#why make things more complicated my dude

[sheeshiki]

many many many thoughts about shadowbringers and lightwardens and sin-eaters. a little thing i've been working on while i go through the expansion..........

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I promised you some lions! Let's talk about manes, males, and management.

This is Tandie, the current male lion at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Notice anything odd about him? He's got one of those hilarious awkward teenager manes. Except... this cat is nine years old.

I was, of course, immediately curious.

Manes serve a lot of purposes for male lions, including being an indicator of health and fitness - it's actually a sexually selected trait and a social signal. Mane texture / hair quality / length is dependent on nutrition and the body having energy to grow (and carry around!) that much hair! The color is also a signal: males with darker manes have been found to have higher testosterone levels.

In one research report, wild males were much more likely to avoid a lion decoy when it had a longer or darker mane - but the girls really loved a dark mane. It's thought this is because a long, dark mane is an indicator of mate quality. Males with longer, darker manes have higher testosterone and were pretty healthy: meaning they had more energy for fighting, had a better chance of recovering if they got injured, and generally had a higher rate of offspring survival. Manes matter!

So, back to Tandie. He was actually born at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 alongside two brothers, to dad Xerxes and mother Adia.

This was Xerxes (rip).

Obviously, a very large, dark, lush mane on Xerxes here. So where did these blond muttonchops come from on his son?

I asked the zoo docents and got an answer that didn't make a lot of sense. They told me that after the three cubs grew into adolescents, they were moved to the Oakland Zoo together. But living together suppressed his testosterone, and he never grew a mane.

Hmmmm.

Here's a photo from 2016, when the brothers debuted at Oakland. They're a year and a half old in this photo.

(Photo Credit: Oakland Zoo)

And here's from an announcement for their third birthday.

(Photo credit: Oakland Zoo)

Okay, so these dudes obviously all were growing manes as of 2017. I think Tandie is the one on the left in the first photo, and laying down in the middle on the second. What happened?

I was just in the Bay Area for a zoo road trip, of course I went to Oakland and tracked down a docent to ask some questions.

It turns out that shortly after the brothers turned three, they started acting like adult male lions: they started scuffling regularly. It's a normal social thing for male lions to live in groups, called coalitions, but according to my lion experts there's generally a baseline level of some social jostling within them. It wasn't quite clear from what the docent said if they couldn't manage the boys together, or if they just wanted to avoid the scratches and small wounds that result from normal lion behavior. Regardless, they put all three of the boys on testosterone blockers in order to be able to keep them together as a social group.

Now, I don't know a lot about the use of hormone alteration as a form of captive animal management, except in the case of birth control. I don't think it's something that's unethical - there was just a webinar on it that I saw go by - but I don't think it's commonly done with big cats. Lions have kind of complicated reproductive cycles, and for instance, we've been learning that female lions can take much longer to come into estrus again than expected after coming off hormonal birth control.

In males, testosterone blockers (or being neutered) means they lose their manes. This is why a lot of rescues will do a vasectomy on their males instead of a neuter - it allows them to keep their mane and the social signals that accompany it.

Tandie returned home to Woodland Park Zoo after Xerxes passed in early 2022, and the docent told me all of the lions had been off their blockers "for while." I'd guess those things happened around the same time, since bringing the trio down to a duo at Oakland would reduce some of the social tensions.

Hormones are such interesting things, though. One of Tandie's brothers has a full mane again, and the other is still totally mane-less.

As for Tandie, his mane is growing back in, and it looks like he might rival his dad for length and coloration.

He started here, in February:

Yesterday:

What a difference four months (and maybe proximity to a girl) makes!

[bamsara]

If given the motivation I would ramble more about Trod, specifically Tyren and how he's my little dude but also a character who's behavior I've based on being a victim of obsession and idolization myself and how it's very cathartic to write a character exhibiting all the traits, both good and bad I've experienced in the Lamb's position and then knowing exactly how his story ends

That and some Narinder rambles and how Lamb is more comfortable with him than a sweet dog that surely shows more respect for them (idolization that does not see them as a person)

edit: nevermind I did end up rambling. Some TROD spoilers

It's great, I love this stupid dog and his scheming ways and writing just *why* he's doing what he's doing with genuine belief it's to better protect what and who he loves without actually taking into account the subject of his affection's feelings on the whole matter. He would never hurt the lamb physically but clearly that three eyed cat is nothing but stress for them (and is he wrong? is Narinder not a source of stress? We are not light in the 'enemies' part of the friends to enemies to friends to lovers part of the trope)

Though the difference between Narinder and Tyren, the rehabilitation and the corruption, although all entitlement, is agency.

Narinder often touts himself as uncaring and hostile to the Lamb and is still angry from the betrayal, as they are, but their agency is still considered even in anger.

In the Fox chapter where Narinder wishes to sacrifice Grekimar and Tyren, Lamb refuses. They argue about it and Lamb stands their ground, Narinder is unhappy about it but does not go behind their back and sacrifice cultists anyway when he very well could.

After reuniting after the fight when Leshy is revived, Narinder and Lamb argues heavily over the subject of whether or not Narinder is allowed to kill Leshy, someone who harmed both him AND the Lamb severely, and even though he's bitter about it, Narinder acknowledges the Lamb was not given a choice prior and will sacrifice his own revenge and comfort so the Lamb can have their agency returned, at least a little bit.

^^^ This one is a complicated one because between both characters, neither killing the bishops nor keeping them alive would result in both characters getting what they want, with reasonable desires for it (wanting to have choice again, wanting revenge on their tormentors, ect)

so Narinder essentially sacrifices his comfort for the Lamb, someone who is constantly sacrificing pieces of themselves and sanity to keep everything in peace

It works the otherway around as well: Narinder demanding talismans and God Tears and Relics from the Lamb and they agree, not because they're required to do what he says but because that's their friend, and they trust him enough to help him with whatever he's doing

(and back to the argument where the refusal to sacrifice two followers was in exchange for some of their heart, Narinder refuses and breaks the deal off immediatly even though the Lamb was willing. The Lamb is obviously more important than whatever goal he had in mind, essentially scrapping his partnership with the Fox and method to gain power because he didn't want his usurper to be weakened. and other things.)

I won't talk about EVERY instance of this because this is already a long post, but overtime the two are forming communication, compromise, and even in anger, there is a respect there that puts them on the same level as equals.

Tyren does not really fall into that.

Tyren would never, and I mean NEVER hurt the Lamb physically. He would never yell at them, never be angry with them, never be upset with them, because he does not see them enough as a person to feel those things around them.

And if the Lamb does disagree with him or make him upset, he will simply....disregard their current feelings on the situation and do what he thinks is best for him and them, even if it goes directly against their wishes.

And unlike Narinder, he would do it behind their back to stay in their good graces.

Tyren does care for the Lamb. Genuinely. He did long before that necklace was around his neck. He was already a little obsessed before the loyalty necklace was on him, it just gave him a slight edge.

He respects them but also doesn't. He takes their rejection at the party in stride and is completely unphased by it, completely understanding, but also plots to kill someone the Lamb called a 'friend' because the three-eyed hermit is clearly stressing them out and it makes no sense as to why they're crusading with him, or spending time with him when he's been nothing but a murderer and a blight.

I think a good summary of all this ramble is that when the Lamb tells Narinder to leave Tyren alone, Narinder goes 'whatever i fucking hate you and this stupid cult anyways. die forever' but does what they ask, while Lamb tells Tyren to please leave Narinder alone, and Tyren goes 'sure! :) anything for you my lamb' and digs up a corpse and drops it's mashed remains outside of the cat's hut with a fake letter from the Lamb saying it's 'breakfast'.

Narinder and Tyren are both very selfish, but in different ways

None of this probably makes sense

It is also 6AM

[dreamsteddie]

AITA Steddie Au Part Three

Part Two

Hello! Sorry for the delay! This week was very busy with student conferences and my own midterms so I haven't had a lot of time to work on this. This is more of an interlude building up to bigger things, but I hope you enjoy it!

Also! Get in the comments if you have any ideas of an actual name for this series so I can stop calling it AITA Steeddie Au. I can't think of anything good 😓

------

Eddie takes Steve on that second date.

And then a third and a fourth and eventually he stops counting because he's seeing Steve as often as he can between their jobs and other responsibilities. He feels high off it, giddy with possibility and hope for this new thing that he's never had before.

Eddie has done relationships before, a couple of times. A small handful of boys and girls he took out on dates and tried his best to woo all went up in flames one way or another, but none of those relationships left him feeling so gone so fast. He felt like he was always holding himself back from giving himself up completely, too afraid of falling without a safety net to reach for that deep devotion he's always craved.

Steve makes him feel like they're plunging into that unknown together.

Still, no matter how much he's been trying to avoid it, the looming specter of what the hell to do about his friends is looming over his head.

------

"Are you fucking serious right now dude?" Eddie asks, a complicated mix of righteous anger, humiliation for himself and Steve, and complete disbelief at Gareth's unwillingness to back down from this making it increasingly difficult to keep his cool.

"Look man, all I'm saying is that Steve is like, the complete antithesis of literally everything we stand for. He's a nepo baby business major who's never had an original thought in his life! I would know! I've read one of his papers." Gareth says, forced nonchalance coloring his tone and riling Eddie up even more.

He rears up, shoulders pushing back and hands grasping at the air like he could pull down his frustration from the either and condense it into a solid ball he could lob at Garteth's head to finally knock some goddamn sense into his brain.

"Hey, hey, hey. Okay, Eddie, I'm really sorry about this. It was a fucked up idea, I don't know what we were thinking." Jeff interveins before the frustrated banshy noises Eddie is letting out turn into another yelling match that won't get anyone anywhere.

"I think we just got too caught up wanting to help you get out of this rut and it all turned into something completely insane. You don't gotta forgive us Eddie, but if there's anything we can do to try and make up for it, we'll do it. Isn't that right Gareth?" Jeff pointedly asked with a look that says agree with me right now or else.

Gareth doesn't say anything.

The thing about all of this that Eddie just can't wrap his head around is the why. Why would his friends, his sheepies, do something so cruel? He knows none of them have ever looked kindly at people like Steve. Too many traumatizing high school humiliations behind them all to trust when someone who looks so much like all the guys who bullied them in high school tries to reach out, but Gareth and Jeff have never tried something like this. In fact, it's used to be Eddie doing most of the anti-jock revenge planning back in the day, even if nothing ever actually came from it.

He thought, incorrectly it seems, that they had grown out of the worst of it by now. It's been three years since Garteth graduated, and five since Eddie made his final attempt, and leaving their hometown behind did a lot to heal old hurts.

So why this? Why now?

"Is this seriously how it's going to be man? You won't tell me what the fuck any of this was really about and you're not even going to try and apologize? Seriously?" The righteous anger is starting to seep out of him, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion.

Gareth just continues to stare at him defiantly, not saying a word.

Eddie pinches his nose and takes a deep breath, "You know what? Fine. Whatever. If this is how it's going to be then I'm out. Jeff, I'll talk to you later, probably not for a little bit though. Gareth?" The other man lifts his head from where he'd been looking down at his shoes. There were tears in his eyes, just a little bit but enough for Eddie to clock it. Face red from some unnamed cocktail of emotions Eddie doesn't have the energy or desire to interrogate right now. "Call me when you're ready to grow the fuck up. I've got a second date to plan."

With that, Eddie turned on his heel and made for the open garage door.

"What about the band, man?!" Gareth called.

Eddie kept walking.

-------

That was over four weeks ago.

He hasn't spoken to Gareth for most of that time. The first couple of days he blew up his phone with angry to half-apologizing texts that Eddie promptly ignored. After the second day, he sent a single text back letting him know he didn't want to talk unless he had a real explanation and apology to give both him and Steve and that he was going to block his number for a little while. He could let Freak know if he was ever ready to talk like adults. Eddie trusted him to tell if Gareth was being genuine.

In other news.

Waking up to strong arms secured around his naked waist is fast becoming Eddie's favorite way to start the day. He and Steve slept together for the first time last week, and since then it's like neither of them can get enough of each other.

"Hey, baby." Steve rasps in his ear, tilting his head down to smear sleepy kisses onto his shoulder. The hand that was resting against his ribs meanders its way down to the trail of hair under his navel, scratching just a little and making Eddie feel like a contented mutt. He's not sure if he should feel horny or like he could sink into the mattress and sleep for another full 8 if Steve keeps holding him like his.

"Mornin' sweetheart." he says deciding that a couple more hours of sleep is definitely the way to go. Steve, it seems, has other idead.

"What you thinkin' about this early in the morning?" He asks, hand continuing to scratch lazily at Eddie's stomach like he's not completely destroying Eddie's will and ability to focus on anything but the warm body behind him.

But it's been a long time coming, and as much as he doesn't want to, Eddie needs to start thinking about what he wants to do about his friends? former friends? estranged family? band and Steve deserves to be a part of the conversation.

Eddie sits up, bringing Steve up with him to rest against the headboard. "I've been thinking about the band. Gareth and Jeff, that is." He pauses, waits for some kind of reaction that doesn't come. Steve looks concerned, but not in the way he thought he would.

"Ok." Steve responds, waiting for more.

"I guess I just don't know what to do." He looks out into the middle distance of Steve's bedroom. Takes in the display of swim, basketball, and baseball trophies displayed proudly on a shelf, catching the early morning light. "I'm still so fucking mad. It's honestly kind of irritating how mad it makes me to think of what they did. It was so fucking stupid."

Steve hums a little, letting Eddie get it out.

"But at the same time I can't help but fucking miss them. Miss the music and the campaigns and everything else." It's honestly been eating him alive, the mix of anger and longing he's been feeling for his friends. The constant longing to go back in time and stop them from concocting this shit show but also, like, stalk Gareth to his 8 AM Business class so he can run into Steve and they can fall in love at first sight or some shit.

Silence.

Steve shifts. Moves so he can look Eddie right in the face. He looks thoughtful in a way that Eddie had to get used to. Sometimes when Steve is thinking hard about something, he scrunches his face in such a way that it makes him look like he's judging you. He isn't, it's just an unfortunate fact of life that his baby has a resting Judgemental Face™.

Steve heaves out a big breath, bringing Eddie back down to earth. "I mean, I don't want to, like, cloud your judgement or whatever but maybe you should try and talk to them one more time. Jeff appologized right?"

And, ok that's definetly not what Eddie was expecting to hear. It must show on his face because Steve is suddenly looking away, embaraced.

"I just..." He trails off, taking his own turn staring out at the dull shine of his old acomplishments. Eddie watches as his face once again turns pensive as he stares harder at the remnents of his high school acheivements.

"I used to be a pretty shitty guy. Did the same kind of shit your buddies did a couple of times." This isn't necessarily news to Eddie. They've talked a little about who Steve was in high school and how much work he put into himself before he decided to go back to college. It's still a bit of a shock to hear, though.

"So I get how someone can make a mistake like that, y'know? So if you want to try and talk it out, I won't be offended. I know we're in this together, now." Peace said, Steve reaches for Eddie's hand and gives it a squeeze.

It hits Eddie again, just how good Steve Harrington is. It hasn't been long, not really, since they got together but they've fallen together so completley, so easily, that it's easy to forget that there's still so much they have to learn, so many layers for Eddie to peal back. Behind every judgemental remark and complaint about the frequent phone calls he gets from chuldren he used to babysit in his hometown is a man who cares deeply and is capable of great forgiveness, even if it hasn't been earned yet.

Eddie squeezes his hand back.

