#advantages of Content Management System

[watchmegetobsessed]

UNDONE I.

A/N: i've started like 3 wips these past weeks but finally finished one! so here is some boss!harry for you, let me know if you want more of it, bc i feel like i could def add to this story!

WORD COUNT: 8.1k

WARNING: sexual content

SUMMARY: Harry is obsessed with Y/N. The only problem is that he is her boss, so he keeps this obsession to himself. But everything changes after one drunken night.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

Harry has a love-hate relationship with the glass-walled meeting rooms in the office. Aesthetically they are bringing that well-known, usual vibe of every corporate office, nothing new, nothing unusual. Often, he is irritated that people tend to peek inside as they walk past towards the coffee machine or the restroom. He knows it’s second nature, they don’t necessarily try to intrude, but it tends to frustrate him when he is in the middle of a meeting and a random guy is just staring him down from outside. He tried to get the glass covered, but HR declined, they said something about transparency that just pissed Harry off even more, then he just gave up.

But lately, there’s been an advantage of those see-through dividers, because if people from outside can see in, that means Harry can see everything and everyone outside.

Like right now, as he is sitting by the oval table, laptop in front of him while the lawyers are talking about all the legal documents that are needed for their next deal, it’s an important step and Harry is usually great at focusing on what matters, but today his attention is somewhere else.

Outside of the meeting room, right by Y/N’s desk. 

She is the latest addition in the department, a talented analyst who joined a little over three months ago. Harry knows she is great, because he was there at her interview. He is usually not one to attend interviews, but the hiring manager got sick and they needed someone from management to be there as well and Harry had a spare hour he wanted to use to get a little ahead on that tender he’d been working on, but that got thrown right out the window. 

It was the last thing he wanted to do, listen to some random analyst who probably never even saw a DWH system, they always think they are qualified to deal with anything, but then they see just how much data they need to work with and then freak out. Harry was convinced it would happen that time too, but he was wrong.

Y/N walked in there, seemingly nervous, fidgeting with the hem of her cardigan, looking like a frightened little rabbit, so innocent, so sweet, something surprising happened. 

Harry was in awe. 

He found himself being drawn towards her, interested in how she’d perform at the interview. He kept a straight face as the recruiter beside him asked her some basic questions and then he took over for the professional part. 

He gave her his hardest questions, things even seniors might not know, he quizzed her about topics that are way too specific to work around and… she excelled. She couldn’t answer every question, but she worked up a logic she would use to at least try to tackle the matter and Harry knew she would succeed if she had the right materials. 

She blew his mind away. Once she left, he turned to the recruiter and said:

“I want her. Get her to start next week.”

And she did. Next monday, she was holding her onboarding package, eyes bright as she got seated at her desk, ready to start working. 

Now she is sitting at the same spot, wearing her blue light glasses, her eyebrows slightly furrowed behind them as she is working on something on her computer. She is wearing a long sundress today with a yellow cardigan to cover her shoulders. Harry has noted her colorful outfits every morning when she strolled into the office, brightening the otherwise dull atmosphere. It’s a whole floor full of developers, analysts and other IT professionals, they are not known for their exquisite fashion taste, but Y/N is different. Her wardrobe is full of colors and pieces others wouldn’t consider as business casual, but somehow she always makes it work. 

She is the kind of person that has a nice word for everyone, she often brings coffee to Linda, whose desk is across from hers and they usually have lunch together, Harry has noted. She is always happy to help others, she is great at seeing problems differently and quick to come up with solutions. She is definitely a favorite among her colleagues.

Unlike Harry.

Not that he wants to be liked, he is head of IT, he needs to lead, keep everything under control and make hard decisions. He is not stupid, Harry knows most people in the department fear him, he is not known for being friendly and chatty. He usually has so much work he doesn’t have time left to get a coffee with anyone, not that he would have anyone to invite. He is the gruff boss who is always busy and people try not to cross paths with. 

He doesn’t mind it. He likes to be focused on his work and most people don’t realize how hard it is to be the one to decide about budget cuts, downsizing and restructuring, because they don’t see what goes down behind these decisions, they just want to blame someone and that’s usually him. They don’t want to be friends with the big boss who fired their work bestie, even if it was a known fact they never did their job.

It was never an issue for him how his employees saw him. Until her. 

Someone stops by Y/N’s desk and he watches her face light up as she gives them her attention. He can’t hear what she is saying, but when she laughs, it rings in his ears. He loves hearing her laugh.

“So what do you think?” one of the lawyers asks him and he snaps back, realizing he has no idea what they were talking about in the last five minutes. He quickly looks down at his notes so far, but there’s no use. 

“Uh, I’ll leave it to you. I have to go now, do you think you can have everything set by the end of next week? We need it for the next sprint.”

“Sure,” the guy nods, his name is something with a J, but Harry can’t remember what it is. 

He is relieved that he could dodge admitting he has no idea what was talked about, shutting his laptop he murmurs a thank you for the group and he is the first one to walk out of the room, heading towards his office. 

Y/N is not at her desk when he walks past and he looks for her, hoping he is not too obvious, but he sees no trace of her. Is she having coffee with that guy who walked up to her desk? Are they planning something outside of work? Does he want to date her?

Harry’s thoughts are racing as he closes the door behind him, shutting out the general buzz of the open office outside. With a sigh, he sits down in his chair, places his laptop onto the desk, but leaves it unopened for a bit as he rubs his face with his hands. 

He always has control. He plans and keeps himself to his plan, he gathers data, analyses and then makes a new plan. Easy as it is. This is why he likes his job, IT is usually exact, the problem might be deeply hidden, but it’s always exact, he just needs to find the data.

But he’s been feeling chaotic lately. He is disoriented, can’t focus at meetings and finds himself thinking about her when he is supposed to be working. He just can’t help it. 

“Fuck,” he breathes out, then rolls his head, his neck cracks and he lets out a groan before opening his laptop and trying his best to get back to working. The code opens in front of him and he focuses on the lines he’s been trying to rewrite, but right when he is about to start typing, there’s a knock on his door. For a second, he feels irritated that he was interrupted again, but then he looks past the screen and sees her.

Harry nods and Y/N walks through the glass door, holding her laptop to her chest, smiling shyly. Harry likes to think that this smile is for him only, that he is the reason to bring it to her lips, though he doubts he has such an effect on her. But still, it’s a nice thought. 

“Hey,” he greets her as she crosses the room and sits across from him. 

“Hi. Am I disturbing you?”

“No,” he shakes his head.

“I finished those tables you asked for yesterday, but I wanted to run a few things with you.”

“You… finished?” he asks as Y/N unfolds her laptop, nodding. 

“Yeah.” She places the laptop onto his desk and he leans closer, focusing on the screen as Y/N explains what she found unclear, but Harry is still stunned when she is done talking.

“Is it… Is it bad? Not what you thought of?” she asks, seeing his face.

“No, it’s… Y/N, you did this all by yourself?”

“Yes?” Her answer sounds unsure and panic settles in her visibly. “I-I’m sorry if it’s–”

“Y/N, this is brilliant.”

She is taken aback by his compliment, it wasn’t the first time, but it feels like a gift every time for her. 

“It is?”

“Yeah. I mean, I didn’t doubt you could do it, but I didn’t think it would turn out this great and you also finished so fast, I thought it would take you the entire week at least.”

“Well… I did stay in a little longer last night,” she admits with a soft chuckle and it tugs on his chest right away. He looks at her over the desk, their eyes meet and for a second, warmth spreads through his veins as he fights the urge to reach out and touch her. 

Clearing his throat he leans back in his chair.

“Send it over, I’ll leave comments on those sections and then you can start the migration.”

“Thank you,” she nods, taking her laptop and heading to the door.

“And well done, Y/N,” he calls after her. She just nods and smiles at him before walking out. 

Harry watches her return to her desk, takes some deep breaths and forces himself to return to the code on his own computer. 

***

Linda wiggles her eyebrows at Y/N once she is sat at her desk. 

“Did you two eye-fuck again?” she asks and Y/N gapes at her, quickly looking around to see if anyone heard her, but luckily, everyone is too busy.

“Linda! That’s–We don’t do that.”

“Oh please,” she scoffs, twirling her pen around between her fingers. 

“We just went over the tables. He said I did a good job.” She shrugs, but Linda doesn’t miss how the corners of her mouth curl up, though she tries to hide it. 

“You do realize you’re the only one in this whole department he has ever complimented, right?”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. Zach go the best reaction from him last spring, when he spent two weeks refactoring a fucked up code, Harry said it was acceptable. That’s all. The fact that he said you did a good job is just another proof that he is into you.”

“Would you stop talking about the head of IT being into me?” Y/N hisses. “Come on, let’s get a coffee before you start screaming it.”

They go down a floor where the coffee station has better options and once they both have a mug full of coffee, they settle by a high table in the common area. 

“I have a confession to make,” Y/N admits, but avoids looking her in the eyes. “Okay, go for it.”

“I’m meeting Archer today.”

“Y/N! Not your fucking ex! Why?!” Linda gasps. “Do you really hate yourself that much?”

“I don’t hate myself,” she gives her a look, before returning her gaze to her mug. “He texted me the other day.”

“And you texted him back?”

“Well, yes, of course.”

“Boo! You should have blocked his number a long time ago!”

Y/N has thought about that. A lot. Her asshole ex has come back a couple of times since they broke up about a year ago, they shared one or two nights, but it always ended with him disappearing and leaving her shattered. His comebacks slowed down the process of getting over him a lot and though she feels like she is finally okay, she couldn’t just ignore his text.

“That’s not like me,” she shrugs, ignoring the thought that she knows Linda is right. 

“Hun, what do you think will happen today that hasn’t happened before?”

The question stings, right in her chest, because she knows it’s true. Her logical side knows Archer won’t just magically apologize for the way he treated her, even though it’s the only thing she wants from him at this point. To admit that he was in the wrong. 

“We’ll talk. That’s it.”

“Please don’t sleep with him,” Linda sighs desperately. “He doesn’t deserve your time.”

“I won’t,” she says, though she is not entirely certain it’s the truth. 

“Uh-huh, okay.” Linda checks the time on her phone. “I gotta go, I have a meeting in ten.”

“I’m coming too, I have a lot to do.”

Grabbing their mugs they head out of the common area, back to the upper floor. 

***

Harry didn’t mean to eavesdrop. He is the last person to be interested in anyone’s private life in the office. 

But when he heard Y/N’s voice as he was about to walk into the room, he stopped and hid behind the wall, listening to a conversation that was truly not meant for his ears. 

Hearing the two women talk about Y/N’s ex has ignited something new in him, especially when it became clear that he has hurt her in the past. Harry is not one to become violent, he channels all his tendencies in the gym while boxing, but from what he heard of the guy, he would have gladly punched him in the face. A few times.

Maybe more than a few.

The short conversation tickled his curiosity about what happened, but when he heard that they were about to leave, he quickly walked away so they didn’t see him. 

Now as he is back by his desk he can’t focus on the code in front of him at all, his thoughts are only about this mysterious ex Y/N is apparently meeting today. At one point, he even considers giving her some extra work to keep her in late and preferably miss the meeting, but that would be too petty even for him. Instead, he spends the next hour pretending to work while he just keeps fantasizing about different scenarios of what happened between Y/N and the guy. 

Slowly, the office starts to empty out as the end of the day nears. Desks get abandoned, lights are turned off and Harry is still there, since he barely got anything done that day. 

He sees when Y/N packs up her stuff and leaves and his jaw almost breaks as he holds himself still and just watches her walk out. 

“I’m fucking insane,” he mumbles under his breath, willing himself to do some work now that he can’t get distracted by Y/N every time she leaves her desk. 

It’s all new to him. This obsession he’s been feeling since the moment he saw Y/N at the interview. An invisible string has been pulling him towards her and it’s unlike anything he has felt with his exes before. 

He wasn’t obsessed. He didn’t think of them all the time. He didn’t lose focus when he was seeing someone. But with Y/N, he is losing his precious control and it’s almost scary. 

He finally manages to lock in for some work and time flies by. Next time he looks up from his screen the whole office is empty, only his desk lamp giving light and the green haze of the exit signs. It’s past nine and he can hear the cleaner vacuuming somewhere on the floor, so with a tired smile he shuts his computer off, gathers his things and heads out. 

He moved less than a year ago and the place he bought is within walking distance of the office. He knows it might have been a stupid idea to get a place just because it’s close to his working place, he probably won’t work there his whole life, but he doesn’t see himself switching for a long time, so it’s convenient. 

With his backpack hanging off one shoulder he steps out into the warm evening, the afternoon rush is over, now the nearby bars and restaurants are full of workers desperately needing to let some steam off before heading home. 

There’s a small park he walks through before reaching his street and it has always been dear to him, a nice change in the scenery of concrete and glass in the middle of the city. There’s even a small pond along the path that takes him across the park with benches and a handful of ducks are usually circling in the water peacefully. 

Older people from around like to come here and sit or take a short walk and they are the only people Harry likes to watch. He admires their slow pace, no rush, just enjoying what they have, a state he dreams of reaching too. 

Tonight, as he passes by the pond his eyes spot a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches. He stops in his tracks, questioning if his sight is right, because the person sitting there with her head hanging low looks just like Y/N. As he slowly approaches he notices the soft shaking of her shoulders.

She’s crying. 

***

Y/N has been sitting on that bench for… God knows how long. Could have been minutes, could have been hours. She was planning to cry her eyes out at once, then move on by the time she gets home, but apparently, she needs more time to get herself over than she estimated. This spot seemed like a great one, it’s far enough from the lights so people don’t notice she is crying, but she definitely did not expect to be noticed by her boss.

“Y/N?”

Harry’s voice makes her jump and as her head snaps up, she finds herself staring up at the person she least expected to see. His eyebrows are furrowed, concern is written all over his face as he stands a few feet away from the bench, as if he can’t tell if it’s a good idea for him to get closer. 

“Oh, hi!” She quickly forces a smile on her face, but she knows she is fooling no one. She wipes her tear-soaked cheeks with the back of her hand and prays her mascara is not smudged all around her eyes in panda style. “What–What are you doing here?”

“I live nearby, I’m on my way home. What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… I was just taking a walk and now I’m… not.”

Her brain does not function. She knows what she said didn’t make any sense, but she can’t think of something else to say. She is way too busy thinking about how Harry is standing right there just after her ex made her wait for him for an hour before texting her he is not coming and when she called him to confront, a woman answered his phone.

