#you did it! you broke my next lesson down to its bare essentials
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genuine question: is all antiblackness founded on white supremacy? or colorism founded on white supremacy?
You sent another ask saying "always founded" to clarify. From what *I* know to be true:
For your second question, No lol. Colorism is worldwide, long long before the concept of race as we know it existed. One example is how peoples from in East Asia and in Europe might deem you classless and poor as a field worker if your skin was any sort of tan from exposure to sun, let alone darker. I was once told that darker skinned people are more likely to be considered "untouchables" in India; they definitely aren't fitting in with the desired beauty standards.
Antiblackness and its ties to white supremacy began with rich European men needing a reason to deem what they called "Black" people as inferior, inhuman, so that people would feel less responsible about their enslavement of human beings. They already saw African peoples (really anybody not their flavor of European) as savages. It also worked out that you could keep newly dubbed poor "white" men from questioning the new pillar in class structure, bc no matter how shitty their lives were, at least they weren't Black (sounds familiar? 👀) As Europeans (then Americans) colonized the world, they took those ideologies with them and started applying them. People of color fell in line with how White supremacists violently enforced their own society. The colorism kind of also just worked out, because if you tell people that Black people are the lowest rung, and they're already darker than you... There you go. So in Latin America, you might get categorized into a racial identity based on your proximity to whiteness. It's how you got the concept of model minorities, too.
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Games of Tomorrow
Header created by my muse and bb R. Title: Games of Tomorrow. Pairing: Taehyung x Reader. Mentions of: Hoseok, Jin, Subin (Victon) and OC’s Summary: A simple game of beer pong stirred up some not so innocent feelings between you and the man you held much disdain for. After all, he was your enemy. The person you couldn’t seem beat when it came to grades. You were never enough for the rich and popular but maybe just maybe you’d show them what you were all about. Words: 13k Rating: M Genre: Enemies to Lovers!au, College au!, Smut, Fluff, Angst.
This was all inspired by this photo which I just edited (color, background and the text)so all original photo credits go to the owner.
A/N: What started as a simple short drabble ended in this much longer than intended fic. This is my first pic so pls be gentle. I am but a noob to tumblr writing. I hope you enjoy this craziness <3 this fic is dedicated to my friend who picked Tae to be the first character I wrote about and sat there and listened to me freaking out cause the fic kept getting longer. Ily R. This is Un-Edited so i apologize in advance for the mistakes. I’ll re-read it and fix mistakes as i come across them. Tags/Warnings: Smutty smut smut, Jealousy, Drinking, Mention of Marijuana, Oral (female receiving) Fingering (female receiving), Unprotected sex (wrap it up kids) Fluff, Angst, Size kink, Tae mentioning his DIG BICK, semi rough sex (not really though).
Fic inspired Playlist Link:
spotify:playlist:77Hd51hVnDHe8Q9JaLxGbD
Taglist: @a-mess-of-fandoms @dnyad
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“Absolutely not” you said calmly into the cellphone receiver. “But y/n! You need to let loose once in awhile, and no I’m not talking about sitting on your couch eating bowls of Ramen and cheese popcorn while watching re-runs of Boy Meets World with a big glass of too much Whiskey” Layla practically whined. She had been trying to convince you to go with her to Seokjin’s party on Saturday for an entire hour. She was right, you knew this coming weekend you’d be plopped onto that same blue couch in your big band t-shirt and fuzzy socks doing exactly that. “I’ll think about it” you finally mumbled out and could practically hear the smile in your best friends voice as she exclaimed a ‘woot woot’ “Okay Hot Stuff, i’ll text you later, gotta get to Volleyball Practice” with that she hung up and you continued your walk to what you’d call a ‘Headache’ of a class. It’s not that you hated Econ per say, it’s that you studied your ass off, completed extra credit assignments with a flourish and took wonderfully color coded notes (if you say so yourself). But yet, HE still scored higher than you (even if it was just by one point) and what’s worse is that he NEVER seemed to study, never seemed to care. Trudging into class you took your usual seat in the second row close to the middle. Organizing your laptop, books and assortment of pencils and pens on the table. As Professor Carmine began his lesson writing “Principles of Economics” onto the whiteboard with his usual navy blue marker, you diligently took notes and nodded along with his rhetorical questions. “Before we end for today lets see who can answer this simple yet intriguing question, “Would you consider Inflation or Deflation of cost cycles to be more costly to a business?” You pondered on how to word your answer for about two seconds before raising your hand. “Yes Ms. Y/L/N” you shifted in your seat slightly. “While I know this question has no definite answer as it can be interpreted many ways, I would say with our current Economy, Inflation of prices would be more costly,” Before you could continue you heard a Deep Baritone voice that you knew too well scoff. “So you think Deflation would benefit a business? that’s essentially lowering your prices which in turn leads to loss of income” You rolled your eyes nonchalantly and turned around in your seat to look at the man in the fourth row who had not only interrupted you but disagreed and voiced his disagreement. “I said with our current economy Inflation could hurt a business. Do you think regular people can afford to buy a $3,000 purse when they make minimum wage? It could cost a company to make said purse for $200 with cost of material and labor. If you lower those prices by a fraction, said company would still be making money and you could possibly have more demand as more people with regular paying jobs can afford you buy said purse. If you higher the price less regular people can afford such a luxury item which could hurt the demand. Thus causing an issue with the income for a business”. You said staring at the red haired man pulling a cock of his right eyebrow from him. “Regular people don’t need a $3,000 bag, you want brands to lower the prices so poor people can buy their items? How sad. Tae is right, just higher the prices and get more money. Businesses will make their money regardless of the lower or middle class purchasing their items, as long as they have people like us,” a high pitched voice you recognized as Nami said gesturing to herself and the perfect barbies next to her “buying from them”. Before you continue the alarm from your Professors phone startled you and signaled the end of not only your Monday class but your discussion as well. You picked up your items, shoving them in your bag and trudged out of class. As you passed Taehyung with Nami, Michelle, Hoseok and Gigi at his back he smirked at you and you swore you heard Nami giggling ‘Bet she’s never even held a Chanel bag in her hands. she just wants everybody to be ratchet like people like her’. Smiling to yourself you turned around and flipped them the bird “At least I don’t have to go crying to daddy to buy me a new set of tits, I make my own money and work hard for it. Something you wouldn’t know a thing about, and THAT is what I find sad about your entailed fake ass”. your voice carrying through the hall as you turned back around and made your way back to your dorm. ——————————————— “You know what day it is? TACO Tuesday” You exclaimed while taking a shot of Jose Cuervo and stirring your meat to ensure its cooked properly. Your roommate Casey giggled and Layla downed a shot with you while blasting a Pitbull song. After plating your dinner of carne picada tacos topped with all your usual veggies and homemade Salsa you smiled while your friends posted pics to their instas, Captioning “BB y/n made us food”. “I still can’t believe you told Nami her tits were fake” Casey giggled while shoving a fistful of popcorn into her mouth. “y/n said her tits and her ass were fake” Layla corrected and you smiled at your dorky friends. “She deserved it, nothing I said wasn’t true. You all were sprawled out on the couch pilled high with fluffy blankets watching a random episode of The Nanny and laughing at random jokes Layla said while scrolling through her Insta feed. “OOOOOOh Valeria is getting ice cream with Subin” Casey practically pouted at the post and you sighed knowing your roommates crush on Valeria which did not go unseen by Layla, causing a metaphorical lightbulb to go off in her head. “You know Casey, Valeria is going to be at Jin’s party on Saturday” Casey being held buzzed sat up catching the bait and worried her bottom lip “Is she?” Layla nodded “This could be your chance to get a fistful of all that Latina, metaphorically and not so metaphorically” she crudely added with a wiggle of her eyebrows and you literally face palmed at your best friends words. Instead of being equally gassed out, Casey however downed her coke and stood up triumphantly “It’s time I tell her!” Layla stood up with her screaming a loud ‘yaaaaas queen’ and both pairs of eyes looked towards you sitting their nursing your Sprite. “What?” you questioned and immediately regretted when both girls practically jumped on you, squishing you between their bodies. “I can’t confess without knowing you and Layla are both there” Casey pouted her soft pink colored lips causing you to shake your head. “You do not need me there while you confess to your crush.” “But what if it goes bad? what if she rejects me, or worse; makes fun of me? What if i need to leave and I’m crying and I have snot everywhere an-“ Before she could continue you sighed and covered her mouth with your right hand. Nodding you stood up and smiled at both girls “Fuck it, Let’s get your Girl!” you knew Casey had liked her for literally an entire year and you knew you’d feel like shit if you weren’t there supporting your friend as she bared her heart. “I’m only doing this for you though, so know that I love you.” ——————————————— While the rest of the week you were dreading the party Saturday knowing Nami, Taehyung and the other were going to be there, it was Thursday night that was the straw that broke the Camels back. You had just finished returning your copy of Ulysses when you passed Nami practically hanging on the redhead talking about her Angel costume for Seokjins party. Rolling your eyes as you passed you stopped as you heard her ask “What are you rolling your eyes about? This is a private conversation” she flipped her hair over her left shoulder and you yet again rolled your eyes. “This is a public hallway, which means anything you say that can be heard by others can in fact get a response be it verbal or physical by someone other than the intended person in the conversation.” You were just about to turn around when she hmmphed “Whatever, mind your own business” turning around you were met with Layla jogging towards you. “Hot Stuff, what are we going to wear to the party? I’m thinking Doja Cat from the ‘Juicy’ MV, omg you should be -“ Before your best friend could continue, Nami stepped towards you with her arms crossed. “And how did someone like you, get an invitation?” punctuating the ‘you’ she pointed at you. “Jin and I are both on the Volleyball team” Layla stated and turned towards you “And he said I can bring whoever I wanted.” “I still don’t know why you hang around people like her” she once again pointed to you with her baby pink manicured index finger. You knew Layla had money and could very well fit in with their group. You sometimes felt like you were her downfall, the anchor to her social climb. But she always reassured you that she hated people like Nami and never understood why out of everyone, she hated you in particular for the passed two years. “Maybe because she’s my BEST friend, whoever gets invited to the party doesn’t involve you Nami. It’s JINS party, not yours.” Layla shook her head and you bit your bottom lip while curling your fists at your sides trying to calm yourself down.”Maybe she should be Donkey from Shrek, or maybe an edgy emo kid from 2010 with her ugly tattoos” Nami smirked and you heard Taehyung ‘who was scrolling on his phone let out a light laugh, his deep baritone further fueling Nami’s ego. “Have you ever even been to a party? like have you ever even left you dorm for something other than classes and your jobs” she sneered at the words jobs. “You should just reconsider coming, people like YOU don’t belong. People like YOU really should know your place” Your jaw visibly ticked “Seems like you have an obsession with anything my best friend does, is this like you having a big lesbian crush on her?” Layla said while placing a hand on your shoulder and doing her best Janice from Mean Girls impression. Before Nami could say anything back Taehyung nodded out a “Guess we will see you there then, bye Layla, bye y/n” turning to leave. Nami rolled her eyes and checked her phone “Not like it’ll matter what you wear, wait, OMG you should soo wear a ghost costume, it would suit you. Get it? cause you’ll be invisible and you don’t belong” then turned around, her yellow heels clacking against the tile as she following Taehyung down the hall cackling. “I still don’t know why she’s always hated you of all people? like it’s been two years of the same thing with her. I honestly don’t know how you haven’t hit her. I’ve seen you fight” She smiled and grabbed your hand, holding it while you all made your way down the hall, which made you smile and let out a small giggle at her comment about you fighting. She knew about your childhood and how you practically lived at you neighbors boxing gym to let off steam as a stress reliever. You had agreed to find a suitable costume as rage filled you from Navi’s moments and Taehyung’s lack of interest in the matter. (not that you would’ve expected much from him)
As you scanned the rows of costumes hung on the wall neatly you waited by the changing room while Layla and Casey tried on their costumes. “I think i’ll just go with this one” Casey smiled softly while twirling in her peter pan costume, her blond bob swishing lightly. “It’s so cute!” you hugged her and turned to see Layla emerging with a shake of her head “This isn’t giving me enough Doja Vibes”. You let out a hmm and pulled the pink/red mid length wig from your left and threw her a pair of red tights telling her to go put those on while you scoured the items on the racks. Layla finally emerged from the dressing room after you finished giving her the scattered pieces you had found. Clutching the green watermelon rind skirt, she twirled around in the same manor Casey did earlier and shook her pinky/red bandeau covered chest at you. After tightening the green suspenders that were connected to the skirt she smirked “Now it’s your turn Babe, and Casey and i are paying” before you could interrupt her she continues “not buts! You agreed to find a costume” Shaking your head you said a chorus of “No’s” vehemently at every option she held in front of you. “Y/n you need something to accentuate how hot you are! make her eat her words” you huffed and shook your head “Naughty Nerd is not the way to go Nami” Hanging the customer back on the rack she mumbled a “she said nerd so i figured hot nerd would be well, hot”. You grabbed a simple Witch costume that consisted of a mid length purple dress and a black hat with matching stockings, something low key but still a costume. Before you could go pay for it Layla grabbed your hand and stopped you. “No, y/n that isn’t enough, plays were paying” she pointed to herself and Casey who nodded. “Layla I don’t want to draw anymore attention to myself, I don’t need to look “hot” cause I’m not. I’m just a regular person who isn’t enough for these people. I’ll never be or do enough” You look down at your right arm and traced the intricate patterns of your black and white peonies and hibiscus that lined your inner arm. Your friends had never seemed you look so vulnerable, and something in Layla snapped. “She called you invisible and said you weren’t enough but guess what? She knows all about you makes sure you’re always uncomfortable around them. Which means she sees you as a threat”. you bit your bottom lip at her words “She has called you ugly, ratchet ‘which who says that anymore, poor, insignificant and she made fun of you working your ass off to pay your tuition because your deadbeat parents can’t do shit for you. You’re the smartest person in class, you’ve got street smarts and fuck man, you can literally kick a grown mans ass. Remember when those guys were grabbing Casey at the club and you stood up for her and literally fought two of them and won? Little miss prissy bitch couldn’t stand a 5 secs with that y/n. I know you don’t bother with fighting her cause you’re afraid of her connections and getting kicked out of school but fuck y/n grow some balls” Snapping your head in her direction you walking up to her standing in her face and exclaimed “Firstly Taehyung is the smartest in my Econ class. Secondly, don’t you think I’m already aware of what she says about me? don’t you think i want to punch that stupid smile off her face full of fillers? You wan’t me to grow some balls? FUCKING FINE, but I’m not wearing a “sexy nerd costume.” Smirking and trailing your fingers along a row of costumes you looked at your friends. “I’ll show her just how hot I can be” Layla smirked at you “That’s my girl, so what do you have in mind then” You slid your fingers along what felt like vinyl. Cocking your right eyebrow up you gripped the material. “What’s hotter than the Devil?” ——————————————— Standing in front of your mirror in your bedroom you were already regretting your choice in outfits for tonight. As you stared at yourself you reminded yourself why you were doing this. You were going to prove a point and that was all that mattered. you were going to prove you weren’t any of the negative things Nami said about you. Running your hands down the scrappy vinyl like material that was covering your chest and part of your upper body. Your hands stopped above your navel where the top stopped and you cocked your hip to the side, descending your hands further down your bare skin to the top of the matching vinyl like skin tight pants that resembled shiny black liquid covering your skin leaving little to the imagination. You plopped yourself in front of your desk to the makeshift vanity that was full of makeup products for the nights preparations. Curling the ends of your hair you laughed as Layla pranced around shimmying to Nasty by Brooke Candy. “Don’t trust that hoe he N A S T Y” you all yelled the lyrics. Finishing your Deep Burgundy and black smokey eye, you applied a sharp winged eyeliner and smoked out the lower lash line. Applying small round black jewels under your eyes you finished the look with a deep burgundy matte lipstick, fluffy lashes and a soft pink toned blinding highlighter. “We have like 5 minutes, get your asses in gear” Layla announced as you were tying your simple black leather choker around your neck. After zipping up your over the knee 5 inch stiletto vinyl black boots, you placed your black horned headband on your head securing the little clips in your hair and primped the strands around your face to frame sexily. The ride there was filled with bopping to music and Layla yelling that you were a bad bitch out of the windows for all of the campus to hear which caused you to yell as the Uber driver. Taking a deep breath, you exited the car and holding Layla and Caseys hands, you walked the short distance of the walkway to Seokjin’s Lavish off campus Townhome. The smell of weed and alcohol mixed with the sound of loud bass thumping greeted you as Layla pushed open the door. Walking through a sea of bodies you felt several pairs of eyes on you and you had to remind yourself it was fine. Settling yourselves in the kitchen, you started to make you all some drinks while Casey looked out for Valeria and Layla handed you cups and bottles. You decided simple Margaritas on the rocks were safe for the night and handed them to your friends. A tall and beautiful man you knew as Seokjin himself walked in and greeted you all, making sure to give Layla a hug to which you noticed her little blush creeping down her neck. “I’m glad you all could make it! Layla are you Doja Cat? omg Casey you’re Peter Pan! y/n are you the devil? oooooh are those Margs I see?” SeokJin asked which you nodded and asked if he wanted one as well. “Yes please! I suck at making drinks, oh and please just call me Jin” Smiling you stirred the mixture into a clear cup and handed it to him earning a dazzling smile. As he took a sip, Jin pressed his right hand to his chest over his heart “You NEED to come to all of my parties and make me drinks. This is so delicious” As he mimicked the chefs kiss signal you laughed and Layla beamed a smile at him. “Y/n works as a bartender part time at Nely’s next to campus” You nodded and sipped you drink while surveying the beautiful white marble kitchen and chrome accents. “You have a beautiful Home Jin” you smiled to him which made him softly pat you on the back “Thank you! I take pride in my kitchen. It’s where I blow off steam from Volleyball practice” Layla shook her head “You need to blow off steam? you practically don’t even sweat while we run plays” to which Jin scoffed “We all need to blow off steam Layla” You and Casey watched as both people seemed really comfortable with being around each other. You noticed Layla blush and Jin smile every time their eyes met. “Oh you’re here” said a shrill voice you knew none other than Nami herself, dressed in a fluffy white see thru robe, white satin dress that barely covered her butt, knee high white vinyl go-go boots, white lace stockings and sitting atop her head a thin gold halo attached to a headband. Next to you Layla smiled and placed her hand on her hip “Yeah, we said we would be here so here we are” you heard the brattiness in her voice and giggled when you notice Jin staring at her hips. “Ew, don’t stay too long” Nami said while walking out. Jin shook his head which prompted Layla to ask why he had invited Nami. “Well our families are friends and my roommates are friends with her” You cocked an eyebrow” You have roommates?” Before Jin could answer you heard a deep baritone laugh getting closer, turning your head to the side you saw Taehyung accompanied by Hoseok walking into the safe haven of the kitchen. “Tae, Hoseok, come meet Layla and her friends Casey and y/n!” Jin smiled “These are my roommates” As the men stepped closer you tried your best to cover the shocked look on your face. “HEY we have two devils!” Hoseok yelled out and smirked. Taehyungs hair was parted down the middle and some of his fringe was swept up into two red ‘horns’ he donned black skin tight vinyl pants, red shiny shoes that looked a lot like Gucci Mules, a sequined Blazer with only one button down right above his navel that accentuated his chest as he decided to forgo a shirt and a thing black choker similar to yours but tied in a small bow sitting in the hollow of his throat. Feeling his eyes roaming over your body and landing on you horns you busied yourself by chugging your drink and earned a holler from Hoseok. “Hey y/n can party!” Before anything else could be said, Casey spotted Valeria who was waving at you all to join her in the living room. Throwing your cup in the trash you followed Casey out of the now suffocating kitchen and tried to hide your expression as your eyes met the Red Devil while you slid passed him. “Hey girls!” Valeria smiled and hugged you both causing Casey to blush. Layla had stayed in the kitchen talking to Jin which made you smirk knowingly. “This is Subin” the man next to her looked up from his phone and sent a side your way, you noticed his costume as a werewolf from the looks of his tattered ripped shirt and what looked like a gnarly bite mark on his collarbone. “Hi I’m y/n and this is Casey” Casey narrowed her eyes at the man and how close he was standing to Valeria mumbling out a ‘I know who