#and if you've read all of my tags to this point then you get to know I'm turning 0 with a three in there somewhere
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creatingblackcharacters · 3 days ago
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Hi! I'm reading the summer challenge you posted, and I have a bit of a stupid question that I'm not sure if you've answered before.
How do I go about finding Black creators in fandom? I've found a few streamers and youtubers, but as far as artists and writers on tumblr and ao3, no one seems to put that kind of thing in their bio (also I don't really like discord either if that matters)
I have realized with how many times I've been asked this that I am biased. Some of you truly have the privilege to walk into a space and never have to try to find peers that look like you. Because this feels second nature to me to do atp.
A lot of times, the hardest part is finding One Black creative. Because in my experience, we tend to find, follow, and support each other's voices organically (not as a monolith, but nonetheless). I've literally found Black artists where I'll go into their notes and find more Black artists. You see who they share and you follow and share those same people. Even the ones I don't follow, I know who they are and check in on them every now and then.
Get in the tags and stop being afraid to type 'Black'! #black artist #black artist on Tumblr #black youtuber #black writer #black writer on tumblr #black [fill in the blank], #black creator #black [fill in the blank] on tumblr #black [fandom character of interest] #black edit #fandom character. If I type in #black edit #jujutsu kaisen #gojo (satoru?), for example, I could find an artist who did one, and maybe that artist is Black or had Black followers who appreciated it! Hell, even just liking the Black characters in a piece of media will help you find some Black creators.
You could even get on Google and do the same thing faster, or on twitter (though I don't use Twitter). Black Twitter platforms and is responsible for a good chunk of American online pop culture and jokes (not that we get credit for that!) but typing that in will get you Black creators of all sorts. Even on here, the Black folk who aren't afraid to be Black on main will absolutely type that into their bio. I know this, because I check when I follow people lmao.
If you really wanna get in the trenches, you could find those uncomfortable conversations y'all usually avoid. Learn some perspective AND support some Black bloggers. #fandom racism #fandom antiblackness #antiblackness #[fandom of choice]. I have a post with over 100k reactions on the topic, and amongst the thousands of white folk that missed the point, there are still Black bloggers who contribute their experiences. Every Black creator in a fan space has at least one experience of fandom racism, it comes part and parcel with trying to be here.
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whenmemorydies · 2 days ago
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I've been thinking about you
Recall that delicate phone call between Carmy and Syd in 4x06 Sophie. Just thought I'd point out a small but important detail in it. About halfway through the call we get the below dialogue:
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Sydney: Actually, um, I ran into Claire.
Carmy: You saw Claire?
Sydney: Yeah. It was really nice, honestly. She's great.
Carmy: Yeah, yeah, no I...I know.
And then Carmy says (and confirms) what we've all assumed he's actually been doing whenever Claire is in front of him:
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Carmy: All right, well, I'm, uh... I'm thinking about you.
We know Carmen. We know.
@fairestbeard @freedelusionshere @thoughtfulchaos773 - tagging you cos I know you've done meta on Carmy's psyche transposing Cl@ire onto Syd and vice versa. If others have done meta on this too, please reply or tag your work, I'd love to read it.
Also bonus lyrics to that banger London Beat song, I've Been Thinking About You I linked above cos its the fucking Syd/Carmy/Claire love triangle set to a hot beat:
[Verse 1] We must have been stone crazy When we thought we were just friends 'Cause I miss you, baby And I've got those feelings again I guess I'm all confused about you I feel so in love Oh, baby, what can I do?
[Chorus] I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you, shi-pow-pow
[Verse 2] Suddenly we're strangers I watch you walking away She was my one temptation Oh, I did not want her to stay Deep down, I'm still confused about you (Oh yes I am baby) I feel so in love Oh, baby, what can I do?
[Chorus] I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you, shi-pow-pow
[Bridge] What good is being here without you? (I wanna know) I feel so in love Oh, baby, what can I do?
[Chorus] I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you I've been thinking about you, shi-pow-pow
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shellsstardew · 3 days ago
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you made me ship shelliot so hard it's not even funny 😭 like normally im not super into rarepairs bc it seems ppl ship them just to ship them but i legit see where you're coming from, especially in the same context as your comic where their story begins after elliot moves in. i actually love your comic i cannot wait for the next part (not trying to pressure you obv). ive never gotten too many hearts with either of them but your characterization just feels so accurate like i feel like I could see your story with their dialogue happening in the game and it wouldn't feel out of place at all. and also finally (oops ive been rambling), your art style isn't overly detailed but the facial expressions/body language/like perspective i guess of the characters, especially shane and elliot on the dock is so well done, the small changes in positioning work so well to communicate the change in their body language and its just really impressive.
sorry i yapped or if it was weird or something i promise i was not trying to come off weird 😭😭😭 i just really admire good fanworks such as yours and it's important to tell authors/creators that they're doing well and yeah
also if you (or anyone else) has any shelliot fic recommendations i would loveee to hear them :>
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No but seriously it's so funny that your like "I hope I'm not being weird" meanwhile I reread over and over your super thoughtful message to keep me going 😭
YOU GUYS DON'T REALIZE I NEED THOSE HYPER DETAILED COMPLIMENT or my stupid brain will go like "Okay time to think you're worthless and that what you're doing doesn't matter"
No I can point at the screen and say "See? 👉📱 SEE?! 👉👉📱?" and it's putting another coin in the machine hehe
Anyway, thank you so much 😭
AND YES I HAVE FICS TO RECOMMEND! ONCE AGAIN, @cutethulu you know the drill hehe
Camellia Station, by Awdrey (Explicit - but it's only one short smut scene in the last chapter for now)
Now it's still in progress (updating once a month) and they still didn't smooch yet, but that's what you get when you fall into the Shelliott rabbit hole, hehe, you can't be picky
It's really well written and the author and I have a lot of similarities in our interpretations of Shane and Elliott :) Go give it some love!
Also some one shots by @mongoosingisme that I really love :
Untitled Shelliott Ranch Project
Herding cats (Explicit - Shane/Elliott/fem!farmer)
And UHHH maybe you've seen it already but I wrote one about Shells, it's an alternate ending to part 34 (it's my first one and I'm really proud of it teehee)
Shells, alternate ending, by shells_stardew (Explicit)
Also @visionofthebees wrote this one for me on the same concept :
One Shell of a Night, by Visionofthebees (Explicit)
Be warned it's EXTREMELLY SILLY and she didn't even reread it before posting, but I love it with all my heart it's so so funny hahaha
I love her so imma also recommend her Clint x Elliott fic too (yes yes you read that right, she's 10 degrees further than me on the crack ship scene) :
Falling Ore You (Explicit) (46 chapters, completed)
LISTEN SHE MAKES IT WORK OKAY! SHE REALLY DOES!
And also, check my bookmarks! They are some non-Shelliott stuff that I absolutely love in there! (BUT always ALWAYS check the tags before reading, there is also some dark stuff haha)
Here you go, hope I didn't recommend all the ones you already knew about, as we all know this is not an extremely popular ship so this is what we get, quality over quantity hahahaa 😭
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anamelessfool · 2 days ago
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getting ice cream with cardi c :)
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Ah yes, thank you for this ask. It is perfect considering it's been like...35C lately. Also so much for my 500 word limit lol
Can I also tag @ghelullu in this? for......reasons..... furry copia furry copiaaaaaa
Boardwalk (GN! Reader x Copia)
It was actually a perfect day down the shore. The big brilliant blue sky fills with swiftly moving clouds over the amusement park and boardwalk attractions, drifting out to sea. You brought just enough--water, light snack, a book and your love Copia of course. You didn't get run over by a kid catching a frisbee and the music blasting across the beach was perfectly vibey reggaeton and dadrock. But it's hot. You've sat here and watched the tide roll in and made a little sandcastle on his feet but now you're ready to call it a day.
"Ice cream?" Copia's read your mind.
"And pinball later," you add. He helps you to your feet and you roll up your shared towel. You exchange smiles as you admire him best you can. He's standing in the sun and the rays radiate out from him like he's some Italian-Stallion angel about to deliver some Good News.
He's wearing one of those old school old man terrycloth beach sets: striped, with shorts that would probably fail an inspection. The top is zipped open and his soft belly peeks out from above the waistband of those blessed shorts. A gold grucifix and cuban chain glitters in his chest hair and to be honest that's always been your happy place.
You never thought you'd fall in love with a man whose fashion sense rivals Paulie Walnuts but he wears it well and you've had worse regrets in your life so far. Although...the choice of black dress socks on the beach probably warrants a polite discussion at some point.
You walk over to the stairs and climb up to the boardwalk, stamping the sand from your shoes. The ice cream booth is only a few steps away yet he offers you his arm like the gentleman he is. "What do you want, amore?"
"Surprise me."
He orders something simple-- it's way too hot for a big complicated order. A scoop of vanilla on a cone. He gets a little lemon ice for himself. After paying he slides an arm across the small of your back and guides you over to the boardwalk railing. The sun's getting low and the lights of the amusement park and arcades will flicker on within the hour. The air cools and with it comes the calming scent of the sea.
But also the wind. The chunk of napkins in your hands falls to the ground.
"Not to worry my dear, I'll get it!" Copia quips, bends down to grab the napkins before they blow off the boardwalk.
