#'opinion' yeah a wrong one but pop off i guess

[forlix]

𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁・l.f.

— in which you forget that your hot housemate follows you on twitter.

𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀・1.1k 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴・roommate!felix x gn!streamer!reader 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲𝘀・fluff, flirting, kind of an smau, implied friends to lovers, humor if u count jeongin being a piece of shit

𝗮/𝗻・saw this tweet the other day and it was so painfully lix coded that i knew i had to write something asap. contains a tiny bit of gaming jargon but is hopefully comprehensible. ENJOY ♡

y/n ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹ @ y/nxx

if someone brings you fresh cut fruit to your table when you're gaming, they either like LIKE you or it's your mom

11:23 A.M.・Oct. 2023・220.2K Views

bokkie 🐣 liked your post.

“My tweet?”

You read aloud the newest text in your chatroom, and your face brightens when you remember the one in question.

“Oh, about the fruit—no, it’s so true though. And I love my mom, don't get me wrong, but I have an inkling she did it to guilt trip me." You change your posture and adopt your best motherly tone of voice. "‘This is your tenth consecutive hour wasting your young adulthood in front of that damn screen. I am now going to hand deliver apple slices straight to your mouth.’ That kind of vibe, y'know?"

A slew of messages follows your anecdote, but it is a comment from one of your moderators that catches your eye first:

je0ng1n: what about the other option tho 👀

You groan at the sight of his username. “Man, why are you always here? Don't you have a job?"

je0ng1n: i’m on break je0ng1n: taking a dump je0ng1n: ungrateful bitch

You brandish a middle finger to the camera. “Hope the dump sucks."

je0ng1n: HEY je0ng1n: don’t even joke about that :(

An involuntary cackle precedes your next words. “If you’re actually wondering, though, the only person who’s brought me fruit while I’m playing video games is indeed my mother. Heartbreaking, I know.”

At this, the steady flow of messages morphs into a gallery of depressed cat emoticons; your audience never fails to impress you with their way with words.

“But if someone other than your disappointed parent is bringing you fruit,” you go on, “they might as well get on one knee in the process, honestly. That's such an adorable, loving thing to do.”

Suddenly, the words MATCH FOUND splash across your monitor, and you move your cursor to accept the game invite—only to be met with a pop-up window and a familiar error sound that grates on your ears like screeching tires.

You know how this story ends: the lights in your mouse go dark, and you look on in dejected silence.

je0ng1n: LMFAOOOOO je0ng1n: bro’s mouse definitely just exploded again

“You guessed it," you sigh. “Hang tight for a sec, guys."

Half an hour ago, you could’ve sworn you heard sneakers being kicked off, a set of keys falling against plastic. Now, you pull one side of your headphones off and roll your chair a few feet backward, calling through your half-open door: “Lix, are you home?”

You pick up on a soft clunk that sounds like metal hitting wood—the cutting board, maybe?—and then your housemate's low, accented answer bounces off the walls of your shared hallway.

“Yeah, you alright?”

“The mouse,” you say helplessly.

“Ah.” It’s not the first time you’ve summoned him for this. “Be right there.”

A few seconds later, you remember to tack on a hurried disclaimer: “I’m live, by the way!”

“I know.”

This brings a bashful smile to your face, though the expression quickly turns to one of pure dismay when you return to your desk and witness the disastrous state of your chat.

Felix has become a regular guest on your stream by now, always popping in to show you a TikTok or ask for your opinion on a new pair of jeans or simply give your camera an awkward wave—but he may as well own your channel with how completely and unequivocally he has captured the hearts of your viewers. They’re convinced he’s the sexiest person to ever grace the earth, with his chiseled features and coffee-colored eyes; with a grin that could set entire estates on fire and a voice that could scrape the nadir of the Grand Canyon.

Do you agree? Absolutely.

Do you have any intention of voicing this sentiment, so long as you’re splitting rent with him? Absolutely the hell not.

Another of Jeongin’s messages—GET ME HIS NUMBER OR I GET VIOLENT—inspires you to minimize the stream window before Felix gets here. It’s for the best.

A few moments later, the door opens, and the air shifts inside your room. A hand comes to rest on the top of your head; a familiar silhouette appears in your periphery. There is a fond grin plastered across your face and a bright greeting sitting readily on the tip of your tongue.

But then, Felix places a plate of freshly cut fruit in the empty space to the left of your keyboard—here, he hums, the sound falling against the shell of your ear like a drop of melted chocolate. And the gears of your brain grind to a complete stop.

There is no further acknowledgment; no supplementary explanation for what he's just done. He simply picks up your mouse and gets to work.

The words of your tweet swim dizzyingly before your eyes, not unlike those halos of stars and birds that revolve around disoriented cartoon characters. And you’re suddenly, achingly aware of your roommate's arm nudging against yours as he tinkers away; of the aromas of vanilla and laundry detergent that always come with his proximity; of the heat that’s risen to your face, and the plethora of questions that have surfaced to your mind.

A soft huff of laughter follows a gentle utterance of your name, and you snap out of your trance. Felix’s eyes are glinting with amusement when you meet them.

“It’s been recalibrated,” he says, handing back your mouse. “Just give it a few minutes.”

Your fingertips brush over his palm when you accept the object, and even this blink of contact has your heart performing an elaborate hopscotch routine across the plane of your chest.

It’s either your mom, or…

“Thank you,” you mumble, finally retrieving your larynx from the bottom of the Atlantic.

“Anytime,” Felix returns, and you know he means it. “You need a duo, by the way?"

“Yes, please.”

He gives you a warm smile at this, and there’s a hint of something else—something new—in the curve of his lips. “Give me two.” And he’s gone as quickly as he'd come.

You will never know how Felix slips his phone out of his pocket the second he emerges from your room, his pulse hounding his ears as he turns a nervous gaze upon his screen.

There is now a supersonic blur of messages saturating your chatroom, a colorful cacophony of moving emotes and capital letters, but he is focused wholly on the person in front of the camera and how you slowly lift a hand to your mouth, deathly silent despite your every viewer demanding your comment on the matter, your sanguine cheeks visible even through the gaps of your fingers.

That is all he needs to know.

Felix sinks into the leather of his gaming chair and bends to power on his computer. Only after a deep breath blows past his lips does his smile start to stretch into a grin, every bit as embarrassed as it is relieved.

je0ng1n: no way je0ng1n: no fucking way je0ng1n: my heart fluttered je0ng1n: wtf je0ng1n: how’d you pull HIM??

y/nxx has removed je0ng1n as a moderator of this channel.

𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? please consider reblogging, commenting, or sending me an ask to let me know; or, read my other works here. thanks so much for the support ♡

© 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗶𝘅 (est. 090323) · all works are pieces of original writing and all characters and relationships are purely fictional. please do not repost or reuse for any reason.

[mrs-monaghan]

Hello Shaz

I would love to hear your opinion on 3D and all the talk around it

My thoughts on the talk around it is; "wow, well this is a load of garbage" (no offence to any friends I may have who don't like the song I just disagree that its a terrible song)

Alright. 3D. Let's talk. My thoughts. First, what's with the fucking homeless trousers??

I hate rich people 😭😭😭😭 if I wear this people will wonder why I didn't go back home to change after I fell in mud 😪

Anyhu, before i even say a thing. We should probably all try to remember that JK said this

(Thanks @chicknbunny13)

Yeah sure, even if he doesn't write a song, he may resonate with it. But not everything he does is a reflection of his actual life. This one, is for the Jikook antis btw. This is why my anons are still off. People, I dont have the energy for antis rn. JK sang 'girl' so what? This topic is super old and tired and consider it officially retired from this blog. I'm sooooo over it 🥱🥱🥱🥱

Now that we have that out of the way let's tackle the fact that our JK is a grown, grown adult. I don't need to bring back the live where he told people he's an adult and he is almost 30 and he will do what he wants to do. And if he wants to sing about this, that's exactly what he will sing about.

Oh my,

Even Jimin knows all about it

Tweet

BAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!

Let is be known i am choosing to take that sentence literally. I think JK just means him, the girl, with champagne and confetti. I really don't think it means anything else here. But, seeing as this is another sex song, I won't put it past him.

Anyone else notice a recurring theme here?

Okay then. 😳

Also shout out to this random kid with the horse

I can't be the only one who has no clue what his point was 😂😂😂

While we are on the champagne topic,

I mean....

Make no mistake, SEVEN and 3D are singing about the same thing. If SEVEN was in your face, 3D is subtle. But they are both just talking about sex here. Which is why it doesn't make sense to me why people are so upset??? As a person who likes Harlow and has heard his songs before, this did not shock me one bit. There is nothing wrong with this song. It is meaningless and shallow but guess what, thats the type of music the GP is listening to rn. I understand why Asians have an issue with this line

And I can respect that. I don't have to understand it, but if Asians say its offensive, then its offensive. In which case I think that's just ignorance on Harlow's part. The people behind the song and JK himself are not going to okay something degrading. So it is of my opinion that people are reading too much, way too much into something that aint even meant to be deep.

It's a song, about sex. The only thing deep about it, is the holes that will be getting penetrated.

This song doesn't require to be analysed. Okay, maybe when trying to decipher the analogies being used but that's it. JK has one agenda and one agenda only; release music that the general public will devour, get his name out there and be a huge pop star. And it is working.

Cue Boracity's new video about each member and who their target audience are for each solo project

JK did not write these songs. If he did I'm sure they would have more meaning. But that's not what he's aiming for rn. Right now the man just wants to put out something that he knows will sell. Wants to put out something that will be a hit. And 3D is exactly that. Just like SEVEN. Mans was asked for the meaning of the song and by his answer, I'm not sure even he knows.

What??

Did anyone understand that???? If you did, break it down for me coz I did NOT understand that 😂😂

This song has no meaning. Its shallow, catchy, easy to remember and move to. Enough with trying to complicate shit! It ain't that deep. Period.

JK cared more about the choreo.

While Jack is calling himself a whore for wanting 4 women, JK is busy dancing throughout. So I will listen to JK and enjoy the song and choreo. Because there is nothing in the lyrics and there was never intended to be.

Idk why y'all mad when we stan a consent king:

Personally I dont have time to be angry because 1) i see no reason to be, and 2) i am too busy admiring JK's body proportions 🤤🤤

Damn, Jimin's man is hot!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[oumaheroes]

I'm gonna send you a few, lol. But if you hate the ideas you can just delete them, np. #1: Matt's old iPod from 2008 is full of Nickelback music and Alfred tries to tease him for it. But Matt isn't ashamed bc Nickelback is great and y'all are haters.

I'm not sure this counts as fluff, Anon, but I hope you enjoy a real quick drabble of some bros being bros

Characters: America, Canada

.....................

‘Move.’

‘What?’

‘Move.’

‘Jeez, snippy much,’ Alfred sat up from where he was sprawled along the entire length of Matthew’s sofa and instead twisted to prop his feet on the coffee table, ‘Where are your manners, boy?’

‘Dad doesn’t sound like that.’

‘And who said that was supposed to be the old grump?’

‘The terrible English accent you just did?’

‘Damn. Guess my inner dick head voice is English.’

Matthew sighed and placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, where it stayed for merely a second before Alfred grabbed it up, ‘That’s not funny.’

‘Then why’d you smile?’

‘I didn’t smile.’

‘Aw, got gas then?’

Matthew somehow refrained from punching his brother on the arm and flopped heavily down next to him.

‘Woah woah woah, watch the landing there, Rocky.’

Matthew grabbed a handful of popcorn and popped a kernel into his mouth, ‘So what’d you pick next?’

‘The Martian.’

Matthew groaned.

‘Hey! What’s wrong with that?’

‘It’s terrible.’

‘No it isn’t? What’s wrong with you.’

‘Al, it’s a shit story.’

Alfred gave an exaggerated gasp and held a hand to his chest, ‘It is an awesome story, number one. Number two, people who have an iPod full of Nickelback don’t get an opinion on what’s shit and what’s not.’

‘How do you know what’s on my iPod?’

‘You left it at mine and I looked.’

Matthew blinked, ‘When? I don’t even use an iPod anymore.’

‘I dunno like... ten years ago?’

Matthew was thrown, ‘Wha... what’s that got to do with anything?’

‘You’ve got shit taste.’

Alfred gave him a sympathetic look and clucked his tongue, ‘I know it’s hard to accept, don’t worry. We can talk about something else.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with Nickleback.’