Subin is’. As you four talked you noticed Valeria standing closer and closer to Casey while laughing at some inside joke they shared. Before you knew it Valeria had swung an arm around your friend and they shared a soft smile. You really hoped all went well for Casey, if not, you might have to kick some ass. While you were thinking of the cuteness overload that Casey and Valeria together could be you heard a shuffle from your right “you look nice when you smile” Subin smiled at you and you felt the pink tint forming on your cheeks. As Casey pulled Valeria with her outside for some “fresh air” which you knew as go time. You decided to get straight to it and ask Subin himself “Are you and Valeria a thing?” choking on his drink he coughed out a loud ‘no no no no’ and you cocked an eyebrow. “Val and I are just friends, plus she’s not really into someone like me like that?.” “Someone like you?” Nodding Subin smiled knowingly and looked towards the door both girls had just slipped through. “As in she like boobs, your friends boobs to be exact.” Your eyes widened “Wait no! not her boobs, she liked your friend in general i was just saying boobs to accentuate how Val wouldn’t like me anatomically.” You giggled at how flushed he had gotten and he smiled along with you. You hadn’t noticed a pair of eyes staring as you talking to the man dressed as a werewolf. Hoseok noticed the look in his friends eyes, it was the same one Taehyung had gotten anytime you rolled your eyes at him, ignored his presence or had gotten in a heated debate. He had been sporting that look every time he looked at you for a little over two years now. Since your first year of college when you had shared a Psych class and battled for top spot in class. He knew his friend had taken an interest in you and it never dissipated. Taehyung sipped his beer and kept his eyes glued to your face while you smiled and laughed at something the man next to you had said. Hoseok was tired of nothing coming from this and slammed his beer down hopping onto the coffee table earning a ‘that wasn’t cheap get down!’ from Jin “It’s beer pong time!” Hopping off the table he stood in front of you in all of his Napoleon Dynamite Glory. “Y/n come play beer pong” he smiled at you and you could help but notice how beautiful Hoseoks smile was. Shaking your head “I don’t think i’ll be playing tonight Hoseok but than-“ Nami cackled at you from her band of barbies and interrupted “ Hope, don’t waste your time with her she isn’t worth it. Plus she probably can’t even play, she’s never even been to a party before.” Thats what caused you to roll your eyes and place your hand into Hoses outstretched one. “I’ll play”. You and Subin followed Hoseok to the side of the living room where a few beer pong tables were already set up. Layla and Jin had joined you as well, intrigued to see you playing. “Okay teams of two. Usual rules of no leaning over the table, must drink your drink if a ball is sunk, one re-rack per person on each team, and if a trick shot made with one hand behind your back and a foot away from the table is sunk by the opposing team they may make a request that you have to complete. Said request can’t be anything illegal or THAAAT bad. “Can I take a shot instead of drinking a beer? I don’t really do well with beer” you asked honestly which cause Hoseok to holler “Fuck yeah!” Before you could pick a teammate Hoseok smiled and pulled Taehyung over “We have to have the two Devil’s playing” You shrugged and asked Subin if he would be your partner to which he smiled an ‘of course’ which earned a cock of an eyebrow from Taehyung which Hoseok noticed and smirked. “I’d be on Tae’s team but I think to make it fair we should have another female” Nami walked over laying her hand on Taehyung’s shoulder and smirked “I’ll play” you rolled your eyes and mumbled an ‘i’ll play’ mimicking her shrill voice which earned a chuckle from Subin. “Ooh an Angel and a Devil on the same team, how heaven and hell” Hoseok smirked and set up the cups handing each team their set of ping pong balls. Layla and Jin brought you a bottle of tequila (your eyebrows shot up when you noticed it was ‘Gran Patron’ and then you remembered these people are well off. You had made the marg’s with a different bottle of Patron which while not cheap wasn’t as expensive as this particular bottle was) and shot glasses to replace the typical drink of beer if a ball is sunk. Beer really didn’t sit well with your stomach, you assumed it was the carbonation. “Layla you do know this is like a $500 bottle of alcohol right?” Layla smirked and Jin smiled responding “I don’t really drink Tequila unless it’s in a marg and my uncle left this bottle here from his last stay, as far as I’m concerned you can have it.” You opened the bottle letting the smell of Agave fill your senses and re capped it. “Ready?” Hoseok asked to which both teams agreed. Taehyungs team started to which Nami missed her shot, the next shot was Subins and he sunk it, picking her to chug what looked like some sort of fruity cider. Taehyung was next and he lined up his shot before seemingly sinking it before he looked up “Subin drinks” he said smoothly and Subin drank what was left in his cup. You were up next, carefully lining up your shot you watched as the ball plopped right into the cup and looked at the duo in from of you. “Nami drinks” Nami rolled her eyes “Ughh again??” she exclaimed and you smirked “What? can’t keep up?” you asked to which she grumbled and drank what looked like another cider. Nami sunk her next shot and picked you to drink, as you poured the liquid into your shot glass you smirked right at her while downing the shot like it was water. Unknown to you, a pair of dark eyes watched as you licked your lips while placing the glass down. The game continued with each of the teams missing and sinking shots until you won the game, hugging Subin you both had only had around 3 drinks each and decimated the other team. Taehyung called for another game as in 2/3 wins to win the full game. You had surprisingly agreed but only because Nami wouldn’t shut the fuck up with her little snide comments and you loved the look on her face every time she missed or you sunk her shot. The second game continued until there were only 4 cups left on your end and 3 on the opposing team. You and Subin hugged each other after your last shot that nailed Nami yet again and she held her stomach calling celebrity shot which basically called Hoseok into the game to replace her. You were 5 shots in and feeling light, not nearly drunk but nicely buzzing as you could hold your liquor well. Stepping in Hoseok smirked “Imma flip things up, If i sink this shot ya’ll gotta do my request” Folding his left arm around his back he took a few steps away from the table and focused on nailing the center shot, and to your surprise he actually did nail it. “Hmm little devil, I request that you take a shot” Your eyebrows shot up as that sounded easy enough. “Oh dear, not a normal shot. I’m talking about a body shot, your partner needs to lay on the table and you have to follow all body shot steps down to the lime in his mouth.” Rolling your eyes you turned to Subin to ask if it was okay with him. Your buzzing partner agreed and insisted after you asked if he was sure. Laying his body down on the table with the crown of his head facing Hoseok and Teahyung. He lifted his shirt up to his chest so that you could sprinkle salt from his navel up to his chest. Filling the shot glass, you placed it above his belly button and gave him the lime wedge to slip between his lips. Taehyung gritted his tech as you climbed onto the white table situating yourself above Subins lap. People who were watching the game from afar gathered closer to watch as you once again asked Subin if it was okay and he smiled a yes. Leaning down you tentatively dragged your tongue from his belly button up to his chest licking up the salt, then dipped back down to his belly button and wrapped your lips around the shot glass leaning up and getting the liquid pour into your mouth and down your throat. You crawled up his body and carefully took the lime from his mouth, making sure to dig into the flesh of the lime and not actually touch his mouth. After all, you just met him and didn’t want him to think you were taking advantage of anything. Throwing the wedge into a discarded cup you hopped off of the table and handed Subin a napkin to wipe the remnants of salt and tequila off of his body. “Can we get on with the game?” Taehyung grumbled and you rolled your eyes nodding. Subin sunk his next shot and Hoseok took a shot of Tequila instead of chugging a beer. It was now 3 to 2 and Taehyung missed his next shot, too focused on the way you were fanning your hand over the back of your next from the warmth the liquor was giving you. It was your turn and you sunk your next shot causing Taehyung to chug the beer Jin handed to him. Hoseok smiled and once again moved his left arm around his back “Might as well make it interesting, another request for another trick shot” you rolled your eyes and smiled at the brunette as he wagged his eyebrows and closed his eyes. You truly did not think he would sink another trick shot, let along with his eyes closed. But as you watched the ball sink into one of your cups your eyes went wide. You heard hollers and screams hyping up the shot that Hoseok had just made and mentally readied yourself for another body shot. “If you’re thinking I’m going to have you do the same thing, you’re wrong” Your eyebrows furrowed and he smirked “It’s Subins turn to take a body shot” Taehyung let out a deep warning “Hoseok, don’t” You didn’t understand why he would have a problem with it but you turned around to look at Subin to ask if he was once again okay with such a thing. He nodded and in turn asked if you were okay. Smiling you handed him a shot glass. After you situated yourself the same way Subin had, you saw him falter on where to put the salt since your top stopped right above your navel, and you grabbed the bottle of salt from his hand and placed a trail from your collarbone up your next. You figured it was safer than your cleavage. Subin handed you the lime wedge and you softly bit into it watching him fill the shot glass and place it above your belly button. Layla looked down at you and smiled as she saw you getting chorus of “Fuck yeah y/n” which had made Nami who was sitting down roll her eyes. Climbing into your body and leaning down, Subin let his tongue drag along your collarbone to your neck slowly before leaning down and wrapping his lips around the shot glass in the same way you had done to him and leaned up to gulp it down. Leaning down once again he was about to take the lime wedge from your mouth when a hand n his shoulder stopped him. Before you could ask what was going on you saw a strand of red and felt a pair of lips on yours pulling the lime away. Taehyung had had enough, he was tired of seeing you with Subin and even more tired of the games Hoseok was playing. When he watched Subin lean down to your mouth he couldn’t take it anymore and his body reacted on it’s own. Doing what it had been wanting to do for years. You watched as Taehyung spit out the lime wedge a leaned back down to capture your lips in his in an upside down kiss. A chorus of oohs and oh shits followed which caused you to push him off and jump off of the table. You shook your head at him and wrapped your arms around your body “What the fuck Taehyung?” you asked but before anybody could answer you, you asked Jin where the bathroom was to which he pointed out and you ran there hearing a “wait” being yelled but you didn’t care you needed to get out of there. You were being watched by everybody and that accompanied with the kiss from someone you thought you hated and assumed he hated you as well, well that was too much. Walking into the first floor bathroom you slammed the door and made your way to the sink. You looked at yourself in the mirror then looked down, bracing your hands on either side of the sink trying to calm yourself down. You could hear the bass thumping, causing the walls to lightly vibrate. There was a loud knock on the door followed by a series of “y/n please please open the door.” Letting out a deep breath you ran your index finger along your lash line, wiping any excess makeup that had smudged during your beer pong game. Stepping towards the door you swung it open only to be greeted with your best friend flinging herself on your short frame despite the high heeled boots you donned. “Hi, I love you, and before you say it. I know you want to go home but please don’t let those people get to you. So what if Tae kissed you? Don’t even acknowledge that ass wipe, and omg you should’ve seen Navi’s face when he kissed you. She legit looked like she was going to blow up like some sort of doll filled with helium!” Layla placed her hands on either side of you, softly gripping your shoulders, her deep brown eyes staring into yours softly. “Hey, talk to me? If you really do want to go home, i’ll go with you. But I really think you shouldn’t let anything that just happened get you down. Let’s just go back to the living room and dance all these feelings away! You’ve got me, Jin, Subin and Casey and Val ‘not that i know where they are.” While she rambled on you took in your surroundings, noting the pristine glass shower situated in the corner followed by the chrome towel rack that supported plush light grey towels. The porcelain toilet stood across from it, tucked into a corner of the light grey walls that matched the towels. As she finished her speech you already knew what you had to do, you weren’t going to let this get you down. You were so fucking tired of letting people get to you, you had no control over your life growing up but you sure as hell had control over your current self. You had amazing friends, were incredibly intelligent, worked your ass off at both of your jobs and were happy with the way you looked. Quirking up the left corner of your mouth you leaned in and planted a big smooch on your besties left cheek. “Layla, you’re right” Surprise crossed your best friends face, followed by a knowing smirk. “That’s my best bitch! Let’s get our asses down there and show them what a bad bitch you are, not that you haven’t already. I mean, dude you totes slammed like 6 shots no problem and you look HOT AS HELL.” Giggling you took her arm into yours and let her take you down the hallway into the crowded living area. The LED lights lit a soft purple hue that bounced off of the cream colored walls, further creating that fantasy look that enticed party goers to let all their inhibitions go. You noticed someone had moved the coffee table to a far corner closer to the beer pong tables, which had expanded the makeshift dance floor. The DJ was bopping his head to the current track he was mixing and the sea of bodies moving themselves to the beat was massive. You clutched Layla’s hand in yours as she pushed her way through the dancers and you all finally settled closer to one of the couches that had been pushed to a corner opposite of the tables where Jin, Subin and Hoseok had been waiting for you two. Jin placed a hand on your shoulder as if you check if you were alright and you smiled while nodding. “I’m so so sorry y/n, are you okay?” Subin asked and searched your face for an answer. Smiling at the man who had been your partner in crime for the passed hour, you nodded. “It’s all good, no need to be sorry. I do need another drink though. I think that little stint in the bathroom may have sobered be up more than i’m happy about. Hoseok smiled and shouted a ‘Gotchu’ before he bounded back off to the kitchen mixing up some concoction you knew would be strong. “Theres seems to be a lot more dancing than before” you jutted your chin towards the sea of bodies and Jin laughed. “I think most people are in that drunks haze where dancing is all they can do since they can’t seem to stand straight.” You chucked softly as you knew all too well how dancing enticed drunk people. The brunette thrusted a clear cup into your hands, quirking an eyebrow at him he responded with a chuckle. “It’s just bourbon on the rocks” Testing the liquid in the cup you smiled confirming it was in fact bourbon and nothing gross. You spotted Nami hanging herself on Taehyung in the corner towards the tables, your eyes met as she looked back at you with what looked like rage. Leaning her body upwards she leaned in towards his right ear and appeared to be whispering something to which he shook his head while staring into his glass. This seemed to upset her, huffing she once again leaned back up and attached you pink gloss covered lip to his neck. For some reason this had annoyed you to no end. For years Nami had been al over the tall man, only to be semi rejected with her advances which had brought you an odd sense of joy and seeing her lips on his neck as he just stood there caused you to rip your gaze away fro the pair and bring your cup up to your still burgundy tinted lips as the lipstick had faded away and left you with a just bitten look. Leaning you head back you downed the contents of the glass and slammed it down on the nearby end table that was situated by the couch. “Let’s dance?” you handed Jin your purse pulling Layla to the dance floor with you, not needing an answer to your question. As you both pushed through to the middle of the grinding crowd you best friend leaned in to your ear letting you know she’d be right back. Before you could ask what she was doing you saw her watermelon headband bounding up to the DJ who nodded when she leaned in close to him. As the first notes of the beat started you couldn’t help the smirk that planted itself on your lips. You giggled as Layla shimmied her way towards you and the first lines of the song began. Letting your body sway to the music, Layla laid her hands on your hips. “That’s my best friend, she a real bad bitch. Got her own money.” You both sang as you moved your hips in her hands. Placing both of your hands on her shoulders you turned her around and pulled her back close to your chest. Jin had been staring at your friend’s hips swaying along with yours and you decided you wanted to put on a show for him. Running your hands up her tight covered thighs up to her waist she leaned forward and gave her ass a little twerk causing you to chuckle. Turning her body around she gripped your hand in hers and spun you around, you made sure to wiggle your hips as you spun. “She been down since the jellies and the bow-bows” you shimmied your hips and saw Casey and Val bounding their way towards you two. As they got closer you noticed Caseys Peter Pan hat had gone missing and Vals pink lipstick was smudged, both girls walking hand in hand. Throwing Casey a knowing smirk she shrugged lightly and Layla wrapped her arms around both girls, creating a circle. “Where have you BEEN?” Layla yelled over the music at the two but shook her head after taking in their appearances “Nevermind I don’t want to know, wait, or do I?” wiggling her eyebrows she smoothed down Caseys wild blonde bob. Val seemed to enjoy the blush that had formed on Caseys cheek and she leaned close to place a kiss on either cheek, further fueling the crimson on her cheeks. As the intro to Bad Bitch by Bebe Rexha came into play you all raised your hands up into the air and swayed to the beat. Hoseok came into view, thrusting a shot into each of your friends hands and you all posed for his snapchat video while downing the shots of what tasted like whiskey. “Gross, I don’t know how you like liquor” Casey said, her cute face scrunching up into a sour expression and you giggled. Leaning down you touched your toes and twerked your ass to the beat earning a “fuck it up” from Layla and Val. As you ground your hips back into your best friend you looked up catching Taehyungs burning gaze on your flushed face. Cocking an eyebrow up at him you turned around in Layla’s hold swaying your hips. “Ugh, prissy bitch incoming” Layla whispered into your ear and you followed her eyes to Nami who pulled Michelle and a bored looking Taehyung onto the dance floor. Your eyes followed Navi’s movements as they slid up and down the devils chest and Michelle settled her hands on his shoulders behind him. Your jaw tensed as Nami’s hands trailed up to his neck. Meeting his dark gaze you narrowed your eyes slightly and shook your head, turning around and grabbing Hoseoks hands pulling him closer to you. The LED lights turned a deep red hue as the opening to Streets - Silhouette remix started and Val exclaimed “Let me put this on insta, y/n your horns loom so good in this light!” Posing with your back towards Hoseoks with your head leaning onto his shoulder, the latter gripped your hips and leaned his face into your neck while Val took the picture. As the tune changed and the beat dropped with it’s intoxicatingly slow beat you swayed your hips against Hoseoks, bending your knees and slowly sliding up and down his body. Trailing his fingers up your sides he grilled your hips and turned you around to face him. You heard Layla lean into Casey saying something along the lines of ‘oh shit’. ‘I found it hard to find someone like you’ you slid your body down the Brunettes, never leaving his gaze ‘send your location come thru’. Leaning back up you rolled your head around and he wrapped a hand into your hair, his other gripping your right hip tighter. your hands settled themself on his shoulders and you leaned towards his left, your eyes catching onto Taehyungs dark gaze, his eyes never leaving yours as Hoseok ground his hips into yours. Even as Nami wiggled her hips in front of his and trailed her hands under his blazer, his arms stayed at his sides, never touching the Angel nor the Bunny who still danced her body against his back. Hoseok knew his friend was watching and he couldn’t help but smirk, gripping your hair tighter he moved your face towards him and pulled you in until you were a few centimeters from his lips as he moved your hips along with his. ‘We belong and I can’t be without you’ Doja’s voice crooned through the speakers as Hoseok leaned in closer to your lips over the hazey cloud of smoke and tightly packed bodies. You internally debated wether or not you truly wanted him to close that gap and land his lips on yours, but the only thing you could think of was the gaze of a certain someone on yours. Before you fully decided on if you wanted the man in front of you to kiss you, your body was pulled away from his. A strong grip was formed around your wrist and all you registered was Layla and Casey wide eyes before you were being pulled away from the dancing bodies and up the stairs. You barely registered the click of a door being opened followed by your back hitting the hard wood. “What the hell were you doing?” Taehyung rasped out staring deeply into your eyes with a mixture of what looked like want and fury. You placed your hands on his chest pushing him back slightly and jutted your chin upwards. “Excuse me? I was dancing with my friends and Hoseok, not that that’s any of you business” Taking a step towards him. “What the hell do YOU think you’re doing? dragging me up to this room and thinking you can manhandle me.” Receiving no answer you shook your head and were prepared to turn around and walk right back out of that door. “You drive me fucking insane. Seeing that Subin guys hands all over you and then you dancing like that with my best friend.” You felt yourself being pressed against the door once again with his large hands on either side of your head, his rings glinting against the soft light filtering in through the open curtains. Cocking your eyebrow up at him you stood your ground. “What? are you Jealous?” you snorted out. “Yeah, yeah I fucking am” At his surprising answer you looked up seeing nothing but want in his deep eyes with a glint of something else you couldn’t quite place. “You’re fucking insane. Don’t play with me” you rasped out, your voice hoarse from singing and dancing earlier. “I’m not playing” was all you heard before your head knocked back against the wooden frame of the door followed by a pair of plush lips crushing yours with a ferocity you suddenly craved. He tasted like cinnamon and liquor and you loved it. Something inside you both seemed to snap in that moment and you trailed one of your hands up, curling your fingers into his soft hair and tugging on the makeshift horns it was styled into. Your other hand settled itself onto his warm chest fingering the labels of his blazer. Taehyung growled out at you reciprocated the kiss and trailed his right hand down the door, settling on your hip and pulling you impossibly closer to his body. Feeling teeth nibbling at your lower lip you gasped out and he took the chance to slide his tongue into your mouth, your tongues immediately fighting for dominance. Tugging his hair harder you felt his hand that had been on your hip slide lower until it was gripping a handful of your ass cheek, followed by a grunt. You could still hear the music that was thumping downstairs but it was slowly being drowned out by the man in front of you. The plush pair of lips that was against yours slowly trailed down to your jaw, nipping at the flesh softly until they reached your neck. Nuzzling his face against your warm flesh as he littered the area with whisper soft kisses. Slipping your hand under his blazer you trailed your nails lightly along his skin earning a low hiss from his deep voice. Smirking, you dug you nails harder “You’re playing with fire babygirl” Taehyung gripped both of your hands into one of his large palms and pressed them against the door frame grinding his hips into yours. Feeling his length against your covered core you couldn’t help the soft whine that escaped your lips. Taehyung trailed his lips back to your neck and sucked on your pulse point causing you to arch your back. “Y/n i really don’t want to stop, but I need to know that you want this too” the man in front of you pulled back slightly while he waited for a response. Letting out a small ‘yes’ he leaned back down capturing you in another searing kiss. Flexing your wrists in an outwards circular motion you freed yourself from his grip and took a step forward placing your hands against his chest and effectively spinning him around so his back hit the door. Despite the height different even with your heels you kept your palms flat on his chest with your strength, keeping him against the door. Arching a dark brow up at you Taehyung smirked. “Not going to lie, that was pretty hot” you felt him grumble against your mouth as it attached itself to his tan neck. Sucking a few bruises against his flesh you felt his need growing against your stomach and you couldn’t help your involuntary clench of your thighs. His smell was intoxicating, a mixture of fresh linen, cinnamon and musk. You felt his hands trail up the backs of your thighs and grind the flesh under your ass, signaling you to wrap your legs around his waist. Leaving one more bite against his neck you complied and jumped up latching your legs around his sturdy hips. Walking you both backwards, Taehyung leaned you downwards until your back was hitting the large bed tucked against the wall. Arching your back towards him you pulled him onto your body by his shoulder and moaned into his mouth as he captured your lips in his. Biting down on your lower lip hard, Taehyung ground his hips down against yours. While his mouth felt incredible against yours you knew you wanted, no, needed more.