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tsams-and-co-memes · 27 days

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Frank is Pisces

I made a thread for this theory on TSBS Discord server and it blew up (it blew up so much more than I ever thought it would, like Jesus Christ. I'm super happy about it though). I figured that since I moved all my canon info stuff over here from the server, I might as well move my theory stuff over too

Long post warning, since there's a lot here. A lot of this exists because I was possessed by my adhd demon one night, noticed something about Frank, and then ran wild with it

(Last two pictures are part of a chart that SqarletGecko made for this theory. If Sqarlet sees this at any point, hi, hello! I appreciate you for feeding into this, Sqarlet)

There will be more images tacked on later. I'd add them now, but unfortunately, there's a 10 picture limit to posts. As stupid as that is. ANYWAY

Frank’s strong enough to kill two different witherstorms. Although him outright killing them was never verified, it was one of the only ways he could’ve come back so soon. The only other way would’ve been to wait by the portal, but assuming Moon would’ve closed it off due to the dimensions that Frank was in housing witherstorms, Frank would’ve had to find another way out

His name is neither Frank nor Forkface, so it’s entirely possible that it could be Pisces

Sqarlet pointed out that Castor said “Pisces is probably off doing his own thing”, which could be anything, and it certainly doesn’t preclude Pisces being on earth as Frank, doing whatever he’s been doing

In the “Lunar Gets Friendzoned” vrchat episode, Castor mentions Pisces again, this time saying (in reference to how Lunar’s “final test” would go, and how someone would be sent to judge his ability to control his powers) “Could be Nebula, could be Libra. Could be Pisces, but I doubt that. Hell, it could even be Taurus.” This is the second time Castor’s mentioned Pisces, as if he doesn’t have a whopping 10 other signs he could pull names from (minus Gemini and Pisces, obviously). This could be a case of simply sticking to a smaller pool out of the 12 names, but still

Castor has mentioned Pisces offhandedly two different times. Yeah, there could be a really simple explanation for that, but it sticks out to me, and I can't pinpoint why

During an Uno video, they did a “one breath for yes, two for no” thing with Frank, and he confirmed that he had a bad past. Given some of the things that Castor has said about Taurus, it’s a possibility that Frank/Pisces was trying to get away from him. Some other Pisces traits are that they’re supposed to be super empathetic and deeply emotional. If Taurus said or did something that impacted Frank/Pisces enough, he could’ve chosen to leave

For a while, Frank didn’t seem to react much when people acted scared of him, but as he’s spent more time with the channels, he’s developing more emotionally, which would make sense if he was younger. According to a google search I ran, “Pisces emotional sensitivity is high, helping them to remain in tune with others also leaving them vulnerable to criticism, worrying about about the effects that their actions might have on others,” which could explain why he acted so sad when he briefly appeared in the lobby in an FFFS episode and everyone acted scared of him

Pisces has a heightened emotional sensitivity, they're very in tune with the emotions of those around them, and this in turn makes them worry about how others might react to them

In another Uno video, Foxy made a lighthearted comment to Frank about how he reminded him of his son, since he has a habit of inserting himself into situations and things. There are other characters who do this too, meaning that Foxy could’ve compared Frank to literally anyone, and yet, he chose a character that’s a child. If Frank is Pisces, he’d be the youngest of the astral bodies

If you watch him, Frank does have some childlike mannerisms and behaviors. The first thing is the way he sometimes wants to show someone something, but then gets upset when they touch it. It’s like when a kid gets a new toy and shows their friend, but then gets upset when their friends tries playing with it because it’s theirs. The second thing is him apparently drawing on the wall underneath Earth’s bed. Drawing on walls is something that kids do. The third thing is him trying to feed Earth a piece of pizza. Kids will sometimes try to feed people too, though it’s typically only with people they’re close with, that they know pretty well

If Frank is Pisces and therefore the youngest of the astral bodies, there’s a chance that he chose to show up in the daycare because he knows it’s a safe place for kids, and that there are good caretakers there (Sun, Moon, Earth, and Lunar). He could’ve chosen a daycare attendant-esque form to blend in better with the daycare environment, or he could’ve copied what he saw of the caretakers there, much like how kids copy the adults they see

Pisces is the youngest of the astral bodies, so everything that Frank does that seems like something a kid might do,, could sort of tie in with that. Frank has seemed to somewhat mature and "grow up" in a sense as of recently though, so these childlike habits and behaviors have begun to become rarer and rarer

Pisces has ties to illusions, dreams, and the subconscious. This could explain the times when Frank appeared in both Monty and Earth’s dreams, and then dragged the Stitchwraith into his own mind. In the case of Monty’s dream, Frank knew that they’d had problems with their dad and he’d even offered to be their listening ear, so seeing the shape Monty was in emotionally and mentally after their dad died, Frank may have guided them to an image of their dad to try to promote a form of closure and emotional healing and recovery before Monty woke up (did I mention that being a healer is also a Pisces trait?). He was silent in the dream, so Monty’s mind couldn't have heard his signature heavy breathing and did something funky with that. In Earth’s case, Frank somehow knew that she was having a nightmare and he came to wake her up, repeatedly saying “no fear”, as if he was telling her not to be afraid. With the Stitchwraith, the Stitchwraith wasn’t aware that he’d been pulled into his own mind. Frank didn’t confirm that he was until he told the Stitchwraith that “It’s just a bad dream, a nightmare”, and told him to wake up

More Pisces traits are wanting to help people and being a healer. Adding in the ties to illusions, dreams, and the subconscious, I feel like creating dreams to help people recover from things wouldn't be too farfetched. In the case of Earth, Frank knew she was having a nightmare and wanted to wake her up so that she wouldn't be scared anymore. To this day, I have no way to explain how he could've possibly known about her having a nightmare, aside from sensing her distress and/or having some kind of connection to her subconscious

I found a snippet of an article that said “When we meet Pisces, we are taken aback by their remote coldness; they often act like confused geniuses or oddballs who have trouble interacting with others.” It’s confirmed that Frank is highly intelligent; he somehow knew how to get into Moon’s computer and registered himself as the primary user, and he somehow swiped Foxy’s voicebox and installed it in himself, then took it back out and reinstalled it in Foxy. Frank is also an oddball, but I don’t really need to explain that one

Frank has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t like Ruin. He’s had many opportunities to take him out or even just attack him, but he hasn’t. Castor has stated that astral bodies typically don’t get involved with things or associate with people unless they really need to. If Frank is Pisces, he may have avoided going after Ruin because it’d go against the rules

There are some mixed messages on whether or not Pisces is a rule follower, but a couple things I found that stuck out to me implied that sometimes they follow the rules, and sometimes they do whatever they want as long as they’re satisfied. We were given a glimpse of this with Frank when Lunar tried to run him over with a car in a vrchat episode. Frank didn’t seem to care as much about the fact that he was nearly run over, and instead, became agitated with Lunar for parking incorrectly. He also made Lunar get in his car, and then proceeded to move it out of the alley and to the drive thru, where Lunar was supposed to be anyways. He might’ve also reacted poorly to Monty and Earth bringing a goose into the restaurant they were in, since animals don’t belong there. Beyond that, Frank’s also gotten upset with Sun and tried to menacingly follow him around the room when Sun cheated during a game of Uno, showing that he doesn’t like cheaters

Frank seems to have a knack for interrupting people’s dates. Most of the time, he’s trying to help but doesn’t seem to grasp that his behavior might be making people uncomfortable, BUT according to google, the Pisces sign is known for being jealous of other people’s love lives. After the death of Ruined Monty, Frank may have started to feel a little jealous of others

According to google, “most Pisceans are very good at earning a stable living,” and “they are usually very effective in any career that needs collaboration with others or inventiveness.” It’s been stated before that Frank works in at least three different restaurants, and a restaurant type environment would require collaboration with others to keep everything running smoothly. He’d be earning good money from those three restaurant jobs, and another Pisces trait is wanting to help people, so working in a restaurant would be a way for him to do that

Strengths of Pisces would include being selfless and thoughtful, passionate and creative, gratitude and self-sacrifice, tolerance and a keen understanding, and being kind and sympathetic. Weaknesses of Pisces include being influenced by their surroundings, being careless, rash, and ill-disciplined, having an inability to confront reality due to an absence of confidence, being insecure, sentimentalism, indecisiveness, and a lack of foresight. These are all from a chart I found, and although I don’t think we’ve seen too many of these weaknesses in Frank yet, we’ve definitely seen a lot of the strengths

We have no idea where Frank was before he first showed up at the daycare. Fazbear apparently had him shipped in to replace Moon, but with how easily he got into Moon’s computer, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume that he could’ve possibly also hopped onto a different device and sent a fake email, posing as Fazbears to keep people from asking too many questions about why he’s there

Like Sqarlet has said, we’ve noticed a pattern of astral signs following the usual astrological descriptions, but it’s not necessarily a rule, nor is it to a T. It’s very possible that Frank mostly follows the general tendencies of Pisces, but still has individual quirks and such that are different. It could be a case where perfectionism or a preference for rule-following/organization is just a lil personal thing of his, unrelated to astrology

Another thing suggested by Sqarlet is that the Pisces dealio might explain why Frank’s general choice of appearance is generally uncanny/unsettling. Astral bodies don’t necessarily have a spectacular grasp on how to Aesthetic effectively, at least from an earthling’s perspective

Eclipse once used star power to get into Puppet’s dreamscape, when Puppet was on his way to get Lunar. If star power is what makes dreamscape stuff possible, then Frank would need access to it in order to do the same (see: all the dream stuff he did with Monty and him showing up in Stitchwraith’s dreamscape)

Whenever Frank appears, whoever he appears around is usually experiencing a negative emotion of some sort. Some instances of this can be seen when he showed up and tried to talk to Monty after Monty had a fight with their dad and was frustrated, when Earth and Sun were worrying about Lunar when Lunar lost his voice, when Sun got turned into a dragon and was panicking, and when Earth had a nightmare and was freaking out over it

Foxy’s implied that Frank was probably trying his best to be helpful, during all the dates that he unintentionally ruined. Which… means that although Frank is trying his best to be helpful, he might not understand what “normal” behavior looks like, then he messes up, and then he gets upset when people misunderstand him and his intentions, or when whatever he’s doing ends up backfiring in some way. Pisces’ loves to help others and can’t stand being misunderstood, so this lines up beautifully

During a podcast episode, Frank breathed heavier when Castor and Pollux were mentioned, implying that he may know them. Given how he even attempted to speak again, he likely had some kind of thoughts or feelings toward them, too

The astral bodies are typically aware of almost everything that happens. This might explain how Frank (if he’s Pisces) knew that Foxy would be alone on Christmas. It was only Foxy, Freddy, and Francine present when the Stitchwraith took FC, so unless Frank was spying on everyone or has taken to watching the channels like Ruin apparently does, he shouldn’t know what happened

If the Foxy’s Intervention episode is anything to go by, no one ever knows where Frank is, and yet, he still knows where he’s needed and goes there to help

With the way that Pisces deals with illusions just as much as dreams and the subconscious, it’s possible that the Frank that the Stitchwaith saw was just an illusion. This could explain why Frank wasn’t hit by Stitchwraith’s weird chest laser thing (unless he quickly teleported out of the way), and why we never saw him go up to the Stithwraith and try pushing him around or anything, despite how Frank was acting toward him. We’ve seen Frank physically interact with people before, so we know he can, but if he was an illusion, that wouldn’t be possible

Something else to consider that I haven't shared with the theory thread yet (that I can remember) is that when Pisces feels hurt or betrayed in any way, they can be incredibly vengeful. Their vengeance, according to a search I ran, could be intense enough to break trust and damage relationships, if they're not careful. In killing ruined Monty, Bloodmoon may have unknowingly made Frank feel so deeply hurt that Frank has now decided that he needs to get revenge on him. He kept saying things during their encounter that made it feel like he may be entertaining the idea of getting rid of one of the twins, which... follows a very "you took away someone who meant the world to me, let's see what happens when I do it to you" sort of logic

#sun and moon show #the sun and moon show #tsams #tsams frank #the sun and moon show frank #sun and moon show frank #sams frank #sun and moon show forkface #the sun and moon show forkface #tsams forkface #sams forkface #theory time #'but arson/skellies what about (insert x thing here'#i can guarantee you. I've thought all of this through at least a dozen times #I've been rotating it in my brain nonstop #ever since i first had the idea for all of this #it started with the way his face plates look when he opens them up #and it went downhill from there

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ladyluscinia · 6 months

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What Exactly Did David Jenkins Say?

Look, I'm still staunchly of the opinion that Word of God statements and creator interviews are overvalued in fandom, especially when they get pulled out mostly as gotchas without then continuing to analyze whether or not the show canon is successful at getting across that same message. Death of the Author is good, actually, and we should remember that. But they are worth looking at in the context of evaluating intent vs execution, and for future speculation - just, like, please with less of the whole mile high pedestal idolizing and backlash cycles.

But if overvalued "Word of God" is annoying, then overvalued "supposed creator statements that have gone through three rounds of telephone and any given blogger has only heard about a quarter of them, which they'll use confidently anyway" is worse. So, since I'd already looked up interviews for various reasons...

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of interviews David Jenkins has given and statements he's made during them, presented without commentary (save curating which statements get highlighted). All provided with links. I definitely missed some, so if you have any that you want to add, please do - though if you could trim off any commentary and save it for tags / your own post with a link that would be cool.

Also, again, just because he said it doesn't make it incontrovertible canon that only a blind person wouldn't understand. Some of these even arguably contradict each other. The creator's intent doesn't always translate to what the show is doing, nor do you even have to think it was a good idea.

(Listed in chronological order from oldest to newest - post contains spoilers below the cut)

Pre-S1

Gizmodo - Feb 22, 2022 - with Cheryl Eddy (io9) - Link

Why this story - Really, it was the enigma of Stede that drew him in. "I think actual pirate stuff is fine, but it's not necessarily my cup of tea. And I think Taika [Waititi] felt similarly. But hearing about this guy and reading about him and seeing that, you know, he left his family, then he met Blackbeard, they hit it off, and we don't know any of the details in between. So filling those blanks in, and having a very human story, and then being able to do it with the pirate genre, that was like, 'Oh, this would be cool.'"

Post 1x01 - 1x03

Polygon - March 5, 2022 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

About Stede running off to sea - "Stede thought he could outrun his baggage, and you can't outrun your baggage."

About S1 - "I don't think there was enough improv on set! We had an insane schedule, with a huge amount of plot. We were budgeted and designed as a one-hour show, but with a half-hour production schedule, which means we really had to chase these episodes to get them shot. And then there are certain emotional beats that we really needed. So trying to find places to find the fun was hard."

Mashable - Mar 5, 2022 - with Belen Edwards - Link

About the show concept - "It was Jenkins' wife who first told him about Stede's adventures; she thought it would make a good TV show."

On casting Rhys Darby - "Stede did a terrible thing to his family. If you cast it wrong, he's a very hard character to get behind," Jenkins said. "Very quickly, the only person I thought of for this was Rhys [Darby]. He has this childlike quality that's endearing."

About the story - "Seeing them discover a need for each other that neither anticipated and charting how that relationship goes is the meat of the story." + "If you're on this ship, you're running from something, and you're running to something that you can't be on land"

Mentions of matelotage - "In fact, one of Jenkins's favorite pirate facts that he learned while working on Our Flag Means Death was the term matelotage, which was a civil union between same-sex pirates. "The more you look at it," he explained, "the more you write to the fact that this is a queer-positive world.""

Discussing piracy careers - "Something else that astounded Jenkins about pirates was "just how fast it all moved — their lives were quite short," he said. "Your career [in piracy] wasn't very long.""

Post 1x09 - 1x10

Decider - Mar 24, 2022 - with Kayla Cobb - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

Pitch for the show - "That was in the pitch," series creator David Jenkins told Decider. "That was the reason, to make them fall in love with each other."

About the romance - "The main thing to me was to side-step coming out," Jenkins continued. "I just want a romance. I want a Titanic romance between these two people. We don't have to do the coming out story and then the non-binary story for Jim [Vico Ortiz]."

About S2 and the show - "The show is the relationship," Jenkins said. "So, we end in a place where there is this breakup. What happens after a breakup between these two people who, one’s realized he's in love and the other one is hurt in a way that he's never been hurt before? What does that do to each of them in an action, pirate world with them trying to find each other again? So again, I really love those rom-com beats."

Collider - Mar 24, 2022 - with Carly Lane - Link

On making it a romcom - "It's the only reason to make the show. If you didn't do that, it would just be weird. I mean, you're using the rom-com beats. You're using these like they're together. And it's funny because so we're so habituated to be like bromance, bromance, bromance, and it's such a simple move to put them together."

Discusses focusing on romance - "I guess I really... I get kind of bored. How much pirate can you do? They're going to rob stuff. They're going to steal ships. There's only so many pirate stories you can do. So if you're going to do a workplace story, I mean, you're essentially having this... You'd have this same amount of relationships in Grey's Anatomy in the ER. So it's standard. It's the most standard. We're making a soap opera on a pirate ship, and to use those soap opera beats... I like it, and I like the flavor in a comedy when you have something that's played genuinely up against very ridiculous things."

Discusses history and kissing scene

Discusses importance of going home to Mary - "Yeah, that was the problem for me in the story. I knew that I wanted to have the end where he goes home, because you need to give Mary her day in court. I just wanted to know from Mary's perspective what happened and then to see that, yeah, they're friends."

Is Lucius dead? - "You got to wait."

EW.com - Mar 25, 2022 - with Devan Coggan - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

Pitch for the show - "To me, [Stede and Blackbeard's relationship] is the reason to make the show," Jenkins explains. "When Taika and I were first talking about it, he was like, 'Oh yeah, that's the show.' I first started reading about Stede and how he befriended Blackbeard and we don't know why. Very quickly, it was like, 'Oh, it's a romance.'"

Polygon - Mar 25, 2022 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discusses 3-season intent - "I think three seasons is good. I think we could do it in three."

Discusses acts within S1 - "To me, when you see him get stabbed, and the blood runs through his fingers, it’s like 'Oh, no, the clown got stabbed! And not comedy-stabbed, he got stabbed stabbed!' That to me is cool. And then having Blackbeard find him as the end of what would be the first act of our story felt good to me."