'So you still listen to them, then?'

'And?'

‘They’ve done some great songs.’

‘Sure they have.’

‘What are you, a walking naughties meme?’

Alfred shovelled a handful of popcorn into his mouth and dug around in the sofa cushions for the remote, ‘They’re bad.’

‘Tell me why they’re bad.’

‘They’re corny.’

‘And how are they corny?’

‘I dunno, they just are.’

‘You’re corny.’

‘Yeah.’ Alfred gave him a dazzling grin, ‘And even I think they’re bad.’

Matthew huffed and grabbed another handful of popcorn from the bowl, ‘Well, I like them.’

‘And I like The Martian.’ Alfred flicked a popcorn at his cheek, ‘Now shut up and turn turn the lights off.’

‘I’m picking the next one.’

‘If you can stay awake.’

‘I’m staying awake just to make you watch some French surrealism.’

‘Ugh.’

[abstract-talk]

I think it's fine to question things, especially when it's marketed for the most part./

Thank you for saying this, not the same anon but it’s left me bewildered that this can be seen multiple ways.

I honestly no longer care if it’s deemed real or Pr because after the Vanity Fair mess, many have just gave up and are like it’s whatever. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think either way Chris, comes off as foolish.

If it’s real, he married someone like that and his family has given their blessings and his own mom went from liking a comment implying Alba is racist to complimenting the girl. Chris has disrespected her and she’s disrespected herself all for some fame and fortune and due to her and his own actions Chris has dropped significantly star power wise. Like this man could have done so much better in going public with this let alone in picking of a partner and THIS is where he ends up at 42 ….43….however old he is. Just sad. Water seeks its own level I guess.

If it’s PR, it’s just stupid because prior to 2022, he was in a very good position to move forward with success professionally and he could maintain his privacy but this mess has ruined that in more ways than one.

So yeah I no longer know what to make of it and I pop in periodically but seeing how it hasn’t been much updates since the VF party, I’m calling time of death of this mess. Like even if another shoe drops, it’s like okay, cool, NEXT! 😂

In my opinion, it's been continual marketing.

Part of his allure was that he was sharing pieces of himself via social media, such as uploaded videos on his IG, posting his thirst traps. It felt 'on brand' for him to do such a thing because he had comfortable with utilizing IG as a media tool for engagement.

Like I've said before, when I talk about her being chronically online, that's where it all went wrong. He's no stranger to having girlfriends who are not in the public eye because he didn't post about it. During the filming of Knives Out, he had a whole girlfriend who wasn't in the industry and he didn't post a single picture or allude to his relationship. With his now wife being significantly younger than him, she knows the ins and outs of social media and what to post that will get people talking. It's a media engagement for HER, not for him.

He has dropped quite a bit and projects are getting harder and harder to come by. I think he would be content if he was being sent quality scripts to read but there have been a lot of meetings, table reads and getting his name out there for more serious roles, which requires him to showcase talent, not just on his name like he could do prior when he was working for Marvel.

I think it's fun to look at the theories, speculate when this will end but ultimately, the signs will be there and if the other shoe drops, I liken it to the quote about a tree falling in the woods. If he doesn't have a fandom left to care, does it even matter?

[anika-ann]

Love on the Brain - part 2

Ch2: The A-Team

Type: MCU x Criminal Minds crossover series

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word Count: 6450

Summary: The investigation takes off. The thing is… you might not be the most competent person to do this. Then again, that was why your called in your old team.

Series masterlist

Warnings: series includes criminal behaviour such as stalking or kidnapping; graphic violence, gun violence; (mentions of) death; allusions to dub-con; possible PTSD and flashbacks; sexual innuendos and foul language. Loads of fluff and teasing. I’m covering my bases here to make sure - probably sounds worse than it is. If you’re interested in specific warnings for individual chapters, let me know.

A/N: divider by @firefly-graphics​;

A/N2: Important note! For the sake of avoiding using Y/N and Y/L/N and for easier orientation, the reader is referred to as Agent Jones or Jones. You can think of it as an undercover name if you mind it otherwise 😊 P.S. You’ll find a link to a video… for reference, if you’re interested. One of the best moments in the show IMO.

"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature."

 Jane Austen

-

It was clear as day to you that Tony still thought you were making too big of a deal from the stalking – but at least he was humbled enough by the fact that he certainly added to the mess and didn’t mention it anymore.

His opinion about profiling, however, was a different case entirely.

He seemed to be personally offended at the fact that you decided to call a Behavioural Analysis Unit to help you; because profiling was a pseudoscience. Profiling was just a fancy name for what a country fair psychic could do if they got their hands on a trusting victim.

Yeah. He was one of those people. Perfect.

You wanted to explain to him in explicit detail how wrong he was, but you did not have the energy. Instead, your lips just quirked in a small smirk as you shook your head, remembering the time at court where Hotch had absolutely dismantled a lawyer who dared to question the legitimacy of behavioural analysis by analysing him. You had never seen a better advocacy for profiling – besides the actual results that spoke for themselves.

But as much fun as that had been, you had neither the energy to deal with Tony’s scepticism nor did you have the time – there were more pressing matters at hand.

You might not be a profiler anymore, but you had spent years at the bureau and you could still be of use.

When you called Hotch, exchanging minimum pleasantries before asking for help – with a small voice inside, but firm and confident on the outside – he seemed surprised, but also reluctantly optimistic about being able to get you at least a part of the team, pulling them from a case they were currently working.

Getting only a part of the team meant you would need all hands on the deck and given your past experience, you believed you could help.

And perhaps so did Steve.

So far, he was willing to answer all your basic questions, no matter how unsatisfactory his answers were, patiently waiting until you wrote your thoughts and lame discoveries on the white board. He sat at the table, watching you intently, finally taking it seriously, so that was progress itself, you guessed.

“Anything strange you’ve seen or heard in the past few days helps, Steve. Anyone who stood out. Be it someone aggressive, someone your gut told you not to trust despite how they acted. Creeps. Overenthusiastic fans. Anyone?” you asked, all the possibilities popping up in your head as you watched the photos, growing increasingly nervous at the number of them.

Seriously. Twenty-three photos. It still baffled you no one had noticed anything suspicious before it went as far as Steve receiving photos of himself.

Unfortunately, it seemed your luck was not improving since Steve only shook his head, frowning as he tried to recall all the encounters. Your mind raced.

“Some of the agents maybe? Recruits who looked too starstruck even by your standards?” you continued.

“No, no that I can think of. Sorry.”

He smiled his signature lopsided smile, eyes missing the usual spark, his expression speaking of how pitiful you must have appeared in your attempts. Or maybe it was just self-depreciation aimed at himself, because he wasn’t being much help – it was hard to tell.

You tried to smile back supportively, probably grimacing instead.

“Think harder then. Please.”

Steve sighed, shifting in his seat, glancing at the photos spread on the desk still.

“No one stands out, at least not that I can remember as of late.”

“Okay… uhm, what about someone you pissed off?” you pried further.

Steve’s eyebrows shot up in surprise; you could hear Tony, who was seated behind you on your left, stop in his movements. You couldn’t tell whether he was amused or scandalized; Steve appeared to be the latter, making you roll your eyes in annoyance and fondness at once.

He was so full of it.

“Oh, please, don’t act so innocent you can drive me up the wall and I—” you exclaimed, stopping midsentence as you caught the near slip of your tongue, “-I like you. Maybe an arrogant recruit you put in their place and they took it personally?”

“Why are you asking him these?” Tony, who was currently working with Jarvis on pulling the security feeds from the streets and establishments Steve had visited, jumped in, bewildered. “I mean, what does that have to do with ‘not worthy’?”

Your gaze flickered to him, irritated for more than one reason.

One, it was Tony and you were still furious with him, because he literally invented the world’s worst bullet.

Two, he was questioning behavioural analysis again and your expertise as a bitter bonus. But watching the almost empty board, you managed the latter perfectly on your own, therefore you did not need him add to it in the slightest.

Third, you didn’t have a single clue what exactly the unsub meant by the phrase either, because the possibilities were practically endless.

Profiling was about trying to get into an unsub’s head, but unless you were an actual psychic, a mind-reader, you could never tell for sure. Which was maddening, but that was how this worked: profiling, while not a pseudoscience, offered a set of data which could help plenty – but did not always promise a clear result.

“Well, it could be that the unsub thinks that Steve doesn’t really live up to the hype. It could be he’s not worthy of the women he’s talking to in the pictures,” you said the first things from the top of your head, causing Tony to hum curiously. “Which I think is crazy, but it might be what the unsub thinks.”

“Huh. People are weird.”

Not wrong there, Mr.Stark.

“That’s why I’m in charge of the human stuff, I know them better. You go pay attention to the technology,” you instructed him, mimicking the smirk he usually graced you with, enjoying the minute shocked expression before he did as you said, uttering a single word under his breath.

“Rude.”

“She’s got a point,” Steve remarked, smirking as well.

And as much as you enjoyed getting one on Stark and having Steve’s support as you did so, his voice brought you back to reality, your cocky expression slipping.

This was not a contest in bantering; this was serious.

“You don’t smirk here, Steve. Think,” you prompted him, gentle and urgent. “This could be someone who thinks you and other people have too high of an opinion of you. They could be angry that you humiliated them – in their eyes, that is.”

Steve’s gaze grew absent as he plunged into his memories, searching for anyone resembling the person you were describing.

You’d be ashamed to admit that even in this stressful situation, your heart swelled as your eyes strayed from the board and settled on him. Because he was beautiful, in every sense of the word. You didn’t care if men were supposed to be handsome. He was simply beautiful. Sharp jawline slightly tense, softened by the pink of his parted lips, the straight line of his nose, the blue pools of heaven of his irises, a halo of golden hair the finishing touch to the sculpture of an angel he resembled. An angel who was the one to be protected for once.

The sculpture came to life, eyes lighting up with recognition and your heart skipped a hopeful beat.

“Well?”

“Uhm, I don’t even know if it’s… important,” Steve murmured hesitantly, but continued when you confirmed it was. “Brandon Martin? He lost his head in the fight the other day, I told him to take a break, walk it off and come back when he’s ready again.”

Your heart thundered in your chest now – startled but excited at once. Maybe now you were getting somewhere.

“How did he react?”

“He stalked off. Didn’t come back. I… haven’t seen him since then,” Steve said slowly and you turned to the board, skimming over your almost non-existent timeline.

“When was that?”

“Uhm… Ten days ago…? Yes, definitely. Some recruits made jokes about Monday mornings.”

“Hm…” you hummed, pondering for whether to write it down. It was the best shot you had so far, as unlikely as it seemed at a second glance. “It’s a long time… he could be working through something at home, making him lose his head and that’s all, but… maybe not. Is sure worth checking out.”

Decisively, you wrote the name down with a question mark, adding the words narcissist and anger issues with another question mark, inspecting it critically, tapping the other end of the marker against your lips in thought.

Another option you hadn’t mentioned yet, one you didn’t want to get into, was a heart-broken family member, a friend or a lover of a person lost; someone Steve failed to save despite his best efforts, someone for who they’d seek revenge, mocking the heroic persona of Captain America.

Selfishly, you tucked the questions about this kind of unsub away for later for someone else to ask. You didn’t want to push Steve into remembering all the times he was too late; all the times irrational amount of guilt consumed him and he swallowed it in order to save another life the very next day.

No, you would not put him into that position; it was not the most probable cause given the specificity of the photos to begin with and ironically, it might be easier for Steve to open up about these painful moments to someone else, even if you had been there for some of them.

Besides, from all plausible options, you genuinely believed a female unsub with an unhealthy fixation on Steve was the most likely option and statistics no doubt spoke for it too.

“I can’t believe you’re seriously using a white board in a building that is masterpiece of technology-“ Tony’s voice startled you from your thoughts, making your head whip to him, words sharp and faster than your mind.

“Tony, I swear to god-!“

The billionaire raised hands in a no harm gesture despite the disgust in his eyes and you took a deep breath, turning back to the board as you scratched at your forehead, refraining from throwing the marker at him to have him think twice before speaking next time.

You sighed, glancing at Steve, who observed your exchange with Tony with an expression equally amused and weary.

“Okay. Let’s circle back to what kind of a person the unsub could be. We have a probably male unsub who is jealous of you. That’s if you are the person who is not worthy. If it’s the other way around, the way I think is more likely, we have a fan, probably female, who thinks so highly of you she considers these women not worthy of… your attention.”