It didn’t take long for Y/N to draw the conclusions: Archer was only trying to hook up with her tonight, but apparently found someone else and ditched her. A classic move from an asshole like him, but that doesn’t make her feel less like shit. Mostly because she should have known better and not believe he would do anything other than hurting her. 

Harry just stands there for a few moments and Y/N is expecting him to walk away and pretend like he didn’t even see her, but he surprises her when he walks over to the bench and sits beside her. 

“Do you want to… talk about what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” she answers right away, but when she looks at him, it’s obvious he doesn’t believe her. With a sigh, she turns her gaze back towards the pond. She is hesitating between keeping it all to herself or just dumping it on Harry and then deal with the consequences later, but right when she is about to make up her mind, he speaks up.

“Is this about… your ex-boyfriend?”

She turns to him with wide eyes. 

“How do you…”

A guilty look takes over his face before he shrugs.

“I heard you talking about him earlier. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“I shouldn’t talk so freely with Linda in the office,” she chuckles, shaking her head. They sit in silence, when Harry peeks at her she seems deep in her thoughts and he is desperate to get her to talk, but doesn’t want to push her too much. 

As a last resort, he says:

“Do you want to have a drink?”

***

The tequila is burning her throat, she can’t help the frown as she bites into the lemon. When she looks at Harry, she is not even surprised he has the same, unbothered look on his face he had after the previous two shots. 

“Uh, how are you taking it so well?” she coughs and then takes a sip from her beer. They were lucky enough to find a table at a bar nearby and she was quick to accept that maybe getting drunk is what she needs right now, even if the alarms are still going off somewhere in the back of her mind, because doing it with Harry might not be her brightest idea. 

“I guess I still have some left of my college years,” he shrugs and she starts laughing. 

“Don’t tell me you were a party animal in college,” she snorts. The three shots and half a beer has definitely set her tongue free and took away her sense of embarrassment after saying everything that’s on her mind. She will surely regret it in the morning, but right now she couldn’t care less.

Harry likes this version of her. She is always bubbly and talkative, but in his presence he often senses her nervousness. Now there’s no trace of that and he is sinking in every moment of it.

“What do you think I was like in college?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. 

“I don’t know,” she shrugs, the words slurring a bit on her tongue. “Like a… hot nerd?”

He quirks an eyebrow at her and she realizes only then that she just called him hot. 

“I-I mean… I don’t–What I meant is–”

“I was a nerd,” he says, saving her from her rambling. “I was in the robotics club, spent a lot of time in the library, trying to hack their system so I didn’t have to return some books I wanted to keep.”

She can’t help, but laugh as Harry is smiling at the memory as well.

“Did you succeed?”

“What do you think?”

“For sure.”

“Correct,” he chuckles, taking a sip of his beer. “But I went to parties. I had this friend group from highschool, some of them were friends with the popular kids so we were always invited.”

“I can’t picture you with a red solo cup, filled with cheap booze.”

“But it happened,” he chuckles. “Luckily, photos have been deleted from social media.”

“Did you wipe the internet?” she asks, leaning closer as if she was asking him about a secret.

“No, but I did message those who had the photos posted when I was getting higher in my career.”

“Clever,” she nods and grabbing her beer, she takes a few swigs. Then her smile fades. “Maybe I should tell you what happened, right?”

“Only if you want to.”

Sighing she leans back, pursing her lips as she squints her eyes, looking back at him. She can’t think straight. Her thoughts are jumping, one moment she is thinking about Archer, the next all her attention is on how plump his lips look when they are wet from the beer, or the way his top two buttons of his shirt have come undone and she is seeing fucking tattoos, along his collarbones. 

She wants to kiss them. 

“I was stupid enough to think that I matter to him and he wouldn’t… hurt me. But he did. That’s it, lesson learned.”

She would love to look unbothered, like it doesn’t affect her, but she can’t. Her throat is closing up and when Harry calls out her name softly, she looks up at him with tears in her eyes and wobbling lips. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be crying, I know. I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize,” Harry shakes his head, but it’s like she didn’t even hear him.

“I know it’s stupid, but I just thought it might be different this time, that he might apologize and I can finally… I don’t know.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s not. You’re allowed to hope, to want to be treated the right way.”

“But I should have learned my lesson before!”

“You could have, but it’s okay. You will now. You’re smart, smarter than you think. You’ll get over it, doesn’t matter how long it takes, you will get there. I know it.”

“How?” she asks in a whisper, unable to break the eye-contact. 

“I don’t know how you’ll do it, but–”

“No,” she shakes her head. “How do you know it?”

He slowly runs his tongue over his lips, thinking his words through before speaking them.

“I just do. Do you believe me?”

Without hesitation she nods.

“I do.”

***

“If someone said one day I would be waiting for an Uber with my boss, drunk out of my ass at two am, I would have laughed them in the face.”

Y/N is holding onto a lamp post with one hand, twirling around it like a little kid as Harry stands by the curb, one hand in his pocket, the other one holding his phone, tracking the Uber that’s supposed to pick Y/N up and take her home. He is watching her with a tiny smile, it’s great to see her so carefree after her breakdown earlier. 

“Which part is so unbelievable?” 

She stops and steps closer to him. She can’t stand still, keeps shifting her weight between her feet and Harry is on alert in case she loses her balance. 

“All of it,” she grins up at him, blinking lazily. “Except the drunk out of my ass. That happens sometimes.”

“Really?” 

“Ooh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Am I in trouble?”

“Because you get drunk sometimes? You’re an adult, you can do whatever you want.”

“Yeah, but… you’re my boss,” she giggles, then starts swaying as if she could hear some music. “It’s not professional to get drunk.”

“Not when you’re working. But you’re not at work right now.”

“Nope,” she shakes her head, popping the ‘p’ sound. “I’m on the street, with Harry Styles, after drinking with Harry Styles! And now I’m gonna go home in an Uber that Harry Styles ordered for me!”

“Are you enjoying saying my name?” he chuckles, glancing at his phone again, The car is five minutes away. He is already dreading the moment it arrives, because that means the night ends. But he knows she has to get home and sleep it off.

“I do,” she sings. “It has a nice ring to it. It’s a cool name for a cool guy.”

“Oh, so I’m cool?” He knows he shouldn’t take advantage of her drunken state and keep her talking, but he just can’t get himself to stop.

“Yeah. You’re cool and smart and scary sometimes and mysterious, but not tonight,” she giggles as she keeps swaying around, while Harry can’t take his eyes off her, not when she is talking about him. “People at the office are scared of you, but I think you’re great.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. You’re amazing, I always look forward to seeing you. Sometimes I…” She giggles at whatever she is thinking about, completely oblivious at how intently Harry is listening to her. “Sometimes I ask you about things I know just so we can talk.” She shakes her head with a chuckle, but it’s enough for her to lose balance.

She gasps when she starts falling, but he is quick to grab her by her arms, yanking her towards him to keep her from smashing against the concrete. She is not laughing anymore, especially when she realizes that her chest is pressed against his, hands still holding her arms firmly. And his eyes are piercing into her gaze in a way that takes her breath away. 

“I love when you come asking questions,” he admits. “That’s usually my favorite part of the day.”

Her eyes widen at his words and when his gaze shifts down to her lips, they part as she gasps for air. Her chest presses even more against his as she fills her lungs and she feels even more dizzy now than before. 

“I want to kiss you.”

The words blurt out of her before she could think them through, unaware of the effect they have on Harry. His gaze darkens and it moves down at her lips again. But before he could say or do anything, the Uber pulls up beside them. 

Harry lets go of her, then opens the door.

“Get some sleep, Y/N. I’ll see you on Monday.”

She blinks at him a few times as he just stands there, waiting for her to get inside. She is confused. Drunk and tired and the longer she stays there the more awkward she feels, so she finally gets into the car, then Harry shuts the door and the car starts moving. 

Y/N turns around and sees him still standing there, hands in his pockets, his head hanging low. Then she slides down in the seat, closes her eyes and then replays those couple of moments when she was pressed up against him over and over again until the car stops at her apartment building. 

***

Sunday evening Y/N contemplates calling in sick. Preferably with something that keeps her away from the office… forever. 

Once she woke in the afternoon of Saturday, sobered up, with a killer headache, memories from last night came crashing down on her and the embarrassment took over instantly. She spent the rest of the weekend in agony, cursing herself out for being so stupid. 

Did she really tell her boss she wanted to kiss him?

Yes, she in fact did. After getting drunk with him, crying about her ex and telling him all kinds of stuff she never planned on admitting to him. Like that she finds him cool and smart and sometimes scary. 

But the kissing part is obviously the worst.

No matter how badly she dreads Monday morning, time doesn’t stop or slows down, the week starts and she has to go to work and face the consequences of her actions. 

Maybe Harry won’t be there. But he is always there. 

Maybe she can hide all day and avoid him… until the rest of her life or until she finds a new job. Very unlikely, but whatever. 

Her palms are sweating as she swipes her card at the gates and heads up to her floor. She’s getting paranoid, thinking that everyone in the elevator knows what happened on Friday, even though no one even bats an eye in her direction. 

Luckily, as she logs into her computer at her desk, work swamps her and provides enough distraction to stop her from throwing up when she sees Harry for the first time.

It seems like he is having a busy day too, he is in and out of meetings for the most part of the noon, she only sees him passing by or sitting in his office with his AirPods in, a sign that he is in an online meeting. But even when he is free for a short time, Y/N makes sure she avoids facing him. She even considers moving to another floor’s common room with her laptop for the day if it means she can survive without running into him and God forbid, talking to him. 

But then comes an email. 

It’s a bit after lunch time when it pops up in her inbox and her stomach drops to the floor right away when she sees it’s from Harry. Then another wave of anxiety washes over her when she reads it.

FROM: Harry Styles

Come to my office at your earliest convenience. -H

“Oh shit,” she mumbles under her breath and it catches Linda’s ears across from her, who gives her a questioning look. “Nothing.” She just shakes her head, grabs her laptop and then heads to Harry’s office with shaking knees. 

Is this the part where he tells her behavior was unacceptable? Did he maybe report her to HR for what she said?

She knocks on the door with a sweaty hand, Harry looks up from his screen with a blank face and nods at her to go inside. 

“Hey. I got your email.” She sounds like a frightened little girl as she closes the door behind her and stills, hugging her laptop to her chest. 

“Thanks for coming right away.”

Harry pushes his chair back lazily, stands and rounds the desk before leaning against it leisurely, his eyes glued to Y/N who is still standing by the door, too scared to go further. He doesn’t like the distance.

“Come, sit,” he nods towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. 

Obediently, she walks over and takes a seat, blinking up at him with wide eyes while he looks unbothered and almost… bored. He squints his eyes at her, tilting his head to the side a bit before finally speaking up. 

“Is there a specific reason why you’re avoiding me all day?”

Her lips part at his question and her first instinct is to deny.

“I-I’m not–”

“Y/N, you are. Normally, you would have already asked me at least two questions, but instead you walk out of the office every time I step out of mine. You are avoiding me.”

She shuts her mouth, trying to come up with something to say that could save her, but nothing comes to her mind. 

“I’m sorry.” Her gaze drops to the floor, his stare is too intense for her. “I’m so ashamed about… everything I said on Friday, I didn’t know how to face you. I said all that… inappropriate stuff you definitely shouldn’t have heard. like… ever. I’m sorry.”

“Y/N,” he softly says, but her gaze remains on her shoes. “Y/N, look at me, please.”

Finally, she dares to move her eyes back to meet his and then he continues… in the most surprising way.

“What I’m about to say, it’s going to be fully unrelated to work. Can you treat it as something outside of this setting?” Y/N nods. “Use your words, I need to hear you say it. Do you understand that this conversation is outside of work?”

“I understand,” she answers weakly, her mouth running dry. 

“Good.” He nods and then continues. “Do not feel sorry for anything you said. I’m glad I know all of that. The only downside of it is that now I need every ounce of self-control not to bend you over this desk and fuck you until you forget your own name.”

This time her mouth hangs open. For a moment she is not entirely convinced she hasn’t just imagined it all. That it wasn’t just her sick mind playing tricks on her. But then he speaks again.

“Did you hear what I said? That I want to fuck you into oblivion on this desk?”

“Yes,” she breathes out, trembling. 

“Good. Now I want you to go back to your desk and think it through whether you want that too or not. If you decide that you feel the same way, stay late and come back here when everyone is gone. Understood?”

“Yes.”

She feels dizzy, but not the same kind she felt on Friday, this is entirely different. Turning around she walks out of the room, but she’s on auto pilot as she returns to her desk. She leans back in her chair and slowly looks around.

No one in the room knows what just happened. Everyone is just minding their own business while Y/N is on the verge of fainting.

“You alright?” Linda peeks out from behind her screen with a concerned look on her face. “What did he want?”

If only she knew! Y/N thinks. She is dying to share, to take the whole conversation apart and analyze every bit, but she can’t. Instead, she forces a smile to her face.

“Just checked in with me about the migration.”

Linda examines her suspiciously for a second, but then her phone rings and she returns to her work while Y/N opens her laptop as well, but as she stares at the document in front of her she was working on before Harry’s email, she can’t even make out a word. 

Instead, she is busy thinking about what happens when the office empties out. 

***

Harry was dragged into some urgent issue sometime in the afternoon and it gave him enough work to take his attention away from prying outside, impatiently waiting for everyone to leave while making sure Y/N is still there. 

He answers one call after the other while emails keep popping into his inbox and he loses track of Y/N. When he finally drags his gaze away from the screen he looks up and finds the whole floor empty. All of it.

Meaning that Y/N left as well. Groaning he stands from his desk and walks over to the window, staring out into the night that has slowly creeped up on him. He truly thought she would stay. That she felt the same desire and thirst as him and she wants to explore whatever it could be, but maybe he read it all wrong. 

How will this affect their work? He should have thought of that before telling her he wants to fuck her on his desk. Who even does that? He is supposed to be her boss, her mentor, this was so incredibly inappropriate, he is thinking about reporting himself to HR and–

There’s a knock on his door. 

Turning around he freezes when he sees Y/N standing there with doe-like eyes and with just one look she is already making his pulse jump. He nods, barely noticeably, but she sees it and lets herself inside, closing the door behind her even though it’s truly just the two of them now. 