Discusses kiss scene filming and the national moment around gay rights

What to focus on a rewatch - "I think Con O'Neill does such a great job. He's such a complex character, and it's such a tortured relationship. And that's a love story too, between him and Blackbeard. It's a very dysfunctional story, but it's fun to watch. Watch that maybe, on a rewatch, looking where their relationship ultimately goes."

TV Insider - Mar 25, 2022 - with Meaghan Darwish - Link

Discusses show pitch - "When I was pitching [the show] to people, I'd be like, 'Okay, so it's about Stede and Blackbeard, and then they hit it off and then they fall in love.' And then people are like, 'Okay, cool,' Jenkins shares. "And then they really fall in love, and become intimately involved."

Discusses historical inspiration

Discusses S2 direction - "But when [Stede] goes to find [Blackbeard], he's gone and his crew's been abandoned. And so watching them try to negotiate that, that's a good rom-com beat," he adds.

The Verge - Apr 15, 2022 - with Charles Pulliam-Moore - Link

Discusses being surprised by queerbaiting legacy - "...part of me knew that, yes, Stede and Ed's romance was going to be real. But one part of me felt like, 'We're going to do this story, and they're going to kiss, and maybe that's not even going to be that big a deal. Maybe it'll just be a blip.'"

Discusses writing romance - "I'd never written a romance before this one, but I think with Ed and Stede, the question's always 'what's the need for each other?'"

Discusses falling in love and Stede's accidental seduction - "It made sense to have that love be almost like a teenage version of falling in love — one with all these intense and conflicting feelings. They're middle-aged, but Stede's young. Ed's young. Emotionally, they're like 16, and they've both got a lot to learn."

Discusses Con O'Neill as Izzy - "He plays an exhausted quality that's really lovely because this character could just be generically evil, and the way Con plays, it is like, he's credible. I believe that he can do some damage if he wanted to. My favorite thing I've seen about the show is somebody saying that Con's playing the only human with a bunch of Muppets. It does feel like that a bit where he's like Charles Grodin in The Great Muppet Caper."

On Izzy being in love with Blackbeard - "I think Izzy's deeply in love with Blackbeard, and it's a very dysfunctional kind of love, and he's like the jilted spouse who's losing his man to fucking Stede Bonnet, and he can't believe this is happening."

Discusses masculinity and piracy as an escape from that

Discusses diversity and trauma based stories - "And the consensus in that very diverse room was that we wanted to show that isn't just wallowing in trauma. We don't have to do a coming out scene or focusing on the trauma of it — not to say that those stories aren’t valid."

Gizmodo - Jun 20, 2022 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Musing on fandom response to the show - "I'm wondering if the fact that because the queerness of this show isn't gaslighting the audience, and isn't a function of wanting to do something, but not being able to produce the results because of network standards. I think we just happened to be in this lucky spot where the show is actually queer… and I do think that people are responding to that."

Comparing fanfiction to writing - "And Con O'Neill's audition was one of those things I would go back to. I would watch that and be like… Oh, right, that's the show. And in a way, you're writing fanfiction for a certain actor and character because you want them to do something, and you're like–" at this point, it must be said, Jenkins let out a maniacal little giggle. He’s just as thrilled to show off Con O'Neill's ability to seem both deeply exhausted and menacing as the rest of the fandom. "And you [as the writer] you're like… And then Izzy does this now."

EW.com - Dec 13, 2022 - with Devan Coggan - Link

Discusses The Chain sequence - "I had initially wanted that end sequence to be like the FBI raid in a mob movie, where the feds come in, and they've got boxes of stuff, and everyone's running, and someone makes a dash for it," Jenkins explains. "So, it's like a mob movie or FBI raid story, and then it's also a story of Stede's lover coming back."

Pre-S2

Collider - Oct 2, 2023 - with Carly Lane - Link

Discusses fan reaction to S1 - "I thought that they'd kiss, and people would be like, 'Oh, cool, cool!' I kind of thought people would know a little bit more [about] where we were going, but then in hindsight, no, people have been hurt and burned on so many other shows and then made to feel silly."

Discusses starting S2 dark - "One of these characters is very, very damaged and has never made himself vulnerable in this way before, and I don't think [he] would react very well to having his heart broken in this way. I don't think it would be cute, and I don't think it would be funny. I think it would be scary as hell to watch a very damaged guy that we've established in Ed, who killed his dad and thinks he's not capable of being loved, deal with rejection and see that Stede really hurt him."

Discusses adding more female characters

Discusses S2 needle drops including "This Woman's Work"

Discusses 3-season arc

Post 2x01 - 2x03

Mashable - Oct 5, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

Discusses fandom response to S1

About the canon gay relationship - "To watch the explosion of enthusiasm around [the kiss] was disorienting, almost," Jenkins said. "I thought people would react to it, but I didn't think the reaction would be that big. And then it was moving, because I didn't realize that this audience felt so unserved in general, as far as storylines go."

Insider - Oct 5, 2023 - with Ayomikun Adekaiyero - Link

Tease on leaning into the Stede / Ed / Izzy love triangle - "I think Izzy, in a certain way, got the worst deal in the first season," the showrunner tells Insider. "He gets jilted and then he still is in spurned spouse territory at the beginning of the second season."

Discusses Izzy's arc - "What is that relationship about? And I think by the end of the season it kind of becomes a little unexpected of who they are to each other and what they mean to each other," he teases

Discusses addition of Zheng - "He likens Zheng's way of pirating to a successful tech startup, compared with the garage sale vibe Stede had going on the Revenge."

Discusses introducing Hornigold - "I thought Hornigold was the most obvious because he was the person who made Blackbeard what he is. And Blackbeard has a father complex, so it's natural that he's going to bring his former captain back," the show creator said. "It's a struggle with him because he and dad figures don't historically do well."

Discusses importance of the mermaid scene

Inverse - Oct 5, 2023 - with Hoai-Tran Bui - Link

Reveals he didn't commit to the romance until shooting 1x06 - "Jenkins always intended his pirate comedy to end with a romance, but he'd envisioned it as an unrequited love. "It was going to be about Stede learning what love is, and Ed making himself vulnerable and getting burned," Jenkins says of his original pitch. But Darby and Waititi's choices in the scene, which they played without diffusing the tenderness with a joke, made him wonder if they could take the show in a new direction."

Discusses mermaid Stede idea from S1 - "We talked about Stede as a mermaid very early on in the writers' room," Jenkins says. "At some point, yeah, I want to see Rhys Darby as a merman." + "They wanted us to come up with a Season 2 pitch during Season 1. And that was one of the ideas we hit on, and I can't quite remember how we got there, but it was us asking, what is a pirate world? Are there mermaids? Is there magic in this show? With pirate stuff, I don’t know that I want there to be magic, but there was a way where it was something really beautiful about a mer-person, and I like the idea that their coming together would have a mythic size to it."

Discusses historical divergence

Discusses matelotage and pirates as weird outsiders

TV Guide - Oct 5, 2023 - with Allison Piccuro - Link

About the shipping culture - "It's the meat of the show, so it's great to have people bought into the central romance. If it were a bromance that we were trying to make look like a romance, that would suck."

Discusses playlists he makes

Discusses opening dream sequence - "I just like that it started with something badass. Stede, Blackbeard, and Izzy are on an arc together. Whether they're in stories together or not, their ultimate arc is together. I think, by the end of this season, the last episode, that first scene will be gratifying. I won't say why, but their fates are tied together."

Discusses Kraken arc - "But I think the thing that's good about this show is that it can go to really sweet comedy land, but I want there to be, like, if someone loses a body part, for instance, they lose a body part. To do justice to the fact that this guy is a killer and a monster, and dealing with heartache that he doesn't know how to deal with, I think you really need to go there."

Discusses Izzy in S2 - "I mean, he's jilted. He had a partnership with Blackbeard, and he knows he can't live up to this person that Blackbeard fell in love with... Who is that guy? What are his hobbies? What does it look like when he's not totally subsumed with his boss's love affair with somebody, and heartbroken?"

On S2 reunion - "The second season is them being a little bit more mature... It's the thing where you're in your 20s or 30s and you're like, "Well, should we move in together?" They have to make up some time because neither of them have been in a functional relationship before."

About genre of pirate stories - "...is a show about multiple relationships. That's what I want to see when I see this show. I don't want to see a bunch of pirate things that I've seen in other things, I'll just go watch another thing if I want to see that. That's not really my thing. I like the genre, but it's a very hard genre to budge. I want to see relationships in a pirate world."

Discusses the A Star is Born aspect of seeking fame / retiring

Mashable - Oct 7, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

About the mermaid scene - "You need something expressive for when they come back together," Jenkins said. "Their reunion moment has to feel big and mythical. This is not a world where mermaids actually exist, but their love for each other has that size that you can get [a mermaid] in there somewhere."

About Kate Bush - "I love Kate Bush, and I love that song, and I know Taika loves that song," Jenkins explained of the choice. "So I wanted to find a place for that song somewhere in the second season."

Polygon - Oct 9, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson & more - Link

Compares S2 and "Golden Age of Piracy" stuff to Westerns, lists 5 he was thinking of - "Every Western that’s good is that story," Jenkins says. "'This way of life we made is coming to an end. It can't last. It's a blip in time. We created this thing because we need it to exist. We're outlaws, and we need a culture that suits us, but it's running out of time.'"

Gizmodo - Oct 9, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Short tease on leaning into the love triangle

About Stede, Edward, and Izzy - "I think the three of them are on an arc together that's pretty inseparable," Jenkins said in an interview with io9. "And to watch Izzy try to process what's happened [in season one]… to watch him kind of grow and figure out what's his own story, if he can separate himself from this kind of toxic relationship, is interesting to me and I think gives him a lot of room for growth."

Post 2x04 - 2x05

IndieWire - Oct 12, 2023 - with Sarah Shachat - Link

Discusses directing and show creation

"The limitations of the show also naturally push it back towards moments with the ensemble and plot problems that it would frankly be irresponsible to tackle if you had a giant budget and a fully working ship-of-the-line to sail and then blow to bits. "That's the fun of the show to us, I think. If you open this up and you're like, unlimited budget, that would be terrible because I think you can get seduced," Jenkins said. "[It could be like,] 'Oh man, it's all leading up to a climatic battle on the sea.' And those things are great. But that’s not this show.""

"The nice thing about that, though, is you get to be the lo-fi show that’s like, 'Hey, we’re making The Muppets.'"

PopSugar - Oct 12, 2023 - with Victoria Edel - Link

About S2 Stede - "I like the idea that he learns and grows and he doesn't just stay a bumbling captain. He might be ridiculous, but he is getting better at it."

Discusses genre challenges - "How do you have a show that's a romance show but it's also a workplace show and they're criminals?"

Discusses Edward's redemption - "But Blackbeard still has to come back and apologize and be part of the community again, and give his little press conference. It was fun for us to look at that in the context of piracy, where they all do terrible things to each other. But even by their standards, what Blackbeard did was a bit much."

Discusses Izzy in S2 - "When Izzy shoots Blackbeard and they all mutiny on him, that's Izzy breaking up with Blackbeard. And they're both having their own journey in the wake of it, and Izzy's having his own redemption arc. He's trying to figure out, "Who am I if I'm not Blackbeard's first mate? Who am I outside of this relationship?"" + "If Stede's Spongebob, he's Squidward. I don't know what that makes Blackbeard. But there's a real pathos to Squidward."

Discusses trauma-based narratives - "As a diverse room in terms of sexuality, socio-economic background, and race, we thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a non-trauma-based story for these characters who don't get that historically?""

Variety - Oct 13, 2023 - with Hunter Ingram - Link

Discusses three act structure and making Stede work for a relationship - "The way I like to look at a season is in threes. The end of the first act is when they find each other, and this is the beginning of the second act. They've found each other, but they are pissed. Stede thought it was going to be [Kate Bush's] “This Woman's Work,” but, in reality, it is this headbutt –– literally."

Discusses the central romance - "It was always part of the pitch... that is the reason to make the show. The pirate genre is fun, but I wasn’t dying to make a pirate show. Taika wasn’t dying to make a pirate show. But the thing that was interesting to me was that Stede finds love, and he finds it with Blackbeard."

Discusses 2x04 plot - "This episode is based on a very, very thumbnail sketch of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?." Anne and Mary are Martha and George, and they are Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton."

Discusses adding historical pirates

Discusses Buttons exit - "I just love the idea of him turning into a bird: I love the idea of Buttons somehow being the one character that is able to figure that out."

Discusses Izzy and the crew's trauma plot - "We liked the idea that there is something about trauma and getting past that trauma, even on a pirate ship. They have been through two very different ways of living and they have to get used to each other again. But it's also a family that was separated, and becoming one family again is painful."

Discusses bringing characters back - "We could bring Calico Jack back, who, if you remember, was hit by a cannonball last season. Anyone who is that fun to play with and wants to keep playing, you always find a way to bring them back."

Polygon - Oct 14, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discusses 3-season arc and how keeping them apart with some plot device was never in the cards - "at the end of the first season, they're 14-year-olds, emotionally. In this season, it's more like they’re in their late 20s."

Discussing New Zealand production and ensemble cast writing - "It's pretty organic, because as we're going through and tracking everybody's journey for the season, we're watching the thing that holds us together — what stage of Stede and Blackbeard's relationship are we in? Because the overarching arc is, are these guys going to learn how to settle into a relationship?"

"The second season is more overtly about romance, and more a relationship story."

Energizing aspect of fan reaction

S3 is about "love is work"

Gizmodo - Oct 16, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

About the story - "I want to see them become a functional couple or fail to become a functional couple," Jenkins said. "Those are the most interesting parts of the show."

Discusses fandom engagement - "...ultimately the writers are also "the fans in the room." He goes on to say that, "We're fans of the world. We're writing fanfic about our own characters, our own worlds… It's paid fanfic, but it's fanfic." He gives another example: "If you're writing a season of Succession, you're writing fanfic Succession. You're just getting paid to do it. We, as writers–" it's clear that he's not just talking about the writers in the writers room, "become fans of the world and we all have things we want to see these characters do. What we do is not that different."

Discusses the A Star is Born aspect of seeking fame / retiring

Discusses Zheng Yi Sao

Villains of the series - There are a lot of new villains this season, but, Jenkins says, ultimately, "the antagonist on this show is normalcy… These pirates have a way of life that they're not finding in normal life. They've found a way to live and support each other and be there for each other. And that's always threatened by these larger, tyrannical forces that want to shut them down."

Post 2x06 - 2x07

Mashable - Oct 19, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

Discussing drag performance in 2x06

"It is nice to see with Izzy's arc, where he finally breaks through whatever he's been doing to himself. He lets himself have that moment, which I just love. It resonates for Izzy, and I think it resonates for Con. Just personally, it made me feel good to see how it turned out."

Consequence - Oct 19, 2023 - with Liz Shannon Miller - Link

Discusses intent for romance - "...telling a love story in a serialized medium like television has its perils, largely because it's tough to know how much you can draw out any unresolved tension. "I think we take it episode by episode and we try to not piss people off in taking too long and doing double beats and triple beats," Jenkins says. "You can only do Will They or Won’t They for so long. Then you have to deepen it.""

Discusses pirate setting - "The emphasis on relationships also fits into the show's high-seas setting, which Jenkins finds similar to post-apocalyptic narratives. "It is a little bit like you're doing Mad Max, except there's relationships," he says. "Stuff's shitty, so you gotta try to find some joy. Of course, people are going to have a need for each other in these extreme circumstances, and I like the idea of these characters finding some level of a healthy relationship in these extreme circumstances.""

Discusses Jim x Archie

Discusses 3-season arc

Polygon - Oct 21, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discussing gender and power dynamics in Jackie x Swede / Zheng x Oluwande / Blackbeard x Stede + A Star is Born aspect

Jim not being jealous of Oluwande - "I think that relationship was always seen in the room as a friend relationship that got romantic."

About adding a villain - "I think a lot of the internal forces in Our Flag are the villains." + "I think this is a story about the age of piracy coming to an end. This way of life is coming to an end. And every Western that's good is that story: This way of life we made is coming to an end, and it can't last. […] I think every story about outlaws is about trying to preserve a way of life against normative forces that are kind of fascistic."

Historical accuracy - "The balance of the show is 90% ignoring history, and then 10%, bring it in, whenever we're like, Ah, gotta move the story forward! Remember, the English are out there, and they're really bad!"

Post 2x08

AV Club - Oct 26, 2023 - with Saloni Gajjar - Link

Killing Izzy was always the plan - "We wanted to show the depth of that character. Izzy is one of my favorites. He's like middle management who is in a sort of love triangle [in season one]."

Discusses how they really wanted the happy ending for S2 - "I think with season one's end, it was a gamble to leave it the way it was. Everybody stomached through it. Now if it turned out they didn't want us to make more, I just didn't want to have another story where the same-sex love story ends in tragedy, unrequited love, or if one or both of them are being punished."

Discusses S2 progressing the 3-season romance - "They’re a couple who is like in their late twenties right now as opposed to being teens at the end of season one." + "It was an interesting tension of, which one gives up their dream? A lot of times in relationships questions can come up, like who is going to give up on their dream to take care of the kids? Obviously, no one wants to, but someone ends up giving up more than they want to at some point. What's wonderful about a mature romance, and what I'd want to see more of in season three, is Ed and Stede making these tough decisions." + progressing past the getting together point

Discusses parallels, Republic of Pirates, and Zheng Yi Sao

Short bit about fan response

Collider - Oct 26, 2023 - with Carly Lane - Link

Discusses Ed leaving fishing - "I like that he had a little prima donna moment where he thought he could go and be a simple man, and then it's revealed that he really isn't a simple man; he's a complicated, fussy, moody guy. No, he's not gonna be able to catch fish for a living. For him to be told that, "At your heart, you're a pirate. You have to go back and do it," he doesn't want that to be true, but it was true."

Discusses Izzy's speech to Ricky - "I wanted to give Izzy a proper eulogy for himself. He gives a eulogy for himself, but it felt true writing it."

Discusses Izzy's death scene - "In a way, it's very much for Ed, that speech. The "we were Blackbeard" is claiming that he is also Blackbeard, that Blackbeard is not just Ed’s creation, and I like that for him, too, because he's worked so hard for that — and then just to say, "You can give it up." There can never be a Blackbeard again as far as Izzy's concerned because he's dying, and they did that together."

