#me ? back with another trash intro ?

[violettwrites]

american teenagers — intro.

next

helloooooo my loves!!! here’s an intro into my comeback fic, american teenagers! i sat on this idea for a little while during my tiny break and i honestly couldn’t get it out of my head. i was heavily inspired by ethel cain for the vibes of it all, hence the name :)

please bear with me in all this as i do get easily overwhelmed and experience burnout very quickly but you guys are always supportive so i have no doubts!!

i’m not sure when the first chapter will be out, but i’m slowly working on it as i am very excited for you guys to read it! lots of love xx

the summer of 1987 was supposed to feel different. everyone in town kept saying it— teachers, parents, the tired voices on the radio between commercials. they said it like graduating highschool meant anything would actually change. but for the kids in the trailer park on the outskirts of town, it wasn’t much more than another hot season stretched out between long days and longer nights. the same parties by the lake, and the same dreams about escaping that no one really believed in.

the days were always the same for you. early mornings at the gas station counter, and evenings at the diner pouring coffee for truckers passing through. anything to keep you out of your father’s path really. your nights were often spent on the roof of your trailer, a cigarette in one hand and a notebook full of half-finished plans and dreams in the other. for daryl, the boy you had known since he was a scrawny little thing with clothes too big for him, it was merle’s shadow and busted knuckles, endless hours fixing bikes and cars in the sun while dreaming of roads that led anywhere but this small town.

you couldn’t remember a time when daryl dixon wasn’t around. his trailer was only three down from yours. you had been inseparable since the day you caught him standing by the broken fence of the trailer park, segregating the southside of town from the rest of the townspeople. the two of you had seemed like an odd pair to everyone else— daryl’s constant silence and smoldering anger along with your rough edges and restless energy —but somehow, it worked.

the summer after highschool felt like your last chance to figure out if those dreams the two of your had whispered about on those late night drives would ever come true. but the weight of this small town— the trailers, the jobs that paid barely enough to keep the lights on and your fathers off your backs, the scars you didn’t talk about —it all hung heavy between the both of you.

you didn’t really realise it at first, the way your feelings for daryl had shifted. it wasn’t a lightning bolt or this big grand revelation in your head. it was slower than that, like the way the heat crept up during june, making itself known in those hazy afternoons and the sweat dripping down your back. you started to notice those small things— how his voice softened when he talked to you, or the way his shoulders relaxed when the two of you were alone. you couldn’t pin point when it changed, only that it had.

daryl wasn’t any better at handling it either. he’d always thought of you as the one person who saw him for more than what people whispered about the dixons— trailer park trash, troublemakers, destined for nothing. you didn’t flinch at the bruises he didn’t explain, or the scars he wouldn’t talk about. you were his anchor, his light. but now, everytime you smiled at him or touched his arm, it felt like something inside him was breaking apart and putting itself back together all at once.

that summer wasn’t just about the heat, the bad decisions, or the endless nights spent sitting under a starless sky. it was about the weight of knowing you could only hold onto each other for so long before something— or someone —pulled you apart.

neither of you had the words to say it yet, but you both knew: the end of your childhood was here, and whatever seemed to come next would either bring you both closer or tear you apart for good.

if you enjoyed this, please give it a like/reblog! your support always means the world to me 🫶🏻

stay tuned for the first chapter! if you’d like me to add a tag list, comment below!

[hwaslayer]

the space between us three (jyh) | two.

⇢series masterlist | series playlist

⇢summary: while juggling the demands of life, yunho continues to do his best to raise his independent 11 yr old daughter, seora. throughout the years, they've built a strong foundation, an unbreakable bond— one that consists of late night talks and food runs, father/daughter dates, and sideline cheerleading at her basketball games. so when you unexpectedly come into their world, things shift. despite the uncertainty and the fear of stepping outside of their comfort zone, yunho and seora eventually learn how to open their hearts and learn how to rebuild a home where three can thrive together.

⇢pairing: single dad!yunho x f. reader

⇢genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers to lovers, single dad au | fluff, angst, eventual smut

⇢word count: 4.3k

⇢chapter content/warnings: cussing, the cliché coffee incident pls forgive me lol, parents pushing expectations, honestly not much but an intro to y/n and her family - bit of a filler chap!

"Can you visit mom and dad this weekend with me?" You nibble on the rest of your ramen while you wait for your brother to respond. You're currently sitting on a table outside near the trees, taking your lunch under the shade.

"Can't. I have plans with the boys."

"Wonwoo." You sigh.

"What? I promise, I'll head up there the weekend after. You can come with if you want. Sorry. I just planned this ahead of time and can't go back on my word now."

"Fine." You sip your water and toss your trash onto your tray before standing and throwing it into the appropriate bins.

"What, has mom and dad been on you again about us not visiting?"

"Kinda, yeah? You know how they always make passive aggressive comments because we don't come to see them often." You grab another cup of coffee, taking your time mixing it with half and half and some sugar. "It's always 'you two are always too busy for your parents!' or a 'it doesn't even take long to visit your parents!'" Your younger brother sighs as you quietly hand over some cash to the mobile coffee shop attendant.

"I know, but they also don't understand we've got our own things going on, too."

"I guess, yeah." You lick your lips and take a small sip, being careful enough to not burn your tongue from the scorching temp. "We really should do better, though."

It's not that your parents were bad. In fact, your parents were amazing. They had brought up both you and your younger brother comfortably and happily, sending you both to the best schools and supporting you until you two were able to fully walk on your own two feet, soar high with your own two wings.

It truly was just life.

You had gotten busy; always working at the hospital, growing from the bottom up, barely taking any of your vacation or sick days. If you did, it was because you had to or else you'd reach your max, or because you truly were rotting away in your death bed from a bad flu or food poisoning.

Otherwise, you were always at work. You were always with your girls. You were always going to lagree or bootcamp style studio classes. You were always doing something to occupy your time— mainly work. And the same thing goes for your brother, younger than you by 2 years.

He's just a boy.

But, he's your brother and you're incredibly close to him. He was always listening, was always good growing up. Would always protect you, especially from dumb boys and fake friends. He got good grades and went to college overseas before moving back home and settling down. Since then, he's always learned how to be on his feet— barely ever staying stationary. He, too, was always out with his boys. Working as a full-time software engineer, working out. Traveling when he gets the chance. Dating every now and then. But, you do love that he's living life and spending time with good people. He seems to have a good balance between his work and personal lives, which makes you happy.

It's just unfortunate that you two can't seem to manage slipping in more time with your parents. You both had agreed to do better about it, especially with your parents getting older.

"Are you still gonna see them this weekend, or are you gonna wait for me?"

"Yeah, I'll pop in for a second. I already told them I'd swing by."

"Hm." He hums. "Tell them we'll stop by for longer next weekend."

"Yeah, after I get the earful first." 

"They won't." He clears his throat. "So, how's work been? Ate lunch well?"

"Yeah, I did. Work's been kinda crazy. They're opening this new department at the main hospital and it's expanding into the pediatrics side, too. We've been gearing up for it."

"Oh, really?" You nod as if your brother can see you.

"Yeah. They've been working with adult patients for their two studies, but they're going to start their pediatrics study soon. Pending on the IRB approval. But, once that's all good, they're hoping to secure their first patient, and we need to have everything ready to go."

"That's pretty cool."

"It is, but kinda hectic. Too many moving parts and people involved. It's a lot to keep up with."

"I'm sure you'll handle it well. You always do." You let out a small sigh before checking your watch and slowly walking back towards the peds hospital. 

"Hope so. Work's been okay for you?" He chuckles.

"Same old! Nothing much has changed. Not like that, anyway."

"I see. So, what happened to that one girl you were seeing recently?"

"Uh, we're just better off as friends."

"Better keep that to yourself before mom starts setting you up on blind dates."

"Same goes for you. She'd probably go for you first. Been tryna marry you off." You roll your eyes.

"It's not my priority and she doesn't get that."

"She wants a grand baby and lowkey, I kinda want a nephew or niece to spoil, too." 

"You're no help." He snorts. "Anyway, I gotta head back to my office and get some work done, I got a big meeting for that new department later today."

"Alright. Well, text me when you get home and try to take it easy."

"I will, you too, punk." Wonwoo chuckles. "Love you."

"Love you too!" And with that, the call ends. Your eyes are glued to your phone as you continue to walk back towards the hospital. The weather isn't too bad today, a slight breeze hitting your skin to balance out the warmth from the sun. You continue to switch between keeping your eyes in front, back down to your phone as you scroll through social media to catch up to things you've missed over the past few hours. When you finally get into view of the familiar building and the side lobby entrance, you slip in and head straight to the elevator without paying much attention— especially when it dings and slides the doors open for the individual behind to step out. You feel a soft thud; your body slightly coming into contact with theirs, causing some of your coffee to spill out of the opening on the lid. 

"Oh— oh shit, I'm so sorry!" You look at the tall figure, wide-eyed as you survey his outfit to make sure your coffee didn't spill everywhere on his jacket.

"You're good." He says, eyes coming down to his jacket. There's a few drops of coffee dripping down near the zipper, but nothing that can't be fixed.

"I'm soooo sorry." You repeat as you dab a napkin at his jacket.

"No, seriously. It's fine. You're good." He laughs, brushing you off in a friendly manner. "Nothing laundry can't fix."

"Still another piece to add to your load." You look up at him and slightly pout. "Sorry."

"Maybe just be careful next time?" He gives you a small smile before he brushes past and out of the elevators. You realize he's got his large hand still propped up to prevent the elevator doors from closing on you, and you can't help but feel extra embarrassed. You do a tiny nod before he lets out a small chuckle and walks away, allowing you to be in your peace as you slip into the elevator and watch the doors close in front of you.

It just had to be him.

you: i almost spilled my coffee on a really cute guy ☹️

wonwoo: he'll def never come near you again. way to go sis 💗

you: you're a piece of shit

wonwoo: 🥰

You click your teeth and sigh as you step out of the elevator and onto your floor. You had been working as project manager supporting the pediatrics unit for about a year and a half now, starting at the hospital a few years ago as an admin associate and slowly working your way up.

"What? What's wrong, hun?" Your coworker and also one of your childhood bestfriends, Noeul, chimes in. She works as an HR manager, but her team sits nearby— giving you two the numerous opportunities to chit-chat and catch up in between meetings and tasks.

"I almost spilled my coffee on some really cute guy." She purses her lips together before giving you a toothless smile.

"I mean, you didn't, right?"

"No. Maybe a few drops. Now he'll have another piece of laundry to add to his load. All because of me."

"That's a good way to be memorable." You sigh. "I'm sure he wished he got your number."

"Wow, you're the complete opposite of my brother and I love that." She laughs.

"Of course, I'll always support you."

"How'd your meeting go?" She shakes her head.

"I don't know. So many sensitive issues. I think they only keep escalating and getting worse."

"Are you still dealing with that one manager and her staff member that weren't getting along?"

"Yup. That's exactly the thing that's getting worse."

"Sheesh. I hope they find middle ground soon, or at least find new avenues so they don't have to work with each other."

"Hope so too!" She looks at you. "When's your big meeting with the hospital people?"

"Hm." You hum and check your watch. "In the next hour." You settle at your desk and she follows along, sitting on the edge of the corner. "My inbox blew up over lunch so I gotta take care of a few things before I head over." You sip on your coffee.

"My busy bee." You give her a look. "Goodluck! Let me know how the meeting goes. I've gotta file a few reports and hop into a few other meetings myself. I'll see you later for a quick break?" You give her a small smile.

"Goodluck to you, too." She blows you a little kiss before she's prancing away to her desk, greeting people on the way over. You busy yourself before you need to start packing up and heading over to the main hospital, drowning in a few urgent emails that came in over your lunch break. Time sure flies when your brain is scattered everywhere, your to-do list seemingly never-ending and tossing you in a million different places at once. 

You gather your things about 10 minutes before the meeting, which, doesn't give you much wiggle room in case you get lost. You don't go to the main hospital often, and you're not even sure if you have access to the room or how all of this would work. You are familiar with a few people also attending the meeting, but they're equally just as busy and are probably coming from other commitments. 

You let out a small breath as you power walk over to the main hospital, happy you're at least getting your steps in for the day. You trickle into the huge lobby along with others, turning towards the left where the elevators are located. You press the button, waiting alongside a visitor as the elevator makes its way down from the 6th floor. You step in and patiently wait off to the side, checking your work calendar on your phone to make sure the meeting was indeed today.

Why does it feel like you're the only one heading over?

Were you the only one late at this point?

You step out of the elevator once you make it up to the 7th floor, pausing in your steps because— where the fuck do you go now? It was such a maze in this hospital, you didn't know whether to go left or right; the numbers on the doors skipping from one number to another. You turn to you right just because you go with your gut, hearing a trail of soft voices as you finally see a group of people heading towards a huge conference room further down [and definitely closer to your left had you just turned that way]. You pick up your pace, nodding and sending soft smiles to the familiar faces that catch you through the window of the room as they settle into their seats. Rushing over, someone is stationed at the door— probably waiting for you to make it inside.

"Thank you— oh, hi." You look up at the same, tall figure you damn near spilled your entire cup of coffee on.

"Hi." He gives you a toothless smile as he holds the door open for you. "Well, at least you aren't ramming into me with your cup of coffee this time." He jokes and you can't help but feel the heat rise to your cheeks.

"Yeah, mm'sorry about that still." You wince and slightly pout.

"I'm just joking. No worries. It happens." He smiles down at you, waiting for you to walk into the conference room. You give him another subtle, short bow before slipping into a chair on the opposite side of the table. You watch as he greets people coming into the room, a bit confused as to why he's still standing by the door until he finally sees the face he's been looking for. 

He's got some kind of wit, some charm. Can't deny it's pretty attractive.

And to your surprise, he plops down in the seat next to you, followed by one of his team members [the said face he'd been looking for] you assume.

"Hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all." He gives you another toothless smile before eyeing your badge. 

"Nice to meet you, Y/N." He puts out a hand for you to shake. "Yunho."

"Nice to meet you as well, Yunho." You shyly respond. "At least I don't have to call you the guy I almost spilled all my coffee on anymore."

"Yeah, no." He laughs. "This is Taehyun, my team lead. Taehyun, Y/N." You and Taehyun give each other small, curt bows just as the higher ups step in and settle at the front of the room. 

"Hey everyone! Thanks for meeting. I know everyone is super busy so it's much appreciated." Yoori says as she flips her laptop open and pulls up the agenda slide on the powerpoint presentation. The meeting kicks off with small introductions around the table since a lot of people hadn't worked together like this, especially you and a select others mainly supporting pediatrics. When Yunho introduces himself, you find yourself enjoying the way he speaks. He's got a deep tone, but nothing off-putting. He speaks lightly and positively, chuckling in between statements.

Yeah, he's def got a witty charm to him.

When it's your turn to speak, you can feel Yunho's eyes from the side. He's paying attention and listening closely even if these are quick introductions to the team. He notices the way you shyly smile at those around you, still managing to speak clearly and concisely despite your nervousness that's physically manifesting in the way that your hands tug on the material of your jeans, fiddling with your fingers underneath the table in between the conversation.

Cute.

Then, after the light, airy introduction portion, the presentation gets a lot more technical, and you find that you're actually more involved in this than you expected. You're being asked to oversee the development of the clinical trial room in the pediatric wing, along with scheduling biweekly meetings to discuss updates. Making sure all required attendees are at the meetings and driving things forward. Coordinating across calendars, providing updates every step of the way.

And things seem to be picking up, moving real fast. Things were stalled and slow just a few months ago; now, it's all gas, no brakes.

When it comes to dealing with the ordering structure and IT developments, Yunho takes the lead and discusses the current updates and how they're still figuring out a few tweaks. Yoori is diligently taking notes on her own laptop, along with everyone else who is clarifying through questions of their own.

"Y/N, can you please work with Yunho and his team and the clinical informatics team to make sure the patient ordering enhancements will be taken care of and pushed through? Along with securing the data storage and network? I'll send you the list of required attendees that need to be at each meeting to help push these efforts forward. Let's prioritize this and try to get that done within the next week." You nod, glancing over to Yunho afterwards. He's got his chin resting on the palm of his hand and his eyes dart down to you. His brows perk up before he gives you a tiny, toothless smile. You feel your hands get sweaty from the look alone, so you divert your attention back to your laptop— typing up the rest of your notes on the side. Yunho can't help but glance over at your incredibly organized notes and the way your emails are categorized; all the folders within folders. 