“Hey,” she sheepishly says, stopping exactly where she did earlier when he wrote her that email. This time however, Harry is the one to cross the room and then stop just inches away from her. She wonders if he could hear the wild hammering of her heart in her chest, the dizziness is back and she hides her hands behind her back so he doesn’t notice them shaking. 

“Did you think about what I said?”

Harry talks slowly and clearly and she couldn’t tell just moments ago he was freaking out too. But now that she’s there, every racing thought is gone from his mind, all he is thinking about is… her. 

“Yes.”

“And what’s your conclusion?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” There’s a tiny bit of sassiness in her tone, just enough to start a fire in him. 

She catches the way one corner of his lips curls up as he takes another small step towards her, his hands come up to cup her jaw on either side and he gently tilts her head back, angling it perfectly. Then slowly, he leans closer until his lips are almost touching hers, but then stops. As if he is giving one last chance for her to change her mind, but she is still there, waiting for him to finally break down the wall between them and he gives in. 

He lets his hunger take over instantly. There’s no testing the waters, feeling each other up, he kisses her in a demanding, needy way that takes her breath away at first, but she is quick to react the same way. 

Her hands move to his shirt, grabbing the fabric at his stomach while his hands are still holding onto her face, but then they slide down her sides, settle on the back of her thighs and she knows exactly what he wants her to do. So without breaking them apart, she jumps up, he catches her with ease as she wraps her legs around his waist and he blindly carries her to the small sofa by the wall. 

He sinks into the cushion and she straddles him, giving her a bit of advantage in height this way, so now he is the one to crane his neck while she is leaning down to meet him. 

It’s a mess, lip biting, tongues crashing, soft moans and grunts, his palms wander over his thighs and ass and then he sneakily peels her soft pink shirt out of her tight jeans so his hands can slip under the fabric and feel her heated skin. 

She is desperate to feel more, to ease the aching throbbing between her legs, so when she starts rolling her hips and grinding against his rapidly growing bulge, he can’t help the moan that slips out of his mouth, right into hers. 

His head drops to the back of the sofa and she takes the chance to kiss her way down the column of his neck. After dozens of fantasies doing the same thing during meetings, now she is finally tasting his skin, gently nibbling on a spot that has his hands grab onto her ass, pushing her even more into him. 

When their lips meet again her fingers dance down his chest, feeling up his abdomen through his shirt and then settle on his belt, she starts undoing it, but he is quick to stop her, which breaks her out of her trance., scared that she did something wrong. 

Reading her from just one look, Harry shakes his head softly.

“I know I said I want to bend you over my desk, but I don’t want the first time I’m inside you to be here. So we are gonna do it differently for now.”

As he speaks, his fingers work the buttons of her shirt, one after the other until the white, lacy bra is revealed underneath. 

“Is it fucking Christmas?” he breathes out, hooking a finger into one of the cups and tugging it down so your breast spills out of it. An airy chuckle slips out of her, but it quickly turns into a gasp when he sucks her pebbled nipple into his mouth, even gently biting and tugging on it. Her fingers comb through his hair, his fingertips massaging his scalp as her grinding continues. 

“I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do,” he murmurs against her chest, one hand freeing her other breast from the bra as well, so he can pay equal attention to them both. “You’re gonna grind that needy cunt of yours against me until you come, just so you can see what it is like when you’re not even undressed and imagine what will happen once I get to unwrap you.” He smacks her ass gently, a moan slipping out through her parted lips. “And I’m gonna leave marks all over tits and suck your nipples until they are so tender you can barely touch them, so when you go home and see yourself in the mirror, you’ll remember every moment of what’s happening right now.”

His hands grab her hips and make her roll them harder, his erection and the seam of her jeans rubbing into her soaking wet cunt. She eagerly takes the pace he dictated, desperate to chase her release that’s building in the pit of her stomach rapidly. 

“Do you like that? Do you like my plan?” he asks, his lips brushing against her nipple, teasing her with his touch just enough to make her whine and ache for more. 

“Yes,” he nods eagerly, hands clasping the back of his head to pull him closer to her chest and feel his lips on her heated skin again and he complies happily. 

“Then let me feel how badly you want to come.”

If someone told Y/N in the morning, that tonight she would be dry humping her boss like a horny teenager, she would have checked that person into a mental hospital. Yet here she is, grinding against Harry’s massive bulge, shamelessly rubbing her cunt against his erection while his mouth is full of her breast. 

He has already left a few marks on her and she knows she’ll have to wear turtlenecks for the next 2 weeks, but she couldn’t care less. 

“Fuck, I’m so close,” she cries out when she finds just the right angle where the seam of her jeans and the tip of his restrained cock rub her clit perfectly, sending sparks through her nerves. 

“Go on, want to see you come undone.” He bites the side of her left breast and she hisses, but it feels so good, so fucking great she moans loudly, her head falling back at the sensation.

“Harry, I–Ah!”

His hands grab her ass and he pulls her in, making her fall forward, her chest pressing up against his as she buries her face into his neck, fastening her movements as her orgasm is nearing. 

“Come on, Y/N. Let me see you come undone.”

“Wanna feel you inside,” she whines, but keeps moving.

“I know and you will. Just not now.”

She whines again in a disapproving manner, but doesn’t stop and Harry’s hips start moving as well. He encourages her a few more times, his lips brushing against her ear, sending shivers down her spine and right when she thinks she can’t take it anymore, the bubble pops. 

She gasps and moans, her movements get dragged out and Harry forces her to look him in the eyes as she rides out her joy. She loses track of time, can’t tell if it lasts for seconds or hours. But when it’s over she collapses into his arms. 

“You did so good. So fucking good,” he murmurs into her ear, kissing the side of her face wherever he can reach. When she finally catches her breath she sits up straight and looking down she sees that he’s still hard underneath her. 

Instantly, she reaches down, ready to take him out and take care of him, but he stops her again. 

“Not now.”

“But you… didn’t–”

“I know,” he smiles softly. “But if we go further now, I won’t be able to stop and I told you, I want the first time I’m inside you in a different setting.”

She understands and it’s flattering knowing he wouldn’t be able to control himself if they continued, but it feels unbalanced now that only she came. 

“Are you sure?” she asks, hands flattening on his stomach. 

Smiling, he nods. “Very sure.”

She thinks to herself for a bit and reaching up Harry brushes a lock of hair behind her ear as a smile stretches slowly across her face.

“What is it?”

“So… this means there will be a next time?”

The playful glint in her eyes amuses him. She is sitting on his lap, her chest still exposed, lips swollen from his kisses while his erection is still straining against his pants and she asks if there will be a next time. 

“Oh yeah. I will watch you come undone over and over again in every possible way. If you let me.”

She bites into her bottom lip, sheepishly blinking down at him, but her answer surprises him for a moment.

“I’m not letting you.” His face falls and his heart drops into his stomach, but she is quick to continue: “I’m begging you.”

“Oh baby, for that, now I’m adding  spanking to when I’m bending you over my desk and fuck you.”

Her smile only grows wider.

“Please, Boss!”

PART II.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[rhsofttech2023]

A Guide to SAP HCM Online Training in India

[temis-de-leon]

MC injures their knee

Characters: gn!MC and Demon Brothers

Main Masterlist

Anon request: I'm very curious as to how the demon brothers would handle an MC / Y/N that accidentally injured their knee and can't move their leg for a while as a result. Like, everything was fine and dandy, the day was going well! But as they were walking from one area to the other, suddenly they turned too quickly, or perhaps they awkwardly shifted their weight in a moment of absentmindedness - and now their kneecap is out of the socket. Content one moment, distressed the next once they realize what happened. They scream so loudly from the pain that you can hear it outside the House of Lamentation, immediately making any noise go quiet. Even once they (very carefully) get it back in place and the pain starts to subside, they're shaking and in tears, completely unable to walk on that side. They're gonna be out of commission for a few days, may or may not have permanent damage in the area, but it slowly gets better over time. It's okay if you don't wanna do this one, btw! This is just based on something that happened to me earlier this week, gotta love Funky Joint Syndrome (hEDS) :')

A/N: I wrote this three different times, and on every occasion, I found myself unable to not write the little intro at the beginning. Even when you already put the context, anon. I hope you enjoy it and you're feeling better after all this time! Sorry for taking so long! <3

.

I like to think this would happen one of those days when the House of Lamentation is half empty because the universe likes to be that awful most of the time.

You’re almost thankful that, for once, you can finally run around your home with no demons trailing behind you. Sure, you love the brothers, but their demand for your attention can get suffocating sometimes.

And this specific day, each one of them is doing their own thing in separate places. Lucifer is at the castle, Mammon at the casino, Asmo is at a party, and Beel is running laps around the house. With the rest of the brothers rotting away in their rooms, it is safe to say you have all the house to yourself.

You take advantage of the situation by admiring the architecture, the oil paintings, the details in the staircase windows and the statues. You feel dumb at the beginning, but how could you live in a mansion without even attempting to appreciate its… unique beauty?

Murder house aesthetic, right?

The problem comes when you accidentally trip while stepping on the curled corner of one of the carpets.

The movement awkwardly twists your leg and makes your patella sit on the side instead of the front, where it’s supposed to be. Your joint locks itself, unnaturally bulgy, and sends waves of pain through all your nervous system.

You aren’t sure what noise the brothers heard first, either your fall or your cries, but they are all there with you in mere seconds. And those who are out of the house are on their way the moment they receive the informative message.

Thankfully, Lucifer managed to stop Diavolo and Barbatos from coming with him.

And despite Beel being the closest, the first one to return is Mammon.

Asmo takes a little longer because the tears are blurring his vision.

But back to the incident.

Satan manages to pop your patella back into position with magic while Levi and Belphie comfort you, and in the back of your mind, the commotion makes you feel a tiny bit embarrassed.

It hurts like hell, yes, but you don’t want the whole house to think you’re dying. Last time that happened, you, at least, went with a fight, but this time, you just tripped. And they’re taking it like your leg’s going to be amputated.

On the other hand, though, despite being overbearing, they take incredible care of you.

Since Beel is already used to it thanks to Belphie, he offers to take you anywhere, even if it’s within walking distance. It doesn’t matter if it’s a piggyback ride or a princess carry; whatever makes you feel more comfortable and painless, he will do.

Lucifer lets you skip classes for the necessary recovery period, not even contemplating the idea of seeing you walk up so many stairs and then stay sit and still for hours on end. If you try to act tough for the sake of being a responsible student, he may order the older twin to keep guard outside your bedroom door. He’s making sure you rest.

Satan understands Lucifer’s approach and, surprise surprise, is on board with it; but rather than making sure you stay in the house, he guarantees you don’t feel the need to leave at all. He will offer his notes and tutor you on what you don’t understand, laying down beside you in bed with books and papers scattered around you.

Levi, on the other hand, is set on keeping you entertained, and understanding that it is better if you don’t move for a while, he brings his games and manga to your room. It’s almost too much and proves to be unnecessary because you end up spending the days marathoning The Tale of the Seven Lords yet again and talking about it nonstop afterwards.

Asmo is more of a self-care type of guy and wants you to know that. He understands how you could prefer rotting away in bed while sick or injured, but you should really take care of your body! Each morning, he marches straight to your room after finishing his own routine (because you have to see him at his best) and applies himself every ointment your beautiful face could need to stay the same. If you let him, and he’ll promise he’ll be careful, he’ll even massage some anti-inflammatory cream in the injured area.

Mammon becomes your favourite errand boy, leaving the house in search of every craving you may have, even if it’s stupid. Sure, he’ll complain, but that’s part of his charm. He wouldn’t be putting on his boots if it really bothered him, right? No matter the cost, he’ll pay for it; unless it’s expensive, in which case Lucifer may add an involuntary contribution (wink wink).

And while all of this is taking place, Belphie is peacefully sleeping right next to you, hidden under the blankets and blissfully unaware of all the noise. He offers cuddles, comfort, warmth and good dreams, and if your knee is feeling especially painful, he may even let you hold onto his tail like a plushie.

If there’s a bad part to any of this, it’s that now they won’t let you out of their sight for even a minute.

What did you expect?

You got hurt in the comfort of your own house!

While they were away!!

Clearly, they need to stay closer.

.

.

Taglist: @ilovecandys2010 @ollieoven @kingofspadesdelusion @whimsybloom @mia4gotcookiez

[httpknjoon]

say goodnight and go | myg

plot | that time when everyone seemed to be doing something on valentine's day and the popstar and her bassist have all the time with their single asses.

w.c | 3.3k

pairing | bass guitarist!yoongi x popstar!reader

genre | enemies to lovers, popstar x bassist, fluff, angst

note | wrote this last-minute today, just something short n sweet for valentines. enjoy!

main masterlist | series masterlist | want to request?

DAY 103: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Your fans from South Korea are one of your most active fanbases, always showering you with praises and support through social media. You even heard one of your songs becoming a trend on their online platforms, with celebrities and big local personalities doing it. So to show appreciation for them, you and your management decided to stay in the country for a longer amount of days.

So far, you have done your back-to-back concerts, variety show appearances, and media interviews, making sure that your fans will get a lot of content. You also got to do some shopping in Myeongdong with Cal and Paul in your first two days in the country since you know how great everyone's skincare products are.

"Are you going out?"

It's your last day before you leave for another country tomorrow. You sat on the nook near the big window of your hotel room, overviewing the busy streets of Seoul, when Cal came in and checked on you.

"I would love to, but I don't like to see couples eating each others' faces on the street." you shuddered in exaggerated disgust, Cal laughed in response.

Tearing your eyes off the scene, you see your assistant all dressed up. From her usual jeans and dark-colored hoodie, she wore and pastel green coat dress and white boots. She also wore white fuzzy gloves, tights, and a scarf for the winter weather outside. Her hair is also styled in soft waves.

"You are so, so pretty." you smiled as she gave you a twirl. "Where are you and your fiance heading?"

She looks up, recalling her agenda for the day, "We're going to Nami Island, I think. I don't really know. Art planned the whole thing."

"Sounds nice."

You tried to smile before looking back to the window. A sense of heaviness sits on your chest as you hug your knees closer to your body, resting your chin on it. The feeling you have been trying to avoid today, Valentine's Day, cannot help but revive itself in your system. But it has been looming over you for a while now, especially in Seoul, where there are a lot of lovely, cute couples everywhere.

