#there and they dont want to be rude rather than direct invite

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

tired of being a broken freak

someone come kiss me so i can see if i like it when the person's not being a creep

[starheirxero]

[rez]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyway

Hope Castor can help Lunar.

Or atleast point him in the right direction.

I think Lunar is finally facing himself really.

And I understand wanting him out of the house but like- why are they surprised he ran away?

Thats like what Lunar does? He ran for months after he died, him running away is par for the course. And he was gone for three days because he was in jail? They didn't even accept that, they just got mad at him for running. As if Monty hadn't actually decided he was gonna kill Lulu.

Like Lunar would probably be dead if he'd stayed, or atleast injured.

'We do still love you and youre still our little brother'

-They say as they irepibly damage any and all trust Lunar had in them at the moment and in the future.

Moon I understand you want him to actually face consequences but there's no going back from this!

Lunar will never trust you, or anyone else in this family, again.

Castor pleasepleaseplease be the one who finds him.

Ohhh how I want to see more Pollux and Castor interactions bc as I said in another ask that idk if you received Cas almost seems to be avoiding talking to her specifically about Lulu.

That or Lunar gets kidnapped again.

More specifically by the creator so gem (or even just Cas) have to save him

But with Gemini separate there's also the possibility rez or someone else targets one of the twins while the other is away so thatd be neat.

ALL OF THIS NODNODNOD!!!!!!

I think Castor choosing to help Lunar while Pollux doesn't would be really interesting from a Gemini perspective. They're the twins, they make up one astral, one constellation together. If they truly become divided over this, I would be deeply fascinated to see where it goes from there since we got so used to seeing them as Gemini—a collective entity—rather than themselves.

And YEAH LIKE. Listen. I know that to the family, because they don't actually have the full picture, it looks like Lunar is just a loose canon that attacked Earth in a fit and then dipped. But also LUNAR TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT THEY WERE IN LITERALLY INCAPABLE OF RETURNING SOONER BC THEY WERE JAILED AND THEN REZ PUT THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE. AND MOON JUST WENT "I DON'T CARE." LIKE CMON 😭 "why were you gone for 3 days" "i was jailed and then left in russia" "whatever i dont care" MOON WHEN I GET YOU.......

THE "I LOVE YOUS" BETWEEN IT ALL YEAH.

I'm sorry but no amount of "you are family and we love you" is going to lessen the blow of "you have basically been squatting in my house (that i invited you into and you've been paying rent for) and you're a danger to this entire family so I want you to never speak or get near any of us until you sort yourself out." ESPECIALLY WHEN MOON SAID "YOU'RE LUCKY I EVEN STILL CONSIDER YOU FAMILY" LIKE I'M SORRY BUT THAT'S WILD. Again, I understand Moon in this situation. That does not mean I don't think he wasn't insanely rude LMAO 😭

Exactly like you said, Moon cannot undo this. Lunar has always looked up to old Moon and so I cannot imagine how much more it hurts coming from him. I honestly can't imagine a clear future where Lunar is going to feel safe amongst their own family again, knowing that they all viewed them as dangerous enough to be kicked out. Honestly, I'm half expecting this to end up as "Lunar lives independently and then realizes they actually feel better not living around their family and that they were kinda awful for them on accident" HDKSHDJS

YEA MORE CASTOR N POLLUX INTERACTIONS WOULD BE GREAT...... Yesyes I have received ur other ask and I'm actually gunna answer it after this one but GHOD yeah. Seeing them disagree abt smth is so interesting and I need more of it....... If one twin is hurt tho,,,,,,, ouhg. The Angst........

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

I need to share soft sign language buddies ninogami headcanon because they’re taking over my brain always:

(This got so long, so youre welcome if youre also starved for ninogami content)

Nino’s mom is Deaf , so he grew up signing as much as speaking. When he was younger he always signed as he talked.

It turned out he’s also Hard of Hearing, so sign language is way easier for him to understand most of the time.

However, though he’s great at making friends, he’s very awkward when it comes to talking about himself. So never comes up in conversation.

It’s not a self-deprication issue. It’s just a “thinking of things to say is hard and I’d rather have someone else do the talking” thing. He’d rather talk about anyone except himself.

Additionally! He’s great at helping other people, but he’s terrible at asking for help. He does not EVER want to be like “hey i cant understand what you’re saying, my ears dont work great,” its his worst nightmare

And it doesnt help that there have been a few cases of people being rude about it when he doesnt hear them after they repeat themselves. And possibly worse, there have been even more cases of people giving over-the-top apologies instead of just,, telling him what they said. So it’s not worth the trouble in his mind

with his few close friends who still dont know, it feels like its too late and it’d be awkward to bring it up, so he just… doesnt. He’s procrastinating on telling them he cant hear them

He stopped signing as much as he talked in middle school because strangers would always be like “woah thats so cool, how do you know sign language” and he’d just panic because he was an awkward tween, and he didnt know if he was comfortable telling them he was HoH, but ALSO just saying his mom was Deaf and not mentioning himself felt like directly lying by hiding information, so he just took the “lazy” way out and signed less in public.

Sometimes fighting the anxiety was not worth it so he just let it win in that case.

Nino is so nice and energetic and loves people, but he is way more introverted and anxious than his friends think.

But when they start to get closer, Kagami who is ever-observant, notices him signing a little bit, (not ever to her, not ever on purpose, but he’d sometimes sign a word he needed to remember while speaking or sign along to emphasize something)

and she luckily for his anxiety, she doesnt know how to have a normal conversation either.

Her (platonic as well as romantic) love language is studying and research, and Nino seems very cool and she likes him, even if she is awful at holding a conversation with him or doing anything to show it.

She thinks he’s so cool and such an amazing talented kind friend. She has so much love for him that she doesnt know what to do with it. So she channels that energy into learning to sign through the internet and whatever tools she can find

And then after a while of this, she’s like “oh no, he’s gonna think that’s so creepy, I cant tell him I know sign language or he’ll be so uncomfortable”

So, like a whole idiot, she hides that she’s learning sign language from anyone. Because OBVIOUSLY if word got back to Nino, he’d assume it was because of him and that she was a weirdo he shouldn’t be friends with

But also Kagami accidentally falls in love with sign language because she has undiagnosed autism. She always assumed that communicating was just going to be impossible no matter what, but as she gets proficient in sign language she’s like,,, oh,,, OH,, this is very nice

Even just signing while she talks makes it so much easier to keep words and sentances straight, but she only does it when she’s alone with her mother, who is literally blind and would never know.

They become closer friends in late high school, and by that time a lot of Nino’s anxiety has worn off and he’s become completely comfortable letting teachers know when he needs to hear somthing, and middle school feels like a distant dream

At some point, Nino invites Kagami to his house a few times, and he signs with his mom. Nino is like “I can interpret for you,” and Kagami is like “wow thanks, I’m so lucky, because I obviously do not know any sign language, why would I have learned it, and also for the record it is brand new information to me that you can sign,” and Nino is like “cool? Its not a secret but im glad i told you if you somehow didnt already know,” and Kagami is like, “yep :)”

But then eventually as they become really close, they are texting one night, (Kagami can still barely get out of her house, so they need to communicate remotely. And both of then HATE phone calls bc its so hard to understand whats happening, but neither of them have admitted this to anyone)

Nino admits that he likes using sign language better than talking, and he wishes he could use it with his friends, but he’d feel so guilty asking them to learn an entire language just to make him slightly more comfortable. He can talk and hear OKAY so he shouldnt put the pressure on them.

and Kagami is like “you could always ask, worst case scenerio they say no, and i dont think thats an unreasonable demand” and nino is like “it is though,” and kagami’s like “ok so haha funny story, please dont hate me” and nino is like, “…what.” And kagami confesses everything and nino is like “why… why would i hate you for that?” And Kagami is like “oh wait youre right im stupid,”

And then Nino’s also like “hey if YOURE more comfortable signing too, then why dont YOU ask your friends to sign for you. Do you see what i mean? It’s hard to ask-” and kagami is like, “as your friend i will prove it is not.”

So then Kagami ends up confronting Adrien and Marinette the next day and is like “Hi. This is a sign language dictionary. Learn from it.” And they’re both like “what?” And she’s like “oh wait sorry. Backing up. I’m autistic. I decided like three years ago. Forgot to tell you. And I need you to learn to sign a little bit so you can understand if i sign something at you. If you want, of course. Please :D.” And theyre like “ok sure yeah i can do that.”

(Theyve already learned and accepted that shes extremely direct in asking for things)

So then she texts nino and is like “i did it. Youre welcome.”

But anyway both of them are uncomfortable in crowds and parties: Nino cant hear anyone and Kagami tends to get sensory overload, so they start signing mostly in those situations, and then it starts to sink in that they’re allowed to sign whenever and that the other really IS also comfortable with it.

(Both of them are much more willing to make sacrifices for others than to try something new and intimidating for themself, so this is the perfect situation to trick them into getting out of their comfort zone, ironically by trying to be more comfortable in the long run)

so they will just sit together and hang out and have long conversations while just chilling somewhere in a park or at cafes or whatever. Both of them become chattier than they’ve ever been because talking and understanding is so much easier, and its addicting

And their close friends all become proficient enough in sign language to have simple conversations.

But also Nino and Kagami start sitting together automatically even in group hangouts, and they start hanging out more with just the two of them, and soon neither of them feel bad about asking to hang out in quieter places, because they can justify it knowing that it will also help the other one, and together that makes both of them also more comfortable asking for little accomodations from other friends, if only to prove to the other that they can do it too.

And Kagami has the lesser-known autism side effect where she makes WAY TOO MUCH eye contact. She’s aware of it but that doesnt make it go away. Normally she feels so awkward about it, and overthinks her gaze because she doesnt want to scare people away. But when signing, you literally HAVE to be watching the other person constantly, so she has an excuse to just be herself, and its so relieving

(and also its kind of fun to look at Nino anyway because he can get so animated and his smile is really nice and oh no she is in love a little bit)

And Nino always struggles because he emotionally ALWAYS needs to be the nice polite one. His anxiety sometimes gets the better of him and he’s constantly worried about sending the wrong signals to his friends and coming off as rude somehow. But with Kagami, he can literally just ask?? And she will tell him her honest opinion without making it weird. And its so comfy and so good and he really loves hearing her unfiltered opinions on so many things because she sees the world in such a unique way and she gets so passionate about such little things and then oh no, he is fallen for her before he can realize it

And they also learn that they’re both artists, they both love to just observe the world because even if they;re awkward, people are actually pretty great most of the time, and its fun to observe them and try to capture the world, and they just sit together and sketch, or they watch each other sketch, and the thing is, both of them draw ONLY FOR THEMSELVES, its not a ‘skill,’ and they don;t want it to be, its just private art for relaxation. Somehow, though, its okay if they share their art with each other. They can just sit in comfortable silence for hours while one of them sketches something and the other watches patiently

And they start to get more comfortable with one of their heads resting on the other’s shoulder as they watch them doodle, and sitting so close their legs press together, and soon enough their hands start brushing against each other’s as they walk next to each other and then all of a sudden they’re casually holding hands whenever they’re not signing because it’s nice

They try to share headphones so Nino can share some of his favorite songs and his compositions with Kagami. But try as she might, Kagami can not handle the sensory of only having one earbud in. Nino knows her tells by that point, and he’s not about to let her suffer for a stupid reason, but she REALLY does want to hear his music. They somehow end up with Kagami putting a pair of headphones around her neck and turning up the volume a little bit so she can hear, while Nino rests his head on her shoulder so he can hear just enough to know where she is in the song

And then he has to sit up and scootch away just enough to see her hands so they can talk about it, and they both pretend not to notice how nice it was to snuggle as they sign. Its fine, though, because now they get the excuse to just look at each other again and sign overdramatically with exaggerated facial expressions, and no one else around can overhear their conversation, and Nino likes to go a little over the top when signing onomatopoeia and acting out particular parts of the song rhythm that he likes, and Kagami laughs, and they both mentally save the image of each other in this moment the same way that they look at reference images for artwork, memorizing the lines of each movement and the things that make each smile unique,

and Nino also shows up at every single one of her fencing tournaments, and he sits as close as he can and signs encouraging messages to her from the crowd whenever she’s not actively competing, (that her blind mom can never catch, which is somewhat of a bonus to Kagami, because every element of their friendship that her mother cant interact with makes this more personal and special and HERS). Every little sign she sends back at him, even a simple thank you, always feels so good and rebellious and free because shes supposed to be focusing on fencing but shes deciding to care more about friendship. And even if she’s expected to leave immediately afterword, she’ll find every excuse possible to find him and give him a hug, which he’ll always accept even though she jokingly warns him shes sweaty and gross

And eventually they are special best friends and it brings them instant joy to see each other and theyre able to interact for no reason other than that they want to and like each other

(And then they kiss)

[witchcraft-in-wonderland]

Ships and Shells (Pt.1)

-------------------------

There were a great many things that Virgil didnt know, how to solve complex math equations, how to balance a book on his head, how the ocean could be so close to him yet so obscenely far. Really that was what confused him, a title of 'Prince of the Seas' and yet he hadnt set foot near one once in his life.

For a kingdom based so heavily around aquaculture, it was rather odd that his parents seemed to fear water more than they feared the idea of poison in their goblets.

Of course, that didnt mean they'd halted the economy all together, oh no, it was perfectly alright for other people to do the dirty work of the oceans, so long as the nobility stayed away from it.

But that's the thing about keeping an eighteen year old boy trapped in an expansive palace with windows pointing out to a place he wasnt allowed to go. It never worked.

In the case of this particular rebellion, Virgil had strayed off nearly every day at night to watch the tides, to feel the water on his feet, to call out to the distant shore that seemed oh so welcoming when he wasnt allowed to accept its invitations.

And if he couldnt sneak out, he watched ships dock and leave from the harbor as often as he could, his mind swimming with ideas of what it might be like.

"But mother I dont want to go to my classes! The instructor is all boring and- creepy-" Virgil complained, dragging his nails along the table and pouting slightly.

"Well if you didnt want extra classes than maybe you shouldve paid more attention the first time," the queen responded coldly.

"Well how can I! You've placed the classroom right next to the ocean! If you wanted me to pay attention so badly why would you give me a view like that!" Virgil responded, throwing his arms up.

"Well I'd expect you to have a little more self control than that!" And that settled it, if Virgil's mother was mad, there would be no further questions. Virgil mumbled a bit before he stormed off to his classes, fidgeting with his hoodie strings as he walked.

Of course, he still didnt pay a single lick of attention, simply stared out of the window and cringed at his professor's comments until it was over.

And then it happened, he'd walked out of the study, and heard a loud crash from outside. He raced to a farther window, pressing his face against the glass.

A large black ship was docked in the harbor, and the harbor itself, was on fire.

Virgil had to duck as something hit the window, a quick look allowed him to recognize it as a grappling hook. So Virgil began to run as fast as he could, watching pirates was one thing, getting taken by them was another.

Unfortunately for Virgil, he was fast, but pirates with ropes were much faster. Virgil froze as he heard boots land on the floor in front of him, and attempted to turn back in the other direction, only to run into another pirate.

"Aaawwweee, poor thing, he thinks we're gonna hurt him doesnt he!" Said one of the pirates, cackling. Virgil looked up and spat in his face. The man blinked, pouting slightly.