Never-ending folders.

Definitely Type A. 

He does like that, though. Can't help but feel a little endeared by it. 

As the hour long meeting progresses, you feel yourself getting slightly overwhelmed by your growing task list. You can't help but feel an itch to get to your desk to scribble in your planner and get your thoughts organized. 

And as soon as the meeting ends, you cut out with quick goodbyes before rushing over to your office. Yunho was hoping to catch you afterwards to talk a little more, but he watches as you leave, the opportunity now a long gone thought. 

"Where'd you go?" Sian, your other good friend, asks. She's in the finance department, and typically comes over to check in with you and Noeul, especially when she has to drop off some mail for the peds hospital. "You and Noeul were both gone."

"I had that meeting, remember?"

"Oh shit, yeah. How'd it go?"

"I don't know." You plop onto your desk and let out a huff, pulling your planner from your bag before pulling up your notes in the cloud on your desktop computer. "So many things to do and everything feels so urgent." You've already got a few people to meet, along with pushing the operational aspect of this huge project. You've got your hands tied.

"Wow, they're moving fast with this."

"Yeah, very." You shake your head as you write out your thoughts, suddenly pausing to look back up at her as she fiddles with the figurines on your desk. "Hey, do you know the IT managers well?"

"Most of them, yeah."

"Do you know Yunho?"

"Jeong Yunho?" You shrug since you didn't really catch his badge on him. "He's the only Yunho I know of. How could you not know him?"

"Girl, I'm mostly on the peds side, I rarely come to that end." You giggle.

"He's handsome as hell. Tall. Super nice and helpful. Him and his team are so good about coming to the rescue ASAP." Sian nudges you and wiggles her eyebrow. "He's a single dad. I believe his daughter is 10? 11? Probably 11."

"Mm, dad of a pre-teen girl."

"Hey. He's making it." Sian shrugs. "Heard he's a really good father despite losing his wife years ago. I'm sure it must have been incredibly hard." You nod.

"Yeah, I can only imagine."

"He's good friends with Park Seonghwa from marketing. I think they're besties or something." You nod. 

"I only know Seonghwa from the one interview I did with him when we did the remodeling project at the peds oncology unit. After that, barely have spoken a word to him."

"He's a little hottie, too. But, I heard he's got a thing going on with Yoori."

"Yoori? Like.. Director Yoori?" Sian nods.

"They're so weird about it, though. Definitely not known publicly, but people have seen them out together a select few times. Or, seeing Seonghwa go to her house."

"Nosey." You laugh.

"Well, it's definitely a small world around here." 

"Hm." You hum. "So interesting, especially after I just saw her. I would have never suspected."

"What about Yunho, though?"

"First, I almost spilled my coffee on him this morning." Sian nods.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm not that clumsy." 

"Mmkay." Sian laughs. "How much coffee?"

"A few drops." You make a face. "And then he ended up being in the meeting and sitting right next to me." 

"See, big hospital but small world." You chuckle. 

"Feels like college."

"Yeah."

"Speaking of Yunho." You furrow your brows when you see a little notification pop up in your Slack app.

yunho: hey! 

you: hi there! you found me!

yunho: 😀 sorry, i tried to catch you after the meeting but you rushed out. 

you: oops, yeah. i just had a few things to catch up on. 

yunho: all good! do you wanna schedule some time to meet before scheduling the wider meeting with everyone else? i can walk you through everything so we're on the same page.

you: sure, yeah! that'd be helpful. i'm pretty free next week. i just prefer not to schedule anything over lunch if it can be helped. 😅

yunho: i'm the same, don't trip. lol. i'll send you an invite for early next week. what time do you get in usually?

you: mm, around 7:30-8am.

yunho: hm, wanna do 10am on monday then?

you: good with me. ☺️ thank you, yunho!

yunho: sure thing!

"Aw, he even went out of his way to message you." Sian watches you exchange messages from behind.

"Girl, please? We need to talk about getting the patient ordering system together and fixing all the infrastructure for the peds unit." 

"Sounds like you'll be working with him closely? I'm actually kinda surprised his team is on this. Not saying they aren't great, but they're a bit smaller and support other departments." Sian ponders for a bit. "The other IT teams are pretty swamped though, now that I think about it. They probably have the best bandwidth right now."

"Who knows. But, yeah. I guess so. His team lead was also there."

"Maybe you'll get close to Yunho."

"Maybe I won't and just get my job done while minding my own business."

"Y/N. You're single and he's single, don't be so quick to cut him off just because he has a kid. You should put yourself out there again." She teases and you roll your eyes.

"Get out." She snorts. You hate that she's a little right about it; it had been awhile since you were in a serious relationship. You might've messed around with an old college classmate a few times, but it was so casual it ended up fizzling out all by itself and that was that. It's not like you had any bad relationships, either. They just weren't a fit, but you didn't hold any bad blood towards each other. Your mom was tired of it, though. She was hoping you'd finally stay in a serious, committed relationship— one where you'd end up walking down the aisle, settling down in a nice family home, one or two little ones running around [or more, she wouldn't be mad about it]. Maybe that's why you also dread visiting home, because she never fails to remind you that she's waiting, and that time doesn't wait for anyone. She gives Wonwoo a piece of it, too. 

Just not as much as you.

It's always this game of comparison, trying to one-up her friends in some fashion. It's frustrating to deal with. She didn't understand that you were good with where you were at. And even if you did long for a partner and affection in that sense, it's not like you could wish for it to happen and change your life overnight. These things take time. These things need to develop naturally, wholeheartedly, genuinely;

It wasn't your time yet, you guess.

"Anyway, are we still having our little girls night at your place tomorrow?"

"Mhm. Just gotta visit my parents first then I'm all yours."

"Ah." She nods. "Is your brother coming along?"

"Nope. Next weekend, though."

"Goodluck, sweets. Tell us all about it when we come over." Sian looks at her watch. "I was gonna try to wait for Noeul, but I guess she got caught up in some things. I should head back." You nod. "See you tomorrow, my love."

"See you." She smiles before giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze and turning on her heel to take her walk back over to the main hospital.

As the afternoon rushes by, you're able to dock off a few more things on your list before feeling satisfied enough to call it a day. You decide you're a little too tired and worn out to be driving elsewhere for food, so you'll pop into the main hospital cafeteria.

wonwoo: did you spill your coffee on anyone else today?

you: no 🫥

wonwoo: [sends money]

wonwoo: go get a massage or something dude, relax

you: are you serious?!

wonwoo: yeah. 🙄 got a lil bonus from work, so if i'm eatin, you eatin too i guess.....

you: best brother award 😭

wonwoo: u don't mean it

you: i do!!! ily!!! 💕 i'll never call you bighead again!

wonwoo: yeah u def don't mean it

You giggle to yourself, feeling comforted by your brother even at a distance. The thing about your relationship with Wonwoo is that you two were always sharing in each other's ups and downs— good days, bad days. There was never any competition or need to feel like one had to do better than the other, thankfully; and this was a prime example of how close you and your brother were. You truly can't wait to hang out with him next week. You adore him to bits.

As you head back to the main hospital to grab food for dinner before leaving for the day [you definitely prefer the food there], you catch Yunho speaking to one of the nurses on her way out. She's blushing, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear while she laughs. Yunho looks nervous, but he's keeping himself pretty composed by the way he's smiling and laughing along with her. You brush past them quickly, and you aren't sure if Yunho noticed you or not— not like it matters, anyway. 

He was definitely asking her out. And by the looks of it, she said yes. She had been wanting to say yes for awhile. 

Welp, there goes the really cute guy you spilled coffee on. 

It wasn't your time yet, you guess.

⇢taglist: @asjkdk @interweab @woojirang @svintsandghosts @cheolliehugs @persphonesorchid @mxnsxngie @jycas @cowboydk @nopension @curse-of-art @thechaotictheoryy @likexaxdaydream @dalsuwaha @enha-stars @yasuraokaa @professormingisglasses @yunyunrin @pommelex @astral-trashcan @laura1399 @domfikeluva @tournesol155 @hwaskookies @yusalterego @hwa-stars @hyukssunflower @chngbnwf

[reidrum]

hard to love (easy to be loved) | s.r

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pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader

a/n: this one is kinda short, but i kinda like it? i wrote that big speech spencer gives first out of self indulgence and the rest came after so i hope it meshed well. i love hearing yalls thoughts so please let me know what you think!!!! ALSO, im taking requests! guidelines are in my pinned, and im adding a smut prompt list if yall wanna choose from that too, or not thats cool too. lastly i just wanna say that if you relate to reader, i love you, you’re not alone, and you are worthy of love and kindness. okay im done yapping now love yall <3

cw: hurt/comfort, fluff, allusions to depression and depressive episode, gn!insecure!reader, spencer is a sweetheart that would rebuild pompeii for you i think

wc: 1.1k

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spencer found you on the couch when he got home from the office. he hadn’t heard from you in like, a day, and he just assumed you were busy with work just as he was. but when he walked in his heart clenched at the sight in front of him.

you were curled up on the couch facing away from the door, blankets all but covering your head, tissues scattered everywhere. you had dirty dishes and trash lying around the room, but spencer didn’t even have time to think about the germs when he heard you take a shuddering breath, and he felt his heart drop.

he drops his bag with a thud and hopefully announces his presence. “hi honey, i’m home,” he starts, not wanting to overwhelm you too fast. you don’t respond, just a soft hum that if spencer’s ears weren’t focused on your voice he’d have missed it. he pads over to the edge of the couch and kneels down, brushing a few strands of hair out of your face, “what happened?”

you’re quiet for a few seconds like you’re thinking of a good excuse to tell him, but when you look up into his eyes and all you’re met with is sheer concern, the tears spring right back into you and fall further into your losing battle.

“okay no, hey, it’s alright,” he whispers, keeping his hand steady on you, “what can i do for you right now? did you eat?” you shake your head, “how about you go wash your face really quick and put on different pjs, and i’ll order takeout.”

the tears gather in your eyes and threaten to fall, “okay”. he presses a soft kiss to your forehead and helps you sit up on the couch, smoothing your hair further down.

“i’ll be right here when you get back.” he squeezes your hand.

you tiredly swipe at your eyes and trudge to your room to wash your face and get clothes, trying your best to avoid any mirror so as not to accept your current state. walking back out, spencer is exactly where he said he’d be, but the trash and dishes have been picked up, clean blankets adorn the couch, and the tv softly hums with the new girl intro.

he looks at you from the couch, “thai food will be here in 20 minutes”, he moves a little to create the perfect you sized hole between his lap and the blankets, “come sit with me.”

you walk around the couch and spencer snakes his arm around your waist slowly pulling you down so you land perfectly in the crevice he created. he’s quick to drape his arm securely around your body, the other hand finding a home in your hair. he holds you snug to his body, hoping the warmth and love he has for you can radiate between you both.

“i love you.” spencer mumbles into your head.

you take another big breath, ignoring the way you still shudder in the inhale, “i know,” a lingering pause follows. spencer can tell you want to say more and he waits for you to continue, “i’m sorry.”

he pulls back so he can look at your face, “why are you sorry? you didn’t do anything, sweetheart.”

“i know, i just,” you try to push out as your throat threatens to seize up, “something triggered me in the morning, made me spiral really fast.”

“that’s not your fault, honey.”

“it’s not but, i just feel bad. like it happens so frequently at this point i feel like this is my natural state 90% of the time.”

“it’s actually pretty common to have intense feeli-“

“i said sorry because i feel like when i get like this it makes me hard to love.” you interject abruptly.

spencer stops talking. he knew you had a hard past, and he always tells you it’s made you who you are. he always tells you how beautiful you are, how smart you are, how your kindness and empathy is something he just marvels at. but he also knew he can only say so much that you would actually believe. spencer doesn’t mind using every breath he has to remind you.

he held your face with the palm of his hand on your cheek, forcing you to look directly into his honeyed eyes, “it is deeply important to me that you know how much i love and care about you. i know it’s hard to block out what other people think. but i would spend the rest of my life and then some showing you how worthy you are of being loved for who you are,” he whispers, “i promise you are not hard to love. i’m so sorry that people have made you feel like that. but i mean it when i say, that loving you is the easiest thing i've ever done.”

that was all you needed to just break in the comfort of his arms. you were trailing snot and tears onto his shirt and the only thing he did was pull you even closer to his chest. his hand ran up and down your back to soothe your spine, and his other hand remained on your hip, providing a comforting and reminding pressure.

“do you really mean that?” you couldn’t help but ask meekly.

not even a second passes, “always. you are my now, my tomorrow, my forever. i will always be here for you, pinky promise.” he holds out his slender pinky finger.

you let out a tearful laugh, “a pinky promise? what has the man of science devolved to.”

“devolved!? i’ll have you know, a pinky promise is actually the most sacred and serious promises of all. it actually dates back to ancient japan when this prostitute had to cu-“

“spence,” you hold out your pinky, “i love you.”

he intertwines with yours and raises your joint hands to kiss his thumb to seal it as you do the same, “i love you.” he leans in to place a longing kiss on your lips before moving to kiss your cheeks, nose, forehead, and then just everywhere until you’re giggling in his lap.

you both turn your attention back to the tv, watching winston and schmidt fight over their names when you blurt out, “okay i’m intrigued. what the fuck does a prostitute have to do with pinky promises.”

he laughs accusingly, “ah i knew curiosity would kill the cat. so there was this prostitute who had to cut their pinky off to show devotion of their love to…”

and you let his knowledge rambles lull you to sleep, the most restful one in days.

[24hrssofnea]

𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋

➜ pairing: juju watkins x fem!reader

➜ warnings: none, just the first chapter

➜ post it note: go look at the intro before you read.

🎧 • teenage girl by cherry glazers

intro ��� chapter 1

Chapter One — Wylie pov 🫀 rayah’d always been protective of me. sometimes she’ll overdo it. but only ’cus she loves me. and that’s something i can live with, other than the fact she CONSTANTLY reminds me she’s the older cousin. sometimes she really just needs to sybau. — WYLIE SEAGRIST MARSHALL

The first thing I hear when I open my eyes is Rayah yelling through the wall.

“WYLIE! YOU BETTER BE UP, I SWEAR TO GOD—”

God. Here we go.

I roll over, reaching blindly for my phone. 7:46 a.m. It’s way too early. I don’t even have to be at practice until ten. But Rayah? She acts like she’s on payroll to keep me on schedule. Cousin-slash-roommate-slash-self-declared-guardian. Nobody asked her to be all that—but she still is. Every single day.

I groan, dragging the blanket over my head. “You promised you’d stop waking me up before eight,” I mumble into my pillow.

She doesn’t care. She never does.

“I lied.”

I don’t have to look to know she’s already cracked the door open. Rayah lives for this moment.

I hear her walk in. “You up yet?”

“No.”

“You better be.”

I don’t respond fast enough, so she yanks the blanket clean off of me and stands there like she’s done something noble.

“You’re ridiculous,” I grumble.

“Wrong. I’m responsible,” she corrects. “If I don’t drag you outta bed, you’ll show up to Galen at 10:03, granola bar in your mouth, camera half-dead, and I refuse to let you embarrass the family name.”

“I have this,” I argue, even as I sit up and squint against the blue LED glow in my room—blue curtains, blue rug, blue light strips, blue nails still chipped from editing last night.

“Do you?” she asks, already on her way out. “Because your alarm went off ten minutes ago and you’re still in pajamas.”

She’s got a point. But I don’t tell her that. I just mumble something under my breath and start getting ready before she has time to come back in and do it for me.

—

By the time I get to the gym, everyone’s already warming up. Kayleigh’s talking trash. Coach is yelling something. Juju’s locked in as always, already drenched in focus. It’s just another day at USC.

I slip to my usual spot on the sideline and pull my camera strap over my head. My safe zone. This is where I breathe easiest—clicking shutters, freezing moments nobody else sees.

Kayleigh’s the first to spot me.

“Wylie!” she calls, jogging over. “Come get a pic of me cooking Juju real quick.”

I laugh, raising my camera. “You’ve been airballing since warm-ups.”

“You’re lying. I made one.”

“Wow. One. I’m honored to witness greatness.”

She gives me this fake-offended look and then yells across the court, “JUUJU! Wylie says I’m her favorite!”

