#(i do not actually mind winning or losing but the friendly competitiveness is the best part)

[jeannereames]

Your top 5 Alexander the Great moments?

Top Five Alexander Moments

One issue with answering this is to figure out what events actually happened, especially when it comes to anecdotes! Here are four I find either significant to understanding his charisma and/or which explain how he functioned and why he was successful, plus one I like just because I’m a horse girl.

1) To my mind, the event that best illustrates why his men followed him to the edge of their known world occurred in the Gedrosian Desert. While I’m a bit dubious that this trek was as bad as it’s made out to be (reasons exist for exaggerating), it was still baaaad. One story relates that some of his men found some brackish water in a sad little excuse for a spring, gathered it in a helm, and brought it to him. Given his poor physical condition after the Malian siege wound, he no doubt needed it badly. He thanked them (most sincerely), then carried it out where all (or at least a lot) of his men could see, raised it overhead, and announced that until all of them could drink, he wouldn’t. Then he poured it onto the rocky ground.

That gesture exemplified his charisma. And it absolutely is not something the likes of a Donald tRump could even imagine doing—nor most dictators, tbh. They’d be blaming everybody else and calling for heads while drinking Diet Coke, not suffering alongside their people.

This wasn’t an isolated event of that type. While he almost certainly didn’t have time to engage along with his soldiers in every project, we’re told he would drop in from time-to-time, to inspire them and to offer a little friendly competition.

He also dressed like his men for everyday activities, especially early in the campaign. As time went on, some sources say he inserted more distance—probably necessary as his duties exploded—but he still seems to have found time to “just hang out” with his Macedonians on occasion. The claims that he was too high and mighty to do so appears to have been exaggeration (as such accusations often are) in order to forward a narrative that he was “going Asian.” Troop resentment over court changes was very genuine—I don’t want to underplay it (especially as I’ve written about it in a few chapters in this), but it tended to boil up during certain periods/events, then die back again. Alexander was trying to walk a very fine line of incorporating the conquered while not ticking off his own people.

2) Reportedly, he once threw a man out of line because he hadn’t bothered to secure the chin strap on his helm. I pick this one because it tells me a whole lot about how he saw himself as a commander, and what he expected of his men (and why he tended to consistently win).

On the surface, his reaction seems almost petty. It’s precisely the sort of mistake students whine about when professors ding them for it. It’s just a chin strap! I’d have tightened it before I went into battle! (It’s just a few typos; you knew what I meant! Or, Why does everything in the bibliography have to be exactly matching in style? Who cares? What a stupid thing to obsess about!) These objections are all of a piece. First, they’re lazy, and second, they indicate a disconcern with details. In battle, such disconcern can get a person killed. And on a larger scale, for a general, such disconcern loses battles.

One of the striking aspects of Alexander’s military operations was just how well his logistics worked. Consistently. We hear little about them precisely because they rarely fail. Food and water was there when they needed it, as were arrow replacements, wood to repair the spears, wool and leather for clothes and shoes, canvas for tents, etc., etc. All those little niggling (boring) details. If these are missing, soldiers become upset (and don’t fight well). Starting with Philip, the Macedonian military was a well-oiled machine. That’s WHY Gedrosia was such a shock: the logistics collapsed. Contra some historians, he did not do it to “punish” his men, nor to best Cyrus.* He had a sound reason—to scout a trade route.

Alexander understood that details matter. It starts with a loose chinstrap. (Or an unplanned-for storm and rebellion in his rear.) Everything else can unravel from that.

3) Alexander sends Hephaistion a little dish of small fish (probably smelts). He also helps an officer secure the lady of his dreams. And writes another on assignment (away from the army) that a mutual friend is recovering from an illness. While technically three “moments,” these are all of a piece. Alexander knows his men, and is concerned not only for their physical well-being, but also their mental state: that they’re happy. Granted, these are all elite officers, but it suggests he’s paying attention to people. I’ve always assumed he sent Hephaistion the fish because they were his friend’s favorite, and/or they were a special treat and he wanted to share. That he didn’t punish an officer for going AWOL to chase the mistress he wanted but offered advice, and even assistance, on how to court and secure her suggests the same care.

I don’t want to take away from what appears to be his serious anger management problems(!), but little details like those above strike me as the likeable side of Alexander—why his men were so devoted to him.

4) Then we have the encounter with Timokleia after the siege of Thebes. While probably a bit too precious to have occurred exactly as related, I think it may still hold a kernel of truth.

Alexander had a reputation of chivalry towards his (highborn) female captives. If some of that was likely either propaganda from his own time or philhellenic whitewashing later by Second Sophistic authors such as Plutarch (and Arrian), poor treatment of women is not something we hear attributed to him.

Ergo, while the meeting was probably doctored for a moral tail, he may well have freed Timokleia as an act of clemency to put a better face on a shocking destruction he knew wouldn’t sit well with the rest of Greece—who he both wanted to cow yet earn support from. (A difficult balancing act.) Also, if Timokleia hadn’t been high-born, she’d probably have been hauled off to one of the prisoner cages with little fanfare.

Nonetheless, I find his actions surprising given the casual misogyny of his era. If we can take the bare bones of the story as true, and it’s not all invented, Timokleia was raped as a matter of course during the sacking of Thebes, then managed to trick her rapist and kill him by pushing him down a well and dropping rocks on him. I assume this happened when his men weren’t there, but they found out soon enough and hauled her in front of Alexander to be punished for killing an officer. To the surprise of all, Alexander decided the man had earned it and freed Timokleia. One might be inclined to call this overly sentimental, but….

There’s a similar story that occurred much later in the Levant, when two of Parmenion’s men seduced/(raped?) the mistresses/wives of some mercenaries. Alexander instructed Parmenion to kill the Macedonians if they were found to be guilty.

In both cases, we have an affront against (respectable) women. In the latter case, Alexander was (no doubt) working to avoid conflict between hired soldiers and his own men, who—in typical Greek fashion—would have looked down on mercenaries as a matter of course. Some sort of conflict between Macedonians and Greek mercenaries up in Thrace had almost got Alexander’s father killed. Alexander saved him. No doubt that was on Alexander’s mind here.

Yet what both events illuminate is a willingness on Alexander’s part to punish his own men for affronts to honor/timē that involved women. Yes, this is clearly about discipline. But it also shows an unusual sensitivity to sex crimes in warfare: actions that would normally fall under the excuse of “boys will be boys” (especially when their blood is up).

I doubt he’d have felt the same about slaves or prostitutes; he was still a product of his time. Yet without overlooking his violence—sometimes extreme (the genocide of the Branchidai, for instance)—I find his reaction in these cases to be evidence of an atypical sympathy for women that I’d like to think isn’t wholly an invention of later Roman authors. And just might show the influence of his mother and sisters.

5) Last… the Boukephalas story…because who doesn’t love a good “a boy and his horse” tale? Obviously the Plutarchian version is tweaked to reflect that author’s later concern to contrast the Macedonian “barbarian” Philip with the properly Hellenized Alexander. Ignore the editorializing remarks, especially the “find a kingdom big enough for you” nonsense.

But the bare bones of the story seem likely: unmanageable horse, cocky kid, bet with dad, gotcha moment. You can imagine this was an anecdote Alexander retold a time or three, or twenty.

——

* His attempts to copy Cyrus may be imposition by later writers. In his own day, he may have cared more about the first Darius, for reasons Jenn Finn is going to explain in a forthcoming, very good article on the burning of Thebes and Persepolis.

[i-do-enjoy-ethoslab]

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Another good game/life advice from Etho, the commenter was asking how to not be a sore loser, and this is Etho’s response. I think my favorite quote is: “I'm there to have fun, and I want them to have fun!” Having fun in a multiplayer game is not just for you but for your playmates as well.

Transcript below the cut

I think the big question is: when you go into a competition, what is your mindset what is your goal in that competition. Are you there to prove something? Are you trying to prove you're better than somebody, maybe? Are you trying to prove something to yourself, that you're -- "oh I'm so smart, I'm a genius, I'm the strategic mind and quick reflexes!" If you're trying to prove something yourself, you're probably gonna get disappointed, you're gonna get upset when things don't go your way. You're gonna blame the game, you're gonna blame other people, you're gonna blame the controller, you're gonna blame everything except for yourself. Right? It's not your fault! If it was your fault that would mean you're bad, and you can't be bad because you're so smart! Aha, so keep your ego in check. When I play games, I like to try going to it with a friendly competition in mind. So, that means — not that I want them to go easy on me or that I'm gonna go easy on them. I'm gonna play my best still, and I want them to as well. But I'm there to have fun, and I want them to have fun! That's equally important. Because if they're having fun, I'm gonna have more fun. It's [not just] gonna turn into "hey we're playing games," it's gonna be "Oh, man! This is actually a great moment! I might remember this in the future even, because it was such a good time we had together." Right? Another big part of competition that's pretty important to me is the whole getting better at things. Now, a key distinction there: I'm not there to be better than someone, or to, you know, prove that I'm better. I just want to get better. There's that old saying, you know, "games rot the brain," you know? I don't believe that one bit. I think they sharpen the mind. I think they're good for you, and I want to get better for that reason. And it's just a fun journey to go through. Like, when you suck at a game, and then you get better and better until you finally master it, and then you move on to the next game kind of thing. But the big thing in that: if that is in fact your goal when you play games, the best time to learn the game is when you're losing. So you don't mind losing so much, because that's when you're learning the most. And if you're winning all the time, you're not really learning anything anymore. So that's the way to view the failures or the losses — is "what did I do wrong?" Analyze it and get better.

[littlewestern]

Ship bingo for Connor x Spencer?

Of all the guys for me to get sent twice, I didn't think it'd be Connor!

Y'know, for as much as I like streamliners, you'd think I'd be all over these two! Truth be told, I think Connor's too boring and I think Spencer's too predictable. That said, we're here to play, so let's play. The two fast guys!

A thing I *do* like about Connor is that for him, I think it's the purity of the race that gets his engine going. He and Caitlin race all the time, but there's no hard feelings between them, no matter who wins.* He likes going fast, and he likes a little friendly competition. The winning is just a little extra treat.

For Spencer though, it's not just about being the fastest, he has to be the best in all ways. He's Gordon in silver streamlining and cranked up to eleven. And, crucially, he's also a private engine. He can concern himself with things like who's the fastest and what's the best number of wheels to have and who's most afraid of the abominable snowman because he doesn't have a whole rake of coaches full of passengers to mind.

This is what separates him and Connor. Connor can't afford to get in his feelings about races because he recognizes that, at the end of the day, he's here to do a job. The competition is always going to come second to being Useful.

Spencer will never see it this way, and I think this has to be the main source of conflict. With Gordon, it didn't work out because they were both the same level of competitive and it ended up causing problems for the railway when they took it too far. I think in this case, the problem comes from the level of investment not being the same at all.

Spencer wins again and again because he can afford to put the race first (and he's probably naturally faster), and Connor gets tired of losing and stops agreeing to race. This makes Spencer mad, because he has the same hypersensitivity to rejection that Gordon does without the support network to actually manage it, and he torches the budding friendship out of spite. No one gets to be happy!

In all seriousness, an episode with Spencer and the American streamliners could have been very cool. I think you have to include Caitlin because Connor doesn't posses enough charisma to make up for Spencer's complete lack of it, but she could play a supporting role. Maybe give Spencer some perspective in a cute little pep-talk, in a version of the above narrative where the ending is happy and teaches a lesson.

* - Nevermind that the Hudsons outstripped the P-7s by nearly 40mph. In that regard, Spencer is probably the better match, but we'll assume for the sake of the characters that Connor and Caitlin win about equally often, as this is how the show seems to treat it.