"Well fine, since you want to be so rude about it, Janus? Roman?" The man looked over Virgil's shoulder, Virgil attempted to break into a run again, only for his arm to get caught by someone else. He swilling around and attempted to bite his captor, only to feel someone else press against his neck, his vision went spotty, and then faded entirely.

He woke up in a cell, the smell of salt water filled his nostrils, he had cloth wrapped around his mouth, wrists, and ankles.

"Terribly sorry for the lackluster greeting, we're not used to skittering mice," Virgil glared at the man standing outside of his cell.

"Gee, you could kill a man with those eyes," the man cackled. Virgil let out a low snarl.

"Oooohhh, I'm shaking in my boots!" The man leaned against the cell, lifting on leg up and propping it on a barrel behind him.

"Tell me, what exactly do you think you'll be able to do to me when you're stuck in there, and even if you were out, pompous prince like you couldnt even throw a proper punch," the pirate said with a grin, Virgil noticed silver fangs glinting at the front of his mouth. Virgil lunged at him slightly, only to end up falling on his face. The silver-fanged man let out another sickening cackle.

"And dont get any ideas about escaping, you're on Captain Remus Duke-Prince Kingsley's ship now, and you'll abide by my rules, or you'll find yourself hanging from a fish hook off the hull," the Captain's voice took on a sudden threatening tone that sent chills down Virgil's spine. Virgil watched as Remus turned on his heel and strode out of the room, wishing ever so intensely that he couldve broken his bonds and strangled the man before he even set foot outside the door.

It felt as though Virgil had been alone in that cell for hours before someone showed up, he was short, with messy auburn hair and bright green eyes. He looked guilty, sad even.

"Here's your food, I'll uh- get that cloth off now-" he stammered, slipping the tray through a slot in the cell, Virgil turned his back to the man, waiting patiently as he felt the man's fingers working through the cloth bindings. Almost as soon as he felt the last piece of cloth fall from his body he bolted upright and tried to push his way through the cage bars. The man who'd delivered his food gave him a pitying look, but didnt stop him. It wasnt until Virgil had managed to tire himself put and collapse onto the floor that he spoke.

"Well, I suppose if you're quite finished, youd like to ask questions, then?" He said, raising an eyebrow. His face was soft, even the mildly annoyed look spread across it now didnt take away from the rosy flush of his cheeks, nor the faint glimmer of his irises.

"Yeah, question one, what the hell do you think you're playing at," Virgil said, slamming his arm against the cage bars again, ignoring the vibration it sent through his body.

"Ok, dont get mad, which is probably a redundant statement since you already look like you're going to explode, but, I cant answer that particular question yet," he said, the guilty expression quickly resurfacing.

"Ok, sure, fine, can you at least tell me what you need me for? Because it clearly isnt a ransom or I'd already be dead," Virgil grumbled, smirking slightly at the worry this seemed to cause the man.

"Well uh, I dont have all of the details, but uh- well- Remus says- I think- we need your help with something? Like- finding something, he says we cant do it unless you're with us," the man stuttered, shifting his feet on the ground.

"Oh really? So if I were to- say, remove myself from the equation, you'd be at a loss hm?" Virgil said, the man let out a terrified squeak. Virgil gave a merciless laugh, for a pirate, whoever this man was, he was nowhere near as threatening as his captain.

"Well uh- yes- that's, how I assume it would work- but uh- I dont think it would be very beneficial to you either-" the man continued, his boots now tapping more frequently on the ground.

"You and I have very different ideas of beneficial," Virgil replied.

"Roman? Is everything alright my darling?" Virgil paused as he heard another voice, this one deeper, almost silky in tone.

"I'm alright Janus-" Roman replied, Virgil heard shuffling.

"Are you going to eat? I dont think it wise to starve yourself, after all, a prince of the seas die in the middle of the ocean? There are far less ironic alternatives, and with much more bravado than that," Janus said, Virgil muttered a bit before he turned to the tray, which was, by some odd miracle, still hot. He glanced in the direction of his co-captors to get a better look at the second figure. Janus was tall, with wavy brown hair that was parted to the right, the left side was shaved, there was a very prominent yellow snake skull drawn on the right side of his face as well, and he, to, had metallic fangs, though his were gold, and were visible even with his mouth closed, Roman, it seemed, had no such additions. Virgil eyed them both carefully before he started eating, and he hadnt realized how hungry he was till that exact second.

"And dont worry about excercise, you'll only be trapped here until we're in the next town, of course you wont be getting off the ship, so dont get any ideas," Janus said calmly.

"And what makes you think you can stop me?" Virgil said, glaring up at him.

"Who exactly do you think incapacitated you upon our arrival at the castle?" Janus said plainly, flexing his hands, upon which were gold accents that seemed to trace it like a skeleton.

"Well, enjoy your meal, and dont sit still for to long, it gets dreadfully uncomfortable for your joints to get that stiff," and with that, the pair were gone, Janus fixing his hat, and Roman clinging to Janus' arm like a lovestruck puppy.

And there was Virgil, alone, and very much unhappy.

----------------------------------------------

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[sickkillerzach]

Ex Gon' Give It To Ya

Everytime Gloria invited Javier over to see Manny, I knew it was bad news.

But she insisted every time he came over that "it's good for Manny to see his dad".

That all changed the most recent time he came to visit.

You see, he didn't just come to visit Manny.

He wanted to take Manny with him.

*************************************

There was a knock on the door. ugh I thought, Gloria's ex husband. I hate him.

She came rushing towards the door. I could tell she didn't enjoy his company, but obviously, she thought it was good for him.

But there was something rather odd about the way she looked. She always looked like she was dreading his very appearance at her house, but she looked, rather, nervous to open the door.

I stopped her dead in her tracks. "Gloria, sweetheart, you seem to be anxious about Javier's presence."

"I don't know. I just have this very strange feeling about inviting him over. I've had this feeling for a week, when I got the call from him. He sounded like he was up to no good." She replied.

He pounded on the door again, rude and impatiently.

"We'll be there in a second!" I yelled loudly, my Australian accent kicking in, as usual.

He stopped knocking.

"Well, he's already here, nothing we can do, let's just have him over to visit Manny, and he can leave, and that's it." I assured her.

I didn't want to say anything to her, as I saw the stress she was under, but I was very frustrated at her, and almost wanted to say "Well, had you listened to me, you wouldn't be here".

It was bad enough my friends never listen to me, but my soon to be fiance not listening to me is even worse.

I felt very hurt, but didn't say anything.

She went to the door and took a deep breath, and opened it.

"About damn time," he said "where the hell were you?" He asked, being very rude, again.

She ignored the question, and I came over and shook his hand. I did this every time he came over, but he was always rough with me. My hand was always red and sore afterwards, and sometimes he even squeezed so tightly, I could feel my pulse in my hand.

Manny walked over and hugged his father.

He even looked concerned, almost as if he was sharing the same feeling his mother was.

Javier gave him a very weird looking grin, like he was up to something.

Was Gloria's strange feelings, that may have been shared with Manny, meaning something more than we thought?

*************************************

Everything seemed to be normal. He gave Manny a gift, as always (which bothered me, because it was like he was trying to compete with me, but I'm always going to be the better father), he ate dinner, chatted with us, the usual things he would do.

However, when he left, that bad feeling started to settle on me.

was he up to something? I thought, and what was with that grin he kept giving Manny? He kept staring him down.

*************************************

That night when we settled on the bed, I had nothing on but a pair of boxer shorts, and Gloria had on one of her nightgowns. Everything seemed to be usual. Usual day, usual night, the only thing different was that Javier was over.

So I thought.

In the middle of the night, I had to take a piss. This was normal, as I frequently had to urinate in the middle of the night.

But something was off.

I never noticed how creepy Gloria's house looked in the dark. It was a beautiful house, but right now, it looked creepy.

I wanted a light source, but didn't want to awake Gloria, so, I grabbed my Rick and Morty Portal Gun, put it on silent, and made it so that the light stayed on until I shut it off, rather than turning off automatically.

And as an extra comfort source, I grabbed my Raichu plushie from the bed.

Gloria turned over a little bit, but didn't wake up from me getting my Raichu, and Portal Gun.

I walked across the hall, and went to the bathroom, which was right next to Manny's room, which was right next to Joe's room.

I went in, and set my gun and plushie on the counter right next to the toilet, and lifted the seat up, and did my business. I couldn't help but feel this strange feeling overwhelming me, the same feeling I was getting while Javier was over, but worse.

Way worse.

Once I got done in the bathroom, I grabbed my Portal Gun, and Raichu, and continued walking towards our bedroom.

But the feeling was getting worse as I walked away from the hallway.

For whatever reason, I checked in Manny's room.

good, he's just in his bed, snoring away I thought to myself.

what the hell was I thinking? He was gonna be missing or something?

I went back up to the bedroom, set down the portal gun on to the the dresser, turned it off, set Raichu back on the bed, covered back up, and went back to bed.

*************************************

At around 4AM, there was a loud noise throughout the house. It woke both me and Gloria up.

"What was that?" I asked her, rhetorically.

"I don't know, we should go downstairs and see." She replied.

As I walked through the bedroom door, I sensed the same feeling I had while in the bathroom.

We walked down the stairs, where the noise sounded like it came from, and there was nobody there.

I could hear Joe crying upstairs about something.

"I'll get him, you keep looking." She said as she ran back up the stairs.

I kept looking around until I heard the words come out of Joe's mouth.

"Manny's dad came and got him."

"What?" I said back.

"Yeah, he came and took him. I couldn't say anything because he had a gum at my head." He replied, obviously mistaking "gun" for "gum". I always thought it was so cute when Joe talked like a child.

"What kind of wanker points a lethal weapon at a child?" I said.

"Oliver, we've got to go save Manny." Gloria told me, which was the obvious thing to do.

I put on my tan leather jacket, black sweatpants, while Gloria put on her red sweater, and brown skinny jeans.

We made sure to have pockets to hold our guns.

"Let's see here," I started listing off all the guns we had in our gun safe. "Thompson? Nah, that'd jam too much. BAR? Too heavy. We're only killing one guy after all. SPAS-12? That's-" Gloria interrupted.

"Will you just hurry up already? We don't know what Javier could be doing at this moment, I'll just be taking the Glock." She told me.

"Fine, I'll just take the PPSH-41, and the 1911."

We put Joe in the backseat of the car, and were on our way to that dickhead Javier's house.

I wanted to tell Gloria that I knew that inviting him over was a bad idea, but chose not to, as I didn't want to put more stress on her, or even worse, cause an argument. After all, there was a lot of tension.

I started to notice how much of a bad idea it was to put the PPSH on my back, as it started to hurt with the carseat right up against it.

Too late to take care of it now.

The closer we got to the house, the faster I started driving.

*************************************

When we finally arrived at the house, we started loading up our guns.

"Papi, just stay here while me and daddy take care of something-" I interrupted her.

"Look, the kid understands what we're doing, no need to sugarcoat it, let's get moving, and take down this cunt, and save our son." Gloria wasn't fond of me swearing in front of Joe, however, I made it up to her by calling Manny "our son", despite me just being his step-father.

We began to walk towards the front door, and I knocked on it, very hard.

I could hear him screaming something in Spanish that I couldn't quite understand.

"Who the fuck is it? And what the fuck do you want?" He yelled in English, this time I understood him.

I tried my best to hide my Australian accent, and said "mail service!"

Gloria stared at me deeply as if she was saying "what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Mail at 5AM?" He replied.

"Told you so." She said, despite not saying anything beforehand.

I gave her the same look she gave me.

I scratched my beard and mustache as I thought of what to say next.

"We're working the nightshift." I finally said, but became concerned as my accent was a teeny bit audible, and because that's obviously not convincing.

"No mail guy comes at-" I interrupted him.

"Goddamnit Javier just open the fucking door!" Gloria gave me an even darker look, as if she was saying "now what's your plan genius?".

"Oliver? What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to sound surprised.

"You know why, give us Manny, and nobody gets hurt." Gloria finally spoke.

"I don't have Manny? What are you talking about?"

I whispered to Gloria, "let's start shooting at the door, then he'll have to open."

She nodded, as in confirmation.

I pulled out the 1911, and she pulled out her Glock, and we started firing shots.

He started yelling in Spanish again. The only thing I could understand was "ay dios mio".

"You brought guns? What the fuck? Okay, I'll open the door, just stop firing!" He said, as he walked over.

I pulled out the PPSH from my back, and put the 1911 back in my jacket pocket.

When he opened the door, I hit him with the butt of the gun.

"You fucking son of a bitch, give us the kid right now!" I yelled as I pointed the sub machine gun at his forehead.

"I dont have him! I told you." He replied.

Just then we heard a scream, coming from, what sounded like a teenage boy.

Gloria and I turned to each other.

"That confirms it." She said.

"Guess it's time to waste this wanker." Just then he pulled out his P-99 from his jeans pocket and stared firing shots. Gloria and I immediately took cover behind his walls at the side of his house. Unfortunately, we were on the opposite sides, making us separated.

He quickly reloaded, and continued shooting.

I nodded at Gloria silently, and then moved my head in the direction of the back of the house. She seemed to get the idea.

We met up at the back, and just before we started discussing the plan, we looked in the window.

Manny was in the chair, tied up, his back turned to us.

"There's Manny. Alright, here's the plan. You run in and get Manny from the chair, I'll shoot this cunt in the leg, and then we'll have some fun with him afterwards." I told her, she didn't say anything, but rather smiled, and nodded.

"That sounds good to you?" I asked, just to confirm with her, despite she clearly agreed.

"Ye-" She began, but then was interrupted by something she saw. Her eyes widened, and looked as if she was about to piss her pants.

I heard a click.

"He's right behind me, isn't he?" I asked rhetorically, knowing the answer.

"Well, it seems you shouldn't have came here, doesn't it?" He said, as he started to hold me by my neck, making me drop my PPSH.

I thought quickly of what to do, and the kicked him right in his balls.

I picked up the gun from the ground, and shot him right in his kneecap.

"Get Manny from the house, I'll take this wanker in with you." She nodded and ran to the door. She didn't go in though, and waited for me to go to the door, and opened it for me.

"Thanks." I said. I gave her a slight kiss on the cheek, just to piss off Javier.

He started yelling in Spanish, for the third time.

I noticed he was bleeding a lot, and it seemed he was hanging on to conciousness. I set him down on the ground, and put pressure on his wound.

"Oh, buddy, you can't die now, we're just getting started." I told him.

I took a look over at Manny, and he looked horrible. He had blood all over his legs and face, and it even looked like he pulled out a few teeth.

This angered me more than I thought it would.

"I see you did a lot worse damage than I thought you did." I said to Javier, as he started making grunting sounds.

Gloria kissed Manny on his forehead, and hugged him tightly, and said something in Spanish to him.

That's what I loved about Gloria, she was such a soft mom.

She took him to the car, and walked back in.

We grabbed Javier, and put him in the chair.

"You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge." I told him as we tied him up.

Gloria looked at me, as she got the reference.

"What are you talking about? You don't have any "street knowledge", the both of you don't". He said.

"Really? You don't get the reference? Straight Outta Compton, by N.W.A.? Niggaz With Attidues?" I asked.

"I don't listen to that garbage you call "rap music"." He said back.