I don’t even have time to process that before I see Juju turn, completely unfazed, draining a jumper like it’s nothing.

“She told me I was her favorite yesterday,” Juju calls back without even looking.

My cheeks heat up. Oh my God.

That’s when I feel a familiar presence behind me. I don’t have to look to know it’s Rayah.

“Told you,” she whispers way too close to my ear. “Told you that girl got a little crush.”

I groan. “Please stop.”

“I’m just saying. You live next to her, you take more pictures of her than anybody, and you smile like a dork every time she looks at you.”

“Rayah, seriously. Stop.”

She just grins. “I’m looking out.”

“This is not looking out.”

“This is exactly looking out,” she says, like she’s some wise elder or something. “You’re soft. And Juju’s… Juju.”

She’s not wrong. Juju is intense. She walks into a room and your heart starts preparing for impact before you even know she’s there. But I’ve done a good job ignoring it. Pretending like I don’t notice her voice across a crowded court. Pretending like I don’t slow down edits when she’s in the frame.

“She’s just a friend,” I say quietly.

Rayah raises her eyebrows. “You sure about that?”

I don’t answer. I just lift my camera back up, hoping the lens can distract me. Hoping I don’t accidentally catch myself looking at Juju like I’ve got feelings.

Which, okay, maybe I do.

A little.

Rayah sighs beside me, her voice lower now. “Look… I know I mess with you. But I mean it when I say I’ll swing on anybody that hurts you. Juju or not.”

I blink and lower my camera. “Even if it’s me hurting myself?”

“Especially then,” she says.

That’s the thing about Rayah. Yeah, she drives me crazy. She’s in my business 25/8. But it’s love. All of it. Sharp, relentless, overbearing love—but real love. She sees more than I want her to. Maybe she always has.

“Thanks,” I murmur.

Rayah shrugs like it’s nothing. “Don’t thank me yet. You still owe me for those Pop-Tarts.”

Then she’s gone, yelling something at Juju about “heart-eyes” and filing a complaint with Coach.

I shake my head. I swear I’m gonna kill her one day.

But not today.

Today, I raise my camera again, zoom in on Juju just as she catches the ball at the top of the key.

Click.

Just a friend. Maybe.

Or maybe something more.

Something I’m not ready to say out loud.

Yet.

[novashelby]

Nothing Comes for Free-Jonathan CranexReader

Kinktober Day 1

Pairing: Professor!CranexStudent!reader

Word Count: 2,406

Warning: Dub-con, slight non-con, blowjob, coercin, degradation, and humiliation.

Summary: Dr. Crane gives one of his students a ride home and teaches her a valuable lesson: nothing comes for free.

Please enjoy, reblog, and comment! MDNI | 18+

He wasn’t really a sexed man. Truly, he wasn’t. In fact, he could go months without even so much as touching himself, nevermind fucking a girl. So, what he was about to do was shocking. Fucking, stupid, honestly. But it was her. “Irritating,” he sighed to himself as he pulled out of the campus parking lot, spotting her under the dim street light. With a flimsy, half bent umbrella, she was attempting to shield herself from the rain. 

Jonathan slowed down the car, pulling over to the side. He glanced at his watch, and hummed before doing a look around. Buses in Gotham ran sparse after a certain time. Barely putting the foot on the gas, he rolled forward and stopped. She couldn’t make out who it was through the rain spotted window. Part of her felt an ache in her core. Her hand reached protectively for her safety whistle. Jonathan thought it was cute at best, but he humored it. The window rolled down and he offered a wave.

“Dr. Crane?” she asked, shielding her eyes and squinting. Who else? It was hard for him not to roll his eyes, but he kept his composure; calm, professional, and kind enough. She was in his low level Intro to Psych for Non-majors. The one every one has to take and the one every professor has to teach. It was fucking mind numbing. She closed her umbrella, fighting with it until she decided to leave it in the trash. “Useless piece of junk-”

“Would you like a ride?” he offered, clearing the passenger seat of his black briefcase. “Let me just put this back here.” He tucked it behind him between the back seat and front, cursing when it landed a certain way. 

“Really? Are you sure?” 

He cocked a brow her way. “Why would I ask if I wasn’t sure?”

“Right,” she nodded, giving him a small smile before opening the door. He was able to get a better look at her, noticing her clothes were soaked through. Including the white blouse she wore. It was a button up…hardly fit. You never fucking wear clothes that fit, he sighed to himself in thought. After buckling in, she thanked him. “The bus is awful here…It wasn’t due for another thirty minutes.”

She wasn’t a particularly smart student, in his professional opinion. Perhaps to other professors. She did fine, alright, but to his standards…subpar. But she was nice to look at. For some odd reason, he always felt himself drawn to her. Maybe it was that she was average. So many women her age tried so hard. But her? She was nice to look at because her looks were comforting. Not busy. A real simple beauty. Never trying to stand out. A quiet girl in many aspects. Observing her, he noticed her lack of confidence around her male counterparts. 

As he started the car and pulled out into the road, he glanced over. She was resting her head against the cool window, staring out into the road. “Let me put the heat on. You’re soaked through.”

She looked over, nodding. “Thank you, Professor.” She gave him the address and he commented on how it wasn’t too far. 

“I live in the apartment complex right down the road from you,” he added. “Why don’t you live in the dorms?”

“Can’t afford it-”

“Are you not on any scholarships?” he asked, but immediately regretted it. Truthfully, he didn’t care. And she could tell, and therefore simply told him not enough. The car ride was silent for the most part except for the gentle tap of the rain and her occasional hum. It made everything so easy. His eyes kept having a mind of their own, stealing glances. They skimmed over her body twice over. Each time she hummed, it vibrated through him, sweet and delicate. How would it sound moaning? 

His trousers became slightly tighter. Cursing to himself, he looked down, noticing the more prominent bulge. It was stupid, he knew it. Soliciting a student for a sex act. But he was adored at the university and a lead doctor at Arkham ... .A true model citizen. Out of the thousands of students, interns, apprentices, and colleagues, she’d be a single grain out of many. Who would believe her? Right? 

No, no…he couldn’t possibly coerce her into sucking him off. 

But couldn’t he, though? 

He settled with, “do you have a boyfriend?” 

She was taken aback by this, turning to him. “I’m sorry?” Of course she wasn’t offended. It was a simple question. He was an adult, she was an adult. Why couldn’t he ask that? He repeated the questions with a bit more strain in his voice. “Oh, um, no. I just want to focus on studies-”

“Have you had a boyfriend before?” he asked. 

She countered, “you’re a curious pro-.” When she abruptly stopped mid-sentence, Jonathan knew. He felt her eyes look over him. Silent. He watched as she shifted in the seat and continued looking out the window. She was almost home, anyway. But Dr. Crane had a favor of her…well, a bill, really. Nothing in life came free, he settled. It’d been too long since he felt a mouth wrap around his cock. Right before her duplex, there was a shopping center. It was empty, being a late Thursday night. He pulled in and parked in the far right corner under a half dead tree. The lock clicked when she reached out for the door handle. “Dr. Crane-”

“Shhh,” he said, calmly. He turned the car off, leaving them in darkness. Nervously, she shuffled around in her pocket for her safety keychain, but he placed his hand over hers. “You’re going to be okay, I’m not going to hurt you…merely suggest something-”

“I’d like to go home-”

“And I will take you home, but,” he started, shifting himself to be more comfortable. “I drove you home in the pouring rain. I’m not a taxi service, you understand?” She wasn’t a stupid girl. She knew exactly what he wanted, noticing the bulge push up at his trousers. Scared, she kept pulling at the handle, backing herself against the door. 

“You’re my professor!” she accused, voice strained. 

Chuckling, he took off his glasses and folded them neatly. “And I won’t force you-”

“Then there is no need to ask. Take me the fuck home!”

“Surely you can walk from here then, right?” he asked. “In the pouring rain, in the cold…Gotham isn’t safe at night, you know? Didn’t you hear on the news about the man?” She cocked a brow. “Hmmm…mhm, yes. The serial rapist.” He could tell from the look in her eyes she was assuming he meant himself, but he laughed. “No, no. Not me. I’m not a rapist. Truly. I’d get no joy holding you down. I prefer my women a moaning mess” 

“What rapist?” she asked, hardly having time for this nonsense. 

He pointed up the road. “Raped a girl, just up theere behind dumpster. Abused her poor body until it was so limp-”

“Liar-”

“Hardly. Now, I will give you an option. Walk and risk getting your insides rearranged,” he said, grinning. “Or you can suck my cock as a thank you.” She felt like she was pushed into a corner with no escape, swallowing and looking at the bulge. It’d be quick, right? It was a bit since she last sucked a cock. Jonathan reached over and tickled under her chin, causing her to flinch and pushed away his hand.

“Don’t touch me-”

“I was going to tell you,” he sighed, catching her hand in hand, holding it tightly. “I was going to be nice…tell you, you can spit it out. But for that, I may just pinch your nose and cover your mouth. Unzip my pants.” Towards the end of his stream of words, he lost his kindness. He talked more strained and curt. Giving in, she reached over and played with his zipper. “Easy now.” Her hands were trembling, unable to grip the small zipper. But he wasn’t going to help her. Perhaps it was humiliating for her to fight with such a small, but intimidating thing such as a zipper. Humiliation was a beautiful thing, he thought. Especially on her. It was a nice color. 

When she finally managed, she looked back up at him with hesitant confirmation. When he nodded, she pulled out his length. A nice size, really, but she hated thinking that. It was long, but not an uncomfortable long, but the girth was…it was tempting. She couldn’t even wrap her fingers around it. He let out a soft whimper as she twisted her hand while rubbing up and down. “You must be a little closet whore,” he complimented. “There is no way you’ve never fucked.” She didn’t answer him. He liked to think it was because she didn’t have to. They both watched as her thumb rubbed at the tip, smearing the leaking precum about.That’s when he rubbed some on his finger. “Come here,” he said, but didn’t give her a chance to let the words sink in before he was iron gripping her jaw. “Taste.” She looked at it for a moment, mouth agape before sticking her tongue out, swirling it around his finger. “Suck it off.”

Moving her head back, she looked at him. Unsure and a bit disgusted, feeling that pit of guilt. But where was she going to run? Backed up into some metaphorical wall. She swallowed, diverting her gaze off to the side. The saltiness felt like sin on her tongue. “Dr. Crane, I don’t think you and I should be doing this-”

“Because you don’t want to?” Amused, he kept his hard on with soft, gentle strokes. His words were laced with uttered moans of need and want. He wanted her. It would have been pathetic not to fuck her after he exposed himself. “Or because you’re scared to?” Jonathan leaned in, matching her gaze. “Hm?” It was the tease in his voice that made her feel so small. “Because no one will know. It’ll be a secret.”

“Are you sure?” She didn’t want to be one of those girls.

“Who would I talk to?” She supposed he was right and placed her hand back on his cock, mimicking his pattern. Little drops of precum formed at his tip, and she just knew he would ask her to taste it. To please him, she swiped her tongue across the tip, eyes fluttering up at him. “Good girl.” Needing more, he thrusted his hips up to silently guide her. Blow jobs weren’t exactly new territory, per se, but giving car seat blow jobs wasn’t really her forte. She took his tip in, giving soft, teasing sucks; dragging her tongue along the curve.

He leaned back, relaxing in the black leather driver’s seat. Wondering why he hadn’t done such a thing sooner, he rubbed at her warm cheek. Warm and soft, her sucks were like heaven. So timid, but not in the way she didn’t know what she was doing. Cause she knew…she definitely knew. The way she worked around his sensitive, throbbing tip, lapping up the precum as it came. He dropped his hand from her cheek, and met her hand as the base. “Stroke me.” She needed no guidance, but he found great joy in showing her. Being a teacher. Being a leader. Being her superior. “L-like this,” he managed, closing his eyes. Low whimpers building up. “Keep doing-doing t-this-”

Nodding, she took over. Interrupting him, she said, “yes, Dr. Crane.” Her hand twisted and wrapped around his cock the best it could, rubbing up and down in an addicting rhythm that drove him mad. Closing his eyes, he relaxed into it, feeling the pleasure rise in his body. It wasn’t often the doctor allowed himself a release. Rolling his hips in synchronized motions to meet her movements, his whimpers grew to moans. The car vibrated with his hums and pleas. Shamefully, she felt a bit of pride in herself. Sinking back down, she took his tip back in her mouth. Bobbing up and down, swirling and flicking her tongue, she was in complete control. Whether either of them understood that was unclear, but he was at her mercy, enjoying every moment of it. 

“S-shit!” His mind was so lost. Doctorate what? PhD, huh? He only understood what he wanted at that moment. She took him deeper into her mouth, sucking and swallowing him in. To excite him, she played along with his moans. Her throaty whimpers and groans vibrated against him. Especially when she started to leak spit from her red, puffy lips. Her hands spread it along the exposed bit of his cock to his balls, massaging them.

“Mmmm,” she moaned, fluttering her eyes open to watch his blissful expression. He was leaned back, eyes closed, mouth agape. Out of his mouth was a spew of mmmhm, mmmm, ooooh, s-shit, and f-fuck. It urged her to go faster, taking him deeper. Feeling him hit the back of her throat, she choked. Fuck, when she choked.

He felt it rise within him. “Fuck,” he groaned out, reaching for her hair as he thrusted back into her. Not one ounce did he care that she gagged and suffocated on him. Her nails dug into his hips the rougher he got. “That’s it, good girl!” His hand rested on the back of her head, holding her in place as his hips twitched. “F-fuck! Swallow it, swallow every fucking drop, understand?” Breathless, he felt himself come undone, filling her pretty mouth with his cum. She made a face as the load was thick. Taking two swallows, she managed to take it all. “Show me.”

Sticking out her stock, she sang, “ahhhhh.” 

As if she was his common house pet, he pat her cheek and breathlessly said, “let’s get you home, you have an exam for me in the morning-”

“I thought this would-”

“W-what?” he laughed, amused, pinching her chin. “No, no…if you want to start slacking in my class, you’ll have to do a lot more than just suck me off.” Blushing, she looked off to the side. “Let’s make an arrangement,” he cooed, playing with her rain stained hair. “Hmm? Better for your grade because you’ll fail it tomorrow anyway.” A tiny smirk pulled up at her lips, and she looked at him in agreement. “Do you live alone?”

[kioflerkira]

can you do a miles morales x reader that readers spider woman and shy at first when they meet then they slowly gravitate towards miles.

“ GRAVITATIONAL PULL ”

pairing : m.morales x spiderwoman!reader warnings : fluff , mild cussing , awkwardness , female reader genre : fluff , romance , comedy n stuff summary : when a SUPAA shy spider-woman from another dimension crash-lands in brooklyn , she def doesn’t expect to meet someone like miles morales.

━━━━ ⋮ ୨୧ ⋮ ━━━━

YOU MET HIM UPSIDE DOWN

literally.

like, hanging-from-a-web , mask-half-off , upside-down.

your first impression of miles morales was not “cool” or “charming” or “smooth.”

a bit more likee :

“oh my god, he’s cute —

—wait, i’m upside down—

—stop staring at him too long, creep !—

—why he be looking at me like that—

—FUUCCK, I think I js forgot how to breathe—”

you had just swung in from your own earth—some dimensional screw-up involving a villain with way too many watches and not enough sense. you were flung through a vibrant portal, punched a guy on landing, and landed face-first in a trash pile in brooklyn.

great- awesome , AMAZING , intro.

not even five minutes later, you got your shit together, webbed your mask back on, and ran into him.

he landed in front of you , clean flip , smooth crouch. your internal monologue turned to static. he looked up at you like he’d never seen another person before— like he’d seen stars in your eyes.

you choked out a “hi !”

he blinked and said, “yo. you good ?”

you dipped tf outta there

not gracefully. not with a web-zip or a cool backflip.

nope.

you turned around , squeaked out , “sorry-I-don’t-talk-to-boys ,” and got outta there as fast as you could.

smooth.

so smooth.

