve came back up with a gasp and then found himself laughing. “This is not how I imagined my day to go,” he admitted, watching Tony’s face soften. 

Then, slowly, he swam forward, cutting through the water and then settling a hand on Steve’s shoulder softly. It slipped across the damp skin, and Tony watched his own fingers as they trailed across Steve’s pale shoulders. “Me neither,” Tony admitted softly, glancing up at Steve through his thick lashes, “but I’m not going to complain. I met a very hot man and got him out of his clothes in under two hours.”

That made Steve laugh. Never in a million years would he have done this back in America. Not like he even could, really. The Hudson hardly counted as a romantic spot for a swim with the person you’d only met once. But everyone said Europeans were very free-spirited. And from what Steve could see, and, uh, feel, that certainly seemed the case. Tony swam a little closer, his other hand finding Steve’s neck, winding around the side of it delicately and pulling himself in until they were chest to chest. Steve curled his own hand around the other man’s waist, taking a small breath. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been quite as affected by someone as he was with Tony. Not in his whole life. 

“I want to kiss you,” Tony said, his words lilted with the accent, his skin glittering in the sunlight, and it was so damn strange for Steve to think of the fact that Tony had almost grown up in New York as the heir to a huge business like he’d spoken of earlier, all slick and hard-lined and American. This just seemed like it was where Tony belonged, far more than that life ever would be. 

Steve smiled, their noses touching. His hand rose from the water, the sound tinkling melodically, and he gently took Tony’s chin in his hand, tilting it up a little more. “I want to kiss you too,” he admitted, “I want to do a lot of things, actually.”

“Hmm?” Tony’s voice was low, warm, suggestive. “You said you have no plans. I don’t either.” He dipped forward, giving Steve the barest brush of lips before pulling away a fraction again.”You can do whatever you want, tesoro.”

Wow. Those words went straight down south, and Steve swallowed, before dipping down and closing the gap between them hastily. The water swirled around them, Tony draping himself onto Steve as they embraced, and vaguely he realised that this wasn’t a private cove and anyone could walk by if they wanted, but it was still difficult to keep his actions even remotely clean when he had a pretty much naked and willing and wet Tony in his arms, sucking on his bottom lip while his hands worked over Steve’s arms. He tasted like coffee and smelled like apples, and his mouth was a devil, licking into him, nipping and sucking and making little noises when Steve touched him in the right places. It was slow, easy, relaxed. The sun shone through the clear blue sky, lighting up Tony’s face as he leaned back against the rock and shut his eyes happily. Steve wanted to work him over. Wanted to find out what his favourite colour was and how he looked spread out on a bed. Just seeing him like this was driving Steve a little mad. God only knew what would happen when they got home.

He was going to have to do a lot of apologising to Bucky and Nat tonight, because he didn’t think they were going to be seeing anything of him for the rest of the day. 

Or the vacation.

-

ao3 / donate to my kofi

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4 on Xbox & PlayStation 4: New Game Patch (July 16th, 2019)

There’s a Sims 4 update available for players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Update: 07/16/2019 – v1.16

It seems like only yesterday when we added Mouse & Keyboard support to The Sims 4 but that hasn’t stopped us from making improvements based on your feedback while preparing for Island Living. The team has also been hard at work on new features and have addressed some long standing issues so let’s dig in, starting with the new stuff.

New Console Features

Mouse & Keyboard can now be used to bypass the “Press START” screen rather than requiring a controller to get to the Main Menu. That means you can start and finish your Simming session using the control scheme you prefer. Now, where’s the any key?

I’m on a boat… Oh I’m not?!?! Seems that going into First Person view didn’t agree with all Simmers and left some feeling a little ill. Worry not, head to Options > Game Camera and Disable First Person Head Bob for that more on rails feel while you are inside your Sims’ heads.

When entering cheats, Sims would continue their day as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Using a controller, adding cheats could take most of a Sim day if you were unlucky. Now, when entering cheats, the game will pause letting you add all the cheats you want without missing a second of Sim life.

Randomize Traits Button

We all get creative block sometimes, other times we just look for a challenge. Whatever your approach you can now hit the Randomize Traits button in CAS to get a set of traits you might not usually pick for your Sim. Will your Sim be a Jealous, Lazy Goofball or a Genius, Slob who Hates Children? Let the dice decide.

Lounge Chair

Everyone (even you) gets a FREE LOUNGE CHAIR! That’s right, we’ve added a delightfully Portable Lounge Chair, so you can now lounge by the pool they way you’ve always wanted and you don’t even need to wake at the crack of dawn to put your towel down.

Pride Content

Created in partnership with the It Gets Better Project you can show your pride with some fantastically colorful new clothing. From the rainbow leggings to the body suit and new t-shirts your Sim can show their Pride. In addition, we’ve also included a selection of decorative Pride flags for hanging on your Sims’ walls. Finally, we’ve updated our bathroom door sets in-game so that every bathroom door also includes a gender-neutral version for builders, and includes a full suite of color swatches for mixing and matching to your heart’s content. Happy Pride Month everyone, even if we did get here a little late!

Stilt Foundations

Or as we like to call them, High Heels for your House. Or House Heels. These things don’t need to be limited to just the tropics. Stilts are a great partner in crime to terrain manipulated and flat lots, in any biosphere. You can find them in Build Mode alongside all the other regular Foundation types. Now go get your stilt on.

Further Eaves Extension

Now you can pull your Eaves… further.

Freelancer Career

Freelancer is a brand-new type of career. Sims can choose to be a Freelance Artist, Programmer, or Writer, and will work through an agency that will connect them with a variety of gigs. Unlike other careers, there’s no defined work schedule to worry yourself over. Need some extra Simoleons? Smash through a few gigs in a single day and get paid! Need some time off? No problem – plenty of gigs will be waiting for you when you’re ready to get back to work. Your office is wherever you want it to be. Perhaps a quiet corner in the local library, or maybe you’d prefer a home office decked out in the new set of office furniture? You’re your own boss, so the choice is yours! Completion of gigs across the different agencies will lead to a variety of rewards, and ever-increasing pay.

New Objects

This free set of home office furniture and decor is ideal for your burgeoning Freelancer Sims!

Bookcase: Edgier LadderCase

Desk: Anglette Desk

Desk Chair: The Professional

End Table: A Cute Anglette

Decor: Not So Simple Pen Holder

Decor: Hand Reference Model

Decor: Robo, The Friendly Circuitry Kit

Decor: The Note Book

Laptop: FreeRoam Portable Computing Device

Wall Decor: Better As A Pair Of Paintings

Wall Decor: Supreme Freelancer Award

Doors of many Colors

Knock knock! Who’s there? Color! Color who? 350 new color swatches spread across all of the doors. Yeah, maybe the future as a stand up comedian isn’t in my future after all.

New Lot Traits

Clothing Optional: This new venue-only lot trait will inspire your Sims to — you guessed it — get nude.

Off-The-Grid: Now you can live out your nomadic fantasy on any lot. Applying this lot trait will remove your Sim’s use of power and running water, but on the upside it keeps your bills down. Keep a lookout for existing objects with the “Works Off-The-Grid” note in the Buy Catalog.

New Clothing

Freelancers tend to want comfy, but professional outfits. We’ve got them covered with the following new pieces of clothing.

Women

Men

A cable knit cardigan outfit

A sweater and skirt outfit

A layered sweater

A pair of flats

A collared sweater

A button up shirt

A crewneck sweater

A pair of drawstring pants

Immaculate White Shelf

According to SimGuruGraham, Simmers really REALLY wanted a plain white version of “The Immaculate” shelf available in Buy Mode. Who are we to argue with what SimGuruGraham tells us?

More Toddler Diaper Colors

We added some L’il Swimmies Splashy Diapers! You don’t necessarily have to use them for splashing in the water, but that’s where our brains were at when we made them. We made these not only in anticipation for Island Living, but we also thought you’d appreciate more swimming options for your toddlers to use in the Seasons Kiddie Pool.

Back Float

A new Back Float interaction is available for Sims swimming in the pool. Select the water. Try it out. Take a load off.

Fishing Additions

Brace yourself, we’re about to cast you into a deep dive…

We added several new interactions to allow players to fish in different ways and interact with other Sims around fishing activities.

Sims can perform a few new Fishing-based socials to gain useful info (via UI TNS/Notebook) and push NPCs to Fish.

Fishing is now joinable.

Improved fishing interaction tuning and autonomy to make the interaction more efficient and fun.

Upper skill levels now provide more meaningful rewards, with new Interactions added to Fishing skill levels

New high skill cast interaction “Angle for Big Catch” increases chance of getting rarer fish.

New high-skill VFX visuals on Rare fishing spots.

Ability to now “Mentor Sims in Fishing.”

Fishing UI has improved information, including Notebook info with Bait information.

Tuning for fish that can be caught is unique per world & more fishing spots added to some of our previously shipped worlds.

New bait preference system applied to most existing fish that modify catch chances.

Ceiling Fan Updates

Ceiling Fans will now cool a room if you have Seasons and the fan is on. Oh yeah, speaking of which, we also added the ability to turn them On and Off. And while we were at it, we figured we’d make them dry off damp Sims too.

Ceiling Objects Build Sort

We also added a new Ceiling Objects Build sort category to make things like Fans easier to find.

Swimming Things

There is now a chance for interesting things to happen to your Sims while swimming, like getting a cramp or losing their suit (eek!). Swimming also now gives your Sims a boost in Fitness skill gain.

Part-Time Jobs Update

And last but not least (you still with me?) all existing Part-Time Jobs are no longer just for Teens. That’s right, now elders could work as Fast Food Employees. Young Adults could be Babysitters if they want. Why not? The Part-Time world is your oyster. Oh oh oh — and one last thing on that note: You can now have two Part-Time Jobs at once and pick between shifts. Wowee.

The green pulsing of the snap cursor would previously appear every 20-30 seconds for some players even if you were using a Mouse & Keyboard. That pulse is under control now, unless you are using snap cursor in which case you should expect to see it.

Rooms can now be resized with the Mouse & Keyboard control scheme.

Talking of Mouse & Keyboard, if you use them you can live drag objects now.

Simmers using a Mouse & Keyboard can now make use of edge scrolling. We had the option before but it didn’t work as you might have thought.

The Virtual Cursor may be virtual but it doesn’t mean it was meant to disappear after you came out of build mode.

Sims will travel to the correct venue when invited out to an event by a NPC Sim.

Fixed an issue where the UI would occasionally indicate that a Sim was at work, when they were actually at home, which would block access to the Sim’s inventory.

Sims will no longer receive random phone calls from other Sims between the hours of 8pm and 10am, allowing them to enjoy a full – and speedy – night’s sleep.

Fixed an issue where multiple music tracks could end up looping and playing simultaneously.

Expecting parents will once again be able to “Take Family Leave” via their phone to take time off from work.

Fixed an issue where a Sim who had cheated with another Sim romantically, were then unable to successfully propose to that Sim and get married.

Fixed an issue where Sims in the eSport Gamer branch of the Tech Guru career were not earning money when programming video games.

The Pick Up Serving Together interaction will no longer cause one of the Sims involved to fail to route to the food.

Fixed an issue where interactions on the Digitalistic Sketchpad object would disappear if a Sim’s actions were canceled while they were picking up the Digitalistic Sketchpad.

Updated the Digitalistic Sketchpad object so that creating paintings on it will satisfy Aspiration goals and work tasks that involve painting.

Fixed an issue with the Lin-Z Smart Speaker, where the interaction to hire a Gardener would remain unselectable, even when the home had a garden that needed tending.

Sims will now look at the Lin-Z Smart Speaker when speaking to it.

The “Pre-Owned Painter’s Easel”, that’s unlocked via the Painter career, will now provide an Inspirational emotional aura, instead of a Focused emotional aura.

Fixed an issue where staircases were not rendering properly while held by a mouse cursor.

Adjusted icons of Lunar New Year recipes to better display what food you’re looking at within an inventory.

The children’s Yin & Yang Necklace will no longer clip into their neck when wearing a shirt that’s tucked in.

The “CleanRoom” wall pattern, which was previously missing a name for its 5th color variant, has now had that specific color variant named “Like Sand”.

A new content alert icon has been added to individual careers within the Select a Career panel, to help players find new careers that have been added to their game.

“Shift clicking” with the controller (X and Circle (PlayStation 4) or A and B (Xbox One)) at the same time on the Age Up menu will no longer cause menus to overlap.

Note: If a save file created prior to this update contains a Sim that’s already in this bad state, simply traveling to another lot with that Sim will permanently fix this issue.

As far as I’m aware, this is the only instance in the game where a color variant has been given a unique name. Huh… neat!

Scientists will once again wear an appropriate outfit when going to work even if StrangerVille is not installed.

The “Chemical Analyzer” object can now be purchased from Build Mode without having to use a cheat.

Made updates to the list of valid objects that can be selected as the outcome of the SimRay’s “Transform Object” interaction.

Fixed an issue where objects from multiple festivals were appearing on top of each other in the neighborhood simultaneously.

Apartment landlords will now leave the apartment immediately after addressing a tenant’s complaint.

Added the ability for Sims with the Vegetarian trait to hire a Vegetarian Caterer by clicking on Stoves or Refrigerators.

Vegetarian Sims will no longer enjoy eating Mud Carp.

Fixed an issue where hungry pets would not eat from food bowls autonomously.

The pet toy box will no longer have its position rotated in a random direction when a Sim returns home from an active career.

Fixed an issue where the “Litter-Matic Scoop-Free” litterbox wasn’t looking clean after cat poop had been removed.

Fixed an issue with the Pet Adoption Agency, where they would occasionally show up at a Sim’s home without any pets to adopt, and would simply stand at the home’s front door and not do anything.

The Hide/Show filter now does as you’d expect while using the Simstagram pet interaction.

Fishing in Brindleton Bay shouldn’t have your Sim facing the wrong direction. No more fishing the land and wondering why the fish aren’t biting.

Updated the Gardening career so that Sims will earn more than 10 Simoleons per completed work shift.

Fixed an issue where on days where no holiday was set to occur, a Sim’s work schedule would update to falsely indicate that the day was a Holiday just prior to going to work, causing the Sim to stay home for the day.

Fixed an issue where NPC Sims were not autonomously using the skating rinks that appear in certain neighborhoods.

Toddlers will no longer attempt to queue up behavior to “Run Inside” during bad weather conditions if they’re already inside.

Fixed an issue where Sims voices could not be heard when Singing Together around a Holiday Tree if City Living was not installed.

You’ll now be able to cancel the Compel to Drink interaction after choosing to feed on a Scarecrow.

The Acting career task to “Get Into Hair and Makeup” can be successfully completed once again.

Fixed an issue where celebrity Sims who had been set to use their normal walkstyle were switching back to using the celebrity walkstyle after traveling to certain types of venues.

Three star celebrity Sims will no longer use the celebrity walkstyle.

Your Sims can now pester… er… visit, any campers of their choosing in Granite Falls.

Fixed an error where Sims would get stuck in the Forest Hideaway lot in Granite Falls.

Simmers who have City Living installed can now put the Siopao and Ensaymada dishes on their restaurant’s menu.

Bat!

Grand Master Vampires know all, or so they thought. Now they can continue to earn points. Does that make them a Grand Grand Master?

Vampire NPCs shouldn’t get appear at a venue and prevent you from saving.

Vampire NPCs shouldn’t have their Vampire Energy drained after a load which allows them to continue with their expected autonomous behavior.

Sim Form!

The following environment objects, which were created for StrangerVille, have been added to the Build Mode debug catalog to allow placement on lots. Players must enter the bb.showhiddenobjects cheat before they can be seen in the catalog.

