#why are we made to feel so weird about aging out of our twenties like a 30 year old is like a fresh out of the womb baby actually

[vamprisms]

can't wait until i turn 30 so i can stop feeling worried about turning 30

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Just Take It | Jeon Jungkook | Part Five

Summary: You start a conversation with Jungkook about where you stand but are interrupted by an uninvited visitor Pairing: Inexperienced f!reader x Best Friend's Dad Jungkook (20 year age gap) Word Count: 4.7K~ Warnings: Suggestive and explicit language (an argument). Nothing too crazy honestly. Horribly edited too because it's been three weeks and I wanted to get it out! a/n: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but I was away from home for a week and then wrote a couple of one shots and blah blah blah lol but anyways I hope you enjoyyyy Requested by: @kkusadmirer 💜

After our eventful afternoon Jungkook and I ended up laying in his bed and watching movies since like he said, he wanted me to be "well rested" before we have the talk. The talk that could change everything between us... 

There are multiple outcomes to this scenario and I'm not sure if I'm ready for any of them. 

On one hand he could say this was all a mistake and he was just acting on his urges. I know now for damn sure though that he's attracted to me but I don't know what his motives and feeling are towards me. If he even has any besides surface level physical attraction. 

On the other hand he could want to pursue a friends with benefits sort of arrangement. Being fuck buddies or whatever with an older man does sound exciting when I think about doing it with him. It's just that don't know if I'd want something like that even if it was with him. 

I told Jared before that I wanted to save myself for marriage and I feel like that's something I still want to stick to. I've definitely crossed so many lines with Jungkook in the last not even twenty four hours, more like twelve hours or something like that but regardless lines have been crossed and I'm still not sure how I feel about any of it. 

I want to say that I don't regret it and it's not just because it felt fucking phenomenal and out of this world but because I feel safe with him.

It might just be because over the past couple of months that I've been living with him he's become someone I care about and honestly trust with my life so I didn't really feel a need to say no to him. I wanted it to happen, I know I did I just didn't really think it would ever happen. I thought that it would stay in my hormonal fantasies forever and I was okay with that. 

The way he's been treating me has shown me that he cares about me. Although I was trying to convince myself that it was somewhat of a paternal instinct in him and that he was just being protective over me, I knew that it was something beyond that. 

I tried to somewhat address it in a weird sort of way with the whole asking why he didn't have anyone over conversation and he knew what I was trying to ask and addressed it but his answer made me even more confused. 

"I wouldn't want to ruin what we have going on here"  like what does that even mean? He doesn't want to ruin the dynamic we have in the house in terms of we're comfortable with each other and feel no need to let anyone inside our little safe space. 

Or did he mean that he didn't want to ruin what we have going on here because he wanted to see where things went with us on a more romantic level?

He hasn't explicitly told me that he would want to pursue a relationship with me but circling back to before he's given me clear signs that he's attracted to me and isn't one to hide it. 

He knows to a certain extent that I find him attractive too because I asked him to take my virginity. (I'm never gonna be able to live that one down) Anyone could tell that he was clearly struggling to hold himself back and the fact that he kissed me just shows that he wanted to. That he wanted me.

Then there's another possibility that he might want a sugar baby sort of relationship and I don't even want to think about something like that. 

Don't get me wrong! I respect the hustle, but that's just not for me. 

If I'm gonna be doing something like what we are doing right now then I want it to be something that I want to do without any ulterior motive. I don't want to put a monetary value on the time I spend with him but not gonna lie, living it large and not having to worry about money or working sounds very tempting.

I don't think he's that kind of man though...or at least I hope he's not. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asks playfully, having noticed that I haven't really been paying attention to the movie we've been watching. 

"Just thinking" I answer, cuddling in closer to him as I've refused to let go of him today and he hasn't made moves to do any different. 

"Bout what?" he prods further, placing a kiss on the top of my head and taking in the fresh scent of his shampoo in my hair.

"Things" I continue, liking the game we've started to play. 

"What sort of things?" he chuckles, telling me that he's enjoying it too. 

"All kinds of things" I say nuzzling closer into him and he wraps his arm tighter around me to keep me there.

"Wanna share a few?" he asks, clearly not letting this go since he wants to at least make sure I'm okay. 

"Thinking about how you might want to make me your sugar baby" I mumble into his chest and he laughs wholeheartedly making me even more embarrassed. 

"Is that something you'd want?" he asks and I shake my head. 

"You don't wanna be at home and sit pretty, waiting for me to come back and shower you with gifts and jewelry and give you the world?" he teases while pinching my sides making me pull away from him, trying to escape. 

"N-no! Now s-stop" I choke out through laughter and gasps of breath. "What would you want" he asks after having tackled me down onto the mattress making sure to do a thorough job of tickling me until I could barely breathe. 

I take a second to think, my eyes going back and forth between his while his stay still, focused and almost begging for an answer. 

"I thought we weren't going to have this conversation until I was well rested" I say, breathless, still not knowing up from down when it comes to us. If there even is an 'us'. 

"You feel well rested?" he asks, cocking a brow at me and I nod my head quickly, giving me a crooked smile in response. "Then it's perfect timing right?" he continues and I nod again leaving him getting off of me and leaning his back against the headboard, waiting to hear what I have to say. 

I take a minute or so to gather my thoughts and the whole time he's watching me curiously, almost able to see the wheels turning in my head. 

"What happened between us kind of caught me by surprise" I start, looking down at my lap and playing with my fingers nervously. "I don't regret it, it was just, well I'm just kind of confused about how you feel about me, and I'm really confused about how I feel about you" I admit and I can see his expression go a bit wary but I jump at the chance to explain myself. 

"It's just that I think both of us know at this point that we're extremely attracted to each other" I start out and the corner of his lips upturns for a second but nods in confirmation, waiting for me to continue. 

"With us getting physical and all so quickly I can't help but think that maybe we should take a step back. I would like to know your thoughts and intentions and feelings about all of this. I might be overthinking it but I really think it's best to be up front and honest with each other" I say and take in a shaky breath, scared I might've said the wrong thing.

"You're so sexy when you act so mature like that" he taunts and I groan, wanting to keep this serious. "I'm just playing Bunny. Well I'm not because you really are sexy but I don't want you to feel all nervous and insecure like you are right now. We're being open and honest right?" he questions and I nod my head, eager for him to continue. 

"Meaning it would be the perfect opportunity to tell you that I have feelings for you right?" he says and my eye bug out in response, not knowing what to do now. "Wasn't expecting that huh?" he chuckles and I shake my head making him laugh even more. 

"Cat got your tongue Darling?" he teases and scoff at that. "No I was just being polite and letting you keep talking since you let me do the same" I say, making excuses and trying to keep my voice level. 

"Sure Bunny" he smirks not believing a word I said but continuing nevertheless.

"I've had feelings for you for a while now and I haven't told you or acted on it because I wanted to respect the fact that you were in a relationship. I never liked Jared though for what it's worth" he says without hesitation and it makes me cringe at the thought that I was about to marry that snake. 

"Is it harsh to say I'm glad he's out of the picture?" he says boldly making me laugh. "Not just because it benefitted me but because he didn't deserve to marry a beautiful, intelligent, kind hearted woman like you. I would've said something but I'm not your father so I knew it wasn't my place" he finishes and making me smile, thankful that he was so considerate. 

Now that I think about it, even back then I respected and trusted his judgement so it wouldn't have bothered me even if he did say something.

"It's not harsh to say because I'm happy about it too. To be honest though I don't really know what I ever saw in him. I think because he was the first guy that more or less respected my boundaries that I thought I had to hold onto him. I don't know" I say and he nods his head.

This is something I haven't experienced before. Someone sitting and taking the time to actually talk things out without any outside distractions and focusing on each other and hearing each other out. 

Maybe it's just an age thing and the fact that Jungkook does fit the standard of dating older and more mature men is better. We're not dating though, but I guess we'll hopefully figure out where we stand once this conversation comes to a close.

"I'm really confused and I kind of don't know how to feel but I'm not closed off to figuring things out" I say, glancing up at him and back down at my lap, nervous from seeing how fascinated he is with me right now. 

I hold my breath and wait for him to say something but when nothing ever comes I chance looking up at him again and I'm surprised to see how he's still watching me.

"Like I said, I've had feelings for you for a while and if you're open to seeing where things go then I would really like to take you out on a date. Like on a proper date. I know since we've been living together and we've been spending a lot of time together but I-" he start off strong but begins to ramble and is regretfully cut off by the sound of the front door opening. 

"Dad! Dad where are you?" Jina calls out and neither of us dares to move or make a sound. "Dad" Jina drags out, regretfully confirming that I am in fact not dreaming. "Be down in a second" he says then presses a finger to his lips. 

"Just stay in here and I'll take care of it" he whispers and I nod my head, watching him as he panics internally before leaving the room and closing the door softly behind him. 

What the hell are we gonna do? My car is out there! Or wait, did I put it in the garage yesterday? I can't remember but I really hope it's not out there otherwise she'll already know I'm here. 

"What are you doing here?" Jungkook says. I can hear his muffled voice through the walls and I know I probably shouldn't listen but curiosity gets the best of me making me rush to the door and quietly crack it open, needing to hear how this conversation goes. 

"Nice to see you too dad" she says, and I hate the fact that I'm only able to hear them but I'll settle for this. 

"You should've contacted me before you came over Jina. You know I don't like people showing up unannounced" he says sternly.

"You're usually totally fine with me coming over" she says sounding thoroughly confused and I can hear Jungkook clear his throat before she starts again. 

"Am I interrupting something?" she asks after no doubt clocking the dishes that were left over from lunch. Two plates, two cups and two sets of silverware. A dead giveaway that someone is here especially since it hasn't been cleaned up yet. 

"You are actually" he says and I trip, surprised that he would straight up admit it but he has no reason to hide, and neither do I.

Having pushed the door open thanks to my clumsiness (somehow able to stay upright and keep my dignity this time) I'm faced with the dilemma of if I should just go back inside and pretend that never happened when it clearly did or come out and face her. 

I'm given the luxury of having that choice since she hasn't seen me yet but I decide it's better to do this as soon as possible. We've hid the fact that I've been living here for two months so what's adding on the fact that I've been messing around with her father while doing so. 

(Although this is a newly added feature but she doesn't need to know that)

I take a deep breath before stepping out from behind the door, watching Jina's face go from surprised to confused to disgusted to angry before turning back towards her father. 

"You're fucking my best friend?" she accuses, not completely wrong but semantics. 

"Best friend's don't fuck around and get pregnant by their friend's fiancees" I remind her, walking down the stairs in conveniently only Jungkook's shirt making what's going on, or what's starting to go on between us even more clear. 

"Oh grow up! It's not like there's anything we can do to change that now can we? Plus looks like you're doing just fine without him" she throws at me and from that moment I'm not pulling any punches. She wants to play dirty? Fine, let's play dirty.

"Jina stop it" Jungkook growls, going on the defensive, not being able to gauge what kind of mindset she's in or even her reasoning for coming here but wanting her out all the same.  

"Grow up?" I chuckle dryly, "I guess you're right, I guess maybe I have started growing up since it seems I've matured enough to be with someone like your father. Which, last time I checked, wasn't someone you have any business in questioning on things like his sex life and who he does and does not partake in it with" I say, placing a hand on his bicep possessively and I feel the tension he had once held in his body start to melt away. 

Interesting to know that I have this effect on him...

"Come on, we both know that you're probably just a piece of ass to him" she scoffs before turning to address him. "Didn't know you started picking up strays. I wondered where she had ran off to" she says, continuing to disrespect the both of us without a care in the world.

"Don't call her that!" Jungkook says, jaw clenched as a way to keep himself in check. 

All I see is red though and the next words I hurl out are ones that I couldn't stop myself from saying even if I tried. The ringing in my ears fanning the flames of my agitation making it impossible to hold back.

"How's life being pregnant with my fucking ex boyfriend's baby? He's probably taking real good care of you huh?" I taunt, cocking a brow at her and from the way the color rushes to her cheeks and the words die in her throat are enough to tell me everything I need to know. 

He hasn't done shit for her.

She balls her hands into fists by her side and lunges at me but Jungkook jumps in between us, grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around, forcing her out the front door. 

"You're gonna throw me out and choose that slut over your own daughter?" she yells struggling to get out of his grasp the whole way. 

"Last time I checked honey the only slut around these parts is you" I throw back, following right behind them and the way her jaw drops is just priceless. 

"That's enough! Jina go!" Jungkook says through gritted teeth letting go of her once she's passed the thresh hold, leaving her standing there, looking between the two of us before scoffing and storming off down the driveway. 

"I knew you were obsessed with her I just never thought you would bother acting on it" Jina spits out at her father and when she sees that he doesn't flinch she hurls more baseless lies and insults at the both of us. 

"You know she's just using you to get a place to stay and get over her ex right? What happened to staying a virgin until you got married y/n? Huh? Guess getting cheated on really fucked you up" she spits while unlocking her car. 