And your brain just stops. Before you is his perfectly plump, furry ass. And the terrycloth shorts? Too small. Way, way too small. Straining against what's all there in a way that if left undisturbed would possibly violate some public decency laws. The ice cream cone trembles in your hand and your mouth's too dry to swallow.
Ah, shit. You are no better than a--
"Ah, here we are..." Copia mutters and hands the napkin to you with the air of a knight turning in a quest.
But you can't help yourself. You let go of the half-melted ice cream cone and it falls between you both with a pronounced splat.
Copia blinks. His mismatched expression looks especially bewildered. "Did you ah....did you just do that on purpose?"
"N..no..." you whisper.
Copia glances back and forth nervously. "You sure?"
"Yeah uh...help? I uh....I can't get it."
Now exceptionally self-aware, Copia locks eyes with you and bends, his ass sticking out even more in a squat that is safe for his middle-aged knees and back. You try not to bite your lip, but the creep in you is crawling its way out whether you like it or not. He grins wickedly. He really is an exceptionally evil man, even when he does gentlemanly things like pick up your ice cream off the boardwalk. He drops it in a trashcan and moves in close, offering you his own treat in its cup.
"No I'm uh...not hungry," you say.
"Oh." His voice drops an octave while the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile accetuated by the cute freckle on his lip. His skin smells of faded cologne and saltwater. As he leans and gives you a little, chaste kiss and your lips taste the sugary lemon syrup.
"Save room for later then," he chuckles low.
Oh you will. You definitely will.
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PG-13 Requests with Copia or Other Guys (But i love Copia)
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emberglowfox · 2 years ago
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closing time
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summergoodwife · 5 months ago
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Gonna say it again, "Just stop consuming the genre" is THE WORST POSSIBLE RESPONSE to someone complaining about the lack of representation in their preferred genre!! And "Consume other stuff too" is not much better!!! I don't care how much you think varying media consumption is a Good and Holy lifestyle, not everyone wants to do that! There is no obligation to do that and there should not be! Because it's fucking entertainment. It's not a college major.
And! And and and. I would be remiss to not point out that when you tell someone, "If you want well written (minority) just get out of (genre fandom)" you are, regardless of your motivations, rhetorically aligning yourself with the exact same bigots who just want the pro-representation crowd to shut up and go away.
#I don't know how people can say “shonen is written for teen boys so obviously you're the idiot for wanting good rep from it”#as if teen boys don't also deserve stories with well-written diverse casts??#as if the poor reactions they often have to diversity are just inherent to their boyish nature and not a result of a widespread lack of rep#as if diverse casts in popular media aren't A PROVEN WAY to reduce implicit biases against groups of people on a very large scale#you people are dogs. how can you unironically say “this genre was made for teen boys so everyone else should stfu and gtfo”#and not immediately see that you've just aligned yourself with the actually bad people in the fandom#these stances also perfectly miss the point of “I love this genre and want to see a flaw in it corrected” because they are overwhelmingly..#...written by people who do not love the genre in question and are not interested in loving the genre#like yeah ultimately I understand that most of these posts don't give a true shit about helping people find rep in media#their main purpose 99% of the time is to publicly gloat about their supposedly superior media fixations#It's a real autism on autism violence (internet style) so I find it contemptible in a way that pulls all the muscles of my face downwards#“haw haw read another book (the ones I incidentally find engaging) and stop reading your dumb idiot books (the ones you find engaging)”#you can actually shut up tho that's the thing#you can just not say anything and make the world a better place Luigi Marioparty style#it's a wonderful strategy to use#if you've read through all these tags then 1. I thank you and 2. I have a little request if you're willing to give me more thought & time:#try to pay close attention the next few times you're talking about broad media fandoms which you aren't a part of#watch those little twinges in your chest and ask yourself#“is what I'm saying true? do I actually know enough to say that? what is the point of what I'm saying here? what do I want these ppl to do?#I think we all get caught up in Media Gloating sometimes#if you find that your thoughtless comments become concerning after you put thought into them#maybe it's time to not make them#or to even (as a totally random example) make a post arguing AGAINST those comments#because guess what? your bad take there was probably not yours alone; I'd wager 1000 other similar people have made similar takes#but they're not all gonna reflect on that unprompted; that's where you can come in#shonen#lgbtq representation#female representation#representation in media#queer representation
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show tempe gang crossover with the morris islanders would actually have been the best episode of bones ever. btw
#please ignore the rest of the tags i will just be making things up#okay they start out in carolina but at least half the episode takes place in dc. do not ask me how travel logistics would work#tory spends the entire episode off with tempe doing bone stuff. booth feels upstaged by a 16-year-old girl#so he goes and hangs out with ben who does NOT trust him right off the bat#ben ends up having to run him over to liri at some point because there's crime afoot and tom is busy. they spend most of the ride in silenc#ofc they end up bonding Eventually because they are both obsessed with crazy emotionally stunted redheads named t brennan#tory is more effective than any of the squinterns and manages to piss hodgins off so bad just by existing#coop hangs out in the lab as saroyan tries to kick him out thirty times. he just keeps showing up and she can't prove who's letting him in#(it's tempe.) angela loves tory but tory does not love angela back. saroyan tolerates her. sweets likes her but knows she's hiding somethin#comes to the conclusion that she can read her friends minds and slowly drives himself crazy because obviously that can't be true#tory brings hi along whenever she needs someone with people skills and he is MORE than happy to participate in a hodgins experiment#hi gets to be king of the lab for about ten minutes. shelton hits it off with angela immediately and they solve half the case together#booth fucking HATES hi because he's evasive and really good at the manipulation thing. booth can't win verbal sparring and he gets Big Mad#at one point the four of them are in an interrogation room together (MISTAKE) because tory had them meddling a little too close to the sun#and booth is trying so hard to question them which didn't work even when they COULDN'T read each other's minds#tory figures out who did it and hi steals her thunder a la shrek wasnt vandalized he gave birth#temperance tells tory 'i know you've got a secret sweets told me and even though i don't trust psychology i find he's insightful' etc etc#tory's like well i might be but i can't tell you it's not just my secret and you wouldn't believe me anyway#because let's be real tempe WOULDNT believe her#meanwhile saroyan convinced by sweets paranoia managed to get a sample of tory's blood and test it and is like HEY WHAT THE FUCK#gets hodgins and they just stare at the results together and delve into conspiracy theories. he's like i KNEW there were werewolves#they debate telling tempe but know it wouldnt end well for the kids and decide to get rid of the evidence. but hodgins is SO smug#also angela spends the whole episode trying to convince everyone hi and shelton are dating and no one believes her#they finally see them kiss or something and they're all somehow floored and angela's just like yeah? duh?#if anyone read this i'm sorry and why
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kirkwallsbane · 6 months ago
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that one post the other day asked about Lavellan's family members and reminded me that I had concepts of rewriting the 'Protect Clan Lavellan' war table missions as an actual playable quest, especially one in my world where my companion OC Enasel'an Lavellan is involved
Anyway i've since written 6 pages of notes on how the quest would work and how Enasel'an specifically as a companion ties into it
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i kind of want to make a videoessay about what old webcomics mean to me someday. but that'd take a load more confidence in myself so i doubt i ever will.
#i need a better rambles tag#i could write a normal essay but i know no one'd read it. don't think people pay attention to the shit i say anyways hah#but they're so interesting. kind of a part of me at this point#reading them is like looking through a window into a different time with different people but people who're fundamentally just like us#so many have been forgotten by the internet#by the world#etc#i've met very few people who know of the ones i'm fascinated by in person and neither remained in the space-#which i guess is a consequence of aging but at the same time. hey#artist guy who knew john allison in his sgr days#comics store employee who recognized my homemade sluggy freelance keychain#it's like#i feel so alone but really i'm not#i guess. something like that.#there's also this unabashed amateurishness to a lot of them that i find really wonderful#you didn't need polished art you had no one to pander to if they were there people would read them because what the hell else would they re#d?#like all you needed to make 'em was a shitty scanner or mspaint. and really that's still *all you need*#but i feel the pockets where that's all you need are disappearing#getting pushed out by shit like webtoon trying to fucking gentrify webcomics#anyways#go read something on comicfury. find a neocities page you've never heard of. get out that damn ballpoint pen and printer paper and fucking#draw. just draw. draw and write for yourself and no one else.#it doesn't need to be good you just need to make it#if there's a damn spark nourish that shit#make that stupid gag a day comic strip you wanted to make as a kid. write about kids with superpowers.#or make a soap opera comic.#let cerebus syndrome happen and ride the fucking wave.#just make some shit#this has been stupid. anyways.
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t3tr0m1n0 · 6 months ago
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fun... finally i post a full original composition to tumblr dot com
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whysamwhy123 · 1 year ago
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HALLEJUAH!! I REMEMBERED HOW TO ACTUALLY FINISH WRITING SOMETHING FOR A CHANGE!!
Of course, it's not any of the fics I wanted to finish. I went back to what is essentially my bread-and-butter now and wrote a short-ish, random OrangeHook fluff. But considering how much writing's been a struggle as of late, I'm just glad that I successfully finished something. I was back in one of those stretches where I couldn't seem to write much of anything. And this fic isn't about their age difference or Hook being a cuddlebug, so...progress?
