#so yeah. he deserves someone who can consistently treat him the way he deserves to be treated.

[croxot]

MORE Armored Core 6 Thoughts - The Corporate Military Leaders

After coming to the conclusion that Armored Core is my game of the year, I've been thinking needlessly deeply about many little bits of the game. I wanted to put some thoughts out there about the Corporate Military Leaders (V.II Snail & G1 Michigan). More specifically what makes them so different in how the player perceives them -- How their corny characterization makes them all the more engrossing. Spoilers to follow.

Michigan

• Massive blowhard military type, speaks with all the bravado of your stereotypical US army drill sergeant.

• Despite this, he is somewhat endearing. He's still a shill for Balam, but he has a clear level of respect for those under him, and grants even more respect where it's clearly deserved.

• Knows all his underlings by name.

• Will chastise his own men for not showing you enough respect on the mission where you are expected to kill him and his entire force. Seems to take it well despite what's happening.

• Despite his position placing him as one of the defcato villains, there is very little direct animosity to muster for him. By the point in the story where you can decide to kill him, Balam has already lost the race, and Michigan has shown very little ill will towards you personally (even if you've previously betrayed the Redguns).

---

(Quick note on V.I Freud: While Freud is Technically a higher rank than Snail, he's clearly turned over military leadership to Snail, which makes Snail more of the de-facto face of Arquebus. Freud's just an ace who shows up to have a good fight, and otherwise doesn't make much of a show. Which, yeah, that's fine.)

Snail

• The Immediate difference here is that Snail is consistently depicted as conceited and selfish. Where Michigan is on first-name basis with basic underlings, Snail is verbally disgusted with the thought of acknowledging anything or anyone that isn't directly and immediately beneficial to him.

• And that's great because this game ABSOLUTELY benefits from having someone that's so easy to hate. Snail treats everyone around him, including his ranked allies, and even Freud, like dirt.

• He's even worse to you in the sense that he's convinced his type of space-cyber-lobotomy is so much newer and shinier than yours and makes him objectively superior to you. Like calm down dude this isn't a brain damage contest.

• This makes the Liberator of Rubicon Ending immensely satisfying in a way the other 2 endings just don't compare to. The game has spent around 15-ish hours having this guy be a gigantic douche in nearly every line he speaks, and then he shows up to fight you when realistically he doesn't even have to considering the circumstances.

• And so with Rusty's theme blaring in the background, he has an angry breakdown while you send him and his Balteus 2: Scuffed Laser Edition™ directly to the shadow realm. It is the most satisfying boss kill in the game.

#armored core #ac6 #armored core VI #fires of rubicon #croxotwords #V.II Snail #G1 Michigan

[lakesbian]

i remember gregor & his interlude being discussed on here semi-recently as an oddity in terms of how, unlike more or less Literally Every Other Fat Character In Any Wildbow Novel Ever, gregor is portrayed as likable and sympathetic + it's even explicitly mentioned as shitty that it's acceptable for people to mock him for being fat. so i'm interested in looking at what's going on there now that i'm actually rereading it

Gregor walked down the side streets of downtown Brockton Bay with the hood of his sweatshirt casting his face in shadow. Anyone who happened to cross his path and look beneath his hood were quick to glance away. Embarrassed, spooked. Those that saw him from a distance knew him as monstrous as well, but in a different way. To them, he was simply one of the morbidly obese. A man in his late twenties or early thirties, nearly three times the weight he should be for his five feet and ten inches of height. His weight, he knew, was one of the rare things in this modern world that someone could use to mock him openly.

there's a lot of implications to unpack wrt "one of the morbidly obese" and the specific detailing of his young age vs not being the weight he "should be." like, i think the obvious connections between piggot being fat & being unhealthy show that worm is coming from a deeply fatphobic lens wherein fat people are seen as 1. inherently unhealthy and 2. disgusting and/or morally degraded for that perceived unhealthiness. actually, even moreso than piggot, it's the constant usage of the (widely scientifically inaccurate) medical term "morbidly obese," obvious emphasis being placed on the perceived unhealth of fatness via the word "morbidly." the, like, really precise focus on exactly How many times over the weight he "should" be also demonstrates such fatphobic, pseudoscientific medicalization of weight. (not that someone would deserve oppression based on perceived lack of health even if they really were unhealthy and even if it really was 100% their fault, but that should go without saying.) it's being implied that it's bad people are a cunt to him about this, but it's also still being implied that the thing they're being a cunt to him about is something actually Wrong with him. so. not great.

i also can't help but wonder how much of the description about how he's treated (i.e. as so monstrous no one can even look at him and he can't go outside or do anything in public ever) is projection of authorial beliefs. like, true, fat people are constantly dehumanized and treated as grotesque and monstrous to life-ruining extents--but this paragraph coming from an author who consistently describes fat characters with palpable disdain and disgust is like. yeah, i'm sure he would compare being fat to having translucent snail-encrusted skin you can see organs and bones through. hard to believe the description here is coming purely from empathy without aaany elements of how the author views fat people he sees in public in it.

but the most absurd line here is of course the last sentence: "His weight, he knew, was one of the rare things in this modern world that someone could use to mock him openly."

this is very funny because:

brockton bay has a nazi problem. characters in worm make fun of each other for acting [r slur]ed or being gay or not being white or being an addict or looking ugly all the time. what do you mean, being fat is one of the rare things that can be used to mock someone openly. there's a conversation to be had about fat people as accepted targets of mockery even in ostensibly anti-bigotry spaces in the year of 2024, but when this was written in 2011? in worm? it's a genuinely bizarre statement

wildbow is literally always interrupting character narration to viciously mock fat people. literally all of the time. forever. Where is the self awareness.

overall i guess it's nice that there's an attempt to establish narrative sympathy with the fat character, but it's being done with Literally No Self Awareness as to how the work itself treats fat people, to the point where it probably would've been better to not bother including the description of how it marginalizes gregor at all--wildbow doesn't try to do this for any other character's marginalized status, so i'm not sure why he felt the need to attempt it with gregor. like, at this rate, you'd be better off just neutrally mentioning that he's fat when describing his appearance and leaving it at that

#wormtime 2 #wormtime 2 arc 5 #anyway onto the rest of the interlude

[viperwhispered]

Hot take: Overblot Jamil keeping the reader behind as a pet/slave is pre-relationship.

Jamil's whole thing in a romantic relationship is equality and freedom. He wants to spoil and be spoiled. He wants his s/o safe and happy. His biggest fantasy is them loving a blissful domestic life in their own little home away from all the obligations and troubles of the world.

Jamil spent his whole life being treated as lesser and being denied his freedom. He would drop dead before even thinking of treating his s/o the same way. This is the person who has fully accepted every bit of him and given every bit of themselves in return. No way would Jamil, overblot or not, ever try to abuse that. In his eyes, his s/o deserves the universe. They're his partner, his queen, his rani, his sultana.

And this goes triple for his Overblot. Jamil who's at that stage where he is 10000% comfortable and smitten by his s/o would rip his own heart out before daring to enslave his love.

Instead, OB Jamil is rejoicing at finally having the means to grant the luxury he feels his s/o deserves. He's crowning them the Sultana of Scarabia, hosting elaborate feasts with their favorites, dressing them in fine silk designs fit for royalty (aka not a harem girl). Jamil knows his s/o very well and does everything to keep them comfortable and happy.

And that's why it's so hard to want to reason with him. Not because of some porno "he's so mean but he's hot" situation. But because OB!Jamil is still Jamil. He still cuddles, pampers, teases, and shows his unyielding love for them. Only difference is that he no longer has any embarrassment or fluster holding him back. He doesn't care if all of Scarabia is watching him, if he wants to kiss them he gets to kiss them. Honestly it's kind of cute how he shamelessly pouts for their affection. Any manipulation towards them is a familiar and light hearted attempt at getting their attention.

The only consistent argument his s/o has for him is that the overblot will kill him and they can't stand the thought of loosing him.

Interesting 👀

My reply got kinda long again so putting it behind a read more again.

I feel like this depends a lot on where Jamil is as a person when the overblot happens. And, well, if we’re going for the canonical overblot, that was not exactly a high point for his emotional wellbeing and all - not that an overblot ever is. So by definition, it already is a point where the existing rules start to crack, and once the overblot hits, it really is arguable just how much they're in control of themselves at that point.

Though it is true that it is still their feelings and thoughts and desires moving them at least somewhat, just potentially twisted by the overblot itself and/or the emotional anguish they're usually going through at that point as well.

I’m curious, do you have any particular basis on saying that equality and freedom would be the cornerstones in a relationship for Jamil? Simply because (romantic) relationships are not talked about much in twst, and with Jamil especially I have a hard time figuring out what exactly it might be that he wants, what he’d come to value over time, and what might “do good” to him even if he might not recognize it or be aware of it himself.

Though I certainly agree, being on equal footing with his s/o would be good for him. Someone he can rely on and trust in, and where they can lean on each other. A true partner rather than someone who’s above or below.

But there is also that part of him that enjoys feeling powerful, that wants to climb that ladder to not being the one just taking the orders anymore. And especially with being under the influence of the overblot, I could see that extending to his partner as well. Like, at that point he really might think that what he wants is the adoration and the submission, to finally get those things he’s been craving, even from the person he’d normally consider his partner and equal.

Though yeah, this also really does depend on what would trigger the overblot in this scenario. Like with the right circumstances, I could definitely see him going for this more adoring scenario you described. I mean, for book 6 (I really hope this isn’t spoilers for you), we saw what an overblot is like when it is born from anguish over another, rather than from more “personal” issues. So it is not that the overblot has the characters necessarily acting in a purely selfish manner, even if most of them pretty much have. Idia, however, was very much doing everything in his power for Ortho after the overblot - selfish, still, in a way, but not in the same way as the others who were basically lashing out at everyone. So it definitely could happen.

And all this being said, I do absolutely love the idea of a Jamil who’s not holding back and is going all out pampering his s/o and letting the world know just how much they mean to him. I mean, it definitely would be the s/o's turn to be the one flustered in that scenario, and it indeed would definitely make it a little harder to give that all up and to persuade him that, you know, the overblot indeed is kinda deadly.

Just, him doing all those things he’s always wanted to do, but which he’s always stopped himself from doing (consciously or even subconsciously, or simply because it has not been practically possible). It really would be kinda sweet - if not also a little unsettling in some way to have him act so out of his usual character.

(Tho ngl, personally, I could also go for the “if evil why hot” approach because, well, that’s delicious too. So many potential avenues here.)

Also hadsf the thought of him in all his overblot glory and then just pouting because you’re not paying attention to him. An amusing image indeed.

Imagine this caring, shameless overblot Jamil when he thinks someone is threatening his s/o, tho. Ngl, I kinda love that idea, too (I mean, also concerning because even more blot, but you know).

I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m arguing against you too much with these, or anything like that. I feel like we approach Jamil from somewhat different angles, and so I kinda have to work my way through what I think is going on in his head before I can really start thinking about the scenario itself.

#ner talks #chatting with folks #lex752 #twisted wonderland #jamil viper #twst book 6 #I have to say it takes some work to think of the overblotters being more “gentle” in some way during the overblot #considering how we usually face them #also an extra personal oof of having those sneks around with my snake phobia #it sure would complicate things on my part #I'm sure ob jamil would be *totally* chill with you shying away from him because of how he looks 🙃

[echobx]

Jiara has done nothing for JJ or Kie's character development. It has actually caused character regression. JJ was a bad friend to Pope last season and he didn't even apologize for the way he handled the whole Kiara situation. Pope deserved better than that. Idc what anyone says their friendship is not the same due to this. It doesn't matter that Pope and Cleo are a couple now. If I was Pope, JJ would be kept at arms length.

As for Kiara, she has a different personality each season so that's why her development is all over the place. The only thing consistent is her loyalty to the Pogues. She deserves a better storyline than just trying to "fix" JJ while he pushes her away until she gets kidnapped. Free my girl from the fans who only see her as their self-insert to ship with the overrated white boys, especially Rafe the Rat!

yeah, JJ didn't feel like himself and more like a bad copy of who he was in the seasons before in like 90% of s3, the only time he was the same as always was ep7-8 when he was with JB.

I don't know if I would say he was a bad friend to Pope, but he was obviously less of a friend to him, and Pope decided to balance it out by spending time with Cleo (which tbh was the one good thing that season) and for selfish reasons I want JJ and Pope to reconcile and go back to being lovesick fools for each other (I'm never gonna let jjpope die. idc about the haters)

the only way I can think of s3 in terms of jiara, is by looking at all of it as sibling vibes (bc that's all they ever had, there was never any romance) and just ignore that kiss that both actors visibly didn't put any work in to make it look like they actually care about the ship.

honest to god, i feel like both Madison and Rudy are probably the biggest jiara haters out there.

concerning Kie, I will always defend her against the writers, bc s1 I actually thought she had such great potential, but then fans wanted her with Pope, so that happened, and then fans wanted her with JJ, and it happened again. wanting a poc woman to be with a white man so hard that you pressure the writers into doing it feels sinister to me. at least she and pope had a tiny bit of chemistry.

but then again, her whole arc is heavily queercoded. and Madison (an actual queer woman) knows this and wants to embrace it, but they won't let her. and I can't even imagine how it must feel to play a character and hope for them to get good character development just for them to fuck you over every new season. s1!Kie was very much a "pick me" girl already, and they could've easily gotten her a great arc and away from this pick me behavior, but instead they leaned into it even more, and then they made her into a bitch who plays with her best friends feelings. her development is literally nonexistent. she stays the same rather shallow girl all the way through.

I watched s1 and hoped to see Kie evolve into a real girls girl, someone who doesn't repeat her dumb hurtful mistakes. but they destroyed it all bc as we have also seen with Sarah, they don't know how to write women.

and I sometimes even question her loyalty to the pogues bc if she was really all in, why would she ask JB to pick her over Sarah. like, I know it makes sense for her as a pick me girl to do that, but i still hate it. and it also seems like most of the time she treats being a pogue like a hobby instead of actual reality and the lives of her best friends. (which is one of the main reasons why her and jj will never work even if they had chemistry)

on Rafe, i do hope they keep Sofia as his gf (even tho RafeBarry is just so much fun) but as much as I hope that they don't pull the "he fixed himself to be with her" I just know that they don't have enough brains to actually know not to do this.

#fanon Kie. and by that I mean lesbian!Kie is a million times better than canon #obx #anti jiara #~ask #~rambles #obx critic #jjpope

[beevean]

You know what the Belmont's treatment reminds me of?

Samus in Other M

That game wanted so bad to depict Samus as someone with depth, someone who has feelings and enotions and trauma and can cry etc. But the end result had her do jack all in the actual story and for her to be denigrated by other characters who were shown to be more competent.