Added proper images to the Officer and Covert Operator branches of the Military career.

Removed the “Question about Spores in Lab” interaction for Sims who have already acquired the Modified Hazmat Suit.

Removed the “Heart of the Pack” styled look from Create a Sim, as it was authored using clothing that’s only available to Sims that have joined the Military career.

Updated the pack information panel on the main menu to not display world objects under the Build Mode Items.

10 different cacti

3 different Joshua trees

3 different RVs

2 clusters of rocks

2 junked cars

A group of desert flowers

A military truck

A tire

A parking stop

Holiday Celebration Pack

The Crown Roast platter will now show a partially eaten state when half of its servings have been taken.

PlayStation 4

Some makes of keyboard are extremely fancy with lots of features, one of those features appears to have been the ability to prevent the mouse from being used. We’ve made improvements in this area.

As usual, we have new creations which were created and shared by members of the Sims Community. You can find them in My Library.

There we are, a lot of changes to take us further into 2019. Now I’m off to get my Sims some sun, sea and fun in The Sims 4 Island Living.

SimGuruLegacy

[theonyxpath]

Full disclosure: with flying to Gen Con being two days away, my brain is squirming like a toad. So, quick points from the meeting, all arranged haphazardly just like that toad.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter Woohoo: With the TC: Aberrant KS down to it’s last day, we are just thrilled by the number and quality of backers and their commentary. Considering that the original Trinity Continuum KS was for both the Core and TC: Aeon and this one is mostly for one book, it really speaks volumes for how the game is gripping people’s imaginations! Big thanks also to our “KS Concierge” James Bell for his tireless efforts and never-flagging good humor all through this one! (I’ll see James at Gen Con to deliver my personal thanks and buy him a drink or twenty!)

V5 Chicago By Night Response: We sent out the Backer PDF for CbyN last week and the comments have been all about how great it looks, and how fantastic the writing is. It’s been so wonderful to hear that our first V5 book has been given top marks for quality! We particularly love hearing how we were able to show how V5 can work in a concrete way. This was always what we intended for a new CbyN, so it’s really gratifying for the whole team! Thanks for all your positive feedback!

Dark Eras 2 art by Leo Albiero

GenCon Reminder: Like I said, going there in two days. Mighty Matt McElroy and I are representing for Onyx Path and will be walking around, hanging at our sales partners’ (Studio2 and Indie Press Revolution) booths. We’ll also stop in to where The Wrecking Crew are running demos of our games in the gaming area, and, of course, running our panels. We’ll be joined by Eddy Webb and some of our other creators on the panels, and we look forward to answering your questions. We will not have a booth – this year we chose not to have one. We’ll see if that’s a great idea, or a horrible, horrible mistake.

Twitch Goodness: If you missed it, last week we started our Onyx Path Twitch Kickoff, with TC:Aberrant and other actual play sessions, interviews, and an entire episode of the Onyx Pathcast that was broadcast live on Twitch. (Fear not, it’ll be up in audio-only form as usual for the Pathcast!) We are trying out a lot of different content; either our own or by hosting other folks’ streams, and not coincidentally moving towards “Affiliate Status”, which gives us even more fun ways for everyone to enjoy Twitch streams. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/459571845

VtR2 Spilled Blood art by Aaron Riley

5e Creature Collection Kickstarter Coming: Jon Hodgson and his crew at Handiworks Games are reaaaalllly close to launching the Kickstarter campaign for what promises to be an absolutely gorgeous book of Scarred Lands monsters! One of the cool things about this collaboration has been that it is also the launch of a new official Onyx Path Kickstarter account. Since we’ve started, our KSs have been run off of my account, with my picture in the corner and folks sending comments and questions directly to me even if it has actually been our KS “concierge” James who is running them. So Jon can run this one for Creature Collection, and we’ll see how to best migrate other KSs over to the official Onyx Path Kickstarters. Here’s a preview of the book: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/283745/Scarred-Lands-Creature-Collection-Preview-2

Next Week’s MMN Blog Guest-blogger: Will be Dixie! She volunteered and so she gets the prize! We’ll send photos of the Con – some might even be worth showing off – and any other tidbits we glean out of the madness.

New Onyx Path Team Shirt Sizes Needed: Yes, we pretty much closed our meeting with this request from Mighty Matt, and we’re hoping to get these made up in time to wear to PAX Unplugged in the Fall. It has been a few years since the first official team shirt, and our crew thinks it’s time to get some that are a bit more lightweight than our previous ones. Which just goes to demonstrate that not all of our meeting is about our amazing:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

The Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter HAS ONE DAY LEFT!

We’ve already passed Stretch Goals that are enabling us to recreate missing first edition books, a compilation of the web comic, three sections of a book statting out the characters, digital wallpaper and dice, a backer-only T-Shirt, a jumpstart adventure, two novellas, an art budget increase, a three-part scenario including a Jumpstart called Novas Worldwide, and:

N!WE N!TERNATIONAL WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT – A new PDF product discussing the N!WE, the performers and industry personnel, and various elements of professional wrestling in the world of Aberrant!

At $115,000 and climbing, we’ve still got more fantastic Stretch Goal rewards to come, so come check it out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aberrant

Right now, we are working on Deviant: The Renegade as our next Kickstarter campaign, although the 5e Creature Collection for Scarred Lands may premiere first on our new official Onyx Path Kickstarter account!

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the crew interviewing fledgling writer and developer, beer expert, and all-around Geist fanatic, Mike Tomasek: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Our Twitch channel has been alive with content over the last week, and you can find it right here:  https://www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath So many of our fans and customers have been engaging with the livestreams we’ve been running through the channel, and we’re so grateful for your involvement in everything we’ve been doing. If you missed any of the episodes of Collateral Damage, the interviews with Matthew Dawkins, Eddy Webb, or the live Onyx Pathcast, or indeed any of the other videos we’ve put up, do not despair! Those videos have all been migrated to YouTube so you can watch them again. Our channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOnyxPath

In other news, here’s The Story Told Podcast‘s review of the C20 Player’s Guide: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-32-changeling-the-dreaming-20th-anniversary-edition-players-guide-review

Have you been watching one of the best Exalted actual plays ever produced? If not, now’s the time to catch up with Beamduck‘s show right here: https://www.twitch.tv/beanduck

It’s Episode 31 of Occultists Anonymous, the Mage: The Awakening actual play. Wyrd the Seer prepares for the meeting with Mr. Johnson. Mammon readies for company. Atratus and Songbird have some study time. Here’s a link: https://youtu.be/nrAg-msByS0

Do check our Fandible for a two part actual play of Monarchies of Mau! http://www.fandible.com/

Strange Assembly perform a review of one of the most highly-acclaimed V20 sourcebooks, Anarchs Unbound: https://www.strangeassembly.com/2019/review-anarchs-unbound-vampire-the-masquerade

Review – Anarchs Unbound (Vampire: the Masquerade)

And do keep up with the Saving Throw show for an actual play of Pirates of Pugmire too! https://www.twitch.tv/SavingThrowShow

And if you’re looking for some background into the history of Aberrant, check out the Keeper of the Archive‘s series on Aberrant 1st Edition: https://youtu.be/9qkrQeLqZWQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3SkWNjQyHc

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

Running RIGHT NOW until August 11 is the Dog Days Of Summer Sale! 50% many of our Deluxe Editions!

It’s time for the Christmas In July Sale! Wild savings on PDFs all across DTRPG, including ours! Check it out – it runs until TOMORROW!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we are offering our monthly Exalted 3rd PDFs AND the Exalted 3rd Music Suites #2: Dreams of the Second Age music files on DTRPG!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th THIS WEEK! Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Development

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Editing

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Post-Editing Development

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

VtR Spilled Blood – All the art that is in is approved. Felipe is working on stuff.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Trinity Continuum Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea – Contracted.

TCFBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – Gonna just get Michele to do this one

DR:E Jumpstart – Sam Denmark is doing this.

Deviant for KS – Contracted.

In Layout

M20 Book of the Fallen – Files with Josh

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Proofing

Shunned By the Moon – Errata gathering.

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams – Next week.

V5: Chicago – Backer PDF sent, errata coming in.

Geist 2e

Signs of Sorcery – Inputting Errata.

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe at Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – At Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Shipped to Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Book of Oblivion – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Scion Ready-Made Characters – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – Files uploaded to printer, waiting for proofs.

Trinity Aeon – Files uploaded to printer, waiting for proofs.

DR: E – final PDF off for approval

EX3 Music Suite #2: Dreams of the Second Age – for sale on Weds.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Gen Con is this week! I started going in 1987 – missed a couple of years, so I’m going to say 30 years of going to the coolest congregation of fellow gamers that still holds the crown as the biggest TTRPG convention evah!

[lookbluesoup]

OC Interview Meme

Tagged by @tarberrymentats and @wastelandwandererstuff​ B)

SORRY IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET TO THIS GUYS spring break kept me busy xD But I AM BACK NOW AND READY TO ANSWER THESE TAGS THANK U ALL <33 It’s been a blast getting to read about everyone’s Fallout characters ;w; I’m trying to get braver about leaving comments/reblogs but in the meantime just know I SEE YOUR AWESOME CHARACTERS and I APPRECIATE THEM.

This was actually a challenge answering from Nate’s POV xD There’s stuff that I KNOW ABOUT HIM AND WANT TO SHARE but he wouldn’t volunteer or he wouldn’t view the same way so… take it for what it is! And feel free to ask questions! ;w;

It is long. Long long long. Not sorry. 16, 19, 28, and 33 are my favorites c;

1. What is your name?

Oh. Wow. We’re starting this interview off with some tough ones, hunh? Uhh… hm. My name. My name… Let me think. (overly dramatic pause) Nathaniel Christian Ronan? Yeah. That sounds right.

2. Do you know why are you named that?

I was told my name means “God has given,” because my parents didn’t actually think they’d be able to have a second kid. That and Pops was an army chaplain - wanted me to have a name reflecting the faith. He was very literal in his approach. Ronan is an Irish surname, which seemed a lot more important 200 years ago than it does today. It means… uh, oh, shoot, I used to know… Don’t worry, it’ll come to me.

3. Are you single or taken?

(chuckles) Sorry folks, my roving days are over. Got a nosy reporter waiting for me back in Diamond City... whatever time I’ve got left I’m giving it to her.

4. Have any abilities or powers?

Powers? What, like, superpowers? That’d be awesome but, hah, no. Though I’ve been told my ability to talk myself out of trouble is uncanny. My martinis were legendary, and still would be if I find the ingredients for them in this apocalyptic wasteland. Friends say I’ve got a good ear for music… Oh, and ventriloquism. That’s always fun.

5. Stop being a Mary Sue.

I know you are but what am I?

6. What’s your eye color?

Blue, like my grandmother. (blinks dramatically several times for emphasis)

7. How about your hair color?

Coal back. (runs a hand through it almost nervously) And holding up better than the rest of me, considering the complete lack of well-deserved grey hair.

8. Have any family members?

I have a son, Shaun. Piper gave me roots, and Nat’s pretty much my little sister, too, at this point. The Railroad’s been more family to me than most of my own blood ever was.

9. Oh? How about pets?

Legs Washington, an orphaned radstag I brought to the Castle. He’s a bit of a mascot for the men, follows Shaun everywhere. Yeah, it’s adorable.

10. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like?

You guess? Look, after this interview, I’m taking you to the Castle to meet them yourself. Your life will be changed. There’s plenty to dislike about the Commonwealth, enough to go mad over. It’s not exactly the charming old homestead of days gone by. But we’re making it better one day at a time.

11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do?

Hah! “Duck and Cover” is a big one. Got me suspended from Railroad HQ once, though. I still say that was Deacon’s fault. I like long walks through the woods, playing baseball with Shaun, and a General’s work is never done but it does bring fulfillment. I like all those activities infinitely better when Piper’s around. Is that mushy? God, that sounds mushy. (smiles shamelessly)

12. Have you ever hurt anyone in any way before?

Yeah. Some deserved it… some I’m still trying to make up for.

13. Ever… killed anyone before?

(stops smiling) Yeah. I have. You want a kill count? Six-word soundbites about all the blood and screams and the way men look when they realize they’re about to die? It’s not a fun fact. It’s not fun. Next question.

14. Name your worst habits?

I’m afraid that information’s classified. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. OH! LITTLE SEAL. That’s what Ronan means! Yeah, you know, like, selkie babies.

15. Are you gay, straight or bisexual?

Aha… seriously? I’m Pipersexual, end of story. Unless you count the undying affection between my best mate Deacon, and me, which I’ve been told occasionally inspires jealousy. Honestly, I never gave putting a name to my romantic inclinations much thought. It’s always been women, but maybe I just never met the right man.

16. Do you look up to anyone at all?

Piper, for sure. She’s - the way she sees the world? It gives me hope. She’s brave, brave enough to fight for what she believes in. No matter how bad it gets she always finds a light to hold onto, somehow, and keep going. And she’s genuine. I didn’t know what courage really was until I met her. Scribbles’ friendship is… a hell of a lot more than I deserve. I wouldn’t be the same without it. And, God, she’s funny. Sweet, and - a-ha, hm… we’d be here all day if I tried to list all the reasons why I love her.

I also have immense respect for Nick Valentine. He’s a good guy. Without ‘im, I might still be chasing my tail out in the woods somewhere. Or worse. Nick was a friend to me when I needed it most, put everything on the line to help me find my son - didn’t even hesitate. I’ll never be able to repay him for that.

17. What kind of animal are you?

One of a kind. (winks)

18. Do you go to school?

The Commonwealth has a way of schooling everyone, doesn’t it? I’m a bit too old for arithmetic and hall passes, but I never stop learning, if that’s what you mean.

19. Ever want to marry and have kids one day?

I’-ve… been down that road before. (breaks eye contact abruptly) Times were uncertain enough when Shaun was born. Now? Scribbles and I roll the dice every day of our lives. Asking her to marry me – starting over – was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. A baby would be, uh, a really big change. (smiles briefly, uncertain) Maybe if – no, I don’t know. Piper’s never shown any desire for something like that. If she did – even if she did... (sighs) I – look. Let’s just move on, okay?

20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys?

Oh yeah, I have an ensemble of groupies that follow me around the wasteland with a pack brahmin and an eyebot.They pitch my tent for me and cook all my meals. I pay for services with my autograph instead of caps. (rolls eyes, but keeps a smile)

21. What are you most afraid of?

Losing someone I love. I know we don’t get any guarantees out here in the wasteland, but… loss never gets any easier. It makes it hard to open up, y’know? I spent a long time keeping folks who cared about me at arm’s length, and some days it’s still a challenge.

22. What do you usually wear?

What you see is what you get! Derbys, slacks, a shirt as white as I can get it in these conditions, and a black vest, because that never goes out of style. My favorite hat is - take a look at this. It’s a bicorne. Has anyone worn that since the French Revolution? It’s great. I love it. Piper doesn’t.

23. What’s one food that tempts you?

You know what I miss? Chocolate. I’d kill for chocolate. … kidding.

24. Am I annoying to you?

Hah! I married a journalist. This is just another Tuesday.

25. Well, it’s still not over!

Look, if I’m not back by seven…

26. What class are you (low/middle/high)?

I mean… it’s not like anyone’s ‘wealth’ compares to what it was like before the war. I’m not living off charred molerat, but I certainly won’t be moving into the Upper Stands anytime soon. Most of what I have, I made myself.

27. How many friends do you have?

More than I deserve. Piper and Deacon are probably my two best friends though. Nick, Preston, and Kent oughta be mentioned, too.