[shadowqueen402]

Balan Wonderworld TV Show Summaries (Season 2)

Here are the summaries for Season 2. Hope you all like these!

That's Gotta Sting!: Lance's new Scorpion-based Negati turns out to have a mean sting when it suddenly attacks Haoyu.

Cold As Ice: Iben suddenly comes down with a strange illness that causes her to slowly turn to ice. Can the others find a way to cure her before it's too late?

Lance The Babysitter: Because of Balan's busy schedule, Lance has to look after Leo, Emma, Yuri, Haoyu, and Cass. What could possibly go wrong?

Missing Masterpiece: One of Lucy's artworks suddenly goes missing. Will she be able to find in time for the exhibition to open up?

Who Did It?: Someone had broken something of Balan's… and everyone is a suspect!

Reala And The Mask: Reala finds a strange mask that would grant him intimidating abilities to achieve his goals… Little does he know that the mask has its own intentions…

Hairy Situation: No matter how much Balan brushes them, the Tims keep on shedding hair everywhere. Surely, there's an explanation for this, right?

Fury Of The Firefighter: When Sana reveals that someone tried to hurt her, Eis decides that he wants to give this perpetrator a piece of his mind.

Laundry Day: What starts out as a peaceful day to wash clothes suddenly turns into one of silly fights and complaints after the clothes get mixed up.

No Visitors Allowed!: Balan makes it crystal clear to Leo, Emma, and the Inhabitants that only one location in Wonderworld is off-limits. What could Balan possibly be hiding?

I Have No Ide-ya: During her visit to the Night Dimension, Emma loses all of her Ideya. With the help of NiGHTS, she must retrieve them all before Wizeman gets his hands on them.

A Scent In Need Is A Scent Indeed: A new perfume is recently released. But the moment ladies apply this scent on, their personalities drastically change. Can the group find out what's actually happening?

Leo And The Money Heist: Rumors of a planned money heist have been spreading around Leo's neighborhood. Leo doesn't believe it one bit…until he finds a suitcase full of money that belongs to the bank…

It Takes A Lullaby To Defeat A Nightmaren: NiGHTS discusses with the group about her idea on stopping Reala, one that requires using a lullaby. Will their plan actually work?

May The Best Singer Win: When Haoyu drinks a potion that gives him incredible singing ability, he soon finds himself having tough competition with jealous singers.

Wizeman's "Perfect" Date: Wizeman reluctantly tries his hand at dating a dream goddess. Things don't go well as not only do their personalities clash, but the goddess becomes motherly towards his Nightmarens.

I Accidentally Shrunk The Maestros!: Cal's attempt of performing a magic spell goes awry as he accidentally shrinks the maestros to the size of action figures. Can the group find a way to reverse the spell?

Dear Diary: Iben's diary suddenly goes missing. Will she be able to find it before someone reads her personal thoughts?

NiGHTS's Day Out: NiGHTS decides to go explore the Waking World. But a certain Nightmaren General has something to say about it.

(Not) Feline Friendly: Cass's new pet sitter doesn't seem so fond of cats. And it's quite obvious that her cat doesn't like the pet sitter…

Beneath The Surface: Fiona is strangely forbidden from swimming in a certain ocean all because it's "dangerous". Surely, nothing's lurking there, right?

(Don't) Let It Grow!: Jose discovers strange seeds in his farm and decides to plant them. Unaware of the fact that Balan got rid of them for a good reason…

What do you guys think of these?

[faceglitchsworld]

It's the 13th of September here, which means...

Happy birthday, Yeonjun 🥳

Please, have the collage I made for him 🥹

Uhm, yeah, I have heart eyes rn for this boy. And the collage came P E R F E C T L Y probably one of the best I ever made.

I don't know if I should thank him because he's really very pretty or because I did a good selection. I hope you can see every shade of this pwecious boy, really.

And now, time for the letter.

Oh Yeonjun, Yeonjun, what should I say about you right now? I remember that when I was searching for some TxT pictures, he always looked like the coolest member. And by coolest I mean the most badass one. I remember how he always reminded me of Levi from AOT every time I saw the pictures. Strange association, I know, especially because, well, Levi is a completely different character and yet, Yeonjun always reminded me of him somehow. Maybe it was the haircut.

When I started watching interviews of the group, two things came immediately to my eyes: he gave some funny answers and his English was...fascinating. I don't know you but I love how he talks in English. I don't know which accent uses but the nasal tone, that nasal tone. Sigh, it's fascinating to me. Speaking on the funny side, well, I don't think I need to write an entire paragraph about it. Watching any To Do episode would be enough. This poor boy is so unlucky every time they do a mission or he plays a game that even when he wins something he loses anyway. Believe me when I say that seeing him win actually something actually good made me so happy that it looked like he won the Grammys, the Oscars and the Nobel Prize. This boy deserves much more luck. And of course, I don't think I need to mention all the times the other members "torture" him for the sake of competition. He got so much that he even said that he's an old man now. This makes me go "PLS, you're older than me just for one year 😭".

But besides all of this, I should write at least some little words about his performer side. This boy, this boy drives me insane every time he performs. To be fair, TxT performs very well in my eyes, there's a lot of teamwork and coordination on it. But Yeonjun always has that sign, that more input, that move that gives the choreography the reason why it's so memorable. Calling a beast stage is not enough for me. He was born to be a performer.

Speaking of performance...I think everyone will agree that he's giving us the best moments ever as an MC. Not only for his outfits mind you, I know everyone is thinking about those right now. Those are iconics too. But I'm talking about how he acts with the hosts too( especially if they're my faves you have no idea how much I lost my mind hehe). He's always so lovely and friendly, so respectful and charismatic, it seems that becoming a MC was written in destiny for him.

My dear Yeonjun, I just want to tell you that you're amazing. I know that you always promise to us that you'll be a better singer, dancer, member and idol in general and that you always aspire to be perfect. But I want to remind you that it's ok to take a step back too. You deserve to take a break sometimes. I know you don't want to because you struggled so much for becoming an idol. I'll always remember how teary you were after you filmed the first video for your debut.

But I also want to tell you that you found four wonderful members who love you and look up to you every time. I know, I know, some of them are VEEEEERY annoying to you sometimes but remember that they love you dearly. And don't forget about us MOAs too. We are and we'll always be your biggest fans.

I think what I wrote here might be your birthday wish for you today. You need a little reminder sometimes.

Hope you'll celebrate this day happily with the members and MOAs too. I'm pretty sure the members will give you wonderful gifts for sure.

Happy birthday, my cool fox 🦊

[the-one-true-vexxter]

Vespera ⚡🧨

Full Name: Vespera Savage

Nicknames: Vesp

Universe: Sycleria (~300 years before present day)

Species: Storm Witch, in life

Age: 39 at death

Birthday: October 28th

Height: 5'11"

Pronouns: She/Her (cis female)

Orientation: Bisexual

Occupation: Former guildmaster and founder of the Stormbringers (an elite society for storm-based magic users and any others looking to become stronger)

Abilities: Not only is she physically strong in the arms, but she's a magic powerhouse- hailing from the storm field (a mixture between air and electric), she can summon and manipulate bolts of lightning, power anything that requires electricity, melt certain objects from heat, create barriers of static electricity, attract/repel metals, and even to a lesser extent "fly" for short periods of time (it looks more like she's just jumping really high and hovering for a bit). She has a high amount of magical energy and takes a while to burn out. Also, she has a unique ability that runs in her family - she can "feed" off of the energy of others' magic output, so the more energy they use against her, the more she has for her own attacks.

Basic Personality: Vespera's the queen bee type - outspoken, flashy, and with a sense of confidence that often escalates into a god complex. Her love of luxury and her need to be the best at everything, as if she constantly has something to prove, makes her come off as entitled and impatient. She can be a people person and friendly to those she's drawn to most - the outsiders, powerful and power-hungry - and supportive of their growth yet still demanding, but shows her true colors once she gains their trust. She lives for the spotlight and views magic as a gift for only the strong and capable, which should be used to its highest potential... even at others' expense.

Likes: Storms, spa days, journaling, parties, her guild, bold colors, fireworks, shopping, destroying the competition, using her powers, getting her way, sweet things, fellow storm users

Dislikes: Losing, Aleron, familiars in general, her sister, being interrupted, water, being forced to sit still, failure, cowards, disrespect, being teased or made fun of

As a reward for her talents, she advanced rapidly - joining the military, founding a guild of her own for the like-minded (the Stormbringers) and entering the ranks of the greatest magic users from each field (the Tower of Sorcery). Though, she quickly became mad with power, using her influence to instill terror into those beneath her and permitting and even organizing attacks on those she deemed threats to the Stormbringer's power. This radical shift got her banned from the Tower and she organized a major attack in retaliation.

Background (i feel like it's necessary here): Vespera was always prone to angry outbursts as a child, and growing up surrounded by non-magic humans who "othered" the magic-using crowd, along with a "naturally talented" older sister who she was often compared to and weak-willed parents who never addressed her issues, definitely didn't help. As part of a jealous streak as a child, she demanded a gryphon familiar to outdo her sister - and was instead gifted the scrawny and timid Aleron. Out of spite, she would abuse him throughout their childhoods (without consequences due to the time period) and scared those around her with her rapid progression in training, until she had trained long and hard enough to be on the same level as if not outperform her sister.

It was actually her own familiar, Aleron, that would do her in during this final stand - the last person she expected to challenge her in a battle to the death and win. Currently, her vengeful spirit is sealed inside the top piece of her staff and guarded by Aleron, waiting to one day be released.

[starwell-tarot]

you are literally the sweetest person ever😭😭😭

1. Some advice of how I can concentrate better?13

2. How can I motivate myself better?

17

3. How can I balance out my life better?

44

4. How can I maintain my relationships stable?

6

5. How to avoid being under too much stress?

3

6. Self care tip for when I'm stressed?

28

7. Some words of encouragement for when I'm in a tough spot?

5

8. (optional!) What to use as a coping mechanism instead of maladaptive daydreaming?

33

THANK YOU SO MUCH DARLING

Hi!! Sorry that it's taken me so long to do the reading. I've been undergoing turmoil in my personal life and brooding with negative energy so I kept putting off your reading so that i don't influence it with my pessimism.

But it's done now 😁

The reading is under the disclaimers!

Disclaimer: All my readings contain themes of mental and emotional struggles and pains as they strive to comfort those. I don't intend on rubbing you the wrong way and I'm doing this with the hope I can help people feel better, but if it doesn't work I might just not be the right person to comfort you.

Disclaimer: I'm not a mental health professional in any way. Although my tarot readings focus on giving emotional and mental reassurance, I can only give you as much as a friend could give you - encouraging words, friendly advice, a shoulder to cry on or a metaphorical hug. Please take in the information responsibly, and if your mental health is greatly affecting your day to day functions, please consider looking for a professional if possible. I'm afraid I can't be more than a tarot-enthusiastic friend.

Take what resonates and leave what doesn't. Take care of yourselves and remember hope is your best friend. 🖤

✏️Some advice of how I can concentrate better?

Knight of Wands

You have a burning passion inside you already, actually. You're not afraid of a challenge, ever, right? Concentration could be a game for you too, so you can get competitive: there's many layers of thought in your mind and you're looking for something to keep it moving, some sort of adventure or thrill. And it distracts you from the moment, takes first place in your mind while concentration loses the competition. How about you help it win? Help your focusing abilities fend off distractions, challenge yourself towards the discipline of, no I won't let you win. I will focus what I want to focus on.

When you feel you can't focus, challenge yourself. I can do it for 10 minutes. Bet? I can do it for half an hour! Collect win by win every single day and perhaps you can even come up with prizes 😁 use that fire inside of you and discover how powerful you can really be if you put your mind to it - you'll destroy any adversary!