"Are you sure?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah, it's not we have to totally forgive them, right? But I think you need to get a real answer from both of them about why it happened. Maybe you can find a way past it, maybe they'll say something that puts the nail in the coffin." He responds.

Eddie takes a deep breath, and thinks.

Steve is right. Eddie isn't satisfied with any of the answers he got last time, and he knows that there has to be more to the story than "trying to get Eddie out of a rut" and he's not going to be able to put any of this to rest until he understands.

"Ok, yeah. I'll call them." Steve gives him an encouraging smile at that, rubbing the back of Eddie's hand where they haven't let go yet.

"Good, I'm glad. And I can come with you if you want. Hit em from both sides." he says. Eddie think's he'll take him up on that offer, but right now he had more imporant things to do. Namely, tackling his sweet boyfriend onto the mattress and having a mid morning tousle.

"We'll see. Right now I've got more imporant things to do." He says in his best aproximation of a sultry voice. He doesn't know how good it really is, but it seems to work based on the way Steve's eyes get hooded and he looks down at Eddie's mouth.

Gotcha.

Before Steve can lean down and kiss him, Eddie snaps his hands down to his boyfriend's sides in a well executed tickle atack. Steve immedietly jolts and starts howling with laughter, yelling between breaths that Eddie is "a fucking asshole" as he continues his relentless atacks.

Eventually, Steve manages to regain his bearings and go on the offence, turning them over and trapping his boyfriend's hands beneath his knees so he can atack Eddie's equally ticklish sides.

Once the late morning has passes into early noon and they've both settled back into Steve's signifigantly more rumpled be, Eddie takes one more moment to think about the furute to come before he shelves it. He knows that whatever conversation is to come, it won't be easy, and even if things go as smoothly as possible with Gareth and Jeff, things will never be the same between them all.

Looking down at Steve, who is sporting the most outrageous bedhead in human history, laughing at the stream of reals Robin sent him in the middle of the night, he thinks he'll be okay either way.

Tag List

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[unclewaynemunson]

“I need to tell you something.”

Shitfuckno. Eddie doesn't even know why he's still surprised. This is how it always goes, after all. He should probably just give up and stop dating altogether – again.

Steve looks at him exactly as ominously as the words I need to tell you something require. Perfect Steve. Funny Steve. Sweet Steve. Sexy Steve. Steve, who Eddie had genuinely believed to be different.

Eddie sighs, barely suppressing a dark chuckle while he turns away from that perfect face. He doesn't want to look at Steve when he'll tell him the undoubtedly messed-up shit he's about to spill.

“Lemme guess, you're married?” That was what the last guy he dated told him, seven months after they got to know each other. It can't be much worse than that, can it?

Steve grabs Eddie's hand, causing him to involuntarily jerk up his head and meet his eyes.

“How did you know?”

Jesus H. Christ. Not again.

Eddie roughly pulls his hand out of Steve's grip and laughs a joyless laugh.

“Apparently I'm a good guesser.”

He stands up from the park bench the two of them had been sharing. “Well, Steve, this has been a blast. You should go back to your wife, or husband – don't tell me, I don't even wanna know – and I should um, get going. Maybe tell the next person right away what they'll be getting themselves into. Would save them a lot of wasted time, just in case cheating and going around other people's backs isn't really their thing, y'know.”

“Eddie, wait, let me explain!”

Eddie picks up his pace, but Steve, stubborn as he is, easily keeps up with him.

“I'm really not interested, man.”

“It's not – I'm not cheating on her!”

“Okay, so you have an open marriage, good for you. Still the kind of information you could've shared with me, say, three months ago, don't you think?”

“She's a lesbian.”

And that makes Eddie freeze on the spot. It takes Steve two steps before he realizes Eddie has stopped moving; he walks backwards until he's standing right in front of Eddie.

“She's my best friend,” he says, immediately using Eddie's stunned silence to his advantage. “Robin, my roommate – I told you all about her. We wanted to buy a house together and that turned out to be very complicated when you're not... Well, when you're not romantically involved. So we got married. For the, um, practical reasons. We never – we're like siblings. I love her like a sister. But she's also my wife. Platonically.”

It takes a few seconds until Steve's words sink in. Then, Eddie leaps forward and basically collapses into Steve's arms, needing to hold onto him to prevent himself from crashing to the ground.

Steve's arms are warm, strong, and as safe as ever.

“Eddie, are you okay?” Steve asks softly. His lips brush against Eddie's ear while he speaks, and worry colors his voice.

Perfect Steve. Too-good-to-be-true Steve.

“Jesus Christ, Steve,” is the only thing Eddie manages to say.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” Steve says. “It's just – I've gotten some, um... Less than ideal reactions, in the past, whenever I told this when I was seeing someone. So I thought it'd be better to wait until things were getting serious.” He sighs, tangling his fingers in Eddie's hair. “I didn't wanna scare you off. Are we – are you okay?”

Eddie nods. He lifts his head from where it's resting against Steve's shoulder and raises his hands to squeeze them around Steve's face.

“We're okay,” he says. “And I'm sorry I didn't want to listen to you. I–” He stops; he can't find the words right away. It's still difficult to talk about those things; to let himself be vulnerable. But Steve has been honest with him, so it's only fair to return the favor.

“I've been hurt, Steve,” he confesses. “More than once. I've had some really shitty experiences with dudes not being honest with me. I thought that that was what was happening again, and I couldn't – I couldn't go through that again. Especially not with you.”

“Jesus, Eddie, I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay,” Eddie rushes to say, pulling Steve even closer towards him. “I trust you.” And as soon as these words leave his mouth, he knows it's the truth.

“I do want to be absolutely clear about one thing, though,” Steve says.

Eddie leans back in Steve's arms to give him an expectant look.

“Robin is my wife. I'm not planning on that to change anytime soon. We've been through a lot together. She's been the most important person in my life for years. We own a house and a dog together, and I love her more than anything. I like you a lot, and I promise you I'm all-in with you, but... Robin is still my number one. And that's not gonna change overnight. I need you to be okay with that.”

Eddie swallows. He looks into Steve's eyes. All he sees is a man who is honest, who loves his friends deeply, and who refuses to make any compromises when it comes to love – whether it be the platonic or the romantic kind.

It doesn't scare Eddie off; it only makes him fonder of Steve.

He smiles, glances around to check if they're alone, and presses a quick kiss against Steve's lips.

“I think I can live with that,” he says. “As long as I'm the only one who gets to do this.” He closes his eyes and lets his lips meet Steve's again.

The sigh that Steve breathes into their tentative kiss is one filled with relief.

[kirkenovak]

Oh so just thought of John scenario so delicious. So angsty. So full of potential.

We know that pre-serum John is considered to be in peak human condition. Three Medals off Honor (unheard of), faster, stronger, better than any other soldier in US Army, with body so perfect it was studied by MIT. Easy choice for a new Cap. But it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Some random guy from Georgia being a human version of Steve Rogers? What? How?

That’s because he’s Steve Rogers’ biological son.

Somehow.

I have no idea but who cares. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What matters is that Steve had one kid and one kid only and had to send him away to protect him, and now Steve is dead and John is alive. Things get weird. And deliciously angsty.

No matter which way you take it, it’s just chock full with drama. It’s own little multiverse of pain for everyone involved.

Would Sam and Bucky be suddenly wrecked with guilt over how they treated John - the only son of a dear friend who sacrificed so much to keep that kid safe. Does biological essentialism trumps friendship? Is John worthy of the shield based on genes? What would the public do if they found out, would they suddenly decide that clearly John should be Captain America after all.

Would they try to reach out to John all of a sudden, would they suddenly decide he’s a friend? Would John be happy? Would he felt betrayed after finding out why they wanted to be friends- not because they saw value in him but in his blood. Or would they resent him even more? What if one felt one way or the other different and that caused a rift?

But what about John’s child? The grandson of Steve Rogers? Would people suddenly want to get their hands on him? Would Olivia have to go into hiding with him, far away, somewhere even John wouldn’t know about? Risk to never see them again? Would the history repeat itself - Steve had to hide his child and never knew what became of him, is John going to have to do the same thing? Is Steve’s blood just cursed like that.

And if Bucky was in love with Steve? If he’s in love with John? If he was in love with both? Oh you think the Peggy and Sharon thing was complicated? You sweet summer child, you ain’t see complicated yet.

Because Voidwalker is Life, Voidwalker is Love - John Walker can be queer, but Captain America’s son? Jesus, dude, what would your father say, go back to your wife who doesn’t want you. Bob going from being the cute one, sad lil boy with sad lil past, too good for this relationship, to some filthy famefucker clearly in this for the gold. Oh they were together before they found out? That sad lil addict, possibly ex-sex worker, rubbing his hands with glee like a fly on manure. Kid hit the jackpot, poor John is clearly too infatuated to see he’s too good for him.

But what if someone knew about John all along and made sure he’s always surrounded by agents, by spies. The Hoskins, so kind to take in a kid with a messed up upbringing, just another set of spies. Lemar just doing his job. Make sure he picks up the shield, make sure he takes the serum. Just another day at the office.

And why would anyone ever find out anyway? Maybe whomever finds out - a friend… someone John thinks is a friend - decides to keep it a secret. Nothing good can come from people knowing, from John knowing. But John finds out anyway.

What I’m saying is… yeah. Yeah. See my vision, subscribe to my newsletter.

[fizzyapplecandy]

Ateez as Romance Tropes

The one where you fall in love for real

Other members

Genres and warnings: fluff, best friends to lovers, fake relationship, wedding guests, mature language, some angst, suggestive content, happy ending

Word count: 4.9k

When you tell a lie to save yourself from the judgement of your family, you need Yunho to play the part of the perfect boyfriend. For some reason, he does it so effortlessly you wonder if there is something more underneath.

"I did a thing."

"I'll go find a shovel, but tell me who it is? It's your ex, right?"

Your mouth dropped, going over to punch your best friend in the guts.

"You idiot! Why would that be your first thought?"

Yunho laughed, rubbing at his stomach.

"Because you really hate the dude? Come on, lighten up."

"I can't, I really can't."

You sighed, throwing yourself on the couch and pushing your head into a pillow. Yunho ran over to you, kneeling down and placing his hand on top of your head.

"Hey, honey, what's going on? You only get this depressed when they don't have your favourite cookies in the store. And... What did you do?"

There was no easy way to explain your poor decision making to him, but you knew he'd understand. He may not like it much, but he'd follow along. Or at least you hoped he would. Sighing again, you turned your head to look at him.

"You know how my cousin is getting married in two weeks?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the one you don't like, but your parents do. Why?"

"Well... She made fun of me when I went to dinner with her and our families. She said how I'm going to be single forever, and I don't have a date for the wedding."

You paused, not able to look Yunho in the eyes. He urged you to continue.

"So? Come on, Y/N, spill it."

"I told them you were my boyfriend and I'm bringing you as a plus one."

After rushing the sentence out, you smashed your face into the cushion again, not wanting to see his face. His chuckle made you lift your head again.

"Is that it? Oh, honey, that's cute. We're going to a wedding!"

You shot up, scaring him slightly.

"Cute? Do you know what I've done? My mother won't leave us alone, my cousin as well, because they don't believe me! I had to convince them for half an hour before they stopped laughing straight at my face. They'll make us... I don't know, do couple shit."

"Okay, breathe! Slow down, chill out and just breathe."

You rubbed your eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. Yunho took this all way too lightly that he was supposed to, but that was his nature. He was always the casual one in your friendship.

The friendship that you two built over the years, going strong after so many ups and downs in college to adulthood. At twenty six, you were sharing an apartment and trying to tackle everyday obstacles. You wouldn't do this with just anyone.

"Why are you not mad? You know how my family is, and you know they'll be annoying us the whole time. We'll have to be all lovey dovey."

He smiled, plopping down on the couch and throwing an arm around you. You naturally gravitated into his embrace, letting him run his fingers through your hair.

"Why would I be mad? I love you, and I'd do anything for you. Nothing will change after one or two days pretending to be your boyfriend. You're still my Y/N, my best friend, right?"

You turned your head to look into his eyes, a bit confused by his expression. Yunho was always the fun one, the free spirited one, but why did he look so serious now? It almost felt like he was hiding something, but you didn't want to make this situation even more complicated.

"I love you too, Yun. Thank you, you're a lifesaver."

Ah, there it was, the face of your goofy friend. His grin was wider than ever, and before you knew it, his arms were strongly wrapped around you in a soul crushing hug.

"You love me? My, my honey, I haven't heard you say that since I got you two boxes of those cookies you like and couldn't find for a whole week!"

"Oh, shut up."

.

.

"You cannot wear that, absolutely not."

"But Y/N it's-"

"Bright green and ugly! Stop messing around, we have a family to impress - my family."

Yunho pouted, taking off the vomit coloured blazer and reaching into his closet for something else.

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with what I'm wearing to that shit show."

You sighed, feeling guilty about antagonizing your best friend when he was blindsided with your poor attempt at salvaging yourself.

"Look, all I'm trying to do is save us from any heavy judgement, you know how my mother gets. Lisa is even worse."

At the mention of your cousin's name, he shivered, making a sour face.

"Okay, okay. I'll look for something normal."

Yunho rummaged through his closet some more, before gasping excitedly.

"This is it! My 'boyfriend' armour! Yeah!"

"Whatever do you mean?" You questioned, already afraid it might be something ridiculous. But you were stopped in your tracks when he pulled out a sleek black suit. The one he wore on your graduation day.

Or as you remember it - The day you officially fell in love with Jeong Yunho.

"It's perfect, isn't it? You can't say no because you already complimented me when I wore it, if you weren't lying."

Even if you hated it, you couldn't say no to that happy expression of his. You just nodded, a lump forming in your throat.

"Y-Yeah, I think that will do."

"Oh, by the way, what are you wearing?"

You were quickly snapped back to reality with his question.

"Don't. Just don't ask me that. I'm a bridesmaid, per my cousin's request. The dress she chose... I'd rather not look at it until I really have to."

He winced.

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse."

"Okay, but knowing you, you'll manage to pull it off. You're just..." He stopped, suddenly averting his eyes from you.

"What? I'm just, what?" You urged him to continue, but he turned away to place the suit back into his wardrobe.

"You're just that beautiful."

For a moment, the world stopped. Yunho has always been the more affectionate one in your friendship, but you've never heard him sound so sincere. Without a word, you stood up from his bed and went over to where he was standing. He still hasn't turned around, rummaging mindlessly through the closet. You put your hand on his shoulder, standing on your tip toes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. Instantly, his ears turned bright red, and he looked at you with wide eyes. You only smiled in return.

"Thank you, Yunho."

He shrugged, trying to brush you off like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, yeah... So, what's for dinner tonight?"

.

.

"Y/N, dear! What on earth are you wearing?"

"We've been travelling for three hours mom, I just wanted to be comfortable."

Your mother made a disappointed face, and you could feel the judgement oozing out of her. Suddenly, her whole face lit up.

"Oh! Yunho! What a surprise!"

Yunho, ever the polite gentleman, offered your mother a handshake before placing his arm so casually over your shoulders.

"Hello. Sorry we're a bit late, traffic was terrible."

She waved him off. "Don't be silly, you're right on time! The rehearsal dinner doesn't start for another two hours, Y/N will have enough time to be presentable. I'm quite surprised by the sudden turn of events, I must say."

You sighed. "What do you mean?"

She gestured between the two of you.

"Well, this. The relationship. I thought you were just friends? You've known each other, what, over five years?"