Discusses Republic of Pirates / music parallels from premier to finale

Discusses finale wedding - "We knew we wanted a matelotage in the season, which is the real term they had for marrying crew members. And yeah, they've always been in relief to Stede and Ed, and they're a little bit ahead of Stede and Ed in how much they can talk about things. So to have a bunch of family things in the season, like a funeral and a wedding, and have the parents kind of watch the kids sail away, felt right, and all of those things seem to work well together and build on each other."

Discusses retirement ending - "That will-they-or-won't-they is interesting to a point, but the real meat of it is always like, "Can they make the relationship, and can they do better than Anne and Mary?""

"Frenchie's in charge of the Revenge" + teases Stede struggling to give it up

EW.com - Oct 26, 2023 - with Devan Coggan - Link

Discusses Izzy's death and telling Con - "It feels like the logical end of Izzy's arc. It's heartbreaking to me because he's my favorite." + "I told him in the middle of shooting because I didn't want him to find out at the table read, obviously. I also didn't want it to leak. He was lovely about it."

Discusses Izzy's final arc - "You know, I didn't expect him to become kind of a father figure to Ed. I think we hit on that while we were breaking the [final] episode. He's in such a weird position: He's like a jilted lover, and then he's a middle manager who has to work for a terrible boss. He gets thrown away, and then he comes back. He really develops, and he becomes a part of this family. I think the biggest surprise was the extent that he was a mentor to Ed. They were both Blackbeard. They both made Blackbeard happen."

Discusses the happy ending intent - "With this season starting so dark, I kind of wanted to reward them for the work that they've done and the character growth that they've had. I wanted to leave them in a place where they're really going to try and make this work. I don't think it's going to be easy for them, necessarily. They're both still immature."

Discusses the wedding - "We knew we wanted a matelotage in the second season, and pretty quickly we landed on Lucius and Black Pete. It seems like they were ready for that. We made up a ceremony and everything, where they call each other mateys, and it was just fun to make our own version of a pirate wedding ceremony."

Discusses potential S3 and Frenchie's Revenge - "But it felt like a good place to end the second season. It felt like a contrast to the first season. If it turns out we don't make any more, I'm comfortable with that being a resting place."

Variety - Oct 26, 2023 - with Hunter Ingram - Link

S3 endpoint - "I love things in threes," he says. "That first act, second act, third act structure is so satisfying when it is done well, and you don't overstay your welcome. I think this world of the show is a big world, and if the third season is successful, we could go on in a different way. But I think for the story of Stede and Ed, that is a three-season story."

Discusses the draw of a "Golden Age" and it's ending

Talks about father figure Izzy and wanting a real sense of loss - "There is a nice parallel to have Ed treat him so badly at the beginning of the season and then come all the way around to where Izzy is this sort of father figure he doesn’t want to lose — because Ed usually kills his father figures."

Gizmodo - Oct 26, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Teasing future Izzy - "Jenkins looked slightly sad himself, saying that "Ghosts exist in this world." I told him not to make promises he couldn't keep."

"Jenkins said that he doesn't see Izzy as a pure antagonist in season one because on some level… Izzy was right in his hesitations about Stede."

Discussing Con O'Neill & Rhys Darby acting

Jenkins confirms the season was always 8 episodes due to budget cuts

About S2 finale vs S3 - "The first season ends on such a downer, so it made sense to end the second season in a kinder spot." + "I think there's plenty of story left for season three, but I think that it was important to end this as if it was the end of the show, and on upbeat note and avoid the kind of "kill your gays" trope. I don't want to see Stede and Ed punished for giving it a go. I want to see them really say, 'yeah, we’re going to we're going to try to have a relationship'."

Teases S3 revenge against Ricky and going to the Americas

Vanity Fair - Oct 26, 2023 - with Sarah Catherall - Link

About the ending - "It's bittersweet. There's death and there's the rebirth of Stede and Blackbeard's relationship; there's a funeral, there's a wedding, and the idea that this family is going to keep fighting even as they lose members. And then it's about belonging to something." + "A lot of times, with this narrative of characters, same-sex relationships end on a dour, downbeat note, where one of them dies and it's unrequited or it's unrealized; something horrible happens and they're punished in a way. So it was important to leave it open and a lot more show to go, but also leave it in a place where it's happy."

Discusses Izzy as a mentor / father figure - "We felt like Izzy's story had reached its conclusion, where we put him through enough. And then there was the realization that he is kind of a mentor to Blackbeard and that he is kind of a father figure to Blackbeard." + "And it's also a pirate show, so he's got to die."

Discusses filming challenges - "It's a big show; it's basically a one-hour show that we're doing on a half-hour budget."

Discusses adding Zheng Yi Sao

Is the show a queer romance? - "For this show, it's important to me just to write a really bold-bodied romantic show that happens to be between two characters of the same sex. I think that the story beats don't matter, because if you've been in love and you've been hurt and you met someone you love—hopefully we all know what those feelings are."

Blackbeard's arc in S2 - "...the second season is about Blackbeard's midlife crisis. And then when they both have their midlife crises, they can open a B&B together." + "I don't think Stede and Blackbeard are ready to be married. They're emotionally saying: 'Let's give this a go.'"

Discusses historical piracy as "counterculture" that's been straightwashed and whitewashed

Did he feel responsibility to the fan community? - "As opposed to responsibility, it feels more like relief—that people feel seen and they feel good about it and they liked what we did. And so it feels like, Okay, somebody's out there and wants the show. The makeup of the writers room looks a lot like the makeup of the fan base. So as long as we're true to our stories in the writers room, I think we just feel excited that there's somebody waiting on the other end to enjoy it."

Paste Magazine - Oct 26, 2023 - with Tara Bennett - Link

Discusses whether fandom expectations felt weighty - "I think particularly for this season, that "bury your gays" thing… I didn't want to end on a downbeat for Ed and Stede. We did that in the first season. I like that there's a lot of different flavors. It's even a little melancholy because the Republic of Pirates got blown up. But there's still more good things."

Discusses production and plotting - "I wanted to start at the Republic of Pirates this season and end at the Republic of Pirates. And I knew I wanted the Republic of Pirates to be destroyed, ultimately. Within that, we are making a one-hour show on a half hour budget, on a half hour schedule."

Discusses planning the ending - "In terms of ending this season, it all felt right just in talking through it when we were in the room. It felt pretty intuitive. When you get to the third act of the story, things kind of settle in. There's gonna be a funeral. We always knew we wanted a wedding at the end of the second season. And I knew that I wanted Stede and Ed to start an inn together. So once you have those beats, it's kind of locked in."

Discusses Izzy's arc - "It's kind of a strange arc in that I knew we were going to put him through all these things, and I knew he would ultimately die. But I think him becoming a father figure to Ed in the last episode didn't really dawn on us until we were breaking the last episode. Asking what would this man say to Ed at the end because they've been together through everything? He went from a troubled and downtrodden employee to a jilted lover to a discarded employee, to someone that is just trying to find his footing again—no pun intended—to actually becoming this guy's parental figure on some level. And he's one person who kind of raised Ed right, because Blackbeard usually kills his parental figures. So, it felt right and it felt like that's how the mentor dies. The mentor in a story usually dies in the second act and then our hero has to go on and try to do it without them. It felt like the right journey for Izzy and a gratifying one for Con."

On leaving open for S3 - "I don't think it was a very hard thing to do. I think it was more that I felt a responsibility to leave Ed and Stede in a good place, at least for now. It's not gonna go well. They're not going to run a business well. Ed's too much of a talker. Stede can't focus. It's gonna be challenging."

Vulture - Oct 28, 2023 - with Sophie Brookover - Link

Discussing Izzy as a "father figure" and his S2 send-off being a priority

Meaning of piracy - "...what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy."

Re: Con O'Neill & Izzy's death - "I had to tell him about halfway through the season"

Third season about the work of a relationship between still damaged main characters

Discusses middles as about change and transitions, and wanting characters to change instead of reset, have them experience permanent consequences

About the final scene - "...Ed and Stede as the parents kind of watching the kids take the ship. Frenchie's the captain now..."

Objective of the crew - "...have had terrible things happen to them at the hands of colonial forces, so they want some payback. Party, plunder, and payback — the three P's."

Metro Weekly - Nov 1, 2023 - with Randy Shulman - Link

Discusses historical premise of S1 and easing into the romance

Discusses S2 genre - "In the second season, it was great because we know it's a romance and we can lead with that. It's a workplace show essentially. I wanted it to be more in the vein of early episodes of Grey's Anatomy or something where there are all these relationships on those shows. That's what you’re following — relationships and friendships that are taking place in a hospital, procedural. That's Grey's Anatomy. This is less procedural for the pirate stuff — and you need the pirate stuff."

Discusses not being into pirates - "But I'm like you. I'm not a big pirate person. In general, it's a big creaky genre that's hard to budge" + "Pirates of the Caribbean, those movies are great. That's not necessarily what I hunger to see, but in that genre, it's great. You're not going to beat that, especially on something that's lower budget. We've seen a lot of this stuff, so it's fun to take it then and don't do any of that stuff."

Discusses adapting historical piracy - "You don't want to see them punch down. You don't want to see them do terrible things to people who don't deserve it, which is not what they really did. So, in the show's world, I think piracy is like a stand-in for something. I think it's a stand-in for being an iconoclast and an outsider and queer in some ways and just different." + "Yeah, I mean, the British are there to be Stormtroopers, or Nazis in an Indiana Jones movie. I mean, they're in there to die essentially."

Discusses diversity staffing

Discusses performative masculinity

Discusses Izzy's death, happy endings, and openness to S3

#trust me i appreciate the irony of making an extensive word of god reference when i want people to stop blindly promoting word of god #(and also when i'm currently very irritated with the creators)#and fyi showrunners talk A LOT but i was already committed so this was more work than i was expecting #i'll even use a small bit of my extra hour of destiel day to post this (most of it was assembled while watching supernatural)#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd meta #david jenkins #word of god #ladyluscinia

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infinite-orangepeel · 1 year

Text

kas!eddie/monstefucker!steve: pt. 2

read pt. 1 here !!

steve never thought he’d see eddie munson again. but there was nothing in this world or any other that could have stopped him from venturing back down to the depths of hell to save him once he realized he was alive.

after dragging him out of the upside down two weeks ago, they’d kissed, touched, fucked, told secrets, cuddled, and cried together. it was absolute bliss.

steve felt like he’d been transported to wonderland. so he didn’t hesitate to move eddie into his house in order to help him recover and heal. everything seemed fine and strangely normal.

eddie was still eddie. a bit different on the outside, but on the inside—his wicked sense of humor, selfless heart, nerdy interests—all remained the same.

except for the fact that he was kind of oddly possessive over steve.

which steve didn’t really mind because he was so used to dating people that couldn’t give less of a shit about his well being. the amount of times he’d shown up to a date with obvious marks or bruises on his arms after fighting supernatural creatures and had them ignored was off the charts.

by stark contrast; eddie watched his every move, protected him from harm (including from mundane things like hot stoves and rainy weather), called him ‘beloved’ ‘perfect’ and ‘mate.’

but if there was one thing steve was learning that eddie hated—it was the thought of anyone else laying a finger on steve. especially in a romantic or sexual sense.

which was how they ended up here.

steve fucked up. he fucked up badly.

of course, steve doesn’t realize how badly until eddie—or; this new super strong, muscular, bloodthirsty killer, undead in a way that still doesn’t quite compute version of eddie—is pinning him to the bed within seconds of him walking in the door post-work. name badge still attached to his polo.

“holy fuck! jesus, eds! i literally just got home. give a guy a minute to decompress!” steve’s words are vastly ineffective and get muffled into the pillow as eddie makes quick work of his clothes.

“shut up. be quiet. face down. my turn.”

he strips steve down to his gray briefs with little ceremony. steve groans as he listens to the seams of his family video uniform rip—sharp claws grazing his skin as the fabric falls to the wayside in tattered shreds.

how many times can he tell keith his dog ate his uniform before he gets fired?

doomed to be fired or not, it doesn’t matter, because steve’s so gone for eddie munson that he’d give up his job, dignity, and livelihood just to keep him happy.

he wags his ass back and forth to taunt, play, and entice. not that he needs to with how eddie’s acting, but because he wants to. he wants to rile eddie up even more.

“someone missed me, hm? can’t stay away from my pussy, can you? such a perv, munson,” steve jokes, but his laughter’s cut off when he receives a sharp slap to his ass. it’s certain to bruise.

“who the fuck touched you? who thought they were good enough to get so close, huh? where are they? i’ll kill them,” eddie’s voice is dark, deep, dripping otherworldly ichor and heat.

“n-no one! no one touched me, eddie! i swear! you can trust me!” steve always finds it alarming how easily his cock starts throbbing when eddie threatens to kill someone on his behalf.

but that’s neither here nor there. right now all he can think about is cumming and surviving, but mostly cumming.

eddie’s fully naked. steve has no idea when that happened or how, but suddenly his briefs—his brand new calvin klein’s—are being bitten off and discarded along with the rest of his clothes while the thick, leaking, barbed dick of his ‘friend’s’ is rubbing between his ass cheeks. it slips and slides and makes noises that would have definitely embarrassed the hell out of steve prior to this. squelching obscenely.

“who is she? why did she touch you? smells like girl. you smell like girl. don’t like it. hate it. hate her,” eddie’s crying which breaks steve’s heart, but he’s grown used to this too.

“it’s okay. you’re okay, eds. you have me. we’re safe. we’re in our nest,” steve says as calmly as possible, “no one’s going to hurt me and if they tried—you’d protect me, wouldn’t you?”

“always protect you, stevie. always,” he cries into steve’s skin, breathing hot and heavy. steve twists to grab his hand and squeezes three consecutive times.

“i know. i’m so proud of you. i’m so lucky,” he adds.

all of ‘new eddie’s’ emotions are insanely heightened in this way. he’s volatile, temperamental, and loves harder than anyone steve’s ever known. it’s terrifying and beautiful.

something clicks in steve’s head. a very vague, seemingly inconsequential moment from earlier that day. he needs to be more careful.

“baby, listen—it’s not what you think. this girl i used to go out with—years ago,” he stresses that part to dilute the importance, “came into family video today and she hugged me to say hi. we caught up for a minute. that’s all! and then she left.”

“don’t want to share, stevie. mine. you’re mine,” he’s nuzzling into the side of steve’s neck and licking at his throat, “mine. mine. mine.”

“yours. all yours. always yours.”

steve breathes a sigh of relief as eddie starts purring—that’s the closest thing he can compare it to—against him and rocks his hips back to let him know everything’s going to be okay. he still wants to be fucked, bred, filled.

“need to get rid of her scent. make you clean. make you mine again,” eddie grunts and lines himself up with steve’s hole. his hole, which, is still dripping and gaping from the events of that morning.

“good. that’s real good, baby. that’s what i’m here for. take what you need.”

eddie likes to cum inside him before he goes to work as a way of marking his territory since he can’t follow steve out into the world outside of this house (for now).

most days, steve wakes up with that huge cock buried in his ass. usually already pumped full with three or four loads and somehow eddie will still be rock hard and insatiably horny. nothing quells his constant arousal.

steve jumps when eddie’s tongue dips past his rim and begins lapping at his inner walls. eddie grips him by the waist, hands encompassing him with ease, and holds him in place. he finds his spot quickly and presses up into it with the tip of his tongue.

“taste like mine,” eddie slurps and then gathers a mouthful of saliva to spit directly into steve’s ass. it tickles, makes everything sloppier just as eddie likes it, “put babies in you this morning. going to put more babies in you now.”

it’s not exactly the truth but the possibility of pregnancy—specifically of eddie getting him pregnant—makes his dick ache for release and hang heavy between his legs.

“yes, sir. please, sir.”

“good human. good stevie,” eddie praises.

steve shivers from head to toe and whines into the pillow. his back arches to give eddie a better angle and he reaches around to spread his ass as far apart as possible so eddie can eat him out properly.

as he licks into him, steve gets a funny idea in the back of his mind. it’s risky given eddie’s physical prowess and unhinged state, but he’s feeling bratty.

“there is one other thing—she did tell me i looked hot in my uniform, but don’t worry i don’t think she meant anything serious by it,” steve bites his lip and smirks to himself.

he likes when eddie’s rough. he wants eddie to be rough with him.

the reality of the situation plays out so much better than it ever could have in steve’s imagination.

eddie flips him onto his back in one swift motion. kicks out his legs from underneath him and growls deep in the back of his throat.

steve sees his face finally and mewls. he’s fucking gorgeous. his eyes are blown out—pupils the size of the full moon. his sharp, elongated incisors are visible and bared. he’s snarling, panting, and his dick is swollen to the point that it’s slapping against his stomach with every move and barely fits between his thighs. it’s going to hurt like hell and steve wants it more than he’s ever wanted anything. he’s ready for eddie to break him.

“stay,” eddie orders him as he pushes steve’s knees into his chest and holds him by the ankles.

he’s drooling which should be gross, but steve opens his mouth to catch the droplets like they’re snowflakes. he moans on each swallow and eddie licks over his mouth in a sloppy half-kiss to express his pride.

and when eddie enters him in one forceful stroke, steve screams bloody murder. he sobs, whites out as eddie thrusts without pause. as he renters consciousness, he finds a puddle of his own cum pooling in his belly button.

a second orgasm building while eddie dips down to lap at his milky release. gathers it all in his mouth and feeds it to steve from the fat part of his tongue.

“thank you,” steve moans, as his body gets moved up and down the bed by sheer force and strength, “thank you for making me cum. thank you for making me yours. please breed me. please get me pregnant so girls won’t flirt with me anymore.”

eddie pins him down further, bending him past the point of comfort. steve’s a human pretzel, contorted in ways he didn’t think possible. eddie’s hips snap into him and steve knows it’s only a matter of time before his barbs will lock into place.

“my stevie,” he punctuates his words with bites to steve’s nipples, suckles on them and drags the sharps of his teeth over the buds to tease, “keep you safe. protect you. give you my babies.”

eddie’s trembling. tears back in his eyes. this is emotional for him. steve’s surprised to find that he’s welling up too despite the filth and pleasure.