“You might be a little biased on that front,” Tony noted with a tiny smirk.

You politely – stubbornly – ignored his jab, clutching the marker in your hand tighter. You would not throw it.

“What else do we got? The team will want to make a timeline for sure, analyse the handwriting and its placement, the angle of the photos. Then there’s the bullets… Do you have anything on that, Tony?”

For the first time in a while, Tony’s expression darkened.

“Working on it. Frankly, this guy--- sorry, this unsub is driving me crazy. How the fuck did they managed to sneak in?”

That was a million-dollar question for sure; but the answer to that was laughably and terrifyingly easy.

“They work here,” you whispered, horrified, pulse skyrocketing as your eyes found Steve’s wide ones. Shit. “And they’re good. We need to control who comes in and out. One of us will always be with you. You go nowhere alone. Not even a damn bathroom-”

“Kinky,” Tony remarked almost unwittingly, earning a death glare from you as your irritation pierced through the worry.

“You think this is funny, Stark?!”

“Jones-“ he murmured, a genuine apology written in his face but you did not care.

You stalked in his direction with determination, words punctuated by swift heavy steps. You really were going to punch him this time.

No, you were going to smother him with your bare hands-

“You think developing a bullet that can kill someone who is supposed to be your friend and have it stolen right under your irresponsible incompetent nose-”

“Hey! Hey, Sparkles, calm down,” Steve called out, gentle but with enough urgency to make you look at him and halt in your step.

“Not gonna happen, Steve. And I’m only telling the truth so I’m not gonna apologize for calling him that either.”

“We kinda got that,” Steve uttered, one corner of his lips twitching. “And I see your point, but these are restricted areas only a small number of us can enter. I’m safe here. No need to have a bathroom buddy.”

If he was trying to appeal to reason instead of your emotions, it had the exact opposite effect. You were the one with reason here – and the one with experience.

“If they broke into a lab or storage that is of similarly if not more restricted access, we should question the security here as well. The only good thing about the security breach is that we know that it makes an inside job more likely, narrowing our pool of suspects… Then again, we cannot rule out that the unsub is a civilian just yet, because they could have a partner in here,” you mused, returning to your board, wheels in your head turning again, speeding up. “Though that would be strange if this is a stalking case, pairs are extremely rare.”

You scribbled your thoughts to the corner of the board as they didn’t tie to anything else just yet. You felt your features twist into a scowl of confusion when you returned to possible time frame of the theft.

“But why on Earth steal something that can hurt you…? Maybe there is two of them and this is a partnership of opportunity, the agenda might be completely different. Someone could be using the stalker as a convenient ally, but then the stalker would be the submissive one and with the ‘not worthy’ line, I’d be more inclined to look for an alpha…”

You felt two pairs of eyes on you, burning a hole into your head as you muttered to yourself, worrying your teeth over your lower lip, feeling tension above your brows building from the mess the limited clues already were.

Could this really be a partnership? Was that the explanation for why it didn’t seem to make any sense? Two separate profiles for two unsubs? A group, even?

Bullets, worthiness, fixation, narcissism, love and hate… a single unsub or partners with masterful manipulation to meet an end the stalker has no clue of, the extremely low-risk victim--- your head was becoming one jumbled mess, a jungle of facts and theories you had trouble finding a way out of.

The more you reflected on all you knew so far, the less sense it was making. The more desparate you felt.

“But if the stalker is the submissive partner, they wouldn’t think they’re superior to all these women, that’s just highly unlikely, so are these two alphas? That’s even more rare, practically unheard of and why would--- none of this makes a damn sense-- I think--- I’m useless,” you chuckled humourlessly, setting the marker down, nails digging into your palms as you felt the itching of tears in your eyes and nose.

You gritted your teeth, stubbornly fighting them off.

That was the last thing you needed now, but Jesus Christ you felt like you needed to crawl out of your skin otherwise you could actually burst.

“The team’s gonna say I’m too close to this, Tony said I’m biased… I suppose it’s true. I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Steve.”

Your last words were nothing but a whisper, shoulders falling down with disappointment at your own inability, sudden fatigue settling over you and making your head feeling heavy.

Peripherally, you saw Steve shift in his seat with a slight squeak of the chair against the floor, drawing your weary gaze.

“Come here,” he prompted softly, causing your eyes to flicker to his kind face.

Your feet moved of their volition, your body responding reflexively to his invitation.

How many times did you take seat on his couch, only to end up curled by his side, head falling to his shoulder and then chest, his heartbeat lulling you to sleep, so soothing and reassuring? It was pure instinct at this point to go when he called out for you, let alone in this tone, sounding as if he wanted you close, but was leaving the choice to you, always.

And once you were close enough, his hand reached out, fingers brushing your wrist, your eyes fluttering briefly at the contact.

With a single touch, it was as if he lent you some of his strength and courage; and it was like you were made of steel and got into the orbit of his magnetic field. There was no walking away, only being pulled closer. He squeezed your hand to seal the bond.

You practically plopped into the chair next to him, reciprocating his affection weakly, bringing a soft smile to his face.

“There is nothing to be sorry for. I’m grateful that… that I have you in my corner. I still think you’re making this a little too big for what it probably is-“ You shot him a stern look at that and he smirked, a sign that he was only teasing, trying to fuel your indignation again. Light a spark – anything to snap you from self-doubt. “But my point is that I’m fine. Nothing happened to me.”

“Yet,” you mutter darkly. “And this isn’t nothing.”

“Yeah, okay. It’s not. But I’m not hurt. I’m right here and I have the best of the best having my six just in case this turns out to be bigger than I believe,” he continued, lowering his voice to a gentle whisper. “Just breathe. You need to realize that I’m a lot harder to kill than your usual victim-“

“Don’t-“

“And I don’t mean to bring up unpleasant memories or to sound arrogant,” he was quick to interrupt you. “I’ve--- I’ve seen people whose arrogance got them killed. But I am a supersoldier.”

At that, you scoffed, prying your hand out of his; or trying to and failing, because his grip, while careful, was unrelenting. You scowled at him, leaving it like that – for now.

Asshole. He knew his touch comforted you even if he was being a dumbass.

He grinned as if he could hear your most inner thoughts before you even spoke.

“You’re also reckless. Your tendency to run into danger and underestimate the threat when it comes to your safety is sadly in direct proportion to the capacity of your body to heal.”

He shrugged with one shoulder half-heartedly, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Well, I’m lucky to have you to keep me in line then, no?”

Oh now that was a low blow.

You felt the corner of your lips turn upwards despite your best judgement, warmth and dare to say giddiness curling around your heart at his words – a compliment and a challenge at once.

“Even if I’m biased and completely useless?” you uttered, lowering your gaze to his sternum to avoid his gaze, only partly joking.

He tugged at your joined hands.

“Hey, you are not useless. You know better than to say something like that when I’m around.”

“Oh? What are you gonna do, Captain? Make me do extra push-ups in next training?” you retorted cheekily, a smile settling on your lips firmly.

“Maybe. Or it might earn you a hug.”

“Oh, the horror!” you gasped, theatrically clutching at your chest, earning a chuckle and another squeeze of your hand, Steve’s thumb stroking your knuckles.

His eyes were boring into yours, speaking more than his words.

I trust you. You’re important. You matter. Your work matters. We’re in this together. Don’t put yourself down, I won’t have that. I know you wouldn’t too.

“Jesus, get a room…” Tony’s intentionally loud murmur reached your ears, snaping you from the magnetic sight of Steve’s cerulean eyes.

You blinked as the door opened to your right, hand dropping from Steve’s; this time, he let you, breaking the spell he seemed to have you under.

Natasha entered, carrying her laptop, already informing you on her progress.

“Alright. So Tony’s got Jarvis to run a facial recognition program on the women and we’ve got few matches already.”

“Any of them stood out?”

“Not from my viewpoint. But then again, I’m a spy, not a profiler. I’m not exactly sure what to look at and I don’t want to miss anything important that would clue a profiler,” she admitted without shame, shrugging.

It was refreshing to have someone in the room who realized they weren’t perfect. Besides Steve, that was; he knew that about himself too, he was just being cheeky most of the time.

“Well, the thing is, we probably won’t find the unsub among these women anyway, but it might be useful. Even though I think this is clearly about Steve, they are part of the bigger picture too.”

“It’s a start,” Natasha hummed, understanding.

“Well, yes, literally. We do tend to start with uhm… victimology,” you explained, looking reluctantly at Steve. It was hard to think of him as a victim. You hated he was the victim. Victims got hurt. “But since I know Steve is a lot more observant than—- than people usually are, I was hoping I’d get more information from him.”

“And? Did you?”

You sighed at Natasha’s inquiry as she eyed the board with random notes.

“Not much… maybe I am too close to this. Just another reason why I wanted my old team.”

“Nothing wrong with being close. We might not have clear head, but we have insight. We’ll get the son of a bitch.”

“Or the bitch,” Tony noted, tilting his head. “Isn’t that more likely?”

Oh now he was staring to learn was he? Maybe there was hope for him yet, if he got on the path of redemption.

For that attempt alone, you tried to reply with a smile.

“Depends on which of the two it is.... But I actually know guy who would be able to tell you the exact percentage in each case.”

“Huh.”

“Spencer, was it?” Steve asked subtly and you nodded, unable to help the feeling of warmth in your chest.

Despite the circumstance and your less-than-great parting, you were looking forward to seeing your former colleagues… hopefully still friends despite how little you stayed in contact.

You didn’t talk about them much, for a good reason, wanting leave the heavy days behind, but Steve was a good listener. And he had eidetic memory and heightened senses, so… speaking of which.

“It really bothers me that we’re not able to pinpoint anyone right away. I mean… whoever took the pictures, they took twenty-three of them. From a relatively close distance, I might add. We should have noticed. I know Steve is popular and used to people taking pictures all that time, but… oh.”

Oh no.

Your barely-there smile slipped completely as a new realization hit you, not any more pleasant than the ones you had so far.

“We should look into every interview and press conference you did lately,” you told Steve, but frankly meant all of the Avengers since they often dealt with press together. Either of them could have caught something. “There might be something that triggered the unsub. More so, they could have been the one asking a question and one damn eye-contact with Steve could have set off their obsession.”

Ominous silence settled over the room as you all looked at each other, a little more helpless than half of a group the Earth’s mightiest heroes should feel.

You were not one of them however – so it was perfectly normal to not only feeling helpless, but also freak out a bit, right?

“That’s quite a large pool of suspects to look into,” Natasha said.

She only voiced what you were all thinking, but it still made for a heavy sensation in your gut; and for a warm hand engulfing yours gently, comforting.

“We’ll find them.”

Your smile to Steve was rather shaky, but no less grateful.

“You know, I really should be the one comforting you,” you uttered, earning another half-hearted shrug.

“Told you. Not your usual case to deal with,” he hummed, tuning down the cheek for your sake.

And there was one more thing he did for you benefit; one which was impossible to miss, because his words didn’t raise nearly as much goosebumps as they could have.

He avoided the term victim, having noticed you struggled to call him that. Of course that he noticed.

Steve was right; he was not your normal case to deal with. He was special. A little too special to you, which was both your blessing and your curse. He noticed things because he was thoughtful, always paying attention and meeting you halfway if he could.

You liked to do the same for him, but right now, it appeared he was the one doing all the hard work here; and if you failed to do yours, he might never squeeze your hand again like this.

Your smile was a tight line as you swallowed the surge of panic at that thought.

“No, GG, you’re certainly not.”

“Well, luckily for you, Barton and your special reinforcements just arrived,” Tony announced ceremonially, causing your eyes to grow wide, hope blossoming in your chest.

“Already?”

“Guess you made it sound urgent,” he said matter-of-factly.

And for once, you didn’t argue with him; you had made it sound urgent.

“That’s because it is.”

You weren’t sure what to expect – or more precisely, who to expect – but seeing four familiar faces walk in was more than you could wish for: an avenger and three outstanding members of the BAU.

Clint was the one leading, Hotch, Emily and Reid following closely behind him; Clint just waved you all hello before disappearing to settle after the time with his family, you supposed. You mentally made a note to thank him for abandoning his vacation and send Laura a fruit basket or something.

His early exit left the trio of your old team and the trio of remaining Avengers at your mercy. You stood between them, the literal middle woman, unsure how to proceed.