Except that with Sakamoto I can believe that he genuinely wanted to do Samus justice but went overboard with the weakness aspect because he had his head way too far up his own head

While with NFCV you cannot tell me that the writers don't know that the Belmonts (or others) being treated as sad tragic little meow meows who get treated like shit and need to be rescued/corrected often. These guys are on social media, they are literally part of the fandom and take part in discourse occasionally, so I can't believe they aren't doing this on purpose. Maybe Deats himself doesn't wish for this effect but someone must because it's far too consistent and convenient

... forgive me for what I'm about to say.

Samus in OM is atrocious and we all know that, right? Yes, she has those small cool moments in cutscenes as a token of respect for her skills, but overall she's weak, she's ineffectual, she won't stop praising a man who by all means acts cold and spiteful towards her, she's pretty much forbidden to do anything of substance in the plot, we see this gratuitous sequence of her writhing on the floor in pain after being shot that is nearly fetishistic...

... but the characters respect her.

Well, Adam doesn't, or at the very least, he doesn't respect her as she deserves. But the others? They know who Samus Motherfucking Aran is. Anthony is very friendly towards her. The scientists trusts her. Is it enough? Of course not. But somehow, some fucking how, Trevor and from what I've seen Ricther slip even lower than that level, because they're insulted and laughed at left and right, by their own friends most of all.

I genuinely felt sorry for Trevor who was pushed aside in his own story in favor of Fanservice Central Alucard and Muh Deepness Isaac, and when he was on screen the story beat us over the head that he's a washed up alcoholic who swears left and right and yeah he lost his family but they were weirdos anyway. Richter has a more pleasant personality from what I've seen, but apparently Annette steals the show as expected, the same person who looks down on him and gets away with calling him "useless as fuck", and he doesn't really do anything of substance either.

Oh, and what about Juste? Oh yeah I ain't forgotten about him. Juste, who became yet another Trevor, another jaded bastard after the loss of his family, who can't use his magic anymore, who is a prick to Richter who is a prick to him in return, who can't even help him unlock his magic - no, the memory of Annette does it.

Oh, and do you remember how Dracula recognized Trevor as a Belmont because he threw ineffectual punches at him? How he recognized the power of the Morning Star... who didn't even scratch him? How this sends the implication that the Belmonts kept fighting Dracula... and lost to him? The complete reversal of the games, where the only Belmont who didn't manage to kill Dracula at first was Christopher and anyway he tried again some time later?

Leon so far is the Belmont that came out of it the most unscathed, and even he was reduced to the level of "random crusader who decided to fight Dracula for shit and giggles"

So no. There is an undeniable pattern here. Deats can hide behind the excuses he wants, but again: whoever thought that promoting the show by using Annette's line was a good idea... well, they had to draw that conclusion from somewhere.

also fuck you nocturne for pushing me to say one (1) decent thing about om that other piece of shit game. goddamnit

#anti netflixvania

[alltheselights]

It' SO annoying when Louis is the one who went to Nialls first solo tour to support but Niall doesn't care about that I really hope Louis stops showing any kind of support to Niall and Liam

Yeah, sorry, but I hope Louis never supports any of the boys publicly again. I can’t even be happy about Niall being at Harry’s show because I find it so sad that Louis, who has dealt with the largest obstacles in terms of going solo in the first place and has been consistently pushed aside by the media, by other celebrities, by his own team and label....that none of the boys are willing to publicly support him. (And no, going to TXF six years ago doesn’t count.)

Louis has praised Harry repeatedly. In contrast, Harry has said Louis’ name once since going solo during a joke on SNL. Harry has never said a positive thing or even so much as liked a post complimenting Louis or his music. Harry, who is by far the most famous of the bunch, could do so much for Louis by even just saying something nice about him, but he doesn’t.

Louis attended Niall’s tour. Niall was in London when Louis played in London, yet didn’t bother attending. He could show up to Harry’s show though!

Even Liam, who talks about Louis incessantly in interviews (to the point where Louis told him to stop), almost never says anything positive about his solo music or career. He talks about him overcoming personal problems and talks about how much of a leader he was in the band, but that’s about it.

Zayn, like Harry, won’t even follow Louis back on Instagram.

I love One Direction and I loved all the boys, but man, it is fucking hard to watch the way that Louis is treated and ignored and it is hard not to feel bitter about it. He has a heart of gold and has nothing but nice things to say about all of them and he has overcome SO much with his solo career, so the fact that nobody seems to want to lift a finger to support him in return hurts. It hurts to watch as a fan and as someone who can just see how unequal the treatment is. I’m sorry, but he deserves so much better from the other boys.

And I don’t care how much they support him in private. That’s nice if it’s happening, but when public support would mean so much to Louis and probably shut up some of the hatred for him from the other boys’ fanbases, the fact that they never do it is still unacceptable to me.

#asks

[st-just]

oh did you want long angry rants for the unrecommend ask meme hm. oh I know. I unrecommend yu/wu (余/污) it's this chinese bl webnovel and...

look on a moment to moment level it's really fun to read, there's chekhov's guns set up in the first 10 chapters that are set off in the last 10 the whole book is very dense with reveals etc and parts of the character work was very compelling. but like. once you finish it and actually start thinking about it the whole thing is just so, so thin. everything is internally consistent within its own logic yk.

like first the entire book focuses on how rotten to the core the nobility of Chong/hua is how awful, selfish, fake everything there is... aaaaand the entire climax was a "yeah the nobles squabble in peacetime and all but when faced with an existential threat they all band together and work like a well oiled machine :) :) :) oh you expected the ending to have some resolution to this conflict? fuck you we've installed a new emperor that's shown throughout the story to also be corrupt but we have a threat to keep them in line. they'll slowly reform the system :) :) :) we have to go with this though bc the new emperor's the best option possible... if we keep to the made up rules about only being able to choose from the imperial bloodline. even though this existential threat has shaken up the country enough that you can probably get away with someone else. or not having an emperor at all. you know" (poking at the worldbuilding [or like. anything not on a character level] of romance webnovels is an exercise in frustration but I keep finding myself doing it)

(there's a reveal involved with the new emperor that could be read as transmisogynistic but it was such a nothing reveal - happened at the end of the story so there's not much done with it - that there isn't really anything interesting to say about it)

+ one of the main protagonist's motivation is literally "he was born as a slave and wants a better life for his fellow slaves and to prove slaves are just as competent as nobles in xianxia!fighting" so you'd expect it to yk. do much of anything about it. or at least not fumble it given the focus. but like later literally all the major + powerful characters ended up having noble blood and all 3 of the non-noble characters who were subtextually positioned as "see they're also super powerful and they don't have noble blood".... ended up having noble blood. from the top noble families no less. which. yeah not a fan!

also this is likely unintentional (I think the author just likes writing about dubcon/noncon relationships which I mean all power to her) but there were 3 mlm relationships in this book and every one of them except the main couple involved one sexual abusing (or otherwise predating on) the other so. yk. don't like that.

+ a major source of conflict between the two leads is "the protagonist that was born as a slave finally couldn't stand the cruelty of Chong/hua and defected to an evil empire, killing a bunch of the Chong/hua's soldiers, stabbing the other protagonist in the chest, etc."

but like the way that was resolved is literally "oh turns out he didn't do/had a Secret Good Reason for doing/isn't the one at fault for All That" which. let him have done some bad things for christ's sake I mean first saintlike perfect characters just aren't all that interesting to me but also why did he have to be perfectly innocent and not at fault at all to not deserve all that was done to him. couldn't he have done everything he's accused of and still not deserve how he's treated dammit.

also I said the amount of chekhov's guns are supremely satisfying and I stand by that but also it makes everything loop back to the protagonists which makes this whole-ass kingdom feel so goddamn claustraphobic this is an entire country why is there only like ~20 actual people in here

(tbf on a purely character level most of the folks that actually get characterised are characterised pretty well but the number of those are... small considering the scale of the story. also this doesn't help how flaccid the slave plot ended up being considering there's close to no slave in the plot that is given interiority. there's an entire army full of them but they're treated like a collective)

and there's the typical chinese ableism towards the mentally ill/etc (background radiation of my life) + distasteful genre tropes but I came in expecting that so

(although I would argue the Ontologically Evil Empire's effects on the story is notably worse than average)

plus like I love melodrama but even with me the prose felt so cloying and exaggerated I can't articulate it but I was getting a toothache reading it. although I see folks talk about how gorgeous the prose is so hey maybe it's a taste thing.

+ this is a neutral judgment but whenever I start doubting I'm asexual I think about this book and immediately am sure again. the thirst is like some gravitational force that everything in the story bends towards itself which. glad other folks are happy not my thing though.

anyway yeah *offers this rant like a raccoon* there's other stuff but that's mostly nitpicking. generally I describe it as "really fun in the moment-to-moment if you're the target audience but once you start thinking about yk. everything else it's just more and more. why was it like that. why was it written this way."

tbf a fair amount of my dislike is "dead dove do not eat / I don't know what I expected" but in my defence the way I was sold it vastly skewed/overinflated my expectations (picture the way folks sell atla/pjo/etc. as so much more than it is)

(I'm self censoring with /'s bc ik there is a decent fandom for it on here)

Excellent rant thank you very much. And also, like, not exactly familiar with the genre but that sounds deeply painful, yes!

That said,

+ one of the main protagonist's motivation is literally "he was born as a slave and wants a better life for his fellow slaves and to prove slaves are just as competent as nobles in xianxia!fighting" so you'd expect it to yk. do much of anything about it. or at least not fumble it given the focus. but like later literally all the major + powerful characters ended up having noble blood and all 3 of the non-noble characters who were subtextually positioned as "see they're also super powerful and they don't have noble blood".... ended up having noble blood. from the top noble families no less. which. yeah not a fan!

This or something like it happens so often in every fucking type of fantasy and I loathe it with every fucking fiber of my being.

#reply #apollo-cackling #unrecomend me a book

[nightcrawlerzincorporated]

i hate times up me and all my homies hate times up

also gonna throw the janitor always mops twice in here cuz i wanna hear u talk abt it. disappointment central right there

Oh boy. Disagree. I like BOTH those episodes. Sorry, I know you wanted hate but I can only give love.

I will explain myself.

Times Up: I actually in my drafts have a huge essay about Times Up half finished that I hope to finish some day soon because I have so many thoughts about it but for this post I will try and keep it brief. Key word being TRY as I could talk for days about Times Up haha.

I get a lot of people hate it for shipping reasons but if you take a step back from that it's a really good episode about sexual assault imo. (tw for discussions about fictional sexual assault and how the episode comments on real assault ahead)

The fact that the episode takes place in a sexual assault seminar about workplace sexual harassment highlights the fact that the gang are all coworkers, reminding the audience that that adds a specific dynamic to the ways the gang treat one another, even as lifelong friends. Now, I will talk about the shipping more in that essay I'm writing, but for now I want to talk about the episode outside of that. Each character represents a different version of sexual harassment/assault.

Mac is careless, doing things like lifting Dee into the air by her crotch or trying to kiss Dennis not because he wants to harm either of them, but because he does things without thinking a lot of the time and is very impulsive (which is very in character for him imo!). But regardless of his motivation, those two things are still both sexual harassment.

Charlie thinks he stalked (is it actually canon that he stopped stalking her after they slept together or does he still do it? that was always unclear to me) The Waitress as a sign of love, as a lot of stalkers do. Again, something that's been very consistent with his character. But just like with Mac, his motivation doesn't matter, his actions do.

Frank is of course our stereotypical Quid Pro Quo case, more obviously in your face about the way he harmed women who worked under him at his old company. I get why some wouldn't find the way they use that for comic relief funny, but I personally like the way they handle it--there's never a doubt in anyone's mind that Frank hurt those women, and the joke is always on Frank finally feeling the heat he deserves for what he did to them and not on the victims. It doesn't matter that that was "what the times were like back that", Frank deserves to at the very least feel shitty for what he did. His part also highlights exactly why some states want to get rid of statute of limitation laws--which yeah! They should get rid of them! Because of the exact reason the episode shows--just because it happened years ago doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Dee spends the whole episode on her high horse because she sees the issue as a women vs men issue (as a lot of people do!) and doesn't think that she could ever possibly be persecuted since she's a woman. But that doesn't matter--she's still canonically assaulted multiple men! And I know some people don't like that they had it be that she raped Charlie specifically but I think it was a good writing decision. Here me out. The vast majority of rape is perpetrated by family members or close friends, because those are most often the people who are close enough to us to cause that kind of harm and manipulate victims into staying quiet. The reveal that Dee raped Charlie is another hard hitting point the episode is making about SA--that you can be friends with someone, even have romantic chemistry with them, but that doesn't excuse raping them. Even if, as in Dee's case, she didn't really think about what she was doing or conceptualize it as rape until it was pointed out to her. The point is that none of the characters THINK they are perpetrators, that they all have reasons and excuses that justify the things they do (just like real life perpetrators always have some sort of internal reason justifying their actions), but that doesn't change the facts of what they did. If the fact that all the characters are perpetrators to some degree makes you comfortable--good! It should! It's trying to challenge perceptions about assault, challenge the idea of what a victim looks like, what a perpetrator looks like, how the same person can be both a victim and a perpetrator, and to show how normalized assault is in the gang's lives and in society in general.

Now, savvy readers may have noticed I haven't mentioned Dennis yet. And that's because I think a lot of people misunderstand the way Dennis is being used in this episode, so I wanted to lay the groundwork for his section first. A lot of people dislike that Dennis is the one to point out the flaws of the others and the fact that Dennis is the one who set up the seminar when he's the worst of them all but--that's kind of the point. Dennis commits serial sexual assault and is able to get away with it because he cloaks himself in the progressive language of the MeToo movement and falsifies evidence. Dennis is the most dangerous of all because unlike the others, he DOES understand consent, he is FULLY AWARE that what he's doing is assault and therefor knows exactly what he needs to do to legally hide it. Dennis is NOT supposed to be in the right here. Like the audience surrogates (the people hired to teach the seminar), we are supposed to think Dennis is an idiot and kind of terrifying, not agree with everything he says just because he knows which words to use.

A lot of people call this episode "wildly out of character" but I don't understand that at all--it follows up on things which have been previously established with each character. The whole point is that the world is changing, they can't keep treating people and each other the way they do and keep expecting to get away with it. Even for someone like Dennis who has a whole system of manipulation and all these practiced ways not to get caught Time. Is. UP! The point is that, while Dennis may be better at getting away with shit than the others, that doesn't mean he's safe and that's a good thing. It feels very hopeful to me. And yeah I think it's funny. I know that's very subjective so I don't really know how to explain beyond "it makes me hahaha".