"You okay?" Cal asked, sensing your aura shifting.

"I am, I am!" You turned to look at her again, smiling to reassure her. "Now, go on and enjoy that date. We know Art has a low tolerance for waiting."

She chuckled before giving you a quick hug that you know means well. As soon as the door closed, you were back staring outside the glass. You watched the cars move in different directions, and people walked around places. You watched almost twenty-two stories over them, but your mood cannot keep up and remained low ever since you woke up today.

For the first time in years, you are alone in this day of romance. You tried to stay optimistic about it, thinking that you should be grateful you got out of that toxic on-and-off relationship. But man, wouldn't it be nice to be with someone in this cold, cuddly weather outside?

You sighed, combing your fingers through your unstyled hair, before getting up to your bed. You thought of just taking advantage of your free time to rest in the midst of your ongoing world tour.

"I don't think I can bring this with me, Juwon."

Yoongi let out a sheepish chuckle while holding a brown bag of Tupperware filled with kimchi, braised potatoes, lettuce, rice, and marinated uncooked bulgogi. His cousin laughed.

"Not my problem, man. Mom saw one of your videos online and said you looked thinner. She wanted to make sure you're eating a lot, especially now you're in the country."

It has been more than a decade since Yoongi visited his birth country. Unlike his parents who come and go to South Korea yearly, he never got to visit since he moved to LA. When his mother learned that you would be taking your tour to Seoul, she called up every family member to let them know Yoongi was coming. Everyone was delighted to see him after a long time. His grandma even handed him an envelope money, just like when he was a little kid. Yoongi tried to decline it shyly, but his heart warmed when she told him to keep it as it was for all the Lunar New Year he missed.

"She really wanted to see you, but she and Dad are celebrating their anniversary in the UK right now," Juwon told him while they sat in one of the cafes just on the outskirts of Seoul. "She always told everyone how her nephew is a celebrity in the US."

Yoongi laughed, cheeks warming up, "I'm not a celebrity. I'm a bassist for one."

"Eh, it's the same." his cousin shrugged, making both of them laugh. "You know, a lot of YN's fans here think you two are dating."

Yoongi's jaw tenses at the mention of you. Considering that you two are barely talking right now, being tangled in such gossip with you is a little startling for him.

Juwon continued, "Like, I would scroll on social media and I would see edits of you on stage made by your fans here. There are talks about her performances and gimmicks with you on online forums."

Yoongi knows. His father even asked him once about his relationship status with you during the holidays. When he was on his way to the cafe, a young student recognized and asked him if you two are together after asking for a selfie. And he answered the same thing.

"We're not dating. I'm just her bassist."

Juwon seemed to not really care about Yoongi's relationship status with you, just wanting to share the growing popularity of the topic. They went on talking about life and everything big happening to them. Yoongi appreciated his cousin not mentioning his failed engagement or asking him personal questions about you (since that is something other people do). A couple of hours later, Juwon had to go.

"I'm taking the missus out. So, I really should go," he explained, smiling sheepishly.

Yoongi smiled before they shared a quick hug, "Of course. I'll try to visit again after the tour so I can meet everyone."

It was only afternoon and Yoongi was already on his way back to the hotel. Love is everywhere, he can feel, hear, see, and even taste it with how sweet the heart-shaped candies he sees from the street vendors. On the bus, he cannot help but feel outcasted by how everyone comes and goes in two while he sits alone in the farthest seat. He tried not to be a bitter hater about today's event. But how can he be single right now and there are middle-schoolers holding hands in front of him?

He rolled his eyes as he walked past the young couple who was walking too slow for his liking. Just a few distance from the hotel, he stopped when he got a call from someone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Yoongi. Are you in the hotel right now?" Art, who's on the other line, asked.

Yoongi continued walking, "Yeah, just arrived. Why?"

Today is meant to be their free day before flying to Thailand tomorrow. He recalls any possible reason why the tour manager would call him today.

"Yeah, uhm, can you check on YN? Callie has been trying to contact her, but she's not answering any texts or calls. She just wants to know how she's doing."

His heart dropped, making him pause near the elevators. He has not really talked with you alone these past few days. You two barely had conversations after that little argument the week after the holiday break.

Yoongi scratched his brow, "Uhm, how about Noah or Akio?"

"They are still on their way to visit Busan. Fred is out of town too," he replied.

Knowing there were no other choices, his shoulder slumped like the whole world fell on it, "Okay, I'll check on her."

"Okay, thank you, Yoongi!" Art sighed in relief. Yoongi heard Cal's relief in the background, thanking him too, "Thanks, Yoongi! Please tell her to text me back."

After saying where your room is, the call ended. Why can't you answer the calls? Yoongi tried contacting you himself when he got in the elevator. Although he knows that you might ignore him, he still tries just to avoid knocking on your door again. But you did not answer. So he got to the floor higher than his and immediately looked for your room.

He felt his heart beating faster when he stopped in front of Room 2202. Chewing on his lip, he raised his finger before the doorbell. He wished he had the same determination when he knocked on your door months ago. He held his breath when he clicked it.

But he got no response. It took him three more tries before hearing footsteps inside and by that time, he was more worried than nervous.

"What— Yoongi?"

Instantly recognizing the person who interrupted your movie marathon, your creased forehead softened up as your shoulders slowly tensed down. Yoongi didn't speak immediately, causing you to just stand there while his eyes scanned your face with lines forming between his brows. You felt like shrinking again under his gaze, wondering if other people feel the same way when your bassist looks at them.

"Were you crying?" he asked since he quickly took notice of your tear-stained cheeks, puffy eyes, and lips.

When you look away, Yoongi can read the embarrassment on your face. He thought you looked cute even though you just cried, but still he was worried by what was the reason behind it. But he didn't want to ask, to cross the line like you said that night. So he didn't.

Instead, he cleared his throat, "Art called me. He said you—"

To see you open the door wider as if you are inviting him to come in is a surprise to him. Your eyes meet, communicating with no verbal words in between. But when your sight starts moving from his eyes to his nose then to his lips. Something in your stomach twists. Before anything happened, you spoke, moving your eyes back up.

"Please, just come in. Someone might see us in the hallway."

Always careful. Yoongi stepped in with the same brown bag in his hand. He waited for you to close the door before speaking up again.

"Art called me and he wanted me to check on you. Cal is worried you were not answering her calls."

Your lips gaped as you forgot where your phone was. Since you were left alone hours ago, you spent your time watching rom-com movies, including the one you were just crying about before Yoongi knocked.

"Wait, I'll look for it."

Yoongi watched you rush to your messy bed. He still has not moved from the same spot near the door, like his feet were nailed to the ground. Not less than a minute later, you came back with your phone in hand.

"Just texted her back. I was on DND since last night, I didn't notice," you explained and why were you explaining to him? You don't know.

He didn't say anything and just looked at you blankly. What was to say anyway? You noticed him not really speaking much when you're around. You mean, Yoongi does not really speak a lot, but you observed how quieter he got when the holiday break ended. The eye contact lessened and so did the small bickering you two do in every rehearsal. It feels wrong to annoy you like before again. There are so many times you want to, but you just can't.

You were chewing on your lower lip unconsciously while looking down at the paper bag in his hand, and could not bring yourself to look up. Yoongi silently wondered what was going on inside your creative head.

"What's that?" you broke the silence, referring to the bag.

"Oh... uhm... it's food from my aunt," he replied, lifting the bag. He pulled out one of the Tupperware. "She wanted me to eat more, said I'm getting thinner."

You don't know why, but that made you chuckle. Yoongi smiled upon hearing your little laugh.

"Have you eaten?" he asked, even though it can be a risk over the line you spoke about before.

But instead of reminding him about that stupid line, you replied, "Ice cream is food, right?"

Yoongi clicked his tongue, shaking his head like you were a great disappointment. He pulled out each Tupperware one by one and placed it on the nearby marble counter.

"Have you had these foods before?" he asked and you simply shook your head. "Then, you're going to have them now."

Yoongi didn't care if he crossed that imaginary line because his mom would kill him if he didn't make you eat lunch. Heading to your kitchenette, he looked for a pan and turned on the stove.

"I will just cook the meat. Then, we'll eat this with rice and the side dishes." he explained while putting the meat on the hot surface.

"What... What should I do? Should I help? Do I have to do anything?" you asked, heavily confused.

Yoongi chuckled at your innocent questions, "You can just watch, YN."

And you did while being intrigued and amused at the same time by the unexpected scenario. Just twenty minutes ago, you were crying over Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. But now, you have your bassist cooking before you.

Yoongi cooked all of the meat since he could not really bring it with him tomorrow. He will make sure to eat them all if you do not enjoy it anyway. There are no plates in the hotel room, so you two had to improvise and use the lids of the Tupperware as plates. It was also a relief that his aunt included chopsticks in the bag.

He noticed how your eyes lit up as he explained the side dishes, particularly the potatoes. He picked one and placed it on your 'plate'. You hummed as you tasted the sweetness on your tongue.

"I love this. So much better than room service!"

He smiled before getting you some kimchi on your plate too. That's when your expression dropped, he noticed.

"It's kimchi. Don't worry, it's good."

"What does it taste like? And how should I eat it?" you asked, staring at the very red dish.

"It's spicy and sour. It can be sweet too. Depends on who made it. But my aunt always preferred it spicier." he explained before eating some. Yeah, it's spicy. "Do you eat spicy food?"

"I like spicy foods, but this one looks really spicy. It's very red."

He laughed, "It's good. Taste it! You can eat it alone, with rice, or meat. Like this."

Yoongi pulled his chair next to yours, simply to make you a lettuce wrap like in a local Korean barbecue place. He didn't sit too close, but sensing his familiar scent once again made your heart jump as you watched him make you a lettuce wrap.

"Here. Say 'ah'." Yoongi opened his mouth demonstrating.

You tried not to smile, your head messing with you again, as you followed his order. He helped you with the lettuce wrap. Immediately after chewing it, there's a burst of flavor in your mouth. The kimchi is spicy, sour, and maybe a little salty. But you liked it.

Yoongi smiled when he saw you nodding your head, "See? It's great, right? You should really listen to me more."

You glared at him before picking up your chopsticks to eat. Eating in comfortable silence, Yoongi quietly observed how you enjoyed the meal he brought, specifically the kimchi. He was pleased to see you munching on the dishes.

"Slow down on the kimchi." he teased you at one point, but you just scrunched your nose at him.

"I should have added matching couple-shirts in my merch during the concert. I would have earned millions here."

After having your late lunch, you and Yoongi found yourselves in the same nook you were sitting at earlier today. You two sat on each corner, looking down on the noisy and busy city moving below. It felt like the events after the afterparty were forgotten for the meantime as you two chatted about 50 First Dates, the movie you were crying about, and how he preferred The Wedding Singer more. There was a debate for a whole twenty minutes about it and you were sure Yoongi just let you win, so you can move to another topic.

"Yeah, on my way here earlier, every couple who will get on the bus wears the same thing. I looked like a sore thumb." he quipped, earning another laugh from you while you took another bite of kimchi.

The side dish was almost completely consumed by you alone, much to Yoongi's surprise.

"I told you to slow down on the kimchi." he teased you again.

"But it's good. Tell your aunt it's good, send her flowers for me," you suggested.

He scoffed, "Oh, my aunt would love hearing that and will probably send you five more Tupperware of this."

"Well, sign me up. I wouldn't mind having stock." you grinned before taking the last piece of radish.

He shook his head, laughing, "And you finished it all."

You carefully placed the empty Tupperware in front of you, raising both of your hands like you were a suspect caught, "Not guilty at all."

"She would really love you." he chuckled, leaning back on the wall of the nook.

"Well, that just means she has a very great taste." you quipped, looking outside.

Mirroring Yoongi, you rested your back on the wall while still looking outside. In contrast to your full and contented stomach, your heart feels light at someone's unexpected appearance in your hotel room. You were so ready to watch movies all day and maybe call for room service for food. A small smile forms on your lips.

Unbeknownst to you, Yoongi feels the same thing. Mainly, he was happy the food his aunt made did not go to waste and he got to eat it with someone, who obviously enjoyed it. He tried not to chuckle when he saw a spot of the red sauce near your lips. Before he could even stop himself, his thumb gently wiped it off your face.

You held your breath at the sudden touch with your eyes flickering to meet his. He was frozen on the spot, still in the leaned-in position. For a second, the city noise is drawn out. Until he pulled back and you noticed his cheeks have a very slight tint of red.

"Uhm... there was sauce." he mumbled.

"Hmm..." you awkwardly responded looking away.

Silence joined the room again and Yoongi felt like he had gone past the line already. He slapped his head mentally with what he did. The silence reminded him of a scenario that happened at the end of last year. As he feels it getting into him, he gets up.

"I-I should go. We have an early flight tomorrow."

You looked back at him and were always easy to read for him. But, he didn't want to assume that you wanted him to stay based on your eyes alone. But you did, you really did. Maybe for a companion for tonight? You cannot tell, but you enjoyed this casual conversation with him. You can just hope he did too.

"Okay," you replied, almost a whisper.

You watched him gather the Tupperware back into the paper bag, not moving an inch in the nook. You waited for him to look back at you before he leaves, but he was too focused on the fucking Tupperware. So, you just turned your head outside, letting out a sigh.

And just when Yoongi is about to turn the doorknob, he takes one last look at you. His shoulders depleted, seeing you alone while watching the city outside.

"YN?" he called your name and he was unsure if he saw a glimmer of something in your eyes when you turned around. "Good night."

You forced a smile on your lips, "Thank you, Yoongi. Good night."

note | a little preview for the tour's second leg too...

SERIES TAGLIST

kindly check out my taglist rules on my pinned post :)

@busanbby-jjk @jimingirl95 @treacherqus @jajabro @marnz1990 @ktownshizzle @notarshia @m00njinnie @thelilbutifulthings @tarahardcore @livisdoingfine @jungshaking @eridanus-lynx @enthralled-bandit @goodnight-n-go-home @ronyiboniyy @jimeg629 @lveegsoi @madussthoughts

PERMANENT TAGLIST (CLOSED)

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[cumplanecrash]

1300 words and two days worth of writing on the Shizun Babies AU, following immediately off of prev. It's a huge chunk of Shen Jiu POV, but splitting it would have been awkward because a cetain benefactor likes to yap Li Xiaolang and Li Meiling are expies of characters from Cardcaptor Sakura, because when I picture short people, Syaoran is still the first person to come to mind lol

Shen Jiu was so tired.