"And I guess fucking around with an ego-driven two-timing narcissist gets you pregnant" I throw back and she purses her lips before sinking down in her car, accepting defeat this time and leaving like her father told her to. 

"Say hi to Jared for me" I call out, waving at her as she grips the steering wheel until her knuckles have gone white, putting it in drive and backing out of the driveway.

I walk over to the couch and let out a big sigh once I've sat down, throwing my head in my hands as a way to ground myself. 

Breathing through this dizzy feeling from that whole confrontation that I had not been prepared for is a lot tougher than I thought it would be, my whole body still buzzing.

I hear Jungkook close the door behind him after having watched her speed down the street, still worried for her safety but also wanting to make sure she was actually gone. What happened just now was enough of a confrontation to last me a lifetime, or at least it feels that way.  

"Hey" he whispers, kneeling in front of me and rubbing my back, "Are you okay?" he continues and I nod my head, feeling the tears prickling in my eyes, calling my bluff.

"Come here" he whispers, sitting on the couch next to me and pulling me onto his lap, rubbing my back again and holding me while I let out some of those tears I had held back.

"I don't even know why I crying" I say, sniffling and sitting back up to dry my eyes.

"No one likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about. Well, nobody sane likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about" he says, trying to lighten the mood and it does the trick making me scoff a bit, smiling at his efforts to make me feel better.

He cups my face and wipes a few tears that had fallen, looking at me with his brows pinched together as if his heart is breaking with mine.

"But you still care about her though, don't you?" he asks and I nod my head. "It's hard not to" I admit, getting off his lap and sitting next to him which makes him angle his body to face mine, taking hold of one of my hands, encouraging me to speak my mind. 

"She's been my best friend for the past six years. That's not something that can magically be turned off for me. I know what she did to me was devastating and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for it. I'm still trying to heal from it all so I don't know, I couldn't help but defend myself, and you. I'm sorry you had to see that" I say, mumbling the last part and feeling so much regret for saying those ugly things about his daughter right in front of him. 

"Everyone has a right to defend themselves and when you're being attacked like that, you can't help but say hurtful things. She had no right and she knew that and wanted to hurt the both of us anyway" he says and I take a deep breath before turning my attention back to him because she said just as many hurtful things to him as she did to me.

"Are you okay?" I question, tightening my hold on his hand to hopefully encourage him to be vulnerable with me as well. 

He nods his head with a sad smile and waits a beat before saying anything and I hold my breath until he does. 

"No one wants their daughter to end up in the kind of situation she put herself in or see the people that they care about hurting but what she said didn't hurt me" he says and I nod my head, paying attention to his hand that I have placed in my lap, tracing the swirls of ink with my eyes as they travel further up his arm. 

"What did hurt me though was the way she was talking about you. You know that's not how I feel about you at all right?" he says, tilting my face up towards him making purposeful eye contact with me, needing to know that I believe him. 

"I know" I nod, giving him a sad smile accompanied by my still glossy eyes making him even more sad seeing how upset all of this has made me. 

"Can I do anything to make you feel better?" he asks, cupping my face and keeping my eyes on him when I try to turn them away. "No, I'll be okay" I shake my head and he studies my features before nodding and accepting my words at face value. 

"Okay, do you wanna go back up to my room? You can sleep in there with me if you'd like" he says, brushing a tear dampened strand of hair out of my face. 

I give him a mischievous smile, telling him I know what he's up to but he pulls away and puts his hands up in a way to defend his motives. 