Unless I decide I completely hate it (which is always a possibility) expect something to drop on Valentine's Day, tis the season, after all.
#What is wrong with you Sam you should not be allowed to write#Small victories you know?#Will I ever get sick of OrangeHook?? Apparently not#Can't even remember the last time they interacted on screen but that ain't stopping my brain LOL#On a more serious note - I really do hope that I can get back into the swing of things and make some real progress#On the bigger fics I want to work on#I want to finish the messy angst OrangeHook fic at some point even if it's unlikely to appeal to anyone#Annnnnd deep down in my cold dead heart I still wanna make an honest attempt at that DG Dead Dove fic#Even though that would be even more unappealing + a huge undertaking because that bitch would be loooooooooong#Also I had a slightly less angsty OrangeHook idea recently about them having their first fight and I wanna write that too for some reason#And there's still a part of me that really wants to continue Business/Pleasure because I have soooo many ideas for that AU#But that would require me to get over my inability to write smut#And I don't know how to do that (would appreciate any advice on that if you've got some...)#But at the same time I don't wanna beat myself up for not being able to write much - if anything - most days#This is a hobby after all - it's supposed to be fun#There ain't no deadline and it's not like I'm letting anybody down#Just gotta do at my own place#And write whatever absolute trash I want to write 😈#My tags are always so obsessive like SHUT THE FUCK UP SAM#But if you've actually read all these - hey. Thanks. Love ya 😘
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neverendingford · 4 months ago
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allisonreader · 1 year ago
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At my work we have a pretty great tradition that to celebrate birthdays we get to have a lunch brought in for us all to enjoy. Birthday person's choice usually. I'm getting pizza this week.
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chahnniesroom · 4 months ago
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too close to home
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pairing: none (platonic ot8 & female reader)
summary: as the only female of stray kids, you've always felt a little out of place. this comeback, the comments and criticism seem to hit a little too close to home and you start to think that maybe the group is better off without you.
word count: 8.5k
tags/warnings: 9th member au, hurt/comfort, angst, mean fans, anxious thinking, insecurities, overthinking
a/n: this is my first fic for my appreciation event! big thank you to everyone who has supported me and sorry this took so long to post.
special shoutout to @kangaracha who is basically the only reason i was able to finish this fic! she was my biggest cheerleader throughout my writing and if you would like to read an amazing 9th member fic, please please go read queenmaker.
where the heart is collection | read it on ao3 | masterlist
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You had known from the start that it would be difficult being in a co-ed group. It was rare, especially in K-pop. But being outnumbered eight to one? It was unheard of.
You had been just as surprised all those years ago, when the company had pulled you into a room and offered you a position in the boy group that they were about to debut.
You had heard about the team that Chan had put together, every trainee had gossiped about how JYPE was trying something new with a self-formed team. You hadn't paid too much attention to it, you were busy enough with preparing for your own evaluations and the possibility of being included in what everybody had thought was a boys group hadn't even crossed your mind.
You had accepted the position almost immediately.
At that point, you had been a trainee for almost three years, but had only been considered for debut less than a handful of times. You knew with each line-up that hadn't worked out, you were closer to being forced to give up on the idea of becoming an idol. If you rejected the offer this time, you might not get another and you had been ready to do anything to achieve your dream. 
Plus, you knew there was a high chance that they'd drop you from the group anyway. The position brought a lot of interest to the group, but you knew the company would be watching closely to determine whether it was worth the risk or not. 
It had been a bit of a rocky start, but now the nine of you were close, you had to be when you spent most of your waking time together. You considered the boys to be your second family and you knew that they felt the same way. 
It was just that there was clearly a difference in the dynamic when you were and weren’t with the group. It wasn’t necessarily bad just… different. The boys never excluded you or made you feel like you weren’t part of the group and you had great individual relationships with each of the members. 
It was inevitable though, you had never shared a dorm with the group, especially earlier in your career when you were less familiar and it would have been entirely unacceptable. You knew that this was the main reason you didn’t feel quite as part of the group, there was just a level of closeness that was formed when you actually lived with someone.
Well, it was that and the nagging guilt because you knew that Chan had hand-picked every member of Stray Kids himself.
Every member except you.
While the members had promised that they were the ones who had the final say, you knew it wasn't quite what they had expected. All of you had been desperate to debut though and even if it wasn't ideal, nobody was going to say anything that might jeopardize this chance.
Still, you could tell that the boys did their best to include you and for the most part, they succeeded. Even early on when things had been a little bit awkward between you, they were fiercely protective. In interviews, they insisted over and over that they wanted you in the group and it had been nice to hear, even if you knew they were just saying it for the cameras. 
They frequently invited you over for dinner or just to hang out, but you couldn't help feeling jealous when it was time for you to leave at the end of each night. It wasn't anything you could change though, so you just tried to appreciate their company while you had it.
So when the company brings up the idea of new dorm arrangements, you're surprised and a bit confused when they don't immediately inform you of where you'll be staying and kick you out of the meeting room. You've never participated in the discussions that the boys have regarding roommates, there has never been any reason to. 
You're shocked by how easily things fall into place, even more so when Chan approaches you, asking if you'd feel comfortable living with him and Jeongin. They assure you that any of the pairings would be happy to have you stay with them though, and that they'd also understand if you preferred to live on your own.
You were hesitant at first. It had been out of the question when you had first debuted. Even if you and the boys had been comfortable with it, which you weren’t, the company would have totally rejected the idea of one girl living with eight boys.
Instead, their solution had been to force you to remain in the trainee dorm even after your debut which meant constantly listening to jealous girls criticize anything and everything about you. It had been exhausting, partly because you were getting used to balancing schedules with practice, but also because you couldn’t find it in yourself to be mad at them. You were all too familiar with the disappointment and frustration that came with watching the people around you succeeding.
You had briefly considered asking about sharing with the boys when the dorms had split in half because you knew you needed to get out of the toxic environment the other girls were creating, but then the company had offered you an apartment to yourself. It had been one of the easiest decisions you had ever made. 
It had been too good to be true, though. The apartment had given you the privacy that you had craved, there were a multitude of issues that almost made you miss being in the trainee dorms. Whether you moved to a new apartment on your own or into one of the dorms with the boys, you knew that it would be an improvement.
You’re curious what living with the boys would be like and honestly, you’re a bit lonely in your current apartment. It only takes a day or two of thinking before you confirm that you’d like to join them.
The moving process is quick too, at least for you. The boys offered to help you move, but you adamantly refused. Your place had been so tiny that you didn't have the space to store many things and you didn't like shopping that much anyway so all of your clothes fit into the couple of large suitcases that you kept under your bed. Since most of the furniture had come with the room, you were able to bring everything over to the new dorm before the boys had even finished packing.
It's hard to settle in at first. You don't have any siblings and have never had to live with boys so it takes some getting used to. Luckily both Chan and Jeongin are quite careful about being respectful of your space. 
It's also a relief that you get to divide up some of the housework that you used to have to do all on your own. Even though it's not too much, it's nice to have more time in your day for other things and the three of you have developed a system that works well and feels natural.
Chan is meticulously clean and although you don't think you're that messy, you’re more careful to keep things in the right place. The worst part is that you know Chan won't complain or nag you if you leave your things around, he just quietly cleans up your messes which makes you feel both touched and a bit guilty.
You have no regrets about moving in with them, especially when you start to get more busy. It's nice to be living with people who have the same or similar schedules to you so you don't have to worry about losing track of time and being late to things. 
Not only that, but you feel like you have more support. Jeongin reminds you to eat regular meals and Chan checks in when he notices that you're up later than usual. The three of you chat more than you did before and now have a number of different inside jokes.
You're especially grateful because you can already sense that this comeback is going to be hard on you. It's not the songs that have you concerned, all the recording finished smoothly and you're more than happy with how your parts turned out. You also really like the concept that's being proposed for the cover art and all the music videos.
It's the dance that's the problem.
As a trainee, you had always excelled in dancing and had actually had been assigned the role of main dancer in some of the girl groups that you were considered for. It made it especially hard to come to terms with the fact that when you had joined Stray Kids, you weren't even included in the dance line. You knew that your singing was nice and your voice added diversity to the group, but it had never been what you were most confident in and you felt inadequate compared to Seungmin and Jeongin.
But when it comes to this title track, it's especially obvious why you're not considered as one of the lead dancers. By lunchtime, everyone has memorized the moves, you included, but the choreography is definitely more suited for male dancers. No matter how much you focus on trying to match the style of everyone else, you're sticking out like a sore thumb. 
Most of the members take a short break for lunch, but you're determined to keep practicing and Minho is willing to coach you through the parts that you're struggling with the most. On a technical level, you're hitting most of the moves, but you still haven't been able to do a runthrough that doesn't elicit at least a few corrections. You can tell that Minho is running out of patience and you're even more frustrated than he is.
Luckily the rest of practice is working on the different formations and angles for filming the music video, dance practice, and future performances. The details are less important and everyone is mainly focused on not crashing into each other.
You try to sneak in as many solo practice sessions as you can, but by the time filming for the dance practice rolls around, you’re still not feeling confident. In fact, you’ve been dreading the schedule for days and you feel a little queasy every time you think about it. It's far from your first dance practice filming, but something about this one just feels more daunting.