“come on, eddie. cum in me. get rid of her. make me forget she exists. i’ll never think about her again,” steve whines, desperate to feel the spread of warmth in his sore hole. it purifies him every time. heals him.

the barbs take hold, lock in, and eddie cums with a violent cry. he chokes steve out while he does it, drags his talons down his chest and marks him up. and steve cums moments later, watching eddie’s gruesome lust turn into a soft smile of satisfaction and adoration.

he’s purring and rutting into steve ceaselessly. hips rolling in circles as he bends to lick steve clean. drags his tongue from top to bottom as his cock pumps seemingly endless spend into steve’s body.

by the end, his stomach is fuller and more rounded. be it from a baby or otherwise, they’ll have to wait to find out.

taglist (message me to be added or removed at any time <3): @estrellami-1, @disastardly, @ilovecupcakesandtea, @the-redthread, @asbealthgn, @bestofbucky, @vampireinthesun, @carlyv, @shrimply-a-menace, @lordrrascal, @jjoesjonas, @malachitedevil, @anxiouseds, @feraleddiekinninghours, @gay-little-bitch, @jhrc666, @pinkdaisies1998, @mcneen, @perseus-notjackson, @eiddets, @corroded-coffin-groupie, @three-possums-playing-human, @stevesbipanic, @plutoshelm, @arkenstoned, @indiearr, @they-reap-what-we-sow, @gleek4twd

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alphabetboyluvr · 7 months

Text

BAD DECISIONS - JJK | FOURTEEN

The silence remains. You're twisting his chain around his neck, now. Getting the clasp to the nape of his neck instead of at the front where it had been. Jungkook watches your unfocused eyes and wonders what the fuck is running through that disco ball mind of yours. "Hey, Byeol?" "Mhmm?" "You're still in control," he says so tenderly it's almost a whisper. He reaches over. Picks a rogue chunk of glitter from the strands of your hair that wisp around your face. Tucks the hair behind your ear. Lets his hand fall to chin, and tilts your face upwards. Looks you dead in the eye, and says, "I'll do whatever you're comfortable with. Nothing more, nothing less."

Bad Decision #14 - New Rules

warnings: jungkook incorrectly does a bird!!! byeols bird is unhinged!! smut - fingering!! oc hasn't shaved and jk simply prefers it that way! no kissing rule established (boo), no pet names rule established (double boo), no hand holding either!!!! jk has a huge boner <3 f receiving, nothing for him!!! rules are rules!!! mirrors <3 jk is always so chatty he he , mild hand kink?

soundtrack: nonsense - sabrina carpenter; wrong- zayn, kehlani

wc: 8k

bd total wc: 450k (on-going)

minors dni |

BD MASTERLIST | WATTPAD Ver. | A03 Ver. | SMUT INDEX

"Hey," you greet Jungkook with a coy smile by your apartment door. He smiles back. Tells you that you look like shit. Is definitely lying.

The way he looks you up and down gives it away.

Your hair is up in a claw clip, still a little uneven in colour because you don't want to put it through even more torture. A slouchy white shirt hangs off your left shoulder, and a pair of dark leggings hug your legs. It's casual. Comfy. Still got glitter on your eyes, as always.

Jungkook can't remember if you've had a discussion about yoga leggings, and how they've got a track record of giving him boners in record speed.

You haven't. You're just aware your ass looks fairly good in them. Not like it matters. Not like you need him to think your ass looks good. No, nothing like that at all.

You also haven't started a daily squat challenge. That would be immature. Flirting with danger. And even if you had, it would be incredibly stupid to leave the chart up on the kitchen fridge - which is where you beeline after you leave the door open for him.

You don't bother inviting him in, mind you. He knows he's welcome. Not because he's been there a thousand times over, nor because it's where you usually spend time together, but because the apartment is yours. He's welcome in your space.

But he is incredibly early - and you tell him as such when you curl up on the couch, tucking the piece of paper you'd swiped from the fridge door beneath a stack of magazines. Jungkook takes the spot next to you, despite the fact there are plenty of other places for him to sit instead. Part of you is tempted to kick him off.

The rest of you, though? So incredibly glad to have him close again.

"Danbi's class runs for another half an hour," you tell him as you scroll through the Netflix landing page.

It's a Monday, and neither of you have been at work today. The perks of your schedules aligning mean that Monday is always a safe bet, but you'd been in desperate need of alone time. The past few weeks have exhausted your social battery.

Jungkook gets like that sometimes, too - but he also doesn't like spending too much time in his own head, and so when a text from you had pinged through earlier that afternoon asking if he wanted to hang out, he replied almost immediately.

It's been a week. Over a week, actually. It's the first time he's seen you since you left his apartment. There's been no real discussion of what happened. A few 'i've seen your tits lol' texts here and there, but nothing that really qualifies as a grown-up conversation. You think you like it better this way; prefer the ominous unknown of the impact such a venture has had on your friendship.

For the most part, it seems like it's had minimal impact. None of which you can recognise straight off the bat, at least. Maybe he's a little more comfortable now than he once was, but you can't really tell. Not entirely.

Thing is, he always seemed comfortable before. There's never really been a need for boundaries. They came and went naturally.

Perhaps that's your problem: you got far too relaxed far too quickly.

And yet you keep a little distance. Who cares if he's seen your tits? God forbid you sit too close to one another.

"Class?" He questions, not realising Danbi was still studying.

She isn't. It's just her hobby. Something she does to unwind after spending all day chasing after unruly dogs.

You nod, eyes still on the screen, looking for something mindless to put on. He's here for the second installment of your Deadpool marathon, so you don't want to put anything worthy of investment on.

"Pole."

"Pole as in..." he says slowly, not sure of the correct term, so you help him out.

"As in pole dancing," you confirm. "She's been doing it for a while. Keeps trying to get me to join."

Jungkook doesn't look at you as he smirks, his eyes now also focused on the Netflix loading screen. "You? Pole dancing?"

There's a jovial glint in his eye, as if he thinks it's the funniest thing he's heard all afternoon. If you were to say that, he'd tell you that you're wrong. It's the funniest thing he's heard all day.

"Hey!" You kick your leg out to tap him, but he stops it before you can reach him. Squeezes his hand ever so gently around your foot. Pushes it back towards you, and holds it down. "I could be good at pole!"

He looks over to you now. "Byeol, I've seen you after twenty minutes on a treadmill. You don't have the stamina."

The smile on his lips would make it seem like he's joking - but he has seen you on a treadmill after twenty minutes. He's absolutely telling what he deems to be the truth, and the offence you take only makes him smile even more.

"Don't-" you halt your words to utter a shriek of disbelief. "Don't have the stamina? Fuck you."

"Nah," he grins. "You wouldn't have the stamina to handle me."

The conversation remains steady; a flirt between friends. Nothing more, nothing less. It's easy. Casual.

And when Danbi gets home, it doesn't change. Oh so incredibly easy. Jungkook fits into the life you've carved out for yourself, almost like there was a nook waiting just for him.

Pizza is ordered. Deadpool is played. Ryan Reynolds' ass in lycra is praised. Everything is as it should be.

When it hits midnight, and Danbi is already tucked up in bed, Jungkook makes his excuses. Gears up to leave. Mentions the fact he's got the gym in the morning. Can't be out too late.

The part of you that considers telling him to stay is quiet. Instead, you just nod and agree.

"It's a miracle you're still able to have a decent sleeping pattern," you say as you walk him to the door. "I'd be exhausted all the time."

He doesn't tell you, but he is. Really could have done with an evening to himself. Uni is ramping up, and he's worried he's gonna fall behind on his coursework already.

It's why he's pretty much radio silent for the week that follows.

Until, all of a sudden, he's not.

Jungkook: DB.

You: That's no better than disco ball.

Jungkook: It's better than BD.

You: ...Ball disco?

Jungkook: Big Ditties.

You: Oh my god.

You: I'm blocking you.

Jungkook: No you're not. Come hang out.

Jungkook: Coursework is driving me insane.

Jungkook: Need a distraction.

You: Good. Hope it does <3

Jungkook: :( comeee.

You: No :) x

You arrive a little after ten.

Jungkook is in sweats and a T-shirt, beyond the point of caring to dress up in your presence. Your dynamic is well-established by now; comfort found in the confines of your time spent together. He's got a buttered slice of toast in one hand, a dusting of crumbs detailing the tips of his fingers like the glitter on the inner corners of your eyes. He'd burnt it. You can tell by the scent that lingers in the air, and the knife marks near the crusts where he'd tried to scrape it off.

He grins, in that stupid kind of lopsided way he always does whenever he gets his way.

"Thought you said you weren't coming?"

Your lips are pursed, annoyance written along the line of your frown. The ink is water-soluble, though. One bite down on your bottom lip and it washes away. "I'm here to see the children."

He stands to the side. Opens the door just a little bit wider. "It's about time. They were about to report you to child protective services."

"Oh, yeah?" You encourage his teasing as you step over the threshold.

"Uh-huh," he continues as he bites down on the toast. It crunches beneath his teeth, but doesn't stop him from talking. "Negligent mother, they said - shoes off -" he interrupts himself when you point to your feet. "Take them to my room though."

It's curious, the way he's still keeping you hidden. The only reason for them to not be in the hallway is to stop Jimin from asking questions when he arrives home.

If you knew the grilling Jungkook's been getting ever since that evening Jimin nearly walked in on the pair of you, you'd understand. It's far easier for Jungkook if he gives his housemate as little ammunition to tease him with as he can.

But Jimin's not home. He's in Busan for the weekend.

Jungkook doesn't tell you this. He's not sure why. Part of him doesn't want to talk about Jimin with you. It's stupid, he'll admit, but he likes being your friend. Likes you being his friend. Doesn't like Jimin having one up on him.

He thinks it would be the same if he had a sister. That kind of protective nature.

But he's also seen you naked. Knows that he really can't kid himself into thinking it's entirely platonic. Is kind of confused by it all.

Just knows that he likes the way things are. Doesn't want them to change.

And so he doesn't mention Jimin.

When you enter his room, shoes tossed by his desk, you clamber up onto his bed and take a seat. There's no protest from him, no sign of it being an unwanted intrusion on his space. His sheets have been changed since your last visit, gold acrylic immediately washed away the morning after.

He takes a perch on his desk chair, swinging it around to face you. You're lit only by the lamp of his bedside table and the glow of the city coming in through his curtains. The warmth of the light makes your glitter look like crackling embers burning through the night skies.

"So," you say, all very matter of a fact. There's a demure nature to your poise. It's not very 'you'. "You requested my company?"

He nods.

"Why?"

He spins in his chair to his desk, and picks up a bird. Reads it aloud. "Invite a girl over."

You look at him for a moment, and purse your lips. He's an idiot.

"We both know that this isn't what that means."

"Why not?" He says as if he's genuinely without a clue.

"Because!"

You don't elaborate. Think there's no need. He knows exactly why not - but he's an insolent little fucker when he wants to be.

"No, because what, Byeol?" He says with a grin. He knows you're right. Doesn't care.

"Because," you emphasise. "We both know that inviting a girl over is so much more than just a simple act of asking her to come round. There are layers to it. Innuendo. It's like asking if she wants ramyeon, Kook. You know this."

There's a grin on his lips that he's trying to hide - and is failing miserably.

"The bird says-"

"Oh, fuck off," you laugh. "It doesn't matter what the bird says. You know what it means."

"Yeah," he feigns innocence to his misdemeanour, eyes all wide and watery. So deep brown in colour it feels like a black hole is just sucking you in. Will never let you leave. God help the next girl who falls in love with him. "It means that I have to invite a girl to my place." He gestures towards you. Shakes his head. "You are a girl, no?"

"You've seen my tits, no?"

"You can't use tits as a qualifier," he tells you. "Not when you insist I also have tits."

"Touche - but still. It doesn't matter if I'm a girl. I'm not a girl girl."

"What does that even mean?" He scoffs, but he knows what you mean. Knows that the risk of rejection from you isn't the same as it is with a random girl. Knows that you're an exception. Not the rule.

"Like, a romantic interest," you say, well-aware he doesn't need it explaining. You just think you need to say it for your own sake. "I'm a friend. It doesn't say invite a friend round, does it?"

"Okay, but it doesn't not say that, does it?"

You're stern as you stare him down. "Jungkook."

"Byeol," he replies with a grin so cheeky it's impossible to remain poised.

You roll your eyes. Lie down. Wave your arm in the air. "C'mere."

He doesn't relent. Doesn't say no. Just stands. Walks to his bed, and flops down beside you.

"Gimmie your phone," you say, but he refuses. "Don't be a pussy."

"I'm not. You're just not getting my phone."

You sit up. Rest on your elbow and look down at him. His eyes are closed. "Why not?"

"Because."

There's a smile tickling your lips. He's imitating you - but he also doesn't feel like explaining. Doesn't feel like trying to find a valid reason beyond 'I'm scared'.

"What happened to facing your fears, huh?" You poke his cheek. "You gonna be a coward? How is that gonna help you?"

"Byeol," he whines, tilting his head to avoid your continued poking. It's annoying, and deliberate. You want him frustrated. Want him proactive. Want him a little riled up. "Stop."

You don't.

"Byeol."

"I'll stop when you stop being a baby," you tell him, poking at his other cheek. Your finger travels all over his face, poking and prodding, ignoring the way he bats you away.

"Stop."

"You stop."

"Byeol."

And still, you don't. At least not until his fingers clasp around your wrist, holding it far away from his face.

"I said stop," he says with a voice so low it's almost a growl. His eyes are still closed. He pulls your hand to his chest. Holds it there. Is vaguely aware of the fact he's drawn you closer. Had almost made you lose your balance entirely.

It's not until you speak that he realises quite how close you actually are. Hears how quiet you are, too.

"And I told you to stop being a baby."

He opens his eyes. Takes you in. You're resting on his chest, thanks to his grip on your wrist and where he's positioned it. Neither of you seem to remember the concept of breathing.

You're close. Closer than he intended. So close he could probably count every single speck of glitter on the inner corner of your eyes. So fucking close. He thinks of the last time you were this close.

Also thinks of the fact he's now wearing sweats, and really shouldn't be thinking about you naked. Not again.

But he is, though it's not your body he's thinking of; it's your eyes, and the glitter that had been caught in your lashes beneath the water of his shower. How you'd glistened. And then fuck it, he's thinking of the way you showed him your fingers, all dainty and pretty, covered in your own-

"Fuck," you hiss in surprise, breaking from his gaze. His eyes fall to his chest, where the culprit of the interruption lies.

Another bird; resting pretty just below his ribs. It moves, up and down, with the contractions of his lungs. Jungkook looks to you, then back to the bird. You sit up straighter and pinch it from his chest. He just lets you, because he doesn't wanna be the one to do it.

He can tell from the wing shape alone that it's one of yours - and even if he couldn't, the way you groan and let your body fall onto his in defeat is a clear sign. He laughs. Strokes his hand up your arm, then ruffles at your hair.

"How bad is it this time?"

You just whine again.

"That bad?"

Nodding into his chest, you hold out the bird for him to take. Only once his chest begins to stutter beneath you, laughter taking hold of his lungs, do you sit up.

"Stop," you tell him, pouting.

He doesn't stop laughing. Serves you right for not listening to him earlier. "Christ, Byeol. Are any of these birds-"

"No," you cut him off before he can finish.

He sighs. Looks up at the ceiling. Shakes his head. Holds the bird to his chest.

"Let's think about this logically first," he says, because it's the only way he can think to not let things get out of hand again like he did last time. "Let's talk about it before we do it instead of after."

You nod. Take a deep breath. "Okay. What are you thinking?"

He looks at you and then back up at the birds. Scrunches his face up.

"I'm thinking... Fuck, alright, I'll be honest. I haven't done..." he trails off, cringing at himself. "Since my ex - although, technically she isn't an ex, but you know what I mean - since her..."

You wait with bated breath. Know what he's getting at. "You haven't done this in a while?"

He's silent. Lets his head turn to face you. "Haven't done this in a while."

"It's okay. We don't have-"

"No," he says. "A bird is a bird. I want to do it."

"You do?"

"Well," he considers, pretending like it's the first time. He's thought about this a lot; the mechanics of your situation, how it plays out in the future. Risk assessment. He's good at those. Has to do so many of them at university that he's started drawing one up one for the pair of you in his head. "I mean if my birds are making me approach girls, chances are things will head in the direction of hooking up, right?"

You suppose he's right. Tell him as much.

"So it'd be good for me to get practise in, right?"

"You think you need it?" You grin.

"No. But I enjoy it," he says. Holds his palms up above his head. Observes them. "I like using my hands."

They're large. One of them is covered in tiny tattoos, the other completely bare. Thin veins hide beneath his honey skin, the tendons always protruding just a little bit. The kind of hands that would be good to hold.

"You've got nice hands," you admit.

Long fingers. Thick knuckles. Well-trimmed nails. Perfect hands, you consider, but will never divulge. Wouldn't want to boost his ego so much.

"Have you been checking them out?" He teases.

"You made me!" you laugh, deflecting, then imitating his voice. "'Look in the mirror, Disco Ball, blah blah blah. Eyes on me. Watch what I do.' I didn't have a choice."

"Sure," he taunts, but he knows you're probably not being dramatic. He really did make you watch yourself, and is probably gonna do it again. Seemed to work well the last time.

He places his hands beneath the side of his head, and takes a moment to check how you're feeling.

You reciprocate his actions. Look at him for a little while. Neither of you say a word. It's like you're mentally preparing for what's about to happen; making sure that it's okay. Giving one another the chance to back out.

You won't, though. Far less of a coward than Jungkook. Too much pride.

"How do we do this?" you whisper.

He smiles. Just faintly. Tenderly. "However is most comfortable for you."

"Well, yeah," you smile back. It's sweet that he feels the need to clarify this. "But I mean, literally. Logically. How do we- Like- Do I just... take my trousers off?"

"I mean, it could be a start," Jungkook laughs. "We're thinking about it too hard."

You groan. Look to the ceiling with an embarrassed smile. You're both a little awkward, but it definitely feels like the awkwardness is mainly your problem today.

"Did you... with Jimin. Did you do this?" Jungkook asks. He's not sure why. Just wants to know.

The bird lies between you both. Has just two words on it. No exclamation points this time, but still with capital letters. Somehow feels less vulnerable to you than the last one.

GET FINGERED.

You consider not answering. Think it's kind of shitty to air Jimin's laundry in such a way - but it's just as much about you as it is him. More so, even.

"Not really," you admit. "A little bit. I hurried him along."