✏️How can I motivate myself better?

The High Priestess

In school, we often feel we have to juggle a lot of information. The way we usually see it is : personal life and school life - you would much rather be with your passions, hobbies and friends and get lost in that cirlce of information rather than the information being taught in classes. However, the high priestess stands for challenge that mentality. What you're really juggling, is information that will feed your soul and temporary information. And no matter what you do, you still have to juggle both. They coexist.

Information that will feed your soul can of course come from friends, passions, but it also comes as wisdom in the form of experience, mindsets, techniques, etc. Even in the form of tidbits of knowledge learnt from some random class. You don't know what kind of piece of information might just turn out to feed your soul and help you grow into the person you are meant to be.

Information that is temporary can be classes, information you have to intake just to be judged in a system and evaluated. But surprisingly it could also be passing interests, passing friends, etc.

Maybe this is a little bit too philosophical, but here's how i see it: you should use the uncertainty of what information will be and won't be useful as your motivation. Keep studying, keep doing your best. You'll learn so much information, in so many domains, you'll learn different ways of learning and expression, yada yada. Not everything will be useful. Not everything will be to your liking or seem important. But you actually don't know that. The more you do and learn things, the more you get to know yourself, and build a landscape of skills and preferences inside yourself. The most important thing is you growing into a defined individual with personal wisdom, not the way you are evaluated in education systems. So in very very simple words, your motivation to study well should be that information can help you grow as an individual 😂  sheesh i wrote you a novel jeez 🤣

✏️How can I balance out my life better?

Page of swords

The card specifies there's no shame in having passions and interests. Those help us grow, at the end of the day. But, set your intentions clear. Your life is complex and everything in it matters all the same. You can of course enjoy what you want to enjoy but make sure that the plans you have for the day include doing more than one thing. Maybe try to come up with a schedule at the beginning of the day 🤔 "today I'm gonna cater to my hobbies for a few hours, study and make sure to call a friend." Something like that 😁 Remain open to life and you'll be surprised how many things can make you happy 😊

✏️How can I maintain my relationships stable?

III of Cups

The benefits of community come from the feeling of being supported, right? But that's easier said and done, to be supported and be supportive.

Albeit it can be hard, be open to your peers about your struggles. Allow them to carry some of your weight if they offer to do so. But also - if you're not right with yourself, you can't be supported or support others either. If you need space, ask for space. You don't always need to be around your peers to be close to them. Sometimes the best way they can help you is gifting you the space and time you need. And you, at the same time, if you don't feel alright yourself, avoid shouldering other's problems too often, for it can make things worse. In conclusion, offer inwards before you offer outwards and make sure your peers do the same, so that you can much easier enjoy abundance.

✏️How to avoid being under too much stress?

The Sun R

The dark of night is only there to signal you that a new day is coming - but the sun never leaves the sky. The cold of winter is only there to signal you that warmer times are coming - the sun will be strong again. The same way, stress is only here to signal you something is wrong or difficult. Validate that for yourself. The night is dark, the winter is cold. Whatever stresses you out is in fact, difficult, tiring, frustrating, unfair, etc. It's not gonna be easy or fast to solve, yes. But you will solve it, just like the night turns to day and the cold turns to warmth. It's only dark while you stumble in the dark, wanting to remind yourself the sun exists. So practice letting go of stress as early as you can. It's impossible to not be stressed at all, of course. But let go of stress as early as you can, believe in your abilities, in your solutions and that hardship will pass. The sooner you let go of the feeling of stress once it arises, the less likely you are to stack it up with other stress inducing occurrences.

✏️Self care tip for when I'm stressed?

Queen of Pentacles

If you're not a nature person this is gonna flop real bad but 😂

The self care tip for this card is called spiritual grounding. It's the practice that lets you feel connected to nature again. So, go find a piece of nature for yourself. Admire the trees, the sunlight through branches and leaves, touch the grass, feel how the soil offers a home to all these plants. You're not much different from them, you see. You grow, live and breathe in this world just like them. The soil is your home too, and you are safe and at home too. It's just that humanity has complicated its life a bit too much, you know? Take a few minutes to breathe in the simplicity of nature.

✏️Some words of encouragement for when I'm in a tough spot?

The hierophant

People can be wrong. That's it. That's the wisdom 😂

No, but seriously. Parents, teachers, siblings, friends, they can be wrong. Especially when it comes to things related to you - what is best for you, what you should do, who you should be. I think you've noticed that before right? Not all advice will be the right advice. Not all guidance will be the right guidance. So you don't have to follow through with everything. You can find your own path and figure out your own answers.

And at the same time, you can be wrong too. You can make mistakes. Forgive yourself for the times you didn't know better.

✏️What to use as a coping mechanism instead of maladaptive daydreaming?

III of Swords

I'm not fully satisfied with the answer I'm gonna give you. Perhaps this question is just above my pay grade to answer 😭

The card suggests talking to one self in order to check in on feelings, thoughts and current states of mind. Like, having open communication with yourself so that you can be aware of what goes on inside you.

In my experience with daydreaming, it's always been because I am lonely, want to feel heard or loved or appreciated. Maybe you too can figure out exactly what makes you daydream and it'll help you see the real wound behind it and be more in touch with reality 🤔 Maybe it's suggesting using daydreaming to have conversations with yourself that can help you problem solve and be more self aware.

I know you asked for a different coping mechanism and this isn't really that much different - but perhaps because i have the same issue i just don't know the answer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

------

That's it! Feedback will be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help with the last question. Hope this was useful to you, still. 😁

[eun-gealach]

How it feels to follow the opposite art fight team’s tag

[justanacorn]

- Face The Noodle -

Fluff | Headcannons

Characters: Itto, Childe, Ayato

Sypnosis: What happens when you challenge our lovely boys to a noodle duel?

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Itto:

It was a long day, you went shopping, cleaned the house. Now it was time for you to enjoy yourself.

Your husband has been out pretty much the whole day. Which began to annoy you a great deal. Mostly because you've been here in the house almost the whole day, and he's not been home once.

You just wanted his attention, but it's kind of hard to get when he's out with the gang so much each day.

So, you got the best form of sweet, sweet revenge. And it's not something only you'd like, it's a fun, friendly little competition.

When you were shopping earlier, you found two red pool noodles. What better way to satisfy your need for attention AND fuel your husbands want for competition then a noodle duel?

So you wait for him to come home, and when he does, you first smile innocently then greet him with a hug.

Then..

Bamm

You grab both pool noodles from behind the door and threw one at him.

"I challenge you to a noodle duel; if I win I get your full attention tomorrow, if you win then... Uh... The gang can come over for dinner tomorrow!" You get into the most accurate fighting position that you totally didn't get from watching too much tv.

Itto, being the biggest competitor ever, agreed, of course. He caught the noodle you threw at him and spun it between his fingers.

You both moved outside, and the battle began.

The point of the game is to knock the other person down with the pool noodle. Both of you decide the boundary would be the whole grass area of your yard.

Physical strength wise, you didn't really have much there, but intelligence? Definitely.

Itto never went easy on you, and you really appreciated it because it made every competition you both had all the more fun.

If Itto wins, he'll brag for a bit and then say something else completely unexpected.

"That's right! As expected, the one and oni Arataki Itto is victorious! You weren't expecting that one, were you Firecracker?... Ehem, Instead of the gang coming over for dinner tomorrow, how about we go on a date?"

If you win, he's a bit disappointed, but unlike he is with the children, he doesn't mind losing to you (at least he doesn't show it, but he very much does mind, just a but less than usual.

"How did I lose? Aw man, that was just a warm up! I will have my rematch win next time! It was just a coincidence, but as promised, I'll spend the whole day with you tomorrow."

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Childe:

Your husband walks up to random people on the streets that he thinks are good opponents. You love him for how hard he tries, but now it's just getting embarrassing.

So, you decided that maybe its time you try and do the most spousely thing possible--make a bet with him and win so you aren't always looked at in public.

Now, it's not actually all the time he does it, but it's frequent enough to annoy you, that's for sure.

For the first step, you had to decide what you were going to challenge him to. It had to be something you had a chance to beat him at, which is a bit hard considering how talented he is.

You for sure thought that combat was automatically put of the question, but when you saw those pool noodles you hadn't used in more than a year--you understood what had to be done.

The second step was to plan how to beat him, and your idea was simple, Catch him off guard.

You didn't know how you were going to do that, but it was worth your public image, right?

When he got home, you instantly went in for the attack. The moment he stepped through that door you threw the pool noodle at him.

Then, you pointed yours at him with determination on your face as you said. "We shall partake in a noodle duel, if I win you stop trying to fight random people in public for a month, if you win... Uh, what do you want?"

He laughs at this and says, "I will accept your challenge, but what I want in return will remain a secret until the very end."

He wouldn't agree unless you accepted his terms, so you reluctantly did.

You both go outside and the challenge has officially begun.

If your plan to catch him off guard fails, he will eventually beat you.

"Were you waiting for me to let my guard down? How clever, such a shame that I didn't give you the chance. I quite would've like to see your attempts to best me. My reward? Oh, I didn't plan that, but now that I think about it. How about we have dinner with my family soon? Teucer always sends letters on how much he misses us both."

If your plan succeeds, he's very impressed. But this is not the end, there will be other chances for him to best you, be prepared.

"Well, Love. You outsmarted me, I'm quite impressed. I guess if you're around I won't have to fight random people now, hm? I'll stick to my end. How about we go out for dinner today? My treat."

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Ayato:

He's always so busy, and it really takes away from the time you spend together.

Ayato spends more time with his work desk and the papers on it than he does with you.

You could also tell when he gets home so late at night that he has no time to relax.

It made you really worry for him, so you tried thinking of a way to let him have fun for once!

The first thing you did was try and get him a day fully cleared. No work, no expeditions, nothing.

Then, you looked for ideas that would get Ayato to let loose and enjoy himself.

That was easier said then done. Sure, you could go on a date to the movies, bake something, join a class together, but those were all quite basic ideas.

You wanted to plan something he'd never expect. Something...

Combat wise, with the need for intelligence, and still fun. A noodle battle! That was the answer you were looking for.

Sure, he'd be a but on guard as to make sure he doesn't lose to you, but that was fine as long as he had fun in the end.

So when he comes home that day, you bring up the idea to him, and first he's questioning it a bit.

But he'll eventually agree after a while of hearing your reasonings.

So on his off day, the noodle duel starts.

You toss him a noodle and then explain the rules and boundaries.

The reward to whomever won was simple: the other person does a favor for them.

Ayato will not go easy on you, but he will lower his attack a bit because he does not want to harm you in any way.

If he wins, he'll be quite happy, and very grateful that you did this for him.

"That was quite fun, it's been a while since I've enjoyed myself this much. Thank you, My Love. I greatly appreciate you for this, as for my favor, why don't we spend more time together tomorrow? I'll take the day off for you."

If you win, it's pretty much the same reaction, only a few changes.

"You beat me, you've certainly sharpened your skills, I'm proud of you. What would you like as your award? Just to spend a day with me? Then how about we go on a date tomorrow? Thank you for this, I feel much more relaxed than usual."

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Main Taglist: (send and ask of you'd like to be added, and please specify which series out of the four I have, you can choose multiple.)

@c0nn0rv8

A/n: Tbh I saw this prompt and when I read "Noodle Duel" I knew I had to write something for it, so I asked my friends who they'd want to beat with a pool noodle for fun and here we are.