28. What are your thoughts on pie?

You mean those damn perfectly preserved slices stuck in the Port-A-Diners? God, I’ve tried everything. I spent an entire afternoon trying to break in. What is the glass even made of? I couldn’t put a scratch on it. You have to just keep pushing the button. Over and over. I’m convinced it’s all some Vault-Tec conspiracy. There is no pie. The pie is a lie. Piper says she managed it once, but I don’t believe her.

29. Favorite drink?

Nuka cherry! No question.

30. What’s your favorite place?

There’s a spot up at the top of Diamond City. I mean the top top, even higher than the Stands. Clear night with a full moon? You can see for miles. Can’t be beat.

31. Are you interested in anyone?

You’ve - been listening, right? Aha, was I unclear about being madly in love?

32. That was a stupid question…

You’d be surprised how often it gets asked. (chuckles)

33. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean?

Lake. Definitely. I’m marginally less likely to get eaten there. That being said, I was up in Maine once, went out to pick lure weed. You know, those radioactive yellow flowers that grow in muddy ponds? Bad idea.Terrible idea. Maine is a terrible place and I will not be building a summer home there e-ver.

34. What’s your type?

Kickass reporters with the brightest hazel eyes you’ve ever seen, hair like Aphrodite, and a smile to make you melt.

35. Any fetishes?

Look, you’re very nice. Really. And I appreciate the interest, but ah, this isn’t any of your business. Only one person gets to ask me about those and - you aren’t her.

36. Camping or outdoors?

Camping? Oh man, those were the days. An RV trip would be the bomb. It’s not much of an option these days. But I’m used to sleeping rough, and I gotta admit, it has its charm.

[flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash]

Irresistible Danger - Part 48

Synopsis:  After being caught outside the compound on your own, Negan decides to punish you in the best way possible ;)

Masterlist for previous chapters

Author: http://flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash.tumblr.com/

I also have this up on AO3 , Wattpad, and FF.net

Characters: Negan x female reader

Words: 4,645

Warnings: nsfw, swearing, smut (!!!)

A Midnight Snack

The two of you moved in sync around the kitchen, as for the first time in a while you were demoted to assistant chef, while Negan took over. You helped him fetch needed items, getting a wooden spoon out of a drawer here and pulling out some spices there. He took his cooking skills seriously, gently barking out orders when he needed help, while you obtained the proper items and observed his sauce-making process with interest. When he seemed to have things mostly under control, you grabbed two place settings, arranging the silverware and glasses of water at the kitchen island sitting in the middle of the tiled room.

 Leaning a hip against the counter next to the stove, you watched as Negan stirred the sauce in a steady, counterclockwise direction. He looked sexy as hell, and you wondered why more men weren’t so open about their cooking abilities. Didn’t they realize how attractive it was to watch a man, who usually tried to act tough and serious, delicately dice garlic and add just the right amount of spices? Or maybe it was just attractive to you? Either way, it was arousing to watch.

 He brought the spoon up to his mouth, tasting the sauce and licking his lips. Considering the flavor for a moment, he then grabbed the black pepper from the counter and grinded some into the pot, before resuming his steady stirring. Your stomach gave another growl at the tangy, delicious smell of the sauce, and you didn’t hesitate when he lifted the spoon out of the pot again, this time bringing it towards you. His other hand cupped underneath it, ready to catch any drops that might fall.

 He put the end of the spoon up to your mouth, and you tasted the sauce, licking your own lips and giving a nod of approval.

 “Holy crap, that’s delicious!”

 He smiled in response, pleased with your reaction. “Told ya spaghetti is my fucking specialty, doll.”

 With that, he grabbed the two plates of noodles, which you had reheated in the microwave, and spooned a liberal amount of the sauce out on top. Once the plates were settled back onto the counter, he tugged off the still-spotless apron and wadded it into a ball before tossing it back in the general direction of the neatly folded pile. You couldn’t even complain, not when your stomach was dragging you towards the food that awaited.

 The two of you took your plates over to the island and settled side by side on the barstools, grabbing your forks and eagerly digging in. You had no clue why Negan even bothered getting trays of food from the kitchen, since he was a damn fantastic cook on his own. You internally grinned at the thought of him coming down and helping you cook on a regular basis. Course, that probably wouldn’t be a very smart idea, since Ben might really lose his shit if Negan tried to take his spot as your assistant.

 Now that your hunger pangs were lessening, you broke the silence with a question. “So, was it you who also made the chocolate cake?”

 You glanced over in time to see his lips curl up slightly before he took another bite. “Nah, much as I’d love to take the credit, that was Ben and Simon.”

 You almost toppled right off the barstool at that. “Ben? AND Simon?”

 “Yea,” he said around a mouthful of spaghetti. “I think it was mostly Ben, but Simon said he ‘helped out’ by taste testing it when it was done, to make sure it turned out alright. I swear he’s gonna turn into a fucking cake one of these days, with that sweet tooth of his.”

 You grinned at the mental image of Ben trying to keep his cool and cook while alone with Simon. Oh yea, you were going to have a lot of fun teasing Ben about that one. The jerk hadn’t even hinted to you about the cake, although it now made sense why he had been so insistent on you looking nice for Negan and taking the date seriously.

 “So, is Simon sticking around for a while, then?” you questioned. You hoped so, for Ben’s sake.

 Twirling some spaghetti on his fork, Negan shifted on the stool so that his warm thigh pressed up against the length of yours. You weren’t sure if you found the gesture comforting or a turn on...was it possible for it to be both?

 “Yea, for the time being. Eventually I’ll probably send him back to an outpost, but for now, I figure I’ll let him stay here. All he could fucking talk about was the quality of the food, so if I make him leave so soon, he might commit a fucking mutiny on me for the chance at another round of ice cream.”

 You wondered if Simon was sticking around to make up for the loss of Dwight, who was apparently still in a cell, since you hadn’t seen him around. You thought of asking Negan about him, but didn’t want to ruin the moment. The two of you were in a happy little bubble, and you were unwilling to burst it quite yet.

 Once the plates were empty, minus some smears of sauce, you plucked them and the silverware off the counter and walked over to the sink, Negan following behind with the empty glasses of water. You grabbed a rag and turned on the faucet, starting to wash the dirty dishes. Negan automatically came up on your right, and you barely hid your surprise at the sight of a dish towel in his hands. Deciding not to make a comment, you grabbed the detergent and started on the first plate.

 When you had scrubbed each dish until it was spotless, and rinsed it of soap suds, you handed them off to Negan to dry, giving him verbal directions as to which cupboard or drawer each dish went back in. The situation felt so domestic that it almost didn’t seem real. If only the compound could see their powerful leader now, holding a damp dish towel and putting away forks and spoons.

 When the dishes were finished, you went over to the counter island, wiping the surface of any evidence that someone had been there. Glancing over your shoulder, you froze at the sight of Negan leaning back against the front of the sink, eyes locked down on the movements of your ass as you scrubbed at the countertop. At your ceased movement, he trailed his gaze back up to your face.

 “We really need to get you some new fucking pants,” he drawled.

 You realized that he was referring to the tear across the back of your upper thigh, and turned to face him with a cocked eyebrow. “I thought we already had this conversation, about how there isn’t a dress code here.”

 He stood up from the sink, eyes gleaming with possessive lust. “Yea, well, those should be fucking illegal to wear in public. In fact, I’m not sure I like the idea of you wearing them around anyone that isn’t me.”

 You rolled your eyes at the same time that a spark of desire started in the pit of your stomach. “Really? All over a little flash of thigh? Careful, your caveman tendencies are showing,” you teased.

 Rather than respond, he started across the tiles, intent clear on his face. Instinctually moving backwards, you navigated around the edge of the counter, putting the island between the two of you. Rather than deter him, his expression became even more intense, as he rounded the corner without any hesitation and strode purposefully towards you.

 “Why you runnin’, Red? I thought you wanted to see what big teeth I had.”

 The spark of desire had officially turned into a small inferno that coursed over your skin, despite the total inappropriateness of the setting.

 “Negan! I work in here!”

 “So?” he parried. “I work in my office, but that doesn’t mean I don’t plan on fucking you across my desk in the near future.”

 Unable to contain the gasp that left your lips at the mental image his words created, your body went up in flames as he skirted the last corner and closed the distance between you. His hand came up to wrap around the back of your neck, as he pulled your face up and into him and captured your lips in an unbreakable kiss. Any and all potential resistance left the building at the feel of his mouth against yours.

 The pace was more hurried this time, as he ran his hands down over your sides and cupped your ass in the tight jeans. You moaned into his mouth and lifted a leg to wrap around his hip, trying to meld your body as close to his as physically possible. If you had thought that sleeping with him would diminish some of your lust, you had been sorely mistaken. If anything, it was worse now...since you knew exactly what Negan’s fingers and mouth and cock were capable of.

 He pushed you back against the counter, the edge digging slightly into your lower back, as his mouth left yours and trailed down to your throat, while his fingers flicked open the button on your jeans. You whimpered and grabbed onto the back of his head, fingers tightening in his hair when he nipped at your sensitive flesh. He panted against your skin, giving a low growl when you used the thigh at his hip to arch your pelvis up into his.

 “Jesus, doll, you’re so fucking hot.”

 You rolled your hips into his again, and he gave an honest-to-god snarl, before you felt strong hands at your waist lifting you up off the floor, your ass landing on the cold countertop. He practically tore the jeans down your legs, sneakers and denim hitting the floor to leave you bare from the waist down, before he tugged your shirt over your head. Before you had even had a chance to process his actions, you found yourself naked, spread out on the counter where you and the rest of the kitchen staff usually ate together. Negan was still fully dressed, and you were incredibly turned on by that juxtaposition. Leaning back on your elbows, legs dangling off the edge of the table, you waited to see what he would do next.

 His eyes raked over you like a full-body caress, starting at the top of your head and moving down over your face, which most likely was sporting lust-glazed eyes, flushed cheeks, and a panting, open mouth with lips swollen from his kisses. He moved down over your chest, the curve of your breasts thrusting forward enticingly in this position, then took in the dip of your waist and the curve of your hips. He paused for a long moment at the juncture of your thighs, although your legs were currently pressed together so he probably couldn’t see too much, before he trailed down over your legs, ending with a glance at your toes.

 When he finally lifted his gaze back up to your own, you were practically panting from anticipation, ready to beg him to take off his own clothes or touch you or just do something. Instead, he used another weapon at his disposal, and started talking.

 “Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you look? I’m no artist, but I sure as fuck would give anything for an easel and some paint right now.”

 Trying to keep yourself from melting into a puddle on the floor, you lightly kicked a dangling foot back and forth, and saucily quipped, “There’s a pen and notepad in one of the drawers.”

 His heated gaze stayed on yours, lips curling up into a slight smirk as he stepped up between your legs and closed the distance between your bodies. You gasped at the sensation of his still-clothed body pressed up against your own bare flesh. The fabric of his pants scratched sensually against your inner thighs, and your hands ran up over his shoulders, feeling the hard muscles underneath the soft cotton of his shirt.

 He leaned down and whispered in your ear, “If you’re still able to sass me, then I obviously need to step up my fucking game.”

 You shivered at the puffs of warm breath on your ear, his sexy-as-hell voice escalating your arousal so that your thighs tightened around him automatically. You didn’t even care what words came out of his mouth, so long as he kept talking to you in that sinfully low gravel.

 He chuckled, the vibrations making hair stand up on the back of your neck. “Someone’s awfully eager. If I wasn’t certain I had already fucked you to exhaustion earlier, I might almost be offended, doll. But, I think it’s just that you still want me that...fucking...much.” The last few words were said between nips to your earlobe and a rough kiss to the underside of your jaw.

 “Oh, god,” you gasped, eyes fluttering closed as your fingers pulled frantically at his shirt, wanting him naked, as well. You couldn’t ever remember being turned on by a man this quickly, nor being so ready to scream in frustration strictly from the sound of a man’s voice.  

 “What’s the matter, doll?” he purred, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, before trailing his fingers down over the front of your chest. “Tell daddy what you want.”

 On some level, you realized that he had probably thrown out the ‘daddy’ comment as a joke, or as a way to throw you off balance and make you toss back some sarcastic retort. And, before meeting Negan, you would’ve done just that, or probably even been totally turned off by it.

 So why the hell did the words instead cause moisture to rush between your thighs and an involuntary whimper to leave your lips?

 He stilled above you, obviously as surprised as you were by your reaction. Refusing to open your eyes and see his expression, especially since you would die of mortification if he had an arrogant smirk on his face right now, you instead changed the focus entirely by reaching forward and palming the erection that was pressing into you through his pants. When he let out a groan in response, you knew the distraction had worked.

 He pulled his hips back out of reach, and before you could complain, his mouth started a downward trail, stopping to suck and lick your breasts until the nipples were hard and shining with saliva. But he didn’t stop there.

 It took until his mouth was moving down over your stomach, teeth nipping at your hip bone, before you realized his intent. Eyes flying open, you looked down the front of your body, elbows almost giving out at the sight of his face hovering right over your wet cunt. Using two fingers, he spread your lips, exposing the gathered moisture to the cool air, his eyes fixated on the sight. Before you could decide whether or not to be embarrassed by his close scrutiny, he lifted his gaze and locked eyes with you, the breath rushing out of your lungs at the amber flames that pinned you to the counter. Without looking away, he raised your legs up so that the back of your thighs were resting on his cotton-covered shoulders, before lowering his face and pressing his mouth into you.

 At the first touch of his tongue, you immediately broke eye contact, head falling backwards with a moan as he licked you from ass to clit. He gave a low groan that vibrated all through your body before licking again, this time dipping his tongue inside of you, as if trying to gather up as much of the wetness as he could. Your elbows officially lost the battle, your upper back falling to the cool counter as your hips arched up into his face, unsure if they wanted to get away from the overwhelming, yet heavenly, sensations or press closer.

 He wrapped both his arms around your thighs, hands hard on your hips to anchor you in place. His tongue slipped through your folds before latching onto your clit this time, and he gave it a light suck that caused you to whine and struggle helplessly in his grasp.

 “Fuck...oh, fuck, Negan!” you moaned, one hand scrabbling helplessly at the slippery surface of the counter, while the other one reached down, nails digging into his wrist for stability. Between his words earlier and now this, it was obvious that Negan’s mouth had been created solely for the purpose of driving women wild. And he knew it.

 After what could’ve been a few moments or a few minutes of the delicious torture (time had no meaning to you, at this point), he upped the intensity by freeing his wrist from your death grip and bringing the hand down between your thighs. Slowly pushing two fingers deep inside you, he hooked them on the spot that caused you to almost bow right off the counter. His tongue continued to swirl around your clit as his lips sucked lightly, in counterpoint to the steady pace of his fingers moving in and out, rubbing against that magical spot inside of you with each thrust.

 When he latched onto your clit and shook his head quickly back and forth with a groan, you were done for, body convulsing as the orgasm washed over you like a tidal wave, leaving you drenched and trembling and utterly wrecked.

 You were still coming down from the high, heart pounding and out of breath, as he kissed his way down your inner thigh, rubbing his beard on your sensitive flesh like a cat. Pushing weakly at his head, you twisted away from the overwhelming sensations. He lifted his head, eyes coasting up over your still-trembling and sweat-covered body, before he fixed you with an arrogant smirk.

 “Sensitive, doll?”

 You wanted to say something sarcastic, but you couldn’t even find the energy needed to cock an eyebrow at him, let alone form words, so instead opted for aggressively panting in his direction and giving a half-hearted mental response of ‘asshole’.