For the briefest moment, the room remained completely silent and almost still; you allowed yourself to take time to inspect your former teammates. Neither of them changed much at a first glance except for Reid, who was absolutely rocking his new shorter haircut, elegant and stylish. Still as tall and thin as you remembered, you thought he looked the same, but somehow more comfortable in his skin, more at peace with himself, more confident.

It was a sight for your sore eyes, almost bringing a smile to your lips.

Emily and Hotch… well. Maybe there were a few more lines around their eyes – a testimony of what they endured in your absence – but your former bossman was sill radiating calm and authority, whereas Emily kept her air of no-nonsense directness and openness.

Damn, you missed them.

“Just the three of you?” Tony questioned from his space behind a computer, causing everyone’s head – including yours – to snap to him.

“Literally an hour ago, you said we were the Avengers and we needed no reinforcements,” Natasha threw back at him with an eyeroll. “Especially not from profilers who just happen to be experts on cases like ours.”

Your lips twitched at the sarcasm dripping from Natasha’s voice, fixing the rude welcome. You were hundred percent sure that the team caught up at the dynamics of this place already thanks to Nat’s remark, which you knew they appreciated as much as you did.

She seemed to know that too; she even winked at you.

Bless her.

And for once, bless Tony Stark for breaking the silence, no matter how rudely.

“Please, ignore him,” you noted, several pairs of eyes moving to you as you awkwardly shifted weight. “Welcome. And thank you for coming.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Hotch said, undeservedly calm. “The rest of the team is unfortunately occupied with another case. And we figured we should leave them our technical analyst since we assumed you’d be more than sufficiently equipped. But she’s on call.”

This time, the tug at the corners of your lips felt more insistent.

Trust Aaron Hotchner to kindly level  a cheeky jerk with his rationality and a hidden compliment as a bonus, because he already understood Tony’s ego was bigger than the Avengers Tower. You definitely missed him.

You missed them all. You could hug them all if they let you, but you had no idea where you stood with them right now. You had no idea what was appropriate, even if compared to Tony Stark, you certainly had an advantage.

“She?”

Case on point.

“Yes, Tony. She,” you jumped in, your patience considerably thinner than Hotch’s. “If you have some stupid remark about her being a woman and a hacker, keep your opinion to yourself… Because I’m willing to bet she’d give you a run for your money.”

Tony arched an eyebrow in challenge you were not willing to rise to – as much as you knew Garcia might enjoy kicking his ass.

“That’s high praise,” Spencer commented with a smile. “And well-deserved.”

“It is.”

You reciprocated his smile as you agreed, feeling your toes curl with the need to spring forward.

And the moment you met Spencer’s warm eyes, you gave in to the urge.

You rushed to give the genius a hug, falling into his arms easily as he opened them just in time for you to slip into his gentle embrace. You got to learn there was another thing that changed about him then; he perfected his hugs, making for less embarrassment and more affection.

“Hey,” he whispered softly to your hair, having you echo the greeting.

You only stayed several seconds, earning a small back rub from him, before you retreated and glanced to the remaining team members. They were smiling now too, each in their own fashion.

“It’s good to see you again, guys.”

And it was.

A significant part of the enormous weight on your chest you felt ever since you found the pictures and learned about the bullets seemed to melt away as you saw the familiar faces of your… friends, you hoped.

Very, very capable friends on top of that.

You moved onto Emily, perhaps hugging her a little too tight. You might have been slightly out of the loop, the contact with the team scarce, but you knew all about the grave danger she had found herself in when her past of an undercover agent caught up with her. She had had to fake her death to survive; and both, the message of her death and of her being alive hit you deeply.

She returned the hug with the same ferocity and no less warmth.

As for Hotch, well. He was never much of a hugger and you knew he had been through serious hardships since you left as well, losing Haley, his ex-wife, the mother of his son; you counted yourself lucky for the gentle and firm shake of your hand, its back covered by his palm in gesture of affection.

He even smiled relatively bright as he spoke up.

“It’s good to see you too, despite the circumstances,” he said, turning to speak to the other occupants of the room about whose presence you almost forgot. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. This is SSA Emily Prentiss and SSA Doctor Spencer Reid.”

You watched your friends nod in acknowledgement as you went to return the favour.

“Not sure introductions are needed, but this is ball of disrespect is Tony Stark, this is Special Agent Natasha Romanoff and finally, Captain Steve Rogers. And you already met Special Agent Clint Barton.”

More pleasantries were exchanged, handshakes as a display of respect which Spencer traditionally kept a generous distance from. Much like Tony, who remained seated behind the monitor, he only waved at the Avengers is greeting.

Unfortunately, Natasha was one for showing respect, automatically approaching him with her hand outstretched, leaving Reid to smile awkwardly at the offending object as he shoved his own hands into his pockets.

He might be more comfortable in his body, but some things apparently never changed.

“Sorry. The number of pathogens passed during a handshake is staggering. It's actually safer to kiss.”

Natasha stared at him, slightly dumbfounded, her expression making you bite down on your lip to stifle laughter.

You could practically hear how Tony’s eyebrows jumped in surprise and smell a snarky comment coming.

“Is it now? You offering, pretty boy?”

“Hush, Stark,” you shushed him while Natasha rewarded Reid’s explanation with a somewhat understanding smile.

“He literally hugged you,” Tony noted, highly amused and refusing to let it go. “What, that’s more hygienic?”

“I guess he’s not scared of my cooties ‘cause we know each other better,” you turned to him with a perfectly arranged polite smile, not counting on his smirk widening and his eyes flashing with twenty different dirty jokes. Oh no. “Not like THAT--! I mean… focus on your investigation, Stark.”

“Whatever you say, Squirt….”

Hotch cleared his throat when you grinded your teeth at the billionaire, effectively drawing attention to himself and the problem at hand.

“Nice to meet you all. Now, what exactly do you have for us? We heard of a stalker case and a theft that puts one of your lives into immediate danger?”

“Yes and that would be me,” Steve admitted, stepping forward a little. “While I am not entirely convinced about immediate danger-”

You shot him a warning look that made him stop mid-sentence and sigh before he continued.  

“I do admit that the photos, the bullets theft and the timing is disconcerting – and so is the fact there are twenty-three women in potential danger.”

“I am inclined to agree,” Hotch nodded, not paying any mind to your apparent difference in opinion on the matter. “Normally, this wouldn’t be our department yet, but since we have 23 identifiable potential victims and the reinforced bullets are involved, we cannot rule out a serious threat. We were glad the bureau approved of this.”

“Trust them to jump in at the chance to say they helped to protect an Avenger,” Emily muttered under her breath darkly, her expression turning a little startled when Steve looked at her, clearly hearing despite her relatively low volume. “No offence. I’m happy to help, just….”

Steve just shook his head, smile more understanding than she probably expected.

“Non-taken. You’re not the only ones dealing with politics and hating that it sometimes gets in the way of what the goal of our job should be.”

She nodded in thanks, returning the barely-there smile.

“I’d like to start on the timeline and geographical profile. Do you think you’ll be able to place these women in order of how you met them? Would you be able to give a day, at least an approximate time and location?” Spencer jumped in, turning to Steve.

“I should be, yes,” Steve replied modestly, causing an undignified snort to escape you.

Right. Should be.

He could describe what you were wearing the first day you saw each at one of the facility gyms, what moves you absolutely messed up despite his generous encouragement and probably the way you smelled when he had randomly chosen you to demonstrate that just because you were smaller, you weren’t necessarily doomed when fighting an opponent of his size and got into his very personal space.

The reasons you remembered these things about him were entirely different of course, but those you weren’t about to admit.

“Sure he can. He’s got eidetic memory too, Spence.”

“Wait… too? Seriously? Justin Bieber here? Eidetic memory?” Tony questioned and you just sighed, growing annoyed again.

“Tony, he can read twelve thousand words per minute-“

“Twenty thousand actually.”

Your lips twitched in slight amusement at Reid’s gentle correction he seemed to instantly regret, an instinct he had developed when people tended to give him irritated looks for an interruption like that. Honestly, you only felt a fond smile lift one corner of your lips; some things didn’t change indeed.

“Right. Sorry, Spence, twenty thousand it is. He’s got several PhDs and BAs,” you added just to prove your point. “Yes, he has eidetic memory. And he’s 187.”

Tony was uncharacteristically quiet for a second, confused expression appearing on his face.

“…did you just tell us his height in centimetres?”

“That’s his IQ. Right? Y/N told us you were incredibly smart,” Steve interjected, sounding almost nice; yet clearly bothered by something as he observed Reid with reluctant caution.

You understood – as much as you loved Reid, it could take time to warm up to him. And the fact he was about to take Steve’s life apart to the tinniest detail to ensure you tracked the stalker… well.

You knew from experience that it didn’t exactly help to like a person.

“Oh, did she now…” Spencer smiled slowly, a lopsided smile bordering on cocky; but with a good-natured light in his irises.

“Oh shut up, you genius,” you chuckled, mocking throwing something at him, which only made him grin wider before you both sobered up. “Let’s… let’s get to work, please.”

“We should,” Natasha agreed, beckoning to your guests. “Clint is already going through agents’ files, since the breach has us thinking this could be an inside job. Jarvis is eliminating those who are on long term missions or returned in the last 120 hours and Clint is onto looking into any suspicious incidents. We’ll sure appreciate if you help us narrow down the list of potential suspects though.”

So much for settling down first, you thought, mentally noting to buy Clint a year’s supply of coffee on top of the fruit basket for his family.

“That’s why we’re here.”

Natasha smiled briefly at Emily at her remark.

“Good. We’ve got several rooms ready, let me show you the rest and we’ll give you all we got so far.”

“We’d appreciate that. You good here, Reid?” Hotch called out lowly, finding the man in question already absorbed in your messy notes, not even answering.

The corner of your lips twitched.

“I’d say he’s good,” you muttered, exchanging a glance with Steve, checking if he was alright as well.

A barely noticeable nod was his answer; you glanced at Natasha, who didn’t fail to notice your wordless conversation.

“Okay then... follow me, I’ll give you the tour.”

→ Next part

Series masterlist // Steve Rogers masterlist // Misc masterlist

Hey loves. Thank you for reading throguh this longer chapter 🥰

I hope that non-CM readers aren’t too overwhelmed and the CM readers aren’t too disappointed to only get a part of the team on the scene for the time being. I do like a balance and 4 Avengers and 3 (+1 former) BAU agents felt like a good compromise.  

Thank you for your feedback and support 💕

[jae-bummer]

My Idol 3: Part Six

My Idol From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Idol is a South Korean competitive reality dating game show. It currently airs on Saturday nights on Jae-bummer’s blog. First broadcast in 2016, the show offers the opportunity for a lucky fan to go on seven blind dates with seven idols. The idol plans the date with the show throwing in a specific mission to complete during the day. At the end of the initial dates, the show opens up an audience vote to decide what four idols will move on to the second date.

My Idol 3: The Series

.

Taking your hand gingerly into his, San gave you a questioning smile. It was difficult to describe the vibe he gave off, but you knew it was a good one. Looking down at your now intertwined fingers, you looked up again and gave a small nod of permission. This set his grin even wider as he looked from you and out to the grassy park you were walking across.

"I know it's kind of cliche," he began, his voice startlingly deep for his appearance. "Dates on the Han River...but I think you'll learn that I like cliches when it comes to romance."

"Oh yeah?" you chuckled, enjoying the feel of the sun on your face after being locked inside the hotel for so long. "Why's that?"

"I guess I've always daydreamed about love in a movie type way," he nodded. "Grand gestures and quiet, comfortable moments in between. Nothing has to be rushed when it's someone you really care about."

"You sound like a hopeless romantic," you hummed.

"I guess you're right," he chuckled. "Not like I can afford to be."

"Why not?" you asked, narrowing your eyes toward him.

After a pause, he began slowly. "It's better to choose my fans over romance. When I picked my profession, I knew I'd be making that decision."

Glancing over your shoulder at the cameras following you, you could only sigh. While the show gave ample opportunities to know quite a few wonderful guys, you often forgot how careful they had to be. One wrong comment and their career could be tainted.

Which made you wonder, of course fans were angry that their idols were dating through this program (your apartment was enough to confirm that) but it left you curious of the thoughts of other fans. Often negative opinions were the loudest, but you wanted to know the ones who recognized that their idols would have lives outside of their career.