Jungkook pauses now. Thinks. Asks, "hurried?"

"It's just kind of what I do," you sigh, pulling your knees a little further up. Closing off. Protecting yourself. Jungkook pushes them back down again. You let him. "I don't really let people touch me, in that regard. I let them fuck me. Don't let them... have me."

Jungkook wants to ask what that entails, but figures you'd have shared it if you wanted to.

"I guess," you continue slowly, quickly glancing away, before deciding that his eyes are what you wanna see when you explain your relationship with sex. You want him to understand - and so you look back to him. He doesn't take his eyes off of you. "I kind of focus on the other person, yanno? For me, sex? Now? It's validation, I guess. Proving to myself I can still give people some form of... I don't know. Satisfaction? So yeah. I don't really want people touching me, as such. I'll touch them. I'll get them off. And I'd prefer it if they didn't get me off."

"It's a power thing, isn't it?" Jungkook theorises. "Control?"

You're silent. Just shrug. Maybe.

"I think - and you can tell me to shut up if you want - but I think that maybe it's because of your ex. He always held the cards?" Jungkook pauses, but you don't respond. Just look at his chest. Toy with the silver chain around his neck. "And this is your way of holding them instead?"

"Hey, Byeol?"

"Mhmm?"

"You're still in control," he says so tenderly it's almost a whisper. He reaches over. Picks a rogue chunk of glitter from the strands of your hair that wisp around your face. Tucks the hair behind your ear. Lets his hand fall to chin, and tilts your face upwards. Looks you dead in the eye, and says, "I'll do whatever you're comfortable with. Nothing more, nothing less."

You shake your head. "You get a say in this. It's not all up to me."

"I know I do," Jungkook replies without missing a beat. "If I didn't want to do something, I wouldn't. You're in control, but I can't be forced to do anything. Good luck trying if you think I can be."

You narrow your eyes a little. "So you're saying you want to do stuff with me?"

He grins. "Well, I don't find you entirely repulsive, even if you are incredibly annoying."

"Always a charmer."

"It's how I get all those girls - oh, wait," he jokes. Pauses. Thinks. Sighs. "Look, I'd rather work through my issues before I fuck up yet another relationship, and from the looks of it, you'd rather work through yours too. It just makes sense."

"I mean, we could just get therapy."

"Expensive."

"Time-consuming," you agree.

"This is far easier," he smirks, before deciding that you've had enough serious chats. There's no point running around in circles again. And so he decides to lighten the mood. "Now do you wanna get fingered or not?"

"Oh my god!" You slap at his chest and roll onto your back, laughing. "You're fucking vulgar."

"Is that a no?"

"It's an 'ask nicely, Jungkook.'"

He rolls onto his back, now. Laughs, too. "Is that what you want? For me to play nicely?"

"You're not playing at all, yet," you remind him.

There's hesitancy from both of you. It's a little awkward, and so unlike you - but there's no alcohol in your system like there was the first time a bird was attempted, and no excuse to touch like there was with the paint.

This one is just you and Jungkook.

"Can I go freshen up first?" You ask, a little nervous and highly aware of the fact you hadn't come with the intention of getting Jungkook in your underwear. He says of course, but you're halfway out of the door regardless.

As soon as you're in the bathroom, you're rummaging around in the cupboard - praying - looking for a disposable razor of sorts. You know Jungkook keeps his good one in his room, next to his towels.

Apparently, Jimin just loves to share regardless of what it is, much to Jungkook's dismay. It's not like Jimin's razor is here either - he's taken it with him to Busan.

Your search is fruitless, and when you return to Jungkook's room a little unsure of yourself, jeans off and tossed onto his desk chair, he can sense there's something wrong.

"I haven't shaved," you sort of blurt out, much to his surprise.

"Okay?" He grins, drying off his wet hands that he'd washed in the kitchen while you were gone. "Nor have I? You want a medal?"

"No, I just-"

"Thought I'd care?" He questions, a little bit offended. "First things first, this isn't about me. It's about you. And secondly, I kinda like it - so I really don't care."

"You like it?"

"I like pussy," Jungkook simply states. "Like it no matter what way it's served up."

"You're not eating it."

"Not yet."

"You are unbelievable."

"Believe it, Byeol," he winks, perching on the end of his bed. Reaching out, he encourages you closer. Gets you standing between his legs. "Enough fucking around though. I think we should set out some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" You question, knowing it's probably smart. Aren't sure why you didn't think of it first.

He knows why. Casual sex isn't that much of a big deal to you.

Jungkook's not good at the whole unattached sex thing, though. He only really sleeps with girls he's interested in romantically.

A boy that looks like him? You had expected him to have well over a dozen notches on his bedpost - but he can count them all on one hand.

It's not that he's a prude, or vanilla, or anything like that. Jungkook fucks. He fucks well. He just fucks the same people for extended periods of time. Takes comfort in routine. No chance to sleep around when you're as loyal as a dog.

You're the exception, not the rule. Time and time over, it becomes more and more apparent.

"Rules," he nods.

"No kissing," you reply almost immediately.

"No-" he's about to protest, but then nods. "No kissing."

In fact, he actually agrees with you. He loves kissing. Might even like it more than blowjobs. Would happily take an hour make-out session in lieu of foreplay. For him, it is foreplay.

And so despite how desperately sad he is to know he won't get his favourite thing, he understands why.

He only likes it because of how intimate it is.

"Anything else?"

You take a moment to think, and then decide, "No hand holding, either. And no pet names."

"Not even Byeol?"

"At this point, I'm not even sure you remember my real name, Kook. Byeol is fine."

He nods, then scrunches his nose in a little disgust.

"God." He dry-retches. "Imagine calling you something like baby." He retches again, a light grin tickling his lips as you scoff in offence. "Yeah, no you wouldn't suit anything cute."

"You're so lucky that the idea of you calling me baby repulses me," you flirt right back.

"Oh yeah?" he smirks - and then he's toying with the hem of your shirt. Pushing it up. Ghosting the lace of your thong with the tips of his fingers. "You'd hate it, would you?"

His fingers creep down. The pads of his fingers trace the tops of your thighs. Skirt the lace trim of your panties where they cover your pussy. Has your heart beating at a mile a minute.

"Would be such a turn-off."

The way his eyes scan your face has you wanting to take back every single rule you've just set.

"So you're telling me you're turned on, now?"

His words are met with a shrug. "I don't know, Jeon. Am I?"

"If I'm not allowed pet names, there's no way in hell you're allowed Jeon."

"No?"

He stands. Towers above you. Turns you round. Lowers his head, and lets his lips ghost your ear. "Not unless you wanna get me hard."

You fucking giggle. It's sin. When you turn your head ever so slightly to whisper in his ear, he thinks about saying fuck it to the birds. Needs more than what they're providing.

"I can feel you. You're already hard, Jeon."

He pulls away from you. Palms at his crotch. You're right. And so he just smirks. "Fine. Harder."

"Wouldn't that be a shame," you tease - but are met with a show of dominance you've haven't seen before from Jungkook as clasps both of your wrists together just above your ass. Positioning you just where he had you last time he was in your room, you know your underwear is getting ruined.

The view reflected back in his full-length mirror only makes your heart beat even faster.

"I won't lie," he swallows back the nerves that he was able to hide while he was flirting. Down his throat they go, settling next to his heart that's already beating a mile a minute. Positioning himself behind you, he encourages you both to the floor. You're sitting in front of him, as he kneels behind you and pulls you back a little. "You're right. I'm already real fucking hard, Byeol."

"Really?" You smirk. "Couldn't tell."

He tilts his head back. Groans. "God, I hate you. I want you to ignore it, okay? It's my problem to deal with."

All you can do is nod.

"Okay," he says softly as he leans around to position your legs how wants them: bent at the knees. Spread. You're on display - and Dear lord, what a treat for the audience. A treat for him. "Look in the mirror. Watch me, okay? Watch my hands."

And you do; watch the way his palms lay flat on your knees, then slowly, gradually, trickle down your thighs. "What do you say if you wanna stop?"

"Chess," you say, ending the word with a gasp as his thumbs brush the outer lace of your panties.

"Good girl," he hums into your ear, but you can barely hear him over your beating heart as his thumb begins to stroke over your clothed pussy. You're already soaked. It wets his thumb. Has him smirking. "Told you so."

He pushes the lace to the side. Exposes you. Makes him curse. Is slow as he sinks a single finger into you.

He keeps it shallow. Just the first two knuckles. Just enough to let you know he's there. You can still see the ink on his finger.

The moan you exhale is desperate. Needy. Gets him all smug.

"Just testing the waters," he husks into your ear as he pulls it back out, before the pads of his fingers begin to massage around your entrance. He's teasing. Caressing. Doing shit you've only ever had women do to you. The dudes you've fucked have never really cared for stimulation beyond the clit; haven't understood that the right touches in slightly different places can get you so fucking needy.

Needy like you mean it. Not the bratty kind, where you're in control; the pathetic kind, where they're in control.

He's massaging. Using his thumb and forefinger. Working his way up your labia; left side, then right. Up, then down.

It's not like the sensation is anywhere close to what it feels like when his fingers are elsewhere, but it's the fact he's doing it all that really gets you flustered. He's careful. Delicate. Wants you to feel good.

When you let out a moan, you can feel him smirk against you. He lines himself up with your entrance. He pushes his middle finger inside; fully this time. Pumps into you once, twice - "are you always this wet?" - then begins to stroke against your front wall. You whine.

He pushes into you again. Tells you how fucking hot you sound. Pulls out. In again. And then he builds speed. Fucks his finger into you. Just one - but it's enough.

Finally, you answer him between laboured breaths.

"Dunno. You'll have to do this again sometime and figure it out."

Withdrawing his finger, Jungkook rubs small circles over your clit. Holds onto you tighter. Smirks as your whimpers begin to build. His nose nestles into your hair, lips against your ear. "You want that, huh?"

The way your hips push up and grind against his languid movements should be indication enough - but you don't want to give him the satisfaction. Not yet, at least.

You smirk right back. "Meh. You could always just compare notes with Jimin, instead."

He pauses for a split second. Scoffs. Sinks his finger back into you. Builds pace. Can hear the sounds of your soaked cunt and knows that it would be cruel to compare. Jimin wouldn't stand a chance. There's no way he had you like this, too.

And Jungkook would be right. The way Jungkook has you now is unlike any of your hookups. You're sober, for a start, and that always helps in the wetness department - but you are wetter than you've been in a fair while.

His fingers are long. Intentional in the way they move. His middle finger hits all the right spots as it pushes into you. He curls it gently without needing to be told. He just knows. Can feel the slight difference in texture. Had trained himself to find it in the past, and is pleased to see yours is just as easy to locate.

You don't think Seokjin ever found it. Not really. For a while, you pretended he could - but it never felt like this.

"Kook," you rasp, ridding your mind of all thoughts of Seokjin. He's no right to be in your brain when it's someone else making you feel so good. "Right there. Right there. Fuck."

"I know," he husks. "Can you take another?"

All do you do is nod. Moan something incoherent. You want more.

He can tell.

"Can you take three?" he asks. You just fucking nod. Will take what he gives you. "Mhhm?"

He bites down the syllables, stopping the 'baby' he wants to mewl from coming out. He knows pet names are a no, but it's a force of habit. It's just like the muscle memory in his fingers knowing how he should touch you; something well trained, well practised.

He doesn't relent. Keeps going. Has your cunt stuffed with his fingers. Will make you cum.

It's just as much for him now as it is for you. He's watching your face, how you refuse to open your eyes, how your dewy lips are rested ajar, soft moans humming from your throat.

He kind of hates the rules. Knows they serve a purpose, and that they're smart, but it'd be so much easier for him if he could kiss you.

It's not that he actively wants to make out with you, it's just that it comes naturally to him. He doesn't think he's ever been inside a woman without actually kissing her. There's a sizable portion of his brain which is having to work against his instincts, now. If he didn't have to waste that energy, he could spend it on you instead.

But it also makes it exciting. A little sordid. You've removed the romance he typically associates with a position as promiscuous as this. Maybe he is capable of fucking around.

"I know," he husks as your body writhes beneath his touch. "Ba-" Shit. "Byeol, I know. That feel good?"

Feel good? Feel good? What kind of a fucking question is that? If you could form a coherent sentence instead of moaning every other second, you'd ask him as such. Instead, you settle with, "fuck."

"Should I take that as a yes?" he smirks against your hair, his second hand dropping from the grip it has on your waist down to your pussy. Pushing your thighs a little further apart, Jungkook has you in the palm of his hand like a fucking ragdoll. His hands work in tandem, fingers plunging into your while he rubs dainty circles over your clit, careful to not be too aggressive. He's taking his time. Building your high.

"Take it as a 'you could do better'," you whine, just to wind him up a little. He's doing fucking fantastic.

"Better?" He sounds offended, but is smirking, watching pleasure take hold of your features. He loves the way you goad him on. Knows you must be a right little brat in the right scenario. Think maybe one day, he'd like to experience it fully. For now, he simply growls into your ear. "Open your eyes. Look at yourself." He builds his pace. The sounds of him sliding into you are lewd. Soaking. Sopping wet. "You hear that? Tell me to do better again. Go on. I dare you."

Your gaze opens, all hazy and cum-drunk, falling on the mirror. Your skin is dewy, and the incident positioning of your spread legs puts you on full display.

Jungkook withdraws his fingers. Spreads your lips open. Holds his stare on you. Watches as your wetness drips from your entrance. Rubs circles on your clit. Encourages more. Watches as it seeps from you. Presses his hips upwards to let you know he's still fucking solid for you. He gathers your leaking slick on his index and middle finger, then pushes it back into you.

He's panting, too.

And so you smirk. Watch the pained lust in his eyes. Tell him, "do better," in a hushed whisper.

He's slow. Lets his touches linger. Doesn't pump into you like he had been - instead, he scissors his fingers ever so gently - and that's when you decide he's a menace to society and that you're probably doing the world a favour by keeping him off the streets for a little while longer.

"Holy shit," you hiss, and then your fingers are wrapped around his wrist again. He fucking laughs.

His nose nuzzles into your hair, his smirk not hiding his teeth. He's thinking about kissing you again. Just a small one. On the side of your head. Has to talk just to stop himself.

"That better, Byeol?"

All you can do is whine. Nod a little.

"Can't hear you. I asked a question. Give me an answer," he teases. "Now, is this better, Byeol?"

"No," you lie. "Considerably worse."

"Fine," he says, and pulls out. Grips your thighs with his soaked fingers. Squeezes them together. Lets you pant for a little while. He's panting, too. "On your knees."

"Sorry?"

"You will be," he smirks, changing his position behind you. "Get on your knees."

And so you do. You relinquish trust to him. Feel like you might have a heart attack from how fast it's beating - but he knows this. Strokes the curve of your hip. Hugs you into his chest ever so slightly and says, "the minute it gets too much, or you decide you've done enough... just say the word, Byeol."

He nuzzles his nose against your hair. Likes the way it smells. Hugs you a little tighter, still.

You nod. "At least tell me how you want me, first?"

It's the mental preparation you need, much more than physical. He knows this. Knows that his teasing has a time and a place. What was okay a few moments ago would be too brash now - so he tries a little tenderness once more.

He waits for you to look at him. Not in the mirror this time, but head turned, eyes on his. The glitter on your eyes catches in the light. Reflects in his eyes. Puts stars in them.

"On your front. Head down," he says slowly, not wanting it to sound crude. "Ass up. Or just flat on your front, if you'd rather. Up to you. Wait-" He stands, holding out his hand for you to take. When you do, he pulls you up and guides you to his bed instead. Lets you sit. He still stands. "Just realised I was asking you to be facedown on the literal floor. My bad."

You don't say anything, just smile at the fact he realised it. Such a boy, and yet such a gent. He's trouble, there's no doubt about it. As your eyes study his face, he seems sincere - and so you turn. Lean forward. Stretch out. Face down, ass up.

"Fuck," he hisses and gets on his knees behind you. One of his hands grapples at your ass, fingers sinking into the peachy flesh. He strokes against the soft skin, and then asks, "how do you feel about spanking?"

You smirk into his sheets. Plunge even further into them. Raise your ass even higher. "It's not on the bird."

His fingers dig further into your cheek. You're mewling. He's getting delirious again. "Byeol..."

The way you move your hips ever so slightly is absolute sin. You know you're trying to make him crack. You know it's working. "Mhmm?"

He pulls you back. Presses the bulge in his trousers against you. He's still hard. Harder, even. His hands are on your hips, keeping you close, even as he retracts - before pulling you tight to him. Repeats. Ruts himself against you a couple more times.

"If one of those birds doesn't end with me fucking you-"

"You'll what?" you say with a sardonic smile as you twist your body around and out of his grasp. You're on your back now, reaching for his shirt, pulling him down.

He complies. Tangles his legs with yours. Lets his hand cup your heat. Toys with you. Teases.

"What will you do, huh?" You flirt. "Die?"

He smirks now, too. Knows that you're taking the piss. Quite likes it. Likes that you remember the shit he says when he gets too horny for his own good.

"Maybe," he husks, sinking his fingers inside you again. Didn't even get to have you how he wanted you, but he likes this. Likes the flirt. Likes how erratic your breathing gets.

"Guess you'll just have to - fuck - keep waiting for them to fall," you turn a little. Hook your leg over his hip. Grind against him. Ride his fingers. "See if you get what you want."

"I'm incredibly patient," he lies. Builds the speed he's fucking them into you at. Uses the hand that's not bringing you closer and closer to climax to hold your chin. Wants to keep you looking at him.

"Liar."

"I'll do this for hours if it means making you cum," he almost snarls over the sound of your moans.

You laugh. Stutter on the moans in your throat. Tell him good luck. Let him know that you can't remember the last time someone else made you orgasm. You can do it yourself, easy. Someone else? Good fucking luck.

"Fine. We're gonna make you cum," he says as if it's a group activity - but then he drops his grip from your chin and reaches to the hand of yours that had been hooked over his shoulder. Guides it to your pussy. "Get yourself off."

You stare at him for a moment. His pace eases, but his gaze doesn't drop. He's slow. Rubs at you just in the right way. And then he says, "get yourself off while I'm inside you."

You say nothing. Do as you're told.

"Good girl."

It doesn't take long. If anything, it's embarrassing how quickly he has you coming undone. Admittedly, you're just as much a part of it as he is. Without your input, maybe he would have had to have been going for hours.

