#also SO in love with the world and with life

[ammckk6262]

Albus i'm sorry....

dear god Albus Potter do you utterly haunt my thoughts

Just… Albus in the cursed child, for as mixed as people seem to be on it… Albus as the certified middle child who doesn’t have the cloak, doesn’t have the map, who doesn’t even have a family name?

Can you imagine little Al (not yet Albus because that’s a name he truly goes by once he has Scorpius) tucking himself into the cracks of the door as he hears his parents talking, hears his dad say it would have been better to know they were having two boys so they could have just called him Sirius

Al, getting teased by his invisible brother, yet seeing so distinctly that his father chose James over him for their family legacy

Al, who grew up on the filtered advice of a distant, out of reach mentor who he could never live up to. Not like James with his fun, his humor, or Lily with her love and her girlhood.

(Albus, who will hear Cedric called the spare and understand far too well what it’s like to be of secondary importance)

Al, who out of all his siblings looks the most like his father, a reflection to every family friend of what harry went through and an eternal reminder to himself and the world that he will always be his father’s legacy (he will look in the mirror for most of his adult life and see his father before he sees himself)

Al, age 11, seeking comfort on the train platform as everything changes around him and getting another lecture about bravery that he doesn’t feel he has

Al becoming Albus on that train, when the boy who would become the most important person in his life actually asks him, asks him what he wants to be called

Albus, under the sorting hat, struggling but thinking about who he wants to be outside of his family’s legacy and getting put in Slytherin for it

Albus, who grew up on war stories and hogwarts hyjinks staying up half his first night because he’s afraid of his peers, but doesn’t want them to know that because he so desperately and conflictingly wants to both fit in and stand out

Albus, who is bad at flying, humiliating himself in front of his peers, because he isn’t harry but isn’t Quidditch player Ginny either… Albus, who all the adults see as Harry’s extension; Albus, who struggles with charms like Lily never will, who can barely make his matchstick silver under the blue eyed portrait in the room, who struggles to parse through the moving and unequal words of wizarding textbooks, who attracts bullies like flies and doesn’t yet have his mother’s hexes to fight back

Albus, struggling to write that first letter home, to tell his parents and little sister that he’s different from them; Albus who doesn’t even get to tell them because James tells them first

Albus, who doesn’t get a green scarf and hat until after the first snow, unable to parse if it’s the color, the fact that he’s the second born, or maybe just that it’s him that made it come later than James’ had

Albus, who goes back home for Christmas and faces his father’s disapproval for befriending a Malfoy, his father’s distrust and attempts to assure his morality for befriending someone harry assumes cruel and antagonistic

Albus, having to hold awkward conversation with Rose and Ron and Hermione, because neither of the kids want their parents to know they’re not talking (they find out eventually, and though they’re nice about it, Albus knows they’ll always put Rose’s feelings first)

Albus, who is suddenly assumed more malicious and problem causing than he ever was before, who suddenly is seen as a prime person to scot the blame off to when things go wrong

Albus, who gets chosen after his sister (“just like her mother!”) during the family quidditch match; who gets meaningful looks from his Uncle Percy; whose Christmas sweaters are no longer red but never green; who suddenly cant seem to talk to his uncle ron anymore, someone who used to understand what it was like to be James’ brother

Albus potter who stradles the line of too Potter for Slytherin and too Slytherin for his family.

Albus Potter, who’s ambition has been squashed out by bullies and disregard and distrust, struggling to find his identity in a house and world that is still in the midst of undoing decades as an indoctrination machine…

[batsandbirdbrains]

Inspired by the one anon who asked abt fics where Dick turns out to be younger than people think he is and the recs that were given:

What if it’s like a scenario where Dick’s parents / the circus changed his age in documents so he could perform. And his age changed all the time on paper because different countries had different rules, even different cities/counties might not be the same as the one next to it. And so Dick sort of forgets how old he actually is most of the time, he just sticks with whatever his parents last told him.

And he was told he was eight when they were in Gotham. He was just short for his age because he’s a gymnast, that’s what they told anyone who questioned them.

In reality, Dick was five years old.

And by the time he remembered he should probably tell Bruce that, it’s already been too long. It’s several months after Bruce has taken him in, after he already has been Robin, and it just hits him one day that he’s going to be turning six in March. Bruce thinks he’s turning nine.

And Dick gets this horrible terrible no good idea in his head that if Bruce finds out he lied about his age, that Bruce will get rid of him. Won’t want him anymore. Will call him a dirty liar and kick him to the curb.

And Dick can’t lose his new home. He loves Bruce. He loves Alfred. And he loves being Robin. So he keeps it a secret and tries to forget that he’s three years younger than he’s supposed to be.

It’s a damn good thing Dick’s parents were rigorous in his schooling, and by some miracle he tests into the proper grade for his age when Bruce starts him at Gotham Academy. It’s a bumpy start, but it’s easily explained away by the slight language barrier. Dick actually speaks and reads English just fine, he learned it the same time he learned French and Romani and Arabic, but it’s a good excuse for why his penmanship is clumsy and why he starts out just slightly behind his peers.

He puts so much extra effort into his school work that by the time he’s supposed to be 13, it’s recommended he skip a grade. Bruce is so proud. Dick is somehow managing to get by as a ten year old in high school, and he cannot figure out how he’s pulling this shit off. Talk about being a showman, because it feels like he’s playing the world’s most impossible role.

But then something happens when Robin is on a team mission with the young justice season 1 team. Some magic shit. Maybe Klarion does something, maybe it’s like the episode where the adults get separated from the kids, but instead of it being everyone over 18 is separated from everyone under 18, it’s anyone who’s a teenager and up being separated from the kids who are all 12 and under.

And no one can figure out where Robin is. And also Captain Marvel is missing. What the fuck.

Bruce is fucking freaking out because he cannot figure out why Dick isn’t anywhere, why he can’t get ahold of him. He’s convinced Klarion must be holding him hostage or something.

And then you have Dick and Billy saving the day on their side, and Dick convinced him to try to transform into Captain Marvel. Billy doesn’t want to, because he doesn’t want to leave Robin alone if it makes him disappear to, but Dick assures him he’ll be fine, they’ll both be fine.

And then they come up with a plan yadda yadda the world is saved Dick and Billy save the day, the rest of the episode doesn’t matter.

But Batman pulls Robin aside immediately once they’re all back together and asks him what the hell just happened.

And Dick just starts crying. He’s so stressed out. This whole situation was so scary and he wasn’t actually all that confident the plans he’d made would work he only pretended to be so sure of himself so Billy could do his part and not be scared too. And also it’s really fucking stressful being a ten year old in high school. It’s very hard. Dick’s life is very difficult, and now his dad is finding out that he’s not as old as he’s been pretending to be, and everyone else is there and going to find out to, and he’s so overwhelmed.

“I didn’t mean to,” Dick says through full on sobs, and Bruce is so concerned and he’s hugging Dick and trying to calm him down, but Dick has gotten himself all worked up. “They changed my age all the time so I could perform, I’d be six in one city and eight in the next and seven in another and I just I forgot I wasn’t really any of those and then you adopted me and I forgot I wasn’t really eight until it was almost my birthday but it was too late to tell you and you would’ve been so mad and you wouldn’t have wanted me anymore and I didn’t know what to do!”

“Hey hey hey, slow down, slow down,” Bruce tells him, “take a deep breath. You need to breathe, Robin.”

But Dick just falls against Bruce’s shoulder and cries. He doesn’t want Bruce to think his parents were bad parents. Because they weren’t, they were the best. They just had to fudge some things so Dick could perform with them, so he could have fun up in the air with them, lots of people in the circus lie about their age!

“Oh, chum,” Bruce coos, resting his cheek on top of Dick’s head, rubbing his back. “I could never not want you. I love you, it doesn’t matter how old you are.”

“You do now!”

It makes Bruce’s heart shatter into pieces. Because Dick really thinks there was ever a time he didn’t have Bruce wrapped around his little finger, he doesn’t realize that Bruce has loved him from the first moment he wrapped the tiny little acrobat in his coat and carried him away from the puddle of blood he’d been kneeling in.

“I have always loved you,” he whispers. “And I always will. But chum, this is important. I need to know how old you really are.”

Dick sobs into his shoulder one more time before he lets out in a miserable whisper that everyone manages to hear, “Ten.”

And Batman damn near breaks. He lets out a shaky gasp, and his grip tightens on Robin as his knees buckle and he falls to the floor, now holding Robin tightly in his lap.

“You were five?” he asks. “Oh my God, you were five.”

Batman has a breakdown right then and there, but he keeps it very contained. He refuses to let go of Robin, just continues hugging him close and whispering that he loves him, he’s not mad at him, he would never ever get rid of him.

Idk what would happen after this but I know for certain Dick and Billy become bffs.

[chaes-tea]

── // living the nightmare .

// kpop demon hunters fic. // jinu x reader. // a/n: i looped the ost an unhealthy amount of times. i also haven't written anything in a few years LOL. so things might make little sense. or not make sense at all. enjoy! (pls don't flame me too hard i had a vision idk if it visioned) ⚠️!! WARNING: kpop demon hunters spoilers !! + angst

"Jinu!"

He clutches his head and winces, the familiar voice never leaving his head.

The memories– these damn memories that haunt him every second that passes, every step he takes, every breath he breathes. He painfully recalls his sister's sobs, along with his mother's trembling voice as she attempted to comfort her. But he remembers your cries the most.

You. The love of his life. His heart's desire. His soulmate.

He looks at the glowing patterns on his hands. He did it not just for his mother and sister, but for his future, for you. He wanted to give you the world, even if it ended up sounding like a sappy rags to riches story. You deserved so much more than what he could offer.

When he heard Gwi-Ma's voice in his head that day, he thought that this was his chance. A chance for his family to finally be relieved of suffering. The four of you would enter the palace and spend the rest of your lives there. But things took a turn when only he was allowed entry into the palace. He remembers the pain he felt in his heart when the palace doors shut behind him. Even so, he still pressed forward. He would do well in his time in the palace, make money, and send it home.

But Gwi-Ma kept him from doing so. His voice spat excuses after excuses that made him make selfish decisions. Decisions that prevented him from supporting his family. Decisions that kept a sturdy roof over his head, gave him delicious meals every day, and silk sheets every night, all while his family struggled in poverty. The thought of that ate away at him during his time in the palace. The patterns on his skin slowly grew like vines, until it consumed him whole, completely turning him into a demon under the demon king's rule.

The voice in his mind, and the patterns on his body, were constant reminders of his regret, shame, and guilt. They were evidence of his selfish choices– choices that led him to lose his family. This fact has never left him for the past 400 years.

Every few decades, when he would wander the streets of the human realm in search of souls, he would stumble upon a familiar face. The face reminded him of when he first walked through the palace gates alone. He solemnly smiles to himself each time as he observes you. It was nice to see that your iterations always held your kind smile and strong personality, no matter the era or hardships.

He wonders if fate would have allowed him to meet you in every reincarnation, had he stayed human.

He hates how he always thinks about that. He hates his memories of his time as a human, how they always remind him of his betrayal to his loved ones. If hate could defeat Gwi-Ma, the demon king would have been gone long ago.

Now, he sees his service to him as a means to an end. He would get in his good graces, and in exchange for his great deeds to him, he would request for the memories of his past to be erased. A request that would end this 400-year-long nightmare for good.

The Honmoon will be complete soon. Surely, his plan to destroy it will work. That's all Gwi-Ma wants, after all.

He and the other Saja Boys assume human forms and head through the alleyways to the stage they will be performing on. He aimlessly follows the four, rerunning the plan in his head before the performance. A familiar voice pulls him out of his thoughts.

"What's exactly is in this 'voice juice' anyways?"

He looks up and sees four people: the first in a black baseball cap, a shorter one with a yellow bucket hat, one holding a box, and–

Oh.

It's you again.

What a cruel thing fate is.

[mooningningg]

notes, if we had drunk reader request we have a drunk sukuna too.

★ Roommate!Sukuna comes home drunk.

The front door slammed open at exactly 2:37 a.m.

You jolted awake on the couch, bleary-eyed and clutching your blanket like a shield. It wasn’t even alarming anymore — not with Sukuna as your roommate. Noise, chaos, and poor life decisions? Standard package deal.

What was alarming… was the voice.

“Stop fuckin’ pushin’ me—‘m home, bitch!” he slurred, clearly talking to someone who was not there. “I know where I live. Stupid ass door tryna square up…”

There was a thud. Then a pause.

“Fucking wall came outta nowhere.”

You groaned and sat up, flipping on a lamp.

Sure enough, there he was: Sukuna, in all his drunken glory, half-stumbling into the apartment with his shirt halfway unbuttoned and his belt flapping like a sad flag of surrender. His hair was a mess, there was lipstick on his jaw — not yours, definitely not his — and his keys were still dangling from the lock.

“Oh my God,” you muttered. “You're drunk.”

Sukuna blinked at you.

Then squinted.

Then frowned.

“Who the fuck are you?”

You stared.

“Sukuna. It’s me.”

He pointed at you, wobbling. “Nah. Nope. You're not her. You don’t smell like y/n. She smells like laundry detergent and rage.”

“I am your y/n.”

“No, no. She’s hot. Way hotter. Got this mouth on her too, always talkin’ back. Yells at me when I leave ramen in the sink.”

You blinked. “Are you… complimenting me or fighting a ghost?”

He huffed and made a dramatic show of leaning against the wall, sliding down like a tragic hero in a Shakespeare play. “I want my roommate. My rude, scary, mean-ass roommate who makes me soup when I’m sick and yells when I steal her socks.”

“You’re wearing my socks right now.”

He looked down. Blinked.

“They’re warm,” he said, like it explained everything. Then his eyes narrowed at you again. “Where is she?”

“You’re actually looking at her.”

“Nooo,” he said, dragging the word out like a child. “You’re too nice. She’s not nice. She yells. She calls me gremlin when I play TikToks too loud.”

“You left your phone in the fridge yesterday.”

He gasped. “She told you that?! Fuckin’ snitch.”

“That was me, Sukuna!”

He stared at you, eyes glassy. Then slowly leaned his head back against the wall with the softest bonk.

“…She’s gonna be so mad when she finds out I threw up in her laundry basket.”

You went still. “You what.”

He moaned dramatically and curled up on the floor like a Victorian widow. “Just kill me now. She’s gonna take my skin and sell it on Etsy.”

“I should!”

“But at least I’ll die smelling like her dryer sheets,” he sighed.

You threw a pillow at his face.