He had been tired in the way that sat in his bones as he woke and seeped into his muscles through to his skin as sat up in his bed for a long time before he'd made a foolish wish, and he'd been content to sleep ever since. He thought, sometimes, that he'd been born tired, and he'd certainly died tired. It was the core of his soul.

It was impossible to sleep through the familiarly strange, monotone voice coming from nowhere.

[Loading... Loading...] Shen Jiu's old benefactor kept saying, interrupting the sleep it had granted him in the first place, back when he'd been on the verge of death, being told he wasn't allowed to die, and offered an ["Exciting Compromise Opportunity"]. He wasn't exactly sure he was happy to hear those anti-musical tones again.

[New Quest Available!

"Like Stealing Candy".

Objectives:

1. Do not allow NPCs to learn about any previously gained advantages from this System despite speech compelling curse. Currently 12/12.

2. Do not allow Protagonist "Luo Binghe" to learn about any previously gained advantages from this System despite speech compelling curse. Currently 1/1.

3. Do not allow NPCs to learn origins of Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu". Currently 12/12.

4. Do not allow Protagonist "Luo Binghe" to learn origins of Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu". Currently 1/1.

5. Figure out how to return to your adult self. Currently 0/1.

+1. Enjoy Five (5) or more heartwarming Unique Childhood Scenes! Currently 0/5. (Can Exceed for Extra Rewards.)

Rewards:

-Return to adult self.

-Optional scenes.

-Point bonuses and penalties multiplied by 10 until next major story event, "Endless Abyss and Endless Hatred, Subtitle TBA".

Penalties for Failure:

-Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu" will be returned from whence he came.

-Host "Shen Jiu | Original Shen Qingqiu will receive a Reputation Point penalty of twice what Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu" has managed to increase."]

"Noisy." Honestly, Shen Jiu only smacked the literal answer to his prayers because his 'benefactor' was too incorporeal to take the hit. "Xiao Jiu is trying to sleep."

[Host must complete the quest to return to the previous state. This System apologizes that Host was caught in the quest triggered by another Host.]

Ugh. Everything fell onto his shoulders, as usual. There were no competents, even in wish granting god-spirit-things.

Shen Jiu opened his eyes, staring into his own face if he was a particularly pampered child. The boy -- Shen Yuan, based on his own self address and the voice in his head -- stared at him with wide, fearful eyes, the oversized guan balanced on his small head leaning precariously to one side as he took in the situation. Really, what had he ever done to Shen Yuan, other than sleep?

Well, the first thing he'd done to him was smack him, and it was entirely possible the spirit was only as old as he'd taken over Shen Qingqiu's life for.

"Xiao Jiu apologizes to Gege," he said, contrite, and really, whoever had laid this curse on them? Stay fucking dead. 'Xiao Jiu', he hadn't been called that since his damn balls dropped, except by Zhangmen-shixiong when he was trying to get Shen Jiu to stop pushing him away for his own safety. Not by the whores whose time he paid handsomely for, not by the cultivators and nobles trying to cozy up to a man with no small political power, not even by any of the men he'd had to call 'Master'. What the fuck. 'Xiao Jiu'. Sure he looks small, but he still remembers being an adult.

'Gege' had been an entirely conscious choice. Let the children defer to the Shizun who had actually seen them excel, where Shen Jiu's techniques for success were apparently irreplicable. Also, he was maybe getting better rewards for being heartwarming? And The Beast, currently present, was apparently important enough for his benefactor's plans to be worthy of singling out, so worth it to start now.

"Xiao Jiu doesn't need to apologize," said Shen Yuan, eyes widening almost immediately from the distressing softness he'd leveled at Shen Jiu. "Xiao Jiu surely had an unpleasant awaken-- A-Yuan would like to express how disconcerting it is to have his word choices twisted like this!!"

"That's the worst part!!" Shen Jiu agreed eagerly.

"Li-shijie, Li-shixiong," said a voice behind Shen Jiu, and oh, his Yingying had grown into every inch the calamitous beauty he'd known she would. If any of these dogs so much as breathed in her direction, he would bite their throats out. "If you brought spare robes, this shimei knows a shrinking spell that should get them close enough to get Shizun and Shizun into the carriage in the village."

Wait.

Shen Jiu hurried and pooled the fabric of their robes between their now separate bodies, blushing furiously.

"Can we not use the spell to shrink Shizun's own robes?" Asked Luo Binghe, with an acceptable level of professional courtesy. Spiteful boy, his attitude had just gotten worse and worse with each beating, but a few years of pampering had him acting almost well enough to have earned the privilege. Backwards assed teaching, but Shen Jiu couldn't deny the results when they stared him in the face.

Ning Yingying shook her head, and explained the thing Shen Jiu had needed to figure out the hard way during his own youth. "It pushes the fibers closer together, so it can only change things by perhaps a dozen cun at the absolute limit. Shizun's robes are, naturally, the longest available, and already have a high thread-count."

Cheap hemp robes could be shrunk that much, and made much softer as a result, but it had been decades since Shen Jiu had made use of that hack.

"Yingying-jiejie can surely find something even more appropriate back at the sect," Shen Jiu said, accepting the robes from Li Xiaolang. Shen Yuan could borrow from Li Meiling; he'd clearly been skirting the lines of feminity when he'd gotten dressed that day, and if he was a new spirit rudely bound to Shen Jiu's life already-in-progress, he deserved the chance to experiment.

Yingying smiled so kindly at him, Shen Jiu nearly burst into tears on the spot. The curse was partially to blame, for sure -- it was literally enforcing childlike mannerisms on them -- but also, it was just like her to smile at him even the rest of his disciples blatantly realized who he must be and grew suspicious. (Former disciples? Or was that only for when the disciple was kicked out, rather than the master abdicating?)

He couldn't even look at the clothes to distract himself, because Ning Yingying was gently taking them from his hands to work her spell.

"Make Shang-ge do it," said Shen Yuan flippantly. "It's not like he has anything better to do." Then Shen Yuan frowned. "A-Yuan did not mean to put respect on Shang-ge's name."

"Gege had better," Shen Jiu told him very seriously. "Or he'll replace all our inner robes with Fire-Spider silk again." It was so itchy and he'd had a performance that day, it was etched in Shen Jiu's memory forever.

"No," Shen Yuan said with appropriate shocked awe. "That's evil."

"Shang-ge can walk through walls," Shen Jiu told him seriously, accepting the re-sized robes back from Ning Yingying. "Xiao Jiu has seen it with his own eyes!"

"Nuh-uh," Shen Yuan said, handing over his own pile, before his eyes widened. "Oh, he totally can and I know how he does it."

"No way!" Shen Jiu exclaimed! "Xiao Jiu wants to know!"

"A-Yuan will tell Xiao Jiu when we're older," Shen Yuan denied, at the same time his old benefactor informed him [Trying to avert the major story event "Endless Abyss and Endless Hatred, Subtitle TBA" will result in a Punishment Protocol.]

Huh. Shang-shidi's mysterious means of youthful revenge apparently had something to do with the Endless Abyss? Worthy of investigation, but not in front of an audience.

Next

[askagamedev]

A follow up to your answer about veilguard (was really hoping you would touch on that one). Why do game companies that have a “bad” release always seem to start from the bottom of the pyramid when it comes to restructuring and recouping losses? Why fire low level devs who did their best with what they had, when the companies have people in senior positions making hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) that they could just cut from? Why do the trenches always get the punishment first?

The short answer is because shit rolls downhill. For a longer and more nuanced answer, there's multiple factors to consider.

The main issue is that the company is trying to cut costs immediately. This is usually for two major reasons:

Reassure investors to keep them from dumping the stock and driving down the company's value

Save as much money as they can from their current stockpile for other projects still in development.

If the company goes under because it can't make payroll company-wide, everybody is doomed regardless. A gecko will sacrifice its tail in order to escape with its life. A crab will tear its own claw off to survive. A company will always cut staff to keep itself afloat.

The next factor is that each major experience level up a dev attains tends to be a geometric difference in productivity. [A large task that would take a junior dev two months to complete might take a mid-level dev one month and a senior dev only a week or two]. This is why senior devs are entrusted with the bigger and more critical tasks. Further, the typical quality of work that a senior dev produces is much higher than what you'd get from a mid-level or a junior. I'm a senior dev and I cost the team a large amount of money to keep, but paying for just me is still significantly cheaper than paying a pair of mid-level designers or three/four juniors.

The next factor is that most big layoffs come after a project has shipped. This is because a given project is at its maximum headcount right before it ships - you need all hands on deck during full production, building and validating all of the content in the game. There needs to be other projects in development to pay for those people after the game launches. If the game launches well, a significant portion of the team can stay on to do post-launch content and the others can join in-progress projects at the studio or at other studios owned by the publisher. In the case of a bad launch the post-launch content gets cancelled because there just aren't enough players to make building the post-launch content financially viable and the people who were supposed to build it have no new project to pay for their salaries.

There's also the factor of how projects have different needs at different times. You always need a core team to get a project off the ground - engineering who can put together the foundations of the game, design that can prototype and build core gameplay, art that can establish a new visual standard for a new game. But you likely don't need an army of designers to build content for a game that doesn't have any core gameplay yet, gameplay engineers to flesh out systems that haven't been designed yet, artists to model and skin characters that haven't been concepted yet, or QA to test content that hasn't been built yet. You need those folks when you're in production and all of the groundwork has been laid.

These are the nominal reasons why job cuts always start from the bottom - the juniors and mid-levels have the least to do when a game gets cancelled or a bad launch happens and the cost to keep them all adds up significantly. The fact that it also shields decisionmakers and middle managers is, of course, also in there. This is also why I never offer or expect loyalty to or from an employer, especially a large publicly-traded one. They will never sacrifice their own survival (or even advantage) to keep me, so I should never expect more than a business relationship from them that could end at any time.

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[advent-if]

DEMO TBA 🌑 CHARACTER INTROS (5/5)

A fine line separates civilians from saviours, saints from sinners; it was never a line you expected to cross, but one you did anyway. Now, the fate of Advent City’s clueless citizens or cunning criminals rests in your hands… best not to let it slip from your fingers, mm?

Thirteen years ago, your life changed. Thirteen years ago, you swore requital. Now, the opportunity has arisen for you to either defend the city from the dark or rid it from the rot spreading throughout its core. 

Now, it’s your turn.

Play as Advent City’s saviour, a daring vigilante here to protect those you love or ruin those you hate — the choice is up to you. Learn to inspire fear, earn respect, fall in love, or even become the greatest superhero this city has ever known.

ADVENT is rated 18+ for explicit language, violence, explicit sexual content, substance abuse, and more. It deals with heavy themes; discretion is advised.

Customise your character’s appearance, personality and intentions: are you a hero spurred by the desire to protect, or an anti-hero propelled by the promise of retribution? Does your alter-ego vastly differ from your day-to-day life, or is it an extension of your nature? Are you ruthless or compassionate, ingenious or Machiavellian, courageous or psychopathic?

Choose your origin story: were you a rich orphan à la Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, a Regular Joe turned hero on being given powers by a mysterious force, or born with them for reasons you’re desperate to find?

Fight villains who threaten the safety of the city and its inhabitants, and maybe even a supervillain who happens to be your foil…

Romance 1 of 5 characters, each of whom come with their own hefty baggage, and have interesting(?) reactions to yours…

Manage your new life and all its nuances. Who said being a saviour was easy? Try to separate your old life from this new one by keeping your identity a secret, maintaining old relationships, forging new ones, keeping your loved ones safe, etc. etc… damn.

the Head of Police: Luis/Luz Aguilera (m/f): Stern, sexy, moody. Relentlessly hardworking and caring to the point of no return. They want to be the one to clean Advent City’s fucked up system, not for glory, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. Unfortunately for them, that also means putting up with your whole shebang… maybe try to keep the arguing to a minimum?

the Journalist: Vincent “Vinny” Jacobs (m): Cheeky, suave, opportunistic. Inordinately ambitious and impressively dedicated to their cause. He’d never miss an opportunity to investigate something deeper if it intrigued him enough. Unfortunately for you, he’s now focused solely on the up and coming vigilante stalking the streets. Uh oh.

the Childhood Friend: Arya Anand (m/f): Sweet, thoughtful, kind. Patient to a fault and excessively trusting. You guys knew each other really well, once upon a time. But now that they're back, years later, you’re not quite convinced by the “I’m okay”s and forced smiles they seem to be hiding under. Surely it has nothing to do with you, right?

the Other One: Nian (f): Unpredictable, flirty, mysterious. Fast to arrive and quick to disappear. She’s someone you meet often in your… line of work… and curiously, she’s always ready to help you. Behind her mask and catsuit is someone you suspect is dangerously similar to you. As long as you two have the same goal, it shouldn’t be a problem…

the Heir: Josephine/Joseph Bieri (f/m): Arrogant, cunning, brash. Annoyingly haughty and odiously elusive. They were an asshole when you first met five years ago, and seem to be an even bigger one now… worse, they’re in the way between you and taking down their Mafia kingpin dad. Although, getting close could give you an advantage - just try not to punch them.

reblogs are appreciated! thank you so much for your interest <3

[lexirosewrites]

Part 2 of my Eddie's birthday is April 20th 1965 AU

It was the busiest, noisiest, & best birthday breakfast Eddie had had since he'd turned 18. The pancakes 🥞 had a plethora of topping options: real maple syrup Nancy had brought from Vermont, whipped cream Argyle bragged abt making himself, strawberry syrup homemade w chunks of strawberries still in it, rainbow sprinkles, and Steve had apparently insisted on Irish butter for their pancakes

The omega had even remembered what type of pancake each person at the table liked: B!Jonathan & A!Nancy each got a plate of blueberry pancakes, B!Robin did a little happy dance in her chair at her own plate of a concerning number of chocolate chip pancakes, A!Argyle chirped in contentment at the banana pancakes he was handed, & last was a plate of a stack of plain buttermilk pancakes with a birthday candle in it. Eddie laughed bc now he knew Wayne had definitely had a hand in this bc only Wayne knew abt the pancake breakfast birthday candle. They all sing to him then he's wishing for something he thinks might not b impossible as he looks at the happy light in Steve's eyes & then they're all digging in.