 He chuckled, obviously pleased with his handiwork, and straightened up so that he was looming over you. His jaw clenched at the sight of you spread out before him, eyes scanning as if he were trying to memorize every detail. Finally finding some strength reservoirs, you sat up, using a hand around the back of his neck to pull his mouth down to yours. The musky sweetness of him was overlaid with the taste of your own juices, and the concoction served to kickstart your desire all over again.

 Deciding that it was time to wipe the arrogant smile off his face, you reached forward and started undoing his belt. Once it was unbuckled, and the button and zipper were released, you reached within and pulled out his hard, weeping cock, giving it a firm stroke with your hand. His answering grunt caused heat to pool low in your stomach, and you used the precum leaking from the tip to coat his erection for a smoother stroke, giving an arrogant grin of your own when his hips canted forward into your grip. You both watched, mesmerized, while you stroked his erection as it bobbed between your legs over the countertop, encouraging groans of pleasure coming from the man above you.

 Pulling your gaze away from the sight, you looked up at him, taking in his flushed face and the vein straining along the side of his throat. Gone was the arrogant smirk, replaced with an open-mouthed look of pleasure, and you felt a rush of power at the thought that you could reduce him to this. You. And only you.  

 When his hips were uncontrollably twitching and his cock was an angry, deep red, he pulled away from your hold with a moan. Disappointment was quickly replaced with anticipation when he reached into the pocket of his jeans, which were now halfway down his thighs, and pulled out a condom. Sneaky bastard must’ve grabbed one before leaving his room. And, while you might’ve been a little miffed at his presumptuousness of how this kitchen adventure was going to end, you were also thankful that he had the foresight to be prepared, since you hadn’t thought to do so. Hell, after tonight, you should probably start keeping a condom in your bra at all times when around him, just in case.

 Quickly rolling on the condom, Negan pulled you down the counter by the hips, so that your ass was hanging precariously off the edge, supported only by him. Wrapping your legs around his waist for leverage, you clawed at his shirt, whispering, “Take it off.” He might not have fully removed his pants, but you’d be damned if he kept you from the glorious sight of his bare chest.

 Acquiescing, he reached up over his shoulder with one hand, fisting the material at his upper back and jerking the shirt up over his head. Licking your lips at the delicious expanse of tan skin and lean muscles, you tightened your thighs at his hips, frantically trying to draw him closer. There were no games or teasing now, just pure need, and you cried out with relief at the feel of his cock nudging between your wet folds.

 He entered you with a loud grunt, working his way deep in one, long thrust. You were surprised to find yourself already pushed close to another orgasm, and were grateful when he set up a deep and fast rhythm that reflected both of your urgent needs. He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the countertop at your hips, while your own hands reached up, one grabbing his bicep and the other curling into his chest hair. The sounds of your cries echoed loudly around the kitchen, but you were unaware of them, your world narrowed down to the feel of the man above and inside you, and the building pressure that was begging to be freed.

 It was the sound of your name growled in his deep, rough voice that sent you soaring, body tightening and breath hitching when the tension released. You called out his name as the pleasure broke apart within you, rolling over your flesh in waves and pulsing through your veins like fire. Distantly, you heard him moan with his own release as he shuddered above you and was thrown into the inferno of pleasure, as well.

 It took a few minutes for you both to cool down, Negan slowly pulling away from you and hiking his pants back up. After buttoning them, he ran a hand through his sex-tousled hair. The sight of his bicep flexing, coupled with the pants hanging low and loose on his hips, caused a stir between your thighs.

 Jesus Christ, girl, will you chill the hell out!

 Refusing to acknowledge the fact that your traitorous body was still itching for another round, you slid forward and off the table, bringing you to stand directly in front of Negan. You both looked at each other in silence for a moment, before twin grins broke out over your faces.

 “I can’t believe we just did that in here,” you said with a light laugh, bending over to grab your jeans off the tiles.

 “I gotta say, doll, that was the best fucking dessert I’ve ever had. It even beats your berry crisp.”

 Having been in the process of buttoning your jeans, your head flew up, a blush heating your cheeks at both his words and the way he was intently watching you. He had found his shirt and was already fully clothed, leaning a hip against the counter and greedily watching you get dressed. You felt the blush deepen at the sight of your own shirt dangling from his fingers. When you reached out a hand for it, he teasingly moved it out of reach.

 “You sure you wanna put this back on, doll?” he taunted. “I think you look fucking better without it.”

 Rather than make another grab for the shirt, you instead turned around and headed towards the door, throwing back over your shoulder, “Alright, fine, hope there aren’t too many of your men up and walking around right now.”

 You made it to the swinging doors leading to the cafeteria before a warm arm halted your forward movement by wrapping around your waist.

 “Damnit woman, are you trying to get all my men killed?” his voice growled in your ear.

 Turning with a grin, you gazed up at him with a falsely innocent look on your face. “What, you think a little peek of breast is gonna give them all heart attacks?”

 Squinting down at you with displeasure, Negan rolled up your shirt, so that the arm and head holes were easily accessible, and gestured at you. Lifting your arms obediently, you let him pull it down over your head, effectively covering all your more intimate assets from view.

 “More that they’d all be getting a fucking taste of Lucille for daring to look at something that isn’t theirs.”

 Biting your lip, you processed his possessive words. They caused a tingle in your chest, but you ignored it, instead deciding to keep the conversation light by rolling your eyes at him.

 “Last time I checked, I’m not anyone’s. It’s not the 1900s, Negan. Women aren’t property.”

 He looked as though he wanted to say something in response, but he smartly kept quiet, and instead pushed open one of the swinging doors, gesturing for you to proceed him out of the kitchen. The cafeteria was still dark and a bit creepy, but your internal clock told you that it wouldn’t be more than a couple of hours until more life brightened up the space.

 When you had both exited the cafeteria and entered the stairwell, you had a moment of self-doubt. It was probably almost 4am at this point, and you weren’t sure if it was time to make your way back to your own room. Course, your panties and bra were still in his room, as was your watch. Whether he sensed your hesitation or was acting of his own desire, Negan chose that moment to reach out and grab your hand with his, tangling your fingers together and continuing up the steps past the third floor and towards his own floor. Whelp, there goes that dilemma.

 You felt a thrill at the prospect that he wanted you to come back to his room, that he wasn’t ready to kick you out quite yet. You didn’t want to read too much into his gesture, but that didn’t stop you from feeling as though you might burst from happiness.

 When you made it back to his bedroom, which was still dimly lit by the one lamp, you excused yourself to use his bathroom. Relieving yourself and washing your hands, you came back out to find that he was already waiting in the bed. A quick glance at the dark mass of fabric on the floor was evidence that he was naked under the covers, so you quickly stripped down yourself. He lifted the sheet when you came around to the side of the bed, and you crawled in, turning around and immediately snuggling your back against his chest. Looping an arm around your waist, he pulled you in tight, dropping a light kiss to your shoulder before he settled into the pillows with a sigh.

 “Night, doll,” he husked, already sounding half asleep.

 Smiling in the darkened room, you closed your eyes and whispered back, “Good night, Negan.”

 As sleep claimed you, one thought lingered in your mind.

 A girl could get used to this.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Tag List Part 1: (gonna try splitting this up again in a different way until I find which person’s blog is causing all the tags to deactivate *squints at each and every one of you*)

@hannibalssweaters @strangersangel9 @crazytxgradstudent @aestheticimagines @ericuhlorain @is-this-you-manning-up-sammy @sunriserose1023 @supernaturalocalypse @breakfast-of-a-teenage-killer @grynaszeme @despoinak27 @crowleyshellkitten  @coloursunlimited @colorsunimaginable @imhissecret @ornella95 @rapsity @mygoldenmile @angelak72081 @angixla @nijiru @belahbelieve @insomniasnightmare @immostlyconfused @rvstinhart @riotguuuurl @mega-kawaiipeacheagle @ioanashalala @wearethelastgenerationofhope @sweetdreadfulness @squid-from-mirkwood @thatgingefromtheinternet @lydiiv @heartfulloffandoms @whoopxd @umad0bitch @no-movrners-no-fvnerals @nohararin @doctorswife221b @toogardenenthusiast @avasmommy224 @12noboundaries13 @sabinab-vall @magnetosgirl @volatileviolentviolet @lalabasuco @favs-imagines @bigboldhead @kezzasaurus-rex @katyiskool @assthetic-princess @halloweenbeauty @monicapernas @jasoncrouse @ali-pennell @backseat-negan @jeffreydeanneganstrash @faith-in-dean @musiccitymel  @crzcorgi @mytreasures4eternity47 @boohoolisa @neganslittlebae @collette04 @miral-s-negan  @negandaddyjdm @myrumdiary 

[eddiekasp]

Must Be a Better Word- Ch6

Love. There must be A better word. -Adam Gillon

Yay so I have so much to write about these nerds that I’m now realizing this fic is going to end up being SO long. I hope you guys enjoy! Also available on ao3. 

Richie stood in the bathroom, eyes glaring at the mirror so ferociously it looked like his gaze alone could shatter it. He took his glasses off. Stared again. Put them back on. Stared. Off. Rinse and repeat.

He liked the way he looked better without his glasses. Those Coke bottles that eternally separated his dark eyes from whatever or whoever they were observing not only got in his way in terms of comfort and languidness, they also only added to a physical appearance that called enough attention. Long, messy, curly dark hair with large, dark eyes to match-- only accentuated by thick glasses that could have been cut straight from those fancy coffee tables he saw in magazines, and as lanky as a french fry. This all did nothing to help his image in the eyes of most peers.

But Richie wasn’t Richie without them. Without any of this, he’d just be any other kid. He had a good looking face, slim nose dotted with freckles that matched the stars in the sky. He’d grow into his long arms and legs. Everyone told him to fix up his hair, get a pair of contacts, and he’d have the ladies chasing him for miles.

But then he wouldn’t be Richie. And Richie being Richie was what made the love he felt for his best friend not be unrequited.

Richie sighed and put the glasses back on, accepting the fact that he could either go out with Eddie, glasses in place and dorky as ever, and have a great time, or he could lose the glasses, look cool, but be sans vision. He thought that if he wouldn’t be able to see Eddie fully, there’d be no point in going anyways.

He made up for this glitch by dressing as well as the contents of his closet would allow. He put on his favorite button up shirt (white with little red and blue triangles) and rolled the sleeves up so his thin arms were exposed. He’d have to put on a jacket to fight the frigid weather but the shirt was worth it. He tucked it into a pair of blue creased slacks and belted it. Black loafers, too.

He even tried to handle his mane of hair, brushing it back and wetting the front with water so it stayed down a bit. No dice, unfortunately, but overall he looked correct. He smiled at himself in the mirror, using his best Hi I’m Confident Richard Tozier voice to hype himself up and keep any nerves down. He reminded himself this wasn’t a really date; he and Eddie would go for ice cream and then drive around. That’s it.

And then the realization hit him. It was a realization that was so silly he almost cried out from dumbfoundedness.

It was just driving and ice cream. Richie was in slacks and loafers.

He was about to make an idiot of himself.

Richie glanced down at the watch on his wrist and sighed uneasily. 6:53. Already running a couple minutes late, forgetting to account for the driving time it would take to get there. He had asked his dad to borrow the car for the night; his father saw him check where his nice shoes were and smirked at the thought of his son picking up a girl. Close, but not quite.

Richie had no time to change. He ran his fingers through his hair, forgetting that the goal of the night was to keep it tame. Shit, he thought to himself, it’s gonna be so awkward when I pull up looking like I’m going to Stanny’s Bar Mitzvah and Eddie will still be in his school clothes. He was dimly aware that this would mean Eddie’s understanding of Richie’s thought process.

His stomach felt knotted and tight as he buckled himself into the front seat of his father’s car. He began to dread seeing Eddie. Well no, not really true. He began to dread Eddie seeing him.

Warm air blasted from his dashboard, bringing forth a familiar stale smell, and Richie grabbed the black knob in front of him to turn on the radio. The ride to Eddie’s wasn’t very far but he needed whatever he could get to get him through this restlessness-- and music was the closest thing Richie had to a cigarette, as it had a similar effect in calming his mind. He wasn’t usually the nervous type, his voices being an easy cover up for any fear or hesitation he ever felt. But with Eddie, it wasn’t that easy. He saw through it all.

Richie coasted on the empty streets; the sun was already beginning to set and most kids had been rounded up by parents for dinner. He sped through Derry with no one there to tell him to slow down, and got to the front of Eddie’s house by 7:01. He nearly considered parking in the driveway, but knew that Sonia Kaspbrak would run out the door to interrogate him the second she saw his car through her window. He prayed that God was on his side tonight, that it wouldn’t be her that opened the door. He hoped, nearly prayed, it’d be Eds, and he’d be able to slip out before his mother got too bad about letting him go.

Richie stood at the front door and talked himself up like a quarterback before his big game of the season. His fists were clenched at his sides and unable to stand still with the jittery buzz in his chest, he bounced from leg to leg and told himself that if he didn’t get it together he’d have to beat himself up or something.

He took a final deep breath and his hand began to rise slowly, reaching for the metal knocker in front of him. As soon as he had nearly touched it, he heard two clicks and the door swung open in front of him. He filed a note to thank God that night because it wasn’t Sonia that opened the door but, in fact, Eddie.

Before Richie even saw Eddie fully, he smelled him. The boy had sprayed on so much cologne that it followed him like a cloud. He smelled really good, but it was so overpowering that Richie felt dizzy. Well, it was either that or just the situation itself. Perhaps a good mix of both.

Eddie stood at the door, hair neatly combed back, a sweater hung over his frame, fitting perfectly unlike some of his hand-me-down shirts that were loose in just about every place possible, and black slacks that connected with black dress shoes at the bottom. Richie thought he could cry from relief. Eddie, seeing the boy in front of him nearly jumping out of his skin, also wearing his Sunday best, felt the same way.

Both boys had embarrassingly assumed this would be a date, more than just hanging out and getting ice cream as pals, and both boys felt lightheaded and shakily thrilled when they realized that-- straight out of their wildest imagination-- their hopes may not have been too far off.

[stars-that-shine-at-night]

If the Shoe Fits Park Jimin x Reader Ballet Au!

1   2   3   4 

Disclaimer: I am not actually Korean, I just learned how to cook these foods from watching my aunt (ahjumma) while I was growing up. 

Jimin shuffled into the student kitchen of Etre. No one actually cooked in the kitchen, it was mainly used for the refrigerator, to store healthy snacks and produce. His head was still pounding, and sweat clung to his sticky skin. He cursed Hoseok for dressing him in actual pajamas, as he popped off the top button of the shirt. His body felt like it was on fire, and he badly needed water. Just by coincidence Yoongi was in the kitchen too, eating some yogurt. 

“Wow you look like hell,” Yoongi stated plainly. 

“I feel like I’m in hell.” Jimin gasped out, reaching for a glass. Jimin barely had the glass in his hands, and he felt it slip from his grip. The glass fell with a sharp shattering sound, followed by a blunt thump, as if a body hit the ground. 

“Jimin!” Yoongi rushed out of his seat to shake the boy who was passed out on the floor. Yoongi touched Jimin’s forehead, it was slick with sweat and felt extremely hot. 

“Shit,” Yoongi cursed. Jimin was sick, he must have been getting sick, from all that practicing. With his fall today, he finally started to rest, and his whole body caught up with him, and hit him hard. 

“What happened?! Yoongi are you okay?” Namjoon and Hoseok came running into the kitchen. 

“We heard a glass shattering,” Hoseok said.