But you are involved, and you're shaking around him. Legs trembling. Toes pointed. Head buried into his chest, fingers wrapped around his wrist to stop him from overstimulating you too much. His name escapes your lips as your orgasm ripples through your muscles, and Jungkook just fucking laughs.

"So fuckin' hot," he praises, lips pouty, in desperate need of a kiss to offset the fact he's practically leaking precum into his pants.

Rules are rules, though. They're not made to be broken. Not these ones.

He withdraws from you, and wipes the mess on his sheets. Will deal with it later. Watches you as you giggle to yourself, orgasm well and truly delivered. When your eyes open and focus on him, Jungkook is pleased. You look content.

"I'm still scared," you simper. "We might have to practise that one a few times."

He laughs now, too. Rolls onto his back. Can smell your arousal on his fingers. Has never been more hungry in his entire life.

"Such a liar."

But you both are, in your own ways.

"Maybe. Thank you... for that," you say, very aware of the unfair dynamics of just you getting off, but knowing that without a fallen bird to specify it, there's no way you can just reciprocate.

"Pleasures all mine," he says, as if he isn't letting himself get severely blue-balled. Knows what the agreement is though. You getting him off now would be just for his benefit. He laments the fact he's not scared of blowjobs. Wishes all of his birds were like yours, now.

The silence consumes you both. Has you wondering why you never come undone like that normally. Makes you think maybe you need to stop preventing people from touching you in such a way. Jimin had tried. You can remember - but you'd dismissed him.

He's not the only person you've dismissed in such a way. Perhaps you will enjoy casual sex more if you don't keep your desires at bay. Maybe Jungkook's been right about this all along.

"Anyways," you turn to face him. "Phone."

"Hmm?"

"Well, we've done my bird. We need to do yours from earlier."

Jungkook says nothing. Is a little bit confused. He's still hard. You've barely come down from your orgasm. Surely nows not the time?

You couldn't disagree more even if you tried. It's the perfect time. Stops you from thinking about how fucking good that was, and how much you want it to happen again.

"You... want me to invite a girl round?"

"Well, not while I'm still here" you consider. "Like, text them now, but arrange it for another time."

"Yeah, but-" Jungkook wants to protest. Wants to remind you that his sheets are covered in you. Instead, he just looks at the ceiling, a little baffled.

"If it's too much, why don't you just text a girl, at least?"

He frowns. You don't notice, because you're looking at the ceiling, too.

But then he sighs. Maybe you're right. Maybe he is being a coward.

"Alright," he reaches for his phone from the nightstand. Unlocks it, and opens up his Instagram DMs. Looks over to you. Catches your gaze. Smiles, despite the uneasy feeling in his stomach. "What do I say?"

BD MASTERLIST | WATTPAD Ver. | A03 Ver. | SMUT INDEX

#jungkook #jungkook angst #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #bts fanfic #jungkook imagines #jungkook scenario #jungkook fanfic #jungkook oneshot #bd!jk #bad decisions

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goodluckdetective · 9 months

Text

Here’s the thing they will realize later, after hurts have been mended, apologies have been given and things have been properly said: neither of their plans would have worked.

In one world, Crowley says yes when Aziraphale begs him to stay, unable to leave his angel knowing he will soon walk into a pit of vipers more venomous than he ever was. He grits his teeth and accepts his halo back with shaking fingers, and tries to focus on the grin on Aziraphale’s face. He does not stop wearing black, nor does he stop going by Crowley: Aziraphale doesn’t want him to do either regardless. And when Aziraphale hands him a crank and a chart of stars, he actually manages to smile within white empty walls.

It works, for a time. Aziraphale, to his surprise, does not expect him to change other than his occult classification. The other angels are resistant, of course they are, but changes are made, actual good ones. Less people starve. The clause about the humility of the poor is thrown out and replaced with a doubling down against the rich. Unicorns make a comeback, though in small numbers. And after long days when work is done, Aziraphale asks Crowley to show him work on the stars, and they map out new galaxies that will last far behind 6000 years.

Crowley isn’t happy there: it is too clean, too sterile, too full of backhanded comments and belittling taunts. But he is not miserable either. And that’s perhaps the biggest surprise.

Maybe that’s why he doesn’t notice the other angels planning the second coming after Aziraphale and him are both positive the plans have been scrapped for good. He notices before Azirpahale but not before Metatron has stripped him of heaven’s light once more and locked him in a cage with a bucket of holy water at the ready. For Metatron and the others know that Aziraphale can be tempted into what they want by or in this case, for, the original tempter himself.

Unlike Aziraphale, Heaven’s love has always been fickle. Crowley has always known this, has wanted Aziraphale to understand it too. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt to see Aziraphale find him in the cage and realize that Heaven invited Crowley back to cage Aziraphale in return.

In another world, Aziraphale leaves the bookshop after a kiss that gives him enough second thoughts to leave the elevator behind. Crowley does not take off his sunglasses until Aziraphale is seated in the Bentley and Aziraphale hates himself when he sees the tears the shades hid. They embrace for a long time before Crowley pulls out one of the few books he actually keeps: a map of the stars.

They don’t go to Alpha Centuri because both have had more than enough of Gabriel. Instead, they go to other planets, other stars, some of which were born by the very star factory Crowley started. They spend time on Earth too, keeping an eye out for the second apocalypse Crowley warned Aziraphale they are planning. Aziraphale does as much good as he can on those visits, often wearing himself out to exhaustion. Every time they have to leave, when Heaven or Hell catch up to them: unlike their former bosses, they are enough of a threat to never leave alone. Crowley often has to carry Azirapahle away from the planet they long called home after these trips, the angel barely awake after doing as much as he can. Aziraphale knows he doesn’t like leaving either, he hates suffering as much as Aziraphale does, but unlike the angel, he’s able to separate himself from it instead of it eating him alive.

Aziraphale isn’t happy, away from Earth, from his dedication to doing good. But he is not miserable either. And perhaps that’s the biggest surprise.

Aziraphale plans to surprise Crowley with a proper dance in a lovely garden in France when they arrive to find the Earth is not the Earth anymore. Instead it is either one of the following: a burnt out husk of sulfur, or a glass dish like a macabre snow globe.

In the former scenario, there is no outrunning the demons, who want to ensure the last angel left (because they got Gabriel as soon as they could, Aziraphale was always going to be last) is dead and gone. With no power of Heaven to draw from, Aziraphale cannot run fast enough and Crowley cannot carry them both with enough speed to escape them. The demons catch up them both on a small house on a small planet and the house goes up in hellfire with a snap of a demon’s fingers.

When Crowley screams out his name, Aziraphale is sorry he will not be able to soothe his tears this time.

In the latter scenario, the glass globe that Heaven crows over like a magpie, Aziraphale looks at what Heaven has wrought and falls to his knees. He does not hear Crowley shout as he takes in what God’s plan has turned out to be, he does not feel Crowley shake his shoulders as he sees the world he loved preserved in its last moment of agony. He does not even feel his feathers burning until half of them have fallen out, his halo has cracked and his eyes start to bleed black.

If this was the ineffable plan, he thinks, he loathes every part of it. And as he falls, Crowley desperately trying to hold his feathers to skeleton-boned wings, he realizes there is no hell left to fall into, only a black hole where one demon will never find him again.

Neither of these situations happen. Instead there is an uncomfortable elevator ride, a silent car and more than enough tears. There will be more unpleasantness after that, such is the nature of things. But eventually, there will be awkward meetings, apologies shared, and forgiveness spoken. And one day, somehow, there will be a cottage in the South Downs where there is a garden almost as grand as Eden, a library to entice any bibliophile and a kisses that are not a goodbye but a hello.

#Iz writes #character death #fic #good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens fanfic #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #take this fix it of sorts where I point out the ending we got is actually the best outcome #is this a fic or something I cranked out in half an hour: who’s to say

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homochadensistm · 3 months

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Hi,

My apologies if you've answered this before (yay tumblr search), but I'm curious about an aspect of your job.

I've always heard that it's incredibly difficult to get a job in archaeology because pretty much the only employers are universities and the government, and that actual fieldwork positions are insanely rare. I (embarrassingly) honestly thought jobs like yours had died out (the walking around & trying to find historical sites).

So my question is - are you employed by a private company or sth government funded/in academia? I imagine there's few better regions for archaeology than the levant, but does that make it a profitable industry?

(Love your blog btw, ur one of my favourite people on here bc your vibes are just off-the-charts based)

The answer highly depends on which country you're talking about! Everything I saw here applies to israel.

Generally speaking, in most countries (to my knowledge), employment in archaeology is either through the government, private companies, or the university, the uni being what we like to call "couch archaeology" (barely any fieldwork, writing papers). In Israel the law states that you cannot build anything that requires digging without the presence of an archaeologist and a permit from the government, which is why the vast majority of archaeological work is done by the Antiquities Authority, which is also the supervisory body of said work. Private companies can compete for projects that the Authority outsources, but the work they offer is seasonal, while the Authority provides work all year round. Universities also dig but they dig sites that "belong" to the uni and excavations are usually very short (1 month seasons usually).

The most varied type of work is done in the Authority because of its status as an official govt body that is in charge of all things archaeology. Work ranges from managing excavations, surveying, overseeing real estate projects, investigating and preventing antiquity theft and black market stuff, and ofc writing and publishing articles (the law also states you must publish everything you excavate). Unis and private companies also do that to a degree (minus the stuff requiring legal authority like overseeing real estate stuff and robbery investigation) but again, minimally and seasonally. Not gonna say where I specifically work but I'm sure u can figure it out :^)

Getting a job in uni is extremely difficult because tenure track positions are scarce abd competition is fierce. Getting a job in a private company is easy because they're seasonal. Getting a job in the Authority is also relatively easy because there's A LOT of work to do and not enough ppl to do it. Finding work as an archaeologist in Israel is really not very difficult and I personally know a double digit number of foreigners who came to israel to work as archaeologists. Now, is it profitable? Eh. Neither uni nor the govt/private companies pay super well, but it's enough for me to stay alive, have hobbies and travel abroad once in a while. Actually, i think the biggest lifehack of this type of work is traveling abroad for free for conferences tbh (both uni and the govt will send u on those) because b4 the war I'd go abroad at least twice a year to give lectures on someone else's dime lmao.

Hope this helps!

#israel #archaeology

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foxes-that-run · 2 months

Text

Part 1: Harry’s Heart tattoo

This post is in three parts:

When Harry got the Heart tattoo

70 Heart Kisses (1D years), and

70 Heart Kisses continued. (Solo career)

The amazing @womanexile and @this-daydream-is-dangerous-13 started this off with finding a good chunk of these. Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for your amazing timeline help. This is by no means complete, which I think is impossible.

It’s also important to note that only Harry knows what this tattoo is about, why he kisses it or if that is for one person and who that may be. Below is a list of times he has kissed it with other events at that time. To me, many kisses appear to be about personal milestones.

youtube

22 June 2012 - Arm kiss - Harry kissed this part of his arm during ‘More than this’ at radio Disney (3:13). Some fans edit this footage, I think watching it in context seems quite different to some edits.

Many edits of this and other kisses also often cut the song out completely, Harry seems to express something he’s thinking so the song matters. When Harry introduced ‘More than This’ in the Listening Party for Up All Night he said it was his favorite song on the album and ‘a deep one’. The song is about a shy guy being sad his love interest is with someone who loves her less - wondering if it is because he is shy and he gets the courage to ask her.

Harry and Taylor had been together since 20 May 2012. 15 May Taylor wrote Run with Ed Sheeran with the lyric “there’s a heart on your sleeve, I take it when you leave and hold it for you”

10 June - Taylor wrote in her Journal: "God I've been having such a beautiful life lately. I can't believe it. It's like there's magic in the air".

15 June - Harry got the Won’t stop till we surrender tattoo, close to here on the underside of his arm, on the anniversary of Taylor having the same song as arm lyrics.

16 June - Ed had said that Harry ‘was taken’ (21 mins).

18-21 June - 1D had a week off and Harry and Taylor were in LA and then unseen. Liam and Niall did several twitcams, Louis with Eleanor everyday in LA, Zayn left LA.

21 June - their first day back at work was the blank arm kiss, both were still in LA.

23 June - the band left LA and said Harry was the best wing man with the worst luck with girls for himself. Liam called him a lonely old man and Harry looked sad. In the same interview Harry said his favorite 1D song was I Want (about a girl that wants material things) and Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody (about being lonely while touring) as his favorite of other artists.

26 June - Harry was seen crying outside what is said to be a radio station.

1 July - (a week after Harry and Taylor were last together) Taylor was first seen with Connor Kennedy. Harry then started being pictured on random dates.

So the arm kiss during a song about a shy guy’s love being with the wrong guy followed the band saying he had had some terrible luck with ladies then Taylor started publicly dating Connor.

Heart Tattoo

Taylor was last seen with Connor 19 August, Harry got Never Gonna Dance Tattoo 2 days later. By 4 September 1D and Taylor were both in LA for VMA rehearsals, the public saw the first photo of them together.

24 September - Harry tells Nick Grimshaw they are filming tour screens for 3 days. Neither love banner nor heart tattoo in the tour screens.

25 September- Harry gets the Love Banner Tattoo (covered by the left sparrow in Nov). It is assumed the Heart Tattoo also, because it’s not in the tour screens.

26 September - Niall told Nick Grimshaw they had a press day. Harry's heart tattoo can be seen on Chart Show TV, seems to be not filled or still healing. The band do a lot of interviews that day, at some point Harry gets moved so his arm is away from the camera and in some his arm is cut off the frame. The videos are used by many outlets throughout October and November.

27 September - Entertainment on demand is first to run where the Tattoo is visible.

30 September - Harry MIA and Taylor in Paris to film Begin Again

1- 15 October - in London together, 1D and Taylor both perform Teen Choice Awards

17 October - Harry posted pink and blue heart tattoo photo. Taylor also shared a lover journal entry for October 17, 2012, LA where she wrote this Love lyrics.

See 2012 Timeline

Tattoo meaning

We don’t know the meaning. To me, having kissed his bare arm in this place hints that it was planned, I think the timing may have been purposeful, as several tattoos seem to be. Perhaps he achieved the goal in “more than this” (Overcome shyness to be with his partner). Harry also seems to have meaning in when he kisses the right arm. I wonder if some of those are about a different partner or because he was not dating Taylor. Harry also kissed ‘Things I can’ after some break ups. The kisses on the anatomical heart seem to have a similar meaning to the first heart, but maybe a more mature love. He had also kissed the anchor.

Songs

The next 2 posts are a timeline of 70 times Harry has kissed his arm (actually 77 for a 10% margin of other tattoos/arm and coughs). Harry has kissed his heart in more than 30 songs. In this list, You and I, Sweet Creature and Two Ghosts/Falling have the most kisses. Followed by LOML, Night Changes, and Last First Kiss. The most heart kisses are actually in 2022, followed by 2014, in tie for third is 2015 and 2021.

The marker heart

A well trodden but poorly referenced story is that on the X-factor Tour (February - April 2011) Harry once had a heart drawn in marker on his arm.

The earliest I can find this photo posted is here in a group of photos on 7 July 2011. It is taken in a dressing room, you can see Lou Teasdale in the background, her name is on his chest and Lou has the same tattoo. Lou’s then boyfriend Tom Aitken also has this tattoo.

Tom tattooed Harry’s “Never Gonna Dance” the month before Harry got the heart and said that Lou’s Heart was first and that ‘Harry’s is kind of diff. It’s quite a popular one’. They also drew it on their baby in marker.

Other members of 1D have heart tattoos in a different place or design, this post is about why matching tattoos ….match.

I’ve read “when Harry turned 18 he got it tattooed”. Harry got the Star when he turned 18, this was 8 months and 17 tattoos later. He got the tattoo at a time that was meaningful to him.

In the 2011 timeline there’s fair indication Harry and Taylor knew each other then anyway.

Taylor also had a marker heart on her foot on the Debut CD. In this interview she talked about getting it tattooed if Debut went double platinum, (now x7, but she didn’t.) However I don’t think either marker heart has special meaning other than Harry planned this tattoo.

Run, a song Taylor and Ed wrote in May 2012 about Harry refers to a Heart on your sleeve also:

#haylor #harry styles #Youtube #tattoo kiss #harry's tattoos

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evansblues · 6 months

Note

Does Chris have any clairs or spiritual gifts?//

Red Flower,

That's exactly what I was going to talk about before answering the anon question.

He has spiritual abilities like the rest of us. But once again, you have to love and respect yourself in order to awaken them. Alcohol, drugs, sex overdose (because sexual energy is sacred and directly linked to the spiritual world and when its directed properly makes wonder) but also lies, meanness and judgment lower your energetic frequency and prevent you from connecting with your guides.

He grew up in a religious environment, but not a spiritual one, even though he's very inclined towards these questions. He's very curious about the secrets of the invisible world, but nobody wants to talk with him about it. Neither his family, nor his friends, who seem to mock him a little on the subject.

Ha has been misdirected in pseudo philosophy that are more intellectual than anything. He cut himself off from the Source because he felt he had to in order to survive, as he literally crave to regain his link with the universe because he has a vague recollection of what it's like to be in osmosis with God.

The day he stops sabotaging himself (yes, it will happen!) he'll be able to read others clearly. He'll feel who he can trust and who he can't. He'll also be able to see the future in his dreams and be inspired in his art to do things he's never done before. There's something about his voice. The tone of his voice soothes suffering souls because he understands them better than anyone. Often those who've been through the worst are the best at what they do, because they know what they've been through to get to know their true selves.

Once again, it seems that the reunion with FS will unlock that.

Let me know EvansBlues if you have the same feeling about it.

Namaste. Infinite Gratitude.

You’re like that one friend who agrees with me and I’m like “see I told you”. 😂 I don’t think his friends and family are subtle about their distain for his spirituality. I think they’ve openly mocked and shamed him, which is why he turned to substances. It’s also why I have talked poorly about them, fairly openly. I think he’s extremely gifted in many different ways, and that’s part of what he’s here to do, among other people.