Mops Twice: I'm not sure why this episode would be considered "disappointing" (I'd love to know why you describe it that way!) because I think it's super fun. I love the references to the way old films were edited and shot, I love the whole grey-scale with red thing the episode has going on--it gives it a very unique flavor. I love the costumes, I love the way Charlie's narration is written like he's a detective in an old serial. I love the twist that The Waitress is running things and poisoning people It's so girlboss of her and one of the most fun things they've done with her character imo. I know people don't like that The Waitress is flirty with Charlie, but that's because the episode is from Charlie's perspective, it's how he interprets their probably not at all actually flirty interactions. Plus this episode is just really funny to me. My wife and I quote "bleach, the universal poison antidote" at each other all the time. I love Charlie focused episodes and this is no exception. And I love when they do new and more out there things like this too. I think it's part of what gives the series it's personality and I love it.

#least favorite sunny ep opinions #coralereef #ask #times up for the gang #the janitor always mops twice

[with-love-from-hell]

5 Sides of Human

{Part eighteen}

Genre: Mixed

WC: ~3.9k

CW: pining, some NSFW elements and hints at sex, kissing, anxiety, depictions of anger and verbal aggression, depression,  angst, allusion to past trauma, Barbatos is suspicious af, Storm has a stutter but I am not depicting it with written word consistently, prolly lots of typos lol, spoilers for season 1&2, I'm skipping over/changing some things I didn't like in the main story so it will be a bit different from canon!

Series Masterlist

©️ artwork commissioned by @vivi8bit ©️  

“So what happened to your date?” Storm finally spoke after walking in silence for a few minutes. She and Mammon had decided to take a walk through the courtyard to get some air. Mammon was awkwardly silent since they exited the hall, making Storm feel a bit more uncomfortable with each passing moment. 

“Meh...” Mammon shrugged. “She bailed on me last minute because she met some rich guy at the horse track who promised to take ‘er on a fancy yacht party.” 

“Oh...” Storm looked to the ground sadly. “I’m sorry...”

Mammon stopped in his tracks, trying to process her words. “Wait. What’re you apologizin’ for?”

“Well, I...It didn’t work out, and that’s kind of shitty of her to do that...” Storm shrugged. “And...I feel bad for not going to the ball with you. I know it hurt your feelings.” 

Mammon sighed. “You don’t have nothin’ to apologize for. I’m the one that should be sorry for how I been treatin’ ya.” 

Storm smiled weakly. “Mammon, It’s-” 

“No. It’s not fine.” Mammon shook his head, turning and facing her completely. “I treated ya like shit, and over what? I don’t own you, and ya don’t owe me anything. You can go on a date whoever ya want...it doesn’t have to be me. And after what I said t’ya...” Mammon paused, crossing his arms. “...I hurt ya. Real bad. And I know I did. I knew it would hurt ya, even if I didn’t mean it. I did it on purpose ‘cuz I was hurt...and that ain’t right to do to someone ya love.” 

“Well...” She shrugged dismissively, a sad expression on her face. “I know you didn’t mean it though.” 

“I don’t care that ya know I didn’t mean it!” Mammon snapped, frustrated with Storm accepting the way he treated her. “Ya should be mad at me! Ya should be tellin’ me to beg for forgiveness! Ya should be threatenin’ to never talk to me ever again! Nobody- not even me- should just get away with talkin’ t’ya like that!”  

Storm frowned, unsure of how to respond. “W-Why do you want me to be mad at you?” 

Mammon sighed again, pressing both hands on her shoulders and squatting down to look into her eyes. “I wan’t ya to value yourself as much as I do. Ya shouldn’t accept anyone talkin’ to ya in the way that I did. Ya ain’t ugly, Ya ain’t worthless, ya ain’t stupid, and...and anyone would be lucky to have a girl like you at their side. I...I just wan’t ya to know that.” 

Storm smiled, feeling tears prick the back of her eyes. She captured him in a hug, squeezing tight against his abdomen. “T-thank you, Mammon. That means a lot.”

Mammon blushed, gently resting his hands around her back. “Ya shouldn’t be thankin’ me. It’s the bare minimum to treat ya with respect...and somehow I managed to even fuck that up, like everything else.” 

Storm shook her head. “You’re not a fuck up, Mammon. You have done and said some things that have hurt me, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.” 

Mammon nodded, but he had a hard time believing it. The guilt for how badly he had hurt her was eating him alive, and he knew he didn’t deserve her kindness. There was a moment of tense silence between them as they stood in the middle of the courtyard. 

“Well, I s’pose I should give ya back to yer date now...” Mammon chuckled awkwardly. “We been out here for awhile.” 

“Yeah...But I do feel better now.” Storm smiled, giving Mammon another quick hug. “Thank you.” 

Mammon nodded, approaching the door and holding it open for her. She stopped before walking through the door, looking up at him with glossy eyes. He sucked in a breath, feeling his heartbeat quicken as she took his free hand in hers. 

“I want to save you a dance. so come find me later, okay?” 

Mammon swallowed, only finding the ability to nod in response as she smiled and strolled back toward the ballroom. His breath finally caught up to him as he shut the door, leaning his back against it to get his heartbeat to slow down. 

Sure, she could date whoever she wanted, but fuck...all he wanted in this world was for her to choose him. 

“What in the fuck...” Vivi paused, furrowing her brow as she walked into the chaos in the ballroom. The giddiness they felt in their alone time with Satan was now completely obliterated upon seeing the shit show the remaining brothers had caused in their absence. 

Across the room, a circle of demons appeared to be gathered around Lucifer as he loudly scolded Beel for demolishing the entire buffet table in a fit of blind gluttony, causing the other students in attendance to complain about lack of refreshments. Many also passed whispers about Storm’s sudden fleeing from the ball, and what their association was beyond the exchange program given Lucifers clear lack in hesitation in asking her to dance. Asmo and Heart were in the process of what appeared to be taking the “perfect shot” for a devilgram photo, snatching the tulle from the ceiling and trying to dangle themselves off of them. Below them was Levi, who was being chased around by Sarah with a pair of Cat ears- begging for him to put them on and pose with her for a devilgram photo of her own. Worst of all, though, was the fact that Belphie and Fern were practically all over each other in a furious make-out session, literally right in front of Vivi’s eyes. 

She grimaced at the sight, disgusted with the fact that they were so careless in their public display. She reeled her foot back and kicked Fern hard in the ass, causing them to screech loudly in both pain and surprise. 

“AH! What the hell, Man!” They whimpered, jumping off of Belphie and rubbing the tender spot on their behind where a bruise was quickly forming. “That fuckin’ hurt!” 

“Serves you right. That was gross.” Satan sighed, crossing his arms.

Vivi’s grimace tightened further on their face, seeing their shirt had been buttoned down to the point where it was nearly wide open. “Seriously, Fern? Of all of the demons here, why with the guy who smells like rotten feet?!” 

“Excuse me?” Belphie huffed, standing and re-buttoning his own shirt. 

“You heard me, stink boy.” Vivi narrowed her eyes. “That was the grossest shit my eyes have every seen.” 

“I concur.” Satan chuckled, nudging Vivi on the shoulder with his elbow. “I think my eyes need some bleach now.” 

Fern stuck out their tongue, making a mocking fart noise at them. 

“You four.” Lucifer growled, now approaching the group. His eyebrows were twitching slightly, the lines on his forehead way more exaggerated than before. Tightly wound in his fist was a broken pair of cat ears. Behind him stood Beel, which a shameful expression hidden beneath the mess of food scraps plastered to his lips and cheeks (and somehow all over his hair). Sarah and Asmo whined in frustration for having their pictures ruined a few feet behind him, while Heart and Levi chatted about the new Anime convention coming to Devildom next week. 

Vivi rolled her eyes. “What is it, grandpa?” 

Lucifer shut his eyes, the thin line his lips were pressed into becoming even thinner. “Tonight was supposed to be a fun time for all of us, and yet you all seemed to really make fools of yourselves this time. I thought after that horrific display Mammon pulled we would be done with this. But apparently you all can’t learn to behave for even a minute.” 

“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about old timer. We were having a great time.” Fern smirked at him, only to be met with a deep growl from Lucifer’s throat. 

“Oh, I noticed. It was hard not to when you were nearly screwing each other on the dance floor.” Lucifer retorted, causing Belphie to turn beet red. “Have you no shame?” 

Fern snickered, spitting the words back at Lucifer before having a chance to think about the consequences. “Maybe you’re just jealous that I have more game than you, bird man. Your date clearly ditched your crusty ass!”  

Lucifer took a threatening step forward, causing Belphie and Satan to take a larger step away- clearly not wanting to get involved with how angry Fern was making Lucifer. gritted his teeth, nose scrunched to reveal the tips of his fangs. “You better hope you can suck those words back into your rotten little mouth, otherwise I’ll-” 

“What the- what’s going on?!” Storm darted her vision around the room as she entered, her eyes falling on a very angry Lucifer towering over Fern. She quickly paced over to them, the tension as she approached slowly dissipating as Lucifer took a step back and cleared his throat. He hadn’t really realized how far Fern and his brothers had gotten under his skin until he noticed the entire ballroom was deathly quiet and staring. 

“Oh, Good thing you’re here Storm.” Beel smiled nervously at her. “I thought Lucifer was going to mash Fern into pudding for a minute there.” 

Storm stopped in her tracks, blinking rapidly in confusion. “What?!” 

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with now, Storm.” Lucifer sighed, shooting Beel a pointed look. “We’re leaving.” 

Storm felt her heart sink slightly. Her thoughts raced with regret and blame for her bolting out of the room to cause him to want to call it a night early.  “L-leaving? But...We only got to dance to one song...” 

“Well, as you can see, the room has been made a disaster area.” Lucifer gestured around with a sigh. “I’m doubtful the night can be salvaged.” 

“Oh come now, Lucifer.” Diavolo suddenly appeared behind Storm, placing a large hand on her shoulder. She jumped, nearly screaming in fear at the unexpected touch and loud volume at which he spoke. “The night is young, and your brothers were merely making their own merry. What’s the harm?” 

Lucifer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. When a response wasn’t given, Diavolo clapped his hands together. “Resume the party, everyone. More refreshments will come soon!” 

A few murmurs among the crowd turned into cheers, and the music resumed. The brothers and other exchange students dissipated, leaving Storm alone between Lucifer and Diavolo. 

“I’d hate to interrupt your date,” Diavolo smiled, but behind it was a smidge of a threat, “but, would you mind if I danced with Storm for a bit, Lucifer?” 

Lucifer blinked, glancing down to Storm for a moment. She looked nervous and unsure of herself. Before he could answer, Diavolo gave a boisterous laugh and snatched her arm up in his. 

“Great! I’ll be sure to return her to you, don’t worry!” 

Storm looked back to Lucifer with panicked eyes, unsure of what to do to stop the situation from happening. With a sigh, Lucifer made his way to one of the tables, plopping down in a chair in defeat. How could a romantic evening turn sour so quickly? He wanted the opportunity to show Storm some affection, and perhaps maybe more- but of course he couldn’t get a moment’s rest from his brothers antics. Not even for a split second. And between that and Storm’s anxiety, it was like the moment they had alone escaped him before he could even grasp it. 

He sighed once more, rubbing his temple to sooth the developing migraine at the front of his skill. What a disaster. 

“So, I take it your night has been enjoyable?” Diavolo grinned as he waltzed with Storm, trying to get her to look him in the eyes.

Storm shrugged trying to fight away the growing knot of anxiety that began to redevelop in her stomach. “It’s okay, I suppose. Events where this much attention is paid to me aren’t really my thing, I guess.” 

He chuckled.  “That is a fair point. I’ll admit, I was shocked when Lucifer asked you to the ball. He typically stands idle at events like this and refuses anyone’s hand for a dance. Even mine!”

“Oh, really?” Storm forced a smile, trying not to let it show how nervous she was being held so close to such an intimidating demon. 

“Lucifer is a tough nut to crack.” Diavolo laughed once more. “It takes so much for him to just relax and have a good time. I’m a bit envious that you’ve been able to seemingly do the impossible by getting him to dance at one of these things- or rather, influencing him to change his ways.” 

Storm furrowed her brow as he spun her gently, leaning her into a dip. “What do you mean?” 

Diavolo maneuvered her upright, returning to the normal waltz. “Hmm...I suppose I mean that your connection to him is something rather special. No one- not even in the celestial realm- was able to get him to loosen up or drop his guard. Not his brothers, not me, not Michael...not even Lilith. That really uptight and cold demeanor is the way he had always been, and now it obviously falters when you’re around.” 

Storm stayed quiet for a moment, processing his words. Did she really have that much of an impact on him? 

“-And I have to say...” Diavolo craned his neck so that his face was closer to hers. “It makes me curious about you.”

It took a moment for Storm to really hear what he had said. She jerked her head back slightly, confused as to what he was getting at. “W-what do you mean?” 

Diavolo smiled, but the motion felt intimidating. “What I mean is that I’d like to know what’s so special about you- how you could change someone so drastically by just being...you.” Storm swallowed hard as Diavolo reached up, tracing her jaw with his finger and lowering his voice to a honey-like tone. “You intrigue me, Storm.” 

Storm nervously laughed, wriggling out of his grasp as the song ended. “Ahah, I suppose I should get back to Lucifer now. I’m his date, after all!” 

Before he could protest she scrambled away quickly, maneuvering swiftly through the crowd, leaving Diavolo in the center of the room. Demons quickly crowded around him, trying to get their opportunity to dance with the prince. 

Storm frantically looked for where Lucifer had gone, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him sitting alone at one of the tables. She quickly walked over to him, sitting down in the chair next to him. He glanced up at her, offering a warm smile- but there was a distance she felt behind it. 

“How was your dance with Lord Diavolo?” 

“Eh...it was...just...weird.” She shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Weird?” Lucifer repeated, eyeing her curiously. “Weird how?” 

Storm sighed. “I dunno. He just intimidates me, I guess.” 

Lucifer chuckled. “Well, he is the future king. I’d say that’s normal for those who aren’t really part of nobility- and it’s even normal for those that are.” 

“No, it’s not that he’s a prince that makes me anxious.” She sighed again. “I mean, maybe it is a little bit, but its more than that. I mean, he’s a very...large man. Like that alone makes me uncomfortable.”

Lucifer shook his head, giving a another soft laugh. “I suppose that’s fair, you are rather small, Storm.” 

She laughed nervously. “I mean yeah, but that’s not all there is either.  It’s even worse with just like...the way he acts around me and talks to me...It makes me feel so icky.” 

Lucifer’s amused smile fell and his tone grew serious. “What do you mean?” 

“It just...” Storm sighed in frustration. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. I think he’s trying to flirt or something, but it just feels really possessive.” 

Lucifer shifted his jaw, knowing exactly what she was referring to. He thought back on the way Diavolo would talk about her in her absence, especially since she has returned. The comments he would make about her appearance and desirability amongst other demons, and how he had been pushing his way past others to get to her, like with his faux ‘request’ to dance with her that was actually more of a command. “Hm. That does sound as if it would be uncomfortable.” 