Oh. Maybe you hadn't really thought everything through, like explaining how you got into this supposed relationship. Luckily, Yunho's brain always worked overtime, and he was quick to answer.

"Well, it took a lot of courage for me to confess my true feelings to Y/N. But I did it. This girl here... I'm a lucky guy. I still can't believe she's finally mine."

Your head snapped towards him, surprised by how casually he came up with an explanation. One you almost believed as well. It seemed like your mother bought it without trouble.

"Isn't that wonderful! Maybe you'll finally be able to tame that little firecracker. Please, go unpack your bags in the guestroom, and try to be ready on time Y/N."

"Yes, mother."

Anxious to run away from your judgmental family, you took Yunho by the hand and led him towards the guest bedroom on the third floor of your house. The only good thing about the situation was the fact that you had the whole floor to yourselves. You don't want to hear your mother's shrill voice first thing in the morning.

"Your mom's as fun as I remember her."

"Shut up. She couldn't wait to criticize me. I'm so glad I'm not alone in this."

Yunho closed the door behind you, throwing himself on the queen sized bed. The only bed in the room.

"Oh God, how are we going to sleep? We can't be in two rooms, they'll immediately figure us out."

"Don't be dramatic, the bed is big enough for both of us. You won't even feel me beside you."

You watched as he rolled around the mattress, almost purring like a cat.

"How are you this calm about... All of this? And what was that before with the speech? You really gave your everything."

He froze, leaning up on his elbows, but you could tell he was a bit more apprehensive now.

"I had to be convincing, don't read too much into it."

"Right..."

Silence overcame you, so you decided to unpack your things to keep yourself busy.

"Do we really need to go to that dinner?"

You sighed, feeling sorry about putting him through the whole ordeal.

"We do. It's the big rehearsal before the wedding, and I'm a bridesmaid. Although, I don't know why Lisa chose me in the first place. We've never been particularly close."

"Maybe she had a change of heart?"

You chuckled, glancing at him, seeing he was now in his stomach staring at you.

"Yeah, no. That evil spawn has had it put for me since we were kids. Do you know she chopped off my hair when we were seven? I had to get a bob. A bob! I looked like a sauce pan. Don't laugh!"

You threw a shirt at his head, but his laughing only got louder.

"Cut it out!"

Before you knew it, you were headed towards him, trying to silence him. Yunho grabbed your hands, and you toppled over him. In a mess of limbs, you somehow landed on top of him.

His laughing was cut off sharply, the grip he had on you tightening slightly. Your eyes met, and you were confused by the way he was gazing up at you.

Almost as if... No, no way. Yunho was your friend, and this was an awkward situation.

"Yunho?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to get up now."

"Oh!"

He let go of you, trying to sit up himself. You were now next to him, staring off in front of you. No words were said by either, so you slowly got up and continued rummaging through your things.

"I'm.. I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready. You... I don't know, do something. We need to be there in less than two hours, so don't fall asleep."

He nodded, avoiding your gaze.

"Got it. No sleeping. Off you go."

Leaving him be, you rushed out of the room and into the bathroom, all of your clothes in hand. You'd rather eat mud than have to walk into the room in just a towel. No way.

It took you an hour to get ready completely, and by the time you re-entered, Yunho was fast asleep.

"Silly boy."

You reached over to pat him on the back since he was sleeping on his stomach.

"Yunho? What did I tell you about falling asleep?"

The tall man jolted up, eyes still closed.

"I'm awake! I was just resting my eyelids. Yes, just resting."

"Well you have under an hour to get ready so I'd suggest you hurry it up."

He saluted you, eyes shut, and saluted you.

It took him a minute, but once he finally came to, he let out a gasp. His eyes were wide as you turned to look at him, mouth open.

"You... Wow."

This was the second time you found yourself questioning Yunho's expressions aimed at you. His eyes, usually full of joy, had a different glint in them.

"Oh? This? It's just an old dress I've never bothered to wear before."

"I can see why. You can kill a man with your looks honey. It's dangerous."

The blush on your cheeks was instantaneous.

"Stop that. What's going on with you?"

He laughed, grabbing his things to head out and get ready.

"I'm only speaking the truth. I think your cousin won't be happy when you outshine her tonight."

Yunho didn't give you a chance to reply because he was out the door in a second. You chuckled, going over to the floor length mirror in the corner of the room.

Your reflection was never something you appreciated enough, but Yunho always managed to make you feel special. Right now, you were gazing at yourself with another set of eyes, a set you were so familiar with. His words made you fall in love with the way you looked tonight. He just had that kind of charm.

You lounged around and waited for Yunho to get ready, your nerves starting to get the best of you, again. The door opened, and in came your best friend, dressed to the nines. Yunho somehow pulled off the checkered blazer and causal jeans combo like he got straight off the runway.

"What do you think? Too plain, or too weird? I really can't be bothered to wear slacks tonight."

Your heels made you a couple inches taller, but he still towered over you as you stood in front of him. No words were said from your end, and you grabbed the lapels of his jacket to straighten them out.

"It's crazy, you know?" You whisper.

"What?" Yunho looked confused, trying to decipher what you meant.

"How handsome you are, but you don't even realize it. You just make it all look so... Easy. So casual."

His eyes softened, placing his large palms over your shaking hands. The touch grounded you, making you aware of how close you were. If you just stood on your tip toes, if he just bent down a bit more...

"Y/N! I told you to get ready on time, we're going to be late!"

Your mother's shrill voice pulled both of you out of the trance you were in, separating like you were caught doing something naughty.

"Let's go. I can't stand her nagging me the whole night about not being on time."

He only nodded, following after you like a lost puppy.

"Oh just look at you two! Yunho, I'm impressed! You could pass as a model. How did my daughter get herself such a handsome man?"

Of course she would try to put you down in any way she could. You were about to burst, but Yunho beat you to it.

"I'd have to disagree with you. I think I'm the lucky man who got to have this beauty by his side. I'm still wondering how I managed to do that."

Your mother looked taken aback, not used to people taking your side. She quickly pulled herself together, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Well then... Both of you can consider yourselves lucky. Come on now, let's get going."

You just mouthed a silent thank you in his direction, and he winked before taking your hand in his and walking out of the house.

It wasn't a weird gesture, you two always held hands, but your brain was too jumbled to notice the tingly feeling you got in the moment.

"I think you should take up acting, you know?"

Yunho chuckled, buckling up and starting the car.

"And why is that?"

"Come on, my mother is smitten by you. I'm sure the rest of my family will be, too. You just saved my sorry ass from explaining why I've been single for so long."

He was silent for a while, and you thought you might have said something wrong, but then he reached over to take your hand again.

"You know, it's not all acting."

"What do you mean?"

"The things I say about you... I really mean them. You're special, Y/N, and I'm angry when I hear other people brushing you off."

"Yunho..."

You squeezed his palm tighter, not believing how you managed to get yourself a man like him. The little crush you had only grew bigger every time he opened his mouth in the past week. Something was up, but you didn't want to get your hopes up too much. This was still your best friend, doing you a major favour.

"I'm just being honest. This isn't as difficult as you made it out to be. I'm just being myself, and everything I say is completely truthful."

He glanced at you briefly, giving you one of his smiles that made your knees weak.

"You're going to make a girl so lucky one day, I'm actually jealous."

You said it fleetingly, trying to sound casual.

"Oh..."

"But not like that! No, hey. You're my man. I mean, not mine, but you know? My best man! My friend! Yeah..."

Taking a deep breath, you close your eyes to stop rambling. Yunho chuckled, raising your intertwined hands and placing a light kiss on yours. You froze, looking over at him. His eyes were on the road, but his ears were now bright red.

"You're my woman, too. Best one."

The rest of the ride was mainly silent, both of you blushing like crazy after the confessions. The restaurant your cousin chose for the rehearsal soon came into view, and you took a deep breath to prepare yourself.

Yunho parked the car before getting out and walking over to open your door. You just smiled, used to it by now. Ever since you became friends, you haven't opened a single door by yourself.

You said hi to a few people out front before entering the restaurant. From your left, someone shrieked.

"There you are! You're late! We have to start, come on, move it!"

"Hi Lisa, good to see you too."

Your cousin Lisa was in a short white dress, heels higher than you ever dared to wear, but she looked like she was about to have a break down.

"No time for that! Is this your boyfriend? He seems strong, he can help the others to rearrange the tables. Let's go."

You glanced at Yunho, ready to apologise, but he only shook his head and went over to the group of men in the corner.

"You got yourself a hotte Y/N. Who would have thought? Honestly, is it the sex? You must be good at it if he's still around."

"You're as classy as ever."

Lisa scoffed, grabbing you by the arm and dragging you over to the buffet.

"I'm just curious. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you have your qualities, but him? How did you manage to snag that?"

Honestly, sometimes you wondered how you did that as well. Yunho was charismatic, friendly, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous. You were... You. That's why you made peace with the fact that he would always be your friend, nothing more.

"I'd rather not talk about my relationship right now. It's your day, isn't it?"

Your cousin smiled, nodding immediately.

"You're right! We'll talk about it some other time. Now, I don't like how they placed the flowers, so do something about it."

"You know this is just a rehearsal, right?"

Lisa gave you a look, making you cower slightly.

"It has to be perfect. Now, do as I say."

She turned around and stalked off to yell at someone else, and you sighed in relief. Glancing over, you saw the men in your family talking to Yunho. They seemed to be having a good time, regardless of the fact that they had to move ten tables around. He just had that kind of charm, you thought.

As if sensing your gaze, he turned around and winked. You smiled, knowing this whole event would be slightly more bearable with him by your side. With another sigh, you made your hands busy with the roses and carnations in front of you.

.

.

"And she had the audacity to mention my failed science project! I know I may have ruined our kitchen table, but I was proud of that volcano, you know?"

"What a jerk!"

"And then, she said how she couldn't believe I had a boyfriend because I was "too plain". Plain? Is she serious?"

"Y/N, I was there, I heard her."

You huffed, crossing your arms and leaning into the passenger's seat. The rehearsal was over, and you couldn't wait to get home. Yunho was the main attraction, and everybody loved him. You knew it would be like that, but you hoped your cousins would leave you alone for once.

Instead, she threw jabbs at you throughout the whole dinner, but you ignored her for the sake of your peace and sanity.

"Honey, whatever she said, and she talked a lot, wasn't true. Sure, you may be clumsy and sometimes awkward, but that's you. I love the way you are, and I'd never change your personality."

You glanced at Yunho, surprised by his sudden confession.

"You really mean that?"

"I really do."

You reached your home, noticing your parents' car wasn't there. Your mother mentioned going over to Lisa's house to sleep there before the big day so that she could be available for her at any second.

For some reason, you felt a bit sad. Yunho noticed how your mood changed, but he didn't want to make it worse by questioning you, so he just followed you to the shared room.

You took off your heels, sitting on the bed and holding back your tears.

"Hey, are you okay? I know tonight was crazy, but you seem so... Devastated."

He knelt on the floor in front of you, grabbing both of your hands. With him looking at you with those big eyes, full of concern, you broke down.

"I just can't take it anymore."

The first tear fell, but the second couldn't follow because Yunho instantly reached for your cheeks to wipe them away.

"Oh honey... Don't waste your tears on them. I know you love your family, you're just that kind of person, but I can't stand the way they treat you."

"It didn't bother me before, you know? But my mom never talked about how she couldn't wait to see me get married, it was always about Lisa. Am I that bad? Is it so impossible to imagine me in a wedding dress?"

Yunho stood up, crowding you in his embrace. He gently lifted your legs to place you into his lap, squeezing you to his chest.

"You want to know something?" He whispered.

"What?"

"I always think about how you would look in a wedding dress."

Your head snapped up to look at him, and his eyes were already on yours.

"You?"

He nodded, placing his forehead on yours. His gaze was now darker, and you noticed how his hands trembled while holding you.

"Me. You know what else? The person you are walking towards is always me. Standing there at the end of the altar, waiting patiently for you to come."

"Yunho... What are you..."

His hands cupped your cheeks again, face so close you could count his eyelashes.

"Those people... They don't know how much you are worth. You're the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on. You're funny, so smart and witty it's not even real. You..."

His lips, the ones you've been dreaming about for a while now, were a breath away from yours. He hesitated, trying to decipher your emotions. You didn't want to let him get too into his head, so you grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in.

Your lips smashed together, and Yunho finally let go.

The kiss was different from any other you've ever had. After all, it was Yunho kissing you instead of someone random. Yunho, the man who stood by you through thick and thin.

Yunho, the person you turned to when your bad thoughts took over.

Yunho, messy, lovable Yunho, who talked about you like you were his lifeline.

Your lips danced together, his hands squeezing your cheeks as if you would disappear at any moment. Yours were placed on his sturdy chest. The chest you loved cuddling to when you watched sappy movies.

The air grew hotter in seconds, and you had to stop for a second to take a breath. As you detached yourself from him, you were surprised how natural everything felt.

There was no awkwardness, no doubt.

You just kissed Yunho, your best friend, and it felt as natural as breathing.

"Now that... That was super hot."

It took you a second before you burst out into laughter. Leave it to Yunho to say something a frat boy would in a moment like this.

"Yeah, it was. You're such a dork, oh my God."

"But I'm your dork, right?"

You looked into his eyes, seeing how serious he actually was.

"Do you... Want to be?"

"I thought I already was, but let's make it official."

Before you could respond, Yunho got down on one knee in front of you. Your eyes widened, and you panicked slightly when he reached into his pocket.

You soon realised there was no need, because he only took out his wallet. Strange, but okay.

"I know this is so sudden, but I always knew we'd end up together. I was just too shy to do anything because I'm me, and you are incredible. And so sexy it's not even real."

You gasped, knowing there was no chance Yunho could do a standard, normal, romantic confession.

For some reason, you loved him even more for that.

"Look at this."

He took out a piece of paper from his wallet, giving it to you.

There, on a random sticky note, was your writing. It only said "gone out, eat breakfast you idiot!!! love you"

"It's funny, but when I looked at the note you wrote about six months ago, I couldn't help but wonder. Do you love me in the same way I love you, or was it just something you said because we've known each other for so long. I realised I had to step up my game, so I tried to be obvious. But you... You are as dense as honey sometimes."

Your eyes widened.

"Is that why you..."

"Call you honey? Part of the reason. You're just the sweetest person I've ever met, so it fits. Do you get it now?"

You nodded, realising he was still down on one knee. You pointed at his position, raising your brow.

"If you propose to me on my cousin's wedding day we might as well be exiled from planet earth afterwards."

Yunho gasped, seemingly realising himself how this might look to you.

"No, no! Don't worry, I plan on proposing, but not today. I need to figure out where I can rent a unicorn."

"You do know those aren't real? And why the hell would you need a unicorn?"

"Doesn't matter. Let me get back to my point. I love you, and I want you. Do you want me?"

The two of you looked into each other's eyes, not knowing whose smile was bigger.

"I love you, and I want you. Come and kiss me again."

"Yes ma'am!"

.

.

"We totally broke your bed."

"Let's hope we did not, because my mother would freak out."

Your back was pressed against Yunho's front, his arms wrapped securely around you. The position wasn't foreign to you, but the state of undress you were in was.

After his grand confession, Yunho couldn't keep his hands off of you. Soon enough, you were tangled in the sheets of your old bed, your moans making the sweetest melodies.

"You know, we can skip the wedding if you want to."

You turned to glance at him, totally unprepared for the suggestion.

"We can't do that. My family would... You know, I don't think my family would mind much."

"Do you want to go?"

"No! No, I don't! You're a genius."