Treading carefully, you asked. "What about this show? What do you think your fans would think of you making an appearance?"

San's eyes shot toward yours, then roamed around your face as he thought. "I think Atiny know that we will always be theirs, even when we're someone else's. And they're generous enough to know that we deserve all different types of love. At least I hope they do."

"It sounds like you have a very kind and wise fandom," you grinned encouragingly.

The tension that had slowly began to build in San's shoulders dropped a bit. "We have the best fans in the world."

Pulling you to a stop in front of the pop up tent you had seen earlier, he motioned to it. "This is our little hide out for the afternoon."

Breathing out a laugh through your nose, you were hit with how cute the set up was. It was growing increasingly clear that San had very definitively set this whole thing up. It had the touch of a guy just trying to do his best.

The inside of the tent looked very similar to a nest. Blankets, pillows, and an alarming amount of plushies were tossed into the small space. Battery-operated fairy lights were woven alone the inside of the tent, rather haphazardly, but as you looked closer, each little light proved to be a tiny flower. Toward the entrance of the tent, there were several boxes of chicken and a few frozen drinks. The stereotypical Han river date set up and ready.

"Did you do all this?" you laughed, ducking your head to see into the tent better.

San looked to his shoes, the tips of his ears slowly turning red. "My manager and I came out really early to pick the best spot. I brought blankets for when the sun starts to go down. I wasn't sure if you were a naturally warm or cold person, so I didn't want to risk it if you didn't bring a jacket. The plushies are all from my place...it's nice to have something to snuggle. And chicken because...well, that's what you do at the Han river."

"It's perfect," you said quietly, looking back up to find him staring at you.

"Really?" he asked, his eyes wide. A smile split his face as you could see pride take hold. "I was worried it'd be too cheesy. I know that it wasn't a very unique idea and in past seasons there were all these grand gestures..."

"I don't need grand gestures," you affirmed. "Remember when you were talking about the comfortable moments in between? That's what I want."

As you said it, you were mildly pleased to find yourself believing it. Your dates this season weren't over the top or adrenaline inducing, but every day moments you realized these idols didn't often get. You were already stressed enough with the mere idea of dating these impossibly unattainable people, let alone with the addition of fearing for your life after the break in. You liked that Jungkook, Hongseok, and San's date ideas were outrageously normal. When you thought of celebrity, you thought of someone trying to showboat or prove their worth. These men had just been humble and worried if you were going to have a good time.

"We shouldn't let the food get cold," San said, clearly pleased with your response. Helping you down, he chuckled as you plopped into the entrance of the tent and began to settle yourself in. He followed suit, groaning as he eased down beside you. Knees and shoulders jostling yours, you hadn't realized just how wide he was.

Digging around in the tent behind him, he pulled out a small, wooden tray and placed it in front of the two of you. After handing you a drink, he began to pull out the various dishes. They all looked delicious, and a few were even still steaming hot.

"I had my manager run out when they said you were on your way," he grinned, noting the look of surprise on your face. "I don't mind lukewarm food, but you deserve better."

"I don't mind it either," you laughed. "But I appreciate your consideration."

Pulling a blanket over his lap and offering up the other side to you, you nestled beside your date and started to eat.

Chewing in silence, you tried to assess San without clearly staring. His looks were fierce, his features almost feline. Sharp eyes, high cheekbones, and a defined jaw were all enough to make you swoon. That, added to the constant upward curve of his soft lips and catoonish twinkling in his eyes (you weren't lying, his eyes actually twinkled) was almost too much. You knew you would be dating men who were the pinnacle of beauty, but it was simply unfair that they had nice personalities as well.

"So what about you?" San asked, startling you out of your silence. Mid-bite of chicken, he looked toward you inquisitively.

"Was I not listening or did you leave out the first part of your question?" you laughed.

"Sorry," he squeaked, bowing his head in embarrassment. "Sometimes I get caught up in my own thoughts and verbalize it midway through."

"We all have our quirks," you hummed, taking a long sip of your drink. "What am I answering?"

"I was thinking about earlier, when you called me out as being a hopeless romantic," he began.

"I didn't have to call out anything," you chuckled. "You were making it abundantly clear."

"While that may be true!" he accepted. "I was wondering if you considered yourself to be the same?"

"A hopeless romantic?" you pondered. "I guess to some extent."

San tilted his head, waiting quietly for you to continue.

"I may be too much of a realist to be a complete hopeless romantic," you sighed. "I really like the idea though."

San lifted his brows, still waiting.

"Everyone wants their magical fairy tale, in whatever form it takes for them," you said, finally giving up and deciding to fully explain. "Of course I've had dreams since I was a kid of being swept off of my feet by a savior, someone who could protect me. Life was rough and I was far too sensitive for a lot of things I faced. Even when I thought I was tough, my insides were like tofu. That being said, I have to be realistic. Not everything is going to be exactly like those dreams I fantasized about."

"Why not?"

"What?" you asked, caught off guard.

"Why can't everything be like your dreams?"

"I think all of our dreams end up being watered down versions of what we first imagined," you sighed. "I sound terribly cynical right now, don't I?"

"When life is hard, it makes us a cynic," he said. Patting your knee lightly, he smiled sadly. "But I don't think that means you should settle."

"If I don't settle, I may not end up with anything," you laughed.

"And would that really be all that bad?" he asked. "Ending up with nothing or being constantly disappointed every day?"

You hated that there was a note of truth to what he was saying. You assumed as an idol, that feeling of loneliness wasn't foreign at all. Ending up with nothing was almost the norm.

"But you'll find what you deserve, little dubu," he nodded, taking another bite of chicken.

You wrinkled your nose, immediately recognizing the word "dubu" as the Korean word for tofu.

"Did I just unintentionally help you to create a nickname for me?" you wondered out loud.

"I love tofu," he smiled innocently. "I'll even let you call me Mountain in return."

That made sense seeing as how "san" literally translated to Mountain.

"Tofu and Mountain," you hummed. "Quite the pair, aren't we?"

"The mountain will protect his little tofu," he teased. "And make all of their dreams come true."

"That's an awfully high bar to set for yourself," you said, shaking your head. He was precious.

"What's the point of setting a bar if it's not high?" he chimed.

The two of you continued your small talk as you watched other couples and families strolling along the river. Things were surprisingly cozy with San. When you had first shown up for your date, you were off the charts with nerves, but he had seemed to calm you down instantly. It was easy to forget about all of the other terrible things going on when he was your buffer to the world.

"Mission," a voice grunted just as you had forgotten that a mission existed at all.

"Ah," San hissed. "I was waiting for this."

"It's no big deal," you nodded confidently. You hadn't failed a challenge yet.

"You're due for a penalty," he grimaced. "I've seen the other episodes. You passed with flying colors before. Probability is not on our side."

"Now look who's being a cynic," you said, sticking your tongue out at San. Reaching over and grabbing the red envelope from one of the producers, you settled into your spot again. "Should you do the honors?"

"I guess," he grumbled, gently taking the envelope from your hands. Ripping it down the side, he slid a thick piece of paper out. Reading it once, then twice, he looked up with wide eyes.

"That bad?" you croaked.

"A Bicycle Made for Two: Pick up your tandem bike and ride it 400 meters without stopping."

"400 meters?" you groaned. "I can't ride a normal bike that well."

"No stopping?" San asked, quirking a brow. "What if someone steps in the way?"

"We have the sidewalk blocked off," one of the producers confirmed. "Safety precaution."

Right.

"Well," San muttered, pulling himself to a standing position. He offered you a hand. "How's your balance?"

.

"It's going to be okay," San assured, clicking the strap to the helmet closed under your chin.

You weren't sure which had your heart going more quickly, the task at hand or his face so close to yours.

"Worse comes to worse, we do the stupid penalty," you sigh.

"We've got this," San said, leaning forward and tapping his helmet lightly against yours. The small gesture was enough to fill your chest with warmth even though you very much did not have this.

San opted to take the front part of the bike, as he was obviously more athletic and likely had better reflexes than yours. Settling in behind him, you clutched at the small handles and tried to swallow down the potential for anxiety vomit.

"Put your foot on the right pedal," San instructed, taking control of the situation. "On the count of three, we'll kick off with our left foot and start going. Sound good?"

"Good," you chirped, but you were lying. Nothing about the situation sounded particularly good.

"One, two," he said cheerfully. "Three!"

Doing as San had instructed, you kicked off with your left foot and began to push yourself forward. Surprisingly, the movement was synchronized enough to get the two of you moving forward. Letting out a chuckle of relief, you basked in the small win. Now you just had to worry about staying on for 400 meters.

"How you doing back there?" San asked, calling over his shoulder. You looked up to see his wide shoulders in front of you, flexed as his arms gripped the handlebars in front of him. It was honestly delicious.

"Still alive!" you called back. Watching yourselves move steadily along the sidewalk was almost intoxicating. You were really doing it.

Looking back toward the park area, you couldn't help but notice the fans that had accumulated at the barricades security had set up. That feeling of success was instantly snuffed out by the fear of the unknown.

"San," you said, trying to tamper down the whine in your voice. "There's so many people."

"It's okay," he said, having to shout to be heard (which unfortunately nullified the comforting effect you knew he was going for).

"San," you tried again, growing increasingly wary of a large throng of fans ahead of you. "San, I don't feel comfortable."

"What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder again in an attempt to get a clear line of contact in the precarious situation.

"San!" you gasped, finally halting your peddling as you saw a figure approaching the two of you. A girl seemed to have broken through the barrier and had begun sprinting in your direction.

San directed his focus to where you were pointing and let out a shout of alarm. The back of the bike began to fishtail as you had stopped peddling, but San was trying to get ahead of the fan. You attempted to find your footing again, but were failing miserably as the pedals circled faster and faster.

Just as you thought you would be intercepted by the unknown girl, your security guard, Hyuk came out of no where. Taking the fan roughly to the ground just in front of you, you let out a cry. San had over-corrected to avoid the altercation and was sending the bike toward the railing separating the sidewalk from the river.

Slamming the front tire into the guard rail, San flew off the side of the bike and toward the ground. With your position, you were lucky enough to slide off of the back, quickly catching yourself with little effort. Your hands instantly began to fidget at your helmet, desperate to fling it off.

That was when you began to focus on the scene around you. San was on the ground, unmoving.

"San!" you gasped, forgetting about your helmet struggle and rushing over to him.

"I'm okay," he grumbled with a wince. He was laying face down, his arms pinned beneath him, having failed to catch himself in time.

"Let's get you up," you said quietly, lightly grabbing his shoulder closest to you. You could hear his stuttered breathing as he attempted to push himself away from the ground, but ultimately let out a loud groan as he flopped down again.

"What?" you gasped, pulling your hands away. You didn't want to add any unnecessary pain.

"My wrist," he whined. Furrowing his brows again, he began to push himself up with only one hand. Coming to a sitting position, he looked toward you with a frown. You crouched in front of him and began to analyze the arm in question.

You hoped it wasn't a break, but something was definitely wrong. The area was already swollen and red with irritation.

"Come here," you said quietly, trying to fight the tears threatening of spilling over. You quickly freed him of his helmet and suppressed the urge to wrap him in a hug.

"Medic!" one of the producers shouted over the chaos. "We need a medic!"

..

"Really screwed that one up, didn't I?" San laughed bitterly. He was safely settled in the back of the My Idol SUV, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"There was no good way for that to end," Hyuk grumbled from the seat in front of you, flexing his own hand. When he had tackled the girl, the medic was pretty certain he had broken a few fingers.

"We're honestly lucky that it wasn't worse," you said, gnawing on your lip. You were huddled beside your date, a light hand placed on his knee. For whatever reason, you felt responsible for this.

"At least it's just a sprain," San nodded, flexing his fingers now wrapped in bandages. "I can work with a sprain."

"I'm so sorry this happened," you sighed. "Things were going so well."

"You can't help third parties trying to sabotage the situation," Hyuk continued, his voice deadpanned.

"I just can't believe a fan would do that," San clucked, shaking his head. "And don't apologize, dubu. None of this was your fault."

Sure, it wasn't. But what if someone breaking into your apartment was making fans more bold? What if things were only going to get worse? You couldn't mentally handle the burden of innocent people getting caught in the crossfire.

"Hey," San said quietly, breaking through your thoughts. "Look at me."