The morning of filming, you force yourself to eat a decent breakfast, knowing that skipping it would just make dancing more difficult for yourself. Chan had woken up early to prepare a simple meal while you and Jeongin had helped set the table and clean up afterwards. You're a bit more jittery than usual and you're pretty sure both of the boys have noticed, but they don't comment which you appreciate.
Everyone goes through hair and makeup fairly quickly, there's no elaborate outfits and crazy makeup for a more casual video like this. Your bad feeling for today just worsens when you see that while the rest of the boys are in their usual loose fitting sweats and shirts, you've been given a tight fitting outfit that reveals a bit more of your midriff than you usually like to show off. Even though you can't deny that it's a flattering look, it just makes you self conscious, feeling like you stood out even more than you usually did standing beside the guys.
Determined to power through filming, you warm up as quickly as you can so that you can spend as much time as possible reviewing the moves with the rest of the boys before the crew finishes setting up.
Your stomach is a flurry of butterflies as you get in position to start filming, even though you know that usually the first try is a throwaway. Not only is this the first time filming for the day, but the group hasn't actually done a performance of your new single, only practices.
You monitor the recording carefully. There's a few things to improve with the camera angles and position, that was to be expected, but you still have the nagging feeling that something about your dancing doesn't match the rest of the group.
You try to make your movements bigger in the next run through, while still looking natural and staying in time with the music. It's not quite right though and each time you try again, there's more and more things that you're unhappy with.
You can tell the rest of the group isn't pleased with how things are going either. You've been doing this long enough that these dance practices usually only take a couple hours to record, but now it's been at least three and none of the takes have even been considered as a keeper. A few times you haven't even been able to make it to the end of the song before someone messes up.
Your choreographer is in the back of the room and although he hasn't explicitly called you out, you can feel his gaze on you the longer this takes. 
“Come on guys,” Minho complains after a short break. “Focus! Let's get it done this time.” You watch as his eyes flicker towards where you're standing for the faintest of moments as he says it. It feels like a blow to the stomach.
You hate disappointing people, you're only human after all, but something feels even worse when you know it's the other members that you're letting down. Especially when it comes to dance, because you've always wanted to impress Minho and his notoriously high standards. The guilt sits heavy in your stomach as you push through your growing fatigue and take your position in front of the camera again.
As soon as both the director and choreographer announce that you're finished for the day, almost everybody collapses on the spot. One-takes are always the most exhausting and everybody has to focus on keeping their movements sharp because it's extremely obvious when you aren't in sync.
You, on the other hand, make your way to the screens where they're showing the playback. Sweat is dripping from your neck and forehead and you absent-mindedly swipe it away as you watch. Someone drapes a small towel over your head and you look over to see that Minho and Hyunjin have crowded behind you to take a look.
“It's good,” one of the managers comments.
Instead of agreeing, Minho hums noncommittally. You feel yourself tense up.
“What?” the manager asks. “Don't tell me you want to do it again.”
“No, no, it's fine.” Minho says mildly. 
“We can do another take,” the director offers. From behind him, one of the camera people groans quietly. You try not to wince at the sound and only partially succeed.
“I think this is the best we're going to get,” Minho replies, before he turns and walks back to where his things are, effectively ending the discussion.
“Sorry for making everyone stay late,” you say quietly, bowing quickly before trailing after Minho. Hyunjin eyes you weirdly as he keeps pace.
“Why'd you say that?” he asks as he packs his bag.
“I felt bad that they had to stay so long,” you say, confused. “We normally tell them that if filming goes over.”
“No.” Hyunjin pauses his movement to study you. You can't help but shrink away, feeling a bit like a bug under a microscope “We normally thank them for their hard work. You made it sound like it was your fault.”
“It's just been a long morning,” you deflect. “Are you heading back to the dorms now?”
“Yeah.” He runs a hand through his wet hair, flicking sweat everywhere. “Have to shower and I have a bit of time before my vocal lesson. Want to head back together?”
“You go ahead first,” you reassure him. “I have a couple things left to do at the company so I'll stick around for a bit longer.”
“Sure. If you're finished early, feel free to drop by. We can have dinner or something together,” Hyunjin offers.
“Sounds good! I don't know if I'll have time, but I'll definitely see I can join,” you promise.
Lying always leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but you know there's no way you're going to sacrifice time that you could be using to improve the dance just to hang out.
You stay late in the studio that night. Your only other schedule for the day is fittings for the music video and all the music shows, which finishes pretty quickly. Since you don't have much of an appetite anyway, you choose to skip Hyunjin’s dinner offer to continue practicing more. You had asked one of the managers to send you a copy of the dance practice and each time you replay it, the pit in your stomach seems to grow.
You lose track of time, picking apart each and every move to try and figure out what you're doing wrong. It's not until Minho knocks on the door and enters, startling you in the middle of yet another runthrough, that you realise how long you've been practicing.
“You still have so much energy?” Minho calls out as he walks closer to you.
“Just had a few things I wanted to fix up before I went home,” you explain in between breaths. 
“And?”
“And what?” you ask.
“Did you fix them?” he replies, raising an eyebrow as he scans your sweaty form and the empty room. “Have you been practicing this whole time? You've been here so long that even Channie-hyung went home. He asked me if you were at our place.”
“What? I-”
“It's almost 2am,” he says gently. “It's time to go home.”
“Can I do one more run through?” you ask sheepishly. “Actually, it’s good that you’re here, I just want to make sure-”
“You've been practicing long enough.” Minho's voice turns stern and he grabs your hand to lead you to the couch to sit. “Did you even eat?”
“I wasn't hungry,” you say quietly.
“Y/n-ah,” Minho scolds you. “You need to fuel your body if you're going to work it so hard, you know we've talked about this.”
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to practice more,” you say, staring down at your hands. You’re not allowed to pick at your nails since you just got them done, so you settle for fidgeting with one of the rings that you’re wearing. The sharp edges of the gemstones prick at your fingers but you can’t get yourself to stop. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just couldn’t get the dance right today. We had to film it so many times.”
“What are you talking about, Y/n-ah?” Minho asks, bewildered. “We weren’t- you weren’t the reason we had to redo the dance so many times.”
You look up at him finally and don’t see any of the annoyance that you were expecting. The concern and genuine confusion that you find instead catches you off guard.
“What? But- On our fourth take during the second chorus, my legwork was so sloppy compared-”
“Hannie literally forgot which direction we were supposed to move and he almost knocked into me,” Minho interrupts. “There was no way we were going to be able to use the footage, that’s why we stopped early.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice.”
Minho taps a finger to his lips, deep in thought.
“Fifth take, well that was my fault, so we're not going to talk about that. Sixth try, Yongbokkie and Innie both missed a cue and crouched later than everybody else, that one made me want to pull out my hair.” He shakes his head.
“That’s when we took a break,” you realise.
“Yeah, we were hoping it would help us have a clean run. Jinnie had sweated through his makeup and needed touch-ups anyway.”
“I thought you guys were annoyed at me,” you say in a small voice. “You didn't seem happy with the final video.”
“It wasn't my best take,” Minho admits. “I kind of wanted to do it again, but I didn't want you guys to have to stay even later.”
“Did you even see yourself?” You reach for your phone and unlock it to show the paused dance practice video. “Look, I've been trying to copy how fluid you moved in this part. See there? I looked so stiff compared to you, it's awful.”
“Y/n-ah,” Minho says carefully. 
“And look at this move,” you say, skipping ahead a couple seconds. “I couldn't quite-”
You cut yourself off mid-sentence when Minho leans forward to pluck your phone our of your hands and throw it off to the side. You don't even fight him, just stare with wide eyes, scared of what he's going to say next. 
“You were fine, you did well. But even if you did mess up, it's okay. This dance is tiring, it's challenging. We all have bad days and it's okay to make mistakes.”
When you don’t say anything in response, he slowly moves closer and envelops you in a tight hug. You sniffle a little bit and when he starts to rub slow but firm circles onto your back, you can't stop the few tears that escape.
“Hey, what's going through your mind, huh?” he asks in a low voice. “Why are you being so hard on yourself?”
“I just don't want to let you guys down,” you say.
“Y/n-ah, you're not letting us down if we have to do a few more takes on a dance practice,” Minho says incredulously. “Is that all that's been worrying you?”
“Yeah,” you lie. “I was just nervous about filming the dance and disappointed when it didn't go like I wanted it to.”
“Silly girl,” Minho says, ruffling your hair affectionately. “You're doing just fine. It's okay to be nervous, but you don't have to be pushing yourself so hard. Come on, it's time to go home, we have an early schedule tomorrow.”
You follow him meekly as he leads you out of the building and to where a driver is waiting to take you back to your dorm. Even though you feel a bit better knowing that you weren't the cause of the schedule overruns, you're still not satisfied with how you're dancing, but you know that it's pointless to pick a fight. Not only is Minho just as stubborn as you, he's not afraid to bring in reinforcements and you'd hate for the rest of the group to catch on to how you've been spending most of your free time. They already have enough to worry about, the last thing you want is to add to that.
