#they seem to get he/himmed a lot by people that i figure would not do that normally

[teukiemomo]

It is true I didn't follow the US politics before the election. This is just based on what I've seen so far since the election (since like the debate where Trump said questionable things about dog and cat eating since that kinda blew up everywhere lol):

As far as I know Fox News is Trump's ass-kisser. CNN is the opposite. NBC, MSNBC are anti Trump's dumb things which are... all Trump's things. I'm not sure what their usual stance is before the election, but during the election it was kinda like Fox News vs. everyone (it still is now). And based on what I've seen so far on Fox News their correspondences sound so... insensitive and delusional I'd immediately question their professionalism and therefore no longer trust whatever excuse they make for Trump.

Late night shows hosts are very against Trump. They dissed him every time I saw them on youtube and this is like every night? Some of them do sound unserious so people may disregard them, but Jon Stewart and John Oliver are 2 people whom I think really look into the issues like Project 2025, gun issue, inflation, crime etc. and bring evidences to the table, lots of times, to expose Trump. Both are also very critical of Dems on certain issues but often pointed out how Trump is always the worse option. With that much exposure to Trump's darkness (and, like, with proofs) I honestly thought the result would go the other way. Unless there's something I missed.

Twitter - I know there's an agenda pushed there 'thanks to' Elon Musk but somehow most of the posts showing up on my 'For You' are against right-wing extremists, like I don't even follow, like or retweet any political tweets that should make the algorithm swing that way (and gosh I WISH they could've done the same for my favourite artist, I like him and somehow they only show tweets talking shit about him, like Elon DO BETTER PLZ?) Anyways, my point is, even on a platform that is so blatantly right-wing, I'm still able to see that many tweets (with actual proofs, logical arguments etc.) criticise Trump, warn about Trump and his ppl, etc. that reach huge amount of engagement on Twitter, I was kinda under the impression that whatever right-wing propaganda on Twitter wasn't really working that well.

Trump is just... idk after those 4 years of bad-mouthing everything everywhere, fumbling Covid terribly, leaving White House with a coup, getting into another election running his mouth about dog eating cat eating, 'i'mma do this to women don't matter if like it or not', 'criminals coming from prisons and insane asylums', convicted felony, convicted rapist, proposal to get rid of Dep of Education, performing oral thingy with the mic on stage (??????), etc. Evidences of him doing stupid shit, saying stupid shit are like everywhere, and most things he said can be easily proven a lie by a simple google search. People may be disappointed at the Dems and hate the establishment, but how a man like Trump can be a better choice, under any circumstance, seems... baffling. Lots of ppl seem to choose him for the economy, which actually can be debunked by looking at other countries after Covid and Russia-Ukraine; inflation was a common issue, and the stats showed it's already gone down considerably at the time of the election. To me it just seems very easy to figure out all the arguments Trump used are pretty bullshit: no pro free speech person will bash and threaten to harm people who don't talk nicely about him, no 'America-first' person will ever spread lies and lead a coup, and never trust a multi-billionnaire when he says he's all for the working class.

I'm not saying the US mainstream media is not to blame, or the Dems is not to blame. They should've done a better job, but at the same time, the US is one of the countries where it's easier to see through propaganda. Freedom to access information and opinions from a wide range of perspectives with little restriction is a privilege some other countries don't even have.

I'm not from the US, I only made this comment based on what I've seen, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one outside of America who experienced this bewilderment. But if I've missed something, I'm willing to learn.

Gotta admit the headline is a banger.

[organic-bloodbath]

Hiiiiiiii. Could you do a Salesman fic?

I would love to see one where his usual calm and powerful energy is lost around the reader, as he's just enamoured with her. Like no shame, he is down bad and the reader is just flustered and lowkey confused cause they haven't known each other for long.

Idk if this makes any sense to you (up to you if you make it smut i don't really mind)

Teach Ddakji to me

The Salesman x American!Reader

Summary: You play Ddakji with a man at a subway station, but the game brings you two much closer than either of you were prepared to.

A/N: I'm not sure how well i was able to follow the request of how he behaves around the reader but this is what i got ;-; hope you still like 🫶🏻 (i'm so deep in love with this psycho i've been giggling during every other paragraph)

♡♡

You rushed down the stairs in the subway station, only one minute until your train was going to leave. You weren't going to make it, but you had to try.

The doors were closing right in front of you and you wanted to scream and let out several different curses, but you didn't want to draw attention on yourself. Your day at the college lectures had just ended and all you wanted to do was to get home, have a dinner and rest.

You heard noise behind a corner, as if someone was slamming something on the floor. You went to see what was going on out of curiosity.

Two men were standing there, the other one tall and dressed in a grey suit, the other one a lot shorter and dressed in a simple hoodie and loose jeans, a worn out cap covering his messy black hair. Suddenly, the man in the suit slapped the other so hard on the face that the man's head turned to the right.

They slammed blue and red squares on top of each other over and over again, and it ended in the man in the suit slapping the other almost every time. Once in a while he handed to the man what looked like a bill of money. You had never seen anything like that happen anywhere and were confused.

You got a notification on your phone, a text message from your classmate.

"Join us for studying and then a dinner? A new restaurant opened nearby, we'll go and try it tonight," she messaged.

"Another day, i don't feel like going out tonight," you replied, getting a thumbs up emoji as a respond.

You put your phone in your pocket and turned around, almost having a heart attack and jumping a step back when you saw the man in the suit standing mere inches away from you, looking down at you with a slight smirk.

"Enjoyed the show, i hope?" he asked and your eyes widened. Fuck, he had noticed you stalking the two of them.

"Yea, um, sure," you said awkwardly. "Though i didn't know what it was, really."

Seeing his face now closer and him staring at you with his dark eyes made your heart beating faster and it wasn't only because of him scaring you for appearing out of nowhere. He was extremely handsome and the way he looked at you made you blush.

"You haven't heard of Ddakji?" he asked, but didn't seem surprised since he figured you weren't local by the looks of you. "It's a Korean game, want me to show you?"

"Sure," you said, nothing else to do than wait anyway. The man took the squares in his hands and offered you to choose one. You took the red one.

He explained the rules to you, it was simple. You only had to hit your square on the blue one and make it turn around, the upper side facing the floor.

It sounded simple but you were hesitant if you were actually able to do it. You threw it on the floor, aiming at the blue square, but it didn't move even an inch in any direction. You let out a frustrated groan.

"It's okay, very few people succeed on their first try," he said in a comforting tone and took a step closer to you, standing right in front of you. "But do you know what losing means to you, hm?"

You had a very good guess after seeing him and the other man play just a while ago.

"You're gonna slap me?" you asked with a grimace.

He smiled. Without a word, you felt a painful sting on your left cheek when he slapped you, not going any easier on you just because you were a woman.

"Jesus Christ!" you gasped and held your hand on your cheek which was definitely going to have a red mark later. You had never been slapped on your face and it hurt more than you thought it would hurt.

"My turn then," he said and grabbed his blue square from the floor. He slammed it on top of your red square and it immediately jumped in the air and landed on its other side on the floor.

He looked at you with the same smirk again.

"So what happens when you win?" you asked, crossing your arms. If you continued this game much longer, your face would be completely covered in bruises and you'd have a lot of explaining to do to your classmates.

"I get to use your body again," he said with a confident tone.

You closed your eyes and prepared for another slap, hoping that it would be the other one this time because your left cheek still hurt. When you felt a touch on your left cheek, you automatically winced a little bit.

But it wasn't a slap, it was a tender kiss. You opened your eyes when he had already leaned away and you saw a glimpse of kindness in his eyes this time. You felt your cheeks warming up and tried to avoid eye contact for a moment.

"Your turn," he said.

Your hand was shaking when you lifted the red square from the floor. You wanted to succeed, you had never been good at losing in anything, it was always about to start to piss you off if you didn't start winning too.

"Do you want me to help you?" he asked. You looked at him and soon he was right behind you, keeping an eye contact with you when he put his left hand on your waist and his right one to hold your hand which was holding the square. "Is this okay?"

He didn't put too much pressure on holding you, making sure that you gave him a permission for that. You suddenly couldn't get words out of your mouth, so you just nodded and swallowed the lump in your throat. He held you tighter now and instructed how it was supposed to be done. You had to have more force when you would slam the square down.

"Spread your legs a little bit," he whispered.

"What?" you gasped in shock.

"To get a better and more firm position when you throw it," he explained, his breath hot in your ear.

"Oh," you said, cheeks burning even more. You hadn't realized you were standing almost like a stick. He guided your hand up in the air in a correct position.

"Remember to let go of it at the correct moment, i'm going to aim it for you, okay?" he said and you nodded, now much more nervous than you would have been if you did this alone.

With this help, the blue square flew into the air and landed on its other side easily. You were excited of the victory, even though it was for his help, and a wide smile spread on your face.

To be honest, for a second you wished you would have failed on purpose, just to get his hands on you again - you didn't even care if it was a slap, kiss or something else.

He let go of you and you turned around to face him, already missing his touch.

"There you go," he said with a proud expression on his face. "Now, you can choose what to do to me."

You didn't hesitate for even a second longer, you immediately slapped him on his left cheek as hard as you could. However, you knew you didn't have as much as strength in your body as he did, so the slap must have stinged a lot less. His head didn't move even an inch and he only smiled.

Right then, the train you had been waiting for arrived and you took your bag from the ground. You weren't going to miss this train just because of wanting to have another round of Ddakji with this stranger.

He offered you money, worth of 100 dollars, and put them in your hand, closing your fist around the bill. You were about to refuse but he wasn't having it.

"Treat yourself a nice dinner tonight," he said. When you didn't answer, he nodded towards the train which was about to leave soon, with or without you.

"Thank you," you said. "Um, bye."

You made it into the train just in time and when you looked back at the spot where that man had just been, he was already gone.

♡♡

The salesman didn't want you to leave. He was absolutely mesmerized by you, you were the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. Your perfume and the smell of your shampoo still lingered in his nose, even after you weren't there anymore.

He would have wanted to ask you to stay, but he couldn't find the correct words and you were in a hurry to catch your train.

He hadn't felt like this of a woman in a long time and he wanted to find you again. To hold you again.

He didn't understand how you could have made this big of an impact on him in only under 10 minutes, but all he knew was that he needed to get to know you better.

♡♡

The next day, you arrived to the class and sat next to your friend.

"Oh my god, what happened to your face?" she gasped in shock.

Yes, there was a visible red mark on your cheek and you didn't have anything at home to cover it. You didn't really use any makeup either except mascara.