He laughed, placing a kiss on your hair.

"I pride myself in having a big brain. I don't think that's the only thing that is big abo-"

"Okay! We get it."

You turned around in his arms, placing your hands on his cheeks.

"I love you. Thank you for going through this hell with me. And thank you for pushing me to do something I want, but don't have the courage to."

He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on your lips, his arms strengthening their hold on you.

"You can always count on me. You deserve to be surrounded by people who worship the ground you walk on."

"There aren't that many."

Yunho smiled, chuckling afterwards.

"There's me. I will be there, for as long as you want me."

"Somehow, I think that will be more than enough."

The two of you enjoyed the feeling of finally being together for some more, before you silently packed up your things and headed out to the car.

Finally, you were able to escape the horrible behaviour you'd been exposed to since you were little.

Your heart didn't feel so heavy anymore, and with Yunho's hand covering yours, you knew it never will.

.

.

.

[kirsty-bytes]

Sero Hanta had always felt weird about the way he looks. His elbows specifically.

They weren’t shameful—just impractical. He had never worn a long sleeve shirt in his life, not without some type of complication. It was a design flaw, something Mother Nature had thrown in last minute for shits and giggles.

Unfortunately he was the shits and giggles.

As a kid with everyone around you having ‘hero-like’ quirks, it’d definitely bruise his confidence a tad bit…

…yet he held no adolescent fixation on why his body was part stationary. He didn’t stare at the mirror or pray to wake up with fire shooting from his fingertips. He had tape. He was Cellophane—a hero in the UA hero course—surrounded by countless other questionable yet practical quirks, that have shown efficiency.

It felt normal now.

Almost—until you bound through his life.

You appeared out of thin air, like a hallucination. You were barefoot or rather lacked any shoes in the hallway—only dusted striped socks on the pads of your feet. Sat cross-legged on the linoleum just by the lockers, scattered papers and binders of equations surrounded your body tragically, looking as if someone had set off an explosion in your locker.

Your blazer was falling off one shoulder, revealing a constellation of various stains on the school shirt. Were you that careless with your uniform? At a prestigious school like this? If the uniform looked rough for wear, your appearance? Even worse. You reddish bared eyes that were half-lidded to the point where you were either on the brink of sleep—or orbiting in a different realm.

“Hi, you’ve got tape?”

Sero blinked. “What?”

“You’ve got tape or not?” You repeated, like it was an obvious question. Dramatically slow, like a sloth, you held up the flopping blue notebook in your hand, more pages spilling from the cover. “The stitches gave up.”

His eyes went between your eyes and the mangled mess of paper. Then he pointed to the mass bump on both his elbows.

“Oh—you are tape. My bad, I’m kinda out of it right now.”

“Yea I can tell. Who gets high at school? That’s like so—“

With rolled eyeballs, you raise your book as high as your tingling limps could allow you, like a weak offering to him, “Please save it, sellotape guy.”

Sero stared at you for a second. Then—against his better judgment—he crouched and pulled some tape from his elbow. It clicked and whirred out like usual, and you made a fascinated “oh” sound like you were watching fireworks.

“Bro, that’s so fucking sick,” you said. “I’d like do all the things I’ve wanted if I had carry-on tape with me.”

He bit back a grin. “Like what?”

“I’d eat it. Just to see if it tastes like normal tape or like human fluid or something like that. And I’d always fix all my books. Weirdly enough mine are always falling apart and—it’s so cool! You’re like a—a who’s that dude again?” You wonder aloud.

“Eat it? You’re weird,” He chuckled at your ramblings. Cute in a Midoriya way.

“Oh! Bondage man! That yaoi where the CEO ties up his assistant with—“ He stuck his palms to your still moving mouth, a faint blush blooming on his cheeks as everyone else around glared at you disapprovingly. How long had it been since you two chatted here—with you still shoeless and on the floor.

“Okay, let’s get you some water and shoes.”

“Thank you. You’re like my new favourite office supply now.”

That was the first time Sero met you and for once? Maybe his elbows really weren’t that weird—he got to be in this moment with you right now—three months later, lazily tangled in the hammock strung up in his dorm, both of you high as hell, sloppily making out with each other.

The hammock swayed gently, creaking every so often, the room hazy with leftover smoke from the blunt you both forgot to finish off. Some song droned on in the background, barely audible under the sound of muffled giggles and the occasional rustle of fabric.

Sero’s hands moved absently, trailing over the hem of your shirt, then up your spine to your hips—fingertips brushing something metal.

He paused. “Are those… dermals?”

You blinked up at him, eyes glassy. “Oh. Yeah. Forgot to mention. Surprise.”

He laughed. “At this rate, keep you away from all magnets or you’re a goner.” You hummed at his words while he proceeds to dip his face in the crook of your neck, murmuring against your skin.

“Hey…remember that weird sex comic thing you mentioned the day we met?”

You blinked. “No, I was zooted.”

“Well,” he said, “I did some research on Bondageman.”

You froze. Then wheezed. “You what?”

“I needed context! I’m a visual learner!”

“Oh my god—” You felt like melting into the floor, filled with embarrassment.

He grinned, that familiar, mischievous curl of his lips. “Anyway. I wanna try what he does to the assistant.”

You squinted. “The leg thing?”

“Yes,” he confirmed solemnly.

You stared at him for a moment. Thought about his tape elbows. Thought about how, realistically, he could probably rig some kind of suspension system using nothing but his quirk and determination.

Then you grinned, eyes sparkling. “You know what? Hell yeah. Let’s fucking go,”

And as he leaned in again, kissing you like he’d never be guaranteed this high school love at all—he thought—yeah. Having industrial-strength tape for elbows might be weird, but it sure as hell had its perks.

This? This was one of them.

You, his girl.

[corseque]

I honestly just wanted one single plot step that I could not predict given the 10 year wait. More behind the cut, I talk about Emet too, and I'm comparing his writing favorably to Solas' writing and why it worked better for me personally, but I am just talking about the writing skill that went into the games and not the dudes themselves, I love them both dearly of course. idk this is a mess and I am not going to edit it for clarity

For me, the game was a series of me saying

"ok I knew that. cool."

"oh yeah, I knew that. I guess it's good that the larger fandom knows about that now."

"nice, but yeah I already knew that too"

"that was something we've been talking about a lot for years"

"this thing they are acting like is a huge enormous reveal that the characters could not possibly have deduced through simply thinking about it in depth over the 10 years... the fans easily figured out by thinking about it in depth 10 years ago. So you would think his girlfriend would be able to figure it out more easily than we did. Like, why couldn't the game have been like 'oh lavellan already figured that out a while ago' it would have cost them nothing"

"this is something I've been thinking about for years, and now that it's being revealed, the companions' reactions to it are very irritating and jarring and unnecessary and I really dislike the experience I'm having right now, in this, the hour of my greatest triumph"

"this thing that is happening on my screen right now is something that I wrote an essay about 2 years ago describing how it would be a letdown if it happened without the correct setup"

"this way that they're characterizing Solas makes him less likable and less interesting than I have been finding him for all these years, and I have had people tell me 'no, he's simpler than you think' for years but I guess I was wrong, he really is simpler than I thought, so that fucking sucks. I wish I could take that information out of my brain."

"this thing is a retcon of information I have been thinking about for 10 years, and so I don't know how to follow along with this new direction, and I'm not sure if I even want to because it's not particularly interesting anyway"

"aw that was sweet"

"why is it like, so very impossible to have an honest back-and-forth with my favorite character about the dilemma that was most interesting to me about the previous game"

and then, as soon as, like, the other fans had caught up to the Solas lore that was really obvious from the other games, the game was.... over without anything surprising happening, or introducing a new element or plot point or perspective, or a real true twist (or two, or three) for those of us who have thought about it too hard for too long. It was very simple and easy, much, much, much, much easier than I was imagining. It all felt sort of like that Nicholson quote:

The thing was, the whole story was so interesting to think about because in 10 years, I couldn't figure out a good solution to it!!!!! It's why I was never able to write post-game fanfic about it. So I was stoked to find out some reveal we never knew about, some new information, in maybe a SERIES of steps of new information, that made the situation more complicated but also something that could be navigated by everyone involved. I know it was asking for a lot, but they had TEN YEARS, and they seemingly had set up the things they did in DAI on purpose, so surely they had some idea of a complex and satisfying narrative that would reconcile everyone.

The reason why I was expecting this is because FFXIV did a very similar story arc, which was started AND concluded WITHIN those 10 years (so it took the FFXIV team far less time to deliver as well). And the conclusion to the story in FFXIV did what I was expecting Dragon Age to do. So I thought, "holy shit, if this is the FFXIV version of this plot, how much more complicated is DA4 going to be!?!?" The DA devs also PLAYED FFXIV so they were completely aware, several years ago, of a satisfying story ending that was pretty darn similar.

People are probably going to think "oh, well Chelsea was disappointed because she spent too much time building it up in her head" but that's exactly it - I actually speculated and thought about FFXIV's story IN DEPTH NONSTOP for a year+ before its ending came out, and the ending absolutely blew me away. FFXIV Endwalker managed to introduce information and new story elements that I was not able to figure out in the YEAR I spent speculating on the ending of FFXIV's story. It took a complicated situation and revealed several several more facets to it that I was not able to predict, but were very interesting and thematically compelling, and took us all to surprising and climactic places that we could not have predicted.

Endwalker ("end" is in the title on purpose) too, was written to be THE ULTIMATE SATISFYING ENDING for a very long-running story in the exactly way that Veilguard SHOULD HAVE for Dragon Age, so while this complexity is being explored, FFXIV also gave catharsis to many different plot threads that have been built up through the previous expansions, until finally it ends with a bang. The story is desperately good to me, I loved it, it gave me closure for Dragon Age long before Veilguard was even revealed, and going back and looking at its story has made this whole thing far less painful for me.

So, I actually did not have a picture in my mind for how things SHOULD go. I just had the thought "I hope it's complicated and there are points of view or facts that we haven't before been exposed to, and the situation is resolved respectfully for Solas, not making him look like a fucking idiot (lol, the only thing I asked for). I don't even care what happens to Solas and Lavellan, I just need the story to be complicated and interesting to think about. Please, god, don't let it be "solas is wrong and he just needs to be convinced" because that's like the simplest story you could tell with this setup"

(btw they managed to tell Emet-Selch's story without making him seem like he's being an idiot on purpose or can never get anything right, and in fact the more the story goes on, the more you think of him as smart and capable and cool, so it is possible to write.... I wasn't asking for the entire moon)

And I played it and... yeah. Most of the story beats were more simple than I wanted them to be, a lot of them didn't make sense in my heart given the writing from Inquisition. (This is another essay, but if Solas' thematic story arc was always about him needing to let go of regrets, why was his personal quest the way it was? After that quest, doesn't he end up regretting not doing more....? Why did he never really talk about regret during Inquisition? If he was so trapped by regret, why was he able to do so many actions? It doesn't mesh well to me. The whole regret thing was very quarter-baked to me, I don't even like thinking about it.) His story never seemed like one that was as simple as being about one man's regrets, but then, I guess, it was always just about one man's regrets.

Emet-Selch's personal storyline (and the way it interacts with and affects the larger story) is very similar but much more cohesive and satisfying to me. It would be difficult to explain why without the aforementioned 5-hour essay. Emet-Selch's story IS about grief and anguish on a world-shaping scale in a similar way that Solas' was apparently always about letting go of regret, but Emet's story was also very pointedly and beautifully about that one theme for the entirety of his story from every tiny detail, from beginning to end - meanwhile, it seemed to me that they tried to introduce 'regret' as the main thrust of Solas' story only in the short story with the Regret demon onward.

From Inquisition just by itself, the closest I personally could get to a story theme for Solas was his inability to trust others hurting him and the world, but his trusting others in DA4 wasn't really addressed to my satisfaction. He is never required to trust anyone before the ending, he never opens up or makes himself vulnerable at all. People find out information about him, he never really dynamically opens himself. So the personal story I thought he had was never addressed at all, while a new one about regret was introduced that never made a ton of sense to me. And I don't think this is just because of my expectations - my reaction to FFXIV proves that I am able to meet good writing where it goes in surprising directions, as long as it's interesting and thoughtful and clear.

And I think this might be part of what people felt was off about the ending - Solas is sort of uninvolved in the revelations that are about him, and doesn't do much to be part of his own ending. Part of what I loved about Solas in Inquisition is that he is not controlled by you in any way, and so he feels like his own person with a very strong sense of character.

Anyway, Emet-Selch, in a very comparable and arguably more extreme plot position, is very involved in the revelations about himself, he always feels like a very strong character who cannot be affected by the player, and the whole situation is handled with deft emotion and care and delicacy. The story is comparatively very uninterested in litigating Emet-Selch or putting him on trial - the story allows you to simply feel the way that you feel in an organic way, and Emet's story spends that energy instead actually exploring his thematic material about grief and legacy, and the larger story theme of existentialism instead, in a way that is very refreshing and interesting. I've seen a lot of western stories tie themselves in knots over "redemption" and frankly it's almost never been interesting at all. Who cares about any of that. lol

(Now, I guess this is a matter of preference, because some people really like being able to shape a character's story, but idk I rewatched the ending of FFXIV and even though there wasn't a choice with Emet, because it isn't a branching story, his story felt more satisfying to me, maybe because there isn't a patronizing choice to be made for him. He is who he is, and he fulfills a very beautiful narrative role and purpose that no other character could in the story.)

I don't know how this could have been improved to me and still allowed players to choose Solas' ending for him, but I can actually think of a few different methods, none of which involve Rook condescendingly and patronizingly lecturing Solas as if Solas had never thought about a single aspect of this horrible situation he's in before that very moment that Rook lectures him lmfao.

All this to say... idk I'm writing this and I am not going back to edit it so it's stream-of-consciousness. But yeah

I just wanted the story to be complicated on a few more levels than I could have predicted. I genuinely don't care what happened, but I thought of a few twists like the Veil coming down and yeah, I was expecting A Single Twist or reveal to happen. In a Dragon Age game.

I wanted Solas to seem cool and capable and noble and smart, and actually feel like he was as old and experienced as he is.

I wanted a clear theme I could sink my teeth into

Like notice I didn't even say anything about Solavellan. Like I never in 100 years thought they were getting a happy ending where they were both alive in bodies, and I like that we got that, but I would honestly trade it for a more complicated story. To me, if a story is sad you can always write fanfic, but if a story isn't COMPLICATED, that's a much more urgent issue.

These 3 things DA4 didn't give me in a way that satisfied me but FFXIV did. anyway idk the way my hyperfixations work, I completely switch to a new subject so talking about Dragon Age is actually hard for me right now.

[misctf]

Exploring the Tribes

“Dude! Way too much info.” Jeff made a face of disgust and took another swig of his beer, “I’m all for “love is love”, but I don’t wanna hear about your uhhh...”

“Look dude, it’s about time I get to brag. I’ve nearly fucked all the tribes on Grindr. On this vacation alone, bro.” Connor replied, “You and the rest of the guys get to brag about all the pussy you get, why can’t I...?”

“Damn I don’t know man. It’s just...” Jeff adjusted his cap and chugged the rest of his beer, “We’re on vacation with the rest of the bros. Of course we’re gonna talk about our scores.” Jeff smirked- with a body like his, he was scoring well, “I don’t doubt you’re getting plenty of dick. I just don’t want to hear about it.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t want to hear about that time you banged my sister, but here we are.”

Jeff smirked as he recounted the memory, “She has a great rack...” Connor punched his arm, “Fair I deserved that.”