Moving forward, you don't stop practicing, but you do take more care to try and pretend that it's not eating up all your free time. You stop using your favourite studio, you know the dance so well that most of the time you don't even have music playing, and you make sure not to stay out late enough that it's noticeable.
You start to feel a little silly with how much time you've devoted to this, significantly more than the rest of the members, especially when the music video filming goes by without a hitch. By the time the Studio Choom video is filmed, you're a lot more confident about the performance and even starting to enjoy yourself.
The rest of the preparations for the comeback start to fly by, especially after the album announcement goes live. There's not a day that goes by that's not filled with different photoshoots or interviews.
Before you know it, the album is released and even though your schedule is absolutely packed, you spend all your free time reading through comments and reactions. Maybe it was cliche to say, but you really did treasure hearing from Stays and comebacks were always when you felt closest to them.  You especially liked being able to interact with them on a more personal level.
You were almost certain that you were the most active member on Bubble, you liked to send daily updates on what you were doing and reminders to Stay about maintaining their health. It did sting that you were also pretty certain that you had the least subscriptions and likely some of them only stuck around because you thought it was funny to send candid photos of the boys every so often.
You had always looked forward to fan signs the most though. Before you had debuted, you had loved seeing footage of the cute accessories, silly pick-up lines, and heartfelt messages from the fans. Not only that, but it was the only chance to speak to fans in person, even if it was only for a minute or two.
You were immensely grateful for everyone that supported you, but maybe it was your eager anticipation for fan signs that left you feeling so disappointed and empty. You had slowly grown used to Stays ignoring you for the boys, for always being the one that didn't receive any gifts to play with, for having the smallest stack of letters at the end of each event. But somehow you were always hopeful that the next time would be different.
Of course, it wasn't like you resented everybody else in the group. In fact, you were genuinely glad that they were enjoying themselves because they deserved it. They worked hard, were amazing performers and talented at creating music, and as a result, the fans loved them.
You, on the other hand, were just missing something, and it seemed that nothing you could do would change that. You had bounced through different positions, focused on vocals, dance, rap, music production, writing lyrics, and had enjoyed yourself thoroughly the whole time. If only the fans had liked it as much as you.
At least with fan calls, it wasn't as blatantly obvious that you were the least popular, least favourite member of the group. In fact, sometimes you were glad because you knew the boys often had crazy fans who had absurd or cringy requests while most of the time you spoke with someone who was politely feigning their interest.
It's almost funnier when the company sits you all down in the same room for the calls like they do today because you get to witness and subsequently tease the boys for the aegyo and silly poses they're forced to do. It's not like any of you can refuse anything the fans ask you to do, not with the staff breathing down your neck the whole time.
As expected, most of your calls are fairly generic and you're grateful for it. You have easy conversations about the album, which dances are your favourite, and you get to share some stories from the tour that you recently finished. You're maybe halfway through the calls when things start to take a turn for the worst.
“I even think that you would have done great as a solo artist! Are you thinking of releasing any solo music soon?” the girl that you're talking to asks excitedly.
“Oh, thank you.” You smile back even though the innocent question makes your chest ache for some reason. “I- well, solo music-” You take a deep breath to gather your thoughts. “I don't know about the future, but right now I really can't imagine releasing anything other than music as a part of Stray Kids. I love working and performing with the rest of the members and I wouldn't want to change anything.”
It's how you actually feel, but you can't help the way that your eyes dart over to check on the staff member that's supervising your call. You feel a bit better when you see their nod of approval and try to focus on the fan to finish the rest of the conversation.
Thankfully you get a quick break before the next call. You know the fan was probably trying to be encouraging, she had started off the call praising your skills and was probably just curious. Still, there's a voice in your mind that tells you that she'd prefer it if you weren't a member of Stray Kids. Or rather, she'd prefer that Stray Kids didn't have you in it.
You try to bring a positive mindset into your next call, but it's with a Stay that’s decidedly less interested in talking to you. You exchange greetings and make small talk until she seems to get an idea that makes her sit up straight all of a sudden.
“I have a question for you,” she says, eyes glinting in a way that makes you a little nervous, even though you're not sure why.
“Go ahead,” you encourage her because you're mostly feeling a bit relieved that she's finally showing some emotion other than boredom.
“Which of the boys would you say is best in bed?” she asks slyly.
You stare at her dumbly, thinking that you must have misheard her.
“Sorry,” you say, laughing uncomfortably. “I don't- I don't think I understand your question.”
“You heard me,” she scoffs. “What's the point in having you in the group if you're not sleeping with at least some, if not all of them?”
“No, I- It's not like that, I don't-” Flustered, you stare desperately at the staff, hoping they'll step in and end the call. Instead they just motion for you to continue. “I mean, we're close, but not-”
“If you want, you can just tell me your favourites,” she giggles, as if she's just asked you what songs on the album you liked. “It must be either Chan or Jeongin, if you decided to live with them.”
“No!” you exclaim.
“So it's not either of them?” she says, tapping a finger against her lip in thought.
“That's not the kind of relationship we have.”
Mortified, you find that you're tearing up a bit. You've heard the theories before, know that there's a lot of gossip and rumours because you're in a group of men, but you've never been outright accused to your face like this.
From the corner of your blurry field of vision, you see Seungmin wave bye to whoever he's talking to. He must hear the distress in your voice because he glances over, then does a double-take when he sees just how bad you're doing.
“What's going on?” he demands, stalking over. Before the staff can do anything to stop him, he leans forward and disconnects the call without a warning. “Why didn't you do anything, isn't it obvious that something’s wrong?”
“Y/n-ssi was handling it,” the staff member says. “It’s not fair to the fans if you cut a call short without reason.”
“No reason? Do you have eyes?!” Seungmin motions to where you're surreptitiously trying to blot away the tears without smudging your makeup. He's gotten the attention of everyone in the room now, even the members who are still in calls and have to pretend nothing is happening in the background. You can only hope that the phones aren't able to pick up anything being said.
“Min,” you say, voice barely above a whisper as you tug on his sleeve lightly. He glances back at you, eyes softening slightly. “It's okay, I'm fine.”
You're grateful that he's stood up for you, but all the scrutiny is getting a bit overwhelming. You just want to move on and pretend nothing happened because the last thing that you want is for the company to think you're a liability who can't even handle a nosy fan.
Seungmin crouches in front of you and studies you carefully. You're still clutching onto the sleeve of his sweater. You take a deep breath to compose yourself, then give him a watery smile.
“I was just being really sensitive today, I promise,” you plead. “Just let it go.”
He starts to say something, then cuts himself off, eyes watching something happening over your shoulder.
“Let's just take a quick break from the calls,” Chan says evenly. You didn't even notice that he came up being you and is standing behind you protectively. “We'll be back in 10 minutes.”
It's a command, not a suggestion, something that the staff would normally push back against, but for some reason they stay quiet, allowing the nine of you to filter out of the room unimpeded.
Nobody says anything until you find an unoccupied dance studio. Minho is quick to lock the door after you all pile in.
“Hey,” Seungmin says softly from where he's been stuck to your side. “You holding up okay?”
“Yeah, I don't know what happened. I'm fine now,” you say.
“Are you sure?” Felix asks from where he's sitting on your other side.
“Really, it was nothing,” you assure him.
“If you were upset, then it's something,” Seungmin insists. “We promise we won't think it's silly or anything. It's probably something we've all heard before anyway.”
You have to turn away from the way that he's looking at you with his huge, pleading eyes. But the rest of the group is also gathered around, concern lining their faces.
“She implied that the only reason I'm in the group is because I'm sleeping with all you,” you say stiffly, regretting it immediately when you feel both Seungmin and Felix freeze in place. “Which obviously is not true, so it's not a big deal.”
“Y/n, you know that's unacceptable, right?” Chan says slowly, through what sounds like gritted teeth. You finally tear your eyes away from where you've been staring at the patterns that you can see in the grain of the wooden flooring, to see that his jaw is clenched, neck muscles pulled tight. 
“Fans say inappropriate things all the time, it's not like I haven't read things like that before. It comes with the job.” You shrug.
“That doesn't make it okay. This is serious. You shouldn't have to-” Chan cuts himself off when he notices that he's started to raise his voice and just pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Listen, I know. I just- I don't want this to be a big commotion. It sucks, I didn't respond well, whatever, let's move on,” you say. “She's going to post about it online, but in a few days, nobody is going to remember anyway.”
“Hyung, can't we just end the call if they do anything inappropriate?” Changbin complains.
“You know that we can't,” you remind him before anybody else can say anything. “It's part of our contract.”
“I hate these stupid fan calls!” Hyunjin passionately declares from where he's sprawled out on the floor. “Channie-hyung, can we just cancel the rest of them?”
“Don't say that,” you scold him mildly. “You love fan calls the most out of all of us.”
“I love some of them,” he argues back. “But not if that's the way you're going to be treated during them. Plus, if another person asks me to call them mommy then I'm actually going to quit being an idol.”
“Ew, your fans are weird.” Jisung wrinkles his nose in disgust.
“They're your fans too!” Hyunjin shoots back.
“Okay,” Chan claps his hands together a couple times before things devolve further. “Unfortunately, we do have to continue with the rest of the calls and we can't delay things too much. It's time to head back.”