"Just sleep, I promise. Scouts honor" he says, crossing his heart and I laugh at his playfully defensive nature. "Sure" I say, taking hold of his hand while he stands up and leads me back to his bedroom. 

~~~~

After having talked a little bit more about what had happened the topic of conversation circles back to what we had been in the middle of before she showed up. 

"So earlier it seemed like you wanted to ask me a question" I say, taking a sip from my soda that had come with the take out we had ordered hours ago, toying with the straw and keeping his attention. 

"Yeah? And do you know what your answer might be to said question?" he teases, wetting his lips and keeping his eyes trained on mine. 

"You have to ask the questions first Daddy" I say placing my drink down on his nightstand and when I turn to face him again he's tackling me down on the bed peppering kisses all over me. 

"Stoooppp" I giggle and he laughs along with me before leaning back to hover over me. "Will you go out with me?" he asks and I can tell that this whole moment has him feeling like a teenager again.

"I thought you'd never ask" I say, running my fingers through his hair making him lean into my touch. 

"You can't take it back though. Once we do this I won't ever let you go" he husks out, placing a kiss on my palm and I shutter at the feeling. "Then don't" I breathe out making a flame of desire flash through his eyes. 

"You're gonna get yourself in trouble you know that?" he warns, placing a kiss on my nose before getting off me and turning off the tv. "Hey! I was watching that!" I pout "No you weren't" he chuckles. "Plus it's time to go to bed. We've got a big day ahead of us" he says, getting under the covers and motioning for me to do the same. 

"Big day?" I question, not remembering we had something on the agenda this weekend. "I may or may not have planned out our date this morning while you were still in bed Sleeping Beauty" he says, pulling me onto his chest but I sit up pulling away from him with my brows scrunched together. 

"How were you so sure I would say yes?" I scoff, shocked by his bold assumption. "From the way I've been making you moan my name I figured you wouldn't mind going on one date with me in return" he says and my jaw drops, throwing the covers off myself and making a break for it but he yanks me back towards him making me flop down on the bed. 

"You can't just say things like that" I whine, hands over my eyes as a way to block him out of my vision and hide the very apparent blush that I'm sure is starting to bloom. 

"Am I wrong?" he taunts, placing kisses on my neck and collarbone, dangerously close to making me moan his name again. 

"You're no fair" I say, pushing him off and giving him my back making him chuckle at my shy behavior. He lays down and pulls me back into him. My back now against his chest and his hand placed on my hip where I'm again reminded that I'm only wearing his shirt and my under ware. 

"Keep your hands to yourself Mr." I tease while prying his hand off me. "Come on darling, you know I'm a man of my word. Just sleep, nothing else" he says, this time sliding his hand further up to hold onto my bare waist. 

"Fine" I grumble out and he laughs and nuzzles his nose into my neck, taking another deep breath, flooding his senses with my scent. 

"Goodnight Bunny" he mumbles against my skin. "Goodnight Daddy I tease and am rewarded with a slap on my ass. 

"Did, did you just spank me?" I say trying to wiggle out of his hold but he's already got his arm wrapped around my waist again. "I told you that pretty little mouth of yours was gonna get you into trouble didn't I?" he says, switching to rubbing his hand along the tender flesh he just struck, caressing it in a way to ease the pain. 

I pout and settle back into the bed, not dignifying his words with a response. It's only when I accidentally move my hips backwards do I freeze from gaining a soft moan from him, no doubt caught off guard from the contact of my ass up against him. 

"Sorry I didn't mean to I-" "I know Bunny, just go to sleep" he says placing a kiss on my neck and holding my hips in place, putting a little more space between us. 

As I slow my breathing to a steady one I start to lull myself to sleep but I flinch at the sound of his cute snores in my ear. 'Something I'll have to tease him about in the morning' I giggle to myself and take his hand off my hip, choosing instead to hold it against my chest having him surrounding me. Soon I'm slipping into that dreamland he had drifted off to moments before, safe and warm being in his arms.  

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[sinofwriting]

listen, please - Daniel Ricciardo

Words: 316 Summary: Daniel and his girlfriend break the news of their relationship and cause quite a splash with their age difference. (Social Media AU + Blurb) (Olivia Rodrigo as faceclaim and uses her music for reader’s)

Masterlist | Support Me! | listen, please verse

yourusername

liked by dan_nigro, etnews, landonorris, and 548,752 others tagged: danielricciardo yourusername: I learned from my mistakes and finally listened to them. And thank god they were right about you.

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danielricciardo: forever happy they were ⤷ yourusername: ♥️ user01: excuse me??? user02: Uh what? user03: I’m sorry, Daniel??? What are you doing here??? user04: When did this happen? user05: honey, no. he’s in his 30s user06: well, already counting the days for this ending user07: this is going to last all of a month user08: yourusername please, no. Taylor went through this already. Learn from her mistakes!!! user09: Am I the only one picking up on the lyrics from Vampire? We stan using our own lyrics to announce a relationship user10: can’t wait for Dear John yourusername’s version. Gonna be a bop. ⤷ user05: I will sob if she covers that or would’ve could’ve should’ve when this ends. ⤷ user11: will simply die user12: i’m an f1 girlie, but no. This ain’t it. Mick Schumacher is right there, yourusername. Or even Oscar. ⤷ user13: Lando is right there and you went for the nepo baby and a guy who already has a girlfriend ⤷ user12: he was an example! And nearly all the drivers are nepo babies in some way. ⤷ user03: so true user14: how are you going to be such a big swiftie, know the woman yourself and still date a man older than you and believe it’s going to work out?

danielricciardo

liked by maxverstappen1, f1_wags, redbullracing, and 149,875 others tagged: yourusername danielricciardo: Over a year with this one and many more to come, Sweets

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yourusername: so many more to come ⤷ danielricciardo: 😉 maxverstappen1: never seen you happier ⤷ danielricciardo: love ya maxie! user01: first daniel isn’t racing and now he’s taken??? 2023 is the worst user02: daniel, she’s practically a child. What are you doing? user03: weirdo user04: she’s barely 20, what are you doing??? ⤷ user06: yourusername is 22. She’s not barely 20 ⤷ user04: yeah and she turned 22 like barely a month ago user05: Daniel, not like this. I beg user07: well him and pierre have something in common 😆 user08: she’s a baby!!! Get away from her!!! user09: disgusting. Absolutely disgusting user10: you guys are acting like she’s not an adult??? She’s literally in her twenties. ⤷ user04: and he’s in thirties. It’s fucking weird. user11: jail, sir. You go to jail now.

f1_wags

liked by user01, user02, user03, and 2,451 others tagged: yourusername, danielricciardo f1_wags: New WAG Alert! Daniel Ricciardo just announced his relationship with Y/N, a three time grammy winner and musician.

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yourusername

liked by dr3wines, zedd, charlesleclerc, and 462,345 others tagged: danielricciardo, dr3wines yourusername: Congrats on the new wine, Danny! Little sad that it will no longer be for just us and our baths together, but happy to see it be shared.

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danielricciardo: thank ya, sweets. danielricciardo: girl in the second picture is absolutely gorgeous danielricciardo: bath tonight? I’ve still got a few bottles ⤷ yourusername: I’ll always want a bath with you user01: why is his face on my feed user02: throwing up at their comments user03: well, this made me feel incredibly single charlesleclerc: another great wine. Thank you for convincing him to let me try it before the launch! ⤷ yourusername: of course!

user04: leave him!!!! He’s using you for free promo of his wine!!! user05: taylor must be pissed!

taylorswift

liked by yelyahwilliams, taylorlautner, yourusername and 2,873,421 others tagged: yourusername, danielricciardo taylorswift: Was a pleasant surprise to see these two when I stepped off stage tonight. Lovely to see you guys and will see you again for dinner next week!

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yourusername: not a single better performer. Watching is you magic every single time. And dinner will be fun! danielricciardo: amazing show! user01: taylor??? user02: i’m sorry what user03: my 2023 bingo card is in shambles user04: living rn. all of you fuckers were saying that taylor was disappointed and now look. She knew before we did user05: some many clowns staying silent in these comments user06: i was at this show!!! Wyd mean that yourusername was there?

daniel3.jpg

liked by landonorris, f1_wags, sourandguts, and 187,392 others tagged: yourusername daniel3.jpg: my two favorite subjects: you and us

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landonorris: do you two do anything but take baths for date night? ⤷ daniel3.jpg: we do. Just like our baths y’know user01: um, i’m sorry. But that last photo user02: lando is so real. This is the second bath photo we’ve gotten ⤷ user03: i don’t want that water bill user04: gross user05: how do you feel comfortable posting this with how young she is? ⤷ user01: you’re acting like she’s a kid. She’s in her twenties. Fuck off user06: am i supposed to just act like i don’t know now that daniel likes car sex??? ⤷ user03: i’m doing my best to not think about it user07: daniel, thank you for feeding us.

—

Daniel could feel his grin grow, eyes softening, and his shoulders loosening all at the sound of her name. It takes him a moment to register the question, but when he does his grin grows more.

“I wasn’t really expecting it, you know? But she’s just great, I mean absolutely fantastic.” “And the age difference isn’t an issue?” The reporter presses, though more gently than expected. He scoffs, shaking his head. “No, not all. We want the same things in life and we both have very similar timelines for when we want them. We talked about all of that before we even went on a date and us wanting the same things, just helped finally take the next step.”

“And has the backlash affected you two at all?” “No.” Daniel smiles at the confused look the reporter gives him, letting out a chuckle. “We knew it was going to cause a splash. We’ve never ignored the age difference between us. It’s there and ignoring it wouldn’t do anything.” He pauses, “I understand why people are so concerned, there is a history of large age gaps not being great. But there’s also a history of them working out great, I’ve got plenty of examples in my personal life. Besides, it's not really the age difference that matters, it’s where you're at in life and what you want to come next. We just happen to be in the same place and want the same things to come next.”

The reporter is looking at him stunned before they finally manage to find their voice. “Thank you, Daniel.” “Of course, cheers mate.” He winks, before throwing up a hand to wave at the camera before he jogs off, already knowing that he’ll have a text or two from her calling him a sap over his lovesick grin. And he’d hate to not see them as soon as they came in.

[fizzingwizard]

my curse: "Gee I wonder what my old buddy Nightcrawler's up to in 2024? hmm let's check around and see -"

"... why did i look why did i look why"

Seriously why does Marvel do this? I won't deny that Nightcrawler fans like to joke about the tail thing. For the kinkier ones, it's maybe not as much of a joke too. (But - it still is. Y'all know that right. Real people don't have tails. Anyway, you're welcome to make fun of this, as long as I eventually see some dudebro extra show up and ICly ask Colossus about his giant metal wang.)

Women hitting on Nightcrawler and being overtly sexual towards him in a way that would be pretty creepy IRL isn't a new thing in the comics. It's weird, but even though it reads as creepy, it's intended to show that despite looking like a gargoyle, Nightcrawler is hot and can attract girls and is totally an authentic superhero. It's complimentary creepiness 9_9 I don't take issue with that because that is superhero comics, everyone is horny all the time, and attraction is inexplicable. Basically it boils down to "I've got lips/ And I've got lips/ Let's get together and use those lips"

However. In the Draco, we got Jubilee, who was like 18 at the time, complimenting a naked and extremely distressed Nightcrawler on his, uh, junk. His reaction amounted to "..." Then a couple years ago, we got a... demonically possessed?? Illyana - whose age is a fucking mystery, she's not a teen anymore, probably Kitty's age, but anyway she's young - hitting on Nightcrawler as well. Once again he's brilliantly "..." about it. And now we've got this girl. I don't know how old she's meant to be, but she's written to sound like a young chatterbox - while being blonde and buxom and dressed like a Hooters waitress. "OH EM GEE" she spells out vocally??? Then exoticizes him, then asks him sexual questions???

There's definitely a way to comment on the invasiveness of fans who feel entitled to any detail no matter how personal about someone famous. But must it be through teenage girls you purposely drew to be hot and stupid? And I'm being generous by even suggesting that's what the intent here is. I think it's way more likely this is just another version of the "complimentary creepiness" shtick, only made more awful by the like twenty year age gap (I guess Crawler was aged down with everyone else but come on do any of us feel that's real in any sense). You get to lust after this girl while hating her simultaneously for being everything wrong with young women. Who is this for? They can't imagine it's for Nightcrawler's female fans. They can't be that obtuse. It's obviously for the boys.

So then the question is, what is there for the female fans? Because having female fans is kind of something Nightcrawler's known for. And any time something happens to a character - or a story - that the bros don't like, they blame the change on pandering to female fans. On feminism. On reverse sexism. But please someone sit down and explain to me how it's pandering to us female fans to write our favorite character like a tongue-tied himbo ("uh... um... uh..." wow crawler you smooth criminal! it's really obvious you've been a grown ass man since the 70s) while simultaneously insulting our entire gender as vapid nymphos?? Several times???

gosh. next time please just let crawler react by saying "sister you've got boundary issues and should be hitting on someone your own age goodbye." honestly this shit wasn't even cute when Claremont did it and he gets a pass on everything

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

wordcount: 2363

warnings: death, blood, cannon typical violence

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that's not your jam, I'm sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won't actually be in it for a bit

Taglist Sign-Up (read my rules carefully before filling it out)

Ten years. Ten long years in Boston. I couldn’t even tell you what it was like living anywhere else. These ten years felt like twenty and everything before getting here just seemed to melt together. The only thing I could remember was losing everyone. From Ma, Alan, Roy, and Marc on the first night of the outbreak. To Chris in Knoxville. 

By the time they made it to Boston, only Zeak, Scott, Pa, and I were left. How had this happened? It wasn’t even the fucking cordyceps that took most of them, only Ma. And now, it was only Pa and I in our little apartment. 

Zeak got caught up in some illegal shit. Something about dealing pills to someone. He missed a deadline on a payment. I was told they shoved him off one of the buildings. That story spread like wildfire. Even now, 6 years later you can still hear whispers about the poor country boy who got too big for his britches. 

Scott died about a year ago. Our block was notorious for fireflies breaking out in gunfights. Scott got caught in the crossfire. I found him, shot full of bullet holes in the alley by our building. He was only a few feet from the door. He had almost made it. I held him as he bled to death in my lap, knowing there was nothing I could do. Even after his hand that was grasping mine went limp, I held on. He was all I had. Pa still resented me for what happened to Chris, even with his memory failing him, he remembered that much. The nightly patrol found us and took his body from me and escorted me upstairs. 