He caught it — sort of. It bounced off his forehead, and he mumbled something about betrayal.

Finally, you sighed and walked over, crouching beside him. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

“I can walk,” he grunted, then immediately wobbled as he tried to stand and reached for you blindly. “Where’s my scary y/n. I want her to carry me.”

You rolled your eyes, hoisting his arm over your shoulder. “Still me.”

He leaned heavily into you, breath warm against your temple.

“…You smell like her.”

“I am her, Sukuna.”

He groaned. “Then you’re way prettier than usual.”

You blinked. “That’s not even an insult.”

“You’re not even real,” he muttered as you half-dragged him down the hall. “She’s not this nice. This must be a dream.”

You shoved open his bedroom door and dumped him onto the bed. “If it is, it’s about to be a nightmare.”

He grunted as he flopped over, hugging a pillow. “Tell my roommate she’s hot. But also scary. But like… the hot kind of scary. And if she’s still mad about the laundry basket, tell her I love her.”

Your stomach twisted just a little.

You blinked. “What?”

But Sukuna was already snoring.

Dead to the world.

And covered in your socks.

Taglist, @humeysaga @williamafton26 @aranisbaee @probablynotleahhhh @probablynotleahhhh.

[npookie0]

Rap Your Way To His Soul

In a world where hunters fight demons every day and try to keep the Honmoon strong with their songs, you are a demon different than any other - instead of stealing souls and working for Gwi Ma, you are a niche soloist rapper who found another way to not die from starvation and block his voice. One day, the world shifts and a new boys band appears our of thin air, a demon boy band. You tried to keep away from the conflict between Huntrix and the Saja Boys, until one day you've been paired with the boys band's rapper who discovered your secret. "But Gwi Ma never mentioned another demon being on surface…?" "Yeah? Well he never said that he'd build a boys band either."

Words: [ 2954 ]

Tropes: forced proximity, you help him discover something about himself

cws: scenes of fighting, spoilers for Kpop Demon Hunters

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

So I'll give you a heads up for my idea about Baby's personality before you read it! To me Baby is a unbothered king basically, he doesn't really care (his face when they're at the signing with Huntrix) but he can also be a cunning bastard when he needs to be (Your Idol rap moment the faces he makes there, the way he's smirking at Huntrix when Saja Boys takes their leave) but since his band archetype is being the baby of the group (his name is literally Baby) so I will assume that he's the Maknae and is the youngest so he will also be childish in a way, please accept my interpretation of that guy

You were a niche rapper in the Korean music industry, sometimes you were invited to some variety shows, either doing some rap challenges, do things that were supposed to bring entertained to the viewer like trying to sing a popular song that didn't include any rap, or, rarely, had an opportunity to talk about yourself.

You enjoyed these moments, interacting with your fans, performing for them, even if there weren't that many people you were still excited to give them a chance to see you again and grow a bigger audience.

Even a demon like yourself was weak to the charm of happy fans.

Though, you would hardly call yourself a demon. Besides the patterns and abilities you used for special effects you weren't that demonic. Not after you found yourself on the surface at least.

At first, you were like any other demon, trying to devour human souls, you heard Gwi Ma, you felt shame and misery. Yet, after finding your love for music everything changed, you started your small rapper career, gained fans and most importantly of all, got your soul back. Thanks to regaining your soul you were able to stop feeding off the energy stealing souls gave you, instead you got energy from your fans singing your songs with you.

You knew about Huntrix and their identity as demon hunters so you avoided them at all costs, you didn't want to fight them and lose the life you built for yourself. Every time you were invited to an event for idols, no matter how tempted you were to go, if you knew that Huntrix would be there too you would make up an excuse to not go and politely refused the introductions.

Other than Huntrix, you didn't follow any news from the high ranked pop groups, so you were unaware of the Saja Boys blow up and their rivalry with the three hunters, to you they were a boys band that you didn't really care about.

So meeting one of them on a variety show was a surprise to say the least. Especially after you saw what he was.

But, let's start from the beginning.

You got a call from Play Games With Us, they invited you to take part in a new game they came up with "Rapper Wars", since you are a soloist rapper yourself you accepted their invitation.

"Hi Y/n! It's good to see you after so long!" The host greeted you when you entered the stage. Your fans screamed and clapped when they saw you, chanting your name.

"Hi everybody! It's good to see y'all after so long!" You replied, waving at your fans.

The TV crew fixed up your and a few others rappers' make up, while that was happening you looked around the stage. You knew all the rappers present there, with some you even made songs together.

You know all of them, except one. A guy with teal hair, wearing a pink baggy sweater, yellow beanie, skinny jeans and sneakers. He had a lollipop in his mouth, he had a thoughtless expression, like he didn't really care about being there. But where the lights turned on he suddenly became all sweet, sending hearts to the camera and smiling.

Sure, a lot of idols have two personas, that wasn't a shocker, but at least they pretended to be nice and sweet if the cameras were off too.

"Hello, hello! We hope you're excited because today we have prepared a special game for everyone!" Said one of the hosts.

The other host chimed in with a big beaming smile. "The game is "Rapper Wars!" But our favourite handsome host, what is the game about? You all are probably asking yourself and don't worry, we will explain it now!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Explanation time! So, as you guys can see we have all our favourite rappers; Chaeyoung from Twice..." The host introduced each guests, while camera pointed at them to smile and wave. "And finally we have our newest rap stage star, Baby Saja from Saja Boys and our beloved soloist Y/n!"

Baby? That's an.... interesting name....

"So, in our game these talented artists will make teams of two and will have to perform together, the duo who wins with all other contestants will perform a song they have to write together in the next episode of Play Games With Us!"

After some more explanation everyone started to pair up and soon you and the guy from Saja Boys were the only people left. You made your way over to him and outstretched your hand to him.

"Guess that we'll work together now." You said with a gentle smile. You had no reason to not like him so you could be friendly.

He looked at your hand and then at your face, he squeezed your hand. "Yeah." Was his only response. Well that was definitely a start.

You two were asked to sit down in one of the "rap thinking zone" areas that the hosts prepared for all of you.

When you two sat down you took a closer look at Baby and noticed a weird shift on his skin, you focused on his neck and then you saw them; the patterns.

The same patters you had. That guy's weird behaviour and name made sense now, he's a demon. But why would a demon be in a boys band? Were the rest of them demons too? Was it Gwi Ma's idea? What if they discover you too?

You were so lost in thought that you didn't realise that Baby was calling you until he started poking you with a pen. "Hey. Hey, hey! We have to win this, so work." He pointed at the papers in front of you.

"What? Oh. Yeah, right. Sorry." You coughed and picked up the papers filled with song lyrics.

You were glad that the demonic rapper wasn't really paying attention to you so he wouldn't notice the patterns you had to bear on your own skin. Maybe having your soul helped you seeming more human to the demon.

The two of you worked, silently rapping the lines you assigned to each other. You had to admit that for a demon he was pretty good, even better than most people you worked with before.

"Do you want to perform with a choreography or just focus on rapping?" You asked.

"I don't really care." He had a similar reply to most questions you asked. You started to notice that he was lacking in dealing with interactions. Sure, maybe he was a good rapper and had some acting skills, he barely spoke and couldn't keep up the sweet act all the time. It was almost funny to look at.

"Now Baby and Y/n will be fighting Syngwon and Joel! Let's see who wins!" The host annouced and all lights turned at you, Baby and your opponents.

You shared glances with Baby, who was still unaware of your secret, and the performance began.

You felt energy fill you when the show's fans joined in, chanting and singing. You didn't pay attention to anything other than the feeling of freedom and love that filled you. You performed perfectly, interacting with the fans and encouraging them to join in.

You won. This round and then five more. You won the event.

You were filled with excitement to the brim, a mix of your own feelings and the emotions you absorbed from the fans. It felt great, you didn't even care about the weird looks Baby gave you when you stood together on the stage and said goodbye to the viewers.

"Didn't know that demons walked so freely amongst humans." You stopped in your tracks when you heard an ominous and monotone voice coming from behind you.

You were on your way back home, groceries in your hand. You slowly turned around and there he was, Baby in his full glory. Instead of cute clothes he was wearing black robes and a gat, his hair was darker, his skin was greyshly-blue with darker patterns all over it and his eyes, piercing deep into your own, were yellow. He looked similar to how you looked in your demon form.

"You didn't have to sneak up to me, y'know?" You groaned. "So, you found me out, huh?"

He smirked, circling a lollipop in his hand. "Wasn't at all hard, I saw the souls that shared their energy with you, I saw your patterns." He pushed himself of the wall and teleported right in front of you. "it's really interesting."

"What is?" You looked at him, unimpressed with his confidence.

"Y'know," he took your hand in his and your patterns showed, "the fact that a demon has a music career and doesn't eat souls." He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that Gwi Ma didn't receive any soul."

"I don't work for the tragic king of demons." You shrugged and started walking, if he wanted to talk to you he could follow you.

"Wait, what?" He asked confused, going after you.

"That. I don't do anything for Gwi Ma, I don't send him souls, I don't hear him. He doesn't know that I'm here."

He chuckled, amused by your words. "Don't joke around, we all hear Gwi Ma, it's impossible not to hear him!"

You turned to him and sighed. "Yeah? Guess I'm a human then."

Your pace fastened suddenly and teleported away from him, creating a longer distance with you.

Baby caught up to you and grabbed you by your wrist. "How did you... how did you get your soul back?" He suddenly sounded serious, there was a tinge of hope in his eyes.

You looked at his hand holding your wrist and pulled it away from his embrace. "I can tell you about it later. We have to work on a song together anyway, so why not figure each other out while we do that. hm?"

"Hah, you could rival Mystery with your secrecy. Sure, sure, demon soloist, I'll see you." He saluted you before teleporting away.

You shook your head and made your way back to your apartament. Looks like you've got yourself a very interesting artist to work with.

"So, what's the deal with you and the cute appearance?" You asked once you and Baby were in your recording studio. It was secluded so no one would hear your demon related discussion and you knew it well enough to be safe if he tried anything.

Baby looked at you from over the lyrics you were writing. "Jinu came up with the whole boys band idea, we're supposed to steal the hunters' fans and destroy the Honmoon." He shrugged.

"Destroy Honmood to feed the dying king?"

"Something like that, yeah. I don't really care, I just want to get a reward for suffering like this."

You chuckled. "Really, what a terrible fate you must be living. Wearing cute clothes and beign adored by all. What a nightmare."

Baby looked offended with your reply, just scoffed and suddenly was very eager to work on the lyrics.

"I'm so glad that this whole suffering is done for me, no more Gwi Ma, no more killing humans."

"About that, how do you not starve?"

"Hm? Oh, that." You leaned back in your chair. "Basically it's about people willingly sharing their love with me, if they share it, it flows into me like river water into the sea and that's my main source of energy."

"So that's why you went for music huh?"

"Kind of."

"Kind of?" He titled his head, confused.

"Yeah, kind of. I love singing, always did, even with my broken demon voice. I love the adoration I receive and the fans. This is why I'm still stuck in Korea even if I know that Huntrix could find me at any moment." You looked at him. "You don't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The happiness coming from love. Your fans love you, adore you."

Baby looked at you after hearing your words. He took some time to answer. "They're humans. I eat their souls and that's what matters."

"You don't believe that."

"I do!" He shouted. "I know what I believe, and humans are nothing but food to me. I sing to steal their souls."

"Whatever makes you happier, Baby Saja." You looked at the papers in front of you. "What if... I take you out tomorrow?"

"Huh? What?"

You ignored his question. "Do you like amusement parks?"

"..." He looked away. "I never was to an amusement park."

You perked up after hearing his answer. You took him by his hand and he jumped up in his chair. "Well, you'll be in one tomorrow! Cancel all your evil-world-domination plans, cause we'll be having lots of fun." You smiled beamingly and you could swear that you had a tinge of smile on Baby's face.

The following way was truly magical. You took Baby to your favourite amusement park and the fun started when you barely stepped through the main gates. Fans surrounded the two of you, asking for pictures, autographs, declaring their love and so on. You glanced at Baby between every fan interaction and you could tell that even if he felt a slight discomfort, overall he had fun. He eagerly signed every picture and even laughed when his fans recreated his famous "goo goo ga ga" from his first appearance in the variety show.

After the first big wave of fans you took him to a roller coaster and many other attractions. For you, they were somethings you already did so you had more occasions to pay attention to the growing kpop star next to you. And saying that he had was an understatement. Shooting targets, bumper cars, even the Ferris wheel.

You saw the light in his eyes, the excitement and pure emotions. He didn't look like a gloomy, tired of everything demon like the first time you met him. He was actually interested in the attraction he took part in.

You took a break on a bench before your last surprise stop. A corndog in your hand while Baby had a giant pink cotton candy. He swayed his legs back and forth as he pulled away pieces of the sweet snack and ate them.

"Enjoying yourself?" You asked, reaching your hand to wipe a piece of cotton candy from the man's cheek. He nodded energetically, his eyes glowing. "Didn't know you had such a sweet tooth." You chuckled.

You waited until the two of you were done eating and pulled him off the bench. "C'mon! There's one more place I want to show you." You rushed him and forced him to follow behind you as you led him through the crowded amusement park.

You reached it, the aquarium. You were wondering if taking him there was really that good of an idea since he seemed to like the adrenaline quickening attractions more, but your worries were washed away when you saw him glued to the glass and gently poking it with his finger while a fish tried to catch his finger. He looked like a kid who saw real fishes for the first time.

You were forced to hold his hand while you walked through the building or he'd get lost while he looks at sharks or something. You didn't really talk, Baby was busy watching and chasing fish - not really caring if he forced you to chase them with him. And you were watching him, seeing the slight shifts in his aura. He felt less hostile and negative than he did before, maybe it wasn't a big chance, but you saw potential in him.

You saw a chance for your new companion to find freedom.

"Hey, Y/n?" He asked suddenly when the two of you stood in the middle of the biggest room in the whole aquarium.

"Hm?" You hummed in response, looking at a hoard of jellyfishes swimming by.

"How does it feel... to not hear him?"

You turned around, looking at the man who's expression was now stiff and serious.

"Ah, Gwi Ma." You turned back to the jellyfishes and pointed at them. "I feel like them. Unbothered, just swimming by everything. They know that they won't be safe forever, but they live by present not future." You smiled and looked back at him. "That's how it's for me. I know that I'm stil a demon and the hunters may not be forgiving even if I wish they would, but it doesn't matter to me. I have the things I love and the people who love me, that's what I live by now and I know that there's no demon king who can take that away."