There's a bit of casual chatter as everybody heads back, but you can tell everyone is still feeling a bit tense. Seungmin only releases your hand when he absolutely has to and you squeeze a couple times before you let go to try and reassure him that you're going to be fine.
The second you sit down, a makeup artist descends on you, tutting her tongue when she sees that you've accidentally wiped away some of your eyeshadow. You obediently stay still, watching as Chan approaches your table too, stopping to lean down and say something in the ear of the staff member that has been monitoring you. The blood slowly drains from her face and she nods rapidly in agreement with whatever he tells her. He claps a hand on her shoulder and even though it's a light and friendly gesture, you can see the way she flinches slightly.
You raise an eyebrow when he looks your way and he just smiles innocently in return and makes his way back to his seat. You don't comment, not even when you notice that the staff's fingers are trembling so hard that it takes her a couple tries to connect you to the next call. You know that it's not her fault, she's just following instructions from the company after all, but you're not feeling very sympathetic at the moment.
Instead, you just try to focus and take on an upbeat persona in the hopes that nobody realises how upset you truly feel. You're hurt and a bit wary of what the fans might do next, but you don't want to take it out on the people who haven’t done anything to you yet.
Fortunately, the rest of the calls are rather uneventful and you leave the company feeling drained, but not as terrible as you had expected.
You spend the rest of the day thinking about what you could have done differently, how you could have handled the call more gracefully, what kind of answer you should give if something similar ever happens again. But no matter what, you just get stuck pitifully thinking to yourself that it's not fair, you shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of questions in the first case. You're sure the company will give you a briefing and some scripted lines tomorrow anyway, so it's probably for the best that you just try to pretend nothing happened at all.
That evening, you try your best to avoid social media, but you knew that some of the other boys had seen videos based on the stormy expression on Jeongin's usually smiley face when you got home and the way that Chan comes back from the gym with more bruises than usual from his boxing session with Minho and Changbin.
They never say anything, but they have been extra careful around you. Chan has brought home your favourite takeout without you asking and Jeongin jumps up to clean up the second that everyone has finished eating. After you decline to watch a drama with them, you can hear one of them pacing past your bedroom every few minutes, pausing right outside your door before continuing on.
You have just decided to muster up the courage to actually watch the recording of the video, it was embarrassingly easy to find one, when Seungmin video calls you. You immediately click away from where your own stupid looking shocked face is paused on screen to answer because you know Seungmin knows that you prefer to text unless it's an emergency.
“Hey,” you greet him warily. “What's up?”
“Felix is trying to kill me,” Seungmin complains.
“What now?”
“Just look!”
Seungmin changes to his back camera to reveal their kitchen, which is littered with baking supplies and seems almost hazy for some reason.
“Is that smoke?” you ask, sitting up in bed.
“I said not to film!” Felix's voice comes from somewhere outside of the frame. Seungmin pans over dizzyingly fast to show where he's crouched in front of the oven, streaks of flour smudged on his clothes and in his hair.
“I'm not filming,” Seungmin comments, unbothered by the fact that Felix is pulling out a pan of what looks like they should be cookies but look alarmingly similar to lumps of coal. “I'm on a call. Show Y/nnie what you made,” he prompts.
“What?? Noooo,” Felix whines. “Y/n don't look!”
“What are those supposed to be?” you laugh.
“I wanted to make something to cheer you up,” Felix says miserably. Seungmin cackles, moving the camera closer so that you first get a close-up of Felix's face, then a better look at the burnt baking sheet. You keel over, stomach starting to hurt from how hard you're laughing. “I was trying to clean up while they baked and didn't hear the timer go off.”
“Well I appreciate the thought,” you say, when you can finally catch a breath. “And you definitely succeeded in making me feel better. Didn't the fire alarm go off?”
“We just got it to stop,” Seungmin says, switching the camera so that you can see his face again. “It's freezing in here now, we had to open all the windows to air out the place.”
“You poor things,” you coo, leaning back onto your bed now that you aren't concerned that they're in immediate danger. “Do you want to come over to our place?”
“I want to, but someone has to make sure that sunshine over here doesn't burn anything else.” Seungmin rolls his eyes, making you laugh again. You hear Felix yell something in the background. “I just wanted a witness in case I don't make it to our schedule tomorrow. I think I gotta go.”
“Yeah, I think you'll be busy cleaning up the rest of the night. See you tomorrow!”
You end the call, plunging your room back into darkness. You lie on your bed for a few moments before unlocking your phone again.
Even though you knew that it wasn't wise, like clockwork you found yourself scrolling through social media after every comeback. It used to be worse, when you had been living alone and would spend countless hours curled up on your tiny bed, face only illuminated by your phone. 
The rest of the members all know that you had private social media accounts, they all had them too even though you technically weren't allowed to. What they didn't know was how many nights you had wasted away, watching funny compilations, reaction videos, and analysis of performances. Sometimes, it even felt like you were subconsciously searching for the negative comments, wanting to understand better the mindset of the haters.
It was an old, but bad habit, so you had tried your best to stop once you moved in with Chan and Jeongin. But tonight you just couldn't sleep. After wandering into the kitchen to get yourself a glass of water, you end up getting distracted by your Youtube recommendations.
You don't know what kind of strings the company pulled, but by some miracle, there's no clips of your disastrous fan call circulating any more, although there were still a lot of people talking about it.
There had been mixed comments. Some of the clips had excluded the terrible questions and people commented on how bad your media training must have been, but a majority of people were furious on your behalf and complained about how out of bounds the comment had been. 
You should be relieved that the videos have been taken down and you are to a certain extent, but just a couple days ago the dance practice that haunted you had been posted. Just one more thing to worry about. As you feared, while a majority of the comments were nice, there's already people picking apart your performance, comparing you to the boys. 
You click from one comment to another, then move onto fan made videos, inevitably falling down a rabbit hole of the many edits that exist where you had been cropped out or digitally removed. It was almost mesmerizing, watching videos of how well the group worked without you, how natural it looked to see what it would have looked like if it was just the eight of them. Some nights, you could almost forget that the edits were exactly that, edits and not the reality.
“Hey,” Chan interrupts. He is obviously trying his best not to scare you, but you were startled anyway, dropping your phone on the counter. “What are you up to so late?”
“It's nothing,” you said quickly, fumbling to lock your phone so that he can’t see the video that’s playing, but Chan had scooped it up before you had the chance to pick it back up.
“What's this-” You could see the moment that he pieced things together, the way that even in the dim lighting you could tell how his brow had furrowed and his hand had tightened around your phone. “How come you're not in these videos?”
“Hm?”
“You were definitely in this performance,” Chan says, studying the paused screen. “You're supposed to be… They removed you.” He finally realises with horror. “Why are you watching garbage like this?”
“I just want to know what Stay are thinking.” You shrug. “I saw this video and couldn't help but watch. It’s not a big deal, I was just curious.”
“They're not Stay if they're not supporting the whole group!” Chan startles you with the sharpness of his voice. He catches sight of your wide eyes and softens his tone. “Sorry, I just hate akgaes and seeing these kind of posts.”
“Oh come on,” you say. “You're telling me that you've never thought about what the group would be like if you weren't being dragged down by me?”
“Dragged down- Y/n-”
“Don't lie to me, oppa. I know you've seen what people are saying about the group, about me. Have you seen some of these edits? Stray Kids looks good as eight,” you admit.
“I’m not lying! None of us would want to be making music or performing without you,” Chan insists.
“You don't have to say that just to not make me feel bad.” You shake your head.
“We’ve been together from the start, why would I have chosen you to be a part of Stray Kids if I didn't actually want you to be on the team?” Chan asks, sounding frustrated, but also genuinely curious.
“Because the company added me to the team at the last minute?” you say, as if it's obvious. Because to you, and basically everybody else, it is. “I know I wasn't part of the group that you picked. It's okay-”
“What are you talking about? You know that I chose you too, right?” he asks slowly. 
“But the company-”
“They couldn’t have just added you to the group without our say.”
“No, I know that you guys agreed it to, but-”
“Y/n-ah, we didn't just agree to it. They told me they wanted us to consider adding a female member to Stray Kids. We thought about it and said yes. I was the one who wanted that member to be you.”
You stare at him, dumbfounded. 
“What?”
“Why are you so surprised? I saw your evaluations, you were one of trainees strongest in dance, probably the only one that could keep up with us, your singing has always been stable, and I know that based on your personality and work ethic, you would get along well with the rest of us. It was the obvious choice.”
“Oh.” Is all you can say, mind racing.
“You really thought the company just added your name onto the roster and we went along with it?”
“I don't know, I guess so?” you say sheepishly. “I was just so grateful to debut, it didn't matter at the time. It felt so out of the blue.”
“You know that one of the reasons that JYP didn't have you on that many of the girl group line-ups was because he was considering making you a solo artist, right?”
“Huh? There's no way,” you immediately deny. “Nobody ever mentioned that-”
“He told me when I brought up your name to add to the group. I guess they never wanted to get your hopes up.”
“I thought they were going to drop me soon,” you admit, scratching at the back of your neck. “I uh, I thought maybe I would do at most one more year of training and then move back in with my family. I had even started filling out university applications to keep my options open.”