“And I’m a top. I don’t take dick.”

“Whatever dude, can’t you just enjoy the beer?” Jeff sighed, “Besides, what the fuck is a tribe anyway?”

Connor chuckled, “Shit, I forget we make it complicated. It’s a way to describe gay guys. Well, at least their looks.” Jeff nodded, his mind drifting elsewhere, “Like, a bear is a hairy heavyset guy. A twink is usually more feminine and hairless. Like you.”

“Fuck off dude. Girls like it when my muscles are clean shaven.” Jeff shot back.

“Joking, you’re too muscular to be a twink.” Connor replied, “But dude, stay on topic. I’m so close to having fucked a guy in each tribe on this trip. Like just a few more. But I’ve had a really hard time finding an otter.”

Jeff chuckled, “That some kinda weird animal shit?”

“No, otters are like bears, but a lot skinnier.” Connor replied.

“And you want to hook up with one of these guys?” Jeff raised an eyebrow, “Skinny and hairy. What kinda guy would want that?” He flexed one of his biceps and grinned.  

“Well yeah, gotta complete the quest.” Connor shrugged, “But I haven’t come across one since we’ve been here.”

“Oh yeah?” Jeff chuckled, “I have a deal for you. If I find you an otter, you gotta stop talking to me about this shit for the rest of the trip.”

Connor laughed, “Yeah, okay bro.”

“No seriously. I’m a great wingman! Remember Chet and that sorority girl with the slutty tattoo? That was all me, bro.”

“Alright dude. I’ll play.” Connor chuckled, “And how are you going to find this otter?”

Jeff shrugged, “Hairy and slim. Fuck dude, I’ll find ‘em in no time.”

Connor smirked and slapped his friend on the back, “Well I appreciate it, dude. But I think I’ve already found one.”

“No fucking way man, where?” Jeff asked, looking around the bar.

“You can’t miss him. He’s pretty slim.”

Jeff continued to look around, barely noticing as his muscles started to deflate. It started in his legs- his well sculpted calves becoming thin and petite. He inadvertently put a hand on his abs as he felt his muscle twist and contract, just before they deflated, leaving his toned abdomen flat. Connor smirked as he watched Jeff’s pecs follow suit- the muscle behind them atrophying at an alarming rate.  

“I’ll miss those.” Connor chuckled.

“What was the dude?”

“Nothing man.” Connor watched as Jeff seemed to shorten as his back muscles shrunk into nothingness, “You haven’t noticed him yet?” He watched as Jeff’s muscular arms thinned out- years of training at the gym gone within just a few minutes.

“No I haven’t.” Jeff chuckled, “You sure you’re not seeing things, bro?”

“No, he’ right there.” Connor insisted.

Jeff’s eyes narrowed and he stood up to try and get a better view. But he wasn’t used to his new frame and nearly fell over as he tried to balance himself, “Fuck dude, I need to lay off the drinks.” Jeff looked at his skinnier arms, staring at them closely. Connor sipped his drink, watching Jeff trying to make sense of it, “Shit... dude... I...I look small?”

“No way, I think you look perfect the way you are.” Connor said, guiding Jeff back to his chair. Jeff blushed at his friend’s touch.

“Sh-shit dude.” Jeff shook his head, “I uh...” Something was wrong. He knew he wasn’t this skinny. As he looked closer at himself, he felt he was missing something. His pecs, his arms, his abs, “Fuck Connor, dude something is...”

“Dude stop distracting me! I’m trying to find that otter I was telling you about.” Connor smirked, “He has to be one of the hairiest guys I’ve seen.”

Jeff felt nauseous. With a grunt, he felt his skin come alive. It burned, only to be replaced by an itchiness that seemed to originate from each follicle of his clean-shaven skin. Relief came suddenly, but was short-lived. He watched with terrified eyes as hair emerged from the top of his bathing suit and traveled up his abdomen. The dark brown hair sprouting from his skin was curly and thick, moreso than anything he ever grew naturally. And as it climbed up his abdomen, thickening rapidly, it finally reached his pecs where it spread like wildfire.

“Ahhhhh.” Jeff moaned as he felt the hair climb around his ass and move up his back. Simultaneously, Jeff raised his hand to feel the thick beard forming along his face, “Connor, what the fuck?” He breathed out, sweat washing over his body and dampening his new fur. Connor grinned, yanking a clump of Jeff’s new arm hair.

“Dude, what’s the matter? You’re distracting me.” Connor complained, “Damn, if only you could see this otter now.” Jeff tensed as Connor rubbed a hand through the dense forest on his chest, “What did you say about guys who wear earrings?” Jeff winced in pain as his ears were stretched and two gauges embedded into his ear lobes, “Oh and remember that sorority girl? What did you say about her tattoos again?” Jeff winced again as tattoos carved themselves into his arms and legs, “And shit, what kinda guy would wear a speedo like that?” Jeff looked down at the yellow speedo that now barely covered his junk and hairy ass, “Oh right- according to you, those things would make someone gay and slutty, right?” Jeff’s eyes widened, “So I guess this otter I’m seeing must be a massive gay slut.”

“Wait! Connor! Please...” Jeff’s mouth went slack and his eyes widened as his brain was rewritten. His love for tits quickly vanished- replaced by a love for a man’s touch and dick, “Please... I...” Jeff winced as he remembered the best way to suck a man’s cock. A strategy that always got his hookup to cum, “I’m not...” His gym routine vanished from his brain. Cardio and squats. All to help keep his ass as fuckable as possible, “Connor...” Jeff felt himself fall forward, and for brief moment everything went dark. But when he opened his eyes, he found himself being supported by the strong arm of the man sitting across from him.

“Yo, you good?” Jeff looked up at the muscular man in front of him and grinned.

“All good hun!” Jeff giggled, tracing his hand along the man’s muscular arm. Fuck, how’d he get so lucky to find this stud?, “But I think I should lie down for bit.”

“I have a place in mind.” The man said with a grin.

“Oh yeah big guy?” Jeff leaned in and placed a hand against the man’s pec, “I need you to take me there. Right now.” He breathed. The man grinned and the two left the bar, walking quickly back to the man’s room, “My name is Jeffrey by the way.”

“Connor.” Connor replied, as the two entered the bedroom.

Jeffrey grinned as Connor threw him onto the bed. Clothes were quickly discarded. And soon, moans filled the empty room.

______________________________________________________________

Jeff groaned as he pushed himself out of bed, ‘Fuck,’ he thought, seeing the time on his phone, ‘I must’ve gotten wasted.’

His whole body ached, especially his ass. Probably fell on it while he was drunk, he figured. He wobbled to the bathroom and stared in the mirror- taking in his muscular frame and clean-shaven form. He smirked- even feeling like shit he still had his looks. He opened his phone to take a pic and cringed.

“What the fuck?” He whispered, “Who the fuck is that?” He stared at the newest saved picture in his phone. A hairy, slim man, “An otter...” He whispered.

There was a sudden knock at his door and he groaned. Shuffling over, he opened it to find Connor.

“Dude what’s up?” Connor chuckled, “Quite the night last night.”

 “Yeah, really? Fuck dude, I drank way too much. Check this out.” He showed Connor the picture, causing his friend to laugh, “I don’t know how it got on here.”

“You don’t remember?” Connor laughed, “Before you left, we took a whole bunch of selfies.”

Jeff groaned, “Hope he didn’t think I’d be into that.” He chuckled, “Shoot your shot, I guess.” He deleted the photo, “So I take it the night was successful?”  

Connor smirked, “Oh it was.” He winked. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing him again soon. He was begging for more.”

“Gross dude.” Jeff chuckled, “So is that it? Done with the quest?”

“Close dude, very close. Just a few more tribes left.” Connor grinned. Jeff felt a shiver run down his spine. He looked at Connor, a feeling of fear and excitement welling up from within the deepest part of his psyche, “So, wanna grab a drink?”

Jeff shrugged, “Sure, dude.”  

[stllmnstr]

easy mode

pairing: lee heeseung x f reader

genre: brother's best friend au

word count: 2.9k

warnings: not explicit but veeeery suggestive, alcohol consumption, swearing, lots and lots of jealousy aka very bthb coded

note: Another reupload! I wrote another ~3k of sacred monsters today and saw this in my drafts and realized I never posted it. If you read it before, I hope you like it just as much! If you haven't, I hope you enjoy!

⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖

Lee Heeseung likes to do things the easy way. 

It’s not that he’s lazy, just... efficient. A fan of the path of least resistance. He knows how to pick his battles and does so sparingly. 

Heeseung minds his own business, keeps his eyes on the path in front of him and rarely lets them stray. And he definitely, definitely never pokes his nose into other people’s problems. 

It’s a philosophy that keeps his head on straight, that allows his friendships to remain low-maintenance and sans drama. It’s what’s kept Jay at his side for the last fifteen years, even through the trials and tribulations of elementary school playground altercations, puberty-fueled fights in the middle school locker room, and most recently, the frustrating misalignment of their post-graduation work schedules. 

Four years ago, Heeseung thought a bachelor’s degree would be his ticket to success, not a soul-sucking nine-to-five that leaves him itching for a drink or three most Friday nights. Luckily for him, Jay’s in the same boat. 

But tonight, sitting next to his best friend on his favorite slightly wobbly bar stool, Heeseung almost misses the monotony of their usual Friday evening happy hours. 

He’s nursing his third beer, which would usually go down like cold water, even though time and tipsiness have turned it lukewarm. Tonight, though, Heeseung’s eyes keep wandering towards the same corner table just over Jay’s shoulder. 

And every time they do, the muscle in his jaw strains a little further. The beer on his tongue tastes a little more bitter. 

Heeseung hates making things complicated. He doesn’t get involved. He doesn’t. But–

“Are you gonna do something about that?”

On the adjacent bar stool, Jay glances at Heeseung. “About what?” 

Heeseung just keeps his eyes trained on that table, that spot over Jay’s shoulder. 

Picking up on the hint even through the pleasant haze in his mind, Jay turns his gaze to follow Heeseung’s nonverbal cue. It takes him only a matter of seconds to locate what has his best friend in such a mood. Or rather, who. Although Jay isn’t quite sure why. 

He’s digging for clarification when he looks back at his friend. “What do you mean? Did she do something weird?” It wouldn’t be exactly unlike his younger sister to do something slightly embarrassing in public. 

Heeseung’s jaw just tightens further, betraying annoyance. Finally, he puts words to his irritation, saves Jay from his suspense. “You’re gonna let that idiot put his hands all over your little sister in the middle of the bar?”

Jay frowns, turns over his shoulder once again to make sure he isn’t seeing things. 

He’s not. From this angle, at least, Sunghoon’s hands are at a perfectly respectable distance from you. Not that Jay could do much about it either way. 

He tells Heeseung as much. “What am I supposed to do? Drag her out by her ear and force her to join a convent? Ship her off to a girls only boarding school?” 

Jay laughs humorlessly. He’s not exactly thrilled that you and your friends chose to patronize the same bar as him and Heeseung tonight, but he doesn’t want to linger on it either. In fact, he doesn’t want to do anything but forget his woes this evening, drown his sorrows in overpriced pints of whatever’s on tap. 

He’s perfectly happy with his back turned towards you. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. “She’s twenty-two.”

And that wasn’t what Heeseung was suggesting exactly, but now that Jay mentions it…

“You’re okay with Park trying to play tonsil tennis with her then?”

“Dude,” Jay winces, setting his beer down on the bar, stomach suddenly queasy. “Gross. That’s still my little sister.”

Which is exactly the card Heeseung is hoping he’ll play. But all Jay does is sigh. If Heeseung didn’t know better, he’d think the exasperation was directed at him instead of the loser he’s pretty sure is currently trying to make himself Jay’s future brother-in-law. 

Jay checks over his shoulder one final time for good measure. It confirms whatever he’s looking for. Mostly the fact that Park Sunghoon’s lips are too busy cracking mediocre jokes to be making sloppy passes at his sister in public. 

Hoping to put it to rest once and for all, he turns back to Heeseung. “Besides, it’s Sunghoon,” Jay reasons. He finds it in himself to reach for his beer again. “She’s known him since preschool. He’s practically like a second brother to her.” Jay takes a sip, misreading the rise in Heeseung’s agitation as familial affection. Trying to soothe it over, he concedes with a nod, “Or third, I guess. I’ll let you be her second.”

Like always, Heeseung lets it go. He goes with the flow, rolls with the punches. 

Well, at least on the outside. 

But even if he weren’t so committed to never rocking the boat, this is hardly the time or place to correct Jay’s assumptions that his feelings towards you are anything but brotherly. 

That, he decides, will have to be a revelation for another time. Preferably in a situation where Heeseung is well out of arm’s reach and Jay is in restraints of some sort. 

Those, after all, are the only circumstances in which he could ever disclose just how decidedly not brotherly his feelings towards you are. 

In fact, his feelings are a lot more aligned with that stupid game you used to make him play as kids. The one where you put on the white dress you’d gotten from your cousin as a hand-me-down, an assortment of grape juice, finger paint, and pasta sauce stains scattered along the hemline. 

The one where you’d gather a bunch of dandelions from your overgrown backyard and call them a bouquet. 

The one where you’d live out all your grandest six-year-old dreams of walking down the aisle towards a handsome prince with the latest Kidz Bop rendition of whatever love song was most popular on the radio crackling through the cheap speaker you stole from Jay’s bedroom. 

The one where you’d drag Heeseung away from the player number two console, much to Jay’s unending annoyance, and force him to play the part of your groom. Even at six, you were a force to be reckoned with. An argument-winning fiend that even your older brother could rarely best in a fight. 

Heeseung played along, more than anything, because he was scared to face your wrath if he declined. But he’d be lying if he said his heart didn’t feel a little funny in his chest every time he watched you walk down a makeshift aisle made from your mother’s missing tablecloth. 

So no, Heeseung doesn’t give a shit how long you’ve known Sunghoon. After all, what does Sunghoon know about your childhood dream to get married in a garden full of roses? Judging from the way it looks like he keeps trying to get you to take a sip of his drink, he doesn't even know you can’t stand the taste of Coke mixed with liquor. 

But Heeseung knows. He was there the night you developed the aversion. The night you decided bottom shelf tequila and the soda you snuck from your parent’s fridge were your best friends for the evening after junior prom. The night he held your hair and rubbed soothing circles into the skin between your shoulders as it came back up a few hours later. 

And he was there for the rest of it, too. All of the little moments, the big moments, and everything in between that spun the tapestry of your formative years. 

The day you finally got your braces off and didn’t stop smiling for three weeks straight. The time you sprained your ankle trying to hide Jay’s favorite pair of sneakers in the alarmingly tall tree in your backyard. The night you cried for four hours straight when you found out Jake Sim from biology was a big, fat, liar that was indeed texting other girls for homework answers. 

There may have been moments, tangled up in that swirling mix of memories, when Heeseung felt nothing but a brotherly sort of affection for you. A desire to protect you from the world and a distinct sort of pride when he inevitably failed and you rose to the challenge anyway. 

But Heeseung also remembers what it felt like to stand across from you as you recited your six-year-old attempt at recreating marriage vows, and he thinks he never really stood a chance. 

So tonight, glancing over Jay’s shoulder again, Heeseung watches as you lean a little further into Sunghoon, straining to hear him over the cacophony in the bar. 

And the anger he feels in his gut is not brotherly in the slightest. Nor is the red, hot, scalding jealousy that burns his throat every time he forces himself to swallow it down. 