I gasped. "How dare you disrespect the legacy of Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and everyone else in N.W.A." "That's it." And I grabbed my phone, and played the song.

He screamed, clearly hating it.

"If this is bothering you, holy shit, you're not ready for anything that's about to happen next." I said.

Gloria seemed annoyed. She wasn't very fond of rap herself, but she tolerated it when I was around.

I grabbed my wrench from the trunk of the car, and sang along with the lyrics.

"Straight Outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube."

I started banging the wrench on his legs to the beat of the song.

Gloria, while not being fond of the song, was clearly amused at me beating him to the song.

She then came around and started shooting at his feet.

"Oh God, please stop!" He cried out in pain.

I then grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled out his fingernails.

He continued to cry out in pain.

He was clearly close to death, and so I quickly stopped the song, and put my phone back in my pocket.

I then grabbed the lighter from his cigarette packet, lit up a cigarette, while Gloria grabbed the jerry can from the trunk, and poured gasoline on him. I didn't smoke the cigarette, as I'm not a smoker, but I threw the cigarette on top of him, burning him. We quickly ran out of the house, and got in the car. I started driving back to our house.

"Well, now that that's done, Manny, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm in a lot of pain, but nothing too serious." He replied.

"That's good. But just know, he won't hurt you anymore, now that we took care of him. We'll get you cleaned up at home, and everything is gonna be okay. Can you walk okay? He hit you pretty hard on the legs."

"I can walk fine, it hurts a bit, but I'm fine, you guys came just before he can do anything worse."

"I'm sorry about that kiddo, but he's been taken care of by us." I said.

"Thanks dad." He said.

My face lit up when he said that.

"Did-did you just call me dad?" I asked happily.

"Well, my real dad is nothing to me now, so you're really the real dad I have."

For over two years, he had only called me Oliver, and for the first time, he called me dad.

"I love you son." I told him.

"I love you too." He replied.

"Dad."

Gloria was smiling really hard when she heard this.

I then pulled out my phone.

"Hey Google, play Real Muthaphuckin' G'z by Eazy-E." I told the phone.

"Okay, starting song." The phone said back.

"Oh God." Gloria said as she sighed deeply.

We drove home safely, cleaned off Manny's wounds, and went back to bed after a long exhausting night.

The police came the next day, asking questions about the situation, and Manny showed the officer his injuries.

We were let off scott free, and everyone was happier after that.

[orchidbreezefc]

OKAY COOL I WAS ON THE FENCE ABOUT POSTING MY OWN EXPERIENCES IN THE KFAM DISCORD BECAUSE A POST ABOUT People Being Mean To Sage Specifically SEEMED KIND OF MASTURBATORY OR SELF-PITYING OR WHATEVER BUT IF WE REALLY ARE GOING TO STILL BE OUT HERE PUSHING THE This Server Is A Lovely Familial Community And Dissenters Are The Problem NARRATIVE EVEN NOW? HELL NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

obviously this is hard to be objective about. this stuff is a lot less concrete than my first post, a lot more based on vibes i got, which, yknow, is why it’s not in my first post. but if anyone identifies with this, if anyone sees their own experiences in this discord reflected in mine, then it’s going to be worth the worry i’m reading too much into things, or others thinking the same of me. if i can help anyone who felt like THEY were mistreated there and weren’t sure if they were reading too much into things, then. it’s worth it. especially since the M.O. in there was ‘everything’s fine and if not we’re going to MAKE IT FINE by silencing anyone who disagrees’.

a lot of talk has been done about the censorship (word used loosely, first amendment protects from the government not from the mods etc, definitely a specific suppression of dissenting ideas though) the mods have been doing--once more i suggest @kfam-tea for receipts and screenshots. not something i feel great about, but not something i have personal experience with, so i won't speak to it. see also my first post about my interactions with the creators. it touches on the dogpiling, which i'll go into more depth on in this post. you can find it [link: here].

so. the first thing in the official discord that tipped me off about the hivemind samethink phenomenon is that the whole place is distinctly frosty on the subject of samben. that’s a post all its own, one that follows through to numbers on ao3 and whatever, but i’m not here to make a ship manifesto. suffice it to say i got attached to the ship upon listening, inhaled the (suspiciously small) ao3 tag, and was stopped in my tracks at the discord server where any implication of such ship inclinations were met with silence and pointed changes of subject.

distinctly weird. distinctly unusual fandom behavior, that i couldnt even hint around shipping the two men whose incredibly profound relationship is literally the crux of the show, who have exchanged ‘i love you’s, one of whom is confirmed gay--all other romantic entanglements aside, because when have those stopped shippers? that was weird. i realize that's maybe a bit tinfoil hat of me. it could have been the goldfish-bowl big-brother-is-watching vibe from having creators in there, except, as i said, it carries to other sites.

anyway, much more concrete was when i spoke out about my thoughts on ben’s actions in ep68. again, enough there for another post, so tl;dr: he was doing his best, he’s a good guy and a good friend, but his actions DIRECTLY outed sammy to the WHOLE town, without allowing sammy to say the words himself. it was an accident, yes, but it had tangible, harmful consequences, and even accidental harm warrants apology. it should at least be... acknowledged. at some point. by the show OR the fandom. it's a disservice to ben himself to never get the chance to own up to it.

this was an unacceptable take. i tried breaching this topic and making my case twice, and got THOROUGHLY dogpiled both times. a dozen fans crawled out of the woodwork to argue heatedly, sometimes getting quite aggressive, sometimes toeing the line of outright hostility toward me personally. definitely some downright rude messages. not once did anybody speak up to defend my right to put forward my dissenting opinion, let alone SUPPORT my argument, god forbid. ben’s were the actions of a good friend, i was told. outing someone to their whole town without giving them the chance to say it on their own terms didn't qualify as harm at all, i was told, on account of ben's heart being in the right place.

still, the opinions being argued matter less than the attitudes and behaviors. people don't have to agree with me about that ep, i don't care. i do care about being given the right to, as a single person on my own, have space to make an argument without being shouted down by a dozen people. i do care about how it fit into a greater pattern of forbidding any criticism of the show, and ben in particular, who is a good friend and therefore all of his actions are good and harmless, who is our resident heterosexual unassailable paragon of purity. which might explain the samben problem--sammy/ron[/jack] was perfectly fine, even popular, but there was never a whisper of shipping ben with anyone but emily. they're Official. theyre The Perfect Couple. don't you dare challenge that (and for the most part, i didn’t dare. i quickly learned not to).

my [link: previous post] details kyle's response to these fun events, where he specifically went out of the way to follow me being shouted into silence (a result of me being driven to literal tears and shutting down rather than invite more argument) with a warm congratulations to everybody for their conduct in this discussion. because that's the kind of conversation kyle wants to specifically and explicitly praise and encourage, i guess.

anyway. this contributed to the growing sense over my time in the discord that people held a certain distaste for me but didn’t want to say anything direct. instead they talked around me, ignored me, immediately changed the subject from my messages, the whole while bestowing constant glowing compliments on each other and endlessly repeating saccharine sentiments about what a nice family type community they were, how grateful they were for the discord being such a positive space. i suppose that’s an easy impression to get when negativity is ruthlessly suppressed (and apparently outright censored nowadays) and instead of insults or, god forbid, communication with people with whom folks might take issue, they just (more or less) silently stonewall and cold shoulder them.

again, i could be misreading cues, being egocentric or tinfoil hat by reading this pattern into how i in particular was treated. either way, the fact that i was given the fandom friday shout out the week after KFAM live was definitely... strange. fishy, even. i was already mostly out the door at that point, had been for weeks--it was actually in my last few days speaking there period. i felt strangely guilty that they would dedicate a day to me when i didn’t like being there much and hardly spoke any longer. one thing’s for sure: my congratulations were fewer and more impersonal, perfunctory, and/or generic than other fans got (i kept a screenshot). i still have no idea what to make of that one, but there you have it.

p.s.: since vagues are in vogue now apparently, i might as well mention the person who's been accused of being A Problem In The Discord For A While Now, among nastier things, which definitely is not an effort to justify kyle's passive aggressive response to their untagged post which used the phrase 'death of the author', or kyle subsequently crying on twitter about death threats because apparently he couldn't be bothered to google a basic literary analysis term and thought if he was vague enough nobody would look into what was actually said. i guess he was right, if the hundreds of asspats and outcries against The Evils Of Podcast Fan Meanies were any indication.

i digress. i just wanted to testify that the fan in question was one of maybe three or four people on the server who consistently treated me nicely and acted like they liked me. and that another fan who claimed to be uncomfortable around death-of-the-author-person was the person who came the closest to being outright nasty to me when i expressed a critical opinion. make of that what you will i guess!

p.p.s.: if i never say anything more about this whole thing or the creators’ part in it, i do want to say for the record: noah james is fully exempt from all of this and remains absolutely wonderful and a whole treasure. like dont pedestalize male creators and assume them incapable of wrongdoing etc etc but i had an hour long midnight denny’s breakfast sitting across from him and he was nothing short of an angel the whole time. sweetest guy i’ve ever met. he hasn’t breathed a word about any of this drama. he may not even know it’s going on because he’s too busy being the most beautiful and talented man in america or something. i love you noah

[asocier]

( private verse: your name is ) -- three.

          i hear she personally knows the duke.

          her? how did that happen? she’s not even from this district.

          i dont know, but someone saw them talking. said it looked like they were old friends having a chat.

          what did they talk about? 

         who knows? they got the hell out of there before they were caught eavesdropping. 

         haha -- probably for the best. hm, do you think..? 

         think what?

          that they’re gonna go easy on her? 

          gossip. teenagers loved their gossip, didn’t they? the ones she’s met so far during her training were certainly no different. reminiscent of how peers her age acted in school, they traveled in packs, forming tight knit cliques that were impenetrable from the outside unless you somehow proved yourself worthy of an invitation into the group. everyone seemed to be familiar with each other already, a fact alison learned was due to how long they had known each other before her abrupt arrival to the district. from what she understood, some had been training since they were young; others had only been training only for a handful of years. regardless, at this point in their careers, they had all proven themselves to be capable, and it was time for new recruits to do the same.

           new additions weren’t unusual when it came time for recruitment, though it was expected for many to be weeded out in a few months time. judging by the snickers from the others when she first stood alongside them and introduced herself, perhaps they thought she’d be packing her bags very soon. at sixteen, she was amongst the youngest in this round of new recruits, and her small statue coupled with her inexperience seemed to have branded her as an easy target for returning guards-in-training who had a better understanding of what was expected from the veteran rose guards they trained under. 

          but oh, how she was going to prove them all wrong. 

          “wow! imagine being handed something instead of working for it. hm, can’t say that i can relate, actually.” finally turning the corner of the hallway she had been waiting behind, alison makes her presence known to two peers. thinking back on the many introductions she had heard earlier in the week, she could recall that these two came from a long line of rose guards, a notable number of their family members having served various nobles over the course of their lifetimes. it was unclear to her as to whether their training had started early on in their lives, only to culminate in their eventual recruitment into the rose guard after finishing school, or if this was just the beginning of their training. regardless, she wouldn’t be surprised if their connection to their families had aided them in completing their first year of training. 

          startled and indignant by alison’s unexpected appearance, the taller of the two retorted, “didn’t anyone teach you it was rude to eavesdrop?” 

         “didn’t anyone teach you it was rude to talk shit?” an easy comeback as she joined them.

          sucking on his teeth, he turns to his companion, a girl whom alison recalled was quite open about her admiration of the duke and his charms. unsurprising, yet still disappointing, alison thought as she fought back the urge to roll her eyes at the idea of someone joining ayden’s rose guard just to get close to him and vie for his attention. it was a waste of everyone’s time, and it made alison wonder just how much the other relied on her family to get her this far. surely, she wasn’t as hopeless as alison feared if she was able to last this long, but only time would tell, she supposed.

          “how long were you standing there?” with a frown, the other woman expressed her own disapproval of alison’s decision to eavesdrop, though alison was quite certain she was just upset that she had been caught. 

           “long enough to know you’re jealous about my relationship with the duke.” a jab at what everyone was aware of already, a rather smug smile evident on alison’s countenance as she reveled in how the other woman’s brows furrowed deeper. “if it’s any consolation, we’re merely acquaintances.” a partial truth -- time had caused them to drift apart, and it was clear to alison that ayden was no longer the person he was in their childhood. it’d be foolish of her to considering them close friends at this point when so much had changed in the roughly ten years that had passed since their last meeting, though it was comforting to know that he still remembered her. despite that, alison had no intentions of relying on him when it came to securing her place on his rose guard; that was a decision she had made long before she arrived in his district.

          “but how is that possible? you said yourself you graduated from commoner school.”

          “because i did. but how i know the duke is quite frankly none of your business. i suggest you two pay attention to more pressing matters,” and she turns to the taller one, her expression neutral despite the fact she was annoyed by how he had to look down at her to make eye contact, “like how your form is sloppy and quite frankly, makes me question whether you deserve to be called my superior. falling on your ass today really must have been a hit to your ego, huh?” 

         “why i -- ! who are you to judge? like you know what it’s like to be in the rose guard.”

          “i didn’t fall on my ass today, did i?”

          “you don’t have any training under your belt. they were going easy on you because they know you’re a rookie.”

          “says who? who said i don’t have training? not me. i said i didn’t have much formal training.” 

          “what the hell does that mean?”

          with a smile, she merely states: 

          “it means i’m a rogue.” 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

           that was an illegal move, who the fuck does she think she is? 

           are there really any rules when it comes to this kind of stuff, though?

           who the fuck pulls out a real knife out during sword training? for god’s sake, she shouldn’t even have had that on her person!

          well, at least they stepped in before she could cut you. 

           if anyone asked, she’d give them an answer: no. no, she absolutely did not regret any moment of it. it was their own fault for thinking she was bluffing when her conversation with those two in the hallway was shared around to the various cliques. 

           a rogue? how funny! talking right out of her ass, isn’t she? 

           if they didn’t pay attention to her before, they surely were going to now. previously passed off as an easy target, “nathalie” was starting to earn quite the reputation for herself. it was already surprising to many that she had lasted as long as she did; while many were sent back home for failing to keep up with the rigorous training dictated by the veterans, alison continued to steadily hold onto her position. this alone seemed to have started the shift in attitude amongst her peers, and their opinions only continued to change the more they watched her fight. this latest match seemed to have pushed everyone over the edge. 

            “imagine being so reckless! imagine being so dishonorable! i can’t imagine a noble wanting someone like that on their guard. not only are they a danger, but it ruins the reputation of the guard as a whole.” murmurs of agreement could be heard in response to the one who sounded so exasperated, and there was no effort to hide his anger towards alison. a sore loser, she thought as she stood off to the distance, a bottle of water in hand as she attempted to catch her breath. she had received a rather nasty admonishing post-match, though, she couldn’t help but notice a bit of praise for her quick thinking that underlaid all of the scolding. perhaps that was just her ego interpreting it as such, but she certainly wasn’t going to pass up on any praise. that was something she’d keep to herself, however, for the sake of not adding fuel to the fire ( for now, at least ). 

          “if she keeps at it like this, i wouldn’t be surprised if she got sent home for her behavior in these next upcoming weeks. absolutely unacceptable -- a rogue in the rose guard? whoever heard of such a thing? brutish, impulsive, crude -- a disgrace to the image of the rose guard.”