“Need more” you whispered out causing his to chuckle against your lips and lean his body up. Smirking down at you he cocked his head to the side and trailed his index finger up your torso and chest. “Sorry love, I couldn’t hear you. What was that?” Rolling your eyes you reached up tugging his hair into your grip. “I said, I.Need.More” you said though gritted teeth at the knowing look in his eyes. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” before you could retort you felt his mouth latch itself on your collarbone and his hands trailing down your legs, pulling the zippers to your boots down before tossing them on the floor somewhere. Trailing his hands behind your back he began trying to undo your top. “While these straps are hot, they aren’t fucking functional for shit. How the hell do I take this off?” Taehyung practically growled out causing a chuckle to leave your lips. Leaning up slightly you helped him unhook the main portion of the top and pull the strappy harness over your neck. Tossing the item he had been fumbling with to the side he couldn’t stop admiring your breasts covered only by your black lace bra. You shivered as he trailed his hands up your chest, his cold rings causing your nipples to perk up and a gasp to leave your mouth. Leaning his face down, Taehyung started trailing soft kisses along your chest downwards to your torso and back up. His hands were once again at your back, this time working fast successfully unhooking your bra. Looking into your eyes he hooked his fingers under the straps on your shoulder and slowly pulled down releasing your breasts from their confinement. Biting down on his lip he started at your perky nipples and full breasts. He had always loved your curves and didn’t ever think he’d get to see them this way. You felt his soft lips wrap around one of your nipples and gasped as his tongue lightly flicked against the hard pebble. Your hand in his hair pulled him closer to your chest and he smirked. He pinched your other nipple between his fingers which earned a low moan. His mouth being soft on one of your nipples and his fingers being rough on your other one caused an intoxicating juxtaposition and you couldn’t help the little whines that left your throat. Fiddling with your button and zipper, Taehyung successfully started to pull your pants down, leaning up and leaving your nipple with a loud pop of his mouth. Tugging to pull your pants off of your legs he hissed when he saw your core only covered by your thin lace panties. You heard your pants hit the floor in a loud thump and bit your lip in nervousness as you realized just how exposed you were in front of this infuriatingly beautiful man. “You’re fucking beautiful” He rasped out, trailing his eyes up your body and landing on your face. Before he could hike your legs open and upwards you spoke up “You have way too many articles of clothing on” Smirking he complied with your request and popped the single button holding his blazer together, sliding it down his shoulders and throwing it in a heap on the floor. You heard his shoes being kicked off as well before he leaned back down to resume his earlier ministrations. His large hands slid down the insides of your thighs and pulled them open to reveal your soaked panty covered core. You swore you head him let out a low whine but before you could comment on it you felt a warm pair of lips latch onto your clit through the fabric. Arching your back off of the bed you gripped his shoulder in your hand. Taehyung rubbed his index and middle finger along your slit and hooked themselves around the fabric pulling it to the side and exposing yourself to the cool air and his waiting mouth. Laying his left palm flat against your lower tummy he leaned in giving you a soft tentative lick to your slit. Biting your lip between your teeth you moaned out when he latched his mouth around your clit and sucked harshly. “F..Fuck” Hearing your moan he sucked against and gripped the flesh of your thigh with his other hand keeping your legs open. Alternating between sucking and flicking his tongue against your sensitive nub he loved the way you tasted and couldn’t get enough of it. If it was up to him he would do this all day every day. You ground your hips up into his mouth causing him to smirk against your cunt. “Needy” he growled out and trailed his fingers that had been on your thigh down to your slit, running the tip of his middle finger around your opening before sliding itself in to the knuckle. You brought your right fist to your mouth and bit down to keep yourself from moaning out. Slowly pumping his finger in and out, he watched as your finger disappeared into your wet heat taking him in so good. “Fuck you’re wet” Looking up into your eyes he saw you biting down onto your fist and stopped his ministrations “ If you want more I need to hear you babygirl” Muffling a ‘please’ you released your fist from your mouth and wove it into his hair. Pleased with your sounds he continued sliding his finger in and out of you, adding his index finger into your heat hissing at how tight you were. “Shit you’re tight, gotta make sure you’re nice and ready for my big cock babygirl” Arching your back, you felt his press against your inner walls and curl his fingers causing you to dig your fingernails into his shoulder and tug his hair harder with your other hand. Latching his mouth back onto your clit he lightly hummed which sent vibrations through your body. Whining with need you continued grinding your hips up onto his face and rolled your eyes closed. Taehyung looked up at you watching your fucked out expression and almost choked when he heard you whining his name. Working his tongue against your click he started to harshly pump his fingers into you before slowing down and inching his middle finger into your heat. You felt your cunt burning at the stretch but the look in his eyes caused another gush of arousal to seep out and coat his fingers further. “Jesus..fuck you’re so hot and you taste so fucking delicious” As he slowly pumped his fingers in and out you felt your stomach clenching, that familiar feeling on your realize building with each flick of his tongue against your clit. “Tae.. Tae i’m going to cum if you keep doing that.” Sucking harshly he curled his fingers and pressed against your g spot “Cum babygirl, let me taste you before I slid my fat cock into your needy cunt” Rolling your eyes back you felt your legs start to shake as you gripped his hair almost painfully between your fingers. Your stomach tightened and you felt yourself clench around his fingers. Your breath becoming shallow as you let out a series of ‘oh fuck yes’ and ‘omg omg’ your hand that had been on his shoulder came up to your chest as your pinched your nipple between your feelings and felt the metaphorical dam of your orgasm approaching. Taehyung sucked harshly before grazing his teeth lightly against your clit and your eyes shot open feeling your legs convulse and your toes curl. With a final whine you felt yourself cum all over his tongue which he licked up like a starved man. Breathing deeply you felt the sweat drip down your brow for your intense orgasm and when he stood your eyes followed down his torso gleaming with sweat and down to the prominent bulge in his pants. Biting your lip you caught him staring at your cunt that had just cum around his finger and he started to pull your beyond soaked panties down and off of your legs. Looking back up into your eyes he slipped each finger between his plums lips and licked them clean. Groaning at the action you felt yourself clench. “Think you can take more baby?” He smirked at you and you wrapped your legs around his waist pulling him against you and ground your soaking cunt against his covered length. “You’re getting me all dirty, fuck that’s hot” He growled out and slid his fingers down unbuckling his belt. Popping the button of his pants, he pulled the zipper down with your eyes following every movement. Sliding his pants down his thighs he kicked them off and hooked him thumbs into his black briefs. You couldn’t tell if you were really drooling but once his slid his fried down and his cock sprang free you knew me heard your very audible groan followed by a clench of your thighs. Sliding his hand along his shaft, he pumped his leaking length a few times and reached to the side opening a drawer and seemingly looking for a condom. Gripping his arm you shook your head “I’m on the pill, are you clean?” His eyes widened at the possibility of what you were saying and he nodded “I haven’t had sex in a few months and when I did I wore a condom, I also get checked every month if you want to see the results I have them on my pho-“ You cut him off by leaned up and kissing him. As you layed back down against the pillows you smiled up at him an he swore he felt his heart flutter and his cock pulsate. Hooking his right index finger under your thin leather choker he pulled you up and he ground his uncovered cock against your dripping pussy. “As much as I love these, they have to come off they’re barely hanging on your head. Not knowing what he was talking abut you felt his fingers prodding at your scalp and finally run through your hair with the devil horned headband and clips in his hand. Setting them down on the beside table he leaned back piping his cock and wrapping his fingers around his thick head of his shaft. Leaning down he took your mouth against his and you felt his thick tip push against your slit. Locking your ankles around his back you ran your hands down his shoulder and gripped his back. Your walls pulsated around him as he slid in inch by inch and you threw your head back as your walls accommodated his thick size. When he finally bottomed out in your heat he stilled letting you relax as he filled you to the brim. Sliding his tongue against your he grunted when you involuntarily clenched around him. “You're so fucking tight, you make me crazy” he growled out and settled his mouth against your neck, nipping and sucking the skin as he slowly pulled out only to ram himself back in. Moaning loudly your grip on his shoulders tightened and you knew you were leaving crescent moons on his luscious tan skin. “Crazy? you seem pretty soft to me. Why don’t you fuck me and show me just how crazy I make you” you teased. After sucking harshly on your neck he sat back up and gripped the undersides of your thighs pulling them apart from his hips. “You’re so bad, want me to ruin you? Open you up with my fat cock?” you nodded and trailed your tongue along your lower lip preparing yourself for what he was about to do. Ramming himself up into you again you grated your teeth and looked up into his dark eyes. His rhythm was slow and harsh, pounds into you with each thrust of his hips. Your walls enveloped him and he swore he wasn’t giving you up after this, hell he wasn’t giving you up after that first kiss on that beer pong table. He was going to make sure you knew how he felt and hopefully you felt the same way. If not, he’d respect it but at least he’d know you knew how he felt. Watching your tits bounce with each thrust he heard you mumble out a raspy ‘faster’ and he complied, pushing your thighs farther up against your chest. At this knew angle you swore you felt him in your stomach. “Oh god” you ground out and his eyes flashed even deeper if that was possible “Fuck yeah, moan for me y/n” Sliding himself in and out of you at a fast pace, you could hear his balls slapping against your ass. The room filled with shallow breathes and curses spewing from either of your mouths. Taehyung slid his palms under your ass and gripped your cheeks between his large hands, squeezing harshly before pulling you up so you were sitting on his lip with his cock still stuffed inside of you. As he thrusted upwards you met his thrusts by bouncing your hips and wrapping your legs around his waist. His hands held you by your ass, pushing and pulling your body on and off of his cock. Leaning towards him you sucked a bruise onto his neck and wrapped your arms around the back of his neck. Feeling his cock his that sweet spot you shuddered and clenched around him tightly. “Stop doing that before I cum” he gritted out and you pulled back from his neck smirking. “mm maybe that’s what I want” With a sharp thrust upwards into your tight cunt he splayed his right hand agains the bottom of your spine and pulled you as close as you could get. “You’re devilish, I swear. You want me to fill up your little pussy with my cum? is that what you want? to get filled?” his deep baritone voice filled your ears and you clenched impossibly tighter around his shaft. “T..Tae fill me up..I need it!” you moaned out loudly and he pushed your body back down onto the bed, pushing your ankles towards your chest he situated himself on his knees and started ramming into you to the point where your body slid against the bed. Reaching one hand down, he lightly gripped your neck. “Yeah? want me to fill you up? Then cum baby, cum all over my cock.” “Tae..Tae..I’m going t..to cum. Fuck you’re so deep” your eyes fluttered closed as he gripped your throat and you held onto his back. “Cum for me y/n, let me feel you soak my cock as I fill you to the brim” Feeling your body start to convulse you opened your eyes to see his fucked out face, sweat dripping down his cherry colored hair and down his neck. His hand flexing on your neck and his abs flexing with every thrust. His low moan of your name sent you over the edge and you clenched around him. Your thighs closed around his hips and you moaned out his name. Curling your toes your this quivered and your inner walls fluttered around his throbbing shaft. Arching off of the bed and towards him his grip on your neck loosened and he leaned down capturing your hips in his as his hips stilled and you felt his warm cum spitting inside of your waiting heat. Thrusting his cock back in and out slowly he let out a low groan as the remnants of his cum filled you. Taking deep breath he watched your face as he slowly slipped out of you and trailed his eyes down to watch the clear and white liquid leak out of you. Letting out a deep whine he leaned forward and captured your lips between his. His lips were soft against yours, still passionate but not as fiery as they had been earlier. Pulling back his gaze studied your face. “Tae..I” before you could continue he shook his head. “Wait before you say anything, please let me get this out. I’m sorry for the way things happened tonight but I don’t regret any of it. Iv’e literally liked you since we first argued about the attributes of the human brain during psych. That one time you called me an aloof imbecile I almost pulled you out of class and kissed that pretty look off of your face. I assumed you hated me and it made me mad, instead of being a normal human being and just asking you why you hated me I decided to take it out on you. If you didn’t like me, at least I could gain your attention arguing with you.” “And tonight, seeing you with those other guys..I couldn’t help but think it would’ve been better if it was me. I needed to stop being a pussy and just fucking tell you how i felt.” He shook his head as he spoke. “ What about you and Nami? and the fact that you laughed the other day when she made fun of what I should be for halloween and my tattoos” Scrunching his face he sighed. “First of all Nami is just a friend, well more like a family friend. Iv’e known her since I was young and I guess I was just used to her being there. Nami and i have never done anything and never will. Secondly, I didn’t laugh at whatever she said. to be completely honest I drowner out her voice after she asked how you got an invite. I has laughed at a meme Jin sent me of our other friend Namjoon whos away for a semester in Paris, with a bald cap on looking like a grandpa due to his old school vibe he always has. That being said, i’m sorry I never defended you when she said anything to or about you. I really wanted to but you were always so good at defending yourself and that one time Jose defended you, you had turned around and told him you didn’t ‘need a man’ to defend you. So that combined with me thinking you hated me, I just assumed you’d end up really hated me and wouldn’t give me the time of day when we argued anymore.” Climbing off of your body Taehyung sat down next to you and studied your expression. “I don’t hate you per say, I hated that you always argued with me, I hated that you scored higher than be despite never seeming to study while I worked my ass off, I hated that you came from money, you never had to fight for what you wanted or what you deserved. I hated that you were Nami’s friend and always seemed so aloof, like you really didn’t care about anything. But I didn’t..I don’t hate you as a person” you turned towards him. “Who said I never study? My parents would kill me if I scored sub-par. Hell, the only reason I can live here with Jin is if i keep up my grades and don’t disappoint them. If i didn’t care about anything my ass would be living in on campus housing and having an RA breath down my throat while my parents called me everyday asking if I was completing the study forms they sent over. Yeah I’m well off, but that’s my parents money and they worked hard for it. They put hard work and intelligence above all else.” your eyebrows rose at his confession and you get bad. You had assumed so much about him these passed two years and none of it seemed to be right. “I think that’s why I started to like you so much, you’re so intelligent, you work so hard at everything you do and you carry yourself like such a strong person. You kind of scare me if i’m honest” his deep voice chuckled and you smiled. “You’re beautiful inside and out” Taehyung said softly brushing his thumbs against your cheeks. You could feel the tenderness in his chest and your heart fluttered. “Maybe I liked you too, maybe that’s why I always waited for you to argue with me. I like how intelligent you are, I like that you always have something to say about whatever point I’m trying to prove.” You said softly and the corner of his mouth lifter slightly “liked? past tense” Rolling your eyes you covered your face and grumbled. “fine, LIKE. As in present tense” Taehyung stepped off of the bed and chuckled “THE y/n likes me? i’m honored. Sure its not cause I just made you cum twice?” throwing your arm off of your eye you watched his figure retreating into another door before flicking a light on. “Shut up Tae!” Chuckling he emerged from what you assumed was an ensuite bathroom with a wet cloth and situated himself between your legs. “I like when you call me Tae” he said and you blushed, feeling the cool cloth wipe gently along your folds. Sliding the cloth along your legs he finished cleaning you up and smiled up at you gently with his every so beautiful boxy smile. Returning to the bathroom to drop off the cloth you heard the water turn on and assumed he was cleaning himself off as well. Letting your gaze look around the room you noticed the bookshelf across from the bed you were currently on. On its shelf sat different picture frames, books and what looked like plushies. On the other side of the same wall sat a dark grey desk complete with a laptop, a mini plant and various knickknacks and a chair with a navy blue hoodie that you noticed to be Taehyungs hanging off of the back of the chair. Next to the bed was a nightstand that had a lamp, an iPhone charging dock and a bottle of water. The door that connected to the rest of the house was on the same wall. Against the wall to the right of the bed was a large dark grey dresser that matched the desk and what you now noticed to be the bed frame. On the dresser sat bottles of cologne, accessories and a picture frame. Next to the dresser was the door Taehyung had disappeared into and another door you assumed to be maybe a closet. Furrowing your brows you realized this was Taehyung’s room and not just another guest room. Up until his confession earlier you assumed he lived in a luxurious off campus house paid for by his parents. While this was a luxurious Townhome it still wasn’t what you had pictured. As Taehyung walked out of the ensuite he opened a drawer and dug through until he found was he was looking for. Sauntering up to the bed he handed you a t-shirt and what had seemed to be your phone that had been tossed on the floor earlier and pulled on a pair of briefs over his legs. Holding the soft cotton material in your fingers you smiled and thanked him before slipping over your smaller frame. Checking your phone you immediately noticed a series of texts from Layla starting from concerned up to a text that had a winky face telling you to ‘get it, I came upstairs to check on you but your moaning let me know you were doing just fine’. Smacking your palm against your face you blushed bright crimson. Taehyung who had looking over your shoulder when you gasped at the text was giggling and you smacked his chest. “Ow, you hit hard” He said while still giggling. “So, would you..uh stay the night and maybe grab breakfast with me in the morning? I mean know that we’ve realized we both don’t hate each other and we kind of lik-“ Pressing your lips to his you felt him smile against your lips before you pulled back. “Yes, now can we sleep?.” Nodding Taehyung pulled you against his chest and brushed a few strands away from your face as your eyes fluttered closed. Running his hand along the flowers that decorated your right arm he smiled to himself before eventually closing his eyes as well. Interesting how Misunderstandings happen, isn’t it?