When I got there, his blood was still all over me. 

“Where the hell have you been, girl?” 

“You’re not wonderin’ where Scott is?” I asked. 

“He’s a man he knows how to handle himself just fine.” 

“Really? You wanna know whose blood this is?” I snapped. 

He stayed silent. 

“It’s Scotts. You hear those gunshots earlier? Yeah, those landed themselves in your son. He bled to death out in the alleyway. He’s gone! He’s dead! Just like everyone else! You happy, Pa? Huh? You gonna blame me for this one too?” 

I did wait for him to answer. I stormed out of the small living room and went into the bedroom.

After that, Pa and I hardly talked. His memory got worse. I swear there towards the end he couldn’t remember why he hated me just that he did and that was that. But we were all each other had left. So when he died, it still hurt. I was now alone.

But life goes on. I found him in his bed yesterday morning. I knew he’d be getting tossed in the burn pit today. Just my luck that is where I was stationed to work. I got up, got dressed, and headed out.

I said hi to the regulars I saw along my route. Despite the events of yesterday, I went on with a smile. No need to make my problems anyone else’s or make anyone feel my sorrow with me. A few of them offered me their sympathy, which I took gratefully. 

I checked in at the workstation and then went to my assigned area. As I scanned the area I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Sometimes that was nice other times it was nice to have someone to talk to, it helped pass the time. 

Work went by uneventfully until I saw him.

 "Careful with that one!" The words left my mouth before I realized it. 

The man that was about to pull my father's corpse out of the truck gave me a weird look. 

"Sorry." I said quickly. 

"You know him?" He asked. I couldn’t tell if his tone was sympathetic or just annoyed. 

"My dad." I said, stepping over to help him. 

He gave a small nod, “Give me a hand then.” 

We hauled him over and tossed him into the pit. I took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. 

"Don't cry. Not here." The man mumbled, patting my arm roughly and I nodded. 

We continued to work in silence after that. Until we were leaving at least, then I spoke up again. 

"Hey, I don't see you around often. Do you jump jobs or something?" I asked. 

He nodded, "I go for whatever's paying the most at the moment." 

"Well, what's paying right now?" I asked. 

"Why would I tell you?" 

"Look man, we just tossed my father into the pit. I'm kinda on my own now. I need money." I reasoned. 

He sighed and I could tell he was thinking it over. 

"Come on." He nodded for me to follow. 

It definitely wasn’t going to be the funnest job, none of them were, but money is money. 

"Thank you..." 

"Joel." 

"Yn. It's nice to meet you." I said holding out my hand for him. 

He nodded and shook it. Then we went our separate ways.

The next morning I found him fairly quickly as we headed in for our shift. 

"Good morning," I said quite cheerfully. 

He side-eyed me, clearly not happy to be up so early. 

"Why are you in such a good mood?" He huffed. 

"I woke up this morning." 

"And...?" 

"That's it. I'm alive to see another day." I explained.

"You're optimistic." He gruffed. 

I smiled at him, as I opened the lid on my thermos. I took a drink and nearly gagged before holding it over to him. 

“What is that?” 

“Why don’t you tell me.” I nodded to it to signal him to take a whiff. 

His eyes went wide when he smelt what it was. 

“Have some.” 

He hesitated before taking the thermos and taking a drink of it. I watched with a small smile as the coffee visibly woke him up more. 

‘That’s so good shit right there.” 

“My old man had a stash of it that I was never allowed to touch… I hate it. The rest of what I have is yours if you want it.” I offered. 

“What do you want for it?” He asked, clearly skeptical of my offer. 

“Nothin’.” I shrugged. 

“That’s a lie. Everyone here wants something for something. Nothing is free. So what do you want for it? I willin’ to bet I can get my hands on it.” He said. 

“Damn, you’re determined to get some coffee, aren’t you? How about a friend?” I asked. To be honest despite his rough exterior and not knowing him long I was warming up to him. I didn’t really have friends so why not. 

“What?” 

“Look, I don’t really have anyone anymore, so yeah, a friend would be nice right now.” 

His face softened and he held out his hand for me to shake, “Deal.” he said with a small smile. 

I smiled back at him as I took his hand and shook it. 

Our friendship grew from that day on. We worked nearly every day together. And even spent our days off together. One afternoon we were sitting on the roof of my apartment building having lunch when he asked me where I was from. 

“Texas.” I replied. 

“No, shit, me too.” He said with a small smile. 

“I feel like now would be the time where I am supposed to ask what part of Texas but, I honestly wouldn’t know the difference,” I admitted. 

“It’s okay, what part were you from?” 

“Canton.” 

“Oh, I know that place, cute little town.” He commented. 

Things were great, then I met Tess. She didn't like me much and didn’t seem too keen on my joining them outside of the city but Joel eventually convinced her. 

Then about a year after we met things went south for me. My block was taken over by the FireFlies. I got caught in the crossfire. I collected what I could of my belongings, which wasn't much, to begin with. I made it out with a shot to my shoulder. It hurt like bitch but I kept going I made it to Joel's and pounded on his door to be let in. 

He threw it open and his face dropped when he saw the blood seeping through my top. 

"What the hell?" He pulled me into his apartment. 

"Fire Flies." I answered. 

"Gunshot?" 

I nodded and all but collapsed into the chair at the table.

"Hey, stay awake." He said to me before calling for Tess. 

"Why'd the kid bleeding?" She said, almost annoyed. 

"I'm not kid." I shot back. 

"Cut it out you two! Get the tweezers." He said to her, she sighed and grabbed them, getting ready to help me.

Joel began reaching for the hem of my top. 

"I gotta take this off, okay?" He asked gently. 

"Buy me dinner first." I joked, not really thinking about the consequences of my words, but we flirted all the time so it shouldn’t be an issue. 

He laughed a little and slowly and carefully took it off. I hissed in pain. 

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"Where?" Tess asked large tweezers in her hand. 

"Back of shoulder." I said leaning forward.

She went to work and the moment I felt the cool metal touch the raw flesh I flinched. 

"Damnit, stay still, kid!" She reprimanded me. 

"Sorry, hurts." My eyes watered. 

She went in again and I flinched. 

"Okay, Yn, imma hold you down, okay?" Joel asked. 

I nodded lazily. 

"Keep your eyes open." He said, holding me down to the table. 

I felt the cold metal touch my skin once again but didn't flinch this time. 

"Fuck!" I gasped in a breath of air as I felt her pinch the raw flesh of my wound instead of the bullet. 

"That's not the bullet you fucker, that's me!" I said through gritted teeth. 

"Joel, it's wedged in there..." Tess said quietly. 

"Just cut it out. I few extra stitches is better than dying of infection." I said reaching for my knife in my pocket. 

I got it and tossed it on the table. Joel quickly grabbed it and poured some alcohol on it to disinfect as best he could. 

"Can I hold your hand?" I asked, holding out my good arm.

He nodded and slid his hand into mine. I squeezed the hell out of it as I felt the blade cut into my shoulder. 

"Breathe, Yn. You gotta breathe through it." Joel said, taking deep breaths to get me to mime him. 

Focusing on him helped and soon enough it was all over and I was stitched up. 

"There you go kid." Tess said, patting my other shoulder. 

"M'not kid." I slurred as I leaned more into the table. 

"Here go lay down on my bed, you'll be more comfortable." He said, helping me stand.

I stumbled but he was quick to catch me, "Can I borrow a shirt? I got blood on mine." 

He laughed a little, "Yeah I'll get you one in a minute." 

Once he got me into a new shirt and laying down he sat beside me on the bed. 

"Sorry bout the floor. I'll clean it later." 

"Don't worry bout that. Just rest." He said, giving me one last look over before standing to leave. 

“Wait…” I called out and he stopped. 

“Will you stay with me?” I asked quietly. 

Joel stayed silent for a moment, “I’ll be right back.” 

He left and I could hear muffled voices through the walls but couldn’t make out what was being said. Then I heard the door slam and a few moments later Joel walked in. I gave him a confused look. 

“What happened?” 

He shook his head, “Tess left. It’s okay. Get some rest.” 

“You too, come on.” I used my good arm to lift the blanket up beside me. 

I could tell he thought about it for a moment. But a moment later he was shedding his boots and crawling into the bed beside me. From that night on we shared a bed. Our relationship grew more and more and although we never officially defined it, we understood that we had something together. 

A little over a year after that night was my first time leaving the QZ. I was very nervous but Joel assured me everything would be okay and that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. It was the night before we were supposed to leave. Joel and I were laying in bed together and I couldn’t settle down. 

“Be still.” He mumbled. 

“Sorry.” I tried not to sniffle but failed. 

He pushed himself to sit up and turned on the small lamp beside him, “What’s wrong?” 

I bit my lip trying not to break down, I was embarrassed by how scared I was to leave the QZ. Part of me was still very insecure that I was so much younger than he was. I never wanted him to think that I was immature. I sat up with him and pulled my knees to my chest. 

“I don’t know if I should go tomorrow…” I whispered. 

“Why not? Did Tess say somethin’ to you? Because she’s just trying to get in your head. We’ve never taken anyone out with us before. It’s more risky, but I promise you’ll be fine.” 

“How do you know?!” I snapped at him, “How do you know?” I repeated much quieter as the tears began to fall as the memories of being attacked by an infected all those years ago resurfaced. 

Joel pulled me to sit between his legs as he held me tight. 

“What happened, sweetheart?” He asked gently. 

“On our trip here from Knoxville, we were less than 5 miles away from the QZ, I got attacked…” I continued to tell the story of what happened that day and how Scott had helped me. 

“Sweetheart, I promise, nothing is going to happen to you tomorrow.” He said gently, pressing a kiss to my temple. 

He continued to hold me before I began falling asleep in his arms. Then he carefully laid us back down but continued to hold me close as we both drifted off to sleep.

I had to fix the taglist, if you're tag is not working please let me know.

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[stxrshxpxd]

leading man

pairing: hugh grant x reader

word count: 1.134

warnings: age gap (early 20s/late50s)

prompt: reader is an inexperienced (in more than one way) actor who’s just booked a film job, and she strikes up a conversation with the leading man

* * *

It was the summer between my first and second year of drama school. The last month of the semester had been crazy, as I had begun filming for my first real big acting job. It was a film with Hugh Grant in the lead. Yes, Hugh Grant! I hadn’t been able to muster up a single word to say to him for the first two weeks on set. I had kept on walking in the opposite direction and avoiding eye contact for the first few days. Some of the first words I said to him I believe were when we had a conversation on screen as our characters. Truth was I had had a huge crush on his younger self half my life.

“Is that so?” Hugh laughed and leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling with an amused smile. The confession about my crush had just poured out of me. Once we had, at last, gotten to talking as ourselves I had found myself rambling on for minutes on end. I was terrified of the silence that might’ve appeared between us had I not had anything interesting to say, and he might’ve gotten bored and left. Granted, I wasn't sure how interesting my last few spiels had been.

“And not now?” he joked, looking down again and glancing at me from under his brows. I took a sharp breath in and tried to think of a witty answer.

“Relax,” he chuckled, noticing I was trying hard to appease him. So long as we’re being honest, I definitely still found him attractive. His bright blue eyes in contrast to his tan and freckled skin. The varying shades of grey in his hair, which I was grateful he had grown out a few inches for the role. The prominent veins residing on the backs of his hands at all times.

“So then you’ve shagged a whole lot of awkward blokes with weird hair and a funny walk probably, eh?” he continued joking and took a sip of his coffee. We were in a corner on set, where we had sat with our coffees for the past half hour. I had learned quickly that being an actor meant you had to do a lot of waiting around.

“Surely those fools are begging at your feet,” Hugh added and extended his whole arm at me. Panic washed over me. He had just complimented me massively and also assumed I had been with a great deal of guys. I could’ve easily laughed it off. Why couldn’t I have laughed it off?

“Not so much blokes as bloke.”

“Oh, long time boyfriend?”

Yes. Lie!

“No. One night stand.”

Hugh smiled gently.

“So, you’re single.”

I was surprised that was what he took away from our conversation, and that was what he chose to emphasise. I chuckled nervously and nodded, crossing my legs and sitting up straighter in my chair. Hugh was quiet for a minute, looking around the room, deep in thought with a little smile on his lips. I was sweating.

“He must not have been that good, your bloke. If you didn't come back for seconds.. And you swore off guys after him.”

“He wasn’t great,” I laughed, still telling the truth. Hugh took another scan of the room and then he looked down in his coffee cup. It looked tiny in his large hand.

“We’re not all like him, you know. There are a few of us who are quite decent in bed.” He made a face that I thought should have been accompanied by a wink but it wasn’t. “Even us awkward boys with funny hair.”

“I really loved your hair! Honest.”

“You’re sweet.”

He smiled softly still.

“How old are you?”

Lie! It’s not that hard.

“Twenty… one.”

I was turning twenty-two in a month. He noticed I was in agony telling him my age.

“You’re a baby! When you’re pushing sixty you can start making that face.”

He pointed at me and my grimacing face again and I laughed.

“I know. I don’t think I’m old… necessarily. I just think I’m… I haven’t done anything, it feels like.”

A serious conversation was blossoming between us and Hugh looked at me with his head slightly tilted, his lip caught between his teeth. He thought for a second.

“Do you mean in the area of that singular bloke with the hair?”

“His hair wasn’t that weird,” I laughed quietly as a quick chime-in, and he made a quick face in response, and then I answered his question. “But yes. That’s a big thing.”

“Well,” he took a deep breath and looked away from our kind of intense eye contact. “You’re gonna hate me for saying this and you won’t believe me, but really it’s not that big of a deal. Firstly, it really doesn’t matter how many people you’ve slept with. You don’t have to do–”

“But I want to!” I cut him off, leaning forward in my seat now. Maybe it was the ninth hour on set which was sending me into delirium, or the apparent chemistry we had, but I was suddenly gushing about how badly I wanted to have sex to Hugh Grant. “I want passion and lust and drama! I want sex.”

“Of course you do, you’re an actor.”

I laughed in the middle of a sigh.

“You wouldn’t let me finish, though… Secondly, it’s just about finding a person you’re comfortable enough with and you can experiment all you want. It’s quite fun.” He shrugged, sipping his coffee again.

“Finding the person is the impossible bit,” I stated with my chin in my palm, as the visual representation of a sigh. Hugh pressed his lips together into a thin line for a moment, staring at me intently. There looked to be many thoughts whirring around in his brain. There was some sort of a vibe building between us. All this time I had had so many things to say to him but now my mind was blank. Was the sexual tension only in my head?

“I guess you’re right,” he nodded and looked away, licking the inside of his cheek.

One man from the production crew came out to our spot and told Hugh that he had a scene to shoot in five minutes. He finished the last bit of his coffee in one swig and I took a mental snapshot of his neck as he bent his head all the way back for a second.