“H-he’s just sick. I felt his temperature,” Yoongi stuttered out.

“He’s probably going to need some of the right nutrients to get better quickly,” Namjoon thought out loud.

“Where are we going to get that at two in the morning?” Yoongi asked. 

“I think I know,” Hoseok said, finally cutting in. 

                                                           ~

“Unnie, your phone is ringing.” Sehwa mumbled drowsily, as she shook you awake. 

“I’ll get it. Just go back asleep okay?” Sehwa nodded and crawled back under her covers. You grabbed your phone and it read ‘HO-seok’ on it. You stepped out of your shared room and answered the call.

“The hell do you want?!” you whispered yelled into your phone, trying not to wake up the other family members in your house. “This better be good. Do you know how hard it is to put a seven year old back to sleep after you have woken them up?!” 

“I’m sorry, I just need a favor. Jimin is sick-”

“What does that have to do with me?” You sharply cut Hoseok off. 

“I know you do not like Jimin, but you are the only one who can make the foods for when people are sick at this time. Please help him, actually no, not for him for me. (y/n) he’s my friend.” Hoseok pleaded. You sighed and massaged the bridge of your nose, you rarely ever heard Hoseok this stressed, and rarely he asked much of you. 

“Fine I’ll do it, but I am only doing this for you. Give me twenty minutes-” 

“Unnie, can you tuck me in?” Sehwa’s voice interrupted you, as she peaked her tiny head out from behind the door. 

“Never mind, give me at most an hour. Do you guys have a kitchen?”

“Yes, there is a kitchen we have some basic seasonings in here and all the equipment.” 

“Good, I’ll be there.” You rummaged through your kitchen to find some stuff that you would need. Ginseng, a jujube, garlic, rice, and green onions. You bit your lip looking at the full Cornish hen that was sitting in your refrigerator, you needed it for the soup, but your mom also needed it. ‘Snap out of it (y/n), you’re doing this for Hoseok, you’ll bear the yelling from mom just this once.’ You mentally scolded yourself and took the chicken. You quickly wrote a note to your mom apologizing for taking the chicken and saying you’ll buy another one once you got back. You put everything in a big bag along with some prepacked side dishes, apple pears, honey, and a jar of citron tea. 

You walked back into your room to put Sehwa back to sleep, and that was another twenty minutes of patting her on the back and stroking her hair to get her to pass out again. You had twenty minutes left to get to Etre, and there were no trains running. You ran out of your house with the heavy bag, and into the city where you can hail a cab. You paid the driver some extra money so he could get you there faster. You looked up at the gates, and they were closed. You pushed the heavy iron gate open and they groaned loudly from being moved. You quickly took a scan of your surroundings to see if anyone woke up. Hoseok was at the entrance of Etre’s dorms with the door open for you. 

“You owe me for all the grief I went through just to get here,” You said as you made a mad dash for the kitchen. 

“I agree that I do,” Hoseok said as he ran with you. When you got to the kitchen you washed the rice, and started to soak it. While the rice was soaking you cleaned the chicken abrasively with salt. 

“Is there something I can help you with?” Hoseok asked. 

“Boil some water for me.” You said, still focusing on the chicken, Hoseok silently obeyed and started to boil a kettle full of water. Hoseok also started to unload all of the food you had brought onto the counters, so you could have easy accessibility to each ingredient. Namjoon looked at all food and noticed what you were making. 

“Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup)? How did you know Jimin had a fever?” 

“I didn’t, I just went with my gut.” You said washing your hands so you can tie your hair up. You washed your hands once more and continued to clean the chicken. You pulled out giblets of the chicken, you cut away the skin and all of the fat off the chicken, also the tips of the wings, so the chicken could fit in the earth ware pot you found. You peeled eight cloves of garlic and cut of their tips off, after you peeled the garlic, you heated up the earth ware pot on the stove with some water in it. You heard the kettle whistle with steam, and you immediately took it off the fire. You poured the hot water into a tea cup and scooped out one spoonful of the citron tea marmalade into the water, and stirred. After that you washed the ginseng root and jujube. Your mouth made an audible ‘tch’ sound when you realized there wasn’t enough time to let the rice fully soak, but you started to stuff the chicken anyways. You first put in four cloves of garlic, rice, ginseng, rice, the jujube, rice, and the rest of the garlic. You picked up the full chicken and placed it in the pot, you placed the remaining rice in the pot, and more water for broth. 

“So how does (y/n) know how to make all of this?” Namjoon asked Hoseok. 

“Well she learned from her watching her grandma, and started to cook more for her parents and siblings after her grandmother died. Her mother was in so much grief she wouldn’t cook or doing anything at all for months.” Hoseok answered. You let soup cook on medium heat for thirty minutes, you set the timer and started to peel and dice the apple pears. You place the diced pears on a plate and drizzled honey on them. You carried the tea and the plate of fruit up to Jimin’s room. When you got to his room you saw him lying in bed with another boy watching him. You knew of  Yoongi, but you didn’t really know him. 

“Thank god you are here. I was getting a little worried. He has a fever, and he’s been coughing and sniffling a while in bed.” Yoongi explained. You crinkled your nose. 

“Sounds like he has the flu, it has been getting colder,” you placed the plate of pears on Jimin’s nightstand. With your free hand you pulled the cold rag on his forehead. 

“He needs to sweat off this flu, don’t let him cool down, keep him hydrated, not cool. If you let him cool down his fever will persist.” You instructed. You blew on the hot tea a little to make it a bit cooler, so Jimin could drink it. 

“Jimin wake up you need to drink this,” you said, placing your palm on his shoulder to shake him. You help him sit up a bit so he can take slow sips of the tea. You supported him by wrapping your arms around his shoulders and shoulder blades. His eyes were closed, but he still drank the tea. When he was half way done with the cup, you started to hand feed him a couple of cubes of the apple pears. 

When did Miju get here?” Jimin asked Yoongi, you rolled your eyes. 

“Out of all of the times you offended me Park Jimin, I’ve never been as offended as I am now. I am not that ditzy fake ass Yoo Miju.” You sneered, but Jimin was too sick to hear you. Yoongi laughed at your response. 

“Jimin was right you are smart mouthed like me.” He said, you turned to face Yoongi. 

“I guess,” you shrugged as you continued to feed Jimin. 

“This should stop his coughing for a little bit,” you made Jimin finish that cup of tea, then you left to go back to the kitchen to check on the soup. You turned the heat down to low for another half hour, you peeled more apple pears and diced them. You placed the apple pairs into cold water so they wouldn’t turn brown later on. You placed a note on the bowl saying ‘Park Jimin’ so no one would eat it. You also wrote a note to remind Hoseok or Namjoon to later in drizzle honey, and have Jimin eat that snack two or three times during the day. 

“What in god’s name are you doing?!” You quickly turned to see a woman standing in the kitchen with you. You had no idea who she was, or what to say, so you froze. 

“Wait Madame Hyojeong it’s okay.” Hoseok said as he came running back, he left for a few moments because he was in the bathroom. Namjoon went back to his room, because Hoseok urged him to get sleep. 

“She’s here to help Jimin. He’s sick and she’s the only one I know who could make samgyetang,” Hoseok explained. Madame Hyojeong studied your face, and noticed your eyes. 

“Are you the dandelion maker? (l/n) Minjae’s granddaughter?” Madame Hyojeong asked. You didn’t answer, but you stared back at Madame Hyojeong, she was a bit familiar to you. You imagined her face without glasses, less defined wrinkles, and a smile. 

“You’re Lee Hyojeong aren’t you?” Hoseok’s eyebrow shot up. You have never met any of the staff, except for Master Daejung. 

“My grandfather made pointe shoes for you, I remember watching you dance as Swanhilda in Coppelia,” you continued, Madame Hyojeong softly gasped. 

“You are his granddaughter, you have the eyes.” 

“Wait what is going on here?” Hoseok interrupted, Madame Hyojeong cleared her throat. 

“Never mind that Mister Jung. Mister Park is sick?”

“Yes,” you answered, “Hoseok asked me to come. He did not force me, I came here on my free will.” You were going to stand your ground, it didn’t matter to you. Hoseok needed help, you were his friend. There was a shimmer in Madame Hyojeong’s eyes when she smiled. 

“You really are like Minjae. I’ll leave to your business Miss (l/n),” Madame Hyojeong said, as she turned and left. 

 “How did she know your name?” Hoseok asked.  “I guess you can say I’ve known her since I was a little girl,” you said shrugging. Your timer for the final thirty minutes went off you looked under the lid of the pot. The chicken is fully cooked with the rice, and the broth was beautifully clear. You let the soup get to another running boil and then took it off the heat, and placed green onions on top of it. 

“Go to bed Hoseok, you have class tomorrow,” you said.

“No, I can’t leave you alone,” Hoseok argued. 

“I can call in sick tomorrow, you still have class,” You were firm, but yet you weren’t yelling at him. Hoseok sighed, defeated. 

“Fine.” He said, as he walked back to his room. “Thank you again (y/n).” He said finally and left. You went back up to Jimin’s room to see that Yoongi was gone also, but the plate of apple pears was empty. It was around five in the morning, there was no way Jimin was going to class the next day. 

“Jimin, I have samgyetang with more tea. Come you need to eat.” Jimin weakly groaned, but couldn’t get up. You helped him up and out of his blankets, you then crouched in front of him. 

“Get on,” you said showing your back to him. Jimin used his little to none energy to slump on to your back. You lifted yourself and him up with your legs, and adjusted him once you were fully stood up. You walked all the way down to the kitchen, you placed him in a chair, but his eyes were still closed. It was like it was painful to open his eyes. You placed the bowl of soup in front of him, and an empty to plate to put all the rice and ginseng on. You also put down a cup of fresh tea and side dishes around. You didn’t expect Jimin to actually eat all of this, but it was better to have more than less in this case, and left overs were good. 

“Jimin can you feed yourself?” You asked, you answered by Jimin slumping forward and almost falling face first into the chicken. You quickly caught his head and pushed him back by his shoulders. 

“I am going to take that as a no,” you mumbled under your breath as you began to break apart the soft flesh of the chicken. You got some rice broth and a little bit of chicken onto a spoon and fed it to Jimin. He opened his mouth surprisingly, you made sure he sat up and kept his head up so he wouldn’t choke. You found the jujube, and started to peel the hot fruit so you could find the seed, that wasn’t supposed to be eaten. You ignored the burning feeling until you found the seed, you lightly blew the steam away, and fed it to Jimin. You scooped out the rice from the chicken and let it fall out on to the plate. You scooped the rice up and blew on it, you also made Jimin choke down the bits of the ginseng root. Apparently he doesn’t like eating it straight, but you still forced him. 

“The chicken is too plain…” You heard a small voice, Jimin’s eyes were slightly open. His face was still shiny from all the sweat that was produced from the soup. 

“I personally like the chicken with salt and sesame oil sauce,” he said. 

“Well…at least I know for sure I am not feeding a dead body,” you said, shoving another spoonful into Jimin’s mouth to shut him up. Jimin closed his eyes again, as you brought up the cup of tea to his mouth. You dabbed at his lips with a napkin, and you could feel the plushness of his lips through the paper. You were able to get him to eat some kimchi, half of the chicken, the whole ginseng root, the jujube, all the rice, and half of the cloves the garlic. You poured more water into the pot, and placed it back on the stove, so there would be more broth later. You helped Jimin finish off the rest of his tea, and sat back in his seat. He was breathing heavily from the heat, you knew you weren’t supposed to let him cool off, but you ran a clean soft rag under room temperature water to wipe Jimin’s face. You lifted up his black bangs so you could wipe his forehead of its sticky sheen. While you wiped his forehead you noticed he had three prominent moles on his forehead. Their placing kind of reminded you of an isosceles triangle, it was cute…

The lowest one was a bit above the inner corner of his eyebrow, another was place above that last one, but there was one in between the two on his right forehead. The last one was above the mid part of his left eye brow. You shook yourself out of the trance that was Jimin’s forehead, and continued to wipe the rest of his face; over his cheeks, upper lip, lips, nose, and the back of his neck. Instead of having a shiny appearance, Jimin’s skin now had a dewy appearance. You walked over to the earth ware pot and took it off of the stove and placed it on the counter. It was still hot, so you couldn’t put it in the fridge. Instead, you placed its matching lid on it with a note saying that the soup was Jimin’s and a short set of instructions on how to heat up the soup for him later on. You packed up the rest of the food and wrote Jimin’s name on them, along with the tea. You pulled out the chair Jimin was sitting on so he could climb onto your back. While you were walking up to his room you had to stop for a little and take a breather. You exhaled heavily, Jimin wasn’t too heavy, you were just tired from getting up early and cooking. You pulled out your phone to check the time, it was already six in the morning, you cursed under your breath. The other boys will be waking up soon, and that’s the last thing you wanted. 

To be caught as a girl in boys dorm with a boy on your back. You muscled your way to Jimin’s room without any of the boys actually seeing you, because none of them, luckily, left their rooms yet. You opened the door to Jimin’s door and quickly closed it. You really wanted to just drop Jimin on to his bed, but with the bit of energy you had, you gently laid him down. You were about to tuck him, but you heard him sniffling and started to cough. ‘I guess his fever is almost gone.’  You thought. That samgyetang work wonders you guessed. You ran back down to the kitchen grabbed the vapor rub, another cup of tea and ran back quickly to Jimin’s room without spilling or being seen. You placed the cup on his nightstand, and you were about to open the vapor rub, but you stopped when Jimin sat up. 

“I….need…the restroom…” He slurred. You groaned internally, yes he needed that tea, but it would also make him pee. You lifted him up princess style and carried him to the bathroom. You let stand steadily and turned away from the toilet. 

“Do your business by yourself okay?” Your cheeks were burning, you were literally in the bathroom with another boy who was not your brother or at least ten years younger than you. You visibly cringed when you heard the liquid sounds from behind you. You finally turned around when you herd the sound of fabric being pulled up. Jimin waddled to the sink and washed his hands, he was at the towel drying his hands, until he almost fell over from falling asleep again. You caught him and picked him up. 

“Jeez, the hell is wrong with you. I’ve never seen anyone this sleepy while having the flu.” You said to yourself, you walked back to Jimin’s bed, but his roommates were now awake. Luckily it was only Taehyung and Seokjin. 

“If any of you say a word about this I will deny everything, then slit your throats making your deaths look like accidents.” You said, not bothering to face them. Both boys didn’t say anything because they partly amazed and terrified. It was amazing that you were carrying Jimin, and terrified from your impressive strength that your threat seemed a little bit more real. 

“Hyung…” Taehyung weakly said, “I gotta pee now.” He said, and ran to the bathroom out of fear. You placed Jimin back on is bed, and shook your wrists out. 

“Can you believe?” you turned to face Seokjin, “that, I, the girl actually had to carry him like a princess? I guessed it is now confirmed Park Jimin is now a princess.” You said, chuckling at your own joke. You looked up and saw Seokjin with a nervous smile. 