As someone who also grew up with a lot of gifts, it’s really hard if you’re not surrounded with the right kind of people, even if they mean well, it can feel very isolating, and it can cause a lot of dissociation. He’s a lot more social than I am, so he medicated to maintain his personal connections. It’s hard to be a Gemini and to have his gifts, I can only imagine. It really infuriates me that when he talks about his “shhhh” schtick; quieting the mind and telling it to shut up because those are his gifts trying to talk to him, those are his thoughts trying to help him, those are his intuition trying to come through for him. He just adopted the idea that if everyone around him tells him to shut up then he should tell himself to shut up too, and it makes me really angry. He’s surrounded by assholes who hinder his growth because it makes them uncomfortable.

I’ve been seeing similarities in the charts that I’ve studied, both of the people that buy readings from me and celebrities I look at and even just my friends and family. There’s a big shift in the collective coming. He’s a big part of that.

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mxanigel · 4 months

Text

what we have is each other

The lovely @socially-awkward-skeleton and @captastra tagged me to play with this relationship template!

That's a fantastic template for two people. And I hope to use it for Vix and Shadowheart once I explore more of their journey. But. Uh. My current brainrot is my AoT OT3. So I'm stealing this opportunity to share the latest version of their chart (OT3 template here).

Explanatory rambles below the cut!

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Hange is a chaotic non-binary mess of a leader soldier, Levi is a clean freak who blunt and crass and so deliberate with emotions that he doesn't express them like others do, and OC Shion is a broken sunshine character seeking joy on her better days and clawing for meaning on her worse ones.

[greeting each other] Levi consistently uses demeaning terms toward Hange. "Idiot," "four-eyes," etc. When he uses their name, it's a big deal. I haven't figured out what he'll call Shion, but since she confessed so early in their relationship, he didn't have a chance to come up with something like what he calls Hange before Things Changed between them.

[First to confess] ahaha yeah Shion first tells Levi she loves him in chapter 9. We're on chapter 23 and neither Levi nor Hange have used those words. (but we're getting so damn close aaaaaaa)

[First to kiss] Levi kisses Shion after she confesses. He can't articulate why. She doesn't press him to. He knows she's important to him, something he shows in a thousand little ways. (Hange's a force of nature and takes all of this in stride in chapter 10 in very Hange-esque ways.)

[Dies for the others] OHOHO the WAYS this could happen depending on timeline and adherence to canon. Dare I explore a worldstate in which Shion dies to save Hange's life? WE SHALL SEE

[Prone to hide their feelings] This condition is in Levi Ackerman's blood okay. And an innocent chapter 8 conversation leads Hange to hide their feelings for both Shion and Levi to some extent. Their affection? Not at all hidden. Their romantic feelings? BURY THAT SHIT. Until they can't keep it buried any longer.

[First to apologize after a fight] Shion is not one who tolerates strain between herself and those she loves. Especially if she's the person responsible for it. But when that strain exists for reasons outside of her control… she won't apologize for the sake of apologizing. And she's learning not to apologize for who she is or how she feels.

["Excuse me, they asked for no pickles"] Shion will sit there and roll with things (and may encourage others to do the same depending on the situation) but there is no freaking way Levi or Hange would accept any of the three getting pickles when they didn't ask for pickles, lol.

[Spoils the others] How said spoiling occurs depends on the person, but they're each ready able and willing to spoil the other two.

[Wakes up first] Levi canonically doesn't sleep much. So I headcanon that Hange has experimented with sleeping draughts (experiments which always piss off Levi regardless of effectiveness because Hange takes it as a personal challenge to slip him one without him noticing). But for this relationship, he's the first one awake which has already manifested multiple times in the fic. The very limited scenarios in which he wouldn't wake first are super fun to play with~

["What's updog?"] I took this line less literally, seeing it as which of them are the most casual in speaking to the others, most likely to make puns, etc. And that's 100% Hange.

[First to propose] Once the OT3 shakes off its rocky romantic restart, this is unnecessary. Hell, even before the official confessions, they're already a unit.

[Wants children] I actively avoid giving my OCs children. I stopped writing for one in part because it seemed like children were a likely outcome. And then Shion comes along and turns that on its head. So. There's a kid in one possible future. With three parents who love her very much.

[Didn't know they were dating] The they-were-already-a-unit thing I mentioned earlier comes into play here. I have mixed feelings about the word "dating" here only because it tends to have romantic connotations, and both Shion and Hange's initial feelings are strongly platonic. But given how much I adore Levihan and that this is my first-ever OT3, plus after thinking long and hard about how Shion eventually feels about Hange and vice versa, I decided all of their feelings would be considered romantic.

[Initiates contact] Shion holds back SO HARD from being affectionate toward Levi, but he picks up on that (and appreciates it) and works to communicate when he's more open to that sort of thing. Not that he's good at it, but he tries. Meanwhile, Hange is alllll about touching and other affectionate gestures, which helps further lower the barrier for the other two.

[Approached first] Shion kind of sort of approached Levi first (remember, she was holding back) and Levi, once he's open to taking another step, doesn't hold back. But I'm thinking about this romantically, and Hange is highly reticent to show romantic advances toward either one knowing that Shion has feelings for Levi.

[Says the L word first] Shion 100%.

[The oblivious one] I'm using "oblivious" a bit loosely here; Levi takes a while to sort through what to name his feelings, and Hange hangs out in denial for quite some time.

-----

No-pressure tagging people to play with either template and/or just skimread my OC+blorbo rambles~ @poetikat @mxkelsifer @milesmentis @arendaes @outpost51 @dr-paine @saraptor @perhapsrampancy @spindleweedss @marythegizka

#OT3: what we have is each other #fic: Cut to the Feeling #ship template

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myulalie · 2 years

Text

How famous is WIK, canonically?

When he first appears, it’s during open house day at the music faculty. His unnamed friend introduces him as “really popular on social media” and people cheer, but Porschay’s friend has no clue who WIK is.

Yes, Porschay questions his friend’s ignorance, but Porschay is a fan. He could be surprised that said friend doesn’t remember Porschay talking his ear off about WIK. I’ve personally mentioned a lot of celebrities (music, acting…) whom I think are “common knowledge” to friends and relatives as a teenager and even a young adult. They’re rarely known or only if you play a song people might have heard on the radio.

Speaking of the radio, it’s not featured much in KP, and we don’t hear any of WIK’s songs playing unless it’s part of the scene/the OST.

WIK plays his song and people clap their hands, but apart from a few fans I’ll get back to later, no one seems overly familiar with the song, there is no singing along. Later down the line, WIK’s friend asks questions for the quizz, and while WIK has music videos of his own, we’re talking about covers too, so WIK is a youtuber, with a couple of original songs featured in the show.

As I was saying earlier, a few students are really on top of things, they know the answers and want a shirt, so let’s assume 4 superfans, and a couple of casual fans. What’s left? Clueless students? We could assume everyone somehow heard of WIK at least, they’re here for open house day at the music faculty, they’re interested in music and could be invested in what students from this university produce, but it’s still very niche.

Moreover, when Porschay comes up to WIK to get a shirt after the quizz, I can’t help but notice that there isn’t a crowd. WIK is taking pictures but he’s not surrounded by fangirls, none of his schoolmates are around except for his friend, no security... He signs the shirts on the spot, it’s very amateurish as far as fan meetings go.

It reminds me of walking past a guy taking pictures with a couple of starry eyed girls at the O2. I could only assume he was some kind of influencer but neither me nor my friends (I think there were 6 of us?) could recognize him.

Kim doesn’t go to uni often, as we learn later, but when he does go to class he seems to be able to move about without being followed. As far as security goes, it’s mostly building security at his flat and bodyguards from his family. Overall, nothing suggests that he’s overly famous.

Let’s talk about Kim himself for a second. Kim wants to get away from his family, and the real challenge for him is to pursue a career in music, his passion. He never mentions anything about being famous. When he’s on stage he’s playful with his friend, but slightly shy/embarrassed with the spotlight and almost looks bored when he’s not singing, although he seems appreciative of his fans and how they notice little details.

Even with Porschay, Kim seems uneasy with being the center of attention.

Kim behaves like a youtuber more than a celebrity and canon seems to support this theory. It works out considering his social status as well, Kim can afford the studio, the guitars, the production costs, the sheer time it takes to both make music videos/play music and be nosy about his family's doings.

I’ll take a second to consider his casting as well. Jeff Satur. He’s mostly known as a youtube cover artist as well as some acting. Now, I’m not overly familiar with him and I don’t know much about the entertainment industry in Thailand, so I looked up Jeff’s charting positions: his best ranking was #115 and the worst was #288.

I had never heard of him before (I’m from Europe, so it’s not unexpected). I’d say his popularity outside of Thailand is close to non-existent if you’re not already involved in BL or specifically interested in Asian music.

With around 1 million followers on Instagram, he’s doing well for himself, but I wouldn’t say he’s famous yet (wishing you all the best, Jeff).

Which leads me to my next point: I assume Jeff is supposed to represent Kim’s popularity by sheer power of suggestion.

According to the analysis above, WIK is a local celebrity at best.

One could argue that Kim is popular in another area (fashion, producing music…) but it’s not shown on screen.

Is it even safe for him to be overly famous? The exposure could lead to complications if anyone notices his ties with the mafia, and his father might even interfere to avoid such a thing.

Assuming the Why Don’t You Stay video is canon (I’m torn, it’s also promotional material for the series and filmed as such, but for the sake of the analysis…), WIK sings in a mostly empty coffee shop, and no one pays attention to him. It might be just a way to perform in his spare time, or a small event he organized himself but the turn out is… small, to say the least.

Is Porschay the only one there?

There could be a lot of explanations for this situation so I’m not hellbent on treating it as canon, but it is an interesting choice nonetheless. The music video could feature a small crowd and it doesn’t. Maybe they’re invisible to Kim, maybe it’s thematic and specific to Kim and Porschay’s relationship, but still.

Kim connects with Porschay over their song-writing, more than Porschay's attention to details on his youtube channel and the awestruck aspect of their dynamic. I think Kim went to music school because it’s what he’s really interested in and more than fame, he’s searching for a sense of community, which would make sense with the youtube channel as well, sharing music with others.

Does he have some kind of following? Definitely. A decent following? Perhaps. Is WIK famous? I don’t think so.

#kim #wik #kinnporsche #meta #kp meta #pearls of meta #Kinnporsche meta

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middleearthpixie · 11 months

Text

Better Days ~ Chapter Seventeen

A/N: I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates, but I'm in the middle of working on two fics for the 2023 TRSB, so updates and the like might be a bit spaced out for the next few weeks. Thanks so much for your patience!

Summary: Frerin Durin had the perfect life, until he found out his wife was cheating on him. Now, he’s navigating uncharted territory as an about-to-be divorced single dad. Dating is a mess, he’s dealing with the fallout where his kids are concerned, and really, he would just love a vacation away from all of it.

Elena Madison is new to Sidleburg, and also navigating life as a newly single parent. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to come down sick, when she hasn’t even had time to unpack the moving boxes, never mind find a pediatrician. And the last thing she ever expected was to meet a man like Dr. Frerin Durin…

Neither Elena nor Frerin were looking for anything, but fate has a way of messing up even the best laid plans. However, both have been hurt and both aren't at all sure they trust themselves, never mind trusting someone else...

Pairings: Modern!Frerin x ofc Elena Madison

Characters:Frerin, Elena, Dan

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 3k

Tag List: @mrsdurin @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketchy-loo6195 @sherala007 @enchantzz @knittastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78 @sorisooyaa @ruthoakenshield @frosticenow @quiall321 @dianakc @buckybarnes-thorin @glassgulls @evenstaredits @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @albionscastle @absentmindeduniverse @way-too-addicted-to-fandoms @sazzlep @court-jobi @masterofhounds

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here.

“Someone got lucky this weekend.”

Frerin looked up at the man now standing in the doorway of his office. “Do you ever knock, Mark?”

“The door was open and I didn't want to startle you.”

Frerin sat back in his chair. “What do you want?”

“Nice greeting.” Dr. Mark Edwards, head of Obstetrics and Gynecology, grinned as he came fully into Frerin’s office. “And I notice you did not correct me.”

“I’m not dignifying it with a response.”

“But you’re not denying it and that’s what counts. So, who is she?”

“Go away, Mark. I’m busy.” He gestured to the stack of charts that needed dictating. “I’m about two weeks behind and admin’s breathing down my neck about them.”

“I thought you were admin.”

“I’m as much admin as you are, and you know it.”

“Fair enough.” Mark beached his hands on the back of one of the two chairs opposite Frerin. “Just tell me if I’m right?”

Frerin sighed softly. “Okay. Yes, you’re right. I had a very nice Christmas and that’s all I’m saying.”

“Oh, you can not leave it at that, Frer. Have some mercy, already, won’t you? What do I have to do? Drag you off to the Dunraven and get you drunk to get you to give up any details on this mystery lady, like I had to do in med school?” Mark skirted one of the chairs and sank into it. “Just take five minutes and catch me up. I’ve been away, remember.”

Frerin sighed, setting down the microphone he’d been using in his attempt to get caught up on the charts that needed transcribing. “I don't know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on. I was down in the ER before on a consult and Carol Kingsley told me you brought a mystery woman into the ER with you when you were following up on an admit. All she said was this mystery woman was a cute brunette. So, spill… Besides, you have that look—tired but in the best way possible—which just screams that you got laid sometime in the last forty-eight hours. Most likely more than once, too, you lucky dog.”

Frerin couldn’t hold back his laugh. “I’m not gossiping with you. I tell you anything and by tonight, everyone in this building will know. Including the patients.”

“Just tell me her name.”

He sighed and he couldn't hold back his smile as he said, “Her name is Elena and she’s someone I’ve been seeing for a few weeks, more or less.”

“More or less?”

“We’ve only actually gone out twice. Dinner over the last few days.”

“Uh-huh. I’m listening. Is she cute?”

“What do you think?”

“Oh, my God. You’re killing me, Durin. You know that, right? Absolutely killing me.”

“She’s a hot little brunette, with a thirteen year old daughter who’s in the same math class as Maura.”

“I’m liking her so far.”

“Makes the two of us.” Frerin sat forward. “So, how was Jackson Hole?”

“I was with my wife and four kids, Frer. You were holed up with a hot brunette for how long?”

“She spent Christmas with me.”

“Holidays already? Nice.”

“No. Toni had the kids—still has them—and her daughter is visiting her grandparents, so it started out as just a plan for neither one of us to spend this Christas alone.”

“And let me guess, she moved in.”

“Ha. Funny. No. But, it was a nice few days.”

“Damn… let me guess, hot sex in every room of your house.”

“Not every room, but enough, and that’s all I’m saying.”

“I knew it.” Mark sat back in his chair, his grin fading. “How are the kids taking your dating?”

“They haven’t met Elena yet. That’s next. But, they seem okay with the idea of Dad dating, so, I’m only a little nervous about introducing them.”

“Good luck. I don't know how sticky it might be.”

“Yeah. Me, neither. I mean, like I said, they seem okay with the idea of it. But I don't know about the actual practice of it. And I’m sure they don't even want to think about the old man having sex with anyone. Although, their mother lives with someone now, and they know why we split up. At least, the older two do.”

“And Jake?”

“He’s blissfully innocent of it and I want to keep it that way.”

“Which is totally understandable. If Maura and Flynn are okay with your girlfriend, he probably will be as well."

“I haven’t really thought of her as my girlfriend, you know.”

“Well, are you seeing anyone else?”

“No.”

“Is she?”

“I don't think so.”

“She’s your girlfriend.”

Frerin chuckled. “I guess she is and I think they’ll be okay with her. At least, I hope so. I know they don't like Tim. They call him the Skeeze.”

It was Mark’s turn to laugh. “The Skeeze?”

“Yeah. Maura describes him as being like a used car salesman and she’s… not wrong.”

“Ah… it makes sense now.”

“Dr. Durin? Katie rapped on the open door. “You’re needed in the nursery.”

He sighed softly. “Please tell me it’s not bad.”

“No. Newborn delivered in the ER just came up. You just need to make sure he’s as healthy as they claim down there.”

“Got it.” He closed the chart he’d been working on and stood, sweeping his lab coat from the back of his chair. “I’ll catch up with you later, Mark.”

“Yeah. I want to hear all the details about your merry Christmas.”

“You’ve heard them all.” Frerin shrugged into the coat. “And I have no more to share.”

“Damn, you’re cold, you know that.”

“I don't kiss and tell.” He clipped his ID badge to the coat’s lapel. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’m getting details if it kills me,” Mark said as they left his office, before he strode off in the opposite direction.

“Do we have gossip, Dr. D?” Katie asked as she came around the corner with a thin sheaf of papers in one hand.

“Not you, too.”

“I’m just as curious about your mystery woman.”

“Katie.”

“What? We all just want you to be happy, is all. Promise.”

“I am. And if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the nursery, checking on a hopefully heathy newborn.”

“And are we expecting anyone to need you?”

“Katie.”

“You seem happy, you know,” she told him as she skirted her desk to tug out her chair.

“I am happy.”

“Good. Whoever she is, she’s probably good for you.”

“Her name’s Elena and yes, she is. And if she happens to call me for any reason—”

“I’ll let you know, unless you’re in with a patient.”

“Thank you.” He smiled as she went back to whatever she was working on, and continued on his way down to the nursery.

Sidleberg Memorial Hospital had had an infant stolen from their nursery the year Frerin was finishing up his residency and ever since, it was a locked ward, controlled by a keypad. Every infant had a band about their ankle with what the staff called baby LoJack that would set off an alarm system if the code wasn't entered in before the baby or their bassinet was wheeled out of the ward. Each newborn also had a hospital ID anklet, and the number on the band matched the bracelet worn by the mother and, if applicable, the father. No baby was to be handed off to anyone without first double checking that the ID bands matched.

Frerin punched in his code and stepped into the nursery, where it was a rare quiet day. Only three infants were in residence and he smiled at the nurse at the desk. “I heard we have a newcomer to the group, Chelsea?”

“Hi, Dr. Durin.” Chelsea smiled as she looked up from the paperwork on the desk before her. “We do, indeed. Baby Girl Hillstrand came up from the ER a few minutes ago. Thirty-six weeks, without complications.”

“And where’s mom?”

“She is still in the ER. They were having a bit of trouble with her, but dad is right there.”

He looked over to see the lone man in civilian clothes standing at the bassinet in the corner, his clothes wrinkled and his expression a mix of awe and concern. Frerin turned back to Chelsea. “What sort of trouble?”