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Omg this was supposed to just be a drabble from the pic of red haired Tae and inso from a game of beer pong, BUT ALAS this monster was born. this is my first fit so any constructive criticism is appreciated. Any love is beyond appreciated too <3 I have some ideas for other pics but i just want to get my page situated first. Any messages are welcome too <3 i lub talking to people.
-C otherwise known as, Potitties
#taehyung#taehyung x reader#taehyung smut#btssmut#bts fic#bts taehyung#bts#smut#fic#college fic#enemies to lovers#tae#kim taehyung#tae smut#fanfic#fluff#angst#first fic
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Jeff and MI:
By age, you fit in the G.I.T generation, but you obviously are not one of them...
These facilities are a mystery to me. There they tell you only one thing: hurry up! This leads you nowhere, afterwards your own children run away from you. Through these trainings you get to know women, you get to know men, music is inoculated into people who have no feeling for it; then they can only scare other people or insult them...
I was in this terrible place too, by the way-G.I.T That was a complete waste of time, apart from the theoretical lessons and the friends that I had there. Otherwise: an absolute wrong decision.
How long have you studied there?
One year, the normal program. They give you tons of material, you have to absorb everything, you practice, you are tested and you go to the next course. An intensive support with development is simply not possible. I did so many things: theory, single string technique, jazz class, rock class, all sorts of genres. My friend John was teaching bass there, and he once said that there is not a single teacher at the institute who says to the students, "OK, you're learning all this stuff here now, you're learning how to entertain people and you're learning to learn. But do you even know that there is no one in the universe other than yourself who plays the music you play? " John left the school then. For me it was all a joke that cost me $ 3,900. People interested in music should take private lessons somewhere, start a band, do something with people who like them and have what it takes. These schools are a scene in their own right, a very small, secluded world-the music, on the other hand, is gigantic and open. If you don't notice it, you miss a lot of magic, pain, development...(thinks) and rock! Apart from Paul Gilbert, there was no one there who really rocked. Session musicians are bred there; and at the end of the year you get a piece of paper that says, "Now you have the skills to become a professional musician." Well, congratulations! And then you look for jobs and play what other people want. But that's not all the music, there's something else isn't there? Where's the music coming from? From your own head or stomach, or the concepts of the people you work for?-Gitarre & Bass, October, 1995
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I had a friend named John Humphrey. I went to this really crappy guitar school for a year, and he used to teach there, he was a bass teacher. And then he left, and we ended up being roommates later on, after I graduated. This is the kind of school where you give them a shitload of money in order to spend a year learning their curriculum.
What was it, G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles)?
Yeah, it was G.I.T.. They give you their curriculum, and it's not too comprehensive, but it's just enough, and then you can [snaps his fingers] move on to the next thing. And pretty soon you have all this shit inside you and then they give you this paper that says you have what it takes to be a professional musician.
It's a rock-oriented thing, isn't it?
In the end, I think, the only true product of that kind of learning is to get you gigs on the studio circuit and to get you gigs on the session guy circuit.
So, Lee Ritenour went there or something?
G.I.T. was started by Howard Roberts, the guy who played the wah-wah guitar on the theme to Shaft. And this other guy named Pat Hayes. I don't know. It just seemed like a racket, really. John said a lot of things to me that stuck in my mind. He said that there was nobody who stopped you, sat you in a room and said, okay, we have all these artists that you're learning the licks from, you have your guitar heroes, your virtuoso lust objects. But there's nobody who can make the kind of music you can make now except for you. And you can make it now. You don't even have to know how to go fast. And that makes all the sense to me in the world. It's also kind of an unseen process, that concept, originality. It's like that in all the education systems; there's never any real...identity education, self-generative identity art sort of thing, to be yourself. If everybody in Melbourne had a Wurlitzer organ and had the passion to sing something or make something, you'd have hundreds of thousands of different styles, if they were coming exactly from only their DNA, only their makeup, and their emotional percepts, their idea about what art is. You could have way-removed genres from what is already accepted, avante-garde country-rock-punk-folk-whatever. It's unlimited. But for some reason, the conventions always take over and there's a very ready and powerful formula to step into...
Those are the type of [formula-derived] players who can say, "Well, I was listening to the radio in 1967 and I heard the guitar solo in Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower,' and that guitar sound, that tone, would work perfectly for this television commercial."
Yeah. See? "Stealing from the greats, that's okay." That's right. Once I stopped in [at G.I.T.] years later, when I was on tour going through L.A., just to see what it was like. They've got a completely high-tech, multi-million dollar facility...
More so than when you had been there?
Way more. When I was there, it was just a ragtag bunch of teachers, and they had all left by then. They had video facilities and a class for stage moves and all kinds of things. And I saw this guy who was working the desk, the guy who watches the door. He had a bass on, and he was practicing his Nirvana chops! He was playing "In Bloom" on his bass, way up on his chest, jazz-fusion style, to the Nirvana song. I thought, oh shit--he was practicing his grunge riffs! He was getting his grunge down! Best fucking thing you can do, if you have the interest, is go to a private teacher, go someplace, some college, and learn theory. That was something I really enjoyed, actually, something that wasn't totally pointless. Theory meaning the meaning of the musical nomenclature. I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in Ravel, Ellington, Bartok.-Double Take, February 29, 1996
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Once the site of a seakeasy and a bra factory, the 30,000-square-foot quarters were now the home of Musicians Institute, a vocational school for anyone who considered himself or herself a serious musician. With its wooden desks and chipped-tile hallways, MI resembled any other urban school, but at those desks, student guitarists and drummers studied scales and power chords in hopes of becoming the next Eddie Van Halen or Neil Peart, the flashy drummer with Rush. On their way to class each morning, flaxen-haired guitar gods in training could be spotted holding their guitars and practicing licks as they walked down Hollywood Boulevard.
Jeff had heard about Musicians Institute (and its subdivision, the Guitar Institute of Technology) while in high school and told everyone it was his one and only destination. However, potential superstardom did not run cheap. The school charged $4,000 for its one year course, and by the time Jeff Graduated from Loara High School, Mary Guibert was beginning to fall on hard financial times as she went in and out of jobs. In need of money for herself and her two sons, she prematurely broke into a $20,000 fund earmarked for Jeff, but only after he tured nineteen. Once Mary proved to the courtsthat Jeff needed it for his education, he and Mary received it a year early. In a deep irony, the father Jeff had barely met and increasingly resented would be paying his son's way through music school.
On graduation night, September 15, 1985, at the Odyssey in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley, Jeff, Stoll, and Marryatt closed the ceremony by playing Weather Report's "Pearl On the Half Shell."-from Dream Brother
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With its 30-odd thousand feet of floor space and row upon row of "labs", where hopeful guitar heroes could jam with such shit-hot players as Scott Henderson, LA's Musician's Institute must have seemed like nirvana for someone like Jeff Buckley, trapped as he was behind the Orange Curtain. According to his buddy Chris Dowd, that's exactly why Buckley enrolled there, arriving just before autumn, 1984, bankrolled by $4,000 that Mary managed to squeeze from a Tim Buckley trust fund.
Originally known as the Guitar Institute, which in itself says plenty, the school was opened in 1977. Drawing on the educational philosophy of journeyman guitarist Howard Roberts, it was co-founded and managed by Los Angeles music businessman Pat Hicks, "a real shyster opportunist", in the words of Tom Chang, an expat Canadian who would become very tight with Jeff Buckley during their two years at the Institute. In 1978, thr Bass Institute was opened, followed by the Percussion Institute two years later. Desppite Hicks' questionable business ethics-amongst other things, he'd hire students as cheap labour to do essential maintenance work on the building, which led to Buckley being hired as an electrician's assistant soon after graduating-he did manage to persuade well regarded players and bands to lecture, and play alongside, the hopefuls who'd enrolled there.
What Buckley lacked up in "front" he clearly made up for in ambition. That was proved, in spades, by Buckley's graduation performance which was played out on September 15, 1985, at a venue called the Odyssey in Granada Hills. While the sonic crush and enviable chops of Rush and Led Zeppelin still rocked the world of this Orange County teen, Buckley had also developed a real taste for such "noodlers" as Weather Report.
The number chosen by Buckley for graduation was their "D Flat Waltz" (not "Pearl On The Half-Shell", as documented elsewhere, which they'd performed at a previous event), a typically complicated few minutes of Weather Report neo-fusion-a "really cool piece, very involved", according to Tom Chang-and a standout from their 1983 set Domino Theory. But Buckley, accompanied by Stoll on drums and Marryatt on bass, didn't just play the piece, he also wrote the individual parts out beforehand for the band.-from A Pure Drop
MI pics by me
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Lemongrass
So this was nominally supposed to be about a cooking lesson (loosely prompted by a post from @dr-ladybird), but it came out much more bittersweet and melancholy.
Thanks to @pushingsian for the beta!
NB: In my version of Mass Effect, Nathaly Shepard is vegetarian, and Kaidan Alenko's mother is Thai.
Lemongrass
The haunting quiet of a Canadian night along the Sunshine Coast still kept Shepard awake, even after two months. She missed the endless creaking of the ship, the muffled voices coming through the hatches and decks, the hum of the drive core lulling her to sleep. Everyone thought space was silent. She snorted and wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered on the porch, drawing a blanket close like a shawl. This was silence, this… lonely wilderness.
Footsteps fell soft on the cabin’s wooden floor. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw Kaidan padding barefoot to the door, still rubbing his eyes. Her face broke into a smile despite herself, quiet, tired. “Hey.”
“It’s cold out here tonight.” He rubbed his arms. “Can’t sleep again?”
“You don’t need to get up,” she replied, sidestepping the question.
He glanced out over the property, towards the coastline a half-acre away. “It wasn’t this quiet when I bought it.”
This was where he’d sunk his L2 reparations, into this piece of earth, though the house came after the war. His neighbors weren’t ever sitting in his lap, exactly, but a fair number either hadn’t survived or hadn’t returned. But the lack of people wasn’t the problem. “It’s a planet. It’s never going to be—”
Shepard stopped herself just in time. But her startled guilty glance, at the near slip, said it all anyway. His shoulders sank. “Come inside.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
He put his arm around her and gave her a tug. “Come inside.”
The door swung shut. The main room was cozy in a hand-made sort of way. Kaidan’s mother had sent a seemingly endless stream of crocheted blankets, which now hung off every chair back and piled across the couch. Shepard made the metal-framed furniture herself in their own backyard. Kaidan spent his free hours scouring local extranet ads for books, and a coffee maker, lamps, cushions, anything anyone was selling or trading in the mostly cashless post-war economy. Earth could barely manufacture essentials, much less everyday comforts.
Now he walked over to the small corner defining their kitchen and lit the stove. She hiked one of those blankets higher on her shoulders. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll sleep better with something warm in you.”
She joined him, putting her hand on his hip, leaning towards his ear. “I can think of something warm you could put in me.”
That got her a quick snort of a laugh, as she hoped. “That just wakes you up more.”
But his brown eyes sparkled in the dim light of the slumbering house.
She heaved a sigh, but pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear, and switched gears. “Need a hand?”
Flirtatious interest turned to surprise. “You want to help me cook.”
“Come on. I haven’t boiled a pot dry in weeks.” A touch defensive, but hell, she had been trying. It wasn’t her fault she never had reason or opportunity to learn to cook. At this point, her molecular composition verged on 100% military-issue freeze pack meals and MREs.
“That’s true.” He jerked his head at the cabinet. “Find me the coconut milk, and the stock.”
Kaidan’s kitchen staples came as something of a surprise. Beer and bacon she expected. His mother’s influence, not so much. Not that she knew a whole lot about Thai food to start with. “Where do you get this stuff?”
“My mom is friendly with every southeast Asian family in Vancouver.”
“Sure. But… citrus?”
“You’d be surprised how many people keep a tree in their condo. I’m negotiating for one, but nobody wants to give it up.”
“It’s just as well.” She pulled out a box. “I’ve killed every houseplant I’ve ever had.”
“You’re doing all right with the herb garden.” Kaidan said it with a straight face, despite them both knowing he did most of the work, especially after he caught her burying leftovers in the dirt to fertilize it. Gently, he explained about compost, but it still seemed like a load of middle-man work to her. He also explained about raccoons, which she had to admit had the weight of evidence behind it, in the holes and broken plants they left behind. But Shepard had learned to water and prune, even fuss over the plants, here and there. They seemed to enjoy the attention.
What was the other thing? Stock. Right. She opened the fridge and pulled out a plastic jug, the remains of a giant batch Kaidan made last week from all their vegetable scraps. It had been an experiment, but somehow, all of Kaidan’s kitchen experiments seemed to work out.
“Put that in the pot,” he said, pointing.
She complied, with one raised eyebrow. “Don’t you think this burner is up a little high?”
“It needs to reduce.” He gave the pot an expert swirl and set it back down. “We still have mushrooms?”
“I think so.” They’d stored up too much in the lower drawer. She sorted through the items. “What’re we making?”
“Soup.” He declined to elaborate, and began to slice the mushrooms. “We’ll also need lemongrass, cilantro, and some of those tiny peppers from outside.”
“You’ll send me out in this cold?” she griped, but she was already reaching for the scissors.
He put down the knife. “It’s summer, Nathaly. It’s almost ten degrees outside. And the garden’s right beside the back door.”
“Anything south of twenty is fucking frigid.” Pulling the blanket tighter, she headed out.
The moonlight gilded the leaves in silver as Shepard sorted through the huddled plants, trying not to drop the blanket. Cilantro reminded her of home, the first home she ever had. Her grandmother grew bales of it in window boxes. Bending to cut some, she might have been six again, and smiled to herself in spite of the cold. Or maybe because of it— the Arizona desert took on its own chill at night.
Lemongrass was more foreign. Its pungency stabbed through the air as she cut it near the dirt, gathering several stalks. A side of Kaidan she hadn’t known, like the cooking, until recently. Sure he fixed a few meals in the apartment, back when the apartment was habitable. Seeing him now, it was clear he’d grown up watching his mother, and absorbed everything she had to teach. That added new depth to her understanding of the damage BAaT did to his family. It was easy to sense, lurking there even today, in every interaction between mother and son, but harder to interpret.
When she was done, she returned to the kitchen, and found he’d added tofu, galangal (not ginger, she reminded herself, firmly), the aforementioned limes plus some kaffir lime leaves he’d obtained god-knew-how, and fish sauce to the waiting ingredients. He smiled as he heard the door shut.
“Here you are.” She dumped her handful of fresh produce beside his pile.
“These look great. Take this.” He handed her the spoon.
Shepard held it like a dead mouse. “Wait a minute—”
He took the lemongrass to the sink. “Nope. This time, you cook, and I help. Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it.”
Everything about this read imminent disaster. Kaidan noticed her frown, and pushed her arm towards the pot. “Add the coconut milk.”
It trickled in, aided by her tentative stirring. She put the spoon down. “Kaidan, look, cooking… My biggest accomplishment is getting a microwave burrito thawed the whole way through without drying it out. I know you want to do this whole domestic thing—”
He picked it up and put it back in her hand. “I have never known you to admit defeat on anything. What’s going on? Talk to me.”
She stared into the pot, expressionless face flickering in the burner’s flame.
Kaidan tried another tact. “You’re not sleeping. You barely eat.”
“I…” She let the spoon go, and slumped over the stove, tiredly. “I didn’t expect winning to feel like this.”
His face softened. “That’s because we didn’t win. We just beat the reapers.”
She brushed some of the hair out of her eyes. He rubbed her shoulders, left a kiss on her neck. “Let’s just make soup, ok? Lemongrass is next. Smash it first.”
The damp stalks left small puddles on the board as she ran the knife through them, and then upended it and brought the butt of the handle down on each piece, thump thump. Then the same to the peppers. The motion was almost comforting; Kaidan made this soup a lot.
Kaidan slid sliced galangal into the pot. “Your turn.”
Picking up the lemongrass with the blade, Shepard watched it disappear into the white broth, only to bob back up again, filmed with coconut milk. Already leeching all its intensity and leaving the herb softer, milder, spent; having sprouted and fought through the dirt to the sun, grown tall and proud, only to give up all it made to this. Because she declared that this was its purpose and its end.
A fistful of bright leaves fluttered down over the lemongrass pieces. Shepard started. Kaidan’s brow furrowed, and he touched her arm. “You sure you’re ok?”
“Yeah,” she said, distantly. “I’m just tired.”
He watched her a few moments too long for comfort. “Even the squirrels know that.”
It caught her off guard and she laughed, as he clearly hoped she would. Just one chuckle. But it helped.
“Tofu and mushrooms next,” he prompted. Shepard gathered them up and dumped them in.
She just about remembered to stir it every so often as they juiced limes and chopped cilantro. To her endless gratitude, Kaidan took it back to finish it when it came off the burner; she never could get the amount of fish sauce just right. Somehow, he’d gotten the rice cooker going while she messed with the soup, too. She liked dumping it all into her bowl with the soup, a practice that never failed to earn her a look of mock-disappointment that was half the reason she kept doing it.
They settled on the couch. For a few minutes, they ate in the quiet dark of the cabin, lined in moonlight, wrapped in blankets. Shepard had spent all her life in motion. Now she was trying to learn how to live with stillness.
The soup-soaked rice felt good in her mouth, something she could bite down on. Something solid and warm in her stomach. She hadn’t realized exactly how cold she’d gotten, or how hungry; each spoonful brought a little more color into the room.
Kaidan sipped at his own bowl, smaller than hers, with a slight smile. “Feel better?”
She looked down into her nearly-empty bowl, and back up at him. “How did you know?”
“You skipped dinner. And lunch.” His tone just a little too light. “This isn’t easy for me either, but regularly crashing your blood sugar isn’t helping.”
There was nothing to say to that. “I don’t know what to do with myself up here.”
“Yeah.” He set his food aside and inched closer to her, settling his arm around her waist. “You’ve got a stack of requests piling up.”
“Busy work,” she scoffed.
“There’s never going to be another reaper war, and that’s a good thing.” He gave her a squeeze. “You’ll just have to subsist without the adrenaline and cortisol, high blood pressure, constant small injuries, and all those other things.”
“Tomorrow.” It was too complicated to unpack right now. She set the empty bowl aside.
“Tomorrow,” Kaidan agreed, and pulled her to her feet. “Now, let’s sleep.”
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everyday i wake up and you still havent posted your evermore rant </3
there u go boo 👩❤️💋👩👩❤️💋👩👩❤️💋👩
GDBDNSKDJHHDDNDS GIRL................ ok so i very cleverly avoided ranking folklore because every song REALLY HIT and the whole album was just SO.. SO.. yeah. i can however rank miss evermore. i dont want to compare the two album i do not get the point in that. both give off really different vibes. now what i will say is with folklore, AS AN ALBUM, it is just a master masterpiece. The songs flowed amazingly with each other and really held you close the entire first listen. at least thats what I felt like <3 with evermore however, the individual songs are OMG!!! THERE IS LITERALLY NO SONG I DONT LIKE FROM ANY OF THE TWO ALBUMS. but as an album on the first listen i did feel a bit disconnected from evermore which didnt happen to me with folklore. why i think that might’ve happened is BECAUSE taylor is just so brilliant m8.... the MASSIVE contrasting emotions between the songs was too much for my little brain to handle.