“More power to you?” He said, then retreated to the bathroom quickly. Both boys impressively got ready at a fast pace, and left you alone with a sleeping Jimin. You finally got to the vapor rub and opened it without interruptions this time. You noticed the weight of everything you were about to do, when you saw the little bit of flesh that was exposed when Jimin undid his first button. This wasn’t your brother, this was a boy was not related to you by blood or marriage, Jimin wasn’t even your friend for crying out loud. But after five minutes of mentally slapping yourself and pulling up the courage you started to undo the rest Jimin’s pajama shirt. You decided to stop once you have cleared his chest. You wanted to save some of his and your dignity. You technically didn’t have his consent, and you were probably going to get yelled at by him, but you remembered you were doing this for Hoseok, your friend. You dipped your fingers into the creamy ointment and scooped a little out to rub onto Jimin’s chest. You started to slowly rub into his skin, trying to work it in while not waking him up. The skin of his chest was very smooth and you can feel the bumps and ridges of his fit muscles and tendons. It took a very a long time to cover his whole chest. You also delicately rubbed some of the rub on his throat, trying not to crush it or wake him up. The last part you covered was his nostrils. It was only a light coat that was meant to clear up his sinuses while he slept. You softly started to loop the buttons on Jimin’s shirt into their holes, covering up his skin by one clasp at a time. When you were done with the shirt you pulled his comforter up to his chin so he would be warm in spite of the harsh cold October mornings. You placed a note next to Jimin’s cup of tea telling to drink it even if it was cold. You sat next to Jimin’s bed and started to think about what you should make next, maybe yukgaejang? That would big time knock the cold out of him, You stood up to leave, but you were stopped because something grabbed onto you. You turned to see Jimin gripping onto the sleeve of your sweatshirt. He took his other hand and moved up your arm to pull you to him. He wrapped his long arms around what was your small frame, you could every breath he took and every beat his heart made. 

“Thank you for taking care of me (y/n).” He whispered into your ear. You pulled yourself out from his grip and laid him back down. 

“Ugh, I guess you become crazy when you are sick too huh?” You said, and left his room to run to the grocery store to buy food. You bought everything you didn’t have at home for yukgaejang, and all of the ingredients you needed to replace at home. After you bought everything you needed. you took the train home and replaced the hen you took from your mom. 

“(y/n) what are you doing up so early?” Your mom asked when she saw you in the kitchen digging around for hot pepper flakes and other seasonings that weren’t in the Etre kitchen. 

“Hoseok’s wanted me to make yukgaejang because Park Jimin is sick.” 

“Don’t forget to add rice, the rice will help fill him up so he gets more energy.” Your mother stated plainly. You turned and packed a small handful of red beans and rice. Red beans were high in helpful nutrients. You packed everything in another bag with all of the food you bought from the grocery store. 

“I promise I’ll re-buy everything I took mom,” you called out as you ran out the door. 

“You’re actually letting her go?” Jaewook asked as he took a seat at the dining table. 

“After all these years I stuck her behind a work bench, I feel really bad that she didn’t have as much fun as a regular teenager does. I even had more freedom than her.” Your mom said as she watched your running figure from the kitchen window. 

“Your dad actually mentioned she made a new friend yesterday and she was having dinner with him. I only remember Chaerin and Hoseok being (y/n)’s only friends. I robbed my daughter of that, I can’t get the past friends she could have made back. But what I can do now is let her have the friends she is making in the present.“ Your mom finally as said, as she disappeared into the house to wake up Sehwa.

You were riding the train back to Etre when you saw Jaejung squeeze his way through the mass of bodies. 

"Whoa what clan are you feeding darling?” Jaejung asked when he noticed the giant bag of food you were carrying. 

"Well that spoiled Siegfried got sick, and his close friend begged me to take care of him. I am now his shoemaker and cook.“ You said rolling your eyes. 

"Are you always a comedian twenty-four seven (l/n) (y/n)?“ 

"I’m here all week." 

 "What are you making?” Jaejung asked, changing the subject. 

"Yukgaejang.“ 

 "Oh that’s my favorite." 

 "I promise I will make it for you another day, deal?" 

 "Deal.” You and Jaejung linked your pinkies together and twisted your hands up so your thumbs touched. You felt you phone buzz in your pocket.  

HO-seok: Status update 

(y/n)iie: Uh….Fine I guess. I’m not with him at the moment….

HO-seok: What?! 

(y/n)iie: Before you go ham on me, I left him because I went to get more food for him.

HO-seok: Oh….that makes more sense now. Sorry for bothering you ^-^ 

You breathed out a sigh of relief, you were safe from Hoseok’s wrath. Hoseok was extremely friendly, you would agree if someone said he was the sun, but if you messed with his friends it was game over. 

HO-seok: Do you need any help? You’re probably tired.

(y/n)iie: get me a cup of strong green tea, and I’ll be good. I can handle the rest. 

You got off the train with Jaejung and walked with him through the city. While you were walking you two were talking about dancing some more. He was very passionate and loved teaching as well. He was telling about how excited he was to show off his new choreography as soon as it was done. Your heart fluttered, you never got to experience a first love given you only went to middle school, and for high school you were practically home schooled. 

"Hey do you want me to carry that bag into Etre for you? You look tired.“ Jaejung offered. You were about to say no, but he was already taking it from. 

"But don’t you have to go to work?” You said helplessly. 

"Don’t worry about it too much Darling, they won’t miss me too much.“ Jaejung lifted the bag and placed it onto his broad shoulders. 

"Is it too heavy?” You asked as you rotated your cramped shoulder. 

"It’s not too bad, I think I’ve lifted heavier in the gym.“ Jaejung answered. "Are you worried about me darling?” Jaejung smirked. 

"I mean obviously if I am asking.“ You replied bluntly. Jaejung laughed at your response, most girls would be all blushy and deny their feelings. Your straight to point personality was what attracted Jaejung, that meant you would never lie. You got to Etre and walked all the way to the student kitchen. The gates were now open so you didn’t have to open them yourself. Jaejung managed to sneak his way in without a pass with you. He set down the bag of food and took a breath. 

"Okay, that bag does get heavy after a while.” He admitted. You tossed a bottle of water at him and unloaded the bag. 

"I’ll see you around darling.“ He waved. 

"See you later Jaejung.” You waved back and watched him leave. You stored all of the perishable food into the refrigerator with Jimin’s name on them. Last thing you needed was to have another dancer think that food wasn’t anyone’s, eating it, and forcing you to go back out and buy more. 

You made another cup of hot citron tea and walked up to Jimin’s room. It was eight in the morning now, Sehwa should be already on her bus…

You were little disappointed that you didn’t have the time to walk with her again. You probably would have bought her chocolate after she was on the bus so she could have it after dinner, guess that’ll be for another time. You walked up to see if Jimin was awake, he wasn’t, not that you were shocked that he was still slumbering. You woke him up gently so you could get him to sit up and drink he tea. You supported his back while he slowly took sips. He still had a slight fever, but your yukgaejang was gonna knock this fever out of him, you knew it. Jimin finished half of the cup, and he pulled away from the tea. He looked and saw your face. Your hair was slightly messy, it wasn’t as neat as it usually was, there were some stray baby hairs that framed you face. The rays from the sun outlined your figure he could have sworn he was dead. His body still felt warm and heavy with sleep. 

“(y/n)?” Jimin muttered out in a low whisper. You started to lower his body back on to the bed. 

“Just go back to sleep Jimin.” You mumbled as you pulled the blanket back on him. 

Miju saw the whole scene, you left the door open, and Miju couldn’t help but peek inside. She saw you feed Jimin the tea, the brief moment you two talked, and tucking JImin in. Her grip tightened around the large canister of chicken soup. She couldn’t cook actually it was just soup from a can. There was a pang in her chest that pulsated with pain. She was sure that you knew Jimin for less time that she did, why were you here? 

Miju walked away from the Jimin’s room, and hid out of your line of sight when she heard your footsteps coming towards her. You closed Jimin’s door behind you and walked down to the kitchen to prepare everything for the yukgaejang, yukgaejang was not hard, just time consuming. You started be soaking and washing the gosari, while the beans were boiling, re-soaking in water so they were plump and supple to eat. You also placed the bright red brisket meat into a bowl of cold water to soak up some excess blood. While you were waiting for everything to soak or boil you started to chop the large green onion, cutting it into small stalks, and each stalk in half so Jimin could swallow them. After the green onions were done you started to wash the mung bean sprouts, rinsing a couple it couple of times so the vegetables, to get rid of the leaves. leaving only the milky stalks. When the gosari was done soaking you rinsed the mountain vegetables with cold water, getting rid of anymore lingering dust. You grabbed and handful and cut the stems into halves. You strained the boiled red beans saving the bean water so you could cook it with the rice. While you straining the beans you heard a pair of slippers scuffling across the hard wood floor of the kitchen, you looked and saw Jimin. He was actually awake, you felt your chest flutter, you were so proud that your home cooking brought him back alive. Meaning that you didn’t poison him, leaving a very angry school of dancers… 

“Morning sunshine…or should I say afternoon?” You said as you looked at the clock reading ‘1:45′. 

“You sure I didn’t die and go to hell, because you’re here with me?” Jimin replied sarcastically. 

“You know it’s not too late to slip arsenic into your food.” You mumbled and shot Jimin an evil glare. You walked away from the beans and started to re-heat the half eaten samgyetang on the stove. Jimin watched you walk around the kitchen, as you started to pour something into a sauce plate. 

"Wait do you actually have arsenic?!” Jimin gulped. 

“No, do you really think I’m a psycho?” You said as you placed the dipping sauce next to Jimin. It was for the chicken….Jimin did say in his sleep that his favorite was the sesame oil and salt dip for the chicken. 

“My favorite….” Jimin stared down at the plate. 

“Yeah, you kind of told me in your sleep.” You explained. 

“You actually listened?” 

“There was no one else here but me when you said that.”

“I just didn’t expect you to listen. I mean told Miju that during the summer when we got samgytang, but she only got that honey soy sauce dip.”  You crinkled your nose. 

“The two things I hate: people who don’t listen and that sauce.” Jimin chuckled at your response.

“So you don’t like honey soy sauce?”

“Ew, no.” You replied curtly, and removed the soup from the stove and placed it front of Jimin. You also set down another plate from him to use just in case and a set of utensils. 

“Thanks,” Jimin started to eat the dish. He stared down longingly at the soup. 

“Is there something wrong with it? I swear I-”

“It just reminds me of Jihyun.” Jimin said, cutting you off. 

“I’m sorry, but who?” You asked giving him a puzzled look. 

“He’s my little brother. We use to eat samgyetang together as little kids, and I’ve never had samgyetang that taste like this while I was away from home.” Jimin sniffled. You could have sworn you heard Jimin’s voice crack, but you opted not to say anything. 

“Is it good?”

 “It’s actually one of the best I’ve ever had.” Jimin said, “where did you learn how to make this?”

“My grandma taught me when I was younger. My mom didn’t trust me in the kitchen at that age. My grandma…believed in me…she was something else.” You muttered. Jimin could tell that this was a sensitive subject for you and didn’t say anything else, and continued to eat, dipping the bland flesh of chicken into the salty oil. Jimin finished the whole chicken, rice, garlic, and broth. 

“How’s your throat?” 

“It’s still sore and scratchy.” Jimin admitted. You walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the cold bowl of apple pears. You grabbed a couple of handfuls, dried them off with paper towel, and drizzled honey over them. 

“Our cook use to do this for me when I was sick.” Jimin said, popping a couple cubes into his mouth, filling his cheeks.

“Cook?”

“Yeah, my parents hired her. My mom doesn’t really know how to cook.” Jimin said, as he continued to eat. You poured Jimin a fresh cup of tea, which he drank without saying anything. He was asleep whenever you made him drink the citron tea, now he could finally taste it. 

‘It’s sweet…and sour…like her.’  He thought as he drank the warm tea. 

“Let me feel your forehead,” you said, while walking over to Jimin. Before he could say anything you slid your palm under his bangs and felt his forehead, and smiled. Jimin could feel his blood careening into his cheeks. He’s never had a girl touch him like this or smile at him this closely. You quickly pulled your hand away and did a little victory dance. 

“Yes! I did it, your fever is gone. That means Hoseok won’t kill me~!” You said, acting dorky until you went back to your spot at the kitchen to continue Jimin’s dinner. 

“You can go back to bed now.” You said shooing Jimin away. Jimin hung his head and walked back to his room. 

You washed the rice added the red beans and the red bean water and began to cook the red bean rice. You also put the soaked beef, some dried mushrooms, and onions into a pit of boiling water to create the broth. 

                                                                   ~

“Wait you mean (y/n) carried Jimin?” Hoseok asked, “(l/n) (y/n)?” Taehyung and Seokjin blankly nodded. 

“See, that’s why you don’t mess with her. She’s insanely strong.” Chaerin snickered. 

“I’d say she’s like Doo Bong Soon.” Taehyung added, Yoongi slapped Taehyung in the back of the head. 

“Don’t over exaggerate. This isn’t a drama.” Yoongi hissed. 

“That still is impressive, she carried Jimin multiple times.” Namjoon said, "she must be tired, she’s been awake since two in the morning.” 

Hoseok frowned, he felt guilt nibble at him. He asked you to sacrifice a bunch for a person you didn’t even like. This was your own time you were throwing away for him.  

“She’s a good person, I’ll make sure I’ll make it up to her somehow.” Hoseok admitted. 

“We should reserve a front seat for her at ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and buy her dinner afterwords!” Jungkook excitedly suggested. 

“That’s a terrific idea, what do you think Miju?” Chaerin asked, Miju didn’t say anything up to this point in their conversation, and she usually would have thrown her to cents in by now. 

“Yeah….that sounds great.” She answered quietly. No one really was concerned about her silent response, and continued onto a new subject to talk about. 

Jimin actually slept as you cooked in the kitchen. Now that the stock was  made and you shredded up the beef you added the chili peppers, sugar, and oils that gave yukgaejang that famous kicking heat. It was almost dinner time, and your stomach rumbled, crying for you to feed it. You totally forgot to eat during the day, you pulled out your phone and called up a nearby restaurant to drop off food. The other students of Etre were eating dinner in the dining hall, so you were pretty safe. When ever you heard someone coming you would make a mad dash for the bathroom and lock the door. You poured the soup into another earth ware pot, and started to scoop out the rice in a bowl, and placed it on the table with other dishes. You went to Jimin's room to see he was actually awake, sitting at his desk. You could see the lines of thinking wrinkling his forehead as he tried to figure out the problem in front of him. You peeked over his shoulder to see that he was working on, chemistry. Jimin massaged the bridge of his nose and tapped his pencil against his temple. You noticed that he was studying constant acids and bases. 

"Do you need help?" You offered, Jimin looked up from his worksheet. 

"Didn't you drop out of high school or something?" You frowned at his answer. You were perfectly capable at high school academics like any other student. 

"To find the concentration of OH in a weak base you must create the conjugate acid so you have one less hydrogen in water. If you have one oxygen and one hydrogen, you'll get the OH." You said, drawing out the conjugates on his paper. Jimin looked at you amazed. 

"Wait you knew all that?"

"If I didn't why would I offer pointless help." You said dryly and turned to leave his room. 

"Dinner is ready, come down after you made your ICE chart and found Kb." You sat in the kitchen eating your own dinner, when you saw Jimin shyly peek in. He was holding his chemistry work sheet, calculator, and pencils in his hands. 

“Can you help me out while we eat?” He asked. He was a bit ashamed that he assumed your level of intelligence when clearly knew what you were talking about.

“What from me? A high school drop out?” You fake gasped. Jimin pulled up his seat at his place setting. 

‘I’m sorry for what I said, I really am ashamed I looked down upon you. I didn’t know.” 

“Just because you don’t know, doesn’t mean you can fill it in with your own truth.” You answered eating another spoonful of rice. 

“Please, I am begging here, chem is really kicking my ass.” 

“Fine.” You huffed, “eat, then we’ll work. You can’t think when you aren’t full.” Jimin nodded like a puppy and picked up his utensils. Jimin ate quite a bit in general, but he never ate as often in a day like today. You figured he was always hungry today, because he was sick. Jimin put half of the rice that was in his bowl into the soup. 