Storm chewed her lip anxiously, unsure of what to make of Lucifer’s reply. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t be shit talking the future king of the Devildom.” 

“It’s quite alright.” Lucifer shook his head. “Your comfort matters to me, and if someone makes you feel uneasy- even if it’s Diavolo- it is imperative for me to know.” 

“Thank you.” She offered him a grateful smile. 

Lucifer returned the smile, offering his hand to her for another dance. She seemed much more relaxed this time as he led her to the dancefloor, this time hovering around the outer crowd rather than going for the middle. As they danced, she rested her head on his chest, soothed by his heartbeat that accompanied the beat of the music. A content smile was plastered on Lucifer’s face, eased by the comfort he clearly brought to Storm and she brought him. 

From the distance, the two were watched by multiple disapproving eyes. Despite now having a different dance partner, Diavolo stole glances at the pair, feeling overwhelming jealous of Lucifer’s clear bond to the small woman. Fern, Belphie, Satan, and Vivi, sat at a table watching, more or less irritated by the fact that their friend was so close to the eldest brother. Leaning against the north wall, Mammon also watched sadly, trying to muster up the courage to interrupt and ask her to dance with him instead. And even further beyond that, nearest to the exit, watched Barbatos. 

His eyes never left them as they swayed with the crowd, trying to gauge the intentions of both individuals. He was unsure of Storm from the beginning, and since making a pact with Lucifer- something he thought no human could ever do- he was even more suspicious of her. Lucifer’s clear infatuation with her was also concerning- it would be unspeakable if any noble demon tried to develop any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with a human. Diavolo’s curiosity and attempts to probe into what was so alluring about her also concerned him. It was as if everyone was under some sort of spell- and he wondered for a moment if she was indeed using some sort of magic to lure them in. It seemed unlikely, especially considering her timidness even after getting used to life in the Devildom, but he couldn’t rule out every possibility.  While he had enough respect for her to not pry into her timelines like she had requested after the Belphie incident- he couldn’t help but feel curious as to why she requested him not to pry. It couldn’t simply be because of mere anxiety...could it? 

He narrowed his eyes as he watched Lucifer press a kiss to the top her her head. He had surely hoped his loyalties to Diavolo wouldn’t be swayed by a simple human, but now...now that he has witnessed more of their intimate interactions, he wasn’t so sure. 

“So...like...What are we now, exactly?” Belphegor pondered aloud, finally able to catch his breath as he stared up at the ceiling of the attic. Fern rested on his chest, a smug smile on their face as they listened to the gentle hum of Belphie’s purr that rumbled through his body. Taking Lucifer’s suggestion at having a bit of shame, they decided to immediately retreat upstairs when they returned home- away from the prying eyes of the brothers and exchange students. Though, given the heated encounter they had earlier in the evening at the ball, one could guess what they had snuck off to get up to. 

“Well...I dunno!” Fern laughed nervously. “What...do you want us to be?” 

Belphie was quiet for a moment, trying to think of an answer. “I don’t know...” 

Fern turned and planted their chin on his abdomen. “I guess like. We could try...dating?” 

Belphie laughed at the weird motion their head took with the rise and fall of his breathing. “I guess I’m fine with that. But...I don’t think we should say anything. If Lucifer finds out that we uh...y’know...I think he’d actually kill you. And then probably me.” 

“Oh, what? So he can go around and mess with Storm, but none of his brothers can have any fun?” Fern poked Belphie in the tummy, causing him to recoil and snatch their arms up. 

“Yes, Fern. He’s a hypocrite. We’ve established this.” He retorted sarcastically.

There was a tense silence for a moment between them. Belphie released Fern’s arms and they readjusted themselves to where they stared up at the ceiling together. 

“Seriously, though...” Fern added, clearing their throat to get Belphie’s attention. “I really...I really do like you, Belphie.” 

Belphie glanced over at them, an evil smile curling onto his lips. “I don't think you would have done some of those things to me if you didn’t like me, idiot.” 

Fern glared at him. “Hey. Fuck you, buddy.” 

Belphie chuckled, turning and snuggling up against Fern. like a Koala. “Fuck you too, Fern.” 

#5 sides of human #obey me mc: Storm #obey me mc: Fern #obey me mc: Sarah #obey me mc: Vivi #Obey me mc: Heart #obey me! #obey me #shall we date: obey me #obey me swd #om! #om! swd #om! one master to rule them all #obey me: shall we date? #obey me: one master to rule them all #obey me mc #my mc #storm

[pacific-rimbaud]

(pt 1) this is probably kind of long but I just want to say how much Remember One Thing means to me, and your general Panville characterizations overall (A Dress with Pockets and Bright Objects too). My fiancé and I are getting married in November and we've been Going Through It because of my past and family baggage. I honestly feel like an odd combo between your Hermione and Pansy, but my fiancé is nearly 100% Neville. It is both incredible and incredibly exposing to be loved by someone

(parts 1-6) with consistent warmth & grace & compassion & forgiveness. My issues with my mother that continue to affect our relationship in real time, the little girl I know is still locked away somewhere inside me, my incredulity that I've managed to "slither my way into this charming happily ever after," my own terrors regarding motherhood (fear of becoming like my mother while desperately wanting to see my fiancé become the amazing father I know he'll be, his certainty that I will be a kind) & loving mother, that I am already loving and kind), the aloof and analytical person I was (and still can be) melting away whenever I am around him, the telling him everything (honestly it just comes out and im like!! shut up me!), the grave/garden imagery, you've seemed to somehow capture all so that I inevitably cry through every chapter. I even sent my fiancé screenshots of the Ch 6 convo about family planning and he was like "wow, we've had that conversation almost word-for-word." All that to say, I want to give a sincere thank you for writing a story like this. As heartbreaking as the plot is, I think you're working on something that resonates with so many people. Clearly it resonates with me. And to anyone reading it who doubts that this kind of love exists: it absolutely does. An adage people frequently say is that "marriage is hard work." And yeah, it can be. But this kind of partnership, even with the painful pasts we bring (bc both partners bring baggage with them, no doubt) actually doesn't even have to feel like "work" in the ways society often portrays it. It can be one of the deepest, most respectful, life-giving, joy-filled, nauseatingly silly-sweet, sacrificially-oriented partnerships we ever have. I have run away from romantic love for most of my life, convinced that it would ruin me and the independence I fought hard to have. No one ever prepared me for the unaccountable joy of *wanting* to give myself, my time, my resources & my love. I thought this kind of love was laughably out of reach for me, a painful fantasy, and something that would be a shackle; turns out that it is (often frighteningly) freeing. Thank you for writing a story that shows that." I’ve held onto this ask for a bit because it touched me so deeply. I’m humbled and grateful to know that this story has resonated with you as you navigate this chapter in your life. Everyone deserves to be cherished by their partner; to be treated even in the most challenging moments with warmth and compassion; to be fully seen. But it takes courage to open ourselves up to receive that kind of love, to let someone look at our unhealed wounds and offer us the kind of grace we often struggle to give ourselves. For the right partner, it’s such a necessary and worthwhile discomfort. Thank you so much for your ask. I wish you both joy.

#you asked i answered #remember one thing

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Omfg, Zoroark Lewis!! And Arthur working for Emmet as a depot agent who still lost his arm somehow?! Who is an enabler encouraging Arthur's probably sleep deprived plan, of course, but only if he can go too. He has a lot of vacation time saved up, it's fine, and he trusts his other depot agents to keep things running smoothly while he's gone. Listen, he's been a good, responsible adult for however long Ingo has been missing, he deserves to get to do a few crazy as shit things like punching a hole through time with a train, as a treat. Plus he... probably shouldn't let Arthur go alone if he's still fucked up enough over losing his arm that he can't work. I'm just imagining Arthur driving the train down the mountain the same way he does that hill in Hellbent, just like screaming the whole way down until he finally crashes into something, but worse because he only has one arm, is intensely sleep deprived, and is probably on some pretty intense pain killers.

Wait wait, no, before my brain runs away with this more, tell me what other ideas this crossover idea already has. I think this au conception was before I started following you, so I don't know if it's been fleshed out at all. I have Questions about how, for example, Arthur lost his arm, and how Lewis wound up in the past but still died with a grudge against Arthur, and if Vivi has amnesia here, etc.

qhjqhjk ok honestly the au is very vague right now, in that i have some hazy ideas but i'm not sold on them and could go another way if we think of something better. but anyway

so right now i think all the riftnappings happened at once? like, ingo vivi and lewis were all in the same place for Reasons and all of them got yoinked. and this was probably possessed-arthur's fault since yeah lewis still hates him. probably the fall killed lewis but the others survived? the alternative is that vivi was taken later in the same way the protagonist is. either way i think yes to vivi amnesia bc she idolizes her ancestor so otherwise shed get a lot of spoilers out the gate (since mushi (the original one) is the hero of legend)

another thing i pitched re: how they even wound up in the past is that arthur is volo's descendant, and as such is a vulnerable point for giratina to exploit. i think giratina mostly just wanted vivi, but the other two got caught in the crossfire

IF mystery is vivi's partner and not a thing from the past (which was another pitch earlier), i think he looks like a weird hybrid vulpix but is Not a vulpix and can still do the transformation thing. like a hoopa confined/unbound situation. however giratina possession is also probably not, like, arm based, so maybe he grabbed arthur's arm in his teeth while falling? (if that happened, you get the bonus that even if mystery would have form shifted he still arrived in hisui with a mouth full of blood and someone's fucking arm and it's like. he's very small now but that's not exactly a recipe for trust)

now i'm just like. going on. but also i think lewis is sort of unique as a zoroark in that 95% of the time he's very chill unless he has to remember arthur for some reason. normally zoroark are consistently vicious and humanity-hating but lewis is just a nice young man if you ignore the fire-breathing anger about That One Guy (who doesn't seem to actually exist as far as anyone can tell.) this i think is bc most zoroark were abandoned by humanity sort of comprehensively, and were made to feel entirely alone and rejected, whereas lewis has no problem with most of humanity but his betrayal over arthur was just so intense that he came back as a zorua anyway.

anyway yeah jlskjsklj part of emmet's reasoning is also that like. if he made it all the way over to the station in the first place he's probably not going to like. Stop. he's gonna do the inadvisable wormhole thing one way or another and at least this way he's sort of supervised. but yes mostly he's just also really on board with the idea himself. and also yes re: the train going down the mountain like the van in hellbent, except that i think emmet's driving.

also i think THEY keep their memories, maybe arthur put some kind of protective barrier together or it's just a matter of the actual physical train walls or whatever.

the final note is that despite ingo and vivi having amnesia and all that, a lot of people know arthur's name in hisui. except, of course, they know him via lewis, so most of their understanding of him is that he's an evil, murderous, two-faced scumbag with no morals and the blood of at least one good man on his hands. which makes for a fun time when arthur chats with people for a while and then finally introduces himself

#the nemesis speaks #the nemesis answers #anonymous #pokefic pitch #m this should have a tag... uh #nah i'll do it later i gotta get going #msaxpla

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

HI THANK YOU FOR THE NEW CHAPTER. You slayed as usual and I’m so excited for whoever Daemon is going to slay in the future 😈 I was looking forward to feral and the council scene delivered 🤌🏻 I feel really bad for Daemon but I’m also proud of him for making a clear stand against his older brother. How does Viserys feel about this? Does he feel bad or is he like “meh I always forgive my brother when I exile him, surely he’ll get over this after a while”

I really loved the detail of Daemon getting the the heads of the attackers pickled. Did Ulla do it? Idk if they had the proper chemicals to preserve heads for that long back then but to add on to the anon who asked if one of the twins would brag about surviving an assassination, what if they do and they have the pickled head on a shelf in their bedroom? They’ll bring their friends over like “Oh yeah I’m so cool I survived and assassination! And my dad had the head of the attacker pickled for me. It’s over there” all smug while their friends stare in horror.

Objectively, I totally understand Alicent’s side of the story and I feel for her. She does not deserve what she’s going through. But I’m biased and I don’t like her in this fic so I kinda hope that when Larys dies she’s very sad cause she lost her only friend. 😇

Miss Em how are youu? I hope you’re doing well and your students are slightly less obnoxious lately. Also, Australian uni sounds so nice, only four tests a semester?! I don’t have a lot of tests aside from midterms and finals because of my major but I feel like I write essays every week rip.

-💎

Hey, 💎!

I'm so glad you liked the latest chapter! Feral!Daemon is always a fun time. I've enjoyed cracking him out for a bit; he's been a bit lovey-dovey lately and like, yeah, because Babey's pregnant and can't do all the gross stuff he likes (and also her bein' pregnant makes her all soft and round and sweet and it's activating his mama-bear instincts and YES I did mean 'mama'-bear haha), but also bleugh because Daemon's not a lovey-dovey guy. He's noice and soft with her now, but when them babies are out and her systems are good to go y'all know he's gettin' nasty with her. Kinda nawww, kinda gross, definitely ick. Love that for him.

I honestly think Vissie T is the expert in denial; self-denial, denial in general, you name it. No one gaslights him better than his own damn self, so I fully believe he's convinced himself it's "just another Daemon tantrum lol". A guy who's fucked up so consistently can't be anything but delusional to be able to live with himself and his choices. (I do actually like him haha, buuuuut he's also SO easy to pick on as a source of conflict.)

Daemon pickling the head is fucking disgusting, and I couldn't help but to add that bit because it's so wonderfully unhinged and exactly the sort of thing you should add in a throwaway comment because to him, there's nothing wrong with it (oh my god lol). You should absolutely hack off a dead guy's head and pickle it in a jar so that you can carry it around and use it to threaten people. Daemon life advice right there. I figured Ulla did it, yeah - in this instance, I said "fuck it" and figured if they can have dragons, they can pickle shit in a jar haha. I had thought about Daemon giving the head to the twinnies as their very first gift lol, which seems so funny but I worry also too funny for the vibe I intend to go for.

Alicent is a character that I have complicated feelings for; on the one hand, she's been forced into her position and she's clearly not happy being the wife of a decaying corpse who's A) your former BFF's dad and B) is decomposing literally, never mind the fact that he so obviously sees her as second-best to the memory of his dead first wife. Who the hell would be sane putting up with that? But she's also someone with a great capacity and depth for hypocrisy, I feel, and the circumstances she is in don't give her the right to treat other characters the way she does. In the fic, she makes some really appalling choices that have major impact on others while thinking she's doing the right thing. I hope that comes across!

I'm doing okay, thank you! I think I'm finally starting to get somewhere with these kids, though that might be the whole 'nearing the end of term' thing speaking. My uni experience might be limited to my speciality (like, pretty sure science fields are all sorts of awful AF haha), but yeah it was pretty chill. How you goin'? You sound stressed! PLEASE keep in mind lol that I'm an English teacher, so if you're ever desperate enough to ask for them essay-writing assistances I'm a ho for that haha. Hope you're doing okay!!!