“I’ll pray for that right person to find you,” he pointed at me as he began walking away. “Funny hair or not!”

It wasn’t until he was out of sight that I recognised the big stupid smile on my lips and the heat in my cheeks.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Twenty-Eight (Part 2)

Later on in the evening, when the shadows have lengthened and the firepit is ablaze with crackling logs, someone approaches me through the crowd. Tall and handsome with black hair and eyes such a shocking, icy blue, like a husky. It’s Will O’Connor, Shane’s best friend from school. I fancied this boy relentlessly for three whole years. 

“Evie Kilbride?” He says to me, as though he’s not completely sure, and I don’t blame him. I’m sure to him I was always Kelly’s weird, lanky friend with a mouth full of braces. I was also too shy to ever actually speak to him, so I’m surprised he ever learned my name at all. 

“Yeah.” I say.

“Ah, sorry, I wasn’t sure it was you. You look different to how you did at school.”

“In a good or bad way?” I say without thinking, and he smiles, dimples on his cheeks that I used to have intrusive thoughts about pressing my finger into. 

“I dunno.” He says. “How are you getting on? You’re at college, are you?”

I tell him about NCAD, and my internship, murals and illustration while he nods along with genuine interest. “That makes sense,” He says. “I remember how you were good at art.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah you were always drawing up in the stands during our football games.” 

“Oh God.” I say, “That’s so embarrassing, I can’t believe you noticed me doing that.”

He laughs. “Ah, well, Kelly told us what you were up to. She said you hated watching us playing so you’d bring something to draw with instead.”

I want to protest and say I didn’t hate it. In fact, I always liked when Will was on the pitch. He was something majestic to behold, and sometimes if we were lucky he’d take his jersey off and whip it around over his head in celebration of scoring a point, but I can’t lie and say that I ever wanted to actually watch the games instead of the boys. I’m more embarrassed that Kelly talked about me to him than by the fact that he knew that football bored me. 

He goes on to tell me that he doesn’t really play sports anymore, he just got a job at the local boys school. He’ll be a geography teacher. It seems a startlingly sensible choice for the same boy who threw a science lab skeleton dressed in his uniform off the roof of the P.E hall, but I suppose none of us stay sixteen and reckless forever. 

“How’s Kelly getting on with the nursing degree?” He wants to know. “Is she doing placement this year or what?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Is she coming tonight, or?”

“I don’t know either. I suppose she’s probably working, maybe she’ll be by a bit later.” I pause. “Like, she and I aren’t close anymore.”

Will seems surprised. “Oh really? But ye were always together, joined at the hip, like. You’d never see one without the other.”

“Yeah, I know, but it didn’t work out in the end.” I chew my lip, resisting the urge to say something in defence of myself so that he knows that she’s the one who ruined it, not me when actually it doesn’t matter at all anymore. None of those things that seemed monumental as teenagers seem to matter one iota. Will plunges his hands in his pockets and rocks back and forth on his heels in the short silence that follows. I suspect I have made it awkward for him somehow, and begin preparing my escape before he says: “You know, she actually told me once that you fancied me.”

I explode with panic as though a nuclear disaster alarm has gone off. “What?” 

“Yeah, like…” He laughs self-consciously. “I think it was when I was in fifth year or something. She said that you’d had your eye on me for ages and you were too shy to say anything.”

“Oh Jesus, I’m sorry she said that. That’s really awkward, I’m sure you were really freaked out by it.”

“No, I thought it was cute, to be honest.” 

Why he is bringing this up? It’s not often now that I truly wish to be gobbled up by the earth, but this has made me feel so humiliated that my arms curl around myself as though they can protect me from my own horrible feelings. “Ha. Well, you know, I was really young and silly, I hope I didn’t embarrass you by it or like, that nobody else found out and took the piss out of you for it.” 

He was going out with this girl from the same athletics club as me for ages, and she used to always tell the same story to everyone about how she’d gone shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch and they’d begged her to work there because she was so good looking. If she’d heard about my feelings she would have ripped me to shreds. 

“No, nobody found out.” He says. “I actually do think that you’re very cute. Still, I mean.” The corners of his mouth curve up into a shy smile, and the moment is so alien to me that it takes me several moments to realise that he’s not making fun of me. Will O’Connor is flirting with me. “Oh, thank you.” I manage. 

“You’re not going out with anyone at the moment, are you?”

His phrasing bothers me a bit, as if he’s implying I couldn’t possibly have a boyfriend or something, but still I laugh out loud at the absurdity of the whole situation. After all this time. He used to be everything I wanted but now, the things about him that used to make my stomach flip and my legs weak leave me feeling nothing at all. He would have been embarrassed to bump shoulders with me even accidentally back then, and now look at him. I never thought I’d see him vulnerable. “I am.” I say. “I have a boyfriend, sorry.” I glance over his shoulder to Jude, who’s conversing with Shane about something by the firepit. Will follows my eyes and glances over his shoulder. “Oh, him?”

“Yeah.”

He shrugs. “Lucky guy, I suppose.” He gently clinks his bottle against my prosecco glass and nods. “Well, have a good night, Evie. Was nice to run into you again.”

I join Jude and Shane by the fire straight after, and practically dive into my boyfriend, holding on to him and kissing his cheek five times in quick succession while he chuckles and wraps his arms around me. “Are you alright?”

“Yes” I say. “I’m just obsessed with you, I love you so much.” 

“Little weirdo.” He grabs me by my cheeks and kisses the top of my head. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[ashfae]

Sorry if this is a silly question. But I thought you're the person I should ask this to. I feel like, past the teenage and college ages, I don't ever see pictures or videos or stories about friend groups or couples doing the kind of unabashedly cute, dumb stuff together like you see with teenagers and stuff. Stuff like cuddling and holding hands +other physical contact (for friends) or all descending on a convenience store together or playing silly jokes on each other or doing something stupid with household objects because you want to see how it goes/why not. Do people stop doing that because of social norms or thinking it's embarrassing or weird? Or do they still do that?

(basically am I doomed to never have some experiences because I never dated and was a loser in high school)

Ohh anon, I am a good person to ask this to and have such a positive answer. Yes, people still do that. Not all of them but yes it's out there. Yes. Have some stories/favourite memories of mine: New Year's Eve. We were all twentysomethingish and doing a small silly party at a friend's house. Friend's roommate was off with his girlfriend (both also very good friends of ours). We decided to prank him. So when midnight hit that NYE we were at the grocery store (ahh, America, where nothing ever closes ever) buying a ton of post-it notes and sparkly markers and things. We wrote really random silly messages on them and hid them EVERYWHERE in his room. Evrywhere. Under the mattress. Inside his CD cases. Inside shirt pockets. Inside his CD-ROM drive. Geek quotes, compliments, random philisophical questions, whatever. He was still finding them a year later. (side note: on one note I thought I'd put a random Bible verse. Didn't look it up, just went "Uhhh, Revelations because it's weird, 4:6 because they're random numbers, why not." It ended up on the curtains facing the window. Person looked it up and the verse said "And before them stretched a great sea of glass." I don't think my subconscious knew that) Anyway. Emigrated to Scotland at 24 to go to grad school, leaving all my friends behind. Yeowtch. Made new friends. @amuseoffyre and @arianaderalte, with whom I stayed up all night watching anime and talking about completley ridiculous things. Ariana and I pranked each other by sneaking small chocolate bars in each others' backpacks now and then. Fyre would percolate ideas and history at us until we fell off our chairs laughing (Twenty years later on she still does this and I still love it). Ariana had a small Totoro named Sauron-chan, and once when he was left at my house I took him on An Adventure with tons of photos of his hijinks before returning him to her. Oh, and more. @mywingsareonwheels held a readthrough, inviting a bunch of their friends from around the country to come and sit in a circle in a room and read King Lear. I was Cordelia. (I eventually married the person who was cast as the Duke of Albany, incidently.) I remember our Fool singing some of his lines overdramatically to the tune of Once In Royal David's City. There were other things with that group as years went on, and then group holidays, renting a mansion in the Highlands for a week and doing plays, cooking a feast for each other, lying around with half of us drunk and the other half teetotal talking about whatever, playing board games, arguing about cheese. There was a swimming pool and one night I brought a bunch of balloons with LED lights in them and we swam in the dark by their light. Readthrough weekends where we did all the Shakespeare history plays in one long weekend, or all the Jane Austen audio plays. There's been schisms in the group but my god there's been fun too. Even during lockdown, @mywingsareonwheels organized readthroughs that we did over zoom, and every weekend we watch something.

Regarding my partner formerly the Duke of Albany....I hadn't ever dated much, to be honest. I was romantic and fell in smit every ten minutes but didn't want to do anything with sex unless it was with someone who actually had a romantic interest in me and vice-versa, which no one ever did, so...just didn't do much with any of it, to be honest. So I didn't have much experience. When we started dating I was 24. We had our first kiss in a frikking train station. (sorry, train people, but it was chaste). We held hands all over the city. We laughed. We kept turning to each other and saying "This is fun. Why did no one ever tell me this could be fun? I thought it was supposed to be all serious and intense and difficult, but this is easy!" And it was and it stayed fun. We got to do all the silly smitten things I'd never gotten to do as a teen/college student and assumed I just wouldn't experience ever. I realized I loved them and it was going to work when we were in a pub where it was too loud to talk and he invented finger breakdancing, which I don't think I can describe. We got married a year later which is how I ended up living here permanently. We're still silly at each other. It's still fun. I'm in my mid-40s now. I still have friends where I can headbutt their arm in frustration and they'll pet my hair, where I can make ridiculous faces at them, who don't mind that at the drop of a hat I will burst into song. Who will sing "Oh Hamster Tree" by Clive Barker with me in four-part harmony. Yes, yes to all of it, you can find people who will do that. And honestly, fandom's not a bad place to look for them. It's full of outsiders, and outsiders already know that they're not going to fit The Mold, and sometimes we just accept that and sometimes we embrace it and sometimes we celebrate it. Long story short: yes. Look for the people you can be silly with, and who will make it safe for you to be silly with them. They're out there and my god they're the best friends you will ever have.

As for the people who are too embarassed or wedded to social norms? For the former, encourage them to feel safe if you and they can. For the latter, leave them to it. The game they're trying to win is exhausting and impossible and you're better off out of it. Look for the ones who are kind and laugh a lot. Who encourage benevolent conspiracy rather than things that are 'funny' at someone else's expense. Who protect each others' weak points and respect your boundaries. It's not too late. Yes.

[femmmie]

I just don't want to be perceived anymore

Author's note: I'm so sorry about this lmao. This is all FICTION

word count: 691 rating: general read on AO3

The room was brightly lit. Cloudy blue wallpaper, calathea plants on shelves, a cat purring in on a small soft stool.

"I guess it's just really hard, you know? Or, maybe not hard... It's weird. Off."

"Please, elaborate?"

The therapist's smile was kind, and Anthony felt at ease with her. He sat on the couch as she sat behind her desk, not facing him directly. It made him feel more relaxed.

"You see... I've been 'on camera' for twenty years now. Sure, I've had my ups and downs, different looks, different eras. Still..." Anthony scratched the back of his neck. "It's like every time I see myself on camera now, I can't help but measure it to my best days. So I always lose."

"Why do you compare yourself to past versions? They are never coming back."

"No, and that's the problem. I'm beginning to see my losing battle with time. Little wrinkles, different kind of face shape..."

"Face shape?" The therapist raised her eyebrow.

"I know, I'm being very vain. And I know it's a part of life and it happens to everyone, if they're lucky to live long enough. Except Oprah of course, she's Benjamin Buttonning."

"Anthony. Let's stay on topic. Obviously everyone ages. But you've done more than age. I'm talking about your tattoos."

Anthony looked at his arms. Long brush strokes ran all the way down them, even over his fingers. He turned his hands. One palm was entirely covered in ink. "I really like them."

"Obviously you do. But, do you think you getting them has something to do with your self-image?"

"I just really enjoy getting them set, and I feel like I am expressing a truth from within me, on the outside. So maybe it does."

You said you're comparing yourself. Did you do that before?"

"I did. I've really done it my entire life. I've never felt like I was enough..."

Anthony looked out of the window. It was a sunny day in California, like always.

"How come?"

"You know my life's story by now, you know why. I can't help it, and I really am trying to work through it, but I don't want to broadcast an embarrassing set of displays of mental breakdown like I did when I first left."

"Left?"

"Smosh."

"Right. Is that all, though?"

"No, of course not."

"Please, Anthony, don't make me pry it out of you." The therapist shot Anthony a look and he laughed.

"Alright. So. I just don't want to be perceived anymore. This last year has been so so good, truly. Buuuut, I've also noticed myself falling into old patterns again. I keep trying to get validation from strangers, it's so addictive. I know better and still I keep doing it.

Anthony sighed.

"And now I have Ian back, it feels... sacred? What we have now, it's so special, truly, right? Like, we've won the lottery, we got our soulmates ending, we did the whole Your Name thing. And making the sketches together has been magical."

He fought back a sob.

"But when we're doing these public appearances, videos, podcasts and all the rest, people I don't know get to butt in on that sacred space. And I don't want them to see, you know? We're finally in such a good place and I don't want it to get contaminated."

The cat jumped from its stool and pushed it's little body against Anthony's tattooed calf. It purred loudly, and left Anthony no other choice than to pet it.

"Have you two done things together that you haven't shared with strangers online?"

Anthony's face lit up. "Yes, and those are the best days. We're in fact planning a short trip to Europe together right now."

"That's good. And do you think this holiday will make you feel differently about all of this?"

"No. In fact, I have made up my mind. I am taking a step back. I will be on screen a little, here and there, but that's it. It's been a long career. And I am ready to retire."

"Fair enough. How does that make you feel?"

"At peace, honestly. At peace."

[torialefay]

I reblogged my topic I was going to send here in case you didn't want to continue answering and furthering the concept about how lack of experience can affect the desirability of a person in sexual/romantic.