“Y/n, you were consistently having amazing evaluations, you were being praised so much by everyone. Why would you doubt yourself?”
“Three years as a trainee and nothing to show for it. You know what it was like, how hard it was to see people come and go. It didn't matter how great my evaluations were if I never got to debut.”
“But-”
“Don't tell me that you never thought about quitting. Oppa, I thought that you of all people would understand what it was like.” You hate the way that your voice cracks.
“I thought about it all the time,” Chan says. “Sorry, I didn't mean it like that.”
“It's fine,” you mumble.
“Y/n-ah,” Chan asks tentatively, like he's afraid to learn the answer. “All these years that we've been together, did you really think we didn't want you?”
“Yes? Well, not really. I didn't think you guys disliked having me in the group per se, I just always thought that maybe you would like it more if I wasn't? And I guess it didn't help that there are a lot of people who thought the same way.”
“I'm sorry we didn't reassure you more.” Chan runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “How did we not see that you felt this way?”
“Because I didn't want you to? It's not like it was your fault anyway, I was just overthinking.”
“You know we're going to have to make it up to you, right?” Chan says, looking a little mischievous. 
“Oh please no,” you say, backing away nervously thinking of how much coddling and smothering you're about to endure. You're pretty sure you're already one of the members that's doted on the most. “Things are good as they are.”
“Nope, I refuse.” Chan approaches you, reaching out and catching your wrist so that you can't get away. “We're going to give you so much love that you're not going to doubt yourself ever again.”
“No!” you squeal, trying to tug away from his grip. “I already-” 
The rest of your sentence gets cut off as Chan pulls you into an embrace and your face gets smashed against his shoulder. He squeezes you tightly and contrary to your words, you just relax into his hold.
“What are you guys doing? You're being so loud.”
Both you and Chan freeze, then turn to stare as Jeongin shuffles into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with his hair all mussed up. You turn back to Chan for a second before he replies.
“Just having a bit of a heart to heart, Innie. Come here, join us,” he invites.
“Ugh, why would I want to hug either of you?” Jeongin complains, wrinkling his nose before immediately walking over and enveloping both of you in his arms.
Even though you know you're going to have to leave for a schedule in a matter of hours, with both Chan and Jeongin's arms wrapped tight around you, you feel lighter than you have in months. You feel secure, at ease, and finally, like you've found a home in these boys.
where the heart is collection | read it on ao3 | masterlist
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missanathea · 2 years ago
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She makes very interesting points. Language is a very powerful tool for influence and we should better equip ourselves to decipher manipulation attempts, and to recognize the intent behind the words used, because that will tell you just as much about a situation, as the actual words will.
But I can't agree with the journalists bashing. Because while I do agree that some journalists are bad and some are maybe getting manipulated or not seeing (and so presenting) the real situation, the work journalists do is very important. They are just as much a part of the truth as the people on the ground. It’s just that you have to be aware that you shouldn’t trust them blindly. You should never trust anyone blindly, because no one has the whole story.
Even people on the ground.
Of course it’s very important to listen to them to know what’s happening. What it’s like. How Israel is treating them. But they don’t have the whole story, just like you don’t have the whole story of your life. You make assumptions and sometimes those assumptions are wrong. Again, I’m not saying dismiss what people on the ground are saying. I’m saying listen to everybody and compare notes. Compare what the people on the ground are saying to what the journalists are saying to what the politicians are saying to what your moral values and compass are telling you is right and acceptable. And then you’ll have your truth (but it will still not be The Truth, although this is getting philosophical).
What she says about Palestinians being hostages is very interesting too, but I don’t take issue with the word prison like she does. I’ve never seen it as "they are there so they must have done something wrong". I’ve always seen it has "prison is a place were you are denied most of your rights (most of all your right for freedom) and this is the situation they are in". And because I know they are here because of the people they were born into, and not for anything they ever did, I can tell it's unjust. So the term has never presented the Palestinians in a negative way to me. Rather, it's presented the Israeli state as an abusive state that doesn't respect the right to freedom and free ownership of their land of the Palestinian people. (But I can understand that to someone completely uneducated about the situation, "prison" could present the Palestinian negatively.)
Finally, the last thing I take issue with is "when they start writing this, that's because they want you to disconnect". I feel like this is akin to the academic bashing that we've seen in recent years. Because hiding from the complexities of a situation can never be the answer. The issue is not that media going into specifics will make people turn off their brain. The issue is that we don't go into specifics enough, as individuals. The issue is that we turn off our brains in the first place. Expecting media to just give you simplified, ready to consume "truths" will not help us prevent this from happening again. Going into the specifics, and understanding Israel's history, and the history of the Jewish people, and why the state of Israel says to have claims on Palestine is how we can identify the warning bells in future similar situations to prevent history from repeating itself. So next time the media goes into specifics, don't just assume they are trying to send you to sleep. Turn your brain on, dig in, think, and research using varied sources.
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3d-wifey · 7 months ago
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can i get a short lil sumthin sumthin about remus and his girlfriend being academic weapons, sirius and james thinks they're boring bc they've been doing their work in the library for hours but they're actually cockwarming and seeing who'll crack first heheheh 👀👀👀
"Focus, Lupin"
Pairing: Remus Lupin x girlfriend!reader
Synopsis: You and Remus are quite competitive, always going head-to-head in your classes. It’s commonplace to compete for the highest marks. What isn’t commonplace is the sabotage in the form of Remus’s wandering hands.  
Word Count: 2.7k
Warnings: well, smut of course! Exhibitionism, possessive Remus, yall are both freaks tbh, cucking? cock warming, riding
A/N: The other marauders have a big fat stinking crush on you but that's neither here nor there until the end of the fic. Sighhh, I go through my marauders mood swings. Your house isn't clear so feel free to pick any of them.
Tags: @yvy1s @innercreationflower
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Remus hooks his chin over your shoulder, looking for all the world as if he's just getting into a better position to read his chicken scratch notes, pressing your back even further against his chest. You inhale, clenching around him at the sudden movement. You scoff at his near-inaudible laughter, elbowing him as he chuckles into your neck.
"Quit it." You grumble, quil moving at the speed of light as you furiously write.
"Quit what?" He moves the textbook you're sharing closer, the big hand he places on the page mirrors the one that's settled on your stomach. He spreads his fingers wide like he's stretching them before he drums them along the parchment. You wish you hadn't left your robes in your dorm, at least then you'd have another layer between your skin and Remus's teasing touch.
"You're cheating." You hiss, but that's the most you do to reprimand him. It's your fault you're in this mess anyhow.
Both of you are always the highest scorers in your class. And with the past few exams, you've been getting the same score or beating each other by a point or two. It's bloody frustrating.
You continuously tried to one-up each other in academics, long after you two started dating. He's your rival first, boyfriend second.
At this very moment, before you both sit two half-done papers for your N.E.W.T-level Alchemy class that isn't due for another week, but you get extra house points if you're the first to turn it in.
Which you plan to be, even if half the blood in your brain has traveled down to where you're swollen and soaked. You both sit completely clothed, other than where you're hitched on Remus's cock, knickers pulled to the side.
Of course, the library is empty. It's nine in the afternoon on a Friday. And it was your idea to see whose dedication would overpower their carnal desires. 
He laughed you off at first. A soft, dismissive chuckle rumbling from his chest, muffled by the book he barely looked up from. Typical, shaking his head as if you'd said something absurd and that was the beginning and end of it. But you knew him well enough by now to know which buttons to push—and exactly how hard. 
"Yeah, right," you sighed, letting your tone drop into exaggerated defeat as you flopped back against his headboard. "Wouldn't be much of a competition anyway."
Remus paused mid-turn of the page. His brows furrowed, eyes flicking to you in sharp suspicion, but you didn't look at him. Not yet. Instead, you stretched out along his bed like a cat, carefully keeping your expression blank as you toyed with the edge of the blanket.
"...And what's that supposed to mean?" His voice was sharp, clipped, but you could hear the curiosity, the irritation. The competitive edge. Exactly what you were counting on.
"Hm? Oh, nothing." You waved a hand vaguely in his direction, settling yourself comfortably against his pillows. You stretched a little more, arching your back like a cat before flopping onto your side. You kept your expression perfectly neutral, but you knew he could feel the smirk simmering beneath the surface. "It's just...well, we both know you'd give in long before me. So there's truthfully no point in even entertaining the idea." You shrugged, all nonchalance, even as you felt your chest flutter at the way his brows drew together. "I'm just agreeing with you, Rem."
His scoff was immediate, sharp and incredulous. You'd earned yourself a full look now, his book lowering just enough to reveal the disbelief etched across his face. “That’s not what I said.”
You shrugged as if it was no concern to you, deliberately looking away like the conversation was already over, knowing full well he wouldn’t let it rest. You flipped onto your stomach, propping your chin on your hands to stare at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Didn’t need to." 
You bit your lip to keep from smiling as his book lowered—not abruptly, but slowly, deliberately. One inch, then two—his sharp amber eyes flicking to yours. The forefinger he slipped between the pages made it look like he might still pretend to be reading, but you knew better.
The scar closest to his eye twitched, irritation flickering faintly across his face. Merlin, you always loved how expressive that scar was when he was annoyed. One of his fingers tapped against the book spine resting on his chest, the motion twitchy.