           “are you done shouting from your soapbox? i’m sure your followers understand how much you hate me already.” her voice had interrupted his endless ranting, and her tone was indicative of how unfazed she was by the complaints directed towards her. she cared very little for the opinions of others; only a handful of opinions mattered, and those of this man were not on her list. “if you’re that upset, you could try taking it up through the ranks until you speak with the duke himself. though, i’m sure he has better things to do than to listen to a resentful trainee.”

          “tch -- don’t sound so brash. you know damn well you’re getting some kind of special treatment. you would have been out of here long ago for your blatant disrespect otherwise.”

          “having a pleasant attitude the duke can appreciate is not special treatment. i just don’t have a stick up my ass like you do. funny --  i’d think that stick would help you hold your own weight, but i guess it just makes you insufferable.” 

          “you little bitch --!” 

          “oho, and now you’ve stooped down to name-calling. very mature of you, very respectful.” with arms crossed over her chest, she looks amused rather than intimidated as her peer crosses towards her, his form stopping in front of her own. 

          “i give respect to those who deserve it. and quite frankly, nathalie, you don’t. you don’t deserve my respect, nor do you deserve your current standing in this guard. you’ve weaseled your way this far, but it’s only a matter of time before someone cuts you down to size.”

          looking up, her features remain at ease as she listened to the vitriol being spat at her. “in due time, perhaps. but that person won’t be you.” 

          “and what makes you so sure of it?”

          “because your form is still, to this day, atrocious.” 

          “as if yours is really any better.” 

          and in a beat, she found herself with her back to the earth, the wind knocked out of her upon sudden impact. with a sheathed sword in his hand, the other had managed to swipe her off her feet, knocking her backwards onto the ground. wide-eyed, alison looks up at the sky above her, and the faces of her peers slowly come into view as their laughter ring in the air. his face came into view right above her field of vision, is gaze directed downwards at her. “you’re always so full of talk, nathalie. speaking as if you know better than the rest of us. you fight like a school child, like the class bully. that won’t get you far in the rose guard.”

         somehow, him getting in the last word before they were called back to attention for the rest of their training was more irritating to her than what was actually said to her. being able to see that smug grin on his face from above struck a nerve in her, and the tittering laughter of the others only added salt to the wound.

         if i count to ten, i could calm down, and then make my way back. if i count to ten, i could turn the other cheek and be the mature one in this situation. if i count to ten ... i’ll let him win.

          fuck that. 

          with the group’s backs turned to her, they don’t realize she’s back on her feet until it’s too late, until the one who criticized her is suddenly yanked backwards and separated from the group. a yelp of pain accompanies his departure, and it’s only then do the others realize that it’s nathalie who has dragged him away by the hair, it’s nathalie who has thrown him down onto the earth, and it’s nathalie who is currently standing over him, her hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip. 

          “y-you can’t draw that! you know we’re not allowed to draw swords outside of matches. you do that, and that’s another strike against you.” his words are rushed in a panic, though it’s clear from the expression on his face that he knows he has a point. she had to acquiesce -- he did have a point. it was a rule that was drilled into each and every one one of them since the first day, and its purpose was to maintain order and safety, especially amongst new recruits. despite knowing this, she finds herself unsheathing the thin blade of her sword anyway, the tip directed at the other’s neck. 

          “i’ll take my strikes. nothing i can’t talk my way out of. after all, you brought this onto yourself.” the blade moves closer to the other’s neck then, the tip resting just above skin. her touch is light, and she truly has no intention to pierce, but considering her unpredictable nature, she knew there would be doubts to her mercy. the fear was evident in his eyes, and the way the air stood still as everyone held their breath was indulgent.

         “you say i fight like a school child, but if you haven’t noticed, that actually has gotten me quite far. your honorable fighting? limited.” a foot raises and rests on the other’s chest then, her grip on her sword never faltering, her gaze never wavering. “honor in topaxi is dying. there is no more honor; anything honorable now is a facade to uphold an image. topaxi fights to gain, to take, to thrive -- there is no fairness. there is no courtesy. so why should i be courteous to those who look down on me?” and she allows just a bit of her weight to be pushed down onto the other’s chest. at this point, she notices that they are alone, the rest of the group having left to resume training. out of the corner of her eye, she can see someone watching them, one of the veterans, no doubt. perhaps they had already yelled at her to drop her weapon. she couldn’t recall; she had turned out the rest of the world for some time. 

          “i fight to survive. i fight to win. i intend to give my all, even if it means stooping low and playing dirty. if that’s how our city fights, then that’s how i’ll fight. why should i play nice?” finally, after what seemed like ages, she withdraws her sword and returns it to its sheath. the figure she had noticed watching made their move then and motioned for her to come with them. with a mischievous smile, she called out to her peer as she walked away from him accompanied by the guard. 

          “take notes for me, yeah? it seems like i’m in for another time out for a while.” 

[imaginethathaikyuu]

Hi I’ve been reading your scenarios and I couldn’t help but see what your take on a soulmate AU for oikawa would look like (of course if it is ok with you). I really love your writing!

okay i dont even know what happened nor do i know how the fuck this got so long, i just got carried away. i told myself i didnt like soulmate au’s all that much and then i wrote one that was ten pages long. anyway, this is my take on a soulmate au. thank you for the kind words and for the request!▻fem reader

word count: 2424

Everyone wanted to be Oikawa Tooru’s soulmate. Everyone - the literal sense of the word.

Boys, girls, and everything in between or outside of the two. At least one person a day would come up to him and ask that fated question: “Can I see your tattoo?”

And Oikawa gets it, he does - having him for his soulmate would be a ticket to the top of high school’s social hierarchy. He’s not even being egotistical; it’s just the truth. Everyone knows that the person destined to be with Oikawa not only got to be with the attractive boy forever, but they also got eternal bragging rights. At times, it seemed that pride mattered more to those around him than actually finding their soulmate.

It was that reason that Oikawa never showed anyone his tattoo; not even his best of friends had seen it. And it’s not that he doesn’t, technically, want to find his soulmate - he does. Oikawa yearns to hold someone close, kiss their lips until he’s seeing stars, tell them how much he loves them - he wants to find the person who has the perfect match of his tattoo so badly.

But he knows it isn’t worth it. He’s not going to go around showing off his tattoo to everyone who asks, only to find his match and realize all they want him for is an accessory.

“My soulmate is a volleyball genius!”

“My soulmate is going to go pro one day! We’ll be rich!”

“My soulmate is the hottest guy in school!”

Those phrases and many like it bounce around in his mind any time he sees someone who he may enjoy looking at for the rest of his life. Being with someone who refers to him as their soulmate rather than their boyfriend was one of his greatest fears.

So instead of letting himself be excited at the prospect of finding his soulmate - like most others are - he forced himself to forget about the entire thing. To him, it was as if soulmates don’t even exist. The tattoo on his upper-inner arm was more like a birthmark rather than an indication of eternal love. He never looked for his soulmate, he isn’t suspicious of everyone he meets, he never even engages the idea. And that’s how he likes it.

If Oikawa never finds his soulmate, fine by him.

It was because of his attitude that he was able to go about his day normally. He was able to focus in class. He was able to have the best practice he could every single day. He was able to sit where he is now - in the lunchroom with you - and enjoy his lunch with his friend and with peace of mind.

Until that infamous question was asked again - by someone standing behind him.

“Oikawa, let me see your tattoo! I want to see if we match!”

Fuck off, he wanted to say, but he’d never allow himself to be so rude. He thought about what would happen if this random girl was his soulmate - would the universe be so cruel as to give him a soulmate who doesn’t even respect him enough to look him in the eye before speaking to him?

In the time he spent lost in thought, you spoke up for Oikawa. “Fuck off,” you said with your mouth half full, “maybe if you were more respectful, he’d show it to you. Go away.”

He heard the footsteps of the girl leaving, and that along with your frustrated face caused him to smile. You had nearly read his mind - he appreciated that about you.

“Thank you,” Oikawa said with a sigh. You gave a hum in response as you continued to eat your lunch, unaffected by the mini confrontation you just had.

After a beat of silence, Oikawa spoke again. “Y/N, it’s too hot.”

“Duh, it’s nearly summer,” you replied, fanning yourself with your hand.

“Wanna have a pool party?”

“Yes, please,” you said. “Who else is invited?”

“Iwa-chan, but he already declined,” Oikawa said. “Just me and you.”

“Perfect.”

“Come over after school, then.”

Thanks to the plans awaiting him, the rest of the school day felt neverending. Luckily for Oikawa it was Monday, meaning no practice - and while he should at least work out, he’d be damned if he put any more time between him and his pool.

He had already been swimming for at least ten minutes by the time you got to his house. When you walked through the gate you saw him in the pool, floating lazily about the water on top of a large, bright green inflatable ring.

He looked so relaxed that it made you genuinely envious, and you couldn’t wait to be floating next to him.

That’s where you were after a few minutes - both of you were laid back, quietly soaking up the sun as if you had no worries in the world.

Except, Oikawa had just one worry.

He kept looking over at you, trying his best to ensure that you weren’t looking at him. As far as he could tell, you weren’t, but he knew you could be sneaky.

He had become undyingly aware of his soulmate tattoo from the moment you stepped foot into the pool - and he had completely forgotten that this would be an issue for him.

You were one of the people he trusted most, so it’s not like it’d be the end of the world for you to see his tattoo. But all of his bad experiences - especially those he’s had while swimming - keep his anxiety at the forefront of his mind.

After three years of friendship, neither of you had seen the other’s tattoos. You had never even asked to see his - you didn’t care about that at all. That’s something he loved about you, it’s what made him keep you so close.

But Oikawa could not stop thinking about all of the times people had fooled him into showing them his tattoo. That’s usually why he swam with a shirt on, or at least something covering his arm, but today he had completely forgotten.

“Stop looking at me.”

“Sorry.”

You laughed a bit and ran your hand through your sopping wet hair. The wind was blowing, you could hear the sound of children laughing and playing a little bit down the street, and you had never been so relaxed - until you were splashed in the face by a large wave of water.

“What the fuck, Tooru?!” you yelled, thinking he had rudely splashed you. After wiping your eyes you looked over to see that wasn’t the case, instead he had fell off of his float and into the pool. You groaned, wiping the rest of the water off of your face before closing your eyes, trying to find your relaxed state again.

Oikawa was fucked.

What do I do. What do I say. How do I speak.

These are all the thoughts he had while under water. He wasn’t moving his limbs, he was just sitting under - for as long as he possibly could.

He needed air, but his need to avoid his issues mattered more.

Maybe I’m imagining things. Maybe I saw it wrong. That’s it - that’s definitely it. The heat it getting to my head.

After one more second of being alone, he stood up, reminding himself that he’s not thinking straight and that he should go inside before it gets worse.

Oikawa wiped his eyes and turned around to tell you he was done for the day. You were holding your hand up over your eyes to block the sun and get a good look at him, and he saw it again.

You were going to ask if he’s okay, but he cut you off. “What the fuck, Y/N?”

He watched your brows furrow. “The hell is your problem?”

He had to get out. He had to get away. He needed to talk to someone about this.

Except he couldn’t, because the person he always goes to for advice just so happens to be his fucking soulmate.

“Your - your tattoo.”  

God, he sounded pathetic.

Your eyes darted to your inner arm where your tattoo is, and you snorted. “Oh, yeah. I forgot you hadn’t seen it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He was out of breath. He felt teary eyed. This entire day was fucked. He had spent all this time avoiding and hating soulmates all together that he couldn’t even be happy that he found his.

You weren’t sure what was going on, but Oikawa didn’t seem like he was dying, so you weren’t too worried.

“What about my tattoo?” you asked, curiosity getting the best of you.

Without looking at you he said, “I’ve got the same one.”

“Cool.”

His head snapped to your direction, his eyes wide - did you even care?

“What do you mean ‘cool’?”

“You don’t think it’s cool?” you asked, glancing at him.

“I don’t know, I - I need to go.” He had already been on his way to the pool’s steps by the time he finally choked out the words.

“I’m staying until sunset,” you called to him, closing your eyes and resting your head on the float. Oikawa didn’t respond.

He grabbed his towel before walking inside, dripping water on the floor but paying no mind to it. After grabbing his cell phone and clothes from his room, he went straight to the bathroom.

His face looked rough in the mirror. His eyes were red - from the pool water, but he wouldn’t doubt the tears he nearly shed contributed to the redness a bit.

This was all his fault for inviting you over to swim without even thinking - but he was trying to think of anyone else to blame.

You, for having the tattoo.

The universe for giving it to you.

Iwaizumi, for denying his invitation to swim with him.

Speaking of Iwaizumi, that’s who he was currently trying to get ahold of, but the bastard wouldn’t answer his phone.

This is definitely the universe’s fault.

It took no time for him to change into dry clothes - calling Iwaizumi three times in the process - before he went back to his bedroom.

He debated taking a nap to just check out for awhile, but that decision was made for him when his phone started ringing.

“What the fuck do you want?” he heard through the speaker as soon as he answered, “you woke me up -”

“I’m having an emergency,Y/N is my soulmate, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Where is she right now?”

“In my pool.”

“Where are you?”

“In my room.”

“You idiot.”

Oikawa gasped. “How am I an idiot?”

“You’ve finally found your soulmate - who’s hot as fuck, by the way - and instead of taking her to your bedroom, you run away from her. You’re the definition of an idiot.”

Oikawa wanted to scream - at Iwaizumi, at the world, at the universe. He doesn’t want a soulmate. You would understand him better than Iwaizumi, if only he could actually talk to you.

“She’s your soulmate for a reason, don’t be a moron and fuck up what the universe has laid out perfectly for you. Knowing Y/N, she probably doesn’t give two shits about being the Great Oikawa’s soulmate. You have nothing to worry about, dipshit.”

That’s when Oikawa heard the glass door slide open, followed by the call of his name. He quickly told Iwaizumi he had to go before rolling over onto his stomach, hiding his face in his pillow.

This is all too scary for him.

“Tooru,” you called again, going straight to his bedroom where you knew he’d be. “I forgot a change of clothes, can I borrow something?”

All Oikawa could bring himself to do was point at his drawer, which you ruffled through to find sweatpants and a t-shirt.

“It’s alright if I change in here, right? Since we’re soulmates and all?”

“No!” Oikawa said loudly into his pillow, the thought of you being naked in his room haunting his mind and his body.

You laughed all the way to the bathroom, and Oikawa wanted to take this chance to run away, but he couldn’t make himself move.

Your mood had shifted when you returned to his room. Honestly, you weren’t surprised that Oikawa is your soulmate - after all, you had never gotten along with anyone better than you had with him. But just like him, the idea of soulmates never quite mattered to you; you’d spent years watching your peers obsessing over them, making themselves upset over not having their soulmate yet, and you could never let yourself go down that rabbit hole.

Oikawa, on the other hand - you knew how he felt about the whole thing.

You laid down next to him, laying on your back and looking up at the ceiling.

“You okay?” you asked, combing your fingers through your tangled, wet hair. Oikawa didn’t respond. “Come on, Tooru, I know having me as your soulmate isn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world is it?”

You were party joking - but you were worried at the reaction he was having to this.

He turned his head and looked at you, and you looked at him. “Shut up.”