Baby didn't answer, he looked at his hand holding yours and...

There was a glow, it was slight, weak, barely there.

The blue glow of his soul.

It was warm, gentle, but still had some sharp corners.

It seemed like he didn't notice that, but maybe it was for the better. You wanted to see the progress yourself, for him to not feel terrified or pushed to do more or less, to maintain or reject that soul that came back to him.

"We should get back, we have a song to make." You squeezed his hand.

He pouted. "But it's so fun here."

"We can return after our performance, you big kid."

"Pfft, okay." He scoffed.

"I've got an idea for the title." You said when you left the amusement park.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we'll call it; Freedom."

Maybe it wasn't a very original idea, but in your mind it created a perfect image of what Baby could get if he and hid friends tried hard enough to accept their mistakes instead of living in endless misery because of them.

Okay my first ever Baby x reader fic done! Writing it was hard but I hope that you guys like it! The next ones will be better I swear <3 I just need to get a better hang on writing these handsome demon boys

See you my dear Kpop Demon Hunters fans

Nate <3

[freeandiwill]

Guessing each of the Saja Boys’ deals with Gwi-Ma

I don’t know if this has been done yet but I just find them really hot fascinating okay?

Jinu

Okay, so this one we obviously already know- He abandoned his family to become a musician and live a luxurious life. This allows him to have an extraordinary singing voice, which is obviously his overall appeal as a boyband leader. Since this is directly stated this movie, it gives us a good guideline going forward with the rest of them; something that is still present in their current depreciation and overall serves to their benefit, even though they had to make a sacrifice to get it.

Since the rest of the band is extremely underportrayed this whole movie, I get to be a bit creative with my theories. Feel free to contribute your own ideas!

Abby/Abs

Obviously he is extremely muscular but I don’t think it’s a pure vanity thing. So I’m gonna say he wished for inhuman strength to defend himself during a time of violence and conflict. He wanted to feel less helpless and vulnerable in the midst of chaos, but this came at the price of him going mad with power and hurting innocent people, unable to tell a friend from an enemy. He still believes he’s a monster that can snap at any minute, relishing in some of the leverage that gives him (being a demon) but also fear that he may not have total control over himself.

Baby

The name seems pretty blatant- I think he wished for infinite youth and beauty. He was incredibly discomforted by the sight of those around him slowly aging. He constantly saw people becoming weaker and frailer, less capable of doing things themselves. Their skin sagged, their hair grayed, society seemed to find them more and more of an ugly nuisance. And it absolutely terrified him, so he asked to be spared from it. Unfortunately, he still had to watch the world around him changed while he stayed preserved, locked in time. The degradation and decay of humanity soon became more and more apparent, terrifying him further, wondering if he’ll ever be next. He constantly checks himself for any minor blemishes or shifts in his appearance, growing paranoid that he may not be as perfect as he’s desperate to be.

Romance

Another no-brainer, He wished a girl to fall in love and marry him. Aladdin-style, as in she was above his status and could never consider him as a husband until he placed himself in the same league as her and made himself seem irresistible. It was perfect at first, until her senseless infatuation with him began to ruin their relationship. She loved him but she didn’t really like him, she hardly knew him at all. She was mindlessly obsessed, and guilt began to eat away when he realized he had practically made her a slave to his affection. Woman still find him irresistible, but he can’t bring himself to love anyone back, knowing that he utterly ruined the one he held dearest.

Mystery

Admittedly, this was the hardest for me to think of, so it’s is a bit of a stretch.

He was once known for being a gentle and kind boy, but due to unfortunate circumstances, had gotten into a very aggressive and very public argument with a close friend, ending with him killing them in a blind fit of rage. This utterly ruined his reputation, so he wished to permanently hide away and never be recognized again. He was on the run for many years, continually growing his hair over his face and changing his name until he forgot who he was, only remembering what he did and the shame it caused him. He’s still quite reserved and withdrawn, wondering if- even after all these decades later- someone will be able to point him out and expose his crime to the world.

I only did a brief amount of research for this, so I’m just waiting for one of the days where a maker of this movie will release a lore drop and pull one of these on me 😭⬇️

[batsandbirdbrains]

Imagine a scenario where Bruce has trust funds set up for all his kids, but they’re not allowed to access them until they’re 30. He makes some long winded spiel about how it’s to teach them responsibility and let them grow on their own yadda yadda yadda, but rly it’s just because he hopes they’ll grow out of their reckless vigilante phases by then (pot meet kettle!) and they won’t spend all the money on gadgets for their night jobs.

And Dick is so convinced he doesn’t even need it. Tells them all he lived in the circus in a trailer the first eight years of his life, he doesn’t need Daddy’s money to survive and thrive.

Then he makes it all of a year in his shitty Blüdhaven apartment and by the time he’s 21 he’s begging Bruce, “Please just give me a cool million so I can buy a house. Please Bruce. Bruce, please. Nothing fancy, just a three bed two bath with a pool! Please Bruce I can’t afford these 6% interest rates I’m gonna have a mortgage the size of France!”

“Do you really need a pool?”

“Swimming laps is part of my training!” Dick argues. “And it’s good for your spine!”

Bruce, already on his phone to go into his banking app to transfer the money over to Dick, but still wanting to give him a hard time because Thats What Dad’s Do, “What happened to I don’t need your money, Bruce and I can live just fine on my own, Bruce and I don’t need you, Bruce? Also, you can just come up here to swim!”

“I need my own space or I will go completely bonkers, Bruce. Please. Please help. I love you, World’s Okay-est Dad. Don’t you love me?”

“That’s a cheap shot and you know it.”

Dick, smiling and batting his eyes.

“You better buy an actual house and not something stupid like an extra Batmobile.”

“What do I look like, Tim?” Dick scoffs. Then he realizes Bruce was joking and didn’t actually know Tim embezzled money from Bruce’s Batarang fund to buy himself and his friends their own Batmobile, and he skedaddles, saying, “Thanks Bruce love you bye!”

[crazy-pages]

The thing about Aragorn is that he's actually a really stock fantasy character, but he's usually done as an angsty teenager. The rejection of the heroic destiny and overcoming that is usually an expression of adolescent or young adult anxiety, or a narratively performative rejection of authority to demonstrate one's worthiness. It's a story about coming into the world from a place of powerlessness to a place of immense responsibility. It's a coming of age story.

Aragorn isn't a teenager. Hell he's not even middle-aged by typical human standards, he is old enough to have watched every single human in his life grow old and die. And he grapples everyday with having lived through that side of immortality and knowing that if he doesn't condemn the elf he loves to a mortal death, that she will one day experience that about him. Aragorn isn't even moving from a position of not having responsibility to a position of responsibility, he's out there as a Ranger getting. shit. done. This guy charges all nine ring wraiths with a torch and a mundane blade because that is his godsdamn job description.

Aragorn isn't a kid growing up. He's the veteran World War I officer coming back for World War II.

There's no lesson to be learned in that. There's no moral about accepting responsibility even, he already did that in his role as a Ranger. Even as he rejected the kingship, he never rejected responsibility, he just did it in the way he thought he was best suited to and he was damn good at it. His story is just that of a person who has earned their rest a thousand times over, who is still serving his community anyway, being tasked with enduring a whole new set of trials. Not because he needs to learn something from it, not really. Had Sauron not been coming back and corrupted Denethor, it would have been a fine call to make.

Honestly, even his decision to love with Arwen isn't even really narratively aligned with it. Him taking the crown is an act of selflessness, but asking an elf to love him is incredibly selfish. His decision to seek in the time he has is in a way polar opposite to his decision pick up the burden of leadership. It's not part of his grand narrative lesson, it's just a guy figuring out shit about his personal life even as the world falls apart.

But that's the thing, the world did fall apart. The great war came back, and so it's back onto the front lines for Aragorn. He volunteers, because the kids need him.

Which I think is what makes his story so incredibly moving, and is the source of the something that so many of his analogues in other stories lack. The world and its story isn't built around teaching him a lesson. He's just ... a guy in it. An amazing one, who is desperately needed, but the conflict isn't for him. The world isn't ending so an audience can experience grappling with responsibility vicariously.

It's just talking saying that this is what a great person looks like. The world has those.

And because he doesn't have to hit specific beats of growth, he's allowed to just be a complex and well developed person when he enters the story. So we get this good person, a great person, and he's incredibly fleshed out. So he doesn't just end up being an archetype of greatness, he ends up being a person who is great. But he's also not a character you're supposed to identify with, that's not the purpose of his humanity, those would be the hobbits. Lord of the Rings doesn't say you're supposed to aspire to be Aragorn who becomes a king, it says you're supposed to aspire to be the poor bastards in over their heads who get to go home.

What it says about Aragorn is that when shit gets rough, when things are at their worst? There will be people who are equal to it. That when everything is lost and the best you have left is a suicidal delaying action, there will be someone who can make you believe that it's all worth it.

It's not always true. The young lads all come home in this story too, and that's certainly not what happened for Tolkien. But it's a dream about what should be.

And it's a beautiful dream.

after a lifetime of hearing about aragorn but not reading the books or watching the movies, genuinely nothing could have prepared me for his actual introduction. the hobbits picked this man out of a dumpster. he is a textbook softspoken angst prince and he is covered in dirt and he probably smells so bad. he’s the coolest man alive and is so casual about it. his number one skill is Knowing Where They Are and his number two skill is Having A Horrible Destiny That Torments Him. tolkien got it in one i’m afraid aragorn son of arathorn you are the guy of all time

[ghostlyferrettarot]

💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚Pick A Card: Your love story with your future spouse 💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚

❗️This is a collective reading, take what resonates and leave the rest❗️

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🥰Masterlist🥰🥰Masterlist 2🥰

💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚ Pile 1: 🀢🀣🀦🀤 Cards: 5 of Swords – The Tower – 2 of Cups – Knight of Wands – Justice – The Star.

Okay pile 1, you and your future spouse are starting off with a strange energy. There's some competition in the air. It's giving enemies to lovers, and Maxton Hall vibes (go watch it if you haven't ;)). There's strife, friction, a vibe of intellectual, professional, or ego rivalry. You may work together, have opposing opinions on everything, or you may simply not be able to stand each other because there's too much tension… emotional and other 👀. The Tower appears when something crucial happens between you. A heated argument, an unexpected confession, a situation that completely breaks the impression you had on eachother, etc. Whatever happens, it makes you see each other with new eyes. Something falls apart, and underneath there are feelings (even if you two dont want to admit it at first, i see you guys but it will be undeniable). There's vulnerability in this, like a "oh no… I like you" situation. This person will truly see you because you two are so much alike, you have the same fire as them. And then, without knowing how, you're sharing something real. Fights now end in laughter. Or kisses. Or both 👀. Justice shows me that you're learning to balance each other. That you're both intense, yes, but you're also learning to admire each other. To trust. To build. And the Star is pure healing. This bond transforms you. You don't just love each other: you polish each other, you elevate each other, you truly understand each other. You're going to have to swallow your pride. But it's completely worth it. It's giving rom-com, 10 Things I Hate About You, Bridgerton (season 2 specially).

💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚ Pile 2: 🀢🀣🀦🀤 Cards: 6 of Cups – 3 of Swords – The Lovers – Death – King of Cups – Temperance.

This story has HISTORY, I feel like this is some past energy. You and your future spouse have met before. Maybe it was young love, crushes that didn't quite work out, or someone with whom things just didn't align. There was a breakup. It hurt. Maybe you each went your separate ways, believing you'd get over it. Spoiler pile 2: you didn't get over it 🙃, and that's for the best. Maybe it was someone you met briefly and never forgot, or the other way around. Or even someone from another life. Something forced you to let go before your time. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't the ending you deserved. BUT. Fate didn't forget you. The Lovers mark the reappearance of this person. The reunion. Maybe years later. Maybe when you didn't even expect it. But love returns. And with the Death card, the energy changes radically, this time you are not the same. This time you choose each other with maturity. With awareness. And believe me, this reunion is no coincidence, it's karmic. You are not who you were. And that's good. Now you're ready. The King of Cups represents a wise, present, deep love. And Temperance is the calm after the storm. This relationship becomes a refuge. A safe space. A form of love that only exists when you've known pain and decided to heal with each other. Sometimes the timing isn't right… until it is. And then, everything falls into place as if it was always meant to be. Something that's coming to mind while i'm channeling is the movie Love Rosie, so I feel like that's the kind of story you two will have. Maybe this is a friend of yours as well, someone close.

💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚ Pile 3: 🀢🀣🀦🀤 Cards: The Fool – 4 of Wands – The World – Ace of Cups – Wheel of Fortune – Queen of Pentacles.

PILE 3 I'm really screaming, your romance that seems straight out of a book. This is the kind of story where you wake up one day, go about your routine like any other, and suddenly, you meet someone who completely changes the course of your life. It's that powerful energy. You're entering a new phase. Maybe you just moved, quit a job, decided to live for yourself. You're exploring, growing. And then, without even looking for it… they appear. A person who looks at you as if they've known you before. ITS GIVING SOULMATES SO HARD. You might meet at a wedding, a party, a ceremony… or even through someone else. Either way, there's an IMMEDIATE vibe of "why do I feel like I already know you?" This connection is cosmic. This person celebrates you. They're with you. They don't want to change you or rescue you: they want to see you shine. There are synchronicities everywhere, like repeated numbers, "chance" encounters, phrases that repeat themselves in your dreams. Maybe you already met them in dreams, or your higher selves have already met. With this person, you feel free, accepted, safe. The Wheel of Fortune screams to me: this is destiny. You didn't plan it. But you can't avoid it. And the Queen of Pentacles shows a stable love, the kind that is built day by day, with care, with mate in the morning and massages after a long day. With this person, you will build a beautiful life, with roots. There is emotional security, stability, and a love so real it brings peace. This is "I saw it and I knew it." It's your home in the form of a person pile 3.

💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚Thank you for reading and let me know if it resonated!💌♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚

[holyblonded]

wartime | chasing sunshine

pairings: leah williamson x teen!reader, lionesses x teen!reader

summary: you and leah get into during camp leading to war

warnings: possible injuries

notes: this fic was in my drafts for so long, i forgot to post before nationals (got the dub btw) also this was inspired by the show baby daddy 😭

You had known Leah Williamson since you were nine years old. Back then, you were still the scrawny new kid at the Arsenal academy, tiny and wiry with oversized boots and a chip on your shoulder the size of London itself. You were a little loud, a little quiet, a little angry at the world—but even at that age, Leah saw something in you. Something sharp and fast and completely magnetic with a ball at your feet.