"Oh um," you started, trying to find some excuse. "It's my allergies and acne." You didn't have any allergies and hadn't had acne since you were 15. But you couldn't tell her the truth, atleast now that you didn't have time to talk much since the class was about to start.

And what were you going to say to her? A stranger in the subway station slapped you and you enjoyed it?

The teacher arrived and the noise of the door slamming closed interrupted your friend who was about to say something to interview you further.

♡♡

You walked down the subway station stairs again on your way home, just like yesterday. You had your headphones on, listening to random metal songs on Spotify and were texting your mum who catched up with you twice a week how you were doing. You were supposed to have a video call later today but she apparently had to work extra tonight, she was a nurse.

When you had reached the bottom of the stairs, you bumped into something and almost tripped back but managed to keep your balance. You looked up and saw the same man in the suit as yesterday, staring down at you with a smile.

"Hello," he greeted, not moving anywhere.

"Hello," you repeated and lifted your eyebrows, taking of your headphones. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he said without thinking.

"Me? Why? How did you know i would be here?"

"I didn't. I only figured you might have the same daily routine and took a chance," he explained.

"Why did you want to see me?" you asked, confused but feeling butterflies in your stomach.

"I didn't have a chance to ask for your phone number yesterday," he said. "And i'd like to take you out."

"Take me out you mean murder or dinner?"

"The second option. I already finished the first task earlier," he said with a smile. Handsome and with a sense of humor.

"Fine, where did you plan to take me?"

"Anywhere you want. Are you hungry?"

"You don't even know my name," you pointed out.

"You can tell me your name and all about you on our date," he smiled.

"Aren't you straightforward," you chuckled. "Are you going to teach me Ddakji again?"

"If you wish so," he said.

You bit your lip, not sure if you should go somewhere with this stranger or not. You hadn't been asked for a dinner at a subway station before, though, so you could write it on your bucketlist and cross it out.

"Okay."

♡♡

He had taken you to a lovely dinner to enjoy local foods you had never eaten before. You rarely tried any new foods, always sticking on the ones you already knew you'd like, but now you had tried something different and loved it.

Now, you were in a park, nobody else in sight. It was already dark and you knew you had to go home soon if you wanted to get enough sleep.

You held the red square in your hand once again and aimed for slamming the blue around finally on your own.

Again, you weren't able to hit it. But you hadn't even tried properly and weren't mad about it.

"Damn it," you mumbled.

"You'll get there," he smirked, stepping closer to you.

He lifted your chin with his finger.

"Close your eyes."

You did as told and waited for the worst option, squeezing your eyes shut tightly.

You felt his lips press on yours, taking you into a slow kiss. He broke the kiss but didn't let go of your chin

"Do i have to play another round of Ddakji to do that again?"

You smiled and stepped on your tiptoes to reach him better, cupped his face and pulled him in a proper, deeper kiss. He instantly wrapped his arms around your waist to press your body against him tighter.

"Just so you know, i don't sleep with men on our first date," you said when the kiss was over, his hands wandering around your back they had almost reached your ass.

He moved his left hand to the back of your neck, keeping the right one on your lower back. He pushed his fingers through your hair, softly massaging your scalp.

"What is it about you that makes me so drawn to you?" he whispered, and you didn't know if the question was for you or just for himself. "Only two days and you've managed to make me absolutely addicted to you."

He pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear, and you felt blush creeping on its way to your cheeks.

He eventually walked you back home like a gentleman, not allowing you to walk anywhere at this hour. He had to make sure you got back home safely.

"Will i see you again tomorrow?" he asked before you managed to leave, gently holding your wrist.

"I have to study, i've fallen behind in couple of courses so i need to catch up," you said and his face fell a little bit. Surely he had other things to do in his life besides seeing you. "Are you free this weekend?"

His face lighted up again for your suggestion.

"For you, of course," he said and brought your hand towards his face, planting a kiss on your knuckles. "Goodnight, Y/N."

You went inside your apartment and silently closed the door, trying to do everything as quietly as you could, but then the lights were turned on.

"Okay who the HELL is that man, Y/N?!" your roommate shouted at you, making you jump and almost have a heart attack. It was so late you thought she was already sleeping, she was the type to be in bed by 8pm and asleep by 9pm.

"Um, well I-"

"That is the most gorgeous man i've ever seen," she said, still speaking loudly, and stepped closer to you and pointed you with her finger. "How couldn't you tell me you were dating a new man?"

"Well i only met him a while ago," you admitted.

"Still?!" she shouted. "You know i like boy talk and you never talk about your dating life! Oh my god, have you finally downloaded Tinder or something?"

"Ew, no," you shook your head.

"You're right, there's no way men THAT hot would still be on Tinder and not married," she said and then gasped. "Girl, he's not married, is he?"

"I sure hope he's not," you said and for a moment you were afraid he might be married. I mean, how could he still be single? Your friend always talked so much that you started to doubt everything you previously knew.

"Wait a minute, i'll get us some popcorn and then you're gonna spill everything," she said and without another word, she was already in the kitchen.

And you did tell her everything because my god you needed to talk to someone about him.

♡♡

A few days and several text conversations later, you were in his hotel room, and he pressed you against the wall, his right hand leaning on the wall right by your head.

He lifted your head by his forefinger on your chin to make you look straight into your eyes.

"How long are you going to stay in Korea?" he asked.

"What, are you going to ask me to move in with you or something? Plan a summer wedding?" you joked.

"If you want to," he said with a serious face and you truly wasn't sure if he was serious or joking. You hadn't yet found a difference between the two.

"Wait what?"

You hadn't dated any Korean men before so you weren't sure how fast they progressed in the dating life. Would it be normal to propose on the first week or ask to move in? Surely not.

He smiled. "I only ask because i don't want to have you only for a short while," he said and let his fingers wander around your shoulder, sending goosebumps all over your body.

"Well, i'll be here for atleast another 5 months," you told him and then pouted. "So, no summer wedding?"

"I'd have to buy a ring first," he smirked.

"It better be a real diamond too then," you chuckled, having seen the stacks of money he had carried with him, and pulled him into another kiss.

He was soon kissing your neck, leaving a mark on your skin, until your stomach growled and interrupted him.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "I thought you had eaten before you came here."

"Well, it's been a while i suppose," you said, not really remembering anymore when the last time was.

He stepped away from you and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"We're ordering food," he said. "What would you like to eat?"

He ordered Chinese food for you and ate it on the bed while watching some brainless comedy movie.

When the movie had ended, he went to the bathroom, leaving you to lay on the bed and making you to fall in your thoughts alone.

You had been in a relationship twice in your life, and in neither of them your relationship had moved on this fast. I mean, you weren't in an official relationship, you had been just barely hooking up, but the way he talked about you only knowing you for a few days wasn't something you had been used to at all.

In the U.S., it took guys several weeks to make any progress in relationships, atleast what you had seen and gone through.

Maybe you should slow down a little, take a step back and see what he really wants from you.

By the time he came back from the bathroom, you had fallen asleep. You looked so peaceful in your sleep, so beautiful even with your messy hair all over the pillow.

He came closer to you and pulled a blanket over you, the edge almost reaching your jaw. You stirred in your sleep, turning to lay on your side, but didn't show any signs of waking up.

He laid himself on the bed next to you and just looked at your sleeping figure for several minutes. He was afraid of getting attached to a woman so fast, in so little time, but he couldn't help it.

To him you were perfect, and he wanted to know everything about you that there was to know.

♡♡

A/N: If you want a part 2, please leave any requests you might have, i'm not sure where to go with this 🫶🏻❤️💙

[startaegi]

CHAPTER 004 . . .

previous next masterlist playlist

You weren’t unfamiliar with the concept of death. You’d known the feeling of blood staining your skin, witnessed patients succumb to their illnesses, and felt the panic as you tried to save them. Death was part of your normal working routine, after years in the field it took a lot to phase you. However, seeing the players' lifeless bodies drop one by one. Hearing the gunshots as another heart automatically stopped. It startled you more than those evening emergency room shifts ever could.

You had never witnessed anything so inhumane. It was clear whoever was behind this twisted game was the devil himself. There was no other sane explanation.

The common room, once loud with chatter now filled with an uncomfortable silence. Everyone huddled together as far from the entrance as possible, most people still shaking in fear. You sat against a metal bed, knees to your chest, eyes focused on the loose skin around your fingernail. You didn't dare look up when you felt his hand against your shoulder.

He said your name. No one around seemed to pay any attention. "Can you look at me?"

Again you made no effort in acknowledging his presence.

He harshly pulled his hands through his hair, moving closer to you, voice quiet but desperate, "Do I have to get on my hands and knees, and beg you to listen?"

You shrugged your shoulders, turning to face him, a bored expression on your face, "Wouldn't be the first time"

"You aren't being fair" He argued back, this time attracting a few glares from the other players.

"You don't know anything about being fair," You replied as the doors to the room abruptly opened. Everyone hurriedly scattered back, gasps of panic filling the air.

The same masked guards entered the room but unlike before they held guns tightly in their grasp. You slowly moved back, arms still protectively wrapped around your legs. Namgyu followed you, moving to cover your hunched figure.

"Congratulations for making it through the first game," The same middle square masked guard spoke. "Here are the results of the first game"

The numbers on the screen above quickly began to decrease. Stopping at 365. 91 players had been eliminated. The guard repeated, "Congratulations again for making it through the first game"

Player 149 rushed forward, player 007 at her side. Her broken voice shattered your heart, "Sir, please don't kill us!" She pleaded, falling to the floor, begging the guards in front of her. "Please don't kill us, I beg you. As for my son's debt, I will do whatever it takes to pay you back. Please forgive us!"

She pulled her son to his knees, who followed her movements, praying to whoever would answer, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me, I promise I'll pay it back" He sobbed.

The masked guard stopped them momentarily, "There seems to be a misunderstanding"

More players gathered beside the mother and son, all on their knees begging to be spared. You sat back, observing their every move silently praying their calls would be answered.

"We are not trying to harm you, we are presenting you with an opportunity" The guard replied nonchalantly, unbothered by the frantic pleading.

The crowd was silenced as player 456 stepped forward, "Clause three of the consent form" His voice was loud, echoing off the walls. "The games may be terminated upon a majority vote, correct?"

"That is correct" 

"Then let us take a vote right now,"456 said, his tone tight.