Halfway thru breakfast Argyle gives Eddie the first of 22 joints, holy shit apparently their road trip from Cali had involved whoever was in the passenger seat rolling at least 2 joints btwn stops. What Eddie had seen Nancy & Argyle rolling were the final ones needed.

"As the birthday boy it's smoke circle rules u get the first hit of everything smoked today!" Argyle proclaimed & the rest of the gathering echoed the sentiment w a dorky chorus of "here, here!"

After the first joint was smoked down to the roach, and the dishes were done through group effort they all moved to the living room where Jonathan proceeded to take full advantage of the modest but smooth sound system Dustin had BUILT for him. Jon put on some vinyl of acid rock then he set the volume to low & it provided a pleasant background noise to the myriad of nonsensical conversations happening all around the room.

Eddie happily melted into the comfortable couch Wayne had bought when they'd moved in. Steve was next to him & he smelled divine, baked apples with honey.

So the morning passed with music on low, windows open to let out the smoke, & a joint periodically smoked. A movie was eventually put into the VCR (bought w Wayne's own hard earned hush money, the old man had deduced enough to necessitate an NDA & he was a damn good haggler)

At one point Eddie ended up w his head on Steve's shoulder while the omega drew doodles in a sketchbook. Visual art was something Steve got back into after moving out of the empty & cold Harrington abode, apparently he'd enjoyed it a lot as a kid but his parents expectations left no room for him to do anything more than doodle once he got into high school. The omega was drawing Robin laughing.

At lunchtime Argyle made three different pizzas from dough he'd apparently taught Steve to make so it'd b ready for their arrival, he'd brought the sauce directly from the Surfer Boy Pizza he worked at in San Francisco, & the cheese had been supplied by Steve too. A meat lovers pizza, a veggie lovers pizza, and a pineapple monstrosity neither Eddie nor Steve could stand beyond a single bite of.

Eddie got to spend the entire day smoking which was nice, sure. His pain was well managed tht entire day. But the best thing abt his 22nd birthday was getting to spend the entire day w their crew of young adults. Jonathan had documented the entire day & promised to give Eddie first dibs any pictures he wanted.

As they all ate Chinese takeout for dinner & Eddie was too high to filter out his wish for them all to stay over for the night.

He was then even more in love bc Steve had already arranged for tht to happen. The couch bed was promptly pulled out, Nancy had brought 2 air mattresses, & they quickly got everything perfectly set up. If tht set up involved Eddie asking Steve to make a temporary nest for the couch bed, well, who could say no to the birthday boy?

Then his final surprise: a movie marathon of everyone's favorite feel good movies.

Soon enough everyone was situated in comfortable places with multiple large bowls of popcorn throughout the room.

Eddie had no filter & once again could not stop himself from asking Steve to cuddle w him. The blush he got to see was worth the initial mortification. He wanted to purr when the omega's blush deepened after Eddie complimented the temporary nest he was lounging within.

Hours later somehow it was just him & Steve awake watching David Bowie sing abt dancing magic. Eddie hadn't looked at the TV for awhile when he decided to make his birthday wish come true

"Stevie would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?"

The omega turned his honey color eyes to the alpha and the slow smile tht bloomed onto Steve's face was as enchanting as a rose

"Took you long enough to ask alpha."

Eddie's 22nd birthday ended with him kissing the most beautiful, thoughtful, & kind omega in the whole world🥰

wow my 4/20 feels so lame compared to this😩

[sparrow-in-boots]

Some people aren't getting the full context of my point, so I'll explain. Curly was always doomed to fail as a captain, because he is captain at the Pony Express.

there comes a time in every manager's career (probably in a visibly shitty company but not always!) where you look around you and see all the bullshit happening and all the cutting corners and all the dangerous practices, and you realize you have two options. You either hold the fort, put your ethics and morals aside, and stay at the job because you're one of the good ones. You see all the bad shit happening but you think you can be the one to maybe ease it for your underlings without crossing the higher ups.

Or, you realize that if your sense of empathy is too big and you put your foot down. You get written up, maybe a frown and a warning to mind your place, and you do it until finally, you get fired. Maybe you quit in a seemingly hollow display.

Most likely you choose the first option, because you reason that, if they fire you, they will just find someone who Will do what they say. Hell, maybe even someone who is less competent and enjoys the power trip and uses it to their advantage (cough Jimmy cough). Eventually, the higher ups will find their yes-man, so you become their maybe-man.

But here is the thing. There are, in fact, more than two paths. There are many venues of malicious compliance or willful ignorance and even collective action to better your environment. You just can't see it because the system traps you into a dichotomy of employment or death. THAT'S the trap of capitalism.

And Curly fell right on it, just like everyone else on the Tulpar. Curly is a negligent enabling leader, just as Anya is too desperate for the job, just as Daisuke is pressured into a job he doesn't want out of guilt for not being employed and aimless, just as Swansea is too stuck in his ways and just making it a day at a time because he's not content with his lot. Everyone there is the perfect victim of the system and its monsters, in the perfect roles to create this tragedy.

That's the POINT.

[tetsuswaifu]

Slap Ass Friday (Haikyu! x Reader) - Pt. 1

a/n: i dont know if slap ass friday was a thing outside of the u.s. schooling system or the area i live in or not but basically a lot of people in the middle school would just participate in slapping their friends asses. or boys would do it to try and get girls attention (gross to think back about this and think its normal) but in these scenarios, these are actual couples and consent is involved except for suna’s. I thought i would make them into a highschool age type

word count: ~1k

likes, reblogs, replies, and requests are always appreciated, thank you for taking the time to read my work :)

warnings: suggestive content, spanking, kissing, sexual harassment-minimal in suna’s

Part 1, Part 2

・❥・ Bokuto Koutaro ・❥・

“KOUU!! This is the third time today! I’m pretty sure I feel welts starting to form,” you yelled and turned towards him, looking at him with playful, sad eyes. You jutted your bottom lip out in a slight pout. Your ass was stinging from the intense mark your boyfriend, Bokuto, had just left. He grabbed your hands and pulled them around his waist, just before doing the same to yours. Bokuto had rested his hands at the top curve of your butt, his thumbs giving you light traces right above your skirt’s waistline. His arms held you close, and the sandalwood and citrus aroma of his cologne smelled divine. His golden eyes held your gaze with nothing but pure love—one of the many traits about him that you gravitated toward and loved instantly.

He leaned into your ear with a smirk on his face. "Oh, please, we both know you like it, baby. Don’t even bother denying it.” He gave a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching before slipping his hand under your skirt. Quickly giving you a wet neck kiss while gently grabbing the cheek he just slapped. “I love you, Bunny-chan,” he said, kissing your cheek. You slapped his ass back before he could walk to his next class, smirking at his faux-shocked face.

・❥・ Kozume Kenma ・❥・

Kenma, you, and Kuroo stood in the corner of the gym, teammates scattered across the floor. Practice had just ended, and you were all getting ready to leave. Kenma's eyes fixed on his switch. The sound of playful slaps and laughter filled the air as his teammates participated in the weekly tradition. Normally, he would not include himself, but since dating you, he’d been thinking it’d be funny to surprise you by doing so.

You were engrossed in conversation with Kuroo, not minding the loudness around you—you were used to it by now. Kenma glanced up briefly, noticing the playful atmosphere around him. Without tearing his eyes from his game, he smirked slightly and decided to join in on the fun.

In one swift motion, he reached out and gave you a playful slap on the ass. The sound could be heard from the other side of the gym. It made you jump and turn to him, eyes wide with surprise.

“Kenma! You could’ve politely asked for my attention instead,” you said, smirking at him.

Kenma’s focus was already back on his game, shrugging, “I’m participating in the weekly tradition.” A smirk formed on his face, matching your energy.

You laughed in response, shaking your head, clearly amused. “Warn me next time, will you?” you teased back.

Kenma diverted his attention from his game, locking eyes with you, his golden brown gaze unwavering. “Where’s the fun in that?”

You and Kuroo had laughed, not expecting this mischievousness from Kenma. Even with his quiet, reserved way, he could still be a part of the fun—and maybe even surprise you once in a while.

・❥・ Kuroo Tetsuro ・❥・

You and Kuroo had always had a playful relationship with each other, often teasing each other in fun, light-hearted ways. Knowing what today was, you were going to take full advantage of the tradition. Today’s mission was to catch Kuroo off guard as many times as you could.

Throughout the day, you managed to sneakily slap Kuroo’s ass in various scenarios—between classes, during lunch, even during practice. Every time, he would react with a mix of surprise and amusement. When you ended up doing it in front of his teammates, they would all chuckle at the playful exchange between their captain and you.

Kuroo, being the mischievous strategist he is, pretends to be unfazed, plotting his perfect moment for revenge. As the day progressed, you had gotten a few more slaps in, leaving Kuroo with a smirk on his face as he bided his time.

It was the end of the school day, and Kuroo and you were both packing up your things and preparing to head home for the weekend. Kuroo had walked you home like normal, laughing and chatting as always. You had felt successful and triumphant from your considered “wins” of the day. When you both reached your home, you turned to say goodbye, thinking you had gotten away with it.

In that moment, Kuroo had slapped your butt swiftly, catching you completely off guard. You gasped and then laughed, “Oh my god, Tetsu!” now realizing you underestimated his timing. He grinned at you, leaning in to whisper, “Turnabout’s a fair play, babe.” Kissing your cheek and starting the walk back to his own home.

・❥・ Suna Rintarou ・❥・

You and Suna had been dating for a while now, but one of your classmates, Kenji, made it seem like he was oblivious to the fact. He wouldn’t take the hint, and it was right in front of his face. Even after telling him that you were with him, he was still persistent with his flirting and inappropriate advances.

During a break in between classes, you had been chatting with a group of friends. Kenji had seen you talking to them, thinking it would be the perfect moment to try his luck again and smack your rear. You were visibly uncomfortable and annoyed. Unbeknownst to Kenji, Suna and his teammates had observed the incident.

Suna, known for his calm demeanor but sharp tongue when provoked, had stepped in. He calmly walks over with his teammates behind him, walking tall and intimidating. With a piercing gaze, Suna firmly tells Kenji to back off and to respect your boundaries. Kenji was taken aback by your boyfriend’s assertiveness. He tried stuttering off excuses before Suna’s teammates reinforced his warning with their presence.

Kenji closed his mouth, realizing he crossed a line he shouldn’t have. His face was turning red from embarrassment and humiliation. “I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said, walking away quickly with his head down. You were grateful for Suna’s intervention, you thanked him with a relieved smile. Suna reassured you that he would always have your back, no matter what.

tetsuswaifu © do not modify, repost, translate, copy or use my post in any way. all that is included in this post, aside from the fictional characters and universes, belong to @tetsuswaifu

[dungeonmalcontent]

So, I'm looking to migrate from 5e to Daggerheart. I'm not gonna rant about which is better if either, but I know I'm disaffected by the OGL screw up and the implementation of 5e'24. I'm ready to move on from 5e, even though I have a lot of homebrew ideas for it burning through my skull.

I like DH so far, it feels like a fun and interesting system and it's got the social momentum that I can actually rope a group in on a game.

This next part is sort of a rant though.

However, I will say that DH does not have the tools available for virtual play. In order to run Daggerheart seamlessly on a VTT (any vtt) you tend to want three things: 1) virtual character sheet, 2) virtual minis, and 3) virtual dice rolling. And these resources are just not available.

For the character sheets, you can do pdfs, and that works fine... if you can manage to figure out how to make a modifiable character sheet pdf that saves information between uses. You might also know about Demiplane Nexus, which has a sort of DNDBeyond thing going, they make character sheets and have player integration for a lot of TTRPGs. Except their website (and it is just the web app, no mobile compatibility so far as I can find), insofar as the DH character creator and other utilities, is very badly laid out. They don't have good economy of space and the page just feels bad to look at. But, hey, at least you can make a character... right? Kind of. If you aren't paying for anything extra, they don't provide support for about half of the character classes. You can't even select them. Same for the sub-classes too. And it's not a matter of whether they're in the SRD or not. They're arbitrarily restricting content. But, hey, if you actually buy the book through them you get access to all the content, that way if you wanted to run a group with the game, you could share the content and you could all use the Demiplane. Except no. You also have to pay a subscription fee to share the content you've purchased.

So what about virtual minis? Are there any VTTs that support Daggerheart? There are a few that claim you can use them for DH, but I can't verify all of them. FoundryVTT says it can, and seems to be quite popular, but it isn't free and I can't find a way to just test it in the demo they provide. Then there's roll20, which I've used a lot for games, but their only support for Daggerheart is done through Demiplane. You can still do minis generally on roll20, because you can do minis generally with pretty much any VTT, but roll20 is at a serious disadvantage by only having support through Demiplane (and I'll give more reasons later). And there are others, but they only offer basic token manipulation and no systems.

And then there's dice rolling. And I'm just going to drop the formalities and pretense here. There's absolutely no virtual dice roller that handles duality. Except, technically, Demiplane does handle dice. Kind of. Demiplane rolls dice the same way that Roll20 rolls dice (there's probably more than just export integration going on there, they're partnered to some degree probably). But it's probably the closest you can get to a system that actually rolls duality. The readouts for these virtual dice rolls on both Demiplane and Roll20 (because the integration results in the same product) look like this:

And, now, maybe you can tell me what's wrong with this readouts. If not, I will preface this by saying that what we are seeing is progress. You can see that it rolled 2d12, labeled them correctly as hope and fear, and shows the bonus applied to the roll. And if you can't figure out the problem, I'll show you another readout, this time with advantage.

If you still haven't figured it out, its the total. Using the duality system, you roll 2d12, one of which is the fear dice and one of which is the hope dice. You use the higher of the two, granting you a hope point if the hope dice is used, or granting the GM a fear point is the fear dice is used. If you have advantage, you roll a d6 and add the result to your roll, or you reduce your roll by 1d6 if you have disadvantage. And then you add the modifier for the action you are taking (+2 in the case of this attack roll). But what the readout is doing is essentially /roll 2d12+1d6+2 (as you might do on Roll20) and then adding extra graphical elements. And this isn't the worst thing in the world, but it can and will likely confuse a lot of people that aren't paying close attention. And apart from this, there are other badly implemented elements. The reroll option literally just returns the same result you just got. So if you think that, for whatever reason, a roll needs to be done again because the result doesn't fit, you're out of luck because you'll just get the same result. The dice roller also lets you add more than one disadvantage or advantage, it also lets you roll with both advantage and disadvantage (all things which the rules specify aren't possible). So, it's a start, but it's also real dumb.