You begrudgingly glanced up into San's smiling eyes.

"I'm okay."

"I know, but-"

"No," he chuckled, shaking his head. "No "buts." I may not be 100%, but I am close. What happened today sucked, but it didn't take back the moments I got to share with you."

"You're just saying that because you have to," you grumbled.

"Who says I have to?" he asked indignantly. "We're not being filmed anymore, right?"

"Well, yeah," you pouted, crossing your arms.

This caused San to laugh and shake his head. Reaching for the hand you had taken from his knee, he pulled it back toward him and interlaced your fingers. "You're so cute."

"Mmm," you scoffed.

San played with your palm, waiting patiently for you to sort through the thoughts tornado-ing around your head. Finally, you looked toward him and tried to control the tears accumulating on your lash line. "I was scared."

"Dubu," he cooed, opening his blanket and pulling you in close. "I know. I was scared too."

You sniffed despite yourself. "Did you really have a good time?"

"I did," he nodded happily. "We got through that little hiccup. It'll be smooth sailing from here on out."

"Right," you muttered. "Now you get to be locked in a hotel room for the next few weeks. When you finally get a taste of freedom, you get to look forward to being told if the audience thinks we deserve to see each other again."

"Even if they don't," he hummed. "I'll see you again some time. Even if it's just as a friend. The mountain will always protect his dubu."

"Saaaan," you groaned, both loving and hating the nickname he created.

"That's Mountain to you," he chuckled.

Crinkling your nose, your eyes found his. He had such a pure and genuine expression on his face, it was hard to think that anything could have went wrong today.

Being in such close proximity, it was easy to notice the small motion of him licking his lips. You zeroed in on his mouth, instantly regretting it as he smirked. "I don't kiss on a first date."

"I didn't - I wasn't," you stuttered.

His smirk grew into a full grin as he reached up with his bandaged hand and lightly cradled your jaw. You didn't think you were even breathing as he slowly leaned down...

...and rubbed his nose gently back and forth against yours.

Pulling away again, he smiled. "Next time..."

[askstevella]

When did you know? // STEVELLA & SAMBUCKY Blurb 💍

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Uh hi, Steve, I need to talk to you about something..in private. You got time?”

“For you? Yeah, I’ll squeeze you in between laundry and building stuff in the basement.”

“You’re hilarious.”

“Where and when?”

“In an hour, at your old house in Brooklyn.”

An hour later, both Brooklyn boys arrived inside the living room as Bucky closed the door behind him. Steve raised an eyebrow taking off his coat containing his concerns for his friend.

After a moment he asked, “Alright, what is it?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing important, well it’s very important..oh I used to be so good at this stuff.” He asked, sitting down on the couch running his fingers across his hair before asking, “Uh, when did you know it was the right decision to marry Ella?”

“Wait what? Bucky are you serious?”

“Just answer the question please.”

“You dragged me here to listen to a sappy story why I love my wife? Okay fine..I guess, I wanted Elle to be the last person I see when I go to sleep, and the first one when I wake up. And I wanted the whole world to know that she is mine. Why are you asking me this?”

“Because you’re my best friend and one of the only superhero power couples or whatever is the press is calling it now. I wanted to know what it meant for us oddballs, who can’t exactly have a normal married life. I need to know what the risk would be saying the, uh I dos.”

At that Steve raised an eyebrow, “Uh risks? Buck, yes, there are risks in every aspect of a relationship even before marriage. But punching bad guys in our free time doesn’t mean we can’t have a normal life..I didn’t expect to find my place when I thawed out of the ice. Now, I have Stella, and I am the happiest I have ever been. It is worth to take risks with the person you love. It’s an added bonus when you get to save them or come back home to find them on the couch waiting for you.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s—that’s fair.” Bucky replied with a chuckle before continuing, “I don’t see it as much as a risk. I don’t want anything like that to happen if I do take the plunge. And I know, that’s not possible when being a superhero. So how did you really know you could do it?”

“I didn’t Buck. I just want to do it.”

“You weren’t nervous about it?”

“Terrified. I was terrified of messing up, I was that way in the very beginning of my relationship as well. But I did it. I felt like it would be a good thing.”

“Geez, why did I ask the guy who doesn’t use a parachute for advice on marriage stuff. You’re no help Steve.” He laughs before standing up and pacing nervously, “So you’re saying, I should just go for and ask Sam?”

That’s when it started to make sense for him. Yeah, sure, Steve had his high suspicions about that being the reason behind this trip but he didn’t want to assume or give his friend the wrong impression about the situation.

“You want to truly propose to Sam?” He asked trying to hide his excitement but his lips turned into a smile.

“Who else would I be proposing to, stupid?” He added stopped pacing around and chuckling, “Me and Sam have been together for a while now. So how do I know when to ask or even if I should ask?”

“Like I said, do it when you feel like it’s right. Hmm, do you have a ring? Or anything in mind?”

“Nope. I have no idea yet. I just need an opinion on this whole thing. How did you propose to her?”

Steve grinned briefly bitting his nails for a moment remembering his attempts at a proposal to Stella. He told Bucky it took him two times to get it right. He was going to propose to her one morning in bed with the ring and everything when Fury called everyone in for a mission, so right in the middle of battle, he panicked before leaping out of a window as he saw Stella on the ground and ready asked her. It was a freak accident that caused Stella to rethink her decision about her life.

Natasha stopped Steve before he said anything stupid like popping the question, as the idea was brought back into his head after the attack in New York that weekend. He remembers in the medical wing, Stella asked if he would ever consider marriage and going to the courthouse to get married that weekend, he said yes to the idea of being her husband. But rejected her proposal because he had plans of his own, at least he knew she wanted to marry him.

The next week after the battle, Steve took over the position of planning a simple dinner at his old house in Brooklyn as they ate in the kitchen, dressed in comfortable yet elegant clothes and planned on watching a movie with their friends later on. The two of them alone, no doubt in their minds about friends or relatives ruining their night. So in the end of dinner, Steve proposed by pushing the ring across the table and waiting for her answer. She was in complete surprise as she said yes.

However the night was cut short due to an accident downtown in Manhattan.

Bucky chuckled imagining how sweet yet humorous it must’ve gotten. He smiled softly, “Sounds like a wild two weeks.”

“It was like the universe didn’t want me to enjoy my time with her to propose.” He admitted returning the smile, “Anyways, that’s how I did. You don’t have to plan anything out or even think outside the box. Whatever feels comfortable enough for you guys.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you already live together and raise two beautiful kids. You don’t need to marry each other until you feel absolutely ready for it. It took me a long time to figure out my feelings for Stella to understand how to ask her out.”

“Now it’s all good?”

“Oh yeah. We’re pretty good.”

That whole talk made Bucky feel better about his decision to marry Sam because he knew at the end of the day they loved one another and that’s all that matters.

—-💍———

Sooo what do we think?

Tags: @missstrawbs2001 @purpleprincessonfyre @meiramel @gcthvile @rickb-chaos @gaminggirlsstuff @wizzzardofoz @cherrysft @thechoooooosenone @luna-d-marsh @rooster-84 @sherloquestea and etc

[margowrightes]

I'm about to start an Oh Hellos discourse

Because the interpretation of Soldier Poet King over in Clock Hell makes me irrationally angry every time it comes up.

First off, none of y'all are the Soldier, none of y'all are the Poet, and none of y'all are the King.

Do you know why?

I can tell you why:

It's because the soldier, the poet, AND the king are all Jesus Christ. A very shocking Revelation I'm sure (pun intended for those of you more familiar with the Dear Wormwood album). I just need to know, I need to know which of you anti-intellectual hyper-literal people is responsible for taking one of the easiest-to-understand metaphors in Dear Wormwood and saying "ok which of these one(3) people are you in a relationship?"

Who is it?

Who did this?

It's like y'all heard through the grapevine that the album is about a toxic relationship, ignored that The Oh Hellos are very clearly, very openly Christian and just went to town. Is reading comprehension just for scrubs now?

And another thing, why this song? Why is this the one y'all made pop off?

Because, and sure this just a personal opinion, but Soldier Poet King isn't the best Oh Hellos song, hell, it's not even the best in the Dear Wormwood album (because the best song in Dear Wormwood is Thus Always to Tyrants and if you disagree with me that's fine, you're just wrong).

Like, yeah, it's catchy, but Soap is catchy too and unlike Soldier Poet King, Soap actually is about a toxic relationship, why couldn't y'all gun hard for Soap?

But then I guess Clock Hell is constructed almost entirely out of vitriolic memeing, hustle and spite, and only negative vibes for those who wronged you, so a song about holding onto and finding value in a damaged person you know will hurt you prolly wouldn't sell well there.

[duhragonball]

Do you like as much as I do that a lot of fans of kale and caulifla including kaiserneko from teamfourstar think kale is gay for cualifla

I'm not sure I follow the question, so let me unpack this.

Yes, I do think that Caulifla and Kale are romantically linked in some way. It's not clear to me if they're already in a relationship, or they'd like to be and haven't gotten that far, or maybe they haven't figured it out yet. But they do act pretty darn gay for each other.

If other fans agree with me on this, then I suppose that's gratifying. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who sees it this way. I mean, I don't think it's very subtle, so it doesn't surprise me that a lot of fans are seeing the same thing I'm seeing.

On the other hand, it's not that important to me that other people agree with me on things like this. Kaiserneko is a pretty sharp when it comes to Dragon Ball analysis, so his opinions do carry a lot of weight, but he also thinks World's Strongest is the best old-school DBZ movie, which is just all kinds of wrong. I'm sure he and I would disagree on a lot of things, and that's okay.

I'm not a "shipper" in any meaningful sense. There's couples I like in fiction, and unaffiliated characters that I could see hitting if off, but it's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I wrote a Caulikale fic several years ago, but that was mostly because I wanted to dip my toe in that scene, and I do enjoy the characters a lot.

Do I like that they're gay? I think it's a good thing, yeah. There needs to be more representation in this franchise, and in pop culture in general. I wanted to see women Super Saiyans for a long time, and Caulifla and Kale finally came along. If they're wlw characters on top of that, then that's great.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't have a vested interest in Caulifla and Kale being gay. It's just something I noticed pretty early on, and a lot of other people did as well, and I think they make a nice couple, and it's a healthy thing for the franchise and the fandom to have. It pisses off dudebros and waifu-havers alike, and I think that's pretty badass.

That being said, it's not representation for me, since I'm a cishet man. And I'm not a shipper, so it isn't as important to me as it would be to a dyed-in-the-wool Caulikale shipper. I just like that two gals can have a romantic time beating the crap out of Goku in the middle of a multiversal tournament.

I also get a kick out of the reply guys who come out of the woodwork to go "noooooooo they're just really good friends u don't understand!" Stay salty, reply guys.

[daintyduck99]

Childhood friends to lovers prompt: “some things never change.” “yeah, i guess they don’t…” + luke/bobby 👀

It'd be just Bobby's luck to have hit upon his type at six years old, and for said type to be mouthy brunettes who love music. 

Or maybe that first girl molded his type. 

Not that that's better, but. Anyway. 

Bobby takes one look at the guy hunched over a laptop in his usual booth, with headphones sticking out of his messy brown hair and muscular arms sticking out of his cutoff shirt, and decides: hell no.

Then the guy catches Bobby's eye, grins, and pulls his headphones off.

"Take a picture, bro, it'll last a lot longer." 

Scratch that. 

Bobby decides: absolutely fucking not. 

If only his body would get with the program instead of slamming his heart into his ribs. 

Bobby swallows. He musters up a glare.

"You're in my booth." 

The other guy only laughs. 

Why the fuck does he have such a melodic laugh? The hell?

Asshole. 

He must finally notice the way Bobby has tensed, because he actually apologizes. 

"M'not laughing at you, dude. I like you." 

"You don't know me!"

There goes that insufferable grin again. 

"You're Bobby, right? My name is Luke." 

And then Luke just. Makes himself at home in Bobby's booth. 

Bobby could probably manhandle him out. He's done it before, but Luke might actually put up a decent fight, and Bobby doesn't want to get banned from the only decent cafe anywhere near his house. 

The idea of touching Luke also isn't.

Something Bobby can think about. 

Even if he often pins Bobby with this look, as if he knows exactly what he's thinking.

Asshole. 

Nothing that Bobby tries deters him at all. 

Bobby tries acting aloof. It's impossible. 

Luke is just too. Luke. 