Searching for a distraction, he busies himself with his beer once again, letting Jay’s unwanted evaluations fall to the wayside for the time being. 

Immersed in the dregs of his own despair, he almost misses it. The flash of movement as you slide out from your seat next to Sunghoon. 

His eyes track your movement with the quiet focus of a predator on the hunt, watching as you disappear around the corner. 

Heeseung mumbles some excuse about needing to go to the bathroom that Jay only partially hears before he’s stepping off of his bar stool, beer forgotten on the counter behind him. 

Your footsteps are easy to follow as he traces the predictable path you forge to the opposite corner of the bar. Heeseung’s bathroom excuse was a good one, he’s pleased to discover, once he realizes that’s precisely where he’ll be meeting you. 

The line is long, but it moves quickly. Only a handful of minutes have passed when you emerge again. This time, Heeseung doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t give you the chance to walk back and make him watch you from a distance for the rest of the evening. 

Doesn’t give you the chance to so much as look at Park Sunghoon again. 

Instead, he wraps long fingers around the skin of your wrist, dragging you to the adjacent hallway where it’s empty, quiet. Secluded. Away from any wandering eyes or unwanted ears. 

Any protests of yours are overtaken by surprise, and by the time you finally find them again, they’re replaced by questions. 

Heeseung may be a captain of a steady ship, a firm believer in the merits of smooth sailing, but he’s never been able to resist the urge of liminal spaces like these. Moments with enough plausible deniability that Jay won’t have a reason to give him a bloody nose or threaten his life if he so much as looks at his little sister again. Exchanges that he hopes will linger with you long after the two of you have parted ways. 

Desire for ambiguity aside, the position he puts you in is compromising no matter how you spin it. Your back against the wall, Heeseung leans over you, cages you in like he’s after something other than your answers. 

Something more. 

But the gap between your bodies is deliberate, a way for him to backtrack if the situation calls for it. An escape route if he needs it. He really, really hopes he won’t. 

Your wrist is still in his grip, light but demanding, when he finally says, “Park Sunghoon? Really?”

He can’t help it, the way his words are warped with poorly disguised venom. He really cannot stand the guy. 

“What?” You hope you can blame the obvious breathlessness in your voice on shock. “What are you–?”

Heeseung won’t leave you wondering for long. “You think he can handle you?” With the way you’re wrapped up in Heeseung’s hold, the challenge, the comparison, is apparent. 

Your shock morphs. Hardens. Gaze narrowing, you relax a little into his grip. 

Your words, however, remain combative. “Handle me? Am I a wild animal?” You scoff. “I don’t need to be han–”

And, oh, this is Heeseung’s favorite kind of tightrope. His very best balancing act. He loves it, thrives on it, revels in it. 

This exchange of heated words that never go anyway but to your head. He hopes you’re seeing fucking stars. 

Heeseung leans an inch closer. He’s breaching dangerous territory. He’ll blame it on the alcohol if he has to. Glancing at your eyes, holding your gaze, he doesn’t think he will. 

“Who said anything about you needing it?” He’s so close that you feel his breath on your cheekbone, ghosting across your temple. It’s warm, leaves your skin tingling in its wake. “I’m talking about what you want.”

Something unreadable flickers through your gaze. If Heeseung didn’t know any better, he’d call it desire. But it disappears before he can name it, replaced with contempt. As if Heeseung is nothing but a pest, a fly to swat at until it stops buzzing. “Awful presumptuous, don’t you think?”

Heeseung only grins. He’s not like this, usually. Even when his intentions are less than pure. Just like everything else, he flirts in obvious ways. He doesn’t play games or speak in riddles or hope that subtleties will do the job for him. 

But it’s just so easy with you. “I don’t know.” He leans in closer. “There are a few ways we could find out, though.”

If your breath stutters, you’ll disguise it as another scoff. “Pray tell.”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Heeseung inclines his head in a mockery of an apology. Pet names are another thing he keeps reserved for these stolen moments with you. Another exception to the rule that he refuses to examine further. 

For a moment, he lets his eyes do what they want. You feel the heat they scorch in their path from your nose to your chin back up to your molten gaze. 

“I’d rather show you.” Heeseung pauses, biting at his bottom lip. “But I don’t think I can do any of the things I want in public.”

You hate the way he does this. The way he never says what he means. The way he skirts around his desires with such heavy footsteps but still leaves you feeling foolish for drawing obvious conclusions. 

The way your heartbeat stutters regardless. But tonight, you’ll hold firm. If he wants anything from you, he’ll have to spell it out. “What are you saying?”

Heeseung is as evasive as always. “I’m saying that Sunghoon’s too nice for you.” There’s a hard edge in his eyes when he adds, “You’ll eat him alive and still be begging for more.”

Fine. If he wants to play games, then you’ll roll the dice too. Make scathing comments and heated taunts with whatever numbers you land on. 

This time, it’s you that leans in. “Should I make sure to find you, then? When I’m all done with him?”

Heeseung’s eyes light up with a renewed vigor. You can’t tell if he’s furious or the most delighted you’ve ever seen him. “Careful,” he breathes. “That’s a dangerous game you’re playing at.”

You smile. Sweetly. Innocently. Leaning in further, your mouth is scant inches from his. 

“I’m not playing at anything.” It’s a blatant lie, but you’ve become well acquainted with denial, too. Picked up a few tricks from the master himself. “You’re the one that dragged me here and started demanding that I ditch my friend.”

Heeseung grins as if you serve no purpose but to amuse him. But there’s a hard edge in his voice when he asks, “You let all your friends look at you like that?”

“Only the ones I really like.”

And now you’re under his skin. Exactly where you want to be. “Careful,” he repeats, even lower this time. “I’m not as nice as him.”

You won’t heed any warnings, and especially not ones given from him. 

Heeseung is all talk. All bark and no bite. You almost wish he would bare teeth, just once. 

But Jay is still sitting on a barstool just one room over, and no matter how much he likes toying with you, you have the sinking suspicion that Heeseung’s loyalty will always begin and end with his best friend. 

He’ll press up against the line, will skirt the edge of the boundaries between you every chance he gets, but you’ve yet to see any indication that he’ll ever cross it. 

Just once, you want to be the one with him wrapped around your finger. Want to watch him become putty in your hands. 

“What are you gonna do?” Unblinking, you hold his gaze. “Handle me?”

A blurred line dissolves completely. Heeseung’s resolve slips, just a fraction. His eyes are still guarded, yes, but there’s a desperation that wasn’t there before. “Is that an invitation?”

“A challenge,” you correct, taking advantage of his sudden surprise to slide out of his grasp, maneuvering away from his hold. This time, he has no choice but to turn as you begin to back away, to let his eyes follow your lead. 

The misstep might have been miniscule, but it was enough to tip the balance.

For once, the results of this game are under your sole control. You have choices, ones that would leave him in the dust and ones that would put a trophy in his wandering hands. 

In the end, you discard it all. You have only one final demand for him. It’s a whisper that’s barely audible, “Rise to it.”

Heeseung doesn’t need to hear it twice. 

⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖

Thanks for reading :) If you enjoyed, let me know!

[mayordea]

Happy birthday to the number one princess in the world!! 💖

~from her biggest fans :)

ramble of my scattered thoughts on the piece under cut as usual cuz i love talking 😋

This has been an idea I've been cookin for a while, and it was so cluttered and unlike any other ensemble piece I've made... and I decided I oughta do it anyway. I love Miku, I love Vocaloid, and I wanted to do something really ambitious and crazy for her anniversary. Crazy that she's turning her "canon" age this year TwT

I had the idea floating around since like, May...? And then finally started acting on it around June 18. I'm terrible with deadlines, obvious with how I can never make a silly birthday post in time, so I started wayyyy ahead to make sure I have some room to be lazy lol, especially with an idea as ambitious as this.