I'm 26, virgin, the last time I even kissed a guy was 5 years ago, never been in a long-term relationship and even though it is a HUGE insecurity of mine, I'm open about it on here because I have received a lot comments like-

'You're a virgin? your smut is so good and accurate, I thought you'd have loads of experience'

Which I love those comments, froth over them but I'm honest about my inexperience so ppl know I have no idea what the hell I'm writing about half the time.

But as a cis female, I do understand that it's more 'acceptable' for a woman to be 26 and have a lack of experience vs men to be 26 and have a lack of experience.

It's hard both ways- don't get me wrong because I know plenty of guys who are like...

'I don't want to be with someone who's a virgin because it's too much pressure to be someone's first'

Which for starters, how mediocre and effortless is your performance in the bedroom that you think it's 'too much pressure' to give someone a good time?

And secondly, I would argue and say there's less pressure because there's nothing for us to compare it too??

But as a female, I think we do get more sympathy about being a late-bloomer because 'she's a romantic, she's waiting until marriage, sex is more intimate for her etc etc'.

Whereas most the time when a guy is inexperienced, ppl are going to be like 'why? You're a guy, just go fuck whoever- unless you're a creep or incel wtf?'

But it's double edged because most ppl don't want to be with someone who's inexperienced but how are we meant to gain experience?

And then there's the whole other topic of a women being sexually rejected by a man and the stigma surrounding that-

Women are tend to be told that men will take all offers of sex and has someone who has been sexually rejected (more than once) by guys- I can safely say it's a level of humiliation that you don't find anywhere else.

In summary, as a demisexual 26 year old inexperienced female, pls give us a chance because most of us are eager and willing to learn and are just excited about fkn getting chosen by someone in all honesty.

i think it's okay to post about it as long as it's informational and isn't coming for anyone 😭😂 and i think this is an important topic because there definitely are people on this platform who also haven't had sex before & i think it's good for them to know that it's actually pretty normal. i have friends who haven't slept with anyone, and they're in their mid-twenties as well.

i also have friends who have liked & disliked that they were "virgins"... sometimes i struggle with the word bc i think it can have a negative or weird connotation sometimes, but i'm gonna use it for now anyways. there are some people who like the feeling of knowing they're gonna be the first dick inside of you/first person to do something to you (as if you've never used a toy or fingers before but whatever), and there are definitely people who don't give af about you & assume you want your first experience to be with someone more "special" than them. there's a wide range of responses to someone who openly says that they are a virgin.

i don't think most realize just how many people there are around our age who actually haven't slept with anyone... because they simply don't talk about it or have been made to feel weird or ashamed. my heart breaks over that sometimes bc some people simply want it out of curiosity, but others only want it to say they've done it or to not feel "weird" about themselves... or feeling "different" i guess.

i do think i've met more fem people who need an emotional connection before experiencing sexual attraction to a person... but i think there are plenty of masc people who feel this way as well, but it's been pushed on them that they SHOULD have the urge to fuck. and here's the same: it is so fucking hard & backwards to get into a relationship these days. i've read some studies that have projected that only about 60% of people in our age range & below will end up in relationships and be with that person long term/to the point of marriage... people have a dating problem & a commitment problem and that makes it a lot harder for some people to have sex or even want to have sex. even for me, i've only slept with people i've been in relationships with... but at this point in society, i genuinely don't know if i'll ever be in a meaningful relationship again sooooo ig you know what that means 🥲

point blank, there are tons of people out there, fem and masc, who haven't had sex. most of them just don't talk about it. and i don't think it's anything that anyone should be shamed for- regardless of the gender they identify as. plus, there will be plenty of people who are great at sex their first time, and plenty who aren't. some potential partners don't want to risk it as not being "great" their first time & that could contribute to saying no. but i would bet that there are plenty of people out there who would be just fine with it.

i hope you never have to feel alone in this. if people don't wanna fuck, that's not always on you. and please never feel like you have to be "chosen" bc a lot of these guys & gals choose sucky people for reasons we don't really know other than they think they'll insure a good time. i love youuuuu ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[vincess-princess]

as we were falling

ch. 4

a/n: to the handful of people reading this, i love you. this is as unedited and rough as it could be, and you still push through. that takes some serious willpower i gotta say

warnings: - (incredible, right)

word count: 1435

It always hit hard at night.

The engines were humming quietly, sending vibrations throughout the ship. The living quarters were usually padded against this, but those were no living quarters.

Tommy knew this was the last night onboard. Nobody told him that, of course, but he knew. It’s been eight days, and the crew was running around, their steps and voices constantly passing past the corridor behind the door of their cell. This hurry could only mean one thing.

As much as the ship sucked, Tommy would rather stay here, in this piss-soaked robe, eating disgusting nutrient paste, shitting in a bucket, than go off to an unpredictable future, alone. No, it wasn’t exactly unpredictable: there would be an auction, and his price would probably cap at three thousand EDs – he was too lanky for anything more than that, though the hair and the face might drive it up a little. He didn’t have much to offer in terms of skills, except maybe waiting on tables, dancing and drumming – but that wasn’t what coreworlders were looking for in slaves. Maybe a middle-aged lady would want to acquire an errand boy and a young lover, or a family of five a nanny, or a weapon dealer – a manual laborer who he wouldn’t have to pay. He tried to list all the possible options in his mind, but gave up at fifty-seventh. Too much uncertainty. He hated it.

Nikki was snoring, quietly and peacefully, on the mattress next to his. They’ve only been mattress-mates for two and a half days, but it was still a connection, still a familiar stone to hang onto in the relentless stream of life. Nikki was reckless, and completely insane, and didn’t know what cereal tasted like but could tell the difference between the shots of FNFAL7 and SA92 by sound. Tommy made a note to find out more about Rina (what was the system? MC-something?) whenever he got the chance. Weird guy, but there was something appealing about him. It was a pity they’d never meet again after tomorrow. Tommy had a feeling they could become good friends.

“Hey.” Nikki as though materialized next to his mattress straight out of Tommy’s thoughts. For a second Tommy even got scared he could read his mind. “You alright, kiddo?”

“Yeah,” Tommy said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Why?”

“You were sniffling.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

Tommy wiped his nose stealthily. “No, I wasn’t. And I’m not a kiddo.”

“C’mon. You look seventeen.”

Tommy was gravely offended. “I’m eighteen, actually.”

“Ah, eighteen. Such a good, carefree time,” Nikki said dreamily. “When I was your age-“

“You were my age like two years ago,” Tommy interrupted, irritated.

“Four, actually.” Now it was Nikki’s turn to get offended. Oh, so the perceived difference in maturity was just Nikki’s vaster life experience. Rina sounded like a hellhole, and while Atarea wasn’t heaven on earth either, at least Tommy never had to hold a gun in his hands. Mostly because they were too poor to afford one, though.

“How’d you get swiped?” he heard himself asking, practically against his will. That was probably a sensitive topic, but he was curious, and there’d be no better chance to find out.

Nikki didn’t seem to mind much, though. “They landed next to our settlement. Demanded we give them our guns and our young. We refused. They started shooting.” He paused, his breath quickening. “They got the guns and three of us out of twenty-seven. Maybe two – Danny looked real bad last time I saw him.”

Tommy blinked, astonished. “Just like that? You didn’t even have time to call the intercops?”

“Intercops? On Rina?” Nikki laughed bitterly. “Kiddo, they haven’t even heard of it. No intercop dares venture that far. He’d be polished off in an instant just for a fancy gun.”

“Oh. Alright.” Atareans didn’t like cops much either, but killing one was the last thing anyone would wanna do –there’d be a horde of them the next day hauling off anyone they thought was related to the incident. “And other settlements? You tried contacting them?”

Nikki shook his head. “They put on a radio blocker. And we didn’t have many settlements close enough to help us out - provided that they’d want to help us at all instead of waiting for us all to get massacred to feast on the remains.”

“Your planet kind of sucks, dude,” Tommy said honestly.

“It does.” Nikki wrinkled his nose. “Hellhole, as I said. Still wouldn’t change it for any coreworld planet they’re dragging us to. Better to die on your terms than live on terms of others.”

Tommy didn’t like his tone – it was so full of desperate brashness he was almost sure the guy would throw himself off a fancy coreworld skyscraper when given a chance rather than live in that very skyscraper as a slave. But the guards had probably already noted his affinity for rebellion and indifference to getting hurt and his future owners would surely learn about that beforehand.

“But enough about me,” Nikki continued, his tone that scared Tommy gone. “What’s your story?”

“There’s not much to tell.” After Nikki’s tragic tale Tommy felt almost guilty for having such a mundane backstory. “My family was poor as rats. I’ve made some mistakes - got arrested a couple times. Killed my own prospects, so to say.” He avoided looking Nikki in the eyes. “And you don’t earn much working tables and cleaning the trash.”

“What kind of mistakes?”

“Oh, you know. Minor ones. Broke into a car once – there was a wallet on the seat. Got busted right there and then. Couldn’t pay the court fines – got put onto the list of ‘unreliables’.”

“The list of who?”

“Unreliable member of society. Trash. Outcasts. Effectively closed off practically any normal job for me.”

“Your family sold you or something?” Nikki frowned. "When you became unable to bring in the cash?"

“Not exactly.” Tommy raised his hand, interrupting him. “You see, I have a younger sister. She’s smart. Ambitious. Straight As at school. Her teachers tell her she’s got every chance of getting into college.”

“So they did sell you.“ Nikki concluded, but Tommy shook his head.

“Dude, listen to the end. I was deep down in the dumps. Drank heavily. Shot up in club bathrooms. Spent all my family’s money on booze and drugs.”

Nikki listened with a face of stone. Not a muscle moved on it, only his eyes were burning – burning with rage.  

“They did offer me a chance.” Tommy squeezed out a smile, but it came out a grimace “Go clean and find a job, split the bills. Put in a share for my sister’s college.”

“But you are here. You didn’t pull that off?”

Tommy shook his head. Images that he tried so hard to suppress came back to mind. Screams, harsh words, fights. At least now it was over. “No. I refused to try entirely.”

Nikki’s eyebrows flew up. “Are you for real? You rejected a normal life with your parents for this?” He waved his hand around. Someone snored loudly.

Tommy sighed. How could he explain to a dweller of a wild edgeworld planet whose entire colony was shot why Tommy’s life sucked? “That wasn’t normal life. My parents hated me, and I hated them. I wanted out. I wanted to not be a burden. I wanted my sister to go to college.” He leaned in to Nikki, as if telling a secret. “To be honest, man… I feel relief. I won’t be a dead weight on their shoulders anymore, compromising my sister with my mistakes.”

For a while Nikki looked at him without saying anything, sending shivers down his spine. “You’re crazy, man,” he finally said. “You’re absolutely crazy.”

“Maybe I am.” Tommy shrugged. He hoped his story didn’t change Nikki’s opinion of him to the worse. “I’m still surprised myself. Never thought I’d be able to do something like that.”

“I never would,” Nikki said. “I don’t understand you. But-“ he paused, “if that was a decision you made yourself…”

Tommy nodded.

“Then I respect it,” Nikki finished, and Tommy felt pride blooming in his chest. This big, tough, take-no-shit guy respected him. For Tommy, that was something. “But I still think you’re absolutely crazy,” he added, smiling a contagious smile.

They spent the rest of the night talking. When they finally got to sleep people were already rushing past their door and calling out to each other, which meant it was almost wake-up time. Tommy knew he needed energy for the day that was about to come, but he also wouldn’t exchange that night for anything.

[spaceorphan18]

Scenes from December (22/24)

Klaine Advent Day Twenty-Two : Red

****

December, 2076

The house had been sold.  Half their personal belongings had been donated or given away.  Downsizing had always been in the plans for this age, but now that he was here, Kurt didn’t like it all much.  He didn’t like anything - from the windows that were too small, to the weird, musty stench, to the fact that the carpets were a dull red shag probably left over from when the place was built a hundred years earlier.  No matter how long Kurt had spent fixing the space to make it feel as comfortable as possible, he wanted it to be a home - and it didn’t feel like that yet.

 “I don’t like it here,” Kurt grumbled at Blaine as they sat in their chairs.  These weren’t his old, worn in chairs -- they had given those to Katie, these were new, stiff things that may have looked nice online, but were proving to have little functionality.   

“I don’t see why not - you used to love retirement homes.”  Blaine gave him a cheeky grin.  Of course, one week in, and Blaine was already having a ball.  Blaine always did manage to acclimate to new situations much better than he did.  “I still think you should join our retro game night - there’s Wii Bowling and it’s a delight.” Blaine chuckled to himself. 

Thank god for Blaine and his endless optimism.  Kurt didn’t think he’d have made it that far without it.  

“Oh, speaking of retro - that reminds me…” Blaine pushed himself up and went over to the wall with the control panel.  With a few button pouches the sound of 1940s jazz filled the room.  “The community center said they were offering a ballroom dancing class.  I thought maybe you and I should go.”  

Kurt grumbled a little - but Blaine still made his way towards him, offering his hand, his hazel eyes still holding that twinkle.  Kurt softened, and took his hand, and a moment later the two of them were holding onto each other rightly, dancing cheek to cheek as Glenn Miller played on the sound system.  

“Do you remember our first dance together?” Blaine asked. 

Kurt grinned.  “Prom.”  Not that he could ever forget that moment - it had been captured and framed and on their dresser the entire length of their marriage. The photo would often get dusty and forgotten, but every now and then it caught Kurt’s eye - and he remembered the magic.  “I can’t believe it was an Abba song.” 

“Yeah - whoever chose that one was really on the nose with it.” 

They both laughed at the memory as they swayed back and forth.  

“So, what’s really been bothering you, Kurt?” Blaine asked.  Blaine could tell his unease since the move.  He had been quiet about it - but Blaine always knew.  “Is it that this time of year always reminds you of your dad? Or the fact that Rachel didn’t recognize you last time we visited?”

Kurt let out a sigh.  “All of it - I guess.”  Kurt gave a look around.  It was still mid-afternoon, but the sun was already setting, the room growing dark.  “I think this place just solidifies that my story is almost over and the world just keeps on going.” 

“Yes, but it’s been such a good story,” Blaine playfully argued back.  “And all good stories have to come to an end sometime.  Just because it’s bittersweet doesn’t make it bad.” 