Ok so now that’s out of the way dhsjsk time for rankings :) i have no idea where im going to put each song im just going to make it up as we go <3 ill ALSO give you my fave lyrics from each if I remember it <333 (oh and also you’ll notice marjorie isnt here. im sorry but i never listened to it after the first listen because it hits a little too close to home and i dont want to unpack all of that now im sorry! it is a beautiful song)
14. Closure: she popped off <3 she really said dont treat me like a situation that needs to be handled 💃🤙💯 a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics HOWEVER its the first song i couldnt connect with thus it’s down here BUT I STILL WOULD LISTEN TO IT ON REPEAT THO... the last in my ranking but still fucks 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️ thats taylor swift 👩❤️💋👩
13. long story short: i have never been in a relationship ever BUT GODDAMN ‘pushed from the precipice, clung to the nearest lips’ hdjsksksjjddjnBbdns jddd ubebs!:!?:?:$3&39383$hzjs WOAH.... and this bitch really summarized the full 2016 drama with long story short it was a bad time. HILARITY. yeah not much to say here tho this is just the ‘at least one mandatory song to shake your tits to on each ts album’ song of evermore <3 and always remember that if the shoe fits walk in it TILL YOUR HIGH HEELS BREAK WOOH ANDIFELLDOWNTHEPEDESTALRIGHTDOWNTHERA—
12: dorothea: making a lark of misery :D RENt free. i had to listen to ‘if youre tired of being known for who you know you know youll always know me’ 113 times to finally understand it tho 😐 some of us are stupid and illiterate have you ever thought about that miss swift???? anyways TINGTINGTINGINGINGING THE STARS IN YOUR EYES SHINED BRIGHTER IN TUPELO <33333 such an innocent feel good song I LOVE!!!!!
11. ivy: the goddamn here and the hush of mirrorball ARE THE REASON IM STILL ALIVE 😽 another lyrical masterclass <3 ‘id live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time’ IS2G!!!!!!!!!!! anyways what if you cheated on your husband with me and i cheated on my husband with you and my pain fit in the palm of your freezing hands 😳 JK JK 😅 unless...... 🤪��� hdjsks yeah this song is magnificently cursed and i am in love with it 🧎♀️
10. tis the damn season: this song is august but the other side of the coin. august but four months later. AUGUST SLIPPED AWAY LIKE A BOTTLE OF WINE- THE HOLIDAYS LINGER LIKE A BAD PERFUMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... she sounds so pretty goshhh! ‘time flies messy as the mud on your truck tires NOW IM MISSING YOUR SMILE hear me out we could just ride around and the road not taken looks real good now’ is on repeat in my mind. and as always the bridge ::::::::::::::.............:::::::::::::: how does she do this everytime. ‘and wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles im faking’ 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️ after every ts song i listen my expectations about true love grows exponentially and my chances of finding true love falls exponentially simultaneously ADIEU.
9. willow: she really took the invisible string quartet and put it in huh..................... FUCKED IN THE HEADDDDDDDDDDDDDD. what can i say <3 its just such a pretty song <3 hashtag gorgeous hashtag i cant say anything to its face. WRECK MY PLANS!!!!!! WRECK IT BITCH!!! ‘wait for the signal and ill meet you after dark’ LOVE STORY WHIPLASH. also mate i cant even focus on the song she looks SO GOOD in the music video i—
8. happiness: !!!! what can i say.... one of the best songs of the album hands down. lyrical masterpiece AND musically rich. she really logged into tumblr dot com and typed out ‘THERE’LL BE HAPPINESS AFTER YOU’ AND ‘THERE WAS HAPPINESS BECAUSE OF YOU’ ARE IDEAS THAT CAN COEXIST and logged off...... h8 her and her insanity. the one word i have to describe this song is: picturesque. tis a picturesque song <3 oh and dfbhhffcbhDDVHHTRSDVJK when i heard ‘i hope she’ll be a beautiful fool who takes my spot next to you’ i audibly GASPED and then she says ‘no i didnt mean that sorry i cant see facts through all of my fury’................. i fell out of my chair. IT FELT LIKE AS IF SHE HEARD MY GASP AND TOLD ME SPECIFICALLY THAT NO SHE DIDNT MEAN IT LIKE THAT... anyways yeah. ill write an article one day named THE SWIFT DECEPTION OF TAYLOR about how she keeps writing songs with deceptive titles and this will be the opening case 😈🤙 also the fact that this is one of my faves and i put it in number 8 says a lot......
7. evermore: i havent recovered from ‘motion capture. put me in a bad light’. i mean come on the whole goddamn song is a lyrical masterpiece. ‘writing letters addressed to the fire’. IS SHE OK!????????????? i think tf not. beautiful song beautiful arrangement. iver sounded really good too. and lol lol rofl WOOFWOOFbarkbark ‘HEY DECEMBER GUESS IM FEELING UNMOORED’ unmoored definition from google dot com: no longer attached. she doesn’t go back to december anymore. about2 faint oml. long story short: i did not survive. THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE........ what i felt with this song is that she took the quarantine sadness we all felt at least once this year and made it into a masterpiece of a song. couldve been easily the top song on any album except this. no i will not elaborate <3
6. no body no crime: i cannot believe. she teased us with a musical number. this woman teased us with. a musical number. I THINK SHE IS WRITING A MUSICAL BUT I JUST CANT PROVE IT! when she wins that tony 16 years later call me prophetic xoxo. anyways yeah she literally wrote this to flex her storytelling abilities. send tweet 🐥
5. cowboy like me: YEEEHAWWW I’LL BE HONEST WITH YOU I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FULL SONG SOUNDS LIKE I JUST HAVE THE BRIDGE ON REPEAT!!!! OMFG!!! the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up. AAAA!! ??? STFU. IM NOT EVEN TALKING ABOUT THE LYRICS MATE THE WAY ITS SUNG!!!!!!! GUT WRENCHING! the best bridge she has ever written musically. i cant stop listening to it. REALLYYY DID BELIEEEVE I WAS THE ONEEE. STORIESSS ABOUT WHEEEN YOU PASSSEDDD THROUGHH TOWN. y e l l. and then she hits me with ‘now you hang from my lips like the gardens of babylon.’ L ???? M !!!!! A $$$$$ O “”””” i had to pause it and sit there for 10 minutes to take in what i had just heard. case closed critical hit sustained yeedhawd.
4. tolerate it: i cried. the only reason it’s not 1 is because it hurt me too much. WHAT THE FUCK YOU MF YOU ASSUME IM FINE BUT WYD IF I BREAK FREE AND LEAVE US IN THE RUINS???? TOOK THIS DAGGER IN ME AND REMOV— m8 this physically hurts me everytime. if its all in my head TELL ME RN. aghhh aRghhhhhhh. pain. and lol she broke down sleep to its bare essentials ‘breathing with your eyes closed’.
3. ??? coney island: i know it’s a bit of a controversial top three but WHO CARES 🕴this is solely here for ‘AND IM SITTING ON A BENCH IN CONEY ISLAND wondering where did my BABYy GO’ im shaking. my bed is shaking. my body is shaking. my pupils are shaking. THE WAY SHE SINGS IT OH MY GOODNESS ME i have to lie down gimme a sec. ‘and if this is the long haul howd we get here so soon 😟’ SCREAM. and when i was hearing it for the first time and she said ‘sorry for not making you my centerfold’ i was like yeah and?? so what?? and then she hits me with ‘over and over’...... so she didnt make him/her/them her centerfold over and over !!!!!!! she is sorry she didnt do it over and over!!!!!! mannn.... the chorus.. i shall not speak. i am held at gunpoint i CANNOT SPEAK. the bridge tho dhdnsksksjsb I CAN SPEAK AND I SHALL SPEAK. BITCH WENT OFFFFFFFF. <3 this is the apology she deserved from her exes which she never got so she wrote it herself. podium. grey skies. birthday cake. ACCIDENT. im laughingggggggggggg <///3 and yeah so overall it is a really yummy song with yummy vocals and yummy arrangement 9/10 would recommend. also!! life lessons kids life lessons. disappointments? SIMPLY CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PRETEND YOU DO NOT SEE IT YAAAAAAAAAS
2. gold rush: ETHEREAL!!!!!! The last time i felt like this™️ whilst listening to a song was with mirrorball <3 the production of this song omg omg omg LOVE 💃 but what propelled it to number two status was the ‘i dont like slow motion double vision in ROSE BLUSH/ i dont like that falling feels like flying till the BONE CRUSH’ imagine how fucked in the head a person needs to be to rhyme rose blush with bone crush. yeah i have nothing more to say really this song is extremely gorgeous and ‘eyes like sinking ships on water so inviting i almost jumped in’ / ‘walk past quick brush’ ?:!:!&:8483 F A V E <33333 and the transition transmission transfusion from ‘... gray old tea cuz itll never be ᵍˡᵉᵃᵃᵃᵃᵐⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʷⁱⁿᵏˡⁱⁿᵍᵍᵍᵍ’ MADAME
1. champagne problems: are we surprised? ARE WE REALLY SURPRISED? when listening to new albums i normally listen to it at one go in order. i stick to that rule. HOWEVER after many years of my solid album listening self made rule tm i finally broke and immediately replayed this mf song after listening to it once. ‘you had a speech, youre speechless/ love slipped beyond your reaches’???? stfu???? VILE. PUNISHABLE. DEROGATORY. and welp the entire bridge ...... .... ........... what can i say. And the parallels to miss all too well??? WHAT WAS THE REASON???? your SISTER splashed out on the bottle- left my scarf there at your SISTER’s house 😐 she’ll patch up your tapestry that i SHRED- maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you TORE it all up 😐 your MOM’s ring in your pocket- your MOTHER’s telling stories bout you on the tee ball team 😐 November flush and your FLANNEL cure- PLAID shirt days and nights when you made me your own 😐 wHAT A SHAME SHE IS FUCKED IN THE HEAD IS2G........... and also why would she not rhyme POCKET with LOCKET?????? why with wallet???????????? slant rhyme why????????????? AND THE NOTE THIS MF SONG ENDS ON..... FUCKED IN THE HEAD
THATS IT. i really sat here and did this for the past 2 hours huh...... hhdjsms anyways LONG STORY SHORT: I HATE ONE INSANE WOMAN AND HER NAME IS TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT. GODSPEEED 🏃♀️
#obviously i have not listened to the two delux songs yet so yeah <3#im sorry about this i have neither proofread this nor do i think this makes any sense </3#also i just realized i swore alot in this.... its that kind of a year huh ;D#anyways tysm anon for your eagerness for MY rant on evermore <3 truly honored#have a great day ilyy#answered 🗣#evermore era
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All Of Us: Leaves
Dot.Line|Shape§
From the outset, All Of Us has made me think of travelling through forests. Leaves on the ground and on the branches were a huge part of this, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to use them. Having seen examples of cyanotypes, printing and rubbings in the past few months, I knew almost anything was possible, but I didn’t know what would suit my purposes. That was until a discussion with my college tutor, who asked if I’d been utilising any knowledge gained from my previous project. It’s probably to my shame that, despite learning a lot in this last brief (and, in fact, taking a lot of inspiration from the natural world) I had not consciously chosen to use the basic building blocks of design.
For another concept I had to cut up a plastic tree so I could wrap it’s branches in wool, and I kept the leaves – just in case. I poured these out onto my sketchbook and started playing around with the green half-ovals trying to build some sort of Rorschachian image that would incorporate the delicate lines, combine marvellous shapes and somehow present dots to me. And it did. The straight lines I had cut were able to form a long, thin beam, the curved edges all melded into each other, then layered up beautifully into a vague circle, and all I had to do was rebuild the shapes of leaves in order to complete my triptych of the basics.
Preference
Something I’ve been struggling with throughout this process is finding something that I like. This is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed researching and creating album art, but learning to include my own opinions more in annotations and research hasn’t been easy for me. Each design has been checked and rechecked by peers, friends and my tutor, but I’m trying as much possible to expand my horizons by taking my own feelings into account. I’m used to being objective, looking at things from the majority’s point of view, and considering what the masses would prefer. So for this concept I have tried to work as an individual, going with ideas and notions that I like.
After a discussion with my partner about pieces of album artwork that stood out to us, I picked up on the first few examples we spoke about: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, Greenday’s American Idiot and The Spice Girls’ Spice. These three albums have a one-colour background and striking, fairly basic images on them. I thought back to my research on simple album covers, the work of Michael Carney and Charlotte Delarue, and I wanted to make my own.
I decided to run with a white background, I liked the starkness it provided, allowing any colours on it to stand out. Then came the basic colours I wanted to work with, and I knew I wasn’t going to keep my leaves green. It seemed a little too on the nose, the colour looked really flat when I had photographed the Dot, Line and Shape and nothing about it screamed ALBUM COVER at me. Now that I’m working once again with Photoshop I had the idea of continuing the theme of Basics of Design, and went with the three primary colours. By playing around with the adjustments (and learning a lot about curves, brightness, layers and Smart Objects) I managed to find shades of red, yellow and blue that I liked, and also showed some of the natural design on the surface of the leaves.
Composition
At college I had a brief conversation about composition. I wouldn’t call myself the most artistic of people, and I’m learning a lot about the way images are put together. Where I would previously place things into an image without second thought, I am now considering other eventualities. Thus I took my three images and started moving them around. After a very brief spell of placing three Lines here, and four Dots there, I decided that I was happy with just one of each image. I spent even less time spinning my objects around. Something about the way the leaves were lying on top of each other made sense with the Line, it felt as though it was travelling upwards in a satisfying manner. The Shape felt more natural pointing upward. The Dot took some turning before I decided that it looked a little too conformative to have the internal edges pointing up, down, left or right, and so I left it at an angle that I was happy with.
The height of the Line meant that they all looked out of place when sitting side by side, or it seemed that the Line was dividing the Dot and the Shape. I then looked at the various combinations that could be made from these three pictures. I placed the Line on the left hand-side and then the Dot to its right, low down. The only logical place was for the Shape to sit above the Dot. I then broke it down mathematically and looked at all options of this three-part setup. Very annoyingly, nothing new felt right, no matter how I placed them. Some looked like faces, some seemed to be making a point about being underlined or covered over by the red Shape, everything just felt wrong when the Line was standing to the left, and the Shape sat above the Dot on the right.
Colour
Inspired by the work of my peers I decided to keep experimenting with colour. The adjustment tools on Photoshop have provided the people around me with new avenues to explore and with solutions to problems they had been coming across. I was mostly happy with what I had, truth be told I was set on my album cover and didn’t see any reason to change anything, but I wanted to play around and see what crazy combinations I could come up with – and I wasn’t disappointed. Brightly vibrant neons and dully realistic tones made their way out of my Dot, Line and Shape, and for a different song at a different time I feel these could have opened doors onto great pieces of album art. But I knew I was happy with the colours I had.
Until I drained them entirely. At first I passed it over, it looked a bit like pencil etchings, which was cool, but wasn’t what I was looking for. But then the Shape leaves in the bottom right image stood out to me – what if you could barely see the images? What if colour wasn’t a factor? No contrast, no printed images in fact. And The Beatles’ White Album came to mind: only so-called because the embossed title of the album (eponymously just The Beatles) was barely visible. What if I did that? I could emboss the leaves onto white card, leaving only the vaguest implication of images on a plain field, and present an album cover that was inspired, showing off everything I had learned about dot, line and shape without any kind of distraction. What if I could do that?
Failure
I couldn’t do that. But boy, did I try. I watched tutorials of milling machines and building inkless pens to use on linoleum moulds, and I tried to recreate the effects. Without industrial tools, or the materials to build my own pen, I etched a Shape out of linoleum and pushed card into the image using the finest-but-bluntest object I could: a piece of Lego. I tried rubbings, to see if they would give me the correct effect, in the hope I could then edit them in Photoshop. Grey graphite, brown charcoal and white pastels all let me down with this plan.
I then thought about materials I did have, and started 3D printing a mould for my leaf Shape. After a few failed attempts at manually pushing card into crevices or forcing outlines into the paper, I tried to build a two-piece stamper that would do the embossing for me. I’m no expert at 3D modelling, and have learned that I will need to practice much more before I am able to create a tool that will enable such an intricate design.
Experiment
My next venture was back into colour. Many of my peers have been bravely experimenting with acrylic paints – mixing them with various substances and pouring them or creating vivid patterns that they then edit in Photoshop in incredible ways. While I’d like to venture into similar areas soon, for this concept I wanted to stick to the basics: three primary colours, a paintbrush, dots, lines and shapes. The red Lines on the Dot gave the impression of a warrior’s facepaint, an idea I will definitely keep in mind for future projects. However, I wasn’t as impressed with the other objects. The yellow dots painted on the leaf Shape worked well when I noticed yellow was the colour chosen on the digital image, but neither the leaves nor the outline looked particularly effective to me. The blue shapes over the Line, similarly, gave me no inspiration when looking at them. Essentially, when it comes to these designs, and to oppose Meatloaf’s well-known opinion, one out of three ain’t bad.
Conclusion
I’ve learned a lot from working on this concept. Oddly, I think I learned more once I had (mentally) finalised my design. It may have been that having the fallback meant my heart wasn’t really in any of the experiments, but my 20 hour obsession with embossing shapes tells me that it was having a safety net of a complete design that meant I could happily throw ideas around and see if anything stuck. While I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to apply my learned lessons to this concept, I’m grateful for the opportunities they have provided. And I still look at my final design with pride, so I guess I’ve done something right.
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The Height Of Summer
Summary: She’s a whirling dervish, and he’s trying his best to keep up.
Warnings: Alcohol, mild swearing, a lil bit of a thing called fluff
Words: 4448 (I got carried away, sue me)
A/N: damn, haven’t written anything in about three years but here we are???? I think this is some kind of extreme procrastination mechanism my brain has employed to get me through the trauma that is my final semester. Anyway, let me know what you think???
The Series: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9
Chapter 1- Summer
House parties were always fun. What could possibly be better than getting a whole bunch of friends together, drinking beer, and blasting the music loud enough for the entire street to hear? Granted, they were probably a little old to be throwing down the way they did when they were nineteen, but having a civilised glass of wine in a fancy city bar didn’t quite cleanse them of the corporate world the way a good house party could.
And that’s how Summer Little ended up at this particular house party, having given next to no resistance to her friend Eli’s invite. Eli occupied the desk opposite hers in the office and the two of them had become fast friends though their mutual hatred of Jackson-From-Accounting. Eli also had to be the most popular person Summer knew; he seemed to be friends with every second person in Toronto and was constantly being invited to stuff like this, to which he, in turn, would always invite Summer.
This particular house party belonged to a guy named Brian – how Eli knew him, Summer wasn’t entirely sure. Definitely childhood-related, she deduced, judging by the very jolly greeting the pair had shared upon arrival. Lots of “Jesus, dude it’s been too long!”, and “Oh look, you’ve finally managed to grow a beard!”
It had been an hour since then, and Summer had lost Eli to another group of people in the kitchen he seemed to be annoyingly well acquainted with – classic Mr. Popular.
Three beers in and Summer herself had buddied up with her own group of new friends. Everyone was sprawled across the couches and armchairs, the already pokey living room now teetering on the edge between cosy and cramped.
Shrieks of laugher and loud hollering filled the room, all eyes on Summer as she sat perched on the piano stool, giving a rendition of Smash Mouth’s hit song I’m a Believer that was so obviously bad it made it all the more funny. Her fingers kept slipping into the wrong chords, her voice a tipsy, off-key warble, the lyrics constantly being muddled and interjected with uncontrollable giggles.
This whole situation had started during The Great Shrek Debate (which seems to crop up at the majority of house parties, sooner or later), wherein opinions were divided between whether the first or second movie had the better soundtrack. Being three beers in, Summer had of course decided to announce that she had learnt how to play I’m a Believer way back in the day when her parents had sent her off to piano lessons in the hope she’d actually learn something more sophisticated, like Chopin or whatever. Chopin was decidedly not her style, and she’d used the few years of lessons to learn what essentially became the entire Shrek soundtrack. Really, she hadn’t played piano properly in years, but being able to halfway play such a classic tune sure was a good party trick.