⸻

it’s been two weeks since then.

you’re still on his earth, and you had gotten your first taste of glitching and dam. that stuff hurts. lyla said the anomaly’s stabilizing but you’d be here a while. enough time to blend in, suit up, maybe fight crime, and do something stupid like, y’know .. catch feelings for the one person who hasn’t stopped trying to talk to you since that first chaotic interaction.

miles.

he’s everywhere !

not in a creepy way— just in a miles way. chill. casual. appears next to you on rooftops like he belongs there. hangs upside down from fire escapes like it’s a casual tuesday. offers you snacks from his backpack during stakeouts like you’re not awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact.

and worst of all ?

he’s funny.

and sweet.

and smart.

and he has that dumb smile.

yah, you’re doomed.

⸻

today, it’s raining.

not, like, a gentle drizzle. a full on, gods-decided-to-dump-a-bucket typa of rain.

you’re on top of some apartment complex, mask rolled halfway up, eating lukewarm dumplings from a to go container you .. “borrowed” from a takeout joint that refused to serve u.

and then he lands beside you with a casual THWIPP.

dripping wet.

no umbrella.

“hey,” he says, peeling off his mask. “you always eat in the rain or is this , like , a tuesday thing ?”

you freeze. glance at him. then back at your dumpling.

“.. I- uh .. like the sound,” you mumble.

he hums , sitting beside you. close. wayy to close.

you swear your brain turns to TV static again.

after a painful beat of silence, he grins.

“you know, you’ve said, like, six words to me since you landed in my dimension.”

you flush. “i’ve said more than six—”

“six per week,” he corrects, chuckling. “it’s okay though. I like the mystery.”

you groan softly and hide your face in your hands. “i’m not trying to be mysterious. i’m just .. bad at talking to cute boys.”

miles goes still.

you freeze.

the words hang there. just float. no take-backs.

you slowly peek out between your fingers.

his expression is—how do you say—smug as hell.

“ohhh,” he grins, leaning back on his hands. “so i’m cute ?”

“I said boys, plural—”

“nope. too late ! you said it. i’m cute. you like me.”

“I never said I liked you—!”

“not yet,” he teases, bumping your shoulder. “but don’t worry. I can wait. i’m very patient. like, ninja levels of patient.”

you groan again and lean your head on his shoulder out of sheer emotional defeat. he doesn’t move away. just leans into you like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

the rain pours on.

━━━━ ⋮ ୨୧ ⋮ ━━━━

a/n: sorry for not posting 4 like 2 weeks .. i’ll try to be more consistent 🤓🤓

[islandheartprincess]

littlepogue!reader - cupcake chaos 🌱✨

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

summary: little pogue vivianne keller thinks she could be a baking prodigy, but can her hands cause anything other than disaster?

c!w: none! pure fluff ۫ ꣑ৎ

pairing: littlepogue!reader x pogues (platonic)

read my little pogue oc, vivianne kellers moodboard & intro first

you were hard at work in the kitchen, covered in flour and batter, while the pogues lounged around the chateau deep in convo.

"guys, i promise this time, IT WILL BE LEGENDARY" you said, holding up a box of cupcake mix like it was a priceless artifact

"uh, y'know cupcakes are supposed to be like, sweet, right vee" John B teased sitting on the counter next to you

"shush! they're gonna be perfect" you shot back at him, slapping his arm harshly

pope stuck his head back out from the fridge "right... just as perfect as your pancake cookies from last week..."

JJ stopped his obnoxious crunching on some expired chips to comment "welp man! I'm down, if they're good we get good food, if they're not we get to make fun of vivi's baking skills! win-win." he chuckled at his own joke, popping another chip in his mouth.

kiara let out a loud groan as she walked into the kitchen, "is she doing this again?" eyeing you, preparing herself for disaster. "oh, its happening," JJ responded " and we are all estimated to die from a sugar overload in about an hour"

kiara giggled, turning back to you "vee, if these end up like your pancake cookies, im locking you out of the kitchen forever."

you side-eyed her, about to argue back, and then... ding! the oven timer went off.

"prepare to be amazed" you said, putting on oven mitts while everyone quickly surrounded you,carefully opening the oven door.

pulling out the tray, everyone collectively gasped. the cupcakes were.... well- creative! you still had hope though, setting them on the counter. JJ poked one with a fork, watching it deflate like a balloon. "whoops, think I just killed one, my bad."

everyone took a cupcake, suspiciously eyeing it, and you counted down to three so everyone could taste it at the same time.

"2....3." everyone bit into their cupcake, only letting a second pass before chaos erupted. John B quickly rushed to the trash can to spit it out, while JJ just spat his on the floor. you slowly continued to chew yours, trying to put up a fake front before you spat yours out in the sink.

"vivi ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" kiara said frantically

"i followed the recipe exactly?! i have no idea how it could turn out like this!" you responded suspiciously

John B looked around confused, raising his eyebrow before looking at you, "vee... now that I think about it, we don't even have measuring tools" you blinked at him... maybe it could've been that... he continued "or SUGAR."

you shot him a confused look before pointing to a glass container containing tiny white crystallines. "then what the hell is that?"

pope walked over, and turned the container to its front, revealing a large label reading "SALT" you looked around in silence, before the group bursted out in laughter, you included.

"you're definitely making history with this one, as the worst cupcakes ever" JJ chuckled

"one day, you're all gonna regret doubting me" you said while pope wrapped his arm around you, patting your head. "are you gonna poison us?" he joked, getting a laugh out of everyone.

"fine! I admit defeat this time" you said, plopping yourself onto the couch next to Kiara.

kiara hugged you tightly, "i think it would be the safest to stick to store-bought cupcakes"

you didn't care about cupcakes though, for now, you were happy to be in the moment surrounded by laughter, bad cupcakes, and pure ridiculousness.

˖⋆࿐໋

vivianne kellers moodboard & intro (⁠���⁠ω⁠♡⁠ ⁠)⁠ ⁠~⁠♪

follow me for more fics like this xoxo

[kaelie-quill]

Writeblr Intro

This feels super awkward to do but I'm putting myself out there for better or worse, so! I go by Kaelie on here, I am 22, Queer, and go by she/her pronouns. I've been on writeblr on and off since I was maybe fifteen but haven't touched it in four years. I am now 22 and for most of those four years I have been plagued by my current WIP, currently called Project Genesis. I've only just recently forced myself to really sit and try to get it out of my head.

I'm kind of ashamed to admit that the only book I ever finished was a warrior cats fan fiction I wrote when I was twelve (It was like forty chapters, I wrote it by hand in a notebook and I let someone take it home and read it one time and it haunts me) Everything since then has either been abandoned and never even made it out of the planning stage.

For the last four years I've been super stressed and in a super bad mental state and had no time to truly sit and try to write anything and if I did I thought it was absolute trash and it kinda made me hate writing. I even stopped reading despite being obsessed with books from the moment I could read, but in the last year and a half I have rediscovered my love for reading and now I want to try writing again.

Project Genesis is meant to be a multi-book high fantasy series with horror elements (maybe, I've not read many horror books and have little experience writing it. Any tips on writing horror, or good horror books to read would be much appreciated) It's got alternating POVs, basically everybody is queer, lots of religious imagery (maybe only if you squint, but I swear sometimes I feel like I'm just ripping off the Bible)

Despite existing for almost for almost four years its hard to describe what it's actually about? The first book at least is a dual POV about one character denying and running from their destiny to avoid becoming a sacrificial lamb, and another character trying to carve out a destiny for himself when he's not meant to have one (not in a 'he's supposed to be dead' way but in a 'you're life isn't supposed to have any affect on the world' kinda way)

It is currently in early planning stages, I'm working on a zero draft and outline before really hunkering down to try a first draft. I don't know how this is gonna go as far as like updates? I'm really just kinda using this as motivation, like if I talk about and say I'm doing it I can keep myself accountable and not just drift away from this like so many others. I expect it to all be horrible but so long as it's something I can go back and make it better. Thanks for reading! 👋🏻

[alittlevillainy]

Neeed to hear more of your thoughts on the Avery goodman and Host vic dynamic. They have such an interesting thing going on

i think i’m gonna shamelessly use this as an excuse to post a minific I wrote :)

i don’t really know. how to intro fanfic on tumblr but this is a little piece i wrote that takes place after host does a speech for avery. it’s one of the few completed pieces i have that i genuinely like and i think it showcases my concept of their relationship pretty well so uh. here you go.

trigger warnings for emetophobia, gaslighting, and non-consensual drugging

(i also do not know how to format on tumblr so apologies in advance if this turns out weird looking)

~~

Speech finished, Vic stumbles backstage to vomit. They collapse over a trash can, and Avery holds their hair back.

“‘m gonna… fucking kill you,” Vic pants out. They jerk their elbow back, hitting thin air. “Get off me.”

Avery tuts quietly, in some mix of sympathy and annoyance. He doesn’t let go of their hair. “Breathe, Vic,” he prompts. A stagehand tries to approach, but he shoos them off with a glance. “Can you walk?”

Vic nods, but doesn’t move otherwise. They spit into the trash can. “Where are you taking me?”

Again with the constant questions. He leans over, looking for blood in the vomit. There’s none, thank God. “Just to the car. Stand up, let’s go.”

Vic returns upright, and begins to stumble toward a tissue box. Avery doesn’t stop them. “I’m gonna fucking kill you,” they say again, wiping their mouth. “I’m gonna.”

Avery shakes his head. “C’mon, love, let’s go back to the car,” he says, still in the soft, calm tone he’s found seems to placate them. He takes their hand in his human one. “No detours. Walk with me.”

He can feel their desire to break from his grasp, the spasming of muscles they can’t find the strength to move. They want to run, too - he can tell by the way their eyes dart, the occasional falter in their steps as the two move towards the parking lot. How long does he have until Vic overpowers themself? Ten minutes? Ten seems right. He can subdue them in ten minutes. He’s managed it in five before, but they weren’t making death threats that time.

Avery squeezes their hand. They squeeze back. “I’m tired, Professor,” they complain. “I’m tired ‘n I can’t think right ‘n my head hurts ‘n I don’t wanna do this.”

“I know, I know,” Avery soothes, running his thumb over the back of their hand. “It’s okay. We’re all done with speeches for a little bit. We’re going to go back to the car and have a chat and you’ll feel better, I promise.”

“I don’t wanna have another chat,” Vic laments, in a tone akin to an angry toddler. “I wanna be normal again. I wanna…” They trail off with a huff, and Avery doesn’t prompt the end of the sentence.

They’ve made it to the parking lot now. Avery presses his key fob, and down a row his car beeps. He has to half-drag Vic at this point - they both know a small space Vic can’t escape is endgame for these moments of lucidity. They growl as they approach the car, and he sighs. “I know, sweetheart, it’s scary like this. It’s not your fault your brain isn’t cooperating. I’ll take care of it, just like I always do.”

Avery’s current car is non-descript, some silver Hyundai of some sort. He doesn’t know the model and doesn’t care enough to check. Vic whimpers as Avery ushers them gently into the back seat. “I remember. I… I remember, and I’m gonna kill you.” They stare at the floor with the expression of a kicked dog. Avery climbs inside beside them. The doors lock. The child lock is on.

“You’re not going to kill me, Vic,” Avery says, mild exasperation seeping into his tone. He digs around in his lab coat pockets as he speaks, searching for a particular object in the mess. “I’m going to fix this, but it’s harder when you fight it.” Ah, here it is.

Vic glares at the autoinjector Avery has just retrieved. “I don’t want to,” they say. Their breathing steadies all the same. “I wanna run.”

“I know. Pesky, pesky urges. Instinct opposite the logical course of action. Here, c’mere.” Avery takes their hand, his thumb running over their palm. “Breathe, love. Just a little pinch, and then I can take you home and recalibrate things, alright? It’ll be quick if you don’t fight it on the way down.”

Vic refuses to look at Avery. He could make them, but he doesn’t. “I’m sick of this migraine.”

“I know, honey. I’m sorry. I’m working on it.” He rolls up their shirtsleeve, running fingers over soft, perfect, human skin. The muscles along the inside of Vic’s wrist spasm as he turns their palm upward. He presses the autoinjector to their forearm. It clicks. “The sooner you let it take you, the sooner I can get you some painkillers for the headache, okay?”

Vic sucks in a pained breath as the needle breaks skin, the injection rendering their forearm limp near immediately. “Can I at least take a nap this time?”

Avery smiles weakly as he pulls Vic’s seatbelt over their body. “If you’d like. I don’t need you conscious for the drive back. The paralysis might help the head pain, actually.”

“I hate you,” they mutter, eyes already closed. They lean against the side of the car, leaving marks on the window with their face. “I’ll punch you in your stupid fake eye someday.”

He reaches out to move Vic’s hair from their face, hand lingering along their jawline. “I know, I know,” he murmurs. “It’s all dreadfully stressful for you, isn’t it? For both of us, really.”

Vic scoffs. “Oh, very stressful for you, I’m sure.”

“I don’t like seeing you like this, Vic. I find no pleasure in your suffering. I really will work on fixing that headache.” He runs his fingers through their hair - they seem to like that one, usually. He can’t really tell if it’s helping right now. “I’m going to get in front now, okay? You can take a nap. We’ll be home soon, and then I’ll make some adjustments so you can relax properly.”

They scoff again, body slumping against the car door as the injection begins to take effect. “Child lock’s on.” Their words are starting to slur together. “You’re gonna climb…”

“Yes, I am.” It doesn’t take much effort for Avery to clamber over the center console into the driver’s seat, but Vic, watching with half-lidded eyes, still chuckles. Avery sighs as he settles himself. The worst of it is over. He hopes they’re serious about the nap - it would make running diagnostics so much easier. “Let’s go home, yeah?”

“…Yeah.”

[erosia-rhodes]

Thoughts on the Andor finale:

Oh, Lonnie, I was rooting for you, but you should have known better than to give up the goods before you were safe! How did you survive as a double agent this long?

The hospital scenes made me wonder what the Imperial healthcare system is like, but obviously it'd identical to the American one because even a fantasy show about a fascist dystopia couldn't imagine something worse than that. But instead of declaring medical bankruptcy, you have to work off your debt in a labor camp. And just taking an ambulance to the hospital guarantees six months of community service picking up space trash.

I was not expecting an origin story for Luthen and Kleya, but loved getting one! (And no, she's not Cassian's sister, guys. Those two aren't morons. They would have figured that out themselves sometime in the past five years.)

Seeing that ISB twink get used as a human shield was such a striking reminder of how all Imperial soldiers eventually get fed into the meat grinder.

I've had some terrible upstairs neighbors, so I really felt for that couple who'd been living under a Rebel safehouse for years.

I love that the cover story for finding Kleya was a possible plague since it harkens back to Partagaz saying the ISB exists to root out disease. Major fail, dude! No wonder you had to kill yourself.

OMG, Nemik's podcast has gone viral! The pandemic of rebellion can't be quarantined!

Perrin and Sculden's wife are hooking up! Delicious!

I love, love, love that Dedra ended up trapped in the system she'd been serving. I bet her fellow prisoners shank her within a year. Or she rises up to be manager and produces the most efficient floor in the building.

I also liked that Dedra got so fixated on finding Axis that she never realized catching him didn't matter anymore because he'd accomplished what he'd aimed to. It's like she spent her life searching for a lit candle, found the burnt down wick, and was proud of her achievement.

Love that we had confirmation that B2EMO is living his best life on a farm with his best friend the yellow droid.

When I first saw the baby reveal, I thought it was a bit hokey, but then I realized it's actually about hope. Cassian didn't get to grow up in a free galaxy, but his kid will because of everything Cass did. It's the sunrise he didn't get to see!

(And if anyone is bummed that the Republic collapses again eventually, just commit your mind to another timeline. The great thing about fiction is that you can make up your own ending and it's just as valid and just as real because none of its real. I'm living in the expanded universe from the 90's and it's mostly lovely here!)

I was amazed by how many characters were left alive. I assumed most of them would die before Rogue One, but the death count was surprisingly low!

But I have to wonder why they didn't use Wilmon as the intro to Saw in the film instead of looking for Jynn. Maybe Will parted on bad terms with him? But wouldn't he be dead if he'd gotten on bad terms with Saw? I would like some clarification on this.

[leroiestmortvivelareine]

On the corner - Chapter 3

Wymack meets Andrew when he's still a kid.

(Trigger Warning - see intro post)

(all chapters)

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

The man went into the boy’s room, as he had done a hundred times before. As he had done a hundred times before, he stripped off and bent down to the bed.