She took you under her wing almost immediately. Not in the showy, mentor-y way, but the quiet kind. She checked in on you between drills. Showed you how to hold your line tighter, how to time your tackles cleaner. Brought you extra protein bars when she noticed you skipped lunch too many times. Then, somewhere between weekend babysitting shifts and emergency school pickups, Leah went from being your big sister figure to your pseudo-mum, especially when your actual parents didn’t bother showing up.

So, naturally, you didn’t argue often—but when you did, it was apocalyptic. There had been yelling. Doors slamming. One time you drank the last of her favorite Earl Grey and didn’t say a word until after she came back from the shop with hopes of a perfect cup. Another time, you’d gotten into a fight at school and Leah had to come collect you early, again. By the time she got you home, her voice was gone from yelling and your pride was bruised from her disappointment.

Out of survival—and honestly, boredom—you created a system to keep the peace. A way to settle things.

The Williamson War.

It started out simple. Just you, Leah, and the rest of the Williamson clan. Jacob. David. Amanda acting as the designated referee. Challenges ranged from backyard obstacle courses to penalty shootouts to who could make the better beans on toast. But over time, the system caught on. Somehow, the Lionesses adopted it too, like it was part of the unspoken team constitution. If there was drama, or indecision, or just plain stubbornness between teammates—Williamson War it was.

So when you stormed into the St. George’s Park lounge after a light training session and heard raised voices—your voice and Leah’s—the team collectively groaned.

“Sunny,” Leah huffed, hands on her hips, “what aren’t you understanding about the situation?”

You rolled your eyes dramatically. “That you think you get to control my life because you taught me how to do a proper throw-in when I was ten.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not five, Leah. I can make my own decisions.”

“I’m your captain.”

“You’re not my captain when it’s about my life!”

“Oh, for the love of—don’t you dare—”

But it was already too late. You plucked your cochlear implants off and held them up in the air like a victory trophy. “Can’t hear you, sorry!” you said cheerfully before dropping them into her outstretched, infuriated hand.

Leah narrowed her eyes and started signing, her hands sharp and aggressive.

“Put them back in. Now.”

You grinned and signed back, “Bite me.” Then promptly closed your eyes and leaned back into the couch like a gremlin entering a power nap.

“Unbelievable!” Leah shouted as Keira and Georgia appeared out of nowhere to drag her away like riot control. Meanwhile, Alessia and Grace rushed to you, snatched your implants from Leah’s hands, and re-attached them to your ears.

“Right,” Alessia said, sighing as your implants clicked on and the world returned to full volume. “What’s going on?”

“Leah thinks she can captain my life,” you spat, gesturing violently in Leah’s direction. She was across the room, fuming in a fleece pullover, arms folded with that stiff jaw clench you recognized from when she was really, really trying not to explode.

“Oh, do not!” she yelled back.

“Do so!”

“Okay, enough,” Alessia said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Let’s all take a deep breath.”

“I’ll breathe when she breathes,” you said flatly, still glaring at Leah like she’d set your boots on fire.

Leah’s eyes blazed. “You know what?” she said, standing up tall, cracking her neck once. “Fine.”

She raised one hand high. “One, two—”

“Leah, be careful now,” Lucy said from her beanbag throne in the corner, eyes wide.

“Three, four—”

“Leah, it doesn’t have to come to this!” Keira begged, half-laughing, half-exhausted.

“I declare a Williamson War!”

Beth Mead gasped so loudly it echoed off the lounge walls. Georgia threw a hand over her mouth like she was witnessing treason.

Alessia and Grace looked at each other, wide-eyed, clearly wondering what they had just signed up for.

You stood up so fast your water bottle fell over.

“Five, six, seven, eight—winner decides the loser’s fate!” you yelled, pointing directly at Leah like you were in the middle of a WWE promo.

A chorus of groans echoed around the room.

Niamh turned to Millie with a confused squint. “What… is happening?”

Millie, who had clearly seen it all before, sighed like she’d just aged ten years. “It’s a Williamson War. Leah and Sunny invented it when Sunny was still at the academy. It’s how they settle literally everything.”

“How serious does it get?”

Millie deadpanned, “Last time they did this, Leah broke Sunny’s wrist in an overzealous three-legged race. 2021. Never forget.”

“Oh my god.”

Grace looked nervously between you and Leah, who were both now stretching like you were about to play in a final. “Have either of you ever considered, I don’t know, talking it out like emotionally stable adults?” she asked hopefully.

You and Leah answered in perfect harmony:

“Too late for that.”

“This is war.”

The field was set. Bibs had been thrown on. Cones had been dramatically slammed into the grass. A whiteboard stood nearby, scrawled with WILLIAMSON WAR SCOREBOARD in messy pink Expo marker handwriting (courtesy of Ella).

Sarina— who agreed to ref the “team bonding”— stood at midfield in full tracksuit, arms crossed, her face unreadable. Like this was a World Cup Final. Not a civil war between the Lionesses.

“Challenge One,” Sarina announced. “Crossbar Chaos. Spin twenty-eight times, then hit the crossbar sixteen times.”

Grace turned to you, wide-eyed. “Wait, we have to hit the crossbar sixteen times?”

“That’s Sunny’s age!” Alessia said brightly.

“Yeah but I’m not built like her!” Grace hissed.

“None of us are,” muttered Aggie, cracking her knuckles.

Across the way, Beth Mead was bouncing on her toes, already holding a ball, already chewing invisible gum, already way too amped for what should’ve been a joke.

Leah smirked from the sideline, arms folded. “We got this. Beth was born for chaos. She thrives in nonsense.”

You snorted from the other side. “Perfect. This game’s made for us.”

Round One: Aggie (Team Sunny) vs. Beth (Team Leah)

Beth and Aggie stepped to the line like it was a duel at high noon. Ella had a paper towel roll she was pretending was a mic.

“Ladies and gents!” she announced in her best ring announcer voice. “In the red corner, we have the Pride of Whitby, the Destroyer of Defenses, Queen of the Rebound—Beth Mad Mead!”

Beth winked at the imaginary crowd and blew kisses.

“And in the blue corner, Team Chaos’s silent killer, the low-key powerhouse, the human missile—Aggie Grim Reaper Jones!”

Aggie gave an unimpressed shrug and mumbled, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“You’ll spin twenty-eight times,” Sarina declared. “Then you may proceed to the shooting zone. Crossbar hits only count if the ball bounces back in bounds. No wild rebounding into Scotland.”

“Scotland doesn’t want your balls anyway!” Ella heckled.

“On your marks,” Sarina said.

Beth dropped into a squatting stance like a gremlin about to do a backflip.

“Get set.”

Aggie muttered, “My breakfast is going to come back to haunt me.”

“GO!”

Both girls began spinning. The count was on. Ella and Alessia were chanting the numbers like a cult. You and Leah stood behind their teammates, yelling advice that no one was hearing.

“SPIN FASTER, AGGIE!” You shouted, cupping your hands like a coach on the sideline.

“MORE COMMITMENT, MEADY!” Leah yelled. “YOU SPIN LIKE A WEAK FAN!”

At spin number 12, Beth wobbled sideways and screamed, “THE EARTH IS MELTING!”

Aggie tripped over her own foot and collapsed to one knee before popping back up with pure rage. “I’M FINE!”

“Keep going! 18! 19!” Alessia yelled, giggling uncontrollably.

By spin 25, both were a mess. Beth’s hair was flying. Aggie’s arms were flailing like she was swimming midair.

“TWENTY-EIGHT!” screamed Ella, practically frothing at the mouth.

Beth stumbled to the shooting zone like a drunk baby deer and whiffed her first attempt so hard it rolled backwards. “I HATE PHYSICS!”

Aggie’s first shot actually hit the crossbar—but ricocheted directly into Georgia’s shin on the sideline.

“OW! WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!” Georgia yelped.

“GET IN BETH!” Lucy screamed. “THINK OF THE NORTHERN PRIDE!”

Beth attempted to stabilize, took a deep breath, then launched her second attempt… and hit the post.

“WRONG BAR!” You called out gleefully. “OPEN YOUR EYES, MEAD!”

Aggie scored again. Clink. One down. Fifteen to go.

Leah was now squatting like a football dad, muttering under her breath. “C’mon, Beth. Lock in. Visualize. Channel the Beth who scored against Chelsea. Channel the Beth who stole my last yogurt and lived.”

Beth finally hit one. Clink. She screamed like she’d just scored a penalty in the Euros.

Ella counted out loud, way too fast. “THAT’S TWO! OR SEVEN! I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE!”

Aggie was at four. Then five. Then fell to the ground, dramatically holding her temple. “I’m gonna vom.”

You leaned over her. “No, you’re gonna win. Vom after.”

Beth hit her third bar and went full sprint into a celebratory dance that wasted precious time. Leah tackled her back into place. “Keep. Going.”

Alessia looked like she was crying from laughter. Grace was on the ground.

“FIFTEEN!” Ella roared at the top of her lungs.

Aggie scored the sixteenth bar. Sarina blew the whistle.

Team Sunny exploded. Ella tackled Aggie to the ground. You leapt into the air, nearly pulled a hamstring, and started yelling “GET DUNKED ON” at Leah.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Leah bellowed. “MEADY, I BELIEVED IN YOU.”

Beth flopped to the grass like she’d been assassinated. “My legs are noodles.”

Georgia sighed, still holding her shin. “This war is already a disaster.”

Sarina adjusted her stopwatch. “Team Sunny: 1. Team Leah: 0.”

Leah glared at you across the grass. “You got lucky.”

You gave her a two-finger salute. “I am lucky. I’m lucky you’re washed.”

Beth lifted her head from the grass. “Wow.”

You looked at her. “Love you, Beth.”

Beth muttered, “Rot.”

There was a certain energy to a nugget toss.

Maybe it was the smell—crispy, greasy, fresh out the team kitchen’s air fryer. Maybe it was the sheer absurdity of elite professional athletes standing ten feet apart with chicken nuggets in hand, trying to yeet them into each other’s mouths. Maybe it was the fact that you were taking it way too seriously.

Either way, the sideline was packed. Ella was filming like it was her full-time job. Alessia and Aggie were doing warm-ups with ketchup packets. Beth was shouting unsolicited tips from behind a cone, as if she was the Gordon Ramsay of projectile poultry.

You were bouncing slightly on your toes, eyes sharp, laser-focused. Grace stood across from you, giggling like a kid at a fair.

“Are we really doing this?” she asked, holding a nugget like it was radioactive.

“We’re winning this,” you replied, cracking your neck. “Open wide.”

Across the pitch, Leah already looked stressed.

“Lucy, please, I’m begging you,” she muttered, watching as Lucy popped another nugget into her mouth before the game even started.

“I’m hungry!” Lucy defended through a mouthful of food. “They’re warm! I’m not wasting good nuggets on throwing!”

“You’re supposed to throw them!”

Lucy shrugged. “That’s not who I am as a person.”

Sarina stepped between the teams with her clipboard and whistle. She looked like she was reconsidering every choice that led her to this moment.

“Okay,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Rules. Each team has one tosser and one catcher. You get one point per successful mouth catch. Thirty seconds. No stepping over the cone. No spitting nuggets at the referee.”

Everyone looked at Georgia.

Georgia held up her hands. “That happened once.”

“Teams ready?”

“Born ready!” you shouted.

Leah glared at you. “You’re gonna choke on a nugget and I’m not helping you.”

“Bold of you to assume you’re invited to my funeral.”

“BEGIN!”

You launched your first nugget with surgical precision. Grace, bless her sweet soul, actually caught it with a startled yelp.

“ONE POINT!” Sarina called out, looking shocked.

Across the way, Lucy hurled a nugget so wildly it hit the side of Leah’s head.

“LUCY!”

“Oops.”

You threw your second. Grace fumbled it, but caught it on the bounce with her mouth and a squeal.

“Two points!” Sarina called.

Leah was now holding her arms out like a crossbar, fully bracing herself. “Try again. Aim low.”

Lucy tossed underhand this time, and Leah caught it… with her eye.

“OW! LUCY, THAT WAS A MEAT MISSILE!”

Meanwhile, you were on fire. Every toss was perfect. Grace caught one mid-laugh. One with her hands behind her back. One while spinning for no reason.

“Team Sunny is on SEVEN!” Sarina shouted, now genuinely enjoying herself.

Leah had caught one. Lucy had eaten five.

“I don’t even care if we lose,” Lucy said, chewing blissfully. “These are amazing. Compliments to the chef.”

“YOU ARE THE WORST TEAMMATE,” Leah bellowed, snatching the nugget bucket out of Lucy’s hands and tossing it behind her.

“Did you just THROW OUR AMMO?!” Lucy gasped.

Ella screamed from the sidelines, “YOU DON’T TOSS THE NUGGETS UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO WIN, LUCY!”

You wiped a fake tear. “It’s like watching a breakup in real time.”

Grace nearly fell over laughing.

“TEN SECONDS!” Sarina yelled.

You locked eyes with Grace. “Let’s go out with a bang!”

You tossed. She caught. Boom. You tossed again. It bounced off her nose, but she caught it on the rebound. Screams from the sideline.

Final toss. It flew like an arc of golden-battered glory. Grace caught it clean.

“AND THAT’S TIME!” Sarina blew her whistle.

Team Sunny: 10

Team Leah: 1

Lucy: 7 nuggets in her stomach, zero regrets

You and Grace celebrated like you’d won the Champions League. You jumped into her arms. She almost dropped you. Ella threw ketchup packets like confetti. Alessia was doubled over laughing.

Across the way, Leah dropped to her knees. “I hate chicken nuggets.”

Lucy patted her shoulder. “Don’t be mad. I’m full and happy. That’s what matters.”

Leah stared at her. “This is war. And you’re a double agent.”

Lucy smirked. “War tastes like poultry.”

Sarina marked another tally on the board. “Team Sunny leads two to zero.”

You blew Leah a kiss. “Better luck next time, Captain.”

She flipped you off without a word.

You grinned. The war was going very well.

There were many things the FA training facility was known for. World-class pitches. Premier rehab rooms. Tactical planning spaces.

It was not known for roller sports.

So naturally, it became the perfect arena for the next round of Williamson War.

The hallway, long, echoey, with fluorescent lighting that made everyone look like they were in a 2002 crime drama, was quickly turned into a battleground.