He exhaled through his nose—sharp, like he was trying to keep it together—and finally set the book aside. His movements were precise, controlled, but there’s no hiding the faint flush creeping over his neck or the way the corner of his mouth twitched.
You knew you got him. He tried, and failed, to mask his irritation and it was almost unfair how easy he was to rile up. Almost
He let a long silence settle, the weight of his gaze pressing into you. Finally: “…You taking the piss?” 
You let the grin spread across your face this time, sitting up slightly so your chin props on your hands. "M'as serious as the plague, Lupin."
The staring match that followed was something out of a duel, the cogs in his mind clearly spinning. The tension stretched taut between you, thick as smoke, neither of you daring to blink.
His book stayed in his hand for a moment longer, though you saw the exact second he gave up pretending to read. Then, to your satisfaction, he closed his book with an audible thud and set it aside. He shifted, sitting up and leaning forward. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, the muscles in his forearms flexing with the movement, and your stomach twisted—just a smidge.
"Go get your books," he said, his voice low and challenging, sending electricity up your spine. "And meet me in the library."
“Oooh, someone's touchy," you said, walking your fingers up his thigh, muscles tensing under your touch. “Formal battlegrounds now, is it? Bold move, Rem. I thought you liked keeping your humiliations private. But if losing in public gets your rocks off, who am I to deny you?"
His lips twitched—an almost-smile that was gone too fast to catch properly. “I’ll be the one handing out the humiliation, thanks.” 
"Stakes?" you asked, cocking your head.
"Loser buys the winner chocolate frogs for a week," he said, already swinging his legs off the bed. Then, after a pause, he glanced over his shoulder, smirking faintly. "Or…whatever else I decide." 
You pushed yourself up with a wicked grin that matched his, already moving toward the door. “Alright, but don’t be mad when you’re the one giving in first. I know you can’t resist me for long.” 
Behind you, you heard him huff a laugh, though it sounded like he was trying to hide it. “Get your books, trouble. Let’s see how well you actually handle restraint.” 
You were confident by the end of this week you'd overdose on chocolate frogs. Remus might be brilliant and disciplined, but he’s not immune to distraction. Especially distraction in the form of his wickedly beautiful girlfriend.
Truthfully, it was daft of you to assume Remus would play fair. You mix two people who are as competitive as they are horny and it leads you here, on your boyfriend's lap, surely dripping onto the wooden bench under you.
He hums as if he's thinking over the definition of cheating and if what he's doing right now counts as it—which it does.
"S'that right?" He mumbles into your neck and you almost reach for your wand, honest, "I don't see any cheating here, love. Just good old fashioned studying, just like you wanted."
He thrusts up, and your hand flies up to cover your mouth. You see his quill moving out of the corner of your eye without the aid of a hand. "Cheater," you pant, but don't move to stop him or even continue writing your essay. You allow yourself to enjoy the slow, steady rock of his hips against yours—only for a moment. Every vein and ridge dragging against your hypersensitive walls.
You go to reach back—for support, for a futile attempt at stopping the way he rocks into you, feeling as inevitable as the ticking of time—with your other hand, but are stopped by the quill in your hand. You're reminded, there and then, that winning over Remus is almost, if not just as satisfactory as a hard won orgasim.
You put quill to ink pot, and then, quill to parchment. Remus curses behind you but doesn't stop. Not with you panting and whining behind gritted teeth. Not with you clenching around him like a Grindylow's spindly fingers, tightening with a merciless grip. He doesn’t stop until the familiar voice of his mates cuts through the fog.
"There you two are. Should've known you'd be held up in here weeks before your assignment is done. On a weekend at that—" Sirius trails off as he and James discover the little nook you and Remus have secluded yourselves too, as well as the...odd position you find yourselves in.
It's not that he's never seen you two be affectionate, especially nearing the full moon as it is, but you in Remus's lap like this, a flustered look on your face, well, he's not a dumbass. Something out of the ordinary is happening here.
James on the other hand is none the wiser, brows furrowing in self righteous disappointment.
"We've been looking for you two everywhere. Party's not that far off, you know the turn out will be lethal even if we lost the match to those snakes." There was a foul that should've been called, but wasn't, a sligh that the refs didn't catch. In traditional Gryffindor fashion, they didn't whine about a rematch or about the unfairness of it, and in typical Slytherin fashion, they didn't either. But they needed you two to help set up certain spells only you two knew because, well, you created them. Definitely not because they liked watching the way their best mate's girl stretched and bent as she set up in the Gryffindor commons.
"We know," Remus says, glancing up at the boys before looking back to one of the open textbooks. "The plan's to party the weekend away, yeah? It's why we're getting the assignment out of the way. Sooner you let us finish this," he's slowly sliding his hands up from your knees to your hips, pushing you down with such strength that your stomach clenches, "sooner we can help."
"It's...it's just an essay, Sirius. We'll be done before the Hufflepuffs start," you almost bite your tongue mid-sentence when Remus ghosts a callused finger over your aching clit, playing it off as a hiccup, "bringing the snacks.
Neither of you say anything more as you have a sneaking suspicion that they're going to catch on, chances of you opening your mouth to speak only for a moan to tumble out are high. Remus is quiet because he hopes they do figure it out, either from the audible wetness of your cunt or your eyes rolling back as he makes you cum. 
Remus knows they're in love with you and have been since third and fourth year. He's tempted to invite them a glimpse under the table so they can see how he has you stretched around his cock, squirming and wanton. What better way of making sure they know you're his?
And from the way Sirius looks the two of you over, glances down at the table, and raises his perfectly sculpted brows as James begins to ramble at you, there’s no mistaking that Sirius knows. Of course he does. Sirius always knows. His stormy eyes flick down again—deliberate, calculating—as if he’s debating whether or not to call you out. He hums, low and thoughtful, as if weighing the satisfaction of saying something versus letting the moment play out. Instead, he smirks faintly and leans against a nearby bookcase, letting James’s oblivious chatter fill the space.
Remus holds his gaze, unflinching, daring him to say a word. For a brief, reckless moment, he considers sliding his chair back just enough to let Sirius catch a glimpse of how thoroughly he has you. The thought makes his cock twitch inside you, and from the way Sirius’s smirk curves a fraction higher, it’s almost like he knows that, too.
Remus doesn’t full-on smirk when they lock eyes, but it’s a close thing.
"…Right.” Sirius tilts his head slightly, his sharp grey eyes dragging over the two of you like he’s piecing together a puzzle he’s already solved. His gaze flicks down to the table again—just briefly—and then back up to meet yours. The corner of his mouth twitches, not quite a smirk, but close enough to make your stomach drop. “You know, you two really are awful at being subtle.”
Your heart skips a beat, heat rushing to your face as you open your mouth to protest—except Sirius doesn’t give you the chance. He hums thoughtfully, his gaze flicking to Remus, and then back to you, like he’s enjoying the power of watching you squirm. “But don’t think being pretty gets you out of work,” he adds smoothly, leaning in to knock his knuckle against the table. “You’ve got until ten on the dot before I come back and drag you out of here myself.”
James, oblivious as ever, snorts and waves Sirius off. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just mad because we need you for the setup,” he says, rolling his eyes. He jabs a thumb at Sirius, then gestures toward the door. “I told him you’re probably in here studying, because what else would you two be doing on a Friday night?”
Sirius hums again, a low, knowing sound, his gaze locking with Remus’s in a silent challenge. The corner of his mouth curves, just enough for you to wonder if he’s going to say something more—something that will make it impossible to deny that he knows exactly what’s happening beneath the table.
But instead, he lets out a soft laugh, straightening from the bookcase. “Sure,” he drawls, his voice dripping with amusement. “Studying.” His eyes grow bigger as he says it to emphasis just how little he believes that rubbage excuse.
He casts one last look over the two of you, smirking faintly, before turning to leave, James already rambling on about the next Quidditch match as they disappear into the corridor. Relief floods your chest for all of three seconds—before Remus tilts his hips just so, dragging another whimper from you as his cock presses deeper.
You bite your cheek, barely able to return James's wave goodbye before you're digging your nails into Remus's thighs. The same thighs that are currently spreading yours apart. Your skirt rides up, exposing you to the air and his sly hands.
"This," your hips twitch against his as he traces feather-light fingers over your puffy lips, swollen with need. You bite back a whine, huffing harshly through your nose as those fingers move down where the base of his cock sits snugly in you, tubbing slick where you and he are connected. "This is how you're cheating."
"If you're so much better than me, you should be able to focus, no problem, right?" He has an arm wrapped around your waist again, the other flipping pages.
"Fine." If that's how he wants to play, then you are more than game. You lean forward, elbows on the table as you grind your hips back and forth, barely raising off of him before coming back down with your fluttering warmth squeezing around him. "Focus, Lupin. Or, mh, at least try."
"Shhhit. D-dearest, that's not—" he cuts himself off with a truly shameless moan, both hands gripping your waist. He doesn't stop you, no, wouldn't dream of it. Instead, he helps you balance as you move faster, busy chasing your high more than you're focused on sabotaging Remus. "You, your—Merlin, you're bloody brilliant."
At this point, you don't know what'll come first: you, Remus, or Sirius's wrath.
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