A wave of emotion swept over Kurt.  He just wanted to stay in this moment, hold onto Blaine as long as he could.  “You know, you have a knack of always finding new ways to make me fall in love with you.” 

“Oh, well then, I feel accomplished.” 

“Accomplished?” 

“I mean, I did say I wanted to spend my whole life loving you. And. I got to.  Accomplishment achieved.”

“Hey - we’re not done yet -- there’s still a little bit of story left.” .

“Hey, Kurt?” 

“...Yeah?” 

“I promise never to say goodbye to you either.” 

Kurt moved in to gently brush his lips against Blaine’s then leaned their foreheads together.  The melancholy melody of the music swelled as they moved with it.  He began to feel a little bit at peace.  It didn’t matter where they were - as long as he had Blaine, he was alright. 

“You know Kurt, if you ask nicely, maybe the retirement home will let you put on a play.  You can dust off Peter Pan.” 

“Nah.  I think being young forever is overrated.”

[pillowfriends]

TSR new reader thoughts: chapter 21-26

Chapter 21: Into the Heart

Moiraine POV finally!! I love this POV because it does absolutely nothing to make her a more sympathetic or likeable character. featuring such bangers as "Egwene is getting harder to manipulate, this is really inconvenient" and "When Lan is with me it's annoying because he thinks I need protection, but when he's not with me it's annoying because he should be doing his job and protecting me" and "what the fuck Rand I'm so fucking angry what the FUCK - *outwardly just has the blankest most neutral expression*" truly she is the character of all time.

anyway. Rand is politicking and still doesn't think a woman could ever be a legitimate threat to anything. ok

Chapter 22: Out of the Stone

Aiel culture information, cool. Rand and Egwene reminiscing about the Two Rivers, cute and tragic. Moiraine is so funny in this chapter being upset that Rand is keeping secrets. girl have you met yourself?? also Lan taking Rand's side over Moiraine's - god this woman can't catch a break.

introduction of the fat man angreal I've heard so much about!

Chapter 23: Beyond the Stone

Moiraine was soooo angry at Rand for taking the risk with the stone. also Lan wtf withholding Aiel information from Moiraine. "You have never asked me about them" terrible excuse you've been together for twenty years and it's extremely relevant to the quest you're on RIGHT NOW. this doesn't feel like a Lan move tbh but maybe I just have my rose-colored MoLan glasses on. it really does seem like Lan is distancing himself from Moiraine which I'm upset about.

Aviendha can channel! we're meeting so many channelers from different areas and it's very cool. I think her denial of what the Wise Ones want her life path to be, and eventually caving in, parallels very nicely with our ta'veren protagonists.

Moiraine goes into a tent, drinks some wine, keeps talking over Egwene to get random information about the Aiel, goes on a rant about the Old Tongue that no one really cares about, and then runs out naked to go through a mystery ter'angreal. what an icon.

Chapter 24: Rhuidean

I really don't have a lot to say about this chapter, like, Mat being Mat, some more ter'angreal fuckshit, human skin leather on the creepy guy, okay moving on.

(actually though, WHAT is going on with these redstone doorways, insane. sometimes it's hard to tell with the ter'angreal what magic weirdness will be handwaved away and what will be explored/explained later. either way, though, it's fun to read.)

Chapter 25: The Road to the Spear AND Chapter 26: The Dedicated

holy shit. this is why I read epic fantasy. I'm combining these chapters because they're basically one long chapter of Rand going back through Aiel history. I don't even know what to say except that it was extremely cool, I loved how it traced the history back through one family line, and I was absolutely overwhelmed (in a good way) by the insane amount of lore. it was very smoothly done though. standout moments for me are learning the reason behind the Aiel veiling their faces before they kill, and also WHAT THE FUCK WE GOT THE AGE OF LEGENDS??? on page??? with like, male channelers and futuristic technology and ?????? I'm never recovering.

but yeah, TLDR that was an insane sequence that made me so, so excited for future lore reveals. I'm in it now baby, I'm not just invested in the characters but I'm also so invested in the world Robert Jordan built. there's so much history, so many cultures, and I want to learn about all of it.

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[storiesfromhalcyontale]

Chapter 1: A sense of Unfamiliarity.

8:30pm

Unit A: Is everything ready? Are we prepared to see if this works?

Unit B: Yes. Everything is good on our end. The machine is good to go.

Unit C: Remember, we need two specimens from this world to run tests. We need to see what effects will be had if we go through with this plan.

Unit A: I second that. This could go disastrous. Have we also double checked the calculations?

Unit D: Everything seems to be in order.

Unit B: Unit C are all the precautions in place?

Unit C: Yes. All the possibilities have been checked and prepared for.

Unit A: Wonderful, let’s get this show on the road…

____________________________________________________

I awoke dazed, Monday… I thought to myself the most boring day of the week. With Sans and Grillby on their honeymoon, Papyrus off at University, and stuck with my grandfather Gaster… This will be a weird five weeks ahead of me..I put my glasses on and dragged myself downstairs where I made a bowl of cereal. I looked at my phone and checked the news “Thunder Strikes!” The title informed me as I read through the news, something about a thunder storm last night.. I washed up and headed up the stairs to get ready for school. I saw a notification on my phone.

7:30am

Asriel: Did you hear about the thunder last night?

Sho: Yeah yeah, I heard. Thunder is weird and I hate it.

Asriel: Yeah yeah. Anyways meeting at the library?

Sho: Sure, just need to get ready. Woke up super later than normal.

Asriel: Whoa, did the thunderstorm scare you?

Sho: Asriel you know I hate thunder with a burning passion.

Asriel: Alright alright. Just hurry up..

I threw on a white t-shirt and Black jacket. This combo never goes wrong I thought to myself. I threw on a pair of jeans and finally my bag as I left the house.

“Wait!” I heard someone yelp, It was gaster. “Shoto you forgot to brush your hair again.”

“Firstly, I prefer Sho, rolls of the tongue better. And Secondly I like my hair like this.”

“It looks like a lion’s mane.” He uttered while drinking a coffee.

“Wow, that’s new!” I laughed, I found this funny as I’ve heard my hair has been described as many things before. “Well I’m already as late as it is.”

“Well…” Gaster sighed “Good luck with your day kid.”

“You too..”

I began walking, out of the house and along the road. Something didn’t sit right today, I didn't know why I was feeling like this, whatever… I brushed off my gut feeling as I reached the library where Asriel sat waiting for me.

“Took you long enough, were you talking to Gaster or something?” He asked impatiently, gosh I musta taken awhile.

“Exactly that my good friend!” I confirmed with a big grin on my face.

We continued walking, Asriel was sixteen like me. He had fluffy hair and a turtle-neck shirt on today. He was also my best friend, someone I trust with my life. We continued walking until we got to the school, Kids were flooding in like mice finding a slice of cheese. We weren’t that late, I affirmed myself. I walked through the doors, where I looked at my phone to find my timetable, SOC1.

“Sho I’m going to meet with Akemi.” Asriel stated, slowly backing away from me.

“Alright I’ll see you in SOC1” I said walking in the general direction of the classroom.

My form was helmed by an Art teacher called Mr Heggarty. A young art teacher around the age of Twenty Three, he had short black hair and wore a ridiculous suit and tie. But it makes him stand out from the other teachers so I don’t mind much. I took my seat, taking my phone out of my pocket to scroll through instagram. Nothing new. Other than that thunderstorm nothing caught my eye, I put my phone back into my pocket and lay my head on the desk. I was swimming in thoughts, nothing is going to happen this week.. I deeply wished for something… ANYTHING… would happen. But I knew this wasn't the case.

I lifted my head and saw Asriel and Akemi at the door walking over. Akemi was another lad in my year. He has similar brown hair to me with a blue streak in it. He wore a red jacket around his waist with a white shirt. He’s also in a ‘will they won’t they’ situation with Asriel which I find funny as they are both not good at hiding their feelings for each other.

“Hey Sho” Akemi said, taking a seat behind me.

“Hey Akemi” I yawned, I musta gotten really bad sleep last night. I got a rubix cube out of my bag and began to fiddle with it to keep myself awake.

“Asriel and I are going out to the park after school, want to come?”

“Tempting offer but I have to decline. I have some Homework to catch up on. Plus I don’t wanna ruin the lovebirds” Akemi and Asriel blush at that statement and I laugh. However what I said did hold some weight, I was behind on homework which needed to be in by Wednesday. It’s an essay on an Inspector Calls my English teacher set for my class. I was around 50% of the way through it..

The school was eerily close to the science lab, just a bunch of nut jobs running impossible experiments. I concluded putting my rubix cube back into my back ready to listen to sir give off the form notes. I could hear constant chatter behind me, mainly about the thunder storm last night. I wanted to turn my ears off as best I could, but I couldn’t so I just sat there looking out of the window. The notes were flowing through one ear and out of the other.. And my day until lunch time was to write notes, listen, write notes, listen.

By the time lunchtime came around, after period three, I accepted the fact that nothing was going to happen and sat on the desk and ate a pizza. Soon Asriel and Akemi joined me.

“Did anything interesting happen in either of your two’s lessons?” I asked intently.

Asriel shook his head “Unless you want some kid getting isolated then no.”

I sighed and looked around. “Nothing happens at this school, it's so boring!”

“I second that.” Akemi affirmed, he was playing with Asriel’s hair as he said this.

Suddenly without no reason the speaker came on, the voice on there was that of the headmaster of this school, this must be a real emergency I thought as I finished off my slice of pizza.

“Due to a gas leak at the scientific research facility, Period four and five have been cancelled. Please make your way out of the school immediately” He firmly stated.

Students were rushed out of the school and soon we were all walking home.

“A gas leak?” I questioned “But isn’t that always to disguise the real cause?”

“Yeah but… No school for the rest of the day” Akemi started getting out of his seat.

“I guess you're right. C’mon.” And soon we were following the crowd of people.

“Well this is where I turn..” I stated, giving Asriel a fist bump.

“Sho are you sure you don’t wanna come?” Asriel questioned, seemingly wanting me there.

“Nono it’s fine Asriel really, go have a fun rest of your day with Akemi.” I answered looking down in the process. I really wanted to go with them.

“Well… Alright.. See you tomorrow I guess” Replied Akemi, seemingly gutted that I couldn’t go with them.

“See you Tomorrow Asriel, Akemi.” And like that they walked away. I turned in the opposite direction to walk home. At Least something did happen, I gathered my thoughts for a moment deciding to message Gaster.

12pm

Gaster: I’ve gone out for a bit. I’ve left the key under the plant pot.

12:30pm

Sho: P4 and 5 got cancelled omw home.

Gaster will take awhile to respond, especially if he’s on a date with Asgore.. I continued walking, my house isn’t far from here… It should take another what… ten minutes? Then I heard something, rustling of grass. I looked to the right of me where I heard the sound, I saw a figure. Against my better judgement I moved towards the figure then I started hearing voices of some kind.

“You're going to be alright Laval! C’mon don’t pass out on me goddamit!”. I continued looking and saw a crocodile in some sort of tunic attire with a gold chestplate and red spines on the top of his head. Then there was some sort of lion laying on the ground he looked injured. He had a red mane and similar attire to the crocodile but the colours were a bit different, more blue is used. The crocodile looked… panicked

“You two…okay?” I asked slowly, walking towards them. The crocodile turned towards me, he had an old wound in his left eye.

“GET BACK! YOU LOOK JUST LIKE THEM!” He hollered turning towards me, “YOU LOOK LIKE THE ONES THAT BROUGHT US HERE!”

“I…” I looked at the lion then looked back at the crocodile “I don’t know what you're on about but he seems really hurt. I can take you up to my grandfather’s house until he gets home, he knows medical treatment.”

“LIKE I CAN TRUST YOU WITH LAVAL!” The situation is getting worse. I contemplated my next move carefully.

“Look, what’s your name?”

“Cragger.. Why does that matter!?”

“Okay… Cragger'' I said lowering my voice to a more gentle tone “Your friend is injured, however I can assure he makes a speedy recovery. Let me take you both to my grandfather’s house.”

He looked deep in thought, similarly contemplating his next move carefully like this was a game of chess. He continued to look back at the lion supposedly called Laval and me.

“Fine. Please help Laval..” He gulped moving to the side. I quickly got my phone out to message gaster.

12:37

Sho: If you see this message something’s come up while walking home. Please come home quickly.

“Alright so if you get under his shoulder as I do it should distribute his weight enough for us go get home and get him on the sofa for now.” I stated, we both began to get under his shoulder and carry him for the ten minutes. I didn’t dare start a conversation with Cragger until we got Laval to safety, he seems really worried at the moment. Finally we got to Gaster’s home where I searched under the plant pot as cragger continued holding the weight which came as a shock to me. I unlocked the door and directed Cragger to the couch where he carefully laid Laval onto as if he was a child going to bed.

“So!” I exclaimed loudly “What happened?” I took a wooden chair and sat on it whilst Cragger was playing with Laval’s mane.

“Well, me and Laval were just talking when this portal opened up and these… things in white coats took us through it!”

“White coats?”

“And we had to jump out of the window to escape, I landed just fine but he… landed on his arm.”

There was an awkward silence that felt like it lasted for centuries then there was a sudden ping, breaking the silence. I looked at my phone and saw a message from Gaster.

12:47pm

Gaster: Shoto is everything alright?! I’m on my way home now.

Sho: Yeah it’s fine now, I’ve gotten home alright. But… something has seemingly happened.

Gaster: What?

Sho: I’ll explain more when you get back. I need to go do something.

I got up from my seat and headed towards the kitchen. Cragger still looked panicky so I decided to make him a hot chocolate. Hot Chocolates always calm me down when I’m in a panicked situation, I looked for the powdered chocolate and eventually found it. I soon started the recipe and when I finished I felt honestly proud. I returned to Cragger with the mug of hot chocolate and he looked at it confused.

“What’s this? It isn’t poisoned is it?!”

“Nono..” I mumbled “This is hot chocolate, should calm your nerves a bit until Gaster gets here.”

“Thanks.. I guess.” He took the drink and drank a little bit, he looked like he liked it as he continued to drink it all the while staying by Laval’s side, determined not to move until Gaster arrived.

Soon, the door flung open and Gaster entered the room. He seemed panicked; he must have thought something happened to me.

“Shoto! Is everything…” He looked at the couch and his voice got more stern although still shown a ounce of care“...alright?”

“Well, not exactly. It’s a long story which I’ll get into later but TLDR: Laval here hurt his arm and passed out from the injury.” I answered, turning towards the couch where Cragger still was.

“He said you could help him. So please… Help my friend…” pleaded Cragger, still playing with Laval’s mane.

“Well… I can see what I can do..” Gaster Exhaled, taking a seat next to Cragger and examining Laval’s arm with healing magic. Cragger watched with fascination at the magic in front of him, I smiled. He looked genuinely shocked which is the first emotion that wasn’t panic or anger I’ve seen from him.

“Well, his arm is broken. That much is for certain.” Gaster revealed, he stopped doing magic for a moment. “But it’s nothing that I can’t handle.”