So what's my takeaway here? Use paper sheets and physical dice, even if you're going to use a VTT for character tokens and such. It'll work. But it isn't ideal. There aren't any digital resources built for Daggerheart. And it could really use them.

[yanaleese]

◈ Love Me, Kidnap Me, and Love Me More ◈

Yandere! OC Karma x Calculative! Gender Neutral! MC

VER EN ESPAÑOL. MUY PRONTO

Synopsis: You put blood, sweat, and tears into your work. Little did you know, your secret admirer, Marka does it too.

Content warning: Yandere and literally anything that goes with it, violence, hypnosis (not on reader), drugs (implication), and yes there will be a Part 2

PLEASE SUPPORT PALESTINE WITH MONEY, OR WITH A CLICK

Scores, talents, personas.

THESE are the factors that classify the education system. Although not immaculate, it serves its purpose - to send vulnerable people into the workforce, and devour them whole. Their livelihoods, their time, and the minuscule bits of energy left inside of them.

But there are some who are born with advantages, and some who have to work their ass off for it.

I, unfortunately, have the latter. Things don’t come easy, instant, or perfect. I am actually quite idle, I enjoy the freedom of gaining knowledge and insight. Uniquely, tried and tested knowledge that is critical for survival.

And that, is how I manage my late nights. By listening to “Advice to Survive” with its host, McGregory Callahan.

Back in the 60s, he was a CWO-4 Navy Seal officer, a rank given to an exclusive few. And now that he’s retired, he humbly shares his advice to the community, and showcases guests every now and then to keep the show alive. But majority prefers to listen to his voice, which I strongly agree with.

“And so, ladies and gents…” His voice was smooth and husky. “It’s time to sign off, folks. Stay safe, and always remember…” I chuckled, saying his closing lines with him.

“Live, not die, and try to survive. Thanks everyone.”

As the radio chipped off, the sun poured its rays into my window, as if the heat wasn’t enough. I groaned, my eyes leading me to my collection of “wake-up” capsules. Tempted, and deceived, I slithered my way over to it, dropping another 2 or 3 in my mouth.

I grumbled. Regret seeped into my veins, my body woozy and tense. Once again, I stayed up.

And of course, it happened to be a Monday morning; where I had a morning class. “Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” I began stuffing my bag with my utensils, paperwork, snacks. I could never get used to this shit. “I hope nobody pisses me off for the rest of the day.”

◈

“The bell. Ugh, the damn bell. Never have I wanted to smash that thing into pieces.” You could barely make out the crowd, more or less. Not even your best friend’s face.

“Wait. You had a rough night…again?” Heidi glared, her eyes were practically glowing with concern.

“Maaaaaaybe.” You slurred, taking baby steps to your seat. “Good thing my seat mate is a quiet kid.”

Speak of the devil, Marka entered the room, his footfalls silent as he strolled to your direction. His timing was impeccable.

“Good morning, Marka.” You mumbled, your eyes not meeting his. Besides, there were no eyes thanks to his bangs.

“Heh…” In response, Marka gave an exciting grin, happily waving a good morning back to you. How he could be energized on a Monday morning, was a complete mystery to you.

Actually, a lot of him is shrouded in mystery. Or rather, in suspicion.

Other than the weird name, Marka was supposedly from the countryside of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. His parents were also from Honduras, and he worked as a pizza delivery driver, and stayed at a friend’s apartment for shelter, with the purpose of redoing college thrice to get a degree. While some of this is true, some of it didn’t add up.

For example, his idioms. Sometimes he would say “Puchica” , “Chero”, “Chivo” - and when I looked them all up, the common denominator was El Salvador. He said his parents came from Honduras, so how can this be true?

“[Y/N].”

Then him, being the pizza delivery driver. You don’t often order pizza, but you’ve never thought that pizza could smell so shitty. You could remember him rushing to one of your afternoon classes, and instead of smelling like oil and grease, he smelt like weed. What the fuck???

“Hello? [Y/N]?”

Plus, the fact that he is redoing the course a third time. And yet, every single exam he is perfectly scoring an average mark. He also ends before everyone else, as if he has all the time in the world.

That’s not normal.

Though you’ve never confronted Marka about this, you preferred to remain silent. Times are harsh, and you weren’t willing to stretch out a hand when you could barely help yourself.

But there is NO way that you’re befriending someone as suspicious as him.

“[Y/N]!!!” Heidi whisper-shouted, breaking you out of your thoughts.

“[Y/N], please answer-“ Mr. Dimmy paused, clearing his throat. “Actually. On second thought, please see me after class. Thank you.”

You bit my lip, letting it bleed. Fuck. You spaced out again.

“Sir I-“

“No buts, no coconuts.”

While cursing yourself internally, you decided to take out your vent book out of your bag, only to be stopped by Mr. Dimmy once more.

“[Y/N]. Can you please answer the question on the board for me, please?”

Shit, you just opened your bag.

“Give me a moment-“

“[Y/N].”

Clenching your fists, you gave a plastic smile. It was understandable where he was coming from, since he didn’t want his star pupil to daydream for the second time.

“My bad, Sir. Hopefully I’ll get this right.”

As you were busy solving the equation, Marka decided to do you a favor and close up your bag. So by the time you came back, Marka grinned, hoping for a thanks to come out of it. But you decided to ignore the kind gesture, continuing to pay attention to the board. You had enough attention for one day.

◈

If there was one thing you loved, it was clocks. It was nice to know how the time passed, whether it was rapid or abnormally slow. And of course, it was slow.

“[Y/N], this has happened on multiple occasions.” Mr. Dimmy rubbed his temples, exhausted from having the same conversation with you. “We, as staff, made it clear that you can take days off.”

“I’m very sorry Sir, but I can’t do that-“

“[Y/N], enough with the excuses. You are not enough getting enough sleep, and it’s affecting your concentration.”

Scores, talents, personas: nothing on this conversation applied to that. Kindness was a pain in the ass.

“And so, I’m going to ask the dean to personally give you a suspension. A whole week suspension.”

You had to hold your tongue. Why do you have to do triple the work???

“Sir. I’m behind on what I need to cover. I’m begging you, please just let it slide.”

“But [Y/N], you are three weeks ahead. Taking a week off is enough right now. Trust me.”

You glanced at the clock. It was 9:47, the minute hand approximately reaching the next minute.

“If I see you Tuesday afternoon, I will personally escort you outside. That is all.”

Rubbing your eyes, you ran to the top of the stairs, before making yourself out. You couldn’t believe what just happened.

“[Y]-[Y/N]…” It was Heidi.

“Heidi. I’m done for the day, so I’m going home. Text me later if you’re curious.” Your demands were quick and stern.

Poor Heidi snuggled her books, her expression shaping into pity and guilt. If only you could just take a break.

◈

“Giggles, after giggles. These fucking cuches don’t know when to quit it, don’t they?”

“Markaaaa…” She snorted, sounding exactly just like he called her: a pig. “Teach me a little Spanish, no?~ ❤️”

Marka shook his head, his face clearly showing discomfort.

“Come on, we wanna hear it! Maybe we can fuck it up, you know?”

Damn that Rico bastard. He never knew how to read a room.

“I said no.” Marka ran his fingers through his bangs, revealing the swirling darkness within his eyes. “Now learn to be good little shits, I’m in a bad mood.”

Immediately, the entire group stood completely still. Before seconds later, horrifying shrieks escaped people’s lips. Some froze in horror, sweating profusely. Others just ran away from Marka, while some fought with him. Luckily, thanks to his physique he could handle his attackers pretty clearly.

“Ha…shame…” He continued to hit Rico with every punch, starting to see blood oozing out of him. Marka couldn’t help but grin in sadistic glee. “This hypnosis is always pure luck for me.”

Grabbing the leg of one of his classmates. Marka twisted, fractured, and even jumped on her leg, which was perfectly in sync with his words.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.” Marka cursed out loud, growling in frustration. Every time he thought about you, the feeling wouldn’t go away. “I just wanted to do a good deed. Why. Won’t. They. Love. Me.”

Hearing the classmate’s sharp cry, Marka kicked the person away from him, heading to your locker. It was encased in a shitload of locks, all of them personally made by yourself. You knew how to be efficient and useful.

Too bad Marka knew lockpicking a bit too well. “It’s been a while since my last rejection…so let’s see what’s here now-“

With a clink, he guided his fingers to first few letters he made….only to find them….

Crushed.

“….”

He should’ve been used to this by now. The dust, the grime, the dead spiders. After finally getting a fresh new locker, it was understandable that you cleaned up the space.

But you didn’t. You decided to make your old locker your new dumpster bag instead - including his love letters.'

His scarred thumb clutched the pink envelope, or the crushed up ball that it was. He could remember the time he had to go off on business, missing college for an entire week. He had to stay low due to a shot out, which resulted him gaining a major injury in the shoulder and his left hand. He didn’t mind the injuries due to past experiences, but he was…depressed. Marka couldn’t see anyone, neither be online lest he got found out. It was a decision that both he and José made for his safety.

And so, to satiate his loneliness, he wrote to you. Even though his left hand was twitching in pain, he wrote. Even though his brain was telling him to stop because of the pain; he wrote. He wrote because he knew that you gave him the happiness, the hope that he needed for this world. Yes, you were flawed…but with each other, the two of you could heal one another’s scars. Right?

“….Ha….”

His hands shook in silent rage as dark droplets dropped on to the paper. I’m sure you didn’t know any better, it was simply a misunderstanding. Yes, yes - it was miscommunication.

It was understandable, since he didn’t make it clear. He didn’t flirt with you since it wasn’t your thing. I guess the letters weren’t either.

Maybe he’d have to try something…a bit more drastic.

“I need to know…do they love me…? Do they not? Maybe….”

Clutching the paper in his chest, he started chuckling to himself. No, grinning madly as he stared at the locker in front of him, his face contorted into something twisted and grotesque.

“Maybe it’s time I should pay your house a visit, hmm? ❤️~.”

NOTES:

Cuche = Means pig in Salvadorian slang. ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀɴʏ qᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴs ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ, ᴊᴏsᴇ́ ᴏʀ ʜᴇɪᴅɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ғʀᴇᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ᴍʏ ɪɴʙᴏx.

[klapollo]

some basic tips for getting a job in this horrible market

hi all -- long story short, as many of you know, i just finished a three+ month job search after being laid off. here's what i learned:

Your resume should be your accomplishments, not your tasks. When I started searching, my bullet points in my resume were things like "used x software" or "wrote x content." Your resume should be you bragging. EX: "I used x software to turn around 100 deliverables a month," "I managed [x amount] sales associates and was named highest commission earner x months in a row." These don't have to be lifechanging things or massive projects -- any metric that demonstrates your capabilities well can do the job.

Make sure your resume is ATS optimized. Most jobs/companies use automated resume processing, and lots of great people get rejected this way. If you're getting rejection emails on Sunday morning or in the middle of the night, these are probably auto-rejections. ATS is the automatic system that sifts through resumes -- you can find free ATS-optimized templates online, I got min through resume.com. Do NOT use fancy graphics, headshots, any extraneous info. Use sites like jobscan to see if your resume is able to be parsed by an auto resume processor.

Use numbers. Make sure your resume has lots of numbers indicating your skills. "I helped my franchise achieve X% of revenue growth," "I drove x amount of deliveries daily." Any impressive numerical amounts are useful. If your company is tight-lipped about numbers, go to press releases. Ex: an app I did a considerable about of work for generated a lot of money that my company disclosed, so I put down that i contributed to that revenue via my work.

Have a template cover letter. Cover letters can give you an advantage, but they're tedious. Take note of what qualities are most sought-after in your field/ideal role, and write a generic cover letter that applies to most of them. When applying, do minor tweaks such as including the company name or any unique qualifications. Be careful about typos and leaving in old tweaks!

Use the free month of LinkedIn Premium if you're on there. I got some results from cold DMing recruiters for jobs I was interested in, and Premium lets you do that freely. Remember to cancel at the end of the month!

If you're looking for remote work, here are some boards I used: Remote.co, Otta, Remote Rocketship, Swooped, Best Writing (writing-focused)

[rei-ismyname]

Hey hey hey!

So I saw this post: https://www.tumblr.com/isntverynice/778177063642415104?source=share

And I'm having brainworms. Sabertooth, right. Sometime last year, I finally got around to reading the AXIS event, and that's when I met AXIS Sabertooth. When I tell you I started hyperfixating over him, I'm not kidding. In his wikipedia page (yes he has a wikipedia page, I did not know that) apparently Psychologist Suzana E. Flores called him the incarnation of antisocial personality disorder. Which is like wow. Back in the, 90's? 80's? He had Birdy, a telepath help him manage his animal side and then she died. And then, he got WORSE.

Here's the thing right. I liked his AXIS version. It gave him some character imo. Other than the "I hate wolverine and everyone so I will just be the definition of a villain and selfishly do things which benefit me. Slash, slash, grr grr" thing that he always does. Hell, it gave him an almost heroine too (albeit Monet and him would have been a toxic pairing according to the writer, Cullen Bunn, would have been "torturous love")

I also liked the run he had in Weapon X-Men and the Hunt for Wolverine series. Neat.

The Krakoa arc? Good grief. They really unpacked a gold mine of therapy when keeping him in the pit. Douglas and Krakoa really gave him singlehandedly the best version of "Listen, you can change, why can't you change, please try" bit I've ever seen anyone give a marvel villain in the X-Men. And he said "nah fuck that imma do my own thing" and seemingly created hell?? 😭😭?? When he finally came to take revenge on Krakoa/Wolverine, I was like ??? Really?? Now is when you're pulling this card? To the writers. Why throw more stuff at this? We get it, Krakoa is falling to pieces but SERIOUSLY? The dismemberment of Daken is something that's going to stay with me as a genuine wtf moment.

It's just. I liked what he was in the Age of Apocalypse reality. He helped a child, and was a GOOD guy. He was his own person (somewhat) out of Wolverine. They're so perfectly a Ying and Yang that I want to rant to someone about it. (Will probably do so later if you're okay with it)

And his past as a kid? HOLY HELL. That explains a lot, but like, OOF. you know?