Except this time was different. This time a piercing spotlight flooded the room, along with half a dozen voices shouting for him to stop, it was the police, a room full of police, and somehow Coach was with them, tailing behind them grim and unsmiling, and when he caught the kid’s eye he gave him a brief nod, as though fulfilling his end of a promise the boy hadn’t known was made. Then the cops brought out their handcuffs and suddenly the tall terrifying monster was a broken terrified wreck, gibbering with fear as they led him away.

Coach came to stand in front of the kid.

"You," said Drew.

"I told you," Coach smiled. "You’re not alone."

Some of the cops and an on-call social worker stay in the kid's room to interview him. Others have taken the wife into the kitchen. The other, older foster kids aren't home, but the house still feels full of people. An officer holds the door open for Coach.

The kid looks up apprehensively. "Can he stay?"

The social worker, Valerie, glances enquiringly at Coach, who shrugs.

The senior officer introduces himself to Drew, speaking in a quiet and respectful tone. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Coach gives Drew a brief smile. "It’s ok. Just tell them like you told me. They all saw him come for you tonight. They know you’re not lying."

They ask him about it - how often it happened, when it started, when was the last time. Facts and figures as though it was sport stats or something, listening seriously while they write it all down.

It gets difficult again when they ask about his foster-mother.

Drew is silent for a while, then blurts out, his eyes on Coach:

"She’s just as bad. She lets him in."

In another sudden rush he adds: "She enjoys it. She sends him in to punish me."

They take notes until they have enough to go on with, then the officer puts his book away with a supportive smile. "Thanks Drew. You did great."

He gets to his feet. "So how do you know Coach?"

The kid opens his mouth, then closes it again.

Coach says easily: "We know each other from around the neighbourhood. He’s interested in my team."

Valerie half smiles at this. "Couldn’t find an excuse to get away, huh."

The cops grin a bit too. It's a small town, and Coach’s passion for sport is obviously an old joke.

Another cop sticks his head into the bedroom.

"Ambulance is here. We’ll get him checked out just to be sure."

"Ok, good."

"They’ll probably need to do a thorough check," Coach murmurs in an undertone. "You understand? Just let them do their job, ok? I’ll be here when you’re done."

Drew looks worried but nods tensely.

"If you need to distract yourself, look around the ambulance and try to commit all the details you see to memory. You can give me the list later."

"Ok." The boy leaves with the police.

Coach stands up, peering through the doorway to the kitchen. "Are they charging her too?"

Valerie shrugs. "Not sure. But it’s not safe for him to stay here. She’s barely coherent."

"He won’t have to come back here, will he?"

"We’ll make sure he doesn’t."

"He doesn’t seem to have much stuff." Coach glances around. "Maybe we should pack it up." He pulls down a suitcase from a shelf and begins stuffing items into it. There's not enough room for the clothes.

"Can you see if there are some trash bags in the kitchen?" he asks Valerie before she could offer a half-hearted protest. Besides, he doesn't want to go out there. He doesn't trust what he’ll do if he sees that woman.

Valerie returns with a handful of black bags and they stuff the meagre collection of clothes into them.

A battered duffle and two plastic bags. Coach can't believe this is a child’s life.

"Anything that looks like his in the den?"

"No. I think you should leave it at that now."

The paramedic returns with the kid in tow. "He’s fine. A decent feed wouldn’t hurt."

Drew sits down beside Coach.

"How you holding up, kid?"

The boy sends an apprehensive glance towards the kitchen.

"They can’t trouble you any more." Coach is unhappily aware this won't fix the next 'they' he’ll have to deal with. "That asshole will never bother anyone again."

"He was crying." Drew sounds unbelieving.

"Cops probably painted a picture of what prison will be like. Like I said, everyone hates them."

"Coach? How did you know to get here in time?"

"You told me, kid. You told me what he was going to do. The time, the address on your ID." He smiles encouragingly. "You did one of the smartest things a person can do. You asked for help. You trusted your instincts and that takes courage. I’m proud of you."

It’s not hard to imagine those words have been in short supply during his life, but the boy’s expression doesn’t change. He doesn’t take his eyes off Coach, though.

"What’s going to happen now?"

The social worker answers. "We’ll take you into protective custody for tonight. They'll take more formal statements tomorrow."

Drew freaks. "You mean lock me up? Where he is?"

"Hey." Coach’s voice is reassuring. "You’d be kept separate. It’s the safest place in town. You’ll be completely surrounded by cops."

"No!"

"It's too late tonight to organise an alternative. No one’s saying you’ve done anything wrong. It’s just... there isn’t anywhere else…"

"Can’t I stay with you?"

Coach is at a loss. He turns to Valerie with a question on his face, not sure if the question is Can he? or Can you explain to him why not?

She is silent a moment, then gets up to find her colleagues.

The kid turns to Coach, his eyes desperate.

"I can’t be locked up."

"Well, you can’t stay here. And I’m by myself, you understand. I don’t exactly represent a family home."

"What about your wife?"

Coach’s eyes lower. "My wife died many years ago."

For some reason the kid finds this more reassuring, not less. His foster-mother must have been a piece of work. Or maybe in the kid's mind betraying him to a monster is worse than a monster simply being itself.

Coach goes on, gently: "Seriously, would you want to be alone with a strange man after all this?"

Drew nods. "If it’s you. I’ve been in three other places before this. I always know the ones who are going to be a problem."

Hearing this makes Coach feel sick.

"They don’t just let random strangers take abused kids."

The kid made a face. "Yeah, their due diligence is fantastic. Anyway, they know you, don’t they? Didn’t you say the police work with you, with runaways and whatever? I mean, you got the cops to come here."

"I got them to come here because I told them I was going to investigate an abuse allegation, and if it turned out to be true I would be breaking in and using my firearm against civilians." Coach shrugs. "Like you said, they know me."

Drew’s mouth falls open, but he manages to turn it into a wry smile. "So they knew you were joking."

Coach just looks at him. The smile vanishes. "You weren't."

Valerie reappears at that moment, swinging tiredly in the doorway. "It’s ok with us, Coach. You’re certified for working with kids, and the damn night’s almost over anyway."

She turns to Drew. "You sure you want to go with him?"

The boy nods, then says aloud: "Yes. I do."

Coach gives him a frustrated look.

Drew insists: "Didn’t you say that trusting my instincts and asking for help is smart?"

Coach grumbles, but he knows he’s lost.

"Ok then. Bring him in tomorrow morning, we’ll sort everything out," Valerie added.

"Sure."

—

(< prev , next >)

(all chapters)

[hwaslayer]

project: make you love me (jyh) | intro.

♣︎ spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: yunho can’t stand how you’re so wrapped up in the notorious campus fuckboy, park seonghwa. he would gladly love you the way you deserve, despite being shy, awkward and the complete opposite of seonghwa. thus, when he finds himself spending more time with you over literature reviews and random study sessions, he decides to take on the challenge to win you over.

—pairing: jeong yunho x f. reader x park seonghwa

—genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers/friends to lovers, college au | fluff, angst, smut

—word count: 1.9k

—chapter warning: cussing/mature language, very basic intro/kick off to the series, mentions of smut/protected sex but not too detailed, chaeryeong (itzy), soobin (txt) and seungmin (skz) are included as non-idols and as oc’s bestfriends/roommates, a glimpse into yunho and his personality!

—a/n: hi everyone! kicking off my yunho series - i hope you enjoy! i will try to update every other weekend, but i’ll always try to let everyone know if there are any delays. thank you for the support! 💞

It's one of many nights where you're tangled in Seonghwa's arms, listening to the way he whispers sweet nothings in your ear as he continues to ease himself into you— in and out, hitting your spot just the way you like it before he picks up his pace. He looks down at you just as he's about to reach his peak, and if you weren't mistaken, you might've caught a glimpse of adoration before he leaned down to let out a groan against your neck; lips grazing at the surface, nipping at skin in between his pants and whines.

Wishful thinking.

Most of these moments don't last, then you're reminded as to what you really are with Seonghwa— to Seonghwa.

Exhibit A:

Once he's finished spilling his seed into the condom, he takes a few breaths against your neck, sloppily laying another kiss onto your cheek and lips before stepping out of the bed and tossing the condom into his trash. He walks over to where his clothes lay on the floor, gently throwing your clothes onto the end of the bed.

"What time is it?" You ask Seonghwa as you clean yourself up and lay back onto your side. You pull the sheets up as you watch Seonghwa get dressed, tossing his shirt and sweats back on.

"I don't know, like 1am?" He ruffles his hair a bit. "What time are you trying to leave?"

"Are you serious, Hwa? You just said it. It's 1am. It's cold, I'm tired." You yawn a bit but he doesn't really budge.

"So, let's get you home?" He shrugs a bit.

"Why don't you ever ask if I wanna stay the night anymore?"

"Because. We agreed not to do that."

"You agreed on your own. Whatever." You roll your eyes as you get up and get your clothes on, throwing the hood over your head as you walk out of the room and towards his front door. "Since you don't fucking mind driving me home at 1am. Must be that big of a deal to you."

"Please don't do that." He says with a deep sigh, following behind you with his keys jingling in his hands. You continue to lead ahead, crossing your arms as you wait for him to unlock his stupid fucking car.

Ugh.

"Are you going to keep the attitude up?" Seonghwa asks as he pulls out of his spot and starts to drive off to your place. Luckily, it's an exit away on the freeway so it isn't a long drive. And yes, you're going to keep the attitude up. You just need to get the fuck out before it bursts into flames. "Y/N."

"What, Seonghwa? I don't have anything else to say to you."

"Why are you making it a big deal all of a sudden? It's not like anything has changed—"

"Yeah, nothing has over the past months. You're right. Silly of me to expect anything." You slump down in your seat and continue to look out the window.

"Is it because you stayed over once before? Twice, maybe? I mean, that— it was—" He stutters a bit, but you finish his sentence for him.

"A mistake?"

"No." He groans a bit. "I just told you not to get too comfortable with that."

"I heard you the first time. It's fine, I get it." He sighs again.

"I hate when you're like this."

"But you don't care enough to fix it." Silence. "Right."

"It's not like that, baby. Please. Can we not tonight? I just have to get up super early to meet with my group for our presentation. That's all."

"Mhm." You continue to look out the window. You cross your arms tightly against your chest, avoiding contact with Seonghwa even when he gently gives your thigh a squeeze.

"Baby." He whines a bit. "I'll make it up to you, okay? We'll do this next time. You know I always want you over, that's no question." He lies, just to make you happy. Just to give you what you want to hear.

"Yup. Heard that before." Your response has a sting to it, a little bit of attitude, and Seonghwa hates it. He really hates it when you're like this— mainly because you'll hold this grudge forever and you'll probably avoid coming over for the next couple of days.

But, can you help it?

No.

For you, it's just another one of those nights with Seonghwa. A night where he says sweet shit just so you can be tangled all up in him and nothing else. Another one of those nights where your feelings are tossed out the window and you feel so dumb for having felt hurt in the first place. Because, why? It's been months of this and ain't shit changed with Seonghwa.

You should've known your place from the get go. So, why the hell is it even harder to understand now?

Meanwhile for Yunho, it's just another one of those nights where he can't find sleep and he wishes he could. A night where he's tossing and turning and his main problem is figuring out why the hell he can't sleep tonight when the other night, he was out like a light.

Did he have too much caffeine today?

Maybe he should've stayed longer at the gym.

He probably could've gone farther in God of War: Ragnarok.

As he takes a walk in the cold, crisp 1am weather, he kicks at the leaves beneath his Nike slippers while thinking about his life decisions today. Just as he's about to head straight down the path, he notices a car pull up in front of the building on the other side of the lot. He slows his pace, brows furrowing at who could possibly be getting dropped off this late on a school night.

Then, he catches familiar faces. The car.

Makes sense.

Park Seonghwa's cocky ass sits in the driver's seat while you step out and slam his passenger door shut. He calls for you and says something shortly afterwards, but Yunho can't really hear it from where he's standing. He just sees you flash him the finger as you continue heading up the steps to your apartment.

Then, Seonghwa drives off. Before you can even make it safely into your apartment. What a guy.

"Dick." Yunho mutters to himself as he watches you slip through your door and shut it close. He doesn't understand this whole thing— you, Seonghwa. He only "knows" about it because you two have been the hot topic on campus. But, he just doesn't get it. He's not much to butt into anyone's business, and quite frankly, he doesn't care. He'll mind his own.

But if he could ask you one question, it'd be: Why?

You are way too good for Park Seonghwa.

He continues on with his walk until the air gets too crisp, his nose and ears feel a little numb. He takes one last look in the direction of your apartment to make sure you've completely made it in before he starts to walk back to his own and get some rest. The cold is actually helping, and he feels himself feel a little bit more exhausted than earlier.

Maybe, he will find sleep.

Hopefully you will, too.

But of course, you don't. Not right away at least. You step into your apartment to see your roommates awake, which is partially a surprise.

"You're still awake?" You look at Chaeryeong, your freshman-roommate-turned-bestfriend. You and Chaery had clicked so quickly that you had become inseparable, stuck at the hip since your freshman year. The two boys who currently stand in your kitchen whipping up spam and ramen at this ungodly hour lived across from you and Chaeryeong in the freshman dorm. They were constantly over, doing homework in your dorm room and stealing snacks from your stash— though a pain the ass, you don't think you could've survived these years without them either.

"Ramen?" Soobin turns to look at you followed by—

"Spam?" Seungmin chimes in.

"They were being loud, I had to make sure they weren't destroying the apartment." Chaery yawns.

"No, thanks." You look at the boys before you sit next to Chaery and start brushing the strands away from her face. "Good thinking, though."

"Nice to know you two think that way when we'd be the first ones you'd call if something ever happened in here." Chaery sticks her tongue out at Seungmin.

"Wait, why are you home?" She turns back to you with fire sitting in her eyes. "Seonghwa didn't want you to stay?"

"Let's not talk about it."

"No, let's." Chaery says sternly. "What a fucking dick. He'd really make the trip over this late at night instead of letting you stay? What's his deal? It's been months."

"Can't rely on that fact, Chaery."

"If he's not going to be serious about you, leave his ass. I'm so sick of the way he—" Soobin sees your face drop, the sadness and anger slowly painting over your expression. So, he subtly shakes his head at Chaeryeong and cuts in.

"Mm, you should just get some rest Y/N." You sigh and nod.

"Yeah." You look at Chaery. "We can talk more about it tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't mean to make you more upset. I just can't stand him." You chuckle and playfully kiss her on the top of her head.

"I know. I love you, regardless." She pouts.

"I'll be in there soon." You nod as you yawn and get ready for bed. You drop your bags near your bed before grabbing your pajamas to change into. You quickly freshen up, giving your skin and body a little more love after the night you've had with Seonghwa. You weren't gonna lie, Seonghwa always knew what he was doing; he knew just how to tease you, please you— give you exactly what you need to keep you wanting more.

And that's where it gets sick, twisted. Because it's a fun little game to him.

To you, it's more.

When it shouldn't be.

Luckily for Yunho, sleep finds him.

But for you, it doesn't.

Even when Chaery comes in and shuts the lamp on her side of the room, leaving you two in complete darkness. Even when no new texts come in, when the clock strikes 3am— it doesn't come.

And it probably won't, even when you need to get up and get your day started.

"Shit." You yawn as you walk alongside your roommates to the café.

"Did you even get any sleep?" Chaery holds onto your arm as you walk into the café to grab some coffee before your first class.

"Maybe like.. 5 minutes?"

"Babe, are you serious?"

"I just couldn't sleep."

"Still. That's not good for you, Seonghwa or not."

"Hey, put in your orders. I got it." Seungmin says, stepping aside. Chaery lowers her voice as you step closer to the cashier and order your usual, along with hers.

"Thanks, Seungmo." Chaery changes the topic and pinches his cheek, making him groan in response. You yawn again, lazily making your way to the straws and napkins. You grab a handful for your roommates [and to save for later at home], tugging away at the napkins before you feel like you've gotten enough. Just as you quickly turn, you almost run into another body. But, you're able to catch yourself before actually causing a collision.

"Oops, sorry!" You quickly acknowledge the stranger.

"It's alright." You hear a deep voice respond just as you brush past. You don't give the person another look while running off to your roommates and helping them with the drinks— even though Yunho keeps his gaze on you from afar. He tugs on his bag strap before letting out a small breath, admiring the way the morning sun bounces off of your skin. He watches as your bestfriend worriedly looks at you and pulls you close. Yunho can tell that she's talking about Seonghwa [or lecturing you in some way], because your facial expression drops. Your eyes are painted with sadness. Your body language yells tired, stressed; pleading to be loved and comforted.