“Does that mean he’s going to be fine?!” Exclaimed Cragger jumping from his seat.

“Yes. He’ll be fine but it will take him a day to wake up.” Gaster answered, turning towards me expectantly.“However, no-one has told me what’s happened…”

“Oh.” I said looking at Gaster “Well you might want to continue healing his arm since It’ll be a long one.”

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Ima do quick notes as I look back on these chapters WAYYYYY after I wrote them. These first two chapters were really proof of concept, since I came up with the concept for the story whilst bored in english one day :P Looking back on this first chapter, it's actually insane how people liked this story to be lol

[grey-gteam]

GreyG : group formation

2021, November:

Ijin:

I've been a Trainee at SM Entertainment for more than 1 year. Today I am preparing for the weekend assessment. Stressful, I've been afraid he'll eliminate me for 1 years, and yet I'm still here. When I was 13, I auditioned in Europe, and coincidentally, I was accepted. I didn't believe it, neither did my parents. But apparently I liked them. My parents took a while to agree to send me to Korea when I was 13 years old. I was young, yet they already knew that I wanted to become an idol, they thought it was my chance.

And thanks to their support, I am here today preparing to avoid elimination.

Jin Sol:

An hour, an hour that I wait impatiently for the start of the weekend check. Pretty much like elimination basically, if you no longer meet the requirements of the mentors, well, you say goodbye to your dream of starting out at SM. I've been a Trainee since… since when? I'm 18 today, so it's been 3 years. I was recruited in front of my school by a nice woman. She told me that she really liked me, that I had the right style. I didn't understand but I followed her and today I do my stretching and vocalizations to avoid wasting this chance that I was given.

Chenny:

I don't really know what I'm doing here, to become an idol? Maybe ? Anyway, I'm paying the price. Today is the day of eliminations, maybe the mentors will be in a good mood, letting all the girls stay, or not. Anyway, we'll know in a few minutes. I'm on the ground, almost exhausted. I feel like my 5 years of Trainee are starting to weigh on me. I'm afraid of having made all these efforts for nothing, I'm afraid of regretting having made this choice. I get up trying to be positive though badly, it's not such a horrible experience, I met nice people, like Yerin, even if she's weird. I finish my stretches the moment we are called for elimination.

Gabi:

We enter the large training room, there were more than twenty girls, we were even more numerous but over time, the number dropped considerably. I hope to stay, I want to fulfill my dream. I've been a Trainee for about 2 years and I've always given it my all. I hope they realized that.

The mentors repeat the same things to us as they have for the past 3 years: Our invaluable chance of being a Trainee at SM, although we may be pretty and know how to move a little, we have to make a difference in this industry, as we should make sacrifices in life. That's why they break some so that others succeed. We line up, as always, and carefully scrutinize the rows, passing between each girl to observe us. They said nothing, unusual. That said, for some time now, they have been making us train on group choreographies more often. There is something to do with this unusual check. One of the mentors speaks.

_ You can all be ready and return to your usual occupations, except for a few.

How so ? Would it be for a new group? Some of us will soon be debuting.

_ I call Huang Chenny, Choi Yerin, Woo Ose Lynn, Ishiwari Aymio Ishi, Min Jin Sol, KIM GABI, Akane Sato, Da Heni, Lee Seo Ara and finally Lin Ijin.

I HAVE BEEN CALLED?! Did I hear my name correctly? The other girls all leave while I remain glued to the spot, in shock. They called me.

Heni:

I stay with the rest of the girls in the practice room. They mentioned my name, it means that I will be in a group with these girls. We all know each other but I'm mostly close to Ara and Ijin, they're the same age, I'm a year older even though it's Ijin who behaves like the oldest, she and Ara are still young, not to mention me. But still, we were selected. I don't believe in it somehow, yet I'm happy, I don't show it but maybe it's the result of my efforts.

Ijin: uh…maybe we should introduce ourselves formally, since we'll surely end up together, right?

Ijin is very calm and takes things well, it's amazing.

Ijin: Hello, I'm Lin Ijin, European Korean, Trainee for 1 year, being probably the youngest here, I'm 14 years old.

The girls who were each in their thoughts just now were all very attentive to Ijin's presentations.

Ijin: By the way Ijin, it's too formal, call me Iji, it's simpler.

The one who seemed to be called Jin Sol spoke up:

Jin Sol: Are you European??? It's so cool, your Korean is impeccable, do you know how to speak other languages?

Iji: Korean, English, French, German, I'm also learning Japanese for now.

Jin Sol: That's great! By the way I introduce myself, Min Jin Sol, 17 years old, Korean and Trainee at SM since 2018. I can't wait to get to know you all.

Akane:

Jin Sol was very energetic, it was nice to see. I felt like I was lazy around her. I slept little that night to train, it's a bit understandable. But his joy of living in his words gave me a little energy.

Akane: Uh…

I clear my voice a little and all the girls turn to me.

Akane: Hello everyone, I'm Akane Sato, I'm 16 years old and I'm Japanese. I've been a trainee here since 2018 too, and usually I never speak up on my own, but oddly it's easier with you.

Jin Sol: Nice to meet you!

She smiles with both of her, this girl is an angel.

Lynn:

If it was time for introductions, I decided to take the floor.

Lynn: Ohayō! I am also Japanese, as well as Akane's friend. I am 17 years old and my name is Woo Ose Lynn. Nice to meet you, finally formally, we almost all know each other.

Chenny:

Lynn just introduced herself, she was right. We almost all knew each other, collecting all the new Trainees entering our group of girls. I'm the oldest here, I've seen so many girls come and go, it feels weird to still be here.

Chenny: Hello, you all know me normally, I'm the oldest and I saw you all come to SM, I'm Taiwanese, I'm 18, Huang Chenny.

Yerin: I'm old too Chenny-ha !!

I look in the direction of Yerin, she also arrived when I entered SM and is still there of course. Mainly to annoy me with his baby voice.

Yerin:

I intervened during Chenny's presentation, I saw too all these girls arriving, I am too old. We've been a Trainee together since the beginning and she doesn't give any recognition, me always buying her banana milk cartons, her favorite.

Yerin: Chenny-ha, please don't forget me.

Chenny: Hmm...

Yerin: Your oldest Trainee friend, though. In short, I'm Yerin, the girls, the one who brings the drinks most often, 18 years old like Chenny, Korean and a superb unnie, we're all going to have fun together.

Jin Sol: Unnie, you're funny.

Yerin: I know!

Gabi:

I think it's time for me to introduce myself too.

Gabi: Hello, I'm Kim Gabi, I'm 16 years old and I'm Korean, I can't wait to get to know you all better.

Jin Sol: We're going to start Gabi! You see, you shouldn't be desperate and cry.

Gabi: Soli, don't expose me like that!

And all the girls are laughing, the atmosphere was more relaxed than before.

AyMio:

The atmosphere between the girls began to soften, was reassuring, me who was afraid to speak.

AyMio: Hello, I'm Aymio, Japanese, I'm 17 years old. I've been a Trainee for 2 years, you can call me Mio, if you want, it's easier.

Yerin: Aren't you the one who always dances with a mask?

Mio: Uh…yes, it's a habit.

Yerin: I've seen you dance so many times to so many different styles, you're so talented.

Mio: Ah, thank you, that's very kind.

Ara:

I was so happy, I dreamed of debuting in a group for a long time, and I was selected in this group, with THESE girls. They look great, I'm already with Heni and Iji, my best friends, plus there's the girl I've admired from afar for a long time, Huang Chenny, she's too beautiful, accompanied by her friend Yerin who is great kind and benevolent. Not to mention the mask dancer, Mio, a real pro. I love them all already.

Ara: Hello! I'm Lee Seo Ara, I'm also 14, which makes me the second youngest, I admire you all, you are so beautiful and talented, I'm so happy to be with you!!

Yerin: You're super cute, a real angel.

Ara: Thank you, Unnie!

Iji: Oh Ara. You look very excited.

Ara: Are you kidding me, the three of us, the Moonz, are still together.

Heni:

Ara looked very happy that the three of us were together, she mentions our trio name.

Jin Sol: The Moonz? What is that ?

Iji: A nickname we gave to our trio, because we are two lunars, me and Heni, and an eclipse, Ara. It's a bit silly.

Ara: Not even, it's cute, and unique! Right, Heni?!

Heni: Yes, I like it. By the way, I'm Da Heni, I'm 15, I'm shy but I'm happy to be with you, really, finally…uh, yes.

Yerin: Lovely, you girls are lovely.

Gabi: We are 10, so I am also one of the youngest.

Lynn: How is the age order?

Chenny: I'm the oldest, June 9, 2003.

Yerin: I'm next: September 26, 2003.

Lynn: I was born on March 5, 2004, are others my age?

Mio & Jin Sol: Me.

They looked at each other at the same time, and burst out laughing.

Jin Sol: I was born on December 28, 2004.

Mio: I'm older than you then, May 23, 2004.

Gabi: I'm a 2005, born in November.

Akane: Am I younger than you? It's crazy, December 06, 2005.

Heni: So I'm the only 2006 here.

Iji: Me and Ara are both from 2007, but I'm the youngest of them all.

Ara: Yes, that's true.

Iji:

Introductions have been made and we get to know each other in a joyful and calm atmosphere. I like it, it's really very reassuring. I think we all got scared a few moments ago. But, this atmosphere that we have developed is the most reassuring in the world in my opinion.

Iji: I want to create a handshake.

Yerin: Why?

Gabi: Isn't it a bit early? After all…

Iji: I don't know, I'm happy to create something from the beginning with you.

The girls all look at me, afterwards to smile and approve.

Jin Sol: Come on, let's get up, it's more convenient.

Everyone stands up and we come together in a circle.

Ara: Doing something original!

Mio: We don't have a name yet, you know.

Iji: It's not a problem.

Akane: It's fine if it's original.

Gabi: A fun thing to do too.

Chenny: Let's use both hands, that's different than usual, right?

Jin Sol: Come on, let's do something like a hand game.

Lynn: Oh yeah!! As for children!

Iji: How about we all clap our hands twice, in both directions: top to bottom. Then we clap our hands.

Ara: Then we join them together, in front.

Mio: That's right!

Ara: Yeah!

Yerin: We end up lifting them together?

Chenny: Boring.

Yerin: Like you.

Akane: Shall we just lift them in style?

Gabi: Like a dance move! We get them up and turn around, then we go our separate ways.

Heni: We can try to see.

Iji: Ok, three, 1, 2,…

Jin Sol: 3!!!

They performed their handshake together.

Lynn: It's good but something is missing.

Gabi: Do we have to say something?

Iji: Why not: dont'you know !!! we !!

Iji: Where does that come from ?

Iji : My boundless creativity.

Yerin: Ok, let's try again?

TOGETHER: dont'you know !!! we !!

Gabi: Yes! It's much better !

Lynn: We keep it!!

[cuddlybitch]

hello hannah, hope you're doing well 💜

thank you for going into details with your answer it was so interesting 😊 I also love when there's a good group dynamic at the core of a drama! not only does it always add something to the main relationships and characters (I watch kdramas mainly for the romance honestly but it feels weird if the main characters don't interact with other people or don't have other significant relationships in their life even if there's tension and it adds to their personality if we can see the different roles and personalities they take on in their life) but it means we get to see more different types of dynamics between people (I especially like when the core group has people of different ages and/or backgrounds) and I like how it allows writer to play with our emotions and with subplots more too. now that I think about it a lot of the shows I've liked have had that aspect!

out of the shows you've listed I've watched run on, twenty five twenty one, weightlifting wairy kim bok joo and reply 1988. I've also watched some of vincenzo and our beloved summer but not fully (I think I was too busy by the time vincenzo entered its last quarter so I dropped it but I saw most of the ending in gifs since then lol and for our beloved summer I just don't really think I was in the mood for it at the time so I let it go). and rookie cops has been on my to watch list for a while it seemed fun and heartwarming 😊

my questions today are : if you could pick the 5 most memorable characters from all the dramas you've watched, who would it be and why? (they don't have to be your faves) and do you think you have a favourite type of character?

also christmas is now super close (I can't wrap my head around it weirdly), do you celebrate it?

your kdrama secret santa 🎥

Hi kdrama secret santa! I’m doing well, but got myself a bit busy (some of it self-imposed busy-ness like deciding to reorganize my room…) How about you? It’s almost Christmas… Do you have any big plans to celebrate? As for me, we usually just have family dinner at midnight of the 25th (then again on actual evening of the 25th)… Basically lots of eating. :P

I do love romance a lot, and yes, I think I primarily watch for romance, too (romcoms mostly), but yeah when there’s well rounded side characters, and good relationships with those side characters, then it makes that romance that much better for me. I loved Run On for that reason, cause it isn’t just about Mi-joo and Seon-gyeom… they have a life outside of each other, and even between each other, past the romance. 

Rookie Cops!!! You should watch it. As you already know, I’m a sucker for group relationships/friendships, and this one is one of the better ones in terms of that. I had no expectations for that show when I started, and was reluctant to actually start because I thought it might be like the other Police University drama that aired just months before that, which I didn’t enjoy, but it surprised me. The growth of their friendship was really well done, and the kids getting involved in the overarching plot made sense. I think it was first and foremost a show about their college experience, and the ~crime/corruption plot is not centre stage (as opposed to the Police University drama…)

The romance is cute in that show, too!!

5 most memorable characters…hmmm I’m just gonna say the 5 that immediately came to mind:

Kim Jenna (Idol: the Coup) - I don’t know why she (and honestly the rest of Cotton Candy) has stuck with me for so long, but probably because the first 3 eps of the drama had her hit rock bottom so many times that I cried for her so much, that when she starts picking herself and her group back up, I just couldn’t help but cheer for her

Hong Cha-young (Vincenzo) - she was just a fun morally grey character that will gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss you. Jeon Yeo-been’s acting throughout gives the character a lot more nuance, especially in the tiny moments you see her anger building under the surface.

Kook Yeon-soo (Our Beloved Summer) - she’s memorable to me because she’s a character who’s had to sacrifice her youth and happiness at a young age in order to make a living for her and her grandma. And when she was young she didn’t know she could rely on other people for help because she’s done it alone for so long, but later on in the story she learns how to rely on people more, and also realize that even back then she was never really alone and has had the support of so many people

Kim Yu-mi (Yumi’s Cells) - a lot of it has to do with seeing Yumi’s… cells. Since they give us so much perspective on her inner thoughts, she’s memorable cause her cells were memorable. Also, I just loved her storyline in the show is realizing that she’s enough and her own happiness shouldn’t have to rely on the person she’s dating. 

Oh Mi-joo (Run On) - I think she’s one of the more well-rounded and well-written characters in drama?? How she has a career, has very specific hobbies, but also some bad habits (like her whack sleep schedule cause of her work). One of the lines that stuck with me is when she said she values herself more than anyone else… and how she doesn’t want to love herself too much, but she doesn’t want to be hard on herself either. Idk I think that’s just beautiful.

I think it’s safe to say my favourite type of character are women :P jk jk I think I like characters I can relate to.. like in some ways I can relate to Yeon-soo, Yu-mi and Mi-joo.

Not sure if you’ll be able to send a message before the reveal, but I hope you have a very happy holidays!