So, you shut up until Oikawa decided he wanted to talk to you. And it didn’t take long - he couldn’t handle being left in silence for too long. He rolled over onto his side, facing you. “Can I see it again?”

“Hypocrite,” you whispered as you lifted your left arm, pulling up your sleeve so your tattoo was visible. “I want to see yours, too, I need some proof that you’re actually my soulmate.”

Tooru pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, moving so his tattoo was visible. You rolled over to face him, getting a better look at it.

A circle with a smaller circle inside of it and a pair of crossed lines on top of them. A perfect match for yours.

“It’s weird seeing it on someone else,” you said, reaching out and running a finger over his skin.

“No kidding,” Oikawa scoffed. You couldn’t help but smile at him, the reality of the situation finally setting in.

“We’re soulmates,” you cooed, wanting to wrap him up in your arms - but that could wait. You did have forever, afterall.

“I guess so,” Oikawa responded, smiling back at you. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“You know, they say sex with your soulmate is mind blowing.”

“Shut up.”

got a request? send it in. i’ll write it.

[onlytaylor]

Seven Minutes in Heaven Drarry (and Seamus is always right)

Eighth year at Hogwarts was intended to be one of educational fulfillment, a chance to finish one’s goal of mastering NEWT level witchcraft and wizardry. What it had become, however, was quite the opposite.

It all started when Hermione made friends with that one Slytherin Pansy Parkinson, and boy what a friendship it was. No one could really place what the two had in common, or what it was that kept them giggling at night, but they were a regular Lavender and Parvati and there was no separating them now.

The increased occurrence of Pansy’s presence had brought about a very sly, coy Blaise Zabini. Ron had refused to acknowledge his placement at their parties (“soirées” according to Pansy) until one day Blaise cracked a joke about Malfoy and- damn- If that didn’t have Ronald Weasley spewing his butter beer. They, too, had become an inseparable duo, and Harry had just about had it (“UP TO HERE” he’d said) because if Pansy was there, and Blaise was there, then Draco most definitely was going to be there. All the goddamn time. And there was no one he still despised more than- well, come to think of it, he really didn’t anymore. At the conclusion of the war, Malfoy had become sort of a gray character in Harry’s life, one who’d shown his condolences and grown quite a bit. They’d shared small conversations here and there, but nothing to speak of. And definitely not anything to make them friends. Malfoy and Potter could never be friends, no. There’d always been something so much deeper than that, whether it was hate, or just a plain abomination that resonated between them. But, whatever it was, it wasn’t friendship. It was fire, and passion, and knowledge, and fury. It struck Harry’s insides like wildfire, like the hot breath of a Hungarian Horntail. No, they would never be friends.

When the eighth year common room lit up that Friday night with the anticipatory mood of another soiree, Harry wasn’t surprised to see the silver trio enter suavely. Seamus was already drunk, and with Dean in tow he marched right up to Malfoy and gave him quite the uncomfortable hug.

“Malfoy! It’s so good to see you. I notice you’ve been hanging around those three pretty often. Anything you wanna tell me?” He gestured toward Harry with a wiggle of his brows and an obnoxious thumbs up that had Dean dragging him away. “Okay, Okay, you’re cut off.”

Harry, who’d already been staring in that general direction (because he hated him being here, that was all) froze with some sort of embarrassment. He expected Malfoy to sneer, or make some rude arse comment to the already pissed Gryffindor, but instead the only shade of emotion he illicited was a hot pink blush that spread across both cheeks. Harry started. He’d never seen Malfoy look so, so... fragile. It was beautiful. Captivating. What?

And then they were all downing shots of Firewhiskey (courtesy of Ron’s newest best friend), and the more inebriated Harry got, the more he found himself pondering the flush of those cheeks. The way his platinum hair accentuated them. The way his sharp features lacked their once pointed edges, and appeared rather... endearing. Like he really regretted following in his father’s foot steps during the war. Like another chance.

And suddenly Harry was thinking about his lips, and how they might taste like that certain kind of redemption that flips the world upside down. And he knew he was drunk, because when had he ever thought about snogging Malfoy? If he was really honest with himself, he’d find that this wasn’t the first time.

And suddenly his stupor was broken by a very self-appeased Pansy Parkinson suggesting that they lock each other in a closet for seven minutes and see what happens. “It’s a muggle game! Hermione told me about it,” she chattered, and Harry noticed Hermione’s cheeks blushing the same way that Draco’s had. What the fuck?

And then coincidentally Ron and Blaise were the first to end up locked away together, and from the suspicious noises coming from behind the door, Harry assumed they’d figured out they were in each other’s company. Was he fucking dreaming?

And then Luna (was she even an eighth year?) ended up with Ginny, and Dean with Seamus, and suddenly drunk Harry was wondering if Pansy was behind these matches or if this was one big coincidence.

When it was his turn to be blindfolded, he entered the closet with a weird sort of anticipation that he was sure he could blame on the whiskey. Why did he care who he ended up with? It’s not like it meant anything... right?

And why was there a small, evil voice in the back of his mind that hoped it would be Malfoy?

When the door opened again to reveal the warmth of another body, and immediately closed behind it, Harry’s breath caught. Who could it be?

“Hello?” He asked dumbly as the figure drew closer. He could feel their presence radiating toward him, being drawn as if by gravity. Since when did drunk Harry become such a goddamn poet? And then the body was beside him, sitting with its back against the wall, and Harry could feel his cheeks heating at the sudden closeness. Similar to the way Malfoy’s had.

Without a word, the foreign person beside him grasped his hand between two of their own. Simultaneously Harry’s heart began to race. Those hands were both mysterious and strangely familiar as they traced small circles around his palm. They were soft and smooth and suddenly Harry’s head was swimming, and he was 99% sure it wasn’t from the alcohol. The next moment brought their face eerily close to Harry’s, so much so that he could feel the smooth tickle of peppermint breath across his face.

And all at once he knew. He didn’t have to touch him. He recognized the proper, clean smell of a Malfoy, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He felt something inside him lurch, like he never wanted this moment to end. Why was he so close? And why did he want him closer?

“I know it’s you.” Harry whispered suddenly as he felt that breath come even closer, hot and heavy against his lips.

“Then why are you still wearing this?” Was the hushed response, and then those soft fingers were untying Pansy’s Slytherin tie from around his head.

The first thing he saw were piercing silver eyes held flush with his own. Why had he never noticed how stunning he was?

“We’re drunk,” Harry said as the world began to sway, reflecting outside what he so desperately felt within.

“I think about you all the time.” Was the response, and Harry felt his stomach lurch. “Ever since you gave me my wand back. And then Pansy and Blaise are all about your friends, and suddenly you didn’t seem so bad anymore. And then I realized that...that...”

Harry was frozen in his current state, unable to form words, let alone sentences. Out of nowhere, his instinct kicked in, took over, and answered what he knew to be hiding all along.

“That we always wanted each other.”

Draco nodded before resting his forehead against Harry’s. And then, out of nowhere, he was laughing.

“God, I never would’ve had the courage to tell you that if I wasn’t completely pissed. I’m no Gryffindor.”

Harry chuckled. “Well, I guess that makes me a poor excuse for one then.”

“You’re right. You should’ve told me sooner. That was your job.”

Harry smiled. “Prat.”

“Git.”

A quick pause, both lips pulled into an understanding smile. And then Harry’s grin widened into something slightly more facetious.

“So... how many minutes do you think we have? Five? Two?”

“Enough,” Draco answered urgently before pressing his lips forcefully upon his own.

Oh, God, they were the perfect balance of forgiveness and pining and secrets and fresh beginnings. They were soft and supple and most definitely not sneering in his direction. Harry’s drunken self pulled closer, no longer denying his innate desire to feel every piece of Malfoy become one with himself. His hands found the back of his neck, gripping the infinity of this moment before parting his lips and inviting Malfoy inside. He was suddenly overtaken by the overwhelming sensation of warm peppermint colliding against his tongue. It was perfection at its finest. It was Draco, and Harry, and a lifetime of desire splayed before them in one solid gesture. It was the future, and everything that was to come once they (literally) would come out of the closet together. It was firewhiskey and sobriety and indulgence. It was...

A room full of eighth years standing in silence, door wide open, observing two idiots snogging in a closet. Pansy wore a smirk; Hermione a knowing smile. Ron’s mouth was dropped into an unpleasant “O,” and Blaise was quietly chuckling at his reaction. They would’ve kept going, completely oblivious to the audience before them, if it weren’t for a stumbling Seamus Finnigan barging through the open doorway.

“SEE, DEAN!? YOU DONT GET TO CUT ME OFF WHEN IM RIGHT!?!?!?”

Drunk Harry didn’t care, and he had a feeling that sober Harry wouldn’t either. They separated with a grin before Draco took Harry’s hand and pulled them into a standing position.

He winked at Harry before turning to the crowd. “Somebody get Seamus a drink. He was right.”

With a hoop and holler from across the group, the soirée continued. It wasn’t long before Draco’s and Harry’s drunken confession inspired the start of several other relationships. By the end of the evening, Blaise and Ron had snuck to the dorm and Pansy and Hermione had locked lips in a deserted corner.

All in all, eighth year was more than just preparing for NEWTS. It seemed that it was educational in all kinds of ways, and at the end of the day, the golden trio had learned more than they would’ve ever expected from the silver trio. And, on top of that, everyone seemed to learn that when Seamus Finnigan was drunk, you should just go ahead and listen.

[iamtaekooked]

                                         CHAPTER 1 || PJM

Genre: Badboy! au, College! au, romance, drama

Word count: 2.1k 

Warnings: Just a lil bit of swearing and mentions of throwing up (just in case anyone has a weak stomach. its not graphic but idk)

SYNOPSIS:

The hate saga between you and baddie of the town Park Jimin rests on two very simple (vanilla) rules: 1.) Hate each other for the rest of your lives and 2.)under no circumstances fall in love with each other. But what happens when one of starts falling for the other? Will passion win or will rage take the game?

A/N: if you want chapter 2 then pretty please let me know whether you like it. Honestly it takes a lot more effort to write than read so I dont want to waste my time writing this if the response isn't worth the work I put in. I hope you guys enjoy this and also thank you for taking the time to read it!❤️ I’ll put out a ch 2 teaser depending on how things go. Enjoy reading :)

 || Ch 1 || Ch 2 || Ch 3 || Ch 4 || Ch 5 || Ch 6 || Ch 7 || Ch 8 || Ch 9 ||

MASTERLIST

Park Jimin was the worst man you ever had the displeasure of knowing. He was cold, rude, arrogant, indifferent to everyone around him. He never cared for anyone but himself. He trampled over people, used them for his own means and discarded them like waste. Everyone loved him, except for you which is why you sometimes wondered whether he seeked you out on purpose. It was a very sick and twisted game the both of you played, but neither of you ever wanted to stop.

“I think you two like each other in a twisted way” Taehyung your best friend would tell you, earning a scoff which was followed by a glare, every single time he uttered the words. No one ever made you feel as frustrated and angry as he did. “You’re wrong. He has it out for me for whatever reason. He doesnt like me” you would state as a matter of factly in turn earning a laugh of disbelief from Taehyung.

Not to mention Jimin was the biggest fuck boy you knew. Not only did he have zero respect for others, he didn’t even respect himself enough to set himself to a good standard because he would fuck anything that had two legs and a vagina.

You really hated him.

He never let any opportunity to mess up your life go amiss. Whether it was purposely making you late for class, or butting his nose in your romantic endeavours and driving your partners away.

“I am the only guy for you y/n” he had told you the time when he had driven away your dumb ex boyfriend by making it look like you had cheated on him. “ Love it or hate it because you are stuck with me princess” After a while you had given up on relationships because Jimin always ensured it didn’t last past one week.

“Thinking about me?” You were startled out of your thoughts as Jimin’s voice rang through your ears. He occupied the seat next to you and you had to stop yourself from retching because the pungent smell of smoke mixed with the cheap beer invaded your nostrils. “Aww was wittle baby missing me? Does precious little Jiminie need an ass kicking” your voice dripped with sarcasm.

Jimin only laughed in response. “ You really do like playing with fire don’t you?” he spoke close to your ear the smell of alcohol making you taste bile in the back of your throat. The next thing you knew, water was dripping from your head and Jimin was laughing as if that was the funniest thing he had ever seen. “ Cool off” he then threw the plastic bottle in your lap and exited out of the bus. You stepped out after him, a scowl making its way onto your face. You wanted to throw the same bottle at the back of his head and you did raise it above your head, but thought better of it, seeing as his best friend Jeongguk had fallen in step beside him. And boy did you want to avoid Jeongguk. If Jimin was trouble, Jeongguk was worse. It would be like inviting a headache for yourself.

The stench of alcohol still lingered in your nostrils. Who drank before coming to college? No one but Park Jimin. You failed to understand why he was so popular despite being the most loathsome human being the history of humanity.

“What the hell happened to you?” your best friend Taehyung jogged next to you and put an arm around your shoulder. “Okay hold on, by the look on your face I can only guess its one thing, rather one person” he paused for effect. You deadpanned in his direction, forcing the both of you to stop in your tracks. “It was Jimin wasn’t it?” he raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

“Well no shit Sherlock it was Jimin. Who else could it possibly be?” you huffed in anger before resuming your walk towards the college once more.

Taehyung turned to look at your profile while you gazed straight ahead. He felt bad for you because you had never done anything to anyone, yet Park Jimin felt like he could treat you that way. Taehyung had, on multiple occasions offered to beat up Jimin for you, just to teach him a lesson but you had blatantly refused because you didnt want him getting hurt.

“I know Jimin. I mean I did know him so I can kick his ass you know?” he would tell you, alluding to their now broken friendship. Jimin and Taehyung had been inseparable during your first year of college. They were always joined at the hip and were seen sharing laughs, and jokes with each other. But then Jimin changed and well Taehyung found a friend in you.

“Okay how about this? Lets go to Yoongi’s party tonight” Taehyung suggested to which you shook your head because Jimin would be there. Yoongi was the only person in his previous friend circle that Taehyung kept in contact with. Yoongi was decent enough because he never helped Jimin in making your life hell, but neither did he ever object. So you felt neutral about him.

The cliched vibes you got from the whole situation irked you too much, which was another reason you wished to avoid the party. Because if this was anything like those movies you saw, the countless stories you read you knew you were in for  some kind of trouble. Thats how it always ended at these parties.

“Jimin is going to be there. Go figure genius” your index finger landed in the centre of his forehead as you pushed him away. “ I am going to be there too you know” he got a hold of your finger and lifted it off his forehead.

“Nope. This is not happeneing. No way and dont you dare Kim Taehyung. Do not give me that puppy face” you announced and didnt linger around long enough to give him the chance to pull that pitiful face on you. It always got you. So with a defeated sigh Taehyung followed your lead, wheels turning in his head to figure out a way to make you go. He wasn’t going to give up that easy.

*****************************************************************************************************

You had been glaring at Taehyung since you had entered Yoongi’s gigantic house. “ You tricked me” you spat out and narrowed your eyes at him. “ You’re having fun though” he sheepishly replied trying to avoid your eyes as he sipped his drink.

Taehyung had lied to you and said he was going to take you out for a movie to cheer you up. You had complied because what harm could a movie do? But a 30 minute ride later you found yourself in front of a house, the lawn of which was littered with beer cups and puke , and the sound of some faint EDM was drifting into the surroundings. Before you had the chance to object Taehyung’s hand enclosed around your wrist and he was dragging you, quite literally behind himself towards the party.