"Of course," The guard replied. It felt like the tension in the room slightly dissipated, everyone's shoulders relaxing. "We respect your right to freedom of choice, but first let me announce the prize amount that's been accumulated"

The room cascaded in darkness as the giant piggy bank screwed to the ceiling quickly filled with money. Your eyes widened, your heart quickly beating against your chest. It seemed to never end, the notes continuously dropping as the players slowly formed underneath it, childlike wonder on their faces.

"The number of players eliminated in the first game is 91, therefore a total of 9.1 billion won has been accumulated," The guard said as the money stopped. "If you quit the games now the 365 of you can equally divide the 9.1 billion won and leave with your share"

"How much is that?" A player questioned.

"Each person's share would be 24,931,500 won"

Namgyu seethed, "Fuck, we almost died and they're giving us 24 million? That's fucking bullshit" He raked his hands through his hair again, a habit he picked up when annoyed, then pressed his palms against his head in frustration.

You hated to agree with him. You had been promised 45.6 billion and came close to death just to receive a sum that wouldn't cover even 1% of your debt. 

"Twenty million?" The purple-haired one called out. "You said 45.6 billion"

The guard spoke up once again, "The rule is that a hundred million won will be accumulated for each eliminated player" You wondered how many times the faceless man had repeated those same lines, his tone of voice led you to believe it was a common occurrence. "If you choose to play the next game and more players get eliminated, the prize amount will increase accordingly"

A grating voice you had begun to recognise; an older man, the number 100 stitched to his jacket, called back, "How much will it be if you survive until the end?'

"As I already told you, the total amount of prize money for all 456 players is 45.6 billion won, those who make it through all games will equally divide the 45.6 billion won"

"So if you're the only one to survive you get 45.6 billion?"

You never stopped once to think about the possibility of you alone winning the grand prize. You couldn't imagine what you would spend it on minus the obvious.

The guard nodded "That's correct"

Namgyu turned to you, his face just as shocked as the rest of the crowd, it seemed he also hadn't thought of the insane possibility of those numbers in his bank account. You stared back, a pit forming in your stomach. You remembered the day you opened your joint account, remembered how your soul died as the blinking zeros looked up at you. You didn't want to imagine Namgyu screwing everyone over to make that money only his, everyone including you. He surely wasn't that far gone.

Another letter sat in the postbox. A red urgent sign stamped to the front. You didn't have to peel back the opening to know what was inside, you’d read the same words on the last four that arrived weeks ago. Your head hurt at the thought of it. Your rent had been unpaid for months now, at first it had been an honest mistake. You were still getting used to the new hours at work, Namgyu was also working late nights at the club, and so rent was the last thing on your mind. The months after that only piled on adding to the mountain of already existing debt.

Your only option was to use the money you and Namgyu had been saving for your future. It was an agreement when you started University that you’d open a joint savings account, only putting in spare change when you both could and promising not to touch it unless it was absolutely necessary. The amount you’d accumulated wasn't anything massive, just barely enough to cover a percentage of your shared unpaid bills; you would have to scrape together the rest somehow, but it was a good enough start. You knew Namgyu would understand.

It was a summer day, the sun so hot it was scalding your shoulders, you welcomed the cold air as you entered the overcrowded building. You stood fourth in the line, rocking on your heels as you waited. Surprisingly it moved along quickly. You thanked the person in front who moved to let you in, inserting the card into the card slot. You stared at the screen in confusion. Five blinking zeroes sat in the space that was once occupied. You removed the card, inserting it once again and the same thing appeared. 00,000. Panic started to set in as you repeated the same actions and was once again greeted with nothing.

"What's taking so long? Some people have things to do" A woman called behind you, the other customers in line humming in agreement. 

You turned, apologetically bowing, "Sorry ma'am," You removed the card, moving to the other side of the bank where you could talk to an employee.

The woman smiled through the glass, "Hi, how can I help?" She asked.

"I think there's a problem with my card," You replied, handing the card over. "Could you check for me, please?"

"Of course, give me a moment," The worker answered. 

You impatiently waited, the minutes felt like hours. The woman finally looked back, the same smile on her face. "It looks like all funds were removed on May 6th by the shared owner" She paused to look at her screen again. "A Choi Namgyu"

It was like someone had stolen all air from your lungs, the entire room suddenly becoming too small and too hot. Your brain hadn't fully processed what was being said to you and so you only nodded, accepting the card back and hastily exiting the building. You engulfed a breath of fresh air, focusing on keeping your breathing steady. Sure it could seem silly to be that upset by Namgyu's actions, at the end of the day it was only money. But, that money you both had planned to use towards a future house or a child or to travel; it was wishful thinking but it gave you hope. You couldn't understand why he would take it without telling you first.

The journey home gave you a lot to contemplate. You had come to the conclusion that maybe Namgyu needed the money as desperately as you did and in Namgyu fashion; embarrassment and avoidant, hid it in hopes of you never finding out. It was the only explanation that didn't make your heart hurt.

The apartment was dark when you entered, the only noise being from the broken refrigerator. You tossed your belongings haphazardly onto the kitchen table and collapsed onto the sofa. You took your time on the way home, opting to walk rather than take the bus leaving you to arrive back at exactly 9:40 pm. You didn't care to make dinner, the shower that you were hoping for had to wait, you weren't doing anything until you had a good enough excuse from your fiancé.

You hadn't realised you’d dozed off until the click of the front door awakened you. You swore you’d only shut your eyes for a second but the clock was now ticking at midnight. You sat up straight, stretching the knots out of your muscles. Namgyu soon made his presence known, loudly pulling off his shoes with no care and pushing them to the side.

He finally looked up, jumping when he noticed you on the sofa, "What the fuck," He swore, hand on his heart. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

You glared through the darkness, mouth shut. You could smell the weed radiating from him, of course, as always he was high.

"Hello?" He asked, taking the seat beside you. "Y/N?" His tone was now worried.

"Where are we going to live?" You asked suddenly.

Namgyu furrowed at that, hands circling the room, "Here?" He replied, unsure of the unusual question.

You wanted to laugh. He had no care for anything. "Not for much longer," You said casually, your demeanor worrying him more.

"What's going on?" He seemed more alert now, his eyes wider than they had been when he first opened the door. 

"We've missed five rent payments” Your gaze softened at his worried expression, the Namgyu you once knew coming through for a second. “They’re going to evict us if we don't pay by the 19th" You explained.

And as quickly as your face softened it dropped again at his words, "Shit I forgot about that" He replied. 

You laughed bitterly, feeling stupid to believe he would care to begin with. "Did you also forget about the money you took from the savings?”

"What?” Namgyu’s expression twisted in confusion. A beat of silence later and it seemed to click, he looked back at you again, eyes widened, “Oh that money! Baby, don't worry I’ll get it back times ten” He smiled proudly. 

You held your breath, scared of his reply. “What did you do with the money, Namgyu?”

“There was a guy at work” You resisted the urge to knock your head against the nearest wall. “He made so much investing in crypto-”

You cut him off mid-sentence, your blood boiling. "You spent our savings on crypto?" You ran a hand over your face, palms digging into your eyes. “What is wrong with you?” 

He stared back as if you were speaking a language he didn't understand, the same look of confusion on his face, "What? I'll get it back"

"You're too smart to be acting so stupid Namgyu" You couldn’t stop the laughter escaping your lips. “We're drowning in debt and you used the last of our money for fucking crypto?” 

Namgyu’s tone of voice quickly turned offended, "Why are you acting as if the money only belonged to you? I put money into that account too" He argued back. 

"And, what about the money I put in Namgyu" You cried back, frustrated that he didn't understand where he went wrong. "You took that too"

"I told you I'll get it back"

“That doesn't help now, we'll be homeless next week" You replied, voice weak. You were exhausted. 

"Why are you always on my case?” Namgyu responded through gritted teeth. “Nothing I do is ever right for you”

“Maybe if you didn't act like a teenager half the time I wouldn’t need to”  You remained where you stood, your voice getting quieter with every word, “You're never here or when you are you're high or drunk, it's like I don't know you anymore”

Namgyu raised his head with a glare, his voice loud and unnerving, “Have you ever thought you're the reason why?” He shouted angrily. You felt the world pause, didn’t hear anything but the words he’d spat swarming around your head. “Wait, wait, I didn't mean that” He quickly interrupted, hands waving frantically. 

You couldn’t find it in yourself to reply, instead, you snatched your bag from the kitchen table and slipped on your shoes. Your hands shook as you unlocked the front door, Namgyu’s pleading voice calling behind you. 

He caught up to you, hands clutching your wrist. “Please it's almost 2 am, just-” He stopped mid-sentence. “Let's go to bed and talk about it tomorrow”

“Let go of me, Namgyu” You tiredly replied. He reluctantly dropped your wrist, opening his mouth to speak again when you continued, “Do not follow me” 

He called your name into the clammy night, his voice following you down the darkened streets. You gripped the strap of your bag, head down in an attempt to ignore the drunken people passing by. The area where you lived wasn't known to be the safest, clubs and bars surrounded most of the apartment buildings which mostly housed sketchy people. Your safest bet was to find a hotel a little out of town but you couldn't risk walking that far alone nor could you afford it. 

A small park came into view, it was old and most of the playground was falling apart but it was in a well-lit area. You took a seat at an empty bench, covered in graffiti and the paint chipping. You rested your head against the back, the moon catching your eye. You watched it shining brightly in the night sky, the stars around it twinkling. You thought back to the nights Namgyu would keep you awake telling you facts about space you didn't care to know but listened to anyway because you loved how passionate he was. A tear rolled down your cheek at the memory, and another, and soon you were a sobbing mess. You hunched forward attempting to breathe through the tears. Your throat and eyes burning but you couldn't stop.

You weren't crying for the lost money or his harsh words. You were crying for the boy you used to know, the boy you fell in love with who seemed to no longer exist. You had been ignoring it for too long, the reality of it all now crashing down on you. 

An unknown presence made itself known, taking the empty seat beside you. They didn't speak, only handed you tissues and a bottle of water. You glanced to the side, squinting through your swollen eyes. A boy around your age, his hair to his shoulders and a warm smile on his face looked back. He held the items out again to which you accepted. 

“Sorry, I noticed you crying, thought you might need them” He pointed to the tissues and water in your hands, and then quickly interrupted his sentence.  “I promise I'm not a creep,” He quickly defended himself, and pointed to the convenience store across the road. “I work over there”

You smiled, “Thank you,” You said, taken aback by his kind gesture. “That's really kind of you”

His smile took up his entire face and then dropped just as fast, he worriedly asked, “Do you live nearby? It isn't safe to be around here alone” 

You quickly lied, “Ah yeah, just had a hard night at work” 

He laughed nodding, “I know that all too well” 

You smiled again, unsure how to reply. You appreciated his kindness more than you could say in words but you were too emotional to hold any form of conversation. “I should head home before it gets any later,” You said before getting to your feet and gesturing to the items in your hand, “Thank you again for this” You bowed. 