#fanfiction comments

[compassionatereminders]

my sister is really bugging me lately. My dad says that I shouldn't let the way she treats him bug me, but it pisses me the fuck off tbh. She's fourteen and I recognize that that's young and that she's still growing up and she's not an adult, but it still feels like she's old enough to know better than to treat people with complete disrespect. The worst part is that when she gets herself into fights with someone else or causes a new problem or does something rude, she genuinely seems to think she's in the right and if you try to have a conversation she gets pissed off. She's so bad that when my dad went to talk to her a week ago, my eight year old sister literally said "i'm worried about daddy" and when I asked why she said it was because other sister gets in fights a lot and she was scared she was gonna hurt my dad. (She didn't, though she did yell at my dad who has never once hit any of us to hit her because he was confronting her about something she did and I think she wanted an excuse to say she'd call the cops? That's the literal only explanation I can think of, because I've heard her tell her to hit him so she could call the cops before, a few years ago.) Anyway that's not entirely relevant but it's just like she gets mad if someone wont do something for her and acts like no one loves her and I do feel bad for her because I know she's had breakdowns feeling like no one loves her from fights happening or from someone not wanting to be around her or hang out with her but the thing is while I do feel bad, no one owes her their time and when she acts like that, she can't really expect it. Like the eight year old, who she loves to flat out yell at when the eight year old just says something rude, and then defends herself by saying that she should be allowed to defend herself (which is not what anyone is saying when they point it out, we're just pointing out that her full on yelling at an eight year old who is much younger and wasn't screaming at her anyway isn't okay), will walk away from her because she's being rude and 14 year old will start yelling and complain to dad that no one likes her. But I feel like if even my 8 year old sister is realizing to just walk away from the situations instead of engaging because she's just so tired of it, that really says something about the consistency of these things. But anyway, all that said, basically I don't want to be in my sisters life at all (14 year old). Like she has redeeming moments but it's not enough with everything else. The other day she was rude to me and like 40 minutes later when we saw each other again, she said "name, I love you," I guess to move on from it and that's more maturity than she normally has, but I just feel like that's not enough. Like it's reaching out and it's nice but it's sure as hell not an apology or even an admission of guilt and since then she's caused more problems, with me and in general. So yeah I just genuinely don't want to be around her. Like I'm at a point where I'm like, maybe in a few years if she's a better person, I could forge a good relationship with her, but even if she became a million times better over night, being aound her and trying to be super friendly (I can be decently nice just fine even if it's a little annoying when things go unaddressed) right now or any time soon isn't something I want. Like I legitamately don't think she deserves my time and also she just makes me so miserable and I can't really explain this next part but just being around her doesn't FEEL nice even when she's being nice or better (which never last past the first slight disagreement. but even if it did).

But I'm legitamately afraid, too, because I know that most of my other sisters are also at that point with her (I have a lot of sisters, and 2 of them I don't think are done with her, one goes back and forth and the other I think is chill with her but I don't think they talk much) and I know that that adds to her feelings of isolation and feeling unloved and unwanted but like the thing is it's her actions that caused it and I feel like I shouldn't have to feel bad for her because she's created the situation she's in but she seems to legitamately not see that and I'm just fucking terrified because I know she has issues with depression and I know that she has self harmed before and I'm afraid that the isolation and those negative feelings could lead to something really bad. So I feel like telling people yeah it's okay to distance yourself from her and doing it myself could end badly and that just worries me because I don't want that for anyone and at the end of the day I do care about her and also I wouldn't want to see how that would affect my dad because he loves her so much but I also don't want to be around her and I don't think it's wrong to say to my sisters who have distanced themselves from her that they're not doing anything wrong and I am going to tell my eight year old sister that it's okay to walk away when she's being mean (not from the whole relationship, she wouldn't want to anyway, but just from the fights) even if it upsets 14 year old sister more. But about my distancing myself and what I feel like is holding a grudge which also makes me feel bad, I feel like a bad person for doing it when I know how she's feeling. And I know that she genuinely feels the way she does but at the same time I also feel like my dad keeps getting manipulated by it bc she does feel that way but she brings it up any time she's in trouble and then all of the sudden he's comforting her and feeling bad for saying anything. She also jokingly says 'oh so you don't love me' when she asks for something and my dad says no and that would be fine but she keeps insisting about whatever she wants after she says that and it'd be so much less annoying if it wasn't for how often she says it and for all the background information about her saying similar things in situations that I'm sure she does feel them but that make him feel bad for just parenting. But anyway sorry for the rant I know that's ridiculously wrong and you don't have to respond but I needed to get that out lol

I think your frustration and anger and hurt is completely valid, but I also don't think we can disregard that she is 14 and having mental health issues. So avoid her when you can and call her out when you have the energy and try not to feel bad about it, because you are allowed to have limits and boundaries. But maybe don't write her off completely while she is still in the early stages of puberty. There's a good chance this is a phase or at least something she can grow out of at a later point. Not that you are obligated to be there with zero concerns if she does. Being 14 excuses a lot of things, but not this level of consistent manipulation and disregard

#chat with kat #manipulation tw #guilt tripping tw #self harm tw #abuse tw

[becauseanders]

Just because I am curious, why do you hate Arl Eamon? Lol

sorry i've been sitting on this for a bit, brain no work, lol

i am also sure others could explain this far more eloquently, and i know others already have, but also i do have a lot of feelings here so… (also i am terrible with tone in text so please know that i do just have a lot of emotions here and am at no point trying to come off as too over the top or aggressive or anything)

but anyway yeah, eamon "i am going to create a child who is so unloved and unwanted" guerrin is definitely not my favorite

i won't lie, i despise isolde far more for the fact she pretty much just hated alistair on sight purely for existing (i still scream every time she does the whole aggressive "what are you doing here" shit to alistair when you first meet her in redcliffe) while eamon was just a negligent pushover, but it still pisses me off to no end that eamon was charged with taking care of this child and then isolde came along as he was just like…nah, i'm good, i choose her, surely there will be no negative consequences to this child's psyche here (and i also find it a bit cringe that he would marry someone with so much disdain towards alistair to begin with; i mean who knows, maybe she hid that part in the beginning, but it very much has the same energy to me as when the kids hate the step-parent and the bio-parent just doesn't seem to care when they should 100% be putting their children first, if that makes any sense? and i get alistair wasn't actually eamon's kid and that it doesn't seem like he really had much choice about taking him in, but then how much of his own disdain was there already and how much more complicit in how isolde treated him is he? at this rate, would it maybe actually have been better if he'd never even tried to "raise" alistair?)

and the way alistair blames himself for the fact that eamon eventually just stopped visiting him in the chantry after they sent him away because he was sad and angry and acted out—which is honestly fair because he was a child who was straightup betrayed by his guardian—like eamon as the adult should be the mature one here, as alistair was, once again, a child… and yeah it was more on isolde as far as we can tell that alistair was just thrown to the wolves chantry to start with (the way "eamon guerrin bashing" was already an ao3 tag but i had to be the one to create an "isolde guerrin bashing" tag for my one alistair/warden fic is still wild to me, lol), but it really just bothers me so much that he met alistair's hurt and not knowing how to handle that hurt with basically just being like "okay i'm not wasting any more time here then bye"

i will also acknowledge there's potentially some fuckery here from bioware's continuity errors—eamon needing to hide his parentage because his existence coming as a result of king maric having cheated on queen rowan being in the da:o codex but then the calling giving us the background that rowan had already passed and fiona didn't want alistair to grow up burdened by the knowledge of his royal blood, which eamon then presumably went ahead and told him anyway since he still knew about it—so who knows how the story could have gone if they'd thought of the events of the calling earlier and if bioware could just be consistent about their own lore, but even with just the way alistair talks about his childhood in da:o alone i spent the game wishing i could end that motherfucker's life

long and short i just think the dude sucks and that alistair deserved better, and it is very much the guerrins' fault he may well never believe that

#the trash makes noise #fthechantry #dragon age #this is an eamon guerrin hate blog

[ppersonna]

swipe right - jjk | m

“ i wanna ruin our friendship. we should be lovers instead. i don't know how to say this, cause you're really my dearest friend “ - jenny, studio killers

♡ summary-  after a horrible breakup, you sign back up for tinder and ironically match with your best friend, jungkook. a date for fun is harmless, right?

♡ genre- best friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, jk is a minecraft streamer, brother namjoon, brother-in-law jimin, namjoon is kind of a himbo stay at home dad ngl, ex-boyfriend seokjin (mentioned but doesnt show up)

♡ word count- 9k

♡ warnings- mentions of a bad breakup (smh seokjin wtf??), penetrative sex, unprotected sex (u know the business folx), oral sex (m receiving), teasing, SO MUCH BODY WORSHIP, jk is a simp, slight dirty talk, lots of just talking during sex yall it happens, creampie, cum play, praise praise body worship praise, did i mention body worship, tit-fucking, cum eating, i think thats all.

♡ a/n - helloooo and thank you for your wait for this fic! i’m so happy its done and i loved writing it! it’s a little bit different feel for my usual style of writing (smut-wise) so please tell me your thoughts! i didn’t use dom/sub themes OR a daddy kink LMAOOOO praise me please. i hope you enjoy!! pls feel free to comment, chat, message, carrier pigeon, email, mail, WHATEVER U WANT, me. i love u babies. thank you to @kimtaehyunq​ for the sexy banner. and for @xjoonchildx @ladyartemesia​ @untaemedqueen​ for the writing support and idea generation. i would be nothing without my council. and thank you to my beta editors @hobi-gif and @ughseoks​ and @hongism​ for the perusal and help in writing this!

Jungkook is the person you call when your world falls apart.

He answers, voice raspy from the late hour, and the second he asks you what’s wrong, the downpour of torrential tears you’ve been holding back finally escapes and you’re sobbing through the phone that you just lost the love of your life—that he left and with little effort on his part, and a lot on yours.

Jungkook listens to you—his heart aching deep in his chest at hearing the utter heartbreak that’s clear in your voice. You’ve never been hurt like this, and he’s desperate to hold you, to make it go away. He wants to drive over to Seokjin’s house and throw a left hook into his stupid, handsome face for making you feel you weren’t worth it.

Because if there’s anything in the world that Jungkook knows, it’s that you’re worth it. You’re worth everything. Add up all the money and all the gold in the entire world, and it still doesn’t meet a fraction of what you’re worth to him.

“Where are you?” He asks as he cradles the phone against one arm and pulls on his jeans.  

You sniffle. “Jungkook, it’s 3 am.”

“So? I was up playing Minecraft,” He lies. “Where are you?”

You can’t help but laugh the tiniest bit, a sliver of warmth wrapping itself around your raw and exposed heart. Like a balm to a flesh wound. It doesn’t heal it, not yet.

“I’m at our park.”

Jungkook smiles as he grips the phone back in his hand. The park. The place you and Jungkook spent your childhood playing make-believe games, and formative teenage years loitering around smoking clove cigarettes to look cool.

“Give me five minutes, okay?”

You nod, even though he can’t see you. 

“Okay.”

Jungkook arrives with two minutes to spare. His beat up Nissan that he insists is “vintage” and “priceless” idles next to you.

He can see you through the darkened glass of your car—your mascara is running down your face, tears streaked through your flawlessly applied makeup.

You still look so beautiful.

And it angers Jungkook that all that time you spent looking good for Seokjin meant nothing to him.

He motions for you to come over, pats the passenger seat next to him and smiles as he watches you open the door and slide into the security of his familiar car.

“You cleaned your car,” you murmur as you notice a severe lack of McDonald’s trash.

He sniffs haughtily. 

“The trash added character.”

Jungkook doesn’t give you a chance to respond. Instead, he’s unbuckling his seatbelt and pulling you as close to him as he can get you. The instant his arms wrap around your body, the floodgates open again and your once-quieted tears turn back into full-fledged sobs.

“I loved him,” you gasp through the pain in your throat.

He rubs your back, pats your hair gently, soothing you the way he has for years now. Through every breakup, through every family fight with your older brother Namjoon, through all the mean girls in high school. Jungkook is the north star—always consistent, always guiding you back to safety.

“I know, babe,” he sighs. “You deserve someone who’s going to treat you right, who’s not just going to give up when things get hard.”

You choke back a cry against his Patagonia hoodie and bury your face further into the crook of his neck. He smells like Old Spice and the shampoo he uses, along with the smell of laundry soap you buy for him—he uses dish soap when he runs out and nearly broke his washing machine last time.

“I thought he was the one. I’m so stupid.”

Jungkook swallows hard. Tonight is about comforting you, not about feeling sorry for himself that you’re his best friend and not his girlfriend. He can’t help but think of what kind of life he would give you. He knows it’s one that wouldn’t end with you crying in a parking lot at 3 AM.

“You’re not stupid, you just loved him. And there’s nothing stupid about loving someone, even if it doesn’t work out,” he sighs as he cradles your head against him. It feels right having you there, pressed up against him and seeking comfort from the solace of his arms.

“Let’s go get a milkshake, yeah?” He asks as you pull your head up and look at him with sad, glassy eyes.

“Yeah,” you nod after a moment of staring.

Jungkook’s eyes sparkle with love, with hope. It makes the desperate, alone feeling inside you—disappear. Jungkook presses a soft kiss to your forehead and then starts the shaky ignition of his car, that takes three cranks of the key before it turns over.

He sends you a look, a laugh evident on your face.

“Don’t even start,” he warns. “The engine is fine.”

“Whatever you say,” you snort as you wipe an errant tear from your face.  

“It’s a certified classic car! I could get millions for this baby!”

As the weeks pass, the pain of losing Seokjin becomes further and further from your mind. You can get through the day without crying anytime you see something that reminds you of him and even start flirting with others without feeling like you’re cheating.

You just still haven’t reached the point where dating someone else even feels possible. You’re terrified of allowing someone close to you, letting them into a place where you’re inviting them to possibly hurt you. You’re not sure your heart is ready for it. 

“I think you’re just scared,” your older brother Namjoon states as he warms up a bottle of milk in boiling water. 

He cradles his new baby in one arm while the other works at the bottle of milk. 

“I’m not scared,” you huff. “I just don’t think it’s the right time.” 

Namjoon sighs and hands the gurgling newborn baby off to you and readies the bottle for you to feed your new niece, Jisoo. 

“Look, Seokjin sucks, okay? I know you two were together for some time, but in the end, he wasn’t the right one for you. There’s someone out there who is the right one for you. You know how many shit frogs I had to kiss before I got my prince?” 

You make a face as you feed Jisoo, who happily sucks and gazes at the lights above. 

“You call Jimin a prince?” 

Namjoon sighs dreamily as he watches the baby and thinks of his husband. 

“The dreamiest prince,” he breathes, eyes closed in bliss. “But back to your problems. I think you should get back out there. Go on some dates, meet some people. No one is telling you to fall in love and get married tomorrow. Just go have some fun.” 