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[astaroth1357]

request: an MC thats very good w playing games or like,,, is proficiently skilled in all game categories or smrhn

alsp hi xander i love ur writing

and can i giv u a kith? if so: mwah 😚

Well I hate to tell ya, sweetie, but I’m not Xander. I’m Jazzy. Hello! I can see why you’d want something written by Xander, though. He’s mad talented (better at this than I am quite frankly) and he’s on the list of people I wish I could write as well as. I guess we can both take a moment to be sad that I’m not Xander… *sigh*... to be Xander… 😔

Oh well, I am who I am and I don’t begrudge that fact. Meanwhile, I’ve wanted to do more shout-outs so everybody go read @sevendeadlymorons! If you’re not… I mean… why not? He’s more than worth your time. In the meantime, I hope I can entertain you despite my not-Xanderness.

Brothers React to an MC Who’s Good at Games and Stuff 

Lucifer

Honestly couldn’t care less about the MC’s game proficiency in most cases. So they’re good at games? Good for them, he’s sure they’re happy.

But when they’re playing against him on the other hand…

Well, Lucifer may or may not be skilled at whatever game you set him on (he’s a very quick learner so never underestimate him), but he’s whole new levels of competitive when he wants to be. ESPECIALLY if he already thinks he’s hot shit at something.

Video games? Not his forte. Table top games? One word for you: Chess.

Lucifer believes that he can and will whip pretty much anyone’s ass in chess. That includes Satan, Solomon, Levi, and even Diavolo. He is at grandmaster level.

So imagine his shock, no, his disdain to have lost a game of chess to the MC… The moment they said "Checkmate" he stared at the board in front of them for a solid five minutes trying to work out where he went wrong…

And he wasn’t having that.

He and the MC now have regular chess matches in which he wins some and loses some so the tally stays pretty evenly tied. Really it’s all good fun... (but if they think he’s going to let them go home when he’s on a losing count, they’re Dead. Wrong. He’ll drag them back to down just to play chess with him until the score is right again. He DOES NOT lose, you hear? 🤨).

Mammon

Guess who’s found his gambling buddy?? 

No, really. He and the MC can make a KILLING at a Poker or Blackjack table! He’s never seen anyone better at poker than they are!! They have nerves of steel and give nothing away, so he’s lost more than a few hands to them before...

Even past the casinos, they’re perfect for making bets on! He once arranged a Devil Cart competition between the MC and Levi and took bets around RAD for who’d win...

Naturally, everybody assumed the Devildom’s resident Super-Otaku would win hands down, but the MC had this insane last minute save with a blue shell and pulled ahead in the last lap!!

He was like, the only person that bet on the MC and he got soooo much money that MC found HIM crying and hugging a bag of Grimm after the match…

Any time they win a game that gets him money, he’ll treat them like royalty for the next week. Man knows not to bite the hand that feeds him!... and creditors at bay... 😬

It may get slightly annoying that Mammon won't stop telling them about gaming competitions where they can get him more prize money, but hey, at least he's supportive, I guess.

Leviathan

Oh they are either his best friend or mortal enemy… Sometimes both in the same day.

Our boy hates losing, can't stand it any better than Lucifer, you KNOW the second he knows there's someone out there who even has a chance of beating him, he gets serious. This is not a "friendly rivalry," MC.

When they’re playing any game against each other, he'll call them by their gamertag/online persona to keep himself focused (yes, even if they’re playing Monopoly). They can't be his MC right now, they gotta be the person he's going to beat...

He's NOT opposed to dirty tactics to win, either. Saying things that will get them mad or flustered mid-match? Check. Using his tail to distract or tease them? Check. Just being a general nuisance/annoyance in game for the hell of it? Guilty as charged!

He's both a sore winner AND a sore loser, so unfortunately MC, you really can't win here... He'll be obnoxious regardless of the outcome.

However… when they’re on the same team, it's really something special. They don't just destroy the competition, they bulldoze over them like an armored tank barreling through rush hour traffic!

These two are legends in the online gaming community and have even started a streaming channel on the side. Sometimes your worst enemies also make the best allies... Who knew? 🤷‍♀️

Satan

Is surprisingly impressed by their gaming prowess. Are they just supremely skilled or incredibly lucky, you think…?

That being said, he's not the biggest gaming man on the planet so he's not too competitive with them one way or the other.

When Satan plays a video game, he usually goes for story-based, single-person experiences anyway so it's not like he could compete with them even if he wanted to.

That being said, they do share an informal challenge of sorts when it comes to puzzle/detective games (a not so guilty pleasure of his). He likes to try and beat the levels first, so when they start playing a new one they'll both compare time spent and scores.

He even enjoys playing those Devildom-style AR murder mystery games with them! It’s pretty cute to watch Satan get into it, he dips into his inner Levi and cosplays as some of his favorite TV drama detectives for the occasion and insists they dress as his co-star (best just go along with him. It’s not a bad time, even if they have to carry around an old tobacco pipe for a few hours).

Asmodeus

Good at games? That sounds dangerously like they're another Levi… 🙄 What about party games? Oh oh, or drinking games??

Actually scratch that. How about ANY game while drunk? That sounds pretty fun doesn’t it??

Like Drunk Truth or Dare!! Oh that's a favorite of his… 🤭

To be fair to the MC, the booze does diminish their skills somewhat (because that's kind of what it does in general) but not by all that much… It's pretty impressive.

He once challenged them to a game of Drunk Twister figuring that they'd be too unsteady to actually win for once, but no. If anything, the alcohol must have numbed the stretching pains because they bent over him like a pretzel!

Not that he was complaining or anything… 😏

He likes to take the MC to parties where he knows a game or two will be played just to show off to the crowd and brag that they’re HIS lovely, talented human! You go, MC, beat that competition to a pulp! 😌

Beelzebub

Sports count as games too, right? Well, they aren't half bad at those either.

Beel found it surprising that he found a human who could actually keep up with him. His brothers rarely want to play practice games with him anyway so it’s pretty exciting to have a sports partner at home!

He likes to ask the MC to help him train with practice matches or to go over certain moves or maneuvers he’s having trouble with. It’s not uncommon for the brothers to come home and find the two of them tossing a ball around in the front yard or something.

And the both of them on the same team? Forget it. It takes the dream team of Lucifer and Mammon (who aren’t just arguing with each other for once) to even come close to a challenge for them.

He also enjoys playing the occasional video game with them, though he treats it a lot like playing with Levi and just assumes he’ll never win unless he gets lucky - which does happen from time to time.

He doesn’t mind losing that much as long as he’s having fun, and if nothing else he can always win against them in an eating contest… He’s got those on lockdown. Come at’em MC, he’ll pack away an entire fridge before you’re done with your first plate. Try him.

Belphegor

So Belphie enjoys a good game or two - video-based or otherwise - it comes with the lazy-bastard territory. He may not be as skilled as Levi, but he can hold his own in some genres.

But he’s given up on beating the MC looong ago.

Do you know how much practice it would take? How many hours that he would have to use?? The hours where he could be napping instead???  Yeah, no thanks. They can continue to be the reigning Super Smash Devils champion for all he cares.

Buuuut even he has to admit, it’s pretty relaxing to watch the MC play something in the background... There’s a certain sort of satisfaction to watching someone who’s good at a game just play it straight through.

If they’re set up in Levi’s room or the Common area then Belphie may come over, set his pillow up on the floor, and watch them play. He may even throw in a comment or two like, “You missed a health pack,” or “Better save now,” but other than that he likes to just let them do their thing.

The MC has had many an all-nighter with Belphie spectating until about 4am or so. Then he’s dead to the world and they have to work out how to get his not-exactly-light demon ass onto a couch…

Or they can just leave him faceplanted and snoring on the floor. Up to them, really cause he did it to himself. 🤷‍♀️

[dragongirl642]

I really love your writing and noticed your asks are open (i think). And, I checked your masterlist and didn't see RE8 listed as a universe you write for, so you can ignore this if you want. But, could I request Heisenberg, Donna, and Lady Dimitrescu reacting to a male dragon-shifter reader who has decided to make the character's residence their hoard, and as such, going to extreme lengths to protect them and the residence?

OOOHHH 😮😳 How did you know dragons (and by extent dragon shifters) are my favourite things in the whole wide world!!!!!

As a treat, you get all four of the Lords' reactions. 😎

For extra drama, the dragon-shifter (you) basically crash land nearby (after a loooooonnnngggg flight) and decide to take up residence in the nearest abode while you rest, and end up getting comfortable and liking the area so decide to stay.

You have a full human form, fully dragon form, and an in-between form.

Also, you have like saintly levels of patience.

Heisenberg

It takes him a minute of staring to figure out that the giant dragon in the factory, is not a hallucination, induced by either the drinking he was doing the night prior, or a trick of Mother Miranda's trying to destabilize him mentally.

However this quickly turns into a lot of yelling "what the F are you doing in my factory!" and "What the F are you!" while chucking metal at you.

You melt the more dangerous pieces and yell at him to "Cease this nonsense! You can't hurt me like this."

Heisenberg.exe has stopped working.

He's partially re-evaluating his life like...did I just get sassed by a giant lizard.

You take the initiative to tell the small angry man telekinetically chucking metal around to chill. "Listen, I'm just going to rest here a few days then leave. You leave me alone, and I won't Incinerate you."

He quickly weighs up how much he doesn't want you here vs how much it will piss Mother Miranda off if he uses the giant dragon crash landing in his factory as an excuse to do absolutely nothing for her.

He's a bit annoyed about you taking up all the room by the forges so he can't make new soldats but...

Hate for Miranda wins!

He actually uses this as an excuse in his next report and Mother Miranda comes to 'get rid of the problem herself since Heisenberg cannot'...you almost incinerated her and she checked out. (He's putting that down as one of the best days of his life).

Since he now has nothing better to do he either leans on a nearby balcony or stands on a floating gear and starts trying to get your attention.

Will ask you everything from your name and where you came from to your favourite colour and if you have a specific favourite scale on your body.

You're distrustful and annoyed at first but soon warm up to this obviously lonely man.

You get so comfortable you decide you just might never leave.

The first time you feel comfortable enough to shift back to your human form Heisenberg is like (o_o) hot person! Two for one deal, annoying Mother Miranda plus Eye Candy!!!!

Makes a joke about having you turn into your dragon form again so he can keep making excuses to Mother Miranda. Which gets you curious and you ask about her, and he explains about the cadou, the experiments, and what she did to him.

He will make a bunk for you, so he can get back to work and you can stay near the heat of the forges, (absorbing the energy from the flames speeds up recovery and/or keeps you charged at 100% so you're always ready to burn a b1tch...specifically Miranda).

You both talk about whatever while he works. Lots of late night chats. One time he accidentally doused the forges and you just blew into the chamber and they re-lit immediately. (Mechanical Heart Eyes)

Since you start considering the entire factory to be your hoard, sometimes you claim a random object as your specific favourite piece for the day, maybe one of his tools or a specific piece of scrap. If he needs to use it, you won't let him and a small argument can be had. A solution is soon found though, you can't have a conflict of interest if your favourite item is him.

When you protect him, he's super flattered and hypes you up.

Cue him on the sides cheering you on.

If you two have started dating he will definitely yell "that's my boyfriend!" and gush about you to whoever happens to be standing next to him. (Bonus points if it's any of the other Lords. Especially Miranda, she is dying!)

Definitely makes a sign saying 'Beware of Dragon' to put on the fence.

Sometimes you jump to his defence even when he's in the middle of handling the threat. He gets huffy, saying he can take care of himself. You respond by telling him you won't let anything harm what's yours and once again, Heisenberg.exe is experiencing an error.

Alcina Dimitrescu

She is absolutely dismayed and angry at the giant lizard that barged its way through the doors and took up residency in her hall. It's tracking in mud and snow, burned the curtains, and took a good chunk of the wall, (letting in the cold).

Her daughters can't handle the cold, damn you!