Dramatically whipping her wild, blonde curls around, pretending she was performing at Carnegie Hall, she didn’t notice Eli and his group entering until she heard him exclaim a loud “Incredible!”.
Grinning she looked up, fingers still banging away on the keys, hitting more false notes than correct ones. Once she saw who was standing slightly behind her friend grinning right back at her, she pulled her fingers away from the piano like she’d been burnt, her face flushing a mortified shade of deep scarlet.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she snorted, clapping her hand over her mouth, a nervous laugh escaping through her fingers. World famous musician, Shawn Mendes, just kept grinning at her, his hand raised in a small wave.
Summer shot a look of panic and confusion at Eli, who in turn shot back a wide, shit-eating grin. “Shawn, this is Summer, and it looks like she’ll be putting you out of business soon.”
Everyone laughed at that. Summer did not. Summer was desperately wishing for the ground to open up an swallow her.
It was one thing doing a ridiculously bad, theatrical performance in front of a group of casual, drunk strangers. It was a whole other thing having an actual professional musician walking in on said performance.
“Okay, definitely not,” she managed to scoff in reply, pulling a face as she clambered away from the piano, taking a few steps back in the hopes she somehow wouldn’t be associated with it anymore in any way, shape, or form.
Shawn’s eyebrows raised, and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, “I don’t know, I reckon you’ve got yourself a smash hit there. Total headlining performance,” he joked.
Summer couldn’t meet his laughing eyes, choosing instead to train them on Eli – a desperate call for help. Eli, of course, was no help. He just shrugged, barely containing his amusement; he was enjoying this situation way too much.
“I think I need another drink,” Summer announced, letting out a shaky laugh, and moving to push through Eli’s group huddled by the door, right past Shawn.
Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, her brain practically shredding itself in its embarrassment. Summer was generally not one to be embarrassed easily, but then again this was hardly a normal situation. One does not simply go to a house party and expect to be walked in on giving what could really only be described as a mockery to music by none other than Shawn Mendes. What kind of planet had she arrived on?
Once in the kitchen, she made a b-line right for the 24-pack of Canadian Club that was sitting on the island, cracking open the first can she could wrangle from the box and tipping half of it straight down her throat.
A firm hand was placed on the small of her back, followed by Eli leaning over her shoulder, still grinning. Summer frowned at him.
Finishing off her gulp, she turned to her friend, “I hate you,” she said dryly.
“I love you,” Eli laughed back. “You’re such a legend.”
“I hate you,” she repeated again, nodding quickly as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Why the fuck…since when do you know Shawn Mendes?”, she exclaimed, his name coming out in a hiss.
Eli just shrugged, leaning against the island with one elbow, his other hand running through his dark mop of hair, “We used to play hockey against each other, wayback in the day. Cool guy, really, haven’t seen him in ages though.”
“Huh, I wonder why that is?” Summer quipped sarcastically.
Just then, there was a knock against the doorframe and leaning against that doorframe, knuckles still raised against the wood was Shawn.
“Speak of the devil,” Eli smiled widely.
Shawn’s eyes flitted to Eli and then back to Summer’s, his expression warm if not slightly bemused. “Just thought I’d come and say hi properly,” he said, his voice gentle. Taking a single, long stride towards Summer, holding his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Shawn.”
“Summer,” Summer replied, her breath seeming to get stuck in the back of her throat as she took his hand and shook it. It wasn’t an unusually long handshake, he didn’t hold on for longer than was necessary like in the movies, but Summer was still overly aware of how soft and large his hand was around hers and it made her heart swell. “I’m so sorry you had to witness me being a total disaster.”
The boys both let out small chuckles at that. “Don’t worry, I reckon I’ve definitely done worse in my time,” Shawn replied.
Summer knew he was only saying that to be kind and to make her feel less embarrassed, but nevertheless, it worked.
“Mate, you haven’t seen anything yet. When Mr. Brightside comes on, there’s no stopping her,” Eli wiggled his eyebrows at Summer, teasing.
Summer widened her eyes warningly at him, “Can you not, please?”
“She also knows all the words to Nuthin But A G Thang,” Eli continued, ignoring Summer’s horrified expression.
Shawn left out a loud laugh, raising his eyebrows at her, “By Dr. Dre?”
“What can I say? I have many talents,” she shrugged, deciding she better start playing it cool or Eli would never stop pushing her buttons.
Eli, however, had other plans. “Yeah, I hear she’s very talented,” he smirked, and Summer tried interjecting, knowing where he was headed, but it was too late. “A freak in the streets and in the sheets.”
“Eli!” Summer exclaimed, punching him in the arm. “I swear to God I will fight you.”
Shawn looked on extremely bemused, and his cheeks were flushed pink, whether from the alcohol or not wasn’t entirely clear.
“What? With these tiny little hands of yours?” Eli scoffed, grabbing them and waving them around. “Look Shawn,” he turned, pushing them towards his friend, “look how teeny tiny her hands are!”
Much to her surprise, Shawn reached up and took one of her hands in his again, inspecting it closely. “Mmm,” he nodded, giving her a half-smile, his head bowed low, “these do appear to be very small hands you’ve got here.”
“You’re both so annoying,” frowned Summer, pouting, her hands still suspended between the two boys.
“I mean…” Shawn trailed off, smirking, as he placed the palm of his hand flat against hers, the size difference really quite ridiculous.
Summer did her best to square up to him, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach that had erupted the second Shawn decided to pull the Tarzan and Jane card. “Listen here, you abnormally tall human, you. We can’t all be –“ she broke off, pulling her hands free to wave them at his towering frame, “whatever you are.”
Eli slung his arm around her shoulder, “Babe, accept it, you’re just a little Little,”.
Summer rolled her eyes at him, “You always make that joke and it’s never funny.”
Eli grinned up at Shawn, “It’s funny because her surname’s Little, and she’s little!”
“I think that’s pretty good,” Shawn laughed, throwing his head back lightly.
Her rescue, her knight in shining armour, came in the form of Brian sticking his head into the kitchen.
“Dude, Shawn,” Brian started, as Shawn turned around to face him, “can you go down to the store and pick up two crates of beer? They’re already paid for and everything, they’re just not delivering anything anymore and I don’t want to leave the house alone with the hooligans,” he said, laughing, nodding his head right at Summer.
Summer scoffed indignantly, “I am not a hooligan thank you very much.”
“Never,” Brian winked back, shifting his gaze back at Shawn who was already nodding in agreement.
“Yeah, just give me the keys and I’ll be off. You guys want to come?” he asked, turning back to Summer and Eli.
In perfect synchronicity, Summer answered with a happy “yes”, and Eli scoffed a resounding “no”.
“Alright,” Shawn laughed, holding his arm out to Summer, motioning her to step out of the kitchen ahead of him. “Looks like I’ve got an assistant.”
-
It was a warm summer night, the type that’s just humid enough to make your face a bit dewy and your palms a bit clammy. The suburban street they were walking down was quiet, except for the faint rushing of cars in the distance, and a dog barking in somebody’s back yard. Summer had to engage her power-walk trying to keep up with Shawn’s long strides.
“You know where we’re going, yeah?” Summer asked, glancing up at him. They’d already been walking for about ten minutes, wrapped in a comfortable silence. She had been trying her best not to look too closely at the way the oncoming breeze was pushing his curls into his face, or how good his arms looked in the short shirt sleeves clinging to his muscles.
Shawn frowned down at her bemusedly, “Of course, Brian hasn’t just sent us out on a wild goose chase.”
“Would be pretty exciting though, you’ve got to admit,” Summer said, nodding decidedly.
“Excuse you, I think this is plenty exciting. You and me, out here, stalking the deserted streets of Toronto’s suburbs. What more could you want?” Shawn joked, “We’re like a vigilante group.”
Summer let out a loud laugh, running a hand through her messy curls, “I don’t think you’ve quite grasped the concept of what a vigilante is.”
“Just because we haven’t stopped any crime yet, doesn’t mean we won’t,” Shawn argued back.
Summer nodded, “Alright, I guess you could be the Robin to my Batman.”
“Why don’t I get to be Batman?!” Shawn protested, throwing his long arms into the air. Summer raised her eyebrow at him, “Because we wouldn’t want you damaging that pretty little voice of yours doing his ridiculous one, duh. I’ve got it all thought out.”
“Hmm…you really do, don’t you,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at her, sizing her up.
There were a few moments more of comfortable silence before Shawn decided to break it again.
“So…” he started slowly, moving in closer to her so he could nudge his arm against hers, “You think I’ve got a pretty voice.”
Summer could hear the smirk in his voice before she’d even turned her eyes up at him.
“I see you fishing for compliments, Mendes, and I’m not falling for it,” Summer shook her head lightly, turning her eyes back to the road ahead. She could see what looked distinctly like a liquor store right up ahead; their destination was near.
Summer heard him chuckle and it was so hard not to smile back at that sound. “Well I thought you also had a pretty voice.”
“Shut up,” Summer scoffed as they approached the store front, “we both know that’s a lie.”
“Yeah well,” Shawn shrugged, looking at her innocently as he pulled open the door and held it for her, “I’m trying to flirt with you, so just go with it.”
It took all of Summer’s willpower to not let her jaw drop to the floor, took all her concentration to maintain the light, almost nonchalant smile on her face as she passed under his arm and into the store. A brightly lit, cramped suburban liquor store was the last place she expected to be confronted with such a statement, and quite frankly she didn’t think she had the mental capacity to deal with processing it right there. Summer said absolutely nothing in response, the neurons in her brain firing so rapidly she couldn’t think to form a sentence.
“Pick up for Brian,” Shawn said to the clerk, leaning against the counter with both of his arms outstretched.
Summer, her heart racing like a jackrabbit, allowed herself to look up at his imposing form. She could clearly make out his back muscles, straining both under his weight and against the thin fabric of his shirt. His arms looked somehow both strong and soft, and all she wanted to do was reach up and run her fingers against his skin. His hair was a curly mess that might almost be able to rival her own. His cheeks were flushed, and she couldn’t believe how good he managed to look in the harsh, fluorescent light.
She was brought out of her total reverie by the loud clattering sound of the clerk placing the two large crates of beer on the counter, and Shawn thanking him.
Summer and Shawn had still not said anything to each other, even after a few minutes of having commenced their walk back to the house party. Summer couldn’t stand the silence. She also couldn’t stand the way his arms strained, and his breath deepened as he carried both crates, stacked on top of each other, for one more step.
“Hey, let me take one,” she piped up, stopping in her tracks and motioning to the crates.
“I can carry them,” Shawn shrugged, smiling down at her.
Summer raised her eyebrows at him and kept gesturing at him to hand her a crate, “Believe me, I know you’re very strong – I can see that clearly, but I feel like a knob just walking beside you without carrying anything, so hand one over.”
“You been looking at my muscles?” Shawn teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Summer pursed her lips. “Again, with the fishing for compliments, what did I tell you? Now hand one over, come on.”
“Or what? You’re going to fight me, Little?”
“Watch me,” Summer cocked her chin up at him, challenging him to challenge her. Shawn met her eyes and she knew he was deliberating whether or not to continue this backwards and forwards.
“You’re not going to drop this are you?” Shawn asked, sighing, and Summer just grinned, knowing she’d won in that moment. He bent down to her level and Summer deftly grabbed the top crate, heaving into a more comfortable position in her arms.
“Okay, let’s go!” She announced with a swish of her hair, and she was off ahead of him, her short legs carrying her faster than he was expecting.
-
“You’re back!” Brian exclaimed as they walked into the kitchen, sliding the crates onto the island. “Shawn, you let her carry one?” he continued, giving his friend a judgemental look as he reached to unpack the bottles.
Shawn raised his hands in defence, “I tried to stop her.”
“There’s no stopping her,” said Eli, coming to his defence.
Summer nodded solemnly. “I couldn’t let him be the only one showing off his muscles. How can you expect me to deter your friendly neighbourhood criminals if I’m not flashing my guns?”
“I’ll have you know this is a very safe neighbourhood,” Brian said as he opened a bottle and brought it to his mouth.
“No thanks to Summer and I giving them a muscle show,” Shawn joked, shooting her a bright smile.
Summer smiled back, biting down on her lip. “Yeah, we established we’re your new vigilantes, you’re welcome.”
Eli looked between Shawn and Summer, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You guys were gone for half an hour and you’ve already teamed up, I can’t believe it.”
“Don’t worry, babe, you’re still my favourite,” Summer grinned, patting him on the cheek, but Eli just grumbled some more.
“We were just starting s’mores outside if we want to move out?” Brian suggested, heading for the back door.
Summer gasped in excitement, grabbing a bottle for herself before moving to follow, “You don’t have to ask twice!”
“Bloody love s’mores,” she heard Eli say behind her, and Shawn hummed in agreement.
Judging by the amount of people in the garden, the majority of which were huddled by the fire, almost half must have left the party during Summer and Shawn’s absence.
Summer went to take a seat on one of the padded deck chairs, but Shawn came dashing past and beat her to it, plonking himself down. She gave him an unimpressed deadpan look, to which he just responded with a smug grin and outstretched arms, beckoning her to sit on his lap. Thinking this was a bit forward and not fully trusting her level of self-control, Summer pointedly walked right past him and pulled up a plastic garden chair, choosing to sit on that instead.
“You don’t want to keep me company?” Shawn asked, the crackling fire reflected in his dark eyes.
Summer bit down on the side of her cheek, admiring how soft and warm he looked in the darkness. He really wasn’t holding back much and, quite frankly, it scared her a little. She was a sensible 23-year old woman with a stable corporate job, who admittedly, was also a bit of a loose cannon on occasion. But surely, she thought, she was not enough of a loose cannon to fall for the words coming from the lips of none other than Shawn Mendes, no matter how tempting. It was almost so easy to forget who he was, and she really wanted to just forget and dive in. But things are never that easy, are they?
“I’m sitting right next you,” she shot back, giving his arm a quick, sympathetic pat. She couldn’t quite help herself.
Shawn pouted at her, pushing his bottom lip out, his big brown eyes making her heart tremble a little, “I’ll make you the best s’more you’ve ever had in your life.”
“Talking a big game here, Mendes,” Summer smiled widely at him, taking a sip from her beer. “Impress me and I might reconsider,” she said, “the operative word being ‘might,’” she added on quickly, seeing his face light up excitedly.
“Okay,” Shawn started, as he leaned forwards and grabbed a marshmallow from the bag, shoving it over the skewer tip, “the key, my big secret – and you mustn’t tell anyone because it’s my biggest secret –“ he said sincerely, a small smile tugging at the side of his mouth, “is to start the marshmallow melting process from the edge of the fire. See, you’ve got to get it all soft from the side, you don’t want to just shove it in,” he continued, glancing back up at Summer to see if she was still paying attention. “Because if you make the rookie mistake of shoving it straight in the middle, you’ll just end up burning the outside but the inside won’t be all melty and nice.”
Summer nodded down at him, very sincerely, humouring him. Shawn was acting like he was a Michelin star chef and honestly it was equal parts hilarious and adorable.
“Look,” he continued, pointing at the marshmallow, “it’s starting to look a bit goopy, so I think it’s time to put it right in the middle and crisp up the outside. But we don’t want to overdo it, or you’ll just be biting into charcoal.”
“We definitely wouldn’t want that,” Summer agreed. She couldn’t pull her eyes way from him as he stared intently at the marshmallow now fully engulfed by the fire The light from the flames was bringing out a hundred different shades of golden brown in his hair, his sun kissed skin was glistening, his eyes flickering along with the erratic movement of the fire.
“Alright,” he announced, pulling the skewer from the fire to reveal, what Summer had to admit, looked nigh on like the perfectly toasted marshmallow. “I need you to hold out the two crackers with the chocolate,” he said, nodding at the other ingredients in bags on the floor. Summer followed his instructions diligently, smiling lightly.
“We’ve got to let the marshmallow cool down just a bit now, we want to melt the chocolate, not burn it. It’s a precious food that needs to be handled with tenderness and care,” he said, looking straight up into Summer’s eyes and for a split second she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t talking about the chocolate at all.
“Mmm-hmm,” Summer hummed, any and all words getting stuck somewhere in the back of her throat.
Shawn slowly placed the perfect marshmallow on one side of the crackers and chocolate combination she was holding out to him, and then guided her other hand to complete the sandwich. He took it off her and squished the s’more together lightly, being extra gentle not to break the crackers with his big hands.
“Now,” he said quietly, almost solemnly, as he held it out to her, “are you prepared to taste the best fuckin’ s’more you’ve ever had, Miss Little?”
Summer responded with a little nod, “I think I am,” she said, glancing between his face, which was closer to hers than it had been all night, and the s’more he was offering.
She reached for it and placed all of it in her mouth, only breaking eye contact with Shawn once the molten heaven that was the marshmallow and chocolate combination coated her tongue. She could sense his eyes were still on her, and when she opened hers again, he could see the beginning of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.
“And?” he queried, his eyebrows pulling together slightly.
Shawn hadn’t lied. It was indeed one of the best s’mores Summer had ever had. She didn’t know what else to say other than to nod her approval.
Shawn’s face broke out in the biggest grin she’d seen all night from him, as he leaned back in his chair triumphantly, holding out his arms to her.
Summer’s cheeks flushed and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help her widening smile. Maybe it was the alcohol coursing through her veins, or the warm comfort offered by the fire, but in that moment her brain stopped caring about logistics and let her heart swell up. Without much hesitation, Summer got up from where she was sitting and moved into the waiting lap of Shawn Mendes, immediately feeling his long arms wrap around her small waist, and she felt safe. In that moment, she didn’t care what the other people in the garden were thinking, what Eli must be thinking, even what her own brain was thinking. She just felt safe and full of affection for the boy with the brown curls and warm eyes that was smiling so widely at her she couldn’t help but smile back and sink into his embrace.
“So this is nice,” Shawn commented, and she didn’t think it was possible for anyone to have sounded more smug.
“Not as nice as your s’more, but you set the bar pretty high,” Summer quipped back, shrugging as she reached up tentatively to wrap her arm around his neck.
“Ouch,” Shawn chuckled, dropping his head, “well how about I try flirting with you some more tomorrow and you can keep giving in to me,” he said, smirking up at her.
She knew she couldn’t say no to him, not when his hair was flopping into his eyes the way it was, and how distinctly she could feel each of his fingers resting against the fabric of her dress, giving her a light squeeze.
“As long as you don’t keep fishing for compliments, you know you won’t catch any with me,” Summer said, ruffling his hair lightly because it looked too soft not to touch.
“How do you feel about dinner?” Shawn asked, suddenly sounding distinctly less confident, only glancing up into her eyes quickly before looking back down at her legs on his.
Summer contemplated his offer for a few seconds, playing with the curls on the back of his neck. Then, when she knew she couldn’t string it out any longer because her heart might beat out of her chest if she didn’t start talking again, she replied with a simple “I get off work at eight.”
-
TAGLIST (let me know if you want to be added!)
@crownedbyluke
#c writes#my writing#Shawn mendes#Shawn mendes imagine#Shawn mendes fanfiction#Shawn mendes fluff#Shawn fic#Shawn x oc#the height of summer#Youngblood network#the height of summer chapter 1
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Lies and Discoveries Ch. 4
Pairing: Toshinori Yagi/All Might x Reader
Words: 2k
Summary: You've been in a relationship with Toshinori Yagi for a while now, but you're just now realizing that he's been lying to you. Trying to get the truth out of the man is difficult when you can barely get ahold of him, let alone have a conversation with him...
All Might checked his phone again before class started, seeing if you had messaged him. You had been going on interviews and job searches, but had come up short in one way or another. He had noticed you had become more somber than usual, even if you tried to put on a brave face most of the time. It wasn’t like he was a stranger to hiding behind a smile; he recognized the signs. Not that you knew about All Might… He really had been trying to figure out a way to tell you, but now that you were stressed from not having a job he didn’t really feel like it was a good time.