He nodded, following in your footsteps and rising from the bench, “Get home safely” He smiled again bowing in your direction. 

That night you spent the lonely hours in a PC cafe, the voices of teenagers playing games keeping you awake, and grieving the man you once knew. 

previous next masterlist playlist

note . . . really struggled with the first part of this chapter so i’m sorry it took so long 😓 i don’t wanna make it too repetitive and only copy word from word from the show but it’s HARD. im still not in love with this chapter but i really wanted to post something, hopefully i wont take another 4000 years for chapter 5 lmao

taglist . . . @chrisstyle @seonghwasslytherin @princessofthepuppets @sollum @okaycharr @hoshisgalaxy @alexatthedisco @swoofllia @chxrrybomb22 @drkitten226 @ryvampr @bbyjjunie @learninglinesintherainn @smally97 @sft-core @enterplanettelex @prettywhenicry4 @zannispppp @juhdoche @nuttybeans @wagawana @xtracy-xd7 @slxtgirl69 @ihrthoney @zella-74 @ancientdarko @loverzxi @boomzen @godly-sinsx @sirenkinnie @skibidirizzzlerrrr @come-as-you-are-111 @mochimitsuri @lavboat01 @preppyfella @diaboliku-loversu @mimipolo @ourseasone @loveeblob @ritapitmargarita @xoxolakeyah (let me know if you wanna be added)

[lyvhie]

okay hi haechan anon again!! im back with another request! so I'm missing my taeyong a lot (hashtag military wife..) and I was listening to 2 baddies as any baddie would and. the line "now you wanna ride these wheels" had my legs FOLDED 🥴 those wheels aren't the only thing I wanna ride.

and that brings me to my request. riding tyongie pretty pretty please???

── .✦ everybody makes mistakes

ex-bf!lee taeyong x fem!reader

𓂃 ࣪˖ summary: You were going through a busy time in your life, and going to a party was supposed to help you relax a little and... Well, your ex certainly turned out to be a good distraction. 𓂃 ࣪˖ cw: smut, riding, car sex, unprotected sex, creampie because why not 😞, pet names. 𓂃 ࣪˖ a/n: HIIII, ANOOOON!!! GLAD YOU'RE STILL HERE 😚😚 i get you... i feel like we are 12949 years without tyong, we need him back ASAP, i can't have a happy life if taeyong isn't here PLEASE. ANYWAYS, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ONE!

This was definitely not part of the plan. It was supposed to be a fun night at your friend's party—a chance to unwind and forget about the chaos that had taken over your life lately. Honestly, you hadn’t even planned on coming, but your friends had insisted, saying some fresh air would do you good. You finally caved, figuring what was the harm?

Wrong decision.

If you had known your ex-boyfriend would be there, you’d have stayed home.

You thought you were over him, it had been months since the breakup, after all. There was no reason to panic, you told yourself. Besides, he hadn’t even seemed to notice you were there. You could enjoy the night without a care. Or so you thought.

Your eyes kept drifting to him, as if drawn by some invisible force. Watching how he moved through the crowd, laughing, leaning in to whisper things in people’s ears, flashing that smile that used to make your heart race. The same smile he was now directing at others.

You took a deep breath, forcing yourself to tear your gaze away from him. Focus on your drink. Your friends. Literally anything else, you told yourself, desperate to ignore the annoying tightness in your chest every time you caught sight of him leaning in close to someone else. But it was no use.

You didn’t even need to look. You could feel it. His eyes were on you, burning with that same intensity you’d once found irresistible. Against your better judgment, you glanced over and instantly regretted it.

There he was, lips curling into a smirk, that infuriating, knowing expression that only made your stomach twist further. And then, as if the universe itself was playing a cruel joke, he started walking toward you.

Your heart skipped, and you quickly looked away, pretending to be engrossed in whatever your friends were laughing about. You even forced out a chuckle, hoping it sounded convincing.

Taeyong, of course, wasn’t fooled. He thought it was cute, how bad you were at subtlety, how transparent you always were when you tried to act cool, just as he remembered. If anything, it made him want to reach you faster.

From the moment he approached you and murmured a soft “hey,” everything became a haze, your senses drowning in the intensity of his presence. You remembered the way he leaned in, his lips so close to your ear that his warm breath sent shivers down your spine. His voice was low and familiar, dripping with charm as he told you how much he missed you, how surprised he was to see you there when he knew this wasn’t your usual scene.

His hand had found its way to your waist, his touch firm but not forceful, as if asking for permission rather than demanding it. You hadn’t stopped him. The heat of his body pressed against yours was both comforting and electric, stirring something in you that you thought had long been buried.

Every subtle gesture—a thumb tracing lazy circles on your hip, the way his fingers lingered just a moment too long as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, the way his gaze never wavered from yours—pulled you deeper into the gravity of his orbit. You knew you should step back, but instead, you let yourself lean into the closeness, into him, even though you both knew exactly where this would lead.

And all of it led to a kiss, slow, as if to test the waters, then deepening with the kind of urgency that only old lovers can share. That kiss led to lovely whispers and stolen touches, and before you knew it, you were in the parking lot, your heart pounding as he opened the door to the backseat of his car.

The air between you was thick with tension, your breaths mingling as he pulled you close, his hands finding your waist like they never forgot the shape of you. It was reckless and impulsive, the kind of decision that you knew you’d question later—but right now, with his lips on yours and the heat of his body pressed against you, it felt like the only decision to make.

His hands gripped the soft flesh of your thighs, his fingers pressing firmly into your skin as he held you down against him. His mouth was relentless, his tongue exploring yours with a fervor that made your breath hitch. Your hips began to move instinctively, a slow grind against him that drew a deep groan from his lips. The confined space of the car only heightened the heat between you, every movement feeling more intense, more urgent in the close quarters.

You felt his hands slip to the hem of your shirt, ready to pull it over your head, but you stopped him just in time, pulling away from the kiss, both of you panting softly.

"This is a bad idea," you whispered, though your body leaned into his, contradicting your words.

"Maybe," he murmured, his lips brushing against your neck, leaving a trail of soft kisses that made your resolve waver. You tilted your head slightly, giving him more access.

"We really shouldn't be doing this," you tried to reason, though your hands remained on him, your touch lingering.

“You can blame the alcohol if it helps," he suggested, his lips tracing a path up to your jaw before capturing your mouth again. You didn't resist, kissing him back.

"I didn't drink that much," you argued softly.

"Then blame me," his hand drifting lower, inching toward the space between your legs, sending a wave of anticipation through you. "You're always good at that."

"Shut up," you retorted, nipping at his lower lip, earning a hiss and a soft chuckle from him. “Tell me to stop," he said, brushing a strand of hair from your face, his lips hovering just above yours. "And I will, pretty.”

Yes, you just needed to say the word and get out of his car. Of course, that would be the right thing to do, but... you were already this far.

You would blame him.

"Fuck, I'm gonna regret this," you muttered before crashing your lips against his again, kissing him more fervently than before, grinding against him harder, his bulge applying just the right amount of pressure against your core.

Your hands fumbled with the button of his pants, a mix of nerves and anticipation guiding your movements. He was quick to undo yours in return, his desperation evident as he helped you, pulling his pants down just enough while you slipped out of yours along with your panties, leaving no barriers between you.

His hands gripped your hips, guiding you over him, one of your hands rested on his shoulder for balance while the other slid down, wrapping around his hard cock. It throbbed under your touch, and he let out a soft moan at the slightest contact. You stroked him slowly, savoring the way he responded, before lowering yourself just enough to let the tip brush along your slick slit.

He groaned, his fingers tightening on your hips, urging you to stop teasing. "Don't play with me," he murmured, his voice thick with desire. You smiled faintly, enjoying the rare moment of control you had over him, but your own need was overwhelming.

With a soft exhale, you slowly sank down onto him, both of you gasping as he stretched you, filling you completely. Fuck, how he missed this—the feeling of your warm heat enveloping him, just as tight as he remembered. He buried his face in your neck, inhaling your intoxicating scent, his breath hot against your skin.

“You feel so good," he murmured, his voice muffled against your skin, sending a shiver down your spine. You missed this feeling too, the delicious stretch of him inside you, your walls fluttering around him, as if your body was echoing the same sentiment. He bit your neck to muffle a moan, the sound vibrating through you.

And for a few seconds, you both stayed like that, motionless, just reveling in the feeling of him taking up all the space in your pussy. Then, slowly, you began to move, rolling your hips over him before lifting yourself just enough and sinking back down, drawing moans from both of you. His hands slid down to cup your ass, fingers digging in as he followed your movements, his head falling back against the seat with a deep groan.

Your movements were slow at first, teasing, but you quickly found your rhythm, pressing down on him, the sensation sending waves of heat through your body. The heat between you was unbearable, the cramped space of the car amplifying every sound—the wet glide of your bodies, the breathless moans, the creak of the leather seat beneath you.

His hands moved back to your waist and his grip on you tightened, fingers pressing into your flesh as he urged you to move faster. You picked up speed, setting a pace that felt good for you, making him gasp with each roll of your hips.

"That's it, baby," he groaned, lifting his head to watch where your bodies met, eyes dark with hunger. "Just like that... take me deeper."

You bit your lip, trying to stifle a whimper as you obeyed, bouncing harder, grinding down to feel every inch of him. The pleasure was dizzying, overwhelming, stealing what little self-control you had left. His hands left your hips, moving up your body, dragging your shirt up to expose more of your skin.

“Fuck, look at you," he murmured, leaning in to capture one of your nipples in his mouth, his tongue flicking over the sensitive bud. The sensation sent a shockwave through your body, making you clench around him.

A deep, guttural moan tore from his throat as he thrust up into you slightly, meeting your movements. "Shit—keep that up, and I won't last," he warned, voice strained. But you didn't stop. You couldn't. You were too close, too lost in the way he filled you perfectly, the way his body fit against yours like he was made for you.

Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer to kiss you, the heat between you both intensifying. Just as he had said, he wouldn’t last much longer. It wasn't just because it felt incredible, but because it was you.

“Don’t stop,” he murmured, almost a plea, his thighs tensing beneath you. His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, every little sound he made pushing you closer to the edge too, but you weren’t there yet.