Tries to fight you...fails. Turns out she's not immune to incineration and loses quite a few limbs (they grow back...eventually).

When she sees you shift to your human form, she's doubly-incensed...not only did you barge into her home but your also a D I S G U S T I N G M A N T H I N G !

You shift back whenever she tries to kill you so eventually she just gives up. (According to her she's waiting for the right opportunity NOT giving up.)

Wants to kill you, calls Mother Miranda for help and well, the same thing happens if you had crashed in the factory...she checks out!

Refuses to leave the castle for any reason, she's not leaving you along with her daughters.

Resigns herself to yelling insults at you from the balcony.

You respond in kind and it slowly devolves into a competition to come up with the most creative insults.

Your dragon form radiates heat...like...a lot. (Even counteracting the cold coming through the hole in the wall, which you attempted to fix.) This of course attracts the Dimitrescu daughters to the hall (against their mother's will).

If Alcina sees you lying their in dragon from, her three hive-mind children chattering away happily with you encouraging their curiosity, (Bela is half-asleep by your side, Daniela is complimenting your claws and asking about your bone structure, while Cassandra proudly proclaims her mother's are better than yours), she partly reconsiders her stance on you being a filthy, horrible, disgusting lizard man thing to just a filthy lizard man thing.

Seriously, your filthy, take a bath.

You quite enjoy all the little luxuries that can be found in the castle and decide to stay. Alcina almost shreds her hat in exasperation.

You get more comfortable and she starts to tolerate your presence, although she will take a swipe at you if she thinks she has a chance at killing you in your human form.

Jokes on her you can partially change and still fit through the hallways.

You never told her you've claimed the castle and the Dimitrescu family as your hoard but she does notice you being oddly friendly to her and she is "suspicious!"

You've met a few vampires and have a few suggestions for a more sustainable food source (buying blood donations from villagers instead of killing them). She's skeptical but considers it.

The first time you defend her is actually against Mother Miranda...over the phone. You have sharp hearing...and you don't like what you're hearing.

She's both flattered you would defend her so, and disgusted with herself for accepting a man thing's help.

When she realises she likes having you around, she starts to rationalise to herself that you're not just any man thing, you're her dragon man thing and therefore okay.

Gets more comfortable with leaving you with her daughters. You treat them well and keep them entertained?! That's a free babysitter if ever she's seen one.

When she sees the more extreme lengths you will go to protect the castle and her family, she is impressed and flattered and a little scared, and acts like it was her idea to have you stay.

"Oh, haven't you heard, that's the Dimitrescu Dragon."

Definitely rubs it in Heisenberg's face that she has a dragon and he doesn't.

Donna Beneviento

What are you!?!?!

To protect Donna, Angie is ready to fight you or die trying!

Just kind off avoids you and sends the pollen at you to make you leave.

The only one of the four Lords most likely to actually defeat you.

When you speak though, telling her to "release (your) mind, witch, or (you'll) incinerate everything", she's surprised and scared enough to actually do so.

Asks if you'll be her friend. Angie is cussing you out.

You see how scared and lonely she is and just *adoption mode activated*.

You only need to rest a few days, why not do so on friendly terms with your host. (keep telling yourself that).

It takes a day for you to shift to human form, partially because you don't want to have your measurements taken because Donna wants to make you a giant bonnet, (You reason it's a waste of resources, you'll only be here a short while).

Jokes on you, this is your home now.

You've never hoarded dolls before, but there's a first time for everything.

You will spend most of your time in human form since your dragon form kinda scares her.

Even though she's still scared of it, Donna does find your dragon form interesting and will ask to sketch you (from a distance...no fire please).

Make various over-exaggerated poses and joke about "draw me like one of your french girls" and she will laugh, (even though she doesn't get the joke).

She makes a plush doll of you. It turns inside out to shift between human and dragon.

The first time you protect her, she's scared. The flames take her straight back to her childhood, she's crying and she hides. You shift back to human form very quickly and find her, holding her close and apologising for scaring her over and over.

Will tear a man apart in human form to avoid this (or almost human form).

She slowly works up to being comfortable in your dragon form, the first time she falls asleep against your side is a good day.

You start insisting on accompanying her to meetings and escorting her whenever she has to meet another Lord. They start talking sh1t, they get hit (or burned...you let Donna choose).

Angie cheers you on.

Salvatore Moreau

He is terrified of you when you first show up.

You basically tear your way into the mines for shelter and he is frantically plugging the entrance to his home with the enzyme to hide.

Calls for "mother" to save him and that's how you find him.

You see this small deformed fish man crying in the mine and think, "i'm not gonna ask."

You settle in the slightly larger chamber and just lie down for a rest.

He soon realises your not going to attack him and ventures out to stare at you. He just keeps staring at you for like an uncomfortably long time, peeking around a doorway.

Eventual you snap and ask him to stop staring.

He slowly comes out of hiding and starts asking the basics.

"You can talk?" "Who are you?" "Why are you here?"

Seeing no reason not to, you tiredly answer all his questions.

Hearing about your long journey has him curiously asking about the places you've been to.

He quickly figures out you must have some sort of human form since you end up on the topics of favourite foods or movies and your favourites are all distinctly human. (He's the fastest at figuring this out and the least surprised when you shift).

Terrifying (hideous) creature going through an unnerving transformation into a humanoid form...he can relate. Although he's slightly jealous of how 'normal' you look when you shift to human form.

You two have a movie night where he proudly shows of his collection. It is in the middle of him analysing the context of THAT ONE SCENE that you decide, Yes...This one is mine.

The entire reservoir and mine is your territory and if anything comes anywhere near it they will be ash in 30 seconds.

When you protect him from danger, he's shocked that someone cares enough about him to f-ing incinerate a lycan for even looking at him weirdly.

You act like its natural and eventually he starts to get used to you.

Has self doubt and questions your motives...you tell him he's worth it or that he's your jewel.

C O N F I D E N C E B O O S T

Starts talking back to the other Lords when they insult him. It's easy with you hovering menacingly behind him, veins glowing with barely contained R A G E.

One source of friction however, is the fact that he doesn't like that you keep trying to kill Mother Miranda and he will latch onto you sobbing until you agree to spare her (for now...you'll get her when he's not around).

However, the longer you two know each other, the more self-confidence he gains and the more you talk through what Mother Miranda did to him and why he deserves better, (pointing out her manipulation, analyses whether she's ever 'cared' about him, etc...), the less bothered he gets. (Give it a few years, he'll cheer you on alongside Heisenberg).

Bonus:

The second you see Mother Miranda...it is on sight. (Especially if you know what she did to the Lords).

Cue you shifting to dragon form and preparing to unleash a volley of flame, "I smell the blood of children on you."

You may be comfortable(ish) with the actions of your housemate but you have STANDARDS.

Alright 😊 Hoped you like these headcanons, jaychirps. They were really fun to write and grew quite a bit. 😅

(I feel like Moreau's a bit ooc but I don't know enough about him to dispute that claim....)

Oh and p.s. ... asks are open.

[oh-boy-me]

Can I please see MC beating the brothers at something they would normally excel at? Thank you, and have a great day or night! 💚

Hello look I’m finally getting back to old requests!  Surprise, 💚 anon!

Also, I chose specific things for MC to beat them at, because it made it easier to formulate thoughts.

--

Lucifer: Chess

Hmm.  This is.  He doesn’t like this.

He’s the demon of pride.  He’s supposed to be--no, he is--the best at everything.  Diavolo and Barbatos are the only ones allowed to hold a candle to him.

“Congratulations, MC,” he says out loud.  “It was a fluke.  I let them win.  There’s no way they actually beat me,” he says to himself.  He tries to hide his bad mood, but it’s pretty noticeable that he’s seething in his seat.

He needs to reclaim his throne, and they better not even think about letting him win or they’ll just make things worse.  Is this a healthy way to handle defeat?  Absolutely not.  But a hit to his pride is a hit to his pride, and he doesn’t take those as well as he’d like you to think.

The only way for MC to remedy this quickly is to point out that he taught them these skills.

Honestly the fact that it was chess specifically doesn’t really matter.  Lucifer is only fine with being second best at something if it’s luck-based (like Candy Land), or if he REALLY doesn’t care about it (like Candy Land).

Just kidding.  He will destroy them at Candy Land if it’s the last thing he does.

Mammon: Card Games

I tried to keep things related to their sins out of this, because being beaten at your sin would probably make you question your identity.  But with Mammon most of his hobbies seem to tie into his sin in some way, so I think this is our best option.

Anyway, Mammon isn’t happy about this by any means, but it’s also not going to ruin his day like it’d ruin Lucifer’s.

Like, he’ll grumble about it.  And complain.  Loudly.  He might even spam the group chat complaining about it while MC is still right next to him shuffling cards, and then Asmo will say “lol” and Lucifer will accuse him of something unrelated and that’ll make him grumble more.

And MC might have to step in somehow to get him to stop pouting.

If they were playing for money, he’s gonna keep demanding rematches until either he wins or something forces them to stop.

Unlike Lucifer, Mammon will be fine with them letting him win.

But once again, that’s for the money, not really for his pride.  He’s kind of used to losing at the things he’s good at.

Leviathan: Video Games

Hmm this is he doesn’t like this #2

Levi’s kind of built his identity around the things that he’s good at and the things he likes, so for MC to come in and upset that makes him, well, upset.

The first time sucks.  Like Lucifer, he sits there stewing in his frustration.  Unlike Lucifer, he doesn’t bother trying to hide it.  He might even tear up, which definitely pulls on the heartstrings but he shouldn’t be such a sore loser.

The closer MC is with him, the less upset he’ll be over time, though.  Because it changes from “this fucking normie came in and ruined everything” to “ahhhh dammit my friend beat me”.

Also, he’ll only get moody if MC beats him at a game he’s currently invested in.  He’s not gonna be surprised if he’s a little rusty at Street Fighter II now, but ex-father have mercy on anyone who beat him at a DBFZ when it first came out.

He’ll only legitimately try to kill them if they beat his Ruri-chan platformer speedrun time.

Satan: Grades

Satan thinks it’s great!!  He highly values being smart, but he doesn’t think it’s threatening for someone else to be smart too (except Lucifer).

If anything, he’s glad to know MC is someone he can reliably study and compare answers with.  Most of his study buddies end up being impromptu tutoring pupils, and he’d really like to just study for once.

Maybe it's surprising that the avatar of wrath isn’t angry, but like, he seriously doesn’t see this as something to be angry about.

Of course, he’s still literally the sorest loser in the three realms.  Never play games with him.  But this wasn’t a competition, and I can’t exactly say he excels at anything that would be considered a competition.  So yeah, MC manages to escape his wrath through a loophole in the ask.

Is he mad that he didn’t get full marks?  Of course.  But he’s mad at the teacher, not MC.  Unless MC tries to rub it in his face, because that’s just rude.

Asmodeus: Design

I was gonna do like a popularity contest, but we’ve seen him go through one in canon and that’s not gonna really add anything new.

So!  Let’s say he and MC’s designs were both candidates for something, and MC’s ended up being chosen.

Hmm this is he doesn’t like this #3

The problem is that while design has nothing to with his sin, and therefore his base identity, he sure seems to think it does.  Asmo thinks his entire personality is the things he’s good at.

He’s simultaneously the easiest and hardest to deal with out of those who are legitimately upset.  The easiest because while he’ll pout a bit, he’s going to properly congratulate them and it’s hard to tell that he’s upset when he’s giving them so many compliments and talking about how he’s gonna buy one of everything.

The hardest because he’s actually really passive aggressive about it.  For a WHILE.

He’ll also definitely try to steal their ideas for the future, or seduce whoever’s in charge of making the final selection.  It doesn’t matter if he got chosen legitimately or not, what matters is that he gets chosen period.