“You made red bean rice?” He said, looking up. 

“The nutrients in the red beans will help you.” You answered, picking up Jimin’s problems to see what he was working on. 

“Do you understand what is going on?” He asked, you nodded and flipped the paper. 

“I’m already done with everything I need in chemistry to be honest. I’m doing advanced biology now. I think we use the same program for schooling.” You said, recognizing the problems as arithmetic you did a while ago. 

“Wait really?”

“Not the high school drop out you thought I was huh?” 

“I said I was sorry.” Jimin said, going back to eating.

“How is it?” You asked, changing the ubject.

“It’s really good, I think the spiciness is perfect for me.” Jimin admitted, eating a spoonful of hearty vegetables. When Jimin was done you picked up his dishes and took them to sink to wash. You rinsed each dish and proceeded to soak them in water. You were about to sit back down in your seat, but you heard a group of students coming. They must have been coming back from dinner, and were going back to their rooms. You quickly ran and hid behind the island counter that was in the kitchen. Jimin noticed you hiding and realized why you were doing what you were doing so he acted like he was paying attention to his chem homework so no one would suspect a thing. When the coast was clear Jimin leaned over the counter see your huddled body.

“You can come out now, no one is here.” 

“AAHH, you scared me!” You screamed, looking up to meet Jimin’s eyes. You noticed how close you and Jimin were, you two could touch noses. You pressed your palm against his face and pushed him up and away. 

“What was that for?!”

“You were too close,” you said sitting back at you seat, “let’s just get back to chemistry.” 

Jimin took his seat next to you and worked with him for hours, sometimes having to re-explain the concept in different ways so he could understand it more clearly. You were patient with him, and to his surprise you didn’t yell at him one bit. it was nine-thirty at night and Jimin managed to get a grip on what he was finally doing. He went off the finish his problems on his own, with you watching carefully, or so he thought. He could hear small snores coming from your direction, and was met with your covered eyes. You had a moment of silence, and finally dozed off. He was about to shake you awake but Hoseok was passing through coming from a late night practice. 

“Wait, don’t wake her up.’ Hoseok ran over to stop Jimin. “She’s been awake since two in the morning. I think she’ll bite your head off if you woke her.” Hoseok chuckled. 

“She’s been here since two?” Hoseok nodded. 

“Yeah, she’s been here since you passed out, I asked her come. She actually didn’t have to come, she came here on her free will.” Jimin looked down to the ground feeling more guilt. You’ve done so much for him already, stepping out of your everyday life to help him, and never ask for anything. You don’t even tell him that it distracts you from your own world full of duties, you let him think that it was a requirement or job of yours. 

“I’m not too sure what you think of her, but she really is a good person.” Hoseok added. “Anyways, I’m going to bed, goodnight.” He said and disappeared. 

Jimin glanced back you, and thought that the table was uncomfortable, so he walked over and picked you up. Surprisingly you weren’t too heavy for his weak body. He carried you up to his room, hugging you close to his body so your limbs wouldn’t hit anything while he was walking. Taehyung and Seokjin were already in the room, when Jimin walked in with you. 

“Well at least she’s not the one doing the carrying.” Seokjin said snickering, Taehyung laughed also, knowing that  Seokjin was referring back to the morning when you were carrying Jimin around. Jimin shot the two of them a confused look. 

“Oh you don’t know?”

“(y/n) was carrying you this morning just like a princess.” Seokjin finished. 

“She’s crazy strong, she even threatened us if we tried telling someone else.” Taehyung said. Jimin’s lips formed and ‘o’ shape. Jimin sat on his desk and worked throughout the night trying to finish up homework, but he eventually fell asleep, he didn’t know he fell asleep or when he did. When you woke up you looked at your phone and realized it was eleven. You only had one more hour until the subway closed and there goes your ride home. You got and noticed that all three boys were asleep and quietly left the room. Jimin woke up when his head slipped out of his hand and hit his head on his hard desk. Jimin rubbed his forehead and looked over his shoulder to his empty bed....

Wait...empty bed? Jimin ran out of his room and into the kitchen and noticed all of your bags were gone. He ran through the school looking for you, he finally ran out of the school and saw you walking towards the front gates. He ran up to you and spun you around to face. 

“What are you doing?! You can’t just wonder around at night.” He hissed.

“What are you talking about? I’m just going home.” 

“But you shouldn’t be, not at this time.”

“I don’t belong here Jimin.” Your last sentence rang through his ears. What did you mean that you don’t belong here, he forgot you weren’t a dancer, and you haven’t been attending this school for years like he did. 

“You have to stay here, you might get hurt out there.” Jimin was met with a combination of your sarcastic eye roll and scoff. 

“I don’t know what you are thinking Jimin, but we aren’t friends,” There was a pang in his chest, “we never were.” And there it was again. “We aren’t close at all, I only came here because Hoseok begged me. What happened today doesn’t matter. None of this means anything, it all means nothing to me.”

[ai-da-ice]

[Fan Account] Da-iCE’s NEXT PHASE Live in Saitama!

Da-iCE hasn’t listed a tour date for Tokyo yet (which makes me think another performance might be added to the end of the tour, but of course this is just me guessing), so for my very first Da-iCE tour performance, I made the trip to nearby Saitama to see them perform during their second day of the tour at Misato Cultural Center. It was about an hour and a half from my apartment, but as I’ve mentioned before, Japanese performances don’t require you to line up early-- if it’s a seated venue, like this one was, you’ll have the same seat no matter how early you get there, and standing venues still have entrance order numbers written on the ticket.

Once inside, there were several vendors. One to encourage people to sign up for the fan club, one selling Da-iCE albums, one passing along info for signing up for a credit card with Da-iCE's image on it, and lastly the standard merch table. I'd already purchased the light stick, but this time I also grabbed a tote bag since my normal purse isn't big enough to carry around the giant novels I'm always reading >_<

For this tour, I finally broke my bad streak of lotto numbers and snagged a seat in the third row. Each row was divided into left stage, middle stage, and right stage. I was the leftmost seat in the left stage area, and based on the dance formations, we got a lot of visits from Yudai and Taiki in particular throughout the night.

Before the show, the staff asked us to take out our light sticks, and we were all surprised to find out that they have a special function! When they're in range of the current concert venue, they can be controlled to change colors from their standard purplish-blue shade. Throughout the night, they were frequently moved from red to green to yellow to aqua blue and so on. The staff did a really good job of matching them to the tone of the songs and stage lights.

After demonstrating the light sticks' magic power, there was a short, futuristic intro video, and then the boys stepped out of this cool, dice shaped construction made out of the video screens and the show began!

Breaking down the night by song:

NEXT PHASE: When the album came out, Da-iCE claimed this would be their new show opener to replace FIGHT BACK, and it really fills the role well! The boys were wearing different costumes than their Tonikaku HEY gear, but their looks had a similar theme-- bright colors paired with retro style jackets. They all looked amazing (Sota’s back to 100% red hair!) and kicked off the show with some very strong dancing.

Watch Out: Even though this song came out last year, it's really grown as one of my favorites, so I was psyched that this was their follow up. Once again, it was a great pick to bring up the energy, and the vocals were as on point as ever. I love the bouncy parts of the dance during the “Won’t you try it?” section of the chorus.

Step Back: This was our first use of prop/special stage design of the night, and let's just say CHAINS WERE INVOLVED. I'm not joking. The set design featured prison-esque bars and the boys danced with prop chains binding their wrists. And yes, it was as good as it sounds. This was my first time seeing this song live, and I have to say that the dance was stellar!

Noise: After Step Back, the boys had a short introductory MC (trolling Sota ensues) where they also asked everyone how many "Phase" concerts they've been to ever since Phase 0 kicked off. They transitioned into Noise, one of my fave songs from Fight Back, using headphone props. Every time one of the boys put on the headphones, a certain kind of music would play and they would dance to it. For example, when Taiki put his on, it was a really upbeat techno track, so he did an almost seizure-like dance to it, then close with one of his trademark funny faces when he pulled the headphones off. When it was Yudai's turn, the intro to Noise started, and the boys began the performance with the headphones on. Every time they pulled them off, the music would change to tinny and muted, in the radio-esque style the original song evokes. It was really well done! But as Yudai mentioned on Twitter yesterday, he did make a few mistakes in his timing of pulling of the headphones, but I wish he wouldn't worry too much since it was a really complex performance and overall they did a good job with it!

Free Falling: This was our second set design on the night. A table with several chairs and a round of shot glasses (and I think some Jack Daniels as well?) were brought out, and the boys delivered this more rock-based number with a smoky bar room theme. They made good use of the chairs and table in the dance routine as well, and the performance came across like a cool, movie-like moment.

Chocolate Sympathy: Since the chairs were out, it was time for Da-iCE's famous chair dance routine paired with one of their sexiest songs. Chocolate Sympathy should be illegal, that song paired with that dance is too much all at once T^T. As I was watching, I kept on thinking how badly I want a CS instrumental because that beat is jamming, and in a sense I got my wish, because after the performance was over, it was time for performance solos from the dance line to the tune of the CS instrumental (remixed slightly, naturally). They played a quick game of Musical Chairs to determine who would go first. Hayate lost (after Toru took his chair, causing Hayate to dramatically fall over), so he led off. His dancing, unsurprisingly, WAS DOPE. Following his solo, he dashed offstage, and it was Taiki's turn. After, Taiki and Toru did a bit of a duo dance together, then Toru wrapped up, and both he and Taiki left the stage.

Koigokoro: Immediately Koigokoro kicked off with a costume change, since Yudai and Sota had been backstage during the dance solos. They were now wearing dark pants paired with a white dress shirt with a simple design in black down the front paired with a black bow tie. VERY sharp. The two vocals started off, and since Hayate had also had enough time to change costumes, he led off the dancing solo. Taiki and then Toru appeared later in the song. This is by far one of my fave Da-iCE songs and one of my faves to watch live. The vocal line absolutely kills it, and the dance is beautiful and emotional. One of my faves of the night.

Reason: Since we were in slow song mode, they transitioned into Reason, paired with a background video of the boys walking through the streets of Japan. This is one of the most beautiful songs off the new album but I keep forgetting that, so this was a good reminder to have it on rotation more often.

Sugar High: While the Reason videos were playing, the staff had set up coat racks with blue velvet suit jackets behind the screens. When I saw them, I thought next up would be Kirenai Mama no Coat, but it was actually our new OT5 track from Tonikaku HEY, Sugar High! Dressed in their daper jackets, all five members participated in the harmonies in the track, and they did a FANTASTIC job. I really do hope Da-iCE continues this trend in the future. Taiki is already at a great level of vocal ability, and Toru and Hayate’s confidence in their abilities seems to have skyrocketed.

Setsunakute (acoustic): And continue the trend they did! As a B-side to a pre-debut single, this song doesn't get much play at concerts, but Da-iCE brought it back with all 5 members on vocals! Not only did the dance line sing, but they actually sang the majority of the song! I'm praying Da-iCE will release this in some form, because it was glorious. Taiki did the first chorus on Toru did the second, and both of them delivered beautiful.

Yudai darted off stage following this performance, leaving the other four members to handle the MC while he changed costumes. The members speculated what Yudai would talk about for a solo MC and decided on 'protein'. Sure enough, when Yudai emerged in the new costume (black, white, and red-- Da-iCE's colors!), he chose to talk about protein while the other members changed. Unfortunately, I have a very limited knowledge of protein vocab, so I didn't quite follow >_<

[at this point, I can't remember for sure which of the next two songs was performed first, but I'm making an educated guess here lol]

Into You: All the boys were now in their Da-iCE colors after the costume change. They looked great, but Taiki's black piece, a button down, had the misfortune of sporting Guy Fieri-like flames... Taiki, I thought you were the fashionista!

I wasn't expecting Into You to be performed, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was! This is Da-iCE’s killer cover, and they SLAYED it live. And the Hayate jump kick move from the music video was there as well. And Sota's iconic "A little dangerous my boy" :D

I'll be back: Since we got Setsunakute, we also got I'll be back! This will also slightly edited, so instead of the Sota rap(ish?) bits on the second verse, we got a dance break. I'm personally a huge fan of Da-iCE dance breaks, so even though the performance was a little shorter than the original track, it was an amazing watch.

Fantasy: Another track I've never seen performed before, and another track improved by adding a dance break to the live performance. It makes me wish the dance break instrumental was part of the original track, I think it really enhanced it!

Five: Our first pre-debut mini album classic! This is one of my personal favorites from the pre-debut era because I love how the lyrics represent their bond as five members. I'm hoping for them to turn this into an OT5 vocal song one day, but as for now, I was thrilled to see this live finally! Also, our section finally got a much needed dose of Hayate fan service when he visited left stage.

Tonikaku HEY: Before performing their latest single, Da-iCE did a mini competition to see who could get the loudest audience "HEY"... of course, it was Sota vs. the rest of the members :D All a-i are winners, so the boys didn't choose favorites in the end. This song is kind of like the new "Hush Hush" where the audience participates in the dance since the moves during the chorus are simple hand movements the audience can follow. It's such a fun live track and you can tell the group really loves performing it.

BOND: This is a pretty light hearted song, so the boys were mainly paling around during the performance. For the set design, three sets of big white steps (the symbol for NEXT PHASE) on wheels were brought out, and the members played around on the steps and wheeled each other around. As the audience, we were in charge of the "pa-pa-party party" vocals

Stand: Another pre-debut mini-classic! The boys had stashed autographed balls under their stairs, so spent a portion of this track pitching them to the audience. None came close to me, but a girl at the other end of my row caught TWO. Guess my luck could have been a little better, even though I got third row.

Kimiiro: After all their fun with the last song, the boys calmed down and directed our attention to the screens, which flashed the release date for the new single. They than had a full performance of the new single, which I LOVE. It's not quite in the same vein as their previous summer singles, though it is uptempo. If anything, I think its vibe is half way between those songs and Sora, which is a really good sound for them. Can't wait for the release!

TWO AS ONE: I saw this performed live at Tokyo Swish and their vocals and choreo combination was really moving moment at the time, so it was beautiful to see it again. I love the MV, but I really wish more of the choreo was featured so you all could see it. I really think the story it tells is beautiful, especially since it's a thank you song to the fans.

ENCORE TIME!

Everybody: We heard the opening words of Everybody, but Da-iCE was nowhere to be found onstage...we whirled around...and there they were, in the audience! The five members walked around the aisles and shook hands with fans as they passed, much to everyone's delight! A lot of areas were reached by all five members, but the staff kept blocking the group from coming to my area because it was a tight squeeze between the edge of the rows and the side stage. Toru didn't care and broke through anyways. I made good use of having two hands and got a double handshake from Toru as he passed. YES!

Osaka Lover: I love this cover from the new single and think it's perfect for summer, so I'm glad they included it in their encore line up. The dance was great, so I'm extra psyched that we're getting an MV for this on the upcoming single!

Paradive: Da-iCE's most famous single closed out the night in upbeat, towel waving style. It's such a fun song, and Hayate's dance part during the instrumental has become so beloved that the members shout out "HAYATE" before he starts it. It's a great way to close on a happy and exciting note!

The two girls sitting next to me had talked to me before the encore and found out my favorite member was Sota. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such generosity, but one girl gave me a Sota NEXT PHASE wristband, and the other gave me Sota postcards. I was really so touched! At every Da-iCE I've been to, people have come up to me and asked me about how I got into the group, which is really so amazing for me! I feel a little awkward sometimes being a foreigner who stands out a lot since I'm the kind of person who prefers people (members of Da-iCE excepted) not to focus on me, but everyone has really shown me kindness and helped me to become more comfortable. My first Da-iCE tour performance was a total blast!!!