You allow Namjoon’s words to mull through your mind. What could be the harm in joining a few dating sites, perhaps spending some time at the gym or grocery store flirting with someone cute?

“Fine,” you say. “I’ll think about it.” 

“Good. I can’t be the only one giving our parents grand-babies. Soo needs a cousin.” 

You smile down at the tiny bundle in your arms and imagine a future where you have a baby of your own. 

“Okay, I’m not trying to get knocked up, Joon.” 

“Whatever,” he sighs. “Help me choose a wall color for me and Jimin’s new master bathroom.” 

Tinder’s changed since the last time you used it, years ago. It’s gone from any semblance of dating to strictly an app used to get laid. 

It’s discouraging swiping through all the obvious fuckboys. Sure, a quick and easy lay sounds great, but you’re also trying to go out and enjoy real, traditional dates, and it seems none of these guys want to step foot outside of a bedroom. 

The swiping left becomes almost monotonous. You’re sitting on your couch, watching some documentary about serial killers, when a startling profile pops up on your Tinder feed. 

The picture that pops up is... Jungkook. You can’t stop the bubble of laughter that leaps from your chest. His profile is so authentically Jungkook that you’re swiping right before you even know it. 

Your brain doesn’t even comprehend what a match with Jungkook means, really. You’re still laughing as you click on the bubble to message him and send him as many laugh emojis as you can. 

“Hey guys, what’s up, Kookie here with another Let’s Play Minecraft video for ya. Be sure to like and subscribe if you enjoy this kind of content.”

Jungkook’s headset is firmly wrapped around his head, mic next to his mouth and hands at the ready on his mouse and keyboard. He’s set and in the zone. 

The game is well into play when the familiar chime of his phone goes off. It’s a Tinder notification—he can tell by the sound. He can’t help but roll his eyes, wondering what sort of boring conversation he’s meant to have with a girl who will probably ghost him, anyway. 

He lazily lifts his phone and glances at the notification, before dropping it back to the desk. 

His hand freezes on his mouse as he finally comprehends what he just read. 

He just matched with YOU. 

His best friend. 

His secret, lifelong crush. 

He sputters something into the microphone and stops recording his game, wildly grasping for the phone and unlocking it. 

YN: 😂😂😂😂 is your bio a Minecraft pickup line?!

He pauses, attempts to collect his thoughts, before desperately typing on his screen. 

JUNGKOOK: Why? 😉😏 did it work?

You spend the rest of your night jokingly flirting with Jungkook, sending GIFs and emojis in between the silly lines you’re using on each other. 

Right before you’re about to head to sleep, Jungkook sends one last message. 

JUNGKOOK: What if we went on a date lolol. Haha jk. Unless?? 👀👀👀

Your thumbs hover over the keys to your phone. 

A date with Jungkook? Even though you matched with him, you’ve never thought of a date with your childhood best friend. 

YN: alright, it’s only fair since we matched 😝 show me how you treat these tinder ladies

“I have a date with Jungkook tonight,” you tell your brother, Namjoon, over the phone. 

Over the crying of your newborn niece, you hear Namjoon splutter in confusion. 

“You what!?” He nearly screams. “Jeon Jungkook? Like... the annoying kid you’ve been friends with since fourth grade?”

You huff. 

“He’s not annoying! He’s my best friend. We ironically matched on Tinder and… Well, why the fuck not? Nothing serious is going to happen. We’ll go out and have a story to tell about how incompatible we are.”

Namjoon doesn’t reply. Instead, you hear him speak to his husband. 

“She’s going on a date with Jungkook,” he says over the muffle of his hand on the receiver.

There’s a shuffle, and the dulcet voice of your brother-in-law, Jimin, comes over the line. 

“Girl,” he starts. “What the fuck?”

You chuckle as you move about your closet, trying to decide what’s appropriate to wear on a date with your best friend. 

“It’s nothing!” 

“Mm-hmm,” Jimin tuts. “You know the boy is in love with you.” 

“Okay, Chim, you’ve been spending too much time cooped up with my brother. It’s affecting your grip on reality.”

“Sure, honey. I just tell it like it is. Don’t break his heart.” 

You roll your eyes. 

“I won’t break his heart because there’s nothing there, Jimin.”

“I’ll be expecting your call later.”

“Yes, dad. Love you guys.”

“We love you too, sweetheart. But really, don’t break that poor boy’s heart.”

You open your mouth to retort yet another reassurance that there’s nothing to break, but the line goes dead.

“Fucking Jimin,” you mutter as you throw your phone to the bed.

You can’t allow yourself to think that Jungkook might have feelings for you. It’s totally out of the questions. He’s your best friend. The guy who shoves Cheetos up his nose to make you laugh and falls asleep during every movie night with his face in the popcorn bowl. He’s just Jungkook. This date is just a funny way to hang out.

So, why do you care so much about what you wear?

You’re still standing in front of your closet, attempting to find something respectable to wear. It doesn’t matter that the last time Jungkook saw you; it was with mascara streaming down your face and a hoodie from Namjoon’s college swimming days and ripped leggings. Jungkook has seen you in nearly everything you wear, so your indecisiveness gives you pause.

Do you want Jungkook to be attracted to you? Do you want to do your best to look as presentable as you would for a normal date?

The thudding of your heart tells you that maybe you’re more interested in this being a date than you’re allowing yourself to believe.

You shake all thoughts off. 

No, you won’t allow yourself to overthink a night that should just be fun.

You settle for a fitted and simple summer dress, tights and heels. Simple, easy, respectable but also showing enough cleavage and sculpt of your ass to ensure you look more dressed up than not.

Perfect.

With one last look in the mirror, you’re ready.

JUNGKOOK: I’m outside!

ME: See you soon!

Jungkook taps his foot anxiously as he sits on the bench outside your apartment. His tight black jeans feel like a second skin on his legs, and the black button-down shirt he’s tucked in makes him rethink his choice of outfit.

Is he too casual?

He’s never really worn something like this around you. This is what Jungkook wears when he wants to seduce. This is what every girl he’s desperately wished was you got to see. The girls who swooned over his messy hair, the way his jeans display his toned thighs, the peek of skin at his throat.

Maybe it’s too much.

Maybe he’s afraid he’ll scare you away.

Maybe he’s afraid you won’t like it.

He’s given no chance to ruminate anymore because you’re exiting the building and walking straight towards him.

He doesn’t think he remembers how to breathe.

It’s as if you walk towards him in slow motion. Angels chorus around him and the setting sun sparkles on your face like a spotlight. There’s nothing in the world anymore, nothing but you.

You’re the most beautiful human he’s ever seen in his life.

“Hi,” you smile as you approach him.

He continues to stare, eyes traveling over the soft curves of your cheeks and jaw, trailing down to the way your dress clings just right to each dip of your body. His throat goes dry.

You are without a doubt the girl of his dreams. 

“Jungkook?”

It pushes him out of his reverie, eyes widening as he realizes he’s been staring at you for maybe a few minutes too long to play off as normal.

“Hey!” He coughs, attempting to right himself.

“You okay?” You ask, eyebrow lifted in concern.

“Yeah! Yup! Totally! I’m okay—a-okay, absolutely great.” He internally slaps himself.

“You clean up nice,” you smile as your eyes elevate up and down the lean form of his body.

“Oh?” He asks, taken aback. 

In his daze, he never even realized what you’re thinking about him, rather only how intensely he was thinking about you.

“This must be the Jungkook that all the girls in college couldn’t stop begging me to hook them up with.”

His cheeks flame with sudden embarrassment, hand moving to the back of his neck to rub it awkwardly. 

“Ha, yeah,” he swallows. “You look r-really nice too. I don’t think I’ve seen you in a dress since your brother’s wedding.”

The smile that he’s rewarded with nearly knocks him on his ass. “Thanks! It’s fun to dress up cute again. Jin hated this dress.”

A stab of pain eeks its way into Jungkook’s heart. Seokjin. God, how he hates that man.

“Well, uh, you can wear whatever you want with me!” He assures. 

You loop your arm around Jungkook’s, saddling up to his side as you look at him expectantly.

“Well, are we going?”

Jungkook can’t help but smile at the sparkle in your eye, the way you peer up at him with those soft, cherry lips. He wants to capture them with his own, kiss you until you don’t remember Seokjin’s name ever again.

But he resists.

“Let’s go!”

You never thought you’d admit it to yourself. You never even thought it could happen. 

But the date is everything you’ve ever wanted, and more. 

Jungkook is still Jungkook, still just as silly and easy to talk to as he always is. 

But he’s also charming. Flirtatious, even. He holds doors open for you; he rests his hand on the small of your back as he guides you towards your table at dinner. He feeds you bites of his dessert and lets his eyes linger on the way your lips look wrapped around his fork. 

Jungkook treats you the way you’ve always wanted to be treated. Like someone he wants to cherish for the rest of your combined lives. Someone he wants to take care of, build a future with, enjoy life with.

And as much as it thrills you, it absolutely frightens you. 

It’s when you’re walking down the small river trail together that Jungkook slips his hand into yours and laces your fingers together. The once-steady beat of your heart becomes erratic. He continues chatting—as if holding your hand was a subconscious act for him. He’s knee deep in a story of his Minecraft server when you stop walking, causing him to pause. 

“What’s up?” He asks curiously. 

Your eyes glitter with anticipation, with fear, as you stare at the gorgeous man before you. He looks like a full course meal in his tight jeans and he makes you feel like a princess. You can suddenly see doing life by his side—no longer his platonic best friend, but as his lover and lifelong partner. 

You say nothing. Instead, you simply close the space between you two by grabbing the buttons of his shirt and tugging his lips onto yours. 

“Wha—oh, mmmmmm.”

Jungkook is still for a second as he battles the surprise, but jumps into action and cups your face with his hands, deepening the kiss by pushing his tongue past your lips and swirling it around your own. 

Your bodies press close together. He can feel your breasts against his chest and he desperately wants to rip the dress off your body and worship you like he’s always wanted to. 

As soon as the kiss started, it’s over. You’re pulling away with eyes wide with fear.

“I’m sorry, I—I need to go,” you stammer awkwardly.

Jungkook’s heart drops to his stomach.

“What? We were going to get ice cream?”

You can feel tears building in the corners of your eyes. You’re so confused, so unsure of what you’re feeling. You want to stay and kiss Jungkook until you’re clawing at the clothing on his body, pressing kisses to the firm column of his neck. You want to run far away, too scared to admit it to him you’re sure you could love him for the rest of his life.

You can’t lose that friendship. You can’t risk everything you love about Jungkook. He’ll only hurt you the way every boyfriend ever has.

“I don’t really feel well,” you swallow hard as you lie. Jungkook always knows when you’re lying.

His body stiffens.

“Okay, let me walk you home.”

You shake your head, already moving away from the man.

“It’s fine. We’re nearby. I’ll just run or something.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but you’ve already turned face and started running the direction away from him.

Jungkook watches, misty-eyed, as the girl of his dreams runs further and further away from him.

You’re sobbing as you finally reach home, out of breath and confused. The phone call to Namjoon is quick.

“Yo,” he says cooly as he answers the phone. His tone changes when he hears your whimpering sobs on the other end.

“Joonie,” you whisper. “I fucked up.”

“Oh god,” Namjoon quickly shuffles and calls his husband over, before putting the phone on speaker.

“What’s happened, baby?” Jimin’s sweet voice asks.

“I—I kissed him,” you sob, holding yourself close in the comfort of the elevator. 

Namjoon and Jimin look at each other with knowing looks.

“We’re on our way over.”

Jimin knows the first order of business is to stop the crying. He places sleeping baby Jisoo in your arms, which quiets your whimpers enough as you cling to the tiny baby. He knows your weakness is sleeping babies.

Namjoon looks on anxiously, hates seeing his little sister upset and with no way to make it better.

Jimin’s been asked to take the lead on this, because he knows his husband's response is to cry as well—he gets emotional anytime he sees her cry. Namjoon agreed, knowing Jimin was better suited for the conversation.

“Tell us what happened,” Jimin asks quietly. You’re rocking the baby gently, sobs turned to sniffles. “Did something go wrong on the date?”

Your eyes peer up at your brother-in-law’s, a wounded look that makes Jimin feel sad. Namjoon clenches beside him, and Jimin lays a hand on his lap to soothe the protective brother.

“No,” you whisper. “That’s the thing. It was an amazing date.”

Jimin watches you curiously, but remains silent to let you continue.

“We had dinner, and we played arcade games and we walked around. And he was so… fuck, he was perfect. It was like dating the guy of my dreams.”

Jimin nods knowingly.

“And it surprised you how much you liked him.”

“Yeah,” you sniffle. “At the end, he was holding my hand and just talking about normal, stupid Jungkook shit, but this time it felt like more. Like, I felt in my heart that I wanted to be the one he always talked to about it. I wanted to be the one he came home to at night.”

Jimin pats your cheek lovingly, the care for his sister-in-law clear in his gaze. 

“You don’t just like him, honey. I think you might even love him.”  

You pull baby Jisoo tighter into your grasp and nod, pathetic tears slipping down your face. 

“I just left him. Like, I ran away from him like an asshole.”

Namjoon grunts and takes a spot next to Jimin. “If he loves you, which I’m sure he does, he’ll still be waiting for you.”

Jimin nods and rests a hand on his husband's back. “But you better have one hell of an apology.”

Jungkook doesn’t answer your phone calls. He doesn’t respond to your texts, snapchats or Instagram DM’s. He doesn’t even look at the TikToks you sent him! It’s becoming infuriating to get in touch with him.

You take matters into your own hands and storm to his apartment after work, the rising tension in your shoulders and stomach full of rocks an indicator of your anxiety about the future of this relationship.

Jungkook opens the door wearing nothing but a pair of grey sweats. All the carefully crafted words exit your mind at light 

speed and you’re left gasping, wide-eyed at the chiseled body of your best friend.

“Can I help you?” He asks, tone flat.

Ouch.

You push past him into the apartment you know so well. “Yeah, you could start by answering your phone.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes and closes the door, then heads back towards the large gaming setup in the living room.

“My apologies for not responding to the girl who literally ran away from me on a date.”

Your cheeks heat uncomfortably as you stand in the center of his living room, arms crossed over your chest. 

“Jungkook, listen. I’m—”

“Please,” he shakes his head as he sits down at the impressive gaming chair. “Save the apologies. I get it.”

“You don’t get it!” You say, exasperated. “You don’t get any of it! That’s why I’m here.”

Jungkook narrows a look at you then stands from his chair. Slowly, he makes his way towards you and stands inches from your face. The proximity of his bare, toned chest to your body makes your throat dry.

“No, you don’t get it.” His voice is threateningly quiet, completely different from his usual chipper tone. 

“Jungkook, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” He quirks his head sarcastically, and you’re struck by the sharp lines of his jaw. “Sorry for running away from the date? Sorry for going on a date? Sorry for making me feel like I had a fucking chance when you kissed me?”