He demands attention. And it's usually not even on purpose. He. Does it by existing.

Bobby always ends up snapping at him, or saying more than he meant, and getting burned on the receiving end of one of those grins. So: that option is out. 

Bobby tries ultimatums. Stop hogging the outlet. Reorder for me and get it right. Let me run this by you. Otherwise: get out. 

Luke just caves to those. He never gets Bobby's order wrong. And he's actually really helpful with Bobby's English Lit assignments, the only thing about community college that Bobby loathes. 

Bobby even tries arguing with him about music, as he makes it obvious that that's usually what he's working on in one way or another, but the asshole just enjoys it. 

And once Bobby lets it slip that he plays guitar, Luke is relentless. He starts asking him for opinions on the stuff he's writing and inviting Bobby to shows and doubling down on all of his flirting and his…his…

His peacocking. With his stupid hair and his arms in those cutoff shirts and his eyes that always change colors and that grin. 

The worst part is Bobby's growing suspicion that he must be related to that girl he used to be so hung up on. It's just. Uncanny, how similar they are. And it would add up, for a small town. He's probably her older brother, or something.

That really would be Bobby's fucking luck.

Only: one day, after Luke makes one of his cryptic comments, like he's trying to share an inside joke that makes no sense at all, he props his cheek in his hand, studying Bobby with this awful, rueful smile. 

"You really don't remember me, do you?" 

And that's when it clicks. It's like one of those sliders that overlaps two images and suddenly shows you the whole picture. 

Bobby groans. "Don't tell me. It's you? You're the one I gave that fucking note to?"

"Yup," Luke says, popping the p, and Bobby's honestly never been happier to see that megawatt grin, even if it only intensifies his blush. Luke's eyes shine. "Bet you didn't think I'd actually do it." 

"What, get out of my school? I can't say I did. I just. I hated that I liked you so much and I didn't know how to deal with it, alright? Just. Tell me you didn't do it because of me. It wasn't about—I would've left you that note no matter what." 

"Aw," Luke coos, "that was almost sweet."

He grins wider as Bobby flips him off.

"But nah, I didn't leave 'cause of you. My mom figured that I—we—could use a fresh start. For—a lot of reasons. I lived with my uncle for a while. Things are better now."

Bobby swallows. Luke's eyes are really blue today, heightening their intensity. It's impossible not to hold his gaze. 

But maybe: it's not impossible to reciprocate, at least a little bit. 

"That's good, man. I'm glad. That. That things are good. And that. You're back."

Luke chuckles. "Was that so hard? A little sincerity goes a long way, bro." 

"I've changed my mind," Bobby deadpans. "Get out of my booth. And don't bro me."

Luke laughs harder. He hooks his ankle around Bobby's under the table.

"Some things never change, huh, babe?"

Bobby's heart slams into his ribs, hard enough to bruise, screaming and stunned.

But he doesn't pull away. He tries to smile. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess they don't." 

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 5.03 ‘Number One With a Bullet’ review

So, thanks to the first two episodes being so awesome and totally on point with everything I might have gone into this one with a tad bit to high of expectations.

Don’t get me wrong, I did like this episode. Maybe not as much as I was hoping for. Part of it, for sure, was  the lack of Magnum and Higgins scenes (them being like my fave part whether they be bickering, being awesome partners, kicking butt or smooching) but I think the biggest part was the fact that I didn’t feel like the plots at all connected. 

The Three Plots and How They Did Not Fit Together...

Like I really loved Gordy and Child’s ‘save the K-pop star’ thing. Gordon’s son having her ringtone, the whole getting randomly stabbed *dramatic* and showing up to save the day and just all around like-like-like. It was totally wholesome and so far I am not seeing sad- spiralling- depressed Gordy anywhere! (Since I do love my angst I was kind of looking forward to that.)

The Greene dead thing very mysterious, loving Magnum pondering the watch and figuring things out there at the end after hearing the guy was tortured.

Rick and Higgy getting kidnapped, was probably my least favourite bit. Because it was all just too easy and the investigation too off screen and neither TC or Magnum seemed all that concerned/stressed out. 

Like come on, compared to when Juliet got snatch or Magnum poisoned this was like ‘whatever’ and we got just a very small moment Magnum helping Higgy out of the grave there at the end when they were all reunited. 

So the story with the kidnapping in itself isn’t really the problem and could have been really great if we got some more emotion from the guys. TC being worried about lying to Suzy (or something) about where Rick had gone and then being all ‘what if-’ and Magnum going ‘don’t man, they’re fine’ to show something. I love TC and Magnum and they were such a fun duo the times when they’ve worked cases before and I didn’t get that as much this time. Because rush and lack of feels? 

While I know not everything leads to something and stuff, because that is the nature of episodical TV I think we should have had something here to call back or plant seeds for the future.

So yeah, the kidnapping and k-pop girl plots should/could probably, in my humble opinion each have had their separate episodes and the episode which featured kidnapped Rick and Higgy should have had some stakes and emotions. Like also would not have minded, in a few episodes, for kidnapping episode to have been the Miggy together reveal.

I also kind of figured we might get that at the end, with a big damn Miggy kiss there at the rescue moment. Just because Rick was all ‘Magnum got a GF’ with Juliet at the start in the car. (I guess we’re calling that one baby amnesia, because like a week or two ago Magnum told him he had feelings for Juliet.)

That car convo a the start was gold though. So cute when she’s all happy when Rick says ‘whoever she is he must really like her’ and I found Juliet’s ‘that’s a shame, I was looking forward to meeting her’ both funny and kind of interesting. (Please talented people, give me gifs of this scene!!!)

Anyways, as always, a fun ride, but for me this was not a new fave-fave. 

Promos Lie

So yeah, is this news to anyone? No. Am I still a little upset? Yes.

Other than Magnum PI and the occasional Hudson and Rex episode (my mother loves it so I usually help her stream it when I’m there) I don’t watch a whole lot of TV. I certainly don’t watch the promos for episodes before watching them if I do catch an episode of something else. 

Thus, I forget, promos lie and get all excited just to be disappointed. I’ve adjusted my expectations accordingly now and am I figuring we’ll get the stuff from the promos at some point but maybe not always in the episode they’re promoting. Such is life even if it is annoying.

Next week

Looking forward to some good old Magnum and Higgins working a case and maybe some development on the Greene case. I’m figuring we can’t go too fast with it, because it’s supposed to be the mid-season finale right? So 7 episodes to go. It looks pretty action packed and we got a concerned Higgy which is always nice. 

So yeah, looking forward to next week and if one is lacking Miggy feels there is always the option of re-watching this gif for 4 hours! Enjoy...

[antisocialite83]

One of my guilty pleasures is watching popular shows AFTER the popularity is all gone. For example, I’m watching #Scandal. Like, THE OLIVIA POPE(!!!) for the first time ever. Don’t get me wrong, I know the outline. However, since there are no such thing as #spoilers (my opinion bc I’ve never “heard” a description that EVER does a film justice), something always gets left out. I have to see the story unfold for myself. I like to fill in my own blanks.

THIS SHOW IS GOOD!!!!

Wow. #OliviaAndFitz are actually the least interesting thing happening on this show lol. There’s always some unbelievable actual scandal going on. So far, I’ve made it into the second season and jeez! It’s free smoke for everybody. They be reading each other for fiiiiiilth!!!(I especially HATE how condescending and downright mean #Cyrus is to James). Also, is Olivia Pope a republican!?! Cuz, what!? But not surprising.

So far I really like Olivia and Cyrus’ odd couple friendship. Huck and Olivia are better friends tho. I can tell their relationship is more intimate, less transactional. lol Even when they’re pissed with each other, they’re still fiercely loyal. I hope he gets to be with his family again. The callous way Charlie tried to break him(#752 🥹), I hope he die real slow. Somebody gon have to pop his ass. I can’t believe I’m only on season 2. Speaking of which, I’ve just gotten to where Eli Pope reveals himself to Cyrus. Olivia doesn’t know…yet. Looking forward to that. Most importantly, it seems like everybody run the White House EXCEPT the president. Specifically, #Mellie, Olivia, and Cyrus.

This is def not everything I’ve noticed/seen BUT I am getting sleepy, finally(!). My sleep’s been better these past couple of nights. I guess political dramas lull me 😂😂😂. I’m glad to have another insomnia treatment.

Oh yeah, Fitz is a immature DICK. Even tho I’m only on S2, something tells me that will be consistent throughout the series.

Finally have made it to season 6. Lemme just once again say, THIS IS A GOOD ASS SHOW!!!!

Also, every character needs therapy.

More importantly, can Lauren, the President’s secretary, PLEASE get some props. She the least corrupted person on the show.

First of all, so glad Olivia and Fitz did not get a happy ending. They didn’t deserve it. Cyrus really got what was coming to him and it was sad but also not really. Too much blood on his hands AND he’s a deadbeat/absentee father!!!! Like, he had no concern about Ella at all. Too busy scheming smh.

Abby is a dick. Lowkey, and now majorly highkey you can see how envious/resentful she is of Olivia. That can happen when you feel indebted to someone. Also, take Olivia off the pedestal lol cuz she def be fuxking up to. Fitz is painfully…MEDIOCRE. And also co-dependent. Like he can’t function without a women around men…managing him. I can’t believe how corrupt this firecr**ch ass bitch became. Also, tho if these the same people who have manage to (somewhat)muzzle Rowan, then I get it. The scary lady who’s name i don’t know, is the actress who plays the mom in #YoungSheldon lmao seeing Mary Cooper be a badass is sendiiiiing me 😂😂😂. “Ms. Majorie Ruland”, and ole boy really knew how to tap into Abby’s insecurities.

RIP HUCK!!!! 🥺😡🥺🥺 …..sike! That was a damn good plot twist. But my boy should stick to his guns. A lesson in trusting your instincts. Had Olivia not started questioning her most loyal friend, I don’t think this would’ve happen. But I knew that girl was a weirdo. And he did to. Of course tho, Olivia couldn’t see the forest for the trees. At least not when it comes to her father.

Season 7!!!!

Mellie is president! And a damn good one. Quinn and Charlie being badass vigilante murderers, who make a kid 🥹🥹🥹>>>>>. That damn Cyrus ain’t NEVA leaving the White House. He should have his own wing atp. Seeing Olivia become Eli is cray. She don’t even wear white anymore!!! But Noir Olivia does have much better hair. Lol. I’m so glad Abby is back in the also(it’s lowkey still fuck her tho). I feel like Olivia is gonna snap. And I’m so ready.

Curtis > Jake > Fitz.

Overall : 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[tired-fandom-ndn]

Juicy details on why the white beard pirates hate?? If you want, I'm mean. I am entirely ambivalent towards them and in my limited One Piece bubble only see the occasional Marco stan but you always have such good takes 😌

I talked about this recently but I'll rehash it because I think about it CONSTANTLY.

The Whitebeards are predatory. Straight up. This is canon. Just basing Ace's "recruitment" (which is treated as TOTALLY NORMAL by all the Whitebeards), Whitebeard and his crew deliberately target young and vulnerable captains, basically cornering them to absorb those captains and their crews into the fleet.

They canonly captured Ace, who was as far as I remember injured with his crew under attack, and kept him hostage for at least a few months by my guess. He was not willing, he didn't go with them by choice, and he was actively trying to kill Whitebeard. And then he suddenly. . . isn't. He agrees to join the crew, calls Whitebeard pops, and then the Spade pirates are not only absorbed into the fleet, they're separated. We don't really see any of the Spades post-Whitebeard except Ace and Deuce; I don't even know if they were all allowed to stay, considering Whitebeard doesn't seem eager to have "daughters."

I know that the implication in canon is that Ace just ended up liking Whitebeard and his crew but. . . it's all just very weird to me. It feels like it would make just as much sense in a canon context for Ace to be fucking miserable and terrified, possibly without even realizing it. Whitebeard using Ace's issues with Roger especially feels manipulative to me, deliberately targeting the most vulnerable parts of Ace to convince him that the Whitebeard is the only one who would love him as he is (which is wrong!! Luffy adores him and always has!!!) and the only chance he has at a family (wrong again!!!! Luffy get your ass over here!!!!!!).