This was finished on July 12! So I had to sit on this for an annoying amount of time. Very difficult for someone like me who just wants to talk about everything I'm working on to the masses. But at the very least, that gave me the time to work on the draft for this post.

~~~

Here's some ~behind the scenes~ scribbles leading up to the finished piece!

Left is the chicken scratch plan i made in my handy dandy notebook (whenever things are getting real and ambitious, i always made a rough ROUGH plan in there. Usually I'd do a rough pass of the full thing, but this was too complicated for me to do traditionally. I majorly benefited from digital tools to make this possible). CyberDiva and CyberSongman were considered, but I ended up cutting them cuz I just didn't feel like drawing them sorry-- (just pretend they're off to the side. They gave Ruby and Clara the pizza lol). Right is the "final" completed sketch (before I decided to include Chika mid-way through coloring and VY1 and VY2 near the finish line). I started by drawing the main "groups" separated on a different canvas so I can plop them into the main canvas for easy rearranging and transforming. However I got lazy and ended up drawing everyone in the bottom right corner directly on the canvas since I liked seeing the big picture of everyone's positions. Y'know.

Almost excluded Chika! But I like her design so much that I just felt like including her last-minute. You win this time, Chika fans. VY1 and VY2 were very close to being cut! I added them when I began doing the banner and thought "eh why not". I figured their non-human designs would be pretty easy to include pushed back in the bg. Ik VY1 is more commonly associated with the fan design, but I referenced the hairpin cuz it was simpler and the fan looked very annoying to draw 😭

Sorry to the fans of many Vocaloids I had to cut because this composition was insane enough as is. I promise I wanted to include fellas like CUL, LUMi and Sachiko 😭 I will admit I was a little biased on who I wanted to include over others. Like, I don't normally care for Bruno and Clara, but I wanted to get some more international 'loids in the mix. Also wanted to stick in the realm of official designs and not fan-designs since, as much as I can appreciate those, are just a whole "wait who is that guy supposed to be" situation I didn't wanna deal with. I also did wanna include even more character references through the balloons, but they ended up being kind of ugly and overcomplicated the BG :,) (Oh, and while this was originally planned to be a Vocaloid-only piece, I did end up including Teto, Neru, and Haku 'cuz those are Miku's besties dude!!! They may not be Officially in the club but they're her girls and it would be criminal to not invite them to her birthday).

Anyway, this project marks the first time I've drawn a lot of Vocaloids. Lily, Piko, Rana, Yuki, Yukari, Miki, Maika, and many more lol. All of 'em I've heard or seen in passing, but now I actually drew them, and some have really cool and fun designs!! I got into a habit of drawing Merli after this since I just love her design for example. And I'll probably be drawing more lol!!

Oh and the last thing I'll add for now!! The cake is indeed made up of various song references!! I wanted to reference the "big four" producers, just absolute icons in Vocaloid history. The pink/black checkerboard is "World is Mine" (Ryo), the crescents on the side is "Rolling Girl" (Wowaka), the smiley faces is "Matryoshka" (Hachi), and the three hearts on the side is "The Vampire" (DECO*27, which is sort of a symbol of his whole Mannequin album tbh). I know "The Vampire" is a bit modern but I couldn't think of anything else off the top of my head. I'm a fake DECO fan I know 😔 "Matryoshka" was originally going to be referenced in the colors of the candles but believe me it looked like shit so I just went for something else last minute 😭

That's all I have to say!!! Hope you didn't mind the text wall if you made it here. I hope you like it as much as I do!!!! Happy freakin' birthday Miku!!!!

I have to deal with tagging all these characters now for my page,,, in the drafts my tags got cut off after a certain point so I think I'm massively breaching the tag limit 😭 um... I'll figure that out later...

not losing sleep that i can't tag everyone, even for page organization purposes because some characters have pretty generic names and some are a little hard to see in full yknow. If you're one of those people who tag every character in the art piece you reblog... I am very sorry.

[bamsywrites]

And Comes Dawn pt vii

Pairings: Sauron/Halbrand x Reader, minor Sauron/Halbrand x Galadriel, Isildur x Reader

Summary: and why should a god be jealous of a man?

Tags: slow burn, pining, angst, SO MUCH PINING IN THIS ONE OKAY, isildur is a weird dork, arguments, clichés, sauron is a good dude 2024? maybe probably not. look idk what to tag this one at all

Notes: so this is 3.1k words. The other parts are all about 1.8 k. I got carried away okay. Feed back is welcome as always. I think I'm, as the cool kids say, serving dinner or something with this one.

“And at the very least, do try not to make any new enemies,” he smirked, eyes searching the elves. He may not know what it was he wanted, but he knew that he needed her for whatever plans he had. It seemed that his deception was working, that his words had an effect on her. He found great satisfaction in knowing that he'd deceived the one most set on his destruction, and he wondered how far this could go.

Would she fall for him? The irony in that would be too much. It would be too poetic, but the idea of it was delicious to think about.

He was pulled from his thoughts at the sight of you walking away. You were wiping at your eyes, and he wondered if you were crying and what would have made you cry. Perhaps you saw him and the elf and had taken his deception for reality. Your annoying habit of pulling forth old emotions reemerged once more. This time, it was guilt he was feeling. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt guilty, truly, for his actions. You were not a deception, not entirely, the feelings he had for you were the most real thing he had experienced in an age and he knew those feelings were returned by you - however maybe not as intensely. His feet were moving before his mind recognized it, and he was following you.

He followed and followed and followed, and yet you kept walking with your head down. Maybe you weren’t aware of it. So he called your nickname, yet you kept walking without wavering. He knew that he had messed up, that he had hurt you, when your name passed his lips loud enough that he knew you heard it and yet you continued to walk without a single sign of acknowledgement.

“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath, his palms pressing into his eyes.

Closing his eyes proved to be a bad idea because now all he could see was your face. However, instead of smiling or laughing, he imagined what you would look like with tear stained cheeks and sad eyes. He made you feel that way, and it made his entire being clench with guilt. When was the last time he felt guilty for anything? He had murdered scores and scores of men, elves, dwarves and he felt nothing, but the idea of his actions making one mortal woman cry was enough to fill him with it.

It was an annoyance, truly, but he couldn��t handle you as he did most annoyances. He had tried countless times, and even by proxy, he couldn’t make himself be rid of you. You were, yet again, proving to make everything that much more difficult, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

~

“So you've not met any dwarves?”

“Nope, only elves.”

“That's incredibly boring.”

“Elves? Or the lack of dwarves?”

Isildur laughed, his hair falling softly in front of his eyes. He had a good, strong laugh that was contagious, laughter bubbled up inside of you as well, "l know my answer,” he leaned back in his seat, “But I await yours. You have met the elves, and I have not.”

You pressed your tongue into your teeth as you tried to think of a way to respond. You didn’t want to confirm any stereotypes that might be thought of you due to what your father did and you had heard truly magnificent stories about the elves of old, but you had yet to meet one that didn’t seem to regard you as little more than an insect.

“Are they truly that bad,” he asked in a whisper.

You shook your head,"It's complicated. There are some who are knowledgeable and kind, I am sure. But there are some who are arrogant and cruel. We are judged and punished for the actions of our ancestors just as you are rewarded for yours.”

Isildur nodded, quiet for a moment, “That was a lot more elegant than my response. I think it would be the lack of dwarfs. Their beards are much more impressive.”

You couldn't help but laugh again, “How would you know if you've never met one?”

“Well then, let me ask you. Are the elf beards impressive?” He looked at you with a cocked eyebrow, and a smirk played on his lips.

You pushed your tongue between your teeth as you tried not to laugh. Your cheeks hurt from the ones he pulled from already. “I don't think I've seen an elf with a beard.”

“Well there you have it. Elves are useless and boring.”

You couldn't stop the laugh that tore through you. “Beards are the metric for which we judge what is boring and what is not?”

“Mhm.”

“But you don't have a beard.”

“Give me a week.’”

“I don't have a beard.”

He narrowed his eyes as if you had caught him, “You have other things.”

“Other things?” You asked with a raised brow.

“I can not elaborate, or I will, yet again, say something so horrible and embarrassing that I'll have to get you breakfast in the morning to atone for it.”

“I would not be opposed to that,” you smiled brightly, which he returned.

His presence was a welcome one. He was funny and bright, kind and helpful. He wasn't polished like Galadriel, but he wasn't crass like Halbrand. It was refreshing. When you spoke, he listened, and you could tell his attention was on you and you alone. The conversation flowed easily between you two. You did not know how long you had been talking after eating a full meal of broth and fish and bread. You told him of your home, and he told you of his. It was a welcome distraction from the pain and insecurities that Halbrand hand managed.

You had, truly, thought you were special. To be noticed and protected by someone who was as strong and mysterious as he was handsome had been flattering. Anytime Halbrand gave you that flirty look and devious smirk, your knees were weak and your stomach became a swarm of butterflies but it was more than that, the forehead kisses and soft moments had lead you to believe that there were feelings there, that he had in some part returned the feelings that were becoming more and more apparent in your heart.

But his exchanges with Galadriel made you suspect that maybe you were not special. Perhaps he was simply a flirty man, and he had moved on to the next. You could not blame him, Galadriel was gorgeous despite whatever complaints you had with her character.

“I suspect my father would be opposed, however perhaps I could show you some of the great art Númenor has to offer tomorrow evening,” Isildurs voice brought you out of your thoughts and you were about to accept his offer when the sound of wood scraping against stone stops you.

“Is that an open invitation?”

Halbrand had pulled a chair up to your table and sat in between the two of you. He wore an expression that you couldn’t quite place, but you knew it was not a pleasant one. He leaned his elbows against the table, but his eyes never left Isildur.

“And you are?” Isildur asked, eyes narrowing as he awaited an answer. You attempted to answer, and you knew that whatever answer Halbrand would give would end in an argument. You saw it so many times with the old man on the raft, then you suspected it was boredom or hunger that led to his annoyance but now you were not able to place what would make him so mad.

“I'm her companion. We've spent the better part of two weeks together. I should be asking who you are.” His voice lacked the teasing tone or warmth that you had come to know from Halbrand.

“I'm Isildur, son of Elendil, the man who saved you. My intentions have been pure, I swear it. I simply treated her to dinner.”

“And breakfast and a moonlit tour of the city” Halbrands voice was cold, now leaning back in his chair and looking between the two of you as he recited the conversation you two had been having. “Perhaps next would be a tour of the finest beds Númenor has to offer.”

“Halbrand!” You felt heat rise to your cheeks, and embarrassed tears filled your eyes, quickly blinking them away. He had a temper and an almost overzealous need to protect you at times but that was what you adored about him, despite his rough edges he seemed to be a good man with a soft heart and brave soul. You never suspected he would insinuate that you would be so easy to take to bed, that he would levy such an accusation against a man who had offered you dinner and whose father saved your life.

Today, you seemed to be finding out plenty of what you thought about him may have been naive on your part.

Isildur wet his lips, his expression harding, and you couldn’t blame him for being upset. “I was actually thinking of taking her to one of the great libraries or a seaside walk. Though I'm sure whatever beds I could offer would provide more comfort, among other things, than any bed of yours.”

The tears spilled from your eyes and down your cheeks as you noticed patrons turning their heads to watch the conflict. You had hoped that Isildur would have been above falling for Halbrands' attempts to goad a response, but you were wrong, though you gave him more grace than the other. Isildurs honor was attacked just as yours was.

Halbrands jaw clenched, and his fist balled into a tight fist, “Perhaps, you would like to say that to me again, outside this fine establishment.”

“Oh I would indeed,” Isildur stared at him, his confidence unwavering, "I can repeat it here as well.”

You could tell by the way the muscles in Halbrands arm flinched that this sparring match would become physical without some sort of intervention. Your hand grabbed onto his arm firmly and squeezed, “Both of you, stop! Please, ” you turned your attention to Halbrand, “Why are you here?”

“Well, I've spent the entire day looking for you. I'm glad to finally have found you. I'm here to take you to the accommodations that the Númenorians have so graciously provided,” his attention stayed on Isildur, a strange battle of wits it seemed.

Who would break eye contact first?

It was Isildur. He looked at you and his expression softened at the sight of the tears on your cheek, “I can escort you, if you'd like,” The expression he wore told you that he was being true, not trying to anger Halbrand further but wanting to ensure your safety.

You spoke quickly, before Halbrand could make a retort, “I will be fine, thank you, though. I appreciate your kindness, truly,” You smiled at him, wiping the tears from your eyes as you stood up. Isildurs eyes followed you, and he nodded, but you noticed how he eyes Halbrand.

Embarrassed and hurt, you silently left the establishment and allowed Halbrand to lead the way to wherever it was you would be staying for the next 3 weeks.

~

He had, truly, spent the entire day looking for you. He didn’t like not having you by his side. For two weeks now, you'd barely been more than an arms length away from him, and today you’d been lost in a city. He felt fear. What if something happened to you? He couldn’t bear the thought of it, and he would lay the city of Númenor to waste if something ill had become you. As night dawned and he still had not found you, his actions began to get erratic, and his thoughts were getting the better of him. The only thing that calmed him was hearing your laugh.

Your laugh. He followed the sound and found you and the sight before him filled him with rage he had not expected. Someone else was making you laugh? You were blushing and smiling…because of this meager human? Did you not know that you deserved more than that? Did you not know whom you belonged to? You may not have known it, but he claimed ownership to your very being, and it was not something he gave up lightly.

He must admit the confrontation got more heated than he had wanted it to, the accusations that it would be easy to bed you had gone too far and he knew it the moment he saw your tears. That was twice, at least, in one day that he had done something to make you cry. He couldn’t stop, however, when this boy dared to challenge him. The idea that this Isildur son of Elendil would be able to best him was laughable, and he would find great pleasure in removing his heart from his chest.

Your touch pulled him from these thoughts and soothed the anger that raged inside of him. It wasn’t jealousy because who was he to be jealous of? The feel of your fingers on his skin, he could feel your pulse and the blood rushing through your veins. He found comfort in it and knew that you would not have him tear someone’s heart out, and that was enough for him to stop. The silence that followed your travel to the inn that would provide the lodging granted to the two of you (the elf, of course, had lodgings in the palace) was unwelcome. It made his stomach sick to watch you, lip still trembling and tears still falling from your lashes. He had done that. There was no trying to blame the boy for it. It was his words that had triggered the tears, and he could feel the angst that waged inside of you right now.

He knew it all started with Galadriel, the interaction on the stairs, and did not know how to ease your insecurities. He could not stop the deception. He needed Galadriel, and he needed her to be at his whim. He didn’t want to give up the tantalizing game he was playing with the elf, either. He could have you both, he had convinced himself, if he played the game right.

Once inside, he led you up the set of stairs and to your door. His room was right across the hall from yours. He wanted to speak and say something to you, but he didn’t know what words to say.

“He was simply being kind, Halbrand.” Your voice, broken and sad, ended the long silence.

His eyes closed as he turned toward you. He couldn’t bear to see the tears. He couldn’t bear to feel the guilt.

“He bought me dinner to be kind. He was being friendly, he’s curious about our home and culture. I don’t know why you’re upset that I may have made a friend.”

Friend.

That word triggered something inside of him. You thought that boy wanted to be your friend? He couldn’t help the scoff he made at those words, his eyes opening to look at you.

“You think he wants to be friends with you?”

You were about to speak before he cut you off, “Buying you dinner, walks around the city, sweet one, those are not friendly interactions. He is trying to court you.”

“And if he was? Would that be so awful?” He could see that fire rise inside you, the fire he’d seen when you talked to the elf. It was intoxicating, but now, to be on the other end of it, it was fueling a flame that had been burning since the night he first met you.

He took steps towards you as he spoke, “Are you so naive that you do not see my feelings for you? The way he looks at you and the way I do are but a mirror of each other. Yet, you still don’t see it.”

“I saw how you looked at Galadriel.” You had moved back with each step of his until your back was against the door.

“Galadriel,” He laughed, shaking his head, “The elf?”

He was standing right in front of you now. He could feel the heat of your breath on his face as he looked down at you. His eyes searched your own for a moment. “I truly have failed in showing you the feelings I have for you, sweet one.”

His hands cupped your cheeks and forced you to look up at him, his thumbs rubbing soft circles against your skin, “You have come into my life, and it has been a whirlwind ever since, you are unlike anyone I have ever known. You are strong and resilient and kind and caring. You are full of hope, and it makes me hope. After everything I have been through, after everything I have done, you make me hope. Hope for peace, hope for forgiveness, and hope for love. The elf wants me to return to a battle that I no longer have a desire to fight in.”

His thumb traced the softness of your lip, and his voice was but a hoarse whisper. “You must know that my heart beats for you and for you alone.”

His face moved until it was but a whisper from yours, his eyes taking in the small details of your face. The way you looked up at him was enough to fuel his desires for the next century to come. You were perfect, almost as if you were made just for him. He could tell from the way you watched him that you felt it too, this desire, and that you would be willing to submit yourself to him.

He was about to kiss you, his lips brushing yours when he hesitated. There would be no going back after that, and his hands were tainted in sin, covered in the blood of legions and his blood black with the evil he had committed. You were light and pure. You were good in a way that he had never been. Before he sought your corruption, it fed his desires, but in this moment, he could not bring himself to do it.

You made the slightest move forward to kiss him, but he couldn’t let you. His hand gently covered your mouth as he rested his forehead against yours with his eyes closed tightly. It was taking everything in him to resist, but he knows he must. With a kiss to your forehead, he leans down to whisper softly into your ear, “I do not wish my hands to taint the only perfect thing I have ever known.”

And before he can change his mind, he makes a hasty retreat into his room, leaving you standing in the hallway breathless.

[ganondoodle]

as funny as this scene is ... toby and the team are very good at combining humor and serious things (or rather, the humor works so well bc it has a solid base? idk words) the longer i think about it the 'worse' it gets

even with them trash talking each other constantly its so obvious that they still care (they share so many phrases and themes you cant even tell who got what from whom.. though i suppose its more likely spamton got them from Tenna .... but also he would have had to be there for quite a while to have so many similarities) even if its complicated- and like, spamton kind of sounds so genuinely happy here?? and the fact he (if you have the dealmaker) comes out of your inventory on his own here when Tenna talks to himself about being at his lowest and wishing him back (more or less) is kinda heartbreaking to me????? for all i know (cut me some slack its been a long time) we dont know why spamton never came back or left in the first place (and there is the thought of ... would he have even been able to come back given that they are all tied to physical objects and to get Tenna to safety later -if you dont let him die- susie literally has to carry him away) and even if its some sense of resentment or pride or shame or something that made him stay away/avoid him, NOW that you got him here and he hears and sees this he actually makes a move????????

for all that spamton is weird and kinda fucked up for unkown(?) reasons, treated badly (even if for good reason(??) i dont remember everything of the first chapters) and everything im just so?? he could have just stayed in your inventory like hes done before but he doesnt