Sorry for rambling a lot if this is offensive to you. But if you didn't mind, give me your thoughts PLEASE.

Hey there! Thanks for sending this one in and apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I've had a lot going on but also it's a lot to think about. It's definitely not offensive to me, in fact I love asks like this :). Keep them coming! So, Sabertooth...

I share all of your thoughts on how fascinating Victor Creed is. I'm generally skeptical of pathologising comic book characters, just because there's so much content that it's unlikely anyone has read it all. That's just the comics too, no idea what he's like in other media.

He's often functioned as a dark mirror to Logan but their behaviour and history aren't that different in a lot of ways, especially if you zoom out and look at their entire history. Both have mutations that inform violent/antisocial behaviour, both have awfully traumatic childhoods, they've both been weaponised by governments etc and thrown away when they were too much trouble/no longer useful.

They both kill a lot of people and have dubious support systems. Logan has been given a lot of grace, faith, and love with the goal of rehabilitation, and I don't think Victor really has. Sure, he spent a bunch of time locked up in the mansion's basement as a project for Xavier. It's understandable given his actions, but treating someone like an animal generally inspires animal behaviour. Krakoa did an even worse job, inventing an ad hoc law to apply retroactively, voted on by Magneto, Apocalypse, Shaw, Mystique, Emma Frost, Exodus, etc. People who are taking advantage of the amnesty. Yeah, he disobeyed orders by needlessly maiming people, but he was working for a collective project greater than himself. That's a start, though we'll never know how it might have turned out because he was thrown in a hole explicitly forever. If you're trying to be better and you're rejected by your entire putative community, why even bother trying?

It's interesting and quietly awful to consider who is worthy of redemption or even help in Marvel. It's quite rare for bad guys to make a full face turn, and even rarer for the good guys to be open to the possibility. There's a very neoliberal attitude to punitive justice and the prison industrial complex, informed in part by comic book inertia. If all the 'bad guys' are reformed then there's nobody to fight, and even after AXIS, for instance - a literal magical inversion of moral compasses - the heroes never let Creed forget that they were watching him and waiting for the inevitable reversion. It's not exactly restorative justice; it's conditional tolerance that can be withdrawn at any time.

AXIS and AoA both do the same thing IMO - they highlight that under different circumstances Victor Creed can be a completely different person. Almost as if his behaviour is learned and a result of his experience and environment, not necessarily a personality disorder. As much as I despise punitive justice and institutionalised incarceration, I don't have answers for a better way, not fully. I do wonder what the point of these morality plays is if the pathway to reform is arbitrary and gatekept. Omega Red was dealt with in a fascinating way on Krakoa, but Creed never got that chance despite X-Force doing MUCH worse. It's certainly true to life - criminality is too profitable to treat as a social or health issue - and it doesn't feel right to ignore Creed's living and traumatised victims, let alone finding out who's willing to live next door to him.

Creed's relationship with Logan is especially interesting. I don't think Logan has changed all that much at the end of the day. Socially, he benefited from a lot of support and patience, but if you put their body count side by side what's the actual difference? Logan still gets to kill people while being very popular, whereas Creed gets villain work here and there and hates his guts. Obviously he makes his own choices, but his jealousy and hatred of Logan is something I find relatable. 'Why him and not me?' Doesn't seem very fair.

It's not as simple as that, but at the end of the day I think these kinds of questions are beyond the scope of Marvel comics in general. Or rather, the answers are. Sabertooth will always end up back as a remorseless bloody handed killer no matter what he does. Logan will always be a good guy, a moral paragon even, no matter what he does. There will always be variations on their eternal themes for us to discuss, and any answers come from outside the text. Sabertooth showed us him languishing in the hole, Sabertooth and the Exiles expanded on his choices and motivation, then Sabertooth War came right back to his psychosexual obsession with Logan in incredibly gruesome detail.

I'd love to see some What ifs exploring roads not taken with Creed, but I fear it's out of the scope of Marvel comics, especially right now. A 616 focus on how, if it's even possible, someone who's hurt so many might choose to be better/be allowed the choice would be delightful. However, I think that's in the hands of the fandom. In discussions like this, in fanfic, in revisiting old stories. Maybe it is true to life that reform is not for everyone, that society finds it as hard to trust as people find it to change. Creed doesn't spend all that much time in actual prisons but the serialised status quo is a systemic institution of inertia all of its own.

Maybe that's a little trite and prosaic, but I think it's no less true. The good guy/bad guy dichotomy in media and entertainment assists in normalising and perpetuating how we view criminality too. It gets easier to dehumanise and forget about the scary other, instead of viewing them as people who deserve empathy and help. Sabertooth probably seems like a bad example, but it's not hard to look at a traumatized child and see what the world did to him. Continues to do to him, as he expressed himself with the only avenue he has - violence.

Those are my thoughts for now, rambly as they are. Some really good food for thought there and I'm glad you brought him up.

[transfemme-shelterdog]

I am a trans guy, & my feelings on pregnancy are so fucking complicated it is genuinely stress-inducing. Like, even if I am still fertile — big If at this point, given uterus issues that my doctors don't take seriously & would only worsen if I came out to them — I would have to deal with being pregnant, having to negotiate my identity around it, & ideally finding a partner who is cool with me being trans (in my experience? fucking hard). And yeah, I do want to be a parent, I would love to be a father — but knowing what I know about how people view pregnant guys, and how cis people view trans people in general as fetish content or sex pests, I am fucking terrified of how I would be treated & viewed while dealing with dysphoria & misgendering from the pregnancy. Not to mention my own personal fear (idk how valid it is) of my own kid getting taken away from me for being queer — a fear that absolutely isn't exclusive to trans guys, but something I worry about nonetheless with the rise of transphobia.

And like, I’m kinda running the biological clock pondering all of this shit because people cannot be fucking normal about trans guys getting pregnant. Like, I risk getting medically malpracticed, isolating myself from my support system, not getting my job back after paternity leave — possibly not getting paternity leave at all if my company wants to take advantage of my gender as a legal loophole —, dealing with people viewing me through the lens of the one kink I DON’T have, and I’m supposed to not talk about it? Cis people don’t want to hear “people who get pregnant” because that’s misogyny, apparently, we’re taking away “the one thing women ONLY do” (an argument I legitimately heard the other day & Jesus Fucking Christ, ignoring the transphobia, what a load of sexist bullshit). Like, if I could find a nice guy & settle down & have a baby or a few that would be fabulous; unfortunately, I have to worry about transphobia.

I am really sorry to hear that Anon. It must be tough to have to deal with what you have to. You have my sympathy for your struggles. I hope you find a decent man (or men), and manage to have a kid without too much hassle.

[thiswantonflesh]

New In Town - Chapter 4 - Game Night.

We were halfway through cleaning up when Ezra let out a dramatic sigh and flopped back in his chair.

“Okay, but seriously, how many spells do I need to blow through before I get some respect?” he groaned, cradling his dice bag like it had personally betrayed him.

“Maybe try remembering your spell slots next time,” Danny muttered, not looking up from his notebook as he scribbled something about “consequences of fireball in confined spaces.” He had a whole system for notes, full of little doodles and shorthand codes no one else understood—but it worked. He was the reason the group hadn’t walked into that mimic trap. Twice.

Riley laughed, loud and sharp. “You’re the one who chose to play a cleric with zero wisdom. What did you think was gonna happen?”

“I thought I’d be smiting things with sky fire left and right,” Ezra deadpanned. “Not flailing around with a hammer.”

M rolled their eyes, their smudged eyeliner catching the low light, and shot him a look across the table. “You spent half the session unconscious.”

Ezra flipped them off without heat. “And still managed to be more useful than you, Mr. ‘I seduce the guard.’ Every. Single. Town.”

M leaned back in their chair, all faux-innocence and smug smirks. “What can I say? It’s a charisma build, baby.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, letting the noise wash over me for a second. The group had gelled better than I expected for a first session. Chaotic, sure—but fun. And the chemistry at the table? Instant.

“I’ll help you rework your character sometime, Ezra,” I laughed. “We’ll have you smiting people before you know it.”

Eventually, one by one, they started to pack up. Dice into little bags, notebooks zipped into backpacks. Riley was the first to go, stretching her arms over her head and letting out a groan. “Same time next week?”

“Unless you’re dead by then,” I teased.

“Bring it on, Dungeon Daddy,” she said with a wink, then headed out.

Ezra and Danny weren’t far behind, still debating the ethics of fireballing a room full of cultists before confirming if any were innocent. I stood in the doorway to say goodbye, and when I turned back, M was still there—slouched comfortably in their seat, legs spread like they owned the whole table.

I leaned against the doorframe. “Didn’t feel like joining the post-game ethics debate?”

They grinned. “I’m more interested in endgame content.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that a seduction roll?”

M shrugged, playful. “Depends. Am I rolling with advantage?”

“Maybe,” I tease. “We’ll see how well you help with the clear up.”

I walked back toward the table, slowly, feeling the shift in the air now that it was just the two of us. Quieter. Heavier. Still crackling a little from the leftover energy of the game.

M watched me with that easy confidence of someone who knew they were being watched right back. They stretched, arms overhead, shirt riding up to flash just a bit of soft stomach. They caught me looking and didn’t flinch. Just smiled.

“Seriously though,” I said, dropping into the seat beside them, “are you going to seduce every NPC I throw at you?”

“I mean, it depends. Are they hot?”

“Most of them are vaguely terrifying. One was a disembodied eyeball.”

M licked their lips and grinned. “You say that like I don’t have a type.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re going to derail the whole campaign.”

“You love it.”

I didn’t argue.

There was something about this version of M—post-game, makeup a little smudged, sleeves pushed up, legs tucked under the chair now, relaxed and still glowing from the game—that was quietly wrecking me.

They nudged my knee with theirs, a casual little bump under the table. “You’re a good DM,” they said. Soft, now. “Like… weirdly hot, watching you take charge like that.”

The words sent a flicker of heat through me. I tried to play it off. “Weirdly?”

M grinned wider. “Okay, not that weird.”

I leaned in a little. “You’re not so bad yourself, y’know. The charisma build’s doing a lot of heavy lifting.”

“I’m very proficient in persuasion,” they said, tilting their head, eyes flicking to my mouth for half a second too long to be casual.

“Oh yeah? Got anything you want to persuade me of right now?”

They bit their lip, clearly enjoying the escalation. “Well... I could roll for it.”

I kept my voice low. “What are you hoping for—success or failure?”

Their breath caught a little, pupils blown just a bit more than before.

“Depends on the consequences,” they whispered.

And just like that, the distance between us felt too small and too charged to ignore. I could smell the sweat on both of us from earlier—faint and human and honest. I could see the flush in their cheeks, the way their thighs shifted under the table like they couldn’t get comfortable, like they didn’t want to be comfortable.

I reached out and laid my hand over theirs.

“Fuck the roll,” I said. “I’m saying yes.”

They didn’t wait for a second invitation.

M surged forward, pressing our mouths together like they’d been waiting all night to do it. Maybe longer. Their lips were soft and warm and a little clumsy in the best way, all hunger and nerves and something sweet underneath. I tasted salt and sweat and the cherry cola they’d been sipping earlier. I wanted more.

I dragged them closer by the waist, felt the way their body curved into mine like we already knew each other’s rhythms. Like we’d done this before in another campaign, another lifetime.

Our chairs scraped back as we stumbled toward the table, half-laughing, half-breathless. I pushed the minis aside with one sweep of my arm, dice scattering across the map like we were rolling for chaos. M hopped up onto the edge of the table, knees spreading to pull me in.

“You planned this,” I murmured, pressing kisses down their neck, tasting heat and skin and the faint shimmer of highlighter that hadn’t quite melted off yet.

“You let me roll persuasion,” they whispered back, grinding against me slow and deliberate. “That’s on you.”

I bit their lower lip gently and felt them shiver under my hands. “Guess I’m the one who failed a wisdom save.”

Clothes came off in between breathy, whispered jokes and hungry kisses—my hands fumbling at the hem of their shirt, their fingers slipping under mine to help me out of it. Their chest was flushed, soft, rising and falling fast under my palms. I kissed down between the curves, mouthing over their ribs, worshipful without having to say it.

They gasped when I dipped my head further, when my tongue traced low and lazy over sensitive skin. Their thighs tightened around my hips, trying to keep me close. Needy. Squirming.

“Fuck, please,” they whispered. “I’ve been—thinking about this. Since the first time you made an NPC flirt with me.”

I laughed against their stomach. “Knew I made them too charming.”

“You made you too charming.”

They pulled me back up, kissed me harder. This time there was no play in it—no slow wind-up. It was frantic and flushed and messy, the kind of kiss that left us panting into each other’s mouths.

I lined up, pressed against them, and felt them open for me—wet, hot, welcoming. We both groaned as I pushed in, the sound echoing off the walls of my mostly empty living room.

They clutched at my back, legs wrapped tight around me, eyes wide and glassy.

“God—fuck, you feel so good.”

I started to move, slow at first, letting the rhythm find us. The table creaked underneath us. My hand gripped the edge like a brace. Their hands gripped my arms, my shoulders, anything they could hold.

I leaned over them, kissed their jaw, their mouth, their cheek.

“You look so pretty like this,” I said softly, voice cracking a little as I pushed deeper. “Spread out on my map like you’re part of the campaign.”

Their laugh turned into a moan. “NPC me doesn’t stand a fucking chance.”

I moved faster. They bucked into me, needy now, chasing something they didn’t have words for.

I whispered praise into their mouth, into their skin—telling them how good they felt, how tight, how sweet, how easy they were to want. How long I’d been thinking about this. How I wasn’t going to last if they kept looking at me like that.

They clenched around me, hands fisting in my hair. “Don’t stop—please, fuck, I’m—”

They came with a gasp and a cry, shaking under me, thighs trembling, hips jerking. The sight of it wrecked me. I barely lasted another stroke before I followed, burying my face in their shoulder as I came inside them, pulsing deep, riding it out with them in my arms.

We lay there after, tangled, breathing hard, the game table a little worse for wear.

M was still smiling when they kissed me again.

“...Think I earned some inspiration for that,” they said.

“Definitely,” I breathed. “You’re getting inspiration, advantage, and probably a fuckin’ level-up.”

They laughed, soft and loose and completely wrecked.

I didn’t want to move.

Didn’t want to break the moment.

So I didn’t.