The best thing MC can do in this situation is get him to understand he wouldn’t actually be happy with a shallow victory like that.

Beelzebub: Sports

Another one who is very excited to have an equal!

Sports need more than one player, after all, and it gets really boring if your opponent is no match for you.

He’ll start to consider MC his friendly rival.  He asks them what their training regimen is and what diet they’ve adopted, so they can compare it with his own (scaled down to be equivalent).  Basically he gets information from them like Asmo does, but unlike Asmo Beel gets it by asking and shares the benefits with MC.

If there’s a sport that neither of them have tried before, he’d love to see how they do one-on-one as complete novices.  He’ll do his best to be mindful of his brute strength advantage if it’s a sport where that would matter.

The only thing he could be upset about MC beating him in is those restaurant challenges where you finish a massive dish within a time limit.  But even then, it’s not because he’s upset he lost.  He’s more concerned about their health, because if MC beat him at that holy shit.

Belphegor

He doesn’t care.

This took so long to come out because I couldn’t think of something MC would beat him at that he would care about.

Like

Slept longer than him??  He’s not gonna throw a fit about that.

And it’s not like he goes into things expecting to win; he barely wants to do things at all.

So yeah the answer for Belphie is it doesn’t matter what you beat him at, he won’t lose sleep over it.

Lmao sloth pun

Masterlist

[delvalentine]

artem x reader drabble

prompt: cherry / writing challenge here

“well, miss? aren’t you impressed?”

marius wags the cherry stem in your face, looking smug. you can’t help but roll your eyes at the suggestive tone.

“anybody can tie a knot in a cherry stem.”

your conversation draws in vyn’s attention who was typing nearby. he raises an eyebrow inquisitively.

“i don’t believe i’ve tried.”

“i bet you can’t beat me, doc.” marius picks a cherry out of the bowl and tosses it to his tutor, who catches it in one hand. “my time was what, 10 seconds?”

you think it’s pretty accurate, though you hardly pay attention to him when he says “hey, look at what i can do!” anymore.

vyn makes a valiant effort but can’t beat 10 seconds, needing 20. it seems like his first time trying and it’s a good time for somebody who’s never done it before, but he has an irritable expression that marius gleefully doesn’t let go of.

luke was just observing from the sideline, but you rope him in. for somebody so multi-talented, he should be good at this too, right? even marius eggs him on, trying to place a bet that the “super spy hotshot” will lose. nobody wants his money, but you can tell everybody in the room is waiting with bated breath as luke sticks the stem into his mouth. he looks confused for a second before his brow scrunches up with determination. it only takes him a count of 9, and marius is devastated.

“you next,” luke says to you, looking pleased with himself.

“let me go again!” marius argues, reaching for a cherry. “i wasn’t really trying—”

“everybody should only get one try!” you rebut, smacking his hand out of the way. you pull a cherry out of the bowl. you haven’t tried this kind of gimmick since high school when it was all the rage and you’re not even sure if you can succeed; but you’ve got a competitive spirit, so you may as well try.

in your concentration you don’t notice artem walking in, clearly confused as he missed everything beforehand. you triumphantly spit out a knotted cherry stem and hear luke whistle in approval.

“eleven seconds.”

“what are you doing?” artem asks from behind you, scaring you lifeless. you whirl around. although he’s not technically your work partner-slash-boss in the NXX room, you feel the same crushing pressure as if it were his office.

“u-um, just a friendly competition of who can tie a knot the fastest.” you leave out the connotation of what it means.

“want to give it a shot, mr. wing?”

everybody in the room knows about artem’s painfully dry dating history. marius looks particularly giddy as he slides the bowl of fruit over. artem disinterestedly picks one out and plucks the stem off.

“i have to tie a knot using only my mouth?” he clarifies, looking skeptical. you’re a little embarrassed that he’s looking right at you.

“yeah.”

marius whips out his phone to time, clearly still hurt over luke’s victory. artem places the stem in his mouth, his expression deadpan. nobody thinks he can actually do it. but in literally five seconds, he removes a perfect knot from his teeth.

“does that mean i win?” he asks, bewildered as marius curses loudly, and he’s so innocent that you almost forget he’s 29 years old. it’s endearingly sweet. you want to congratulate him, but you don’t want him to take it the wrong way. vyn glances between you and him before an almost evil smirk slashes across his face.

“i suppose that means artem is the best kisser out of all of us. don’t you think, [name]?”

you’re mortified. artem looks shocked, his face turning red all the way to the tips of his ears. he looks down at the cherry stem in his hand helplessly.

“i…” his blue eyes keep darting away from yours, unable to hold your gaze. you also can’t seem to look him in the eye.

“oh, don’t worry about it—it’s just for fun!” you stammer, trying to salvage the situation.

“for a man who’s got no game, this is so unfair,” marius whines. you want to hit him with your documents. not helping.

of course, the one who had volunteered to take you home before the cherry fiasco was none other than mr. wing. the car ride is excruciatingly silent. you struggle to come up with other topics to talk about, but the thought of artem being a good kisser haunts your mind.

“what dr. richter said,” he suddenly brings up at a red light, staring forwards intently. “is that… really what it means?”

for a second you worry that you said something out loud by accident. you don’t even know how to reply, not expecting him to have brought it up first. he waits expectantly for an answer and you attempt to put coherent words together.

“it’s just a party trick people use to show off!” you try to reassure, but even you can tell you sound desperate. “it’s only a superstition that… it means you’re a good… y’know.”

despite the a/c, it feels scorchingly hot in the car. artem clears his throat awkwardly.

“i see. thank you for explaining.”

you’ve never been so excited for a ride to end. you hastily grab your bag and move to get out.

“good night,” artem calls out all of the sudden. you pause, but remember that no matter how embarrassed you are right now, he’s still your professional work partner. you steel yourself and eject the thoughts of artem making out with somebody in order to take him seriously.

“good night! drive home safe.”

“i will.”

he waits for you to walk into the building before pulling the cherry stem out of his pocket. the knot has started to dry, rigid in its preservation. he sighs in frustration and tosses it into a cup holder, out of his sight. a good kisser… he could only imagine.

there was only one person he’d even be willing to try with, after all.

[amelee23]

Fool | J. YH

Genre: Fluff

Tags: Best friends to lovers, Suggestive themes and sexual jokes, Wooyoung is an accidental wingman, Nerdy gamers having at it, A lot of Need for Speed references

No. Words: 3.5k

⭐⭐⭐

She always loved when they got completely absorbed in their little bubble - engrossed in what was making them tick in the most passionate of ways. Since Yunho came to pick her up and take her to the dorm, she didn’t even realize when they got there - or even that the house was empty -  because they were too caught in a conversation about the new-coming video games of 2021. The small task of taking off shoes or their jackets, the walk to Yunho’s room and the struggle to get comfortable in the gaming chair; these were not memories in her mind. All she could remember was the way he smiled without stop and the sparkle in his eyes as excitement took over his entire being.

Only after Yunho told her he’s been playing old games lately - specifically racing classics, of the Need For Speed series - had she realized the house was too quiet. Yunho then informed her they all left to eat at a restaurant with the manager team, but he asked to be left behind so he could spend time with his best friend. She couldn’t help the warm smile raising her lips at the sweet sacrifice this man made for her.

A few minutes later and she felt the usual competitive side of her kick in, seeing Yunho with a controller in hand, playing Need for Speed: Underground 2, a game she remembered dearly from her childhood. She couldn’t help but feel she could do so much better than him - and that’s how the challenge came to be.

“Yeah, you want to bet?” Yunho suggested, his cheeks raised in a cheeky smile, but his lips expressed something a lot more smug. 

“2 out of 3: sprint, Street X and drift.” The boy laughed at his best friend’s confidence, finding her determination very charming, like always.

“Deal.” He announced, raising his hand so she could high five the deal to completion. It never failed to amaze him, how gentle her high fives felt to him, even though she’s the only woman he’s ever seen break a controller before. “What are we betting on, money?”

“Money is boring.” Taken aback, Yunho had a healthy laugh at her statement. He couldn’t wait to say this sentence again, out of context, and turn it into both teasing material and an inside joke.

“Okay, then what do you suggest?” He asked, still cackling with a half lidded eye smile.

“Let’s do something more… daring.” Trying to act surprised, Yunho opened his eyes in curiosity and hummed. They both got to thinking for about a minute, then she snapped her fingers exaggeratedly to show she had an idea. “Let’s randomly ask Wooyong to give the loser a punishment!”

“Like, with no context?”

“Exactly! After one of us loses, we ask Wooyong to give out a spicy punishment-! No one would be better than him at coming up with something totally ridiculous that one of us will regret for a lifetime!”

“I mean, you’re not wrong. But I’m starting to think you’re a masochist.”

“It’s a 50/50 gamble, so who knows?” She rebutted, wiggling her eyebrows at Yunho suggestively. He could feel his ears heating up so he pretended to need to face his computer for a while. “So, what do you say?” She questioned him, moving closer to where he was, probably intentionally, because she knew how to tell when he was turning shy. 

“I say you’re both crazy and a genius … a crazy genius. But I’m all on board.”

“Yas, leggo baby!” Yunho shook his head as he took in the image of his best friend leaning back into her chair, controller in hands, legs somewhere in between the right armrest and the air. Her enthusiasm dripped from the way she was grooving to the OST of the game. Warmth and an electricity-like feeling began filling his chest.

It took them perhaps a little too long to decide on the first track to play. Eventually, after long minutes of bickering, they chose a winding long race and swore to not try to mess the other up.

Yunho was the first one to drive, his engine roaring as he continued to hold his acceleration button. He had some lucky escapes from running into traffic - and easily overcame his competition. Now in front, he was taking short cut turns, but to her, they looked too time consuming. Yunho was trying to drive as properly as possible, and it was affecting his time; she couldn’t help but puff up as she realized it would be an easy win against him. With a record of 2:27:34, Yunho rolled his chair away from the screen and let his best friend take over.

Hands grasping the controller, she took a deep breath to overly-dramatize the situation even further.

“Eat my dust.” She mumbled, and Yunho gave her a curious side eye.

Swiftly she overtook all the NPCs, climbing up to first place. She wasn’t even worried about them to begin with. As the turns approached, Yunho realized she wasn’t showing signs of taking her fingers away from the acceleration button - not until the last second, at least. Her turns were either taken with the help of crashing into a wall or into a stylish, speedy drift. Yunho was baffled, thinking that crashing on purpose to finish faster should be considered as cheating. But he accepted his defeat as her time was 2:14:58, over ten seconds less than him.

Cracking her knuckles, she wore a smug smile as she let Yunho choose the next race for them to play. It was 1 to 0 currently, so he decided he should spice things out now - by choosing a ‘random’ Street X race. He probably forgot to mention to her that Street X were his forte in this game.

Yunho put his focus face on from the moment the cars showed up on screen. For most, this Street X race was difficult to even beat on first place - but he knew what he was doing. 

“I hope you had your fun.” He threatened, hands moving effortlessly on the controller to take him through the sharp, abrupt turns which were in Street X - a race type specifically made about taking those turns right, not about speed. Raw talent was dripping off of his fingers, but she didn’t want to feel discouraged just yet. Perhaps her method of using walls to take turns could work here, too-

Now that it was her turn, she realized it wasn’t the case - in here hitting walls was the worst thing you could do. Eyes dashing in between her car and the timer non-stop, she realized she was losing a lot of time correcting her direction if she didn’t brake properly before a turn. By the last lap, she already lost hope, as she reached Yunho’s record and wasn’t done with the race yet. 

“Tight game.” She stated, trying to ease the thick competitive air in the room. Yunho just smiled, a sparkle of something naughty in his eyes.