You didn’t need to say anything; your body said enough. The way you moved, the way you squeezed him with every roll of your hips—it was too much. His grip on you tightened as he groaned deep, his body shuddering beneath you as he came, his release spilling inside you as you kept moving, letting him ride it out.

But he didn’t stop there—you still needed to finish too, and now it was his turn to take care of you. His arms wrapped tightly around your waist, pulling you flush against him as he buried his face in your neck. Even with his body still trembling from his own release, he started moving again, thrusting up into you with deep, desperate strokes.

A shaky whine escaped his lips as the overstimulation hit him, but he didn’t let up, his grip on you firm, determined. “Gotta make you feel good too,” he murmured against your skin, his voice strained, breathless.

Each thrust sent waves of pleasure crashing through you, your walls fluttering around him, dragging him deeper despite the sensitivity. His name spilled from your lips, hands fisting in his hair as he held you close, chasing your release like it was the only thing that mattered.

His breath was hot against your neck, his movements growing sloppier, more desperate, but he didn’t stop—not until he had you right where he wanted. His fingers slid down between your bodies, finding your most sensitive spot, rubbing slow, deliberate circles that made your thighs tremble around him.

"Come on, baby," he coaxed, voice hoarse, lips brushing your ear. Your grip on him tightened as pleasure coiled low in your stomach, the pressure building with every stroke, every thrust. His name tumbled from your lips, breathless and needy, and he groaned at how good you sounded.

And then, with one more deep, well-angled thrust, pleasure crashed over you. Your body tensed before melting into his, a broken moan leaving your lips as your release washed through you. He groaned at the feeling of you tightening around him, his arms holding you steady as you rode out your high.

Even as your body sagged against his, he pressed a lingering kiss to your shoulder, his breaths ragged, shaky. “That’s my girl,” he whispered, tracing slow circles on your back as he helped you come down.

It wasn’t the smartest decision, you knew that. But, in that moment, you felt... satisfied.

You pulled away slightly to meet his eyes. Your friends had been right, maybe you did need to let go of the weight on your shoulders and relax a little.

"Wanna come home?"

↝ taglist: @yizhrt, @sinisxtea, @peterm4rker.

[f1gur4t1v3]

I am obsessed with the idea that while Dick is the lightest of the older bats, and even with his acrobatic training, Jason is the one who can go flying with the grapple gun. (Physics inaccuracies probably idk dude)

Dick is just sitting out at night during patrol, its a slow night in the area he’s in and he’s heading back home to blud in the morning so he’s more than happy to take it easier than he normally would. He’s perched himself up above a dead lamp post, and he’s carefully watching the roads and alleys below him for any danger.

That’s when a bit further away from him he hears a familiar click of a grapple gun, followed by a by a mass of muscle going flying into the air and my god that’s Jason. Dick is just in awe of how high he gets with it as well. Jason’s jumping over buildings without landing on the roof, and then doing the same to an even taller building. He can’t even tell what Jason’s doing to get so high because right before he starts launching up the side of the building he dips into the dark alley in between them.

Dick is in awe, amazed, but still in a whole lot of shock for what he witnessed. When he tries to tell the Batfam of what he saw the only other person who believes him is Tim, who’d also seen Jason go shooting out from behind a building.

Then Jason does it when the family is near, and god he feels a sense of relief for the dumbest reason. Bruce can’t believe his eyes watching his deep freezer hunk of a son go absolutely fucking flying over a burning building at the end of the night. Steph who was there to get a bit more training with evacuating people out of a fire is attempting to chase Jason down, and is begging him to teach her of the comms.

Jason refuses to talk about his little flying act, and the only time he even considers teaching anyone is when Dick tells him it reminds him of his time at Hallys.

This leads to everyone trying to figure out how to get the flight that Jason does with his grapple gun, and it just isn’t working out. Dick thought he nearly got it before he went cascading for a nice trip through a billboard. Tim and Steph swore they figure it out, but their little hop onto the building only made the task seem more impossible. Damian swears he saw the Batman nearly take flight over a building, and instead ended up crushing an ac unit with his landing.

Jason is loving all of this of course. Watching his siblings and his dad fail horribly at gliding like he does is hilarious to him. It’s just a quick release of the grapple gun, and running up the side of the building for a bit of extra momentum. Of course he pushes himself up against the edge of the roof to really get that height, and if his family just filmed him they’d figure it out easy. Hell, he’s surprise Tim has broken out a camera, or hacked into the cities to watch him.

Cass had figured out how to do Jason’s glide a while ago, she found it helpful to maintaining her unknown presence while looking around on patrol. While she doesn’t like Jason a lot, she respects that this is his thing that he does on patrol, and she has no right going around spilling the trade secrets of the flying ex-robin.

[beneathsilverstars]

people are wondering about loop in the au where the party stops siffrin from using the dagger in dormont and the ensuing conversation breaks the loops so let's see...

Siffrin would still want to go see Loop first thing afterwards, but everyone else would be verrry worried about him going off alone. He tries to inconspicuously wander off but Isabeau is immediately like, "Heyy buddy where are you off to? Mind if I come with?" Siffrin feels guilty for selfishly making everyone feel obligated to not leave him alone, and getting them all worried about an issue that isn't even what it looked like. So he's kinda hoping they won't be so worried about him now that they've beat the king and decided to stay together... but he's also afraid that if they stop worrying, they'll decide, okay, no need to stay together after all.

But luckily Siffrin doesn't have to sort all of that out right now, because they know Loop has complicated feelings about the party and doesn't want to see them, so they know they have to go by themself if they want a chance of talking to them.

They try to play it casual, "I'm just going to the favor tree, you don't have to come with me." But two can play at surface-level manners so Isabeau says "I want to, though, it's no trouble!" Siffrin doesn't want to refuse him point-blank, but they really want to talk to Loop... so they go back and forth another time or two before Isabeau's like "Look. You understand why I'm worried about you suddenly going off for no apparent reason, right? On your own, when you've been glued to my side for the last half hour? I... I don't want to stop you,'' (Does that mean that he wouldn't? Or that he would, but he'd be sorry about it?) "but I would feel a lot better about it if you brought someone with you? Doesn't have to be me. Or at least explained why you're going...? Sorry, I know it must be so annoying to have to explain your every move, but... it's been less than a day, since. y'know. And I'd be... I just want you to stay safe."

And oh, Siffrin hates that he's made Isabeau so upset, that he messed up so bad yesterday and that he's making it worse right now, that he's made him so concerned over nothing. So he hesitantly, carefully explains, "There's someone I want to talk to. at the favor tree. I... talked to them there yesterday? And. they might be there again today, but. they definitely won't talk to me if any of you are with me." And, okay, it's reassuring that Siffrin has a reason, and it doesn't even seem he's lying, but. Isabeau can't help but be worried anyway. Especially because this is apparently someone Siffrin talked to at right about the same time that he started acting weird, yesterday? What if this person made Siffrin feel worse, what if they did something that pushed Siffrin over the edge??

But he knows that's edging past reasonable concern into paranoia, so he just asks, "Would it be alright if I walked you to the edge of town at least? Since you're still kinda woozy, and, that way I'll be in earshot if you need me...?" And Siffrin agrees, very relieved to have found a compromise and actually glad for the continued company. And it occurs to them that Isabeau might be less worried about them if they didn't have their dagger on them, and, the day has already been saved... So he gives Isabeau his dagger, along with a promise that he's not gonna do that, and Isabeau does seem happier!

So off they go through Dormont. Isabeau stops farther back on the path just a bit before the bend, where he won't be able to see Siffrin or overhear casual conversation, but could definitely hear a shout and coming running. And Siffrin goes to the tree, and sees the coin, and... twohats ensues! The dialogue is somewhat different, though, because they never did entirely figure it out in the end, did they? They had started learning about wish craft, but Loop hadn't quite connected it yet and of course Siffrin refused to look at their own wish. And then, what a dramatic final loop!

So. More along the lines of, "That was it? Really? You just had to kill yourself in front of them to get everything you ever wanted? To break the loops? To never be alone again? To guilt them into staying forever, because they think you're going to slit your own blinding throat if they let you out of their sight? Sure! Whatever it takes! Never let anyone tell you suicide threats don't work~" and "Do you know how many times I killed myself? How many more times I died?? Did I just not do it right? Wrong time, wrong place? Did I not suffer enough? Was I not selfish enough? What did I do wrong!! Why do you get to escape and not me! I deserve this happy ending, not you!! Why do you get to stay with them and not me!!!"

But, hm. Loop was kinda really raising their voice there at the end, weren't they?

Loop's voice still sounds a bit odd — part inhuman form, part new habit, part intense emotion — but, they're not putting active effort into keeping up the mask right now. Not when they're this upset. Not when Siffrin already knows. And Isabeau hasn't seen Loop yet; he just heard their voice. And a couple of the things that voice said.

So Isabeau makes it around that corner while Loop is speaking more quietly. And then Loop says "STARS, killing you will make me SO HAPPY," and Siffrin reaches for their dagger and freezes as he realizes and remembers it's gone, and Isabeau speeds up, and Loop looks up and see him and freezes too.

And Isabeau says, "Sif?? I thought you promised you weren't going to kill yourself over here???"

Long story short, Loop panics and runs, Siffrin follows while shouting things trying to convince them to come back, so of course Isabeau follows too, and Siffrin almost collapses because they're still craft exhausted. Loop gives up and lets them catch up, and I do mean gives up, they just wanna lay down and die, if you can't go out with a bang there's nothing wrong with a whimper. But Siffrin and Isabeau refuse to leave them there, so they wait around and talk at them, and then run out of things to say and wait some more. Eventually Mirabelle finds them and she's very upset and glad they're okay, and at that point Loop gives up on giving up and quietly follows them back to Dormont, so Siffrin won't get himself more sick and all his friends more worried, staying out in the forest all night.

And so! The party knows who Loop is from the very start, but not anything about the time loops! Just that something very strange must have happened, to end up with two Siffrins and one of them a star.

[strangerthings-haventhappened]

Batman x AFTG pt 2.

continuing on from this post

Neil uses the fact that he is from Gotham to explain away anything the team thinks is weird about him. Why does he have so many scars? Well this one on his ribs is from when he got mugged on his way home from school and the iron burn was from that time with the Riddler. The bullet wound? Did he ever tell you about how he met red hood? The foxes don't know that he is a Wayne and only know that he got adopted by someone he calls B and that he was homeless after his mom died. A lot of the weirdness about him is wayne weird not Gotham weird. The couple of other students who came from Gotham keep trying to tell people that he isn't normal for Gotham but nobody believes them.