You swallow hard and open your mouth to reply, but he cuts you off.

“I’m sorry too. For giving myself way too much hope that this could ever be something. I’m sorry for myself for thinking you’d at least respect me enough to reject me politely.”

“You always had a chance!” You can feel tears building in your eyes and Jungkook feels his heart pound in his chest like a drum.

He scoffs, a harsh and mirthless laugh. “Clearly not.”

“I just—,” you start. “I never saw you like that before and suddenly you became everything I’ve ever dreamed of. It was like getting hit by a train, Kook! Suddenly my best friend turned into the man of my dreams.”

He shakes his head, stepping back away from you.

“I really find it hard to believe you,” he whispers. “I can’t let myself hope.”

“Jungkook, please,” you beg as tears start slipping down your face. “Please believe me.”

“Just leave,” he sighs. “I hate making you cry.”

You want so badly to wrap yourself in his arms, cry into his chest like you always do when you’re hurt. But you stand still, frozen in your shame and embarrassment of hurting your best friend so badly.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, before you spin around as quickly as you can and leave Jungkook’s apartment in a flurry.

He watches as the door slams behind you, eyes full of sadness and regret. As much as he wants to believe you, have faith in every word you said, he can’t allow himself to get his hopes up again.

He can’t watch you run away from him again.

“Welcome back to Kookie’s Wild Weekly Walkthrough!” Jungkook cheers as enthusiastically as he can through his microphone. “The weekly segment where I react to your Minecraft worlds!”

Jungkook needed to dive back into streaming to take his mind off of you. He hasn’t left his apartment in days, only subsisting on takeout and coffee. At least he was making more money and his subscribers didn’t seem to mind the up-tick in content.

“Tonight I’ll be walking through a creation sent by,” he squints at the username. “‘Kookiesgal95’ Aww that’s cute.”  

He readies the content and starts his camera as he watches the YouTube link. His subscribers love his reaction videos—it’s a highly requested segment.

The video starts off easily, a generic Minecraft world that looks like a park.

“Hi Kook.”

The voice that reverberates through his headphones makes him pause the video quickly, wide-eyed with recognition.

It’s you. He’d know that voice from a million others. 

Shit. He’s going to have to edit so much of this clip. He’s staring at the screen as if he’s just seen a ghost.

Unsteadily, he clicks play again and watches as you lead him through your Minecraft creation.

“I wanted to recreate something for someone very special in my life.”

Jungkook doesn’t even bother to react to this anymore. This entire video is going to be worthless—there’s nothing he can say.

The video pans around the Minecraft setup and he can see what looks like handmade swings and merry go rounds.

“It took me a really long time to do this and an embarrassing amount of help from some twelve-year-olds on the internet.”

He laughs and is stunned by the wet tears rolling down his cheeks. He hadn’t realized he was crying.

“I re-created a park that is really special to my best friend and I.”

He feels his chest tighten and relax. The park. 

“This is the spot where he held me when my dog died when I was nine. I still miss that dog.”

The view is on a spot next to a blocky oak tree. Jungkook remembers that day, remembers your heartbroken sobs as he whispered words of comfort to you. He misses that dog, too. 

“This is where he and my brother got in a fight when we were eleven, because my brother called me a stupid-head. My best friend has always been protective of me, even from my own big brother.”

He can still remember pushing Namjoon around after hearing him call you names. He pushed Namjoon over and threatened to use his “big muscles” if he did it again.

The camera pans to an enormous structure, rather sloppily made, of a slide and monkey bars.

“This is where we first shared a joint in high school. I coughed a lung up and he ran down the street to a gas station at ten pm to get me a bottle of water even though I told him I was okay,”

The memory of the bewildered 7-11 employee plays through his mind. The man watched as a very stoned, very out of breath, Jungkook paid for a bottle of water in coins.

The video continues playing, moves towards what appears to be a parking lot made of cobblestone blocks.

“This is where he held me when my world fell apart.”

The break-up. The way you cried and cried and cried in his arms and he held you as if you were the only thing left on Earth. 

“This is where he reminded me I’m worthy of love, that I’m not broken. This is where he held me like I was delicate, but treated me like I was unbreakable.”

His tears don’t stop. Jungkook feels his heart thundering in his chest like a summer storm. 

He can hear your sniffles through the recording of the video—you were crying too. It pans around to the swing set.

“And this is where I’ll tell him everything, tonight. Where I’ll tell him how deeply I love him and how I want to make him the happiest guy in the world. In all of Minecraft and beyond. I hope he comes.”

Jungkook doesn’t even bother turning his camera off.

Instead, he’s running to change out of his three-day-old clothes and bolt out the door.

The creaky, rusty metal of the swing set is deafeningly loud in the silence of your park.

It’s dark, just a few street lights around to illuminate the perimeter, but it’s otherwise only lit by the moon.

It’s getting cold. You shiver in your hoodie and kick at the dirt under your swing. 

Maybe he didn’t see the video. Maybe he wasn’t going to show.

Maybe it was too late.

You spent hours working on the Minecraft world, staying up at all hours of the night to build and craft a poor re-creation of this park. The twelve-year-olds on Reddit had been invaluable and Namjoon definitely made fun of you for your creative assistants. But it had all been worth it. 

“Fuck,” you speak out loud to no one, as you try to warm your hands in the pockets of your sweater. “It’s cold.”

“You should have brought a jacket.”

The sudden voice from behind startles you. You hop off the swing and whip around to face  down the intruder.

Jungkook.

He looks so good. He’s wearing a thick coat and tight jeans. Your eyes take a delicious journey from head to toe.

He can’t help but preen at your blatant appreciation. He enjoys knowing you’re attracted to him, at least physically.

“You came.”

He nods and takes a nervous step towards you. He’s still far away, more than an arm's-reach away. You’re desperate to bring him closer, to pull him tight against your body and wrap yourself around him. You never want to be without his gentle touch again.

“I felt pretty compelled to come after you made all this in Minecraft for me.” He cracks a wry smile, a boy-ish grin that makes your heart flutter.

“It took me twenty-five hours and some teenagers to help.”

He laughs, a beautiful sound that warms you. “I’m sure they were ecstatic to help.”

You chew at the inside of your cheek, nervous at what he thinks about your in-game confession.

“Did you mean it?” He asks. He steps closer—one more step.

“Every word.”

His eyes are searching yours for the truth, desperately diving into the depths for validity.

“Why did you run away?” Another step.

You swallow hard, heavy tears brimming in your eyes.

“You went from being the silly best friend to being the person I could spend the rest of my life with. It all hit me. It’s always been you.”

One more step and now he’s just within your reach. If you stuck your hand out, your fingers would graze the soft puff of his coat, the delicate skin of his neck. 

“I’ve always felt that way about you. I never thought you’d feel the same.”

You smile softly, timidly. “It just took me a little while longer to realize it.”

All at once, Jungkook closes the gap and holds you gently by your cheeks. His thumbs wipe at the moisture under your eyes. 

“I promise to never make you cry again,” he whispers reverently. 

“And I promise to never run away from you again.” 

Jungkook smiles at that, cradling your face like you’re the most expensive and precious jewel. 

“Can I kiss you again?” He asks, somewhat unsure of himself. 

“I would like it if you would.”

As Jungkook presses his cold, plush lips to your own, you make a promise to yourself to never go a day without kissing him again. 

“I can’t believe you’re in my bedroom,” Jungkook murmurs as he kisses at your face. After the park, Jungkook loaded you into his priceless Nissan and scurried home. You could hardly keep your hands off him as he drove you back to his place—reaching and caressing the spots on his body you’re dying to become familiar with. 

“I’ve been in your bedroom before,” you remind him as he tugs up the hoodie you’re wearing. 

“God, don’t be so semantic when I’m trying to fuck you,” he says before throwing the hoodie to a corner of the room. “You know what I mean.”

Jungkook kisses you again, all lips and teeth and tongue. He kisses you like you’re the last breath of air, and he’s greedy for every bit. He grips your hips, not too tight, and brings your body against his. You can feel him grow in hardness in his too tight, and it feels like bliss. 

Teasingly, you grind your hips against his, making him shudder with desire.

“I want you,” he whines as he nibbles at your lip. 

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

He opens his eyes to level a look at you, pulling his mouth away from yours. 

“You’re such a little smartass.”

His hands become feverish on your jeans, tugging apart the button and flicking down the fly. He pushes them down quickly, and you kick them off carelessly. 

He can’t stop looking at you in your bra and panties, standing at the foot of his bed. 

“Holy shit, okay, this is happening, right? Like, this is real?” 

You smirk, pleased with Jungkook’s obvious excitement. 

“Let me prove it’s not just a dream.” 

Softly, you spin Jungkook around and push him down to sit on his bed. He complies easily, eyes wide and excited. 

“If this is a dream, would you be able to feel this?” You ask as you unbuckle  his belt and open his jeans. He doesn’t reply, simply watches you as you tug his jeans down to his thighs. 

His cock strains hard against his tight boxers, and you run a teasing finger over the obvious bulge. 

“Oh fuck,” he breathes. 

“Feels pretty real, huh?”

“Y-yeah.” 

Your delicate hands gently tug at the waistband of his boxers and easily work them down enough to free the length of his cock. It springs out easily and your eyes widen at the impressive size. You assumed he would be at least average, but you’re looking at something definitely more. 

“Oh wow,” you whisper. “You’re fucking huge.” 

Jungkook grins. “All for you, baby.” The cockiness is palpable. 

One solid grip around him wipes the presumptuous smile off his face, replaced with a gasping, shuddering moan. 

“How about this? Not a dream?”

He struggles to find his voice, instead he’s gulping for air like a fish out of water. 

“That’s what I thought,” you whisper before settling into a position on your knees. “I’ll admit, I’ve dreamt about this too. I always felt so ashamed for dreaming about sucking my best friend's cock.”

You press soft kisses to the head of his length, teasing the sensitive areas at the tip before kissing up and down the length. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

His evident desire for you encourages you, and your tongue swipes at the crown of his tip and swirls around it gently. 

“Oh my god.” His eyes shutter closed and you trace the veins in his dick with your tongue. 

“This h-has to be a dreeeaaaaam,” he whines as you make an exceptionally long stripe with the flat of your tongue. 

You pull off for a moment, humming. He springs his eyes open and watches as you reach behind your back and unsnap your bra. Your breasts escape with a bounce and his eyes widen, nearly bulging out of their sockets. 

“What the fuck,” he whines. “You have the most amazing tits.”

He reaches out to grasp them and you slap them away playfully. 

“Not yet,” you smirk. “Still trying to convince you you’re not asleep.” 

He sucks in his breath and puts his hands back to the bed to steady himself, eyes never leaving yours (except to stare at the luscious curves of your body). 

Grasping your breasts in both hands, you smash them together lightly in an elaborate show of what Jungkook wants most. You lean over his body and place the throbbing thickness of his cock in between your tits, allowing him to feel just how soft and warm they are. 

“Shit!” He yelps, grabbing his sheets in a tight fist. “Are you really tit-fucking me right now?!”

Slowly, you lift your body up and down, allowing his cock to feel each stroke of your breasts. You nod at his question and continue to pump up and down. 

“Still dreaming?” 

He whines and shakes his head, already feeling so close to the edge. His cock is slick from your teasing licks and the pressure of your tits surrounding him had his mind spinning with desire. 

“Ahhh, I’m so fucking close,” he warns.

You continue, speeding up the friction and pressure of your strokes. 

“I want you to cum on me, Kook,” you whisper encouragingly. “Cum on my tits, please?”

Jungkook feels like he’s a wire about to snap, and your thick, sultry voice and incredibly perfect breasts are the snips that breaks him apart. 

“Oh, shit,” he grunts. “Gonna paint your titties white, baby.”

His moans echo around the walls of his bedroom, small gasps of pleasure and your name escaping his perfectly plump pout. 

His hot load splatters on your chest, and you stroke him through each pulse of his cock. You’re slippery with his seed now, and when you pull away from his spent length, you make a show of rubbing in his cum over your chest.

“Okay, definitely not dreaming,” he says in a daze as he watches you lift a wet finger to your mouth, popping it in to clean it off. “Who knew you were so fucking kinky?” 

His confidence grows as he catches his breath. He can’t believe he’s sitting on his bed with you on your knees, breasts covered in his load. You’re suckling the cum off your finger like it’s his cock, and he’s desperate for more.

“There are lots of things you don’t know about me,” you shrug. 

Swiftly, he grabs you gently by your bicep and pulls you close, sucking at your lips until you’re both standing. 

“I plan to find out everything.” 

Suddenly, you’re switching positions and Jungkook is pushing you down into the bed. You lay flat in the center, body relaxed and eager for your best friend.

“What are you doing?” You ask. He’s still standing at the end of the bed, watching you get comfortable. Once he’s satisfied that you’re lying exactly how you want, he settles himself by your feet.

“Worshipping you,” he says as he lifts an ankle and presses gentle kisses to your calf. “Showing you how much I adore you.” More kisses, soft and sweet. “Showing you how I plan on treating you for the rest of your life.” 

He takes his time, lavishing your legs with his mouth. He kisses and sucks at any spot, sexual or not. He mouths at the roundness of your knees, your firm hamstrings. He presses his love into the skin of your thighs, mouthing his praises with each kiss. 

He reaches the dip of your hips and he gently kisses your exposed skin as he tugs your cotton panties off you. 

“I have loved every inch of you since before I can remember,” he praises as his lips skim over the mound of your cunt. “And I don’t plan on stopping soon.” 

Your body feels like it’s on fire, as if Jungkook lights a match at every spot his lips press against. Your eyes close, and you allow Jungkook to continue his pious worship of your body. 

He teases around your folds, kissing your labia ever so gently—making you gasp. He doesn’t linger long, only kisses you enough to stir the licking flames of heat in your belly.  

He kisses at your stomach, gently nibbling and laving at the softness there. You try to hide from him, try to hide your insecurities of your body in his thorough exploration, but he moves your hands. 

“I know you don’t like this part of your body,” he murmurs. His voice is so soft, so pure and sincere. “But I do. I love everything about you.” 

His tongue swirls around your belly button, making you gasp at the ticklish sensation. 

“You’re so pretty. So perfect.” 

He continues upwards, lips now trailing to your full breasts. He takes his time there, licking and kissing and flicking at your nipples with his tongue. It feels exhilarating—Jungkook’s mouth feels like everything you want it to feel like. His tongue is warm, and he bites with just enough pressure to make your back arch off the bed into his embrace.

His hands explore, taking stock of every millimeter of skin he can find. He wants to memorize every freckle, every bump, every scar and line. Your body is his paradise, and all he can think of is you, you, you.

One hand travels down your body as he moves his lips up your neck. It snakes down your stomach and deftly slides over your soaked core. You whine as you feel his fingers part your folds and dip into the wetness.