Fun my ass.

Just as you had assumed Park Jimin was also there and so was Jeon Jeongguk. You avoided them the minute you entered. You forced Taehyung to find a secluded corner and got a promise out of him that he would not leave your side for even a second.

Although you were thankful for his presence and it did diminish some of the awkwardness , a pair of eyes on you was making you feel very uneasy and as you glanced in the direction for the briefest of seconds you saw Jimin staring at you.

Opting to not let your eyes linger you looked away just as quickly and took a sip of the bitter liquid in the cup forgetting that it was beer. Coughing in distaste you physically held the cup away from your body. Glancing at Jimin again you saw that he was watching you with an amused expression and it was the sort of look that indicated he had seen your struggle with the drink.

For whatever reason you felt embarrassed at the thought of him witnessing your intolerance for alcohol. It sort of felt like he was silently laughing at you, which made you feel embarrassed but also angry. You could imagine his train of thoughts running along the lines of you pretending to be tough and cool when really you were just a goody two shoes. You really couldn’t give him a legitimate reason to further demean you.

Even though you had no way of knowing thats what he was thinking, you wouldnt be surprised to find out that it was exactly what he was thinking. Taking his smirk as an unspoken challenge you downed the drink in one breath.

The sounds of your coughing and wheezing made Taehyung’s head turn in your direction as he immediately put his cup away and stroked your back as you coughed. The aftertaste was bitter and you felt as if you had consumed ethanol. Your throat felt like it was closing and you were swallowing way too hard in order to wash the taste down your throat.

You felt the sour acid pooling in your mouth indicating you were about to vomit. Reminding yourself that Jimin was in the same room as you, and barfing in the same was not an option, in breaking gasps you excused yourself to the bathroom.

Making your way through the sea of sweaty bodies and the stench of smoke mixed with alcohol you quickly located the washroom. The smell really wasn’t helping the buildup of acid in your mouth and it was only aggravating the urge to puke.

“Going somewhere?” You heard Jimin’s voice distantly ringing in your ears. As you looked up you found him looking down at you with the same stupid arrogant smile.

“ Get the fuck out of my way” you sighed as you felt the contents of your stomach bubbling up towards your chest.

“And if I dont?” he stepped towards you, and you couldn’t help but think of the consequences. It might just soak his shirt if he didnt let you go into the washroom. You were trying your best to hold it in but you couldn’t really control your body’s physiological reactions.

“You thick headed idio-” you tried saying but he interrupted you again. He really was an idiot wasn’t he?

You gagged and yet Jimin failed to see that you were about to let out the contents of your stomach and he would be in the line of fire.

“ Oh come on. Stay for a while. You’re not just going to-” and then it happened. If only Jimin was bestowed with the ability to process things happening in front of him and pick up on cues this wouldnt have happened.

“Oh shit” he jumped away from you. His face contorted in disgust and he groaned in anger.

“I told you to move away” you responded. You could hear people around you retching and you had never felt so embarrassed in your entire life.

“You fucking idiot” Jimin moved towards you but he was pulled back by jeongguk. For once you were thankful for Jeongguk and for a moment you didnt hate him as much.

“You should have moved when she was heaving dude” Jeongguk took his hands off Jimin’s shoulder an expression of slight disgust painting his features.

Taehyung pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered around the two of you and visibly shivered in disgust at the sight in front of him. “Lets get you home” he put his arm around your shoulders. While making your way out several comments made their way to your ears most of which revolved around how Jimin was going to make you pay for it. Some of Jimin’s fangirl’s were glaring at you as if they would pounce on you any second and kill you.

You wouldn’t mind dying at this second because it was the most embarrassing situation you had ever found yourself in.To make things even worse you had given Park Jimin a legitimate reason to hate you even more. 

You were going to kill Taehyung for putting you into this mess.

[jeonjollykook]

BTS Reaction x Fanfiction 🌸Seeing you for the first time

Scenario: Seeing you for the first time; This is going to be a 3-Part Reaction Series

Seeing you for the first time x Meeting you for the first time x Asking you out 

Kim Namjoon

You just finished buying groceries when suddenly a tall man bumped into you, causing you to lose balance. You dropped your grocery bags and fell on the ground... but weirdly it did not hurt? You opened your eyes and realized you fell on top of the tall man. Hurriedly you stood up and tried to check if he is okay.

“Oh man I’m so sorry” he said while he quickly stood up. Just then you realized how handsome this man actually was. You both looked around and noticed how all of your groceries were pretty much... destroyed now. “I guess I won’t be able to use these eggs anymore haha. Are you alright?” you asked him “Yes, I am really sorry! Are you okay?” *he quickly grabbed his phone* “Please give me your number I will make up for it but I have to leave really quickly now” A little dazzled you gave him your phone and then you saw him rush away. You looked after him and saw him waving to you with the sweetest smile you have ever seen.

Kim Seokjin

You were eating at a new restaurant with a friend, when your friend decided they had to use the restroom. While you waited for them you looked around a little and noticed a rather handsome guy sitting a few tables away. He and his friends all seemed in a good mood since they were all laughing a lot. When he suddenly made the best joke you ever heard in your whole life. You could not stop yourself from laughing out loud. But there was one problem... you were the only one laughing. Immediately all eyes turned to you and you tried to hide yourself and looked deep into the Menu.

“See she thought it was funny” you heard him say “Yah maybe its you guys that don’t have humor!” suddenly you heard him say “Whats your name?” but the voice was way closer than before. You slowly looked up and saw him standing next to your table. “I mean only if you don’t mind telling me haha. It’s just nice to see that there are still people with humor in this time and age” shyly you responded “y/n” “y/n... thats a nice name! I’m Jin but you can call me... anytime! Hahaha” he laughed and gave you a card with his number on it.

Min Yoongi

Today was the best day... actually it was not but you really wanted it to be. Recently you have been really down, there were a lot of things bothering you. But today you decided to change all that, if this is what life wants to give you, you wanted to take it all. It was cold and rainy outside but you decided that even that would not bother you. You went out and found an empty playground, obviously all the children were at home by now probably. You jumped on the swings and yelled out loudly. Even though the rain was getting stronger and stronger you did not bother to stop. 

After some time you decided to use the slide though you quickly realized that this slide was meant for the really really young kids. “I don’t think you can fit into that” you heard someone say. Quickly your head shot towards the direction of the sound, you noticed someone dressed in all black standing nearby. A little embarrassed you wondered if he was watching you for a while now. When he slowly started to walk towards you, you shrieked away. But as soon as some light  gleamed on him, you found his appearance quite soft. He held out his hand holding an umbrella “Take this, you can do whatever you are doing on a day when its not raining. Go home.” You slowly approached him to take the umbrella when he just threw it to you “rude!” you shouted out as he ran away “Because of you I’m getting wet now... who is the rude one?” 

Jung Hoseok

You were so ready for your city trip, you really deserved it. As soon as your train arrived you rushed towards the doors to find your seat. You have been waiting for this trip for a while now, you were going to meet some friends you met online to visit Disney Land with them. 

As soon as you found your right seat you saw someone else sitting in them... someone that was sleeping. A little confused you checked your ticket ten times to make sure that he was indeed sitting where you were supposed to sit. Slowly you approached him but only to realize that he was indeed asleep. Conflicted you found yourself looking at him for a when he suddenly opened his eyes. You jumped away and looked at him embarrassed while he seemed quite confused. Quickly you grabbed your ticket to show him that he was sitting on your seat.  “Oh I’m so sorry!” he quickly stood up and took his luggage. “Please go ahead and sit down, I’m really sorry” you told him not to worry about it and watched him leave. As soon as you sat down you found something that seemed to belong to him. Seems like this would not be the last time you would see him. 

Park Jimin

Holidays are only a few weeks from now, so you decided to get some gift for a friend of yours. The shopping mall was crowded as usually and a lot of sales were happening too. Everything was nicely decorated and you felt soft and warm. But then you saw it... the mascot that changed everything. You saw the cutest dog mascot walking around in a yellow hoodie with Christmas bells hanging around his ears. You ran to him and looked at him in awe. He quickly noticed you and waved. He even opened his arms, inviting you to a hug. Without hesitating you fell into his arms and hugged the cute mascot.The cute thing felt so warm and soft you almost did not want to let go. But when a few children approached the mascot you knew it was time to leave your walking plush dog. “I think I have to let you go now...” you whispered sadly and moved away. He gave you a pat on the head and looked to the children.

Later that day you were still strolling through the shopping mall when suddenly a cute boy waved to you. Confused you looked around to make sure he meant you and walked to him “D-do I know you?” you asked shyly. “I’m pretty sure we hugged tightly earlier, did you forget me already?” he answered cheekily.

Kim Taehyung

It was rather late and you were trying to get home. You were supposed to meet with a friend, but they wrote you around 12 messages saying they would be late until they told you they can not make it at all. A little scared in a unknown place you could only trust an online map to guide you back home “Ugh... a bus that can take me here should be able to take me back too, what is this place” you mumbled to yourself when you heard some voices “Hey are you lost?” “Wanna have some fun with us instead?” “Are you alone?” a little scared you walked faster but that did not seem to stop them “Hey, don’t be scared of us” you heard them walking after you.

“Babe, thanks for waiting I’m here now” you heard a new person say that approached you from the other side. It was a rather tall, handsome guy but you never met him before. He had no reason to call you “babe” but he hugged you from behind as soon as he reached you. A little flustered you were left speechless. “Is that your boyfriend..?” “Don’t you wanna go with us instead” the guys kept bothering. “No” the handsome guy said “Babe is with me. Leave us alone” he took your hand and pulled you away. After they left he looked at you “Are you okay? Its dangerous to walk around by yourself here, what were you thinking?” “I-i’m okay thank you...” you could only stutter realizing how dangerous this could have been if it was not for him, you almost started to cry. “I’ll call you a taxi and wait with you.” he said with a soft smile. You could not quite understand why he was so nice to you but you were really thankful and couldn’t speak much. 

As soon as the taxi arrived he opened the door for you. The driver asked where you wanted to go and then the guy immediately handed the driver more than enough money for the drive. “Call me when you get home” he said as he gave you a piece of paper with a number on it. Then he closed the door and taxi drove away. “Did that all really just happen now...?” you mumbled to yourself.

Jeon Jungkook

“Oh. My. God. Look at this guy, he is sooooo hot?” your friend said as you two were strolling through the park. “Come on... stop it” you replied “Come on you cant be single FOREVER” “well I choose to be single, I dont want to date whoever just for the sake of dating, looks arent everyt-” you stopped talking when you saw the most handsome human you ever met in your life. “What? Y/N hello?” your friend followed your eyes til they saw him as well. “Looks arent anything huh? Seems like this one is quite your type tho?” Your friend giggled why you still looked at him in awe when he suddenly looked back at you. It took you like 10 seconds to realize you were openly starring at him until you quickly looked away embarrassed, but it seems like your friend did not to let it go yet.

“Hello this is Y/N, single and ready to mingle! Here is Y/N’s number too if you want to meet up again” your friend happily told him “WHAT ARE YOU DOING” you looked at them in shook and pulled your friend away. Even though you were too embarrassed to look at him, you did it anyways. Only to have him winking at you. “oh my god” you mumble and ran away hoping your friend would follow”. 

It seemed like he really enjoyed you being so embarrassed about all of this. But since you will never ever see him again it will be alright... right?

Thank you for reading! This is my first BTS Reaction/Fanfic I hope you enjoyed it! Dont be afraid to request things, tell me what you felt while reading or just talking to me in general ♥

[astudyinfreewill]

Pynch Week 2017 -  Day 3: “What are you doing here?”

Adam was almost done piecing together his ambitious, abundant course notes, turning his jagged handwriting to tidy script on his computer – and what a thing to think, that he owned a computer; one of the first things he’d bought with his scholarship money, right after a phone – when the doorbell rang. He looked at the clock on the screen. It was ten to 1am.

Probably Josh having an impromptu party, or inviting a girl over. Or Melissa deciding to share some netflix and weed with someone. The doorbell rang again. Adam sighed.

He weighed his chances and yelled across the wall. “Josh! Someone’s at the door!”

No reply came.

Reaching for his phone, he quickly shot Melissa a text, which was usually what they did rather than get up and physically talk to each other– two introverts more than happy to stay in their respective bubbles.

why is josh not answering the damn doorbell

josh isn’t home dude

Oh. Now that she mentioned it, Adam seemed to remember Josh saying there was a party happening somewhere on campus, and inviting Adam to go along. He had refused, because, well. Biology notes.

The doorbell rang again.

is this one of your friends?

dont u think if it was one of my friends i wld kno

Adam sighed. 

i’m revising for finals can you answer it

hell no what if its a murderer

melissa. it’s not a murderer.

ok but im like stoned af.what if its the RA????

Adam rolled his eyes.

Gently depositing his computer on the bed, he stalked off in the direction of the ever-more-insistent doorbell, annoyance plastering a withering glare on his face. If this was another drunk frat boy who had forgotten where he lived–

He threw the door open just as the bell rang yet another time, fully prepared to snarl the most vicious Can I fucking help you a stressed student had ever mustered, before the words died on his lips. 

On the other side of the door, dark and tall and impossible, was Ronan Lynch.

Adam blinked once, just to be sure he wasn’t having midterms-induced hallucinations, but no – Ronan was really there, intricate tattoo peeking out from his tank top, Chainsaw perched on his shoulder, and a pile of food containers stacked in his hands.

It didn’t occur to Adam that he was gaping until he saw an unmistakeable shit-eating grin painting itself on Ronan’s face.

“Mind letting me in, Parrish? It’s honestly so fucking rude of you to keep me outside.”

“How did you even get into the building?” sputtered Adam. It was not the right response, hell, it wasn’t even the question he most wanted to ask, but his brain had the tendency to latch itself onto the closest logical problem when it was stuttering. He moved out of the doorway to let Ronan in, hoping it would count as amends.

Ronan shrugged, one eyebrow rising suggestively. “Hooligans these days. They can get into anything.” He walked in, somehow managing to look indolent while carrying more takeout than one man could possibly consume and a large prey bird. His duffel bag came into view on the ground behind him, and Adam automatically picked it up, closing the door.

“Ronan, what are you doing here? Did something happen?”

“Well hello to you too, sweetheart.”

The last was said in an overly high-pitched, exaggerated Southern accent, and Adam rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. “Don’t be like that. You know I’m happy to see you. And also that supernatural catastrophes are not exactly uncommon in our lives.”

Ronan looked uncomfortable for a brief second, dropping his fa��ade of bravado for the first time since he’d shown up. He awkwardly raised the food containers.

“Chinese food.”

Adam blinked, because he had a feeling about where this was going but surely it couldn’t be right.

“Specifically, the shitty Chinese food from the place behind St. Agnes.”

He was right.

“Ronan. 

“You’re welcome, dickbag. 

“Ronan.”

“What.” 

“It’s a seven hour drive--”

“Five hours if you know how to drive,” Ronan cut him off, his smile sharp and wicked. 

Part of Adam had a minor freak-out at the idea of Ronan barrelling towards New York at night with complete disregard for any speed limits, but he couldn’t worry about Ronan’s reckless driving right now, not when he was already trying to process all the rest of the Ronan’s ridiculousness.