Traffic cones marked the boundaries. The vending machines at the far end stood ominously. Staff had been cleared from the area after someone (Georgia) sent out a mass text that read: “Clear the hallway. Death on wheels incoming.”

Ella and Alessia, once again, had their filming setup in full effect.

“Welcome back to WarWatch,” Ella whispered into her fake mic. “This episode: bruises, betrayal, and a coach casualty.”

You stood in your borrowed roller skates (which may or may not have been two sizes too big), adjusting your knee pads like this was life or death. Grace stood behind you with a water bottle and nervous laughter.

“I don’t know how to skate,” Grace muttered.

“Just pretend you’re escaping your childhood,” you replied, eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, Leah was tying her laces like she was about to compete in the Olympics. She had that scary focused look—the kind she got before important matches or when someone took the last Yorkshire Gold tea bag.

“She’s fully in her villain arc,” Beth said, munching on popcorn from the sidelines.

Lucy was skating in little circles and nearly took out Keira twice. Georgia had been banned from the warm-up lap after trying to shoulder-check Alessia “as a test.”

Sarina stood at the starting line, clipboard in hand. Somehow, she had agreed to referee this again. Maybe she liked the chaos. Maybe she wanted a raise.

“All right,” Sarina sighed. “First to complete three laps of the hallway wins. No biting. No dragging your teammate by the ponytail. No crashing into staff—”

She paused. Looked at you directly.

You looked away innocently. “I’m an angel.”

Sarina didn’t look convinced.

“Three!” Sarina shouted.

“Two!”

Lucy screamed, “I’M GONNA DIE!”

“One—GO!”

Everyone took off like a bunch of wild toddlers with no center of gravity. Grace immediately screamed as she wobbled to one side, took Ella out like a bowling pin, and somehow ended up riding on Alessia’s back.

You managed to stay upright and build speed. The hallway zoomed by in a blur of polished floors, motivational posters, and confused physios peeking out of doors.

Leah—competitive demon that she is—skated like she’d been born on wheels. She was elbows out, teeth gritted, muttering under her breath like, “I will NOT lose to that child.”

You rounded the second lap and noticed the vending machine looming like a steel trap of death.

“Grace, MOVE!” you shouted.

Too late.

Grace skidded and crashed straight into the vending machine, causing a loud CLUNK and a rain of individually packaged biscuits to fall inside.

“Ow!” she cried. “But also… snacks.”

“You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” Ella called out from behind the camera.

Meanwhile, Lucy was skating backwards for no reason and rambling, “This is so much harder than Ibiza roller disco.”

“Focus, Lucy!” Leah shouted, speeding past her.

“Don’t tell me how to live!”

You pushed forward, legs burning, determined to cut off Leah at the final turn.

But just as you were rounding the last lap, a shadow appeared in front of you.

“Sarina?!”

She had stepped slightly into the hallway, checking her clipboard—at exactly the wrong moment.

“OH NO—” you shouted.

WHAM.

You collided full-speed into her, both of you tumbling to the ground. Her whistle flew through the air like a tiny sad rocket.

Gasps. Screams. Laughter. The sound of a vending machine spitting out one last KitKat.

“ARE YOU OKAY?!” you yelled, untangling yourself from her legs.

Sarina, flat on her back, blinked at the ceiling. “I see God.”

“‘He impressed?” you wheezed.

“No.”

Yet, Leah did not stop skating. Even as her team called out, “Leah, the coach is down!” Even as you lay there dramatically flopped over Sarina’s legs like a Victorian ghost.

Leah zoomed through her final lap, arms pumping, a single focus in her eyes: victory.

She skidded to a stop at the finish line, fists in the air.

“YES! I WON!” she yelled, chest heaving.

Lucy rolled up behind her. “Wait. Didn’t Sunny take out Sarina?”

Everyone turned to the coach.

Sarina raised one weary hand from the floor and wheezed, “I call… disqualification… for vehicular assault.”

You face-planted into the hallway floor in shame.

Grace, still trapped behind the vending machine, yelled, “It was worth it!”

FINAL SCORE

Team Sunny: 2

Team Leah: 1

Lucy helped Sarina up, only to nearly trip again. Ella zoomed in on Sarina’s unimpressed face. Alessia whispered, “This is so going in the team slideshow.”

Leah glared at you. “This isn’t over.”

You wiped dust off your knee pad. “It’s okay. I hear concussing the coach is trendy now.”

Sarina looked at both of you. “Next person to touch me on wheels runs laps for a month.”

The hallway was silent. Then Lucy whispered, “…Can I keep the skates?”

The final challenge had the atmosphere of a World Cup final—if that final involved cones, handstands, and deeply questionable strategy.

The pitch was sectioned off with plastic cones in a zigzagging maze. The only way to make it through? One person walks while a partner signed directions in British Sign Language (BSL). Then the navigator tagged the last teammate, who had to walk in a handstand across the finish line. But to make things interesting navigators had to wear giant, vision-warping, gag-store glasses. Imagine Elton John meets funhouse mirror.

“They look like cartoon flies,” Beth snorted as you and Leah strapped on your ridiculous eyewear.

Ella zoomed in with her phone.

“This is the highest level of football camp. Professionals. International caps. And they’re dressed like Pixar side characters.”

This was the Williamson War Final Showdown, and nothing had ever been more unserious yet more important.

Alessia pressed record on her phone.

“Ladies and gentlefolk, we bring you the dramatic conclusion of the dumbest series of competitions this camp has ever seen.”

She panned to the cone maze. “Obstacle course built by chaos. Starring: slightly concussed athletes and a very exhausted Sarina.”

Sarina, wearing a visor and sipping black coffee like it was tequila, gave a long-suffering sigh. “On my whistle. First team to cross the finish wins. You all know the rules. I can’t believe I have to say them out loud.”

Tooney leaned toward the camera. “You just know she’s texting the FA board like, ‘pls send help.’”

Leah is blinded. Keira signs. Georgia is warming up by walking on her hands like it’s casual.

Leah stood at the starting line, hands on hips. “Keira, if I run into something—”

“You will,” Keira replied. “Let’s just accept it now.”

“Confidence boost: zero,” Leah muttered and adjusted her glasses, blinking hard.

“Everything looks… bendy.”

“That’s the point,” Keira replied, cracking her knuckles dramatically. “Follow my lead.”

“Just don’t sign ‘yeet yourself into a cone,’ okay?”

Georgia stood near the finish line, stretching out her wrists like she was about to perform at Cirque du Soleil.

Sarina raised her whistle. “Ready… go!”

Leah started off confidently. Then took one wobbly step, panicked, and immediately bumped into a cone.

“Oh my GOD, she’s down already,” Tooney cackled.

“No, no, I’ve got this,” Leah huffed, reorienting herself. “Keira, sign clearer!”

“You need to look with your eyes,” Keira signed dramatically.

“I’M TRYING BUT EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A MINECRAFT TEXTURE PACK.”

Despite it all, Leah somehow recovered. She started speed-walking through the cones like someone trying to power-walk away from a breakup.

Beth, eating crisps, muttered, “She’s terrifying when she’s determined.”

Keira was signing wildly now, turn, side step, forward, and Leah was locked in.

She tagged Georgia with flair.

Georgia popped up into a handstand like it was nothing. Everyone on the sidelines gasped. Someone (probably Grace) fainted.

She cartwheeled once, balanced perfectly, and began walking on her hands toward the line.

“She’s floating,” Aggie whispered, eyes wide.

Alessia said into the mic, “If you told me she was built in a lab, I’d believe it.”

Georgia crossed the line and flipped onto her feet, posing like an Olympic gymnast.

Sarina blew the whistle.

Team Leah: 1 minute, 50 seconds.

The girls cheered. Leah whipped off her glasses dramatically and threw them to the floor.

“Beat that, gremlin,” she said, pointing at you.

You stood at the start line with a tight jaw, arms crossed, bouncing on your toes.

From the sidelines, Alessia zoomed in. “Here we have Sunny, notoriously feral, about to trust someone else for once in her life.”

Tooney snorted. “Growth moment.”

You were bouncing on your toes in your own enormous bug-eyed glasses. “These make me feel like I’m in an aquarium.”

“You look like you live in one,” Leah muttered.

You ignored her and turned to Khiara. “Are you ready?”

“Born ready,” Khiara grinned. “Don’t get lost or I’m never letting you live it down.”

Michelle cracked her knuckles at the finish line. “I’ve been practicing this since Year 6 PE. Let’s go.”

Sarina blew her whistle. “Go!”

You squinted. The cones were blurry blobs. The maze looked like a video game from 2004.

But you trusted Khiara.

She started signing, “Right. Small step. Now straight. Side step.”

You nodded and followed her lead—carefully, precisely, only nearly tripping once.

Ella whispered to the camera, “She’s serious. This is prime goblin mode discipline.”

Then you stepped over a cone so smoothly that Keira clutched her chest like a proud mum.

Aggie yelled, “She’s doing the stanky leg, but like… on purpose!”

You reached Michelle and tagged her. “Your turn. Don’t mess this up!”

Michelle grinned. “Watch and learn.”

She flipped into a handstand like it was her natural form and walked forward with zero fear.

The crowd roared. Grace fanned herself. Lucy burst into spontaneous applause.

“Look at the control!” Aggie screamed.

Alessia screamed, “LOOK AT HER GO! SHE’S GRAVITY DEFYING! NASA’S JEALOUS!”

Michelle wobbled once, corrected, and then gracefully, crossed the finish line.

Tooney dropped her phone. “WE’VE BEEN SERVED.”

Sarina blew the whistle. “Team Sunny: 1 minute, 38 seconds. Team Sunny wins the Williamson War of 2025.”

You tore off your glasses and fist-pumped the air.

Leah dropped to her knees. “AGAIN?!”

“Victory is mine,” you whispered, grabbing the cone you tripped over and holding it like a trophy.

“Cone of destiny.”

Georgia clapped her on the back. “You were robbed.”

Lucy handed Leah a chicken nugget. “For your pain.”

Sarina walked off the field muttering, “I’m too old for this.”

Tooney wrapped things up. “That concludes the 2025 Williamson War. Final score—Team Sunny: 3, Team Leah: 1, Team Sarina: emotionally destroyed.”

Alessia added, “We now return to regularly scheduled Lioness programming… until next time.”

You looked at Leah, smug. “I already know your punishment.”

The punishment had been decided unanimously, quickly, and with diabolical precision. No polar plunges. No public serenades. No forfeiting dessert.

Leah had to call Amanda Williamson. Her mum. The original referee of the Williamson Wars. Also known as Sunny’s biggest fan and number one defender.

Amanda had banned Williamson Wars after the infamous 2021 incident, when Leah got over-competitive and broke 12-year-old Sunny’s wrist during a three-legged race on uneven grass.

Amanda had said, verbatim: “I see one more ‘War’ and you’ll be lucky if I let you lead a prayer circle, let alone a football team.”

So naturally, you freshly victorious and high on glory (and sugar), picked that as the punishment.

Back in your shared room, Leah sat at the edge of her bed, phone in hand, looking like she was waiting to be executed.

You were sprawled dramatically across your bed, slurping a Caprisun through a neon curly straw you’d brought “for the aesthetic.”

“Do I have to?” Leah groaned, already dialing.

“Yes,” you replied gleefully, leaning back against your pillow fortress. “Tell her everything. Start with, ‘Hi Mum, it’s your disappointment child.’”

Leah glared at you. “I should’ve made you eat peas as your punishment.”

“You tried. I won. Now call Mother Amanda, peasant.”

The phone rang. Once. Twice.

“Leah Cathrine Williamson.” Amanda didn’t even say hello. Her voice came through stern, crisp, and full of maternal judgment.

You snorted so hard you almost choked on your juice pouch.

“H-hi Mum,” Leah said, already wincing.

“Oh, don’t ‘hi Mum’ me. What did you do?”

Leah threw a hand in the air. “Why do you always assume I did something?!”

“Because whenever I get a call right after training, someone’s either injured, traumatized, or missing an eyebrow. Now speak.”

Leah groaned. “It was a Williamson War, okay? But like—low stakes. Mostly cones.”

Dead. Silence. Then Amanda exhaled. The kind of sigh that said ‘I carried you for nine months and this is how you repay me?’

“You what?”

“Technically Sunny participated too—”

You waved from your bed. “Hi Mum Amanda! I won!”

Amanda’s voice shifted instantly. “Oh, hi sweetheart! I’m so proud of you, my little champion! Did she feed you today?”

“Three times,” you said. “Plus a CapriSun.”

“Good girl. Now back to Leah—YOU STARTED ANOTHER WAR?!”

Leah groaned. “It was joint custody chaos! The kids needed entertainment!”

Amanda was not amused. “I banned Williamson Wars after you broke her wrist. BROKE. HER. WRIST.”

“It healed!” Leah said weakly. “Now it’s like a superhero wrist!”

“Leah Cathrine, I ought to fly there myself and drag you into retirement.”

You dramatically fake-gasped from the bed. “Tell her about the vending machine crash!”

“I will hit you,” Leah hissed.

Amanda did not miss a beat. “What vending machine crash?”

“She hit Sarina,” you whispered into the phone.

“WHAT?!”

“It was an accident!” Leah cried. “And Sarina lived! She walked it off!”

“You’re lucky she walked it off! I told you, no more Wars! And now you’re back at camp with the team acting like Wile E. Coyote on wheels!”

You collapsed in laughter. Leah had her face in her hands.

Amanda continued, not letting up for a second.

“I should call Sarina myself. Apologize on your behalf. And you”—she paused for dramatic effect—“are on punishment.”

Leah blinked. “I’m 28 years old.”

“You’re never too old for consequences. You are banned from leading anything, including lunch lines, until further notice.”

You applauded from your bed. “I’d like to submit a motion for a five-year ban on Williamson Wars.”

“Seconded,” Amanda said.

“Mum!” Leah whined.

“You’re lucky she’s not asking for a CPS case. Sunny is basically yours.”

You grinned. “Leah is my legal guardian.”

“I knew it,” Amanda muttered. “Should’ve tied her to a bench in 2020.”

Leah tossed her phone on the bed and fell back with a groan.

You picked it up sweetly. “Love you, Amanda!”

“Love you, darling. Keep her in line.”

“Always,” you replied with a salute, then ended the call.

Leah stared at the ceiling. “I should’ve just let you drink my tea back in 2017.”

You smiled, sipping the last of your juice. “I’m so glad you didn’t.”