“So wet,” he says out loud, verbalizing every tantalizing detail of your body. “So perfect.”

His lips are finally at your own and you kiss him passionately, tongue swirling around his as he slides his two fingers past your clit and into your drenched hole. You gasp against his mouth, eyes widening as he slowly scissors his fingers into you and pumps slowly. It’s almost teasing, the way he fucks his fingers in you. Slow, firm movements with his powerful hands.

“Jungkook!” You gasp. He doesn’t reply, instead he bites at your lip and tugs, then trails his hot mouth back down to your nipples. He can’t get enough of your breasts and the slightly salty taste of him still lingering.

“You feel so good,” he says as he speeds his fingers up minutely. “So tight and wet for me.”

Your hips writhe in need. He’s giving you what you need, but not enough. You need more, more. You want to feel him, all of him, spearing you open.

“Please, Kook,” you groan. “I need you.”

He laughs softly against your nipple and sucks extra hard, letting it pop out of his mouth audibly.

“And I need you, my love.”

“Fuck me, please.” You’re desperate, thighs quaking from the slow teasing. “I want you to fuck me, Jungkook.”

Chills shudder down Jungkook’s spine and he’s powerless to say no, not when you demand it so well.

“With pleasure,” he agrees. He pulls his fingers from within you and copies your move, sliding them into his mouth to suck your essence off. 

He’s never looked sexier. His eyes are dark chocolate pools of burning intensity, and you feel your breath become shaky as you watch him clean his fingers with precision.

After he’s deemed his fingers sufficiently clean, he settles himself between your legs. Easily, he lifts your hips and shoves a pillow underneath, elevating you to a more comfortable position. He grabs your legs and tosses each over his shoulders so they’re higher in the air. 

“I’m going to fuck you so good, baby,” he promises as he rubs the tip of his cock on your soppy slit. “Condom?”

You shake your head, appreciative of his question but desperate to feel him completely.

“Birth control. Regularly tested. Haven’t had sex in a while,” you blurt out. “You good?”

He nods in agreement. “Same. Well, except the birth control. But, I’d take it if they made it for men.”

“Jungkook!” You whine. Your best friend is so easily sidetracked. “Please, can you fuck me?”

He grins. “Tsk, someone is impatient.”

A low moan is rumbling in your chest as he continues to rub his thick cock at your entrance.

“I swear to god, you’re the biggest tease.”

“Oh, I’m definitely the biggest.”

Before you can react, he’s pushing past your entrance and sliding deep in your walls. Your position makes his cock feel deep, and he bottoms out and stills there, eyes closed in bliss.

“Holy shit,” he gasps. “This is absolutely the best pussy I’ve ever felt.”

You wiggle your hips as you get used to the sensation of the delicious stretch.

“Please don’t tell me how many pussies you’ve felt when you’re balls deep inside of me.”

Jungkook turns his head and kisses at your legs resting on his shoulders, lavishing them with his praise once more as he keeps his cock buried inside your tight heat.

“Yours is the only one that matters. The only pussy I’ll ever be in for the rest of my life.”

“That’s a good answer,” you smile. “Now, fuck me, lover boy.”

Jungkook winks and grips your hips with his hands. He swiftly pulls out, enamored with the way his cock is already covered in your creamy essence, then eagerly pushes back in. He sets a pace and soon the sound of skin clapping on skin echoes around the room.

“Oh god!” You’re moaning loudly, unabashedly. You’re thankful that Jungkook’s old roommate, Yoongi, moved out to live with his boyfriend Hoseok months ago. He’d definitely complain about the noise for months. “Fuck, Jungkook, you feel so good.”

Jungkook fucks into you with ferocity, speed and power gradually rising as he feels his core tighten with the coming anticipation of release.

“Mmm, you look so fucking sexy like this,” he murmurs. “Getting fucked by your best friend’s fat cock.”

He moves a hand from your hip, trails it up your body to squeeze at your breast, before he’s cupping your face once again. His hips snap against yours and he loves the way your mouth utters little squeaks and gasps with each deep thrust into you.

“God, my beautiful girl,” he groans. “Can’t wait to cum in this pussy, shit, you got me so fucking close.”

You open your mouth desperately and Jungkook easily slips his thumb in. You latch on quickly and suck, tongue swirling around the tip like you’re sucking another cock. It nearly sends him over the edge and the speed of his hips matches his desperate need for more.

“Fucking hell,” he bites back. He can feel his belly tighten, driven further and further to the edge by the constricting wetness of your cunt. 

He pulls his thumb out and moves it down to where his cock spears into you, allowing your spit to swirl with his thumb around your clit. Your core tightens around him at the added stimulation and your back arches up in ecstasy.

“I’m so c-close, Kook,” you plead, as if begging for mercy. “Please, I want to cum so bad.”

The speed of his thumb increases, and he watches as your face twists in pleasure and desperation. 

“Cum on my cock, baby, let me see you fall apart. Show me what I’ve dreamt of for so long.”

A high and wanton cry ripples out of your body as he savagely increases his speed, both his cock and thumb working overtime to drive you towards your end. The butterflies that erupt in your lower stomach make your moans louder, higher. You’re so close, closer than ever. It’s building to an incredible crescendo.

He can tell you’re close—he sees it on your face as your back arches and your fists grip his sheets.

“You look like a fucking angel, baby,” he whines as he soaks in the vision of you writhing underneath him. “I bet you cum like an angel, too. Let me see it, let me see.”

With just a few more swirls of his thumb and his deep, hard strokes, you’re soaring over the edge into a pool of nothingness. Your cunt pulsates wildly around his length, milking and stroking it with your tight walls. You throw your head back, moaning out his name at the top of his lungs, letting his neighbors know just who fucks you so well.

“Holy shit,” he gasps, hips stuttering as he fucks into your juicy hole. “That was so fucking sexy.”

You grip his forearms, holding onto him tight and encourage him to go harder. “Cum inside me, Kookie, please. I’m all yours, make me yours.”

His heart feels like it might burst in his chest. He’s always wanted you to say it to him, to hand over your love to him like he does so easily to you. It’s all so much, so overwhelming, and the feeling of your hot cunt still fluttering around him sends him reeling into his own completion. 

He spills into you, warm seed coating your walls and pooling inside your womb. He fucks himself through each throb of his cock until he’s sure he’s drained every ounce of himself into you.

Your legs slip off his shoulders easily, and he gently pulls himself out of you. He falls beside you, panting with exertion, and wraps an arm around you.

After a few silent moments of catching your breath, Jungkook pulls you in close to him until he can koala-cling to you, arms and legs both wrapped around your body.

“Mine,” he whispers as he kisses your head. “All mine.”

You return the favor, clinging to your best friend—boyfriend—like he’s your only lifeline.

“All yours.”

“So, you’re telling me, you got together because of Minecraft?” Jimin asks, pointing a fork in your direction. It’s been months now since your grand virtual declaration of love for Jungkook. Months of bliss and romance, laughter and companionship. 

You were right all along. Jungkook is everything you’ve wanted in a man and more.

You’re sitting at your brother’s expensive dinner table, enjoying a meal with his family with your boyfriend at your side.

“Yeah, Jimin, I guess that’s what I’m saying,” you retort as you roll your eyes. “Minecraft and Tinder.”

Baby Jisoo is awake and in your brother’s arms, but she’s whining and wiggling to leave him.

“What’s wrong, Soo?” Namjoon asks with a pout on his lips. “Why don’t you want daddy anymore?”

Jimin snorts at his husband and you hold out your arms for your baby niece. “Come here, baby, I know you want auntie.”

Namjoon dutifully hands over his daughter, sulking that he’s been picked over for his sister. 

You cradle the baby in your arms, expecting her to calm once she’s there, but she continues to fuss. She’s thrusting her arms out and nearly crying, reaching towards Jungkook who’s busy chowing down on Jimin’s homemade ramen.

“I think she wants you, Kook,” you murmur. He looks at you, then to the baby, then back to you, before he wipes his hands and face clean with a napkin.

“Oh, okay,” he whispers, slowly taking the baby from your arms with your help. “Hello, ma’am.”

Namjoon and Jimin laugh. “She’s a baby, Jungkook, not an elderly woman,” your brother teases.

Jungkook doesn’t listen. He’s too busy cooing at the baby in his arms and playing with her tiny hands. Namjoon turns his attention away and looks at you.

“Guess I won’t be the only provider of grandchildren for much longer.”

You playfully glare at him and turn away to watch your boyfriend. Watching Jungkook interact with your niece makes your heart swell, your soul sing. He’d be a perfect father.

“I swear, if he teaches her how to play Minecraft, he’s banned from the household,” Jimin grumbles. “This is a No-Nerd-Zone.”

Jungkook cradles the child and rocks back and forth, singing her a soft, made-up song, before he looks over at you.

“Hey, I want one of these,” he smiles. “Can we have one?”

You lay a hand on your stomach, a soft bump not quite visible yet. It’s only been one test, the lines faintly indicating ‘positive’ on the stick. You wanted to make sure, get confirmation before you spill the beans.

“Sure, Kookie.”

He grins and leans over to kiss you, before turning his attention back to the baby. “Okay, Jisoo, now let me tell you all about the Endermen.”

Jimin groans. “Oh my god, do not give Minecraft facts to my infant!”

tag list - @giadalin @nohayarcoirissintormenta @pjmislovely @xhazmania @marcoazam2 @eggbutnotyolk @feel-the-sunset @unicornbabylover @aretha170 @jeonmisha @hordanhearsawhooo 

© ppersonna - 2021 - do not repost on any site, or translate without express permission from author.

#bts smut #jungkook smut #bts fic #jeon jungkook smut #jungkook #ficswithluv #jjk smut #bts fics #jjk fic #jungkook fic

[bluexiao]

May i ask some High school au with Childe, Xiao, and Bennett (bby)?? Also Take your time on doing it ok !

#just friends? i think not.

CHARACTERS. Xiao, Childe, Bennett

THEMES. highschool au. modern au. fluff. friends to lovers.

NOTES. since this is highschool!au i see this as somewhat of a first love-ish moment so most of the scenarios i imagined are “immature” and “common” in a way. i mean, highschool is where we do lots of stuff that we laugh or be embarrassed at nowadays hahaha. i hope you guys will like this one! happy anniversary!!<333 even if it doesn’t feel like it

DO YOU LIKE MY CONTENT? SEND ME A TIP HERE!

XIAO

is the huge introvert in class that’s always seated near the window, tucked in his hoodie or jacket, usually with a bluetooth earphone on.

I bet you all that he’s secretly well-off, he’s just not that braggy or showy about it.

He’s difficult to talk to at first; dismissive, responds in only one short sentence, and he’d reject any offer to sit during breaks with anyone else.

Remember: patience and consistency is the key!

The moment he trusts you, he’ll be more open with you. Step by step; little by little. When he begins to trust someone, he trusts wholeheartedly, but it will take a lot of time and effort to do so.

The slowest to realize that he likes you because he refuses to admit it to himself. You would probably be the one who’d confess to him.

“You… like me?” he pauses, “How absurd. I… I cannot be liked.”

“Why not?”

“Just because…”

To his surprise, you could only smile at him, “I still like you, Xiao, it doesn’t matter if you don’t reciprocate them back. You deserve to be liked, remember that.”

He’s tough on the outside but it’s opposite on the inside so please take care of him<3

Also! Your bonding time together would mostly involve indoors like playing games, watching series that he deems ludicrous most of the time but when you both watch The Notebook he’ll probably tear up lmao. Also, arcades! The ones you find in malls. He will definitely treat you with the tokens and will win stuff toys for you!

I imagine he’s also good at the Basketball game in the arcade (please i forgot if it has a term or what but yknow what i mean)

CHILDE

is definitely the boy everyone has a crush with, must be why everyone’s curious as to why you two are always hanging around each other. Are you two lovers, perhaps?

The answer is… no, not yet, at least. Both of you are too dense to realize that your own best friend likes you.

You two eat breaks together, he takes you out to eat together after school, maybe you two are even going to Starbucks early in the morning to buy coffee. Yeah! You two probably have a schedule that on certain days he’d be the one buying coffee and the others are for you.

He’s not exactly “flirty,” more like very friendly, so it’s not technically your fault that you cannot sense that he has feelings for you. Not only you are confused, even those who are around both of you.

A heartbreaker but doesn’t intend to. He thinks he is doing the right thing, but upon seeing you cry and burst in front of him, asking him if he truly has feelings for you, he’ll be straightforward then.

Sounds kind of common in a “love story” but it’s true.

“Shhh, don’t cry, baby, wait does this mean I can call you that now? Hold on, that’s not what you wanted to hear right now… oh, are you smiling?”

If you two got into a relationship, basically nothing will change… because he always had pampered you before with materialistic stuff or food. You’ll just begin to realize how much effort he had been putting to you all this time.

Also, quite of a bonus; he has a sketchy set of “friends” that they call themselves “The Harbingers,” he never introduces you to them and would refuse to, but they know about you. You think you’ve seen a few of them like Signora (or Rosalyn), and Scaramouche (he refuses to reveal his real name, apparently). All of them are either in college or are grown-ups, your boyfriend says, so he reasons out that they’re “busy” to even meet you.

Someday, he’ll just have to explain everything and he hopes you’ll understand why he and his “friends” do what they do.

BENNETT

is utterly one of the friendliest and sweetest guys out there! He’s the very first one who will reach out to you no matter who you are.

Literally the kind of guy that would chat with you if you even feel a little bit lonely or sad, so it’s quite easy for him to be your friend—everyone’s friend, actually. It’s just that nobody tries to get near that much since he’s very VERY unlucky.

You’ll be able to realize this quite quickly and if you do feel bad for him (you’re heartless if you don’t) and decide to befriend him, I tell you, this is one of the best choices you’ve made.

First of all, he’s rather adventurous. You two would probably be hanging outside a lot after school and maybe even on the weekends!

You two call yourselves “Benny’s Adventure Team” just for fun! Both of you would be going to kids' playgrounds, amusement parks, or maybe biking around parks and streets.

Well, you may have to bring band-aids, cottons and Betadine to nurse him because he gets wounded easily with his lack of luck.

“Thank you for always taking care of me, Y/n! What would I ever do without you?”

Giggling at his words while tending to a scratch he received from his bicycle tripping on a rock, you could only respond with “What about repaying me by taking me on a date this Saturday? I promise I’ll bring a First-Aid kit just in case.”

TAGLIST (pls send an ask to be added)

@softlybeloved @rim0na @icecappa @simplyxkashi @scaraslover @beastielevi @cursedraiden @thesatanofpizza @izayanna @stellumi @coco-goat-milk @nonniechan

#genshin x reader #xiao x reader #childe x reader #bennett x reader #genshin fluff #genshin drabbles #genshin oneshots #📘