He doesn't get the whole thing with Seonghwa. But, he won't try to understand it.

He just wishes he could tell you that you deserve way better than that jackass.

You are worth more than that.

♣︎ taglist: @s-nsanshine​ @soupbinlily​ @tyongff-ff​ @jiminiscricket​ @g1g1l​ @staytinyinmybpack​ @woomyteez @gfksz​ @bitchwhytho​ @savluvsmingi​ @persphonesorchid​ [bold = couldn’t tag!]

[xxmcr05xx]

DESTROYA | Randy Marsh x f!Reader

Summary: Randy Marsh can't resist his new, young neighbour.

Warnings/Contains: DILF Randy, older man/younger woman relationship, Randy cheats on Sharon, only one bed trope, dirty talk, belt as a restraint, teasing, porn with plot, nipple play, dacryphilia, nipple licking, spit kink, flirting, consensual sex, oral sex (m!receiving), unprotected sex (wrap before you tap!!), resolved sexual tension, missionary position, Randy is hella guilty, cunnilingus

WC: 3,402

Originally Posted: 28/03/23 on AO3!

Title Song: DESTROYA - My Chemical Romance

Author's Note: F/N is 20 :)

18+ MDNI!!

Divider by @bernardsbendystraws

F/N stared outside the window of her car.

After years of being cooped up in the crummy waste-of-space that was her parent's house, F/N was finally able to move out. To get as far away as she could from her parents she decided to move into a small Denver town called South Park. It was white trash.

The woman took a deep breath as she made her way to her house, it was a small two-story red house with a brown roof, and the moving trucks have already arrived. Small and large eyes from inside the houses peaked out as they wondered about the new person moving into the small town.

Fifteen minutes later of unpacking boxes from the truck sought F/N to unpack everything by herself. F/N sighed as she started to unpack her belongings, it wasn't much. All she had were toiletries, her pillow and blankets, mattress & bedframe, clothes, and a couch - oh and her prized guitar and amp.

While F/N was packing her stuff inside, the doorbell rang, "Oh great..." F/N groaned quietly to herself as she made her way to the door, when she opened it she was greeted by a couple - a middle-aged man in a blue button-up and another middle aged woman with short brown hair and a brown jumper.

"Why hello there! You must be the new neighbour, my name's Sharon Marsh and this is my husband Randy Marsh!"

Sharon held her hand out to shake, so F/N did just that. "Oh hey, I'm F/N L/N, this is a really quaint town," F/N chuckled awkwardly, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah it is... what brings you to South Park?" Randy asked in a lazy tone, F/N eyed him quickly before answering.

"Well, I just needed to move out as soon as possible from my parent's shitty house. I'm only like 20 so this is a big change," F/N laughed as she shoved her hands in her hoodie pocket.

Randy laughed, feeling as he related. "I feel ya, F/N. I've lived in South Park my whole life though, so you're lucky."

She really was lucky.

"Do you need any help unpacking, F/N?" Sharon asked, F/N shook her head. "I'm alright, Mrs. Marsh. Thanks though."

Sharon chuckled and blushed a little, "Just call me Sharon! I'll feel old."

The three of them laughed together and stood silent, "Well, I better get unpacking. Thanks a lot guys!" F/N waved to the pair as they walked back to their house, which was right next to F/N's own house.

After thirty minutes F/N was finished unpacking, the house was practically empty but overtime F/N wanted to fill it up. F/N went upstairs to her room, all that unpacking itched her to play guitar, she grabbed her Jackson guitar and started to play the intro to Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) by Deftones.

As she was playing she noticed her neighbour, Randy, staring at her through the window, he was bobbing his fhead up and down to her playing. F/N stared back and him and blushed, mouthing a sorry to him.

F/N turned her guitar off and laid on her bed, she couldn't stop thinking about Randy. Just something about his dad bod and chillax vibes. "God..." F/N groaned as she hid her face with her pillow, she just met him for Christ's sake!

Weeks have passed since F/N moved in and she was pretty popular, especially amongst the older high school students, as a lot tried to flirt with her since she was near their age and a chick, but she had eyes on Randy. Randy Marsh.

It was hopeless. Stupid hopeless romantic feelings.

F/N was currently on the phone with her mother, who was furious. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE TAKING THE MONEY? NO FUCK OFF GRANDMA GAVE THAT TO ME!" F/N screamed through the phone, pacing furiously around the house. Her mum was going to take away the money her grandma left for F/N in her will.

"TOUCH THAT FUCKING MONEY AND I SWEAR TO- FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!" F/N continued to scream at her phone, punching a hole in the wall, "FUCK YOU MUM!" F/N hung up on her mum and screamed.

She stomped furiously upstairs to where she started to punch more holes in her wall, red-blind with fury. The downstairs door was open suddenly, Randy Marsh walked upstairs to where F/N was, she looked over her shoulder to see Randy.

F/N was crying.

Randy walked up to her worried and gave her a hug, F/N broke down as she held onto Randy, crying her eyes out. "Hey hey what's wrong, F/N? What's with all the yelling?" He asked, holding onto the back of her hair.

"Stupid fucking mum- she- I forgot to bring the money that my grandma gave me in her will over here in South Park- I thought I had it in my safe but I didn't. I forgot it on my floor, fuck! And my car's getting fucking fixed! I can't fucking get it," F/N started to sob even more into Randy's shirt, soaking a part of it with her tears.

Randy just continued to shush her as the two sat down on her floor, "Punching your walls ain't gonna solve this, F/N. Here, I'll help come get your money, we can use my car, is that okay with you?" Randy asked, moving away to look at F/N's face.

The young adult sniffed and nodded, "'m sorry Randy..." F/N looked down and wiped her eyes, her eyeliner smudging all over her face, Randy chuckled, telling her not to apologise. After a few minutes of calming down, Randy went back to his house.

"Sharon, you there?" Randy called out, his wife appeared from the kitchen and smiled worridly.

"Is F/N okay?" Sharon asked, wiping her hands on her apron, Randy nodded and explained the situation, "Poor girl... well, just call me when you're there and are coming back, okay Randy?" Sharon asked, kissing his forehead.

Randy smiled softly at his wife. "Don't worry Sharon, we'll be okay."

The older man came back into F/N's house, she changed her clothing to look more punky, she had a black tank top on underneath a sleeveless Black Flag shirt, F/N also had on short grey shorts and wore black boots. "Nice change of clothing," Randy chuckled awkwardly as he stared at her, F/N shrugged.

"Mum hates how I dressed punk, so this is kind of a 'fuck you mum' look." F/N chuckled.

"Okay, how long is it to your mum's house?"

F/N paused for a moment and sighed. "Four hours..."

Shit Randy's gonna be in trouble.

Randy chuckled as he nervously played with his car keys, "Yeah okay... Let's get going then."

The two entered Randy's car, his wife was outside the house and smiled, waving at the both of them. "Have fun dear! I hope you get that money back soon, F/N. Love you both!"

Randy turned the radio on as he started to drive to F/N's mum's house, given the address by F/N herself. Old classic rock songs came on the radio, which really excited F/N.

"Oh my GOD! I fucking love Def Leppard!" F/N started to scream the lyrics out to Love Bites. "'CAUSE MAKING LOVE TO YOU IS DRIVIN' ME CRAZYYY!"

F/N held her hands up high as she started to sway them left and right, Randy moved uncomfortably as his pants felt tighter. That cheeky fucking chick! She wasn't wearing a bra. Randy could see her side-boob as she held her arms up.

Randy bit his lip softly as he tried hard to concentrate on the road in front of him.

After two hours F/N had passed out as the night came around, Randy sighed in thank of peace and quiet. Why did he decide to do this? Randy looked over at the sleeping F/N and sighed, she was cute.

Wait- Shut the fuck up.

You have a wife for fuck's sake!

Randy shook the thoughts out of his head as he continued to drive.

Minutes later the car started to slow down, FUCK! The front left tire popped. "Fucks sake!" Randy groaned, he pulled the car over to a motel car park, he got out and stared at the deflating tire.

The man sighed annoyed, he just wanted this over, he moved to inside the car and shook F/N. The young adult groaned a little and stared up at Randy, "Mmm.. what is it Mr Marsh?" F/N quietly asked, wiping her eyes.

"Stupid tire popped, I didn't bring a spare tire..." Randy groaned, he checked the time on his watch. It was way too late for any car shop to be open. "We'll have to stay here for the night," Randy muttered as he kicked a rock.

F/N frowned as she got out from the passenger's seat, "Of course..." F/N muttered under her breath, she looked up at Randy. "I got no money on me, man."

"It's alright, I have cash in my car," Randy swore under his breath as he grabbed his wallet out of his car. "I need to dial my wife and let her know."

A few minutes later Randy came back from his phone call, "C'mon, let's go."

The two arrived at the motel reception and got their room key.

"Holy fuck."

Of course! They got a room with ONE bed.

"This is... I'll sleep on the floor," Randy offered as the two got in the room.

F/N held his sleeve, "Don't. You need to feel good- when you drive of course!" F/N laughed awkwardly as she let go of him, Randy raised an eyebrow.

"We'll just have separate sides then..." Randy muttered as he locked the room door.

The two sat awkwardly on the bed, the T.V. playing an old black-and-white movie, Randy looked over at the clock and sighed at the time.

2:04 AM

"We should sleep now, F/N," Randy sighed as he laid back, F/N pursed her lip, seeming really upset.

"I'm sorry, Mr Marsh. It's all my fault," F/N took her boots off and sighed again, she stared over at Randy who seemed empathetic.

"It's alright, F/N. None of this is your fault," Randy reassured.

F/N gave him a small smile back. "Thank you."

Randy and F/N both got into bed after the T.V and lamp were turned off, their backs were facing away from each other.

The two of them couldn't sleep, however.

"Y'know, F/N, this is an awkward situation for me. I'm a married man but I'm sleeping in bed with a younger unrelated woman," Randy spoke in a dangerously low voice, F/N blushed a little bit at his statement.

"Mmm... it's not my fault, Mr Marsh," F/N spoke up, she turned around slowly and faced Randy's back.

Randy moved his head to face F/N, he could barely see her face in the moonlight. "Yeah? I've seen you... you- you flirting with me almost, not wearing a bra- Hell, you probably aren't even wearing anything underneath your shorts."

The older man moved closer to F/N's face, she could feel his breath against her face.

"You wanna find out?" F/N asked in response as her hands brush lightly against Randy's arm.

Randy groaned and nodded, "Fuck- I'm gonna fuck you so well..." Randy voice was venomous.

The pair slowly started to kiss each other, Randy's moustache tickled against F/N's own face as he moved to climb on top of F/N.

Randy's tongue slowly made its way inside F/N's mouth as the kiss started to get heated. His tongue slowly glided inside F/N's mouth, teasing F/N's own tongue with his.

The younger woman moaned a little as Randy's right hand moved from her face down to her shoulder, then to her chest. Randy moved away from the kiss as saliva drooled out their mouths, the two stopped for a second to breathe.

Randy moved down and started to attack F/N's neck, delighted to hear her sweet moans. He bit and suck down hard on her collarbone, desperate to give him a hickey. "Gonna.. fuck you.. so well..." Randy moaned out in between kisses.

"Mmmn bet your old man dick can't satisfy me," F/N teased as she ran her fingers through his hair, Randy moved away from her collarbone and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? You wanna bet on that? I'll fuck you brainless, F/N, I've got old man experience."

The man immediately took off F/N's shirt and tank top to reveal her tits, Randy sucked in air as he stared down at her. "Like what y'see?" F/N teased, pushing her tits together. Randy growled, he took off his belt.

"Bratty piece of shit," Randy muttered under his breath, he used the belt to tie F/N's hands together. F/N didn't care. She didn't care at all. She just wanted Randy's cock inside her.

They continued to kiss again as Randy's hands groped her breasts, F/N moaned into the kiss as he started to twist and flick her nipples. After a minute Randy moved away, his kisses trailed down to her chest, licking a stripe from her left nipple to her right nipple, keeping eye contact to his younger lover.

He then took her right nipple in his mouth, sucking on it softly as his left hand tease F/N's now wet left nipple. "Oh fuck- fuck Randy!" F/N cried out as she gripped onto the belt, her legs squirmed around Randy.

Randy switched to her other nipple with his mouth and hands, pleasuring her again for a few minutes. F/N looked down at Randy and whined, "Not fair... I'm topless and you're completely dressed!"

The older man rolled his eyes, "You young kids and your complaining. You're lucky I'm desperate to fuck you."

Randy moved up onto his knees, keeping eye contact with F/N as he took of his shirt, revealing his hairy chest and dad bod.

"Who doesn't love a good ol' dad bod," F/N teased as she bit her lip, Randy laughed as he also took off his jeans, he wasn't uncomfortable anymore.

He moved down to F/N's ear and whispered into it.

"I'm gonna fill you all the way."

If F/N wasn't horny before then GOD that line made her RAVENOUS.

Randy trailed kisses down F/N's chest down dangerously close to her cunt, "I can almost smell your cunt, you're gonna be fucking delicious."

He then used his teeth to unzip F/N's shorts and his hands to unbutton the button. Randy pulled F/N's shorts down to reveal F/N's dripping cunt, the man sucked a breath in. His eyes went wide as he then smirked.

"I was fucking right! You did have no underwear on!"

Randy laughed in disbelief, proud of his prediction. He then moved his mouth closer, F/N desperate for contact with his mouth, "C'mon Marsh...!"

The man sighed at F/N's impatience, he was not happy. "Shut up or I won't touch your pussy," Randy muttered, eyeing down F/N's cunt.

F/N nodded at his response, blushed and embarrassed.

Randy thanked her in a quiet voice as he held F/N's thighs apart, "Been a while since I've done this. Thank the lord."

His soft tongue licked a long slow stripe on F/N's cunt, Randy closed his eyes as he licked up the juices. F/N's eyes widened as she let out a loud moan, "Shh, do you want us kicked out? Shut up before I give you something to shut up on."

Randy continued to eat F/N out, he was in Heaven. He's never tasted anything better. The older man continued his frenzy, shoving his slobbering tongue further inside of her, moving it to lick on her clit. He didn't care.

"R-Randy- Oh fuck. I might cum- please let me cum!" F/N cried out, tears were spilling down her cheeks. Randy noticed her neediness and moved away.

F/N's eyes widened as she stared down, "Noooo! No please- please continue. Fuck you Randy!" F/N desperately moved around to relieve the tension. Randy rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Shut up F/N! God, I better shut that chatty mouth of yours," Randy stared into F/N's eyes as he started to take off his boxers.

F/N stared down at his cock, her face went red at its size. His cock was dripping with precum as he pumped it a few times. It had a noticeable long vein on the underside, red in colour. "God I should just jerk off to how you look right now and cum all over you."

"No no! Fuck me please!"

Randy smirked as he grabbed F/N's hair, forcing her on her knees.

"Good girl."

The older man held his cock, slowly moving it towards F/N's mouth. The young adult happily obliged to the action and opened her mouth, Randy then moved his cock inside her mouth. He let out a small groan as he started to thrust softly.

"Mmnn... what a good fucking mouth... so soft-hhg- so soft and moist." Randy's eyes closed shut as he leaned his head back.

F/N started to suck on it, bobbing her head back and forth against his cock. The older man gripped onto her hair harder as his head leaned in closer to F/N, "God- I can't cum- Fuck your mouth feels so good though."

Randy moved away from F/N's mouth, his cock was covered in drool, dripping down slowly onto his legs.

"You can fuck me! Oh please use me Mr. Marsh!" F/N laid back down, ready to be fucked.

Randy couldn't wait any longer.

The older man held his cock and pumped it, leaning over F/N as he slowly inserted himself inside her cunt. The pair moaned at the same time, overwhelmed by the stimulating feeling.

"W-Wait I- I don't have condoms."

"It's fine Mr. Marsh- I'm on the pill." F/N moved her legs onto Randy's waist, pulling him in further. He groaned at the feeling, desperate to fuck her.

He finally let into his instincts, Randy leaned down, his arms resting either side of F/N's head as he started to thrust into her. F/N gasped out loudly, wrapping her waist around him and struggling against her tied-up arms.