[flqwerjo]

˖ ݁˖ ❀⋆｡˚ ─── 𝑺𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝒇𝑜𝑟 𝒀𝑜𝑢

˚.❀𝑨𝐿𝑇𝐸𝑅𝑁𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑉𝐸𝐿𝑌ᵎᵎ dating gang!enhypen

˚.❀𝑮𝐸𝑁𝑅𝐸/𝐶𝑊 ─── scenarios, fluff, mentions of violence and bruises (wounds, blood), established relationships, mentions of crimes (trespassing, vandalism, theft etc), combat, usage of weapons, small amount of angst? (reader gets kidnapped in Jungwon's part) ˚.❀𝑾𝑂𝑅𝐷 𝐶𝑂𝑈𝑁𝑇 ─── 2.6k

                               𝒄ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡ᵎᵎ (˶˃⤙˂˶)

˚.❀𝑱𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑤𝑜𝑛

"What a shame. Pretty little thing just wanted to go out and get groceries at the wrong time", you recognized the guy who was speaking to you with fake sympathy in his voice as your eyes started to flutter open. You couldn't see his face as he was hiding in the shadows , his shoes and legs were the only thing you could see. Your head was pounding and you felt dried liquid on the side of your head ── it was your blood. You just wanted to get your groceries... maybe this wouldn't have happened if you had just paid more attention , you should've known by the heavy footsteps that picked up their pace behind you before your world went dark ── you should have known that a certain someone had their eyes on you the minute you stepped foot outside of your house.

"Are you in love with my boyfriend or why are you doing all this just to lure him in?", your voice was groggy as you spat that out , eyebrows furrowed as you narrowed your eyes at his form slowly emerging from the shadows. It was one of Jungwon's enemies , a childhood friend he used to be really close with but ended the friendship with when they were 15 ── ever since then , that guy made himself Jungwon's sworn enemy. A scowl was on his face as soon as you said that before he made long strides over to the chair you were tied up on. "Shut the fuck up you stupid fucking bitch! If it weren't for you , I would still be Jungwon's number one!", the guy yelled back , a vein popping out of his forehead before he slapped your cheek and grabbed your collar , a loud wince leaving your lips.

"If it weren't for that stupid crush Jungwon had on you years ago , this wouldn't all have happened. Why couldn't you have just stayed the fuck away!?", jesus , not only did that guy have fucking issues but his breath also stank. You stared at him with an unreadable expression on your face ── you just hoped and prayed that Jungwon would come. You tried to keep it cool... but to be honest, you were starting to get scared ── that guy was a complete psychopath. And your prayers have been heard. The guy was about to slap you but a metal bat made its appearance behind him , glistening under the lighting of the singular lightbulb. You watched as his eyes widened once the metal bat hit him in the back of his head , his grip on you loosening as his eyes rolled back and passed out.

"(Y/n)!", Jungwon exclaimed in relief as he kicked the guys body to the side and rushed over to you, pulling a pocket knife out of the pocket of his jeans to cut the ropes open that kept you tied to the chair. He quickly but gently cupped your face to check for injuries , a sour expression on his face when he saw the dried blood on the side of your face before he pulled you into his arms ── his lips pressing against your forehead as his hug tightened. "I'm so sorry... I should've gone to the store with you... I'm so glad you're okay my love", Jungwon mumbled against your forehead , his lips brushing against your skin as he spoke and his arms once again tightened around your body.

"Let's get out of here... Jay is already waiting outside in the car... let's get you to the hospital to check your head"

˚.❀𝑯𝑒𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑛𝑔

"Again? This is the 6th time this week .... and it's only Wednesday", you could only sigh as you looked at your beaten up boyfriend standing at your doorstep in the middle of the night, an apologetic expression on his bruised face. "I live a dangerous life angel.. but this time it wasn't a silly fight , it was about you. You know how crazy i get when someone even dares to say your name... this guy had the guts to say that he could make you cheat on me since he was 'a thousand times' better than me", he pouted as he explained himself , yet , there was some frustration in his voice. You grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside before grabbing his collar and pulling him down to you , your eyes scanning his face to take a closer look at his bruises.

His hands immediately went to your waist, his eyes softening with a lovestruck glimmer in them , a soft smile on his face while the tips of his ears were starting to grow red. God were you cute , the cutest of them all ── especially when you were focused like this , trying to be mad at him but ultimately failing. You had him wrapped around your pretty finger, he'd do anything for you ── even burn the world down if that's what you wanted.

His smile didn't falter as your frown deepened , his face leaning closer to yours as he leaned in until the tip of his nose was brushing against yours. "The least you could do is kissing it better ...", he whispered as his eyes shifted down to your lips , yearning to kiss them and feel them against his own. But you weren't complying. "No, you're getting your wounds and bruises treated first.... then you'll maybe get a kiss", his smile faltered at your words , shaking his head frantically as you dragged him to the bathroom ── he hated getting his bruises and wounds treated , it just hurt so much! "Please angel! Anything but that! I'll even do the dishes!", he whined out but didn't make a move to stop you from dragging him, knowing how stubborn you can be.

"You're not getting your kiss then"

"Oh... :( alright...fine..."

˚.❀𝑱𝑎𝑦

You were scared and upset ── the feeling of dread was stronger though. Jay and a couple members of his gang were going to rob the store owned by some rich racist guy ── the justice was there but... it just didn't sound like a good idea at all. He promised you that he'd try to come back in 1 hour ... it's been 3 hours since then and still no word from him. You were nervously pacing around , your teeth chomping down on your almost bitten off fingernails as the worst case scenarios started to flood your mind. What if something happened? What if something happened to him? All those what if questions swirled around in your mind until your phone started to vibrate , your eyes immediately looking at the caller ID. It was Riki.

Riki informed you that they were back at their base and that Jay was knocked out and getting treated by Sunoo ── according to Riki , Jay got a gunshot wound on his shoulder. The bullet wasn't deep in his shoulder so it wasn't anything severe or dangerous ── didn't change the fact that your beloved Boyfriend was injured nonetheless. He just passed out from the adrenaline and exhaustion from the sleepless nights he had the last couple days. So , of course you just hung up in the middle of Riki's explanation and rushed to their base.

You didn't know if you wanted to scream , cry or slap him out of frustration as Jay sat there on the couch without a shirt , a bandage wrapped around his shoulder ── a soft smile on his face despite the panicked expression on it. He knew that he was going to get an earful from you. And he predicted right ── he just shut you up in the middle of it with a kiss that took your breath away.

"I know that it was idiotic of me mi amore , but all that matters now is that I'm fine , okay? I'll be more careful next time , I'm sorry for scaring you", Jay apologized as he cupped your face with his calloused hands , his thumb gently rubbing into your cheek. Before you could say something , Jungwon chimed in.

"There is no next time Jay. You're banned from gang activities until your shoulder is healed, otherwise you'll turn into dust if you move too much I fear"

˚.❀𝑱𝑎𝑘𝑒

"Oh come on.... please , just one kiss :("

"No."

"Why nooooooot :("

"You know damn well why"

Jake whined and groaned , throwing an internal tantrum as he threw himself onto your bed and rolled around , a huge pout on his lips. Yes , he may have gone a bit too far but come onnnnn ── your ex was asking for it! But maybe breaking your ex boxfriend's car windows was a bit too much ── in fact , he was now relieved that he didn't choose setting the car on fire as his choice of action. Still , you were mad at him for that. Jake could only sulk and pout , whining every once in a while to get your attention while you were giving him the cold shoulder.

"Baby please... I'm sorry, but he was asking for it! He kept provoking me , telling me that you'd break up with me because I'm such a hooligan or that I'm not good enough for you since I don't fit your ideal type...", Jake mumbled as he buried his face into your pillow , feeling upset with himself for making you so goddamn upset. You sighed softly and got up from your chair , abandoning your assignments as you walked over to your bed and placed your hand on his back , gently rubbing it as he buried his face deeper into your pillow.

"And you should know that everything he says isn't true. I don't care about ideal types , I just want someone who treats me well and has a great personality : which you do have and do. But breaking his windows was a bit too far Jakey... You could have just thrown eggs at his house", he only grumbled at your reply before turning to lay on his back , his sulky face coming into your view. He slowly took your hand and guided it to his lips , letting them brush against your knuckles before placing a soft kiss on them.

"I'm really sorry Baby... can I please get my kiss now...? I'll die otherwise"

˚.❀𝑺𝑢𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑛

You sighed softly as you walked through the halls of your college and watched the way the students started to cower in your presence ── it wasn't your presence though , you knew why they were cowering away from you. You knew that your boyfriend was behind you with a dark gaze in his eyes , following you like a guard dog ── he didn't even attend your college!

"Baby , you seriously have to stop scaring everyone away from me", you sighed softly as you looked up from your textbook , looking at your boyfriend who sat on your desk and watched you study, his eyes meeting yours as they shifted up to your face. "I'm just keeping you safe , especially from other men. Men are like wolves , dangerous. Besides , that way, fake people will stay away from you", he defended himself , his hand reaching for your face to tuck some strands of hair behind your ear.

"I know but.....", you couldn't find the right words , your voice trailing off. His eyes scanned your expression , noticing that you started to look.... a little lonely and he sighed softly. "I'll stop okay? I'll only bring you to and pick you up from college. I'm just... scared that something will happen to you, I live a dangerous life and you being together with me pulls you into it. My enemies could be everywhere , I'm just scared that they'll do something to you...", he explained himself , your eyes locking with his as you looked back at him. So that was the reason why he did that..

You perked up as you suddenly got an idea ── it made sense why he'd be scared. "How about this : teach me how to fight! That way , I can at least defend myself if something were to happen"

His lips curled into a small smile as he heard that , nodding his head approvingly. "That sounds like a good idea"

˚.❀𝑺𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑜

"Like this?"

"Oh? Maybe that gun is a little heavy for you.. try this one", Sunoo took the gun you held out of your hand and handed you a new one after watching you struggle to hold the previous one without shaking. Your boyfriend was the sniper of the gang he was , despite how soft or cute he could look ── he could be dangerous if he wanted to and knew his aim with the gun or sniper. And right now , he was teaching you how to use one since you've been pestering him about it ── he refused the first couple times but he was down bad for you : how could he say no to those pretty eyes of yours?

"Fix your posture baby", he moved to stand behind you , his hands firm as he fixed your posture and helped you aim the gun at a dummy. "Now , pull the trigger ,aim and let the trigger go", he instructed as he removed his hands from you , lifting them up to your ears to cover them before you shot at the dummy. Damn , how was he able to do this without falling? The recoil of the gun had you stumbling backwards but you didn't fall ── all thanks to your boyfriend standing behind you , your back leaning against his chest.

He hummed in approval and removed his hands from your ears to place them on your waist , holding you close to him as he leaned in and kissed your cheek. "Not bad .... that's my girl", he mumbled against your cheek , his words filled with pride as he looked at the dummy.

˚.❀𝑹𝑖𝑘𝑖

You hummed to yourself as you made your way to the base of the gang Riki was apart of , a pink lunchbox in your hands since Riki forgot to take it with him ── you knew he was training right now so he needed the energy. "Oh (Y/n) ! Riki is in the ba──", you cut Jake off with a bright smile on your face . "In the back throwing punches at the punching bag , I know!", you chirped as you headed straight to the back , already hearing the sounds created by the impact of his boxing gloves hitting against the punching bag. You sat down on one of the metal benches nearby , watching your boyfriend with a smile on your face and waited for him to notice you.

He wasn't wearing a shirt so you certainly weren't complaining about the view , your eyes focused on his snatched waist with a small pout ── why was it always boys that got the things girls were jealous of ? It was unfair , really. He must've been training for a while now with how his skin was glistening in sweat.

You watched as he stopped for a second to take a breather , his eyes shortly glancing around before his head whipped into your direction when he got a glimpse of you , a smile making its way on his face.

"Princess , what are you doing here?", he asked with a breathy chuckle as he took his gloves off while walking over to you, grabbing the towel that was next to you to dab his sweat away , his eyes glancing at the pink lunchbox on your lap. "What's that?", he asked as he pointed at the box , a small huff leaving your lips. "The lunchbox I made for you just for you to forget it", you huffed out , a little sass in your response which only made him chuckle. His knees made a sound as he squatted down , his cheek resting against your thigh as he looked up to you.

"My bad... I knew I forgot something. I'll eat it now Princess , I'm starving anyway. Thank you for coming to bring it to me .... but first ── I need some kisses to recharge", he grinned , his hands resting on your thighs to push himself up and get the kisses he wanted.

[simplyhansel]

So I just finished my second watch of k-pop demon hunters

And I have a theory. I saw someone point out that the Saja Boys names are based on who they are: Abs is muscular, Mystery is mysterious, Baby is youthful, Romance is a chick magnet, and Jinu's name means "true"

But I don't think their names JUST represent what they are. I think it represents what turned them into a demon in the first place. As Jinu puts it, their shame. First things first: I think there are two types of demons. Demons born in the demon world, and demons that used to be humans.

Outside of the Saja boys, we can see a few other demons in the background who have very similar outfits, most notably the hats. These are the demons that were once human, turned into demons by Gwi-Ma. The other demons with more exaggerated features were born in the demon world.

Starting with Abs. Strength, muscles, looking manly; that's his schtick. There are a few ways he can go. 1) it's possible that he wanted to be stronger to protect someone he loved, but I don't think that is the case. 2) Abby was weak and being weak made his life worse "you are weak, no one will ever respect you. but I can make you strong." this, or some variation of it, is the one I think is most likely. 3) Abs was born appearing very fem (transgender or genetics, take your pick) and Gwi-Ma made him manly and muscular.

up next, we have Mystery. He kind of stumped me at first (which is honestly kind of fitting tbh) but then I rewatched the scene where Jinu pitched the band to Gwi-Ma. during the small transition scene, we see slight shifts in Romance, Mystery, and Baby. Of all the boys though, Mystery's is the most interesting.

Mystery is the only one of them to have exaggerated demonic features, specifically his teeth. I believe that Mystery is half human, half demon, just like Rumi. "but Han!" I hear you say, "Jinu was surprised that a human had demon blood!" but to that I say; no he wasn't. He was surprised that a HUNTER had demon blood. he says specifically "A hunter who is part demon?" This implies, however loosely, that half demon/half human hybrids aren't unheard of. Mystery was ashamed of his heritage, wanted to hide it, be free from the scrutiny. I also think this can be supported by the way he acts during the joint signing. He quite literally barks and growls at the fans at one point lmao. Even if he isn't actually half demon, I think it would still be safe to assume he was born with some sort of physical defect or oddity, more than likely something that affects his eyes.