When the monsters take him to the club and try to drug him he's very condescendingly like I'm from Gotham do you really think I'd have survived this long if I were that easy to drug? He leaves them there and walks/hitch hikes his way back to campus like in the books but this time in the dark. He gets back and everyone is panicking like Neil you could have died. Neil: why are you so worried there isn't even any real danger here and I had my weapons on me.

When they go on Kathy's show and he insults riko and everyone is like why would you do that he is going to kill you. Neil's response is to say riko is just a nepo baby throwing a tantrum he can't compare to the average Gotham goon much less the rouges. Neil will be fine.

Neil is fine. Seth is not.

After Seth dies Neil is like oh okay i guess I'm taking on the Moriamas. I was going to stay out of it but they just made it my problem. He knows that he could use the bat resources to get the adults arrested but he really wants to take down riko in the way that will hurt him the most. So obviously the foxes need to beat the ravens. He motivates and unites the team the same way he does in the books except this time he has his family helping him take down the rest of the family in the background and getting proof of everything that is happening in the nest.

Unfortunately the monsters go to see nicky's parents the same weekend that there is a major arkham breakout so they don't notice it's a set up in time. Fortunately Neil is a Wayne and he is able to make sure that Andrew is going to a good place where all the doctors have been thoroughly vetted so he doesn't get assaulted again. Neil because he is a martyr still goes to the nest over Christmas so that he can collect more evidence. Does riko know that Neil is Nathaniel or not i don't know that's up to you. What's important is that Neil and Jean bond and that Neil still gets a bit tortured. Dick and Jason are ready to storm the nest and kill everyone when they find out what happened. Neil gets back to palmetto and acts like what happened is fine because he has had worse. Allison is ready to help him with makeup to cover the bruises on his face but Neil tells her he can do it himself because it's not the first time he has had to cover up injuries like this.

The team had already thought that Neil's adopted family was abusive because he doesn't really talk about them much and he has all those scars. After Christmas in the nest they are convinced that they must be. But then some of his siblings show up (Jason and Duke as the ones least likely to be recognized as Wayne's) and they basically smother him and make sure he is taking care of himself. The foxes are so confused. Like sure Jason is weirdly violent about forcing the kid into self care and may have threatened Kevin for being the reason Neil got draged into all of this, but it doesn't seem like either of them would let their brother be abused. So why is Neil so cagey about his family and how does he keep ending up with such horrific injuries? The betting pool is getting intense because nobody can figure out what is going on.

Neil still ends up getting kidnapped just before spring break. He knows that he could probably keep them from taking him if he fought back immediately but he also knows that his teammates will get hurt if he does that so he lets his father's men lead him outside. It's not until the riot separates him from the rest of the foxes that he starts to fight and since he has vigilante training it's more effective than in the books but it's not enough. They end up drugging him which has the upside of meaning Lola doesn't spend the car ride torturing him since he's unconscious but downside is that he can't try to escape before they get to Nathan.

When Neil wakes up he is already in the basement chained to a chair. Nathan does the whole torture thing and Neil is trying to figure out the best way to get out and incapacitat Nathan and also if this justifies braking Bruce's no kill rule. Neil is morally fine with killing Nathan but he also realy doesn't want his real dad to be disappointed in him because Nathan isn't worth that. In the end it doesn't matter what he wants because uncle Stewart show up and kills Nathan for him.

When he is getting questioned by the cops Bruce shows up and demands that they let Neil go see his family and team. The cops try to argue that Bruce has no authority because technically he isn't Neil's dad since he was using a fake identity when he was adopted. It does not go well for the cops Bruce isn't going to let anyone sy that he isn't his kids dad especially not right after one of them has been tortured and needs to be with family.

Neil gets taken to the hotel where his team is waiting and Bruce and all of his siblings follow. Neil explains to the team about being Nathaniel and how he had been running from Nathan since he was ten and everything that came with that. He explains ending up in Gotham after his mom's death and how he ended up being taken in by Bruce when he was 14. He tells them that he kept quiet about being a Wayne because was worried that the media attention that would come with that would lead to Nathan finding him. The team understands but also they are tiny bit upset because none of them won any of the bets about his past or his family.

They go on their team vacation. Jean gets rescued from the ravens and Neil decides it's time to enact the final stage of operation take down riko. He and his family gather all of the evidence that they have on what's been going on in the nest and give it to their favorite reporter(Clark) so that an article revealing all the abuse and the police cover ups and everything gets released just before the championship game starts. Neil has full faith in the teams ability to beat the ravens and he knows that riko will be upset enough about loosing that he won't be able to even try to cover up the article. Neil expects that when riko is asked about the article right after the ravens loose he won't be able to hide his hatred and violence. Neil does not expect riko to try to murder him on national t.v. before he even finds out about the article. Andrew saves him and hey it got the point across so he counts it as a win.

The Moriamas are scrambling trying to do damage control knowing that they won't he able to use the ravens as a front for their illegal activity anymore. They try to use the whole Kevin, Jean, and Neil are Moriama property thing to regain control and Neil tells icharo that he was able to do this much damage to the family's business in only a few months and that he won't stop until either they let him Kevin and Jean go completely or he has destroyed their entire operation and the family has nothing left. Icharo tries to call Neil's bluff at first but Neil reminds him there is a reason their organization has never even tried to touch Gotham. In the end all three boys end up free to heal and live their lives completely free of mafia ties. Neil tells Kevin and Jean that if they have any issues in the future to let him know and he can call someone to deal with it.

The foxes + Jean all end the series a little bit happier and a lot more scared of Neil than they originally did, but it works out.

[azacat-alias-lost]