[viyageddi]

PAX East

Shit I played:

Observer

Graveyard Keeper

Complicated Board Game the Card Game

Isles of Arthanos

Pathologic

Tooth and Tail

Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind

Archeage

Elsinore

Three Cheers for Master!

It was pretty boss, now I’m sick. Read below for the full account of all my antics...

Friday: My friend and I took our time cause we wanted to get food for the house we were renting. I actually may look into doing that again. We got in about 1:30 and was just wandering around and checking stuff out. Missed out on some panels, but got to play some games like Observer, and Graveyard Keeper. Both are pretty awesome games. Observer is a First Person Psychological Thriller/Horror game that had some interesting mechanics to interact with the world. Graveyard Keeper is a game that is preeeeetty much Stardew Valley, but you’re a graveyard keeper. And I didn’t get terribly far, but it was pretty fun. We went to the 404ing panel last, which was a lot of fun. Saturday: This was the day I went all by myself and chilled by myself. I went early for their “How to be a good youtuber” panel, ‘cause I figured why not, I want to get into that stuff. It ended up being a shitty ad for youtube and HOW YOU CAN DO ALL THIS NEAT STUFF THAT YOU SURELY HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO DO ON TWITCH FOR A WHILE NOW. I understand though that because YT has such a niche in the internet, it might be beneficial for streaming there. And you can have all the videos and streams in one place. I left 15 minutes in, and the friend I met up with and I jumped back into the line for the next panel which was the FFXIV panel. That was a lot of fun. I ended up getting a neat summoner pin and I got to see Yoshi-P live. He was very much a rock star, and eating up the excitement. That was a fun panel, with a lot of the same answers. Afterwards I went exploring, met up with another friend, played “Complicated Board Game the Card Game” which I’d met the developers who are really cool folks when I used to work at my old job. I really enjoyed it. I think I technically won? But ahhh. It was fun. After the party was split and I went to play “Isles of Arthanos” which was a FUCKING DOPE-ASS GAME! Very much in alpha, but it was like 3d rpgmaker, but D&D like. You can design a whole campaign and share it with up to 5 friends which you can play together online. They guesstimated 1.5 years until it’s released but they’re looking to get it on steam, so that it’d be easier for people to workshop it and add their own assets to the game. I am excited for that. I played “Pathologic” which is a survival/horror/psychological game which the narrative follows this doctor, and the demo was very trippy but awesome. After, I bought dice, then signed up for the Bethesda “Prey” raffle thing, with the customized PS4/XBONE, and got an art book. I’m kinda curious as to how that game will be because to me it looked like a 3d puzzle game, like portal, but with a more eldritch twist to it. I probably wont get it at launch but I’d love to see other lets plays of that. After getting my art book, I went to the Playstation Booth where I played “Tooth and Tail” which was a neat RTS game, very simple and easy to get into, and very redwall-ish with the anthropomorphic animals. I probably would play it again, and I’m hoping they will get a one player campaign/story mode, but we’ll see. After this I was getting tired, and I managed to meet up with my friends, have food, and that’s where I called it a night. Sunday:

This was an unexpected day. We’d initially only got the Friday, Saturday Passes, but our friends managed to snag us some passes from a scalper for cheap. This was swag day. Our group of friends arrived, and went to the Bethesda area again, we split up and some of us went to quake, but some of us went to the ESO Morrowind game. It was a long wait, but I entered for the same contest as yesterday for the PS4/XBONE thing, got a t-shirt, and then went to battle. I got to experience the game, and that actually convinced me to get a hold of it probably when the Steam Spring Sales start happening. The next couple hours were us going around acquiring free shirts, and other shit. I even got underwear, which is a little to small for anyone in this house. (only one solution, really.) But yeah, we got free shit. Then I separated from the group with the end goal being 5pm meet up to get coats and stuff. I went to Trion and played around with Archeage again for a bit. I’d played when they first launched it in the west, and it’s been kinda ehhh. But the Community Manager was awesome and she kinda was like “There are some new servers with all these unprotected farms” and gave me a code to redeem a mount. Maybe I can make a war-forged (demon) toon and be overall chaotic. >:) Afterwards, it was rather a blur. I got to look at Earthlock: Festival of Magic which was pretty neat. It was very JRPG-y. Even the dev mentioned how they had gotten inspiration from FF7 and it showed. Very crisp looking. They’ve been developing it for 5 years and it looks hella cool. I’ll probably check it out some day. I then got to play part of the demo of Elsinore, a point and click adventure where you play Ophelia. One of the devs, she explained to me that it was “Groundhog Day meets Majora’s Mask meets Hamlet” and it looks like a neat game to play. I ran around a little more and got buttons for the mobile game Force of Guardians which I wanted to see the cute-ass pixel art. There was War Dragons which was a mobile AR game that replaced airplanes with DRAGONS and it looked so fucking cute and silly and had a whole tamagochi feel from it. I went through the tabletop which was dangerous. I found the people who made Gloom, and they were demoing Three Cheers for Master which the goal was to get the most points, and you wanted to build a tower of minions but they can kill each other and it was funny and cute, with hilarious flavor text. The same group also was making Unseen Arms which is a horror d10 game. The guys at the table themselves didn’t know tooooo much about it, but unlike Call of Cthulhu, this system’s sanity score meant that high sanity was bad as well as low sanity. After that, I wandered back, played some 3ds. My friends decided to go back for some last pickings from the expo hall, which meant I got two more shirts and a drawstring bags. I decided to wait ‘cause I realized I picked up the Pax Pox. So now I’m home, procrastinating on getting my groceries before the storm. And I had a lot of fun. Everyone was so nice and I hope that I’m able to go back next year, and hopefully drag my husband with me. My sentiments about Boston are the same. Not my kind of city. ;P

[solemnrosary]

You know what? I’m bored and I want to pretend that I’m vaguely interesting. So without further ado; 65 Questions!

Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? - Nah, I doubt my own existence and meaning the most. I have no reason to doubt anyone else’s existence, because I sure as hell couldn’t make such lovely cheery things.

On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? - 2, because I can’t see. I have terrible night-vision that takes ages to jostle on. So I end up navigating by visual and spacial memory if I need to walk around. Because I have my own system for storing items and leaving them about, I end up remembering my surroundings very well. 

The person you would never want to meet? - Anyone who doesn’t meet my basic moral requirements. 

What is your favorite word? -  In French, it’d be argent, since silver is pretty and I love how it’s pronounced. In English, plethora, for similar reasons. Finnish is harder to pick.. hmmmh, hurma?

If you were a type of tree, what would you be? - what is known here as “The silver willow”, which is a variation of the white willow (salix alba), that has silvery bluish sheen to it’s leaves and a darker tree trunk. Salix alba var. sericea 'Sibirica'. Sometimes 'Argentea' ja 'Sericea' are also considered to be of the same variation. If I was a flower, I think I’d like to be the Eden climbing rose or a marigold.

When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? - my face is bloated again, I guess the meds didn’t absorb properly. 

What shirt are you wearing? - dark blue men’s print shirt that doubles as a pyjama 

What do you label yourself as? - Agender, nonbinary, trans, bi and a problem. 

Bright room or dark room? - dim room. 

What were you doing at midnight last night? - myself

Favorite age you’ve been so far? - the now. I moved into another city away from my family, closer to my dear friend, so- it’s a whole lot better. Emotional turbulence is easing a little too. 

Who told you they loved you last? - ... my emotionally abusive family. 

Your worst enemy? - myself and the bigoted society. 

What is your current desktop picture? - a cat skull I painted myself. 

Do you like someone? - I do, I like many people. My friends, my brothers and grandma.

The last song you listened to? - I love you by Woodkid. It’s a mood.

You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? - dorito. 

Who would you really like to just punch in the face? - I’d rather not damage my hands. 

If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? - That sounds absolutely dreadful, no I don’t want to have anyone do anything they do not wish to do. It’s about consent, not-consenting is not funny or desirable to me in any way.  Now if you were to give me a butler, who has personal agency to say no and, perhaps, a snarky attitude- I really would love to be pampered a little. just- being held and taken care of would be nice. It doesn’t have to be anything non-platonic but I wouldn’t mind if it was? Gentle snark, reassurance, maybe a massage, please. 

What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) - Strong legs? I suppose my butt’s nice too. I like the curve of my back? Hands and eyes? it’s a very subjective question for someone who doesn’t like themselves. 

If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? - find a way not to change back, thank you! finally, the correct bits. Don’t mind if I do. 

Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? - I can’t.. think of any? Nothing that’d be a secret anyway. Unless walking so quietly that I startle people sometimes counts? I don’t do that on purpose, though. Being so oblivious to something I end up bypassing it’s complications by sheer force of will? 

What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? - I’m usually not afraid of any tangible things, only general things like pain and being abandoned by the people I love. Or never being accepted and loved in general. I’ve been working through haphephobia for years, but specifically; I’m afraid that my fear of touch will smear itself onto the relationships I feel the most comfortable and myself in. I can’t help flinching, it’s still instinctual, and I can’t tolerate a whole lot of contact from most people- but the longer I go without any contact, the more I fear that next time it’ll burn again. I almost regret telling my friends that I have haphephobia, because instead of asking if I’m okay with something, now I’m just- deprived of contact all together. It’s fairly hard to teach the brain that something is normal and okay when it’s never there at all. 

You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. - OH- definitely begin with some kickass, fresh-baked oat loaf, one you’ve bought that morning. Slice it thick, because it’s soft and divine. As for fillings, I am torn between several types of fish. Gravlax is amazing in itself, but smoked salmon in mayo with diced cucumber, lemon juice, dill, green onion, maybe celery sounds superb. or tuna in tomato purée, with freshly diced chives and tiny bit of mayo to balance the tang, if you want a simpler filling.  For salad bits; salad, cucumber, tomato, red onion, red bellpepper.   Optionally, some bacon and mushroom salad (it’s made from home-salted mushrooms that have been de-salted once, with diced red onion, mayo, maybe dijon, and white pepper. I make the best damn mushroom salad)  As for cheese, feta crumbs, mozzarella slices or a pan-crisp goat cheese button. For sauce, I prefer garlic or cucumber mayo, or even a yogurt sauce.  on top, a slightly gooey fried egg seasoned with citron-pepper and chili (so that the yolk may graze all the goodness). If you wish to be decadent as hell, throw some diced garlic, butter and yellow onion onto a pan, crisp it, throw it on top of all and then throw some choice sauces on it.  Even without the salmon filling, the bacon and mushroom salad with the rest makes for the best damn experience you could have whilst eating a sandwich. 

You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? - Save half, buy food and something for my friend. 

You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? - no thanks, all my goods are here. But Norway and Iceland would be nice one day.

An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? - uhhhhh, I don’t usually drink alcohol cause I can’t stand the taste. I’ve known to very rarely have a long-drink or a lemonade-esque thing though. So maybe Smirnoff ICE, If I was to drink it myself. Otherwise, rum or hard spirits like, a vodka of some kind, cause they are fairly versatile to use in emergencies, to bake with, or to gift. 

You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? - Be kind. 

What is your favorite expletive? - Saatana or perkele. I am a finn after all. 

Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno? - computer. It is the most expensive one and it has all my art of info in it, so it’s very obvious. That or my important papers file. 

You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? - one would not be enough to erase the damage I suffer from today. I would erase being born, if given free choice. 

You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! - I’d find a remote community in an area, have a cottage and just. I dunno, do art, bake and have a garden for fruits and cool projects. I’d make my own earthen oven. A big cast-iron pan. 

The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? - Grandma. Her shitty husband bullied her in her last year while she was dying to breast cancer. I love her, and she deserved better.  

What was your last dream about? - [Trigger warning, this gets extreme] I was belly-down on the ground, grabbed by the throat from behind. I wrangled one hand off, but every time I managed to get both, one of those hands would slip my grasp and choke me again. I barely got a single breath between. This went on and on and on. I cried for help and reached out, only for someone to grab my hand in disdain, saying something like ‘tsh, fine. Cry then.’ They held my hand in a way that their nails dug into that hand. I no longer had both hands to pry the assaulter’s hands away. I slowly choked to death.   I woke up and hand to claw at my own hand just to breathe through my panic. I felt those hands on my throat for days. This is, unfortunately, normal for me.

Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? - No.

Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? - I have an autoimmune condition that has hospitalized and nearly killed me on several occasions. So yes. I take that in strides.

Have you ever built a snowman? - Yes, with my brothers. It was nice.

What is the color of your socks? - Black, always

What type of music do you like? - Anything between rock, pop, folk and classical. Violin music in particular.

Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? - Both are nice

What is your favorite milkshake flavor? - chocolate or blueberry

What football team do you support? - I don’t watch football

Do you have any scars? - Yes. Stretch marks, old wounds, new wounds. I have a scar behind my left ear that if you were to touch it, you’d notice it has a split beneath it on the skull from how hard it was hit. I fell on a radiator edge when I was younger and almost lost my ear from it, got three stitches. I also have a scar below from a biking accident, couldn’t sit for a few weeks.

What do you want to be when you graduate? - Already did, and the answer is odd jobs and nothing, apparently.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? - torn between ‘existence’ and ‘bodily gender’

Are you reliable? - Yes and no. I will keep any secret and help out whenever I can but would I trust myself to handle anything I care about? No. 

If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? - Does it get better?

Do you hold grudges? - I do not forget, but I do not dwell. 

If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? - A cat and a duck. The ultimate bastard. 

What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? - the one where a stalker told me they’d dug every information they could find for two weeks before talking to me. They asked for my home address in 30 different ways, apparently hoping I’d forget I’d said no. They proceeded to hand me a yaoi manga as a souvenir from a con. I felt vaguely threatened. 

Are you a good liar? - hmm. I try not to lie, If I don’t want to answer I’ll dodge or say I don’t want to answer. But, I suppose I am, for being able to hide half the things that I’ve been able to.

How long could you go without talking? - I begin talking out loud to fill out soundless spaces, so not a whole lot. 

What has been you worst haircut/style? - ‘I want to speak to the manager’ and ‘little timmy is the best soccer player in his class’ 

Have you ever baked your own cake? - I baked most of everything back at my parents, so yes. 

Can you do any accents other than your own? - funny ones, mostly

What do you like on your toast? - spread, ham, cheese, tomato, cucumber, aromasalt, fried egg  - spread, liver patée, cucumber and aromasalt/pickles - spread, gravlax/tuna/salmon - spread, boiled egg slices, pickled herring (they come in jars, I prefer onion ones) in thinner slices, I add extra dill into the jars when I open them so they can marinate more. 

What is the last thing you drew a picture of? - currently working on a personal WIP

What would be you dream car? - A car that someone else drives. With air conditioning. 

Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. - no and no. I shower and then I’m done. I don’t like my voice, nor my body, nor wasting water. I do wash thoroughly though.

Do you believe in aliens? - It doesn’t interest me at all whether or not there is or isn’t. 

Do you often read your horoscope? - only if it’s the only thing left to read or if it’s just readily visible without me looking for it. I think they’re bogus, but sometimes admittedly silly.

What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? - H or lowercase T, because I write them very loopy. 

Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? - They’re both cool in their own ways. A dinosaur is way bigger but as fantasy creatures dragons can fly, breathe elements and shape-shift though, hard to top that. 

What do you think about babies? - Ew.

Tell something of your choice - If I had a cat, I’d name it Mishka or Meowkolash or Umi (sa, umineko ga inai to, “Umi” neko ga onaka ga suite iru) because I’m a nerd who loves umineko and bad jokes.