I feel like Baby is pretty self explanatory. He was made eternally youthful, to the point that he basically looks like a 5 year old. My guess is that he looked older than he was, and he was self conscious, or mocked, or something to that effect. Maybe his wife left him cause he was old looking? idk. In any case, this is what makes the most sense to me.

Romance is somewhat self explanatory, but there are still a few ways it could have gone. 1) He wanted to be able to have anyone he wanted, so Gwi-Ma granted him the ability to charm any and everyone. 2) He had an unrequited love. Gwi-Ma made his love fall for him, but it ended terribly in some way, shape or form. I can honestly see either, as both are fairly self-serving.

Last but not least, Jinu. He is the only member with a normal sounding name, but that doesn't mean we cant infer anything from it. Jinu in Korean means "genuine" or "true" and I think in this case, it symbolizes that he was the only one in the group that had good intentions with his actions. He did legitimately want to help his family, and I believe Gwi-Ma prevented him from doing so. Even if his family wasn't allowed into the palace or wherever, I think he had full intentions to send his mother the money he made. He was never able to, though; Gwi-Ma sent excuses and opportunities to squander away his money, then kept whispering in his ear that he was abandoning them. Don't get me wrong, he did abandon them. But I also understand that when the voice of doubt has you in a strong grip, it's well and truly paralyzing. Gwi-Ma accuses Jinu of being self-serving, but he is arguably the only one in the group who was trying to do the correct thing for the people he cared about the most.

Anyway I really fucking loved this movie: the visuals were stunning, the symbolism was spot on, and that soundtrack was KILLER! If anyone has other ideas or theories Id love to hear them! Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[castlebyersthoughts]

My unpopular Mike opinion

I don't think Mike has internalized homophobia, and I don't think he's aware of his feelings for Will. I enjoy this idea in fanon but it doesn't seem to be what the show is going for, in my opinion. Like Finn and the Duffers have said, I see Mike as being completely oblivious, to all of it. He most likely suffers from compulsory heterosexuality and that's why he's always tried so hard to make it work with El, because he thinks that's just how it's supposed to be, this must be what he's feeling, right? (I'm also not ruling out the possibility that he did/does have romantic feelings for El, which would make it even more powerful when he chooses Will in the end). But he's never thought of Will in a romantic light before, he doesn't even know that's an option!

The other thing is that when it finally clicks for him, I don't want it to be this heavy, angsty thing. I want to see relief, joy. I want him to feel so relieved because he finally understands why things were always so difficult with El and why he was never able to balance El and Will in his life. Finally, everything makes sense. And I want him to feel so happy because he realizes he's in in love with his best friend and his best friend loves him back, and it's the best feeling in the world. No more queer pain (we've had enough of that with Will), give me queer joy! This would, in my opinion, be the most impactful story.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Declassified [12] - Pressure

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support my loves, you are so amazing🩷 I hope you like this chapter as well! 🥰 And please let me know what you think! 🩷

Pairing: Congressman!Bucky x Female!Reader

Summary: Having a high pressure job has its consequences.

Warnings: Explicit language, panic attacks.

Word Count: 4.9k

Series Masterlist

The news of the breakup spread like wildfire.

To be honest, you hadn’t expected anything different. This had to be one of the rare times that Caleb hated being in PR because even you could tell that he was working way too hard.

And of course, your name had been brought up multiple times, but so far there wasn’t anything actually threatening thanks to Bucky and Hazel having attended the gala together right before they broke up. 

“Mom, how did you know dad was the one?”

Your mother looked up from the bowl she was mixing the cake mixture in, then let out a laugh.

“What brought this on?”

“Just curious.” You dangled your legs from the high stool and sipped your coffee before putting the mug on the kitchen island. “Also, I would like to ask again, why are we in the kitchen? You don’t cook.”

“I’m baking.”

“You don’t bake either.”

“Well, one of the girls in my spiritual retreat said it would be a good bonding practice between mothers and daughters.”

You pulled your brows together.

“I guess today is good as any to start,” you murmured. “Fine, okay. We’re bonding, see? Tell me how you knew, other than the fact that he dazzled you with money.”

“Oh I didn’t care about the money.”

You tilted your head. “Uh, are you sure? I mean no offense obviously, but I always assumed money played a part. Safety and all that.”

“I did feel safe with him but that had nothing to do with the money.”

“So you were actually in love with him.”

“I was and I am.”

You made a face. “Oh come on, that I don’t buy. You can be honest, there’s no way you’re still in love with him.”

“Why not?”

You let out a laugh. “Because he’s evil?”

She rolled her eyes and started pouring the mixture into the cupcake tray. “He’s not evil, honey.”

“Well…” You cleared your throat. “I mean he has been bribing and extorting politicians for decades so that things work the way he wants them to work. That’s like, textbook bad. Disney movie bad.”

“Funny, I heard a lot of people say Bucky Barnes is a bad man, but you seem very eager to defend him.”

“That has nothing to do with—okay, let’s never ever put Bucky in the same category with dad ever again,” you said with a laugh. “It’s kind of like lumping The Night King and Jon Snow together.”

“I didn’t watch that show.”

“They’re like complete opposites.” You took another sip of your coffee. “Let me put it this way; Bucky would sacrifice his own life to save someone, dad would sacrifice the whole world to save himself.”

“And you, and me.”

You made a noise of disagreement.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” you said. “You yes. Me, doubtful.”

“He does love you, you know.”

“No he doesn’t.” You shrugged your shoulders. “And I don’t mind, really.”

“He does,” your mother insisted. “It’s just that, you’re both very stubborn and don’t know how to communicate.”

“That and our political stances and our principles and our goals are very different.”

“So what?” she asked as if it was just trivial, and you scoffed a laugh.

“You seriously don’t mind what he does?” you asked. “All those people he hurt? All the corruption?”

“I’m not interested in what he does at work. I’m interested in what kind of a man he is with us, his family.”

You grimaced. “That’s not how it works, mom.”

“It’s how it works with me.”

You rubbed at your eyes, heaving a sigh. “I guess this just proves it.”

“Proves what?”

“I’ve always thought that…” you trailed off. “I’ve always thought you and him were just meant to be together, but I wasn’t supposed to be in the picture.”

“Never say that!” She gasped. “We love you!”

“That’s not it,” you said with a weak smile. “No, you guys make sense together, in some very weird and unhealthy way. But I don’t, you know what I mean?”

“That’s so not true,” she said, putting pieces of chocolate into the batter in the pan. “And as I’ve said, your father loves you and me. What he does at work doesn’t matter.”

“It actually does,” you said. “You might be able to pick and choose, but I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Is that why you broke up with Max?”

“That dickhead voted for the opposition.”

She turned to you. “Please tell me you didn’t break up with him over that.”

“See? It doesn’t matter to you,” you said. “But it matters to me. And hey, it’s a good thing I dumped him, apparently he was cheating on me anyway.”

Her jaw dropped and she reached out to squeeze your hand. “Aw I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I don’t care,” you said. “I mastered the art of detachment thanks to the revolving door of nannies you guys kept changing when I was little, so it’s okay.”

“Well, we just didn’t know who was the best for you.”

You bit at your lip to hold back your retort.

“How’s everything at work?” she asked. “Are those rumors still going on?”

“Well, to some extent but no picture or anything,” you said. “Just whispers.”

“And you like him?”

“Professionally, yes.”

Bullshit.

It was a good thing that your mother hardly ever spent time with you, she didn’t know how to read you.

The truth was that every day your feelings for Bucky were getting deeper. You knew that Hazel was right, you knew the risks but somehow, when you thought about him kissing you…

Your brain just refused to be logical.

Granted that didn’t mean you were going to throw all the caution to the wind, but you were wondering if something was wrong with you if that didn’t intimidate you as much as it was supposed to.

“A lot of my friends think he’s too handsome to be in politics.” Her voice pulled you out of your thoughts. “And they have a lot of questions.”

“About him?”

She hummed and walked to the oven to take a look at it. “Which button do I turn?”

You jumped from the stool to turn the button. “This one.”

“Aw thank you,” she said as she put the tray in, then closed it and turned to you. “So what’s he like?”

You took your seat again. “In politics?”

“In his daily life. Why did he and that girl break up?”

You cleared your throat. “Um, difference in opinions.”

“On what?”

“No idea, that’s what I’ve been told.”

She hummed, sitting down as well. “And you guys are close?”

“Professionally.”

“But you consider him a friend as well?” she asked. “I don’t know many people who are friends with their boss.”

“You don’t know many people with a boss.”

“Fair,” she admitted. “But that’s irrelevant. Tell me more about him, we’re all curious. Is he nice?”

“Oh absolutely.”

“To you? Even with all these rumors?”

You couldn’t help but smile, then nodded your head.

“He um…” you trailed off, biting your lip. “He’s amazing, mom. I know a lot of people think there are still traces of the Winter Soldier in him, but it’s not like that at all. He’s the sweetest, I’d trust him with my life. He even—”

You stopped yourself and your mother leaned in, curiosity shining in her eyes. “What?”

“He got Blinky back for me.”

She blinked a couple of times in confusion. “Who’s Blinky?”

Of course.

You hesitated for a second before you forced yourself to smile and shook your head.

“It’s not important,” you mumbled. “Anyways, enough about me, how was your retreat?”

                                                *

The next day, you didn’t even have the time to go to lunch. You had to work on the draft Bucky had asked you to, and of course you had volunteered to go over the revisions Lucas had sent you just so that you could impress Congresswoman Gray, and your phone kept buzzing with emails every two minutes.

And for some reason, everything was louder today.

You took a deep breath, willing your heartbeat to calm down as you clenched and unclenched your hands, staring at the screen before you deleted the last line, and added a new one.

“Please don’t tell me we’re back to skipping lunch for work.”

Your fingers froze over the keyboard before you looked over your shoulder to see Bucky watching you, leaning against the doorframe.

“I had a protein bar and like two cups of red eye, I’m fine.”

His worried gaze raked over you, making your heartbeat even faster.

“I thought we had a deal.”

“I’ll eat when I’m done with this.” You nodded at the screen and he came to lean against your desk, making you bite back a smile.

“Birdie.”

You heaved a dramatic sigh at his teasing tone and looked up at him. “Hm?”

“Let’s have lunch.”

“You literally came back from lunch.”

“I can eat again.” He started tilting the screen of your laptop down but you batted his hand away, then fixed the screen again. “It’s a metabolism thing.”

“Super soldier metabolism?”

“Mm hm.”

“Good for you, I’m too busy,” you said. “I already spent enough time doing nothing with my mom yesterday when I was supposed to go over this, so…”

“You were with your mom?” he asked. “How did that go?”

“Dad wasn’t home so it was fine. Ish.”

“Fine-ish?”

“My mom doesn’t really know much about me but the parts she knows, she loves to dismiss,” you said. “They make a terrific couple with my dad, terrible parents though.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” you said. “Without them, my old therapist wouldn’t have been able to buy her second Ferrari, so I guess it wasn’t a total disaster.”

“And you can tell me all about it while we’re having lunch.”

You turned to your laptop. “Take a powder, Barnes.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see the clear confusion on his face but it turned into an amused smile, a chuckle escaping his lips.

“How did you…?”

“Hey, I could have an extensive vocabulary.” You grinned at him. “You don’t know my lexicon.”

“Right. Why do I feel like you googled 40s slang?”

“I once saw you google if lavender is edible, so how about we stop pointing fingers?” you asked and he shook his head vigorously.

“In my defense, Kelsey got me a lavender latte and insisted I had to try it.”

“And what did you think? Your assistant was trying to poison you?”

He shot you a look as if you were asking him a question with a very obvious answer. “It’s Kelsey.”

You thought for a moment, then shrugged your shoulders.

“Fair enough,” you said. “But come on, she—”

You stopped talking when your phone started buzzing, making both you and Bucky turn your glances to the screen, and you both frowned at the same time.

“He’s still calling you?” Bucky asked and held out his hand for you to give him the phone, but you shook your head.

“I’ll handle him,” you said and answered the phone. “Max, go fu—”

“Wait wait, don’t hang up,” he cut you off. “I swear, this will be very civil and you’re gonna want to listen to what I have to say.”

You rolled your eyes, leaning back on your chair while Bucky kept his eyes on you.

“What?” you asked crossly and he took a deep breath.

“I saw that piece about you and Barnes.”

“I’m going to hang up now.”

“A journalist contacted me,” he said in a rush. “He wanted to know whether there was anything going on between you and him while we were still dating.”

Your stomach dropped, your eyes snapping up to Bucky before you gritted your teeth.

“And let me guess,” you said. “You told him you’d think about it and now you’re calling me to ask for something.”

“No actually,” he said. “I told him we broke up because I cheated on you, because you put your career over our relationship, the very same career you wouldn’t risk for anyone much less your boss.”

You pulled back slightly. “…What?”

“I gathered ambitious bitch sounded better than greedy slut. Not that you’re either of those but you know, the guy was an asshole.”

 You let out a surprised laugh.

“You’re telling me you had the perfect opportunity to fuck with me and you didn’t take it?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not asking for anything in return?”

“No, I just wanted to let you know,” he said. “If they called me, it means they’re working on a piece.” 

You frowned, drumming your fingernails on the desk.

“And why would you do this without asking for anything in return?”

He fell quiet for a moment, then cleared his throat.

“Tessa said she’d leave me if I didn’t go to therapy,” he said. “And my therapist made me realize it wasn’t cool, what I did. What with keeping Blinky and stuff.”

“By ‘stuff’ you mean cheating on me, or the ultimatum or going behind my back at voting?” you asked and he took a deep breath.

“Yeah. Sorry about all that.”

As much as you wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, you figured this was at least just a little progress.

Very little, but either way.

“Well, what do you know?” you muttered. “I mean you’re still an asshole, that goes without saying but I appreciate the heads up.”

“My therapist says I have um… he says I am scared of emotional intimacy. That’s why I cheated on you, he says.”

“Yeah Max, because he can’t say you’re an asshole. You’re paying him.”

“I guess.” He snorted a laugh. “How’s DC?”

“Full of people who’d love to step on your back for their own gain. I haven’t slept in two days.”

Bucky shot you a disapproving look but you waved a hand in the air.

“So you’re having the time of your life?”

“Something like that.”

“That’s good—” He started but you heard another voice coming from the other line, probably his assistant. “I uh, sorry, I gotta go. Work thing.”

“I gathered,” you replied. “It’s almost five minutes.”

“…Yeah, that wasn’t cool either,” he said. “Also sorry about that.”