"Oh Lord- Oh fucking Lord, F/N. You feel so fucking good!" Randy cried out, he squeezed his eyes shut as he groaned into F/N's ears more. F/N moaned Randy's name softly as he continued to thrust into her.

Randy stared down at F/N with tears in his eyes, "My wife will fucking kill me if she ever found out- oh fuck it feels so good but this is so wrong," Randy's tears dripped down as he moved up to straighten his back, he bit his lip and wiped his tears.

"I- I promise not to tell her. Please, Mr Marsh." F/N's eyes were blurry as she tried hard to concentrate on his face.

Randy nodded at F/N's promise, gripping hard onto F/N's thighs, he was feeling himself let out, he needed to cum.

"I need to cum- I'm gonna cum, okay? You're okay with it, right?" Randy asked, his face was red and needy. F/N nodded, feeling herself tighten around Randy's own cock.

After a few more thrusts Randy felt himself cum, the man let out a groan as he stopped thrusting. He moved away to see the trailing pool of cum leak out of F/N's own cunt, he could sense that F/N had also cum as her eyes were closed and her mouth was agape and breathing heavily.

He was so fucked.

Randy unwrapped the belt from F/N's wrists as he started to dress himself up, quiet.

It was quiet afterwards as the two slept, Randy held F/N in his arms, thinking about how fucked he was.

[toreii]

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Review

Let me just preface this post by saying I’m still on the fence about sharing my thoughts. Like many, I am highly disappointed with the direction this DLC went. I would have never imagined this was in store for me last year during the summer when I first watched the Lin Kuei trailer. Khaos Reigns provoked two days of awful headaches followed by days of disillusion. Yes, NRS played me for a fool (thank god I did not purchase this). I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and it came to bite me in the ass. If I had a physical copy of the game, I’d chuck it in the trash. I’m finding it difficult to proceed forward which is hard because I like to see things through even if it sucks. All I can do is protect my vision of Bi-Han and staying true to the old lore as I try and move on.

That being said, to address my take on this expansion:

To begin, the elephant in the freaking room--Sektor and Cyrax.

I am a Lin Kuei fan overall. Not a big fan of him in general, but there has been appreciation for him and Cyrax throughout the years. When I learned that both were going to be genderbent, I had a little bit of misgivings suddenly changing things drastically. But, again, I gave NRS the benefit of the doubt. Since this is a new era, I was on board with it until the rumors started circulating about both being love interests for the brothers. I was like "That makes no sense whatsoever." To me, the Lin Kuei has always been like a brotherhood. In no given time, has there ever been any indication of personal relationships outside of camaraderie. For example, Cyrax and Smoke being vehemently upset over Bi-Han's death in MK9, and not just Kuai Liang.

The argument can be constantly made that this is a new timeline, and it's Liu Kang's creation over and over. But, when you have that man (Dominic) constantly saying the timelines are canon, but not really. But, still are. It's incredibly hard to take anything seriously right now especially with the constant flip flopping that man does for the sake of the current script. Which is another point, but back to the bastardization of our two Lin Kuei girls.

I wanted to believe in a strong, female Sektor, who has her own ideals which we can all clearly see. Like her past iterations, she lives, breathes, and bleeds Lin Kuei. I wanted to see a Sektor who slowly, but surely descended into her own madness of corruption as she pursued her goals for the Cyber Initiative. Sektor has always been known for his technological genius, and she would be no different. To see her potential constantly get staunched for her adulation and obsession for Bi-Han was hard to witness. I can understand that this may be a flaw for her, but it is a very shitty flaw. Because this one trait absolutely negates everything she stands for. I can see that both she and Bi-Han use each other to a certain extent where it seems fit. I know her horrible romance is the center of focus right now, but if you listen to her intros with Bi-Han, it seems to be all business between them. There is barely any indication that their relationship goes beyond the realm of the clan and into a personal tryst. Sektor calls it love, but it's not quite there. I mean, there's love for the grandmaster, but the love that seems to be implied between the two is not quite there. At least, in my view.

I don't know about Sektor yet, but I already deduced that Bi-Han isn't someone who's desperate to correct anyone on the spot. He doesn't have to. He doesn't owe anyone an explanation, so of course he runs with whatever people say about him. He's unbothered by anyone's opinions of him. When Kuai Liang told Cyrax the truth about Bi-Han letting their father die, Bi-Han could have stepped in at any given moment and contradicted Kuai Liang. Instead, he chose to own every word Kuai said. I've had this feeling since the end of the base campaign that Kuai Liang simply took pieces of what Bi-Han said, and spun them to fit his own narrative. (Killing your father and letting him die because of an accident are two completely different things.)

Anyways, going back to Sektor, that scene where Bi-Han's mind was being restored seems to be the only shoehorned indication that there is more to them than meets the eye. But, again, it was badly placed, badly presented as well. First of all, Sektor really should not have been there in that room at all. From a storytelling perspective, I'm supposed to believe that both Sektor and Bi-Han have this obsessive romance and codependency between each other in a few seconds of frames, than the brotherhood between Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, and Tomas??? And this was my worst fear for Bi-Han too. I did not want him to be "saved" by romance. I wanted his salvation to come from within himself as he reflected on his poor decisions and the tragedy of his downfall which sadly we were robbed and negated from. If the scene only involved Liu Kang, Bi-Han, and Kuai Liang, it would have been more poignant. There has always been that story between the two brothers. I understand, this is not the same Kuai of two timelines ago. But, why is MK: Onslaught's ScorpKuai a lot more wholesome than our MK1 iteration??? He was absolutely horrified meeting MK11 Noob. He couldn't understand why Bi-Han became Noob (and how). But, Kuai's first instinct in the DLC is to be absolutely pissed and disgusted? "Your new attire suits you. It is as black as your heart." Darling, no. I would have been more pleased seeing Kuai approach the table and have this conflicting expression. The hatred can still be there, but the concern and sorrow for whom was once family to him, and his eldest brother needed to be portrayed. I mean, we sort of got it with the whole coffin scene at the end. But, in that scene, in that moment, that more than Bi-Han reaching for Sektor and touching foreheads with her is a lot more powerful in terms of storytelling. I don't know why NRS is so against these two hashing it out and resolving their issues.

Now to Cyrax...oh my god...

According to Kuai Liang in the main story, Cyrax and Sektor were supposed to be absolutely loyal to Bi-Han and would abet his corruption than follow him. We obviously see that in Sektor, but what the hell happened to Cyrax? It leads me to believe that Dominic and others suddenly decided to change the script. Mind you, I firmly believe that they did so. Sektor and Cyrax being women in this game must've been a decision that came after everything was said and done for the base campaign. I'm a bit skeptical on Bi-Han suddenly turning on Cyrax because I do recall some time ago listening to some leaked audio in which Bi-Han says "Kuai Liang was supposed to give Cyrax back." It made me think "Oh shit. Does Cyrax get held hostage or something?" Like, what the hell happened? And, I'm realizing, are we missing dialogue now? There is so much that does not make sense!!! Why would they turn on her all of a sudden?!

She's supposed to be close to Bi-Han just as much as Sektor. And suddenly, Cyrax is presented as a free thinking individual who abides by her own ideals and tradition. The moment that is threatened, she feels like she can no longer follow Bi-Han and his ambitions. To make it worse, she feels so much remorse with Kuai Liang that she's ready to give up her life in penance to make up for it. It just makes no sense. And to make it worse, she spends the rest of the DLC following Kuai Liang like a little puppy ready to serve her new grandmaster. Why was she even presented as a strong individual when all she wants is Kuai Liang's adoration as well? Not to mention, it was a really gross line to include in the intros where Noob threatens to spill her relationship with Kuai Liang to Harumi. We're seriously cheapening these two women to typical high school romance tropes? Like others have expressed, this is fanfiction levels of madness.

Kuai Liang is all levels of messed up too. I am so sick and tired of him prancing around like he does no wrong, and everyone believes every word he says. Suddenly, he's the self appointed grand hero of the story when you have Liu Kang's champions sitting around and twiddling their thumbs? Why not place faith in them and send them with Kuai to resolve the current threat. I understand Kuai's Shirai Ryu is now the new protectors, but you also have these other people and beings who are preparing themselves as well for these upcoming threats. I hate that they just suddenly bled into the background, and disappeared completely. Somebody needs to not only knock Bi-Han but Kuai Liang as well a few pegs down. He too is not without his own flaws and they need to be addressed. And Liu Kang's line "Trust your wife. Avail yourself of her wisdom." The same thing with Sektor and Bi-Han. Here too. This fucking trope cannot be it. Love cannot only be the thing that saves the day. His anger, his vengeance, is no where near the levels of Hanzo. Hanzo legit had a reason to be like that. Kuai is literally throwing a bitch fit at Bi-Han, and pointing fingers anywhere but himself. Seriously, his anger and disgust against Cyrax was so unwarranted. And every time she was flustered and tried to explain, he barely gave her time to say a word. Always cutting her off, and rejecting her apologies until the end because it is implied Harumi stepped in. And he seems to just completely simmer down a bit in the presence of Noob. Where was the you who tried to take him on earlier in Chaosrealm? Suddenly, you don't feel like butting heads with your brother? Kuai Liang is such a hypocrite, and I'm tired of seeing it.

Liu Kang was also another that just got dragged through the mud. A lot of his words and actions did not make sense. He's content with disposing of Titan Shang Sung and Titan Quan Chi, but he won't let Bi-Han finish off Titan Havik because he isn't sure how he's tied to his timeline, and doesn't want to kill innocent lives? What about the timelines tied to the other two? Liu Kang had no problem ending those. Why is Titan Havik's timeline any different? Bi-Han is right. Why does that timeline matter when the most important one is theirs, Liu Kang's timeline? He tells Raiden and Kung Lao to do their best and pray they make it out alive, when Liu Kang could have better prepared them. Gets his ass handed to him, can't even go save Geras himself. Sends Kuai, Cyrax, and Sektor to Chaosrealm in blindly. And, snaps at Bi-Han for the most part towards the end instead of having a meaningful talk with him. Not just simply telling him "This is what you are meant to do. Defend Earthrealm." Well, geez, why not elaborate on that, Liu Kang? Can't you give Bi-Han a few minutes of your time to air out grievances and come to a consensus?

And what the hell happened to Titan Havik? Is he dead? Does he still live? Trapped in the void? The Kamidogu were briefly mentioned, and then dropped. They were hyped to be of importance in this DLC. I'm certain they'll make their return eventually if NRS continues the story involving Onaga when the time comes. But, Havik had plans for them as well. And we only see him fusing with the Kamidogu. That final fight with him felt pretty lackluster. Just a regular match like any other.

We are definitely missing script, and scenes. We were supposed to have gotten a whole lot more. Ed Boon said this was their project for the next few years. I suppose they felt compelled not just to omit certain things, but cut out others for future DLCs. This was setup to be more than what we got. The bar absolutely fell short of what the end product was. To charge full price is absolutely heinous. I'm sorry, but I do not have $50 on hand for each DLC that they plan to release. They charged full price for the main game, and now they plan to do so for every little story line that comes after? I can't in good conscious support this kind of marketing. I'm devastated with the story. Like, I could work and make sense and justify every decision made with the main story to a degree. I can't do the same with Khaos Reigns.

I know I was making gifs of Bi-Han last week, but after KR...my heart right now really isn't in MK1. Every time I come across posts and remotely start thinking about it, I get headaches. They are not as bad as they initially were, but this is how horribly this DLC affects me. It keeps giving me headaches. I know I probably regurgitated the same sentiments and ideas as many others have already. But, a friend told me it would be cathartic to do this. So, instead of my journal, I am here expunging these thoughts and emotions. I don't know what my future with the brand will entail, but godspeed NRS. I wish you well on your future endeavors, and that's really saying a lot on my end. I can't even hope anymore. They massacred my heart and left me to die just like papa Lin Kuei (I wish we had a name for him).

[the0retically]

Wonderlust #1: One Man’s Trash:

Thoughts below! :)

- The intro is so cool I love this

- The different camera angels??? Holy shit??

- Oh god the voice Charlie is already doing, can’t wait for this character to destroy me emotionally

- This combat is insane oh my god??

- Troy’s dad?? Who is that

- Condi just on the other side is so funny to me like hi Canada man

- Charlie is just truly spitballing and has no thoughts behind it love it

- TROY IS JUST DOWN??

- Damn poor Troy lost the big race

- One more race!

- God Troy is such a jock I love him

- “Thanks to your father” oh?? Hmmm

- He has a fountain and it has the only running water that is Very sus

- Troy has a concussion????? Also may seems sweet and Troy is just so—love him

- Love the repeated “Troy math Troy math”

- Please he’s trying so hard to be cool and prove himself

- “My dad is gonna turn you into a clock?” HUH???

- Poor bizly this npc is cool and Charlie is making him just buzz

- He’s crying :(

- May??

- He lost his sled??

- OH THE MUSIC SLAPS

- THE ART!!!!!

- THIS IS SO COOL

- The green screen change!!

- Bizly is so good at descriptions I love his style of dming

- RUNT!!!!

- Oh I love runt so much

- :((((((( the street rats :(((((( I love them

- :( a match lights the dark room I MISS RIPTIDE

- I love uncle threestrings oh my god he’s so cool

- If anything happens to him I’m going to cry

- Also…….runt…??? You’re sick, you ok?

- Runt are you my chronic pain/chronic illness Queen?

- “Use this on your knee twice a day!” UNCLE THREESTRINGS WITH KNEE PAIN !!!!!

- Also love his singing it’s so fun

- This tunnel is cool heist time

- Oof runt is getting pinched to death, girl??

- Runt took it apart!! Love her little artificer girl!

- :(((((( she sees the stars and the moon

- The music is so cool I love this

- “Nothing else you’re just gonna open the door?” BIZLY NO RUNTS CURIOUS

- Uh oh, three loud bangs

- Oh doppler was taken, yikes I don’t think anyone but runt is getting out of this

- Please it’s not even roll initiative it’s just roll to run away

- Runt :(((((

- Tell her what? ………..if they lose people they don’t go after them? Oh god

- Interestingggggggg runt isn’t telling them about the crystal

- OH THE VIBE CHANGE??? Uncle T please there was a tragedy and you’re just playing your banjo

- God runt is just a kid

- Grizz and Bizly laughing about the big circle in the sky and being confused on who put it there please that’s so funny

- PINCH????? HES BACK?

- Runt isn’t allowed back up there :(

- She was just curious :( give her another chance!! :((((( runt

- oh, she can’t even go there to say hi and show stuff, runt :(((((( my sweet girl I’m so sorry

- “Dude he gets so hyped about the cups” YAY!!!!

- Yeah at least Runt didn’t shit her pants

- Aim sees the rock? Hmmm, runt didn’t you want that to be secret

- …………does this belong to Blink?

- CONDI TIME!!!!! BLINK!!!!!!!!

- I love his design so much

- Gotta love the belts, true Condi design!!!!

- The vixens??

- “She’s looking for you” “aeon’s always looking for me” OH????

- God gram-gram just stealing the box from blink, please??

- PLEASE???? She just makes him do side quests????? That’s so funny

- BIZLYS FACE BROKE ME “if I was reasonable person I would never” “but you will :D cause you’re not reasonable are you!” Just the soft smile, it’s so funny to me

- Please granny trying so hard to make blink and aeon friends again AHHHHH AEON’S HERE

- “An iron fist huh? Actually it’s leather, gets the job done” AHHHH HELLO??

- HELLO AEON! She’s so pretty!!

- “Was it the street rats?” “Shut your fucking mouth!” PLEASE

- :((((( blink doesn’t have a house

- “What do I get out of this” “a warm feeling in your heart?” This is such a cool dynamic I love this

- Oh god she punches Blink??

- WAIT TROY!!!!!! HES HERE AND JUST WANDERING AROUND??????

- The art!!!!! Troy just chasing Blink????? Oh my god??? “Don’t play hard to get with me, I’ll fucking catch you!” WHAT?

- He just sleds after him oh my god??????

- “What is your costume made out of” TROY PLEASE????

- “There’s no need to be such a freak” TROY?????

- He thinks it’s a convention??????

- “Is that like a slur?” TROY OH MY GOD?????

- Not Troy telling Blink that they need a hole to throw their trash down???? Oh my god??? That’s crazy

- “I don’t know I’m not supposed to tell you!” Troy?? What do you mean by that?