“Hemorrhage.”

“How badly?”

“I don’t know. Carol Kingsley brought dad and baby up and told dad to think good thoughts and stay with his daughter.”

“Do me a favor. Get me the ER, Kingsley if possible.”

She reached for the phone. “Will do.”

“Thank you.”

With that, he crossed over to the man at the bassinet. “Mr. Hillstrand?”

The man looked up. “Max, please.”

“Max, I’m Dr. Durin, Head of Pediatrics. I’m just going to take a look at your daughter, if that’s okay.”

He nodded. “Yeah… uh… it’s fine…. Um… do you know what’s going on with my wife? They said they were having trouble getting her bleeding to stop.”

“It happens sometimes,” Frerin told him as he eased his stethoscope from around his neck. “I’ve got Nurse Ross trying to get me an update on her. Try not to worry, okay? She’s got good people working on her.”

“We’re not even from here. We live in Poughkeepsie and just came down to spend the holiday with my in-laws. Dana wasn’t even due for another four weeks, but her OB thought it would be fine for her to come to Jersey. Is that why the baby came so early? Because she traveled?”

“Thirty-six weeks is considered full-term, not early, and probably not. Babies are weird like that—they come when they’re good and ready or they get impatient. I doubt it was anything you or your wife did.” Frerin eased in the earpieces and bent over to press the diaphragm to the tiny chest of the baby girl who just watched him with big, slate-blue eyes. She was calm, those eyes following him. “Good girl,” he murmured, moving the diaphragm across her chest. “You’re just fine, aren’t you? Just felt like showing up a little early, is all. Impatient to get into the world, right?”

“Her name is Jessica,” Max Hillstrand told him softly, his voice cracking. “But, the nurses said… they said that Dana has to give them permission to call her that.”

“It’s standard policy,” Frerin explained, straightening up as he pulled the earpieces free and slung the stethoscope about his neck once more. He smiled down at Jessica, who still watched him intently. “Her heart and lungs sound good. Let me just—”

“Dr. Durin,” Chelsea came over to them, “Nurse Kingsley said to tell you and Mr. Hillstrand that they’ve gotten the bleeding under control and Mrs. Hillstrand is on her way up.”

Mr. Hillstrand looked over at her. “She’s okay?”

Chelsea nodded. “She gave them a little bit of a scare, but she is going to be just fine, yes.”

He just stared at her for a long moment, then he grabbed a very surprised Frerin in a bear hug. “Thank you! Thank you both!”

“You’re welcome,” Frerin chuckled as Hillstrand just as quickly released him. “Chelsea, make sure Baby Girl Hillstrand gets her LoJack as soon as possible and then see if Mrs. Hillstrand would like to see her daughter as well.”

“Of course.”

He turned to Hillstrand. “Congratulations, Mr. Hillstrand. Enjoy it, it goes by a lot faster than you think it will.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Frerin’s cell rang then, and he slid it free and smiled, “You’re welcome. If you’ll excuse me then.”

He left the nursery and brought the phone to his ear. “Hey, honey, you have perfect timing.”

“Do I? That’s a first,” Elena laughed.

He rounded the corner, stepping from pediatrics to Labor and Delivery and paused, leaning up against the wall. “What’re you doing up? It’s almost one in the morning.”

“I was thinking about you, that’s all. How’re you holding up?”

“After a weekend of nonstop sex? I’m beat, but apparently I look as if I’ve gotten some, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

She burst out laughing again. “What?”

“Yeah, one of the other docs pointed it out the moment he saw me. So, I look tired, but in a good way, I guess.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? What on earth are you sorry for, Elena? This was probably the hottest Christmas I’ve ever had. You can screw my brains out any time.”

“I kind of like how that sounds.” Her voice lowered and the husky purr shot straight through him as she added, “And I’d like to try it again really soon.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. It was amazing, Frerin.”

“It was good.”

“Good? Dr. Durin, you have a gift and you know it. You made my damn eyes cross.”

“Seems fair enough. You did the same to me, so…”

“So, when is your next night off?”

He grinned. “Tomorrow night.”

“Good. I’ve got plans for you, Dr. Frerin.”

His groin tightened at the promise in her voice. “Such as?”

“If I told you, I’d spoil the surprise.” Her voice grew throatier still. “Let’s just say I think you’ll like them.”

“Lena… honey… you’re killing me.”

“How? I haven’t even said what I wanted to do to you.”

“It doesn’t matter. You just sound hot enough to make me hot.”

“Good. So, can I steal you for a few hours tomorrow?”

“I’d have to be crazy to say no.”

“So don't say no.”

“I’m not. What can I bring?”

“Just yourself. I’ve got the rest of it all taken care of.”

A soft tingle rippled through him at the sin in her voice. “I’m going to get spoiled by you, you know.”

“I can live with that.”

“Good. Although,” he switched the phone to his other ear, “I will return the favor, you know.”

“I expect no less from you. Okay, I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“What time?”

“Seven?”

“Seven it is.”

Elena let her phone hit the pillow next to her. “What the hell were you thinking? I’ve got plans for you? Christ, you’re an idiot. You have no plans. You’ll fall on your face if you try to be sexy and embarrass yourself silly if you try to be kinky and you’ll send him screaming for the hills if you do both.”

She clapped a hand to her forehead. The words had popped out before she could think them through and she didn't know why. Didn’t Dan tell her she was the most boring lay he’d ever had? That was why he cheated. He looked for more adventurous women. More exciting women.

Less boring, vanilla women.

She was vanilla. Boring. Non-adventurous.

And now, Frerin was expecting some hot, sultry temptress.

She was none of those things.

She chewed on the cuticle of her thumb. It was late, but she could certainly text someone at that hour, right?

She pulled up Heather Morgan’s number. Heather and her husband Chris lived next door to Elena and Dan on West Point Island in Lavallette and there was no one in the world Elena trusted the way she did her best friend.

Help! How do I do sexy for a guy without looking utterly stupid?

She hit send and set her phone on her nightstand. No sooner had she shut off the light, but her phone rang. “What are you doing up now?”

“I was going to ask you that,” Heather said with a laugh. “Is the guy there now? Who is he? What’s he like? Why didn't you tell me about him?”

“No, he’s not here now. I’m seeing him tomorrow. His name is Frerin Durin and I met him a few weeks ago.”

“Uh-huh… do tell.”

Elena smiled. “I had to take Lyss to the ER a few weeks ago and he was her doctor.”

“You bagged her doc! You slut!” Heather let out another laugh. “Oh my fucking god, Elena, how do you do it?”

“I didn’t bag him then. I just—he’s really nice, Heath. I bumped into him at the gym a couple days later and we got to talking and now—”

“You have to be sexy for him?”

“Oh, Christ, I called him a little while ago and I don't know what came over me, but yeah. I basically told him he’d be in for the time of his life tomorrow night and you know me… I’m so boring, it isn’t funny.”

“You’re not boring.”

“I’m vanilla.”

“There’s a reason why people love vanilla, you know.” Heather’s voice grew serious. “It’s not bad.”

“No, it’s just boring. And that’s why guys cheat on me.”

“Dan cheated on you because he’s a total dick and your doctor isn’t like that.”

“You don't even know him.”

“I don’t have to. He’s an ER doc. He’s already a better person than your prick ex.”

“He’s actually a pediatrician.”

“That’s even better.”

“Heather.”

“What? It is. Is he younger than you?”

“No. He’s the same age. In the midst of a divorce and he’s got custody of his three kids, one of which is in one of Alyssa’s classes.”

“Oh, I like this man, El. He sounds like he might be a keeper, if the divorce doesn’t ruin him.”

Elena couldn't help her smile. “And that’s why I want to keep my promise that he’s in for the time of his life.”

“No problem. You’re on break, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’ll be up around ten with my bag of tricks and when I leave, you’ll be ready to treat your Dr. Durin to a night he will not forget any time soon.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hell, yes! You’re back in the saddle and I want you to enjoy every minute you can with this man. You deserve it, hon. But… where’s Alyssa?”

“She’s in Florida with Don and Alice.”

“Nice. So you can fuck this guy right there on the living room floor if you want.”

“I can, but that dose’t sound comfortable at all.”

“Elena!”

“What?”

“You’re hopeless, you know that?”

“I know. That’s why I sent you an S.O.S.”

“And don’t worry. I’ll save your ass and you’ll knock his socks off, along with everything else he might be wearing.”

#Gerard Butler #Frerin Durin #Frerin x OC #AU #Frerin Fic #Is it hot in here?#Romance #Modern AU #ER AU #Hospital AU #Richard Armitage #The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fic #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction

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paper--moons · 1 year

Text

Regressor!Hawks Headcanons

(with multiple CGs)

Although it is perhaps the hero industry's biggest open secret, age regression isn't exactly something the Hero Commission promotes or even knows how to handle. Which is why they aren't exactly pleased when it becomes apparent that Hawks is an age regressor—and one that falls on the smallest side of the spectrum at that. Keigo tried to keep it private, or course, but his entire life has essentially been monitored by the very organization that "saved" him (at the cost of using him, though that's neither here nor there, now is it?). But it's difficult to keep something like this private when big brother is watching you, especially if your little counterpart is entirely too trusting and gets lonely. Really, Keigo didn't want his handlers to know...but who else was he supposed to call when he drops at his agency after another day of nonstop going and going and going until he could go no more? It would be bad if word got out, wouldn't it? Keigo has had it drilled into him that public appearances are everything to a hero, knows he shouldn't be so little where just anyone could find out. And so he does the best he can when the world starts feeling bigger and bigger, holing himself up in an office he barely ever uses and calls the chairwoman. It's the emergency line that only he is supposed to use, and while it isn't exactly an emergency it's easier to press one button than to try to remember a whole string of numbers that will only put him into contact with some secretary until they can "get back to him about his concerns" (they never do). While the situation is handled in the moment, it gets decided very quickly that they can't just have anyone taking care of their former child soldier best agent. And so the Hero Commission sets off playing matchmaker!

Keigo has mixed feelings about the whole "matchmaking" thing, but has come to accept that the Commission does as it pleases—plus maybe they will actually find someone that won't mind taking care of him. It's been incredibly hard to be so small on his own for so long, and he thinks it might be nice to have somebody make his bottles for him or maybe even hold him for a little bit. And while it doesn't surprise him that they set their sights on other top ranked heroes to handle him, he is surprised that their first pick is Miruko. Their reasoning makes some sense when it's explained to him; they are close in age and it won't be questioned too much if they start hanging out more (if anything it'll be good for their careers, or so he's told). Which is what leads to the pair spending their day off together to see what baby Keigo thinks of Rumi—and it is a guarantee that Keigo will regress on his off day, goodness knows he's on such a strict schedule that it's a given. She's excited at the prospect of getting to hang out with the little guy and, while not one for planning, does come at the situation with lots of ideas. Rumi has tons of games and snacks and activities ready to go. And at first Keigo is also excited! Finally, someone that sees that he isn't always a hero! She's prepared to get down on his level and isn't afraid to let him be messy and make mistakes. But Keigo finds himself conking out wayyy before his naptime after their fifth game of hide and seek. At the end of the day, it turns out Rumi is way too high energy for the baby to keep up with and is more suited for older kids or teen regressors.

The Hero Commission's next attempt in finding Keigo a caregiver has them nudging Best Jeanist in his direction. While he's a little over a decade his senior, it wouldn't be too odd for them to hang out since they are both high on the charts and could easily claim they were coordinating on a job. Or at least that's what Keigo figures is the reasoning behind this match-up (because if there's one thing he knows, it's that the Commission is relentlessly calculating in its efforts to create the most ideal public image). Regardless, Tsunagu is a pretty cool guy and they've interacted at plenty of professional functions and whatnot and got along just fine. And unlike Rumi, he's a lot calmer, which is better for when Keigo is small, resulting in a regression day that goes well without wearing the baby out in the process. There's a whole lot more structure than he would have guessed though—it's like Tsunagu had a schedule prepared with him in mind, despite the whole thing being more or less sprung on him. Not to mention how attentive he seems to be. When presented with his snack, he's surprised not to find the handful of trail mix his handlers always gave him after training, but a childish plastic plate covered with apples and cheese clearly diced with a careful precision. It's a small gesture, as are the concerned words when he doesn't dig in right away (Would you prefer something else? You need to eat.). Or at least they would be to most people, but Keigo finds it nearly overwhelming. Even after a few weeks of having him be his cg and adjusting to all the little things like that, something still feels...off. While there wasn't anything wrong with the way Tsunagu took care of him, they didn't exactly click either. But he would appear ungrateful to bring attention to this, and it isn't like he has any other options anyhow.

They're at some exclusive party for pro heroes disguised as an uppity awards ceremony a few months later when he finally figures out why he felt like they didn't click. It's on what should have been one of Keigo's rare nights off, and so he (unsurprisingly) finds himself slipping whether he wanted to or not. He knows his newly assigned protocol in situations like these now though, and stumbles through the myriad of other pros and waitstaff crowding the floor of the party hall trying to locate Tsunagu. Luckily the man is fairly tall, and Keigo has no issue finding him talking to Present Mic. Keigo is just about to tug on his sleeve when he catches a bit of conversation—a mumbled Jeany, can't find Eraser—that indicates that perhaps the flush on the voice hero's cheeks isn't from too much champagne as he originally thought, and suddenly he's connected the dots. The reason Tsunagu had so much more experience in a carer role is because the Commission defaults to him as a sort of stand-in cg and obviously points other heroes in his direction should they need it. Despite everything being relatively perfect it felt too much like being handled still, regardless of the other hero's genuine care. However this conclusion doesn't ease the hurt his small side is feeling about the situation, which ultimately leads to him running smack into a very broad, very familiar chest as he attempts to leave in a hurry. Keigo is stumbling backwards, about to fall for sure before he can even remember his training about balancing himself with his wings, when a hand grabs his shoulder to steady him and he finally looks up.

And who should Keigo find but his own personal hero, Endeavor? Being around the guy already makes his baby brain go !! though typically he can push that aside, but when he's well on his way to being regressed? There is no hope of recovery, Keigo is fully small and awestruck by the man. They have something akin to a staring contest before Keigo finds himself wanting up, even though he hadn't even fallen. Wanting up, wanting to be held, wanting wanting wanting. Keigo has never really been allowed to want like this, and it takes all he has to even find the simplest of words when Enji asks if he's alright. The "'m 'kay" he manages to peep out must not be too convincing, because Enji leads him out of the main area and into a more private alcove to give him a proper look over. Because while he isn't necessarily the brightest bulb, he is familiar enough with the younger hero to recognize that something is off about him. Usually he would be living up these sorts of functions and (more recently) would drag him along for the ride. But he seemed...uncharacteristically standoffish? Too quiet for sure. That's the best Enji can figure at least, until he gets Keigo talking more and gets a nervous string of baby babble about how first they tried having Rumi take care of him and then Tsunagu, but now he's too busy and he doesn't really know how much he liked him anyways and, and, and—and Enji, surprisingly, listens and nods along with what the boy is saying. More surprising though is the fact that he sits with him for the remainder of the event, keeping a careful eye on him much to the boy's delight.

It doesn't take long before small Keigo has decided that he wants his cg to be Enji, much to his big self's embarrassment. Not a whole lot gets to him, but this is something deeply personal that he may or may not be making a fool of himself over. The fact that Enji doesn't turn him away doesn't help matters either, instead only encourages them. For as much as Hawks is supposed to be just that (i.e., like a hawk), Enji finds it becoming more accurate to think of him as a baby duck. A baby duck who is making frequent visits to his agency to "help out". A few months ago this would have annoyed him and he wouldn't have hesitated to kick him out, but lately Enji has been trying to do better, trying to be better for those in his life; even if he can't make up for his past actions, he's figured out that isn't an excuse to continue in the same manner moving forwards. And so he's been letting go of inconsequential frustrations and unproductive anger, focusing more on practicing the patience and understanding that a hero is supposed to embody. So even if Keigo may childishly tease him about being grumpy, he isn't going to make a big deal about it. In fact he'll continue on with his day, with his unsure, awkward attempts to make the kid happy. A pat to the head, a snack bought from a street vendor on impulse because he saw the kid staring (though it turns out he was staring because he thought it looked yucky, apparently), small things like that that all feel foreign to them both. The little gestures mean the world to Keigo, even when Enji gets something wrong. Perhaps even especially when he gets something wrong, because it means he's going to try again and is actually making an effort to figure things out through trial and error; no one has ever made a continual effort like that for him, nor has anyone been so determined to get it right.

Keigo finally gets his moment, his click, when he approaches Enji about if he'd be down to watch him when he's fully small and not just put up with him middlespacing around him on days when criminal activity is slow. There's a bit of hesitancy, and at first Keigo is scared that he's misread the situation before Enji is asking for details on the practical things—the where and the when seeming to weigh most heavy on his mind, though the hesitancy eases when Keigo suggests his apartment given that all his regression gear is already there. When the day arrives, Keigo is trying to stay big long enough to give Enji the grand tour and show him where everything is before he slips too small to tell him, when he finds that Enji has stopped and picked something up from his pile of stuffies he's come to acquire kept in his nest of blankets. Keigo lifts up a little to peek over his shoulder, curious at which toy has caught his attention. The fabric has faded over the years, and despite being well-loved it's obvious the doll has been well-kept. In any other situation, it might have been funny to see the large man holding a tiny replica of himself, but Keigo's regressed small enough that old fears seem closer than time has made them. There's a need to apologize that he doesn't fully understand, but his words aren't coming out right and he's working himself up to tears because he just knows that somehow he's made Enji mad, that he's not even supposed to have toys let alone a hero doll. By the time the first few tears can bubble out of his eyes, Keigo is being shushed and the doll is being placed in his hold as Enji apologizes to him of all things. It's unexpected but not unwelcome, as is the fact that he's being scooped up and rocked back and forth. This is the click that Keigo did not know he had been waiting for, and it goes both ways. While Enji may not be a ball of energy like Rumi or a perfectionist like Tsunagu, he is the one Keigo chose for himself to be his cg. And perhaps for the first time, Keigo believes everything will be alright in the end after all.

#sfw agere #bnha #bnha agere #takami keigo #agere takami keigo #todoroki enji #agere todoroki enji #usagiyama rumi #agere usagiyama rumi #hakamada tsunagu #agere hakamada tsunagu #moons hcs

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