“Listen, how about I send you a list of things you should be sorry for and we can get all of them out the way?”

He let out a chuckle. “That’d make therapy so much easier. Can I call or email you to apologize then?”

“Call me and I’ll see if I’m in the forgiving mood,” you said and hung up, then looked up at Bucky.

“So, great news,” you said. “A journalist asked Max if you and I had an affair while I was with him, but he said no.”

“And he didn’t ask for anything in return?”

“He’s doing therapy, as it turns out,” you said. “My belief in psychology has been renewed because honestly, if they can make Max apologize…”

Bucky’s lips twitched into a smile and you bounced your leg, biting inside your cheek.

“We need to find who this journalist is.”

“I will.” His voice was completely calm. “And I’ll take care of it.”

“You can’t threaten him.”

“If he didn’t want me to threaten him, he shouldn’t have dragged you into whatever nonsense he’s working on,” he said, making your heart skip a beat. “That’s just not how it works.”

You tilted your head, feigning confusion. “I thought I was the one protecting you.”

He winked at you. “It’s a two-way street.”

You rolled your eyes at him playfully as he turned his head to look at the approaching footsteps before Caleb appeared at the door and let out a groan.

“I’m like two seconds away from assigning a chaperone to you like we’re in Georgian era,” he said. “Bucky, you might be familiar with that.”

“Wrong century, Caleb.”

“Well, how about we don’t start another fire when I’ve just extinguished the other one?”

You held up your hands and turned your attention to the screen, your cheeks burning and Bucky heaved a sigh, then pushed himself off the desk.

“Make her eat something.”

“I will but did you have the chance to think about what I said?”

You looked between them. “What did you say?”

“Caleb thinks we all should have a barbeque at my new place,” Bucky said. “Something something PR.” 

“It would show you’re still relatable and that you’re doing fine after the breakup.”

“That’s not a terrible idea,” you mused. “I haven’t been to your new place yet, and I missed Alpine.”

“And the team would love it,” Caleb added and Bucky’s gaze stopped on you as if he was torn between ideas, then cleared his throat.

“Yeah, whatever,” he told Caleb who pumped his fist in the air in victory. “Just let me know when.”

“Will do!”

“And I’m not locking Alpine in the room,” he said as he walked into his office. “She gives me an attitude for days when I do that.”

Caleb approached you to plop down on the chair next to your desk.

“Thanks for convincing him.”

“I barely said anything.”

“Well, I’ve been begging him for a week and one word from you…” he trailed off and you shook your head, then turned to him.

“Caleb.”

“Hm?”

“There’s something you need to know as Bucky’s communications director.”

His grin wiped off his face in a second. “What?”

“There’s a journalist,” you said. “And apparently he’s been asking questions about me and Bucky.”

Caleb ran a hand over his face, cussing under his breath.

“Of course,” he said and pulled out his phone. “It was getting a bit too peaceful today, so why not? Be right back.”

You watched him walk out of the office and pressed your hands on your eyes before you dropped them, straightening your back.

“It’s fine,” you murmured to yourself as you turned your attention back to the screen. “It’s totally fine.”

                                      *

As your anxiety would show you; it was not, in fact, fine.

You had spent the whole day working, and now almost everyone had left but Kelsey and Bucky, both of whom were in a meeting with Congressman Murray.

And you. Working overtime.

It was already dark out, and the only thing illuminating the office was your laptop screen. You could feel the migraine slowly making its way to your temples. For the whole day, your chest hadn’t stopped feeling tight, like you couldn’t get enough air into your lungs especially after Max had told you about the journalist. In addition to all that, the work you had to cover was getting bigger and bigger, you still had one hundred pages to go over, and to make the necessary edits.

In other news, you might have bitten more than you could chew.

You typed away at the keyboard, forcing yourself to hum a melody in hopes of calming yourself down before you got up from your chair to make your way to Bucky’s office. You grabbed the file from his desk and went back to your desk, but before you could sit down, your phone buzzed on the desk, the screen lighting up.

From: Dad

We need to talk about the journalist.

And just like that, your line of sight grew narrow, darkness swallowing everything else other than the phone.

To your terror, you could feel the familiar tingling spreading over your face as your throat tightened, the breath you were taking getting stuck there. A fire burned through your chest, twisting your heart harder and harder while it tried to escape from your ribcage. You could feel your whole body beginning to shake, the floor getting wobbly underneath your feet like quicksand as you took a step back, grasping at your throat with one hand.

You’re not dying.

It’s a panic attack, you’re not dying.

Except that you were sinking.

You held onto the desk with one hand and managed to crouch down to sit on the floor as the room started spinning, your heart pounding in your ears. Nausea crashed down on you while you tried to get enough air in your lungs, your other hand balling up into fist tight enough to cramp.

You’re not dying.

You couldn’t even tell if it was tears or cold sweat running down your face; it was probably both. Your hand on your throat slipped down to your chest to press on it in hopes of soothing the pain there while you forced yourself to take another breath.

You’re not dying.

You see a laptop, you see a chair, you see a—

You hadn’t even heard Bucky stepping into the office before he rushed to you, his hands grasping your upper arms, almost frantically checking you for injuries like he wanted to see if you were bleeding.

“Birdie?”

“Not dying,” you managed to gasp out. “Panic attack.”

That made him stop only for a moment, a look of absolute relief crossing his face and he let out a breath.

“Okay,” he said. “You’re breathing very fast right now, can you breathe with me?”

You nodded your head, taking a shaky breath at the same time as him, then exhaled. For almost a minute, you followed his lead and once you weren’t breathing as fast, he gave you a small smile.

“There you go,” he said. “Five things you can see?”

That made your eyes snap to his as you took another breath. “How do you—?”

“Five things,” he said and you exhaled.

“Laptop,” you rasped out. “Chair. Papers. Desk. My fox figure on my desk.”

“Four things you can hear.”

You tried to focus, pulling your brows together.

“Your voice,” you said. “Footsteps from the hallway. AC.  Um…”

“One more.”

“The laptop running,” you said, pressing your palm on the floor. “And three things I can feel are…the marble floor, and sweat dripping down the back of my neck, which is fucking disgusting—”

“Birdie, focus.”

“And um, the wind. From the AC.”

“And two things you can—”

“Smell. Your cologne and paper. I just printed a bunch of stuff.” 

“And one thing you can taste?”

“Blood. I bit my tongue too hard.”

His eyes searched your face and you let out another shaky breath, exhaustion creeping up on you as you leaned your head back to the wall. Bucky hesitated for a second before he sat beside you, leaning back against the wall.

“How do you know grounding techniques?” you asked after a pause and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Mandatory therapy.”

“Ah,” you said, fixing your eyes on the ceiling. “Interesting.”

“And I’m guessing this is not your first panic attack?” he asked, making you scoff a laugh.

“Nope,” you said. “Been having them since I was like twelve.”

Bucky’s brows pulled into a frown. “Twelve?”

“Yup,” you said. “As it turns out, if you put too much pressure on a kid and yell at them whenever they didn’t meet the expectations, their brain gets messed up. Who would’ve known?”

“I’m going to kill your father.”

“You can’t,” you said. “If he’s dead, who’s gonna go around crossroads to make deals for people’s souls?”

“Birdie.”

“I’m fine,” you said even if your arms felt way too heavy when you raised your hand to wipe the sweat off your forehead. “This happens, no big deal.”

“How often?”

“Not regular,” you said. “Sometimes. But let me tell you, I would not last a day back in the 1940s. I saw those documentaries, my husband would send me off to an asylum and they’d try to lobotomize—”

“I’m giving you time off.”

“Tough shit, I’m not taking it.”

He gave you a look. “I’ll change the locks to the office.”

“I’ll work in the hallway.”

He ran a hand over his face as if he was straining his mind to come up with a solution and you wiggled your brows despite exhaustion.

“Sorry. I guess you shouldn’t have hired me, huh?”

“If I hadn’t hired you, neither of us would be here,” he said and thought for a moment. “Well, I wouldn’t be, at least. You would have probably made someone else win so you’d be here.”

“I wouldn’t have worked for someone else,” you murmured and he licked his lips.

“Please take some time off.”

“Nope.”

“You either take some time off, or I’m hiring someone to help you out with the workload.”

Your eyes widened. “Bucky, no.”

“Bucky yes.”

“I don’t trust anyone else with what I do,” you said. “They’re gonna miss something, some detail and then I’ll have to go over what they did anyway.”

��Either vacation, or this,” he said, his voice signaling this was not open to discussion. “You’re not leaving me with many options here.”

“There is an option!” you exclaimed. “The system we have works.”

“It obviously doesn’t if you haven’t slept in two days and the workload is triggering a panic attack.”

“It didn’t though!” you insisted. “It’s a coincidence, not a chain of events.”

“I’m not risking it.”

You huffed out, slipping a little on the floor and crossing your arms while Bucky’s lips twitched into a fond smile.

“You’re pouting.”

“I’m not pouting, I’m contemplating,” you corrected him and gritted your teeth, then rolled your eyes. “Fine. I’ll give the okay though, whoever you hire. I need to make sure they can handle this whole thing.”

“Didn’t think otherwise.”

You let out a noise of displeasure, exhaustion still heavy on your whole body and you leaned your head on his shoulder with a tired sigh. He dipped his head to nuzzle into your hair, making your stomach do a happy flip and you played with the bracelet around your wrist.

“Bucky?”

He hummed into your hair. 

“How did it go with Murray?”

He raised his lips from your hair so that you could hear him; “We’re not talking about work right now.”

“But—”

“Nope.”

“Fine,” you said with a pout. “How are you handling the breakup?”

That made him fall quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“I’m fine.”

You lifted your head and sat up straighter to look up at him better.

“Are you?” you insisted. “For real? Because I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t. I mean no offense but Hazel is kind of perfect.”

“She is,” Bucky said immediately. “She really is, but I don’t think—uh, I don’t think I was the right person for her.

Your heart sped up again but this time instead of dread, all you could feel was excitement rushing through your veins.

“…Oh,” you managed to say. “Why not?”

That made him fall quiet for a moment, his gaze slipping down to your lips before it snapped up to your eyes again. You couldn’t help but notice his throat bobbed nervously, and he took a deep breath as if he was trying to gather up courage.

Which was insane.

You had seen him throw himself in danger over and over again without so much as a second of hesitation.

“Because,” he started, his voice soft, “Birdie, I—”

“Hello?” Kelsey’s voice carried out from the doorway, snapping both of you out of your daze. “Guys?”

You loved Kelsey but you could swear that the urge to scream at her was way too strong.

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment as if he shared the sentiment, then opened them again, his jaw tightening. You sat up straighter and raised your hand from beside the desk.

“Over here, Kels.”

“What the fuck are you two doing on the floor?” Kelsey asked as she made her way to you and you exchanged glances, then turned to her.

“I…we—uh—”

“I think better when I’m sitting on the floor,” Bucky cut you off and Kelsey tilted her head.

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s a habit from the 1940s.”

Kelsey looked from him to you while Bucky stood up, then offered his hand for you to take it, a warmth spreading from your hand to your arm. You were still exhausted, but you looked up at him and mouthed ‘thank you’. Bucky squeezed your hand in an assuring manner, and you turned to Kelsey.

“Are we going home?”

“Sure, let’s.”

“Call me when you get home?” Bucky murmured and you nodded your head, giving him a small smile, then grabbed your purse off the desk and followed Kelsey out of the office.

“Please don’t tell me you two were having sex on the office floor.”

You let out a laugh, then shook your head.

“We were talking about his ex,” you said and cracked your neck, making a face. “And oh, before I forget, Caleb says we’ll have a barbeque at Bucky’s place this Saturday.”

“At Bucky’s place?” she asked. “All of us?”

“Mm hm, the whole team and I think Sam and Sarah will come too.”

Kelsey grinned at you.

“Just let me know if you happen to find yourself in his bedroom and need me to distract others,” she joked. “During the house tour, that is.”

You pushed at her arm gently.

“There’s gonna be people there,” you reminded her. “Lots of people. Hypothetically, even if Bucky liked me like that—”

“Did they raise you in a convent?”

“That would still be impossible,” you said as if she didn’t interrupt you. “Which by the way, he doesn’t.”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t even think he finds me hot, to be honest with you,” you said. “It’s like Hazel said. He entertains my crush, that’s it.”

Kelsey threw her head back.

“You are so oblivious,” she groaned. “This barbecue—”

“Will be just a barbecue,” you said. “Some PR thing, that’s it. I assure you.”

[knightoflodis]

I know that this is probably meant to encompass all media with female characters getting hated on by the fans. But I have been so deep into Korean webcomics and webnovels this feels like a targeted callout to the comments sections of so many of the stories I have read. Like. There are people cheering for a female character that gets her life completely ripped apart solely because she was a bit jealous of the female lead and tried to get in the way but did little to no actual harm. It’s insane how too many of those stories treat female characters that are not the main character and how absolutely abhorred those characters are by the fans. And I feel so much sympathy for a lot of them. It’s also insane how quickly they attack female characters for being a bit mean or a bit flawed (like a character that was raised in a society where non-pure nobles are seen as lesser and she is prejudiced against a lady like that because of her upbringing and because she wants to protect her lord’s standing and she was so hated in the comments when her words and actions made perfect sense because of the world that she is in, plus it is obvious that she is going to grow and change).

OP I am grateful for your post. These female characters need more love. They need more love by fans and they need more love by their authors so that they don’t just get tossed into a trash heap.

I love you hated female characters. I love you female characters who are flawed. I love you female characters who mess up and try to do the right thing after. I love you female characters who get the undeserved vitriol from fans. I love you female characters who fans completely condemn because of one mistake they made. I love you female characters who fans completely condemn because of one mistake they made as a child. I love you female characters who people blame for ripping apart their ships instead of the larger forces that be. I love you female characters who get all the hate as the male characters who do worse in canon get absolutely none. I love you female characters who get hated on because they told a man “no.”

[vernonverse]

📲 Bf!Seventeen when you have cramps but you're not home

ⓘ paring. seventeen x reader. genre | tags. fake texts, reactions, oneshot, fluff. warnings. period cramps, so it’s kinda implied that reader has a uterus. requested: yes/no.

ʚ A/N: Updated their contact photos hehe 🤭 I hadn’t changed Hannie’s for… reasons lol but after yesterday’s pics of him at TWS concert, next time he’s definitely getting an update!! Also… I’m kinda obsessed with this photo of Hansol 😭 cutest boy alive fr, mom I love him so much it hurts.

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