I'm a silly little guy and have nothing better to do, so have a crossover au that I may turn into a fic, or another thing. POLL AT THE BOTTOM

~~~~~~~~~~

Picture this.

Jonathan Sims, just after the end of S2 of the Magnus Archives. He's been freshly framed for murder by his evil boss, and now the London police force is after him. Daisy Tonner is hunting him down, and she's got the whole force on her side. But get this. Another officer catches him and throws him in jail. Daisy, wanting him dead, is trying to convince people he doesn't deserve a trial. He gets one anyway, because, well, he kind of has to.

Jon, in the detention center. He's adamant that he did not kill that old man. No one can figure out who that old man is, and the fact that Jon seems to know something makes him way more suspicious. Martin visits him every day, and Jon's starting to realize that maybe, if he cares so much, he's not so bad. That's not going to do him much good, though, he's still in jail.

Jon, panicking. His trial is getting closer; only a few days left before he's assigned a lawyer, and if Daisy has anything to say about it, he'll get the shittiest one the city has. He knows he's as good as dead. He knows he'll lose. But he waits anyway. No one has given him any resources, but he waits anyway, one last spark of hope left in him, hope that maybe, because he knows he didn't do it, that will count for something.

Now, I want you to picture something else.

A young lawyer in a nice blue suit has just heard about a case that, for some reason or another (Eye influence), has made international news. He watches the segment, which features a sad, pathetic looking man who looks much older than he is. That guy couldn't have killed somebody, he thinks to himself, there's no way. And he gets a feeling in his gut that the only one who can prove the guy innocent is him.

Pan back to the jail cell. Jon is called out for a visit from Martin, and they get to discussing what he's going to do. Martin is apologizing, saying that he couldn't find a lawyer to take the case, saying that he wishes he could have done more. Jon is resigned to defeat at this point, and is thinking about pleading guilty, just to see if he can get a lesser sentence.

That is, until no-loss-recorded, young and hopeful, Mr. Missed Connections extraordinaire walks through the door.

Phoenix Wright, before anyone has the chance to ask him why he's there, says one thing.

"I'll take your case."

~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, what do y'all think? I could either write a fic (less engaging but still fun and would take a lot less time) or make an objection.lol video case with custom sprites (much more time consuming but would be a really cool finished product). If I do the fic, I may do the video afterwards.

Which should I do first?

I'm very curious as to what gets chosen

[nownahc]

i absolutely love the prompt idea! i might not make it easy on you~ prompts 1, 3, and 83 with hyunjin sound like they could be interesting <3

just once | hwang hyujin

hyunjin x reader

main masterlist

prompts list send in an ask to request

▶• ılıılıılılıılıılı.

notes. been in my feels lately so this might be a reflection of what's going on in my mind

warnings. angst, talk of serious emotionnal stuff

prompts. “Do you want me to leave?”/“I’m not jealous.”/“Just once.”

Never in his life, Hyunjin would have thought he’d witness such despair in someone. Let alone, when that person happens to be you. He can’t seem to find the words, nor the strength to move as he sits in front of you, watching helplessly as you sob in the sleeves of your sweater. Your bedroom, so familiar, yet foreign now that your laughter doesn’t echo between the walls, feels cold, devoided of any of the warmth he’s accustomed to. “I just… I don’t get it, everyone around me seems so in tune with everything, with their life, their family, their friends, their… love life, while I’m stuck here, watching me, as if I’m outside of my body, like a spectator of my own life, I…” It’s the first words you uttered since he arrived here. All you’ve been doing is sob and cry silently in the fabric of your sweater. When you called, he had no idea what caused you to feel this down, was it someone, or something, he had no clue. All he knew, is that he had to sprint to you, the sole idea of leaving you alone in such a vulnerable state eating at his consciousness.

“I’m not jealous, it’s envy more than anything, admiration even and,” she can’t help but hiccup letting her words hang in the air, until she can speak her mind again, “I want to be like them, to know what I’m doing, to be happy, truly happy, to love and be loved.”

He wants to scream at her that no one has anything figured out, that everyone is pretending, and everyone has probably cried and begged like she’s doing right now. He wants to scream that, he can give her at least one of those things she’s asking for. Love. He can love her, and let her love him. That’s all he ever wanted, all he ever wished for.

“Do you want me to leave, or do you want comfort?”, his voice is soft, barely above a whisper, as if he was scared of his own words.

Finally, her gaze flickers to him, a small sad smile tugging at her lips. “Stay…”, she wants to add that there’s no need for comfort, for his sole presence already means a lot to her. The fact that he's there, watching her drown in her own sorrow is a sign that someone cares, someone sees the ugliness of her thoughts yet, he’s still willing to stay.

Hyunjin shifts on the floor, trying to conjure the perfect words for her, the perfect words that would make her magically see all the goodness this world has to offer, that at some point, she’ll realize that happiness is different from all people, that maybe she simply hasn’t found hers.

“Y/n, I can’t miraculously make you happy, or make you see that people care and love you, but I can help. I can stay with you and guide you through it, so please, give me this chance. Just once, let me help you find yourself.”

The words hang in the air, both Hyunjin and you processing the weight of them. Hyunjin wants to say more, he wants to say that he’d repeat the process of healing with her a million times if needed, in every universe, in every life time if needed.

“Help me Hyunjin…” Her answer surprised him, for a second he thinks he imagined it for how vulnerable and quiet it sounded. Still, she said it, she allowed him to guide her, to show her, to help her through this, and he’s more than happy to help the one person he doesn’t want to see this desperate ever again.

[py-dreamer]

...hi again?

"WHAT IS THIS?!"

"WHERE'S THE MONKIE GANG? OR SHADOWPEACH?"

"HAS PY DROPPED OUT OF THE LMK FANDOM?!?!"

To answer that question: no. No I haven't

Short and concise answer is I do personally feel a little burnt out on lmk but while that doesn't mean I've abandoned it. Not in the slightest

Anyways, very busy time for me rn so updates and any art in particular will be VERY sparse in the coming months I'm afraid.

That being said, gotten back into an oldie of mine I'd never thought I'd revisit: Object Shows!

More specifically: Inanimate insanity

Look I was into this when I was like a preteen and grew out of it then all of a sudden II s2 ep18 dropped. Like hell, I didn't even know that invitational existed (and lowkey still haven't seen it- BUT I KNOW THE LORE, BOT IS MY WEE BABY OK I KNOW THE LORE)

And drawing these gijinkas kinda gave me more flexibility and let me design people again even though I'll admit quite a few ideas are very common in gijinka's used in the fandom

So um I'll see how this goes, I already have the sketches for the other season's cast and will probably post them regardless though.

Let's start with S1's king, the fruitiest lad on the aisle: OJ!

(Btw I think it's HOP rather than HOJP)

I know he's meant to be like a glass of OJ, so theoretically his hair should be more slick/smooth but I decided to go for the flowy juice angle! Something to make his hair look more like flowing liquid.

Orange slice earings! In fact, orange slice accessories everywhere! (it's so marketable srsly don't know why it ain't used more often)

The orange watch was a fun concept ^u^ specially since after getting the hotel, I'd imagine him being a lot more uptight with sh!t and use clocks/watches to keep track of things

TBH, he'd probably also have a pair of rectangular long glass dangly earings to swap out for like the formal events.

Yay! For slacks! Thought they'd look really cute on him and other than Suitcase, wanted to give him something unique rather than just a suit/suitjacket (eg the hosts, Taco)

But oh, look at that he comes with two outfits! Just like a doll...

Bet paper would bu-

(no but srsly I lowkey bet that fan has like mini action figures of the S1 cast in his room or something, maybe even S2 & 3 too.

Also this man might be snazzy but he has the ugliest ties. We're talking about the same person who designed his hotels to have hallways with windows but not bedrooms.

Paper! Such a cutie pie!

Looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you, what's not to love?

Don't have much to say about him sadly

Though his eyebrows gave me a LOT of issues. I like his stripes though! Seemed like the guy to have freckles like when peeps give him pencil sketch lines in this object form, what do ya'll think about the warm brown eyes though? Wanted to make him seem welcoming but idk.

(Bonus: paperclip earing!)

Gosh, I'm too tired for this rn, I'll elaborate on the designs another time

OH!

And happy new year!

And happy Chinese new year!

[amber-laughs]

this might not be fair but can i say i’m not really a fan of the “victors found family” trope bc they don’t really seem to all like each other.

in fics, and it’s no hate bc everybody should play around with canon however they want i’m just venting because i've only been in the fandom like a week and a half, people seem to really enjoy the idea that the victors who’ve been sex trafficked are really close and look out for each other, usually Cashmere, Gloss and Finnick. but those three specifically are trying to kill each other pretty quick in the Quell and Finnick specifically tells Katniss not to trust them and i personally think that makes a lot more sense if we realistically look at their situation. groomers and predators will always try to isolate their victims and Snow especially uses this tactic with his Victors.

he takes out their families and makes them live in isolated neighborhoods. It wouldn’t shock me if there was a lot of drama, grudges and bad blood within the victors/mentors circle because that’s how Snow operates. It’s pretty implied that Johanna was supposed to be trafficked but wouldn’t comply and that’s how her family died, that also perfectly coincides with she and Finnick maintaining a close relationship. If the sex trafficking ring is purposefully being pit against each other, say Gloss is getting extra work and Snow lies and says it’s bc Finnick has to be home to take care of Annie or Enobaria is getting easier jobs than Cashmere and Snow lies and says it’s bc Enobaria specifically asked to switch some with Cash now he’s purposefully and very easily (bc they’re legit teenagers at first) creating bad blood and distrust between them just like Katniss says he does with people living in districts (ie Gale blaming Madge for not having her name in extra times bc she doesn’t need tesserae) it would be almost impossible for a healthy friendship to develop and evolve while still in the middle of it.

“Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the woods, I’ve listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we will never trust one another. “It’s to the Capitol’s advantage to have us divided among ourselves,” he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine.” Hunger Games - Chapter 1

I sent an obnoxiously long ask to someone's inbox about the Capitol specifically grooming Careers to be government prostitutes (shout out to them for putting up with it and having a great answer) and I think that its something that once again points to purposefully causing descent within the Victor's circle. if you're twelve years old and you live in one of the nicer districts (One, Two and Four) and you're hearing horror stories about Ten, Eleven, Twelve it would make a lot of sense if an adult authority figure came up to you and said you're not like them, you're better. thats why we let you guys train and teach you to survive in the games because we want you to win. you're gonna win, you have nothing to fear you should sign up. thats really easy to then flip to hey so that fancy academy you trained in, those fancy clothes you wore in the parade, the makeup we put on you for the interview, the sponsor gifts you got in the arena, that was us. we did that for you. now you have to do something for us. and because they've spent their whole lives being groomed to fight to the death in an arena all in the name of money, power, glory why should this be any different? You're the Victor, the Capitol loves you, they wanna meet you, they wanna be with you and like everything Snow should benefit so he's gonna get the money and these kids think it's an honor to be loved by the Capitol but then once they realize what's actually happening and try to back out its hey so you're actually gonna do this or i'm gonna kill your whole family and so

"Don't trust One and Two" Finnick says Catching Fire - Chapter 19

it's probably not that they oh so enjoy being sex trafficked, or so love life under the Capitol but more probably that they just don't trust the rebels. and the rebels don't trust them. they've been forced give their bodies away for over a decade to keep their families alive while (in their eyes) Haymitch is an alcoholic who can't keep it together. he's not their lovable drunk uncle who holds their hand after a rough night. why should they have any faith in him to put together a winning plan?

“Oh, no. I was the example. The person to hold up to the young Finnicks and Johannas and Cashmeres. Of what could happen to a victor who caused problems,” says Haymitch Mockingjay - Chapter 12

Snow knows Haymitch is trouble so he makes sure all the victors know he already lost. his family is dead, his lover is dead and now he wastes his days drinking himself to death. he's a loser and not to be allied with. they're all still playing the game and the capitol is the career pack. everybody wants to keep themselves and their families alive and Snow has the most resources, the better plan and the odds are in his favor.

[this-should-do]

Jalapeno Help

[feroluce]

Belobog was my fave main quest but a lot of it is so. Contradictory. It's like they had multiple groups doing different shit and none of them checked in with each other for consistency. And you see this so much in Gepard's profile.

So in the main quest, they made him unfailingly, unquestionably loyal to Cocolia. Gepard's character arc is him learning to question authority etc etc. And this isn't even a bad thing; that's a story worth telling! It makes good conflict between him and Serval! And I love that we got Gepard as a boss battle and I get to see him all the time in SU!

But then you look at his character stories and it's like. The complete opposite.

According to his profile, Gepard has already HAD this awakening, long before the Astral Express, and he'd already decided Cocolia sucks. Even outside of his stories, there's a pretty damning readable between him and Pela.

He even disobeyed direct orders right in front of her- he has been disobeying orders for a while now!