“-it’s a five hour drive up here from Henrietta–”

“Yeah, so I better not hear you complain about the food being cold, you little shit.”

“--oh my God can you shut the fuck up for one second–”

“You have a microwave in this Ivy League sponsored dump, right?”

“Ronan.”

The emphasis eventually got him to shut up and look at Adam, and now Adam could see it, the vulnerability underneath the bluster, Ronan’s mind already working hard to convince him that it had been a stupid mistake, that he was being ridiculous right now, that the whole situation was embarrassing. Adam didn’t know when he’d started being able to read Ronan so well, but his heart ached with it.

“You sounded tired, and shit.” Ronan offered, looking at his leather bracelets. “On the phone, earlier. And you said you missed the shitty Chinese food from back home, so I went and got you some. It’s not a big fucking deal, okay?” His voice would have sounded hostile to anyone who didn’t know better. Adam knew better.

Which meant he should have known better than to be surprised at all, but it was so hard to wrap his brain around, that this boy – this impossible boy – this man-shaped god, who had it in his power to create flowers and animals and brothers and entire landscapes – had heard Adam talk nostalgically about Henrietta’s shitty Chinese food five hours earlier during an offhand conversation, and here he was, five hours later, standing in Adam’s tiny shared kitchen with unholy amounts of cold take-out, looking thunderous and gorgeous and every inch the logic-defying miracle that he was. 

All because Adam sounded tired, and shit.

“Jesus,” Adam breathed.

“There’s no need to bring him into this, Parrish.”

“You’re insane.”

“Well, you’re not exactly the poster boy for sanity–”

“I love you,” Adam stated, cutting off the indignant bluster.

Ronan flushed an adorable shade of magenta. Adam knew better than to make fun of him for it, though he sometimes did anyway.

“Come on,” he said, taking Ronan by the hand. “Let’s go eat a shitton of cold, bad Chinese food.” He paused significantly, locking eyes with Ronan. “And chill.”  

Ronan’s eyes grew darker, pupils blown out, because at some point along the ridiculous and perfect ride that was their relationship, making fun of memes they both found overused had turned into foreplay.

“Wait,” he said, very reluctantly. “I thought you were supposed to study for a biology final.”

“Did I say biology?” Adam hummed, pursing his lips in mock thoughtfulness. “My bad. I meant anatomy, obviously.”

A moment later, Ronan was wrapped around him, melting against his mouth, and suddenly, just like that – Adam was home.

[writingstuff1789]

Harvey didn’t get it. They were all here. Everyone that Roman decided to invite to this little party anyways, or at least to his knowledge, but Roman has just left everyone in his living room with drinks, either he was being petty for this meeting taking so long and wanted to pay them all back or stalling for time so that he could kill them all. He quickly started to lose patience and began fidgeting with the coin, shifting it between his fingers and passing it from hand to hand silently. He took another sip from his drink and made another glance towards his fellow guests. 

Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni, once the biggest crime bosses in Gotham, sat just a few inches away from him, their silhouettes illuminated by the fire. Harvey remembered locking up a few of their lieutenants back when... when he was somebody. Not a nice thought. Harv quickly shook his head and downed the rest of his drink, pouring another glass just as the old guy dressed entirely in a purple suit spoke up. “What happened to your face son?” Louie asked calmly, staring over at Dent as he spoke. No malice or sarcasm in his tone. This was definitely not a taunt and yet that didn’t stop Harv from getting pissed at the old man’s rudeness, he flipped the coin. Heads. Harvey sighed and simply swallowed the rising anger, taking another sip from his drink. Carmine sighed slightly and mouthed a small apology towards Harvey that went unnoticed, filling up Louie’s mug with more coffee. Harvey was starting to hope that this whole meeting was just a ploy for Roman to kill them all now as he drank just as the doors opened and Roman entered the room. “Rupert Thorne happened, Louie.” he spoke with a chuckle before taking his seat at the head of the table. Everyone’s attention was focused on the Black Mask.

“You better have a good reason for making us wait so long” Sal said, giving Roman a suspicious glare and Roman simply shrugged “Some unexpected business popped up, apologies” he replied, pouring himself a drink. Harvey took notice of the small bits of red on Roman’s usually pure white suit. It was business then. “Now gentlemen” Roman paused to take a small sip from his drink “Before we get to the matter at hand, I have a small question for you all. What are your plans after this whole election thing is over?”. “Continuing to run my business as usual” Carmine said, relaxing back in his seat “And finding a caretaker for Louie here” he muttered quietly as he turned his attention to Louie who seemed to be having a quiet conversation with one of Roman’s bodyguards. “Same thing as always, Sionis, this election won’t effect me that much” Harv spoke up with a shrug “Why are you asking?”. “Continuing to compete against you and Falcone like always, Sionis, and like Harvey said, why do you want to know? Is this whole meeting just your poor attempt to learn about ” Maroni sneered though his expression quickly grew concerned at the mention of the elections “Oz’s is planning to come after the mobs now, ain’t he?”

“As always Sal, your intellect is always one step ahead of me. Or maybe paranoia is a better word?” Maroni scowled while Roman chuckled “But yes, truth be told I am growing very concerned as to where Cobblepot’s loyalties lie. I think the guy might be growing senile and soft in his old age. Almost starting numerous gang wars with myself over nobodies but that’s not important right now.” Roman paused to sigh for a moment, taking a sip from his drink. “His policies as mayor are just as concerning, planning to fund the GCPD, Arkham and Blackgate.” As Roman spoke Carmine calmly reached for a cigar and taken out his lighter, placing it in his mouth before he lit it up and pulled it out, breathing out smoke as he spoke “Cobblepot’s a problem then, he knows a lot of our most vital bases of operations.” he took in another puff and continued “Knowing the little Napoleon bastard he probably plans to hold this above us all.” “That or he plans to legally take us all out without any competition” Harv growled, shaking his head as he took another sip from his drink. “Great. Just what I fucking needed to hear today.” Maroni rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed “I’m not going back to Blackgate again, I can’t.”

Roman raised a hand to cut off Maroni “Relax, Sal. None of you will be going to Blackgate, we just need to brainstorm a solution to our little predicament in the event that Cobblepot wins the election.” he chuckled “I don’t think I need to tell you gentlemen the easy solution to our problem.” “You want to hire someone to kill him?” Maroni bit his lip slightly “I dunno about that, Cobblepot has some serious protection. It’d have to be one hell of a hitman.” “We could all pitch in to hire Slade, or maybe Lawton.” Carmine put out his cigar as he spoke. “Those are some very expensive hitmen though Carmine, I was thinking that we all throw everything we got at him at once. He could easily take one of us at a time but if we all come at once he won’t stand a chance” Roman took another sip from his glass. “I, uh, wait a second! I’d rather not kill Oswald!” Harvey exclaimed, looking panicked. “Couldn’t we just bribe him, or something?” “He’s set in his ways, Dent, you know that.” Roman shrugged “No point in trying to persuade that stubborn dog.” he added with another cold chuckle while Dent continued to fidget with the coin. “You want to keep your gang and your business? You won’t last the year with Cobblepot in office” Carmine pointed at Harvey as spoke.

“Why don’t you two consult that penny there, no doubt it’ll make a better choice than either of you two would.” Maroni said with a small chuckle. Dent flipped off Maroni as he flipped his coin into the air. Tails. “Alright then. The Penguin dies.” Harv nodded slightly. “Excellent, so then we’re all in agreement that in the event that Cobblepot wins the election we all team up and kill him?” Roman rubbed his hands together slightly as he ordered his bodyguard to refill everyone’s drinks. He raised his glass before speaking “A toast” he announced “To good business and to Cobblepot’s shortening life expectancy” he chuckled coldly again and joined the other bosses in downing their drinks. Harvey didn’t join them in the toast but he did drink. He’ll probably need more after this.

“So what’s the plan then?” Harv asked, setting his drink aside for a moment. “Like I said before, we can throw everything we have against him” Roman shrugged “Or, if we want to be dramatic, we can invite him over to a party to celebrate his new position as mayor and then, when he’s all happy and drunk, we all stab the little birdie.” “Ah, Caesar style” Carmine smirked “I like it.” “Thought you would, I’ll see if I can persuade Al and Scarface about joining us, but we can discuss this further at a later date. I think it’s about time we all get down to the real reason we’re here” Roman gestured towards the nearby double doors which swung open into another room that contained a large table with a poker set all neatly arranged for the mobsters, along with very expensive looking drinks and cigars. “Up for a game or two, gentlemen?”

[kennothythebard]

Things I’ve learned about writing DEH characters

THIS IS NOT A GUIDE BY ANY MEANS THIS IS JUST SOME OBSERVATIONS AND THINGS I DO.

So while researching for and writing “A Worthy Explanation” (pls read i crave validation) I’ve noticed a lot of little things that I don’t always see mentioned in writing guides for these characters so I thought I’d point some of these out. Idk how love this is going to be so I’ll prolly put a cut here.

General

I like to create kind of a “loneliness chart” and graph the kids on it (looks kinda like those political alignment things). On one axis theres introverted vs. extroverted, and on the other theres like polite vs. rude I guess? But in summary: Evan is introverted polite, Jared is extroverted rude, Alana is extroverted polite, Connor is introverted rude, and Zoe... is just kinda generally lonely. Where she falls really depends on what’s going on with her (but she typically is a less extreme introverted rude than Connor).

Obviously each character has their own faults, but I often see these faults viewed quite selectively, see “cinnamon roll evan” and “fucking larry” for two very different examples of this phenomenon. Evan is not perfect and always trying to be nice, and Larry is not a super abusive parent who deserves no happiness in this life. They’re both complex and it’s hard to let go of our misconceptions to write truer to the characters (e.g. I really, Really don’t like Larry. I see him as a lousy father who just kind of chose to be “the strict one” but does nothing but criticize and dole out punishment, ignoring his kids any other time), but that’s an important part of deh, is that people aren’t always what we perceive them to be.

Evan

Evan is often viewed as like a cinnamon roll, but in act 2 especially Evan gets mean. Like, he’s dismissive and rude and angry and just a jerk. Evan can be just as bad if not worse than some of the “angrier” characters

Ppl often talk about his lying as his biggest character flaw, but I’d argue that most of the lying we see in the show just stems from the one lie which he was kinda forced to make bc he was in a bad place (i mean, thats pretty much the entire point of awe).

The character flaw that I don’t see discussed enough is that he’s ashamed of his mental illness. He’d rather pretend it’s not there, even when it impacts every part of his life. He doesn’t do the letters the way his therapist assigned them, he’s apprehensive towards medication and stops taking it, and basically feeds into his self-destructive tendencies, arguing his mother sees his as “broke” or something to be fixed.

Jared

I love writing Jared

There’s already a lot about what a complex character he is and stage directions, but one thing that most people notice is his actions frequently contradict his words. Take the sincerely me reprise at the start of act 2. Why would he try to insert himself into the narrative at this point? What good would that do at this point? When evan dismisses him he gets annoyed and defensive. He says that he can’t do anything until Monday because he’s hanging with his camp friends (whom he claims are his “real friends,” a term he will later ascribe to himself regarding Evan in Good For You), and when Evan dismisses him again he tries to offer to help with the kickstarter, but is quickly shot down once more by Evan. Despite what seems to be a natural ending place in the conversation, he insists on continuing to talk with Evan, and when Evan cuts him off again he becomes rude and slightly threatening. This happens over the course of maybe three minutes and it’s one of the most insightful scenes to jared’s character

When writing a canon-compliant Jared, his actions and thoughts should conflict with his words. He cares about Evan but he’d never say that out loud (in more canon-compliant fics), and it hurts when he’s pushed away, which he responds to with anger.

Zoe

Zoe is one of the most difficult characters to write, imo.

She’s often portrayed in a slightly sweeter, saccharine way in fanon as just like a fun, silly girl who is just a tad sarcastic, but really you can tell that she’s Connor’s brother. She’s angry, blunt, unafraid of speaking her mind, etc. Yes, she is funny and kinda sarcastic, but her sarcasm isn’t always of the funny variety. She’s obviously angry at her parents, but this often comes across as a “doesn’t love them” variety of anger when her real feelings seem to be much more complex. 

Basically, I’m still learning a lot about writing her but I think just like the other kids she’s a little lonely, so Evan comes along and he’s there and that’s enough for her. She has such a wide range of emotions that I don’t feel are always accurately represented, even by me. (especially by me)

Alana

Hella, hella lonely. Covers it up by talking to people and doing extracurriculars. Sure, “college apps” is her excuse for why she does so much, but it’s not the real reason. If she keeps busy, she doesn’t have to be alone with her thoughts. But at the same time she has similar fears to Evan about people seeing the worst of her. “Close acquaintances” seems to be a statement about how little she makes friends, but I also see it as a defense mechanism. If she remains “close acquaintances” with people, she’ll never have to be their friend and they’ll never have to see the worst of her.

She’s cheerful and annoying, but in the way that pisses high schoolers off. Like, we all knew that one kid who was just way way too nice, and most of us were like “yeah ok they’re pretty cool i guess” but like some people just hated their positivity. It also doesn’t help that she tries to insert herself in situations she hasn’t been invited in, and does some questionable things to help her accomplish her goals. (Evan/Alana contrast: Evan does questionable things to accomplish internal goals, Alana does them to accomplish external goals)

Gets easily distracted. Forgets to sign Evan’s cast in scene 1. Her mind has a million different thoughts at any given moment. It wouldn’t be out of line to headcanon ADHD Alana (some of the things she does reminds me of the things I do when I forget my meds).

Connor

?????

We don’t see a lot to really get a huge insight into his personality. We know he was angry and had some serious mental illness.

We also know that he could recognize when he went too far and would go out of his way to make amends. (Why was he in the computer lab? Why did he sign Evan’s cast?) He may recognize a kindred spirit in Evan.

Clearly he doesnt hate his family (he goes to school despite not wanting to go, and seeing Zoe’s name is what sets him off showing possible concern), and it would not surprise me to learn that he thought his family would be better and happier without him. He clearly has intense emotions and reactions even to things that might seem minuscule or inconsequential. When writing him in canon, I think of a rubber band stretched too tight, and any characters action could loosen or tighten the pulling.

Heidi

Such an emotional character, I nearly break my own heart when I’m trying to writer her.

Theres two odd kind of paradoxes in a parent-child relationship like that between Heidi and Evan. For Heidi, the paradox is that the more she wants to do for Evan, the less she can actually be there for him. For Evan, he wants his mother to succeed and loves her so much that he might even encourage her to not worry about him or spend time with him, but then resents that she’s never there. Or at least when he meets a mother who can provide and be there.

Heidi pretty much worries herself sick over Evan. Evan comes before everything else in her life, and so it’s easy for her to feel like she failed him, which is a huge reason for her intense reaction in Good for you: evan has just confirmed her fears that she’s failed him.

Heidi tries so hard, but she isn’t perfect. She’s clearly very sensitive about money or about Evan’s father, and this sensitivity can easily change to anger or passive-aggressiveness. She has deep insecurities that we may never see or fully comprehend.

Cynthia

Mom. like shes completely a mom. like, “can i speak to your manager?” type mom.