“Would you like to do the honours?” He asked, referring to choosing the drift track, the last race of their competition. He looked so sure of himself, to even offer that she chooses the track; she couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated by that cockyness. 

“Yeah.” She answered, not even looking him in the eyes. She knew what track she wanted - the one on the actual streets of the city, which had two off road areas - those were bomb in doing drifts over 50.000 points. 

Yunho was surprised she chose such a difficult track, but didn’t really complain. He had recently unlocked this track since he was nearing the end of the game, and so he knew the trick of the off road areas too, especially because he failed them enough times. He collected small drifts here and there on the way to the first special area, then he made sure to catch enough speed to send the back of his car in a beautiful curve, following the form of the turn. He didn’t need to, but he took the risk of connecting that turn to the next one that followed and gathered around 74.000 points in that area only. She was biting her lip, wondering if she still had the nimbleness to beat that.

The next special area gained him about 37.000, and with all the other points collected from smaller drifts, he was able to gain over 130 thousand. 

She was already pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing that she would probably lose. It’s been a while since she played this game, and the special drift areas were always a gamble. Yunho couldn’t help but laugh at the tension in her back, giving her a friendly pat to brighten up.

“You got this!” He cheered, because even if he wanted to win, he didn’t like seeing her so discouraged. He often times also got mad when he realized he was being too competitive and not giving anyone a chance to win against him.

She started out just like Yunho, gaining some small scores on the way to the main attraction of the race. As she saw the goal in her eyes, suddenly she struggled to regain control of her car in the midst of the big drift. She was headed straight for the edge, meaning her score would be neutralized if she hit it - so she was forced to stop her car. The special area unfortunately only brought her 55 thousand, a weak number compared to Yunho. She brushed it off and continued on her way, towards the second special area. She had a better feeling about this one, as her car was being much more responsive, and even if the space was smaller, she gained another 50 thousand there too. 

But unfortunately, as she hit the finish line, she realized - they both scored in the range of 130 thousand - but hers was exactly that number. Yunho was closer to 140.

With a little dance celebration, Yunho announced he was the winner of the tournament. Seeing him act so goofy, she couldn’t even bring herself to sulk. It’s not like it was unusual for Yunho to win their dumb little competitions, but it would’ve been nice to win one anyway.

“I acknowledge your driving skills, Mr. Jung.” She said with a smirk, offering him a hand to shake. 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, well… except the part of taking turns with your face.” Now that the tension was lifted, they were back to being all smiley and supportive of each other.

“What can I say? I like using my head.” Yunho chuckled, grabbing the controller to quit out of the game so he could find some movie to watch while they eat. Remembering that he needed to order some food, he pulled out his phone - and read Wooyoung’s name.

“So… do I need to ask Wooyoung to give you a ‘daring’ punishment?” He used air quotes to express the idea of something naughty. For a while he forgot that this was the penalty of losing, the thought completely slipping his mind as he focused too much on doing well in the game.

“I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, secretly hoping that he had forgotten and she could’ve avoided doing something so embarrassing. 

Hesitant, Yunho opened the messenger app and tapped on Wooyoung’s name. He didn’t know if he was excited about what was about to come.

[Yunho]: Hey Wooyoung, can you come up with a ‘daring’ punishment a girl could do for a guy for losing a game?

[Sent 18:46]

A thick silence enveloped the two as Yunho stared at the screen, waiting for Wooyoung to see his message. They were both hoping the resident jokester of the group would go easy on them this time.

[Seen 18:51] 

Five minutes later, Wooyoung saw the message and Yunho watched the three dots dance for a very short amount of time. And, as it turned out, Wooyoung didn’t ask any questions - he gave a straightforward answer.

[Wooyoung]: Oral

His answer had Yunho opening his eyes in pure shock. He glanced at his best friend, who was looking at him expectantly, and then back at the screen. 

“Uhm…” He couldn’t even bring himself to mutter such a word to her. Before he knew it, he let his phone down and stared into the distance like a deer in the headlights. 

Yes, asking Wooyoung was a bad idea. 

“Uhm? Did he answer?” She pressed on, and Yunho couldn’t do much more than nod. 

“Look for yourself.” He showed her his phone, and she felt as if she just got hit with a soccer ball in the stomach. Blinking at Yunho in disbelief, she let out a confused puff of air.

“I mean, I expected something like a sexy dance…. But not this. Wooyoung really is another level.” She complained, suddenly looking as lost as Yunho. They both looked like ghosts, the colors drained from their faces. 

In truth, both of their heads were racing at that moment - imagining what could happen if they went through with it. Yunho’s face heated up and his body grew heavy, and she was biting her lip. But a common thought was keeping them both grounded; that they were just friends, and nothing more.

Moments later, Yunho was able to collect himself and focus his vision again. She was in distress, even in a haze. He pulled out his phone again, texting Wooyoung to rectify the situation.

[Yunho]: How about something a little bit… more decent. This is my best friend we’re talking about.

Wooyoung read the message instantly after, his fingers fast on the keyboard.

[Wooyoung]: Oh my God it’s her! Why didn’t you tell me! I thought you were finally scoring a lady with those video games of yours!

[Yunho]: I told you guys I was spending time with her today

[Wooyoung]: You did? OOPS

[Yunho]: Yeah, oops. You almost gave me a heart attack

[Wooyoung]: *boner

[Yunho]: DUDE

[Wooyoung]: Okay okay I’m sorry, but you’re the one who asked me outta the blue

[Wooyoung]: Something a little more tame… HMMM

[Wooyoung]: You’re a tall dude, right? How about you have her wear one of your shirts for the rest of the day… but like only your shirt. I bet she’d look cute ;)

[Yunho]: That doesn’t sound that bad, thanks

[Wooyoung]: I can’t wait to get home :P

She dragged her voice suddenly, bringing Yunho back to reality. He didn’t realize how focused he was in his conversation with Wooyoung.

“Uhm, so, yeah! Wooyoung gave you a more tame challenge. He said you should wear one of my shirts for the rest of the day… like, as a dress type thing.” Yunho tried to explain, but he was still nervous from the previous shock and tripping over his own words.

“So wear a boyfriend shirt.” Yunho felt his being vibrate once again at the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’.

“I… guess so.”

“I can do that! That sounds more like a prize than anything, to be honest. You know I have a fixation for your clothes.” She said with a laugh. She seemed to be back to her cheerful self, already walking her way to Yunho’s closet. “Can I choose any shirt?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Still no intonation in his words, Yunho’s mind was not present in the conversation at all. It wasn’t long before he zoned out again.

He couldn’t possibly be attracted to his best friend in such a way. They had a strong spiritual bond, for sure, but it was never anything physical for them. They appreciated each other for who they are, so he never asked himself questions like these before.

Or at least that’s what he wanted to believe. He heard the door handle move and then saw her come back in, legs bare and sexy, her small frame basically swimming in his large shirt. She sat down on her chair and melted back into it without a care in the world. She looked comfortable, even.

“So, are we ordering that food?” She asked, but in Yunho’s daze, he missed the smirk playing on her lips. If only he knew how much she was enjoying this.

Forcing her to stay put, Yunho was the one to receive the food at the front door. He sighed in relief when he managed to put a blanket over her, as they nestled up in bed to watch a movie and enjoy their food. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.

His torture began again as soon as they got back into gaming -  this time choosing to do their usual foolery - playing Minecraft together, one being in charge of the mouse and the other in charge of the keyboard. No wonder they never made any real progress on their world, since they could never be in sync with each other to actually defend themselves from zombies. ‘

Time flew by as they laughed and played, but the rustle of keys at the front door still managed to startle Yunho out of his mind. Panicked, he got up to throw her pants back at her, words leaving his mouth a little too fast.

“How about you put those back on now.” Cocking an eyebrow at him, she hung them on the chair, clearly refusing to do so.

“Why would I? The punishment says for the rest of the day - or as long as I’m here.”

“Yes, but-” Yunho pursed his lips to the side. He didn’t know how to word his thoughts. To add more pressure, the door to his room swung open and San came inside to throw his phone on the bed. He glanced at Yunho’s best friend briefly and they exchanged hellos before he went back to the living room, where the boys were being loud over something.

Yunho breathed out in relief that San was nice enough not to stare. Something about other men seeing her like this irked him, even more so that she was wearing his shirt. 

“But?” She urged him to continue speaking, getting off of the chair to stand in front of him. Being the tall guy Yunho was, it wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to stare him down like that. Yunho gulped as he felt his throat dry up, taking in the image of his friend - no, an attractive woman - looking at him with such a suggestive expression.

“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this…” He mumbled, the beauty before his eyes already making him breathless.

“Why not?” She teased.

“Because…” There wasn’t any logical answer in his mind, or even a concrete idea. “I think we need to reevaluate our relationship.” Letting out a healthy laugh, she wasted no time to climb in his lap. Yunho was happy, perhaps the most relieved he’d been the entire day. He didn’t know there was such a sexual tension in between them until it finally dissipated. 

“Finally!” She exclaimed.

“You think so too?” She hummed in response, eyes locking with his lips as she did. 

The kiss itself felt good - like two magnets clicking into place. What felt even better though, was being able to accept all the feelings he’s been burying deep inside himself. He was wrong in thinking something more wasn’t possible between them.

A loud knock echoed from the door, and Wooyoung’s voice could be heard screaming from the other side.

“You two decent?” 

“No!” Yunho yelled back. They certainly weren’t a sight he’d want his bandmates to see - his shirt was hiking up on her thighs, their arms tangled around each other’s bodies. 

“What do you mean ‘no’??!” This time it was HongJoong’s voice, and Yunho knew he messed up. Almost effortlessly, he got up with her still around his hips and grabbed her pants on the way to the bathroom. 

“Okay, but seriously get dressed now.” Yunho said, and only got a wink from her in response. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to let her change. 

He really was a fool to think this wouldn’t work out - he already loved every second of it.

[got-svt]

all the boys you’ve loved and lost during the course of our lives, we meet thousands of people, creating either a seconds long moment or memories that last a lifetime. some of them you’ll have the opportunity to know beyond their names and faces, some you may even grow to love. unfortunately, not all of them have the luxury of staying in your life forever.

❥• two: the academic rival 

he’s the one that had you wondering how could you be so similar to someone, yet so different? he knew how to push your buttons and make a competition of everything, whether it was sports, academics or extracurriculars. he was the one that made steam come out of your ears and blood rush to your cheeks. but even you had to admit there was a certain rush that came with it, too bad he transferred schools just before senior year.

pairing: yoon jeonghan x reader genre: fluff, angst, enemies to reluctant friends to ??? word count: 2292

→   you genuinely thought the universe had it out for you when you were placed in the same year level as yoon jeonghan, more so when it placed you in the same class. you first caught sight of jeonghan in your first year of middle school. he was the boy seated three seats behind you. he seemed unassuming at first, somewhat quiet, and — dare you say it — nice and sweet, angelic almost. he only conversed with the other boys that sat near him, not sparing a glance to most. however, it wasn’t until a few years later, when you both started high school that you learned his true personality.

→   it was no secret that you studied hard, spending hours in the library, sacrificing nights of sleep. the results of your hard work showed very clearly in classes, on the nearly perfect marks on each of your exams and essays, how the teacher praised your answers during recitation. you relished in the gold stars, the awards, the quiet envy of your classmates.

→   you had never seen jeonghan open a single book, let alone actually read it. there was not a single time you saw him set foot inside a library. multiple times you’ve caught him answering homework minutes before the teacher walks in the room. which is why your blood boiled when you saw he was getting scores just as good as yours, finishing exams before anyone else in the classroom, his hand shooting up just as soon as yours when teachers call for someone to answer their question. eventually, you both gave up raising your hands altogether, competing to be the one to get an answer out first.