but you also cant really blame Tenna for reacting the way he does here (and yes i do think he knew it was spamton and the overblown reaction was mostly trying to think of soemthing to do bc HOW would you handle this?? and also i do think he could be petty about it but also maybe overreacting ... i know how it feels to overreact in weird ways ahaha- just .. i get it but, dude, why q-q)- you were hiding and he was talking to himself and then spamton just freakinge appears in front of him like that (when Tennas desperate attempt to avoid being thrown away fails, no matter how far he went, when everything is falling apart, when its kinda .. too late) after who knows how long of silence, knowing literally nothing about where he went or why (yet he still kept the pipis.......)---

and then how spamton says hes never gonna do that again, while understandably so and very funny in the moment, im just so .... the one time he actually does seem to try to reconnect (?) with someone he seems to have actually genuinely cared about he gets rejected like that (for also understandable reasons aaaaah) and swears to never try that again ......................................................

blaming each other for their downfall but still caring and then fumbling the one chance they get to meet again im so .............................................. fine about it.

(and not to derail but why .... why is it so easy to let Tenna disappear or die ..............?? even if you do all the nice things if you dont go to the hub after church (if thats possible, i dont ...actually know), or dont give him to mettaton, toriel throws him out and once it rains and hes outside its like the last chance to get him to safety (and most people would probably avoid going there before the church bc you are told to go home when its raining and most would then check everything else first and end up in the church at night.. skipping out on finding him outside in the rain and after that he is just gone??? (i think?)- ALSO if you dont recruit enough/are nice enough Susie says she still went back and searched for him in the dark world (i love her so much) but couldnt find him and the other NPCs refused to help out.................. the boarded up tv room in the hub??? arhj my heart man q-q .......... and when you actually break him the broken TV just stays in the room????????? at least spamton can just chill in your inventory nfjksbfshfkjnfksl)

((also also ...i found it weird you dont get to see susie help him in the dark world or the sealing of the fountain there, i know its at the end of the chapter and sth happens with Kris and the shelter but ... i think thats the only time we havent seen the actual sealing?? and then she tells you what happened if you interact with the TV instead ... i do love the highly missable dialog of her telling you she found and patched Tenna up with the help of the other NPCs if you got them all recruited though.... qwq))

(sorry these thoughts have been spiraling around sicne i woke up today and i literally could not concentrate on work at all bc i kept ... thinking about it .... either way these all all just current incoherent thoughts im throwing around........ i hope we get to see Tenna again later on, though i kind of doubt that)

[youracebuddy]

I'm in Love with my Best Friend

Reboot Wally x Reader

Rating- Teen

Word count- 1,407

This can also be found on AO3!

This oneshot is a gift for @kawaiialeisha!

Sorry if any part of it doesn't make sense, I mostly wrote this one right before I fell asleep!

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

"Neighbor?"

Wally whispered, lavender eyes locked gently onto yours. He had requested to talk to you one-on-one today, but you didn’t have the faintest clue why.

“Yeah, Walls?” You spoke, gently patting the spot on the bed next to you. You tried your best to give him a reassuring smile, but you couldn’t seem to stop your concern from seeping into it.

He returned the smile weakly, taking the opportunity to slip next to you and lean into your side. You were quick to lean into him in return, your heart easing at the sight of a small smile threatening to break his complicated expression.

“So… are we going to talk about it, or just sit around and be mopy all day?” You teased, lifting up your other hand to ruffle his messy pompadour. He simply batted your hand away, seemingly unable to form the words that he wanted. Your smile dropped in return, only now realizing that this might be more serious than the usual shenanigans that are exchanged between the two of you.

After a moment's consideration, you decided to throw caution to the wind to see what on earth could be wrong with your best friend. You yet again reached out with your free hand, this time setting it below his chin. You gingerly pulled his head back to meet you, only to be greeted with a face full of crimson.

You couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, as you’d never seen him that deep of a shade of red before. What on earth could have gotten into him?

“Dude. Are you okay? The last time I saw you this red was when Barnaby made you laugh so hard that you nearly choked!” You prodded, proceeding to gently tilt around his head further to see the extent of it. The strangest thing that you could notice, though, was it increasing in intensity the closer you got to him.

“Wait. Walls, were you always this soft?” You asked, eyes filling with wonder at the thought. Sure, you had held his hand before, but nothing could prepare you for the fuzziness of his face. It was as if it was a mixture of the finest velvet you could imagine, with the squishiness of a cloud.

Before you knew it, your other hand was on his cheek, gently cupping his face in your palms. You ran your fingers over the soft material that he was made out of, stopping just shy from his ears. During your little… discovery, his expression had shifted from shock to something much softer. His eyes were half-lidded, the void black of his eyelids unable to stop the shimmer of his lavender irises in the soft morning light.

To your surprise, he reached out his felted hand to rest on your face, flushing your cheeks with warmth. It was a new sensation, unlike anything else that you’ve felt. It slowly seeped through your bones, filling each and every inch with comfort.

“You… get it now, don’t you?”

He murmured, his smile returning once more to grace his features. He slowly traced his fingers down to the bottom of your chin, leaving your skin tingling in memory of his touch. A deep, silky laugh escaped from his lips as he continued.

“Whenever you touch me, the strangest things happen to me. Before, it was just the same as usual. But now, for whatever reason…” To express his point, he took his hand off of your chin, bringing it up to rest atop of your own hand cupping the side of his face.

…You didn’t want to think about how deeply you wished for him to do it again, or how when he nuzzled his head into your hand it felt right.

“That happens.” He whispered, letting his eyes flutter closed. He sighed deeply, clearly still trying to get to the bottom of this.

You, on the other hand, had some ideas.

“Walls, can I kiss you?”

His eyes shot open, and he practically fell off of your bed in shock. When your brain finally processed what you said, your face felt like it was going to simply melt off from the heat.

“W-WAIT, I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY WEIRD!” You yelped, frantically waving your hands in front of you to try and snap him out of his thoughts.

“Well, it’s usually related to something romantic when you first feel this way, right? Then, if we kissed, wouldn’t it… tell us if we liked each other?”

Wally thought this over for a moment, before slowly nodding in confirmation. It did nothing to stop the blush on his face from deepening further, however.

You thought it was really, REALLY cute.

Taking a deep breath to calm down your now fluttering heart, you silently opened your arms to him for an invitation to come closer. His eyes flicked down to your arms, then back up to your eyes, as if asking if this was really okay with you. After a small nod of confirmation in response, he wasted no time to close the space between the two of you and snake his arms around your torso, gently pulling you close.

You quickly returned the embrace, already feeling your nerves calm down from the hug. The two of you were always affectionate with each other before, but it just felt… different, to say the least.

It felt like you truly belonged somewhere, for once.

After what felt like hours of just holding onto him, he slowly brought his head up out of the usual crook of your neck he kept it in, glancing down to your lips.

“...Of course you’re shy right now, Walls.”

You murmured, unable to stop the affection you felt towards him from seeping into your tone. You brought your hand under his chin once more, pulling him closer with a sense of tenderness that you didn’t even know you were capable of.

Running your thumb slowly across his cheek, you leaned forward, and gingerly kissed him on the lips. His felt was ticklish against your own lips, causing you to pull back out of surprise. You opened your eyes to look at him, only to see him gazing back at you with the saddest expression that you’ve ever seen. Letting out a quiet snort and a whispered “sorry”, you brought your lips back to his.

Now ignoring the ticklish sensation, you allowed yourself to fully focus on the kiss.

His lips were soft, of which was greatly expected due to the fact that he was made of fabric. But, as the kiss continued, you couldn’t help but notice how he was melting into you.

His grip on you slowly loosened as he allowed himself to fall limp against you, leaving the warmth of sunshine wherever he touched. He was completely snuggled up to you within mere seconds, bringing up his hands to pull your head closer to his.

With that final movement, you suddenly started to feel the kiss in its entirety. The warmth of his lips slowly seeped into yours, sending a shiver down to your spine.

You deepened the kiss further without a second thought, slowly moving your mouth against his in a loving, tender dance. Your fingers slowly ran through his now-ruined pompadour, arms keeping him firmly in place.

The kiss continued for as long as you could hold your breath, not wanting to rip away the sheer trust and vulnerability between the two of you. But, just like everything else, it had to end.

Breaking off the kiss, you leaned forward to rest your forehead against his, greedily gasping for air. Your eyes fluttered open, instantly scanning his expression to make sure you didn’t accidentally make him uncomfortable.

To your great relief, there wasn’t a hint of pain in his expression. Instead, his eyes were half-lidded and filled with warmth, his smile goofy and lovestruck.

“I’m in love with my best friend.”

You breathlessly whispered, fresh realization dawning across your mind. When you focused back on him again, any worry about the new development completely vanished.

In the short time that your brain had wandered off, he had settled himself back against you, his body splayed atop of your own. He was gently nuzzling his face into your hair, letting out small, occasional mumbles and whispers that you couldn’t make out. The only thing that mattered to you was that he was happy, and you were too.

“I love you, Walls.”

“I love you too.”

[hywonuka]

keep that in mind | jww

every step that i take is a mistake to you, chapter 1

Sypnosis: After accepting the dare from his friends of making Y/N fall for him within 4 months, Wonwoo seems to realize how hard —and complicated— this is actually gonna be for him, due to awkward encounters and shared environments.

Pairing: college!wonwoo x college!fem!reader

Genre: college au, falling for a bet or dare trope, slow burn

Warnings: none

Word count: 2k

intro | chapter 1 | chapter 2

9:30 in the morning. Wonwoo is late. Way too late. He wore the first thing he saw on his closet, and ran away to his faculty building, knowing he wouldn’t make it to his first class. He cursed at himself for not waking up in time, and promised himself he wouldn’t drink that much next time he went out with the guys, which was an obvious lie he always told himself.

As he was running to his destination, he couldn’t help but think about last night, and the damn dare he now had to fulfill. Why did he say yes? Firstly, he doesn’t know how to talk to women. Secondly, it’s not like she was unknown to him. In fact, they both were part of the same friend group, which, in Wonwoo's eyes, makes everything more awkward. And last (but not least), they both were part of the student council. Funniest part is that, even with all the opportunities he had have, he has barely ever talked to her, not because he didn’t like Y/N, but because he had no idea of what to say to her. He should just approach her, out of nowhere? No way, he couldn’t. Way too shy for that.

How was he gonna do this now? He only had 4 months, not enough time for him, but now he couldn’t back out. No, god, he couldn’t. The guys will mock him if he even thinks of backing out. He is fucked up and he knows it.

He glances at his phone, to check the hour. 9:45, and his next class isn’t until 10:30. He decided to keep walking, as the Engineering faculty building was nearby, and he already missed the first class of the day. He was passing by a small field with flowers, when he saw a familiar silhouette, which made him stop on his feet. “Hao? What are you doing here?

“Morning man. Just picking up some flowers for Asher”, Minghao said, as he showed Wonwoo a small bouquet he made himself. Asher was Minghao's partner and one of Y/N closest friends.

“Flowers, huh? What’s the occasion?”

“None at all, just felt like it”

“Huh?”

“Of course, you wouldn’t understand”

“W-why?” The tall one asked, startled. He knew his friend wasn’t fond of the idea of the dare, but he wouldn’t think that bad of him now, would he?

“Cuz you are a virgin and a loser who has never even touched a woman before”. Yeah, he thinks that bad of him now. On a normal day, Minghao would reassure Wonwoo about that topic, but seems like he won’t be doing it anymore.

“No need to be that harsh dude”

“And no need to say yes to such a dare. Wonwoo, have you thought of the consequences of this?”

“I… No, I haven’t. But is not like I’m gonna win it”. At this point, Wonwoo was trying to excuse himself, even though deep down he really thought he wouldn’t make it. He cannot make Y/N fall for him in 4 months. He needs more time for that. And it’s not like he knows how to make her fall for him.

“Whatever. When everything is messed up, if you come ask me for advice all I’m gonna say is ‘I told you so’, got it?”, as he said those words, he finished the bouquet, looking at it with a fond smile.

“You are giving it to her now?”

“Yeah, gonna see them before their classes start”

“Can I…?” Minghao gave a deathly glare to the tall one. He knew he was just asking as Asher and Y/N were classmates, which meant that Minghao was going to their faculty building.

“You are lucky you are my friend, cuz if not I would have kicked your ass at that question”

“But can I accompany you or not…?”

“Do as you please”, and with that, Minghao started walking towards the Art and Design faculty building. With no hesitation, Wonwoo ran after him, trying to make small talk, even if the other wasn’t really in the mood to talk to him.

They finally reached the Art and Design faculty building, which was just a couple minutes away from the Engineering faculty building. Minghao’s face changed completely as he was looking for his partner, which Wonwoo found endearing. And, if Minghao already seemed whipped while looking for Asher, the moment he landed his eyes on them, his whole expression lightened up. He quickly walked up to them, calling out their name. “Asher!!”

The goth stopped walking as they heard their boyfriend’s voice. The person accompanying them also stopped, which Wonwoo recognised even before she turned around. It was Y/N.

He suddenly felt his palms getting sweaty. Damn, how was he gonna do this now?? Should he approach herdirectly? Follow Minghao and just join the conversation?

“Hao!! What are you doing here?” Asher’s face lightened up at the sight of their boyfriend. It was that moment that Wonwoo noticed their makeup. He already knew they were goth, but never really looked at their makeup. It was pretty cool.

“Just wanted to give some flowers to my monarch”

“God, you know you can call me princess”

“Monarch sounds cooler”, he said as he leaned on to kiss their lips and give them the bouquet. Wonwoo couldn’t help but look away, feeling he was intruding on an intimate moment between the couple. His eyes landed on Y/N.

She was beautiful, that's something he always knew. It wasn’t a surprise she got many admirers. Damn, it’s gonna be impossible to win this dare. He didn’t realize he was staring at her, until she smiled at him, making him blush and look away. Great, now she will think he is even more of a loser than he already is.

“Are you going to this afternoon's student council meeting?” Her sweet voice surprised Wonwoo, not because he hadn't heard it before, but because it was directed at him. He winked a couple times before answering. “Y-yeah, gotta go”

Minghao looked briefly at the interaction between both of them, slightly annoyed, before turning back his attention to his partner.

“Oh, cool, I’ll see you there then!! It’s always good to see a familiar face at those places”, and she smiled at him. He could feel his heart race, due to the nervousness. He was about to say something, but the sudden sound of Minghao’s voice interrupted him. “Wonwoo, don’t you have to go to class?

Wonwoo looked at his phone. It was 10:27 and he, in fact, had to run to his next class. He waved them goodbye and ran to his faculty building, with the image of Y/N’s smile imprinted in his mind. These were gonna be the hardest 4 months of his life.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.

Being part of the student council wasn’t something he had planned when he started college, but somehow knew would end up happening. After all, he has been class president during middle and high school.

He didn’t mind being his class president in uni. Been there, done that, he thought himself as he was elected, but things escalated way too fast, and without even knowing how, he was stuck in the student council. It was fun, and he got to be around some of his friends, such as Jeonghan and Minghao. That’s how he got to meet Y/N, and to be in the huge friend group both of them were part of.

Bzzz, bzzz

The sudden phone buzz scared him as he was on his way to the student council. He took his phone from his back pocket, and wasn’t surprised when he saw the notifications.

[vernon 🥸 has added you to a gc]

[vernon 🥸 has changed the gc name to wonwoo being a loser pt 4]

Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the screen, knowing perfectly fine what this was about.

[minghao psycho]: pt 4??

[mingyu uni]: i think he already made a fool of himself like 3 times with one of our dares

[mingyu uni]: you werent there last time tho

[minghao psycho]: makes sense

There was an unspoken rule about their dares. If you weren’t at the hangout, you didn’t get to know what the others were dared to, and no one had ever complained about it. Except for that one time in which Jeonghan was dared to ignore Cheol for a week, and as Cheol couldn’t make it for the hangout, he was heavily confused if he had messed up or if it had just been a simple dare. He even had begged the rest of the guys to break their rule and tell him the truth.

So it wasn’t a surprise for Wonwoo that Vernon created a new group chat. In fact, he was kinda expecting it to happen.

[vernon 🥸]: well wonwoo, any update??

[vernon 🥸]: time is passing by~

[wonwoo]: vernon its been A DAY?!?!

[wonwoo]: lemme breathe haven’t recovered from the hangover yet lmao

[tiger wannabe]: morning?? tf is this about now😭😭

[mingyu uni]: its fucking 5 pm dude wdym morning

Wonwoo laughed at his friends, as they started a discussion over hoshi’s sleeping tendencies. He kept walking, as another notification appeared on his lockscreen.

[minghao psycho]: are u coming??

The tall one laughed at the contact name of Minghao in his phone. He wanted to add him as ‘Minghao psychology’ but it was too long and just writing psycho made everything funnier.

[wonwoo]: omw, will be there in 5 mins

[minghao psycho]: nice

[minghao psycho]: btw she is here

[minghao psycho]: and asked bout u

Wonwoo could feel his heart beating faster. Why on Earth would she ask about him? Did she know about the dare? No, that’s impossible. Wonwoo hasn’t even interacted at all with her.

[wonwoo]: what she asked?

[minghao psycho]: if u were coming

[minghao psycho]: i would say try flirting with her in front of me and ill kick your ass

[minghao psycho]: but lets be honest

[minghao psycho]: u wont even look her way

[wonwoo]: what a dickhead

[minghao psycho]: deserved

[minghao psycho]: best part of this dare u dont even have the guts to talk to women

Wonwoo put his phone in silence and back to one of his pockets, ignoring his friend's texts. He is kinda tired of the same jokes all the time, and now that Minghao has also started to say those comments, just because he accepted the stupid dare. He wouldn’t admit it out of loud, but it hurts his ego.

After a couple minutes, he finally arrived where the meeting was taking place, and quickly sat down next to Jeonghan, smiling at him and Minghao. He looked around and without noticing, his gaze landed on Y/N. She was happily chatting with some of her friends, as she was about to start the meeting. Wonwoo couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Both his friends sat next to him noticed, but said nothing about it.

“Well, now that everyone is here, the meeting can begin!!” The sweet voice of Y/N made Wonwoo come back to reality. He was at a student council meeting, in order to prepare this year’s university open days.

As the meeting progressed, Wonwoo could feel his concentration span diminished. All he could think about is getting back to his dorm to play league with Soobin, one of his classmates. He was already in the game, as Wonwoo saw on Discord. Agh, and he was stuck in that stupid meeting.

"Are you fine with the idea, Wonwoo?” Jeonghan’s voice startled the one with glasses, who had absolutely no idea of what was being discussed. Of course, he would do whoever in his same situation would do. “Yeah, sounds great”

Jeonghan smiled at his friend, and then at Y/N, nodding at her. Wonwoo was confused, what did that mean??

“Then it seems that we will be working together, Wonwoo!!”

Wonwoo looked at Y/N, and then at Jeonghan, trying not to look too confused. Working together in what? God, if only he hadn’t been lost in thought.

“Y-yeah, it will be great…”

As the meeting finished, Wonwoo ran to Minghao and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room they were in. Minghao already knew what his friend was gonna ask, and wanted to see him suffer a bit more.

“W-why am I working with Y/N at?!”

“Some collaboration between Computer Engineering and Design. I can’t wait to see Vernon’s reaction to this”

A/N: yaaay, 1st chapter published!! i hope yall enjoy it, i honestly had a lot of fun writing this and thinking of different ways to make wonwoo more embarrassed :3 ill try posting next chapter next week, so i hope yall stay tuned!! you can ask to be added to the tag list if you want to! im also posting a masterlist of my fics (and this one too) and posting to my profile so it can be easier to find the fics :)

Taglist: @adonisbtch @mydearhangel @wonvsmile @wonuilu @peachyaeger @minwonwoozi