Loves her kids and tries to be supportive but struggles communicating with two very headstrong, sarcastic kids

she probably wouldn’t say this, but takes connor’s death very personally. wonders why he would do this to her 

Is desperate for her children to listen and understand her. Which Evan is more than willing to do.

A little bit selfish? Like, thinks about what will make her better rather than accepting everybody grieves differently

Larry

Fucking larry. I don’t like him and he’s the hardest character for me to write.

Ok since I made such a big deal about it in the intro i’ll try to be nicer than id normally be

A masculine archetype. Sports dad, wants sports son, which Connor isn’t

He’s got some really ableist/misogynistic tendencies that causes the intense demonization of him in the fanon but I mean... he could be worse i guess? (that’s literally the best i can say about that so yeah i dont like him at all)

Really just oblivious. Completely ignored Connor’s need for help, does not know how to read a room, you could say he frequently has a foot in his mouth if it weren’t so intentional.

I mean...probably a good guy if you can get past all that stuff? just really, really self absorbed.

yikes that was long. Again, not really a guide, just some things I think about when writing these characters. if you read this far at all thank you for indulging me this much.

[stuffphilmade]

Life as a Cyborg - Day 0 - Implantation

Please note: No blood or gore is shown in this blog or the accompanying video. It was the 22nd of April 2017 15:00, my phone lights up with facebook notifications, change of plan, it’s GO time.  My partner and I change out of our casual clothes into something a bit more presentable, grab my camera, with a shade of cowardice I pop a few painkillers in the hope to defend against some of the perceived (but false) impending pain. 

What I didn’t know is that I would be introduced to my new cyborg family and our joint 2nd birthday, 22/04/17.

We were not to become Human 2.0 but something closer to Human 1.2. 

This is not a work of fiction, on the 22nd of April 2017 my partner and I got dressed and jumped into my car to attend a so-called #implantParty where we were implanted with a Dangerous Things xNT NFC chip.

Leeds International Festival, a tech and art festival in the North of England, had invited Hannes Sjob (@hsjob) and Keren Elazari (@k3r3n3) to fly in from Israel and Sweden respectively.  They flew from their own countries to give a talk on Biohacking, Cyberpunk & Hacker Culture. 

I had known of this talk was for me since the first week it was announced, I, like Keren was massively influenced by 1995′s “Hackers”, “Ghost in the Shell” and 1999′s turn of the millennium western cyberpunk classic, “The Matrix”. 

From the moment I heard this talk was going ahead, I booked tickets. On the booking page, there was one line that blew my mind:  “If you’re brave enough, you’re able at the event to get a live chip implant onstage too.”

I had watched the Vice documentary about Dangerous Things: The Man Biohacking Encryption From His Garage

I had watched Keren’s Ted Talk: Hackers: The internets Immune system

I had just finished rewatching Ghost in the Shell and reading the manga in anticipation of the Scarlett Johansson’s remake.  I was ready to join Major Kusanagi. 

I bought tickets for my partner, knowing what and opportunity this was I proceeded to assault the Facebook and Twitter feed of the organisers trying to find a method of signing up to get what would have been a $100~ implant for free, zero, zilch, without shipping, import tax, even without having to pay a piercer or a private medic to “install” it in a safe manner.  

I heard nothing.

The day before the event I read a post on social media, from one of the lovely organisers, that the chipset WOULD be xNT NFC model from Dangerous Things in the USA. 

I got butterflies at hearing this, I knew of their pride in their products, their high standard of construction, their extensive (if a bit ghetto) testing procedures including Amal (the owner of Dangerous Things) having the first model he produced implanted in his hand for 11 years and counting. On top of this, the NFC model was the one I wanted for two reasons: 1) I have a Google Pixel phone with an NFC reader, I could use this to hand out my business card in a futuristic technical manner. 2) The 13.56MHz frequency is what my current hackspace card registers at, TL;DR I COULD USE IT TO GET IN AND OUT OF DOORS WITHOUT KEYS! 

Tech Specs: 

xNT tag – 13.56MHz ISO14443A & NFC Type 2 NTAG216 chip

2x12mm cylindrical sterile biocompatible implant package

ISO14443A – compatible with all ISO14443A RFID systems

Fully NFC Type 2 compliant – compatible with all NFC devices

The day of the event rolls around, I get up, have lunch and wait nervously for 18:00 to roll around so that I can head to the University of Leeds lecture hall, watch two amazing speakers and, presumably, thrust my hand in the air and hope to be selected as one of the few people who could get implanted as my wonderful partner waves on from the stands.  .. now.. some of you may have noticed my time discrepancies above, that is because it did not unfold as such: Sat waiting for 18:00 to roll around, we eat and as it hits about 15:00 my phone lights up as if all the posts on the event page I had made over the past month had been replied to... it turns out they had:

“Hey folks! Due to complications with the venue, we're unable to do the piercings there BUT DONT WORRY as we are still able to do them but before the event. 10 places are available” 

Followed by instructions that it would happen at 16:30 in the north of the city at a well-known piercing parlour. 

I had a Sherlock Holmes out of body moment as I planned our route from the south to the north of the city, what to wear, logistics of keeping my hands clean, messaged a fellow Leeds Hackspace member about the change of plan, I threw a dress at my partner and ran into the shower... Let's do this!  I had spent enough time thinking about infection, my family history of auto-immune diseases, not getting tattoos or piercings. If I trusted anyone to implant me with a sterile microchip the size of a grain of rice, it would be these speakers, this brand, this event and this studio. It felt like the metaphorical moons had aligned. This year I am 30 years old and had an experience with a severe spinal injury that really made me think about how safe I have been playing life so far, I could be run over by a bus tomorrow or become paralyzed, so let’s do something a bit dangerous for the progress of science and my cyborg street cred. 

16:30, I step into Rude Studios in Leeds, I scan around the room, 5 people, MADE IT!  One, I know, the others I do not, but they will become part of my Cyborg Family and share in an experience I never thought I would have. 

After a quick chat with Hannes, fresh off his flight from Sweden, we sign a consent form, get a quick briefing and are directed into the piercing room, where we meet Luke, the first man to stab me, just a little bit, FOR SCIENCE! 

(Photo Credit Ben Bentley)  

Luke, wearing nitrile gloves, sterilises his work surface, lays fresh paper down and asks which hand I would like my implant in, as I am right handed I opt for my left hand  Luke mentally finds the trapezium and trapezoid bones where the metacarpal bones of my thumb and index finger meet. Next he finds the first proximal interphalangeal joint (first knuckle) of the index finger, then halves the distance between the bottom of that joint and the top of my carpometacarpal joint. Then taking a biosafe pen, marks the insertion point. 

This point is chosen because: 1) low risk of damaging major radial and median nerves  2) low risk of damaging major blood vessels  3) low risk of damaging tendons or their synovial sheaths  4) plenty of soft tissue to help absorb blunt force impacts  5) good distance from bones to avoid pinching and crushing

Once this is has been marked, he opens the sterile package containing the sterile NFC implant within a sealed injector, gauze and importantly sterile gloves. 

Lukes professionalism and hygiene best practices show as I notice him move from the standard piercing and tattoo gloves to the sterile gloves included in the implantation kit. 

The nitrile gloves protect him from any biohazard coming from the person that is being implanted or tattooed, whereas the sterile gloves protect me from infection as he breaks my skin with the needle.

Big breath in.  Slow breath out.  My cowardice is unfounded, the implantation is no worse than any time I have had blood drawn at the doctors, just a little bit more of a sting. 

I am now a cyborg. A piece of technology is now part of my body, working to compliment my other features. 

This is an upgrade of choice, I am Human 1.2, unlike people I like to class as Human 1.1, upgraded by doctors to help fix defects such as pacemakers, insulin pumps. 

I am lucky to have been able to choose my upgrade and it that my upgrade be purely for scientific interest and life improvement rather than forced life extension. 

I get a sticky plaster and the proverbial lollipop for good behaviour.  Luke looks to my partner Holly and says “Next!”, motioning for her to sit down. Wires had been crossed, she had not intended to be next, never mind be anything but a supportive partner (and very good looking camera stand).  She grabs hold of the moment, she asks if there is enough for everyone... and within 2 minutes ...  WE are cyborgs. 

We step into the waiting room where Hannes is waiting to give us a lesson on programming our NFC chips.  I type HELLO WORLD. /Write  We step out onto the streets of Leeds new, upgraded and excited with the possibilities ahead.  I will be documenting our ongoing adventures in cyborg in a series of Blogs and Vlogs. Make sure you subscribe to my channels to hear more, also more technical nitty gritty experimentation to follow! Please check out our first vlog below: 

[wokebands]

#12 - running into van after a one night stand

can you do running into van after a one night stand and he recognizes you?__

friday nights in new york consisted of binge drinking to hopefully ease the stress left from a long week at work. lucky for you, your friends often felt the same, throwing out names of new bars to try out and arranging times. you never really cared where you went, as long as it had music and beer, it was fine with you. 

you were a bit wild, per say. your friends always joked around about your party habits and you couldn’t blame them. it was true, the craziest you came out on friday nights but like mentioned previously, work sucked every inch of fun out of your body for 5 days straight, if you wanted to kick back and relax one night, so be it. 

something different had popped up tonight. there was a concert in brooklyn that your friends boyfriend had mentioned. you were quickly buying yourself a ticket online, not caring who was playing because you loved live music almost as much as you loved drinking. you had stopped at your place before heading to the bar everyone was meeting at. you threw on skinny jeans and a top you bought for yourself on wednesday, after getting screamed at by your boss and almost losing your job. 

******

you were a few drinks deep before heading to the venue right down the street. you learned that the band was rather indie and the crowd would most likely be people like you, people that loved concerts and probably people that loved drinking. you all gathered at the bar, but quickly lost a majority of your friends who wanted to get a good look at the stage. 

you didn’t realize you weren’t alone when a voice spoke up. “mate, i don’t know what to tell you, just bring it around back.” you tried to ignore him, but his conversation continued and you slowly caught on to who he was. you were unable to identify him by name, but he had to be in the band, directing people through the phone to bring in equipment and set up merchandise. 

you also didn’t realize that he looked familiar. you tried to jog your memory, looking around for any idea of a band name because maybe they’ve showed up on your spotify or something. “excited for the show?” the voice asked you, your eyes moved over to his and he smirked back at you. 

“i hear this bands quite awful, just here for the booze.” you joked and he nearly gawked at you. “joking, don’t want to hurt your ego, heard you on the phone. are you excited for the show?” you asked him and he hummed. reaching behind the bar to grab a bottle of something and poured himself a glass. “more excited to see you again.” he said to you and you were taken back. again? was there another time?

he caught onto your confusion and let out a laugh. “cmon babe, you don’t remember? it wasn’t that long ago and i pray to god i wasn’t that awful?” he continued on and you quickly remembered a few weeks ago, when you had ended up at some bar down in soho with the same friends who you were here with tonight. you remember drinking, meeting a cute, british boy, and then drinking some more, only to end up at a hotel with the irresistible brit, and leaving the next morning. 

“im-i dont-you’re in a band?” you asked him, trying to put pieces together of that night. “looks that way, small band, playing venues like this in hopes of getting some attention.” he explained to you, downing his drink. “that probably doesn’t help.” you motioned to his cup. “eh, you build up quite a tolerance from drinking all of the time.” he told you and you didn’t say it, but you knew. 

“so, do you guys only play in the city? maybe you should branch to like los angeles or something where a shit ton of record labels are.” you said, not knowing anything about the industry. you were still confused as to how you ended up at his show a few weeks later, after literally fucking him in a shitty hotel room, all by coincidence. “complicated, we’re signed to a small label right now, who is based here, we actually just got back from london a few days ago, i’m not stalking you, i promise.” he joked and you nodded your head, taking a long sip of your drink to hopefully give you some liquid courage. 

van, his name you finally learned/remembered had invited you to the after-party and you weren’t stupid. hell, he was the best lay you had in awhile, possible the only lay you had in awhile but still good, nonetheless. you didn’t bother playing hard to get and quickly agreed, mentioning the group of friends you came with and he encouraged they come along, too. 

you talked for nearly 30 minutes before he had to get ready to go on stage. you laughed at him as he ran backstage, passing crowds of people that were essentially here to see him on stage and no one noticed him. you found your friends, near the back and mentioned the after-party. when questioned about how the hell you got invited, you shrugged your shoulders. you’re do not kiss and tell. 

they were good, better than you expected. seeing van sing on stage turned you on in a very unexpected way and every strum of his guitar made you want him more and more, again. they played for an hour and the crowd was into it, you even saw a few people singing along and everyone was dancing. 

after the show, van had come out himself to greet your friends and tell you the address of the party. you tried not to blush when he asked you to ride with him to the bar, your friends smiled back at you, cheering you on and completely embarrassing you. it all seemed too official, hell, it was just a one night stand, you weren’t expecting to meet his band and get his number, you never were one for commitment, especially with a job like you had and the reckless behavior. 

on the way there, van had sat next to you, leaving the passenger seat open. you hadn’t notice how much closer he had gotten and you also didn’t notice his hand on your knee. it was perfect, you thought, something about van made you weak in a way you couldn’t explain. you tried to not think about it and to just enjoy your night out and head straight to the bar when you arrived. 

however, van had turned towards you, putting his hand around your neck. “hey.” he had smiled at you. “hi.” you whispered. before you could say anything else, he had placed his lips on yours. shutting the window between the driver and the back-seat. you let out a moan as his lips trailed along your jaw, down to your chest. you thanked yourself for wearing the new shirt, which gave just enough access. 

“can’t wait till after the party to fuck you.” he growled in your ear and your entire body went hot. you helped him with undressing you, unbuttoning your jeans and then unbuttoning his own shirt, which was still on. “the driver?” you asked. “used to it.” he said to you, before moving his hand down your stomach. you pushed him off, rolling your eyes. “what?” he questioned. “used to it? really? way to make me feel like a whore.” you groaned, readjusting your dress and position, turning away from him. 

“s’not what i meant, jesus.” van had said. “just saying, someone fucking around in the backseat of the car isn’t unusual for four guys in a band.” he explained and it made sense to you. you knew the lifestyle boys in bands led and you willingly agreed to come out with him, you already had fucked him once and now you knew who he was and what he did. you thought you were being kind of unfair but the comment still pissed you off. 

“come on, love. im sorry.” van had persisted. “s’fine.” you said back to him, trying not to look at him, you felt his eyes on you. “i’ve never invited anyone personally to an after-party before. sure, there’s been girls but i have never went out out of my way, let alone into the crowd before a show to talk to a girl.” he said, his tone changing, softer now. it made you blush and smile, but you wouldn’t let him see that. 

the car pulled up to the bar and van had grabbed your wrist before you got out. “im sorry, okay? i think you’re cool, there was just something about you that i haven’t been able to shake and when i saw you tonight, i was excited and i didn’t mean to ruin that.” he rambled and you laughed at him. “its ok, love.” you mocked him. “what do you say we go inside, get drunk and then finish what was so rudely interrupted by you being an annoying prick?” you asked him, and the two of you were on your way to the open bar. 

__

this is like my favorite one EVER - this was so fun to write so thank you to whoever requested it!!! i sort of took it to another level and wrote a shit ton but i hope its good. 

keep requesting, sorry it takes me awhile, i have been so busy! but ill get around to it!! 

-Em