And again, Ace wasn't willing to stay on the ship without being kept prisoner. He wasn't allowed to leave, he definitely wasn't allowed to go find and protect his crew. So canonly speaking, joining the Whitebeard pirates was Ace's only chance to regain some measure of freedom and reunite with the other Spade pirates. You can't even argue that he was too much of a threat to Whitebeard to let go; he was a teenager going up against an emperor and clearly had no hope of ever actually touching Whitebeard, let alone injuring him. If they actually cared about Ace's opinion, they could've just fucking dropped him off on some random island instead of giving him Stockholm syndrome.

And, again, Ace's treatment was treated as so completely normal that there is no possible way to interpret it in any way except for this being something the Whitebeards do on a regular basis, which would explain how Whitebeard managed to grow his fleet to such an absurd size. It would make a lot of sense if most of his fleet joined and stayed specifically to be close to the captains that Whitebeard stole.

So yeah, while the Whitebeards are framed as a loving family, it would be just as valid to use the canon information to interpret them as highly manipulative kidnappers who steal promising young captains and absorb their crews. Maybe Whitebeard genuinely cares about them but doesn't notice or care how his actions affect them, maybe he's deliberately trying to get powerful captains under his flag to keep them from becoming threats to his power, or maybe (and this is my favorite interpretation) he collects young and interesting captains as a sort of novelty for himself and sees them more as leashed and muzzled pets than his children.

(This darker interpretation of the Whitebeards also gives his crew member's jolly roger tattoos a much more somber meaning. When you see Whitebeard as someone who steals and claims captains for himself, the tattoos seem less like a sign of affection and more like a brand of ownership. A full back tattoo of an emperor's jolly roger would be a very difficult thing to hide or remove if Whitebeard's precious Ace ever decided to leave. . . . . .)

[ritz-writes]

Get to know me tag game! I was tagged by @celestialcrowley

It's a long post so I'll put a cut here <3

Real Name: [REDACTED]

Nickname(s): [REDACTED]

Nickname Origin(s): [REDACTED]

Sorry, I'm not giving out my irl name </3

Preferred Name(s): Call me Ritz!

Ao3: RitzWrites

Social Media(s): I have a Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Pillowfort, Twitter. The only ones under Ritz tho are ao3, Twitter, pillowfort, and insta, tho I never use the insta.

State: Won't say the state I currently live in (tho i mightve mentioned it in a post somewhere probably) but I grew up in Texas

Birthdate: May 28

Pet(s): Currently have 7 cats and 1 dog in my house. One cat is specifically mine

Hobbies: Writing, reading, drawing, watching youtube, screaming about my fandoms

Personality: I'm the sunshine character, but I swear a lot. Also if you wrong my friends I feel it personally and will be very angy. I'm very open minded and won't make an opinion on smth until I get all the facts. I want to be friends with everyone but the gods nerfed me with social anxiety ;w;

Favorite Holiday(s): Christmas has always been special to me and give me Nice emotions. Halloween is also good tho.

Favorite Drink(s): Kiddo me would have an aneurysm when she finds out I like vanilla lattes. She swore up and down she'd never like coffee lmao. I also love strawberry milk and sprite.

Favorite Food(s): Pizza, donuts, sirloin, airheads candy, beef stroganoff

Favorite Dessert(s): Cookies and cream ice cream, cookies, brownies

Favorite Color(s): Pink!! I tried changing it when I was younger cuz I didn't want to be the stereotypical girl," but I've always loved pink. Gold is also nice, as well as pastel colors in general.

Favorite Quote(s): "New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings," -Lao Tzu

Favorite Book(s): The Enhanced series by T.C. Edge (I haven't finished reading it tho)

Favorite TV Show(s): Good Omens, Lego Monkie Kid, 2003 Ninja Turtles, Transformers Prime, Batman The Animated Series

Favorite Movie(s): Ocean's 8, Black Panther, The Martian, John Wick

Favorite Character(s): Crowley, Aziraphale, Muriel, MK, Wukong, Macaque, Tang, Jason Todd, Peter Parker, Tony Stark

Favorite Actor(s): David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Downey Jr.

Favorite Song(s): There's so many, but I'll list a few. Last One Standing by Icon for Hire. Ohio by Bowling for Soup. Rich and the Famous by Good Charlotte. and literally anything by set it off cuz they r my fav band

Favorite Music Genre(s): Pop Punk. Or what some ppl r now calling divorced dad rock

Favorite Podcast(s): I haven't listened to it in a hot minute, but My Brother My Brother and Me

Have You Ever Met A Celebrity: I met some YouTubers at a convention once, but I don't watch the channel anymore

Have You Ever Been To A Concert: Yeah. To see Fall Out Boy. It was outside and I had no water. Was fun tho

Do You Collect Anything: Braincells. I keep losing them tho (no I dont collect anything)

Do You Have Any Idols: Uhhhh I'm not sure. I have ppl I think are cool? I guess you could say my mom is my idol?

Is There A Real Life Friend You Can Completely Be Yourself With: My partner @novelcain <33

What Are Your Interests: Anything I end up hyperfixating on. So right now its Good Omens. Once s5 of Lego Monkie Kid comes out tho, I know that's where my brain will be. I also love graphic design, but I haven't been able to do it in ages.

Where Would You Love To Travel To: Maybe Scotland? Or Italy? I wanna go to Japan some day too.

Is There A Random Fact About Yourself That You’d Like To Share: I have binocular double vision, which means I see two things :) My glasses help a bit with that issue

tags: anyone who wants to do it

[eunchancorner]

I woke up with shoulder pain and for some reason this is what my brain did

Ler Edd, Lee Eun (self-insert)

Warning: cussing

Word count: 861

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Shoulder pain.

Again.

There were mornings where it took longer to show up than others, but no matter what, it was gonna be there. There was just something wrong with my shoulder, and I hated it.

However, I was never ready for it to be there first thing in the morning.

I sat up and groaned quietly, that same burning, stabbing pain there earlier than I was ready for. It felt like a long, hot needle being driven into my shoulder, and while usually I could put up with it until I could stretch it out and pop the joint, it just came too early this morning. So, I got up and out of bed, clutching that shoulder and walking out into the living room, greeted by the sight of one of my fellow brunettes already awake.

“Hey, Edd…” I mumbled out, walking around and flopping down beside him on the couch.

“Hey, Eun. Shoulder problems?” he asked, noticing how I held said shoulder.

“Mhmm… It’s too early for thissss…” I groaned, sinking into the cushions beneath me.

“Are you kidding? It’s like 10:30!”

I raised an eyebrow at him before grabbing my phone and checking the time, finding out he was actually right.

“Oh, holy shit…”

“Heh, yeah, Matt and Tom already left to pick up breakfast. I was going to wake you when they got back, but I guess I don’t need to do that now.”

“Mhm, you’re welcome, by the way.”

“Pft- fine, thank you for not making me walk a few meters,” he joked, ruffling my hair (which I absolutely did NOT lean into).

“Mhm… urgh, that’s it..” I groaned, sitting up straight before lifting my arm up over my head.

“What’s it?”

“I’m popping this shoulder, I don’t care anymore, I want this pain gone…”

“Oh, you need any help with that?”

“I- Actually, yeah, grab my wrist and pull it up. That should pop it.”

He nodded and did so, pulling up as far as he could, but still, it wouldn’t pop. Those stubborn days were the absolute worst in my opinion, I hated when it refused to pop and instead just shifted uncomfortably.

“Urgh… this… isn’t… working…!” I grunted out, tugging in the other direction, but still it never popped.

“Hmm… I have an idea that might work,” Edd eventually murmured, seemingly thinking deeply before a slight smirk crossed his face.

“Uhm.. Edd, what’s that look for…?” I asked, quickly growing nervous upon seeing his face. The fact that his smirk grew upon my noticing didn’t help at all.

“Oh, nothing, definitely not that a few tickles might help!” He suddenly dug into my ribs upon the word ‘tickles’, pulling squealing laughter from my lips as I went limp in an attempt to drag my arm down away from his grip using my body weight.

“Ehedd you jeheherk! Lehehemme gohohoho!” I squealed out, kicking my legs and trying to twist away from him.

“Hey, I’m not a jerk! Last time I checked, you were a big fan of these tickles! I mean, I know you prefer Matt’s tickles, of course, but you’ll just have to settle for me until he gets home.”

“Shuhut youhuhur mohohohouth! AHAHA NOHO EHEHEDD!!” I squealed once again as his hand moved up to my armpit, my complete worst spot, and I kept trying to yank my arm out of his hand.

“But you’re so tickle tickle ticklish~”

“YOUHU’RE NOHOHOT HEHEHELPIHIHING!”

“Oh, I know, but it’s just so-”

POP!

He let go of my wrist as that pop echoed in our ears, finally allowing me to catch my breath as I curled up tightly.

“Uhm… I think you’ll find I did help,” he finally said, earning yet another quiet giggle from me.

“Shuht uhuhup…” I grumbled at him, rolling my eyes.

I probably shouldn’t have done that.

“Shut up? Oh you don’t tell me to shut up! Come here!”

“Oh no- AAH!!”

I yelped as he lunged at me, trying merely to push him off before he dug his fingers into my sides, pulling the fourth squeal from me that morning as I once again tried to twist away from his hands.

Neither of us seemed to hear the door open or close, nor our housemates approaching until Matt walked up to the couch, a delighted giggle falling from his lips upon seeing me getting tickled senseless.

“I get to tickle them after breakfast!” he called before taking his bags into the kitchen, much to my dismay.

“Nohoho! Tohom, hehehelp!” I called to the only man left in this house who didn’t seem dead set on tickling the shit out of me.

“You must be absolutely crazy if you think I’m risking the wrath of both of these idiots. One, maybe, but not both. Now come on, both of you, breakfast time. Or I’ll eat yours, too, don’t test me!” he threatened as he followed his redhead housemate.

Edd chuckled as his fingers slowed to a stop, still smirking down at me as I tried to compose myself.

“Have fun with Matt after breakfast,” he advised playfully, before hopping off the couch and heading into the kitchen.

Ah… fuck.

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Lmao what did I just make

[tuiyla]

how do you feel about the idea of Santana being a secret comic book and/or marvel nerd? it seems to be a fairly common hc in fics and it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine hah because I don't think it suits her at all.

Well I think, like most things, being a nerd is a spectrum and she's both more likely to be one than people think and also not AS much of a nerd as others think.

First, the pro. Well for starters I'm tempted to say it does suit her, actually, just on the basis of Santana continually defying expectations and being the opposite of what a first-glance look at her character might imply. Now I'm not calling your reading of her surface level but I do think she's already such a dork in canon and has the makings of a bit of a nerd. Sure, she thinks people like Sam are lame and I don't think the wide berth of her references should be representative because that's the writers being clever, but Santana does indicate on a few different occasions that she's at least aware of that sort of pop culture stuff. I do think that she'd initially think she's too pretty to care about nerdy things like comic books, and she is, but as she learns to not perform (in the social sense) all the time she finds solace in stuff she previously considered off-limits. That's my HC, anyway. And she'd make a big deal out of vehemently denying she cares about this stuff in public because ew, embarrassing, again she's too pretty to know what a Marvel is. But like, it's just a hobby and an interest and she's allowed to have a wide range of those. So what if she develops strong opinions on certain characters' lore or reads a comic or two because it's fun.

And this is where the contra comes in, because I do think fanfic writers make the same mistake Glee itself probably would when taking it too far and basically turn it into her whole thing. I don't think nerdy comic stuff would ever become a cornerstone of Santana's personality; she wouldn't cosplay or anything like that. Lurk forums and tell people they're wrong in their opinions, sure. Go to the cinema with friends to watch a superhero flick or even to go see a Star War, maybe even buy a comic or two when no one's looking. But like I say, interests are also a spectrum and it's not like she'd be a secret ultra nerd whose free time is consumed by comic books. I mean, her interest would be secret because Santana would always, on some level, consider it to be lame and she likes to maintain an air of superiority but it'd just be because she's embarrassed about even mildly enjoying it more than people who go see one MCU movie a year.

So, yeah. Personally, I wouldn't say it doesn't suit her at all. I think it's the right kind of thing for Santana to be opinionated about when she thinks no one's looking, i.e. in online spaces. It's a guilty pleasure you wouldn't guess about her but many also wouldn't have guessed she was a lesbian in sophomore year, so. But I have also seen people take it too far, for my tastes, and take it too seriously. I don't think Santana would take it too seriously but there's also enough in canon for me to think she probably would be a bit of a secret nerd, yeah.