- Troy with a concussion!!!!! He’s just like me!! “I’ll protect a worse one and that’ll undo it” I—

- Troy just thinking that Blink is in character is so funny

- “Dude hey, you look stressed” Troy please??

- “No one’s chasing you, no one’s sticking with you because they may have ulterior motives!” Troy, baby boy, you’re dumb

- Ok so Troy may have already been with the vixens?? Or it’s something else I don’t know? Or it’s just him wanting to get back up

- The imagery is so clear I love it I can see these characters and where they are

- Please they just made up random ass names for themselves

- Troy my guy be better

- “I will crush 30 of these I won’t even blink…oh sorry” TROY OH MY GOD

- Environmentalist activist blink! Let’s go!

- “I’m gonna be Frank” “WHO THE FUCK IS FRANK?” Oh my god

- PLEASE TROY IS SO FUNNY???? He’s a jock that just is so incredibly dumb

- Oop Troy with daddy issues

- I—Charlie is just so lost in Troy right now

- “You know sometimes I think about guys!” TROY????

- Troy stop talking pleaseeeee

- Oh god blink just running away with troy

- Bizly is rolling so badly this session oh my god

- “A blunt arrow comes whizzing by your head” “a blunt what? I smoke it” HUH?

- How are they even doing this??

- “You definitely don’t make it 30 feet up” “well to me it feels like that!”

- “I lost this cast iron a couple years ago” TROY?????

- A NAT 1 AND A NAT 20 OH MY GOD????

- Graphite seems cool!

- Troy peak adhd boy, love him

- “You just say things don’t you?” “….Troy”

- I miss runt

- RUNT!!! SHES WATCHING THEM

- ohhhhh blink was in the apothecary before

- She’s been tailing them!!

- THIS WAS SO COOL!!!! I LOVED IT!!! IT WAS SO GOOD

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s6 episode 2 "drive" thoughts

after mulder made me cry with his sheer disrespect for scully in the last episode, i am approaching this one with caution.

we need to normalize asking people, especially coworkers, “what the hell is your problem?” and “if i am not the problem, why are you treating me like one?” idgaf about your tormented man angst!!! it’s not scully’s fault!!! 

he better have a good reason for all of this… this is NOT the mulder who i have been lovingly crafting playlists for!

scully will ascend to sainthood.

anyway. seems that mulder will be placed in another high stress situation today. can we stop with the pathogens? they’re freaking me out. 

post-episode thoughts: this was a very good episode of television, but not the best episode of the x files. like, the performances were stellar, the plot was juicy, the pacing had me on the edge of my seat! but i still prefer the episodes where they have a dramatic fight with tears OR just straight up cuddle. that being SAID, it was an excellent standalone episode and could be watched as such even if you didn't know a thing about this show. walter WHITE 💜

we open with breaking news!!! a car chase!! in nevada!! with someone else in the back seat!!!

the man who is putting the pedal to the metal has someone who is very sick in the back of the car. so the sheriffs are trying to lay a spike trap to stop him. and it seems to have worked!!

the cops are taking the speedy driver (later revealed to be named mr. crump), and he’s screaming for the sick woman in the car, vicky. she’s banging her head against the window and her head BLEW UP?????????

BLEURGHHHH. new disease where your head explodes just dropped.

shortened intro, as always i clock thee.

WAIT, GUEST STARRING BRYAN CRANSTON… isn’t he the BREAKING BAD GUY?? YEAH, HE IS!! oh, i am so ready for a PERFORMANCE!!

(i have never seen that show and i don’t really intend to, but i know it by reputation)

and he was in malcolm in the middle, omg… his range…

(and i do personally believe that mr. cranston delivered!)

good news!!! scully is here!!!! and so is mulder, but that’s not always good news. LMAO, this dude they're visiting thinks they’re jehovah’s witnesses. mulder marks a smartass remark and slaps a mosquito on his face.

i guess if you order 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, scully shows up. i shall have to give this a try.

farmer guy tries to open the door for them and it immediately shuts again LMAOOOO

he claims he is growing sugar beets! and he wants their assistance in finding his paperwork. lmao. meanwhile, the news of the car chase is playing on the TV, and has caught mulder’s eye…. 

oh mulder... he calls and gets them reassigned to go to nevada, and scully absolutely refuses! but on the subject of how they now investigate fertilizer, he has this to say: “this is the FBI equivalent of being made to wear an orange jumpsuit and pick up trash by the side of the highway” <- and you know what? i can’t really argue with him there. and you know i would if i could.

ohhh, so they got moved to domestic terrorism as a punishment!! scully thinks that if they do what they’re told, they can earn their way back up to the x files. interesting that they kept them together instead of separating them. not that i know how having an FBI partner works, but if CSM is really trying to kill mulder’s spirit as he alluded to last time, i would imagine they’d separate them. but then again, it does still have to be an interesting TV show.

mulder does manage to interest scully when he asks for her opinion on what really happened to that woman in the back of the car. she thinks the cops are lying about the woman, vicky, who was the driver’s husband, being shot. they claim her head just did that and no guns were involved, which is obviously not going to make sense to doctor scully. and mulder insists that they can be in and out of nevada in a day, and no one will ever know they took a detour. i paused while scully looks very pissed, but also, i can imagine, curious as hell. 

off to see walter white slash mr. crump in nevada!! i think his nose is bleeding as he lays in a jail cell, but it’s hard to tell because it’s so DARK. yes, this must be the case, because he wipes at the blood right after i type this up. augh, and there is terrible ringing in his ears. he yells and says “it’s starting!”

i feel the cameramen are trying to not show the top of mulder’s head. i am not judging, but just saying it IS noticeable. sometimes, when trying to not draw attention to something, you draw more attention to it.

they won’t let our agents see walter white AKA patrick crump, but scully wants to see his dead wife. mulder is hoping if he sticks around he can weasel his way into crump’s cell, which i know from reading the episode description to be a very bad idea.

stare at that big map, mulder. try to work out some directions. i know this is hard for you. why did crump drive one way and then turn the other? beats this sheriff.

YAY, SCULLY AUTOPSY TIME!!!! the body of vicky is weird. oh… her face is like…. gone?? kinda??? you know what, if i go into detail, my stomach will hurt, so we’ll just leave it at that. she says there is no gunpowder present!

OH MY GOD, NOT THE ZOOM IN??? INTO THE AUDITORY CANAL???? oh scully, your big words usually endear me, but in this case their accompanying visual is… making me sick.

“it’s like a bomb went off in her ear” <- huh. that doesn’t sound good at all.

MEUGH!! <- that is the loose transcription of the audible, terrible gagging noise that came from my mouth as we got ANOTHER cut to the tissue of the ear…….. again, normally “tumefaction within the lateral sinus” in scully’s voice would make me weak in the knees, but… not now. not like this.

looking at my phone and not my laptop….. la la la la 🎶

AUGH, IT BLEW UP ON HER????????

oh god. see, scully is in a bad situation, which prompts me saying “augh”, but now *i* risk fainting as well. 

sigh.

meanwhile, walter white aka patrick crump is being taken in an ambulance, as he is getting worse and worse. mulder cannot join them in the ambulance, despite his very best attempt to do so, so he tails behind. it seems that if the ambulance drives fast enough, he stops feeling so terrible!! but crump sees the gun in the sheriff’s holster….

AND HE PULLS IT OUT AND HOLDS IT UP TO MULDER!!!

NOOOO!!!

scully is trying to call him, and also shooing out a random assistant who comes into the autopsy room, because this lab is QUARANTINED! GO!!! which makes me sort of happy.

ohh, she’s stressed, but she is gonna tell mulder that “you sure do know how to pick ‘em”, which is deeply sweet of her. another person is dead from the same thing, and she wants him to quarantine crump’s cell. and STAY AWAY FROM HIM!

well. this did not happen. 

listen!!! have crump answer the phone and tell scully what the hell is going on!! she is a doctor!!! maybe she can help him!!

(scully slaps a piece of yellow legal paper with her cell phone number up against the glass) <- LMAOOOO this made me laugh, but she is SOOOOO mad!!! 

the CDC is going to be there when they stop that car, and they had BEST be wearing level two OR BETTER anti-contamination suits!! you heard her!

oh. crump says that if the cops don’t pull back the escort following the car, he will shoot mulder. which leaves scully in a tight position.

so, they do in fact give him some room. 

NOOOOO!!! crump throws mulder's cellphone out of the window!!!!

“what are you doing? what the hell are you doing?” “what, what am i doing? i’m composing a sonnet. what does it look like i’m doing? i’m slowing down for a light” <- yes. i did giggle. i am not immune to angry mulder witticisms.

but crump is absolutely BELLOWING that he has to keep going. and he begins the process of blowing up when mulder turns the other way in order to prevent this from happening!!!

he wants to know wtf is happening, but crump is in so much pain he’s not explaining. that, or he isn’t willing to. 

and they lose their tail from the police!!! i guess driving headfirst into traffic probably helps with that.

why does scully look so good in her scrubs? all serious and with her arms crossed……..

this does not make up for exploding ear drums.

oh no!!!! director kersh is calling!!! asking where she is!!! which gives us her wonderful line “sir, i am not currently in the state of idaho”

he says that some field agents will be able to help track down mulder, but that “i think at this point, i want to see him alive even more than you do” <- WHY IS THIS DUDE SCARY?? this is the first time we get to hear him talk!! and i’m spooked!!! where is my kind uncle skinner?!

oh shoot! scully realizes that maybe this dude who also died had been in contact with vicky and gotten infected!!

mulder is trying to save this dude’s life, but he’s bitching about not being addressed as “mr. crump”. seemingly a charming fellow! (/s)

HE ASKS IF MULDER IS JEWISH????? 😳 my face rn… what kind of priorities does this dying man have??

mulder goes “the wrong way”, and crump starts banging his head into the wall!!! i didn’t know this condition had geographic rules…. so he pulls the other way

what kind of illness makes you need to go west fast?

people in hazmat suits are investigating the crump house, including scully!!!! there’s a dog!! and it’s going crazy!!!! nooo! please, i don’t want to see this dog blow up!! 

NOOOO!!! scully just wants to sedate him so she can get the blood sample, but he EXPLODES ON THEM!!! oh my god!! WHO CAME UP WITH THIS EPISODE???? NOT THE DOG DYING, TOO!!!

here i was hoping he would pull through and scully would get another dog from a case :(

crump is recounting to mulder his tale of waking up, seeing his wife had a nosebleed, and then her getting a headache that got worse and worse. he started to take her to the hospital, and she would get better as he went faster, and worse when she slowed down.

HELLO??? mulder says he’s sorry about crump’s wife, to which he is met by the reply “sure you are. you and the rest of your jew FBI” <- WHAT????

(hearing him say these lines was legitimately shocking. i had mentioned this before in another episode writeup, but knowing in some compartmentalized area of your brain that people genuinely believe such things vs hearing them out loud are two very different experiences)

he thinks the government did this to them, and he says he saw them sneaking around his woods at night… well, buddy, it does sound like you have a conspiracy afoot, but you can't blame some guy you've never met nor the collective jewish population for that

this shuts mulder up, (does he feel bad as he realizes that this man was taken advantage of by the same government he knows well to kill and maim with no consequence?) but not before he says “well, on behalf of the international jewish conspiracy, i’m just here to inform you that we’re… almost out of gas”, which presents some issues

back at the crump place, sadly, the others are carrying the dead dog away 💔

scully sees something glowing in the distance!!! it’s a neighbor with a dead bird? but the bird doesn’t look exploded!! just normal dead!!! 

poor scully is yelling out in her suit, which makes it very hard to hear what she is saying. 

ohhh, she finds the neighbor woman, and she is deaf, so she must be unaffected by the condition!!

meanwhile, mulder is trying to get gas so he and crump can keep going. but the jerks at the gas station aren’t letting him get gas without paying!!!! so he puts crump in someone else’s car and takes that one!!!

OHHH, HE LEFT A NOTE FOR "AGENT DANA SCULLY FBI" IN THE OTHER CAR…. ohhh my GOD………. he must have known what would happen…..

scully is trying to comprehend how the condition only effects people who can hear. and she takes off her helmet!!! what if they need to hear a sound in order for the symptoms to begin? well, if that is the case, i would be plugging my ears!

mulder's note explains that if he doesn’t stop going west, crump will die. scully tells the sheriff to believe him… ah, her trust in him… wonder if that trust is RECIPROCATED… !!

oh, she finds a bunch of dead birds on the ground, and hears weird interference!!! coming from a government... thingy in the ground!!!

crump is telling him to go faster because it is getting worse. and then says “the jew stuff. uh, no offense. a man can’t help who he’s born to” which is… uh… character development, i guess?

i will give mister walter white guy this, the man can perform. crump is saying it’s not fair to take away his dignity; the government should have just let them die instead. and mulder says he can’t stick it to the government if he dies!!! which gives crump hope!!

but there isn’t much west left to go, because they’re in california!!!

scully is at a naval base now, sans protective equipment!! she wants to know what kind of electrical stuff is being run in crump’s town! 

LMAOOOO, the guy from the base thinks she’s with the FCC, and she’s trying to play along with it, but she’s a terrible liar. that’s my queen 💜

(sometimes she can lie and sometimes she cannot. i love that for her <3)

naval base guy claims that a power surge effected their equipment that stretches into crump's town, and it won’t happen again, but he can’t tell you what such a surge would do to the human body. damn. that's incriminating

it’s the next morning now, and some people in motorcycles are bringing a cell phone to mulder!!!! somehow he gets it!!!

on the other end of the line, it’s scully!!! she has a theory!!! E.L.F. fields stretch onto crump’s property!! and an overload could have shattered his inner ear!!! and maybe movement would keep it from blowing up. but why west?? maybe it has to follow certain lines of force??

scully says she thinks she knows what has to happen, but it’s nothing crump will like. mulder sighs, says he’ll be there, and hangs up. oh my god, he’s going to have to watch this dude blow up…?

(author's note: i thought that scully was implying the only way to "help" crump was to put him out of his misery, hence my bracing for the worst. i was sort of wrong, but also sort of right)

mulder says that scully will put a needle into his ear to relieve the pressure, and it will leave him deaf. crump asks, “but i’ll live, right?” and when mulder nods, he says “well, that’s what it’s all about” OH NOOO… is he lying???

crump asks him to go faster and faster….

scully is waiting there with a needle!!! so mulder wasn’t lying!!! look at her as she tries to figure out how to do this!!! 

BUT NO!!! he didn’t make it in time!!! crump blowed up!!!

look at poor sad mulder!!!!!!!!!!!! he walks to the water and takes off his tie!!!!!!!!

woah.........

back in DC, kersh is yelling at them for their expense reports. “why don’t you bill me?”, spits mulder. “i’ll bill your partner instead. you two obviously relish the role of martyr” <- DAMN???

mulder gets pissed and leaves, and scully tries to tell kersh that he has been through a lot. he says she apologizes for mulder often, and she clarified that she isn’t this time around. they uncovered a conspiracy and saved the day!

this kersh guy is CRAZY. she points out that the navy shut down their program that was KILLING PEOPLE, and he says they claim it’s just a coincidence, and he doesn’t care how many people they save, they’re not on the x files anymore.

HELLO???

who sent this man…?

so, i feel like i can recognize that this was objectively a very good piece of TV. the acting was spot-on, the pacing was intense, and the plot was good. that being SAID, even if it was objectively good, it isn’t one of my favorites. definitely not one of my least favorites!

it further established the evil-ness of the government and how mulder and scully are willing to risk everything for their own respective goals, (which are, of course, the Truth and Saving Lives), but the system at hand wants to prevent that from happening no matter what the cost. which i think is very interesting. i also think it’s interesting that crump was right about the government doing this to him, even if he was wrong about there being a whole international jewish conspiracy group behind it. it was a lack of care for the citizens that the government lords over that got him there. 

and mulder being unable to save him, even though he tried so hard… while i am still mad at him for being whiny and mean to scully, seeing him work so incredibly hard to save crump and be unable to really made me sad. so did the way he took off his tie after all of that driving, staring out into the water...

whatever it is that kersh has going on is also very interesting. i absolutely do not trust him. which maybe makes me think i SHOULD trust him… but probably not. 

it was a good and interesting episode, but i like the episodes where they hold each other the very best, so, you know. not my exact cup of tea. any time they're not in the same room i get sad!