He pocketed his phone quickly before Eraser Head could see him, the man thinking All Might already slacked on his teaching. The class today was a basic course on heroics and learning about different scenarios and natural disasters that they may encounter as Pro Heroes in the future. All Might may not have much experience in the way of teaching, he could admit that, but he had plenty of experience in heroics and could hopefully get meaningful lessons across.
The class period went by fairly quickly, some of the students grasping the concepts better than others. However, he had a pretty good feeling about this group of students. They seemed to have a certain life and charm about them; he only hoped that they didn’t lose that. Being a Hero was no walk in the park, and sometimes it wasn’t glorious.
Checking his phone told you that you still hadn’t texted him. You had an interview about thirty minutes ago and you had told him that you’d tell him how it went. While he was thinking about you, the phone buzzed in his hands, nearly making him drop the thing.
>>Interview was a bust. Guess there wasn’t a job after all… -_-
He wanted to be supportive for you, but sometimes… He just didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry could only be said so many times before it lost its sincerity and he didn’t quite know what to say.
“Uhh, Sensei?” a voice called to him, shocking him out of his thoughts on how to respond. Looking down he saw Young Asui Tsuyu standing in front of him, bag in hand. “Did you need something?” she asked, signature ribbit after her sentence, “You’ve been standing there for a couple minutes. Everyone’s gone already.”
Sure enough, when he looked up, all of the seats were empty, the last couple remaining students just now leaving the doors. “Thank you, Young Asui,” he smiled brightly, teeth nearly shining in the sunlight. “I don’t need anything, I was just figuring out what to say,” he held his phone up. “We should head out, school is over for the day after all.” And he was running out of time today…
“Oh, Tsu, there you are,” Uraraka’s voice said as she peaked around the corner of the door. “We’re waiting for you. Hey, Sensei! What’s going on?”
“He was zoning out looking at his phone,” Asui explained, shouldering her bag and making her way towards Uraraka.
A sly grin broke out on Young Uraraka’s face. “Is it a girl?”
All Might startled slightly, hoping he could get out of here quickly. He really didn’t want to discuss this with his students, what kind of teacher would he be? Aizawa already tells him he doesn’t take this teaching job seriously enough as it is…
“It’s definitely a girl,” Uraraka told Asui with a definite nod. “What’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem!” All Might nearly exclaimed, waving his hands slightly. How was he getting out of this?!
Uraraka narrows her eyes at him, suspiciously. “Well, if something was wrong,” she started slowly, “then some nice flowers usually do the trick. Big, bright ones that smell good. Bye, Sensei!” Waving with a knowing smirk, she linked arms with Asui and they walked out of the room, Young Asui’s head tilted and a finger to her chin in thought.
All Might let out a deep sigh… It was bad enough Young Midoriya was too astute for his own good sometimes, now Uraraka and Asui… It wasn’t that he wanted to keep you a secret, but if it got out that All Might was dating someone, even if it wasn’t technically All Might who was… It could be dangerous.
However, he still showed up to your house with an overly large bouquet of brightly colored flowers, almost shyly hiding behind the plant with a smile. The shocked excitement he saw on your face was more than worth it.
Turned out the students had helped the teacher that day.
“Soooo, did the flowers work?” Uraraka asked, sliding up to the desk before All Might could leave the classroom the next day. He froze for a second, the hope that she had forgotten about yesterday vanishing completely.
“We should leave him alone, maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it,” dear Asui said as she walked up next to Uraraka.
Asui Tsuyu, you are my new favorite! All Might internally cried. Then he felt bad because he shouldn’t have favorites… Too late, Young Tsuyu was one of them now!
“Please, Sensei?” Uraraka asked, interlocking her hands in front of her. “You always say heroes should go out of their way to help. We want you to be happy!” The sheer earnestness in her voice and face filled him with pride. They were actually taking his lessons to heart! He was teaching these children of the future! He wasn’t sure if the children would actually listen to him when he had first started, but now he knew!
“Very well, then! Yes, the flowers worked wonders. Thank you for the suggestion,” All Might told them. He just wouldn’t give the students any specific details…
Uraraka fist bumped the air in victory. “Yes, I knew it!”
“What did you know?” Yaoyorozu asked, seeing what the commotion was about.
“Yeah, what suggestion?” Suddenly another student’s suit popped up next to him, with no visible body. Hagakure; All Might had almost missed her. He soon found himself nearly surrounded by some of the female students and he didn’t quite know what to do. A couple of them knowing had been… okay… but several of them?
“Did I hear something about love?” Aoyama’s voice cut in, posing next to the desk.
“What’s going on?” Midoriya asked as he and Iida made their way over to see what the commotion was about.
“Uh, children, really-“ He looked at their faces, some literally sparkling with curiosity. Was there no way to deny them without being rude?
“All Might’s having a Girl Troubles, we’re helping him!”
All Might wanted to vanish on the spot! Would it be too much to jump from (or through) the window? No, too obvious. Plus, Aizawa would berate him for any property damages to the school if he broke a window or damaged the ground. He really didn’t need Aizawa’s opinion of him as a teacher to drop any lower than it was. A second later, as if summoned by his thoughts, Aizawa opened the door and blinked at all the people surrounding the desk.
“What are you all doing in here? Classes are over. Don’t forget any assignments, I don’t accept late work.” He made eye contact with All Might, the bigger man pleading silently for help. A blink later, and Aizawa turned and walked away, blatantly ignoring his plea for escape. All Might knew the man didn’t care for him, but this was too much!
All the students turned back to him expectedly once the door shut, awaiting any information almost patiently. He sighed. At least they were better than reporters. “I-I’m not having troubles really,” he told them. “I just needed help cheering them up…”
“You’re really dating someone?!” Midoriya gasped.
“Rude, Midoriya! And to the Number 1 Hero! Unforgivable!” Iida reprimanded him. “That was a little rude, Midoriya,” Yaoyorozu added with her arms crossed. “Why wouldn’t he have someone special?”
Midoriya’s eyes widened before he waved his hands wildly. “I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Some nice tea always makes me happy,” Hagakure interrupted, finally getting back on whatever track they had started on.
“Food always makes me happy!” Uraraka added.
“Some time in the parlor with some light essential oils from our masseuse always works wonders,” Yaoyorozu offered. Just how rich was this girl?! All Might thought incredulously.
“Chocolates!”
“A romantic night under the stars!”
All Might looked at each of the children who said something, each offering what helped them relax and put them in a better mood. He almost couldn’t keep up with them as they all kept offering ideas, almost forgetting about their teacher standing right there. Then his phone buzzed again, stealing all his attention.
>>Headed home now. I think I’m just going to eat and lay down. You don’t have to come over if you’re busy, I won’t be much company anyway. Love you! See you tomorrow <3
His heart sinks at how despondent you sounded. That just wouldn’t do!
“Was that her?” one of the girl’s asked.
“Yes, I’ve got to go, children! Please excuse me!” he smiled, heading for the door quickly. If he hurried he could jump over to the nearest store to your house and beat you home. If he just didn’t get stopped again-
“Sensei, wait!” Yaoyorozu called. “I tried to write everything down for you, I hope it helps!” She handed over a sheet of paper while the rest looked at him encouragingly.
“Thank you, Young Yaoyorozu! All of you! See you tomorrow in class!” he called, rushing out the door, before stopping and turning in the doorway. “Can you keep this a secret, please?”
“Yes, sir!” they chorused. With a grateful bow, he was out the door and nearly flying over the city.
He just barely made it to your house in time to set everything up. He had figured you didn’t want to go out, even if he offered or asked you to, so he went with his next best option.
The bathroom was covered in tiny candles, unlit even though some gave off gentle scents. He had some bubble bath ready on the side of the tub. He also went with Young Yaoyorozu’s idea and bought some lotions that he had seen you use before. The kitchen table also held a few small candles, some take-out from a restaurant that you loved already set at the table. You walk into the kitchen just as he’s lighting some of the candles, lightly burning his finger in the process.
“Toshinori, what’s all this?”
He smiled, slightly embarrassed after he was busted. He had hoped he’d been completely done before you got home. “I got you dinner and stuff for a bubble bath, if you’d like?”
You stand there for a moment, looking at him closely. The longer you said nothing the more nervous he got. Had he guessed wrong? This wasn’t like hero-work: he still didn’t quite know how to do all this relationship stuff. He thanked whatever was out there that you had the patience of a saint.
Walking up to him, you wrap him in a hug and squeeze him just a bit. “You are seriously the best, did you know that? Number one boyfriend.”
He chuckled nervously as he pulled a chair out for you, your sentence hitting a little too close to his alter-ego which you still didn’t know about. He shook his head slightly; Tonight was about you and not him.
Midoriya Izuku walked to lunch the next day, falling behind most of the others in class. He had started to furiously write his ideas and notes down before he forgot them. He wasn’t aware he was muttering as he was walking, getting weird looks from everyone he passed in the halls.
He also still had to find a way to use One for All without harming himself, and it wasn’t going good. Maybe All Might could give him some tips or ideas on how to control it…
As soon as Midoriya walked towards the cafeteria, he spotted All Might even though he was in his thinner form. He was talking to a woman, both of them smiling before he put his arm around her and steered her towards the outside tables. Curious, Midoriya followed them, trying to be inconspicuous.
The woman produced a small bento box with a cute wrap around it before handing it to his mentor.
“That must be his girlfriend!” he whispered aloud. The two eat and talk, sitting on opposite sides of the table, yet leaning slightly toward each other.
Suddenly, she stops eating and turns to look directly at him in confusion.
Busted!
It looked like she asked him something before he answered. “Oh, that’s Midoriya,” Toshinori told her, looking over at him too. “He’s in the Hero class, Class 1-A.”
“Those were the days,” she smiled nostalgically. “Hello there, Midoriya!”
“Hello, ma’am, All M-“ Midoriya started to say before Toshinori shook his head, pointing at you under the table. Oh crap, she didn’t know! “Uh, all right! All right! I’m going to lunch, nice to meet you!” he bowed before racing off to lunch, heart thumping.
Toshinori sighed as the boy ran off.
“What was that about?” you ask, taking a bite of your food.
“Dunno, let’s just eat!” he shrugged. “You never know with kids these days.”
Although you look at him through narrowed eyes for a minute, you let it go and continue eating lunch before Toshinori’s time ran out for the lunch period.
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Chapter 9 the outside world part one
So the last two years of agonising and fretting over the ramifications and consequences of my future knowledge, my replacement of the original zelda, the possibility of me dooming an entire world simply by being born, and the inevitability of fate. All of that, for nothing.
I can't implement an essential part of my plan, FOR FOUR YEARS. For the next four years the fate of AN ENTIRE WORLD rests on my tiny three year old shoulders, in making sure my mom survives. But it's fine. Im fine.
It's not like I can do anything about it either. I physically can't learn sealing magic until I'm seven- full stop. There is no way around that restriction. I had asked. Repeatedly. Even researching independently, with what little I could read of my ancestors' journals. Which was a thing apparently. Apparently it was tradition for royals, and nobles to write journals of their lives to help inform their descendants after their death. Neat! But a little awkward to be reading my grandmother's diary, also a lot useless. (apparently my mom had a habit of screaming at operatic volumes when she was a baby, like mother, like daughter!)
If there was one benefit to this information, I at least now have a rough idea of when my mom will die. Yay. (unless of course zelda's lessons were pushed back for some reason, so my info is relatively dubious. yay.)
So now the only facit of my plan I can focus on is making sure my mom stays alive, not like i wasn't going to do that any way but now its just ya know potently world ending. Without any backup plans. Again yay.
So my main mission (or should i call it a quest? I am in zelda after all!) is to keep my mom alive. No sweat.
-that doesn't mean i don't have other goals though! I want to learn everything I can about the culture, history, and MAGIC (ITS ACTUAL MAGIC PEOPLE) of Hyrule. I'm in a whole new world! I want to know everything.
Also magic is REAL! Who wouldn't be fascinated?
I was practically skipping toward the library with dottie at my heels, I had recently found a relatively simple cooking primer that touched upon the subject of the special effects certain ingredients could give. (i could actually almost read it without assistance! progress!) I hadn't got the chance to finish it last night because the adults had this stupid idea that i needed a bed time and that healthy little girls go to bed before eight.
Bha! I am-
….
I was a teenager. And if school taught me anything it was that your education was more important than your mental and physical health! Lives were on the line people! Who knows when i'm going to need this information!
But it was nowhere near bedtime now! And no one! No one was going to stop me from my research!
I stared in abject horror at the empty shelf.
My book! My research! MY ENTERTAINMENT!
Someone had taken my cooking primer and I was devastated. Normally i would move on and find something else to read but this had been the first book that talked about special ingredients that i could sorta understand! I NEEDED more interimentery books to read, they were either too simple or too complex. The middling books that pushed my boundaries without confounding me were Hard to find! At least ones that didn't speak down to the reader or bore me to death.
DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A PICTURE BOOK THAT ISN'T SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF "RED DOG RUN, BLUE SNAIL SLIME!?"
I stomped fuming over to the castle's resident librarian who was deeply engrossed in some thick tome or another, muttering dark curses under my breath and fervently praying it had just been shelved in the wrong section. Ignoring the increasingly worried maid servant trailing behind me.
Taking a deep breath i collected myself and tugged on the old man's long trailing sleeve "mister Tommison do you know where my book is?" I requested politely. I didn't want to alienate my book dealer.
He raised one elegant silver brow and peered down imperiously over his reading glasses. "And which book would that be my dear?" mr. Tommison was a tall, thin, well kept man whose stern intimidating visage could scare troublemakers and chatterboxes out of his library with a single long derisive stare. He was horribly overworked trying to catalog and organise our massive mess of a library and wasn't all that fond of children no matter how important they might be. (honestly the library was a MESS from centuries of collection, mislabeling, misshelving, and to be honestly hoarding every scrap of paper we could get our grubby hands on. we had far too many books for one man to keep track of properly, but he kept the few sections he had under control in meticulous order.) thankfully he had grown a soft spot for me after a few weeks of quite, polite company and careful treatment of his precious books. (at least the few that i could read.)
"Dalias cookbook for the common home, mister Tommison" i replied dutifully carefully enunciating the syllables. mister Tommison was not tolerant of ignorance.
He sniffed derisively "it was checked out by some stupid little squire, he had the gall to come here right after training and tracked mud absolutely every where." my heart sunk. The knight trainees were famous for playing rough with their things and dirtying the castle with mud and other such gunk.
Even I knew that and I really only talked to mister Tommison, granny, spots, mom and dad!
Who knew what sort of condition my poor book would be in when i got it back!
I needed to go talk to this squire about being careful with this book or at least waiting to ruin it until after i got the chance to read over it a few times!
"Thank you for telling me mister Tommison." "of course my dear" he nodded back at me before returning his hawk like gaze to his book. I turned around sharply and headed out of the library.
Now, off to the training grounds to find my book!
.
…
…..
"Dottie? Where are the training grounds" she muffled a snicker behind me. "This way my lady."
As it turns out the training grounds were on the edge of what would be considered the castle, almost as far away from the library as one could get while staying in the castle grounds.
And as i stood in the door way to the outside world i was starting to feel…
Trepidation.
The sun was hot, the field was loud, and I was standing at a distance in anxiety. It had been years since i had really been in a crowd, since i had really gone outside and interacted with anyone outside of my small circle of family and caretakers. In all honesty i was rather sheltered.
And this was scary.
It was loud, the clash of bodies, the screech of steel against steel, triumphant yells, angry shouts, and the bellow of commanders. Hylian ears are incredibly sensitive and this messy cacophony of violent noise was painful.
My instincts were screaming to hide. to cling to dottie and hide behind the one person I knew was safe. Everyone was so much bigger and stronger than i was. I was fragile, vulnerable, and uncertain. My toddler mind cried for the safety of Dotties skirts. To turn around and-
"I'm just saying it's weird!" a voice broke through my thoughts and drew my attention to two soldiers relaxing in the shade of the wall some distance from the door dottie and i were standing in.
"She's the princess mate, should you really be saying things like that?" a lackadaisical voice replied to the first unknown. "She's three! No three year old should be reading! I have a three year old sibling, she can barely string a complete sentence together! Let alone read! Its freaky mate, I'm telling you!"
I took an involuntary step back and dottie bristled.
"Shes got the blood of the goddess mate, their always doing strange things." the lazy soldier replied barely bothering to glance at his impassioned friend. "I don't hear about the queen being able to read at three. Her majesty's smart, not unnatural!"
Dottie started to move but i caught her skirt preventing her from moving any further
His friend laughed, "you're losing it mate- the future wisdom of Hyrule, too smart? Have you been adding the wrong mushrooms to your stew?" "jerk. You know i'm right! Its weird! What other three year old can read?"
"SOLDERS DOSE THIS LOOK LIKE A TEA PARTY TO YOU?!" the two men startled head swinging toward the approaching commander before freezing like deer in head lights.
"THIS ISN'T SOME SORT OF RELAXING GET AWAY SPOT! THIS IS A JOB- A DUTY! GET YOUR LILY WHITE BUTTS BACK ON THE FIELD AND GET TO WORK ON SOME PUSH UPS"
The first solder spoke up tentatively "how many sir?" "DID I ASK FOR QUESTIONS? YOUR GOING TO KEEP GOING UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN STOP. NOW DROP." "SIR YES SIR"
I turned my eyes to the fuming dottie, "Dottie lets go back inside." "But princess-" "can we just go back inside… please." dottie scooped me up into her arms. Normally i would fuss wanting the independence of being on my own two feet, but right now it just felt good to be held. "Ok. let's go back to your rooms princess. Its about time for your nap any way" she replied with forced cheer.
It wasn't anywhere near nap time but right now i just wanted to sleep.
Also on FanFiction.Net! https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13547505/9/
#botw#princess zelda#zelda#botw fic#botw oc#zelda botw#loz botw#breath of the wild#the advertable inevitability#t.a.i#inevitability
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Part I: Thomas Hutchinson Before the Revolution
Despite his lack of training as a lawyer, Thomas Hutchinson had been appointed by Governor Bernard to replace the chief justice who had passed away. In Boston, Massachusetts, few men represented entrenched privilege more than Thomas Hutchinson. The Hutchinsons had been successful businessmen for generations, and Thomas had been brought up to be a member of Boston’s ruling class, although he had problems within the family. His father suffered from nervous disorders that kept him shut up in his house for weeks and from chronic insomnia, and he had lost two favorite sons and a daughter to smallpox and consumption.
By the time Thomas Hutchinson entered Harvard College, two months before his twelfth birthday, his character was already formed. Thomas would remember his Greek lessons with clarity but loved history the best and wept at the account of Charles I’s beheading. At college, Thomas began his business career by trading several hundred pounds of fish his father had given him. By graduation, he had built that capital into nearly five hundred pounds sterling. When he married, at twenty-three, Thomas was six-foot-tall and his seventeen year old bride was the daughter a man who had been the Hutchinsons business partner for four generations. Thomas was normally aloof, but it was a good marriage. He would remark that the intimacy he found with Peggy Hutchinson was proof that he had a soul.
Hutchinson turned naturally to public service and in 1737, at the age of twenty-six was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ignoring his father, who warned him, “Depend on it, if you serve your country faithfully, you will be reproached and reviled for doing it.” Hutchinson used his mastery of economics to defend Boston’s aristocrats against challenges from a growing party of workers and shop keepers. When Boston went through periods of inflation, Hutchinson antagonized much of the town by advocating hard money politics. The economic contractions that followed turned his name to a curse among the town’s working people. When his house caught fire, crowds gathered, shouting, “Let it burn!”
Hutchinson remained within a close circle of family and prosperous friends. He considered it contemptible to seek a wider popularity and described the multitude as “foreign seamen, servants, Negroes and other persons of mean and vile conditions.” His conservative fiscal policies cost him a seat in the house and the Governor named him to the council. In 1754, Peggy Hutchinson did at the end of her twelfth pregnancy. Hutchinson had always believed that religion was essential to a well-ordered society. He buried his wife and moved with his four children and new daughter.