So I've decided I'm marrying the two different sides of this into a 1.5k fic-ish thingy, because I think there's some fun potential there with Gepard not trusting Cocolia, but still having to pretend to be a good obedient little soldier.

Anyway. I love to think of it as like. Gepard knows Cocolia has sunk into her apathy. He can see it in her eyes every time he looks at her. She doesn't care. Not about him, not about Pela, not about all his soldiers on the frontlines giving their lives to protect the citizens. And that's... It makes him bristle a bit, but ok. Gepard can deal with this. Even if Cocolia no longer cares, as long as she does her job then it's fine. Having compassion behind an action doesn't matter as much as the action itself. If Cocolia's heart is no longer swayed, then he'll just have to care twice as hard to pick up the slack. He considers it part of his duty as a captain of the guard anyway. It's fine. Gepard can deal with it.

And then, Cocolia starts coming down to the restricted zone. Issuing direct orders.

And Gepard realizes he is in way over his head.

Because Cocolia orders him to stay back and issue commands from the ramparts, away from all his comrades, away from where he can protect them.

Gepard had thought nothing could be as bad as watching a fellow guard die right next to him. But the first time he watches someone struck by a killing blow, so far away, it hurts. Every defensive scar across his arms itches, his fingers curl in want of a weapon, the cold cannot numb his hands enough as they desperately ache for his shield. It hurts.

Gepard tries to find any reason to stay. Because surely... He knows Cocolia has lost her love for her people, but surely... She wouldn't...

One day, Cocolia orders for their gunners to advance 20 yards. There are no survivors. She almost looks like she smiles.

Gepard doesn't sleep that night.

Pela brings him the report at the end of the first month; and then the month after that, and the month after that. A significant uptick in losses, and all of it started on that first day Cocolia started overriding his authority and issuing her own orders. The ends of Gepard's pens have all been nearly chewed off. Pela outright calls Cocolia an idiot, and Gepard corrects her. Cocolia isn't an idiot. Gepard had known her through Serval, knew her through all her college years and then some, and he knows how intelligent she is. It's not that she's stupid, and it's not that she's inexperienced, it's nothing of the sort.

Cocolia knows exactly what she's doing.

She must, there's no way she could make such a horrible mess of things so badly by accident. And Pela, quick as a whip, sharp as a tack, always too smart for her own good, catches onto the meaning behind Gepard's correction without any further prompting. The tent goes deathly quiet, nothing but the wind howling outside.

"...She's trying to kill us," Pela whispers, her voice swiftly suffocated by the silence.

Gepard swallows. He can't bring himself to correct her this time. There is nothing he could say that he would actually mean.

His gaze drops, back down to his desk and the reports on it. The names aren't listed, just the numbers, but Gepard knows them, knew them, and there must be something wrong, something he's missing, because why, why would she-? What could this possibly accomplish-?

“Gepard! Focus!” Something snaps right under his nose, and Gepard startles, eyes instantly honing in on Pela's irritated face as she leans over his desk. She holds his gaze for a moment before she huffs and begins to pace, wedges a knuckle between her teeth and bites like Gepard hasn't seen her do since cadet school.

Pela angrily strides from one end of his tent to the other, words hissed between her grit teeth. “What are we going to do?” In the dim lighting, Gepard can just barely see the damp spot of blood weeping under her gloves. “We need a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Wh- Yes, a plan! Unless you want more people to die!” Pela rounds on him then, all the wrath of a blizzard, winds roaring and snow sharp enough to cut.

“We don't even know-”

“What does it matter?! She killed-!!” Pela cuts off with a garbled noise when Gepard leaps up from his desk, hastily shoves his hand over her mouth. The prosthetic, not the flesh one, because he knows better than to assume Pela won't seize the opportunity to leave teeth marks in his skin.

“You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sorry; you're right. But you need to keep quiet.” Pela quirks an eyebrow at him and Gepard can read the question in her face. “Because we both saw what she did to Serval,” he hisses.

It's amazing the snow plains haven't thawed out yet, the amount of heat Pela can put behind a glare. The mere mention of Serval, and the smoking ruins Cocolia had made of her life and career, have her bristling up like a riled cat. The sudden hot breath she takes fans fog across his metal skin, and Gepard wisely keeps it in place until Pela finally sighs and reaches up, taps her fingertips against the back of his hand.

The second she's free, Pela bats him away and then her knuckle is right back between her teeth again, Gepard leaning back against his desk with his arms crossed to watch her resume her pacing. “If we spread the word, she'll have us discharged and make sure we can't even touch the frontlines,” Pela's voice seethes like an open sore. Gepard nods but keeps his silence. He knows better than to get in her way.

“And if you and I are both out of the picture, Belobog is fucked.” A little harsher than how he would have put it, but there's no denying that they're both important to the city's survival. Pela has the restricted zone running as efficiently as ever, and Gepard had become the youngest captain on record for a reason. “We need to keep this tight under wraps, at least for now… It can't leak to anyone higher up the chain.” Another nod. “Serval might know other discontents…” Another n-

Gepard's head snaps up. “No.”

“No what?”

“No. We're not involving Serval in this.”

Somehow, even the same tone that leaves entire squadrons shaking in their boots has never worked on her. “You're not deciding that for her, Gepard.”

Pela hadn't seen the worst of it, though, back when his sister had just been banned from the Architects. Serval's pride hadn't allowed it. Pela wasn't the one to find her passed out bottle still in hand, hadn't been the one to wash the sick out of her hair or carry her to bed. 

Serval still has trouble thinking clearly when it comes to Cocolia, still can't quite bring herself to be objective. And Gepard maybe doesn't want her to be purely objective- but he would worry a lot less if she thought twice before she acted more often.

“At least let me be the one to bring it up to her.”

“Whatever, fine,” Pela gestures affirmatively at him as she paces past, and Gepard sighs. Good, at least that's one thing he can help.

From there, it's a lot of hemming and hawing and frustration. Cocolia has them under her boot, and Gepard and Pela both know it. Even with the way she's been cracking down on freedoms lately, Cocolia is still, overall, liked by the people. It's unlikely anyone would believe them. They don't even have solid proof, because most people don't know Cocolia as well as they do and won't see the clues in the same light. 

The Fragmentum has been ramping up in recent years, too. Everyone is struggling just to survive as is, they can't afford a fight on two fronts. Gepard is a damn good captain, one of the best for that matter. But they're at a massive disadvantage, his experience is narrowed to fighting a defensive battle against monsters, that's all he's ever done. That's all anyone there has ever done. He has no way of finding first-hand knowledge for taking the offensive against a human opponent, and if he goes at this blind, there's no way he'll get everyone out unscathed. He's going to lose people. He's going to lose a lot of people.

He'd never thought before that Cocolia would have it in her to have someone killed. And with this new knowledge, he has no guarantee she won't go after Serval or Lynx if she decides to retaliate.

Gepard has to remind himself to breathe when he realizes this.

Pela writes down every name the two of them can come up with. Lists and lists of names and groups and anyone they can think of who might be an ally in all of this. They memorize every bit of it, make their plans of who to talk to and when. Gepard watches the sparks reflect off Pela's glasses as they burn the evidence together.

Pela finally leaves, far too late to make it home, but says she wants to stay in the restricted zone anyway to investigate. Gepard watches her make her way in the direction of Dunn's tent, watches her back until she's out of his sight and squashes down the urge to follow and keep an eye on her. His tent feels empty.

In the morning, Gepard is up before the wake up bells. He drags himself out of bed, leads his soldiers through their morning training. The same people gravitate to each other everyday. Friend groups and training partners. There's an ongoing rivalry between a few squadrons that everyone bets on. Some of them have lockets around their necks, keepsakes, mementos. Some of them wear wedding rings.

Gepard is suddenly, painfully aware of something acidic clawing at the inside of his throat, of a heavy weight low in his chest that blooms, takes up room until it threatens to spread his ribs. His mouth tastes of bile and blood.

He rearranges the schedules. Puts himself down for every open patrol into the Fragmentum, makes sure he'll be on the frontlines every single time Cocolia visits.

He only hopes that it's enough.

[bitegore]

if your ocs were bosses in a video game, what do you think their boss fight would be like?

[skrunksthatwunk]

hm. i'm not sure how i want to present this but i have an upsetting headcanon/interpretation proposal about yusuke that i wanna make

cw: csa discussion, nothing graphic

i don't think i've ever seen anyone mention this kind of hc for yusuke, but i think there's a lot of elements to his character and backstory that suggest he might have been a victim of csa. i've been thinking about it for a while, and here's what i've got:

neglected kid (only friend was keiko, no father, mother is frequently drunk or hungover, when not absent; almost certainly lonely, and in need of emotional and physical care (i.e. feeding himself) from an adult. shitty school, shitty teachers, possibly already issues with attendance, discipline, etc (skipping, poor/weak relationships with teachers); vulnerable, no reliable adults to notice abuse or report abuse to. in short, he's the perfect victim for grooming)

deep, deep mistrust of power, authority, adults; manifests as quiet resentment, because he doesn't believe anything can truly be done about it (which may seem a bit odd at first from a character as reckless and feisty as yusuke. but in terms of systemic change and justice, he's given up on changing things. he views himself as helpless. also an insistence that adults won't listen even if you tell them what's wrong, that explaining yourself or the situation is useless. which suggests past experience with being shut down, ignored, etc with something so important and/OR so frequently that it's stuck with him)

poor sexual boundaries (you could argue this extends to conversational matters, but i'm mostly talking about his habit of harassing (if not assaulting) keiko, as well as his treatment of miyuki. i usually see this symptom mentioned regarding young children, but i can't imagine it just.. goes away as they get older)

emotionally closed off, as a result of being hurt or dismissed by those he depended on to help him. has a hard time being vulnerable with people

seems to expect authority figures to want to hurt him (even does this with koenma/king yama in ep 2). doesn't even flinch when mr iwamoto punches him in ep 6(?), as though that sort of physical violence is normal at school and/or with adults regarding him (because no one thinks to protect yusuke)

only way of defending himself, of asserting himself, etc, is physical (again, talking doesn't work in yusuke's mind, or within the narrative, in most cases). power is expressed through physical violence within yyh, and it starts before we even meet yusuke. how did he get so good at fighting? at violence? he needed to protect himself (not necessarily from his abuser, but perhaps future malicious actors, real or imagined). those with power use it to hurt others, and yusuke knows this, and since no one was there to protect him, he had to learn to do it himself. i think csa could fit into this presentation of the world, and of yusuke, extremely easily

emotionally volatile, lashes out

disregard for his life, well-being; passively suicidal

none of these factors are That strong on their own, but it's a pattern i can't quite shake. i think it's worth considering, anyway, though i don't know that i have any real ideas regarding further explorations of it. it's one possible explanation for some of his behavior, and it fits into our glimpses of yusuke's world pretty neatly. i think a lot of people might dismiss this initially because 1) he perpetuates sexual violence (and what victim would do that?) 2) he's a guy 3) he's not a meek or helpless character. he doesn't fit into a typical depiction of csa victim, as flawless or delicate. but there are survivors like yusuke out there. it's not so cut and dry. idk

like.. did he seek out attention out of desperation, or did it find him? did he finally find someone who was good to him and watch as, slowly, that relationship twisted into something wrong? or did he accept it, thinking himself more mature than he was, and needing some kind of attention, even if it was unhealthy? and did he try to tell someone? was the response delayed, or nonexistent? or did he not even try, because he was afraid (of his abuser, of being rejected on something so important, of getting in trouble), or simply thought it could not matter to anyone enough to change a thing? would he tell keiko? would he tell anyone?

i look at his hopelessness and see the trauma that caused it. csa does not Have to be a part of forming the yusuke we see. but it's not that much of a stretch, imo.

[brifdi-daily]

thanks for joining me for pride month ! im not sure if anyone caught onto this, but i tried to only draw canon* queer characters for the month. i thought itd be a fun way to celebrate (and also maybe a chance for nonbinary characters to catch up a little in the gender ratio of these lol)

... i tried incorporating the flag colors into the drawings at first but as you can see i kinda just gave up on that pretty quick...

*canon with the exception of Gaty and Chrome Gradienty. the former of which is heavily trans coded and featured in multiple pride month and trans day of visibility posts from jacknjellify but theyve also unfortunately been pretty cagey about fully canonizing it. the latter of which is only confirmed as a lesbian via jokes from recommended character screens which although is very silly is a little bit of an unstable foundation to call something canon LOL

... also i guess with the exception of heartmilk jr because that thing did not exist (at least publicly) until a few days ago and as far as im aware doesnt ahve. anything. confirmed right now. but i mean even if this baby ends up entirely cishet which would be hilarious theyre invited because its bring your kid to work day or something. whatever

edit cg is a canon lesbian i was wrong. an epic win for fujoshi nation