→   you wished he remained that quiet kid in middle school, who only stared at you with wide eyes when the teacher announced you had been the only one in your class to get a perfect score, who acknowledged your existence with a small nod instead of a smirk. 

→  unbeknownst to you, your little rivalry was slightly one sided. you see, jeonghan didn’t care much about winning or losing. truly he didn’t mind much if you had gotten the higher score, or be the one to answer the teacher’s question first. but god, did he enjoy seeing the way your eyebrow furrowed when he did, how you bottom lip forms into a little pout, how you gripped your pen so hard he was afraid it would snap. he still remembered the first time it happened, the birth of your so called rivalry, when he corrected your answer to the class first day of freshman year. since then, you had always been determined to one-up him every chance you got. much to your dismay, he was not one to back down.

→   and unfortunately for you, academics was not the only place you and jeonghan seemed to compete in. while you were in the swimming team, he played on the soccer team. you even had a small notepad to keep tallies of whose team was winning more games. 

“nervous, yn?” jeonghan asked, coming up to you as you were about to prepare for a race. if anyone else had heard him ask, they’d think he was concerned. but you knew this was only the beginning of him getting you riled up. jeonghan had never missed a single one of your swim meets, each time he comes over to you before the competition would even begin. 

“not a chance.” you rolled your eyes, waving a hand to shoo him away to the stands. but he showed no signs of leaving, his feet firmly on the tiled floor of the rec center.

jeonghan raised an eyebrow at your show of unwavering confidence, but he knew in the way your voice slightly trembled that you were not as assured as you presented yourself to be. fortunately, he knew exactly what to do to rid you of your nerves. “we won our game today, so it must be exhausting for you, huh?”

“what is?”  

he grinned, knowing the exact words to say to get your blood pumping just before a competition, “living in my shadow all the time.”

“if anything, you’re the one who’s living in mine.” you scoffed, more fired up than ever, determined to prove him wrong. suddenly, you couldn’t wait to get into the water, “i’m leaving now.”

“good luck, yn!” jeonghan called out with a smile, only to be met with a wave of your hand — you didn’t turn back for he would only see the blush that slowly formed on your cheeks. still it was more than enough for him as he looked for a seat in the stands with a soft smile. occasionally, he would send you a wink when his gaze met yours — though you only rolled your eyes at him when he did. 

and despite the fact that you seemed to be annoyed at his presence during your competitions, jeonghan always cheered you on, his voice clear and resounding even as you swam underwater.

→   but rarely were the two of you ever actively pitted directly against one another. you were always in the same class, and on the same team during activities that teachers found it somewhat remarkable that both of you were still able to find a way to compete against each other. it was always who could be the one to lead their team to victory, who contributed more points, who their own teammates liked better. 

→   it wasn’t until your phys ed teacher decided to make her two star pupils team captains in a friendly game of dodgeball that you were actually engaged in a direct, head-to-head competition.

“you totally cheated!” you yelled out as soon as the whistle was blown, signalling the end of the game. eyes ablaze with irritation and frustration, you pointed a single finger at jeonghan, recalling how you saw the ball lightly graze jeonghan’s leg but he made no attempt in leaving the court.

“i did not.” he held his hands up in mock defense, but a smile was on his face as he took in your angrily shaking figure. jeonghan wanted to burst out laughing, not even the least bit threatened or afraid as you stomped your way over to him. “my team just happened to be better than yours.”

you wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face, it didn’t matter how, you just desperately wanted to. your steps got longer and quicker at his words, cheeks flaming up both from being out of breath from playing and anger. your teammates swore they saw steam come out of your ears. “how dare you!”

your phys ed teacher stopped you just as you were about a couple of feet away from only lightly shoving jeonghan — you weren’t actually going to hurt him. grabbing you by your shoulders, she asked you to calm down and join your teammates in cleaning up the equipment, the agreed upon punishment for the game’s losers. 

but jeonghan wasn’t done with you yet, staying behind as his teammates went straight to the showers, “hey, yn.”

“what do you want?” you asked with a frown, not in the mood to hear him flaunting his win so soon. 

“maybe i did cheat.” he said, just loud enough for you to hear.

your eyes went wide, feeling somewhat proud that your suspicions were correct. but as you were about to open your mouth to retort, he leaned down so his face was level with and merely inches away from yours. you never fully noticed how good he looked, even though he was drenched in sweat, his hair sticking down his forehead. with a confident smile and a quiet whisper, “but i don’t think anyone’s going to believe you.”

“bye, yn!” he moved away and leaves the gym before you could even reply. but you weren’t even mad, more confused than anything else, remembering how close his face was to yours and how quickly your heart started beating because of it. 

→  since the dodgeball incident that had you nearly injuring both yourself and jeonghan, most of your teachers decided that it would be best to keep you two on the same side as it would probably be the best way to keep you two from fighting. they also knew of the incredible potential you and jeonghan could hold if you actually worked together. you both were incredibly smart, talented, and resourceful. whatever you lacked, jeonghan made up for and vice versa. 

→  which is probably why your english teacher decided to pair you up for your final project during your junior year of high school. both of you thought it was unfair, since everyone else got to choose their partners. the rest of your class thought it was unfair too, why did you pair up two of the smartest kids in their year? but they were also kind of interested to see what the both of you could come up with.

→   this is how you found yourself in the library, working with yoon jeonghan of all people. you would’ve much rather be paired up with the girl that sat next to you — she was quiet, but sweet. you’d rather even be paired up with your childhood friend, chan. but he was not in the same class and you hadn’t been speaking much lately. so you’d have to make do with jeonghan.

“i’m tired, i’m taking a nap.” jeonghan yawned, stretching his arms out to further prove his point. 

“we’ve barely started.”

“and yet i’m already bored.” he sighed dramatically, making a show of hitting his head on the table with a quiet thud. 

“what do you want me to do about it?” you didn’t bother looking up from your book, knowing that seeing his disinterested face would only put you in a bad mood. 

his eyes light up at your question, thinking that you were actually asking him for a suggestion, “let’s go for a drive.”

“what? no—” was this boy serious? you had another class in thirty minutes, where would you even go?

jeonghan groaned, cutting off your words and your train of thought, “live a little, yn. not everything’s about being number one. you can miss one class.”

you told him that if he wanted you out of the library, he’d have to drag you out kicking and screaming. which is exactly what he did, much to the amusement of your fellow students and even the librarian. now, you find yourself sitting in the passenger seat of his car, aimlessly driving around town — you were sure you passed the same tree four times. still, you found the drive somewhat relaxing; especially since you two weren’t arguing. 

but it was much too quiet for jeonghan’s liking. you were just staring out the window, arms crossed. he feared that he’d done something wrong. “hey, yn.”

“what?”

jeonghan chewed on his bottom lip, gripping the steering wheel tighter than he intended, “you don’t hate me, do you?”

you laughed at his nervousness. truth be told, you needed a bit of a break, so you couldn’t be too mad at him for taking you out of that stuffy library. you also knew he was asking for your opinion on him beyond this little trip. “on the contrary, i like that you keep me on my toes.”

jeonghan grinned, turning his gaze on you for the quickest of moments, “so you should be thanking me instead of grumbling in the passenger seat.”

you spent the rest of the afternoon talking, learning more about the other outside sports and academics. you were surprised at how much you had in common and he enjoyed the intense debates you had on your differences.

→  that was the car ride that changed your relationship from rivals to reluctant friends. though you were never really rivals to jeonghan to begin with. arguments became few and far in between. your cheeks tinting pink less out of frustration and more out of being flustered as he became as  flirty as he was teasing. 

→  unfortunately, he would be transferring schools the following year, just as you started to see him as more than a rival or a friend. 

→  and you didn’t find out about it until the first day of your senior year.

“wait, where’s jeonghan?” you asked your friend, noticing the lack of his usual teasing voice greeting you in the morning.

“didn’t he tell you?”

“tell me what?”

“he transferred schools yn.”

❥•  jeonghan knew he’d be transferring schools months before he even took you on that drive. he also knew he had grown feelings for you much before that. but with his father’s job needing them to relocate halfway across the country, he couldn’t find it in himself to confess. not when he knew he eventually would have to leave you. so when you bombarded his phone with texts, demanding that he explain why he couldn’t notify you of his move, all he could offer was an apology and another text telling you to check the last page of your english notebook.

you huffed as you looked down at your phone, that was all he had to say to you? after acting like he wasn’t just about to pack his bags and leave town for months on end.

still, you shook your head as you went to your closet, picking up the box where you kept your past notebooks. you shuffled past your science, math, art notebooks to find the one you used for english — still as neat and organized as you remember it to be. you flipped the notebook to its final page.

a quiet gasp escapes your lips as you read the words that were unmistakably in jeonghan’s handwriting,

don’t forget to live a little :) and don’t forget about me either. 

seventeen as all the boys you’ve loved and lost. next  ➤  vernon chwe, the first love

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[13eyond13]

What kind of boyfriend would light be?

It probably depends on a few things, like how much he is genuinely into the person he's dating, and what his life circumstances are like. And it's hard not to base it all on how he acted as Kira, because that's mostly what we saw.

But I think he'd be pretty good at seeming polite and friendly on the surface and doing most of the right things at the right times. Yet he'd also be mainly focused on his other personal ambitions, emotionally-guarded and distant, and pretty hot-and-cold about giving his approval and affection depending on what he wants or expects. He is likely very reluctant to tie himself down to one person unless he is doing it for a practical reason, such as trying to be traditional and to please his parents by getting married to a woman and having kids later in life, or to charm somebody with his charisma so he can obtain something that they have that he wants.

He's cocky and a bit jaded about other people being predictable and very easy to win over, as he is used to easily gaining admiration for his good looks and his impressive achievements across the board. He seems to buy into the "special" status he's been given by everybody around him, and to both attempt to meet everybody's high expectations of him in a very competitive, perfectionist way while also resenting and disdaining them for always putting him on that kind of pedestal and being pretty boring to compete with as well.

He'd probably be constantly off in his head scheming and only half paying attention to whoever he was dating unless he was genuinely into them. And even if he WAS genuinely into them, he would still likely be doing a lot of obsessive internal monologuing about what he really thinks and reading between the lines of what they're doing and saying, because that's basically his default mode lol, particularly when he's feeling a bit off-balance or sincerely intrigued.

I think that he's a pretty darn egotistical character who does not take kindly to anything that resembles somebody rejecting him or beating him in a competition or seeing him as inferior to them, either. And that he'd have a super hard time not constantly viewing everything in a relationship as a winning/losing power struggle or competition of some sort. I feel like the best example we saw of Light being genuinely emotionally invested in his relationship with a peer was with L, and in that relationship he seemed to get a big kick out of slyly competing with L and having a bit of mystery and challenge to the relationship. I think he tends to see himself as an exceptional person who should be treated as such, and that he was pleased at the idea that he captured the attention of L and managed to "win" against another exceptional person like L who could actually give him a run for his money at the things he was seen as the best at himself. So he needs to respect whoever he is with as an equal or even somehow look up to them and to be able to compete with them, or else he's always going to be annoyed at their "inferiority" and bored and secretly mocking them within his own mind. And I think we see a lot of Light both idealizing and devaluing other people based on his own ego and emotions, such as seeing L as the ultimate nemesis and Near and Mello as incompetent and disappointing (I'm guessing because they don't see him the way he wants to be seen and stroke his ego properly the way his rivalry with L did)?

But still, if he was intentionally setting his mind to trying to be the best boyfriend ever then he'd probably be very charming and irresistible to most people. He's always going to be an overachiever at whatever he puts his mind to, and is pretty darn good at manipulating other people into seeing him as he wants and doing what he wants. 😅