When Hutchinson returned to public life, he served first as an aide to the royal governor, then as his lieutenant. He fought successfully to preside over the Council. He was also a judge of probate, a justice of common pleases and governor of Castle William. He planned to publish his version of the history of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Hutchinson’s constant appointment not only bugged John Adams but was disturbing to James Otis. When the Chief Justice died in September, Otis had called on Hutchinson to ask his help in achieving an appointment to the court for his father, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Hutchinson swore later that he had told Otis candidly that he had considered the appointment but that he wasn’t sure he would accept if offered to him. Otis left convinced Hutchinson said he would turn it down. When Otis became speaker of the house, Hutchinson said it was only because he had done “little low dirty things” that no reputable person would stoop to doing.
Two months passed after James Otis’ appeal to Hutchinson until, mid-november when Governor Bernard told Hutchinson that he wanted him as chief justice. Hutchinson warned him he might be courting trouble by disappearing the Otises, and he added that around town James Otis was threatening violence if his father was not chosen. But Bernard offered Hutchinson the job and added that whatever his answer, he did not intend to appoint Speaker Otis. Hutchinson accepted the position.
As lieutenant governor, Hutchinson was already the colony’s deputy executive. As president of the Council he was its ranking legislator. Now he would told the highest judicial post. When he heard about the appointment, James Otis was enraged. Thomas Hutchinson soon concluded that whenever Otis was annoyed by anyone, anywhere i the colony, he would take his revenge on Hutchinson. Otis wrote an antagonist antigovernment statement to the Boston Gazette and Hutchinson considered suing for libel.
In reaction to the Stamp Act, Hutchinson worried that a concerted action by the colonies was likely to bring together every demagogue on the American continent. To stop letters against the Act to be send, Hutchinson, acting a lieutenant governor, shut down the session. Another time, King George III was burned in effigy and Hutchinson sent out Sheriff Greenleaf with order to cut the effigy down. The rioters soon broke open stables and dragged out public officials of loyal to the crown. Hutchinson collared Greenleaf and demanded they force the rioters to disperse. Hutchinson had barely begun to speak to the crowd when a shout went up: ”To your arms, my boys!”. Hutchinson and Greenleaf were soon pelted with stones an forced to retreat.
When the assault finished, they then hurried to Hutchinson’s house. Hutchinson has counseled London against the Stamp Act, but his attempt the night before to quell the rebellion made it easy to believe he supported the tax. Hutchinson heard fits beating on his door and the voices demanding that he come onto his balcony and swear that he had not endorsed the act. His courage, or pride, prevented the lieutenant governor from bowing to the will of the mob. He braced for the worse and gave no answer. Before any ransacking could begin, a neighbor called from his window that he had seen the family in their carriage, heading for the country house.
After the family returned from there country house a while later, his friends reassured Hutchinson that he house would not be hurt nor his family. On August 25th 1765, in the early morning, Thomas Hutchinson, by afternoon, was hearing rumors that a mob was being raised again. He even knew it would attack officers from the Custom House and the Admiralty office. Friends said his courage in the rocks and insults won the mob’s respect. However, for some reason, thought filling with anxiety, Hutchinson believed their words.
At supper that evening, the night was warm and he was dressed informally in a woolen jacket over his waistcoat. Around him at the table was his sister-in-law, Grizell Sanford, who had raised his children since his wife’s death; his eldest sons Thomas Junior and Elisha, graduates of Harvard who were training to become merchant; Sarah, a daughter; Billy, Hutchinsons’s youngest son; and Peggy, her father’s favorite, only eleven years old and already acting as his secretary.
As the family ate, a friend burst in through the door to warm them that the mob was indeed heading their way. Hutchinson sent the children from the house and bolted the doors and shutters, determined to wait out the assault. But Sarah came running back to say that she would not leave unless he came away with them and her father did not resist before hurrying away to a neibours house. A few minutes after his escaped, the mob descended upon the Hutchinson home in a fervor for hatred and violence. One of the Hutchinson sons was near enough to witness and hear the axes splitting the front door and heard a cry into the night: “Damn him! He is upstairs! We’ll have him!”
Some men ran at once to the top of the house, while others swarmed into the drawing room and raided the basement for liquor. Merely breaking windows and furniture was not enough for the pulsating crowd. Instead, the men shattered inner does, beat down the walls and crashed the chandeliers. Standing in the upstairs windows, then they split open all the mattresses and covered the lawn in a “summer blizzard” of features. After two hours, they left.
Word reached the Hutchinsons in their hiding place but the crowd “picked up his scent” and he wound his way through neibouring yards and gardens to a house even farther away. he stayed there unsleeping until four AM; by then, the mansion was splintered to a shell. Near dawn, men were still crouched on the roof prying up the wooding. Every fruit tree had been cut down to a stump. A strongbox had been broken and nine hundred pounds was stolen as well as clothes and books destroyed.
The next morning, Hutchinson’s fellow justices took their places in court when he arrived. he was wearing what he had fled in. He was pale after a sleepless night and his clothes were “trampled in the streets.” He received pity, even from Josiah Quincy. Quincy described it in his diary, “thus habited, with tears starting from his eyes and a countenance which strongly told the inward anguish of his soul.”Hutchinson rose to speak and rejected any suggestions he was speaking for sympathy. He had come to count because “there wouldn’t of been a quorum without him.” Hutchinson in the words of A.J. Langguth “demonstrated[ed] that the patriotic leaders had no monopoly on eloquence.��� But he added “some apology is necessary for my dress,” he said, “indeed, I have no other. Destitute of everything: no other shirt, no other garment but what I have on, and not one in my family in a better situation than myself.”
He wished to acquit himself, “I am not obliged to give an answer to all the questions that may be put me to me by every lawless person, yet I call on God as my witness–and I would not, for a thousand worlds, call my Maker to witness a falsehood–I say I call my maker to witness that I never, in New England or Old, in Great Britain or America, either directly not indirectly, was aiding, assisting or supporting–in the least promoting or encouraging–what is commonly called the Stamp Act but, on the contrary, did all in my power, and store as much as in me lay, to prevent it.
“This is not declared through timidity, for I have nothing to fear. They can only take away my life, which is of but little value when deprived of all its comforts, all that was dear to me…” Hutchinson hoped the people would see how easy it was to spread false reports against the innocent. But violence was wrong, even against the guilty. “I hope all will see how easily the people may be deluded, inflamed and carried away with madness against an innocent man.”
“I pray God give us better hearts!”
The governor raised three hundred pounds the bounty for identifying the mob’s leader. Hutchinson was not surprised when the reward went unclaimed and the sheriff arrested nobody. Otis riled the crowds so much they were disappointed that Hutchinson no longer had a house for them to destroy. Ever since his house was destroyed, Hutchinson thought of spending some time in London and now his friends were assuring him that his life was in danger. Hutchinson rode into Boston, expecting to find such turmoil that he would have to escape immediately to New Hampshire and book the next passage to England. Instead, the town was sullen but peaceful.
Consulting with the governor, Hutchinson found another way to advance his family’s fortunes. Even if he didn’t go abroad, he would leave the court temporarily and allow his brother to take his place. Suddenly, after this change, Otis wasn't willing to appear in court and Hutchinson fabricated a reason to be out of Boston during this. In accordance to his misfortune, Hutchinson only wishes that the same misery could be visited upon James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, William Molineux and another fifty patriots he could name. Hutchinson could never appreciate that Americans are not longer children and would not pretend to be. Hutchinson forwarded to London an affidavit from Richard Sylvester that accused Samuel Adams of open calls to rebellion agains the English troops.
Throughout much of his life, Hutchinson had wanted to be governor. Now, when the job was worse than worthless, his wish was being granted against his will. He had asked to stay on merely as Chief Justice, but London ordered him to assume Bernard’s duties as we'll. Since no announcement has been made about Bernard remaining in England, Hutchinson’s title would be acting governor. The Boston Gazette upped its attack more frequently after this news because public. In Hutchinson’s Council, he refused to authorize used of British troops to put down rebellions or disturbances.
When the nonimportation agreement ended officially, on New Year's Day, 1770, Thomas Hutchinson and his two sons were eager to begin turning to profit. Hutchinson’s sons rejected the new restrictions, however, saying nothing could go on sale before it took a ship to sail to London and returned. They broke off the locks that the Committee of Inspection had fastened to the doors of their warehouses and moved the tea to a hiding place. Thomas Jr, thirty years old, and Elisha, twenty-five lived with their father. The next morning they send away the wagons that patriots had brought to collect their tea. Leaders including Otis and Molineux gathered outside of his home and from a window Hutchins asked them what the wanted. Molineux said, “it is not you but your sons we desire to see.”
One of the sons came tot and beside his father at the window. Hutchinson invoked the king’s authority and warned the crowd to leave. No one moved. Hutchinson chided Otis for lending himself to an illegal assembly. The acting governor said that he would make out six or seven of the men who had helped tear dow his house four and a half years old. “Gentleman,” Hutchins started, “when I was attacked before, I was a private person. I am now the representation of the greatest monarchy on earth, whose majesty you affront in thus treating my person.”
After the mob left, Hutchinson encountered more resistance. He wanted to use troops to disband Samuel Adams’ irregular assemblies in Faneuil Hall but the Council continued to refuse his request. The next morning, Hutchinson send word over that he would see that his sons turned over their tea, along with any money they had received from that already sold. It was the bitterest moment of Thomas Hutchinson’s political life. Even the destruction of his home, he wrote afterward, had not distressed him as much.
On Monday morning, March 5th, 1770, Hutchinson laid before the council a letter complaining about the town’s mood towards the British soldiers there to keep order. The Council replied that the people would never be satisfied until the troops were removed. In response to the Boston Massacre, it was Hutchinson who suggested John Adams be the defending lawyer for the British soldiers of whom had fired their weapons on the people and killed five. “The law shall have its course!” Hutchinson cried, “I will live and die by the law!” Hutchinson may have chosen Adams because he had observed him in court and believed he was the best lawyer for so difficult a case.
In retaliation for Josiah Quincy denouncing Hutchinson’s administration, and, as Chief Justice, Hutchinson denied Josiah the long robes of a barrister; instead, he had to plead his cases in street clothes. By the end of March, Hutchinson sent his resignation to Lord Hillsborough in London. The job of governor, Hutchinson wrote, demanded a man of greater powers that his. He asked only to be allowed to resume the post of chief justice. His letter was late in arriving. In the meantimes Francis Bernard had lobbied to have Hutchinson named as his replacement. When Hutchinson’s resignation reached London, they wrote to assure him that no one had ever given London more satisfaction than he. It Hutchinson accepted the governorship, he would never regret it. Against his instincts, Hutchinson allowed himself to be persuaded.
#pressles musing#thomas hutchinson#american history#us history#history#flood pressles box#sincerely anonymous
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History of Lazberia, Part 2: The Berwick Civil War (1)
This post covers from the background leading to the war up until its turning point. Keep in mind that the game’s events take place around 618 VAC. [Again, this history lesson has been adapted from materials on Syozo Kaga’s blog.]
The Ancient Kingdom of Leia
While Leia and the other smaller nations of the Berwick League are duty-bound to obey the Kingdom of Veria when the alliance is invoked, they are in fact (slightly) older than Veria itself.
After Aramgraz’s exodus, the majority of citizens still remained in the Commonwealth of Veria (the region north of the Raze Empire, not to be confused with the Kingdom of Veria). However, as the distant Verian Kingdom was able to prosper outside of Raze’s influence, these eastern folk became less and less significant on an international scale. However, the three states that came out of the Commonwealth--The Eastern Three (Leia, Pesil, and Ishs)--shared a mutual trust far stronger than they had with Veria.
Since ancient times, this region has served as a key military point and buffer zone between the two major superpowers of Raze and Veria. As such, they have experienced the whole spectrum of prosperity: massive booms of trade in times of peace, and ravaging destruction in times of war.
Carloman’s Schemes
Around the year 582 VAC, the king of Leia, Carloman (カルマン), was an ambitious man. His eldest daughter, Artemia (アルテミア), was engaged to Prince Arless (アーレス), heir apparent of the Verian throne (not to be confused with the first king Arless I, who lived centuries earlier).
Arless was of a scholarly character, but weak in political matters, and it could be said that this weak-heartedness made Carloman all the more ambitious. He schemed to take control of the Berwick League through controlling his son-in-law-to-be, Arless. However, the seven dukes who served Veria anticipated this, and they asked the Verian king, Harmel VII (ハーメル七世), to name his second son Mordias (モルディアス) as his heir rather than Arless.
As far as the dukes were concerned, Veria was first among the entire world, and they feared that politics would be monopolized by Carloman with Arless as his puppet. Since Leia is geographically close to the Raze Empire, it was even suspected that the cunning Carloman would sell out Veria to them in the future.
Despite these fears and schemes, the honorable and wise king of Veria held his ground, and his authority was unshakeable. The marriage did take place, and Arless remained the heir apparent. Princess Artemia of Leia, who was barely 11, was wed to Arless, who was 15. As a tool for political gain, she was essentially a hostage, but Arless loved his little wife dearly, and he gave his heart to no other woman.
At 17, Artemia bore her eldest son, Bernard (ベルナード, b. 588), her only daughter Anastasia (アナスタシア, b. 590) at 19, and her second son Friedrich (フレディ, b. 593) at 22. Together, they enjoyed happy days in the Verian capital of Valemtine. But this family who had found so much happiness was to be brought to despair.
Death of the King
In the year 600 VAC, Harmell VII, 32nd king of Veria, suddenly died. As he had lived to the old age of 64, so it was first assumed to be a result of infirmity in his old age, but soon after, one of the late king’s chief servants committed suicide, leaving behind a note. The palace was in uproar, for the note read, “Prince Arless forced me to poison the king.”
Upon orders from Prince Mordias, the royal Interior Secretary Padolf immediately arrested Arless, and a proclamation was sent out to all lords of Veria to present themselves for the prince’s trial. Arless’s wife and children were to be kept at his manse under house arrest, but these measures were opposed by the Narvian duke and others, so until the truth of the matter was discovered, they were sent off to stay with Artemia’s family in Leia. At the time, Arless was 33, Artemia was 29, Bernard was 12, Anastasia was 10, and Friedrich was 7.
King Carloman of Leia, who also attended the trial, shook with fury, spitting in anger at those present: “This is a conspiracy by all the black-hearted nobles who haunt your kingdom! I tried to warn His Majesty of this time and time again in the past, but I see now my warnings fell on deaf ears! His Majesty has been killed, and now you have dared pin the blame on his heir, who hasn’t even so much as a motive!”
Prince Mordias, on the other hand (who was Arless’s half-brother by a different mother), was not so eager to defend his brother. He was only two years younger than Arless, but they were total opposites in personality. Mordias was renowned as a brave and proud warrior, though he was also criticized as a cruel schemer. In this troubled time, it was natural for the people to support Mordias, a decorated warrior, rather than the gentle Arless; not to mention, Mordias’s wife was of the house of Diana, one of the seven duchies, rather than a foreign kingdom.
The Breaking Point
After many days of deliberation, news was finally announced to the anxiously awaiting citizens: Prince Arless had committed suicide. In the note he left behind, he confessed to the crime, saying, “I killed my father for my own personal reasons. As such, my brother Mordias should be named the next king. For the sake of the future, please do not let my sins discourage you from supporting and assisting my brother. Mordias, please take care of my wife and children. I was always a failure of a brother, but despite our differences, I know they will be safe in your care. Glory be to our kingdom forever.” The note was affixed to his body by the instrument of his suicide, a decorative blade that had hung in the room.
The lords and princes who had supported Arless--who had been first in line for the Leian and Verian throne--formed a ten-country alliance (The Eastern Three + the Northern Lands) against Mordias. They released a furious statement saying, “This note is a forgery! The Crown Prince was executed by Mordias’s men!” They insisted it was only natural that the next king be Arless’s own eldest son, Prince Bernard. Mordias’s supporters, on the other hand, argued, “The son of a murderer has no right to inherit.” Naturally, the two sides could not come to an accord, and negotiations swiftly broke down.
As an aside, the Apostle of the time was Silpha Veri Bronte, the 26th to hold the title. Ordinarily, the truths behind these matters would likely have been clarified through an oracle by the Apostle, but Silpha’s powers had been dwindling for years, and she received no divine inklings of any kind. As such, the Church remained neutral in this clash and the subsequent civil war.
The ten kingdoms who opposed Mordias established a government-in-exile in Leia set up around Bernard as its true king, who trusted in the leadership of his grandfather Carloman. They called themselves the Kingdom of Veria, though history knows them as the Eastern Powers. Their troops numbered around a hundred thousand strong.
Against them was Mordias’s faction, which mobilized the seven duchies’ fifty thousand soldiers as well as Veria’s own fifty thousand, putting them on the same footing as the Eastern Powers. This group, the Western Powers (also calling itself the Kingdom of Veria), invaded the Eastern Powers to quash the rebellion.
Bernard’s Surrender
Three years passed. On the banks of the great Sevall River, the armies of Prince Bernard and Prince Mordias waged a battle that ended in over ten thousand dead. In this fateful battle, the Leian King Carloman--who was the effective leader of the Eastern Powers--fell to the sword of General Bernstol (バーンストル, Reese’s father, who would later go on to become the Margrave of Sinon). The battle had been pyrrhic victory for the Western Powers, as neither side could continue fighting further after its conclusion.
Mordias, who had correctly gauged the unity of the Eastern Powers as shaken by Carloman’s death, sent an offer of ceasefire to Bernard. In it, Mordias lamented the misery caused by the bloody war and asked for a diplomatic resolution. Bernard, who had agreed to join forces with his grandfather whom he loved and trusted, had seen how the war had devastated their lands in three short years, and his heart was perturbed. After seeing how even the innocent were made to suffer, he had since begun to doubt his grandfather’s motives. Mordias’s words touched Bernard’s sense of justice, and he rode out to arrange for peace without delay.
However, the ceasefire offer was simply a machination of Prince Mordias. Bernard and his men were captured on the spot, and after spending two and a half years years captive in Valemtine, he was exiled to the penal colony in Mineva (ミネバ公国), a royal march in the frontiers of Barmoar (バルモア地方). There, Bernard would spend the next twelve years as a prisoner.
The Exiled Prince
[This takes place years after the conclusion of the civil war, but it serves as a bookend to Bernard’s story, so I have included it here.]
Mordias (now King Mordias IV) and his wife (the duchess of Diana) had two children, a son, Volcens (ウォルケンス), and a daughter, Sienna (シェンナ)--both born before Harmel VII’s demise. Volcens would later inherit the kingship, and Sienna the duchy of Diana. Before the civil war, Bernard had been engaged to Sienna; this arrangement had been decided years before at the time of Sienna’s birth (597 VAC) by King Harmel VII, hoping that the union of their houses would help reunite his incongruous sons. Mordias, though, did not share his late father’s sympathies, and at the time of his death, he had not seen his nephew Bernard in over a decade.
However, Mordias’s wife was sympathetic to Bernard’s plight, as they were both family and devout followers of the Church of Veria. Under her husband’s nose, she informed Sienna of the years-old arrangement. After Mordias’s death in 616 VAC, she sent Sienna (now 19 years old) to Bernard’s side to marry him. Thanks to this, Bernard became Duke Consort of Diana, and under Duchess Sienna’s command [and presumably with the new King Volcens’s permission], Bernard was released in 617 VAC. From there, he began to assist in the new war effort against the invading Raze Empire.
Translator’s note: Kaga erroneously states in one source that at the time of Bernard’s release, Mordias had not seen him in almost 15 years. This is a plot hole (which I’ve fixed in the above), since with some simple math, it’s clear that Mordias was definitely dead by the time Bernard was released.
Next Time: The Berwick Civil War (2)
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